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Puella Magi Adfligo Systema

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Firnagzen said:
"Oh," you say. "It's kind of a long story... maybe you should sit down."

Mami smiles a little as she moves over to the sofa to sit beside you. "What adventures did you get up to today, Sabrina?"

"Heh," you chuckle, though it's a little strained in anticipation of what's to come. "Well, OK. This morning, I tried to get in contact with this Oriko again by telepathy. Yes, I know, but as you said, she hasn't actually been very hostile, has she?"

Mami, who was about to protest, subsides.

"And anyway, I'm pretty sure that I can handle myself if it comes to fighting her, thanks to my... unique abilities," you add, wiggling your fingers. "In any case, she didn't respond to telepathy, so I thought maybe I'd go over to Shirome Academy, since that's her school, and have a look around."

You shake your head. "That's the point where this other magical girl caught up with me. Short black hair, a bit longer than mine, yellowish-brown eyes. She introduced herself as Kirika, and told me that Oriko wasn't available."

"Huh?" Mami says. "Is this the Kirika you mentioned at the hospital?"

"Yes, and exactly!" you complain. "Turns out she's working with Oriko... and I think she's new. Newer than me, even. She was... a bit odd. Very, uh, intense. She said she loved Oriko, and kinda threatened me a little when I stepped too close to that subject. In any case, that didn't really go very far, but I asked her a few questions. Among other things, she said that Oriko 'went to hire someone'."

Mami opens her mouth as if to say something, but closes it again.

"So the first thing that I thought of was that maybe she was hiring another magical girl to help contest Mitakihara," you forge onwards. "And, well, you'd mentioned two magical girls in this area, one to the east and the west, right?"

"Ah... I suppose that's not a bad idea," Mami admits slowly. "Did you go to the west? How's Masami doing?"

"Um, actually, I went east to Kasamino," you say. Mami's hand, still resting loosely at her side, clenches into a fist. "I ran into a young kid, freshly contracted, I think. Maybe about ten years old? She was just running. I mean, just running, you know, not at magical speeds?"

Mami blinks, surprised. "Ten? Uh, sorry, go on..."

"Yeah, she was running to a Barrier. She seemed to be in a huge hurry, so I uh... helped her along," you say, tactfully omitting how you picked her up and carried her in a football carry. "The Witch was... Well, there was another magical girl in the Barrier fighting the Witch. She wasn't exactly doing well, but between the two of us -the new girl, Chitose Yuma, has healing powers- we managed to save that other girl."

"Sakura Kyouko," Mami says. It's not a question, and both of her hands are tightly fisted now, old pain echoing in her eyes.

You nod slowly. "Yeah. Well. It seems like Kyouko was taking care of Yuma for at least a while. Kyuubey took the opportunity of Kyouko fighting to pressure Yuma into a contract. Kyouko... wasn't happy about that, and scolded her for it, I think. I kinda offered both of them lunch for an opportunity to talk to them about Oriko, and gave them a warning," you sigh. "In the end, she didn't really seem to trust me, though, and told me to go away. I left her with an offer to drop by for cleanses if need be."

Mami is, at this point, slumped and cradling her face in her hands. "I see," she says at length, muffled by her hands. You move over, and gently rub her back soothingly, not sure of what else to do.

"Mami, I'm guessing there's history between the two of you," you say gently. "It's OK-"

"It's not just that, Sabrina," Mami whispers. "Sabrina... I can't lose you. I can't lose another one."

[] Write-in

=====​

There's more than one layer to Mami's sadness. It'd be worth thinking through them.
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Firnagzen said:
Mami's not crying. Not yet, perhaps. She's simply sitting, with her face in her hands, and shoulders slumped. She looks... defeated, for lack of a better word, completely at a loss for what she could do.

"A-another one?" you blurt.

Mami looks up at you, eyes empty. "Kyouko used to be my student... my friend. S-Sabrina, I, I, being a magical girl is so lonely. I- I'm not the cool senior m- magical girl, and-" she's crying now, slow tears sliding silently down her face. "Sabrina, I- I can't lose another friend."

She's worried about losing you, too. And all things considered, while things turned out well for you today, they could have gone much worse.

"Mami..." you reach for one of her hands, grasping it with both of yours. She lets you, hand hanging limp in yours. "Mami, I'm so sorry. I wasn't thinking..."

"Y- you weren't thinking," Mami echoes hollowly, slow tears beginning to make tracks down her face. "B-but you still- you can talk down Akemi. And Kyouko. And save people, better than I ever c-could. A-and your magic. Y-y-you don't need broken old Mami any more. You never did..."

You drag Mami into a hug, throwing both arms around her. Her hands hang limply by her side, and you can feel your shoulder slowly dampening as she continues to cry. "Mami, you're not going to lose me," you say. "You are a good person, and an amazing friend. I don't think many people who would just let a total stranger stay with them just out of the goodness of their heart."

You tighten your hug around the blonde. "I'm not going anywhere, Mami."

Her quiet weeping turns into great, wailing sobs, but she throws her arms around you and clings on tightly, like a life preserver in a storm. And in a way, that is what you are to her; her chance at changing the empty loneliness of her existence.

[] Say something else
-[] Write-in what
[] Go meet Homura
[] Tell Homura you can't make it
[] Go to sleep

=====​

Unlike just about everyone else, Sabrina is Mami's equal. And therein lies the root of Mami's reaction.

Indicate what you'd like to do next, too, whether it be to go find Homura or stay here, or spontaneously catch fire, or something.
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Redshirt Army said:
Mami has had faith in our ability to talk people down for quite some time now. I very much doubt that her thinking it's impossible will be an issue.
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Redshirt is probably right.
 
Mami knows we've encountered Kyouko before. I don't think she will be surprised to hear that we've been trying to befriend her. After all, we did the same thing to Homura and Oriko.

What I think will upset her is the idea that we've been going behind her back to make arrangements to turn her new student over to someone else. Especially if Kyouko decides to rub it in Mami's face, which she's pretty much declared that she intends to do.

I also question the need to have Kyouko and Sayaka balance out each others' personalities. Taking care of Yuma is already blunting Kyouko's cynicism, and we've made it a point in our training to cut through Sayaka's naivete.

Kaizuki said:
But if we tell her about our metaknowledge on the subject, it becomes a question of whether she believes us when we say something is possible.
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Possible, yes. But not a certainty. The configuration of events in this timeline is different from in any other timeline, so we can't know how this will turn out. Invoking our metaknowledge would imply that we know for sure that this is going to happen, and we don't. I don't want Mami to have an exaggerated idea of what we can predict.
 
(I probably should not be trying to write when I haven't slept properly since Friday.)

There was a bunch of stuff involved in Kyouko leaving Mami, not all of it rational. Consulting a summary to refresh my memory because the scanlations don't seem to be online anymore....

Kyouko's family died, and she blamed herself and her wish. She subconsciously rejects her wish and loses her signature illusion magic. Mami took her in and was supporting her financially and carrying most of the fights, which Kyouko wasn't comfortable with as she felt she was a burden on Mami. Kyouko's also become disillusioned with saving people, as she thinks that the people who are driven to suicide by witches and familiars will just end up committing suicide anyway, since that's what happened to her father. She also doesn't think that she can afford to fight familiars anymore now that she's weakened by losing her illusion magic. Or possibly those are excuses and the real reason that Kyouko says she wants to stop hunting familiars is because she knows Mami won't stand for it, and she wants to drive Mami away. We can't be sure. It is established that Kyouko knows that Mami will keep trying to support her in her weakened state, and thinks that if she lets her she'll end up dragging Mami down with her. Whatever the reason, Kyouko decides to walk away, but Mami won't let her go when she's obviously not thinking clearly and emotionally unstable. Thus they fight, but Mami's holding back too much, and Kyouko gets her at spearpoint and tells her that next time they fight, Mami better bring it for real. Kyouko walks off, thinking that she doesn't deserve to be Mami's friend and Mami can do better.

So, there are a lot of different conflicting emotions and motivations involved in their parting of the ways, some of which the people involved probably aren't even consciously aware of. And Kyouko's experiences since then have probably screwed her up even more, while Mami might have had to write Kyouko off in her own mind just to be able to bear the loss. Untangling this mess will probably not be simple.
 
Apropos of nothing, Things We Have Yet To Do:

- Challenge Kyouko to DDR.
- Inform Kirika that we're Best Buddies.
- Hug Madoka.
- Play with Homura's hair.
- Make Sayaka jealous for breaking up with us.
- Witchbomb Mami.
- Hug Oriko.
- Witch out for super powers.
- Hug Hitomi.

All lighthearted stuff we should make sure to accomplish in our day to day life.
 
Onmur said:
Apropos of nothing, Things We Have Yet To Do:

- Challenge Kyouko to DDR.
- Inform Kirika that we're Best Buddies.
- Hug Madoka.
- Play with Homura's hair.
- Make Sayaka jealous for breaking up with us.
- Witchbomb Mami.
- Hug Oriko.
- Witch out for super powers.
- Hug Hitomi.

All lighthearted stuff we should make sure to accomplish in our day to day life.
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Wait a minute.
- Hug Oriko.
- Witch out for super powers.
- Hug Hitomi.
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Wait.

- Hug Oriko.
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Why would we hug bucket hat? Isn't that Best Buddy's job?
 
Faith said:
Wait a minute.


Wait.



Why would we hug bucket hat? Isn't that Best Buddy's job?
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Well, it is low priority, since Oriko's getting plenty of hugs, but can we live with ourselves if we don't make make Sabrina hug ALL the meguca, at least once? Morally?

I don't think so.

... But if Sabrina hugs Oriko, does that mean Kirika must hug Mami?
 
Sereg said:
The work trumps the author. If the author said that Madoka's hair is green,
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"The work" is "Puella Magi Adfligo Systema". It is loosely based on a popular magical girl series. It cannot "trump" the author because it is written by "the author", who is Firnagzen. If the author says Madoka's hair is green in this story, IT IS GREEN. If the author says a strange new magical girl with bullshit grief-control powers shows up, ONE DOES.
 
rkyeun said:
"The work" is "Puella Magi Adfligo Systema". It is loosely based on a popular magical girl series. It cannot "trump" the author because it is written by "the author", who is Firnagzen. If the author says Madoka's hair is green in this story, IT IS GREEN. If the author says a strange new magical girl with bullshit grief-control powers shows up, ONE DOES.
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So Edward isn't a creepy stalker who is extremely controlling in his unhealthy relationship with Bella?
 
Aranfan said:
So Edward isn't a creepy stalker who is extremely controlling in his unhealthy relationship with Bella?
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landcollector said:
So, Hitomi killed Madoka and took her identity then?
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If you're the author and that's your WoG, yes.
You can write a fic and give Edward and Bella a normal relationship, or have Madoka dress up for Saint Patrick's Day...
But most derivative authors try not to change canon aside from what is needed to support the premise unless they're writing a crackfic (which this might count as). Madoka having green hair isn't relevant to the premise, and so has less merit to this story than an author fiat about Homura's power. Consider these options:
A) Many timelines, single universe. Homura resets our quest when she abandons thread. Our SI powers may enable us to remember.
B) Single timeline, many universes. Homura's reset, from our perspective, simply deletes Homura. We live after the bad end.
C) Single timeline, single universe. After all the bullshit we've pulled, Homura no longer can reset, because if even THIS level of nonsense isn't enough, she can't hold hope and witches out, so nobody gets resets.
 
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Aranfan said:
That is the word of God of the author of Twilight.
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Then, in the Twilight universe, that is a normal relationship. Which is an unjustified break from RL that doesn't support the premise of Twilight, which is part of why Twilight is shit.
But enough about Twilight. Back to the shipping war.
Madoka x Homura
Hitomi x Kwijibo
Sayaka x Sakura
Sabrina x Mami
Kyubey x GLaDOS we make of grief to test him.
 
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Onmur said:
Poor Rin.
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought Rin was too young to x with people. I might be confusing my side-characters.

Torgamous said:
I can support this. How do we make it happen?
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With grief power. We make a privacy barrier. Except this time we do it "wrong" and Kyubey sees he can go in. And of course so he does, after being taunted by them for so long knowing that his plans slip further away each time. So yeah, he goes in.
Surprise, it's one-way, and a trap. It only looks like a normal privacy barrier from the outside. Mental trap as well, same way we conceptually prevent eavesdropping, so it's actually him in there, not just "a body". We pry his back open with grief pliers and make him swallow all the grief of everyone forever. We bring girls in to see if they can make a contract to wish the trap permanent, and to make any uncontrolled grief automatically empty from soul gems and fly into his back instead of building up in the soul gem. And he goes along with that because it gives him infinite exergy, which is all he cares about. No more meguca become witches. No more meguca die unless they get gem-smashed, because they have all the time they need to heal and won't witch from grief first. Make it retroactive to get golden end without invoking Madokami or becoming a law of cycles ourselves.
 
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