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Puella Magi Persona Magica!

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Wednesday March 16th, Timeline 1/???: A Distant Admirer
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    • It doesn't take you long to make the decision. Your world has been shattered twice already today, you were shot at, and fought monsters. It'll probably hit you once you're alone, and have time to process it all, but for right now you're feeling kind of numb to this. It helps, but you set out for the Mikuni mansion, making sure to check directions just to be sure. From the store, it's barely a five minute walk...to the edge of the grounds. It takes you another five minutes to move around to the front, at which point you encounter a girl with yellow eyes who fixes her gaze on you. You get the feeling that she's sizing you up, but then she trots forwards and seizes your hand, intertwining her fingers with yours.

    "So you're the one Mom's been looking after." Kirika, you're certain, looks at you with a wolfish grin. You can't help but blush at the immediate intimacy she's taken, but at the same time you're reluctant shy away from the contact. You already feel welcome in her presence, and you're confused but willing to back in it for now. "You won't need to be alone anymore, now. You have me, and you'll have Mikuni-san too. But I promise that I won't leave you, even if she has to." You are very caught between being very concerned and deeply flattered. You're...

    You're willing to ignore how weird this is, for now. She wants you here. This Oriko wants you here. It's a giddy feeling, as you realize, and as Kirika moves you follow pliantly, trying to sort out the conflicted feelings this brings in you. As you approach the door, it opens and you gasp as you lay your eyes on your host for the evening.

    Mikuni Oriko is very, very pretty. You had been called a beauty, but you're certain you have nothing on the girl in front of you. She has a air of class about her, her posture impeccable even as she gives you a gentle smile. You remember to breathe as you fumble into a light bow. "Thank you for having me, Mikuni-san." You note a silver ring on her finger and a star on another fingernail-a glance confirms to you that Kirika doesn't seem to have either. You wonder...?

    "It is no problem. Please, both of you, take a seat. The tea will be ready soon." You catch yourself nodding before you can even think about it, gliding inside with a grace that doesn't quite feel like it's natural. When you sit, Kirika temporarily releases your hand, but only long enough to take the groceries from you and place them safely to the side, and then she takes it again as she sits next to you, scooting closer. Not quite touching, but close enouh that you can feel her presence. She's just...there. Not intrusive, but you get the feeling she's being deliberate, to be gently within your sphere of influence. "Um, Kure-san-" You're cut off by the subject herself.

    "Nah, none of that. Call me Kirika. You know, we've met before. Not sure if you remember, but..." You blink, brow furrowing. "I was looking at some books, and you took one look and you grabbed one yourself. Made the decision a lot easier! And then, wouldn't you know it, afterwards when I dropped 'em and my other stuff, Mikuni-san showed up and helped me!" You frown, but it comes to you after a moment. You...hadn't been helping her, you'd just been there for that book. Kirika's own mother had helped you check it out of the library. How had you not noticed? You open your mouth to explain, but Oriko glides in again and catches your eye, your train of thought melting with the distraction.

    She sets the tea down and sits down across from you, affixing you with that same gentle smile. "Kirika here was curious when I mentioned my vision upon contracting was focused on you. When she realized you were so lonely from my descriptions...well, she became very focused on making sure you wouldn't be anymore." A genteel chuckle came out of her mouth, and something feels a little off about that. She had done more than you had, and yours was unintentional...so why was Kirika so focused on you? You couldn't really finish the thought before Oriko's movement drew your eye again, and you were a little frustrated mentally.

    She was so distracting. It was supernatural, your eyes and focus just gravitated to her whenever she did anything, her beauty hypnotizing. Still, you also feel like you can definitely trust her, for some reason. "I...see. Um, is that all you needed me to come over here for? So that I could properly meet Ku-erm, Kirika?" You ask. You frown, even as using her name made the girl light up in joy.

    "No, that's not all. You see, Kirika wanted you to be here for her Wish. After I told her what I knew, she was adamant on using it for your sake, you see. I tried to dissuade her, but she was...very convincing. There is more, but this matter should be settled first." You feel like there's something you're not being told. But you turn to Kirika, eyes wide.

    "You...want to spend your Wish on me? But...but shouldn't you spend it on something you want? I'm not worth it..." You curl in on yourself a little. You really aren't worth it. Your mother sent you away after all, didn't want you anymore. But then Kirika wraps an arm around you, and you flinch at the warmth of the hug.

    "Of course you're worth it. You showed kindness to someone like me, after all." She couldn't be that bad, if she was so set on making sure you felt cared for. But...she shouldn't wish for your sake, surely. And it really nagged at you, the sheer devotion she showed you for such a little act that was unintentional. Oriko had done more for her that same day, even!

    You...aren't sure if you want her to do this. For you. It feels wrong.

    It feels like something's put it's finger on the scales for you, all of a sudden.

    But Kyubey appears from around a corner, looking at Kirika.

    This is your only chance to dissuade her, if you want to. Or influence her Wish. You don't want to be alone, what she's offering sounds great, and Oriko's vouching for it and you trust her, for whatever reason, but something feels wrong about it.

    [] Attempt to convince Kirika not to wish for you.
    - []If so, what's your argument?
    - [] Assuming she doesn't accept your argument, how do you influence her wish(if at all?)

    [] Attempt to influence Kirika's wish.
    - [] What do you want her to wish for?
    [] Let Kirika Wish what she wants. It's not fair to her to influence it, even if it feels wrong that she's that devoted to you for such a small act.

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    Oriko always sees some way the world will end, without fail. So the question is, what did she see this time?
     
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    • [x] Let Kirika Wish what she wants. It's not fair to her to influence it, even if it feels wrong that she's that devoted to you for such a small act.

    Don't know if this'll be the popular choice, but has the most argument so far
     
    [x] Let Kirika Wish what she wants. It's not fair to her to influence it, even if it feels wrong that she's that devoted to you for such a small act.

    I'm in favor of this it could make things interesting.
     
    Oh...

    I hate this. Lol.

    Wishes are bad, but we have no real way of preventing this or wanting to prevent this. We don't have the information to argue it.

    That sucks...

    I think the most we can do is try to get her to wish for herself in some way instead of just for us.

    Just getting her to focus on herself to be able to help those she wants to would be a major improvement on wishing to help us specifically. It would give her more versatility and autonomy.

    Not really comfortable letting her warp herself into being a permanent servant to us or whatever.

    [X] Attempt to influence Kirika's wish.
    - [X] Convince her to wish that she would be able to be a great help to whomever she wants and feels deserves her support. We don't want her to trap herself with us with a wish. We want a genuine relationship.

    Hopefully that works.

    Edit: Changed the wish to get rid of potential mind altering parts.
     
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    This seems rather sus... I wonder why Oriko seems so immediately trustworthy to us. A different wish from what we know, perhaps? If Kyuubey wasn't lying or somehow being otherwise misleading, it certainly seems likely. Guess we'll see.

    In any case, we have the self-esteem of a lemming, so I would assume we would just shrug and let it happen.

    [x] Let Kirika Wish what she wants. It's not fair to her to influence it, even if it feels wrong that she's that devoted to you for such a small act.
     
    I guess we're getting a wish buddy whether we want it or not. Also, just because I said that wish could get us our own Kirika didn't mean I was expecting us to get actually Kirika. Ally clearly stole my idea :V

    To be honest, I'm not sure what argument could be done to stop her from making a wish.

    [X] Attempt to influence Kirika's wish.
    - [X] Convince her to wish that she would be able to be a great help and wonderful friend to whomever she wants and feels deserves her friendship and support. We don't want her to trap herself with us with a wish. We want a genuine relationship.

    I don't know, default wish may not have a healthy outcome. We're assuming it's just the same wish, right?
     
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    Kirika metainfo(and the fact that this role was always a thing)
  • Informational
    • WanderingTwix said:
    I guess we're getting a wish buddy whether we want it or not. Also, just because I said that wish could get us our own Kirika didn't mean I was expecting us to get actually Kirika. Ally clearly stole my idea :V
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    HelioA said:
    She's vengeful because she had to rewrite the Social Links :V
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    In an earlier draft of the story, there was an original character that fulfilled this purpose(it was kind of bizarre, it was like I accidentally stumbled into making Kirika independently), but once I gained a better idea of the characters involved in Oriko Magica I worked this in instead. There's actually different ways you met Kirika without knowing depending on your difficulty and the subvotes. For example, the intimidating shy saved her from bullies instead of making a choice easier for her and being very pretty.

    Might compile a list of things that were different in earlier versions of it, because the path of the story has been wildly different between. In the first draft you weren't actually an original character at all; you were Hitomi. Homura was also somewhat antagonistic towards you, because for all of her focus on Madoka she cares very deeply about all of the Quintet, not just Madoka.
     
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  • Informational
    • Speaking of social links:
    AllyDJ said:
    Fortune: Mikuni Oriko. Strangely hypnotic.
    Judgement: When the clock strikes midnight on the 23rd, she will arrive a week before the calamity begins.
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    There's clearly something going on with Oriko. Some secondary power, perhaps? As for Judgment... I don't have 1st-hand knowledge of PMMM, so I don't know who this could be. inb4 it's really obvious. This is also my segue to suggesting that you make that post an informational.

    Edit: Sorry, I meant the thing below the opening post (though this is also fine as an informational). Our character sheet + social links.
     
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    Ehhh, I should probably mark another post I made earlier too about Social Links so I figured I'd do it all. It blanked my mind to mark the character sheet, though, thank you for that.
     
    Great chapter! Curious how Kirika and Oriko become so well acquainted, given Kirika's focus on our character and her shyness. She seems to be acting pretty bold towards us even before making a wish. Although maybe our shyness makes her feel more confident. Anyway, as for the Wish, I don't think dissuading her from making one is in the cards. That said, I want her to make a healthier wish for her own sake than in canon. So I think I'll go with this option.

    [x] Attempt to influence Kirika's wish.
    -[X] Convince her to wish that she would be able to be a great help and wonderful friend to whomever she wants and feels deserves her friendship and support. We don't want her to trap herself with us with a wish. We want a genuine relationship.
     
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    ImMortalSlayer said:
    [x] Attempt to influence Kirika's wish.
    [x] - [X] Convince her to wish that she would be able to be a great help and wonderful friend to whomever she wants and feels deserves her friendship and support. We don't want her to trap herself with us with a wish. We want a genuine relationship.
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    You added another X in that second line. Might mess up your vote.
     
    Looks like my lack of knowledge about extended madokaverse is rearing its head already. On the bright side, it means I can fully share in Yui's perspective of not knowing what's going on and that's something I prefer anyway. The way Yui's conflicted right now also comes across pretty well, so good job. It does however still makes me want to know what the hell's going on. So, for the more off the wall vote, I propose:

    [X] Attempt to convince Kirika not to wish for you.
    -[X] It's your turn to make a wish first and you're wishing to fully understand everything about the people you interact with.
    -[X] Assuming she doesn't accept your argument, how do you influence her wish(if at all?)
    --[X] If the two of you are going to stay together, you're also going to be happy together. You want her to promise on your friendship that for her wish, she'll consider her own well being just as important as your own and will not in any way sacrifice herself for your sake. Saying that she would be happy with being our servant or similar exploits don't count.

    So yeah, either we get a heads up to some mind control stuff going on, or we know she's genuine and can at least get rid some of the sketchy feelings about the situation and help Yui with feeling less lost in the chaos that her life has turned into. The story direction of dragging each other into the magical girl contract also feels very on brand in a way that appeals to me.

    Alternatively, for something less risky, I agree on wnating to do something, but the current influence vote is both too bossy for my taste in giving her an exact wish, while also leaving too much weasle toom in that wording. I think I'd rather go for something like:

    [] Attempt to influence Kirika's wish.
    -[X] If the two of you are going to stay together, you're also going to be happy together. You want her to promise on your friendship that for her wish, she'll consider her own well being just as important as your own and will not in any way sacrifice herself for your sake. Saying that she would be happy with being our servant or similar exploits don't count.

    A bit guilt trippy maybe, but about the best I can think off at the moment.

    Edit: Oh well, with nobody jumping on my votes, I might as well switch.

    [X] Let Kirika Wish what she wants. It's not fair to her to influence it, even if it feels wrong that she's that devoted to you for such a small act.
     
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    Edgedancer said:
    [X] Attempt to influence Kirika's wish.
    -[X] If the two of you are going to stay together, you're also going to be happy together. You want her to promise on your friendship that for her wish, she'll consider her own well being just as important as your own and will not in any way sacrifice herself for your sake. Saying that she would be happy with being our servant or similar exploits don't count
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    That's pretty much the same as the below vote but you're adding a extra promise and preventing her from making sacrifice plays ever. I get the spirit of it but sometimes someone feels like they need to take a hit and she will be way more durable than us.

    WanderingTwix said:
    [X] Attempt to influence Kirika's wish.
    - [X] Convince her to wish that she would be able to be a great help and wonderful friend to whomever she wants and feels deserves her friendship and support. We don't want her to trap herself with us with a wish. We want a genuine relationship.
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    A Dramatis Personae has been added in the second reserved post for important characters(i.e. expanded social link profiles, though they're pretty barebones right this second). I'm happy to see the discussion :D
     
    bigking321 said:
    That's pretty much the same as the below vote but you're adding a extra promise and preventing her from making sacrifice plays ever. I get the spirit of it but sometimes someone feels like they need to take a hit and she will be way more durable than us.
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    1) It's arguably more of a difference in additude, but "wish for X" and "the choice is still yours, but at least don't do Y" are very fundamentally different both in how much it respects Kirika'a agency and how hard a sell it is for her to actually agree.
    2) The no sacrifice part is explicitly tied to "for her wish" and not a hard limit on her bahaviour forever.
    3) As I said before, I honestly find the wording of the wish you quoted too vague. Both in how it activates, we likely qualify at the moment, but can it trigger for multiple people simultaneously, how reliably can she turn it off after the wish was actually made and what happens if we ever get into a fight and there's no longer anybody for her wish to activate with? And in what it triggers, being a "helper" is fairly save in that could just give her context relevant skills. Being a "wonderful friend" though? That kind of stuff is mostly down to how you feel about and act with somebody, neither of which I exactly want altered by magic.
     
    Edgedancer said:
    3) As I said before, I honestly find the wording of the wish you quoted too vague. Both in how it activates, we likely qualify at the moment, but can it trigger for multiple people simultaneously, how reliably can she turn it off after the wish was actually made and what happens if we ever get into a fight and there's no longer anybody for her wish to activate with? And in what it triggers, being a "helper" is fairly save in that could just give her context relevant skills. Being a "wonderful friend" though? That kind of stuff is mostly down to how you feel about and act with somebody, neither of which I exactly want altered by magic.
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    The vagueness is completely intentional. I'm hoping that the wish won't actually mess with her agency or alter her mentally in anyway.

    If she wants to be friends with us and thinks we deserve it then we qualify for whatever she has to offer. Whatever it is will enable her to help and be a good friend. I have no idea what that will end up being but I'm sure it will be good.

    I'm actively hoping that it can trigger for other people as well. I absolutely don't want her to trap herself and be stuck with us. If she finds other people she wants to be friends with and support I want her to have the ability to.

    She could end up being the hub of our group. Making friends with us and with others. Linking everyone like our own powers do maybe. Buffing everyone or whatever, who knows.

    I just want her wish to be about her and improving her ways of supporting people she wants to support and being friends with who she wants to be friends with, not about her locking herself onto us.

    And this way if we do something horrible or betray her she can choose to stop helping us. It's entirely up to her.
     
    bigking321 said:
    The vagueness is completely intentional. I'm hoping that the wish won't actually mess with her agency or alter her mentally in anyway.

    If she wants to be friends with us and thinks we deserve it then we qualify for whatever she has to offer. Whatever it is will enable her to help and be a good friend. I have no idea what that will end up being but I'm sure it will be good.

    I'm actively hoping that it can trigger for other people as well. I absolutely don't want her to trap herself and be stuck with us. If she finds other people she wants to be friends with and support I want her to have the ability to.

    She could end up being the hub of our group. Making friends with us and with others. Linking everyone like our own powers do maybe. Buffing everyone or whatever, who knows.

    I just want her wish to be about her and improving her ways of supporting people she wants to support and being friends with who she wants to be friends with, not about her locking herself onto us.

    And this way if we do something horrible or betray her she can choose to stop helping us. It's entirely up to her.
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    There's something ironic about wanting to maintain a person's independence by telling them what to do for what could turn out to be the important decision of their life. Otherwise, I'm just really not up to gambling with a character's fate through purposefully vague wording.
     
    Edgedancer said:
    There's something ironic about wanting to maintain a person's independence by telling them what to do for what could turn out to be the important decision of their life. Otherwise, I'm just really not up to gambling with a character's fate through purposefully vague wording.
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    I'm not sure I understand.

    She is planning to make a wish. She has indicated she will use it to help us. That can have bad effects.

    Asking her to focus her wish on herself will hopefully eliminate the chance of her getting messed up mentally and preserve her independence.

    I'm not sure why you think the vagueness is such a problem. I think being too specific and legalistic with the wish is more likely to cause problems but if it bothers you, that's fine, agree to disagree.
     
    bigking321 said:
    I'm not sure I understand.

    She is planning to make a wish. She has indicated she will use it to help us. That can have bad effects.

    Asking her to focus her wish on herself will hopefully eliminate the chance of her getting messed up mentally and preserve her independence.

    I'm not sure why you think the vagueness is such a problem. I think being too specific and legalistic with the wish is more likely to cause problems but if it bothers you, that's fine, agree to disagree.
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    In order:

    Yes, she's going to make a wish almost definetly, but deciding what she wishes for is just as important as the decision to make a wish in the first place and expecting her to just repeat what we feed her sends a very bad precedent for her standing as her own person in the future.

    "Be able to be a great help and wonderful friend to [X]" is only focused on her in so far that she has to carry the consequences, and thus increases the chance of it affecting her negatively, and eliminates wishes like "I want Yui Okamoto to be super rich and always have enough money to buy whatever she wants." which at least wouldn't negatively impact her beyond what's inherent to a contract. That aside, the wish is still heavily focused on the benefit of other people. That's the kind of structural issue that doesn't get fixed by adding in a conditional instead of a specific name.

    The vagueness means the wish can be reasonably read as Kirika brainwashing herself to become a "wonderful friend" for other people. Sure, trying to be to smart could possibly backfire even worse, but that doesn't mean the other extreme is actually good.
     
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