Flairina
Least Omnipotent Goddess
- Location
- The next infinity over
...my goodness that is a lot of extremely huge comments and responses. Which is awesome, but typing up and organizing this was... quite the task, as a result. ^^;
...well, if I didn't already know I wasn't spending enough time/focus on this story, this would confirm it. Thanks for the heads up; please feel free to pretend my moment of forgetfulness wasn't up for all to see for several hours beforehand.
Rephrasing - she knew that her soul gem could detect witches, as it would start glowing/flashing in the presence of one or its trail, but was completely unaware that their presence could also simply be felt in the way Mami, Tira, and quite frankly most magical girls are fully capable of. As she's noted before, she was basically always stuck playing a magical version of Hot or Cold, while everyone else was equipped with magic radar.
As for friends... let's just leave it at that she got most of her info from Kyubey, and Kyubey alone.
...the irony of you posting this comment immediately before I posted this chapter; hoo. ^^;
I'm not sure I have much to actually respond to for this particular bit of theorizing/commentary, but I found it interesting enough that I felt obliged to spotlight it in this response post anyways.
It's rude to call someone bottom-heavy, you know. >:T
I'm intrigued/amused by the fact that one of the first ideas for giving Ashtaroth personal mobility aids is "explosions", given we already saw that she and fire don't exactly mix all that well. 📖🔥☠️
I'm glad! Sometimes I worry I've lost her voice in my own writing, so it's nice to hear otherwise, or at least to hear that she's a good character regardless. (❁´◡`❁) I really, *really* hope I can be a little nicer to her soon; she's seriously been going through it lately...
Though she may feel it's been broken multiple times now, Sayaka still has her heart in the right place.
Symbolism can be conjured from anywhere if you look hard enough for it — but I like this interpretation regardless.
I wouldn't really put it that way, but "Gotta Ash 'em all." does have a ring to it...
That is entirely possible, yes. Kyubey is millennia old at a minimum, and has access to a multitude of resources and abilities that most don't — but the fact that he doesn't specifically speak lies (at least from his own perspective) doesn't mean he's at all incapable of being incorrect, or making judgments based on incomplete information.
I'm actually rather heartened that so many people are pointing this out/refuting the possibility. I was quite worried before posting this chapter that everyone would just sort of take Kyubey's word for it, despite his noted untrustworthiness/lack of actual facts in this circumstance. Not that he couldn't still technically be right in at least some regard, but I'm quite glad to know that those fears weren't founded.
Not going to confirm nor deny, but I will say that a soul gem fully breaking would be better described as "shattered".
Heh, funnily enough, I recently removed that line from the chapter it was part of with the intention of moving it/using it in the next one instead, where I figured it would have more impact. If that was memorable enough for the exact phrase to stick in your mind this long after though, perhaps I should just put that back where it came from. ^^;
It's in reference to Kyubey. Also, who says anyone else even necessarily "heard" anything? Note that the sentence in question has no <>'s around it.
I'm surprised no one has pointed out what the original context of that phrase is, especially when that information is literally in this update.
I mean, depending on one's interpretation of what witches are, I kind of feel as though that still qualifies. ^^;
Here's a fun quote that you might be interested in:
No comment on if this is correct, but I feel compelled to note that, before Subsumption was really a thing and Ashtaroth was still just a witchsona, this is the same sort of reasoning I used to justify her retaining a semblance of an actual goal post-witching (based off Latria's existence and actions in Oriko Magica, though we now know that those operated off a different, wish-related principle). She wasn't exactly "sane" in that version the way that she at least appears to be here, but I thought it was worthy of mention.
Questions of "who exactly are you" get rather fuzzy when it comes to Ashtaroth. She's not been the best at maintaining a personal identity to begin with...
Well of course it was sourced from within Ashtaroth. Every part of this equation other than Kyubey was part of her, after all.
More seriously: why should Ashtaroth hate herself? I mean, it's not like she turned into a literal despair monster, ate a couple magical girls by accident/necessity and in doing so ripped them out of their lives for what's looking increasingly likely to be forever, has nearly died like five or six times in the past couple days, has had basically every decision she's made of late blow up in her nonexistent face... honestly, what's she got to complain about? ¯\_(O_O)_/¯
Yeah, sorry about that — I'm not overtly *trying* to make this overly complex; it just is. ^^; Hopefully I'll manage to make everything relatively clear in time.
Indeed. You can alter a single body of his, or even kill one with relative ease, but Kyubey endures anyways, because ultimately his nature remains the same. Besides, what really is a single terminal to him, in the end? He may not want to lose them, but he's not particularly bothered by their loss either.
Perhaps — but as noted above, Kyubey is not omniscient, and interestingly, from what we see in the various mangas/spinoffs, he doesn't actually seem to keep great track of this sort of thing. Once the witch out has happened and the energy from it has been collected, he seems to judge it no longer his concern unless a witch starts causing long-term problems. I also haven't detailed it in story yet, but barriers can move at different speeds depending on the witch (just look at Box Wood in Magia Record, whose barrier carried Iroha to an entirely different city in seconds), Ashtaroth didn't actually confirm much beyond that she's presumably spoken to Kyubey at least once before, and I'm not honestly not entirely sure what you even mean with the unique familiars bit, but I'm pretty sure that would be correlation, not causation. Even assuming no external factors, it is entirely possible that Kyubey genuinely doesn't know who Ashtaroth was, how long she's been around, or where she came from.
...though yes, this detail is *also* worth bearing in mind.
Kyubey has poked and prodded at humanity for millennia, searching for the best ways to go about his given task. Given the opportunity, why would witches be any different?
Well, if she really wants to try it, Kyubey's second body is technically still present. Though, I don't imagine it seems particularly appetizing, especially now that it's been scattered across the floor of the Canvas again.
Hey, at least when Ashtaroth has previously "eaten" something, it's been relatively clean and whole. Kyubey was just going up to his various bits of bloody offal and eating them raw, with wild speed and abandon at that. Savage.
...and the things she eats are only her after they'reconsubsumed, not before. Totally different!
One wonders if they were ever interested in him the first place.
Based on what happened in Confrontation 16, Ashtaroth herself, at least, would be inclined to say no. ^^;
Well, what happened to this one?
Fair point. I was sort of assuming that was all Umika's work, but even if she implanted the memories, they presumably still had to come from somewhere other than just her.
...sure, but those earlier attempts still qualify as failures, to the point Satomi literally describes them as such. That Michiru's revival became an ongoing process the Saints had to repeat was arguably a failure in and of itself, since it certainly wasn't mean to be.
It may not be the immediate priority, but at least Ashtaroth has a solid lead on something now.
Honestly, I mostly wrote it that way because I just didn't like how the first way I phrased it read/sounded, so we'll call that a happy accident. Ashtaroth's original incarnation was based on me, and, well, I chose that nature for a reason. ^^;
Ah, sorry about that; the coding for spoiler boxes weirdly adds two extra spacing lines underneath them, so it probably did come off somewhat oddly. I've amended it to only one space (which requires placing the next paragraph on the same line as the spoiler for some reason); hopefully that now looks less like a break.
You're quite welcome! I hope you're enjoying the site, and I'm thrilled that you're enjoying my work. Thank you for the extra long comment/reaction post; they are as lifeblood to my stories.
(...and now, 1.5k words later, back to writing the actual next chapter. ^^; )
...well, if I didn't already know I wasn't spending enough time/focus on this story, this would confirm it. Thanks for the heads up; please feel free to pretend my moment of forgetfulness wasn't up for all to see for several hours beforehand.
Rephrasing - she knew that her soul gem could detect witches, as it would start glowing/flashing in the presence of one or its trail, but was completely unaware that their presence could also simply be felt in the way Mami, Tira, and quite frankly most magical girls are fully capable of. As she's noted before, she was basically always stuck playing a magical version of Hot or Cold, while everyone else was equipped with magic radar.
As for friends... let's just leave it at that she got most of her info from Kyubey, and Kyubey alone.
...the irony of you posting this comment immediately before I posted this chapter; hoo. ^^;
I'm not sure I have much to actually respond to for this particular bit of theorizing/commentary, but I found it interesting enough that I felt obliged to spotlight it in this response post anyways.
It's rude to call someone bottom-heavy, you know. >:T
I'm intrigued/amused by the fact that one of the first ideas for giving Ashtaroth personal mobility aids is "explosions", given we already saw that she and fire don't exactly mix all that well. 📖🔥☠️
I'm glad! Sometimes I worry I've lost her voice in my own writing, so it's nice to hear otherwise, or at least to hear that she's a good character regardless. (❁´◡`❁) I really, *really* hope I can be a little nicer to her soon; she's seriously been going through it lately...
Though she may feel it's been broken multiple times now, Sayaka still has her heart in the right place.
Symbolism can be conjured from anywhere if you look hard enough for it — but I like this interpretation regardless.
I wouldn't really put it that way, but "Gotta Ash 'em all." does have a ring to it...
That is entirely possible, yes. Kyubey is millennia old at a minimum, and has access to a multitude of resources and abilities that most don't — but the fact that he doesn't specifically speak lies (at least from his own perspective) doesn't mean he's at all incapable of being incorrect, or making judgments based on incomplete information.
I'm actually rather heartened that so many people are pointing this out/refuting the possibility. I was quite worried before posting this chapter that everyone would just sort of take Kyubey's word for it, despite his noted untrustworthiness/lack of actual facts in this circumstance. Not that he couldn't still technically be right in at least some regard, but I'm quite glad to know that those fears weren't founded.
Not going to confirm nor deny, but I will say that a soul gem fully breaking would be better described as "shattered".
Heh, funnily enough, I recently removed that line from the chapter it was part of with the intention of moving it/using it in the next one instead, where I figured it would have more impact. If that was memorable enough for the exact phrase to stick in your mind this long after though, perhaps I should just put that back where it came from. ^^;
It's in reference to Kyubey. Also, who says anyone else even necessarily "heard" anything? Note that the sentence in question has no <>'s around it.
I'm surprised no one has pointed out what the original context of that phrase is, especially when that information is literally in this update.
I mean, depending on one's interpretation of what witches are, I kind of feel as though that still qualifies. ^^;
Here's a fun quote that you might be interested in:
Wikipedia said:
No comment on if this is correct, but I feel compelled to note that, before Subsumption was really a thing and Ashtaroth was still just a witchsona, this is the same sort of reasoning I used to justify her retaining a semblance of an actual goal post-witching (based off Latria's existence and actions in Oriko Magica, though we now know that those operated off a different, wish-related principle). She wasn't exactly "sane" in that version the way that she at least appears to be here, but I thought it was worthy of mention.
Questions of "who exactly are you" get rather fuzzy when it comes to Ashtaroth. She's not been the best at maintaining a personal identity to begin with...
Well of course it was sourced from within Ashtaroth. Every part of this equation other than Kyubey was part of her, after all.
More seriously: why should Ashtaroth hate herself? I mean, it's not like she turned into a literal despair monster, ate a couple magical girls by accident/necessity and in doing so ripped them out of their lives for what's looking increasingly likely to be forever, has nearly died like five or six times in the past couple days, has had basically every decision she's made of late blow up in her nonexistent face... honestly, what's she got to complain about? ¯\_(O_O)_/¯
Yeah, sorry about that — I'm not overtly *trying* to make this overly complex; it just is. ^^; Hopefully I'll manage to make everything relatively clear in time.
Indeed. You can alter a single body of his, or even kill one with relative ease, but Kyubey endures anyways, because ultimately his nature remains the same. Besides, what really is a single terminal to him, in the end? He may not want to lose them, but he's not particularly bothered by their loss either.
Perhaps — but as noted above, Kyubey is not omniscient, and interestingly, from what we see in the various mangas/spinoffs, he doesn't actually seem to keep great track of this sort of thing. Once the witch out has happened and the energy from it has been collected, he seems to judge it no longer his concern unless a witch starts causing long-term problems. I also haven't detailed it in story yet, but barriers can move at different speeds depending on the witch (just look at Box Wood in Magia Record, whose barrier carried Iroha to an entirely different city in seconds), Ashtaroth didn't actually confirm much beyond that she's presumably spoken to Kyubey at least once before, and I'm not honestly not entirely sure what you even mean with the unique familiars bit, but I'm pretty sure that would be correlation, not causation. Even assuming no external factors, it is entirely possible that Kyubey genuinely doesn't know who Ashtaroth was, how long she's been around, or where she came from.
...though yes, this detail is *also* worth bearing in mind.
Kyubey has poked and prodded at humanity for millennia, searching for the best ways to go about his given task. Given the opportunity, why would witches be any different?
Well, if she really wants to try it, Kyubey's second body is technically still present. Though, I don't imagine it seems particularly appetizing, especially now that it's been scattered across the floor of the Canvas again.
Hey, at least when Ashtaroth has previously "eaten" something, it's been relatively clean and whole. Kyubey was just going up to his various bits of bloody offal and eating them raw, with wild speed and abandon at that. Savage.
...and the things she eats are only her after they're
One wonders if they were ever interested in him the first place.
Based on what happened in Confrontation 16, Ashtaroth herself, at least, would be inclined to say no. ^^;
Well, what happened to this one?
Fair point. I was sort of assuming that was all Umika's work, but even if she implanted the memories, they presumably still had to come from somewhere other than just her.
...sure, but those earlier attempts still qualify as failures, to the point Satomi literally describes them as such. That Michiru's revival became an ongoing process the Saints had to repeat was arguably a failure in and of itself, since it certainly wasn't mean to be.
It may not be the immediate priority, but at least Ashtaroth has a solid lead on something now.
Honestly, I mostly wrote it that way because I just didn't like how the first way I phrased it read/sounded, so we'll call that a happy accident. Ashtaroth's original incarnation was based on me, and, well, I chose that nature for a reason. ^^;
Ah, sorry about that; the coding for spoiler boxes weirdly adds two extra spacing lines underneath them, so it probably did come off somewhat oddly. I've amended it to only one space (which requires placing the next paragraph on the same line as the spoiler for some reason); hopefully that now looks less like a break.
You're quite welcome! I hope you're enjoying the site, and I'm thrilled that you're enjoying my work. Thank you for the extra long comment/reaction post; they are as lifeblood to my stories.
(...and now, 1.5k words later, back to writing the actual next chapter. ^^; )
