#Magi fics

[magioftheseas]

The Concept Of Self

Written for @sayakazine Please check out the fundraiser!!! Summary: Sayaka needs a change in direction when it comes to her image. Who better to ask but the Ultimate Fashionista? It's strange, then, that Enoshima Junko doesn't act like expected at all. Rating: PG Warnings: None really. Notes: This is one of my two fics posted for the Sayaka Zine! It's Ikuzono-focused but you can read it platonically. I've always been super interested in the idea of Sayaka interacting with Mukuro while she's disguised because, uh, Mukuro's not the best at acting and Sayaka would definitely notice. I love writing Sayaka as more shrewd and inquisitive while Mukuro is floundering. I think they're cute. Currently, the Sayaka Zine is running a fundraiser, so please show them support! Special thanks also to @softausterity for the illustrations, which are included in both the zine and the Ao3 version. Go check them out, too! ***Alternative Ao3 Link*** Commission? Donate?

She didn’t look at many fashion magazines growing up, even after she debuted.

She loved fashion and pretty dresses as much as the next person, but it had never been her passion. Just something she appreciated and respected from a distance with little understanding beyond if she thought an outfit was cute.

At the beginning of her career, she was told it was okay to not concern herself with such things.

“You’re cute enough without trying!”

Except now it’s become,

“You can’t keep coasting on your natural charm forever.”

She supposed she had expected this to a degree. As distant as she was from the normal teenage girl, she would’ve been a fool to not notice the rising star of the fashion world.

One Enoshima Junko.

–

There were other girls with noticeable style, of course. The Black Cherry girls were a strong example with the guitarist especially standing out. That guitarist, Mioda Ibuki, had a personal style that was as bold and brazen as her music.

Sayaka admired that commitment to individuality, but when she looked at herself, the difference between her and Mioda-senpai was as stark as peacocks and sparrows. No, Mioda-senpai knew herself better than anyone, but Sayaka didn’t think that she’d be understood at all.

But someone like Enoshima-san might be different. Enoshima was similarly bold and outspoken, but her interviews also depicted her as someone with a keen perception and a knack for understanding not just people but people at their deepest and basest.

When she finally met Enoshima, she had been on edge.

…but Enoshima-san wasn’t what she expected.

–

“Enoshima-san, can I speak to you for a moment?”

“Uh, why?”

What caught Sayaka’s attention first was that Enoshima was always on edge around her.

“It’s nothing serious! I just want to talk!”

“O-Oh, that’s, fine, I-I guess?”

Enoshima would cross her arms defensively and not at all like the powerful young woman who was predicted to take Japan by storm. Almost as if that person had been nothing more than an illusion.

But the Enoshima-san in the magazines absolutely isn’t a person that the press could fake.

There must be something that Sayaka is missing.

“Have I done something to offend you in some way?” she asked innocently, taking in the twitch in Enoshima’s eye. How Enoshima just barely manages to disguise her grimace as a grin. “I’ve actually come to you for advice, Enoshima-san.”

“Oh. Oh!” Enoshima does perk up at that, but she still seemed strangely flustered. “L-Like about…boys?”

Oh. Oh.

“It’s not about Naegi-kun at all.”

“I-I didn’t say–!” Enoshima balked, face a now brighter shade that rivaled her red nails. “W-What even gave you the impression?!”

“It’s a joke,” Sayaka chirped with a laugh. “I know there are rumors about Naegi-kun and me, but an idol is nothing without her fans. I’d never do anything to break so many hearts.” She does pause, switching to a more serious mode. “It actually is about my fans. More specifically, the image I present for them.”

The sky was unbearably bright. A more blinding blue than the shade of Enoshima’s widening eyes. Enoshima was no doubt taken aback.

“How am I supposed to…?” Enoshima stopped herself, flushing again. “Wait, so you’re looking to change…your look?”

Sayaka felt her smile strain. A shameful slip that had her want to dig in her nails and heels.

“In a manner of speaking, Enoshima-san. I’m glad you understand.”

It’s supposed to be Enoshima’s talent. Enoshima should understand fashion and image better than anything, from the matter of boys to the matter of her own heart.

Enoshima’s shoulders hunch in the most pitiful way. She worries on her lower lip extensively. Her bright blue eyes go downcast. Her mouth works to speak, but hardly a sound comes out. The bright red of her cheeks really does bring out those homely freckles.

“If you don’t have the time,” Sayaka said, with a pang of sympathy overriding any disappointment. “That’s fi…”

“It’s fine!” Enoshima exclaimed, finally bursting. “I-It’s absolutely fine, Maizono!” Tilting her head back, she forces a hearty laugh. “I’m just surprised! Didn’t think you’d go out of your way to ask me about something like that!”

She’s being honest.

Enoshima clears her throat.

“S-Say,” she says, quirking an eyebrow in a way that only slightly distracted from the sweat dripping down her cheek and the clamminess of her clenched hands. “How about a shopping trip? J-Just us two girly girls.”

She’s uncertain, but she’s earnest.

Sayaka doesn’t have to force her smile in the slightest.

“I would love that, Enoshima-san.”

–

There’s a shopping district nearby Hope’s Peak Academy. Since a lot of Ultimates flock there, it’s always bustling especially in the afternoon. To call it a cornerstone of trends would be an exaggeration. It’s a perfectly ordinary distinct, it’s just in a convenient spot.

Not that Sayaka would know for sure. Enoshima was wetting her lips in a clear sign of nerves rather than offering any judgment on the matter. When Enoshima noticed her curious stare, she forced a grin and snatched up her arm.

“Let’s do this, Maizono!”

Her voice cracked at the honorific. Likely also nerves.

Sayaka had already put on her best-disarming smile, but Enoshima was already tugging her into the first clothing store, closest to the entrance.

Was it convenience, or…?

It wasn’t her place to assume.

–

“This is cute, isn’t it?”

She had picked out a soft blue dress. Rather plain but the kind of thing worn in movies going for a rural charm. It’s the kind of unassuming but lovely thing that Sayaka would usually go for.

She can’t help but think that the Ultimate Fashionista would call it drab, but Enoshima is terribly tense as her gaze flickers from Sayaka’s innocent face to the cloth.

“It’s, uh, fine, yeah.” Enoshima finally forced a grin and a thumbs-up. “Is it what you’re looking for?”

…so that you can hurry up and leave?

“I’m not sure,” Sayaka said, and it was a nugget of truth despite everything. “Can we keep looking?”

Enoshima looked like she might be sick, but kept up that grin.

“S-Sure!”

The next outfit that Sayaka entertains is a poofy blouse. Enoshima simply nods along, agreeing that it’s cute. She even points out that the mannequin was wearing it so it must be popular.

Shouldn’t she know based on her own intuition?

She did notice. Enoshima looked over clothes as well, but idly like she had never been clothes shopping before. Enoshima did seem partial to some colors and designs, but they largely seemed more suited for blending in with the bushes over dazzling a crowd.

Just to test her, Sayaka did pick up a dress that was patterned with earthy tones of green and brown. She knew who it’d remind Enoshima of, and she saw how Enoshima’s eyes brightened when she brought it over.

“How about this, Enoshima-san?”

It’s a dress that even Sayaka knows she wouldn’t be able to wear, regardless of how charming it was. It’s too unassuming. Even her plainest clothes needed to have some level of flashiness. The Ultimate Fashionista would also say as much.

“Uh…” Enoshima-san hesitates, cheeks pink. “Is that…what you’re into?”

Sayaka just smiled as she always did. Smiled, smiled, smiled.

“Why? Do you think it’d look good on me?”

“Well,” Enoshima stutters. “I don’t want to recommend something you don’t want to wear. And I’ll be real, I don’t even know what you want to wear.”

“I’m not picky.” Her smile wouldn’t twitch. “This is for the fans as much as it’s for myself.”

Enoshima just frowned at her.

“Are you sure? Are you sure it’s for yourself as much as it’s for your fans?”

Ah. Enoshima-san is making herself into a problem now.

“Sure I’m sure!” A cute laugh here. Smile, smile, smile. Turn up the CHARM! “Why wouldn’t I be sure?”

Rather than at her, Enoshima looked up at the store lights.

It smarts a little.

“Do you like the dress or not?” She finally cut straight to the point. “Do you think it’s cute? Unassuming but so very charming? Because I’ll trust your opinion on anything, Enoshima-san. You’re the Ultimate Fashionista, so this is your talent, right?”

Enoshima looked at her shoes next. Her cheeks are flushed, and it’s likely not because of the dress.

I feel like I’m bullying her. That’s not how an idol is supposed to act at all. What’s wrong with me?

Enoshima doesn’t even assert herself. She just shrugs before sullenly nodding. Sayaka had once thought that the Enoshima-san she read about would tear someone apart if they dared to cross her. She had envied that idea to an almost sickening degree.

I’m already twisted, but…

“Do you think I should just forget about my fans?”

Still, I…

“That I shouldn’t consider them at all?”

Enoshima’s shoulders hunch.

“...m-maybe?”

She sounded so unsure.

“I-I mean.” She’s stuttering. “Isn’t this about you and what image you want to put out?”

“In a sense.” Sayaka is calm. “But idols aren’t anything without their fans. Not considering them at all would be cruel. I exist for their sake, so…”

“So you’re going to restrict yourself based on what you think they want?” Enoshima’s frown deepened. “I don’t think that’s what self-expression is about. It, uh, sounds like the opposite, actually.”

The thing is that Enoshima’s sentiment was sincere. She still wasn’t confident at all, but it was still a belief from her heart.

And it was ridiculous. Cliché and cheesy, but Sayaka had begun to suspect…

Maybe Enoshima-san has a secret twin or something.

That should’ve been the end of it. If this Enoshima wasn’t actually the Enoshima-san that she read about, then what actual good was she? This trip was a waste of time. A total waste, but she supposed it made for a pleasant enough detour.

And this Enoshima-san isn’t a bad person. She’s cute much the same way that Naegi-kun is. But my fans always come first.

“It can’t be helped,” Sayaka found herself saying. “I’m an idol, so that’s the way that things need to be. I can’t be like Enoshima-san.”

Enoshima warily regards her. That’s her first cue.

“I had a great time.” She made a move to put the dress back on the rack. “And I really do appreciate your help. I’m sorry for wasting your time.”

“You’re just going to cut things off here?” Enoshima’s voice rose. “Seriously?! You haven’t even tried on any of the clothes you showed me!”

Just like how unassuming Naegi could be full of surprises, it was a shock when Enoshima reached out and grabbed her wrist.

“So what if it’s not what the fans want? The fans aren’t even here, Maizono-san! If you want to wear these outfits, you should! I won’t judge!”

“A-Ah…”

Enoshima’s grip was stronger than she could’ve imagined. Enoshima realized that too when she winced, hurriedly retracting her hand.

“S-Sorry, I just…” Enoshima scratched the back of her neck. She dug in her nails like it itched terribly.  “I’ve just been thinking… I want to see what you want to wear. Even if it’s not what others want; if it’s what you want… What’s the harm in dressing up? That’s…what I wanted to say.”

Her wrist wasn’t swollen, and she really should leave. She really should.

Instead, she says. “It might be underwhelming or disappointing. I’m…afraid I’m not as sparkly on my own as I am on the stage.”

“That’s fine,” Enoshima almost replied too quickly. “I still want to know more about you. Despite our, uh, differences, I think we could get along.” Then, quieter, she mumbled. “You kind of remind me of someone I really like and admire, so I do want to help you…”

“Ah. Hm.” Sayaka tilted her head, genuinely curious because that person couldn’t be Naegi. “Who?”

“N-Not important!” Enoshima squealed. “Do you have to try and distract me instead of just answering the question?!” She’s whining, too. It’s so childish. “You always do that!”

She’s the one that’s like Naegi-kun. I can’t help but tease her.

She can’t help but laugh.

I can’t help but like her.

She takes the dress back and holds it close.

“Alright!” She exclaims like it’s easy. Like it’s simple. Like her heart really is light. “I’ve actually always wanted to wear green. I like green more than pink if you can believe it.”

“I don’t,” Enoshima said bluntly. “But I understand it.”

Sayaka smiles wide, and it doesn’t even hurt in a bad way.

[abyranss]

More fan art for the fic, But I don't want to be a chuunibyou!! by my friend, @meditatemoremedicateless. It's the titular scene of chapter 1!

I Tried to Summon a Demon but my Classmate is the Devil??!

In which post-Rebellion Madoka is trying to have a normal high school life but all these cute cosplaying chuunibyou girls keep calling her God and dragging her into their delusions!

Chuunibyou just recently got a second chapter and that's so exciting. I love this fic. It's so funny.

[womanfano-03-89-a]

I would like to highly recommend this madoka magica fic by @eternalfarnham to any madoka fans who see this post

It’s honest to god one of the best pieces of fiction I’ve ever read 👍

[incorrectpmmmquotes]

Kyoko: I would kill for you

Sayaka: Thank you

Kyoko: Please ask me to kill for you

Sayaka: No

Kyoko: Damn

[ravenclod]

YURII AAAHAJHSSHSJS

you know its bad when you do oneshot fanart 🙏

fic by @koka-mi​ <3

[eternalfarnham]

Chapters: 2/? Fandom: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death Relationships: Akemi Homura & Kyubey, Akemi Homura/Kaname Madoka, Akemi Homura/Kyubey, wait no come back - Relationship Characters: Kyubey (PMMM), Akemi Homura, Sakura Kyouko, Tomoe Mami, Miki Sayaka Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence Summary:

For the Incubators, a diagnosis of "mental illness" is as simple as having a personal interest outside producing negentropy – for example, in wordplay. Kyubey, the assigned Incubator for Mitakihara City's magical girls in their fight against wraiths, is diagnosed with an unnecessary emotion after making an unprompted joke, and scheduled for execution and replacement. It accepts gracefully, knowing its death serves the purpose of fighting entropy... right up until it can't.

In for a penny, in for breaking and rewriting your identity, as they say.

[kyosaya-enthusiast]

Pls drop your fav kyosaya fics in the comments. I need more kyosaya content

[grilledcheese-savage]

Madoka magica au that I might write a fic of:

It’s basically a “what if” Homura wished to bring madoka back from the dead instead of going back in time to protect her. In this version she is too overwhelmed by madoka, that she doesn’t think to fix the rest of the decimation or protect her instead or anything like that, just “please bring her back”. And kyubey answers. Madoka is brought back from the dead but it’s not really madoka… it’s a more extroverted defender of Homura (if you’ve read some of The summer Hikaru went missing, it’s a similar dynamic) she’s a little more violent and she doesn’t quite remember all the things that happened. She also wears Homura’s soul gem. There’s a reason for that. Their souls have kind of intertwined and if Homura walks to far from her, madoka will die. It’s part of the reason the chain is both gold and silver. But also because she kinda looks reminiscent of kyubey now, with the gold rings and red eyes etc.

I though Homura’s magical girl uniform would be different since the wish was different.

Basically the plot is Homura being happy madoka is back, realizing this is kinda like a ship of Theseus “is this even her?” Situation and they both have to live in the fucked up aftermath of walpurgisnacht fighting weird corrupted souls? Kinda different from witches but similar. It would be a mystery.

[tomatosareinmyhead]

I think the plot "cupid who falls in love with a human and leaves his life as cupid" a bit clichéd, I've read a lot of fanfics with this theme and I've never really found anything brilliant. BUT if there was a madohomu like that.....I would read it........

[spring-gogurt98]

hashtag never got over this fic! 🤣

should I make fanart!!

[magioftheseas]

In Which Komaeda Makes Himself Uncomfortable

Summary: Komaeda wakes up to see a mirror image of himself. This is a problem, right? Rating: T Warnings: Mentions of canon-compliant violence. Notes: This was supposed to be for a kink meme thread that was about other Komaeda ships so you can imagine how old it is sdhfkjhsdhf. But it's Komaeda's birthday so I finally finished this WIP and, uh, I'm not sure if this is a step towards self-acceptance, much less self-love, but it's something! Happy Komaeda Day 2024! ***Alternate Ao3 Link*** Commission? Donate?

When he first woke up to a look-alike looming over him, staring down with an intense focus, his first action was to pick the bottle of pills he had taken before bed to see if side-effects included hallucinations. They didn’t, but there was nausea listed.

Komaeda put the bottle aside, pushing himself up and the other remained standing there, staring with a furrowed brow. He looked...more curious than the confusion Komaeda felt right now. Confusion that lifted his hand to see if the other him was tangible...

His hand was grabbed and then their fingers entwined. They were perfectly identical right down to neatly filed down nails. The veins protruding, the jutted out wrist, the white pallor of the flesh—everything looked exactly the same.

“What is this...?” Komaeda pulled his hand back, blinking several times and then the other him pulled back as well, walking over to the curtains of his window and pulling them shut. “What are you?”

His question wasn’t answered at first, no, the mirror image was instead explaining, “If the others see that there are two of us; it may cause panic.”

Admittedly, that sounded reasonable, but when it was his own voice saying that even when he wasn’t the one... It sounded different than normal because the sound was through air, after all, so it was higher in pitch, more grating. It was no wonder his classmates always looked so irritated whenever he started talking.

Komaeda hummed to himself and slipped out of bed, in just the shirt and boxers he wore to sleep in, wondering if his doppelganger came with the jacket and jeans he was wearing and didn’t just steal—oh, no, there they were. Hung up in the same place he put them. But if he did glance back at the other, he’d be able to make out the mended tear that Komaeda remembered sewing shut a few days ago after he took a tumble. Even their clothes looked exactly the same.

Is this good luck or bad luck?

It must be bad luck, Komaeda initially thinks in response, because that the world would be afflicted with two of him—two worthless, despicable, and cursed beings—it’s easy to think it’s terrible bad luck.

But...on the other hand, so much more could be done with two of them. More stepping stones to lift those potential symbols of hope, more obstacles for the others to overcome and thus shine brighter, and he’d get cleaning and errands done so much easier and quicker with another pair of hands, provided more mistakes didn’t happen due to bad luck. Which, admittedly, would most likely be prone to happening if the two of them had the same fortune...

…Oh, but there can only be one SHSL Lucky though, right? Could their luck possibly be the same or could this duplicate just be a lowlier copy of an already lowly being? Komaeda really wondered about that. He could test it, of course. But if the other him died as a result, it’d be troubling if he got executed for the ‘murder’. Monokuma would certainly be all for something so ridiculous, and Komaeda wondered if the bear knew about this situation already.

He stared at the security camera, glaring at them both, and was sure that Monokuma did know. Why he wasn’t appearing right then and there to commentate on it, with the ridiculous jokes he’d probably make... That Komaeda wasn’t so sure about. Maybe the bear was just letting the situation settle first?

How strange.

“It’s nearly eight.” Ah, his doppelganger was speaking again, in that high-pitched grating voice. Komaeda perked up, glancing blankly at the other, watching him pause in thought. “Oh, should we both call each other ‘Komaeda-kun’?”

He laughed even though there was nothing particularly amusing about the situation. But that was normal behavior, so it wasn’t that strange if the two of them really were copies of one another. But nearly eight?

Right. This was the time his classmates usually met up at the hotel’s restaurant. But he wondered...could he really go there considering this situation...

“Should I go to the meeting? And come right back?” The other asked, snapping him out of his thoughts. He was being given this expectant look and also a curious one, with the other’s head tilted and his eyes wide and did he really look like that...? “Or would you rather go and I stay here? You have to come back quickly if you do—otherwise I’ll get suspicious.”

Oh. “Shouldn’t I be suspicious right now? You’re the one who appeared so suddenly, you know. But if neither of us go to the meeting, the others may get anxious and get the wrong impression. Hinata-kun might even take it upon himself to check...” Would Hinata know what to do if he knew about this? Perhaps his talent had something to do with people getting inexplicably duplicated... But somehow, that sounded less likely than SHSL Tsun-Tsun Hair. Komaeda wanted to laugh too, thinking that, and it wasn’t that funny. “Oh, I should go though. I’ll come back immediately though. If you become troublesome, don’t think I won’t immediately tell the others and prove your existence if I have to. I will.”

His reflection blinks, but smiles like this isn’t a surprise—and it shouldn’t be. “Alright then. Have fun, Komaeda-kun.”

What kind of strange comment is that? Komaeda’s stare narrowed, his suspicious glare not leaving the other as he fetched the rest of his clothes. The other stared back with a calm smile, unaffected and simply gesturing for him to get going once he dressed himself.

Komaeda doesn’t need to be told twice to leave when he does.

--

One possible reason for this is that it’s a setup by Monokuma. A motive, perhaps? Maybe his classmates would be more driven to kill him if there were two of him. They barely tolerated him alone. The only reason why he wasn’t barred from the daily, usual full-class meetings is because they needed to keep an eye on him...and they couldn’t just keep him tied up in that lodge forever.

Though a few of them certainly tried to.

There were still glares and suspicious stares thrown his direction whenever he entered, and Komaeda met each one politely, while simultaneously searching for a particular sort of unease. Perhaps something to suggest he wasn’t the only one with the duplicate problem. But the mood and anxiety seemed unchanged from before.

And the topic of finding a mysterious double never came up in the usual conversation. Komaeda kept quiet as the other students reported the usual thing—and Monokuma introducing a new motive didn’t happen either. Perhaps this was just Komaeda’s issue then.

Perhaps he should inform them. Just in case.

Maybe to rouse them—to hopefully encourage them and just as he opened his mouth—

“No one wants to fucking hear it, Komaeda,” Kuzuryuu snapped, to which he shut his mouth and just looked down. He vaguely noticed Hinata giving him a look, and he weakly smiled in his direction. Hinata just looked away and he faltered.

The meeting went on as usual, and Komaeda would have just left immediately as usual, but he found himself pausing, thinking. On the matter of his double—is this really something he should just keep to himself? It’s just as likely to earn him more ire than any influence, and at least one of them could just end up tied up in that lodge again after all. That’d just be troubling.

Maybe it was all in his head after all. Though Komaeda certainly doesn’t remember this as part of any symptoms to any of his sicknesses—a new one, perhaps? But for what, exactly? What good luck would he get from—?

“Komaeda.”

Ah. Hinata.

“Hinata-kun,” Komaeda said cheerily, turning to the frowning person in question. Hinata was eyeing him warily but at least he was looking at him, and that was more than Komaeda could ask for. “Can I...help you?”

“You’re not coming up with another murder scheme, are you?” Hinata asked, glare narrowing, to which Komaeda could only laugh.

“No—do you perhaps need one, Hinata-kun?”

“No.” A cold, clipped response, then a surprisingly curious question. “What’s been on your mind lately?”

“You care?” He can’t help but smile widely and hopelessly adoringly. “Hinata-kun, you really are such a kind person!”

“It’s because I can’t trust you.” Hinata scowled, but there was still a tinge of hurt in those words. There was also a strain in those features that had Komaeda faltering and had his chest do an odd sort of clench. “If you’re planning something—or if you’re aware of something that no one else knows, then we’re all at risk. You’re a liability, Komaeda.”

“Hinata-kun, I don’t mean to be...”

“Komaeda.” He’s stopped before he can explain as Hinata’s impatient and irritated. “So what was it? What were you about to say before Kuzuryuu cut you off? Please don’t tell me you were about to spew some of that hope-bullshit on us again.”

“...Hmm.” Komaeda shrugged. “Hinata-kun, what would you do if there were two of me?”

“What kind of question is that?” He shrugs again and though Hinata’s clearly annoyed, he does answer. “Scream. What do you think I’d do?”

“Would the sight of there being two be so skin-crawling that you’d have to take drastic measures?” Komaeda asks, eyes wide and expectant as Hinata backed away a bit. “Hinata-kun, let’s plan to kill the other me together. It’s the perfect opportunity!”

“W-What the hell are you—?!” Hinata’s eyes were wide with panic before he hurriedly regained himself. “There being two of you is impossible, right? U-Unless you mean to tell me you have a secret twin or something?!”

“Nope, only child,” Komaeda said. “My birth was a miracle, actually, my parents had been trying to months... Isn’t it so unlucky that they ended up with a worthless person as myself? Well, that among other things.” Komaeda laughed that off. “But, Hinata-kun, I did want an actual answer...”

“Forget it!” Hinata exclaimed, waving his hand and turning on his heel. “Why the hell do I even bother with a nutjob like you?! Just forget I said anything!”

And after working himself up so needlessly, Hinata stormed off in a horrible mood. Komaeda stood there, slightly stunned and a little dismayed.

It wasn’t like this was a surprising result, but he couldn’t help but feel disappointed with himself. Someone like Nanami could motivate Hinata to action so easily, meanwhile all Komaeda seemed capable of was aggravating and confusing him.

It hurt a little. After all, if there was anyone Komaeda liked most (not that someone as wretched as him had opinions that mattered when it came to SHSLs, but), it was unquestionably Hinata. When he thought about trying to cajole the other students, he wondered if it was too much of a gamble. He didn’t want to end up tied up in the old building again, especially when Souda was threatening to gag him and Kuzuryuu threatened to cut his tongue out.

Even if good luck would come from such a thing later, it...didn’t seem worth it. He’ll just have to figure something else out.

--

“Komaeda-kun. Welcome back.”

His doppelganger greeted him cheerfully as soon as he entered the cottage. An unsightly bright smile was on his twin’s face and if this was how Komaeda looked, it was no wonder he drew so much ire. It was no wonder others hated him so much.

Already, Komaeda wanted him gone but he couldn’t risk being executed over something that wouldn’t bring the others any hope at all.

(In the back of his mind, he thought of Hinata. “You’re a liability,” Hinata had said. “Why do I even bother with a nutjob like you?”

...Hinata would likely be relieved if Komaeda disappeared. That thought ached a little even as Komaeda convinced himself that short-term relief was no good with long-term complacency.)

“You’re still here.”

Regardless, the doppelganger was a problem. Perhaps Komaeda could knock him out and tie him up in the old building. A quaint idea but not feasible on his own.

The other kept on smiling, sitting innocently on the bed, murky gray eyes at half-mast.

“You came back,” the other said. “Good, good. I was getting lonely.”

Ridiculous. Komaeda knew loneliness was a constant. It was a necessary misfortune and one that it was worthless to complain about, especially to himself.

“Such disdain,” the other cooed. “Isn’t your self-loathing a little exaggerated, aha? It seems extreme to wear an expression that suggests you’d be keen on wringing my throat if you could.”

“What are you getting at, I wonder?” Komaeda asked, forcing cheer and keeping both his back and hands pressed to the door. “Was I always this infuriating or are you really a conjuring courtesy of Monokuma?”

“I’m more the result of a miracle, I suppose,” the doppelganger said. “You need not worry. I have no intention of interfering. See, I lack the stomach to see the others.”

Komaeda knew better than to trust himself, especially at a delicate time like this. It was why he needed to hurry up and get someone, anyone off this island before he spiraled into true incoherence and uselessness. But something about that statement rang as odd. This doppelganger seemed lucid, although Komaeda was uncertain, so what was it?

“Hm.”

Maybe good luck would see the doppelganger killed at the hands of the SHSLs after all.

“What do you plan to do?” Komaeda asked.

The other shrugged. “Remain here, I suppose? As I said, I don’t wish to see anyone else. Even my own face is quite unpleasant.” His gaze lifted just slightly. “Do you want me dead? Have you already approached someone about it? Oh, you don’t need to make that face. We’re the same, so I know. You’re a coward so you had to let Hinata-kun approach you, and even then you were too incompetent to persuade him so you let him storm off!” His own laughter, when not vibrating through his bones, sounded scratchy and shrill. “You really can’t do anything right, can you?”

Komaeda stared. The other just kept smiling like nothing was amiss.

Something was off. More so than he already thought.

His doppelganger shouldn’t be this antagonistic. Even if they mutually despised one another, that should’ve resulted in them ignoring each other, not this goading. Provocation of himself like this wouldn’t result in hope. It was simply acting immature for the sake of it.

“Who are you?”

“Komaeda Nagito.”

“Are you really myself?”

“I’m Komaeda Nagito,” the other repeated, smile tightening at the corners for only a moment.

“Avoiding the question,” Komaeda said quietly. “There’s something wrong about you after all.”

That smile never disappeared, only becoming more twisted and grotesque. It was sickening to the point of almost mesmerizing, and Komaeda was almost taken aback when the doppelganger stood and strolled up to him. The doppelganger leaned in until they were close.

(Komaeda recalled how their fingers entwined and quickly smothered the memory.)

“Komaeda-kun,” the other asked. “Do you know yourself?”

Well enough to tell that something’s different, Komaeda thought. So, what is it? Is he just a fragment? A distortion? Or...is there something that he knows that I don’t?

That last possibility sat with him. The doppelganger was close enough that they could breathe one another’s air. It was disquieting, especially with the way the doppelganger’s gaze flickered to his mouth.

The other smiled.

“No one else will be close to you like this, especially not Hinata-kun. Does that make you feel relief? Or a misery that’s deeper than despair?”

Had Komaeda underestimated his potential for depravity? If time went on, would this be what he’d become? What fortune could come from such a wretched existence?

No, he was getting distracted. As long as he could bring about the greatest hope, nothing else—

“That’s no good. You need to look at me.” A cold, almost skeletal hand cups his cheek, tilts him back to the doppelganger. Komaeda stared at his reflection, both the tangible thing and within those murky depths that grew darker ever darker. “Let me ask you a question. Who am I?”

Komaeda opened his mouth and closed it. In a rare moment of hesitance that he hated himself more for, he couldn’t bring himself to answer.

“If you can’t figure it out, you’ll lose yourself forever,” the other said, caressing his cheek now. “Poor, poor Komaeda-kun. You can’t count on another’s kindness.”

The other’s touch was still so cold. Komaeda felt the flutter of a familiar pulse in that spindly wrist, brushing against his jaw.

Was this good luck or bad luck?

As the other leaned in further, Komaeda found himself thinking of a normal sunny day that fizzles into nothing.

[abyranss]

Fan art for my favourite Madoka fic, But I don't want to be a chuunibou!! by my friend, @meditatemoremedicateless

In which post-Rebellion Madoka, having not yet recovered her memories of godhood is entering high school, and she's really interested to figure out why Homura is Like That.

Like, really interested（づ￣3￣）づ╭❤～

[womanfano-03-89-a]

A sickly animal weeps tears of transcendent beauty

“A long time ago, a high-karma magical girl – a saint, before there were saints; high-yield contract 91, HYC-91, in incubator metadata terms – had wished that the demon who stole her sister’s soul, and all demons like it, should be forced to tell the truth for all eternity, from the day of creation onward to the end of all things…

…The Incubator who had irrevocably damaged the species’s Earthside strategy with its choice of contractee was executed, its values and training data excised from the network – deemed too high-risk to even study. Historically, it was recorded as the first Incubator to ever cry”

— How the Questing Beast Chased, and Caught, Her Own Tail: Chapter 6

[my-name-is-mine-to-know]

I rewatched Madoka Magica, and now I've been ruminating on the similarities between the Incubators and TMA's dread powers. Fundamentally, both are sustained via emotion, granting some individuals inhuman abilities, eventually resulting in manifestations of negative emotion.

Now I'm trying to think of an AU and perhaps how to make that into a fic...

Kyubey doesn't usually go for boys or those below their preteens, but a child who has already suffered so much despair from the death of both parents to the neglect of their caregiver to a supernatural encounter that no one believes them about would certainly sacrifice a lot for even a little bit of hope or protection in the form of a wish, and would certainly fall to despair soon after, considering his lack of support system.

All Martin wants is the love of his mother: he wishes for her to be healthy because it would be awful to just magically change a person's emotions so this is the next best thing. Of course, now she can take care of herself, and is even more resentful of his presence. He doesn't need to be there anymore, so why does he insist upon terrorizing her still? Luckily, he's not home much anymore. He works two minimum wage jobs, and when he's not at work, he's hunting witches. The small bit of hope he feels when cleansing his soul gem is the only thing he has that resembles happiness nowadays, and the seeds seem to take away less of the darkness each time, as his depression begins to dirty his soul as much as his magic expenditure does.

What entity do you think the incubators would be? I feel like it would be the End, considering so much as interacting with one dooms a person; but it could also be the lonely, given how terribly isolating it is to be fighting a battle that no one else could understand except for those who find you an enemy, even though you've technically on the same side; or perhaps Hunt, forcing so many into an endless search for the grief seeds that will prolong their life, but every time you find one, you lose even more of what it would restore in an endless cycle of hunt and kill.

Or perhaps it's too simplifying to try to fit in a single category. That's likely the case.

[magicclownjuice]

I PRESENT TO YOU, SOME ART FOR A FANFIC I'M WRITING: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST AU, FEATURING Y/N AS BELLE AND ECLIPSE AS THE BEAST. >:}c ENJOY!!!

[missnotstarry]

heavily inspired by this beautiful fanfiction by penny_dreadful on Ao3