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Puella Magi Adfligo Systema

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Godwinson said:
The souring of things with Ono was one of the costs of fucking around with barriers. It screwed Mami up enough that something had to give, and we gave on Ono. Probably one of the best things about this quest are the opportunity costs.
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Technically, Mami's utter dependence on us was what screwed us over with Megane. We wouldn't have missed the meeting in the first place if Mami hadn't had her minor breakdown. Plus, not knowing how personally Megane would take us not meeting her. And then we proceeded to make things worse with the barrier.:V
 
Ugolino said:
Counterpoint: she was rude to Mami and Homura. :p
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You did pick up on the hints that Ono might well have known the magical girl who became "spider witch" we killed with Kirika, right? Ono was walking away from the barrier with tear streaks down her face.

If you mean later, when we broke into her room, well, read that first part again, then see why she might've been "rude". :p

UbeOne said:
Did we know back then about our Grief trances?
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rikalous said:
We knew making the barrier the first time made us zone out and lose track of time, but we didn't realize it was a full-on fugue state thing.
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We knew it was an intense enough zone-out that we lost awareness of our surroundings and the passage of time.

Agent Whiskers said:
Technically, Mami's utter dependence on us was what screwed us over with Megane. We wouldn't have missed the meeting in the first place if Mami hadn't had her minor breakdown. Plus, not knowing how personally Megane would take us not meeting her. And then we proceeded to make things worse with the barrier.:V
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Considering her entire demeanor before then in our dealings with her, her reacting poorly to our calling off the meeting we pressured her into at the last minute is obvious.

Mami's initial breakdown was because of the first barrier test -- Mami tried to contact Sabrina via telepathy, and there was no answer. She panicked and had to go to the nurse, because she was terrified that either Sabrina was dead, or Sabrina had suddenly gotten fed up with her and just stopped answering. Only for Sabrina to start talking to her again a bit later and acting like nothing had happened.

THEN, rather than figure out what was going on with Mami, we doubled-down, and the second barrier test happened with her right there.

FelOnyx said:
No. Nor about just how badly Mami would react. Nor was there any reasonable reason to suspect that they would cause the Sayaka incident.
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We knew Mami was regularly contacting us because she was still very shaky about the mere idea of Sabrina abandoning her.

We knew that creating things out of grief took all of our attention.

Sabrina was so focused on developing new powers that she didn't stop to think about what the first and second order consequences of her actions might be. As a result, shit happened.

And if you seriously thought there was no reason to suspect that randomly fucking around with Sabrina's powers might have unintended and disastrous consequences, please allow me to direct you to this semi-canon snippit, by Firn, which was posted before Oriko had even contracted. And just in case invisitext defeats you:
Firnagzen said:
This is also a warning.
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We absolutely were warned that screwing around would have costs, and that those costs could be up to and including immediate BAD END. We simply failed to pay attention to the warning, and we've had to pay the price.
 
Godwinson said:
Mami's initial breakdown was because of the first barrier test -- Mami tried to contact Sabrina via telepathy, and there was no answer. She panicked and had to go to the nurse, because she was terrified that either Sabrina was dead, or Sabrina had suddenly gotten fed up with her and just stopped answering. Only for Sabrina to start talking to her again a bit later and acting like nothing had happened.

THEN, rather than figure out what was going on with Mami, we doubled-down, and the second barrier test happened with her right there.
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Wait, I thought that she was actually trying to force herself to stop contacting Sabrina? If we actually didn't respond, her reaction should have been way more extreme.
 
Agent Whiskers said:
Wait, I thought that she was actually trying to force herself to stop contacting Sabrina? If we actually didn't respond, her reaction should have been way more extreme.
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Hm. It seems I got the order of events a bit muddied up. the first barrier was before lunch, while her trip to the nurse was after lunch.
 
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Friendly reminder: if you use bold, italics, and underline all in one sentence, it comes across as very hostile. More so than a quest discussion really warrants.
 
Godwinson said:
Hm. It seems I got the order of events a bit muddied up. the first barrier was before lunch, while her trip to the nurse was after lunch.
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Yeah, so simmer down just a bit.

And we didn't actually know that grief effects took up time like that, remember? The people who noticed what had happened thought that it was something unique to the grief barrier the first time we did it. Not that it wasn't incredibly stupid of us to not take that into account the second time we created one with Mami around.
 
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Actually, the time we made a barrier in front of Mami was more of us showing it off to her rather than an experiment. A mistake on our part...

Not using our power responsibly is dangerous, that is true, but there is also the flipside of wasting its potential, all of which we would need to help everyone...
 
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Agent Whiskers said:
Yeah, so simmer down just a bit.

And we didn't actually know that grief effects took up time like that, remember? The people who noticed what had happened thought that it was something unique to the grief barrier the first time we did it. Not that it wasn't incredibly stupid of us to not take that into account the second time we created one with Mami around.
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However, on further reading we did make a Grief Detection Range Extender in the middle of talking with her, immediately before she went to the nurse. Which is the griefhax I was thinking of, and thought it was the barrier instead.
Firnagzen said:
But your Grief senses seem to be the exception to that, and you certainly managed to augment your melee fighting skills earlier. So what if you tried to play with that?

... probably best to warn your friends first, though.

"Hey, Mami, Homura?" you pulse out telepathically.

"Ah, Sabrina? I..." you can practically hear Mami's hesitance. "How are you?"

Hmm. You haven't heard from her since lunch, have you?

"Ah, I'm good. How are you, Mami?" you ask, mindful of Homura, listening in.

"I'm fine," Mami says. "We, ah, got our tests back today."

"Oh?" you ask. "That was fast. How did you do?"

"I... I got a seventy-eight," Mami replies.

"Ah, that's not half bad!" you say brightly as you hold hand out, summoning a small blob of Grief from the swarm of spheres following behind you. That ring of Grief glints faintly under what sunlight there is leaking through the cloudy skies.

"Mm... I think I'll be taking the retest, though," Mami says.

"... really?" you ask in faint disbelief.

"Yes, I think so," Mami says.

"Oh. Well, I'll help you, Mami," you say. "I promised."

"Thank you, Sabrina," Mami says.

"No problem, Mami. But uh..." you say. "Um, this is important, so first... I'm on my way to school now, but I'm also going to test something, OK? So it might be, uh, a little Witchy. You know how it is."

"Ah, be careful, Sabrina," Mami says, a touch of anxiety in her voice.

"Understood," Homura says, voice clipped.

"Yeah, I will," you say. "Um, see you soon."

"See you soon!" Mami says.

"See you," Homura agrees.

You focus on the Grief in your hand. Something to amplify your detection range, so...

"Sabrina?" Mami's voice intrudes in your head again.

"Hmm, Mami? Is something wrong?" you ask, still considering the lump of Grief. Detection. The Grief wavers, edges becoming fuzzy and indistinct, before it collapses in on itself, shrinking and turning a bright, azure blue. It forms a small ellipsoid that floats into the air seemingly on its own volition, singing Witch in your senses.

The stone swings around your head in a gentle orbit without your prompting. That means it's working, you think?

"... Mami?" you prompt again.

"I... it's OK," she says. "Sorry."
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Firnagzen said:
You purse your lips. That is not normal. Very much not normal.

"Mami, what is it?" you ask, mental voice as gentle as you can make it. "Is everything alright?"

"Ah, I," Mami says. "Yes, I'm fine. I just..."

You lock your wings and glide for a moment, frowning at the little blue detection stone still orbiting your head. "Mami?" you prompt gently.

"No, it's just..." Mami stops for a moment before continuing. "I know I've been... a bit."

She stops talking for a moment. Just as you're about to prompt her again, she continues, voice terribly small. "I was... I was trying not to be so..."

"Mami..." you say softly, still gliding towards the school.

"It's hard." She says, mental voice a bare whisper. "I... oh. Um."

"Mami?" you ask, worried again.

"I... I'm going to the nurse's office," Mami says. "I... will I see you after school?"

"Yes, of course, Mami," you say.

"I just wanted to hear your voice again," she says, voice quiet.

"Oh," you say, drifting to a landing atop a building near the school. Down below, you can see the lush foilage of the park that fronts the school, and... you can sense Mami and Homura in school. You frown. It seems to be further than your usual range, you think. But you need to focus on Mami for now.

"Mami?" you ask again.

"I... I'm fine," she says. "School's almost over. I'm sorry, Sabrina."

"Don't be, Mami," you say.

Homura's voice intrudes into your mind. "I assume that's you," she says.

"Yeah, it is," you reply absently. You prompt Mami again. "Mami?"

"Sorry," she repeats. "I... thank you, Sabrina."
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Godwinson said:
However, on further reading we did make a Grief Detection Range Extender in the middle of talking with her, immediately before she went to the nurse. Which is the griefhax I was thinking of, and thought it was the barrier instead.
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Like I said, we didn't actually know that grief effects knocked us out like that, at the time. Many of them seemed to have happened instantaneously.
 
When we first made a barrier, we didn't know about Grief trances at the time...
 
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Godwinson said:
Pffft. Maybe if you sound like a zombie. :p

Then again, I try to sound the same whether in text or in person, and I have been told that I talk like an Italian BRIAN BLESSED on cocaine. Too much energy. :D
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Known this guy for like half a decade. Can confirm: WAY too much energy. This is not exactly the first time he's come across as angry when he's just trying to be emphatic. :rolleyes:
 
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