9
Lessee, the higher-ups are Incubators and try and form "contracts" with unsuspecting (or very much suspecting) members of the community. These members then become Puella Magi (or Mods) and are forced to fight Witches (a.k.a. trolls, flamers, spam, etc.). Something that sets them apart from Puella Magi is that they also attack humans in this thread, i.e. by zeroing. It's rare that Puella Magi fight against each other in the community, even those who have to share a territory (or section). Another difference is that, rather than turn into Witches when their power runs out (i.e. they quit or get fired or w/e), they just turn back into normal humans. They can also take periods off from being Puella Magi and leave the others to do their work. That's another thing: Incubators do nothing to fight Witches.
Of course, who's chosen to be a Puella Magi is typically favoritism. A human does not necessarily have to be friends with a lot of Puella Magi, but they have to be considered well-liked amongst others and be on good behavior. There are tons of people like that, but of course certain Puella Magi also hate said people and so they get kicked out in the race to become Puella Magi. And then there are those who straightforwardly ask to be Puella Magi or ask that someone else (typically without that person's consent) asks or mentions it. Then that person becomes a nearly impossible candidate for good.
...Of course, I probably lost candidacy long before that one person said I'd be a better Puella Magi than Tara. (Remember that criticism thread over in CQ&F...? That was before Tara was even modded to OT.)
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[Talk about a story in which not everything is true. ...Or maybe it is. There can be a lot of paranoia behind how staff think 'cause like the government, they won't share all their secrets so easily. Ex-staff, maybe (like that situation with Fox and that "crazy crazy staff" thread), but not staff. Of course, it would most definitely clear up some of the paranoia, but hey, one should just realize that they should not think about such things.
...Never mind me I was bored OK.]
/in before Kevin