Fanfiction: Cibusverse reboot ideas

Not finalized, but I have been considering it for a while.  

For those of you unfamiliar, Esurientes (singular: Esuriens) are flesh-eating monstrosities that take all forms and operate mainly by eating Cibi (obese versions of Puellae Magi).  They seek food from people and animals in general, but Cibi are the most attractive to them due to the meat they provide and pheromones that only they can give off.

So anyway, I'm thinking that when I reboot my (commissioned) fanfic Cibus Esculentus Madoka Magica, both Incubators and Esurientes will be visible to regular people, and their relationships with Cibi will be well-known.  When you consider that Incubators target pubescent girls with such angst and such little rationality that they'll do anything to improve their lives, trying to keep a low profile might not be so necessary to begin with even if parents and teachers were to teach about the dangers they present, just like how real teenagers engage in all kinds of things like drugs and sex despite how often people stress the risks involved.

As far as Cibi themselves go, they aren't necessarily shunned by mainstream society per se.  I mean, I would like most of them to suffer some embarrassment about their bodies, even if they overcome that before long, but they are not stigmatized any more than sumo wrestlers just for their builds, even though many still find them physically unattractive.  (I do understand that most fat people in real life are stigmatized because they're presumed lazy and weak, as well as falling outside of conventional beauty standards).  However, given their designated role throughout human history, different parts of the world have their own rules governing them, and Incubators are there to help enforce them.  For example, when an Esuriens forms or comes around, Cibi are expected to intervene, and not doing so will get them shunned, or even fed directly to them courtesy of a present Incubator.  In schools, Cibi might occupy the front row in class or sit near the windows, so that they can mobilize more quickly whenever an Esuriens is detected while everyone else gets ready to leave.

Anyone have any take on that, or further ideas to suggest?

You do like obese characters, don't you? It's indeed an interesting idea, is it your brainchild?

Obese human female characters.

Yes, the general premise, of a world where all Magical Girls are fat and exist to be devoured, is my idea.

On second thought, I'm thinking that maybe the whole system should be a secret after all, if possible in some way more sophisticated than just "muggles can't see Incubators or Esurientes."  It would also heighten the girls' embarrassment about their bodies when they previously know little or nothing about the system itself before making their contracts.

I mean, some people do claim that Incubators in the Wraith world are not nearly so secretive as in the Witch world, presumably because they just need fighters to keep the Wraithes' ranks down, but I'm not sure if that's actually true or not.  Magical Girls still eventually succumb to despair and lose their lives in that reality, but that's not much different from being eaten alive (a lot less painful, to be sure), nor does it involve continually killing one's own kind (although Esurientes do originate as humans with excessive negativity combined with accumulated spores of those who successfully reproduce).

I like the idea of magical girls' existence being secret to normal people.

Yeah, I'm leaning back that way.

So, wanna discuss how Esurientes remain out of public knowledge?  Don't want them just invisible to normal people; it would look weird for anyone to flee or get eaten by something that no one else can see or to just disappear where others might see them.

McKnight wrote:

So, wanna discuss how Esurientes remain out of public knowledge?  Don't want them just invisible to normal people; it would look weird for anyone to flee or get eaten by something that no one else can see or to just disappear where others might see them.

Maybe they have something similar to a witch's labyrinth, and only there can Esurientes catch and devour? Or maybe they can only appear when the 'muggles' of the Puella Magi world are all absent?

Too similar to Witches.  As for appearing when there are no muggles present, cannot happen.  They need to feed on muggles or even animals in order for girls to have an incentive to fight for Incubators.  It's even possible that some of them might avoid Cibi unless they can be sure that they'll get a meal out of one instead of getting killed.

Would've really helped if the anime went on to focus on Wraithes like it should have in the first place instead of skipping to the events of Rebellion.  However, to differentiate Esurientes even from those, let's keep in mind that what they do is entirely biological.  This is why I toyed with just having them out in the open.

To be sure, there would be people who know about the system already.  Even in canon, there are muggles who know one thing or another about Magical Girls and Witches.  One character in Kazumi Magica used to have a friend who became a Puella Magi and subsequently disappeared, and became a police officer specifically to investigate similar happenings.  And Tart Magica has a Witch whose barrier is destroyed, leaving her out in the open for everyone present to witness.

Not to mention that a history-long pattern of young girls turning fat and disappearing only shortly afterwards is already bound to leave most of humanity with some clues (especially when you consider that Puellae Magi don't undergo any change too noticeable to draw attention, even though their activities should still leave people suspicious).

So...Maybe Cibis are not as common as magical girls, so people usually don't notice the common pattern in their deaths. Or maybe both Cibis and Esurientes appear in greater groups only in certain, short periiods through the history. I can imagine story five in which main characters fight Esurientes and meanwhile an eccentric detective investigates mysterious cases of several overweight girls who have gone missing, and then they discover some historic accounts on identical incidents in past. Or something like that.

Cibi are the Magical Girls in this setting.

Then again, Puellae Magi themselves might make up only a small fraction of the overall population in canon.  It's possible that Incubators appoint them only sparingly, so as to keep everything under a low profile.  That would make a Cibus' sudden weight-gain that much more mysterious to everyone else, seeming like something that logically shouldn't happen according to mortal knowledge.

Okay. Having thought about everything and discussed it all with someone else, I've decided that Esurientes wander a parallel world to the human world. When they're ready to prey on someone (or something), they cast some kind of mist or darkness with which to obscure everyone within, and then everyone inside is brought to their world. Those eaten simply disappear with the barrier, while survivors just re-emerge from where they were captured.

Might still need some ironing out. Like, when someone flees somewhere outside the barrier formed and the Esuriens pursues them and is then slain... Well, I suppose they might enter a state of unconsciousness, and the Incubators could be responsible for getting them back to the time and place of their capture so that they can re-enter the human world without appearing out of thin air where others might see them. Still an issue, though, with those who leave the barrier without the Esuriens pursuing them, such as the bird-Esuriens that appears over a busy street towards the end of the existing fic; let's figure something out for that, okay?

Also, let's remember that while negativity is how they form, what they desire is physical meat, human or animal, but especially Cibus.

Would it be funny if it does become too common that there are a lot of Cibus? The new would be like, "Breaking news, girls are getting too fat for some reason, but are as fit as Fat Albert for some reason."

I don't know, but for some reason, Cibus reminds me about Fat Albert as the guy is very fit despite his weight. I remember watching that cartoon as a kid and I see him play sports really well.

...ummm, just a question that popped up in my mind. I haven't read CEMM and it may be in there, but... can Cibi lose weight like normal people and re-gain their pre-contract bodies...?

No. Sayaka tries to, and some discussion between her and Kyubey ensues.

No offense, but is it me or am I getting a Fat Albert vibe? This post reminds me of that cartoon and I really liked the theme song.

Just toying around right now, and I might give these ideas their own thread soon (minus the obesity involved, for those who can't handle that but would be interested in this otherwise), but suppose it all starts with Madoka making the same wish as she made in the anime.

So, she's made a wish to save Magical Girls throughout history from their fates to become Witches.  Naturally, this would spawn a whole multiverse, one for each Magical Girl in the main timeline's past where that girl becomes the first one she saves.  The results would vary between timelines, depending on how early or late it happens.  Later in history, the Incubators would notice right away that something is wrong, and try to intervene however possible, in the end by having to work around the phenomenon.  However, in the timelines where it happens the earliest, the Incubators' initial tests simply pans out differently.

As a result of Madoka's wish, there is no energy to be gained from driving girls to despair. Therefore, Soul Gems cease to serve a purpose anymore.  However, her wish never specified to eliminate despair itself, and without Witches to manifest as, the negativity of the world then manifests then as Esurientes.  (How it becomes those instead of the Wraithes will probably beg an explanation of its own as part of all this.)

As mentioned above, the Incubators in the early-stage timelines still experiment, until they find out how to extract energy from Esurientes.  They find out what Esurientes require in order to both yield energy and complete their own life cycle, and then that female humans in their early teen years have the most potential to produce the kinds of hormones that Esurientes need, which also doubles to keep their bodies extremely fat and full of meat, which is what Esurientes really look for in living things.  Originally, Esurientes would eat whatever they could get their maw on indiscriminately, but resulting from this, they now know to look for Cibi in particular, and all other organisms are holdovers for one's next Cibus.

Anyone want to add to that?

If you plan on making Madoka a goddess in this, have someone say, "God is a fatass! Oh my God!"

For some reason I was also thinking of a dumb spin off where I have the characters of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure all turn into exaggerated muscle man or anyone with powers are Arnold Schwarzenegger level of muscle. Then again, they are already too muscular so there might not be a point to it.

Here's a sample of what I am talking about: http://images.techtimes.com/data/images/full/261212/jojos-bizarre-adventure.png

Imagine Cicus Madoka meeting these guys. It will cause a lot of low self esteem and hilarity.

It all came from the fact that one of the main characters can restore everyone back to their original state and thought it would be funny to have the guy meet Madoka. Most Madoka fan work agree that this character might be able to revert Madoka back to being human.

Just wanna know your thoughts.

Not into JBA, and I might not take to watching the whole series just for the sake of something I might not do.  (Might watch it in general if I find any reason to.)

Here's what I'm talking about, though:  Like, during the montage where Madoka absorbs the despair from everyone's Soul Gems, one has to wonder what happens to everyone else.  Does the whole world turn into a white void or something just from something that happened in some remote location, or does everyone else's lives just continue? (I know the universe did have to re-order itself, but what happens in everyone's point of view who wasn't met by Madoka before that happens?)

McKnight wrote:

(but what happens in everyone's point of view who wasn't met by Madoka before that happens?)

Absolutely nothing. They still haven't met Madoka. Their lives may be different from what they "lived" in the "old world" but they won't ever sense anything of it as the "old world" completely ceased to exist and even their past have been replaced.

Cosplayers for you, btw.

(I'm so evil... but writers should be.)

Not sure if you are able to have Madokami or Homucifer involved.

That would depend on how things pan out once I discuss that with a friend of mine later on. (Just spoke to her yesterday about certain logistics in canon, but she is not up to discussing fanfiction right now.)

I see. Well I wonder of this Madokami has the ability to lose weight as she is a goddess to do whatever she wants whenever she wants except when she has to do her job.

Would it be an odd twist if Homucifer made every character fat to make being a Cibus normal in her universe?