Magical Girl Noir Quest

"You are a Magical Girl."

- Deculture

4chan has these things called Quest threads. Quest Threads started on /tg/, but now Quest Threads have their own board. It's (kind of like) a game, where OP is the Game Master and the other people on the thread try to pick what the character does. Either by picking from the options OP provided or coming up with their own. OP is then free to do whatever he likes, but hopefully goes with the answer that has the most support. There aren't inherently any real game mechanics, so it might be somewhat comparable to a Choose Your Own Adventure type of thing.

Magical Girl Noir Quest (here after will be referred to as MGNQ) has an OP that goes by the alias "Deculture" (Occasionally "Protoculture", e.g. thread 85). MGNQ is primarily based off Puella Magi Madoka Magica and it's spin offs. It has plenty of Shout Outs, some of which are substantial enough they which in some cases blend into Cross Overs territory. MGNQ is one of the longest running 4chan Quests. It started in 2012 and has over 300 threads.

In MGNQ, for most threads, the protagonist is Homura (often referred to as Chiaki or Murderface). Some of the posts, particularly those not by Deculture, are NSFW. Deculture's posts are a rather reliable source of entertainment and the posts they are responding give context that make them easier to understand. Other posts are both less reliable and arguably less important (but might be necessary to get some of the jokes that Deculture slips in).

If viewed as a story, then only Deculture's posts and the posts he is responding to really count. This is a rather easy mindset to adopt if you binge the archives as they are the ones of any story consequence and it cuts down on time. If quest threads are viewed more like a game that people participated in, then there is possible merit to the other posts counting too, regardless of if it impacted the story.

If you want to read it here you go. Unfortunately, a lot of the links in replies are kinda dead.

"[]A cake. To pull swords out of. Or eat. She can be strange with cakes."
 * A Day in the Limelight: Chiaki isn't always the protagonist. Playing as Kyubey is of particular note in terms of this trope.
 * Aggressive Negotiations: Malal, Kharn’s aide, repeatedly stated that meeting with the 3rd officio was walking into a trap. In the actual meeting, after both sides refused to budge, at least on the issue of handing over Mami, the leader of the 3rd officio revealed her weapon. Then then still no budging. Then Kharn contacted her incubator, verbally told him that she was going to kill everyone in the building [presumably excluding her retinue], without so much as excusing herself or keeping her voice down..
 * Air Vent Passageway: Deculture didn’t offer this, and when someone proposed it as a substitute chimney, and it got support, Deculture broke character to make it clear that they thought it was a stupid idea, but still rolled with it because it was christmas.
 * Amnesiac Hero: Well, Amnesiac protagonist at the very least. Murderface in fact has amnesia multiple times.
 * Anti-Magic: Culexus. They also make Magical Girls sick when they are around them. The ninth officio puts them in suits that dampens the effects, but also increases their lifespan and gives them more control over their abilities. Even so, even when they wear the suits, they still often make Magical Girls near them queasy.
 * Badass Crew: Kharn with her 2 person retinue: Malal and Murderface. Together they decimated the 3rd officio.
 * Bland-Name Product: Chirpee (Twitter)
 * Break Them by Talking: Midori got a violent Kharn's attention by slapping her twice, and then made Kharn withdraw by chewing her out.
 * Broken Pedestal: Sayaka doesn't like Kirishima Ruri after meeting her.
 * Call Back: Meta example. Deculture made a typo where Sayaka pulled "a sword from the depths of her cake.". Almost certainly a typo for "cape", as there was no indication up to that point Sayaka even had a cake. Not only did this get noticed, but someone made this fan art . This later got multiple call backs, the first of which was in the Christmas Special an option for a gift for Sayaka was:

"You are a Magical Girl, and you're currently feeding pancakes to an Eldritchian Horror sitting on your lap."
 * Chainsaw Good: Kharn’s weapon
 * Colonel Kilgore: Kharn wanted a war. She thought it would be fun. Also add some history to the city that would be inevitably devastated in the crossfire. She didn’t want one enough to ask her boss. That is until felt she had a good reason too at least. At which point she was chomping at the bit (to be fair, once she had a reason, the war was the means, not the ends).
 * Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are: Something hunts Midori and Madoka, or at least Madoka, while they are in a Witch Barrier together. While there are 2 potentially viable ways of fighting back, they each seem to have their own risk. Madoka fighting could bring down the barrier, which could hurt Homura. Summoning Tiny Pete might have Pete attack Madoka. So fighting is a last resort.
 * Conservation of Ninjutsu: Kharn’s retinue was able to wipe out the 98 members of the 3rd officio without too much trouble. The last 2 members present put up more of a fight. Also there was the time Girl-A killed 21 Eversor.
 * Deadly Euphemism: Giving a person a "vindicare makeover" seems to mean shooting that person, perhaps with additional constraints such as it being a headshot or in the face.
 * Destination Defenestration: A Erebus tackled Kharn from the top floor of a 50 floor building. However it’s probably not a true example as there was no mention of a window and it wasn’t too long ago that a hole was blasted into the wall.
 * Did We Just Have Tea with Cthulhu?:

"I have high hopes for our new recruit. Call it a hunch, but she seems like she could take on three eversor squads solo if she felt so inclined"
 * Doomed by Canon: We already know some of the deaths of the Walpurgisnacht arc by the times it happens.
 * Everyone Is Gay: Did you expect any different from something that used PMMM as it's base source material? There is one female character who is in a relationship with a guy, and this character has, in no uncertain terms, had a ton of lesbian sex. Sayaka is implied to still have made her wish to benefit Kyosuke, but she is obviously in a relationship with Kyoko. And as for background characters, there is a yuri doujinshi that is very popular inside the company the protagonist works for. And that's not even touching how many named female characters are pining after the protagonist (who is of course also a female). Mami (a character of non-trivial prominence) was mentioned to be in a relationship in a flashback, but the gender was left unspecified, and this potential straightness has caused some bickering in the non-main posts. Guys for their part seem to be straight, but they hardly show up.
 * Fake-Out Fade-Out: In thread 51, Deculture, or possibly a fake, says that he/she is done for this session. Then we get more Deculture posts in the thread. Also thread 54 (Deculture’s name is spelled wrong).
 * Faking the Dead: Kharn tries to fake Girl-A's death by claiming she executed her, have Malal register Girl A as dead, give her a haircut, and a new name. She then recruits this "new" Magical Girl. When Kyuubi inquires about the "new recruit" with an uncanny resemblance to Girl A, Kharn refused to explicitly say that Girl-A's death was faked, but does say:

"lick her soulgem"
 * Fantastic Arousal:

"You shouldn't sleep in a Witch Barrier, you know. There's a chance you might not wake up."
 * For the Love of God, Stay Awake!:

"When the deadline finally ticked over - bedlam happened. All five locations gave birth to a grief-crazed abomination, witches that defied categorization - each one stronger and more powerful than the strongest one ever categorized. A fiery giant wielding a terrible spear, upon a hellish, demonic steed. An armored behemoth from the depths, both clawed hands gripping swords the size of skyscrapers. Another, a monster with brilliant amber tentacles sprouting from either side of its oblong head. A towering black mass that clawed at the sky, tendrils of shadow and hate rippling from its skirt. A demonic sun with fangs instead of teeth, and all-consuming despair instead of light. But none of them were Walpurgisnacht. Even as they killed hundreds of Magical Girls and created untold devastation to the parts of the world they spawned on - they were not the amalgamation of Witches that promised to end the world in a gleeful laugh."
 * Good Angel, Bad Angel: Played With. Starts with a narrator Discussed Trope which leads into a variant
 * Half the Man He Used To Be: At least one Magical Girl was bisected when Kharn and her retinue decimated the 3rd officio
 * Inexplicably Identical Individuals: There is some iDOLM@STER crossover. When Hibiki and Kyoko meet Yuma notes how similar they are. Which makes sense since one is practically (or actually) an Expy of the other.
 * Lovecraft Lite: The Walpurgisnacht arc. Before the actual arc (narratively, not chronologically), we get tastes of that arc here and there.

- Sayaka


 * Of course since it's a flashback, we already know the world didn't end. Kinda dampens the bleakness.
 * To a Liter extent, the rest of the work is this, or at least has it as a backdrop. It is arguably a PMMM fanfic after all.

"you've woken up with amnesia. The kind third-rate soap opera writers and no-talent hacks use as a cheap plot device to drum up some mystery in the poorly written-schlock they laboriously pull out of their asses."
 * Merry MAXIMUM CHRISTMAS in Gotham
 * Mind Rape: Yuma searching through Girl A's mind is described as a highly invasive crime of such magnitude that making appropriate amends is impossible.
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Mami tipped Kirika off. Not only did this almost cost her friends there lives, but they didn’t tell Kyubey where the leak was even though they knew (to protect Mami). As a result, as a precautionary measure, Kyubey had the courier service he’d been using to the sword. Specifically Sayaka’s sword.
 * Poke in the Third Eye: The Prophet's group didn't appreciate Haruka watching them. Chiaki had the plug pulled before the attack connected (which might not have been necessary because she shot one of the mirrors Mirror).
 * Ret Conned: While normally the responses in flashback threads try to avoid paradoxes, it seems they slipped up in one of them (trying to make sure prophecies come true doesn't count). Specifically that in Murderface shot Kyuubey for the first time in Kyuubey's office. In  Girl A shot kyuubey when she was being treated on the medical floor.
 * Saved by Canon: We know who some of the people are going to survive through the Walpurgisnacht arc.
 * Screw Destiny:
 * Self Deprecating Humor:

"It's just Walpurgisnacht, you shouted at them."
 * Shout Out (unconfirmed):
 * Eric and the Dread Gazebo: "Gazebos are evil"
 * Metalocalypse: Totally Awesome Sweet Alabama Liquid Snake
 * Meduka Meguca: Being an Incubator is suffering.''
 * Skewed Priorities: Christmas is important. Very important. Nothing is more important than Christmas.


 * Arguably subverted/averted, as Kyoko knows that Walpurgisnacht is dire and wants to do something special while they are all still alive. The sheer peril they are going to be facing is actually why Kyoko cares so much. At what point, if any, are survival and duty less important than enjoying life?

"But of course you don't pick those options. Not when there's something much more important to ask about, here. Something that needs to be asked about right away, and not a moment sooner."
 * Sliding Scale of Free Will Versus Fate: One character said that prophecies can be defied, but what it takes to defy the prophecy is not consistent. If that character is right, then where a prophecy is on the scale is not universal throughout the work (although some like You Can't Fight Fate are never the case).
 * Smoking Hot Sex: In Midori’s dojinshi. Chiaki, a heavy smoker, finds her stand in doing this after sex poor taste.
 * Take That, Audience!:

"It's not as if this is a game or anything..."
 * Teleportation Sickness: Malal vomited after using Kyubey's experimental teleporter.
 * This Is Reality:

"Look, obviously, this is a trap. For fuck's sake, Kharn, they didn't even pretend to ask for a neutral meeting ground. We're going right into the belly of the beast, here. But we don't care, do we?"
 * Trap Is the Only Option: This is how Khan and Malal role. Without even a plan too!

- Malal


 * Tears of Blood: When Midori brought Faust to tears.

"Quests are indeed more heart rending with the collective mind of /tg/ together."

- 22039439

"Paranoia level is approaching 1 full Shadowrun"
 * Changing Clothes Is a Free Action: An anonymous artist (maybe more, but the art style is pretty consistent) posts comics. Sometimes these comics feature NiceHatGuy. NiceHatGuy in these comics is always wearing a hat, and each panel he is in features a different hat.
 * Hiroshima as a Unit of Measure: How paranoid /tg/ should be is often put in terms of Shadowrun, with varying degrees of fitting this trope.

One of them seemed to reference the DEFCON system: "We are in SHADOWRUN 5. If this is a reoccurring thing, we go straight to SHADOWRUN 1"


 * Noticing the Fourth Wall: One of the pictures.
 * Protagonist Centred Morality: Someone blamed the courier service for the leak because they left it accessible to Mami, as if Mami was free of all blame.
 * Shoutout:
 * "2magicalgirls1soulgem.avi"
 * Soundtrack Dissonance: In response to Kharn basically declaring war, anon 20825989 posted a link to Edwin Starr - War (What Is It Good For?) and commented “it's fucking on now, chaps!”
 * Summoning Ritual: If Deculture doesn't show up one anon posts the first thing in then another does the second. Often someone messes up and gets told "You had one job".
 * Virgin Sacrifice: anon 20866598 ’s post
 * We Are Experiencing Technical Difficulties: As a result of Deculture's seemingly chronic weather induced internet problems, someone made this
 * We Are Experiencing Technical Difficulties: As a result of Deculture's seemingly chronic weather induced internet problems, someone made this