--[X] The overriding objective is to get something to the effect of "I still care about you" out of Mami and to Kyouko. If that isn't happening on its own, *do whatever you have to do.*
This is very intense and covers a lot of actions. I don't want Sabrina to, like, trap them in an indestructible sphere and shout that this is when they're supposed to make up without our direct approval.
And just generally I think this is the wrong approach to take. Kyoko's and Mami's relationship won't be fixed by a specific phrase, it'll be fixed by Mami showing her genuine emotions and Kyoko believing them. The more we intervene the harder both parts, but especially the second, become.
[X] Don't invite Sayaka.
[X] During the meeting:
-[X] Hands off.
-[X] Break to voting if the encounter is going downhill in a way that Mami is having trouble recovering from.
Right, even if Sayaka isn't going to join in, she does need to know. She's our teammate and partner, and it wouldn't do to just leave her out of the loop.
Personally, I'm inclined towards letting her make the choice herself.
[X] Inform Sayaka and give her your analysis of the situation and the details to decide for herself whether it's wise to join in or not.
[X] Dinner: Vote in Abeyance
[X] The meeting
- [X] Goal: Primary objective is to get Mami and Kyouko to acknowledge and speak candidly about their relationship to each other and feelings about each other.
- [X] Method: Mostly hands off, but take action to guide things it if that isn't happening on it's own.
-[X] Potential specifics
--[X] Interject if something comes up that you feel a need to respond to with "Okay, that's just not true."
--[X] Intervene if the encounter is going downhill in a way that Mami is having trouble recovering from.
Your capitalization leads me to believe that the solution you have in mind is jury rigging a bunch of lethal traps for Kyuubey out of household supplies.
Your capitalization leads me to believe that the solution you have in mind is jury rigging a bunch of lethal traps for Kyuubey out of household supplies.
Your capitalization leads me to believe that the solution you have in mind is jury rigging a bunch of lethal traps for Kyuubey out of household supplies.
Kyubey's relative squishiness means you can easily pulp him like a rotten tomato, which turns the slapstick of Home Alone into a more extreme form of comedy. But still, I'd read that.
I expect that approach to be a lot less effective when she regularly interacts with meguca in happy relationships.
Our Sayaka is a good Sayaka, possibly the best Sayaka a Sayaka can be. She's not in denial about how pure and noble she is, she's not had to rely on Kyuubey for exposition, and she has a bunch of role models none of whom are trying to project an image of unattainable perfection.
I don't mind checking in with Sayaka, but don't make it out of worry for her. We can afford to trust our friends.
I mean, trusting and worrying are different things entirely in my mind, not related in any way to each other.
Trust is about the person who you believe in, because they possess the qualities you admire.
Worry is about yourself, at least in this instance. After all, the appropriate construction of the sentence here is "you worry for someone", not "someone worries you".
[X] Notify Sayaka about the meeting.
-[X] If she chooses not to go, let her know we're afraid QB might try something to push her buttons, and she should be careful.
Okay, so, I recently got reminded of a relatively obscure bit of PMMM trivia:
While the outer pattern on Homura's shield is vertically symmetrical, the inner clockwork isn't - it has a distinct orientation, with the slit that opens facing either up or down while time continues to flow, and facing towards Homura's hand or elbow respectively when time is stopped.
The reason for the ambiguity in orientation is because it isn't constant - it flips whenever Homura switches between timelines, which is an amazing detail that ties into the greater "shield as hourglass" metaphor inherent to Homura's character design, since she inverts her shield to reset time.
Here's the orientation that Homura's shield is in during the canonical "final timeline" while time is stopped:
This is consistent throughout the "final timeline" - whenever we see Homura stop time, the opening in the center is always towards her hand.
And here's an example of the opposite orientation, where time is stopped while Moemura steals guns:
Notice how the opening, instead of being towards Homura's hand, instead faces the other way.
So, given that this is the case, what's going on with Homura's shield in PMAS? We haven't actually checked. What we'd expect to see is for Homura's shield to have the opposite orientation to the canon "final timeline", which would imply that PMAS is, as we expected, a timeline that comes after an alternate ending to the canon events.
But if, instead, Homura's shield has the same orientation as in the canon final timeline? That would imply that some major fuckery is afoot - either that there are two timelines between us and canon, or that events diverged before the last timeline... or that it's a dreamscape, like Rebellion. Because Homura's shield in Rebellion had the same orientation as it did in the fateful timeline where she lost Madoka forever:
So, @Firnagzen : Is Homura's shield in PMAS in an inverted orientation compared to the final PMMM canon timeline? Or in the same orientation?
Okay, so, I recently got reminded of a relatively obscure bit of PMMM trivia:
While the outer pattern on Homura's shield is vertically symmetrical, the inner clockwork isn't - it has a distinct orientation, with the slit that opens facing either up or down while time continues to flow, and facing towards Homura's hand or elbow respectively when time is stopped.
The reason for the ambiguity in orientation is because it isn't constant - it flips whenever Homura switches between timelines, which is an amazing detail that ties into the greater "shield as hourglass" metaphor inherent to Homura's character design, since she inverts her shield to reset time.
Here's the orientation that Homura's shield is in during the canonical "final timeline" while time is stopped:
This is consistent throughout the "final timeline" - whenever we see Homura stop time, the opening in the center is always towards her hand.
And here's an example of the opposite orientation, where time is stopped while Moemura steals guns:
Notice how the opening, instead of being towards Homura's hand, instead faces the other way.
So, given that this is the case, what's going on with Homura's shield in PMAS? We haven't actually checked. What we'd expect to see is for Homura's shield to have the opposite orientation to the canon "final timeline", which would imply that PMAS is, as we expected, a timeline that comes after an alternate ending to the canon events.
But if, instead, Homura's shield has the same orientation as in the canon final timeline? That would imply that some major fuckery is afoot - either that there are two timelines between us and canon, or that events diverged before the last timeline... or that it's a dreamscape, like Rebellion. Because Homura's shield in Rebellion had the same orientation as it did in the fateful timeline where she lost Madoka forever:
So, @Firnagzen : Is Homura's shield in PMAS in an inverted orientation compared to the final PMMM canon timeline? Or in the same orientation?
It's worth noting that the cosplay document appears to be slightly wrong here, at least going by Eternal. In the first loop, where Homura first makes bombs and fights Patricia on a bridge formed from Mami's Ribbons, the shield is rotated counterclockwise to both stop time and to going back in time, just 90 degrees in the first case and 180 in the second.
That said, the rest of this does indeed appear to be sound.
I feel unconfident in my ability to predict Kyouko here, so I'mma vote something close to @Torgamous's vote. I was going to modify it, because I had the inclination to address Homura somehow, but remembered belatedly that she knows Kyouko well enough to handle her somewhat. And she's quick enough on the uptake to not do anything troublesome if we leave her to her own devices, I think? So for the moment:
[X] Torgamous
But if someone has a compelling argument why we should ask Homura for something specific (such as not attending) I'm all ears.
Your capitalization leads me to believe that the solution you have in mind is jury rigging a bunch of lethal traps for Kyuubey out of household supplies.
