- Location
- Illinois
I excluded this because it's not universal. There's no doubt that this is the case. I-- actually I have to run atm, but I'll get back to this.
Puella Magi Adfligo Systema
- Thread starter Firnagzen
- Start date
-
- Tags
- puella magi adfligo systema puella magi madoka magica be gay do crimes (gay) female protagonist bad decisions dating mami tomoe (tomoe mami) diabolical laughter friendship is the best ship handholding identity crises microwaving tea gets you put in the bad place names are important the body is the fursona of the soul this is not the baked goods thread we don't talk about rionna what could possibly go wrong? who in the world is azure sanfrancisco?
I excluded this because it's not universal. There's no doubt that this is the case. I-- actually I have to run atm, but I'll get back to this.
- Location
- Ekaterinburg, Russia
Not universal - agreed.
Still needed to be said because it can have a knock-on effect since megucas like those can be the metaphorical glue keeping teams together.
Also, don't worry about replying to me in particular - I don't think I have more to contribute to this discussion at this time.
Kkutlord
Prince of Breath
- Location
- Indianapolis, Indiana
For the longest time I've just read the story, so I don't really know much about all the discussions. Still, I agree that the Witchbomb is something that needs to be taken seriously as nearly every Puella Magi in modern Japan reacts poorly. However, a Magical Girl doesn't need to be bombed or witness a Witch's birth to potentially figure it out.
So while dealing with and preventing scenarios where they discover via an external force, there should also be a plan to prevent internal realization or suspicion. Even if Sabrina successfully avoids the Witchbomb in her goal to get project buddies and the dewitched/Sorceress girls don't remember... The only way nobody starts suspecting it is if the dewitched girls don't look like themselves.
The easiest way to handle that is to explicitly aim for Sorceresses, and claim that any resemblance to a 'dead' Magical Girl is because of the Witch using her few coherent recollections to base their Sorceress form on. The issue with that is Sabrina would be intentionally misleading people, like the girl's own friends and that there's no way a Sorceress can go home unless she can resume her human form.
Overall, the Witchbomb is a serious topic that can have profound lasting effects even with a dewitching method. However, refusing to deal with it and trying to deny its existence would cause problems for any dewitched girl who remembers herself or has friends/family she misses. Even if they don't remember/agree not to talk and have nobody, Sabrina would have to make sure nobody tries to kill them (like how Mami mistook a Doppel as a hostile Witch in Magia Record).
Besides all that... I'm going to change my vote to Onmur since I mostly agree anyways.
[X] Onmur
So while dealing with and preventing scenarios where they discover via an external force, there should also be a plan to prevent internal realization or suspicion. Even if Sabrina successfully avoids the Witchbomb in her goal to get project buddies and the dewitched/Sorceress girls don't remember... The only way nobody starts suspecting it is if the dewitched girls don't look like themselves.
The easiest way to handle that is to explicitly aim for Sorceresses, and claim that any resemblance to a 'dead' Magical Girl is because of the Witch using her few coherent recollections to base their Sorceress form on. The issue with that is Sabrina would be intentionally misleading people, like the girl's own friends and that there's no way a Sorceress can go home unless she can resume her human form.
Overall, the Witchbomb is a serious topic that can have profound lasting effects even with a dewitching method. However, refusing to deal with it and trying to deny its existence would cause problems for any dewitched girl who remembers herself or has friends/family she misses. Even if they don't remember/agree not to talk and have nobody, Sabrina would have to make sure nobody tries to kill them (like how Mami mistook a Doppel as a hostile Witch in Magia Record).
Besides all that... I'm going to change my vote to Onmur since I mostly agree anyways.
[X] Onmur
Jonen C
F.M.D.G.
- Location
- Lincopense, Ostrogothia, Suecia
Vebyast
Nascent Transhuman
I argue that the pro-witchbomb position catastrophically overestimates the virulence of the effect relative to our ability to control it. It correctly predicts that the current primary mechanism that limits the spread of the witchbomb - that is, that people die before it can be transmitted - would be removed, but it fails to consider the changes to and introduction of other mechanisms that more than offset the removal of that mechanism.
First, the tendency to simply not talk about it. Everyone seems to assume that every girl that learns about the witchbomb would start trumpeting it from the hills. Why would this be the case? These girls know that the witchbomb hurts people. They know that telling their friends about it would destroy them. They know that they need to keep it under cover to protect people. Canon Kazumi was witchbombed hard, she spiralled and died to it, but she kept her mouth shut. Pre-murderhomu Moemura also kept her mouth shut. And that would continue to hold no matter how big our civilization gets - the Witchbomb does not motivate a girl to spread it. If anything, exactly the opposite. There is a reason that all of the witchbombings we see in canon are "someone blew up right in front of all of their friends".
Second, our ability to predict and get ahead of leaks. With our civilization flourishing, witch-out frequency would fall to zero. As argued in the first mechanism, every witchbomb we see in canon is of the direct "Someone witched out in front of someone else" variety. How do girls find out about the witchbomb when nobody is witching out any more? A few scienceguca can figure it out, but sciencegucae are obviously identifiable. Close friends of magical girls that have been dewitched would also learn. In both of those cases we'd know who's about to find out and would likely step in to preemptively bomb them, so that it could be done under controlled circumstances and with a plan and a support network. It is trivial to additionally instill in those girls the critical importance of not spreading that information, especially once they have worked through it themselves and understand its danger.
Finally, the control that we would be able to establish over information technology. The only remaining failure mode involves a girl being witchbombed under totally uncontrolled circumstances and reacting to it by publishing it on social media. Discounting the fact that this probably wouldn't even happen - the total absence of primary witchbombing and our ability to pay attention to everyone that's been witchbombed should ensure that all secondary witchbombing is controlled - I believe that this is an entirely controllable event. We have magical girls that have literally magical interfaces with information technology, we may have a precog, I'm sure we could find some girls with accelerated cognition, and to cap it all off the AI to detect such events is feasible IRL. A girl trying to witchbomb everyone on Reddit would be shut down within seconds of having clicked the "post" button.
In summary: The witchbomb getting out is not an inevitability. This is not a full-blown masquerade, this is not a secret that anyone can find out that's waiting just beyond their reach if they think about it too hard. This is something that only a few people know, that would be revealed to people under controlled circumstances, that is sufficiently unique that we could police it, and that girls would want to keep secret in the first place. Controlling it is not difficult and the risk of keeping it secret is low.
First, the tendency to simply not talk about it. Everyone seems to assume that every girl that learns about the witchbomb would start trumpeting it from the hills. Why would this be the case? These girls know that the witchbomb hurts people. They know that telling their friends about it would destroy them. They know that they need to keep it under cover to protect people. Canon Kazumi was witchbombed hard, she spiralled and died to it, but she kept her mouth shut. Pre-murderhomu Moemura also kept her mouth shut. And that would continue to hold no matter how big our civilization gets - the Witchbomb does not motivate a girl to spread it. If anything, exactly the opposite. There is a reason that all of the witchbombings we see in canon are "someone blew up right in front of all of their friends".
Second, our ability to predict and get ahead of leaks. With our civilization flourishing, witch-out frequency would fall to zero. As argued in the first mechanism, every witchbomb we see in canon is of the direct "Someone witched out in front of someone else" variety. How do girls find out about the witchbomb when nobody is witching out any more? A few scienceguca can figure it out, but sciencegucae are obviously identifiable. Close friends of magical girls that have been dewitched would also learn. In both of those cases we'd know who's about to find out and would likely step in to preemptively bomb them, so that it could be done under controlled circumstances and with a plan and a support network. It is trivial to additionally instill in those girls the critical importance of not spreading that information, especially once they have worked through it themselves and understand its danger.
Finally, the control that we would be able to establish over information technology. The only remaining failure mode involves a girl being witchbombed under totally uncontrolled circumstances and reacting to it by publishing it on social media. Discounting the fact that this probably wouldn't even happen - the total absence of primary witchbombing and our ability to pay attention to everyone that's been witchbombed should ensure that all secondary witchbombing is controlled - I believe that this is an entirely controllable event. We have magical girls that have literally magical interfaces with information technology, we may have a precog, I'm sure we could find some girls with accelerated cognition, and to cap it all off the AI to detect such events is feasible IRL. A girl trying to witchbomb everyone on Reddit would be shut down within seconds of having clicked the "post" button.
In summary: The witchbomb getting out is not an inevitability. This is not a full-blown masquerade, this is not a secret that anyone can find out that's waiting just beyond their reach if they think about it too hard. This is something that only a few people know, that would be revealed to people under controlled circumstances, that is sufficiently unique that we could police it, and that girls would want to keep secret in the first place. Controlling it is not difficult and the risk of keeping it secret is low.
- Location
- A place
I have been thinking about how we can explain the danger of the witch bomb to everyone without actually saying what it is if we do decide it is necessary. I think one of the best ways we can explain it (Bomb theory perhaps as a tentative name) is that many people have a strong idea about how things work and are suffer distress when facts that shake there world view are revealed and many magic girls seem to be less able to deal with such revelations than a normal person and often take drastic actions, Grow depressed, more Withdrawn, commit suicide or lash out at others. (Exhibit A Airi; Sayaka being able to handle the Lich bomb when it was relieved before becoming a Meduka but that she would of had much more trouble with it if revealed afterwords could also be considered a example). This is perhaps due in part to the the information causing grief to form which hinders the normal recovery from distress.
Anyway I just wanted to get the ball rolling on how we can explain this if we decide we need to.
Vebyast
Nascent Transhuman
I'm not incredibly happy with onmur's vote. In particular:
New vote. Thoughts?
[x] Thank Madokami
[x] Hijiri
-[x] Goals
--[x] Whatever Niko said affected her. Let her think about it.
-[x] Potential specifics
--[x] Bring her along. Check with her as usual, but lightly, you don't want to distract her.
--[x] If she does get distracted, try to bring the topic back up. Not as good as letting her stew, but good enough.
---[x] Ask what Niko said?
[x] Arzt Kochen
-[x] Goals
--[x] Ensure she doesn't get lost.
--[x] It's okay to mark her as special - "witchy science girl" is a solid excuse.
-[x] Potential specifics
--[x] Turn her into a Clear Seed.
[x] Hunting.
-[x] Goals
--[x] Keep your friends safe from infohazards.
-[x] Potential specifics
--[x] Warn Mami about the infohazard.
---[x] Ask her for advice on keeping everyone else safe.
--[x] You still want to talk to Yuuri. Even the craziest asshole isn't fundamentally irredeemable, and there's still a chance that this is a... misunderstanding, as unlikely as that sounds.
After thinking about it, I think that poking Hijiri isn't quite the right thing to be doing here. We can ask her for more help in fifteen minutes. Right now I want to let her think about whatever it is that Niko said.
I would like to go a bit further than this to ensure that it happens. I don't recall if it's been answered if Saki has any other seeds on her and I'd like a slightly stronger guarantee than "She'll still be around later".
I strongly disagree with "obviously can't explain". If Mami think that warning them is the best course of action - and since that's been her own personal choice, I think that she will advocate warning them about the infohazard, I really don't want to cause her problems. If you're going to ask for advice, let her give advice instead of shutting her down before she even opens her mouth.
We already have Sayaka on this.
We're not going to get to this because we're waiting for the results of talking to Mami. I hope that that's the case, anyway.
New vote. Thoughts?
[x] Thank Madokami
[x] Hijiri
-[x] Goals
--[x] Whatever Niko said affected her. Let her think about it.
-[x] Potential specifics
--[x] Bring her along. Check with her as usual, but lightly, you don't want to distract her.
--[x] If she does get distracted, try to bring the topic back up. Not as good as letting her stew, but good enough.
---[x] Ask what Niko said?
[x] Arzt Kochen
-[x] Goals
--[x] Ensure she doesn't get lost.
--[x] It's okay to mark her as special - "witchy science girl" is a solid excuse.
-[x] Potential specifics
--[x] Turn her into a Clear Seed.
[x] Hunting.
-[x] Goals
--[x] Keep your friends safe from infohazards.
-[x] Potential specifics
--[x] Warn Mami about the infohazard.
---[x] Ask her for advice on keeping everyone else safe.
--[x] You still want to talk to Yuuri. Even the craziest asshole isn't fundamentally irredeemable, and there's still a chance that this is a... misunderstanding, as unlikely as that sounds.
Last edited:
Onmur
Archangel of Nutella.
It's fine. Most of the wording is the same to me, except for a couple of things:
[] Hijiri
-[] Goals
--[] Whatever Niko said affected her. Let her think about it.
-[] Potential specifics
--[] Bring her along. Check with her as usual, but lightly, you don't want to distract her.
---[] Offer an ear if she seems troubled/open to talking. Show concern.
Just to try and ensure avoiding doing the 'unwanted meddler' thing.
--[] You still want to talk to Yuuri. She sounds desperate. Not really crazy, but hurt. She's got her reasons for lashing out like this, unwarranted as it is. The best we could hope for is to help her though her problems.
... Would need some shortening, but you get the idea. Don't just call Yuuri a crazy asshole. Or imply to.
EDIT:
--[] You still want to talk to Yuuri. She sounds desperate. Hurt. Whatever her reasons for lashing out, you want to try and talk her through them.
Since that's going into obviously touchy subjects, I think the approach should more:
[] Hijiri
-[] Goals
--[] Whatever Niko said affected her. Let her think about it.
-[] Potential specifics
--[] Bring her along. Check with her as usual, but lightly, you don't want to distract her.
---[] Offer an ear if she seems troubled/open to talking. Show concern.
Just to try and ensure avoiding doing the 'unwanted meddler' thing.
This could be worded a lot less harshly.
--[] You still want to talk to Yuuri. She sounds desperate. Not really crazy, but hurt. She's got her reasons for lashing out like this, unwarranted as it is. The best we could hope for is to help her though her problems.
... Would need some shortening, but you get the idea. Don't just call Yuuri a crazy asshole. Or imply to.
EDIT:
--[] You still want to talk to Yuuri. She sounds desperate. Hurt. Whatever her reasons for lashing out, you want to try and talk her through them.
Last edited:
Vebyast
Nascent Transhuman
Hm. Good idea, yeah.
Fair enough.
[x] Thank Madokami
[x] Hijiri
-[x] Goals
--[x] Whatever Niko said affected her. Let her think about it.
-[x] Potential specifics
--[x] Bring her along. Check with her as usual, but lightly, you don't want to distract her.
--[x] If she does get distracted, try to bring the topic back up. Not as good as letting her stew, but good enough.
---[x] Ask what's on her mind. Standard emphathybrina tactics.
[x] Arzt Kochen
-[x] Goals
--[x] Ensure she doesn't get lost.
--[x] It's okay to mark her as special - "witchy science girl" is a solid excuse.
-[x] Potential specifics
--[x] Turn her into a Clear Seed.
[x] Hunting.
-[x] Goals
--[x] Keep your friends safe from infohazards.
--[x] Be magical girl classic.
-[x] Potential specifics
--[x] Warn Mami about the infohazard.
---[x] Ask her for advice on keeping everyone else safe.
--[x] Also, you want to talk to Yuuri. She sounds desperate, more hurt than crazy. Unwarranted reasons are still reasons. What kind of magical girl would you be if you didn't try to heal her?
- Location
- The Surface Of A Hostile Planet
[x] Vebyast
Will look over and make my own suggestions in a bit, but it looks generally solid.
Will look over and make my own suggestions in a bit, but it looks generally solid.
Just for the record, I do like this format for the vote. It's clear, concise, and gets everything across nicely.
Vebyast
Nascent Transhuman
You know. Hijiri's probably going to catch the expression on our face when we react by thanking Madokami for the gift of reasonable people. While Niko is crying and the Pleiades are hugpiling her. What do you think her interpretation of that is going to be? I imagine that "Why is she happy that Niko is the one that's crying?" should be quite the puzzler.
Last edited:
- Location
- The Surface Of A Hostile Planet
@Vebyast
Your vote is 174 words long REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-
Anyway I fixed it.
[x] Thank Madokami!
[x] Hijiri:
-[x] Goals: Whatever Niko said affected her. Let her think about it.
-[x] Potential specifics: Bring her along. Check with her as usual, but lightly, you don't want to distract her.
--[x] If she does get distracted, try to bring the topic back up. Ask what's on her mind. Standard emphathybrina tactics.
[x] Arzt Kochen
-[x] Goals: Ensure she doesn't get lost. Singling her out is acceptable.
-[x] Potential specifics: Turn her into a Clear Seed.
[x] Hunting.
-[x] Goals: Keep your friends safe from infohazards. Be the magical girl classic.
-[x] Potential specifics: Warn Mami about the infohazard. Ask her for advice on keeping everyone else safe.
--[x] Let Kazumi take the lead on security precautions on Hijiri. Step in if excessive.
--[x] Also, you want to talk to Yuuri. She sounds desperate, more hurt than crazy. You want to help everyone.
Mostly just wording tweaks and condensing the format to reduce verticality, but I added in a minor thing with security precautions on Hijiri during the hunt.
148 words.
Your vote is 174 words long REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-
Anyway I fixed it.
[x] Thank Madokami!
[x] Hijiri:
-[x] Goals: Whatever Niko said affected her. Let her think about it.
-[x] Potential specifics: Bring her along. Check with her as usual, but lightly, you don't want to distract her.
--[x] If she does get distracted, try to bring the topic back up. Ask what's on her mind. Standard emphathybrina tactics.
[x] Arzt Kochen
-[x] Goals: Ensure she doesn't get lost. Singling her out is acceptable.
-[x] Potential specifics: Turn her into a Clear Seed.
[x] Hunting.
-[x] Goals: Keep your friends safe from infohazards. Be the magical girl classic.
-[x] Potential specifics: Warn Mami about the infohazard. Ask her for advice on keeping everyone else safe.
--[x] Let Kazumi take the lead on security precautions on Hijiri. Step in if excessive.
--[x] Also, you want to talk to Yuuri. She sounds desperate, more hurt than crazy. You want to help everyone.
Mostly just wording tweaks and condensing the format to reduce verticality, but I added in a minor thing with security precautions on Hijiri during the hunt.
148 words.
The Phoenixian
The Glacier Witch
- Location
- My own little world
Right I'm at still working for the moment on how to fit it in to this format but:
[] Goal: Ease Hijiri's discomfort.
[] Ask if she needs a hand out of the hugpile or a show of support.
Should really be part of this.
It's a material offer of support to Hijiri, which would be a significant aid for getting across to her, if it successfully manages to deal with her discomfort. The only concern is not alienating Niko by doing so.
[] Goal: Ease Hijiri's discomfort.
[] Ask if she needs a hand out of the hugpile or a show of support.
Should really be part of this.
It's a material offer of support to Hijiri, which would be a significant aid for getting across to her, if it successfully manages to deal with her discomfort. The only concern is not alienating Niko by doing so.
- Location
- The Surface Of A Hostile Planet
[x] Thank Madokami!
[x] Hijiri:
-[x] Goals: Offer escape from the hugpile. Let whatever Niko said keep affecting her.
-[x] Potential specifics: Bring her along. Check-in discreetly, only poke to keep her mulling. Empathise.
[x] Aʀᴢᴛ Kᴏᴄʜᴇɴ.
-[x] Goals: Ensure she sticks around.
-[x] Potential specifics: Clear her.
[x] Hunting.
-[x] Goals: Maintain infohazard precautions. Be the magical girl classic. Keep an eye on Hijiri.
-[x] Potential specifics: Trust your friends. Delegate.
--[x] Ask Mami to help handle infohazards.
--[x] You want to help Yuuri too. She's more hurt than crazy.
91 total words. That's 83 less than Vebyast's original.
[x] Hijiri:
-[x] Goals: Offer escape from the hugpile. Let whatever Niko said keep affecting her.
-[x] Potential specifics: Bring her along. Check-in discreetly, only poke to keep her mulling. Empathise.
[x] Aʀᴢᴛ Kᴏᴄʜᴇɴ.
-[x] Goals: Ensure she sticks around.
-[x] Potential specifics: Clear her.
[x] Hunting.
-[x] Goals: Maintain infohazard precautions. Be the magical girl classic. Keep an eye on Hijiri.
-[x] Potential specifics: Trust your friends. Delegate.
--[x] Ask Mami to help handle infohazards.
--[x] You want to help Yuuri too. She's more hurt than crazy.
91 total words. That's 83 less than Vebyast's original.
Last edited:
Raiseth
I Find Your Lack of Memes Disturbing
- Location
- Russia
[jk] Praise Madokami, hallowed be her Name!
-[jk] Organize a formal church of Madoka, the Law of Cycles. With yourself as archbishop and Mami the Papa. The Papi? The Mumi.
--[jk] Sayaka can be a patron saint, I guess. She's still alive, though. Apostle?
--[jk] Homura is obviously Holy Mary in this analogy. Rebellion hasn't happened, yet. Well. She can be an Inquisitor, if we don't want too many analogies with Christianity.
-[jk] Purge the Heresy of Pantsless Asunaro. Shoot anyone pointing out that Madoka doesn't wear pants either on sight.
Edit: By the way, Redshirt Army, I like the first variant better.
Though Firn might appreciate the second more, I guess.
-[jk] Organize a formal church of Madoka, the Law of Cycles. With yourself as archbishop and Mami the Papa. The Papi? The Mumi.
--[jk] Sayaka can be a patron saint, I guess. She's still alive, though. Apostle?
--[jk] Homura is obviously Holy Mary in this analogy. Rebellion hasn't happened, yet. Well. She can be an Inquisitor, if we don't want too many analogies with Christianity.
-[jk] Purge the Heresy of Pantsless Asunaro. Shoot anyone pointing out that Madoka doesn't wear pants either on sight.
Edit: By the way, Redshirt Army, I like the first variant better.
Though Firn might appreciate the second more, I guess.
Last edited:
TJSomething
That's... that's impossible!
Should be "discreetly."
The only omission that I have issue with is the removal of "witchy-science girl" as an excuse for looking at Arzt Kochen. But I'm not in the mood for vote-crafting and Brinapilot's probably fine here, since any number of vague excuses will work (e.g. "I sense something special about this one," "My mysterious knowledge tells me that this seed could be important," "I have a hypothesis," "It's magic. I don't gotta explain shit," etc.).
Assuming that votes for Vebyast are invalid due to word limit, I'll go for:
[x] Redshirt Army
Last edited:
Highway 17 pt. 16
Dear Madokami on high, thank you. Thank you. I'm not sure you're actually listening to my prayers, and I'm not absolutely sure you were responsible for Niko and Hijiri resolving things, but thank you anyway. While I'm at it, I wonder if you have a preferred form of prayer? And if it isn't too much, some signs of what to do might be nice. I'm pretty sure I'm here for a purpose, but I don't know what it is.
You close your eyes for a second and exhale, smiling faintly. That does seem a little self-centered, but oh well. You are asking because you want to help people, so there's that, at least.
That said...
Hijiri looks uncomfortable and unsettled and petrified, frozen in place. You're not sure she actually accepted anything Niko said, but it hit close enough to home to seriously jar her. Of course, some of that might be Niko just breaking down and throwing herself at her.
She meets your eyes, and there's a plea in her gaze.
A twinge of amusement sparks through you as you stride forward, detouring around Saki, on the tail end of the hugpile. You can credit Oriko's affronted verdict on her, definitely. Not much of a mastermind, just an instigator. Then again, Oriko did have certain advantages over Hijiri, and you still ran them both down.
You crouch down, touching Niko on the shoulder. It's no easy task, not with the mass of girls clustered around Hijiri's feet. "Niko? You're making Hijiri uncomfortable."
"N-no," Niko manages. "No, I'm sorry, Hijiri, please don't go away-"
You blink. That's not quite what you were expecting.
Hijiri makes an uncomfortable noise, trying to pry Niko's arms off. "Please let go of me."
Niko just wails louder and tightens her grip.
You exchange a look with Mami, and then Sayaka, who shrugs helplessly.
Mami, on the other hand, has a thoughtful look on her face. She crouches down to tap Kazumi on the shoulder. "Kazumi?"
"Yes, Mami-sempai?" Kazumi says, almost on reflex.
"I think you should all let Hijiri go," Mami says gently. "You're making her very uncomfortable."
Kazumi blinks, crimson eyes confused for a second before she actually looks at Hijiri. Comprehension dawns, and she nods. "OK."
You beam at Mami, taking her hand and squeezing gently. Of course she'd know the best way to break it up.
It takes a few minutes of careful chivvying and cajoling, but Kazumi manages to disentangle everyone from Hijiri, even Niko. The blonde girl's eyes are red, sniffling as she swipes at her nose.
"I'm sorry, Hijiri," Niko says, facing her clone. But her heart isn't really in it, that much you can tell.
Kazumi wraps her arm around Niko's shoulders, pulling her into a sidelong hug. "Niko? We need to find this Airi. Do you want to sit this out, with Hijiri?"
You bite your lip, watching Niko. You'd been planning on suggesting Hijiri could help to search, for the purposes of building goodwill. Then again... you can't help but harbour that kernel of doubt. She hasn't been telling you everything, you know that much. She's been talking to Airi - why? Has she been giving orders? Plans?
"No," Niko says, shaking her head and taking a deep breath. "I need to- I need to do something."
"Gotcha," Kazumi says, smiling and hugging Niko a little tighter before letting her go and turning to Hijiri. "Can you call her in?"
"Airi?" Hijiri says, frowning. Her earlier discomfort subsumes itself back under careful control, steadying out now that she has something to focus on. "No. I didn't... neither of us were in charge. She won't listen to me."
"Convenient," Mirai mutters under her breath as you step forward, quiet enough that you wouldn't have caught it if you weren't right in front of her.
"Is there anything more you can tell us?" you ask. "Anything that might help us track her down? Or anything that might be useful?"
"She was fleeing south-east," Hijiri says. "That much I can tell you. She was staying somewhere in that area, I think, but I'm not sure. When we met up for, uh, discussion, she always preferred to meet near there."
Kazumi frowns. "We really need to get moving," she decides. "Same groups as earlier? Mirai, Niko, and Saki, Miss Sayaka?"
"Works for me," Sayaka agrees, everyone else chiming in with general affirmation. "Uh, what about Hijiri?"
"You could let me go," Hijiri says sourly, folding her arms. Her heart isn't in it, though, her eyes distant.
"I don't think we can spare anyone to guard-" you quirk an eyebrow at Kazumi, who shakes her head, "-and I still want to talk to her, so is it alright if I bring her with us?"
"Oh boy," Hijiri says, with all the enthusiasm of a month-dead snail.
"Niko?" Kazumi asks, hug tightening for a second on her friend.
"That's-" Niko shakes her head. "That's fine. I need- separation. Clear my head."
"Right," you say. "And, uh... Saki? You have a Grief Seed on you, partially used. Could I have it? I'd like to make a Clear Seed out of it."
"Uhh," Saki says, glancing at Kazumi.
"Ah, that's right," Kazumi says, rooting around in her pocket. "Sabrina gave us another Clear Seed, everyone. So, um, sure, Sabrina. Why do you need Saki's Grief Seed specifically?"
"Different Grief Seeds are different from each other," you say with a shrug, an uncomfortable little squirm twisting your stomach. You don't like lying, even for a good cause, and... phrasing, Kazumi.
Saki shrugs, and walks across the group to hand you the Grief Seed. You recieve it with a smile and quiet thanks, checking it again, just to be sure. It's no more than a whisper in your mind, but sepulchral and chilling nevertheless: Arzt Kochen.
All the more so because you have a person's name to associate with that. Asuka Yuuri.
Kazumi claps her hands, the sound like a gunshot and enough to make you start. "Listen up, everyone!" she says, looking around at her friends. "Now - we're going to join our friends who are already searching for Anri Airi. Stay in contact, stay in pairs, alright?"
Mami has a proud smile on her face, and you grin at her. She ducks her head, and moves over to hug you instead as you all start heading to the roof. Without prompting, Hijiri trails after you. Niko takes wing first, with Mirai held securely in her arms.
Sayaka stands off to the side, gripping the edge of her cloak and frowning. A sharp jerk, and a twirl to the side, and there's a second Sayaka there, who grins at the original and holds up a hand for a high-five. Sayaka creates another clone and they both take off, before nodding at Saki. The platinum-blonde clenches her fist, and vanishes in a blazing crackle of lightning.
Sayaka takes to the air after the streak of electricity, cape fluttering behind her like wings.
Kazumi and you both have your own platforms ready, and you take to the skies.
"Don't forget to call in if you find Anri," you note. "We have the advantage of numbers, so we should make use of that as much as possible, right? And- please, I know you all have your grievances against her, but I want to try and talk to her. She sounds desperate, more hurt than crazy. I'm here to fix things - what kind of magical girl would I be, if I didn't try to talk her down?"
"Agreed. Call in for backup if you find her," Kazumi says. "Satomi, Miss Mikuni, any updates?"
"We've been checking the parks," Satomi responds. "No luck so far."
"Similarly none," Oriko responds.
You nod, frowning, and glance back at Hijiri. "Comfy back there?" you call.
"I suppose," she grumbles.
You eye her for a second. She's definitely got something on her mind, now that she doesn't have anything to focus on. You're not naive enough to simply leave her unwatched, metaphorically speaking, so you keep enough of your Grief fog near her to pick up on subvocalization, if she is.
Mami nestles against your side. "This is almost familiar," she muses quietly.
"Hmm?" you ask, wrapping your arm around her waist as you dip lower to the ground. It's almost frustrating - the sun is well and truly up now, and you can't get too low to the ground even with your new and improved nanoscale camouflage.
"I've had to handle magical girls trying to attack me before," Mami says. "It was long ago."
"I can imagine," you say, smiling and poking her on the tip of her nose. "Who'd dare to attack Tomoe Mami now, right?"
Mami shakes her head. "It was lonely," she says, exhaling. "But I have you now."
"You do," you agree with quiet assurance, taking her hand and squeezing gently.
You spend a few moments in companionable silence, soaking in both each others' presence, and the city rolling past beneath you. You can, perhaps, see Sayaka's flight platform off in the distance, or maybe that's just your imagination. Kazumi's coordinating with telepathic murmurs a careful, fan-shaped sweep filled in by zigzagging across your areas of search until you catch up with the search parties already out.
"Just so you know," you murmur, casting a careful look over your shoulder. "I... do you remember, when I told you that there was information I knew that could be... deeply upsetting?"
Mami goes still in your arms. "Yes?"
"I think Anri might know some of it too," you say. "Just... I wanted to warn you. I might have to shut her up quickly."
"Oh," Mami says, cuddling closer to you. "Alright. I- I trust you, Sabrina. It's... the same, right?"
"Yeah," you say, surveying the city below. You're passing over a park, lush greenery surrounding a large pond. "You said, back then, that you were OK with not knowing. And... it's dangerous knowledge, in a way."
Mami nods, ducking her head against your side.
"I'm not sure how to protect the Pleiades," you admit, curling your arm firmly around her. "It... I don't know how to tell them in a way that doesn't make them curious about it."
"I think you made a good start," Mami says, taking a careful breath. "Suggesting that everyone group up before moving in. But it's not a guarantee..." She bites her lip. "Maybe you should ask Miss Mikuni to tell them explicitly that Anri is too dangerous to face without backup?"
"Yeah," you say, frowning. "It could work, since we've mentioned that she's a seer."
Mami nods, nestling closer.
"I'll think about it," you decide, and shift smoothly to speak out loud. "Do you have any ideas on how to find Anri?"
"Not in Asunaro. I know Mitakihara City like the back of my own hand, so..." Mami says, shaking her head. "I could guess at hiding places, or I would wait for them to come to me." She sighs. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be," you say, hugging her a little closer.
"I wouldn't mind trying your idea, with the ribbons to boost your range?" Mami suggests, and blushes. "It would, um. Probably take most of my attention, though."
... you're pretty sure Hijiri's communicating via telepathy. Again.
Voting opens
[] Talk to Hijiri
- [] Confront her about the telepathy
- [] Prompt her about Niko
- [] Something else?
[] Searching
- [] Conventional searching, per Kazumi's directive
- [] Grief sensor plus ribbon boost
[] Write-in (word count limit: 150 words)
Apologies for how late this update is. Been a crazy few days.
You close your eyes for a second and exhale, smiling faintly. That does seem a little self-centered, but oh well. You are asking because you want to help people, so there's that, at least.
That said...
Hijiri looks uncomfortable and unsettled and petrified, frozen in place. You're not sure she actually accepted anything Niko said, but it hit close enough to home to seriously jar her. Of course, some of that might be Niko just breaking down and throwing herself at her.
She meets your eyes, and there's a plea in her gaze.
A twinge of amusement sparks through you as you stride forward, detouring around Saki, on the tail end of the hugpile. You can credit Oriko's affronted verdict on her, definitely. Not much of a mastermind, just an instigator. Then again, Oriko did have certain advantages over Hijiri, and you still ran them both down.
You crouch down, touching Niko on the shoulder. It's no easy task, not with the mass of girls clustered around Hijiri's feet. "Niko? You're making Hijiri uncomfortable."
"N-no," Niko manages. "No, I'm sorry, Hijiri, please don't go away-"
You blink. That's not quite what you were expecting.
Hijiri makes an uncomfortable noise, trying to pry Niko's arms off. "Please let go of me."
Niko just wails louder and tightens her grip.
You exchange a look with Mami, and then Sayaka, who shrugs helplessly.
Mami, on the other hand, has a thoughtful look on her face. She crouches down to tap Kazumi on the shoulder. "Kazumi?"
"Yes, Mami-sempai?" Kazumi says, almost on reflex.
"I think you should all let Hijiri go," Mami says gently. "You're making her very uncomfortable."
Kazumi blinks, crimson eyes confused for a second before she actually looks at Hijiri. Comprehension dawns, and she nods. "OK."
You beam at Mami, taking her hand and squeezing gently. Of course she'd know the best way to break it up.
It takes a few minutes of careful chivvying and cajoling, but Kazumi manages to disentangle everyone from Hijiri, even Niko. The blonde girl's eyes are red, sniffling as she swipes at her nose.
"I'm sorry, Hijiri," Niko says, facing her clone. But her heart isn't really in it, that much you can tell.
Kazumi wraps her arm around Niko's shoulders, pulling her into a sidelong hug. "Niko? We need to find this Airi. Do you want to sit this out, with Hijiri?"
You bite your lip, watching Niko. You'd been planning on suggesting Hijiri could help to search, for the purposes of building goodwill. Then again... you can't help but harbour that kernel of doubt. She hasn't been telling you everything, you know that much. She's been talking to Airi - why? Has she been giving orders? Plans?
"No," Niko says, shaking her head and taking a deep breath. "I need to- I need to do something."
"Gotcha," Kazumi says, smiling and hugging Niko a little tighter before letting her go and turning to Hijiri. "Can you call her in?"
"Airi?" Hijiri says, frowning. Her earlier discomfort subsumes itself back under careful control, steadying out now that she has something to focus on. "No. I didn't... neither of us were in charge. She won't listen to me."
"Convenient," Mirai mutters under her breath as you step forward, quiet enough that you wouldn't have caught it if you weren't right in front of her.
"Is there anything more you can tell us?" you ask. "Anything that might help us track her down? Or anything that might be useful?"
"She was fleeing south-east," Hijiri says. "That much I can tell you. She was staying somewhere in that area, I think, but I'm not sure. When we met up for, uh, discussion, she always preferred to meet near there."
Kazumi frowns. "We really need to get moving," she decides. "Same groups as earlier? Mirai, Niko, and Saki, Miss Sayaka?"
"Works for me," Sayaka agrees, everyone else chiming in with general affirmation. "Uh, what about Hijiri?"
"You could let me go," Hijiri says sourly, folding her arms. Her heart isn't in it, though, her eyes distant.
"I don't think we can spare anyone to guard-" you quirk an eyebrow at Kazumi, who shakes her head, "-and I still want to talk to her, so is it alright if I bring her with us?"
"Oh boy," Hijiri says, with all the enthusiasm of a month-dead snail.
"Niko?" Kazumi asks, hug tightening for a second on her friend.
"That's-" Niko shakes her head. "That's fine. I need- separation. Clear my head."
"Right," you say. "And, uh... Saki? You have a Grief Seed on you, partially used. Could I have it? I'd like to make a Clear Seed out of it."
"Uhh," Saki says, glancing at Kazumi.
"Ah, that's right," Kazumi says, rooting around in her pocket. "Sabrina gave us another Clear Seed, everyone. So, um, sure, Sabrina. Why do you need Saki's Grief Seed specifically?"
"Different Grief Seeds are different from each other," you say with a shrug, an uncomfortable little squirm twisting your stomach. You don't like lying, even for a good cause, and... phrasing, Kazumi.
Saki shrugs, and walks across the group to hand you the Grief Seed. You recieve it with a smile and quiet thanks, checking it again, just to be sure. It's no more than a whisper in your mind, but sepulchral and chilling nevertheless: Arzt Kochen.
All the more so because you have a person's name to associate with that. Asuka Yuuri.
Kazumi claps her hands, the sound like a gunshot and enough to make you start. "Listen up, everyone!" she says, looking around at her friends. "Now - we're going to join our friends who are already searching for Anri Airi. Stay in contact, stay in pairs, alright?"
Mami has a proud smile on her face, and you grin at her. She ducks her head, and moves over to hug you instead as you all start heading to the roof. Without prompting, Hijiri trails after you. Niko takes wing first, with Mirai held securely in her arms.
Sayaka stands off to the side, gripping the edge of her cloak and frowning. A sharp jerk, and a twirl to the side, and there's a second Sayaka there, who grins at the original and holds up a hand for a high-five. Sayaka creates another clone and they both take off, before nodding at Saki. The platinum-blonde clenches her fist, and vanishes in a blazing crackle of lightning.
Sayaka takes to the air after the streak of electricity, cape fluttering behind her like wings.
Kazumi and you both have your own platforms ready, and you take to the skies.
"Don't forget to call in if you find Anri," you note. "We have the advantage of numbers, so we should make use of that as much as possible, right? And- please, I know you all have your grievances against her, but I want to try and talk to her. She sounds desperate, more hurt than crazy. I'm here to fix things - what kind of magical girl would I be, if I didn't try to talk her down?"
"Agreed. Call in for backup if you find her," Kazumi says. "Satomi, Miss Mikuni, any updates?"
"We've been checking the parks," Satomi responds. "No luck so far."
"Similarly none," Oriko responds.
You nod, frowning, and glance back at Hijiri. "Comfy back there?" you call.
"I suppose," she grumbles.
You eye her for a second. She's definitely got something on her mind, now that she doesn't have anything to focus on. You're not naive enough to simply leave her unwatched, metaphorically speaking, so you keep enough of your Grief fog near her to pick up on subvocalization, if she is.
Mami nestles against your side. "This is almost familiar," she muses quietly.
"Hmm?" you ask, wrapping your arm around her waist as you dip lower to the ground. It's almost frustrating - the sun is well and truly up now, and you can't get too low to the ground even with your new and improved nanoscale camouflage.
"I've had to handle magical girls trying to attack me before," Mami says. "It was long ago."
"I can imagine," you say, smiling and poking her on the tip of her nose. "Who'd dare to attack Tomoe Mami now, right?"
Mami shakes her head. "It was lonely," she says, exhaling. "But I have you now."
"You do," you agree with quiet assurance, taking her hand and squeezing gently.
You spend a few moments in companionable silence, soaking in both each others' presence, and the city rolling past beneath you. You can, perhaps, see Sayaka's flight platform off in the distance, or maybe that's just your imagination. Kazumi's coordinating with telepathic murmurs a careful, fan-shaped sweep filled in by zigzagging across your areas of search until you catch up with the search parties already out.
"Just so you know," you murmur, casting a careful look over your shoulder. "I... do you remember, when I told you that there was information I knew that could be... deeply upsetting?"
Mami goes still in your arms. "Yes?"
"I think Anri might know some of it too," you say. "Just... I wanted to warn you. I might have to shut her up quickly."
"Oh," Mami says, cuddling closer to you. "Alright. I- I trust you, Sabrina. It's... the same, right?"
"Yeah," you say, surveying the city below. You're passing over a park, lush greenery surrounding a large pond. "You said, back then, that you were OK with not knowing. And... it's dangerous knowledge, in a way."
Mami nods, ducking her head against your side.
"I'm not sure how to protect the Pleiades," you admit, curling your arm firmly around her. "It... I don't know how to tell them in a way that doesn't make them curious about it."
"I think you made a good start," Mami says, taking a careful breath. "Suggesting that everyone group up before moving in. But it's not a guarantee..." She bites her lip. "Maybe you should ask Miss Mikuni to tell them explicitly that Anri is too dangerous to face without backup?"
"Yeah," you say, frowning. "It could work, since we've mentioned that she's a seer."
Mami nods, nestling closer.
"I'll think about it," you decide, and shift smoothly to speak out loud. "Do you have any ideas on how to find Anri?"
"Not in Asunaro. I know Mitakihara City like the back of my own hand, so..." Mami says, shaking her head. "I could guess at hiding places, or I would wait for them to come to me." She sighs. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be," you say, hugging her a little closer.
"I wouldn't mind trying your idea, with the ribbons to boost your range?" Mami suggests, and blushes. "It would, um. Probably take most of my attention, though."
... you're pretty sure Hijiri's communicating via telepathy. Again.
Voting opens
[] Talk to Hijiri
- [] Confront her about the telepathy
- [] Prompt her about Niko
- [] Something else?
[] Searching
- [] Conventional searching, per Kazumi's directive
- [] Grief sensor plus ribbon boost
[] Write-in (word count limit: 150 words)
=====
Apologies for how late this update is. Been a crazy few days.
Last edited:
- Location
- ⇙
Things seem to be going okay, but we should have offered to clean Nikos gem.
Onmur
Archangel of Nutella.
Well, we probably shouldn't do the Ribbon thing now, since we're alone with Hijiri.
I'd like to confront Hijiri; be honest, tell her we know she's been telepathying; ask her to trust us...
But I think, first, I'd like to talk with her about the future. About her release, her freedom, what she plans to do once this is all solved; offer transport while we're at it, we could test that 'travel anywhere in the world under two hours' thing.
Promise to help her out with all that, if she promises to give us the chance.
After that, maybe confront her. But not... immediately?
I'd like to confront Hijiri; be honest, tell her we know she's been telepathying; ask her to trust us...
But I think, first, I'd like to talk with her about the future. About her release, her freedom, what she plans to do once this is all solved; offer transport while we're at it, we could test that 'travel anywhere in the world under two hours' thing.
Promise to help her out with all that, if she promises to give us the chance.
After that, maybe confront her. But not... immediately?
- Location
- The Surface Of A Hostile Planet
Fixed by based Firn. Getting Oriko to support it is probably a good idea.
Last edited:
Kkutlord
Prince of Breath
- Location
- Indianapolis, Indiana
If Sabrina confronts Hijiri about the telepathy, I think Sabrina should go like "You've been awfully quiet, talking with Niko back there?" So that way Sabrina gets two birds with one stone whilst avoiding a confrontation after all this work reasoning with her. However Sabrina also shouldn't get pushy about the Niko topic, and generally use this as an opportunity to further befriend her.
Though regarding Yuuri, did Sabrina clear her and the update just didn't go into details? Don't see any particular reason she wouldn't have. Hmm... Maybe it should become standard practice for Sabrina to clear every Seed she can? The process isn't too difficult and time consuming, plus making this standard operating procedure avoids similar or worse scenarios like just then. That, and having a surplus of Clear Seeds means Sabrina can hand them out should a Magical Girl she's helping be in too much of a rush for a new one.
Though regarding Yuuri, did Sabrina clear her and the update just didn't go into details? Don't see any particular reason she wouldn't have. Hmm... Maybe it should become standard practice for Sabrina to clear every Seed she can? The process isn't too difficult and time consuming, plus making this standard operating procedure avoids similar or worse scenarios like just then. That, and having a surplus of Clear Seeds means Sabrina can hand them out should a Magical Girl she's helping be in too much of a rush for a new one.