Subsumption (PMMM Faux-Quest) (Witch MC)
Subspace Primid
Where are you Tabuu? Where am I?
- Location
- SubSpace
Do all of Shemesh's forms come with that eye on them? Does hitting them there blind them?
Omake: You Are a Giant Book (Witch Quest X-over)
Farseer Sen'Zabl
Accolyte of 'Common Sense'
- Location
- Dome of Crystal Seers, Ulthwe
Well, I'm bored. New omake anybody?
It's unthinkable. Some might go so far as to call it impossible, or at least highly improbable. And yet, it seems to have happened all the same — you, Ashtaroth, the Arrogator of Souls, Collector of Cursed Beings, and Empress of the Court of Despair… are bored.
Again.
Truly, it's incredible just how long it can take to travel down one measly highway. It's probably only been maybe four-ish hours or so, but you're not certain you'd even know, as it feels like it's been closer to four days. Perhaps even four months, if you don't arrive at your destination some time soon.
The worst part is, you're starting to run out of ways to entertain yourself. The three of you have played Go Fish so much that it's almost a wonder your barrier hasn't spontaneously generated a new playing-card themed area to match, probably filled with a bunch of fishing-pole-themed familiars or something equally ridiculous. It's probably fortunate that you've been having to make do with illusory cards, because you're pretty sure that if they were real, Sayaka would have long since ripped the deck up in frustration over her complete inability to actually win any of those games when up against you.
Hide and seek was actually considered at one point, but several issues rather quickly made themselves apparent. Most notably, being multiple stories tall made hiding a touch problematic for you, and illusions would have just made it too easy. On the other ribbon, you can see and hear everything that Sayaka and Tira can, and thus being the seeker would have been equally fruitless. Sure, you could try and ignore everything you could sense through the pair of girls, but even a momentary slip in that regard, and the game would essentially be immediately over.
You'd taken a crack at illusionary chess and checkers, but Sayaka didn't play either very well and you'd lose to Tira as sure as the setting sun. It got boring for everyone involved pretty quickly.
You mentally sigh. Tira and Sayaka both seemed to want some time to themselves anyways, which is why they aren't here with you at the moment. You've been trying to ignore their perspectives since they left, having no intentions of prying into whatever they're doing — everyone needs some privacy after all, and as you've inadvertently taken theirs away from them, you're perfectly willing to try to give them some semblance of it back.
They probably just want to quietly complain about you without insulting you to your face, or something along those lines. You're sure you'd be doing the same in their situation.
Well, whatever they're up to, pontificating on the matter isn't making you any less bored. Maybe you should use this time more productively and go on another Ummashtart safari? You know you haven't seen the full length and breadth of their forms just yet, at least assuming there are any based off your more... er, experimental shapeshiftings.
...come to think of it, you certainly hope there aren't any Ummashtart like that. There were a few forms you tried out back when you were still a magical girl that you'd really rather Sayaka and Tira not see. Between the cosplay, the kemonomimi, and that one little experiment into what you might look like as the opposite sex, well-
Your train of thought is abruptly and mercilessly derailed by the sensation of something tugging on one of Tome's pages, just hard enough to grab your attention.
You're in the Canvas right now. The innermost part of your barrier. There shouldn't be anything else here to grab your attention.
Instantly recoiling upwards, you quickly turn towards the source of the tugging, and find a girl (shit) wearing a weirdly ornate and spidery-looking dress (double shit) standing on Tome, staring up at you guilelessly from atop its pages. What the- how?! How has your barrier been infiltrated, again, by some random magical girl with-
With- with an awfully depressing aura, actually. You're aware that a lot of magical girls tend to have themes beyond just "frills", but...
Wait. Is her hat covered in faces? Tiny, constantly crying faces?
Your inspection of the girl's honestly rather horrifying headwear ends up being interrupted when she suddenly speaks up.
"Hwee ahr a gi-ahnt spy-dahr."
…um. What?
You tilt your head slightly to the side in an attempt to convey your confusion, then start slowly summoning shatterwords. This garners no apparent reaction from the girl at all, nor does she react as you quickly begin arranging the runes into a suitable response to her statement. One that clearly conveys your vast intellect, and highly expansive vocabulary:
「Um. What?」
"Can hwee stay wih hyou?" the girl replies, or maybe just says, still in that nigh-indecipherable accent. "Hwee don like naypahlm buht she won' leave uhs alone latleh."
You take a few seconds to try and mentally decipher that, now quite sure this isn't an attack, but not sure what else it could possibly be. The girl meanwhile continues staring at you, seemingly waiting for a response, before abruptly seeming to get bored with that as she scrunches up her face in what appears to be concentration-
<Hehlo? Tehsting?>
...and now she's in your head. Because apparently she can do that.
<Ahre hyoo thereh?>
Wait, is she seriously still-
<This betteh nyot be the circuhs hgain…>
<...are you screwing with me?> you finally respond.
<Noh, hwee tohld hyu sihlly, hwee ahr a gi-ahnt spy-dahr!>
<This is literally telepathy, how do you still have that accent?> you ask, oddly incredulous.
<Hwee dunno. How do hyoo stihll hahve hair wehn hyor fahce is a blahk hole? Is hwitch stuff.>
…well, assuming that you understood that correctly, you suppose she has you there.
<Fair point.> you concede. <Who exactly are- no, wait, more importantly, how did you even get in here?>
Surely you can't have missed your barrier being broken into again. Surely you're not that oblivious.
<Hwee dunno, thereh was somhing aboht a Cheebee-Reapah, bhut then eet dehcidehd eet hahd enohgh of us ahnd lehft, ahnd tehn hwee wohke uhp ahnd Naypahlm whas very upset aboht her hair foh some rehson.>
<I... see?>
No you don't.
<Nevermind. Back to my first question, who are you, exactly? And- please don't just say you're a giant spider again.>
<Hwee ahre Rochelle! Wich ohf rehgreht!>
...
What.
<You're a witch?!> you incredulously repeat.
<Heeeyeah, bhut hwee cahn phretend to be a mahgical ghirl!> Rochelle exclaims.
She- is she saying- how did she-?!
...no. Stop. Pump the brakes... one thing at a time.
<That's, a, uh. Very neat trick.> you say, severely understating the matter. <And you wanted... what from me, again?>
You have to have misunderstood what she said before, there is no way that-
<Cahn hwee stay whit hyu?>
-okay, nevermind, you understood her request perfectly. You just didn't believe you did, because why in the world would some apparently-witch-in-human-skin randomly show up and ask to take up residence in your barrier? Despite the number of inhabitants your barrier houses, this isn't just some random traveling witch motel, and you're not just some faceless witch landlady — and how is this a line of thought you're even having to consider? What is happening right now?!
<Do you... not like your own barrier, or...?>
You trail off. Or does she maybe not have one? You feel as though a second barrier suddenly pulling up nearby (or sticking itself onto yours like all the rest have) is another one of those things you definitely would have noticed, after all. Maybe the lack of barrier is part of what lets her look human, weirdly depressing aura and wailing white clothes aside...
<Hwee just whant to hide fhrom Nayphalm fohr a while.> the other witch replies. <Have hyu met Nayphalm? Blahk hair, purhple ehyes->
-and suddenly you understand exactly who she's talking about, and also why she wants to hide herself here. You'd probably do something similar if you had the option — Homura was, from your experience, not someone you wanted anywhere near you if she had an issue with your existence. Which she very definitely does.
<Well, I can't say I'm not interested in talking to you more, especially as you're the only other sane witch I've come across thus far.> you reply, again massively understating yourself. <So I guess you can stay, so long as you agree not to cause any trouble — meaning like, no eating my familiars, or burning down the lawn again, or picking fights with the other girls, that kind of stuff.>
Rochelle's eyes widen in apparent interest.
<Otha ghirls?>
<A pair of Magi that can't leave for… reasons. I should probably warn them they have a new roommate…> Though perhaps in slightly different words, ones that don't imply you've ended up subsuming someone again the moment they looked away.
Now what were they up to?
"...so what you're saying is, I could eat as much as I want, of whatever I want, and not get fat?"
Sayaka's voice quietly echoed throughout the cavern, little more than a conspiratorial whisper at loudest.
"Or as little," Tira added. "However, it costs an uncomfortable amount of magic to do so — far more than the ability to skip a meal without hunger or refrain from proper exercise is truly worth. Unless you can afford to use a grief seed per day I suppose, which has certainly never been my experience."
"So what you're saying is that I could eat as much as I want." Sayaka repeated.
"If you are willing to waste a dangerous amount of magic, yes, you can."
"Meaning I can eat as much as I want."
"Exactly what part of 'it uses too much magic' are you failing to understand, Miki-san?" Tira snapped.
"I dunno," Sayaka shrugged, "probably the part where we now basically have an endless supply of magic, seeing as we're hooked up to Ash and all."
Tira blinked. "Ah… I suppose that slipped my mind for a moment."
"It didn't slip miiiiine~" Sayaka sing-songed in response. "So, on your left is a truly massive black forest gateau. I tried it yesterday, and I must say it's very nice. More importantly for you however, just a short way over to your right is an equally massive cinnamon bun… which, you know, you can eat. Without worrying about how unhealthy it is. Because infinite magic-"
And just like that, Tira was gone. The giant cinnamon confectionary's fate had been sealed.
"...heh, knew it."
<On second thought, I'll introduce you to them later. They're busy.>
Once again, my appreciation to Flairina for the gracious assistance with making sure Ash and Co. were all in character, or as close as they could be here, along with the generous help in polishing things up.
Now lets see how long this can be up before I inevitably spot a mistake and have to correct it.
Edit: the irony has become reality and I've had to correct the message about mistakes being made.
Link for those who haven't encountered Witch-quest before: Witch Quest: Story Only
~You Are A Giant Book~
(Subsumption x Witch Quest Crossover)
(Subsumption x Witch Quest Crossover)
It's unthinkable. Some might go so far as to call it impossible, or at least highly improbable. And yet, it seems to have happened all the same — you, Ashtaroth, the Arrogator of Souls, Collector of Cursed Beings, and Empress of the Court of Despair… are bored.
Again.
Truly, it's incredible just how long it can take to travel down one measly highway. It's probably only been maybe four-ish hours or so, but you're not certain you'd even know, as it feels like it's been closer to four days. Perhaps even four months, if you don't arrive at your destination some time soon.
The worst part is, you're starting to run out of ways to entertain yourself. The three of you have played Go Fish so much that it's almost a wonder your barrier hasn't spontaneously generated a new playing-card themed area to match, probably filled with a bunch of fishing-pole-themed familiars or something equally ridiculous. It's probably fortunate that you've been having to make do with illusory cards, because you're pretty sure that if they were real, Sayaka would have long since ripped the deck up in frustration over her complete inability to actually win any of those games when up against you.
Hide and seek was actually considered at one point, but several issues rather quickly made themselves apparent. Most notably, being multiple stories tall made hiding a touch problematic for you, and illusions would have just made it too easy. On the other ribbon, you can see and hear everything that Sayaka and Tira can, and thus being the seeker would have been equally fruitless. Sure, you could try and ignore everything you could sense through the pair of girls, but even a momentary slip in that regard, and the game would essentially be immediately over.
You'd taken a crack at illusionary chess and checkers, but Sayaka didn't play either very well and you'd lose to Tira as sure as the setting sun. It got boring for everyone involved pretty quickly.
You mentally sigh. Tira and Sayaka both seemed to want some time to themselves anyways, which is why they aren't here with you at the moment. You've been trying to ignore their perspectives since they left, having no intentions of prying into whatever they're doing — everyone needs some privacy after all, and as you've inadvertently taken theirs away from them, you're perfectly willing to try to give them some semblance of it back.
They probably just want to quietly complain about you without insulting you to your face, or something along those lines. You're sure you'd be doing the same in their situation.
Well, whatever they're up to, pontificating on the matter isn't making you any less bored. Maybe you should use this time more productively and go on another Ummashtart safari? You know you haven't seen the full length and breadth of their forms just yet, at least assuming there are any based off your more... er, experimental shapeshiftings.
...come to think of it, you certainly hope there aren't any Ummashtart like that. There were a few forms you tried out back when you were still a magical girl that you'd really rather Sayaka and Tira not see. Between the cosplay, the kemonomimi, and that one little experiment into what you might look like as the opposite sex, well-
Your train of thought is abruptly and mercilessly derailed by the sensation of something tugging on one of Tome's pages, just hard enough to grab your attention.
You're in the Canvas right now. The innermost part of your barrier. There shouldn't be anything else here to grab your attention.
Instantly recoiling upwards, you quickly turn towards the source of the tugging, and find a girl (shit) wearing a weirdly ornate and spidery-looking dress (double shit) standing on Tome, staring up at you guilelessly from atop its pages. What the- how?! How has your barrier been infiltrated, again, by some random magical girl with-
With- with an awfully depressing aura, actually. You're aware that a lot of magical girls tend to have themes beyond just "frills", but...
Wait. Is her hat covered in faces? Tiny, constantly crying faces?
Your inspection of the girl's honestly rather horrifying headwear ends up being interrupted when she suddenly speaks up.
"Hwee ahr a gi-ahnt spy-dahr."
…um. What?
You tilt your head slightly to the side in an attempt to convey your confusion, then start slowly summoning shatterwords. This garners no apparent reaction from the girl at all, nor does she react as you quickly begin arranging the runes into a suitable response to her statement. One that clearly conveys your vast intellect, and highly expansive vocabulary:
「Um. What?」
"Can hwee stay wih hyou?" the girl replies, or maybe just says, still in that nigh-indecipherable accent. "Hwee don like naypahlm buht she won' leave uhs alone latleh."
You take a few seconds to try and mentally decipher that, now quite sure this isn't an attack, but not sure what else it could possibly be. The girl meanwhile continues staring at you, seemingly waiting for a response, before abruptly seeming to get bored with that as she scrunches up her face in what appears to be concentration-
<Hehlo? Tehsting?>
...and now she's in your head. Because apparently she can do that.
<Ahre hyoo thereh?>
Wait, is she seriously still-
<This betteh nyot be the circuhs hgain…>
<...are you screwing with me?> you finally respond.
<Noh, hwee tohld hyu sihlly, hwee ahr a gi-ahnt spy-dahr!>
<This is literally telepathy, how do you still have that accent?> you ask, oddly incredulous.
<Hwee dunno. How do hyoo stihll hahve hair wehn hyor fahce is a blahk hole? Is hwitch stuff.>
…well, assuming that you understood that correctly, you suppose she has you there.
<Fair point.> you concede. <Who exactly are- no, wait, more importantly, how did you even get in here?>
Surely you can't have missed your barrier being broken into again. Surely you're not that oblivious.
<Hwee dunno, thereh was somhing aboht a Cheebee-Reapah, bhut then eet dehcidehd eet hahd enohgh of us ahnd lehft, ahnd tehn hwee wohke uhp ahnd Naypahlm whas very upset aboht her hair foh some rehson.>
<I... see?>
No you don't.
<Nevermind. Back to my first question, who are you, exactly? And- please don't just say you're a giant spider again.>
<Hwee ahre Rochelle! Wich ohf rehgreht!>
...
What.
<You're a witch?!> you incredulously repeat.
<Heeeyeah, bhut hwee cahn phretend to be a mahgical ghirl!> Rochelle exclaims.
She- is she saying- how did she-?!
...no. Stop. Pump the brakes... one thing at a time.
<That's, a, uh. Very neat trick.> you say, severely understating the matter. <And you wanted... what from me, again?>
You have to have misunderstood what she said before, there is no way that-
<Cahn hwee stay whit hyu?>
-okay, nevermind, you understood her request perfectly. You just didn't believe you did, because why in the world would some apparently-witch-in-human-skin randomly show up and ask to take up residence in your barrier? Despite the number of inhabitants your barrier houses, this isn't just some random traveling witch motel, and you're not just some faceless witch landlady — and how is this a line of thought you're even having to consider? What is happening right now?!
<Do you... not like your own barrier, or...?>
You trail off. Or does she maybe not have one? You feel as though a second barrier suddenly pulling up nearby (or sticking itself onto yours like all the rest have) is another one of those things you definitely would have noticed, after all. Maybe the lack of barrier is part of what lets her look human, weirdly depressing aura and wailing white clothes aside...
<Hwee just whant to hide fhrom Nayphalm fohr a while.> the other witch replies. <Have hyu met Nayphalm? Blahk hair, purhple ehyes->
-and suddenly you understand exactly who she's talking about, and also why she wants to hide herself here. You'd probably do something similar if you had the option — Homura was, from your experience, not someone you wanted anywhere near you if she had an issue with your existence. Which she very definitely does.
<Well, I can't say I'm not interested in talking to you more, especially as you're the only other sane witch I've come across thus far.> you reply, again massively understating yourself. <So I guess you can stay, so long as you agree not to cause any trouble — meaning like, no eating my familiars, or burning down the lawn again, or picking fights with the other girls, that kind of stuff.>
Rochelle's eyes widen in apparent interest.
<Otha ghirls?>
<A pair of Magi that can't leave for… reasons. I should probably warn them they have a new roommate…> Though perhaps in slightly different words, ones that don't imply you've ended up subsuming someone again the moment they looked away.
Now what were they up to?
---
—Meanwhile, in a cavern of despairingly delicious desserts—
—Meanwhile, in a cavern of despairingly delicious desserts—
"...so what you're saying is, I could eat as much as I want, of whatever I want, and not get fat?"
Sayaka's voice quietly echoed throughout the cavern, little more than a conspiratorial whisper at loudest.
"Or as little," Tira added. "However, it costs an uncomfortable amount of magic to do so — far more than the ability to skip a meal without hunger or refrain from proper exercise is truly worth. Unless you can afford to use a grief seed per day I suppose, which has certainly never been my experience."
"So what you're saying is that I could eat as much as I want." Sayaka repeated.
"If you are willing to waste a dangerous amount of magic, yes, you can."
"Meaning I can eat as much as I want."
"Exactly what part of 'it uses too much magic' are you failing to understand, Miki-san?" Tira snapped.
"I dunno," Sayaka shrugged, "probably the part where we now basically have an endless supply of magic, seeing as we're hooked up to Ash and all."
Tira blinked. "Ah… I suppose that slipped my mind for a moment."
"It didn't slip miiiiine~" Sayaka sing-songed in response. "So, on your left is a truly massive black forest gateau. I tried it yesterday, and I must say it's very nice. More importantly for you however, just a short way over to your right is an equally massive cinnamon bun… which, you know, you can eat. Without worrying about how unhealthy it is. Because infinite magic-"
And just like that, Tira was gone. The giant cinnamon confectionary's fate had been sealed.
"...heh, knew it."
---
<On second thought, I'll introduce you to them later. They're busy.>
Witch of Regret: Rochelle has joined your party!
300 Xp gained.
You acquired:
1x Gi-ahnt spy-dahr
1x Crying witch silk hat. (Custom-made)
Occasional hugs.
Many regrets.
300 Xp gained.
You acquired:
1x Gi-ahnt spy-dahr
1x Crying witch silk hat. (Custom-made)
Occasional hugs.
Many regrets.
Once again, my appreciation to Flairina for the gracious assistance with making sure Ash and Co. were all in character, or as close as they could be here, along with the generous help in polishing things up.
Now lets see how long this can be up before I inevitably spot a mistake and have to correct it.
Edit: the irony has become reality and I've had to correct the message about mistakes being made.
Link for those who haven't encountered Witch-quest before: Witch Quest: Story Only
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- Location
- Detroit, Michigan
Nottheunmaker
Altman be praised
- Location
- USG Ishimura
Everyone's a critic.
Ferb_Ancos
The one under the table
- Pronouns
- He
Well now, THAT's a thing I haven't heard in a while.
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- Location
- Helsinki, Mother´s sofa
Homura: Now there are two of them. Where are these interlopers even coming from? I thought that with timetravel on my side I wouldnt have to deal with uncertainty.
But seriously, Homura would be very worried. Both of them have already derailed timelines before and now they have joined in what she would definitely see as anti-Napalm Alliance.
Huh, it seems that subsuming a few Du Polignacs made Ashy more verbose. We should be on the lookout for other changes caused by Familiars!
Hey! Careful, replacing 4th Walls is expensive!
Maybe Tira could teach Ashy and Sayaka how to draw? Or maybe try the illusion version of Minecraft? I'm sure Sayaka and Tira would enjoy designing their own worlds.
Ah, so she is the Witch version of Lapin.
IvanDead
My bones are made of schadenfreude.
- Location
- Brasil
Also known as "the timeline where Ashy cannot
Shipping.
What? Finally a friendly character who is not (technically) also Ashtaroth, and are you surprised that we're taking advantage of this unique opportunity?
Well, they must be doing what bored and isolated teenagers always do when they have free time and zero entertainment.
I mean a party at Candeloro's house, obviously, this empty bottle of Scotch has nothing to do with the other possibilities.
...Well, my guess was pretty damn close.
Burned_Cookie
Very tired girl.
- Location
- Plato´s cave.
- Pronouns
- She/Her/It/Its
I sometimes wonder how that story would have ended.
Their endgoal is to heal all their enemies with bouncy frost and ice.
- Pronouns
- She/Them
i really enjoyed reading this c:
Fanart: Puella Magi Ashtaroth
Flairina
Least Omnipotent Goddess
- Location
- The next infinity over
So... yeah, if the lack of an update didn't already make it clear, I'm still in that aforementioned slump right now. But apparently, the lack of story is somehow encouraging fanart, because... well!
[x] Something feels... off. What just- wait, are you-?!
This adorably humanized/meguca-ized Ashtaroth was commissioned from Kerubii by @Pheonix14, who shared it over on the Dexworks discord, and gave me permission to post the image here. And it is AMAZING. While slightly too literal a "translation" from Ashtaroth's witch form to be quite what I have in mind for her pre-witchhood self, I still absolutely love how her entire outfit and look here were constructed from the bottom up by using her various attributes as inspiration, which come together into what I'd consider a pretty damn cool overall design. ✪ ω ✪ Hope you all like it too!
(...go on, say it. I know someone is thinking it.)
[x] Something feels... off. What just- wait, are you-?!
This adorably humanized/meguca-ized Ashtaroth was commissioned from Kerubii by @Pheonix14, who shared it over on the Dexworks discord, and gave me permission to post the image here. And it is AMAZING.
While slightly too literal a "translation" from Ashtaroth's witch form to be quite what I have in mind for her pre-witchhood self, I still absolutely love how her entire outfit and look here were constructed from the bottom up by using her various attributes as inspiration, which come together into what I'd consider a pretty damn cool overall design. ✪ ω ✪ Hope you all like it too!(...go on, say it. I know someone is thinking it.)
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That image is amazing. Is this pretty much canon for what would happen if someone wished for Ashtaroth to be human and it didn't "fix" anything other than her lack of human-interaction tools?
I suspect that it says something very sad about her current circumstances that her book appears to be blank, but I am not sure what...
I suspect that it says something very sad about her current circumstances that her book appears to be blank, but I am not sure what...
- Location
- Yuritopia
well, someone could interpret my commissioning the art piece as me "wishing" for Ashtaroth to be human, and so the answer could be considered yes, though the not fixing things part wouldn't really fit in that interpretation of events.
well her book was blank in the art of her witch(s) forms, so human Ash is probably fine (or as fine as a former giant book monster can be at least , though we haven't seen her next to any other magical girls yet so the giant part might still be true
Ferb_Ancos
The one under the table
- Pronouns
- He
Regardless, props to the artist. Hey, can you imagine like, somehow she becomes human again but Tira and Sayaka are still inside of her and now she has basically 3 personalities but she can use their magic like she was able to as a witch? It would be interesting I think.
Ferb_Ancos
The one under the table
- Pronouns
- He
Either way, for the moment this will be our headcanon until further notice XD.
Subspace Primid
Where are you Tabuu? Where am I?
- Location
- SubSpace
Don't know what you expect us to say, but on another matter, any costume elements that would fit Ashy-chans pre-puberty self?
Is it that she looks like a *Leman Russ voice* NERD?
Crusader Jerome
Subsisting on Supplication
- Location
- My home away from Rome
(...Always with the thigh-highs. why did it have to be thigh-highs?) The design is cute and all, but I would prefer the majesty of a longer skirt.
I do like the boots and the front and back drapes.
I do like the boots and the front and back drapes.
- Location
- Yuritopia
the answer to that question would be that I asked Kerubii to change them from being knee length to thigh highs.
I wouldn't be at fault for the length of the skirt though, but that would only be because the initial sketches already had short enough skirts for me to be satisfied.
WanderingTwix
Posting something good once in a full moon
- Location
- United Kingdom
This sounds like a fanfic idea, which I'm saying just for the joking prospect of a fanfic to a fanfic
And if anyone saw this post within 5 minutes of it's creation, I posted early through typing because I'm on mobile and mistapped
Edit: thinking about it, that's what omakes are, so now I feel silly
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Disdain is contempt or scorn; a dislike with an implication of looking down on something.
Fetishization is ascribing excessive or magical importance to something or making something an obsession. Things like hard work, standardized tests, "naturalness", and the objects of conspiracy theories are frequently fetishized. (The word derives from fetish, meaning "an entity receiving irrational reverence or devotion; an obsession" or "an object believed to have magical powers".)
A heuristic is a practical method of problem-solving, generally used when precise or theoretically-valid methods are difficult, expensive, or time-consuming. Any "rule of thumb" is a heuristic.
Cognitive/behavioral modifiers, as I'm using the phrase, are things which change the way someone thinks or acts. Incentives are things which push for particular behaviors, generally rewards or punishments.
A manifestation of a phenomenon is a particular instance of it, and its prevalence is the frequency of its occurrence.
Putting it together:
Emotions are just things which affect the way that people think and act, both by directly changing behaviors and thoughts and indirectly by rewarding certain behaviors and punishing others. Some people believe that emotions have great importance in ways beyond this influence, ascribing moral value to them, associating them with philosophical constructs such as consciousness, believing that sentiment can directly influence the world, and general magical thinking about feelings. I think this is at best wrongheaded, and I dislike that people believe in it. This dislike might predispose me to not seeing such beliefs when they are evident but not explicitly stated, or to dismissing opinions which are based in such beliefs, and therefore forgetting that I have seen such.
(I am aware that I'm complaining about people believing that emotions are magic in a PMMM thread. The amusement I derive from this has some bearing on my choice to reply to four-month-old confusion.)
There is a question of definitions here. This is a universe where "emotions" are magical things which can somehow meaningfully reduce universal entropy. Lacking those does not mean that something lacks anything recognizable as an emotion, nor even that none of its emotions have human analogs. Which would make perfect sense; emotions are useful, so you would expect any thinking entity to possess a similar system, but not necessarily something which maps directly onto human feelings. Incubators, particularly if they are a result of biological evolution, can probably experience "fear", in the sense that they would have a mode of thinking adapted for high-risk scenarios which encourages caution and contingency planning, or "interest", a motivation toward learning about/interacting with some particular thing. But the precise manifestation need not be similar to humans', particularly in a magical sense, so Kyubey might possess something recognizable as emotions and still truthfully deny having them in the human sense.
Or not! It's kind of hard to tell.
Previously-seen forms:
Confrontation 4: A Brief Road Trip to Nowhere said:
I can't say I see a pattern in the powers, at least not enough to predict powers from form. The one that looks molten might have heat powers, or rock- or lava-spewing volcano powers, or self-renewal. Or it's just red and not lava at all, and has desert-themed desiccation powers or rusts metals or gives people mercury poisoning or something.
So bored that you've started making up titles for yourself! That's very bored indeed.
I'm not certain if it's come up before—a clear indication that I need to reread—but one consequence of Ashtaroth's lack of biological needs*—and biology in general—is that she can lose track of time for far longer than an ordinary human. If she gets lost in thought, she won't be broken out of it by hunger or thirst or sleepiness or bladder pressure; she can just keep going indefinitely. A human might lose half a day to a book or game or thought exercise; Ashtaroth might lose a month to something sufficiently engaging.
*She can and has slept, but it didn't seem necessary. Likewise, she needs to replenish her grief if she expends it, but it's not clear whether maintaining her existence costs grief and regaining it seems like a passive operation anyway.
The lack of italics to mark the profanity as thoughts, along with their positions immediately after nouns, makes it seem like they're explanatory notes. A girl (who is shit) wearing a spidery dress (which is double shit) is staring at Ashtaroth.
(This isn't actually an error—I think italics would be an improvement, but it's not necessary. I just thought it was funny.)
Can't be a landlady if you don't charge rent! And of course the barrier's not a witch motel! People can leave motels.
Such a lovely place, such a lovely face
Okay, look, there's a (small, inconsistent) difference between a motel and hotel—
She got a lot of pretty, pretty girls, that she calls "friends"
—and the Hotel California isn't supposed to be literal anyway, it's just imagery—
We are all just prisoners here, of our own device
—point made, please get this song out of my head.
This could be Heaven or this could be Hell…
"Despairing" means feeling despair. Are these desserts aware enough to experience emotion? Or are they just depressingly, distressingly, digestably delicious?
Conspiratorial.
Nix the period and the capitalization of custom, and hyphenate custom-made.
Irony~
I did think of Homura, but there's enough different that I wasn't too tempted to make the comparison. The heels, the stockings/leggings, the skirt length, the bangs, the hair length, the color scheme—they share all of those. But the boots and skirt are a different style, the stockings are shorter, the top is completely different, and the hair is too fluffy and not straight enough. Besides, Homura's older sister is someone else.Flairina on SB said:
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Burned_Cookie
Very tired girl.
- Location
- Plato´s cave.
- Pronouns
- She/Her/It/Its
Oh I know what the words mean, I just wanted to think you wouldn't be this smugly dismissive of other peoples worldview.
Farseer Sen'Zabl
Accolyte of 'Common Sense'
- Location
- Dome of Crystal Seers, Ulthwe
Whichever you find funnier, though I was aiming for the latter: they're so delicious that you're reduced to despair by the thought that no other cake will ever match up.
Oh I feel the Irony, and boy does it hurt: if I hadn't said anything there about mistakes being inevitable then I wouldn't have made such a glaring mistake. *Fixed.
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So I had a thought on logical conclusions with respect to the question of whether there are duplicates of Ashtaroth's food friends combined with the assumption that the time loops persist.
If there are no duplicates, then eventually the region will become empty. With the girls and witches just vanishing, there would be no grief production, thus necessitating that any door-to-door salesmen paid by commission being pressed to up their sales via any means necessary, thus opening up a much larger section of the community to Literary Pac-man.
If, on the other hand, there ARE duplicates, then, considering how much effort Ashtaroth is willing to go to to get a meal, how long before she reads like "Rose rose Rose rose rose rose rows."? What effects will it have upon her if she is 99% rose(or windmill... or Sayaka... or whatever happens when Hirako is pinned to a floating road by her own harpoons...) by grief?
If there are no duplicates, then eventually the region will become empty. With the girls and witches just vanishing, there would be no grief production, thus necessitating that any door-to-door salesmen paid by commission being pressed to up their sales via any means necessary, thus opening up a much larger section of the community to Literary Pac-man.
If, on the other hand, there ARE duplicates, then, considering how much effort Ashtaroth is willing to go to to get a meal, how long before she reads like "Rose rose Rose rose rose rose rows."? What effects will it have upon her if she is 99% rose(or windmill... or Sayaka... or whatever happens when Hirako is pinned to a floating road by her own harpoons...) by grief?