[Q] Grab Madoka at the earliest opportunity.
-[Q] Ask her where's the nicest jewelry store she knows of.
--[Q] She's gonna help you pick an engagement ring.
---[Q] For... for when you're older!
[Q] "Mami, I have something important that I need to tell you."
-[Q] Get down on one knee.
--[Q] Hold out our Soul Gem ring.
---[Q] "Tomoe Mami, would you... keep letting me live here after I tell you about my bizarre metaknowledge, even though I should have told you sooner?"
Mami: "...what?"
I think Onmur's vote tally program is better than the one I used. It was able to render the emdashes in my vote, for one.
[Q] "Mami, I have something important that I need to tell you."
-[Q] Get down on one knee.
--[Q] Hold out our Soul Gem ring.
---[Q] "Tomoe Mami, would you... keep letting me live here after I tell you about my bizarre metaknowledge, even though I should have told you sooner?"
Mami: "...what?"
Dinner was good. Excellent, really. But knowing what was coming afterward... you couldn't truly enjoy it. At least Mami didn't seem to notice your unease, as your mind ran over and over and over what you wanted to say. What you needed to say.
What you were afraid to say.
"Mami?" you ask. She stirs from your side on the couch, where you've both sat down after cleaning up from dinner.
There must have been something in your voice, because now you can see the concern in her eyes.
"Yes, Sabrina?"
"I need to talk with you about something important. Is that okay?"
She nods—without hesitation, too. Maybe that's a good sign? You disentangle yourself from her, reluctantly, in order to make the grief constructs necessary for security.
"I'm going to make privacy bracelets , just in case. I don't want Kyuubey to know about this."
Another nod.
The bracelets go on shortly afterward, Mami taking hers from your hands with just half a smile, waiting for you to begin.
"Mami," you fight the urge to gulp, "remember before, when I said I had secrets about myself I still needed to tell you? That I didn't know how to explain? I'm... going to do that now, if you want to hear it."
"Sabrina..." Mami looks down for a moment, uncertain, then turns to face you again. "If you're not ready to tell me, it's okay. I d-don't—you don't have to. I trust you anyway."
The pit in your stomach grows heavier.
"No, Mami, I really should tell you. I... might not be ready, but you deserve to know the truth about me. I have to tell you."
"You don't have to tell me," Mami replies, firmer this time, though you see water in her eyes. "I-I think I already know. I... deep down, I've known for a while now, but I didn't want to believe it."
"Y-You know?" you stammer, carefully laid plans wafting away in empty shock.
"What other explanation could there be? You couldn't remember a past, but you knew so much about magic and magical girls. About Kyuubey. About s-soul gems, and hunting witches. And you still have secrets... you know more than I do; more than Homura, too."
It's your turn to nod.
"And you've..." she smiles, "always been different than other magical girls. Maybe a bit... eccentric, or unpredictable. It's been hard to understand sometimes why you make the decisions you do. But it's okay. I... don't want you any other way. The things you've been able to do because of that, and because of what you know, are amazing, Sabrina. The powers that only you have... you've done wonderful things with them, even if sometimes you make a mistake and get caught up playing with grief, or with making a barrier."
"But..." you begin to protest, before she takes your hand.
"I know, Sabrina, that you've wanted to tell me. That you will tell me, if I ask. And that's enough."
You sink back into the couch. Mami's far too kind to you. You haven't even apologized yet! You must at least—
Deep within you soul, the urge to sigh in relief and facepalm do battle. "Well... That's... Nice and all. Don't get me wrong, I'm ecstatic that you're cool with that. It's just that that wasn't what I wanted talk to you about tonight."
Mami pulls back slightly in surprise. "Oh! Um..." She buys her lip. "Then us this about how you're Madoka and Homura's daughter from a parallel universe?"
You hum, stomach twisting a little. You're doing it. You're going to do it. You're going to come clean to Mami.
And you're going to pray that she doesn't push you away.
She... she's become important to you.
And you're not sure she would survive if she did.
Not for a magical girl, when your very life is tied to your emotions.
"Sabrina?" Mami prompts, nudging your side. "Are you alright?"
You exhale. "Yeah," you say, voice steady. You smile at her. "Yeah, just lost in thought."
It's true enough.
And you can finish dinner without the pall of this hanging over your head.
You can manage a perfect dinner.
"Alright," Mami says, smiling back at you. "Shall we finish packing up, and then have dinner?"
"Yeah," you agree, squaring your shoulders. "Here!" You fish a mixing bowl from the cupboard, passing it to Mami with a warm smile. Turning back to the table, you start sorting out the groceries based on where they'll go. You take a few minutes to pack it all away neatly.
Mami beams at you as you start off with the last load, this time of flour and other dried items bound for the cupboard.
You can't help but beam right back, doing a little twirl past her.
Mami giggles, dipping into a bow to you before she places the pot on the stove.
It's not really an act. You're... tamping down on your unease, but it's comforting to just slip into your routine. Gentle teasing, and light humour.
It's comfortable, and it's comforting.
Mami almost dances past you, light on her feet as she opens up the packets of udon. And you smile, sliding past her in perfect synchronisation to start chopping up some chicken.
You can almost quell the squirming in your stomach, the tinge of fear that you might lose it all.
You finish chopping the chicken just in time to slip it into the pot of broth right after a dash of seasoning added by Mami. She gives you a smile, sliding aside just enough to give you a bit of space to stir, her arm brushing lightly against yours.
"Kombu stock?" you ask, peering at the colour of the broth. A nice, light kelp stock would make perfect sense, and it certainly smells like it.
"Mmmhm!" Mami agrees, taking over the stirring again. "Would you check the noodles? I think this can simmer for a few minutes and we'll be ready to eat."
"Of course," you agree. Having set that out, you check the noodles, boiling merrily away in the pot. Finding them to your satisfaction, you drain the water into the sink and portion it out. Mami adds the broth, and you rummage for some dried seaweed for garnish.
"And there we are!" you say, beaming at Mami as you snatch the bowls away from her to bring to the table.
Mami giggles, perfectly accustomed to the little game. She collects utensils for the meal and while you slice up some watermelon for dessert, setting it aside for now and sitting across the table from her. She gives you a warm, pleased smile.
You return the smile, joining in the traditional 'itadakimasu', and dig in. You don't talk much over dinner, but it's comfortable, loud slurps of noodle filling the kitchen. You finish the dinner with the watermelon, forks clinking together as the two of you jostle to let the other person have more.
Finally, you lean back in your chair, Mami mirroring you with a soft smile. "That was good," she says.
"Yeah," you agree, swallowing a little. "It was."
Mami notices, of course. A worried look flashes across her face. "Sabrina? Is something wrong?"
"I..." you start, meeting her eyes. "Mami, do you remember when I said there were things I wanted to... think through? Before telling you?"
Mami nods slowly. "I- you don't have to tell me, Sabrina, if you don't want to," she says, shrinking a little. "I- you don't have to."
There's still time to go back. Just clam up. Mami gave you an out.
Your hopes on the line.
She deserves to know.
And you don't want it hanging between you.
Slowly, ever so slowly, you shake your head. You feel like you're ringing a death knell. "No," you murmur. "You deserve to know, Mami."
Her shoulders slump. "Do... do you want to move to the sofa? It- it'd be more comfortable."
"That's fine," you agree. "I'm fine with that. I, I- can I make some privacy constructs? It- it's private and I'd rather... nobody listen in."
Mami nods jerkily, pushing the chair back. She reaches for her bowl, and you jump to your feet to help her, shuffling over to the sink. You wash the dishes with Mami, drying them and putting them in the cupboard without exchanging another word. Perhaps you take a little longer than you normally would.
Finally, you migrate over to the sofa. Mami curls into your side, anxious and fretful. You summon a blob of Grief through the window and bow your head over it, infusing your will upon the material. Interdiction. Make private my conversation with Mami, that none, not even the Incubators, may know of it.
When your vision clears, you're holding a shimmering, white band, set with a single golden jewel in the center. It's mounted on a small stand, and since that seems to be what it's for, you place it on the table, knowing that your conversation will be safe from prying ears and eyes and any other eavesdropping alike.
Mami watches, silent and curled up on your shoulder as the silence stretches out.
When you can't take it any more, you begin. "I... I'm sure you've noticed already, Mami, but... the things I know aren't normal. I know about magical girls in general, and the system, and all the languages I can speak. Amnesia doesn't work like that."
"M-maybe it's just magic or something, maybe you- I- a magical girl attacked you?" Mami says, shaking her head. "I- I don't care a-about that, Sabrina."
You exhale. "I know," you murmur. "I don't know, either. I can't tell you how I know, because I don't know." And it's true. You... don't know. "But it's more than that. I know more than that."
Mami's grip tightens on your arm. She doesn't say anything.
Neither do you look at her. Instead, you forge on. "When I woke up in that alley, I knew things." You lick your lips. "About a small number of people. Homura, Madoka, Sayaka. And other things. Other people." Mami's fingers tighten, digging into your arm. "All of whom, all of which matter and are. Worth talking about."
Why is it so hard to spit it out?
You steel yourself. "I knew about you," you whisper.
Mami makes a tiny, choked noise. Her white-knuckled grip on your arm doesn't slacken.
"I, I-" you stutter. "I knew about you, I- I didn't know you. And not everything, I, I-"
"Y-you-" Mami shakes her head, tears squeezing from the corner of her eyes. "N-no, no, n-not you too-"
"No," you whisper. "No, I-" You reach up, closing your hand around hers.
She's shivering. Her hand is icy cold, fingers biting into your forearm.
"I'm not," you whisper. "I'm not. I- I didn't know you. I didn't- I'm not like it. I had no idea about you, I had no idea you could cook everything under the sun I didn't know you were in the archery club I didn't know you liked to play video games." You're babbling at this point. You force yourself to take a shaky breath. "I didn't know we'd get along so well. I- I didn't know we could be friends."
"F-friends," Mami whispers. Tears streak down her face, her breath stuttering gasps in her throat. "I-I- S-sabrina- you- K-kyub- I-"
Her Soul Gem. You can feel it, throbbing as it fills. Grief surges, closing on the halfway mark.
Way too close for comfort.
You raise your hand, cupping it gently over Mami's. She flinches, hand shaking.
You pull your hand free, dragging a river of Grief free.
Mami makes another choked, terrified noise.
Golden light blossoms. You flinch, and something slams into your side and then you're falling-
By the time you hit the floor, you're bound securely in a cocoon of golden ribbons. Your arms are clamped to your side, and Mami-
Mami stumbles to her feet. She's transformed and swaying, eyes wide enough to show the whites all around. Manic and staring and terrified.
Her hands are empty.
She manages a step away. Toward the window. Her eyes don't leave yours.
And she stops, rocking in place. She falls.
A wailing sob. On her hands and knees, she scrabbles back to you, grabbing you roughly with shivering hands. She pulls you close, hugging you like a giant bolster.
"W-why," she whispers, shaking you roughly. "Why? W-why- y-you- why?"
[] Write-in
---[x] And, well, some of what we knew about her was private. We knew the circumstances of her wish, though not the exact wording. We knew that she needed a friend... Which was why when she offered to let us live with her, we accepted.
[x] Let her react to that.
[x] If she's willing to let you keep speaking, explain why you didn't tell her earlier. At first, it was because you were still getting a grip on the situation after you woke up in an alley, and that... well, it's just so fantastical. Then there were days when there was just no time, and she was so hurt after she found out Kyubey had been lying to her that we couldn't stomach the idea of potentially making things worse. And it was easy to let it just stay untold, because in the end, when QB was out of the way and we could have made time to tell her, the real reason why you allowed hourself to put it off was because you were afraid that if you told her, she wouldn't want you to stay. And... you didn't want to leave. You wanted to stay. You want to stay.
[x] Head low, self recriminatory. You still should have told her earlier.
-[x] If it feels appropriate, inform her that we haven't stayed with her because she needs a friend, we've stayed with her because in the course of getting to really know her, we've found that she is everything we could ever want in a friend and more. And because she needs a friend, of course, that too.
=====
Here ends Book 2, Chapter 7: Anomalous Materials. The next chapter, On a Rail, begins with the next update. Could have been worse; coulda been Resonance Cascade.
[x] Continuous Soul Gem cleansing.
[x] Apologize profusely. Beg her to hear you out.
[x] As for why you know things, you don't know. As for why you're only telling her now... it was something that was bothering you, agonizing you, tearing you up inside... You didn't know how to say it, how to break it to Mami... You were afraid, so afraid of hurting her...
[x] You're not working with Kyubey, that you promise. You're not like Kyubey, that you promise. Knowing what you know only made you desire even more, to get to know them, and befriend them, and help them, and protect them, like her. You want her to be happy. You don't want her to be alone anymore. They are all such wonderful people, and you want to be friends with them all. You don't want to exploit anyone.
[x] Continue pleading your case. Apologize again for hurting her. You only want to help, to make things right. Ask her for that chance.
[x] Continue the vote in abeyance.
[x]Continue pleading your case, up to and including with the vote held in abeyance.
-[x]Beg on hands and knees, if it comes to that.
--[x]Ask whether Mami would really have behaved so differently if she'd been in the situation of having a secret that could destroy every positive relationship she has.
I'm.... honestly kind of not entirely getting Mami's reaction?
...well shit...
Then again, I kind of expected this kind of reaction.
Realistically, if you told your best bud/love-interest-that's-not-quite-your-love-interest that you knew her before you even met her, how would they react?
Hmm...
[X] She seems to be under the misunderstanding that we're in cahoots with the bunnycat. Correct her.
[X] Tell her we aren't even sure of why in the actual fuck do we even know all those things, but that we decided, against all common sense, to do all the philanthropic stuff we've been doing and to fight against the incubators to protect Madoka, Sayaka and HER.
-[X] Emphasize that our desire to protect HER specifically has grown only stronger as we got to know her. Remember all the shenanigans, all the times we spent.
[X] If, IF, she kicks us out, we'll accept it. If she does not want us to be with her anymore. We'll leave. But mention that we will not abandon her. Even if we are apart.
-[X] Stay on the lookout for QB. The last thing we want is for him to Witchbomb Mami.
--[X] Yes, even with your eavesdropping protection.
----[jk] Hold back your tears.
-----[jk] Fail
------[jk] Witchout
-------[jk] Freeze all grief, bringing about an end to all Magical Girls and Witches and accelerating the heat death of the universe
--------[jk] LaughingMad.avi
We also need to tell her that we never wanted to trick or manipulate her.
We need to tell her that we wanted to meet her because she seemed like such a wonderful person and wanted to be friends. We did not want to exploit her.
And we need to beg for her forgiveness and tell her that we're trying to confess and make things right.
[x] Continuous Soul Gem cleansing.
[x] Apologize profusely. Beg her to hear you out.
[x] As for why you know things, you don't know. As for why you're only telling her now... it was something that was bothering you, agonizing you, tearing you up inside... You didn't know how to say it, how to break it to Mami... You were afraid, so afraid of hurting her...
[x] You're not working with Kyubey, that you promise. You're not like Kyubey, that you promise. Knowing what you know only made you desire even more, to get to know them, and befriend them, and help them, and protect them, like her. You want her to be happy. You don't want her to be alone anymore. You are all such wonderful people, and you want to be friends with them all. You don't want to exploit anyone.
[x] Continue pleading your case. Apologize again. You only want to help, to make things right. Ask her for that chance.
[x] Continue the vote in abeyance.
[X] Continue removing grief from both of your soul gems.
[X] You didn't tell her what you knew right away because at first you didn't know what to do. Then you were scared it might hurt her, or that she might want nothing to do with you any more. You're telling her now, because you can't stand the idea of keeping things from your friends. You don't know how you came to know any of it, but the one thing that you've always been certain of is that you had to do whatever you could to help the people you knew things about.
[X] You know none of that excuses what you did. Whatever your intentions were, you deceived her and hurt her and...
[X] Apologize profusely and tearfully. You didn't want to hurt her, you never wanted to hurt her.
Adhoc vote count started by Godwinson on Apr 4, 2019 at 10:37 AM, finished with 150934 posts and 12 votes.
[X] Cleanse as needed.
[X] Homura has kettle of boiling water in her inventory, tea would be nice -- tea-timestop?
-[X] You're going to keep making Homura proper food to put into her inventory, for herself and for others.
[X] Continue to be thorough and patient. With infinite cleansing, you've given Homura time to process and relax.
[X] About Homura
-[X] We're friends and partners in this. Mami is your-- well, yours, but Homura is your best friend.
--[X] Addressing Homura's self-esteem issues regarding our successes compared to her failures: having an additional perspective helps. To that end, you're going to start fully detailing other things like that to Homura in the future, so that you can get her perspective.
--[X] Information asymmetries: There are things your metaknowledge covers that Homura doesn't know, and things that Homura knows that you don't, information that can be vital.
--[X] Improved coordination: Too often you've just improvised, when you know Homura prefers planning. Indicate willingness to plan contingencies. Multitasking, hammerspace (Homura's inventory is hammertime?), timestop, grief(hax) all allow for extensive planning and safe documentation.
---[X] Specifically, once you've arranged for the key allies Homura suggested, you'd like to start working on detailed plans for Walpurgisnacht.
---[X] Arrange for non-telepathic signal for time-stop in case of tense situations -- you'll could use grief to take hold of her right hand?
[X] For now though, next topic: Sayaka. It's good news. Complex, but good.
-[X] Bring up Sayaka figuring out Homura caring specifically about Madoka, as well as her trusting Homura. Explain what you told Sayaka.
-[X] "Sayaka always is insightful about the weirdest stuff." Bring up her 'past life' joke from Homura's first day at school this/last loop.
-[X] This is a good thing here and now. Sayaka trusts you and Homura, knows that you know what's going on, and trusts both of you to have Madoka's best interests at heart. More than that, she's willing to help us keep Madoka well out of harms way.
-[X] Expand upon your explanation of Sayaka from this morning -- most of Sayaka's weaknesses normally become strengths when she decides to trust someone, when the cruelty of the Incubator's system is held at bay.
--[X] This is likely why Kyuubey keeps magic a secret, deliberately shaping events and his pitch to make it seem like a magical girl anime, because it's encouraging traits that lead to witch-outs.
---[X] Explain Kyuubey's reasons for wanting to turn magical girls into witches. This was the thing that Homura didn't know, so she couldn't explain Kyuubey's motives for being horrible.
-[X] Bring up how you're going about witchbombing Sayaka, how you can give her the motive for Kyuubey being so horrible. Point out her improved thoughtfulness this time around. If Sayaka decides to learn, it will give her even more reason to trust Homura's judgement -- she was trying to save them from a horrible fate, after all.
[X] Remain in timestop to continue conversation onto other topics.
[X] Cleanse as needed.
[X] Homura has kettle of boiling water in her inventory, tea would be nice -- tea-timestop?
-[X] You're going to keep making Homura proper food to put into her inventory, for herself and for others.
[X] Continue to be thorough and patient. With infinite cleansing, you've given Homura time to process and relax.
[X] About Homura
-[X] We're friends and partners in this. Mami is your-- well, yours, but Homura is your best friend.
--[X] Addressing Homura's self-esteem issues regarding our successes compared to her failures: having an additional perspective helps. To that end, you're going to start fully detailing other things like that to Homura in the future, so that you can get her perspective.
--[X] Information asymmetries: There are things your metaknowledge covers that Homura doesn't know, and things that Homura knows that you don't, information that can be vital. ---[X] For example, explain Kyubey's reasons for turning magical girls into witches. They're important for being able to predict the Incubator's actions. ----[X] In the long run, you're either going to have to "pay the incubators off" to stop them from hounding you to "regain their lost energy" from stopping witchouts, you're going to have to strong-arm a multi-galactic civilization, or both.
--[X] Improved coordination: Too often you've just improvised, when you know Homura prefers planning. Indicate willingness to plan contingencies.
---[X] Specifically, once you've arranged for the key allies Homura suggested, you'd like to start working on detailed plans for Walpurgisnacht.
---[X] Arrange for non-telepathic signal for time-stop in case of tense situations -- you'll could use grief to take hold of her right hand?
[X] For now though, next topic: Sayaka. It's good news. Complex, but good.
-[X] Bring up Sayaka figuring out Homura caring specifically about Madoka, as well as her trusting Homura. Explain what you told Sayaka.
-[X] "Sayaka always is insightful about the weirdest stuff." Bring up her 'past life' joke from Homura's first day at school this/last loop.
-[X] This is a good thing here and now. Sayaka trusts you and Homura, knows that you know what's going on, and trusts both of you to have Madoka's best interests at heart. More than that, she's willing to help us keep Madoka well out of harms way.
-[X] Expand upon your explanation of Sayaka from this morning -- most of Sayaka's weaknesses normally become strengths when she decides to trust someone, when the cruelty of the Incubator's system is held at bay.
--[X] This is likely why Kyuubey keeps magic a secret, deliberately shaping events and his pitch to make it seem like a magical girl anime, because it's encouraging traits that lead to witch-outs.
[X] Bring up how you're going about witchbombing Sayaka, how you can give her the motive for Kyuubey being so horrible. Point out her improved thoughtfulness this time around. If Sayaka decides to learn, it will give her even more reason to trust Homura's judgement -- she was trying to save them from a horrible fate, after all.
[X] Remain in timestop to continue conversation onto other topics.
[X] You're a good person, Akemi Homura. You deserve to have someone there for you.
[X] To help myself...I don't think I'd be much good at it.
[X] ...it hurts. Seeing who I was and could have been...it's too much.
Adhoc vote count started by Godwinson on Apr 4, 2019 at 10:37 AM, finished with 150934 posts and 12 votes.
[X] Cleanse as needed.
[X] Homura has kettle of boiling water in her inventory, tea would be nice -- tea-timestop?
-[X] You're going to keep making Homura proper food to put into her inventory, for herself and for others.
[X] Continue to be thorough and patient. With infinite cleansing, you've given Homura time to process and relax.
[X] About Homura
-[X] We're friends and partners in this. Mami is your-- well, yours, but Homura is your best friend.
--[X] Addressing Homura's self-esteem issues regarding our successes compared to her failures: having an additional perspective helps. To that end, you're going to start fully detailing other things like that to Homura in the future, so that you can get her perspective.
--[X] Information asymmetries: There are things your metaknowledge covers that Homura doesn't know, and things that Homura knows that you don't, information that can be vital.
--[X] Improved coordination: Too often you've just improvised, when you know Homura prefers planning. Indicate willingness to plan contingencies. Multitasking, hammerspace (Homura's inventory is hammertime?), timestop, grief(hax) all allow for extensive planning and safe documentation.
---[X] Specifically, once you've arranged for the key allies Homura suggested, you'd like to start working on detailed plans for Walpurgisnacht.
---[X] Arrange for non-telepathic signal for time-stop in case of tense situations -- you'll could use grief to take hold of her right hand?
[X] For now though, next topic: Sayaka. It's good news. Complex, but good.
-[X] Bring up Sayaka figuring out Homura caring specifically about Madoka, as well as her trusting Homura. Explain what you told Sayaka.
-[X] "Sayaka always is insightful about the weirdest stuff." Bring up her 'past life' joke from Homura's first day at school this/last loop.
-[X] This is a good thing here and now. Sayaka trusts you and Homura, knows that you know what's going on, and trusts both of you to have Madoka's best interests at heart. More than that, she's willing to help us keep Madoka well out of harms way.
-[X] Expand upon your explanation of Sayaka from this morning -- most of Sayaka's weaknesses normally become strengths when she decides to trust someone, when the cruelty of the Incubator's system is held at bay.
--[X] This is likely why Kyuubey keeps magic a secret, deliberately shaping events and his pitch to make it seem like a magical girl anime, because it's encouraging traits that lead to witch-outs.
---[X] Explain Kyuubey's reasons for wanting to turn magical girls into witches. This was the thing that Homura didn't know, so she couldn't explain Kyuubey's motives for being horrible.
-[X] Bring up how you're going about witchbombing Sayaka, how you can give her the motive for Kyuubey being so horrible. Point out her improved thoughtfulness this time around. If Sayaka decides to learn, it will give her even more reason to trust Homura's judgement -- she was trying to save them from a horrible fate, after all.
[X] Remain in timestop to continue conversation onto other topics.
[X] Cleanse as needed.
[X] Homura has kettle of boiling water in her inventory, tea would be nice -- tea-timestop?
-[X] You're going to keep making Homura proper food to put into her inventory, for herself and for others.
[X] Continue to be thorough and patient. With infinite cleansing, you've given Homura time to process and relax.
[X] About Homura
-[X] We're friends and partners in this. Mami is your-- well, yours, but Homura is your best friend.
--[X] Addressing Homura's self-esteem issues regarding our successes compared to her failures: having an additional perspective helps. To that end, you're going to start fully detailing other things like that to Homura in the future, so that you can get her perspective.
--[X] Information asymmetries: There are things your metaknowledge covers that Homura doesn't know, and things that Homura knows that you don't, information that can be vital. ---[X] For example, explain Kyubey's reasons for turning magical girls into witches. They're important for being able to predict the Incubator's actions. ----[X] In the long run, you're either going to have to "pay the incubators off" to stop them from hounding you to "regain their lost energy" from stopping witchouts, you're going to have to strong-arm a multi-galactic civilization, or both.
--[X] Improved coordination: Too often you've just improvised, when you know Homura prefers planning. Indicate willingness to plan contingencies.
---[X] Specifically, once you've arranged for the key allies Homura suggested, you'd like to start working on detailed plans for Walpurgisnacht.
---[X] Arrange for non-telepathic signal for time-stop in case of tense situations -- you'll could use grief to take hold of her right hand?
[X] For now though, next topic: Sayaka. It's good news. Complex, but good.
-[X] Bring up Sayaka figuring out Homura caring specifically about Madoka, as well as her trusting Homura. Explain what you told Sayaka.
-[X] "Sayaka always is insightful about the weirdest stuff." Bring up her 'past life' joke from Homura's first day at school this/last loop.
-[X] This is a good thing here and now. Sayaka trusts you and Homura, knows that you know what's going on, and trusts both of you to have Madoka's best interests at heart. More than that, she's willing to help us keep Madoka well out of harms way.
-[X] Expand upon your explanation of Sayaka from this morning -- most of Sayaka's weaknesses normally become strengths when she decides to trust someone, when the cruelty of the Incubator's system is held at bay.
--[X] This is likely why Kyuubey keeps magic a secret, deliberately shaping events and his pitch to make it seem like a magical girl anime, because it's encouraging traits that lead to witch-outs.
[X] Bring up how you're going about witchbombing Sayaka, how you can give her the motive for Kyuubey being so horrible. Point out her improved thoughtfulness this time around. If Sayaka decides to learn, it will give her even more reason to trust Homura's judgement -- she was trying to save them from a horrible fate, after all.
[X] Remain in timestop to continue conversation onto other topics.
[X] You're a good person, Akemi Homura. You deserve to have someone there for you.
[X] To help myself...I don't think I'd be much good at it.
[X] ...it hurts. Seeing who I was and could have been...it's too much.
Keep in mind that cleansing her Soul Gem without asking is what provoked her to ribbon us in the first place.
In retrospect, I recall her flinching on previous occasions that we've done that. It clearly makes her uncomfortable, and when she doesn't trust us it possibly even seems like an attack. How about if her Gem gets half full again, we warn her to cleanse her own Gem, and only take matters into our own hands if she ignores it to a suicidal degree?
We've been deceiving her since the moment we met. Considering how Kyubey, her only constant companion since her parents died, had been deceiving her since the moment they met, it's not surprising that she'd react this way. Emotions are messy like that.
Eh, i'm a bit late to the metabomb party, so there's not much I can add there. But on a somewhat related note, my own preference for getting across tricky information is by telling a story. Little bits of information gets revealed over time, rather than all at once. The thoughts running through your head, and the justification for the choices you make are all easier to convey if you can get them imagining themselves in your place.
Not helpful right now, but if we manage to calm Mami down enough for her to allow us a proper explanation, maybe give the idea some thought?
