Subsumption (PMMM Faux-Quest) (Witch MC)
BlackoutSampler
So Easily Forgotten
It could be just about anyone's fault. Expirementing on Witches is a time honored Meguca tradition.
I mean, we have NicoNico Douga down in Ashunaro making Clones of her Waifu out of Witch Bits. As well as her own psychotic clone using her own busted powers to make the surprisingly unimpressive Evil Nuts.
Waaaayyyyy back in Jean De Arc's time, there was Isabeau who managed to make herself One-Half Magical Girl, One-Half Witch, and One-Half Incubator. Somehow making 150% of herself out of stuff.
Madoka kinda did weird Witch Experiments as The Law of Cycles when she made Sayaka and Nagisa "angels" and somehow gave them their Witch's Powers on top of their own.
So really, it could be anyone's fault... even Asteroth's! Dun Dun Dun!
I mean, we have NicoNico Douga down in Ashunaro making Clones of her Waifu out of Witch Bits. As well as her own psychotic clone using her own busted powers to make the surprisingly unimpressive Evil Nuts.
Waaaayyyyy back in Jean De Arc's time, there was Isabeau who managed to make herself One-Half Magical Girl, One-Half Witch, and One-Half Incubator. Somehow making 150% of herself out of stuff.
Madoka kinda did weird Witch Experiments as The Law of Cycles when she made Sayaka and Nagisa "angels" and somehow gave them their Witch's Powers on top of their own.
So really, it could be anyone's fault... even Asteroth's! Dun Dun Dun!
(shakes head sadly)
As a magical girl we're overmatched. It's a shame, but there's only one way to defeat this asshole.
[X] Tira, Witch out for Superpowers!
Hold on Skull Witch, we're coming for you!
Tempestuous
Words are wind, so I write.
- Location
- CA
Is this really a, lets say 'exceptional' amount of communication? I'm not sure skullgirl really demonstrated anything more than instinctive hunting behavior. The note was exceptionally odd... but was it communication? From the PoV of the witch, it didn't look like it. TBH, what I took away from this chapter was that the other witch was not capable of 'speech'.
This, on the other hand, is just a sad fact.
hillo315
Intact but Tactless
- Location
- Somewhere. Somewhere else.
A witch, but not our protagonist. Also, she seems to be insane.
Tira is uncannily aware of the morality of her actions.
Either a random victim or the former magical girl. Both implications are disturbing.
How often do witches eat their own corpses? Mm, fridge horror.
Cecil. Called it on page... 47.
Quick, the witch is distracted! Kill her!
Truly a lady of good taste.
You fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is "Never fight Walpurgisnacht all alone," but only slightly less well known is this: "Never lose sight of the witch who has attacked you!"
Did Cecil summon the familiars, or did they arrive unprompted?
Why does it feel like we'll see Cecil again?
- Cecil is capable of communication, but only uses it to taunt and distract her opponents. She is not a social creature.
- I think Cecil has a split personality thing going on between the happy face and the angry face in her eye sockets.
- Cecil gave Tira a traumatic injury that must have been very difficult to heal.
You could make a memoria card out of this!No. Don't.
- This may be Tira's first big clue that witches are not as inhuman as they seem, though Cecil's hostility gave her doubts.
- Cecil didn't seem... all there. Her world was limited to her barrier, her body, and her taste buds.
- Location
- Europe
It's one witch. We didn't really lose our advantage over other witches only over this one and we also have another big advantage in our ability to subsume other witches.
Hell on Strikers
Tank Cat
- Location
- The Commonwealth
Pick one
1. Magic
2. Devil Homura's Shady new plan
3. Madokami Fooling around again
4. Its a Bunny Cat Conspiracy.
Nottheunmaker
Altman be praised
- Location
- USG Ishimura
Templates like that are forbidden.
SaltyWaffles
I am dissapoint, son
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I imagine it's refreshing for Tira's meeting with Ashtaroth to have been a lot less disturbing and frightening. Add in the fact that Ashtaroth actually communicates, rather than distracts, and shows distinct personality beyond that of a monstrous hunter, and there are obviously clear distinctions.
Clearly, Ashtaroth needs to give Tira a hug in the near future.
Clearly, Ashtaroth needs to give Tira a hug in the near future.
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- Location
- Somewhere up the tree
Cecil seems to be self aware, if not exactly mentally present, maybe subsuming her might do her some good? Get her to a point where she can calm down? Also we'd get a house out of the deal
Appletank
Acquire Cheese
This makes me wonder if we can spit out Saar and do something with her.
- Location
- New Zealand
- Pronouns
- She
I don't think it was anyone in particular's targeted doing, given thinking witches are spread across at least two cities and there was (probably) only the magical girl who killed her at Asteroth's enwitching site.
I'd take a guess that the two voices we're seeing here are what remains of the original magical girl and her own, much louder witchstincts.
I'd take a guess that the two voices we're seeing here are what remains of the original magical girl and her own, much louder witchstincts.
hillo315
Intact but Tactless
- Location
- Somewhere. Somewhere else.
Probably not. Witches can't independently maintain their forms without their souls, and you know how witchstincts feels about relinquishing souls...
- Location
- Somewhere up the tree
We haven't exactly tried to spit saar out yet, we might be able to do it no problem
Nervos Belli
Don't think this means you've won!
- Location
- Murica
Well no time like the present! Let's try right when Mami enters our barrier.
Kalibrius
God of reflection
- Location
- The other side of the mirror
Let's not experiment on them right off the bat we are trying to make peace,(mutters plus they don't have any grief seeds that would either help us in long term or them in combat to actually risk or get accurate results)
Plus it might leave us vulnerable and Saar may not be happy
Plus it might leave us vulnerable and Saar may not be happy
hillo315
Intact but Tactless
- Location
- Somewhere. Somewhere else.
If we do it successfully, it will be a half-witch wirelessly connected to the grief seed. Just saying.
Yes. Just like this one.
Yes.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯Heh, "the souls of the witches". In other words, the witches?
I'd file that with the ad hoc theories, but a good one.
The question is really just what is a barrier entrance? When open, it's a portal—which is an unclear notion anyway, but whatever—but when it's closed? The heat-haze distortion effect is probably a geometric phenomenon (distortion of space) (but would that have a significant effect on people walking through it? …Maybe. I'm not familiar enough with optics to guess. Pretty sure they'd feel something, but it might just be a normal weird feeling), but it's also some kind of magical connection to the barrier, which is effectively a separate space (usually). That's presumably its primary function, and the distortion just a side effect.
On the other hand, considering such things as the entrance's movement and the formation of the barrier, it would seem to make the most sense if the barrier were to directly map to a locus in realspace, but be kept separate from it. I can't see this locus being much larger than the entrance; otherwise people would drop out of a destroyed barrier far from where they entered. The entrance would then be a portion of the barrier which is spatially consistent with external reality and more closely connected to it, while the rest of the barrier is distorted. Or perhaps only almost consistent, and the entrance-opening procedure serves to solidify that connection. Not sure if that works more generally.
I can't infer much from thematics. I think the second idea works better—in the first case we have to question why the link is formed and maintained, if the barrier is independent of the external world—but I'm not confident.
So, how does this interact with matter, then? If the "entrance" is just a magical node connecting the barrier to realspace, causing spatial distortions as a side effect, then it should interact with matter as magic does, which I think means go straight through. If it's a point of (near-?)congruency with a barrier which is still present in realspace, then some kind of drag force—a friction between the barrier and reality—could reasonably exist. As could a method for tunneling ("hopping", in your words, but I like the analogy to quantum tunneling), by shifting the location of the entrance within the realspace locus corresponding to the barrier.
Alright, so I like the second hypothesis better. It's also more compatible with familiar barriers and those witches witch influence a large area of reality. And the friction hypothesis could be used to explain why barriers move with the planet… but would suggest that their movement should be relative to their surroundings, and I don't believe that Ash's barrier moves with the wind. So… either discard friction, or add a force binding her to the planet's motion.
Or maybe it's just magic. I obviously don't know.
On the other hand, considering such things as the entrance's movement and the formation of the barrier, it would seem to make the most sense if the barrier were to directly map to a locus in realspace, but be kept separate from it. I can't see this locus being much larger than the entrance; otherwise people would drop out of a destroyed barrier far from where they entered. The entrance would then be a portion of the barrier which is spatially consistent with external reality and more closely connected to it, while the rest of the barrier is distorted. Or perhaps only almost consistent, and the entrance-opening procedure serves to solidify that connection. Not sure if that works more generally.
I can't infer much from thematics. I think the second idea works better—in the first case we have to question why the link is formed and maintained, if the barrier is independent of the external world—but I'm not confident.
So, how does this interact with matter, then? If the "entrance" is just a magical node connecting the barrier to realspace, causing spatial distortions as a side effect, then it should interact with matter as magic does, which I think means go straight through. If it's a point of (near-?)congruency with a barrier which is still present in realspace, then some kind of drag force—a friction between the barrier and reality—could reasonably exist. As could a method for tunneling ("hopping", in your words, but I like the analogy to quantum tunneling), by shifting the location of the entrance within the realspace locus corresponding to the barrier.
Alright, so I like the second hypothesis better. It's also more compatible with familiar barriers and those witches witch influence a large area of reality. And the friction hypothesis could be used to explain why barriers move with the planet… but would suggest that their movement should be relative to their surroundings, and I don't believe that Ash's barrier moves with the wind. So… either discard friction, or add a force binding her to the planet's motion.
Or maybe it's just magic. I obviously don't know.
You've misspelled "excavator".
Moles are known for their unshakeable optimism.
Maybe. We got a couple feet in, though, so I suspect it's matter of the thickness of the obstacle. There might be something going on with density of background magic or whatever, but that's… eh.
We do have another method of communication, outside of those listed:
[x] "Sure! Do you know Morse? I can open and close my entrance portal in controlled intervals to send a signal. Or I can move my barrier around, trace out characters? You'd be able to sense that even when the entrance is closed, right?"
'Cause hey, if she doesn't want to communicate by the most effective means available, we can just use the least effective means.
The wordplay is appreciated, as always.
Straight quotes? Unusual. My guess: you wrote this part in the SV editor, in order to do the alignment, and it doesn't automatically convert to fancy quotes.
I have been unable to guess what the last word would have been. Air? Lair? Underwear?
Sheath. Sheathe is the verb. Like breath/breathe or loath/loathe.
This is, to me, the worst part. A single leg, centrally located, but with a distinct handedness? The rest at least has an aesthetic, but that's just ew.
[Laughs in Shemesh]
Or an ambush.
Italicized the |.
Hyphen!
We can't really judge Cecil's intelligence from this. It's possible that she'd be open to dialogue, but it seems unlikely. Tira really does seem like she'd be happier without the magical girl life.
Magical girls.
I generally consider the human drive to understand their environment and adapt it to their preferences to be a good thing.
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Flairina
Least Omnipotent Goddess
- Location
- The next infinity over
This can't be the answer to EVERYTHING. :^P
No no, a skullgirl is a different thing.
Indeed you did. Well done.
Probably depends on the witch. In the case of Cecil, the Witch of Taste... well, I'll let you figure that one out.
Not going to give a definitive answer for this, but at the very least, they very intentionally attacked Tira in tandem with each other.
...oh, and on that note: I think Cecil might be where at least part of that "familiars come from dead people" fanon comes from, as one of the familiars that I've named "Blodwedd" (the floral flesh masses of varying size) are visibly seen pulling themselves out of a nearby corpse just before Kyoko engages her. Personally I think this is more a trait specific to Cecil than a common witch thing, assuming that was even what the panel was trying to imply, but I can see why people may have started generalizing that idea.
(It's also notable that Kyoko sensed Cecil's emergence the moment it happened, was quite close by, and immediately went after her, yet Cecil had somehow already caught and killed someone within the presumably minuscule amount of time it took Kyoko to arrive. For a witch, she works VERY fast.)
I really doubt the creators of PMMM ever meant for anyone to think about it so deeply, but I admire that you do so all the same (especially since I do the exact same thing, if not quite to your level/standards).
Kazamino is, shall we say, somewhat hotly contested territory.
🥳
How did you even... yes, you're correct, the header indicating when this took place was a last minute addition I made in the editor itself. Well done, Holmes. 🕵️♂️
The one I had in mind was "Lair", but there's at least one other word that would probably fit equally well.
Cecil's aesthetic is rather weird to begin with. Design aside, she's either the Witch of Taste OR the Witch of Elegance, depending on if you trust the manga over the wiki (I personally wrote her as the Witch of Taste whose nature is elegance), and she has a distinct ninja theme mixed in with that, between her barrier, speed, and ability to leave behind false images/notes/etc as distractions. She also has a sort of second form type deal upon her outer shell/skull being split open, and she can control her hair, blood, and eyes as flexible extensions of herself.
...oh, and she likes to sing. She's a weird, weird witch.
Yep, yep, and yep. I begin to wonder if I should just give up on hyphenating things at all; they've done nothing but bring me grief thus far. ^^;
A statement applicable to a great many magical girls, I'd think.
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hillo315
Intact but Tactless
- Location
- Somewhere. Somewhere else.
I believe it's a left leg, by the way. So it's unlikely to be her dominant leg.
The witch of good taste is a hideous weirdo. The irony is strong in this one, even moreso than usual.
Hiding in corpses to ambush the enemy is literally the Trojan Horse tactic. They're smarter than the average familiar!
Izabel's familiars are made of humans, but they are built from individual body parts, not spawned on the spot.
As best I can tell, every part of her body is a tongue. The better to taste you with, my dear!
- Location
- Somewhere up the tree
Well we know for a fact that familiars can't all be coming from dead people, because witches always tend to "spawn" with teeming hords of them
Xexilf
Oblivion Sempiternum Daemonis
Another possible source of that fanon may be that IIRC many witch/familiar descriptions mentions them turning people into things, and some witches are seen to do weird things to people that arent straightforward killing.
Its also not really illogical to conclude that witches gain something from killing people, so in general the idea that killing people may result in more familliars could be right. Its just definitely not the only way that happens, and probably not 1:1 even if it does, given the veritable hordes of familiars everywhere (if each witch had killed hundreds of people before being defeated, civilization would have long since collapsed).
Its also not really illogical to conclude that witches gain something from killing people, so in general the idea that killing people may result in more familliars could be right. Its just definitely not the only way that happens, and probably not 1:1 even if it does, given the veritable hordes of familiars everywhere (if each witch had killed hundreds of people before being defeated, civilization would have long since collapsed).
Nottheunmaker
Altman be praised
- Location
- USG Ishimura
On the leg thing, that's a very common trait in Japanese depictions of monsters. In fact, Cecil looks every inch a Yuokai. The flipflop type sandal looks like a tall, pink plastic zobi or getta, her hair style is in the vein of a balding head like a Kappa, and the huge tongue is another common element. At first glance the flower sticks out, but that type of hair decoration is also common in period art, partially scroll work. She looks like a Tsukumogami really, maybe of that sandal there.
hillo315
Intact but Tactless
- Location
- Somewhere. Somewhere else.
One thing I love about this story is that it's a different genre for different characters.
Like, Sayaka is stuck with cosmic horror, Mami is trapped in a psychological thriller (but believes she's in a standard magical girl setting), Tira is in a mystery/conspiracy thriller, Madoka and Hitomi are in a dark urban fantasy, Kyubey has no concept of genre because he's a weirdo, and Charlotte is in a sitcom.
Meanwhile, Ashtaroth is desperately trying to convince everyone that it's Undertale and you shouldn't kill the monsters, honest!
Like, Sayaka is stuck with cosmic horror, Mami is trapped in a psychological thriller (but believes she's in a standard magical girl setting), Tira is in a mystery/conspiracy thriller, Madoka and Hitomi are in a dark urban fantasy, Kyubey has no concept of genre because he's a weirdo, and Charlotte is in a sitcom.
Meanwhile, Ashtaroth is desperately trying to convince everyone that it's Undertale and you shouldn't kill the monsters, honest!
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Kyubey is obviously living inside of a nature documentary series.
Just look at this young witch, how she majestically rise out of her book and hunts her natural prey, the idiotic wannabe shounen protagonist.
His Theme intensifies.