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Puella Magi Adfligo Systema

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SynchronizedWritersBlock said:
And my immediate reaction to three seeds a week is "I NEED TO KNOW WHY". Like you said, it's a completely mental action by someone who otherwise seems realistic.





"Sayaka, I had to save the girl who tried to burn down your house from herself. She thought almost killing you would prevent some kind of massive disaster she had forseen. Yeah, saying she was an idiot is an huge understatement. I'm working to correct her way of thinking. Maybe you'd like to meet her so you can punch her in the face or something?"

Yeah, it'll be problematic, but if we're upfront about getting along with Akiko then the worst that can happen is "I don't see how you can stand her". It's not like we're bringing her to Ishinomaki for their birthday parties, right?
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Eh well, somethingsomething different perspectives on life. It would indeed be very interesting to see how Ugolino Sayaka would respond to getting to meet the person who had a part in burning down her house.

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FlatlineAskari said:
Fairly sure the seeds are just a happy side-effect for her. Continuing with the demands when they're plainly unsustainable (they already killed one member and drove another away, reducing ability to deliver, and were about to wipe out the rest) is economically foolish and strongly implies that this was punitive - intended to kill UG off, drive them out, cripple their ability to oppose Sendai, or maybe soften them up for a takeover bid.
The alternative - that they have an ongoing, desperate and immediate need for all the seeds they can hunt, all the seeds UG can hunt, and Rin's takings - seems pretty unlikely.
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Well as SWB noted, finding the why is important. Even if punitive, this is similar on scale to the punishments leveled against the Weimar Republic after WWI, and that ended extravagantly poorly.

Either way, I still just get massive paranoia heebiejeebies about it all.
 
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Crasian01 said:
I dunno, being friends is a lot of effort. You have to keep up with them and stuff. I'd say it's about the same amount of effort really. Ultimately though, I guess it's not quite as problematic and has less tendency to result in fatalities.
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Being around people you can't trust is fucking exhausting, dude.
Crasian01 said:
Still, Akiko make my Paranoia flare. As we've discussed, for what possible reason does she need three seeds a week? It's completely mental, and yet she comes off as a fairly reasonable person. My immediate reaction to this is "DO NOT TRUST".
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I agree with you on this. She's seems shady as hell.

I'd like to be friends -or at least on friendly terms- with everybody. Doesn't necessarily mean it's possible.
 
Krecart said:
What would we have a heart to heart about?
Besides apologizing for threatening to kill Kirika in the worst way we could think of... kind of awkward now that she's our new Best Friend.
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Well, there IS actually something: the reason we went through such extremes in the first place was out of a desire to get through to her, so that we wouldn't have to be enemies--because we actually cared about her from before then. Even the implied threat to Kirika was absolutely horrid to do, even if we never had any intention of actually carrying it out, and something we only resorted to because it was our last hope for reaching a common understanding and lasting peace with her and Kirika.

And we can go further about her situation, too. Explain that we've had faith in her ever since we made peace with each other, but had to leave their injuries unhealed and keep them under house arrest to mollify an understandably-worried Mami and Homura. We could also mention that, in Homura's case, her acute apprehension regarding Oriko and Kirika strongly stems from some very bad memories that the two bring up.

Even aside from all of that, there's the matter of her life situation before she contracted: her father's betrayal of her ideals, shaming their family's name (not that everyone suddenly turning on Oriko for it is in any way forgivable), losing all of her friends, being effectively kicked out of school, and losing all sense of direction and purpose in her life. Kirika approaching and befriending her was literally the one bright spot amidst all of that. Chances are, she hasn't had anyone to talk to about it (not even Kirika, for a variety of reasons), and even if she doesn't feel comfortable talking about that stuff with Sabrina at present time, reaching that point should be an eventual goal. Even just letting her know that we know and are always there for her if she ever wants to talk about it, rant about it, vent, or whatever would go a long way.
 
Crasian01 said:
Well... that actually is potentially problematic. Just like how Kirika being our friend is potentially problematic if Sayaka gets wind of it. Having multiple groups of friends you have to keep away from each other is just sort of... loneliness inducing, to be honest.
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Clearly a proper Nanoha-style befriending also requires beating up all your existing friends to make them accept the new friend.

SaltyWaffles said:
...when your neighbor is a metaphorical rocket-propelled wrecking ball in causality/sequence of events
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And making a good effort at becoming a literal rocket-propelled wrecking ball in a city made of mostly glass buildings.
 
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Crasian01 said:
You see, in real life, you have to just deal with them. In Quest Threads, you can just end them.
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Murder all the people! It's a valid solution in every Quest!

...er, right? Clearly, AsukaQuest would have had a much easier time if they just decided to go around murdering Gendo, Ritsuko, Fuyustuki, Kaworu, and the whole Japanese government right from the get-go!
 
SaltyWaffles said:
Murder all the people! It's a valid solution in every Quest!

...er, right? Clearly, AsukaQuest would have had a much easier time if they just decided to go around murdering Gendo, Ritsuko, Fuyustuki, Kaworu, and the whole Japanese government right from the get-go!
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100% Absolutely. Murder everyone problematic and you have no problems! Satisfaction guaranteed or your moral outrage back!

Seriously though, the point is that it's not entirely on point to claim that killing everyone problematic is inherently a bad plan. If there is no way to reconcile your differences you can't just wait for them to shank you.

That being said, I feel like I should point out that I don't actually advocate stabbing everyone. It seems fairly obvious to me that we should try to resolve situations without bloodshed, or at least a concerted effort to do so should be attempted. Apparently I come off as highly sociopathic/psychopathic/whatever-it-is, so wanted to clarify.
 
What are the current winning votes?

I think a simple "That sounds like a lot. Is that a lot?" would be a good addition that would serve two purposes: get us an answer to the question rather than our own assumptions, and emphasize to everyone present that cost is basically meaningless to Sabrina.
 
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Random832 said:
What are the current winning votes?

I think a simple "That sounds like a lot. Is that a lot?" would be a good addition that would serve two purposes: get us an answer to the question rather than our own assumptions, and emphasize to everyone present that cost is basically meaningless to Sabrina.
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Regarding the tax, we're asking Akiko this:
[] Ask Akiko via telepathy to explain to us the reasoning behind/nature of her arrangement with the University Group.
 
@Random832
I don't understand. What are you referring to with "that", and how do you see them answering that question? If we need to emphasize the meaningless of the cost, we should do so directly.
 
We can draw our own conclusions there and it does no one any favors to draw anyone's attention to whether or not it's a "reasonable" amount of extortion-which we can be pretty sure it isn't. The Mami question covers that, I think.
 
I thought the fact that one of them died and another left town was enough to answer the "How many Seeds is too many?" question, personally. I just want to know why Akiko set this up like she did.
 
Re: To kill or not to kill, there is a third option....
Two words: Rock collection.
It's like a time-out, but time doesn't pass for her, and we have to hide and preserve the body.
Everyone wins: she doesn't die, and we don't have to deal with her for a week or two.

@Random832 i believe current winning vote is Ugo, which is Kinematic's minus the awning, which is a frankenvote of all questions and a politeish refusal of Akiko.
Re: how much is 3 gems seeds/week, the vote should have a line in it where we ask this question to Mami. The only reason I suggested asking Mami rather than uni group is that the conversation had already moved on from that topic and I thought it'd be rude to bring it up again.
Edit* fricken' seeds, not gems, urgh.
 
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Rock collection? You mean steal their soul gems and keep their bodies healed for an indefinite amount of time? I mean, Akiko's a shit, sure, but that's kinda evil, and I don't see her being anything other than absolutely livid or mentally broken afterword. I suppose from a pragmatic point of view we can file it under "would upset the Mumi".
 
Corundum said:
Everytime you slip like this, Sabrina gets more likely to accidentally Mami a Tetris.
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...frickin' urgh. *facepalms*
I blame typing that post on a tablet. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Gadjo said:
Rock collection? You mean steal their soul gems and keep their bodies healed for an indefinite amount of time? I mean, Akiko's a shit, sure, but that's kinda evil...
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*twirls moustache and "Mwahaha"s evilly*
But seriously, I don't think that option would be so bad if the alternative was straight up murder.
Whilst separated from the body she'd be unaware of passing time, so no mental torture like extended solitary confinement and no opportunity for her to plan or escape. Keeping the body preserved and having Rin fix it up if necessary is easy enough, so no Sayaka style rot-trauma. Cleansing the gem is a non-issue. We don't permanently alienate anyone via murdering and get to keep the moral high ground of 'my hands are clean'.

I view it as putting a problem in suspended animation whilst we dismantle the extortion system, then see how things progress for a while, then wake her up and say, "It's been x days and everyone seems happy with the new arrangement; feel like playing ball yet?" The only issues I can see in such an arrangement would be convincing Sendai that her gem would be safe (which would be very hard to do) and maybe her family would file a missing person's report ('turn-about is fair play,' says the uni group).

I haven't studied ethics, so I can't comment on that, but it seems to me that this would be less cruel than what we did to Oriko and Kirika (i.e. crippling them to the point of being unable to provide for or protect themselves, threatening them with death or worse (even if it was a bluff) and forcing them to rely on us to keep them alive whilst keeping them isolated from all other human contact).

And, unfortunate reminder of lichdom aside, wouldn't Mami be all for a non-lethal option if it came to it? Sure she'd want banishment instead, but then what would stop Akiko from pulling this shit again elsewhere? If Akiko refuses to stop, it really would be 'kill or imprison', which really isn't a choice at all, since we want to save everyone and fix everything.
But really, I think it's unlikely to get to the point of 'kill or imprison'. It's in her best interests to 'cooperate' (i.e. stop extortion but be permitted to continue to skulk around with her own agenda) and if she choses to fight she'll have to flee or she'll get beaten down (possibly killed). Cooperate seems much more likely, given that (unless there's some world-shaking secret we don't know about yet...).
 
Soooo... Do you all remember this? Well, @Firnagzen and I decided to make more.

Have fun.

"This building is… very tall," Sosuke muttered, idly brushing some glass off his shoulder guard from where he'd fallen through the living room table. He was tentatively looking out the window toward the city below, grimacing. By his best guess, he was standing higher now than even the Great Carpenter Wall.

And that wasn't all. The city below was vast and sprawling, with other buildings that towered far above where he now stood. Glass and metal was everywhere in the fading light of the oncoming evening, and he was almost overwhelmed by size of it all. The resources involved… How could any nation afford to create a city so huge as this? It was incomprehensible.

"Um, yes," Sabrina replied, from her position next to Mami. The blonde was hugging her in a deathgrip, arms wound tightly around Sabrina's waist, her face pressed up against Sabrina's shoulder. Sabrina has an arm slung around Mami's shoulder, equally reassuring Mami and herself alike that she's there "I did tell you about, well… home. I… well, guess you didn't quiiite believe me."

"How could I have?" Sosuke asked, silently grateful for the excuse to turn away from the window. "What you described sounded nonsensical." He paused a moment, sighed and bowed deeply to her. "I apologize for my disbelief. I should have trusted you."

"Don't… just don't," Sabrina sighed. "Oriko, are you quite sure you're OK?" She glanced at the semi-comatose seer, moaning in a corner with Kirika fluttering anxiously over her.

"Two of them," the seer giggled hysterically. "Two of them! And not so different!"

Homura looked at the seer, expression inscrutable.

"Is this normal?" Sosuke asked, giving the suffering magical girl a glance out of the corner of his eye.

"... sort of," Sabrina admitted.

"Oriko was terribly worried about your disappearance," Mami scolded half heartedly from her position wrapped around Sabrina. Her limpet like grasp around the white haired girl's waist intensified as she spoke those words.

"I see…?" Sosuke said, though clearly he had little idea what was happening.

"So you and Sabrina were in this… Rokugan?" Homura spoke up in her quiet voice, for the first time since the errant pair had crashed through Mami's table.

"Yeah, we were," Sabrina replied. "I still have no honest idea how I ended up there, but it was… a month? And then, well, stuff happened, and I'm back here. Oof." Mami's grip around the white haired girl tightens a shade further.

"This is all very very interesting," Sosuke said in an even tone. "But on the subject of my homeland… You do have a way to send me back, yes?"

"Um, well…" Sabrina said. "Considering that I have no idea how all this happened other than… magic… not exactly."

"But you are Shugenja," Sosuke said. "Or close enough. Surely you understand how your own abilities work."

Oriko raised her head and glared at the giant of a young man, before the look dissolved into another pained wince.

"Noooooot exactly," Sabrina grumbled. "We went over this, remember? And if I knew how to get back, do you think I wouldn't have?"

"I know we did," Sosuke said dryly. "I'm still having a hard time understanding."

"Yes, yes," Sabrina replied. "I told you, we get our powers fro-"

"What are you?" a syrupy sweet voice interrupted, seeming to insert itself into everyone's head without the intervention of their ears.

Sosuke leapt to his feet, pulling his tetsubo free from his sash. He swung his gaze about, his eyes narrowed, and tightened his grip on the weapon.

"Show yourself," he growled. "I'll not have you speaking in my mind from the shadows."

A white, cat-like form stalked out from behind a shelf, busy white tail swishing behind it. A glassy, red eyed gaze stared unblinkingly at the young man, inspecting him minutely as it came to a stop in front of him.

"What manner of creature are you?" Sosuke asked, bewildered. He looked to Sabrina. "You did not tell me there were spirits in your land."

"That's Kyuubey," Sabrina muttered sourly. "I had a feeling he'd show up. He's… where we get our powers from, if you remember."

"Then would he know how to send me home?" Sosuke asked, though clearly he seemed uncomfortable with the idea of associating with such a strange creature. "If he's the one who grants you your powers…"

"You have an oddly large potential, for being male! Make a contract with me, and I can fulfill your wish!" the little white alien said, and reared up on its hind legs and reared up on its hind legs, begging with both paws to be picked up.

"Oh no you don't, you little demon," Sabrina snapped. "Don't listen to him, Sousuke."

"ONI!" Sosuke roared, and applied his tetsubo to Kyubey's body with great vigour, pulping it into a bloody mush.

Homura blinked, very slowly, looking at the flattened corpse of the alien, before turning to Sabrina with a raised eyebrow.

"Why did you do that?" Kyuubey asked, its white form reappearing, this time from the kitchen doorway.

"Die, foul spawn of Jigoku!" Sosuke yelled, charging forward before striking once again, crushing the white body of Kyubey into broken chunks.

"That was unnecessary. I am merely tryi-"

"The Crab will never falter!" Sosuke cried, crossing the living room in a few quick steps and slamming his weapon down once again. "I am the Wall!"

"Please stop. This is pointle-"

[FOUR HOURS LATER]​

Mami nuzzled her face against Sabrina's arm. "I'm glad you're back, Sabrina," she said softly, seemingly oblivious to the carnage continuing in her living room.

"It's good to be back," Sabrina replied, leaning her head against Mami's.

"For the Emerald Empire!"

"Doesn't he ever get tired?" Kirika asked. Curiously, the ongoing killing spree seems to have calmed Oriko somewhat, and the seer was now happy to hug Kirika and watch the mayhem.

"I like him," Homura said, tilting her head a little and smiling.

"You would," Sabrina said, blinking and leaning aside to avoid another Kyuubey corpse, sent sailing across the room by a particularly energetic smash.

"Is your brother always like this?" Kirika asked Homura. She blinked when everyone turned to stare at her. "What? They look the same!"

Sabrina shrugged. "You know, I really wouldn't be that surprised."

Sosuke ceased his attacks, panting slightly as he hefted his tetsubo. He leveraged the weapon atop his shoulder and looked upon the countless bodies and gore that filled the room. His eyes were still wild with battle fury, but a light sheen of sweat had formed atop his brow.

"Are you calm enough t-"

An idle shift of the heavily armoured young man's feet crushed Kyuubey flat under his weight.

"This position is compromised," Sosuke said, turning to the girls. "I suggest we retreat to a more fortified area and plan our next move against the enemy."

"I like him," Homura repeated.

"You would," Sabrina said, shaking her head ruefully. "You would."

Homura sniffed, and raised her hand to her hair, running her fingers through it in a single, smooth motion that set the silky locks flowing smoothly outwards lack a black banner fluttering in the breeze.

Sabrina flinched, and hastily turned her gaze away.

Sosuke took a deep breath, and also ran a hand through his long hair to straighten it. The long black tresses flowed behind him in a wave, the rippling motion every bit an equal of Homura's glorious mane.

"Ack what the hell," Sabrina yelped. "Why! WHY ARE THERE TWO OF THEM!"

Oriko glanced at her. "'Two of them'," she repeated, sounding immensely smug.
 
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