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Puella Magi Imperatrix Mundi, or: Wherein Half Of Japan Tries To Kill You

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Well, unlike Yumi, I wouldn't have criticised idealism, but okay. I don't want to argue with someone who can't defend themselves.
 
Yeah I just double check but I she clearly underestimates how severe it is, especially with constant referencing to how anime the situation is.

Echo said:
"Okay." You shake your head. "How about we maybe back up after all? What? A magical girl? And what was that about the protector of the town, anyway? And monsters? Am I an anime character now or something? My hair isn't gonna turn pink or something, right? I mean, I like pink but that's..." You trail off, still holding the lock of dark reddish-purple hair that you were all but shoving in Kyubey's face a moment ago. ...this question business might work better if you gave the strange little creature a chance to respond, you decide.
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Echo said:
And that means facing the fact that you're signing up because your predecessor died. Was killed by some... well, whatever Witches are. You get a mental image of a lady on a broomstick with a pointy hat but you're pretty sure that's not the kind of witch Kyubey was talking about. You... should probably ask Kyubey more about that at some point.
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Though I believe you are still correct.

Looking at it more closely the magical girl situation seems to be gloss over really.
 
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Well I'm probably going to fall asleep soon. So far nobody has actually voted yet, but I hope I've helped to provide a solid foundation for you guys going forward.

Broad strokes:

We need to strike a blance between idealism and pragmatism with Yumi.

We need to finish up the details of the current situation so we can discuss with our allies the more pressing issues coming up (yumi, the gems, the effects of our skirmish on neighbouring areas, ???)

And then we need to actually set up that discussion to happen, details probably to be voted on next update, unless you guys are really on the ball and figure that stuff out now.
 
Echo said:
Maiko shakes her head. "You can expect that over the next few months at least you will be facing anything from hit-and-run harassment from neighboring territories to all-out warfare between larger alliances. I suspect the only reason this hasn't already started is infighting among would-be invaders. There are many magical girls who would see seizing Nagamioka as a way to..." Maiko trails off, and scowls. "To settle an old grudge, I suppose."

Your mind reels as you stare at Maiko, all thoughts of 'souls' gone. Is she serious? You... you thought you were supposed to be defending Nagamioka from monsters, not... not other girls like yourself.

You suddenly feel very, very lost.
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Echo said:
For a while you just sit quietly, trying to get your mind around what Maiko said.

"I am sorry," she says. "I suspected Kyubey had... been less than forthcoming with you on that part. Protecting people from Witches was the sales pitch, I imagine?"

You nod. "Now that I think about it," you say. "Kyubey did mention something about Nagamioka becoming a battleground, but... I wasn't really paying attention then. I'm pretty sure I still thought I was dreaming at that point. It said that the previous protector had been killed by a Witch, and that someone needed to take her place."
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At the end of chapter one, Yui's reaction to the discussion of upcoming MG conflict with Maiko makes it pretty clear she was paying nearly zero attention to that part of what Kyubey was saying. Plus, we immediately took a 250 grief penalty from having to think about killing people. Yui definitely didn't wish on the basis that she'd be having to fight other people. We might have, but she didn't.

Aside from that though, I think the current vote from @redzonejoe looks good.
 
Some modifications to @redzonejoe's vote, X's, and comments thereon:
[X] "I can't really blame you for feeling that way. You can't help anyone if you're dead."
-[X] "I made my wish knowing I'd be risking my life, and knowing that the person before me had failed and been killed for it. I came into this conflict with a goal, and to reach it I wished for power. So I wouldn't be too weak to do what I wanted needed to do. So I wouldn't just end up dead like Kisaragi Momoko did."
-[X] "I want to talk to you in private with my 'mysterious ally' in a bit. If you still want to leave after hearing me out, that's okay. Just remember you're always welcome in Nagamioka."
-[X] "Er... just let me deal with everything else first."

[X] Talk to Rio, Fuuka, and Kiyomi. Get everything with them in order, and ask them to contact us at their convenience once they've had some time to think things over.

[X] Help Maiko move the bodies. Oh god that's gross.
-[X] Figure out what to do about Kaede's dog. We can't just let it go wild, and we should probably do something more than just dropping it off at the local pound.

[X] Time to arrange a meeting for team Yui.
-[X] Asami might be busy, so talk to Minami and Maiko over at HQ
[X] Topics for discussion: Yumi, Naoko and Kaede, other junk
Comments:
- it felt weird to go to: I can change your mind; I made my wish for this reason; we can talk later. I wanted to start talking about idealism, since that's the thing that's being addressed at the moment, then propose the meeting.
- it's been pointed out that Yui didn't really pay attention to the 'fighting other people' thing when she made her wish. The vote's been edited to reflect that. I kept the 'conflict' bit in because she knew it was going to be a conflict. *shrugs*
- 'if neither of you object' seemed a bit silly. Yumi's not going to be shy about making any objection known, and Maiko objecting would be kind of unexpected.

Suggestions?

Edit: Think we should bring Maiko out of hiding when we're moving the bodies and have the discussion with Yumi shortly after?
 
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The3rdCorinthian said:
Still unsure on the whole killing her thing. Its IC for us not to want to, but Yumi probably would have been fine with it. Our other allies, if they found out though...
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The veteran magical girls, especially the ones who knew Kaede and Naoko, would have been basically fine with killing them, and killing Naoko in particular. Even in the middle of attempting psychological warfare against Yui Naoko went out of her way to make Aya cry, kick Yumi in the backstory, and talk shit about the closest thing she has to a friend. That kind of behavior is par for the course with her.

The various newbies would've had different reactions. Yui killing Kaede and Naoko, or even handing them over to be killed by someone else, would have been a massive hit to your relationship with Tomo if/when she found out.

Muramasa said:
edit: ironically, the one I kinda feel bad about is Kaede. She didn't really do anything to warrant a disconnect. Also, poor dog.
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Anything that you know of, at least. :V

Guile said:
Nice job making all choices have drawbacks, Echo. It's like a metaphor for PMMM-style magical girlhood!
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...metaphor? :V

Guile said:
Although you would think that rather than getting blocked and having to push Naoko away (and cause internal injuries to let Naoko gloat more), Yui would be strong enough to just wrap her hand around Naoko's gem and ignore all her attempts to get it back, or fast enough to get around her when she's untransformed.
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Wrapping her hand around Naoko's gem would've made accidental breakage very easy, which is why she didn't do so. That, and the fact that she was holding all four Soul Gems in one hand.

LostDeviljho said:
Have Maiko keep it. She could use the company, in all likelyhood.
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redzonejoe said:
that could work, but it's not something we can just assume. Works as written, maybe an addition to ensure Maiko is properly considered as an option.
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Maiko's more a cat person. Also, it's not a small dog and Maiko's apartment probably wouldn't allow it even if she would want to keep it, which she won't.

The dog is also a breed memetically associated with undying loyalty, which was a deliberate choice.

Sereg said:
Actually, I'd be planning to smash their gems while Yui is distracted. Maybe you should bare that in mind.
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Sereg said:
Well, unlike Yumi, I wouldn't have criticised idealism, but okay.
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Sorry, the character most likely to advocate your preferred approach died before the quest started. :V

Well, Momoko wouldn't wait for a distraction, too underhanded for her tastes.

SystemicHatter said:
Aya is a potential major issue, as is Suzume. Aya holds Yui responsible for Hisae's death, which is something that's going to have to be worked through, if they decide to stay.
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Aya was talking about Hanako there, though it's true that she's upset about Hisae as well.

Nuts! said:
[warning="get a room already you two"]Gents, this argument has devolved to nothing but straight-up shit-slinging. Per forum policy, I'm giving you both a 1-day threadban to cool off and chill out. You're free to disagree with each other, but go after the argument and not the person, yeah?[/warning]
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I was already formulating a "no fighting in the war room" response while catching up on the thread, but that works too. Sigh.

Please try not to do that sort of thing in the future, I'd really hate to lose either of you participating in the thread.

redzonejoe said:
The other thing is that, while I agree with the prospect of introducing Maiko into the conversation, I also want to leave room for Maiko and other voters to object.
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Maiko will be fine with meeting Yumi if that's how you want to handle things, so you don't need a contingency plan in the vote or anything.

ravenwood7040 said:
At the end of chapter one, Yui's reaction to the discussion of upcoming MG conflict with Maiko makes it pretty clear she was paying nearly zero attention to that part of what Kyubey was saying. Plus, we immediately took a 250 grief penalty from having to think about killing people. Yui definitely didn't wish on the basis that she'd be having to fight other people. We might have, but she didn't.
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Yes, that's correct.

In fact, that particular bit of disillusionment was the specific plot point chosen to mark the end of Chapter 1.
 
SystemicHatter said:
I had... totally forgotten that this 'Hanako' character existed. Had to go back and check it... So we're partly responsible for two deaths, not one. Ugh.



Momoko quest?
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Possibly three, depending on what happened to Ooshiro! Or if any of the girls that pushed them out died during the fighting! Who knows? It could be a lot more than two!
 
...In that case, remind me not to get into a morality argument with Sereg.
I don't think I can afford a new laptop right now.
 
SystemicHatter said:
I had... totally forgotten that this 'Hanako' character existed. Had to go back and check it... So we're partly responsible for two deaths, not one. Ugh.
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To be fair, her brief appearance "on screen" was before I'd actually come up with a name for her...

Nervos Belli said:
Possibly three, depending on what happened to Ooshiro!
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Ooshiro was by far the most likely to ditch the others, so she could still be alive. Technically I don't think you even have 100% confirmation that Hanako is dead, but there's not really anything else that could have happened to her.

BunnyLord said:
Hey, @Echo - when is next Dramatis Personae update? Also, have you been slacking on achievements or have we? :V
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Oh, I've been slacking on a lot of stuff. :V I'll try to get some of it handled this weekend.

For achievements that was mostly added because someone suggested it at the time and I haven't really been thinking about it. If you can think of any moments that seem achievement-worthy feel free to make suggestions...

The3rdCorinthian said:
...I get the feeling Momoko and Sereg would have gotten along amazingly.
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Sereg said:
Me too.
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That's not surprising. The starting point for her character was basically to take the most uncompromising aspects of Sayaka and Mami's approaches to megucahood and then build a character who could make that mindset work without self-destructing.
 
[X] SystemicHatter

Works for me. Gives some reassurance that we do have a reasonable counterargument, but leaves the discussion for later while we sort out everything else.
 
PrimalShadow said:
Wait - how were we responsible for anything having to do with Hanako? Have we even interacted with her before?
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Hanako and Aya were the two flunkies Hisae brought along when you confronted her on the bridge, so yes.

Hanako was presumably killed along with Hisae, in an attack by another Itabashi group, which occurred because of Yumi swiping their Grief Seeds and getting away with it, which she only managed because you bailed her out.

You were only very indirectly responsible for Hanako's death, but Aya's not being particularly reasonable right now, even with her Soul Gem clean.
 
Echo said:
That's not surprising. The starting point for her character was basically to take the most uncompromising aspects of Sayaka and Mami's approaches to megucahood and then build a character who could make that mindset work without self-destructing.
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She sounds amazing.

Echo said:
That can probably be arranged. I haven't settled on a final design for her costume yet, though.
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Yay!
 
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