- Location
- France
[X] Just relax. Grant the vessel some proper leisure. Let it talk with its fellows and enjoy the evening. It's not often that it can find a reason to be happy on this date.
-
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Puella Magi Altera Factio
- Thread starter RecurringExtra
- Start date
- Location
- Around here
[X] Explain the strange sensation you felt earlier in the day, and attempt to convince the vessel's acquaintances to accompany you in searching for a possible source
I am once again imploring you all to take an active role in interacting with the obvious plot hook that has been dangled in front of your faces. Trust me, things will get boring soon if you don't go after the plot.
I am once again imploring you all to take an active role in interacting with the obvious plot hook that has been dangled in front of your faces. Trust me, things will get boring soon if you don't go after the plot.
- Location
- Indonesia
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Sorry, but I like slice-of-life stuff in PMMM. It's rare because of plot stuff, and I wish to see these characters' dynamics more just like with Madoka, Sayaka, and Hitomi.
My vote:
[X] Just relax. Grant the vessel some proper leisure. Let it talk with its fellows and enjoy the evening. It's not often that it can find a reason to be happy on this date.
My vote:
[X] Just relax. Grant the vessel some proper leisure. Let it talk with its fellows and enjoy the evening. It's not often that it can find a reason to be happy on this date.
[X] Just relax. Grant the vessel some proper leisure. Let it talk with its fellows and enjoy the evening. It's not often that it can find a reason to be happy on this date.
Oh well, might as well get The Gang™ some chill time before it's Trauma Time™.
Oh well, might as well get The Gang™ some chill time before it's Trauma Time™.
[X] Just relax. Grant the vessel some proper leisure. Let it talk with its fellows and enjoy the evening. It's not often that it can find a reason to be happy on this date.
The QM is fully capable of making plot happen, we can go after the plot in a time that makes sense, not in the middle of her birthday party. If we wanted to to after the plot immediately there was a vote for it. We can wait till the next day rather than alarm our friends and ruin our birthday party.
The QM is fully capable of making plot happen, we can go after the plot in a time that makes sense, not in the middle of her birthday party. If we wanted to to after the plot immediately there was a vote for it. We can wait till the next day rather than alarm our friends and ruin our birthday party.
RecurringExtra
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- Location
- Out of Focus
Okay, just want to say something on the off chance this might lead to something. I mean, I highly doubt it will, since you're both respectable individuals, but I need to sate my paranoid tendencies every now and then, ya know? I do genuinely appreciate the concern (and I really do mean that!), but if the plot is avoided, it'll just come to you instead. dlwj is right that the earlier options were to allow for a proactive option if it was what people desired, but if people wanted to get more background on the characters and setting and what not, that was what the other options were about. So please don't worry too much about it, at least at this stage. The opening bit is fine to have some slice of life, but I do agree that if this became the default option at all times it'd likely prove to be a problem down the line. Still, for the moment, I don't feel that it's anything to be too concerned about.
- Location
- Around here
I'll try not to, but I worry because I speak from personal experience. One of my quests spent a bit too long on the socials and it did end up causing problems with player engagement. But if you've got a better plan than I had to bring the plot to the players then I'll try not to worry.
- Location
- France
Your bracket is broken.
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- Location
- Out of Focus
Vote will close in 6 hours, at midnight.
RecurringExtra
Designated Background Character
- Location
- Out of Focus
Vote closed.
June 8th: ...and It's Only a Party With Friends
RecurringExtra
Designated Background Character
- Location
- Out of Focus
The next two hours are spent with the vessel and her two acquaintances simply enjoying themselves with food and conversation. At some point, the vessel's father walks in and takes an ice cream cake out of the freezer, much to Emma's delight. It needs a few minutes to defrost, during which Emma stares intently at it, as if her gaze was somehow meant to accelerate the process, much to Jess' amusement. When it's finally soft enough to cut, you're forced to deal with yet another frustration of the human condition: the allure of sugar.
From a purely biological perspective, it made sense for a body to reward the acquisition of its energy source, especially when anything so much as resembling a refined form proved to be rare in nature. But that biological impulse did not mesh well with the ease of availability that modern human society had achieved for such goods, especially when one factored in the techniques that had developed focused solely on improving taste further. It takes an immense amount of willpower to prevent yourself from being overwhelmed by the deluge of sensations that eating something such as this provides. Your previous existence had been rather limited in the actual physical sensations that you could experience, as most had little purpose for a being such as yourself. It had taken a fairly lengthy adjustment period for you to be able to withstand the sheer quantity of pointless stimuli that the body you possessed offered without losing yourself, and none had been harder to withstand than pleasure. Truly, it is the most insidious of sensations, for while only the insane would ever actively seek out pain, all that live are tempted by its allure.
After your hard-fought battle to maintain decorum in your mind is finally over, most of the cake has been finished, and the three girls are all sitting down at the kitchen table, chatting once more. The topics range from things such as progress on schoolwork, to silly pieces of entertainment they had watched, to the quality of ongoing events in their lives. Emma complains about her brother being too lazy to actually wash his dishes and just leaving them in the sink. Jess talks about how her parents have been busy at the hospital, and she's been responsible for her toddler brother when they aren't able to be there for him. Even the vessel chimes in at one point about a strange feeling that it had felt earlier that day.
"So what, you think there was someone watching you?"
"I can't say anything for sure, just that that was how it felt like."
"That's terrible!" Jess says, aghast. "Why would someone do something like that to you?"
"I find it hard to believe." Emma comments, idly picking at her fingernail. When Jess shoots her a glare, she raises her hands in the air. "What? I'm just saying, how do you think someone could even get into a building like this?"
"I never said it was a person. Really, I don't know what it was, just that it felt like... something." The vessel says before giving a shrug. In truth, you had a fairly good guess as to what exactly it was, but until it actually shows itself you have no real proof to support your theory.
"Not the most useful of descriptions to go on there." Emma says with a smirk.
"Really though, you should at least tell your Dad if it's bothering you this much." Jess says.
"It could have just been anxiety. I tend to feel stressed out on this day every year."
"Why your response to stress is to do work is something I don't think I'll ever get." Emma says with a shiver of horror.
"It isn't so much the work itself as much as simply being productive. I find it relaxing." The vessel explains, which is a true enough statement.
"Well, normally I'd try to be supportive, but I saw the book report you handed in at the end of eighth grade, Rachel. There's enjoying it, and then there's writing a thirty-page analysis on War and Peace and handing it in to a middle school teacher."
"Wait, is THAT why Mr. Kalinski was so stressed out that day?" Emma asks. "And wait, you read War and Peace back in 8th grade?"
"I found my father's copy, and it looked interesting so I read it." The vessel says awkwardly. "I didn't think that it would be an issue."
"I mean, something like that is just... a bit much, is all." Emma says.
"It's just, I have to ask. You easily could have skipped a grade or two by this point, right?" Jess frowns, cleary conflicted over the coming question. "So why haven't you?"
It was true. The vessel's father had inquired about it, and the school the vessel attended had given it the offer to do so. And yet you had decided against it. You still are unsure as to why you did this. There was no reason for you to have refused it. The only benefit to not doing it was a less stressful environment, but that was not and never has been a concern for yourself, nor the vessel. If anything, a quicker advancement would mean easier access to information at a faster rate.
And yet, you had declined the offer, and you do not know why.
"It's pretty obvious. If she did she'd miss out on the two of us, and I for one don't see how anyone could pass on the offer to hang out with me." Emma says, a smug grin on her face.
"You don't need to toot your own horn that hard, Emma." Jess says with a groan.
"Why not? I mean, I am pretty great after all."
This actually earns a snort of amusement. It takes you a moment to realize that it originated from the vessel. Frustrating. You thought yourself skilled at suppressing laughter, the most pointless of all human reactions, but it seems it was still possible for things to slip through the cracks.
"See? I doubt anyone else could get Ms. Doom'n'Gloom over here to laugh like that."
"Not sure I'd call that a laugh, but I get your point." Jess says, although she's started smiling herself. "Look, you don't need to answer, Rachel, I just wanted to say... thanks is all, I guess."
"For what?" The vessel asks, confused, although not as much as you are.
"For sticking with us two, of course. It wouldn't be the same without you." Emma says. "We're kind of the three class weirdos, after all. Or at least me and you are, Jess is just too nice to ditch us."
"If I wasn't there, I don't want to imagine what horrors you'd get up to." Jess says with a shiver, although even you can tell that it's meant in good taste.
"Oh come on, it'd be great! Maybe you should..." Emma pauses, looking at the vessel strangely.
You feel a wet sensation dripping down the vessel's cheek, coming from one of its eyes. Strange, why would it be crying now? With an extension of your will, you manage to prevent any further tears from being shed, but it seems that it's already too late.
"Wait, are you crying?" Emma asks, leaning over to look at the vessel. "Oh my god, Rachel's actually crying."
"I'm not, there is just something in my eye." The vessel claims, rubbing at its eyes. Surely that must be the reason? After all, there is no reason for it to be experiencing a level of sadness significant enough to warrant such distress.
"Emma, stop it!" Jess hisses at the shorter girl.
"I didn't mean to!" Emma whines. "But, god, even just seeing her shed a tear at all feels wrong. Part of me just didn't think it was possible."
"She's cried before!"
"Yeah, when she's gotten hurt, maybe. I've seen her when she's sad, but I can't remember any time she's actually cried."
The vessel seems confused, stumbling over its words, as the two girls continue to bicker with one another, before it manages to say. "Thank you, both of you." Why is it compelled to offer thanks? What an odd reaction.
The two turn to look at it, both surprised themselves, before they simply smile in response. The room falls silent briefly, as everyone seems unsure of what to say. Of course, there was only one option as to who would eventually break the silence.
"Oh, did you guys hear about the Mitakihara Memorial that finally opened?" Emma asks, changing the subject to as distant of one as possible. "My Mom's been talking about it a lot."
"Isn't that in Japan?" Jess asked. "I mean, it's nice of her to care, but your mom's from Italy, right?"
"Tuscany, wasn't it?" The vessel adds, having managed to fully calm back down.
"Yeah, somewhere like that."
"So is there a reason that she's interested in a random Japanese city?" The vessel asks. "Did she know someone who was there during the storm?"
"You know about the storm?"
"It seemed interesting enough to look into when I first heard about it." The vessel confirms, to which Emma gives her an odd look, before continuing.
"Well, apparently her older sister's daughter went missing around then, and since her sister'd died in a car accident a few years before, she really felt awful about it." Emma shrugs her shoulders a bit, before glancing down. "I mean, I was only a baby when it happened, but from what my brother's said, she became absolutely obsessed with trying to track that girl down for a while. Hired a bunch of people to look into it, even some to search the ruins at one point when there'd been no sign of her."
"And were they able to find anything?" The vessel asks.
"Nothing." She says with a shake of her head. "I mean, it's not too surprising considering that most of that city got leveled, ya know, but still. I'm hoping it gives her some closure. From what I know, she had apparently been really close with her sister growing up. And I mean, I've heard her crying in her sleep more than once over this."
"That's a rather extreme reaction to the death of a distant relative." The vessel comments, to which you yourself agree. Emotions were inherently irrational, yes, but usually there was at least something resembling logic underneath them, such as evolutionary pressures, or biological feedback to support certain behaviors.
"Well, if she was close with her sister, but didn't do anything for her daughter after she'd died, I'd guess that's where the guilt is probably coming from." Jess says curtly.
"Yeah, that'd make sense." Emma says, before looking at the two others present and seeming to realize the obvious. "Uh, sorry for ruining the mood. Again. Not exactly a good birthday party topic."
"I mean, it is getting late." Jess says, checking her phone. "It's already 5 past ten. We should probably get going, don't you think?"
"You want to end on that?" Emma asks.
"Well, I guess we could stay the night." Jess replies, before turning to look at the vessel. "If that would be alright with you, Rachel."
[ ] Check with everyone's families before, but if there is no issue, they could spend the night here.
[ ] Not tonight. You do not know for sure, but if your former self really has decided to get into contact with you, minimizing any potential complications, even if they would likely be annoyances more than anything, would surely be appreciated.
[ ] Write in
The second paragraph of this post might be one of the silliest/stupidest things I've ever written in-context. It's the most overly complicated way of getting around actually saying "I like sweet things they're tasty" that I could do without reaching the most painful levels of pretension possible, and honestly, it's probably pretty bad as is, so apologies.
Also ice cream cake is great.
From a purely biological perspective, it made sense for a body to reward the acquisition of its energy source, especially when anything so much as resembling a refined form proved to be rare in nature. But that biological impulse did not mesh well with the ease of availability that modern human society had achieved for such goods, especially when one factored in the techniques that had developed focused solely on improving taste further. It takes an immense amount of willpower to prevent yourself from being overwhelmed by the deluge of sensations that eating something such as this provides. Your previous existence had been rather limited in the actual physical sensations that you could experience, as most had little purpose for a being such as yourself. It had taken a fairly lengthy adjustment period for you to be able to withstand the sheer quantity of pointless stimuli that the body you possessed offered without losing yourself, and none had been harder to withstand than pleasure. Truly, it is the most insidious of sensations, for while only the insane would ever actively seek out pain, all that live are tempted by its allure.
After your hard-fought battle to maintain decorum in your mind is finally over, most of the cake has been finished, and the three girls are all sitting down at the kitchen table, chatting once more. The topics range from things such as progress on schoolwork, to silly pieces of entertainment they had watched, to the quality of ongoing events in their lives. Emma complains about her brother being too lazy to actually wash his dishes and just leaving them in the sink. Jess talks about how her parents have been busy at the hospital, and she's been responsible for her toddler brother when they aren't able to be there for him. Even the vessel chimes in at one point about a strange feeling that it had felt earlier that day.
"So what, you think there was someone watching you?"
"I can't say anything for sure, just that that was how it felt like."
"That's terrible!" Jess says, aghast. "Why would someone do something like that to you?"
"I find it hard to believe." Emma comments, idly picking at her fingernail. When Jess shoots her a glare, she raises her hands in the air. "What? I'm just saying, how do you think someone could even get into a building like this?"
"I never said it was a person. Really, I don't know what it was, just that it felt like... something." The vessel says before giving a shrug. In truth, you had a fairly good guess as to what exactly it was, but until it actually shows itself you have no real proof to support your theory.
"Not the most useful of descriptions to go on there." Emma says with a smirk.
"Really though, you should at least tell your Dad if it's bothering you this much." Jess says.
"It could have just been anxiety. I tend to feel stressed out on this day every year."
"Why your response to stress is to do work is something I don't think I'll ever get." Emma says with a shiver of horror.
"It isn't so much the work itself as much as simply being productive. I find it relaxing." The vessel explains, which is a true enough statement.
"Well, normally I'd try to be supportive, but I saw the book report you handed in at the end of eighth grade, Rachel. There's enjoying it, and then there's writing a thirty-page analysis on War and Peace and handing it in to a middle school teacher."
"Wait, is THAT why Mr. Kalinski was so stressed out that day?" Emma asks. "And wait, you read War and Peace back in 8th grade?"
"I found my father's copy, and it looked interesting so I read it." The vessel says awkwardly. "I didn't think that it would be an issue."
"I mean, something like that is just... a bit much, is all." Emma says.
"It's just, I have to ask. You easily could have skipped a grade or two by this point, right?" Jess frowns, cleary conflicted over the coming question. "So why haven't you?"
It was true. The vessel's father had inquired about it, and the school the vessel attended had given it the offer to do so. And yet you had decided against it. You still are unsure as to why you did this. There was no reason for you to have refused it. The only benefit to not doing it was a less stressful environment, but that was not and never has been a concern for yourself, nor the vessel. If anything, a quicker advancement would mean easier access to information at a faster rate.
And yet, you had declined the offer, and you do not know why.
"It's pretty obvious. If she did she'd miss out on the two of us, and I for one don't see how anyone could pass on the offer to hang out with me." Emma says, a smug grin on her face.
"You don't need to toot your own horn that hard, Emma." Jess says with a groan.
"Why not? I mean, I am pretty great after all."
This actually earns a snort of amusement. It takes you a moment to realize that it originated from the vessel. Frustrating. You thought yourself skilled at suppressing laughter, the most pointless of all human reactions, but it seems it was still possible for things to slip through the cracks.
"See? I doubt anyone else could get Ms. Doom'n'Gloom over here to laugh like that."
"Not sure I'd call that a laugh, but I get your point." Jess says, although she's started smiling herself. "Look, you don't need to answer, Rachel, I just wanted to say... thanks is all, I guess."
"For what?" The vessel asks, confused, although not as much as you are.
"For sticking with us two, of course. It wouldn't be the same without you." Emma says. "We're kind of the three class weirdos, after all. Or at least me and you are, Jess is just too nice to ditch us."
"If I wasn't there, I don't want to imagine what horrors you'd get up to." Jess says with a shiver, although even you can tell that it's meant in good taste.
"Oh come on, it'd be great! Maybe you should..." Emma pauses, looking at the vessel strangely.
You feel a wet sensation dripping down the vessel's cheek, coming from one of its eyes. Strange, why would it be crying now? With an extension of your will, you manage to prevent any further tears from being shed, but it seems that it's already too late.
"Wait, are you crying?" Emma asks, leaning over to look at the vessel. "Oh my god, Rachel's actually crying."
"I'm not, there is just something in my eye." The vessel claims, rubbing at its eyes. Surely that must be the reason? After all, there is no reason for it to be experiencing a level of sadness significant enough to warrant such distress.
"Emma, stop it!" Jess hisses at the shorter girl.
"I didn't mean to!" Emma whines. "But, god, even just seeing her shed a tear at all feels wrong. Part of me just didn't think it was possible."
"She's cried before!"
"Yeah, when she's gotten hurt, maybe. I've seen her when she's sad, but I can't remember any time she's actually cried."
The vessel seems confused, stumbling over its words, as the two girls continue to bicker with one another, before it manages to say. "Thank you, both of you." Why is it compelled to offer thanks? What an odd reaction.
The two turn to look at it, both surprised themselves, before they simply smile in response. The room falls silent briefly, as everyone seems unsure of what to say. Of course, there was only one option as to who would eventually break the silence.
"Oh, did you guys hear about the Mitakihara Memorial that finally opened?" Emma asks, changing the subject to as distant of one as possible. "My Mom's been talking about it a lot."
"Isn't that in Japan?" Jess asked. "I mean, it's nice of her to care, but your mom's from Italy, right?"
"Tuscany, wasn't it?" The vessel adds, having managed to fully calm back down.
"Yeah, somewhere like that."
"So is there a reason that she's interested in a random Japanese city?" The vessel asks. "Did she know someone who was there during the storm?"
"You know about the storm?"
"It seemed interesting enough to look into when I first heard about it." The vessel confirms, to which Emma gives her an odd look, before continuing.
"Well, apparently her older sister's daughter went missing around then, and since her sister'd died in a car accident a few years before, she really felt awful about it." Emma shrugs her shoulders a bit, before glancing down. "I mean, I was only a baby when it happened, but from what my brother's said, she became absolutely obsessed with trying to track that girl down for a while. Hired a bunch of people to look into it, even some to search the ruins at one point when there'd been no sign of her."
"And were they able to find anything?" The vessel asks.
"Nothing." She says with a shake of her head. "I mean, it's not too surprising considering that most of that city got leveled, ya know, but still. I'm hoping it gives her some closure. From what I know, she had apparently been really close with her sister growing up. And I mean, I've heard her crying in her sleep more than once over this."
"That's a rather extreme reaction to the death of a distant relative." The vessel comments, to which you yourself agree. Emotions were inherently irrational, yes, but usually there was at least something resembling logic underneath them, such as evolutionary pressures, or biological feedback to support certain behaviors.
"Well, if she was close with her sister, but didn't do anything for her daughter after she'd died, I'd guess that's where the guilt is probably coming from." Jess says curtly.
"Yeah, that'd make sense." Emma says, before looking at the two others present and seeming to realize the obvious. "Uh, sorry for ruining the mood. Again. Not exactly a good birthday party topic."
"I mean, it is getting late." Jess says, checking her phone. "It's already 5 past ten. We should probably get going, don't you think?"
"You want to end on that?" Emma asks.
"Well, I guess we could stay the night." Jess replies, before turning to look at the vessel. "If that would be alright with you, Rachel."
[ ] Check with everyone's families before, but if there is no issue, they could spend the night here.
[ ] Not tonight. You do not know for sure, but if your former self really has decided to get into contact with you, minimizing any potential complications, even if they would likely be annoyances more than anything, would surely be appreciated.
[ ] Write in
The second paragraph of this post might be one of the silliest/stupidest things I've ever written in-context. It's the most overly complicated way of getting around actually saying "I like sweet things they're tasty" that I could do without reaching the most painful levels of pretension possible, and honestly, it's probably pretty bad as is, so apologies.
Also ice cream cake is great.
I think we actually read War and Peace in 8th or 7th grade, but that's likely because I'm russian and it's russian classical literature, but that was some 10 years, plus few years, ago
Personally don't like it, it's a classy 19th century Russian literature trends of gloom, doom and a bunch of life lessons you need to tear out with tongs out of metaphors, unless they are blatantly in your face. Not to mention that Lev Tolstoy was already a writer of questionable mental state, so his life lessons are in the vein also rather questionable
[x] Check with everyone's families before, but if there is no issue, they could spend the night here.
- Location
- Indonesia
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Well, guess this takes place in one of Homura's failed timelines. Just like Michiyo Magica, huh? Poor Mami... Is this timeline 1, by any chance? Or is this one of the timelines where Mami became Candeloro?
My vote:
[x] Check with everyone's families before, but if there is no issue, they could spend the night here.
Solarstream
It's all in the cards
- Location
- Zombie World
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Check with everyone's families before, but if there is no issue, they could spend the night here.
A sister is not a distant relative.
Sister's daughter, who lives in a different continent, is fairly distant.
RecurringExtra
Designated Background Character
- Location
- Out of Focus
From what I've heard, part of the issue with it is that a lot of it doesn't translate over into English very well, which kind of cemented its status as the 'hard to read book' when combined with its length.
I'd rather not specify any of that as of yet. Apologies.
Your sister's (who herself you haven't seen in a decade due to both being busy and the distance involved) daughter (who've you never met and barely so much as even thought about before) is not exactly the kind of person you'd expect somebody to feel that much attachment towards. At the very least you'd expect her to have cared a little before she vanished completely, such as when her sister had died, and the daughter had been left all alone with no support for years.
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