Puella Magi Imperatrix Mundi, or: Wherein Half Of Japan Tries To Kill You
Ch. 3: Light the Path Whenever It's Dark (15)
Echo
Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before
- Location
- "echolocation" dur hur hur
Early Afternoon - Saturday, January 15th, 2011
You tap your chin thoughtfully. "Maiko, how many members does our team have right now?"
She raises an eyebrow. "That would depend on the operative definitions of 'member' and 'team', I think."
"That's what I figured," you sigh, then flop forward dramatically and lay your head on the table. "I mean, there's you and me, Asami and Minami helping out, five girls I'm on friendly terms with--well, friendly-ish terms. I think Chou is warming up to me? Slightly?" Maybe having Kiyomi around will help with that...
"Five?" Maiko asks. "Not four?"
"Yeah! I mean, okay, technically I haven't met Sayuki yet," you say, "but if I haven't met someone I can't exactly be on unfriendly terms with them, can I?"
"Ah. I suppose not," Maiko says dryly.
"Trust me," you assure her. "I am an expert on this things, you know. Anyway! Yumi has officially joined, and Rio's group agreed to work for me so I guess they're kind of a separate sub-team? And then there are the other two who haven't decided what to do buuut even if they leave that's kind of a lot of people, isn't it?"
"Teams that large are rarely stable," Maiko admits. "Interpersonal conflicts tend to be exacerbated by the nature of magical girl life."
"Roughly half the magical girls you mentioned have justifiable reason to dislike me," Yumi says in a neutral tone of voice. "Just as an example." Maiko gives Yumi an indecipherable look, and Minami looks a bit unhappy.
But still... justifiable. That's the tricky part, isn't it? You can't just tell anyone they're wrong to feel the way they do; even Kaede and Naoko probably have their reasons, and if you had enough time and energy maybe you could even help them. Not to mention that more girls may be showing up in the future!
"So, we've got a bunch of teenage girls, with dangerous magical superpowers, a complicated web of distrust and dislike between many of them, each one bearing their own set of uniquely heart-wrenching emotional issues," you say, "and the goal is to forge them into a tightly-knit team of friends who can trust each other and provide emotional support."
You tap your chin silently, making a show of thinking deeply, as the other three wait expectantly.
"This," you declare, "is going to be a lot harder than anime makes it seem."
Maiko groans wordlessly.
"I mean, yes, I continue to be basically an anime character," you say, ignoring Maiko's reaction, "but frankly being a protagonist is complicated enough on its own. I'm afraid we just don't have time for all the filler episodes it would take to get all these character arcs sorted out."
Maiko mutters something about needing a 'max link guide', whatever that is... you make a mental note to ask her later. It sounds important.
"Just look at how things went today," you continue. "The main reason it was so easy was... well, okay, the main reason was because I am awesome. But a close second was that they had no team unity! If they'd backed each other up and fought as a team things would have been a lot tougher."
"May I ask where you're going with this?" Maiko sighs.
You pout. You were totally gonna run with a big speech about the merits of an ensemble cast for exploring interpersonal dynamics without being excessively protagonist-centric and--bah. Fine, mostly-serious mode it is. For now. "What I'm getting at is that alliances of necessity aren't stable enough to work here. We need to lay the groundwork for a functional team, and while I continue to be tiny and adorable and full of boundless enthusiasm and optimism that's more helpful for recruiting than teambuilding," you say. "Getting everyone to work together and, more importantly, trust everyone else to do the same will require the utmost delicacy, insight, and finesse."
You catch a flicker of surprise from your teammates. Why do people always react that way when you get serious? ...you decide to leave that as a rhetorical question and move on.
"Fortunately," you continue, "those are all qualities I can make use of as a leader."
You pause, waiting for the mildly incredulous looks. Ah, there they are.
"--by delegating relevant tasks to you guys," you finish with a grin. Minami responds with a grin of her own, while Maiko and Yumi just look faintly exasperated.
"I wanna let everyone recover from recent events, but see what you can come up with, okay?" you ask. "Yumi, you in particular... you're acting all pragmatic and objective about it, but if that many people might dislike you I need to know that it won't cause problems some day."
Yumi looks like she wants to object, but just shrugs. "I'll see what I can do."
"Great!" you say, then tap your chin. "There's also the matter of practical issues. Keeping an eye on our neighbors, organizing Witch hunts, keeping a Grief Seed stockpile, all that."
"Keeping an eye on our neighbors--is that really an issue?" Yumi asks, glancing at Maiko. "Sakue is... famously well-informed."
Maiko shifts awkwardly. "I have my limitations," she admits. "I need enough initial data to start from."
Yumi gives her a calculating look. "Anything specific?"
Maiko raises an eyebrow. "Did you have something in mind?"
The two stare at each other for a few seconds, their facial expressions carefully neutral, until Maiko snorts and looks away. "We can speak later if you want details," she says. Yumi just looks amused.
...you're not entirely sure what that was about, nor why Minami seemed fascinated by the non-conversation.
You clear your throat. "So, Maiko and Minami together form our awesome intelligence team. No secrets are safe from them!" you say, then pause for dramatic effect. "Well, except for the ones that don't have nearby trees giving a view of their bedroom window."
Minami gives a strangled squeak and goes bright red, then hunches down in her chair looking slightly less guilty than she probably should buuut you decide to forgive her because, well, that's the kind of protagonist you are.
"Yumi, your first job is to write down everything you know about active magical girls and their territories," you say, "and pass it along to--"
"Me," Minami interjects, recovering quickly from her embarrassment. "I'm good at organizing information, and it will clear Maiko's schedule for combat missions I'm not qualified to undertake." She looks to you and Maiko for signs of approval, then continues. "Since we're shifting our base of operations over here, I'll start moving files from my secret base as soon as--" Maiko pulls another spooky key thing from her bag and hands it to Minami. "--as soon as, uh, that. Um. Mission accepted!"
"Information gathering aside, Asami was rather determined to seize control of overall structure and planning," Maiko says. "Is that acceptable?"
You and Minami look at each other, then shrug. "She kinda did the same thing at school and it's worked out so far," you say.
"Another uncontracted friend of yours?" Yumi asks.
"Er, yeah. I'll introduce you later. She was on the whole brainmail conference call thing earlier, but then she had stuff to do," you say.
"Asami is talented, driven, and assertive," Maiko supplies helpfully. "She has a competitive streak and inability to back down from even trivial challenges that I find worrying, but I'm reasonably confident Yui can rein her in if necessary."
"For everyone else... I think I'm gonna just check in via brainmail and then maybe spend some time relaxing and totally not freaking out about that fight," you say. "Anything else to talk about before we leave?"
"Three things," Maiko says. "First, don't forget that we've planned to meet with Miss Yamamoto tomorrow. Second, I've developed a theory regarding the nature and extent of your wish magic, and subsequent observations have fit my expectations. Ideally, we should meet to work on your magic skills before the next major battle."
"Uh, okay," you say. "I'm... well, not tonight, okay?"
Maiko nods. "Third, as far as I know the other new contractees have never fought a Witch. I'd like to arrange for the two of us to accompany them, singly or in groups, into one or more barriers."
"Gotcha. That it for now?" you ask.
Nobody has anything else to add, so you get up. Yumi promptly excuses herself and leaves after accepting her own gate key. Maiko takes Minami aside and leads her somewhere else in the house, leaving you alone in the main room with a pile of junk food wrappers on the table. Abandoning you to clean up your own mess, of all the nerve!
Oh well. You decide to start checking in with people as you clean up.
Chou? you send telepathically. Fight's over, just so you know! Got two prisoners, two guests who haven't decided what to do yet, and three recruits who'll be, ah, putting down roots. You pause for a moment to emphasize the choice of phrasing. Tee hee. Anyway, I told them to stay out of your territory, don't worry.
Why are you telling me this? she replies, sounding peeved.
Just keeping you informed of any potential threats, you say, then almost immediately kick yourself for wording it that way.
If you're trying to scare me, don't. I won't be needing your protection, Chou says, right on cue. Sigh.
I'm just trying to, y'know, extend an olive branch, you say. Offering information, no strings attached. Is that okay?
She hesitates. Don't care. ...you're pretty sure that means 'yes'.
Well, things are quiet for now, you say. Though, Kiyomi Watanabe was--
Chou interrupts you. Where did you hear that name?
...she's one of the three new recruits? Kiyomi was pretty enthusiastic to hear that you were in town, you say. Rio said the two of you were friends--got along like two peas in a pod, from the sound of it.
...nnh. Fine, Chou says, then abruptly breaks the connection. ...what was that about?
You decide to brainmail Shinobu next and stop to think about how to approach her, but get interrupted by Chou reconnecting.
Keep Date out of my sight, Chou says. I don't trust her.
...you blink in surprise, wondering what Fuuka did to make Chou single her out as notably untrustworthy. Um, okay, you reply. You already told them to avoid Chou's territory anyway...
Good, she says. What else?
That's all, you say. Thanks for your time!
Chou doesn't reply, but doesn't break the telepathic connection either. Chou?
...fine. You said we could make a deal, she snaps. There's something I want.
Uh, you say, caught off-guard. She's... oh, she's talking about you asking her to watch for invaders. Yeah! Okay, what do--
Tonight. In person, the park you were at before, she says. If I see anyone else hiding nearby, I'll leave. With that, she cuts the connection without giving you a chance to respond.
...sigh. You are so not feeling up to dealing with Chou today. Why does she want to meet far outside her own territory, anyway?
Well, on to the next person. Shinobu? Fight's over. Things pretty much worked out okay, too.
Congrats, she replies after a short delay. Anyone hurt?
You flinch slightly. Nothing that couldn't be healed up. I... I'd rather not talk about that, though.
Oh... uh, sorry, she says, going quiet. I shouldn't have asked, she finishes after an awkward pause.
No, no, it's fine! you say. Ask whatever you want, Magical Girl Yui-chan is here to help!
Shinobu laughs faintly.
Want to meet up again sometime? you ask. Hopefully without being rudely interrupted like before.
I... Shinobu starts to speak, but trails off hesitantly.
Want me to introduce you to my friends from school?
...I shouldn't talk to anybody, Shinobu recites in a dull tone. Hmm.
Not even other magical girls? Maiko can help you learn--
I don't want to learn! Shinobu interrupts. I didn't want any of this at all, she finishes quietly.
Okay, uh. We could just meet up and talk about anime if you want? It seems I thoughtlessly neglected to even ask what you were watching earlier, you say. Not to mention, I am practically a real life anime character now, but for some reason everyone just rolls their eyes when I say so. Rude!
Don't-- I mean, I... I'm sorry, I can't, I shouldn't even talk to you, Shinobu says, her voice taking a pleading tone.
[x] Press the issue. It's clear something big is bothering her, and you're getting worried.
- [x] Play dumb and insist on hanging out one way or another; it might annoy her, but it's easier to be supportive in person and she needs help.
- [x] Tell her that you can tell something's bothering her and that you want to help if she'll let you.
- [x] Be direct, ask her what's wrong. Why shouldn't she talk to anyone?
- [x] (write-in?)
[x] Back off. You can check in with her again later.
- [x] Talk about something else. (write-in topic)
- [x] Say goodbye for now
-- [x] Brainmail Koharu.
--- [x] Ask about visiting her at home.
--- [x] (write-in something else to say)
-- [x] See how Natsuki and Asami are doing.
--- [x] Brainmail Asami first; Natsuki will Have Questions For You and you need to keep your stories consistent.
--- [x] Text Natsuki first; Asami might be in a match right now and you don't want to distract her.
- [x] (write-in?)
Meh, still not entirely happy with a lot of this but I guess it's good enough. Some stuff just isn't flowing as naturally post-hiatus... I guess this might be a good time to do a full re-read so it's all fresh in mind again?
Nervos Belli
Don't think this means you've won!
- Location
- Murica
Glad to see Operation Plant Pun is still underway. We'll get her to laugh one of these days.
Echo
Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before
- Location
- "echolocation" dur hur hur
Just wait until you manage to discover IC that she thinks fake mustaches are the funniest thing ever!
Always Late
Lacking in coffee, sleep, and brains
- Location
- Ohio
You don't know what Persona is? And you have the gall to call yourself an Anime character.
Vebyast
Nascent Transhuman
Yui is goddamned adorable. And awesome and hilarious.
[] Hey, I've got my own mindrape aura to deal with too. You figure out how to not accidentally use it on people eventually. Just takes some practice! Maybe more practice for some people than for others. But you can't get practice if you're not talking to people! Hint hint come to anime night at yui's house hint hint hilarious training montage hint hint
[] Ooh ooh does it work over brainmail? Tell me to do something!
- Location
- Lasha Tumbai
I think Shinobu would be happier if she would accept the help and learn how to control her hax, even if it's just so that she can prevent herself from using it. How would we best word that? Also, it's been so long I can't remember if we actually know what she does.
Echo
Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before
- Location
- "echolocation" dur hur hur
You don't know what Persona is? And you have the gall to call yourself an Anime character.
Eh, Yui's not that much into video games. She'd love P4, though.
The problem would be convincing her to stop trying to Galactic Punt every Witch she fights.
You haven't confirmed it IC, no. I confirmed OOC that @Redshirt Army had the right idea with it being an involuntary compulsion effect, but I don't think I gave any details.
Vebyast
Nascent Transhuman
Also, Yui Empress Best Empress. She knows exactly what she's good at and bad at and delegates effectively and at the drop of a hat while maintaining both morale and unquestioned authority.
Let's see, real approaches.
I have trouble believing that she can affect people via text, if only because there's no way @Echo would give us such an obvious and straightforward mechanism for world domination, so that should be safe. She probably shouldn't even be capable of affecting people by writing on a piece of paper that they read, otherwise she could be the stealthiest person alive by carrying around a picket sign saying "You never saw me", so she could probably also meet with us by scribbling on a sheet of paper.
Assuming that, suggesting switching to text messages would probably tip her off that we know what's up - unless we play it off as childishly getting around her declarations of "not talking to people" - but might be a reasonable way to go forward? At the very least it'd make it easier for her to communicate, since she could compose and then send without having to worry about misspeaking or forgetting herself.
Let's see, real approaches.
I have trouble believing that she can affect people via text, if only because there's no way @Echo would give us such an obvious and straightforward mechanism for world domination, so that should be safe. She probably shouldn't even be capable of affecting people by writing on a piece of paper that they read, otherwise she could be the stealthiest person alive by carrying around a picket sign saying "You never saw me", so she could probably also meet with us by scribbling on a sheet of paper.
Assuming that, suggesting switching to text messages would probably tip her off that we know what's up - unless we play it off as childishly getting around her declarations of "not talking to people" - but might be a reasonable way to go forward? At the very least it'd make it easier for her to communicate, since she could compose and then send without having to worry about misspeaking or forgetting herself.
PhDEevee
Mathematician and Questgiver
- Location
- Sydney
Hmm. Just trying to reason an approach to this in character. We've got a rough idea what Shinobu's power does OOC, but IC it's a bit tricky.
A couple of useful posts:
Echo's post on stuff we know about Shinobu
First half of meeting with Shinobu
Second half of meeting with Shinobu
Oh, by the way, Shinobu's said something that could be interpreted as a direct command ("Forget it"), and it had no effect on Yui, so it's not just saying the words. She did cut herself off while making a request, though ("Would you -").
@Echo, based on the fact that Shinobu keeps cutting herself off, and won't talk to anyone, is it reasonable for Yui to deduce that it has something to do with speaking?
A couple of useful posts:
Echo's post on stuff we know about Shinobu
First half of meeting with Shinobu
Second half of meeting with Shinobu
Oh, by the way, Shinobu's said something that could be interpreted as a direct command ("Forget it"), and it had no effect on Yui, so it's not just saying the words. She did cut herself off while making a request, though ("Would you -").
@Echo, based on the fact that Shinobu keeps cutting herself off, and won't talk to anyone, is it reasonable for Yui to deduce that it has something to do with speaking?
- Location
- Rockford, USA
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Balduran
Smuggest Plague-Bearer
- Location
- a quiet, rainy place
Whatever flow issues you're feeling, I don't mind. If I got updates like this every time, I'd be perfectly happy!
- Location
- The Surface Of A Hostile Planet
So I missed the last bit of voting, but we are showing up, right?
Echo
Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before
- Location
- "echolocation" dur hur hur
Already answered that, actually:
i.e., don't just assume the compulsion thing, but feel free to have Yui act on that guess.
Convincing Shinobu to use her magic liberally would probably be not as straightforward as you might hope.
In other words: Yes, Shinobu's compulsion power in the hands of someone willing to exploit it fully would be insanely broken. There are some major limitations, but still.
I clarified that part previously, as well:
Here's the confirmation I gave after her compulsion power was figured out:
And here's one significant detail I did mention:
- Location
- Rockford, USA
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Last update mentioned that we are at the very least late, and our available choices include contacting Asami to get our stories for Natsuki straight.
Vebyast
Nascent Transhuman
...Well. I guess we should have our cell phone set to record whenever we talk to her, and don't delete any of her text messages or throw out anything she writes on. Then whenever we need to mindfuck someone we can just play back our recording or show them one of Shinobu's text messages. Or, if we're willing to be super broken, mass-text half of Japan with a forward.Convincing Shinobu to use her magic liberally would probably be not as straightforward as you might hope.
In other words: Yes, Shinobu's compulsion power in the hands of someone willing to exploit it fully would be insanely broken. There are some major limitations, but still.
Or maybe we shouldn't do that because she'd feel horrible about it. And I don't think that Yui is optimizing that hard.
Echo
Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before
- Location
- "echolocation" dur hur hur
It's mostly that the character voices feel off to me. Mannerisms and word choice and all that stuff ending up closer to how I would say things, making everyone sound less like themselves and more like me. If that makes sense.
Fortunately, "the way I'd say things" is basically a cross between Yui and Maiko sooo at least I don't have to struggle with that part!
Yeah. You're late for the whole event, may or may not be late for watching Asami in action, and don't know what's up beyond that. I'm also assuming that unless people vote otherwise, meeting up with Natsuki is the default plan after talking to Koharu.
Yeeeeahh, that might be a bit much for Yui.
Also... I mentioned that there are limitations, yeah? 'cuz everything you just suggested wouldn't actually work. Just FYI.
PhDEevee
Mathematician and Questgiver
- Location
- Sydney
Looks at @Echo 's various replies to my comments. 
... I clearly need to reread the entire thing...
I'm of the opinion actually going to see Shinobu today would probably be pushing too hard, and probably lose us the opportunity to see Natsuki today. Let's give her something to think about, go see Natsuki, and then go visit Koharu afterwards, maybe.
Here's a rough vote idea - (anime speech time!)
[x] Tell her that you've pretty much guessed that her power has something to with talking, which is why she's trying to be so careful.
-[x] Tell her that you're in a similar position; that one of the things your power did was to make you strong enough to crush concrete. Just by walking.
-[x] But the thing with stuff like that is if you try to avoid it, it makes it worse. If you'd been forced to defend yourself against someone, you might have killed them by accident if you hadn't known the full extent of your strength.
-[x] The only thing to do about that is to practise. Then you (and she) can learn to control your powers, and not accidentally hurt anyone.
[x] Don't push it - just ask her to think about it. You don't want her to end up like one of those lonely anime characters who hides themselves away from others because they're too strong, after all.
[x] See how Natsuki and Asami are doing.
- [x] Brainmail Asami first; Natsuki will Have Questions For You and you need to keep your stories consistent.
... I clearly need to reread the entire thing...I'm of the opinion actually going to see Shinobu today would probably be pushing too hard, and probably lose us the opportunity to see Natsuki today. Let's give her something to think about, go see Natsuki, and then go visit Koharu afterwards, maybe.
Here's a rough vote idea - (anime speech time!)
[x] Tell her that you've pretty much guessed that her power has something to with talking, which is why she's trying to be so careful.
-[x] Tell her that you're in a similar position; that one of the things your power did was to make you strong enough to crush concrete. Just by walking.
-[x] But the thing with stuff like that is if you try to avoid it, it makes it worse. If you'd been forced to defend yourself against someone, you might have killed them by accident if you hadn't known the full extent of your strength.
-[x] The only thing to do about that is to practise. Then you (and she) can learn to control your powers, and not accidentally hurt anyone.
[x] Don't push it - just ask her to think about it. You don't want her to end up like one of those lonely anime characters who hides themselves away from others because they're too strong, after all.
[x] See how Natsuki and Asami are doing.
- [x] Brainmail Asami first; Natsuki will Have Questions For You and you need to keep your stories consistent.
- Location
- Rockford, USA
- Pronouns
- They/Them
@SystemicHatter, I think I'm on board with that, but I'm going to wait to see what else pops up and do some of my own brainstorming first.
Echo
Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before
- Location
- "echolocation" dur hur hur
Echo
Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before
- Location
- "echolocation" dur hur hur
Fun fact: Nobody has yet suggested the most hilariously and horrifyingly broken potential use of Shinobu's compulsion that will have very interesting consequences if you ever try to exploit it!
I don't think you do, no. If memory serves me, you have phone numbers for Maiko, Koharu, and Tomo, but no other meguca. Also, Yumi doesn't have a phone and Chou probably doesn't either.
I don't think you do, no. If memory serves me, you have phone numbers for Maiko, Koharu, and Tomo, but no other meguca. Also, Yumi doesn't have a phone and Chou probably doesn't either.
- Location
- Rockford, USA
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Fun fact: Nobody has yet suggested the most hilariously and horrifyingly broken potential use of Shinobu's compulsion that will have very interesting consequences if you ever try to exploit it!
Enforcing our dream of a magical girl utopia through the power of brainwashing? I don't know if that's been suggested...
Fun fact: Nobody has yet suggested the most hilariously and horrifyingly broken potential use of Shinobu's compulsion that will have very interesting consequences if you ever try to exploit it!
^?
More importantly... I'm assuming that an open ended command lasts forever?
So if Shinobu ordered every magical girl she met to Never to Kill or Intentionally Harm another Magical Girl or something to that effect, where our aim is to prevent Puella Fighting... we could enforce a global urge to not do so.
Because people simply decide to do it, and write it off as a whim or rationalize "why". So if the majority rationalize "why" into some reason not to kill other Puella, then even if it wears off, they'll still not think about killing other Puella. And if it becomes a major Puella-Cultural phenomenon, it'll be self-sustaining and thus reinforce itself. Meaning we'd make being a Magical Girl much safer.
...
Or I guess we can go with the old Classic Code Geass method...
"Kill yourself." or even... "Kill all Elevens."
Woops. Accidentally Euphied someone.
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Vebyast
Nascent Transhuman
Well, if you're going to ask us to be creative...Fun fact: Nobody has yet suggested the most hilariously and horrifyingly broken potential use of Shinobu's compulsion that will have very interesting consequences if you ever try to exploit it!
- Order magical girls to witch out
- Order uncontracted girls to make wishes
- Order people to obey orders from {other people} as if those orders came from Shinobu
- Order someone to execute a godel sentence
- Order Kyubey around (!!!)