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Puella Magi Adfligo Systema

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It's not like there are any other cute magic animals that might be mistaken for Kyubey from the description we've already given.
 
@Firnagzen Lowlife pt. 9, one of the two piano music links got copyright-blammed off youtube ("blocked it in your country", USA), found the "officially licensed" upload though.


EDIT: fuck this auto-conversion thing, how do i unembed the video
 
I want someone to kick me in the side of the head, my jaw hurts so much.

ugh. Anyway. Any consensus on what we want out of the vote? Because I'm still confused.
 
Angrygenius said:
I want someone to kick me in the side of the head, my jaw hurts so much.

ugh. Anyway. Any consensus on what we want out of the vote? Because I'm still confused.
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I've been working on the railroad homusocial all the live long day week lmao

And then, I think Christmas happened lol.

Anyway.

Kaizuki said:
So, I'm of a mind to agree on keeping the therapists line, at which point we can start talking details. A couple nights of thinking about it in the shower have told me it needs some modifications to strike the right image, though -- not just with Shizukis but our friends, too. Because -- well, we'll get there.

Also WPN should probably be our end note. It's going to overshadow everything else, and there is nothing necessitating it come early, so it goes last.

[X] ... In that case, what you'll do is lean on Hitomi and hopefully also Madoka for advice on this. There will have to be an extended talk about what Constellation is capable of -- the list goes on and on and on and you're sure large parts of it have never come up, and that's ignoring Sayaka's constant acquisitions. Monday at lunch, maybe?

//Let Madoka and Hitomi sort out with us what the easiest way they can facilitate income for us would be! Help them be involved in helping us! Actually talk about capabilities for once!

[X] If they want more information about anything, you encourage them to ask. You'll all do your best to answer any questions.
-[X] If they ask about the specific politics of magical girl groups, make a grief model of Japan to help illustrate where everyone is.

//Just ripping this cuz it's k

Now... The outreach/WPN section.

I don't actually have any issue with the first couple lines there...? Well... Hm.

[X] If they're willing, there's a number of other avenues of assistance that they could provide:
-[X] There's going to be points where you will need to talk to other institutions. Some meguca are legally dead. Others have incredibly good reasons for why their grades slipped that they have no way to actually cite. Somebody, is going to have tax problems. Long-run that's only going to be the tip of the iceberg, and bluntly, you'd rather not have to introduce yourself in some insane manner. If it's possible that the Shizukis could facilitate introductions as an intermediary, that would really help -- and on that note, if they could help bring this up with Madoka and Sayaka's families later this week, you would really appreciate that.
-[X] You need therapists. You're well aware of the perception, here, that getting therapy amounts to admitting that something is wrong. But grief is generated by and reinforces negative emotions. A single breakdown leaves you dead on the floor without intervention. And that's ignoring the trauma essentially inherent to a system that forces young people to fight not just monsters but other people who haven't even done them wrong. This isn't an option. You can bring in therapists and get everyone talking with them, or you can get used to finding people dead on their bathroom floor. It'll be one every week or two at first, until the population increases, and then it'll be more. You can vaccinate or die: you've already stopped the exact thing you're describing twice and you have zero interest in missing it once. You'll go. You'll figure out how to get everyone else to go. But you want this... In-house and on call, not through a public provider or something. The normal system is set up for normal people. It won't work for meguca.

//We kind of need to justify this to everyone around us, not just the adults. And just saying "hire" -- why hire, why not just get an appointment. Kind of enormous now, though. Hm. Cutting it down without losing anything critical is doable, I think, but hard.

[X] ... And then there's Walpurgisnacht. "Queen of Witches", it will arrive here the night of the 30th. You'll kill it. It won't kill any of you. You know this thing, you know what you're capable of. But it's difficult to say how much of the city won't be turned into a crater in the process. You're talking about something that could fight Godzilla and win. You've arranged for a weather evacuation alert, and you've talked with Mika about having Nakano Corp assist with the aftermath, but... What you need is the Disaster Management Bureau. This is its job. No substitute exists.
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Redshirt Army said:
I continue to be dissatisfied with @Kaizuki's revised vote. It doesn't bring up talking to Madoka and Sayaka's parents, which I see as very important, and it doesn't bring up therapists. I acknowledge Kai's point about making business ventures go through Hitomi and Madoka, but therapists aren't a business venture, and the sooner we get that process started the better. I'm not waiting until Monday to get those wheels turning. Besides, acknowledging the mental health angle will help the Shizuki's get the right mindset about this and show that we're not happy about the "child soldier" thing either.

Here's my revised vote, with edits in red.

[X] Thank the Shizuki's for hearing you out. You very much appreciate that they took you seriously.
-[X] They've already helped you tremendously, by arranging for housing for incoming refugees. If at all possible, you'd like to expand on that - the number of newcomer magical girls can only grow.
--[X] As before, you'll cover the costs. You'll also discuss things with Hitomi and Madoka soon - perhaps Monday at lunch? - and file the suggested proposals for making money using magic.

[X] If they want more information about anything, you encourage them to ask. You'll all do your best to answer any questions.
-[X] If they ask about the specific politics of magical girl groups, make a grief model of Japan to help illustrate where everyone is.

[X] If they're willing, there's a number of other avenues of assistance that they could provide:
-[X] You'd like to reach out to various companies, universities, and government officials at various points. Having the Shizuki's as intermediaries to get you an introduction would be incredibly helpful - their positions make them far more likely to be taken seriously than a bunch of teenage girls. For that matter, you'd like their assistance in bringing this up with Madoka and Sayaka's families as well, later this week.
--[X] In particular, you're going to need to reach out to a number of groups about "Walpurgisnacht" - a massively powerful wandering witch that will by all indications arrive in Mikakihara on April 30th, and almost certainly cause massive damage before you can put it down. You've already arranged for a weather evacuation alert to be sent, and talked to Mika Nakano about the Nakano Corporation aiding in rebuilding afterwards, but there are so many other things that could help, getting in contact with the Disaster Management Bureau first among them.
--[X] Additionally, with a huge number of traumatized teenagers likely to begin trickling in... you'd *desperately* appreciate help in hiring therapists. Soul Gems are linked to emotions, so you're dealing with people who watched friends die violently in front of their eyes, people who have been forced to constantly fight both monsters and *each other* due to resource scarcity - children, who have been tricked into thinking the whole thing is a game until it very suddenly isn't. And having a breakdown *kills them*, because their gems will fill up because of it. You *need* therapists.
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The only major issue I have with the redshirt vote is putting WPN anywhere but last. I heavily prefer my version of the therapist line but, like -- this isn't going to sink us, yknow? I'd prefer to deal with housing through Hitomi, her parents won't object to expanding it if she's asking if she's also benefiting hilariously from dealing with us (which ofc she will be) and we're paying (which we are).

What el--

hol

hold the phone

y'know we are tellin the shizukis in front of homu that we want to tell the kanames about this stuff. And we never said a word to her about that in advance, did we?

Thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat should be smoothed over. It's not the end of the world but it should be smoothed over. If it's not smoothed over, minimum we might fail to present a united front, maximum... idk. That's not a good thing. That needs to be smoothed over via telepathy before it comes out of our mouth.

@Redshirt Army
 
Kaizuki said:
y'know we are tellin the shizukis in front of homu that we want to tell the kanames about this stuff. And we never said a word to her about that in advance, did we?

Thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat should be smoothed over. It's not the end of the world but it should be smoothed over. If it's not smoothed over, minimum we might fail to present a united front, maximum... idk. That's not a good thing. That needs to be smoothed over via telepathy before it comes out of our mouth.
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Did... Did we specify to do this in the last vote?

FIIIIIIIIIRN!
Edit: speaking of Christmas, I hope everyone enjoyed that little story.
 
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Angrygenius said:
Well, It's that time of year again, huh?

Well, here's a Christmas present from me. I hope you enjoy this work that I had started in September, then forgot about.

Mami was excited. Not in the way one would be excited about the news of going to an amusement park, but rather the excitement of someone about to go to sleep, knowing that tomorrow they would be going on a trip to Rome.

She was excited because it was reaching that time of day, the time when school would let out, and she would meet up with her favorite person in the world.

Sabrina.

Oh, there were plenty of contenders for the top spot. Madoka and Sayaka she had considered her dearest friends, and they in return thought of her as their senpai, even when the horrid truth of Magical girls became apparent. She had a blossoming friendship with Homura and was sympathetic towards the girl with having to go through so much. And she was just beginning to rekindle her lost friendship with Kyouko and making a new one with Kyouko's adopted sister.

But Sabrina always took top spot. Because Sabrina did what none of the others have done, could have done. She had taken her in her arms, beheld her, and told her, "you are not alone".

How long was she alone? How many nights spend alone with herself, living with herself, before going to sleep where the nightmares of lost friends play in her head? How many holidays, Christmases, birthdays, did she have to spend alone, singing a happy birthday to an empty room, and a Christmas toast to the shadows on the walls? How many friends had she made, only to leave her, either never checking in, or hating her for bringing them into her world?

Sabrina changed that. Sabrina came to her, stood by her, and did it with joy. When she was sad, Sabrina was there. Every time she felt lonely, Sabrina was there. Every fear of losing Sabrina fled upon sight of her waiting with open arms at the gates of the school every day. Even when Sabrina had grown powerful enough to be her own magical girl, she remained by Mami's side, not for protection or apprenticeship, but because she wanted to be with her.

Mami could not imagine life without Sabrina anymore. Literally. As Mami watched the minute hand taunt her (she could swear it was giving her the finger), she recalled the time when Sabrina had told her that she knew everything about her, including her state of chronic loneliness. At that moment, Mami thought she had been stabbed. Until that moment, Mami had believed that Sabrina was staying by her side because she wanted to, that she loved her without a doubt. But this revelation… Suddenly Sabrina's love wasn't a genuine one for a girl she had never known but wanted to know more of. Suddenly it was an obligation, a task, That Sabrina had to do, to love the broken, lonely girl so that she doesn't self-destruct. And now, with this revelation, she was done with that task, and was about to leave her, like everyone did. Every fiber of her being rejected this, tying up Sabrina so she wouldn't be able to move, o get away, to leave her forever-! By that point, she knew that Sabrina had the right to go away if she wanted to – even tied up and immobilized, she was sure Sabrina would and could overpower her if she wanted to- But instead, she stayed firm, telling her that from the moment she knew these memories, she had planned to be by Mami's side, and would have done so regardless of those memories. That night was reassurance that Sabrina was the best thing to happen to her in years. But had Sabrina left…

The cold shudder that briefly gripped Mami did little to abate her enthusiasm as the minute hand finally decided there were better things to do than taunt her, and her excitement grew as she counted down the seconds. 20. 19. 18….

She could see her now, standing at the gates with that same smile she always wore. 10. 9. 8…

She would greet Sabrina with a hug, walk home with her friends, and then have Dinner with her most amazing girlfriend.

3…2…1…BING BONG

After rising and bowing with the rest of her classmates, Mami practically sprints through the hallways (not really, of course, as that would have her knock aside a lot of people) as she approaches her main destination. The excitement in her core grew even larger than before, as she approached the main entrance to the school. As she exited the school, she ran forwards, expecting to see her white-haired-

Wait, where was Sabrina?

Mami looked around, her head a swivel, as she viewed the bodies among the crowd of people leaving the school. No Sabrina. She yelled out her name, thinking she might have been obscured by the crowd (though given the girl's height, this was more desperation than anything). No response, just a few glances from the passing crowd. She looked at the truancy officer, hoping that he had at least an inkling of an idea where she could be. He shrugged, knowing the unspoken question she was asking him.

Where was Sabrina?

At this point, her other friends had joined up to her from the crowd. They too were confused when, instead of seeing an adorable hug session between the blonde and the white-head, they instead found said blonde confused and slightly frantic, looking around for what they assumed what the missing white-head.

Sayaka spoke up first. "Hey Mami! Um, where's Sabrina?" She asked, before palming her face. Of course Mami doesn't know, that's why she's looking around! Madoka looked at Sayaka disapprovingly, while Homura looked at her like she had just asked if the moon was made of Velveeta.

Mami turned to look at her newly arrived friends. Though she tried to hide it, they could see a small bit of worry showing on Mami's frowning face. "I don't know" she answered, "She's usually here waiting for me – for us" she corrected, "when school lets out." She looked around at the crowd again, hoping that maybe this time she would see her. But no such luck.

Homura spoke up. "Try contacting her? With telepathy." Mami turned back to Homura as she said this, then gave a little 'o' face before. "Good idea! Let me try that now." With that, Mami tried contacting Sabrina with Telepathy.

'Sabrina? Are you there?'

The silence that crept on for the next few seconds only exacerbated Mami's worries, before-

'Hey Mami! What's up?'

Mami let out the breath she was perfectly aware she was holding at the reply. 'We were wondering where you were. I was worried when I couldn't find you waiting at the school entrance.'

'Wait, you're already out of school?!'

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Sabrina looked down at the watch on her wrist, and discovered that A. The minute hand was laughing at her, and B. apparently, she was so involved in her work that she had missed Mami getting out of school by about 5 minutes.

"SHIT!" 'Mami, I am so, so sorry! I meant to be there, I just lost track of time doing something!'

She didn't hear an immediate response, which worried Sabrina a bit. Was Mami mad now?

Her worries were ablated a bit when the response came. 'It's OK, Sabrina. We were just a bit concerned is all,' She didn't suppress the sigh of relief that came out. She was thankful that Mami's mental stae was better now, but that probably still rattled her a bit. 'Where are you now?'

Sabrina responded quickly. 'I'm at warehouse kun's. It's not what it looks like I swear!'

A bit of radio silence followed, before a voice that was decidedly not Mami's piped in. 'Sooo what does it look like?'

'Not 'till you're older, raspberry'

'You know that doesn't make you sound any less conspicuous, right?'

'Oh, Sabrina…'

There she is. 'Heh. But yeah, I was working on something over here, and I suppose I lost track of time. Again, I'm sorry about that.'

This time, Madoka pipes up 'We said it's fine, Sabrina! So, what were you making?' before hastily adding A-ah, if it's not too much trouble!'

Sabrina thinks about it for a moment, before deciding that a surprise would give a better reaction. 'I can't tell you that, I'm sorry.'

Mami piped in 'Why not? Is it a surprise?'

Well damn Sabrina thought 'Yeah, it is.'

'Is it for me?'

'…yeah.'

'O-oh! When can we see it?'

Sabrina thinks for a moment, before an Idea pops into her head. She had planned on doing this anyway, but if she could do it fast and carefully enough… 'Actually, If all of you want to, you can head on over to our apartment and I'll show you!'

'O-oh… So, you won't be walking with us?' Sabrina couldn't help but feel rather guilty with how sad and disappointed Mami's reply sounded.

'I'm sorry, but it'll take some time to transport this from here to our place and get it ready for showing. I'll try and join up with you when I'm done, though!' Sabrina hoped this would placate her some. She wanted to walk home with her, she really did, but doing so would mean she couldn't bring home what she was working on, and this kind of thing was one that really deserved to be first presented in the place where it was made to be placed at.

There was a lack of reply for a bit, before… 'Ok, Sabrina. I'll see you when I get home! I hope it's a pleasant surprise!'

'Don't worry, I'm sure the wait will be worth it!' Sabrina replied back. With that over with, she turned back to her current dilemma. Now, how to get this mounted on a wall…

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Mami pondered at her conversation with Sabrina. Sabrina had made a surprise for her, but had to forego meeting her at the school in order to deliver the surprise she had made for her to her home. This left Mami with conflicting feelings. On one hand, she was missing one of the favorite parts of her day, being able to walk home with the one who had made her feel special after years of having no one to cling to. On the other, however, said person had made a surprise for her, which from the sound of things was a gift of some kind, which made her feel excited and a bit giddy. Not wanting to be away from Sabrina for longer than was absolutely necessary, she turned to her friends. "Well, Is everyone coming along?"

Sayaka grins. "Sure! I wouldn't miss this for the world."

Madoka smiles "I would like to see too, if you wouldn't mind, Mami-san."

Homura wordlessly nods at Madoka's statement. Hitomi pulls out her phone. "I'll come along too, let me just let my parents know so the driver doesn't come all this way for nothing."

Mami smiled at her friends. At least I won't be alone on this walk. "well, let's be off then!"

And so they began their journey to Mami's apartment, waiting to see what surprise Sabrina had in store for their Blonde-haired friend. Almost immediately, conversation sprung aloud between the girls, lively and friendly.

"So, everyone's coming along, huh? Even Homura!"

"I'm curious."

"I think we all are Sayaka-chan. I'm a bit more surprised that you're coming along as well."

"Like I said, I wouldn't miss this for the world!"

"You just want to see me and Sabrina have a tender moment and then poke fun at us for being gushingly sweet, right?"

Sayaka stared at Mami for a moment.

"Well, am I wrong?"

Sayaka stared at Mami for another moment before shrugging her shoulders. "Eh, pretty much."

Madoka tittered into her hand, a light fluffy laugh. "That's not very nice, Sayaka-chan."

"Look me in the eye and tell me your blood sugar doesn't spike whenever those two get all lovey-dovey with each other."

Madoka looked away. "ehhh…"

"Exactly."

Homura nodded minutely. "You two are very adorable together."

"Forbidden love tends to be like that." Hitomi chimed in.

Mami definitely did not purposely bump into Hitomi after that statement, and she also did not meet Hitomi's eyes when she looked at Mami funny.

Sayaka brought back the conversation. "So, what do you think the surprise is? An early Christmas present? I mean, it IS pretty close to Christmas, even if there's no snow."

Madoka looked at Sayaka, a bit surprised. "Wait, it's December?!"

Sayaka blinked. "Uhh, yeah. In fact, I think there's like, 10 days 'till Christmas."

Madoka slumped. "Uuuuu~ I didn't pay attention to the daaaaate!!"

Mami looked at Madoka pityingly. "Well, to be fair, it has been an unusually warm winter this year."

Sayaka snorted. "It's like god forgot to turn up the cold or something." Sayaka then stared intensely at the sky, before realizing her friends were watching her be weird, and stopped. With a small cough, she continued. "A-anyway! The gift?"

Mami pondered a bit. What would Sabrina likely try to give Mami? She was at the warehouse, so it was obviously something she made herself. "Hmmm… Maybe a new tea set? I've always wanted one."

"Ohh! Maybe it's making a painting!"

"A new car?"

"Hitomi-chan, I don't think Mami can drive…"

On and on the chatter went, as they went on their journey to the apartment. The group chatter had made the time fly by, as the sun was notably lower in the sky by the time, they had reached the apartment. When the group got within about 200 meters of the apartment, Sabrina walked up to them. She greeted Mami by wrapping her in her arms in a big hug, which she reciprocated.

"I missed you." Mami said, voice muffled by the taller girl's shoulder.

"I did too." Sabrina responded.

"Ahhh, there's that sweet spike in blood sugar I needed. Always need one a day!"

Sabrina looked up from having her face buried in Mami's hair and stuck her tongue out at Sayaka. "And I didn't miss you, raspberry!"

"Admit it, you love me."

Mami broke the hug, but still held on to Sabrina's arm. "Sabrina, be nice to Sayaka."

Sabrina pouted. "But it's so fun!"

"Sabrina…"

Sabrina's pout melted into a grin and small chuckle. "I'm just messing around. It's great to see you Sayaka. And everyone else as well!"

Madoka beamed. "It's great to see you to, Sabrina!"

Homura looked to Sabrina. "We were worried when you didn't show up."

Sabrina had an apologetic look on her face at this. "I'm really sorry about that, Truly I am. I was just busy making Mami's present and- "

"AHA! So, this IS for Christmas!"

Sabrina stopped, then put a finger to her chin. "Hmmm, now that you mention it, I suppose it is…" Shaking her head, she then turns towards the apartment as she talks. "Anyways, the gift is inside! Once I show it off, we can all have tea together!"

With everyone nodding in agreement, they all began the final walk to Mami's apartment. Nobody really spoke, for they were too excited and (In Sabrina's case) too nervous to hold much semblance of conversation. For Mami especially, her excitement was like… well, like a child on Christmas morning. The excitement was thick and palpable, and the air smelled like it became sweetened with Molasses, such was the excitement of the group.

As they made it to the door of the apartment, Sabrina went and stopped everyone by holding out her arm. "Sorry about this, but I forgot to actually cover the thing before I Came out here to meet up with you all. I'll let you in once I have it properly covered." Unwrapping Mami from her arm (Though not without a whine of displeasure from Mami), she slipped inside the apartment, leaving them to wait as Sabrina properly prepares the surprise.

After 10 minutes (read: 45 seconds), Sabrina then appeared at the door again, a grin on her face. "All right! Everything's set. Come on in, everyone!" She then proceeded to throw the door wide open, sweeping her arm behind her. From behind Sabrina, they could see something large covered in a large sheet, thick enough that the object underneath was indiscernible.

The group all shuffled inside, all attention on the tarp and the object underneath it. Now with a cleared view, they could see from the tarp shape that the object was taller than it was wide, and was roughly a few inches taller than Sabrina was. A soft, rhythmic sound could be heard from under the tarp if one listened closely enough, but was muffled by the tarp to the point that it was nearly indiscernible with the sounds the others made in the room.

Everyone crowded around the tarp, with Sabrina walking up beside it. She turned around to face Mami and addressed her. "Mami, before I take this off, I would just like to say this." Sabrina then took a step closer to Mami. "Mami, every day that I spend with you, I feel a sense of rapturous joy fill me. Every day that I wake next to your side is a day of wonder and joy." Sabrina then took Mami's hand in hers, before taking her soul gem and cradling it in both her and Mami's hands. Sabrina wrapped her other hand around it."I want to spend every second of breath that I have with you, for without you, I do not think my days could be filled with joy the way they are now. I want to be by your side, through sun or rain, through fire and hail through thick and thin." They both now had a light blush on their cheeks. "In short… I love you, Mami."

Everyone stared at the scene in silence (save for Madoka and Hitomi, who were making tiny eeeeeeeeeeee sounds), before Homura spoke up. "Was that… a proposal?"

Homura was sure that even if it was pitch black in the room, she'd still be able to see the two with how incandescent their blushes were at the moment.

Sayaka groaned. "Ugh, It totally was!" She then gripped at her heart. "Ack! Too sweet! My poor innocent heart can't take it!"

Sabrina coughed a bit, muttering 'you ain't seen nothing yet" under her breath as she removed her hand and soul gem from Mami's grasp. "A-anyway, I think it's time to show you what I've been working on these last few days. Are you ready, Mami?"

Mami smiled, bouncing up and down rapidly with excitement. "Of course! Of course!"

And with that, Sabrina grabbed the tarp at the top of the object, throwing it off, and revealing a clock.

Although, calling it a mere clock would be like calling Everest a hill.

Standing at around a few inches taller than Sabrina, and just as wide, was the most decorated grandfather clock any of them had ever seen. The Frame of the clock seemed to be made out of Mahogany, though most of the wood proper was obstructed by the gold and platinum plating decorating the clock. The plating swirled around the clock, blending it with shades of yellow and grey throughout the clock, each separate but blending tastefully with one another. The plating had engravings throughout it, with different patterns throughout the clock. Mami's eyes started at the fractal patterns at the bottom, tracing up the side and the straight lines there, to the wavy patterns at the top of the clock. Looking at the entire clock, however, it was clear that the engravings were in fact a very detailed depiction of a street view of Rome, as evidenced by what she believed were engravings showing the Pantheon and the Colosseum.

That was just the outside.

The interior was plainly visible behind glass so clear you wouldn't know it was there if you didn't pay attention. Inside the clock, countless cogs and springs and mechanics moved, a million parts working together in sync tirelessly. These too were plated gold and platinum, and also showed the tasteful separate but blending shown by the outer plating. Several pendulums waved at Mami as they swung lazily in sync with the clock's mechanics, happily keeping the time with their motions.

The clock face proper, however, was probably the most eye-catching of all. The back of the clock was a disk with a starburst pattern of gold and platinum, swirling together until it became a mixture, an alloy of gold and Platinum that united the two together. The hands were bejeweled with tiny cut pieces of yellow and white diamonds that sparkled when Mami looked at them. Where each number was were larger yellow diamonds, with the numbers engraved and filled in with platinum on the diamonds. Wrapping around the face was a disk of platinum, with engraved words on it that read a phrase in Italian, which translated to-

Mami could feel her eyes begin to water as she read the engraving. "A king's weight in gold could not express my love for you."

Mami looked back to Sabrina, who had her hands folded at her waist and was currently looking at the floor. "I wanted to make you something for Christmas that would be unique to us, something that would show what you mean to me. Something you can't buy in any store."

"Buy?!" Hitomi breathlessly and softly stated. "We couldn't afford this If we sold the company,"

That had gotten Sabrina's attention to the others in the room, and she turned her head to look at them to view their reactions. Everyone was practically in awe, either at the shear detail and expense of the clock, or at the raw love that was visible on every inch of it. Sayaka and Homura especially seemed rather affected, with Sayaka gripping her heart again, this time without the teasing accompanying it. Homura seemed mesmerized by the motions of the clock, and she also (Unknown to Sabrina) was struck dumb by the knowledge that there was no way Sabrina could have done this with just a few raids on the Yakuza.

Looking back to the clock, Sabrina noticed that it was a few seconds away from 5:00 PM. Sabrina smiled. "Ooh. Perfect timing! Watch the face!"

Mami, still in a daze from the shear wonderment of the gift, looked upon the face of the clock. Right before the clock struck the hour, she noticed something: The face was segmented.

Suddenly, the face of the clock split into 3 sections and began to move away from each other, opening the face to reveal the interior: A perfect recreation of the Trevi fountain, made of white Jade and gold , and complete with running water. A music box began to play a soft melody, the background music for the main show: two perfect miniatures, one of Mami and the other of Sabrina, stood on opposite sides of the fountain, before "Walking" towards the front of the fountain, meeting at the center and standing still, before the Sabrina miniature bent over and gave a kiss on the cheek to the Mami miniature. The two figurines then proceed to hug as the three sections of the clock move together again and the music fades out. The sections meet up again, as if they had never opened in the first place.

Mami had by now brought her hand up to her mouth, eyes wide with amazement and shock. Tears threatened to spring forth as she turned to look at the magnificent girl she loved with every fiber of her being.

Sabrina smiled warmly at Mami, before grabbing her free hand in her own. "I know I just said this, but I can never repeat it enough times: I love you, Mami."

With strength that surprised Sabrina, Mami wrapped her in a hug, tears of joy streaming down her face. "Oh, Sabrina!! Oh, Thank you!! Thank you so much!!"

Mami was not thanking Sabrina just for the clock. The clock was absolutely gorgeous, and Mami loved that it was hers, but the clock itself was not the best part of the gift. The best part was that it had cemented the fact that Sabrina truly did love her with all her heart. Even up to the moments before the reveal, there was still doubt in Mami's mind that all this was real. That at any moment, Sabrina would leave. It had grown to a soft murmur at the back of her mind as time went on, but that fear of Sabrina's rejection was always present, even when Sabrina was reassuring her otherwise.

Now? The clock had destroyed those fears, burned them to ashes and used those ashes to better nurture the love between her and Sabrina. Before now, she knew two things to be forever true, that magic was real and magical girls needed to hunt witches. Now, she knew three things to be absolutely true: Magic was real, magical girls needed to fight witches, and Sabrina Vee Loves Mami Tomoe.

Mami and Sabrina stayed wrapped up like they were for a few more moments, before Mami partly separated to look Sabrina in the eyes. "It's absolutely beautiful. It's the best present I think I'll ever receive. From the bottom of my heart, thank you, Sabrina."

Sabrina kissed Mami on the forehead. "It was an absolute pleasure to make it." Sabrina then held Mami's hands again. "I will repeat this until I'm blue in the face, but I will continue saying it: I love you, Mami."

Mami giggled. "I suppose I haven't responded to you saying that, Have I?" Mami then looked Sabrina in the eyes, as the reflected glow from the clock illuminated her in a light of gold and white, love visible in her eyes as she said the next few words,

"I love you too, Sabrina."
Merry Christmas y'all. I'll see you when I'm not tired, so in about 8 hours.
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...she lost track of time while making a clock.
 
finally finished catching up. will have more to say about next steps once the shizuki talk is done. with any luck, it'll actually come up sometime in 2021.

Angrygenius said:
Edit: speaking of Christmas, I hope everyone enjoyed that little story.
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it was disgustingly sweet. the amount of love evident between mami and sabrina was physically painful to read. i want more.


barely on topic: god fucking dammit Firn why did you have to go and make Sabrina's theme song Steps To Success

it's a song that 95% of it belongs in a "everyone all together making the world a better place" montage and it got stuck in my head and now i'm sitting here at my computer listening to it on loop but i can't fucking make anything in this crapsack world better with my clunky meat puppet of a body and despair pit of a brain

and the song feels so full of hope it hurts and im crying
 
[X] Thank the Shizuki's for hearing you out. You very much appreciate that they took you seriously.
-[X] They've already helped you tremendously, by arranging for housing for incoming refugees. If at all possible, you'd like to expand on that - the number of newcomer magical girls can only grow.
--[X] As before, you'll cover the costs. You'll also discuss things with Hitomi and Madoka soon - perhaps Monday at lunch? - and file the suggested proposals for making money using magic.

[X] If they want more information about anything, you encourage them to ask. You'll all do your best to answer any questions.
-[X] If they ask about the specific politics of magical girl groups, make a grief model of Japan to help illustrate where everyone is.

[X] If they're willing, there's a number of other avenues of assistance that they could provide:
-[X] You'd like to reach out to various companies, universities, and government officials at various points. Having the Shizuki's as intermediaries to get you an introduction would be incredibly helpful - their positions make them far more likely to be taken seriously than a bunch of teenage girls.
--[X] For that matter, you'd like their assistance in bringing this up with Madoka and Sayaka's families as well - they deserve to know the true issues around magical girls as well.
--[X] In particular, you're going to need to reach out to a number of groups about "Walpurgisnacht" - a massively powerful wandering witch that will by all indications arrive in Mikakihara on April 30th, and almost certainly cause massive damage before you can put it down. You've already arranged for a weather evacuation alert to be sent, and talked to Mika Nakano about the Nakano Corporation aiding in rebuilding afterwards, but there are so many other things that could help, getting in contact with the Disaster Management Bureau first among them.
--[X] Additionally, with a huge number of traumatized teenagers likely to begin trickling in... you'd *desperately* appreciate help in hiring therapists. Soul Gems are linked to emotions, so you're dealing with people who watched friends die violently in front of their eyes, people who have been forced to constantly fight both monsters and *each other* due to resource scarcity - children, who have been tricked into thinking the whole thing is a game until it very suddenly isn't. And having a breakdown *kills them*, because their gems will fill up because of it. You *need* therapists.


Rephrased the part about telling the Madoparents to reassure Homura - made it more open ended on when it's happening so she doesn't feel like we're springing something sudden on her, and gently emphasised that we'll be telling the Madoparents that being meguca is suffering, which Homura is smart enough to realize will make a contract less likely.
 
[Q] "So yeah, there's a super-Witch called Walpurgisnacht that's going to be coming here in a while. If the weather starts getting crazy, I'd suggest you guys get as many people to the nearest bomb shelter as you can. That thing can and will force the whole map to be redrawn. Still, how much tougher than the USS Idaho can it be, I wonder?"
 
Redshirt Army said:
--[X] For that matter, you'd like their assistance in bringing this up with Madoka and Sayaka's families as well - they deserve to know the true issues around magical girls as well.
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So I've been struggling with this for the last hour now. This situation is scuffed as all hell. I'm not -- I'm not alright with mucking with Homura's trust in us right now. We are scheduled to have the most important discussion we have had or will have with her in the entire quest in the coming hours IC, and -- and frankly, screwing with that at this juncture... it's not worth it. It's just not. I've been thinking about it, and my valuation is just coming back, "Why can't we do this after we secure Homura into a position that will win us the quest?"

And, honestly? Then I thought about it some more.

I don't like the idea of going up to Sayaka and telling her, "Hey we're gonna tell your parents about magic." That's kind of really shitty and it violates all our personal obligations to her.

Do I like the idea of not telling her parents about magic? No. Do I disagree that they deserve to know? No. But I do see a better route for doing this, whereby we can leave it up to Sayaka because she will decide her parents deserve to know, and the methodology there is way fucking superior to what we're doing right now. See (1) at end for comments on that.

I don't much like the idea of walking up to Madoka and telling her we're telling her parents about magic, either. To a lesser degree, but the point stands. Being their friend means talking to them first, because that's what they'd want.

...

I'm honestly outright nuking the section for the moment, though. I have spent another hour trying to reword it to my satisfaction and I have failed. We can talk with MadoSaya about how to talk with their parents, and if they'd like the Shizukis involved we'll get them involved, and it can happen at a point when I won't be up until 2am frantically considering the implications of this line.

Redshirt Army said:
and gently emphasised that we'll be telling the Madoparents that being meguca is suffering, which Homura is smart enough to realize will make a contract less likely.
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Here's the thing: she is certainly smart enough to put those pieces together if she has them. But... Homura doesn't know anything about parents. She'd've been talking to Junko about getting Madoka to stay uncontracted a long time ago if she did. She has no idea what the hell this will do.

So... Yeah. Let's -- let's nuke this, please, for now, in the interest of securing the Homusocial. We can take it up with MadoSaya in the immediate future. It'll delay our ability to schedule the Shizukis for it by a bit, but eh, that is a sacrifice I am willing to make.

[X] ... In that case, what you'll do is lean on Hitomi and hopefully also Madoka for advice on this. There will have to be an extended talk about what Constellation is capable of -- the list goes on and on and on and you're sure large parts of it have never come up, and that's ignoring Sayaka's constant acquisitions. Monday at lunch, maybe?
-[X] ... You'll also speak with Hitomi about potentially expanding the housing you're renting through her. You have the money to fund that anyways, so as long as you've got their blessing, it's just... Not an issue.

//Let Madoka and Hitomi sort out with us what the easiest way they can facilitate income for us would be! Help them be involved in helping us! Actually talk about capabilities for once!

[X] If they want more information about anything, you encourage them to ask. You'll all do your best to answer any questions.
-[X] If they ask about the specific politics of magical girl groups, make a grief model of Japan to help illustrate where everyone is.

//Just ripping this cuz it's k

Now... The outreach/WPN section.

I don't actually have any issue with the first couple lines there...? Well... Hm.

[X] If they're willing, there's a number of other avenues of assistance that they could provide:
-[X] You'd like to reach out to various companies, universities, and government officials at various points. Having the Shizuki's as intermediaries to get you an introduction would be incredibly helpful.
-[X] You need therapists. You're well aware of the perception, here, that getting therapy amounts to admitting that something is wrong. But grief is generated by and reinforces negative emotions. A single breakdown leaves you dead on the floor without intervention. And that's ignoring the trauma essentially inherent to a system that forces young people to fight not just monsters but other people who haven't even done them wrong. You'll go. You'll figure out how to get everyone else to go. But you want this... In-house and on call, not through a public provider or something. The normal system is set up for normal people. It won't work for meguca.

//We kind of need to justify this to everyone around us, not just the adults. And just saying "hire" -- why hire, why not just get an appointment.

[X] ... And then there's Walpurgisnacht. "Queen of Witches", it will arrive here the night of the 30th. You'll kill it. It won't kill any of you. You know this thing, you know what you're capable of. But it's difficult to say how much of the city won't be turned into a crater in the process. You're talking about something that could fight Godzilla and win. You've arranged for a weather evacuation alert, and you've talked with Mika about having Nakano Corp assist with the aftermath, but... What you need is the Disaster Management Bureau.


Also added some stuff from @Redshirt Army version and reduced word count.

(1) -- a long-standing plan of mine is to get Sayaka to earn money by using her magic, in some fashion or another, and through doing so pay for a new house. A trivial extension is to point out to Sayaka that she is going to have to tell her parents about this stuff if she wants to be able to have money and have them know about it. I expect this to be extremely persuasive as far as getting Sayaka to want to tell her parents about magic -- being able to help them is undoubtedly on her wish list.
 
[X] Kaizuki

Point one, why hire? It is about "quality." The therapist is a life or death change for a Magical Girl. Not every one will do, and they need to become specialists. In exchange, there are more than enough patient hours to set this as a viable career path. Accepting those terms is itself a good way to begin negotiating with the right people.

I think we should just hammer home the "balance" of the standard Soul Gem, Hope / Despair. That will get them past the social taboo faster. Introduce them to the real character of Grief, and show the cleansing process. Perhaps corrode some item in front of them, to demonstrate the nature of concentrated despair without our Wish commanding it. Make the issue visible and concrete, so they will believe enough to make others believe too. The fact that even Magical Girls with living parents essentially become orphans might bear repeating.

#######


Our best calling card*, the way Hitomi can sell Magic and Miracles to someone without Sabrina holding her hand - do we need it?

What do??

Enchanted item. Something with "ZIP!" Perhaps we dig through the Standard Magic Items List, and make something like a Ring of Levitation. Personal experience is the right way to go.


########

I suspect we should pass responsibility to describe Tokyo over to Hitomi at the right point. Also, we can do better than just talk about Madoka being on the team - a few words on speakerphone before we go in the bubble would be a good motivator for Madoka, and gold proof that we are serious about being a team to the Shizukis. They know all about sub-adult humans. We have to leap out of that category right here, right now.

########

Set a time, we are under time pressure. The goal state is "free access to the Big Table for Hitomi and Madoka," such that they can call on any of us to get serious with people who want to partner up - all without taking away from Sabrina doing her multi-tasking best on the laundry list of projects we have. This will mean a few more domestic nodes for Yuki. Hitomi will need get to / from the airport at some point. We can give her "independent" reach to southern Japan, car service or no - in fact, far better for her packed schedule. Jog from the gate to a certain cart rental hutch outside the terminal, followed by teleport to the Mitakihara safe house, Or the reverse. Our M/A executive needs to travel early on! Yet still be a busy student! With Magic, the impossible is hers. She just skipped past Business School. What will her parents feel later tonight, when they >click< than Hitomi is already in the C-Suite before graduating Middle School?

########

@Kaizuki - Would you consider using our Privacy enchantment. Please discuss. I say that is it a necessity.

########

* Yes, we have a card. Using a figure of speech to refer to a memorable part of the sales pitch.
 
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[X] Kaizuki

I was thinking about this last night too. We promised Homura we'd do better.

Though HeroCycle's suggestion for how to go about the therapy section would be worth discussing?
 
Kaizuki said:
-[X] You need therapists. You're well aware of the perception, here, that getting therapy amounts to admitting that something is wrong. But grief is generated by and reinforces negative emotions. A single breakdown leaves you dead on the floor without intervention. And that's ignoring the trauma essentially inherent to a system that forces young people to fight not just monsters but other people who haven't even done them wrong. You'll go. You'll figure out how to get everyone else to go. But you want this... In-house and on call, not through a public provider or something. The normal system is set up for normal people. It won't work for meguca.
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Just thought of something else important about the therapists: In the initial days, we'll either need to be present, or the therapist needs a clear seed.

I've been to therapy myself for anxiety issues, and from what I remember of it, it brought forth some things that made me feel rather terrible (Though admittedly the feeling didn't last long). and- as mentioned- negative emotions are like Arsenic to a meguca.

I'm aware that talking about a particular girls problems doesn't necessarily mean that meguca will experience strong negative emotions talking about it, but the therapists we bring in should have a clear seed on them for emergency breakdowns or cleansings. The last thing we want is to bring in therapists, only to find that going to therapy was what caused a meguca to turn.
 
Firnagzen said:
An hour flies by, and then two, and everyone's gotten over the worst parts of their homework, and you've cranked out a small pile of enchanted hairclips.
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So, just to confirm @Firnagzen - is this all of the enchantments we were planning on for Tokyo, or are we only partially complete?

Just for some rough numbers, we were planning on sending three people to Tokyo (Sabrina, Mami, a Sayaclone), Mika Nakano is coming, the Pleiades were sending three people, and Fukushima was sending two. So that's nine people in total, who need both Sabrina's "self-control"enchantment and Sayaka's "invisible mind" enchantment.
 
94000130FFF70000 said:
Though HeroCycle's suggestion for how to go about the therapy section would be worth discussing?
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HeroCycle said:
Point one, why hire? It is about "quality." The therapist is a life or death change for a Magical Girl. Not every one will do, and they need to become specialists. In exchange, there are more than enough patient hours to set this as a viable career path. Accepting those terms is itself a good way to begin negotiating with the right people.

I think we should just hammer home the "balance" of the standard Soul Gem, Hope / Despair. That will get them past the social taboo faster. Introduce them to the real character of Grief, and show the cleansing process. Perhaps corrode some item in front of them, to demonstrate the nature of concentrated despair without our Wish commanding it. Make the issue visible and concrete, so they will believe enough to make others believe too. The fact that even Magical Girls with living parents essentially become orphans might bear repeating.
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My take here is that the Shizukis have pretty clearly demonstrated they already think this is Bad For The Kids. So therapy should not be an out of place suggestion to them anyway. What I'm actually saying is that we want to justify it to Mami, Homura, Hitomi -- the people who could hear this and go "... But therapy badweird right?"
 
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