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A Little Brainstorming For The Girls This Time...
08-22-2014, 10:50 PM
(This post was last modified: 10-02-2018, 07:28 AM by Bob Schroeck.)
" This is 'Dust'?" Lisa asked, turning the red, soda-can-sized crystal over and over in her hands.
Next to her, Weiss rolled her eyes. "Of course. Haven't you ever seen Dust before?"
"Nope," Lisa replied absently. "Hey, Dee, c'mere and check this out."
The olive-skinned girl in the white doeskin tunic and trews excused herself from the conversation she and Sana were having with Blake and Ruby, and stepped over to the other two girls. "What have you got?" she asked.
Lisa brandished the glowing crystal. "Check this out! It's mana -- in a mineral form!"
One dark eyebrow raised. "Really?"
"Yeah! Watch!" Lisa closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. To her shock and surprise, Weiss watched all the color and light leech out of the crystal, until all that remained was a dull grey prism that began to collapse into a powder. Lisa let it dribble out between her fingers, then brushed her hand off on her short blue skirt.
"What did..." Weiss began to ask, only to stop short when Lisa opened her eyes, which were now glowing exactly the same shade that the Dust had only a few moments earlier.
"Oh, yeah. What a rush!" Lisa declared, her voice suddenly deeper and strangely resonant. She turned her glowing gaze back to Weiss. "We're going to want a lot of this stuff."
Unimpressed with the exchange, Son Wukong sidled up to Peggy, eyeing the sword and revolvers she carried with a frank interest. "So," he said with a little smile. "I'm gathering you four aren't from around here."
The vaguely exotic blonde looked him up and down. "It's not our damn planet, monkey boy," she replied with a faint smirk.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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Damnit, Leese, don't go getting yourself hooked on dust!
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
Yang and Doug meeting...
The world would not be ready for the battle of puns that would ensue.
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Naw, Doug showed up and met a young(er?) Ozpin and Goodwitch. 8) Relative timeflows don't always match u.
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"I've always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific." - George Carlin
Would explain why Glinda's reaction to RWBY and JNPR's food fight insanity was less 'what the deuce' and more 'Oh Dust, not this again'. She had previous experience with a walking, talking font of Chaos.
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Heh. If one of you writes something like that, of course it goes in the other thread... Meanwhile, I'm surprised no one has commented on Peggy Banzai's line.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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that's cause it makes perfect sense if you are familiar with both the Buckaroo movie and what Son looks like. 8)
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And if you're not familiar at all with Peggy or the Buckaroo movie, it still makes perfect sense.
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And now a couple things that have been lurking about for a while.
10-06-2014, 12:14 PM
(This post was last modified: 10-02-2018, 07:29 AM by Bob Schroeck.)
When Rei returned from the villa, the others looked up. "Well?" Makoto inquired.
Rei shook her head. "Lady Dulcinea said that the offer was tempting, but that she could not leave the side of her lord. And none of their children are old enough. Indeed, all were born after Doug left here, so they know of him only as a story told by their parents." Rei smiled, a private joke dancing in her eyes. "Lord Quixote's son-in-law was there."
"Son-in-law?" Lisa asked. "I thought you just said all the children were too young?"
"He's married to Lord Quixote's daughter by his first wife, born several decades before he met the Lady Dulcinea." She allowed her normally serene face the faintest hint of a grimace. "Even after all these years and despite the recognition of the king and the Pope, he still thinks his father-in-law is insane. But that recognition -- plus the humiliation Doug-sensei inflicted upon him -- keeps him from doing more than pleading with Lord Quixote to 'come to his senses.'" She sniffed. "It doesn't stop him from begging for money, either." Rei's eyes twinkled as she added, "When he heard why I was there, he called me a witch."
Peggy snorted. "So how many pieces did you leave him in?"
A grin joined the twinkle. "Just the one. I ignored him, then spread my wings and gave my blessing to Lord Quixote and his house. After all," she added almost smugly, "he is one of mine."
Man of la Mancha, of course
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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10-06-2014, 12:17 PM
(This post was last modified: 10-02-2018, 07:29 AM by Bob Schroeck.)
"Rinrin!" Skuld shouted. "Where are you?"
"Almost done with the control circuit overrides!" the reply echoed across the room. "You?"
"Power's rerouted, the amplifier circuit's laid in, the regulators have been upgraded..." Skuld counted off. "We just need the last two components."
Better hurry, Delandra's telepathic "voice" echoed through their minds. That thing on the castle's about to take another shot and the Headmistress is still cycling her weapon. There was a sensation of mental laughter. Rei says this seems disturbingly familiar to her, right down to her being out front playing shield-maiden.
"I'll ask her about that later," Skuld growled. "We should be just about ready to go online. I just need..."
"Herehereherehere!" From out of nowhere, Kaolla Suu vaulted the conduit on Skuld's right and slapped a small, pen-sized object into the young goddess' hand. "Kaolla has been saving this for a special day. She thought it would be her special day, but this is more important!"
Skuld looked at the device. Not just pen-sized, it was pen-shaped, bright yellow, one end surmounted by a tiny metal sculpture of a banana. "This isn't..."
Kaolla nodded her head fast enough to blur her features. "Yepyepyep! Henshin stick! Kaolla sortakinda borrowed Makoto's for a little while and studied it and made her own. Sailor Banana! Fighting for fruit, justice and the Molmolian way!" She suddenly sobered. "But Suu doesn't need it as much as they do. What do you have?"
Skuld smiled slyly and reached into her tunic to withdraw a shining silver gem, a hexagonal prism in form and about the size of a walnut. "I was more interested in Mirai's Mol unit. After scanning it a few weeks back, I synthesized my own Mol crystal."
Kaolla threw her hands up. "Yatta! Let's plug them in and show the bad guys what a mistake they made!"
"Your wish is my command," Skuld chuckled as she fit the last two components into the sockets she'd prepared for them, closed the protective cover that shielded them from outside influence, and released the latch that held the actuating lever locked in its "off" position. "Rinrin?"
A goggled face popped up over the other side of the console and flashed a confident smile. "All done! Quicker than I expected, too! There was an existing remote override system in place -- I just diked out the remote part and replaced it with our local control board."
Skuld nodded as Suu capered in delight. "Cool. Then we're all ready here. Dee, let them know we're going online right now!"
Will do!
Rinrin scampered around to join the other two in taking hold of the great lever with the bright red ball on its end. "Let's do it," she whispered with a grin.
"Right!"
"Yesyesyes!"
Skuld closed her eyes and drew a breath. Then they snapped open and she called out, "Otome Metamorforce Power..."
And together all three girls slammed the lever into the "on" position as they shouted in unison, "MATERIALIZE!"
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
Soutern Cross
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I'm having Kamen Rider Gaim flashbacks here..."There's only one kind of monster that uses bullets"-Colonel VanHeusen , from "It! The Terror From Beyond Space"
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Rei held Kyubey pinned to the ground with the Lance of Longinus as Skuld tapped the head of her hammer slowly in the palm of her hand. The little white creature was clearly panicked, and struggled ineffectually to free itself.
"Okay, you little jerk," Skuld growled as she bent over and glared at the little beast. "This is the fifth universe where we've caught you people pulling this scam. And that's five too many. This ends now." She stood up straight. "So no more miss nice goddess. I invoke Judgment on your species!"
Off to the side, Lisa flinched when she heard that. "Oh. Crap." She shared a quick look with Makoto and Rin-rin, then added, "We'd best move a bit further away."
"Why?" Madoka asked as the girls began herding her, Homura and Mami away from the confrontation with their mentor/mascot.
"Skuld's one of the Norns -- part of Fate itself," Makoto explained, glancing over her shoulder at Skuld, who was now beginning to glow bright gold. "If she's calling for Judgment on an entire species, it's likely to get a little... messy."
"In the meantime," Dee added, "we'll see if we can't take care of that little problem you have with your souls."
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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It's probably another sign that I need me some sleep that as I read this I saw The Living Tribunal step on Kyubey like the Giant Foot of Python.
“In politics, stupidity is not a handicap.” – Napoleon Bonaparte
“They opened up a can’a dumbass!” – Jon Stewart regarding Fox News, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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So, I'm guessing there's something different about the Walk multiverse's metaphysics that makes the heat death of the universe not an issue? Because if Skuld could prove to the Incubators that there is no need for what they are doing, they'd stop.
Also, I'm having trouble reconciling the way the PMMM characters are acting here with their canon personalities. For Homura, it depends where she is at in her loops, so I'll ignore her not actively trying to help Skuld. However, Mami trusts Kyubey, and Madoka stood up to Homura without any powers when Homura was more or less doing to Kyubey what it looks like Skuld is doing.
-----
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"Youngsters these days just have no appreciation for the magnificence of the legendary cucumber." --Krityan Elder, Tales of Vesperia.
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Let me fess up to writing that not having seen PMMM and only knowing the barest minimum of spoiler material. If anyone's OOC it's because I've never seen them IC. I ask, though, that you not educate me, as PMMM is still in my "to watch" queue.
Why did I write this? Because what little I've been spoiled on makes Kyubey out to be some Mephistophelian figure actively manipulating the girls of PMMM, and not necessarily for anyone's benefit but his (and/or his species') own. If I am massively misinterpreting the case, I'll happily withdraw the piece and rewrite it when I've seen the series.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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Avoiding spoilers: Kuubey's race is doing what it's doing in order to save itself. The way this is being done, however, leaves some serious ethical matters either unaddressed or addressed in unethical ways. Thus, "scam" is not inaccurate...
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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Quote:Jorlem wrote:
So, I'm guessing there's something different about the Walk multiverse's metaphysics that makes the heat death of the universe not an issue? Because if Skuld could prove to the Incubators that there is no need for what they are doing, they'd stop.
I'm betting that the heat death of the universe is an issue. However, the Incubators' scheme hits my "Entropy does not work that way!" button. In fact, my gut feeling is that, if anything, it would accelerate the heat death. If Skuld, who presumably knows how this stuff works better than mortals do, has the same reaction, that would explain her call for judgement.
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Quote:Bob Schroeck wrote:
Let me fess up to writing that not having seen PMMM and only knowing the barest minimum of spoiler material. If anyone's OOC it's because I've never seen them IC. I ask, though, that you not educate me, as PMMM is still in my "to watch" queue.
Why did I write this? Because what little I've been spoiled on makes Kyubey out to be some Mephistophelian figure actively manipulating the girls of PMMM, and not necessarily for anyone's benefit but his (and/or his species') own. If I am massively misinterpreting the case, I'll happily withdraw the piece and rewrite it when I've seen the series.
Ah, my apologies. I had assumed you had seen it, given you were using the characters. Sorry.
-----
Stand between the Silver Crystal and the Golden Sea.
"Youngsters these days just have no appreciation for the magnificence of the legendary cucumber." --Krityan Elder, Tales of Vesperia.
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I have to admit that writing it violates one of my rules for fic writers -- don't write fic for something you haven't read or watched yourself -- but, well, I was in a cranky mood and it was one way to expunge that mood without getting into a fight with my wife.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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Quote:Jorlem wrote:
So, I'm guessing there's something different about the Walk multiverse's metaphysics that makes the heat death of the universe not an issue? Because if Skuld could prove to the Incubators that there is no need for what they are doing, they'd stop.
Even if Skuld could convince the Incubators to stop, weren't they basically planning to unleash an unstoppable super-witch upon the Earth in order to stave off 'Entropy' elsewhere in the universe? And didn't they presumably do this to other species before arriving on Earth? So the Incubators have likely destroyed multiple sapient species on an unknown number of worlds as part of a plot to safeguard themselves. Getting them to stop does not absolve them of past crimes, so Skuld's Judgment is certainly merited.
----------------------------------------------------
"Anyone can be a winner if their definition of victory is flexible enough." - The DM of the Rings XXXV
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Quote:Shepherd wrote:
Quote:Jorlem wrote:
So, I'm guessing there's something different about the Walk multiverse's metaphysics that makes the heat death of the universe not an issue? Because if Skuld could prove to the Incubators that there is no need for what they are doing, they'd stop.
Even if Skuld could convince the Incubators to stop, weren't they basically planning to unleash an unstoppable super-witch upon the Earth in order to stave off 'Entropy' elsewhere in the universe? And didn't they presumably do this to other species before arriving on Earth? So the Incubators have likely destroyed multiple sapient species on an unknown number of worlds as part of a plot to safeguard themselves. Getting them to stop does not absolve them of past crimes, so Skuld's Judgment is certainly merited.
IIRC, Kyubey says or implies something to the effect that humans are the first species they found, when they went searching for an energy source that violated thermodynamics, when he is explaining everything to Madoka. He also says something along the lines of that when humanity joins the greater community among the stars, there will still be stars for them to do so thanks to the sacrifices of the magical girls. So it isn't just them, and destroying humanity wasn't the original plan, but the opportunity to get everything they needed at once was given to them on a silver platter. Remember, Madoka's super-witch couldn't have existed without Homura distorting karma. Also, the series finale literally involved the total destruction and rebooting of the universe. Whatever plan the Incubators had, that wasn't it. -----
Stand between the Silver Crystal and the Golden Sea.
"Youngsters these days just have no appreciation for the magnificence of the legendary cucumber." --Krityan Elder, Tales of Vesperia.
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Less chatter, more Steplets...
"So, we need a jock, a nerd, a ..." Lisa remembered Sana's presence before choosing her next word "... bimbo, an oddball, and an innocent."
Skuld nodded. "The 'nerd' and 'jock,' as you put it, are supposed to be men, but we don't have that option."
"At least there are five of us. Who gets which role?"
"I can play whatever role you give me, Dee."
"I won't dispute your acting ability, Sana, but you're too young for them to believe you're anything other than the innocent one."
Sana frowned at Peggy's comment. "You only had classmates from happy homes, didn't you? I'm not too young to know about bad things, even if I never lived through them myself. The only role I see that's definite is Skuld plays the nerd."
"Fine, as long as it lets us get close enough to this nest of so-called 'gods' that I can find out who to call Judgment upon."
Dee nodded. "And in the meantime, we get to relax for a few hours in a secluded cabin."
"A secluded cabin that's wired for video," Skuld added with a scowl on her face.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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Quote:Jorlem wrote:
Spoiler [+]
IIRC, Kyubey says or implies something to the effect that humans are the first species they found, when they went searching for an energy source that violated thermodynamics, when he is explaining everything to Madoka. He also says something along the lines of that when humanity joins the greater community among the stars, there will still be stars for them to do so thanks to the sacrifices of the magical girls. So it isn't just them, and destroying humanity wasn't the original plan, but the opportunity to get everything they needed at once was given to them on a silver platter. Remember, Madoka's super-witch couldn't have existed without Homura distorting karma. Also, the series finale literally involved the total destruction and rebooting of the universe. Whatever plan the Incubators had, that wasn't it.
I was basing my info on the PMMM wiki page for Kyubey, which has a section labeled: Speculation - The theories below have been proven right.
The specific entry indicated: - He also states that his/their reasons for creating magic girls is so that new cultures can arise without the heat death of the universe preventing that. He seems rather nonchalant about leaving Earth to be destroyed at the hands of Kriemhild Gretchen in timeline 4. Given that nearly all of the population dynamics models made for the Puella Magica world will inevitably result in the destruction of life on that planet and that Earth is clearly not the only world harvested by Kyubey's race, their reasoning seems rather suspect. Assuming they really are collecting the energy to stave off the heat death of the universe, for other cultures doesn't appear to be their reason for doing it. If he is consciously lying about the reason, then this would make his story to Madoka another attempt to manipulate her by claiming it's 'for the greater good.' Additionally, if this was the reason and if magic/wishes can really do anything, then why not simply explain it to someone and ask them to make a wish to prevent the universe from suffering heat death? Surely someone somewhere in the universe would be willing to make such a wish.
Confirmation: This is actually said. in the anime. ----------------------------------------------------
"Anyone can be a winner if their definition of victory is flexible enough." - The DM of the Rings XXXV
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Quote:Shepherd wrote:
Quote:Jorlem wrote:
Spoiler [+]
IIRC, Kyubey says or implies something to the effect that humans are the first species they found, when they went searching for an energy source that violated thermodynamics, when he is explaining everything to Madoka. He also says something along the lines of that when humanity joins the greater community among the stars, there will still be stars for them to do so thanks to the sacrifices of the magical girls. So it isn't just them, and destroying humanity wasn't the original plan, but the opportunity to get everything they needed at once was given to them on a silver platter. Remember, Madoka's super-witch couldn't have existed without Homura distorting karma. Also, the series finale literally involved the total destruction and rebooting of the universe. Whatever plan the Incubators had, that wasn't it.
I was basing my info on the PMMM wiki page for Kyubey, which has a section labeled: Speculation - The theories below have been proven right.
The specific entry indicated:
Spoiler [+]- He also states that his/their reasons for creating magic girls is so that new cultures can arise without the heat death of the universe preventing that. He seems rather nonchalant about leaving Earth to be destroyed at the hands of Kriemhild Gretchen in timeline 4. Given that nearly all of the population dynamics models made for the Puella Magica world will inevitably result in the destruction of life on that planet and that Earth is clearly not the only world harvested by Kyubey's race, their reasoning seems rather suspect. Assuming they really are collecting the energy to stave off the heat death of the universe, for other cultures doesn't appear to be their reason for doing it. If he is consciously lying about the reason, then this would make his story to Madoka another attempt to manipulate her by claiming it's 'for the greater good.' Additionally, if this was the reason and if magic/wishes can really do anything, then why not simply explain it to someone and ask them to make a wish to prevent the universe from suffering heat death? Surely someone somewhere in the universe would be willing to make such a wish.
Confirmation: This is actually said. in the anime.
I have my doubts about some of that. Does the anime actually state that they are harvesting additional worlds? I don't recall that, and I don't put much faith in those population models, given that the system has not exploded in the last few thousand years, and the Incubators can act as a break if needed. Remember, witches (Walpurgisnacht aside) are vulnerable to mundane weaponry, and their labyrinths won't stop Incubators from entering. Also, going back and looking at the episodes, Kyubey says that they studied other races for compatibility with their emotions to energy technology, and that when they found humanity they were surprised by the range of emotions that humanity can experience, and that all humans experience emotions to that extent. And given that they limited their harvesting to the most efficient subset of humanity, I doubt they harvested less efficient species as well.
Also, we don't know how they intended to use the collected energy to combat entropy. All we know is that there is some finite amount of energy they require. Perhaps they have invented some device that will counter the issue somehow, but it has a giant start up cost, and collecting the energy needed through normal means would result in more energy lost than is gathered, so they went looking for a source of "free" energy. We don't know.
As for wishing away entropy, I'd imagine that finding someone who has strong enough emotions on the subject to make a wish regarding it, and also has the absurd amounts of karmic weight that Madoka had so to be able to make a wish powerful enough to rewrite physics would be rather difficult. This is made even more difficult because the Incubators don't truly understand emotion. There's also the issue that, before Madoka, such a wish would also produce a witch with the power to destroy the universe. The Incubators are the catalysts, but the actual power that grants the wish is that of the wisher. (If it was just the Incubators granting the wishes, then that would mean that they could have rewritten the universe like Madoka did, at any time, which would have meant that the events in the show never would have happened. -----
Stand between the Silver Crystal and the Golden Sea.
"Youngsters these days just have no appreciation for the magnificence of the legendary cucumber." --Krityan Elder, Tales of Vesperia.
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Even though I'm responsible for it, may I request that further discussion of whether Kyubey's species are bad guys or not be moved elsewhere, please?
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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![[+]](/images/collapse_collapsed.png "[+]")
Spoiler
