Well, whatever else, it's obviously not a happy ending for Homura.

There's an esoteric happy ending, and there's literally calling herself a devil and smiling like
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There are literally familiars running after her and throwing tomatoes at her how is that a happy ending
I mean it was written by Gen Urobuchi aka Urobutcher. If anything Rebellion was course correcting to be in line with most of his other works :V
 
No, I think that's Kaizuki confirming that PMAS won't be using that feature. So it's not off topic.

I know that, I'm joking. The vague wording and non-sequitor of Kai's post leaves it open to interpretation, so I'm implying Kaizuki wants to ignore votes for the nefarious purpose of having Sabrina socialise with people. Truly an evil agenda.
 
Our group name is a connection to everyone who adopts it, so whether or not one likes White Ribbon, the chosen name must "offer something" to the persons joining Sabrina and her merry band. Sterile names are not better.

Expanding Yuki's network via Sayaklone Airlines is the wired topic RN. Let's get her on the mainland before she heads home, thereby we pay our ace defense partner well (offscreen.) Shuffling her troops and prisoners is actually short work, leaving her time to do this.

What is our "new voting feature?" Are SV Quests going to be on American mail-in ballots now? (This is a joke.)
 
What is our "new voting feature?" Are SV Quests going to be on American mail-in ballots now? (This is a joke.)

Here's the full writeup, but in short, there's now a feature that lets QM's automatically open a vote at a certain point in time, keep it open until another point in time, and then automatically post a tally of all votes that happened during that period.
 
Lowlife pt. 24
"I..." You take a second to think about it. You'd dearly love to be back in Mitakihara, be back to hang out with your friends, with your adopted little sister. To relax with Mami, and everyone else. To not let Shin down, because he trusted you, because you don't want to betray that trust.

But...

You look at the scared, crying girls in front of you, and at the bland grey office building Yuki claimed - where Yuki has the Iowa girls imprisoned. You bite your lip, thinking as you all start to descend down towards the rooftop.

You have a responsibility to see this through. But you also have a responsibility to Nagisa, to Shin, who entrusted her to your care. Which means...

You bite back a sigh. Which means it's time to shovel more responsibility onto your plate.

"Cancel it," you say. "But... edit it for me?"

"Mmm?" Hitomi says. "How do you..."

"I've got it," Madoka says.

"Thank you," Hitomi says, sheepishness seeping into her mental voice. "I haven't used this kind of phone for, um, a while."

Dammit, you'd never even gotten to finish your shopping trip. You'd been intending to get an actual smartphone instead of the flip phone... well, at least you got the suit. The very nice suit, if you do say so yourself, and Mami definitely agrees, so that's what counts.

"I've got it!" Madoka says brightly. "Did you say you wanted the message edited, Sabrina?"

"Yeah, uh..." you think for a moment on the phrasing. "An apology, I think. Something like... 'I'm sorry, I really didn't expect this. My calendar is a mess right now, but could we speak about what happened sometime soon?'."

"The original message already had an apology! Multiple apologies, actually..." Madoka says. "I'll, um, leave that one out?"

"You're thinking of telling him," Hitomi observes. "Like my parents."

"Yeah and yeah," you say. "Then... when you've got that composed, send it?"

"OK!" Madoka says.

"And Madoka, Hitomi?" you say. "Thank you. Seriously. If you two weren't here for me... I would be in big trouble."

"It's the least we could do," Hitomi says.

"Yeah! I'm glad we could help," Madoka says happily. "And Nagisa's really adorable, too."

"Well, again, thank you," you say. "And I'll see you again soon."

"Hang in there!" Madoka says encouragingly.

"Good luck," Hitomi says.

You sigh as the telepathic call ends, and close your eyes for a second. You exhale slowly, and take stock once more: Mami, tucked firmly under your arm. The warm, humid breeze that sets your hair fluttering, and the warmth of the sun blazing down upon you. You can hear quiet conversation that you deliberately tune out: Kyouko and Mika, away on their own platform, the trio of Burmese girls you'd helped out. Kazumi and Kaoru standing to the side, the former with a proud smile and the latter with a sheepishly pleased look, and Yuma, having been drawn into their wake, fidgeting in embarrassment from effusive praise.

Roof-level's approaching fast, too, and you'll get solid ground under your feet for what feels like the first time in ages. You keep your eye on the trio of local girls as you descend, and you keep an eye on their Soul Gems, draining them periodically.

"What's happening, Sabrina?" Mami asks with a smile.

"Confirmed the message sent to Mr. Momoe," you say. "With an addendum that maybe we should catch up to talk about what called me away."

"Ah," Mami says, chewing on her lower lip as she thinks about it. "Ah, I see. I can't say I wouldn't prefer to be back in Mitakihara, shopping with our friends, but... some things are more important."

"Yeah," you say. "We have a responsibility."

Mami smiles at you, leaning her weight into your side as you hit the roof at a smooth deceleration, Grief dissolving from beneath your boots to be replaced by solid concrete. Kyouko and Mika -who you're determinedly not paying attention to still because if your friend wants privacy she gets privacy- you leave on the far side of the roof, behind the stairwell and well out of earshot.

You lean against the parapet. It's different from Mitakihara, not quite the same urban metropolis of your home, but the texture of the sounds, the smells, feels familiar enough to be comforting.

"Hey, Yuma, Kaoru?" you say after a moment of quiet contemplation, turning to your friends. "You both did amazing back there. Thank you."

"Hah, I definitely couldn't have done it without the squirt," Kaoru says. "She's a better healer than I am."

"Yuma is not a squirt!" Yuma protests.

"Yes, you are," Kyouko says, sauntering over to ruffle Yuma's hair. Yuma makes a pleased noise and leans into the hug. "What's happening?"

Mika follows, enigmatically unruffled smile on her face and hands tucked behind her back.

"Between her and Kaoru, they managed to heal the local girls," you say. "It was something to do with their nerves, apparently."

"Yeah?" Kyouko drawls. There's something sharp about her gaze, some purpose that had been missing earlier, subsumed in the fires of that simmering anger that seems to be banked. For now.

"Yuma didn't notice it," Yuma says, looking down.

"We'll work on it, squirt," Kyouko says. "Can't rely on your powers to do all the work."

"She did great," Kazumi says sharply. "Right, Kaoru?"

"Right!" Kaoru says, nodding firmly. "Like I said. I couldn't have done it without her helping me."

"Yeah, yeah," Kyouko grumbles, retrieving a bag of chips that's way too big to fit in her pockets and yet emerges from said pocket without protest. She tears it open with a crinkle of plastic and offers some to Yuma. "Back off, sparky."

"Don't fight our friends, big sis," Yuma says, tugging at Kyouko's costume.

"I'm not fightin' em," Kyouko says, popping a chip into her mouth and crunching down loudly. "Ain't that right?"

Kazumi rolls her eyes, metaphorical light bulb going off over her head as she relaxes. Kyouko's eyes narrow slightly. Someone's stomach gurgles.

All eyes track across the rooftop to the local girls. One of them -Cho Kaung Sa, the one who had her hair in braids- blushes red through the drying tear tracks, ducking her head slightly.

"Sorry," she mumbles in burmese, and switches to heavily accented english. "Sorry?"

Kyouko looks down at the bag of chips in her hand, looks at the girls, and sighs heavily before hauling out a package from behind her back and lobbing it gently in their general direction. You get a glimpse of the brightly-coloured label as Ta Kaung Chien catches the package. Muesli bars.

"Not one fucking word," Kyouko says, jabbing a finger at you. "An' you're replacing that for me."

You shrug, grinning at her and mime zipping your mouth shut. Mami beams happily at Kyouko, who folds her arms and pointedly turns away from all of you. Kazumi sidles over to you, a question in her bright crimson eyes.

"The answer is yes, but if she ever hears the t-word she will stab you," you whisper before she can get a word off. "So don't."

"Ah," Kazumi says, nodding thoughtfully. "That does make sense."

Ta Kaung Chien, too, walks over, one of the muesli bars held loosely in her hand. Her head's held high despite the drying teartracks on her face, despite the dirt encrusted in her clothes and smeared in her hair. You turn to face her properly as she approaches, Mami straightening and turning to face her too.

"Are you in charge?" she asks in burmese.

"I... suppose I am," you say, waggling your hand slightly. "Yeah." You smile at her, and her sisters, who are hanging back. "How are you doing?"

"Better," Ta Kaung Chien says. "We... want to thank you for your help." She bows. "Is there anything we can do in return?"

You exhale, and smile at her. "Well. We're here because we wanted to help, so really, I should be asking you that," you say. "We're not going to coerce you into anything, and nor do we hold you in any debt to be repaid or anything. So... you're free to go at any time."

"Oh," Ta Kaung Chien says, blinking.

"I should offer an explanation, I suppose," you say, rubbing your nose. "As I mentioned, we're from Japan. Mitakihara City. We, uh, noticed them scrying on us ahead of time, and... well, knowing their reputation, we figured we'd be targets soon, so we decided to deal with it first, and help whoever they were currently targeting."

"Oh," Ta Kaung Chien says again. "That... was lucky for us, I suppose."

"Easy, Sabrina," Mami murmurs. "Maybe make it brief for them? They need time, and space, and I think they'd rather have us out of their hair sooner rather than later."

You shoot the other two sisters a look, the way they lean against each other for support, and the way Ta Kaung Chien's holding herself together with little more than stubborn pride.

"I..." you smile softly, and shake your head. "Alright. I'll just go through several things quickly, and we'll be out of here, if that's alright with you?"

"We mean no offense," Ta Kaung Chien says, shaking her head. "We're not... really in a state to have visitors."

"None taken. I understand," you say. You take a deep breath. "OK. First, do you need anything? Food, shelter, money, cleansing? I can offer all that, with no conditions, and no time limit."

"I, ah... we would like our Grief Seeds back," Ta Kaung Chien says. "The invaders took them, and they made us hunt for them. They haven't used them all."

"You have a place to stay?" you press gently. You simultaneously relay the request to Yuki, who answers with a terse affirmative. "Funds to tide you over? And... I can definitely top up the Seeds, or better, if you want. My powers let me make it so that Grief Seeds last much, much longer, among other things."

"We do," Ta Kaung Chien replies, tipping her chin up defiantly.

You bite your lip slightly, fighting the urge to exchange a look with Mami. You don't want to press the issue, not under the circumstances, but you don't want to leave them bereft of support, either - and they're strangers. Could she be refusing out of pure, stubborn pride and ill-placed independence? You hope not, but you're not sure.

"It doesn't cost me anything, if you want it," you try again. "And in turn, I won't ask anything from you for it."

Ta Kaung Chien shakes her head. "Thank you, but... we just need time."

"Oi. 'brina," Kyouko grunts. She levels a glare at you, eyes hooded despite her lazy slouch against the parapet. "Don't harass them. If they don't want whatever, they don't. Also, you're predictable."

You close your eyes briefly, and nod.

"If you ever change your mind, the offer remains open indefinitely," you say, smiling. "There's just one last matter, then... this building we're on." You tap on the concrete roof with your foot. "One of my friends claimed it with her powers, and she controls it now. Among other things, this lets us teleport to and fro her other claims, back in Japan. Is that OK with you?"

"We..." Ta Kaung Chien glances down. "... yeah. That would be nice. I think we'd love to have you over to talk, but... later."

"Sending the Grief Seeds up now," Yuki murmurs to you. "The Iowa girls were carrying them."

Simultaneously, the floor beside your foot moulds upwards, dirty concrete flowing like water until it forms a little pedestal. Seventeen Grief Seeds rest upon the pedestal, sunlight glinting off the silver filigree where it doesn't sink into abyssal blackness.

"Thanks," you tell Yuki.

Ta Kaung Chien blinks, eyes wide. "Uh... we didn't have this many before they attacked," she says.

"TKC," Cho Kaung Sa hisses - her younger sister.

"We had six," Ta Kaung Chien says firmly. "I'm not sure which ones, though."

"Take a few more?" you say, offering a smile. "For... you know. Everything."

"I... suppose," Ta Kaung Chien says, not making a move towards the Grief Seeds.

You grab nine of them and offer them to the bleunette, and she does take them, at least.

"Thank you," she says again. "I... I'm not sure we can ever repay you, but thank you."

"We came here to help," you say. "As long as we did, then... that's all I can ask."

[] Try and persuade them to take a little more help.
[] They're grieving still. You can follow up later.
- [] It's time to check in on your prisoners
-- [] Write-in your approach (word count limit: 150 words)


=====​

Incidentally, if you're wondering - Burmese names have no concept of first/last/middle names. They just have one name, and the names aren't separable into parts.
 
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Nice and wholesome, just the way we like it.

[] They're grieving still. You can follow up later.

Don't want to keep pushing when they've made their position clear.
 
Mmm, I wanted to offer them our phone number, but international calls are gonna be a murder.
And they probably won't even say anything about it, because

"We do," Ta Kaung Chien replies, tipping her chin up defiantly.

So, manual follow up it is.
Our schedule is the stuff of nightmares.

Nine Grief Seeds. Mmm. Three per one, enough to last, mmm, a little less than two weeks if they don't spiral or some shit.

If we have time on weekends, we could visit them and give our sales pitch then.
 
Ah, excellent, they approved Yuki's building. It's very obvious that they want space right now, so I think we should bid them adieu, with a request put in to meet with them later in the coming week. (We should be able to manage a Thursday or Friday visit).
 
OK, for a brief flipnotes:

[X] They're grieving still, you can follow up later.

I really hope the refusal of help is simply because of this and not out of any pride or xenophobia, because that would be a pain.

[X] It's time to check in on your prisoners.

We need to ask Yuki what she has found out so far from them, and if any additional help is needed from us at all.

That's all I've got.
 
[X] They're grieving still. You can follow up later.


They are clearly shellshocked and Sabrina is being pushy, give them some space, stop pushing. We will probably meet again later, when they are on firmer footing.
 
Give them some space, get back to Japan, and get to work on figuring out the basics of the Iowa crew so that we can be sure they're secured safely?
 
So uh, on a lighter note, imagine Yuma and Nagisa once the magical girl thing is out in the open. Nagisa flying through the air with Yuma shouting about being the Youngest Sempai.
 
[X] They're grieving still. You can follow up later.
- [X] It's time to check in on your prisoners
edit: removed bold.
 
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Loved the update! It's always a bit endearing how people have to reign in Sabrina when she's trying too hard to help.

[X] They're grieving still. You can follow up later.
[X] It's time to check in on your prisoners
 
So how are we doing the interrogation? Block telepathy I guess. Go heavy on mind readers to get the truth? Or go light so they don't clam up? How do we deal with potential shanghai, hidden shanghai due to fear, and false claims of shanghai, with a side of root out the hidden fear shanghai without giving bad actors the idea to do so?
 
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