#honestly this is basically just homura from Madoka Magica

[aceptical]

I love characters that tear themselves apart for something. I love characters that would willfully destroy themselves for their goal. Characters that have moved past the point of caring what happens to them because all that matters is this one goal and it’s fine if they’re destroyed or maimed or anything else because as long as they fulfill that goal they think they’ll be fine.

Even better if they gradually start to doubt this goal. What have I been pouring myself into this entire time? But by now they’re too far gone to stop so like clockwork they just keep walking towards this goal. They’ll constantly destroy themself for this one goal and they can’t change that fate no matter if they can recognize their original goal has been twisted beyond any recognition.

[maddy-k-reads-all-day]

The way Kyoko Sakura is so misunderstood

What's crazy about how Kyoko is perceived by both the other characters and the fandom alike (from what I've seen) or at the very least it's not like... talked about very much, is the fact that Kyoko is one of the most selfless characters in Madoka Magica, only second to Madoka herself.

Kyoko acts like she only lives for herself, but the truth is that is clearly just a facade she puts up to protect her heart. The moment someone she comes to care about is in danger she will literally lay down her life for them. Like Sayaka in the main series and Mami in The Different Story. Even in Rebellion, when Homura was about to turn into a witch while talking to Kyoko on the phone, Kyoko sensed something was up and immediately asks Homura to tell her where she is and that she'll come get her. Over and over, Kyoko would come to anyone's aid that needs her. Claiming that she just wants to protect those close to her.

If we consider all the spin-offs to be canon (which geez it's so hard to find out what is and isn't canon so don't attack me here) then may I please point out how Kyoko basically adopted Yuma Chitose. There's probably a lot of other little moments as well that I'm missing. It's kind of ironic how the other characters call Kyoko "selfish" (especially Sayaka saying it) when as I said prior, she really is one of the most selfless and caring characters in the group. She's such a complex and interesting character. Can we please talk about and appreciate her more Madoka fans?

I also love how she subtly has a pretty decent friendship with the whole cast (except Nagisa I guess, we haven't really seen them interact). She is an old friend of Mami's and in some timelines they do become friends again, then we got her whatever she's got going on with Sayaka, and her secret friendship with Madoka

Honestly I think Madoka was one of the only characters that really understood Kyoko now that I think about it.

But that's a discussion for a different day once I re-over-analyze their scenes together.

Then there's the fact that (and maybe this is just me) it feels like she's the only person other than Madoka that Homura trusts. And that says A LOT. Despite everything, I think the characters at least subconsciously can sense her caring nature that she keeps locked away.

Can you tell Kyoko is my favorite? I think about her lore at least once a week :')

[catholic-character-tournament]

Quarter Finals - Catholic Character Tournament

Propaganda below ⬇️

Matt

Matt's faith in the show is really important and well explored; one of the first scenes of the show is Matt going to confession (or, well, talking to his priest since he's not really confessing at that point). Matt struggles a lot with what he's supposed to do; everyone's telling him to kill the villain and he kinda wants to, but he literally says: "I know my soul is damned if I take his life". He struggles with his faith and goes with his doubts to his priest, and it's beautiful—also when he finally gets a costume for his vigilanteing he chooses to dress as the devil, lol. (His priest tells him that nothing makes people run to Church faster than the feeling of having the devil on their heels.)

a lot of the show is about how he justifies his vigilante actions with his faith, and whether he's doing the right thing in trying to help people or just using it as an outlet for his anger. the literal first scene of the show has him in a confession booth talking to his priest (who is a really interesting character too). this is not the scene I was talking about but it's such an excellent scene with matt talking to his priest: https://youtu.be/XHZ3NbEIDdw

canonically catholic but dresses like a demon to be quirky

honestly i dont wanna type too much but i feel that matt is a great example of someone who battles with his faith because he rarely loses his faith but rather fights with why he was made the way he was and put through what he was. He believes himself to have the devil inside him but believes that God put him there

ok in the comics barring the most current run matt has Mostly been a non-practicing Catholic that very rarely actually does any catholic Activities but ends up falling back into the Mindset and very occasionally dramatically taking confession (ex. in that one issue where he takes confession, basically tells the father that he is uniquely terrible and is thinking about violently murdering someone and when the father says "you can be forgiven" hes like "AUGFH-- NO!!!!!!!!!!" and runs out) when he's gone through some shit. and i love that its so relatable

This guy so catholic he spends an ungodly amount of time just chilling in the church. And goes there whenever there is a moral conundrum about killing people being Bad even though it would solve a lot of problems and stop said people from killing other people. This happens every other episode. Matt is the Catholic Guilt Guy. There's actually a lot of catholic stuff in the show as a whole. Just a compilation would be like three whole episodes long.

Hes great hes catholic enough to not outrught murder people but not catholic enough to not fuck before marriage hes a bisexual disaster at all times hes besties with a priest might i add hes great hes my special little guy

his catholicism is a huge piece of his characterisation he was raised by nuns in a catholic orphanage, the first scene we ever see him (as an adult and not a flashback) is him going to confession, he is good friend with his priest and has regular debates with him, etc also in s3 he has a huge crisis of faith after he lost A Lot where he stops believing for a while and it's linked to his identity crisis where he actually wants to kill another person (a hard line he previously chose never to cross) and wants to be only daredevil and not matt murdock, when he is both and needs both to exist also when he was a kid his grandmother used to say "watch out for the murdock boys, they've got the devil in them" and it created a surprising lot of his issues

So he's both catholic in the comics and the show but he's More Catholic in the show. Like, raised in a catholic orphanage by nuns (ONE OF WHICH IS HIS *MOTHER*), second scene in the show has him in a confession box kind. Matt Murdock goes out and gets the shit beaten out of him nightly and also beats the shit out of other people and purposefully leaned into devil iconography as his theme. When his nurse friend says, he takes a lot of punishment without one complaint he says "That part's the Catholicism." It is a Core Aspect of his character (at least in the show). He makes me insane. Also the same chemicals that blinded him created the teenage mutant ninja turtles and everyone should know that.

They went to confession to a priest who they had saved as their costumed counterpart and the guy recognized them by the voice, proving that it's possible and everyone else is just dumb

he takes "i wanna fight god" to new and incredibly violent levels, while also being a sweetheart and a goofball

Actually strictly WILL NOT kill criminals. Goes wayyy out of his way to avoid it. Fights with the Punisher about it. Goes to confession booth after nightly vigilante excursions. Feels so much guilt. "How have you been holding up?" "Like a good Caltholic boy" "that bad huh" - actual conversation with his priest

So Daredevil struggles with his mission as a crime fighter because killing criminals goes against his faith. He makes it a point to not kill criminals, believing that even bad people deserve a second chance. This philosophy puts him at odds against The Punisher, who is a relentless killer. As a Catholic myself, while I love the concept of a morally conflicted superhero, I think the worldbuilding around Daredevil is lacking. If he struggles with violence and killing, why doesn't he pray to warrior saints like Saint Michael, Saint Ignatius of Loyola (a former knight), or Saint Joan of Arc? Why isn't there a community of other Catholics he can turn to for guidance, considering New York City has a sizeable population of Catholics? And why are the churches he goes to always empty? Doesn't he know that the Catholic Church supports the just war theory? I think that would have made his burden more bearable.

He goes to church and confesses to punching people and says "imma do it again can i apologize in advance" and the father dude says "no you're meant to stop now" and Matt says "no" and they do this everyday. I'm not remembering it properly but this is a canon interaction i swear

HELLO HI YES I LOVE HIM AND WILL INFOR DUMP ok so. he is a vigalantty and he got named daredevil and he is an orphan and after the age of 12 was raised in an orphanage at a Catholic church and his therapist is his priest via confession abd. also his mother is a nun he has a whole mental breakdown over god and called Job a pussy because he liked god until he got better and liked god again he said "I'm dearedrvil and not even god can stop that now" and he's so cool

matt is a freakish little babygirl who was raised by nuns and definitely has religious trauma. i hate him so much (affectionately)

he’s literally fucking insane about it i don’t know what to say here. he thinks he’s chosen by god to go on some sort of holy quest to save hell’s kitchen. joan of arc ass.

i already know hes in by default j just wanted to give him a personal shout out i love this angsty catholic dweeb

how practicing he is depends on the run, but in my favorite he is quite literally confessing to a member of the last extant order millitant who happens to be a priest at a church in hells kitchen.

i love him for having the funniest version of a trope i usually hate (person gets into confession booth and asks forgiveness not for what they've done, but for what they're about to do). usually this trope just looks silly to me bc like. the priest would just say "i can't do that" and you would have to either awkwardly explain yourself or just Leave. it's funny when matt does it because fr. lantom is probably like "what are you gonna do???" and matt's like "lol. lmao. 😊 hehehe." anyway we love this angry catholic man who dresses up like the devil to beat people up in hell's kitchen

I'm sure Harrow is lovely and I respect the space lesbians but listen to me. Listen.

Matt Murdock is the Catholic character of all time, and if you make him lose, I am blowing up this website and everyone in it.

He is Catholic. His mother is a nun. He grew up in a catholic orphanage. Half the episodes in the show include him going to confession. When he needs therapy, he talks to his priest. He dresses up as a devil partly because of the Catholicism.

One time he got godly powers on loan from Heimdall (see below), and he did a lot of good with it, and then the second it was over he just... well. Also see below!

This man's every coping mechanism is Catholicism.

Please vote for Matt in the @catholic-character-tournament because he's the best and most realistic representation of what it means to be Catholic. Someone who's been punched and bet and crushed by life but still gets up every day to try. No, he's not a nun like his competition but he's not less devoted because of that. Not everyone is called to service. In the day he works at a defense lawyer to help people. Not for the money but to help people not get screwed over by the law. And at night, he dons a mask and beats up assholes when the law fails them. Is he perfect? No, that's the point. Matt is a broken man who is just trying his best to do well and live like Jesus.

He fully embodies the Catholic doctrine of faith and good works. He has faith in what he's doing even if others challenge him. He believes in forgiveness and repenting even when going up against "the devil."

"The people you murder deserve another chance." ... "No, Frank. To try again, Frank. To try. And if you don't get that, there's something broken in you you can't fix, and you really are a nutjob." "You think God made you a one-man firing squad. But you're wrong. There is goodness in people, even in you. And you're gonna have to kill me, 'cause I'm never gonna stop coming for you, until I take you down."

Daredevil Season 2 Episode 3

He (tries) to love his enemy. He believes in Elektra and Frank and maybe Dex and their ability to change. To be good. And when he can't, Matt refuses to compromise on his morals. While not quite "turning his cheek" he never scoops to their level. Because they don't get to destroy who he is.

Daredevil Season 3 Episode 13

All he does is for the love he has to his neighbors, his community. He loves New York. Not for self-fulfilling needs or for the money or for the fame. He does it because he believes in justice. Because the law was created by humans and is inherently sinful.

"But his competition met God and was disappointed and blah blah"

Daredevil is more grounded (at least the show, maybe less the comics). So now, Matt doesn't met God. But he sure gets mad at him. All of season 3 he angry at God for all the trauma he expired.

"You see, that was me, Sister. I suffered willingly. I gave my, uh... sweat and blood and skin without complaint. Because I too believed I was God's soldier. ( chuckles ) Well, not anymore. I am what I do in the dark now. I bleed only for myself. ( scoffs )" ... "You might hate God right now, but the feeling is not mutual." "No, I don't hate him. I've just seen his true face, is all."

Season 3 episode 1

As a Catholic I don't really want to fight God in a parking lot. Well I do but not in the same way that I've understood (primarily Jewish people but probably other Abrahamic religions) want to fight God in a Denny's parking lot. I want to yell and scream and cry at God and for the feeling to not be mutual. For Him to never stop loving me. As long as I have faith, He will reach out his hand.

Homura

she is a catholic lesbian whose girlfriend became god. she has been through so much.

shes such a lesbian for amdoke

Catholic guilt literally turned her into a demon

she literally watches everyone she knows die over and over and over again just so she can save madoka, the one girl who showed kindness towards her. when madoka ends up basically becoming god in order to stop the cycle of death and violence, homura RIPS AWAY THE HUMAN PART OF HER SOUL so that she can create a world where she and Madoka and their friends can live happily, effectively becoming the devil to madoka’s god

She has so much religious symbolism when it comes to her relationship to Madoka. Madoka is God and Homura becomes Lucifer so that she can save Madoka and give her happiness. She literally rips God from heaven and rewrites reality though. The way she sees her self and shapes reality is through the lense of Catholicism.

most fucked up little catholic girl. we love that for her.

Okay homuras entire fuckin arc is stemmed from the fact she is Catholic. Look at her trying to save Madoka over and over again and suffering for it because she thinks if she suffers enough and works hard enough Madoka will stay. Normal people do not go into time loops willingly. Catholics will.

[pika-ace]

I love your Twisted Wonderland AUs and I was wondering...

Can you make one of Magical Girl! Yuu with a Magical Madoka system?

I think her wish gave her something similar to Homura's power of having a pocket dimension and she had a few seeds of suffering with her (two to four would be fine, right?) and that since she arrived she has had to recycle them by reviving one. and again to the witches to be able to use them correctly.

And I can already imagine the problems he will have if Kyuubei comes with him, it would be a real struggle to stop his friends from selling their souls while learning the truth of their world, I can already taste the drama and angst!

So what I'm getting here...is Yuu basically being like Homura at least in the sense that they KNOW Kyubei is full of shit...and has to go around stopping the most EGOTISTICAL TEENAGERS ON THE PLANET from throwing their souls away for superpowers.

Yep, Yuu would Overblot or go full witch from that stress ALONE. I mean JESUS, Grim would try to wish for all the tuna he could eat every other day just to wish to become a great mage and get Kyubei slaughtered by Yuu EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. (also wow, now that you bring it up, Madoka Magica Witches are legit Overblots but with absolutely NO WAY to save the victim, that's fucking SAD-)

But on another note...you know how Witch Seeds clean the Soul Gems? What if they could ALSO clean magestones? That could open a whole new door of world-building if these worlds collide.

And honestly, there are SO MANY WAYS things could go wrong if one of the TWST Boys makes a contract. The fact that EVERYONE has trauma or baggage of some kind means the whole descent into Witch territory can be different for EVERYBODY, especially with the factor that their wish is inevitably turned against them in some way.

SO

MANY

TIMELOOPS

And that's MINUS the realization that their soul is no longer in their body, cause that alone is enough to swear off this bullshit in my book.

And the pocket dimension thing, I'm not even gonna touch that cause Rebellion was a whole different fucking beast and the main plot in the show is plenty of angst for now

[astriwilt]

Here’s my tier list for Madoka Magica ships. This template was created by Psyga315 (Adam Adams) on tiermaker!

I’ll give my very scientific reasoning for why I put each of these ships on their respective tiers.

S Tier:

Madoka x Sayaka: They’re the best of friends and I think they could be a great couple. They both obviously really care for each other.

Madoka x Homura: Uh duh. My girl literally went back in time for years in order to save Madoka.

Sayaka x Kyoko: Uh duh pt.2. The enemies to lovers story for Madoka Magica. The scene where Kyoko sacrifices herself. That’s all I needed to say.

A Tier:

Homura x Kyoko: I really like them. They’re both magical girls who’ve been fucked over and then grew apathetic. People misjudged them both and saw them as cruel and heartless; when deep down they care about a lot.

Homura x Mami: They’re both veteran magical girls who serve as examples for Madoka and Sayaka; albeit in VERY different ways. They both have very different views on being a magical girl which is a very interesting part of their relationship.

B Tier:

Homura x Sayaka: There’s also that “very different views on being a magical girl” thing that makes their relationship very interesting; found with both Homura x Mami and Sayaka x Kyoko. But of course a lot more antagonistic than Homura and Mami and less emotional than Sayaka and Kyoko.

Sayaka x Mami: I like it! Sayaka idolized Mami and that’s where she gets all of her ideas about being a magical girl from. It’s in B Tier cause there’s not a lot on Mami’s side though.

C Tier:

Kyoko x Madoka: They had their moments.

Mami x Kyoko: Basically Sayaka x Kyoko if it was a lot less interesting.

Madoka x Mami: Ok I like their mentor- mentoree relationship. Honestly I should have put this on B tier but the tier has already been made so oop.

D Tier:

Most of the Hitomi ships: I really like Hitomi as a character but I don’t see her working with anyone.

E Tier:

Homura x Hitomi: This one just makes less sense to me than the other Hitomi ships. Like I can kind of understand the others. Madoka and Sayaka are her friends. Mami and Hitomi have kind of similar personalities. Hitomi never breaks a rule and Kyoko has a disregard for everything. But I don’t understand….anything about Homura and Hitomi. Maybe someone can help me out lol.

F Tier:

All Nagisa ships: She’s a lot younger than the main cast, and even if she was their age honestly I just don’t like Nagisa as a character that much. She’s only interesting cause she turns into Charlotte.

So do you agree with me or should I be burned at the stake? But in all seriousness; share your opinions!

[otaku-tyriq]

What ending do you think is worse, BNHA or JJK? Why?

Now that 2 shounen series that I followed for years have ended, it feels kinda weird. And I can't believe that overall, I dislike both endings (but for me, JJK is worse than BNHA, sorry).

Now, from all shounen series, that I love the endings are :

Haikyuu, Fullmetal Alchemist, Soul Eater, Death Note, Attack on Titan, The Morose Mononokean, Pandora Hearts, Bloom into You, Blue Flag, and Smile Down the Runway...

Have you read any of my top 10 fav shounen?

From the above, I think you'll love FMA & Pandora hearts the most..

Oh, FYI, Bloom into You & Blue Flag are LGBT themed and have canon f/f & m/m couples....

Hello Anon!

Unfortunately i have not finished BNHA or JJK as i dropped both these series rather early on. That is just smt that happens for me with most long running shonen series.

I just lack the attention span and dedication for such massive series.

So unfortunately I cannot answer that question as I have not experienced the ending of either BNHA or JJK and it is highly unlikely that I ever will.

Same goes for the other shows and manga you have listed. I have started most of them (Haikyuu, AOT, FMA, Death Note, Morose Mononokean, Pandora Hearts and Soul Eater to be exact) and did enjoy them a lot while watching/reading but I have not finished a single one of them except for Soul Eater as my attention span basically left halfway through. ADHD is a b!tch like that.

I am very sorry if this disappoints you

But to not leave you completely hanging Anon I can tell you the endings of some anime I did watch fully.

👍Endings I enjoyed:

Donten Ni Warau

A 12 episode long anime i watched as a teenager and still hold dear to my heart and genuinely an under appreciated work of art . The ending is nothing spectacular or breath taking but it is SATISFYING and that is the best thing a ending can strive to be.

Mo Dao Zu Shi

I know it is TECHNICALLY a donghua and not an anime but eh. What can I say? I loved the novel and while i personally highly prefer season 1, once again the ending of season 2 is just satisfying and perfectly homosexual despite censorship.

Mob Psycho 100

Anon if you have not yet watched this anime i URGE you to do so. This is one of the VERY FEW anime that managed to keep my attention going for more then one season and it absolutely nailed its ending in one of the most bittersweet ways.

Kaguya-sama: Love is War

Again, one of the VERY few anime that managed to keep my attention span going for more than one season and i honestly blame the glorious english dub for this. (Srsly if there is one anime you should watch dubbed, it’s this one). The ending was not what I had expected when i first got into it but it was just so unbelievably cute i still sometimes go back just to rewatch the ending.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica

I mean what did you want me to say? That i hated the ending of one of the most influential Magical Girl anime of all time? That I hated the gorgeously tragic lovestory of Homura and Madoka? Get real. This shit is peak and has been for a decade now and for good reasons.

Buddy Daddies

Again this anims is kinda underappreciated as I think it has one of the most realistic depictions of what it feels like to raise a Toddler and while the ending happens kinda fast in a 0 to 100 kinda fashion it felt earned in an almost paradoxical way. Like all of these characters deserved and got their happy ending and it was adorable

👎Endings I disliked:

Digimon Adventures 02

As the great german poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once said: “What is this Scheiße?” random characters ended up married despite having 0 chemistry throughout the series? Everyone now has kids and just sends them off to the digiworld??? This is like the same sort of mess as the ending of Naruto except Digimon never tortured us with an unwanted Boruto-style Sequel series. Even back as a 10 year old when i watched this series i was massively disappointed by the anime’s last episode.

Sk8 the Infinity

Fuck this. Fuck! This! I LOVED this anime, and I still do but the ending? FUCK THAT! I know this will sound very controversial given Adam has A LOT of fans, but Adam should have gone to jail. That man’s half assed attempt at a “redemption arc” was undeserved. He assaulted several of the main cast, essentially sexually harassed one of the UNDERAGED protagonists and you tell me he got away with ALL OF THAT scot-free? Not to mention the entire story surrounding Adam and that police woman trying to uncover his political corruptness just went???? Fucking??? Nowhere???? If you truly want me to believe this man regrets ANY of the shit he has done then fucking send his ass to jail! Let his political career CRUMBLE! MAKE THIS MENACE TO SOCIET FACE CONSEQUENCES! “Oh b-but he had a terrible childhood 🥺👉👈” I do not care, that does not excuse his actions. I love this abime but thinking about the ending for 0.5 seconds makes me BLOOD BOIL.

[entropic-introspection]

It’s however many years later and I’m still not over the Mami vs Homura fight in Rebellion

like it is one thing to know Mami is/was a veteran magical girl and she just got unlucky/careless with Charlotte, but then you actually see her fight Homura not just equally, but pure dominating the fight? Damn.

with the necessary addendum: Mami’s magic manifests as ribbons, because her wish was about binding her to life and other people. She fucking taught herself how to make the rifles and bullets for better combat effectiveness. Compare and contrast Homura, whose magic (from a wish of “let this not be happening/let me change time to save her”) at its most basic is to stop time- her magic is also non-offensively based and she had to work out how to change that by imbuing her energy into normal weapons. Which is what the crux of the fight comes down to: Mami has the drive and innovation to find her way around obstacles, even in a fast paced fight with the odds against her. She’s incredibly adaptable and highly observant, largely by necessity.

Homura is ruthless, but honestly? Sloppy! If something isn’t related to her immediate goal, she doesn’t pay attention to it, and she doesn’t think far enough ahead to make back up plans or contingencies. She learns through earnest repetition, which most magical girls don’t have the luxury of. Part of why she’s so strong in the original Madoka Magica is because she looped the same month so many times, she got to feel out all the variables. If she can’t do that and you can nullify her paused time advantage like Mami did, she’s forced to use more desperate or underhanded tactics than her preferred brute force/overwhelming barrage method.

[aoi-midori]

Fanfic Recs...

so uh…. I learned the hard way that tumblr has a tagging limit when I reblogged that fanfic post from earlier, meaning ... not all my tags went through AND IT MISSED ONE OF THE FICS I REC’D. so fuck it, I’m making my own post: a more detailed one that has all my fav fics and for sure won’t get eaten by this hellsite! there are eight of em, and as i attempted to note with that reblog, all of them can be found on ao3, but i'll be linking them here for easy access! More under the cut!

Embers and Frost by SolarisLupi

One Piece/Rise of the Guardians Crossover, Canon-Divergence

Rating: Teen & Up

Synopsis: After becoming the new Spirit of Summer, Ace struggles with the knowledge that one day he will be forced to leave everyone he loves behind. Jack questions how far he would go for those he cares about. And Luffy, unaware of Ace’s rebirth, is plagued by visions of his brother’s death and other horrors. But those nightmares may be more than just dreams…

complete fic, with 49 chapters and a 414k word count

so yeah, Jack gets stuck in the op 'verse and ace becomes the new summer spirit after his death in marineford. Pitch winds up there too, and he's far more of a threat here thanks to everyone being able to see him, and if you've seen Rise of the Guardians, well... then you know that CAN'T be good. also this is actually part of a series with a kind of prologue that comes right before it that's called Fire and Ice. I'd probs read that one first if you want the context since that one showcases how Jack gets into op 'verse (and also where he first meets ASL trio).

~~~~~

As N Approaches Infinity by Corisanna

Puella Magi Madoka Magica/Bleach Crossover, Canon-Divergence

Rating: Teen & Up

Synopsis: Despairing as yet another timeline goes horribly wrong, Homura wanders into Karakura. There she discovers that while the spiritually-aware people of Karakura were distracted by Ichigo Kurosaki and Xcution, Kyubey had managed to contract the Kurosaki sisters as magical girls. Drawing the attention of the shinigami could be just the advantage Homura needs.

Incomplete fic, currently sitting at 84 chapters with a 481k word count (last updated March 2021, might be dead, idk)

yeah, so Homura runs into the Kurosakis at the tail-end of another failed timeline, and if you know Ichigo, you can imagine what happens next. his big-brother instincts go into full-throttle here. also Kyuubey is still a little shit as always and it turns out he got up to even MORE fucked up shit than everyone initially realized! so that's fun... oh yeah, there's also a companion fic called Polynomial Expansion that's basically a bunch of bonus scenes from the main fic!

~~~~~

There May Be Some Collateral Damage by metisket

Bleach/Harry Potter Crossover, Canon-Divergence

Rating: Teen & Up

Synopsis: Ichigo’s been ordered to go undercover at a magic school to bodyguard a kid named Harry Potter, and this would be fine, except that he’s about as good at bodyguarding as he is at magic. And he considers it a good day, magic-wise, if he hasn’t set anything on fire.

Complete fic, with 3 chapters and a 61k word count

I personally love the author's note for this one: "I wrote this mostly because, despite the surprising number of Bleach/Harry Potter fics out there, none of them seem to address the fact that sending Ichigo to Hogwarts is basically the same as swinging a wrecking ball directly into the side of the castle." this fic honestly changed the way I want to write fics and actually turned me on to present-tense. the narration itself is just so good. made me think, "goddamn i want to write like that." also one of the funniest fics i've read in my life. it's basically bleach characters (mainly Ichigo) looking at the HP 'verse and thinking "what the actual FUCK."

~~~~~

RWBY/Zero by orphan_account/TheMaster4444

RWBY/Fate Franchise Crossover (mostly Fate/Zero with a bit of /Stay Night and Apocrypha in there too), Canon-Divergence

Rating: Teen & Up

Synopsis: With the Vytal Festival in full swing, Teams RWBY and JNPR are shocked when an unexpected family member arrives at the school. Elsewhere, Cinder's wild-card teammate proves himself a dangerous enigma, and Arturia tries to prevent a loved one from following her old path while enemies from a past she thought she left behind come for her new world. New players have come to Remnant, and a golden shadow is ready to change the game for everyone.

Complete fic, with 94 chapters and a 574k word count

so as i mentioned in the tags of that reblog, Remnant is literally the remnants of Earth after the fallout from Fate/Zero (so Fuyuki fire affected the entire planet basically). so you've got the surviving characters from Fate/Zero living in present-day Remnant due to the circumstances, and Arturia happens to be Jaune's mom. start of the fic takes place during volume 3 and it starts out a bit slow, but that doesn't last long. once it reaches the volume 3 finale... holy SHIT does it take off. worldbuilding here is absolutely nuts, and the way the author meshes the two series together is downright flawless. also ruby herself gets some really cool and interesting lore here, so that's pretty neat.

~~~~~

∞:∞ by divisionten

Kingdom Hearts/The World Ends With You Crossover (given this is a KH fic tho, there are other series sprinkled in here too, but I won't say what they are bc spoilers), canon-Divergence

Rating: Teen & Up

Synopsis: He got off the pavement, wet, dirty and alone. They left the beach, ready to chase him down. She gripped her Keyblade, twisting it tight enough in her hands to leave marks. It was time to go home.

Complete fic, with 44 chapters and a 201k word count

this one's set directly after the end of KH3, so... Sora's dead! and he's found himself in TWEWY shibuya. but wait, Riku's also dead, but he got sent to TWEWY shinjuku! neither of them are in the reaper's game tho bc of special circumstances... meanwhile just about the entire rest of the kh cast is out there searching different worlds for these two, and let's just say that "getting into hijinks" is a bit of an understatement.

~~~~~

Infinite Nuisance by Luluwoo

Jujutsu Kaisen, SukuGo Slow-burn, Canon-Divergence

Rating: Mature

Synopsis: When a strange incident leads to Gojo being trapped along with the King of Curses in Sukuna's Innate Domain, what everyone assumes would lead to destruction surprisingly grows into something more.

As Sukuna and Gojo are forced to interact and learn more about each other, they realise that hatred isn't the only tie that binds them.

And, as Sukuna quickly realises, he is far from prepared for the unlikely temptation that is Gojo Satoru.

Ongoing fic, currently sitting at 9 chapters with a 43k word count

AND THEN THEY WERE ROOMMATES. quite literally! so these two have no choice but to interact with each other, and that goes about as well as you'd expect (at least at first). also another thing to note here is that Sukuna's relationship with Yuji is MUCH much better than in canon, so they don't actually hate each other.

~~~~~

Firehouse 4 by easyontheredeyes

Jujutsu Kaisen, SukuFushi Slow-burn, Modern AU

Rating: Explicit

Synopsis: For years, Megumi worked hard to become an EMT and carve his own path through the Emergency Medical Services world, outside of his father's reputation and Gojo's connections. All he asked was not to be housed at a firehouse, with firefighters. Apparently, that was too much to ask for. Or Megumi can't stand firefighters. His new EMT job leaves him working with a particularly cocky, arrogant, ironically smoking-hot one named Ryomen Sukuna.

Ongoing fic, currently sitting at 15 chapters with a 145k word count

AND THEN THEY WERE ROOMMATES... IN A WORK SETTING. lmao I kid. but yeah, slow-burn at it's finest here. animosity at first followed by one-sided flirtation, then followed by mutual flirtation... while trying to make each other jealous at the same time. smh

~~~~~

Stars in the Dark by Nshi

Persona 5/Final Fantasy XIV Crossover, Canon Divergence

Rating: Mature

Synopsis: "In spite of… or perhaps because of this, I choose to believe. In mankind's potential. In his ability to find a way forward."

It was supposed to be a proper summer road trip this year. No combat, no god-slaying, no desperate last stand to save the world from certain ruin. But fate has ever had a habit of stringing Joker away from the peaceful and mundane, hasn't it? Not that even he could have ever expected to be hailed as the 'Warrior of Light'. Kind of ironic, really.

Or: a Persona 5 x Final Fantasy XIV crossover fic in which Joker, instead of a much-belated post-Strikers break, gets his ass Isekai'd into The Source and somehow winds up in the role of Eorzea's champion. As one does.

Ongoing fic, currently sitting at 33 chapters with a 415k word count

THIS IS THE ONE THAT GOT EATEN UP IN THE TAGS BY THE GODDAMN HELLSITE. also the fic that I recently just left a MASSIVE comment on to the author, bc holy shit did this one blow my fuckin mind. that word count is no joke, but don't let the long chapters intimidate you. takes place after Royal and Strikers on the P5 side, and at the start of 'A Realm Reborn' (base game) on the XIV side. XIV veterans will know how much of a slog ARR can be compared to the expansions, but the author actually makes it SO much more enjoyable here. THE SCIONS ACTUALLY DO SHIT. not that they don't in canon, but they're actually a lot more involved here, like they join Joker for the dungeon runs! also the camaraderie he has with them all is infectious as hell. oh another thing! Joker can still use personas, but besides Arsene, they work VERY differently in this fic, and it's actually really fucking cool. OH, also there's a side-fic for this one called Among Uncountable Stars that covers scenes and quests that couldn't fit into the main fic. author has also made art for the fic, which they link in the chapters themselves!

[kokorolinkrun]

Why I think Yen Press should license the PMMM reprint manga

As some of you probably know, the original Puella Magi Madoka Magica manga (that adapted the original series) was completely redrawn back in 2021 to celebrate the series' tenth anniversary by Hanokage, the artist of the original manga - and the growth shines through!

That said, though... There's something I wonder: If Yen Press (the main English publisher of PMMM manga) will ever pick this up for a English release. I already asked @silvermoon424 - whose scans (which you can find here) I'll be using in this post - about this not too long ago, but I felt like making this very post to try and convey how I feel better.

I know it seems kind of pointless, seeing as they already have the original manga (and even released that omnibus a few years back), but I personally feel like there's actually a few ways it can work, which is why I decided to compile a small list.

Well, then. No more messing about: Let's get started!

It's a rather major Madoka Magica release. Seeing as Yen Press is mostly focused on the main PMMM releases, this wouldn't be too out of the ordinary to pick up.

It would be the perfect thing to coincide with the (basically inevitable at this point) Rebellion manga omnibus.

They'll finally be able to update their old translation - something that I was honestly kind of disappointed about with their omnibus of the original manga.

They'll finally be able to translate scenes that were left out of the original manga. Examples from Chapter 1 include the beginning with Madoka's family:

And the encounter with Homura at the end:

In fact, speaking of these scenes...

The reprint, from what I've seen, is a lot closer to the anime. Seeing as the original took a lot of liberties, wouldn't you guys agree it'd make sense for Yen Press to license a much more accurate version, too? It also gives readers the choice to pick which version they'd rather get.

It would be really cool to compare the differences between the two versions, both art-wise and translation-wise.

It would honestly just be really nice to own, all things considered.

The art's just super good, what more can I say?

So... Yea! That's all the reasons I can think of as to why Yen Press should license the PMMM reprint manga.

But hey, this is all just my personal opinion. What do you guys think? Do you think it would be a good idea for Yen Press to pick up the reprint manga sometime, or do you think the original manga is enough? Be sure to let me know in the reblogs or replies!

[sageduille]

Madoka Magica Rambles

Honestly (and pardon me if this is a controversial opinion) I always found it Off when people say that the girls in Madoka Magica were “Punished for having hope/wanting their dreams to come true.” I do understand the argument and I understand the source! Since the release of Madoka Magica there have been a lot of Genuinely fucked up magical girl shows, Magical Girl Site is the first one that comes to mind. eugh. But I don’t exactly think it’s fair to blame Madoka for that, it got popular and caused a shift, yes, but if it weren’t Madoka it would have been some other show.  Anyways! From the perspective of someone who has been a fan of the show since I was probably way younger than I should have been, I was around 11 when I first watched it, and even younger when I first Heard of it (it was a damn playground rumour for christs sake!) its English dub aired on ABC3 late at night, for not Australian people it’s uhh... Basically just one of those standard tv broadcasts, was mostly targeted towards and kids and teens.  So yes! I was exposed to Madoka at a young age, and while yes maybe I was a little too young I still hold it very near and dear for what it’s done for me, I struggled a LOT through my younger years, from about 13-16 I was in a constant loop of life throwing shit at me that no kid should have had to go through, I’ll spare the specifics for obvious reasons but just know it was a shitshow. My reason for bringing this up is that Madoka Magica was a source of comfort through those times, horrible things happened to the cast, yes, but please note that they were not “Punished” they were USED! They’re little girls going through horrible things because those “wiser” than them believe that’s how it needs to be, that in order for things to continue (in the case of Madoka the whole universe) girls needed to be thrown into an endless battle where their only choices are to keep fighting or succumb and lose yourself, and inevitably a lot of them have lost themselves, or died no death anyone should be able to, forever destined to be a missing persons case. Because that is what the system demands of them. But the important thing is that despite everything, Madoka tries her best to remain soft, she doesn’t let the traumatising things she experiences harden her up, she makes mistakes, she fumbles, but she remains hopeful and gentle and soft throughout it all, contrast that to Homura, although she means well the sheer amount of trauma she went through left her cold and blunt, this isn’t to say that Homura isn’t deserving of help, or she is lesser because of this, she too is the victim of a vicious cycle that is the magical girl system.  Madoka does not tell you to never have hope, nor does it tell you that things will never get better, that you’re doomed to suffer in an endless battle filled with nothing but sadness and cruelty. It tells you that despite everything you’re going through, everything you’ll GO through, to remain hopeful, to love, to remember that people will be there for you, and maybe, if you keep fighting, you’ll be there for someone too. In the end Madoka wishes to end all witches before they’re born, because she too, knows what it’s like to suffer.

[kohigh]

Anime Tag Game

1. Last anime you watched?

Nekopara (it's trash and I know that now but I was lured in by the pretty character designs)

2. Last anime you binge watched?

Might have been Attack On Titan but I've been slacking on anime in general lately so it's been a while

3. Recommend an anime and state your reason.

Death Parade. It's super interesting and gives a unique perspective on death and how you choose to live your life.

4. Anime you have not finished watching yet?

One Piece (and I probably never will lol)

5. An anime you do NOT recommend and state your reason.

Btooom! Went into it thinking it'd be a hunger games, battle royale type thing and instead got rape porn and pedophilia. Couldn't even make it past episode 4.

6. List your top 5 favorite anime.

1) Soul Eater

2) Death Parade

3) Black Lagoon

4) Durarara!!

5) Puella Magi Madoka Magica

7. Of your top 5 anime, list two of your favorite ships from each show.

Soul Eater - honestly don't really have any, Stein and Marie are cute I guess

Death Parade - Decim and Chiyuki

Black Lagoon - Revy and Rock

Durarara!! - the raira trio, Celty and Shinra

Puella Magi Madoka Magica - Madoka and Homura, Kyouko and Sayaka

8. Of your top 5 anime, list one ship you do not like.

Izaya and Shizuo from Durarara!! People just ship them cuz they're two attractive dudes who hate each other.

9. Of your top 5 anime, list one crack ship.

Eh, not into that.

10. Of your top 5 anime, list your favorite character from each one.

Soul Eater - Soul

Death Parade - Chiyuki

Black Lagoon - Revy

Durarara!! - Izaya

Puella Magi Madoka Magica - I love a lot of em but I'll go with Kyouko

11. List 3 of your husbando/waifu and what anime they are from.

Grimmjow from Bleach, Tohru from Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid, Sukuna from Jujutsu Kaisen

12. Favorite anime genre?

Urban fantasy. Shows like Noragami, Blood Blockade Battlefront, Death Note, etc.

13. Weirdest anime you've seen?

I've seen a lot of weird ones but I'll say FLCL

14. Subbed or dubbed?

Depends entirely on the show. Some dubs are really good, especially when it comes to comedy, others are garbage. No preference I guess but sub is more accessible.

15. Fanart or fanfic?

Both are good but I interact with fanart more

16. Protagonist or antagonist?

Depends but antagonists are typically more interesting

17. Funniest anime you've seen?

Nanbaka

18. Saddest anime you've seen?

Either Death Parade or Devilman: Crybaby (but Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 is also worth mentioning)

19. Anime character you dislike the most?

Sakura from Naruto. If you've seen the show you know why. Virtually no redeeming qualities in that one. Also Deku from My Hero Academia, he's just extremely basic and annoying.

20. Recommend an anime movie.

Wolf Children or any movie made by Mamoru Hosoda

I'll tag @auraphantom @unsuspectable-weirdo @redabeliz @d1ckgray5on @pandabully @musicmusnt @usernamethatisgood @only-active-at-night and anyone who wants to do it

[briandthemoon]

I saw a picture of the sander sides as magical girls from Puella Magi Madoka Magica. can I take a stab and say Virgil is Homura Akemi and rewinding time alot? ;)

@madamelookout Alas, he isn’t for this au! If I was going to do it by colours and/ or power sets, then Virgil would definitely be the Homura of the group, but for this AU, it’s more personality based, so;

- Patton is Madoka for obvious reasons, mostly just the fact she’s a sweetheart who goes through a lot and my gosh, Patton is in for a ride with this au

- Logan is Homura, since they both have a similar stoic, serious vibe, plus there’s a determination there that feels very logan.... plus past nerdy Logan is so good oh my god

- Virgil is Kyoko, they’re both snarky lil shits, and I feel like her personality fits him more with trying to warn Sayaka against making a wish for someone else because of the way it tends to backfire

- Roman is Sayaka, because I’m an absolute masochist and a bastard because honestly who else would recklessly persue a doomed romance?

- Janus is Mami, because honestly the fallout with her and Kyoko feels so very Virgil and Janus like, plus there’s a showmanship about Mami that feels kinda JAnus-y

- Remus is Nagisa/ Charlotte, I was going to jokingly make him Kyubey, but then I remembered Nagisa’s wish was like, just a cheesecake, and then I was like “Remus would 100% wish for something arbitrary then realise he basically sold his soul for [insert mundane thing here]“ -- I will say, I would love an AU where Virgil could rewind time..... aaaand now I’m sat here thinking of a Life is Strange AU, goshdaRNIT-

[mikkeneko]

Got tagged by @ushauz to do Ten Favorite Characters. This post will probably take me a couple sessions to put together, so expect lateness.

As always I am stuck on the scope of the question. Ten favorite! What does that even mean. Ten I thought were the most interesting? The most enjoyable? Characters from comfort series I read a lot, or only read once but really stuck with me? Through the years? Recently? I guess I can just pick the first ten who come to mind.

1. Ista dy Chalion from the Curse of Chalion/Paladin of Souls books. People like to talk a lot about how there should be more middle-aged matron action/adventure/fantasy heroes, well, here’s one. We meet her, at the start of the books, in a very bad place -- she had a stint as a Chosen One god-avatar in her teenage years which absolutely wrecked her life, and she never recovers from it. (Although even in the midst of her Noble Tragedy, she never loses sight of the fact that her nobility does  afford her a certain amount of privilege that other women will never have.)

Over the course of the second book she is  finally able to move on and recover from it. She starts the book as a crushingly depressed/nervous wreck of a powerless widow, and ends it as a demon-eating sorceress-paladin of a bastard god, with a sexy illegitimate trophy twink on her arm to boot. (I very much doubt that she and Illvin would ever be able to marry, all things considered, but one of the important things she learned -- as a woman whose entire social life had formerly revolved around chastity and propriety -- was to stop letting that bother her.) And she does it all without ever letting you forget that she is a highborn noble lady.

2. Wei Wuxian from The Untamed. Given how much of my mental real estate he’s taking up recently, I surrendered to the inevitable and gave him a spot on the list. I outlined a lot of the reasons I like him so much in this post, but aside from all of that there’s the fact that good (or at least good-hearted) characters who use ‘dark’ powers are magnetically appealing to me.

3, 4, 5. I almost feel like Fai Fluorite (from Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles) Anders (from Dragon Age) and Caleb Widogast (from Critical Role) should all have to share a spot on my list given that they all follow the basic formula of being the Traumatized Cat-Loving Magic Man. It’s not quite  that simple -- they all have pretty distinct stories that go in different directions -- but I sort of feel like... I spent 369,149 words explaining why I love Anders, I don’t think I can do it again but tiny.

6. Homura Akemi from Puella Magi Madoka Magica gets a spot on this list, I think, and a spot in my heart. I don’t talk much about the series because I don’t have a lot of original things to say, but I was just reminded of this show recently and how good it was and how good she  was -- my brilliant, brave, determinator of a girl with a love as vast as the ocean. And sure, maybe she was willing to burn down the world for the sake of that love, but I sort of feel like that puts her in good company on this list.

7. I’ll go ahead and put Geralt of Rivia (from The Witcher, games and Netflix) on here; I dunno if he’d still make the list 10 years down the line, but I’ve spent a lot of time in 2019-2020 mooning over how great he is, so might as well. He’s not as firmly dead center My Type as some of the others, but he certainly fits the criteria of Unfairly Attractive, Extremely Traumatized, Surprisingly Sassy, and Tragically Good-Hearted. The good-heartedness is key! He could be as pretty and traumatized and witty as he likes but if he were fundamentally an asshole, I would not care about him.

8. Ciaphas Cain (of Warhammer 40k.) In a landscape of published fiction where heroic action characters all tend to follow very similar beats, the debonair, devious and cowardly Ciaphas Cain stands out in a way that really wormed its way into my heart. His books do tend to be a little formulaic, but sometimes that’s just what you need. And the best part about reading the entire series in one go is getting a sense of the shape of the man behind  his constant façade of self-deprecation and realizing that as much as he demurs being the brave and kind hero that his misleading reputation paints him as, he is actually pretty damn heroic on his own measures -- he cares about people, even the people under his command who he properly should be thinking of as disposable pawns, he’s way  more tolerant of (non-hostile) xenos than 99% of his countrymen, he moves time and time again to block harm and do good in a way that goes beyond his pretty flimsy excuses of ‘well I had to do it to maintain my reputation.’ 

The main reason he’s so convinced that he’s not a real hero is that he’s been raised in a (lbr, openly fascist) empire so steeped in propaganda of glory and sacrifice that is literally impossible to live up to (since the number one tenet is dying gloriously for the Emperor.) He led an entire caravan of people from the heart of bombed-out, occupied territory in a refugee march that ended up liberating the entire damn planet, he did that,  and while he would never have survived without a healthy dose of luck it was still his leadership and skill  that took full advantage of that luck. The Imperium of Man, frankly, doesn’t deserve Ciaphas Cain.

9. Raoden and Kaladin (of Elantris  and The Stormlight Archives) both share a slot as Brandon Sanderson protagonists who occupy pretty much the same narrative role: they have lost everything, been socially and physically rejected pretty much down to the dust, tossed into a role of waiting for death to come for them in a variety of cruel forms; and instead of giving in to despair they both say no.  they both say, I do not accept this for me, and I will not accept this for them either,  and they both gather fellow outcasts around them and build themselves a kingdom out of mud and scraps. Yeah, it’s a trope he uses a lot, but it’s a trope I like. (And, come to think of it, a category that Wei Wuxian and Ciaphas Cain both fall under as well. Hm.)

10.  Skywise (of Elfquest.) Honestly, at this late date I doubt I could muster an essay explaining why he is the Best Elf. All I can tell you was that this series was super duper  important to me when I was a teen, and he was my favorite character from that series. He loved to explore, he loved new knowledge and the sky and the stars, and he loved his friends and family a whole lot.

That’s that! Hmm, who to tag? @cygnahime, @cerusee, @araglas1989, @drowningbydegrees , @jaggedcliffs, @fairandfatalasfair, @fledgling-witch, @overthinkingfeathers, if you have not already done it and are interested!

[silvermoon424]

Hello Katy. I'm a huge Madoka Magica and Magia Record fan, I wanted to ask your recommendations on spin offs and extra material to know about the world building and other stories

Great question. I’m your girl! I’ve read all the spinoffs and can recommend them!

I’m going down a list on “most recommended” to “least recommended,” although I think everything on this list is worthy of reading. Oh, and everything on this list (sans The Wraith Arc) has been officially published in English; although I have offered links to read them for free I really recommend supporting the franchise by buying the manga if you can (plus, if you’re like me, you’ll like having physical copies to put on your bookshelf). 

1. The Different Story: Imo the best PMMM spinoff and one every Madoka fan must read. It has three volumes; the first volume focuses on Mami and Kyoko’s backstory as friends and allies (which is consistent throughout all of Homura’s time loops), which was originally revealed in an audio drama released with one of PMMM’s Blurays. However, the final two volumes take place in an alternate timeline where Sayaka contracted in time to save Mami from Charlotte. The series explores Mami and Kyoko’s relationship and gives them a lot of depth and characterization. It’s just a really excellent series I can’t recommend enough. Be sure to have tissues on hand.

2. Puella Magi Tart Magica: By far my favorite standalone spinoff and would have been my favorite overall if not for the Different Story. Tart Magica follows the journey of Tart, aka Jeanne d’Arc (yes, that Joan of Arc) as she and her allies fight on behalf of France during the Hundred Years’ War. Not only is this a great PMMM spinoff, it’s great historical fiction; the mangaka did a ton of research on that era and gives a lot of interesting historical background. The characters are also lovable and interesting, especially Tart herself and her closest companion, Riz. I highly, highly recommend this series and really wish more people read it.

3. Puella Magi Oriko Magica: Probably the best known PMMM spinoff because it was released alongside the original anime. Oriko Magica takes place in one of Homura’s alternate timelines, specifically one noted to be very irregular. The titular Oriko is a magical girl who can see the future and is trying to prevent some unclear calamity alongside her partner Kirika. The main girls from PMMM are also important characters, especially Mami and Kyoko (who actually adopts Yuma, a young girl orphaned by a Witch attack). It soon becomes clear that Oriko is willing to stoop to very dangerous methods to prevent the disaster she foresaw. 

Oriko Magica also has two spinoffs (yes, there are spinoffs of a spinoff). The first is a collection of side stories that take place in an alternate timeline. The second is Sadness Prayer, which greatly fleshes out and adds depth to the original Oriko Magica. Basically, it recounts everything leading up to the events of the main Oriko Magica as well as showing scenes from Oriko and Kirika’s perspective. The original Oriko Magica is only 7 chapters/2 volumes long whereas Sadness Prayer is 24 chapters/4 volumes long, so you can tell how much is added to the story. I absolutely love Sadness Prayer and highly recommend it. The original Oriko Magica is pretty good too, and you should read it, if nothing else than so you can enjoy Sadness Prayer.

4. The Wraith Arc: The Wraith Arc is an interquel that takes place between the events of PMMM and the Rebellion Story. It’s actually an adaptation of the first draft of Rebellion, before it was reworked into the Rebellion we all know. Imo that shows, because it feels somewhat unpolished and rushed compared to the other spinoffs. Nonetheless, I think it’s worth reading. It follows Homura, Mami, and Kyoko in Madoka’s new world as they fight against Wraiths. However, Homura inadvertently sets off a chain of events that lead to disaster.

5. Puella Magi Suzune Magica: This spinoff follows Suzune Amano, a magical girl who is a serial killer of other magical girls (not a spoiler btw, we find this out in the first few pages). Four other magical girls in the city she just moved to soon become her targets, but they’re not going down without a fight. As the story goes on, we find out Suzune’s motivations. We also follow Matsuri Hinata, one of Suzune’s targets who is trying to befriend her. This spinoff is pretty good and has a great concept, although unfortunately the ending feels rushed and could have probably benefited from another volume. I still think it’s worth a read.

6. Puella Magi Kazumi Magica: A girl wakes up in a suitcase with no memory of who she is. She is soon discovered by Umika Misaki and Kaoru Maki, who reveal that she is their friend Kazumi and that they are all magical girls. The trio soon meet up with their four other magical girl companions and together they form the Pleiades Saints. However, as soon as they’re reunited, a chain of events is set off that puts them all in danger. All the while, Kazumi is trying to regain her lost memories and find out the secrets her friends are hiding from her. Honestly, that’s the best I could do to come up with a summary because over the course of five volumes the events become kind of disjointed and less coherent, haha. I think Kazumi Magica is worth reading, but imo it’s the worst spinoff and lacks the polish the others have. Despite going on for five volumes, it still feels like there wasn’t enough time for the mangaka to flesh out all the different plot elements. 

----------

That’s all 6 of the main spinoffs! There’s one I’m leaving out, Homura’s Revenge, which I haven’t read or been able to find scans of. There’s also an assortment of parody/4koma manga, but those are mostly untranslated (except for Homura Tamura, which also doesn’t have scans but has been officially published in English). 

As for other world-building, I highly recommend reading through the Wiki’s pages on the various routes in the Madoka Magica Portable game. It’s a game for the PSP that was unfortunately never released in English (although it looks like someone is currently working on a translation), which is really a shame because it has top-notch world-building and characterization. The PSP game is actually where the designs of Candeloro (Mami’s Witch), Ophelia (Kyoko’s Witch), and Homulilly (Homura’s Witch) originate from, which were later used for the Doppels in Magia Record. 

[funkymbtifiction]

I would like to start by apologizing preemptively for the lenght of this, but I couldn’t find another way of explaining everything in a shorter submission, and I really, really want your opinion on this. Since I know you are not interested in anime and won’t ever be, and I respect that, I won’t even bother asking you to watch the show I am going to tell you about. However, I’d like to hear your opinion on the types of one of the characters.

Madoka Magica is a magical girl show with the premise of deconstructing its own genre, but the cast is nevertheless very similar to, let’s say, Sailor Moon’s group, which means they are all five schoolgirls with, I dare say, very complex, detailed personalities, one of the reasons I had such a good time watching it, trying the whole time to guess the functions they were using and which Enneagram types they were displaying. One of the girls is especially interesting: she is called Homura and, from the get-go, I thought her characterization was very similar to Matrix’s Trinity (who, curiously, you seem to have typed as an ISTJ 6w5 - I am coming back to this later), albeit in a much more mysterious and perhaps even antagonistic way. 

Basically, the main character gets recruited alongside a friend by another girl who is already working as a magical girl, and their job is to fight against “witches”, sort of dimensional alien monsters who keep coming into our world to attack innocent humans. Homura is a magical girl as well, but from the beginning she only appears to the characters in order to say very cryptic things and to take over the ongoing fight against a witch and quickly finish her by herself. She displays a lot of strange knowledge about the girls, though no one seems to know where she comes from, and you can tell she knows a lot more than she lets on and has some sort of plan on motion. She rarely appears, but everytime she does, she seems to have everything under her control in an extremely practical way, like she is playing chess and she always knows what is coming next. Also, she really tries her hardest to stop the girls, ESPECIALLY Madoka from accepting to become magical girls in a very blunt way. She doesn’t try to reasonate with them, never tries to appel to them on an emotional level or even to persuade them. It’s always “don’t do it if you value your life”. Soon, you find out she has been actually tracking some kind of “ultimate witch” and has been doing her best efforts to thwart her by herself. Obviously, until the latter episodes, I was sure this was a very cool INTJ 5w6 girl.

Then, the plot twist happens, and the penultimate episode is from her perspective. Turns out she is a time traveller: in her original timeline, she was a meek transfer student who was befriended by Madoka and joined the girls in their adventures, although not as a magical girl herself. In the end, they all died in the battle against the “ultimate witch” I mentioned and she used her wish (you are granted a wish when you accept to become a magical girl) to go back in time to when she met Madoka to fight alongside her and prevent her from dying in battle. Yet, it’s not enough, and the same thing happens again, though now she has the ability to travel back in time to that exact day she met Madoka whenever she wants to. Thus, she has been living in this exact time loop for months and maybe even years, because no matter what she does, all these girls always wind up dead and she keeps coming back to try again.

Here is the thing: her “original” characterization appears to be that of an INFP (LOTS of Fi) 9w1 or 6w5 (6w5, in my opinion) and after trying too much to help these girls (especially Madoka - it’s all about Madoka for her, actually) and failing everytime, always watching while they die and becoming visibly damaged because of these disturbing experiences, her personality seems to have shifted because of a loop or a grip (I don’t understand a lot of these concepts, so I’ll leave that to your interpretation) and now her plan seems to be not interacting much with the girls, stopping Madoka from making her contract and finishing the ultimate witch by herself, so nobody dies. 

I tried to figure out how an extremely traumatized INFP 6w5 could start acting like an aloof INTJ 5w6, and then I realized: at the beginning, I thought of how much she resembled Trinity, so what if her “persona” was an ISTJ 6w5 instead? I mean, just think about it: what I saw as Ni was actually Si, since there was no intuitive planning and she had been stuck in that month for maybe even years of her life. She was relying on Si and her knowledge from prior experiences the whole time in a way that seemed to be Ni if you weren’t aware of her status as a time traveller. I even watched the series again to confirm this, and it makes a lot of sense, as she only seems to break out of her stoic act a couple of times when, presumably, the characters do something too spontaneous and act out of their expected reactions. She always seemed to have the upper hand and to know exactly what was going on and what was about to happen because, well, SHE DID. Like I said, everytime she truly had to improvise, she sucked at it and failed. Besides, she seems to be “stuck” on her mission in a hopeless way that reminds be of inferior Ne descriptions. The same arguments I had for TeFi when I thought of her as an INTJ remain the same, obviously.

As for 6w5 and 5w6, once you know her true reasons and goals, it’s obvious she is a 6 because she is doing all that because of her loyalty to one person. Even in her original state (which, honestly, seemed to be already a little unhealthy and depressed), she was really insecure and desperately wanted something or someone to cling to, and that person was Madoka, which explains her determination to her. 

Well, I know anime is not your cup of tea, but thank you very much if you accept to give your thoughts on this.

If all her mysterious ‘foreknowledge’ does indeed come from her living the same day over and over again, then she is certainly not an intuitive dominant, since it’s not coming from a lack of evidence, but a substantive amount of it -- past experience-based Si, yes. So I would say your argument is valid reasoning. :)

[hopeymchope]

Magia Record: Reflecting on the Anime and the Game’s Story Ending

With Magia Record's story now complete in-game and with the anime "finished" (only the first season, but it took until literally this past weekend for the production team at Shaft to acknowledge that the second season is coming/inevitable), I have like… a ton of thoughts about where the game and the anime landed.

This will probably mostly be gripes, but overall, I'm still pretty happy with both. I've invested my past year into Magia Record during a lot of my free time, and hey – no regrets here. That game was absolutely worth the experience. The anime? Jury's still out somewhat, but it looks good so far.

This is definitely a normal thing to find surrounding a radio tower.

Anime Adaptation Thoughts:

The original Madoka Magica anime made the world feel slightly off-kilter by employing locations that were just a little off the rails from reality. The producers noted Madoka's bathroom as an important example; it's simply too large and has too much wasted space. It's maybe the biggest room in their house for no discernible reason, and that's by design, because it feels wrong. Another one was the music store we see in the first episode, where the technology is noticeably on a level that you just can't find in any real shop. On the flip side, the Magia Record anime creates a world that is deeply bizarre in many ways – much moreso than the original anime or the Magia Record game world. This is probably because the creator of the witch designs in the original was given far more creative control over the series as a whole this time around, and the result was BUGNUTS. Take note of the massive stack of discarded school desks that is arranged in a dangerous, precarious pile atop the school building (helpfully labeled as a waste pile, despite the fact that… well, who is picking up these garbage desks from the goddamn roof?). That's some imagery straight out of a witch's labyrinth, but it is ostensibly "reality." I think that's where Magia Record's anime really goes bugnuts, sometimes to powerful effect in that it makes things feel more unsettling… and sometimes to ridiculous effect. I mean, the field surrounding the radio tower now being replaced with a yard of jagged, cockeyed, towering gravestones and cross-like woodwork dangling with ropes and tridents? That's a LOT. That's… that's too much.

Look, if you were a die-hard fan of Kaede in the game, I am deeply sorry, because your girl got done DIRTY by the anime. Anyone who played the game who then sees where she winds up at the end of episode 12 is likely on a train straight to Double-You Tee Eff Station. I can't deny that it makes sense for the limited story she's given to develop across, but it was still disappointing to see. I suppose we don't really have the time to develop up all of the other characters from the game, so somebody had to sub in for this role… but oof.

Sana's backstory with her family is not nearly explained or explored enough in the show. I honestly think it comes off as confusingly unclear why they treated her like this or why they didn't notice her vanish at all. The game justifies this devastatingly well, but it feels like it's not clear at all here.

I think they could've had Kyubey run around Kamihama for part of the first season before he got ousted/blocked, and I think it would've been beneficial to do so. Now, that's not just because I love his character and find him fascinating, although that's definitely true, but it's also because there's so much exposition that I wish he could deliver to the characters about what's happened before we got here. Like, the tragic truth about Felicia's backstory is wonderfully awful, and I wish there was some way to deliver that into the anime, but I don't think it's possible without a ton of flashbacks. (And to be fair, players of the game may never know it without playing her particular Magical Girl Story.)

The change to not having Mami attack Yachiyo when they first meet was something I felt was a positive move. I loved that Mami got to have a moment she never had in the game during the Radio Tower arc, too. In generally, I enjoyed the slower, more piecemeal involvement of the original Holy Quintet, which has served as nice slow tease compared to having them be more upfront in the game. I did kind of miss the Madoka/Homura involvement in the radio tower case, but I ultimately came away feeling like it was better to save those two for later in the story because they're probably the best-known characters from the original series.

The combat soundtrack is exquisite - maybe better than ever before, honestly. The Magia Record anime has the best fight music in the series outside of, say, Rebellion.

Game's Ending Thoughts: (Spoilers Within)

The anime cutscenes in the final chapter are delightful.

Puella Magi has never shied away from having its characters die in the original anime or in the many manga stories. I'd argue that those deaths are at least part of what makes it such a successful subversion of the Magical Girl formula; the threat of death (often via witchiness) establishes the idea of there being permanent consequences that simple hope and faith and love can't overcome in spite of what those other anime may have told you. On the other hand, Magia Record turns out to have very close to zero consequences. Aside from established deaths from flashbacks that have occurred before the game even begins, by the end of the game, literally no one dies. Not even the most blatantly psychotic character is allowed to shuffle off her mortal coil; she just "disappears" and escapes. I particularly like (please note the sarcasm) how three different characters do some kind of "super-move" during the final two chapters that is said to most likely kill them, and yet they all survive them! At least ONE character winds up with some paralysis, but jeez, the others walk away completely unscathed. I can only hope the anime doesn't go quite so weak in the knees about any of the characters suffering actual consequences from the potentially-world-ending-level battles that occur.

I previously griped that I actually expected the psychos responsible for the entire storyline to get off scot-free, and although they don't get off 100% free and clear by the time the credits role, they come extremely close to doing so. However, I was really happy with the "Cherry Blossom Dreams" epilogue event, because there is dialogue in there that has the Magius admit that whatever guilt they have now, they are still capable of being complete sociopaths who want to dominate the Earth. That one person's presence (Ui) shouldn't be (and isn't) enough to keep them from being incredibly dangerous. Ultimately, the solution/punishment they receive is probably the best one available in light of their overall survival. Well done.

Speaking of the Magius, I mean… is it really possible that so many feathers never questioned that they were following a couple of 11/12-year-olds and one blatantly obvious psychotic? I guess having face time with the Magius was pretty rare, but there was still enough that some of the feathers declared their allegiance was primarily to those three above all else. And most magical girls range closer to 16 than to 11, I mean, y'know? Which is practically an eternity in terms of maturity. So I guess MIfuyu did a lot of heavy lifting on NOT making them seem like absolutely the worst possible choices for leadership, huh? (And for that reason: Mifuyu got off fucking LIGHT.)

Aaaand speaking of "one obvious psychotic," I find it funny how almost nobody knows Alina outside of her Magius role except for Karin. Because, just… it's so perfect. Karin (who is not a "Karen") happens to be the most insanely tolerant person when it comes to Alina. She seems to shrug off Alina's entire everything as amusing, forgivable quirks. Perhaps because so many people believe Karin's own obsession with Halloween is a weirdly morbid quirk, Karin doesn't even question Alina's obsession with making art about death using actual human remains. Which is… funny? No, seriously. I think it's legitimately comedic in a good way. But it should probably be much more alarming to me that she doesn't care. I'd like to think that Karen feels it's just delightfully Halloween-y for Alina to paint her canvas with legit blood, and I do believe Karin isn't really the kind of person who would ask where the blood came from because whatever, it's probably fine, better get back to planning my pageant or something. She probably even thinks Alina's skulls are plastic Halloween decorations. :P

We need to talk about Mami: Mami in "Another Story Chapter 9" felt so off and out-of-character compared to how she was written in things like Rebellion or A Different Story or Wraith Arc, and furthermore, despite that chapter being entirely about Mami wanting to just be a simple peer with no superiority over the rest of the Holy Quintet, Another Story Chapter 10 has her immediately revert back to being the smart senpai character, further cementing how weirdly "off" Chapter 9 felt. I realize they had something difficult to write, here, though. It's painful how Sayaka has to run middlewoman between Kyoko and Mami in Chapter 10 of AS. I feel like I could write a whole screed about Kyoko's behavior across the franchise and how difficult a character she is for me to like even though I "get it" and don't think she's necessarily a bad person; she's just living on the edge of being almost a total hypocrite basically ALL THE TIME. The conclusion where Kyoko acknowledges that she's going to continue to work with Mami and the others semi-regularly in spite of everything is really the best closure you can hope for with her. She's too antagonistic to give us much else, and she prefers it that way. It would take years to see her mellow.

At this point, it seems safe to assume that there isn't going to be any "season 2" of the game like what happened with Fate/Grand Order after its finale. The main narrative is well and truly done, and it's just going to be various events from here on out. Is that enough to keep me around? Um. I don't know. Probably not? Hard to say. I don't really know what other mobile game to throw my heart into. I've considered Attack on Titan Tactics, but like… Attack on Titan hasn't been kind to me lately so uhhhhh.