#like what madoka did was good for a lot of people!!! she made a better reality for many many girls!!!! but she doesn’t get to live

[likeastars]

DOFSLFODKFJEKCKSJJ DID WE WATCH THE SAME SHOW MAN?????? DID WE?????

When??????? When did we start considering following your wants and needs something bad???????? When did that happen????????????

ESPECIALLY WHEN THOSE WANTS MEAN A REALITY WHERE THE PERSON YOU LOVE DOESN'T KILL HERSELF????????????????

Oh my god. Oh my god holy fucking shit. Madoka's sacrifice shouldn't be interpreted as something simply positive and heroic she stopped existing for fuck's sake. A 14 years old (who's been showing suicidal tendencies since episode 1) sacrificing herself for the good of humanity isn't necessarily a good thing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A 14 years old!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THIS IS HOW THE WHOLE ASS MANGA ENDS AND

THIS IS LITERALLY HOW SHE'S DEPICTED IN THE MOVIE DOVODKVJDNXNXN

[homuraakumaakemi]

Personal reasons both on and offline have led me to be less active. However, someone’s analysis on Kuroe (please don’t find/go after them) reminds me of what they had said when the anime’s ending was new and fresh. Most people, myself included, were rather bitter, you see, so we didn’t want to see people just…act in a way that we felt was callous and cold to her. I in particular got super attached to Kuroe. This girl is a lot like Homura, and also a lot like me. However, to call her just Iroha’s Homura is reductive and doesn’t do her justice. Kuroe is her own character with her own wants and desires. Even if some of us thought she was (the first) Kuro, or then Homura’s long-lost sister before canon said otherwise, the point is we love HER. We want HER to be happy. Rest under the Read More. Content warnings for discussions of death and suicide, as well as spoilers for the last four episodes of the anime of Magia Record:

Some people think Kuroe becoming a Witch in her despair was thematically appropriate. That the theme in Anireco is moving on from the past so you can look towards the future. That the way Kuroe became a Witch fits in perfectly with the franchise.

I disagree. I was bitter then, and I’m still bitter now.

I feel Kuroe should NOT have become a Witch, especially in the way she did. Yes, lots of Magical Girls become Witches when their feelings of hopelessness and despair reach a fever pitch, but Kuroe’s case felt especially cruel. It pretty much is framed like a suicide, where Kuroe desperately tries to escape from the Labyrinth, then doubles down on the idea that NO ONE can help her. That she is BEYOND any hope of happiness. That she just wants her pain and suffering to end. To say nothing of how her Witch was put down by Iroha, literally framed like putting a rabid dog out of its misery. And then, her death was used to help galvanize Iroha. It really feels like they made this amazing, relatable character…just so Iroha could get to where the story needed her to be, given she also loses Ui, Touka, and Nemu for good in this continuity.

Am I just angry at them not giving my favorite character a happy ending? Hell yes, I am! But people who are better wordsmiths than me have written about how the writing that led to this is not great. How it arguably feels more fitting for Magical Girl Site or Raising Project than it does Madoka Magica, and considering the kind of shit that IS in the original anime and Rebellion, is saying a LOT. Which is a shame, because what we had before this was SO GOOD. And then, the last few episodes happened. And this is the SECOND TIME this has happened to me in series I like!

Although, if there is a silver lining, someone in the game staff seems to have agreed with me. In the game, Kuroe is alive, well, and thriving! She’s in a position to where she’s starting to let Iroha in, and we even get details and context to Kuroe’s backstory, which is amazing.

I can take her never meeting Homura and becoming the big sister Homura never had, finding something in bonding with each other that they haven’t found in many other places. Obviously, I’d love it, and the fandom has both of them meet characters I feel wouldn’t truly understand them.

However, at the end of the day, I want my favorite character to be happy. And in the game, she is headed that way. Two amazing units, being able to actually bond a bit with Iroha, some of the best storytelling the game has offered yet (I’m biased towards any Kuro, and especially Kuroe), and lots and lots of lore and things you can get by implication.

Characters can be interesting AND happy. They can be allowed to heal without compromising what makes them resonate so dearly with all of us.

“This is the face of a girl we want to protect and ensure never makes the same mistakes we did.”

[carneflower13]

perceives those character questions... how about ur man seymour anddd.. homura. variety. you don't gotta do both if you don't want

SEYMOUR!!! I LOVE HIM SO MUCH <3

favorite thing about them: Oh god do I have to pick just one thing?? I love his hair, I love his glasses, I love his clothes, I love his voice....I love how sweet he is to Audrey and to his plants <3 I also love how he was immediately convinced to kill orin when he saw him hurting audrey like YESSSSS KING!!! THE GUY SURE LOOKS LIKE PLANT FOOD TO ME!! He is also so SO sopping wet and pathetic and that only makes me love him even more.

least favorite thing about them: NOOOOOO I CAN'T SAY ANYTHING I DISLIKE ABOUT HIM I LOVE HIM TOO MUUUUUCH

favorite line: "Hi, Audrey! You look radiant today~ <3" OR "Twoey, that's disgusting." OR "You watch your language!"

brOTP: i guess him and twoey but only in AUs where twoey is actually nice and isn't trying to eat the world. I would like for him to have more actual people to be friends with!!

OTP: Him and Audrey, obviously. Literally they made me believe love is real <3

nOTP: Seymour/Twoey or Seymour/Orin. He does not deserve that kind of suffering.

random headcanon: He has autism (just like me!) and his special interest is plants/botany, specifically weird and exotic plants (His monologue in "da-doo" could be interpreted as him infodumping). Also, he's prone to sensory overloads bc he gets overwhelmed easily ;w;

unpopular opinion: hmmmm. idk. i think some people give him too much credit for his actions. some people like to act like he was some secretly fucked up mastermind from the beginning but he's literally Just Some Guy who was talked into killing people by a giant plant bc his life sucked and as far as he knew, he didn't have any other chance to make things better. he was living in poverty and stuck in a dead-end job. he was desperate. did he make mistakes? yeah of course he did. but like. idk. i feel like everything was more twoey's fault than seymour's.

song i associate with them: "Put Your Head on My Shoulder" by Paul Anka. Its from around the same era the movie takes place in and I can picture him singing it for whatever reason.

favorite picture of them: LISTEN i have a whole folder of pictures of this man its impossible for me to pick just one BUT:

this recent addition to my collection is pretty cute <3 he looks soft i just wanna kiss his cheeks and give him a big ol hug

aaaaaand now homura

favorite thing about them: SHE IS LITERALLY SO COOL. I like that she seems cold and distant but is actually feeling SO MUCH beneath the surface. I also like when she uses her guns or her time-shield thingy. OH and the sassy little hair-flips she does sometimes!!! ALSO she kicks kyubbey's ass all the time it's great. I also have a weakness for characters who have distinct "before" and "after" personalities (Homura's being her shy pre-magical girl/time loop self and her serious self that we see for most of the series)

least favorite thing about them: Her whole deal at the end of Rebellion is kind of weird I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it (I think the main series ended on a well-enough note) but her demon design is still pretty cool. Also she kind of gets into Madoka's business a lot like showing up at her window in the middle of the night?? It's funny but also girl what the hell are you doing?

favorite line: Uhhh I don't remember any of her actual quotes from the series so here's one from the legendary video Meduka Meguca: "MEDUKA DON'T GOOOOOOOOO"

brOTP: I feel like if her and Mami had a better, less antagonistic relationship they could be good friends.

OTP: Her and Madoka of course! <3

nOTP: I have no idea.

random headcanon: She is autistic and also a lesbian to me <3

unpopular opinion: ummmmm i don't know lol i don't really interact with the pmmm fandom much

song i associate with them: "In the End" by Linkin Park. I'm pretty sure I saw an AMV with her set to that song way back. Plus, the lyrics fit her situation pretty well

favorite picture of them: This one speaks to me

[somevirtualnolife]

Was musing about this on my twitter, but I was thinking about what tragic romantic tropes I love the most. I of course, love a fluffy happily-ever-after romance (maybe I'll do a separate post for that), but I think my tragedy can probably be boiled down into three types.

To kill or be killed by your loved one. (A.K.A Betrayal).

My Girlfriend has become a God/Metaphor.

All that love and what did it get me?

This isn't like, an in-depth character analysis or anything. This is more of an "Oh this hit me in the feels so hard and I keep coming back to them for some reason" sort of thing. Also there are many spoilers in this.

To kill/be killed by your loved one

This started with me seeing the classic Kaworu episode. The idea of falling in love with your enemy, knowing that he must kill you. And then there is the other end with Anthy, killing the person you love.

Betrayal can be such a beautiful thing to explore in fiction. I feel often it can make you hate a character, but with Kaworu and Anthy I feel that it made me love them more. It made their relationships with Shinji and Utena so raw and intimate.

My first Dragon Age 2 playthrough actually had a bit of this as well. Because I didn't pick up Fenris' loyalty gift, my Hawke and him had to fight to the death and it was probably one of the most jarring but memorable experiences I had in gaming.

My Girlfriend has become a God/Metaphor

I feel this is a bit different than the "Dead Wife" trope. Dead Wife doesn't necessarily have any substance to them nor do you need to fully understand the depth of the relationship. With "My Girlfriend Became a God/Metaphor", I think you can feel why the characters spiralled the way they did and are trying to bring them back.

Simon and Betty, as well as Pearl and Rose make me ugly cry to be honest. Like I can understand why they kind of end up being the worst versions of themselves for awhile. I might too in all honesty.

I wasn't a big fan of Rebellion, but I do think that Homura's desire to basically watch Madoka die over and over again rather than not have her in her life at all is a sort of toxic love that is so fascinating. I am really looking forward to the next movie when it does come out and hopefully continue to expand on it.

All that love and what did it get me?

I love a woman/girl scorned. A lady who loved the wrong person and was made worse because of it. A weirdly stark reminder that love doesn't heal everything. I don't enjoy all jealously stories, but some of these are just... yes. YES.

Ritsuko Akagi and her mother are two of my favourite characters in Evangelion, largely because they loved a trash man (who does suffer from Dead Wife) who ultimately gave them nothing even though they gave him everything. And what do they do? Try to murder the embodiment of their lover's dead wife, even though she is also suffering immensely by that same man. It's very *Chefs kiss*

Sayaka's unrequited love is another one that gets me (and also makes her my favourite character). Sayaka and Homura are similar in many ways that I'm sure people have already looked into. I think what always made me feel for Sayaka is that at the very least, Madoka loved Homura back, Kyosuke did not.

I was debating putting Simon and Grace up in the first section, but ultimately felt it was better down here because again, these are not loves you're rooting for and the person is worse because of it. I still cannot believe how dark Infinity Train got and how far they went with Simon's character. Simon and Grace broke my heart into a million pieces and I am glad they did.

I think the most realistic depiction of just 'loving the wrong person' that is also not due to jealousy is Princess Carolyn and Bojack. A great depiction of power dynamics in a way that hit home (not in my own relationships, but in a few people around me). They were so painful and so good. You can love someone a lot, but that won't necessarily fix them.

I am sure there are many other characters and pairings that I can think of that fall under these tragic romances, but these have taken up a lot of my head space. If you think there is a tragic romance that I haven't watched/read that you think I would like based on this list, lmk!

[jasper-rolls]

Media Roundup (February 2024)

a few days late because my job is kicking my ass lately, but i've got another batch of little reviews of stuff i've been checking out. take a look!

Doctor Who: The Fifth Doctor (Seasons 19-21)

it only took 20 years but this show is truly getting good i think. you can start to see where the DNA of the reboot comes from, especially how davison's performance would influence tennant's - and what a sendoff he got in the end, some really wild shit happening there. not much more to go now

Faraway Downs

a lot more digestible than the movie it was edited from, and makes me ponder if it shouldn't have just been this way from the start. the changed ending feels more in line with the rest of baz's ouvre, given his penchant for tragic deaths - but i'm not sure it's a better ending for this in particular. otherwise, everything from the movie applies, good and bad

Checkmate - Malorie Blackman

a strong conclusion to this first trilogy, about healing from the scars of your past and focusing on the ones who are here now. some elements feel all too real to this day, and it's heartbreaking. believe in something better

Puella Magi Oriko☆Magica: Extra Story - Magica Quartet, Mura Kuroe

boy i just…do not care about this spinoff

Iron Man 3

james bond by way of marvel while grappling with tony's actual damage instead of just libertarian-ing all over the place. disappointing that they did "What If Iron Man But Evil" yet a fucking gain but once i get past my annoyance at that, they do make it kind of work, and tony getting down in the dirt and getting to know actual regular people was really fun. good start, phase 2. try and keep it up please

Ben 10 Versus the Universe: The Movie

this was distinctly pretty okay, definitely far more enjoyable than the nonsense that the live action movies are, and there was some poignancy to it all - gwen and max thinking ben might be dead, ben having similar worries on his end, azmuth's test pushing him to be better than he can be. it may be a bit rote hero's journey stuff, but ben 10 has always been extremely by the numbers - it's no different here. my main gripe is that for being a movie, they really don't push the animation much. this genuinely looks like it could've been split into a 5-6 parter to cap off the last season of the show and there would be no obvious difference, and for all i know it probably is aired this way when the show is in syndication.

The Wolverine

watched the extended edition. man i just zoned the fuck out of this one. some nicely shot action at least but i just didn't have the mental energy to follow the plot and the silver samurai stuff was dummmbbb. very unmemorable

The Mandalorian (Season 3)

the narrative arc must sacrifice all for The Lore. all subservient, all reverent of The Lore. mandalore is back. don't you feel proud? don't you feel serviced? don't you feel clever, for knowing all these things about our brand? we took the narrative arc of our main characters and shot it behind the shed so they could stand around while bo katan, our hidden true protagonist of this season, does all of the actually important stuff, but that's okay, right? you feel good, because you know who bo katan is, and why she's important, and why the darksaber is important, and why its so so sad that moff gideon destroyed this trinket from another series made 15 years ago. look, here's jack black, and lizzo, and christopher lloyd. isn't it fun that they're now part of the Star Wars brand? isn't it great? din and grogu have a house now, all to themselves. that works as an ending, right? this is what you want, right? this is what makes you happy. this is what you crave, fans. The Story is dead. long live The Lore.

Puella Magi Madoka☆Magica the Movie Part III: Rebellion

what if hope doesn't spring eternal?

what if the energy you got from knowing the one you love is looking down and smiling on you wasn't enough? what if you really couldn't live without them? what if you said yes when in your heart of hearts you wanted to scream no, wanted to damn us all and destroy everything because if you have to suffer then the whole world should suffer too?

what if persephone and hades, but make it yuri?

Ben 10 (2016)

honestly really not that bad if you take it for what it is rather than being mad that it's not alien force Like Some People. fun redesigns, some decent comedic writing and mixed additions to the rogue's gallery (extreme pass on breaker 1-9 and nanny nightmare, but xingo, the bugg brothers and tim buktu are fun). don't go in demanding deepness or tight canon or worldbuilding (factors ben 10 as a franchise has never actually been all that good at if we're really being honest) and you can have a fun time

Thor: The Dark World

it should be a crime to misuse christopher eccleston this badly

Mario Kart 7

this must have seemed like a shock to the devs of mkwii but it turns out when you don't entirely fucking explode the player for the crime of existing near first place, the game is actually fun and enjoyable, and i want to play more of it

Star Wars: Visions (Season 2)

not as good as the first season IMO, but still some fantastic and beautiful animation from around the world. the aardman short got me good. i saw you grand day out robot

Nichijou: Original Run (Vol. 1-10)

works just as good in manga format as the anime did, although it doesn't have quite as good an ending. keiichi arawi has an impeccable sense of timing that shines even in manga format, and their ability to take comedy to great extremes in their art is hilarious

Assassin's Creed: Odyssey - The Fate of Atlantis

well that was a load of nonsense. AC's take on greek mythology was admittedly pretty cool to see but it was just a lot of meandering in the end. a surface level tour with some juno teasing at the end which i'm pretty sick of tbh

AD:PIANO VIVACE 2 - Diverse System

pretty good but not stellar. little really stuck out to me as truly awesome, even BlackY's track was kind of a let down. still, nothing actively bad here.

best track: "Flows With Errors"

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

it feels wild that thus far captain america consistently outdoes every other MCU movie. i didn't think i'd be this on board with him when i decided to start catching up. a great spy thriller that managed to contain a ton of engaging plot threads without feeling overstuffed and overlong, and genuinely left me pretty excited for more

Disney Gallery / The Mandalorian (Season 3)

where is any of this for andor. i don't care. i hate this show now

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

there's like, almost a movie here. it starts off pretty good! there's bits and pieces that shine, it feels like it should be better than it is, there's stuff throughout that could absolutely go somewhere exciting and then it just completely fumbles everything. what the fuck

got a longer review on my letterboxd

---

anyway kind of a pingpong month in terms of quality, but the show goes on...

[braintapes]

Sketches 2022 part TWO!!!

September 30:

Around this time I got to thinking about Madam Hotel/the Hotel Herself as sorta like Walpurgisnacht from Madoka Magica. I’m not...really sure why. I think just the aesthetic of that witch, with all this buildup and grandiosity. The fact that she represents futility and helplessness. Her laugh. Her fucking cool as hell design. That she’s a witch conglomerate, formed from the amalgamation of TONS of witches...just good stuff.

October 3:

I really wanted to draw the Bellhop staring down into a bucket with bits of Manager in it, mocking and laughing. I couldn’t figure out the perspective though so it never came to be.

October 4:

More Bellhop. I think going forward I wanna draw her more like this. I’m honestly disappointed with myself that the painting I did of her was so blank-faced when that doesn’t capture her personality at all. I wanna redraw the Bellhop and the Concierge soon to just. look way better and more accurate to their personalities.

October 7:

October 8:

Plans for another big piece. I wanted to focus on doing it across October, November, and December and thaaaaat.....fell through pretty hard. Ah well. I’ll try and pick this up at some point this year. Though tbh what I’d love to do now is a biiig big collaborative illustration with a bunch of people featuring like, a bunch of doors/rooms with various interpretations of the staff behind them or something.

October 30:

October 31:

Around this time, I switched from drawing in a file created for each day (so, say, all of January 3rd’s drawings would be in one CSP file labelled 1-3-22), to creating a file to paint in for the whole month. It just...made things a lot easier with painting as opposed to sketching. The canvas setup is different from my daily files and quicker to get right into.

Consequently, though, while I start strong in keeping everything in those month files labelled and divided into folders for each day, uh...that falls apart by the end of the year...

November 1:

November 12:

November 14:

November 19:

November 28:

I really like drawing screaming faces. I don’t do it nearly enough

December 2:

December 3:

Desperately trying to find an animalistic pose for a Manager drawing. I tried this across several days and could not put together one I was happy with.

December 6:

December 8:

December 11:

I still need to play the Ib remaster. I wanna draw a cool piece with Mary sitting under the Fabricated World painting. She’s a character I relate a lot to, at least from what I can remember about the game.

December 13:

December 15:

December 17:

Attempting to draw lamprey hotel herself and struggling a lot lol. Terrified Judy Blashy. I wanted to make a comic of them having a conversation as like. a peek into what they were doing while the entire New Crew and Old Crew conflict was happening. It was going to go something like:

The Hotel Herself, absolutely cosmically massive, with Judy Blashy resting on her, positively tiny in comparison. The Hotel Herself is rambling, monologuing about how charming human sayings are - out with the old, in with the new, for example, while musing about endless cycles and arbitrary new years.

Judy Blashy is trembling, terrified, crying, of course, and the Hotel reminds Judy that she’s lucky to be getting this much up-close and personal time with Her, so could she at least try to be a good conversation partner?

Judy whimpers and tries her best but, like, clearly is not much at all. It’s still enough of a response for the Hotel Herself to start monologuing again. Meanwhile, in the background, everything from the New Crew’s introduction is going on, speeding by. The Hotel Herself is remarking on how she’s looking forward to seeing how everyone plays together and gets along, and what kind of new year they’ll ring in. The Crews are in an active battle to the death as she says this. She looks to Judy for a response, but despite her best attempts, Madam H is unimpressed.

She gets bored with Judy and lets her know it. In fact, she gets so bored she decides to toss her back out, deciding that she’s not even worth a death. It just wouldn’t be satisfying. Alone with Herself, She sighs and remarks that she misses having someone around that was “good to talk to.” She decides to check in on the staff, only to find the aftermath of their big fight.

Her form coils and winds in a way that suggests a big smile as she laughs and laughs. She says something about sayings, about how “some things never change!” and “alls well that ends well!”

I was still sick with covid enough that i did not have the energy to do all this but i still like the idea

Aaand finally, my last drawings of 2022, on December 29/30??? (I stopped labeling at this point):

Yahoo!! I’m excited to keep drawing more and more cool stuff going forward. I wanna try a whole lot of new things and improving at drawing all different kinds of character designs and compositions and learning perspective stuff and just. Idk where my art will end up but I’m eager to see where!!! Thank you again if you read through this :-)

[petrichor-and-moondust]

Now those of you who followed me before the DC comics days (or those who somehow scrolled fsr enough down my profile) will know how many fandoms I've been in. So let's get this show on the road!

1. Xanthe Xhou (DC Comics)

I don't know that many people know them, but Xanthe is SUCH a badass. They featured in their own 6-issue run, Spirit World, this year, which is honestly so iconic. The art? The story? The character development? AMAZING. Not to mention that series has got Cass in SUCH a beautiful Batgirl costume! Xanthe and their half-living half-dead shenanigans are ptecious to me and i have all of my spirit world issues on display (all variant covers!) not to MENTION that the absolute queen jessica fong made 3 different variant covers foe this series, too?

2. Shinsou Hitoshi (bnha/mha)

If there was EVER an autistic coded character in that show-

but really, I love shinsou. He means so much to me personally and the feeling of being seen as bad or wrong for something out of your control, and for something you haven't ever done, just because of other people's preconcieved notions about what is "good" and "bad"? He deserves better than he got and honestly, the way he is getting to shine in the manga's current arc pleases me a lot. And I mean, come ON, he literally imitates people as his superpower? AUTISM CENTRAL.

3. N (pokémon main videogames)

Basically the same as Shinsou, here...plus the idea of Pokémon liberation to my tiny little 7-year-old brain did irreversible damage. Not to mention how pretty this man is- and how much of a sucker I am for tragic backstories, too. I really love the character development and the way his character was carried on and portrayed in BW2.

4. Aled Last (Heartstopper universe)

Radio Silence has to be one of my favourite books, and Aled's character is very nuanced and just...Man. I love him so much. I love his stupid hair and his secret podcast and his neon green shoes. Aled's story is one that I barely see anyone talking about in the Heartstopper community, even though it's such a good one. And exploring the depth and spectrum of asexuality with Aled and his boyfriend was really personal for me. We don't get enough Canon asexual characters across any mediums.

5. Hobart Brown/Spider-Punk (Marvel Comics)

Punk? Check. Spider-powers? check. sick-ass guitar? check. honestly, what isn't to love about this guy? Hobie's Spider-Punk character is one of my favourite spins on the Spider-man powers and the comic art and storyline are both excellent. Plus, his redesign and character on the Spider-Verse movie is on point, too!

6.Saiki Kusuo (The disastrous life of Saiki K)

He is truly the epitome of aroace swagger. Canonly transgender, loves sweets, and just generally wants people to leave him alone to watch anime. He literally has the power to become a god but chooses noy to because he can't be bothered. What a king.

7. Fischl (Genshin Impact)

She was the first character I got in Genshin Impact! I'm quite a fan of long-range fighters in general, and her design is gorgeous. I love her tragic anime backstory and then her made-up tragic anime backstory. She really is just a teenage girl with an Instagram roleplay account and she wins for that

8. Madoka Kaname (Puella Magia Madoka Magica)

She's God, she's a lesbian, she's mostly useless for the entire series. What else do I gotta say?

9. Caleb Widogast (Critical Role)

He's like if a pathetic drowned cat was a man. His backstory is phenomenal, he's bisexual, he has a magic cat, he has trauma, and a cool design. Big fan of him and Molly!

10. Jayfeather (Warrior Cats)

(this art is by @ataleoftides)

My roots of fandom- everything I am is from long-term exposure to the warrior cats fandom when i was a kid. Jayfeather is sarcastic, disabled, asexual, can and will kill you, and an all-round badass. But he will also complain about literally everything there is to complain about. Just like me, fr.

Tagging:

@sw00nii @guzmagobbler @ponfarrtimeatthevulcannightclub @kogs-and-gears @rubski02

10 characters | 10 fandoms | 10 a negotiable number of tags

tagged by @poetikat thank you so much!!

Cassandra Cain: DC. It was hard to choose just one DC character, but she's my girl. When I think of her, I think of redemption and love and sacrifice and aiming to be perfect even if you destroy yourself in the process. I could write essays about her, don't tempt me.

Samwise Gamgee: Lord of the Rings. How do you hold on to hope when the world is burning? How do you believe that there's good, and that it's worth fighting for? How do you love despite everything? By being Samwise Gamgee, that's how.

Billie Lurk: Dishonored. Another character carrying the weight of her guilt on her back (I love those), but also the weight of being a complete badass (I also love those).

Hadrian Blackwater: Riyria Revelations. He's a gentle giant. A man capable of infinite kindness, but who also has a big sword and knows how to use it. Ah, he's also a thief. What more could you want?

Viktor: Arcane. A self-isolated dreamer, a hurt idealist, a man in love with knowledge and at war with his own body.... let's just say I relate to him way too much.

Sophie Hatter: Howl's Moving Castle. I love movie Sophie and I love book Sophie. She gets to find her place and her confidence while calling others (mostly Howl) on their bullshit. A true hero.

Inej Ghafa: Six of Crows. I want to see her burn the world and get revenge on everyone who hurt her, but I also want to see her free and smiling and demanding the love she deserves.

Leon S. Kennedy: Resident Evil. Watch this poor guy kill zombies for the millionth time and solve ridiculous puzzles while delivering the corniest one-liners. He needs vacations and therapy.

Nathan Drake: Uncharted. Mister Cognitive Dissonance. He's a nerd, he's a thief, he'll say "oh crap" and tell funny jokes while murdering hundreds of mercenaries.

Kaladin Stormblessed: The Stormlight Archive. There's something about having a character who's lost everything and who's given up, but then decides to fight against all odds with tooth and nail for the sake of others just to realize "Hey, I'm fighting for myself as well."

No pressure tags!! @zukoisblorbo @cephalog0d @xetlretl @putting-the-bi-in-robin @manjirian @opposite-of-aster and anyone who feels like playing!!

[clacing]

if you don’t mind, can I hear your thoughts on the possibility of Homura having internalized homophobia? I’ve seen a post about it or two, (mostly with the scene where there’s a statue of Madoka (?) ) and I have no idea what the census is on it

First of all I am so sorry you sent me this ask more than a month ago but I had exams at the time and then was too burned out to write anything that made sense so this might be a bit incoherent 😭

I don't know what the consensus is either but I can tell you what I personally think: she doesn’t literally have internalized homophobia, but she's definitely coded that way.

What I mean by that is I don’t think the idea that “my feelings for Madoka are wrong because I’m a girl and she’s a girl” has ever crossed Homura’s mind, because I don’t think Homura considers the feelings themselves to be wrong at all. But that has less to do with Homura valuing herself or the nature of her feelings and everything to do with the object of those feelings being Madoka. 

Homura holds on to her love for Madoka like a lifeline. She embraces it as the reason for her existence, even going on a downward spiral in the Wraith Arc when she realizes her feelings for Madoka are starting to fade along with her memories because it makes her feel purposeless. That love is essential to her survival, and her survival is essential to saving Madoka and preserving her world - so Homura can't hate it, repress it, or resent it, not even if she wanted to. What she can do is refuse to act on it.

Homura hates herself, but she doesn't hate herself because of her feelings for Madoka. She probably would hate herself more if she didn’t adore Madoka. I think it’s more of the opposite, that her feelings are only a problem because she hates herself and thinks she deserves nothing good. Even before meeting Madoka, Homura felt useless and like a burden on those around her, and I can't imagine that feeling has gotten any better after 100+ timelines of trying to save your best friend and only succeeding in making her fate worse.

So in later timelines especially, Homura starts keeping her distance from Madoka to be able to focus on protecting her. She stops touching her, stops trying to build a connection with her, stops interacting with her unless absolutely necessary (though she doesn’t exactly succeed), which is a far cry from how affectionate they used to be with each other. 

Homura won’t allow herself to be happy, won’t think she deserves to be until Madoka is safe, but that goalpost gets farther and farther away ‘cause Madoka only gathers more and more karmic potential - so all that does is make sure she never gets to be happy, because her fight will never really be over.

And I might just be reaching here, but that kind of emotional repression, coupled with the feeling of never doing enough to deserve happiness, because no matter how hard you work or how much you sacrifice, you’re still just a flawed human standing against a system that’s designed to crush you - that just screams Catholic guilt to me. And while we don’t know if Homura is or ever was Catholic herself, we know she did go to Catholic school, which clearly still colors a lot of her language and worldview.

It’s not uncommon for Catholics to “accept” LGBT+ people, but only so long as they’re aware it’s a sin and seek penance for it and keep it to themselves - so plenty of LGBT people who grow up Catholic can acknowledge their feelings and even entertain them to a certain extent, but still struggle to outright act on them. And Homura’s feelings have the added burden of being astronomically strong (I’ll get back to that) which would put off anyone who didn’t know any better - so as they grow over time, she can show less and less of them, but having to repress them also gets harder.

Her literally and figuratively making Madoka her god is an extension of all of that. It’s just much, much easier to justify your feelings for someone if you convince yourself that they are perfect, unreachable and untouchable, because a) They stop being human. They’re a god, and you’re supposed to worship gods, right? b) You can’t do anything to a god. You can’t hurt them or ruin them or make them uncomfortable no matter how much you love them c) A god can’t love you back, so there’s no risk of your feelings being encouraged.

Which brings me to the scene with Madoka’s statue. This scene happens when Homura’s trying to figure out who could’ve trapped all of them in a labyrinth, therefore disrespecting Madoka’s last wish and sacrifice. She makes a big show of caring about Madoka first, about Madoka only - she can’t even spare one second to feel glad that she got to see Madoka again before jumping to Whoever did this is wrong and evil and must be stopped because this is what Madoka gave her life for. 

And while all of this is going on, her familiars are mocking her because they know damn well the person who did this is Homura herself, which is proof that as much as she claims to worship Madoka, to only want what she wants, to be serious about respecting Madoka’s wishes, there is also a part of her that wants her there, that lured her into her labyrinth because she missed her.

We flash back to this scene again when Homura realizes she is the witch, except now Homura sees herself touching Madoka’s statue and staining it. That’s usually the scene people point to when talking about Homura having internalized homophobia, because it can be read as Homura feeling like wanting to be with Madoka again (and inadvertently acting on that desire as a witch) is tainting Madoka’s sacrifice, or as Homura feeling like her love is tainting Madoka herself.

And I think those interpretations are inextricably linked, because the queer coding in Homura’s whole arc is very much intentional. Even when it’s not outwardly about her being a lesbian, everything she goes through resonates so much with every part of the queer experience that it still winds back around to her being a lesbian. Homura has tried so hard to repress the part of herself that doesn’t just want Madoka, but wants her with her; she’s tried to put Madoka’s wishes before her own, and convinced herself that she’s fine with it - but well, witches don’t have that kind of restraints. So Homura is forced to recognize that she’s not happy just standing at the feet of Madoka’s statue and worshipping stone, and that makes the illusion shatter.

And once she stops being able to ignore that she doesn’t see Madoka as a god, not really; and that Madoka maybe didn’t want to be a god in the first place; that’s when she decides to take matters into her own hands.

Remember what I said about Homura’s feelings for Madoka being astronomically strong? What I mean is that they literally aren’t bound to the laws of the universe, because they exist outside of the cycle of hope and despair. Rebellion and Wraith Arc especially imply that her magic is self-sustaining because her magic and her love for Madoka are the same thing - meaning that as long as Homura keeps loving her, there is nothing she can’t do (they actually explain the mechanics of it in Wraith Arc, but it would make this meta even longer and more convoluted than it already is). She is an anomaly, on par with Madoka (maybe even because of Madoka, in much the same way Madoka only became as powerful as she is because of Homura) - so when she says that no one could possibly understand her, that this feeling is hers and hers alone, I believe her! But that’s also just the queer experience again - thinking you’re the only one who’s ever felt like this, that no one could possibly understand you, that somehow what you feel is different and more powerful and potentially more dangerous than all other kinds of love.

But it’s also the only thing that can save Madoka, and we know Homura would damn herself for her. She was willing to die in her labyrinth, away from the Law of Cycles, in despair for all of eternity, to keep Kyubey from getting to Madoka - why not take it one step further to give Madoka a chance at being truly happy? Her love made Madoka a god in the first place, so it stands to reason that if Homura puts her mind to it, it can tear her down and make her human again.

So Homura finally sets that love free. She reaches out and takes Madoka’s hands and declares her love for her to everyone who’s listening. She takes the disruptive potential her love has and takes advantage of it, because Madoka used her infinite power to make the magical girl system a little bit kinder to everyone but Homura looks at the system that's causing the girl she loves so much pain and says the system is wrong - and then demonizes herself for it. But she sets it free nonetheless.

It’s not too different from magical girls releasing their despair and turning into witches, although Homura is obviously affecting the world on a much larger scale. I’m saying this not to claim that Homura had no control over her actions and therefore did nothing wrong, but to point out that magical girls needing to make peace with the uglier parts of themselves is an important part of the show. That’s why Sayaka being able to summon her own witch at will was so powerful - because we’ve seen her struggle through the series and fall into despair, and we see her now having full control over her emotions and using the darkness she knows is inside her to her advantage, to be stronger, instead of suppressing it. And I definitely think Homura needed to release those feelings too instead of keeping them locked up and beating herself up over them, because there’s so much power in them - as much potential for good and positive change as they’ve got for destruction - and releasing them is the first step towards embracing them.

Obviously everyone will have different interpretations of this scene, but to me, this is the closest Homura has ever come to asking Madoka if she reciprocates her feelings. Or at the very least, if she can accept them. And Madoka (who has no context for this whatsoever) says No.

But for Homura to be able to ask Madoka if she’s allowed to be selfish, if she’s allowed to act on her desires at all, even if the only reason she’s asking is that at this point she’s got nothing left to lose - well, it’s huge.

I’m not going to say the way Homura went about things was right or even good for her, considering she is very clearly riddled with guilt and Rebellion is overflowing with suicidal imagery - but also there’s something to be said about how sometimes, accepting you’re the devil and going to hell anyway can give you the freedom to explore and potentially embrace parts of yourself you’ve always been too afraid to act on. So, mixed bag?

[batlingsstuff]

|| DREAM SMP HEADCANONS ||

✧─── ･ ｡ﾟ★: *.✦ .* :★. ───✧

hello! this is my first time doing headcanons, and i just want to clarify some things:

sadly, i won't be doing requests because i'm busy af with school and i dont want to dissapoint anyone, but you can drop some suggestions and i would think about it! it would be really nice :)

also i won't be writing romantic headcanons for minors or those who are uncomfortable with it, but i can do platonic headcanons for them! ^^

i won't be doing nsfw headcanons either, because i'm uncomfy with sexualizing real people and just writing nsfw in general :)

also, please tell me if someone is uncomfortable with fanfics and/or headcanons and i will erase that part as fast as possible, thanks for passing by! - batling

✦ means platonic

✦ characters : ranboo, tubbo, tommy, philza, techno and jschlatt

♥ means romantic

♥ characters: quackity, wilbur, nihachu, dream, george, sapnap, eret, karl, fundy and bbh

keywords:

(y/n) : your name

(n/n) : nickname

(p/p) : pizza place

✧─── ･ ｡ﾟ★: *.✦ .* :★. ───✧

“As he read, I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once.” – John Green

┌────── ⋆⋅✦⋅⋆ ──────┐

SLEEPOVERS

---

GENDER NEUTRAL

└────── ⋆⋅✦⋅⋆ ──────┘

♥ Quackity

oh boy

i just have two words for this one: pure chaos

he will punch you with a pillow if you try to sleep

and you will be MAD at this

grabbing a pillow and hitting him RIGHT IN THE FACE with all your strenght

he'll probably fake cry about it, saying that you hurt him

after a while of pillow fighting, you guys got tired and plopped into the bed, snuggling into eachother and just enyoing the comfortable silence before drifting to sleep

♥ Wilbur

you two will probably blast hamilton and scream the lyrics till the neighbours wake up and you get angry knocks at your door

and you will laugh at that, lowering the speaker's volume and telling him to lower his voice aswell to avoid your neighbours calling the police

then you'll eat snacks and talk about anything that pops into your mind, laughing at the most silly jokes

he will sing sweet songs to you, making you fall asleep to his calming voice

summary: fluff

♥ Nihachu

you and her will bake pastries at a very late hour

she REALLY enjoys baking with you bc she thinks it's a great way to spend time with you

all this girl wants is to spend her time by your side, doing particularlly anything like streaming, baking, playing games and going outside for a walk and/or shopping

once you finished baking, she will kiss your cheek multiple times. that's her way to tell you that you did a great job :)

you'll spend the rest of the night cuddling, eating your pastries and watching some random movie, commenting about how bad it is and laughing

♥ Dream

bruh

this bitch will speedrun the sleepover

is it possible to speedrun a sleepover? maybe

you'll spend the rest of the night probably playing uncharted 3: drake's deception in his old ps3

after a while, you guys got bored from uncharted and went to his pc to play amnesia: the dark descent

there are 2 options:

you will be scared as fuck and will avoid looking at the screen when you think something bad will happen or when some body will come out from a drawer

or you will be totally chill with it, laughing hard when clay pisses his pants for real when he encounters the gatherer

you named the gatherer 'bob' :)

♥ George

he'll take you to the rooftop

and pushes you so you fall to your death

i mean

he gets blankets and pillows so you can stargaze together

he'll teach you the constelations while pointing them, excited about every single one of them

"look (y/n), that's the ursa major!"

he'll have hot chocolate prepared too, so you don't get cold while stargazing

you try your best to not fall asleep on the rooftop

but eventually fail

when he notices you're asleep, he stops talking about the constellations and carries you to your bedroom, giving you a goodnight kiss and leaving you in your bed so you can have a peaceful rest

♥ Sapnap

hey mamas

i don't know what sapnap will do in a sleepover so i will just improvise B)

you will watch anime together

not any kind of anime, like that romance-comedy bullcrap

no fuck that

you will watch the classy angsty anime like madoka magica

WATCH IT IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY

you will fucking cry because of literally anything that happens to the characters

"(y/n) why are you crying it's just a show"

'IT'S NOT ANY SHOW SAPNAP IT'S FUCKING MADOKA MAGICA OF COURSE I'M GOING TO CRY'

the last chapter made you fucking cry harder

AUTHOR HERE I WAS CRYING SO MUCH WHEN IT ENDED

yeah you will basically watch anime with him, cry about it and he will comfort you and bring you a glass of water so you don't have a terrible headache after it

I KNOW THIS HEADCANON SUCKED I'M SO SORRY

♥ Eret

KINGG <3

you two will plan a picnic in your yard

yes your yard

he'll bring a ton of snacks and you'll buy a few drinks

you two spend the rest of the picnic talking about your future and enjoying the snacks

then, he'll make you stand up and will teach you how to dance tango

and of course you will mess everything up

and you even stomped on his feet accidentally, making him wimper

but he brushed off the pain and laughed at your concerned face

after calming down his laughter, he gave you a passionate kiss and hugged you tightly

i love eret ok

♥ Karl Jacobs

this man.

this man is the definition of sweet

you'll spend the night cuddling and making cute pet names for eachother

he will definetely give you a great back massage if you're stressed

then he'll start writing love letters full of things he adore of you

and you'll do the same for him

after that, you will share your letters and just snuggle and smile at the sweet things you guys wrote for eachother

he will deffo shower you with kisses when he finishes reading your letter, telling you that you're the nicest person on earth

and that he loves you so so much

♥ Fundy

i'm a huge fundy simp ok

he will bring his piano to your house and you guys will compose a melody together

he will let you sit on his lap while you play the piano/keyboard with him

fundy will basically teach you how to play basic piano songs

you asked him if you guys could play megalovania together

he said no :(

but still you got to play nice songs together without messing up

and when you got the hang of it, he snuggled his face in your neck and kissed you there genly

and when you got tired, he started playing very calming songs and you fell asleep in his lap, snuggling into his chest

he gently carried to your room and will sleep beside you putting a fair distance so you can have a comfortable sleep!

♥ BadBoyHalo

bbh supremacy

he will get rat ready so you can snuggle with her too :)

you guys will mainly play with rat and talk about life in general

he will call you tons of cute pet names

ofc he will call you muffin it's bbh who we're talking about

he will talk about how bad he wants to spend the rest of his life with you

after a while, he will take you to his kitchen and start making muffins together

he will guide you on how to bake 'em though

you guys had a great time making muffins and cuddling with him and rat :)

══════ ∘◦❀◦∘ ══════

✦ Ranboo

tall mf gives the best piggy back rides

when he gets to your house there is a 100% chance he will bump his head on the door frame

and there is a 100% chance you will make fun of him because of that

"(y/n) please stop laughing my head hurts :("

you'll give him some ice to put on his head while you two play minecraft on your ps4

you will bring snacks too and ask him if his head is better

"yeah, thank you (n/n)"

he will pull you in a hug so you can be comfy together while you play good ol' minecraft

because ranboo surely doesn't play anything besides fucking minecraft

stfu that video of him playing spooky's jump scare mansion doesn't exist

✦ Tubbo

SWEET BE BOYY <3

he will gift you a bee plushie

expect a lot of (FRIENDLY) hugs from him

like fundy, you guys will play piano together

you guys are most likely to prank call some random numbers AND your friends

and you accidentally called some random pizza place

"hello! this is (p/p), may i take your order?"

you were nervous and didn't know what to say

UNTIL YOU CAME UP WITH A GREAT IDEA

"hello? are you there?"

'hi yes, i would like to order 7 extra large pepperoni pizzas to (tommy's adress).'

"oh- okay! uhm- they will arrive in a few hours. are you okay with that?"

'yes ma'am, thank you.'

when you ended the call, you couldn't help but burst out laughing, knowing that tommy will be so mad at you guys-

✦ Tommy

like quackity, PURE. CHAOS.

you guys will obviously stream your sleepover

doing a q&a stream :)

tubbo and wilbur will probably crash your stream and start spamming things like 'MEETUP??' and 'DIDN'T GET AN INVITE'

you guys laughed and added them to the call

"WHY THE FUCK DIDN'T YOU GUYS INVITE ME?" wilbur shouted

'i'm sorry willlll'

you kept playing minecraft with wilbur, tubbo and quackity too since he crashed your stream like an hour later

after the stream, you got up and plopped on the mattress that was on the floor

"tired?"

'yeah'

"okay, good night big (initial)"

✦ Philza

POG

YEAHHH SLEEPOVER WITH THE MINECRAFT GOD

AND KRISTIN'S THERE TOO :)))

and oh god you ADORE kristin

i'm pretty sure she's a total sweetheart

it would be like having a sleepover with your parents

only that it's less boring

you guys will watch a movie together, you will be in one side of the couch eating snacks while phil and kristin are in the other cuddling

you'll eventually bug them about it

after the movie, you fell asleep early and philza noticed, talking to kristin about it too

and wrapped a blanket around you so that you get a good rest :)

✦ Technoblade

mr. blood god teaches you the arts of the CRAFT.

yeah i mean it's techno what else does he play besides minecraft

he will play bedwars w/ u, teaching you how to pvp

"bro you kinda suck tbh"

'stfu techno'

he will comment about how bad you are, but tries to help you get better anyways

and when you do a very poggers gamer move, he praises you

and when he praises you you're all :)))

after awhile, he gets tired from watching you play minecraft and suggest watching anime

fucking weeb

i mean

uh

other thing you guys do together in a sleepover is playing and commenting about pokemon

if you don't like pokemon get tf out of here /J

i was joking please don't leave i respect your tastes

✦ Jschlatt

ooooh boy

get ready for a session of wii training

that's all you guys will do

play wii sports and some other shit like wii music

he will laugh his ass of if you fall while playing wii fit

but he will eventually help you bc outside his funny and shouty persona, he's a really chill guy and a really nice person!

seriously like have you ever seen a theweeklyslap video?

well expect hearing amazing pep talks from him

bc this man is a legend and knows his way to words and is very good at comforting people :)

sometimes you'll rant to him about anything that's happening in your life, and he will listen to you and give you really helpful advice

and you appreciate him so much for that

✧─── ･ ｡ﾟ★: *.✦ .* :★. ───✧

TYSM FOR READING GUYS, i appreciate it if you made it this far :)

i hope you guys really enjoyed these headcanons, it's my first time doing them and aa i'm a bit nervous about posting this but i'll be fine ig

also i'm sorry if there's a grammatical error, english is not my native language and i'm still learning it :) have a nice day/night, drink water and don't fuck up your sleeping schedule!!

[takerfoxx]

Magia Record FINALE, "No One Knows Our Record," First Impressions!

Magia Record has come to an end, and people are upset about it.

Wonder Egg Priority.

The Promised Neverland.

Even Otherside Picnic, considering its sort of nothing ending with no news of a continuation.

Promising and daring anime that got early buzz, garnered a following, only to burn that good will to the ground with disappointing final seasons or even just bad finales.

And from what I gather, people feel something of the same way about the end of Magia Record. Like, maybe not to the extent as the others, but yeah, PMMM fans aren’t happy.

And I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t get it.

Like, okay, I didn’t hate the finale, I thought it was okay, but it didn’t feel like it fit. From what I can gather, the original finale from the game had something a lot more optimistic and uplifting, with the Doppel system actually working without the drawbacks, and the main thing people were objecting to was Touka and Nemu being willing to sacrifice innocent people to make it worldwide, and things end on magical girls from the two main cities connecting and forming a supportive community with the Doppel system keeping things in check (I think, I’ve never played it). Which is an interesting place to take things, but I guess they felt something like that wouldn’t appeal to those only watching the anime and are coming over from the OG series and wanted to, I don’t know, darken it up? Make it a little grittier? And okay, I do prefer the flawed and creepy Doppel system we get rather than the more stable one from the game, but even so, it feels like they tried to find some sort of marriage between the two tones and thus ended with…a sort of standard anime ending. There was the speeches, there was the heartful attempts to bring the midguided back, there was the final boss, there was the sacrifices and the big emotional final punch. And I guess it works, if that’s what you were looking for…if this wasn’t a Puella Magi Madoka Magica show.

Magia Record was never going to escape PMMM’s shadow. PMMM was ultimately a very small story about a small group of girls caught up and destroyed by a cruel and merciless system that was far bigger than any of them that was made to feel larger than it actually was because of the effectiveness of the storytelling and because of the effects of Madoka’s wish at the end, which, had she not made it, would have left the Holy Quintet as nothing more than a few more names to be ground up and forgotten by the Incubators’ scheming.

But it was big. So big, in fact, that it altered not only the course of the Magical Girl genre but anime itself, on a level comparable to Neon Genesis Evangelion.

…okay, maybe not quite that large, but even so. It was big, and this little spin-off made to promote a game not even available in most of the world anymore could never hope to reach its heights, despite having a “bigger” story.

But it tried. You could see the effort dripping off of the outstanding visuals and art direction, even when it was hampered by the pandemic. It was still a high quality production (most of the time), and honestly shone quite brightly in quite a few places. Yes, the characters weren’t as memorable and their stories didn’t hit as hard, but damn it, they were adapting the plotline of a gacha game. It’s to be expected.

And it really did look like they’d stick the landing. I felt that the previous three episodes ranged from really good to kind of great. Not perfect; I do think Kuroe’s death was, while well done, awkward in its placement. But still good.

But this…eh. It’s okay. And Madoka Magica needs to be better than just okay. I know they had to adapt the original game’s ending, but it feels like would have been better off splitting from the game’s plot and doing their own thing. Alina Grey suddenly being your standard anime Big Bad, MWAHAHA, I WILL DESTORY THE WORLD!!!? Doesn’t really work. I know she was unhinged, but even so. Touka and Nemu changing their minds and doing the big redeeming sacrifice? Kind of falls flat, TBH. Homura becoming what she saw as the “Ultimate Evil” worked because of the layers and layers to her character. Kyoko’s sacrifice worked because of the overwhelming tragedy of it all, because she wasn’t trying to save the world, she was just trying to save one person, someone who didn’t even like her, and when she realized that she couldn’t, she decided to give that person some measure of peace and keep her company in doing it.

Which isn’t to say it didn’t completely work for me. Yachiyo saying goodbye to her original Found Family on the spirit train was very effective, especially how it slowly dawned on her that Momoko and Mifuyu were gone, only for her to quietly accept it when it hits. Good stuff. And I did like how it showed all the Magical Girls coming together afterward, even though we’re left with the awkward problem of how they’re going to stay alive now that this version of the Doppel system was flawed and now destroyed.

So yeah, it was kind of deflating. They tried so very hard, but it just didn’t really work. But even so, I ended up liking this series way more than I thought I would, and I still appreciate where they went with the visuals and art direction, and there were truly some real standout moments, so I can’t be mad at it. Magia Record? You’re okay in my book.

But now that that’s out of the way, it’s time to talk about my real bone of contention, something I was afraid they were going to do and it looks like they did.

Yup. APPARENTLY, the rest of the Holy Quintet just dies off-screen and Homura does her thing and resets time.

…

I hate this.

They did it in Oriko. They did it in A Different Story. And probably in other places as well. They presented a genuinely interesting alternate take on the events of the series and how things could have gone, only to yank the rug and go, “Nope, it was just one of Homura’s timeloops, doesn’t matter!”

I guess I really realized how much I disliked this kind of ending when reading Persephone’s Waltz (sorry, Ptah ☹), which had me going, “No! I wanna see this play out! I want to see these relationships develop, damn it! I want to see where this leads!”

So I was really worried they would do the same here, and it looks like they did. We even have what looks like Godoka and Homucifer musing over things at the end, remembering this little side story that happened during Homura’s journey. And, okay, it’s a nice call-forward to where their story will eventually go, but look: if it did all get reset, then what was the point of it all? There hasn’t been any indication that Homura’s timeloops work through alternate universes other than the differences between loops, and her wish was to go back in time, not to another universe, so we have to assume that each loop erases the previous.

So if that’s true, none of this mattered. None of this happened in the next loop, and even if it did, it was all overwritten by Madoka’s wish anyway. Nemu and Touka forming the Wings of Magius? Never happened. Ui getting erased? Never happened. Tsuruno going kablooie but then being brought back through love? Never happened. Mifuyu and Momoko’s sacrifice? Kuroe’s death? The showdown with Alina Grey? Never happened. No new Puella Magi community. No new Villa. Never happened.

I mean, I guess it can be argued that with no witches all these characters ended up having better lives in the new world with the Law of Cycles and all, but it still has me wondering what the point of it all was, if it just got reset.

Or did it? We see the new Mikazuki Villa with Yachiyo’s new Found Family with the memories of the old, and it seems to take place after Homura goes back. So what’s true? How does this all work? I heard something about the Magia Record timeline being a weird timeline with some Godoka business or something? I don't know. I just know that the game fans are pissed.

It’s a frustrating aspect to the series that I don’t know how to get out of. Naturally, Homura’s endless number of timeloops lends itself to these kinds of stories, and I don’t blame writers for taking advantage of that, but they come with the issue of always knowing how it ends. It’s frustrating.

So yeah, that was Magia Record. Overall, I think it’s a lot better than what I expected, but did stumble a fair bit. Still, I’m glad I watched it.

NOW GIVE US WALPURGIS RISING!

[mamitomoesyandereblog]

First time doing one of these, how about some yandere mami tomoe x reader headcanons?

Of course! You can certainly tell by the whole aesthetic of the blog; but Mami is my favourite character from the series. That being said; I'll try to do my best. Hope you like it; dear anon. ^^

Tw;

Yandere stuff, unusual behaviours, unhealthy relationships, mentions of kidnapping/Stockholm syndrome , mentions of suicide

I don't support this kind of actions or behaviour in any way; this is just fiction and should stay fiction.

(Spoilers For Puella Magi Madoka Magica ahead)

💛Yandere! Mami Tomoe Headcannons💛

First things first; how you two met. The request didn't specify whether they wanted the headcannons to be romantic or platonic so I'll try to keep it somewhere in between.

It was just another normal school day and you were walking home on your own; since your friends were all busy today. But then, as you're walking, you suddenly feel dizzy. It's as if everything around you is deforming in some sort of way. Whispers of "Were your friends really busy?" and "Maybe you're too pathetic for them, you would be better off dead" were ringing in your ear. Before you know it you're in a witch labyrinth.

Long story short; a certain blonde magical girl came to your rescue.

After saving you she introduced herself and made you promise to keep it a secret. She insists to walk you home and on your way there she shares with you more about magical girls and her experience as one in general. And then you reach your house and the two of you never speak again. Or so you thought.

The next day something unexpected happen. You find her and talk with her again after school. And the two of you become friends.

🍵 After meeting you Mami feels like she's finally not alone anymore. Maybe you're not a magical girl but you're still someone she can talk to, share her problems with. You're the only one she has at the moment, the only thing she looks forward to besides her magical girl duties. So it's only natural that she's a bit clingy, often texting you multiple times and passing by your class at school (if you're not in the same class or you go to the same school)

🍵 She tries her best to put a brave act in front of you, she wants you to look up to her and feel safe with her. She wants you to see her as someone you can always rely on. She feels comfortable enough to vent to you though. You've seen her cry at least once, you've comforted her multiple times. You understand, you're the only one who understands. In her eyes at least.

🍵 She's definitely the type to be touchy but not full on like giving hugs. Maybe if you guys were official she would but as friends she just does small gestures. Such as putting her hand on your shoulder or holding your hands from time to time; often pulling you closer to her without even realising. It makes her feel safer in a way. It reminds her of how close you are; it reminds her that the most important person in her life is here with her.

🍵 If you ever started spending less time with her, especially because of other people, she'd definitely get emotional. As we've seen in the anime; Mami isn't really emotionally stable. So if something like this were to happen she'd instantly go into panic mode. She wouldn't get jealous, she'd get scared. Scared that you're going to leave her, just like an old "friend" of hers did in the past. So she'd ask you to talk about it. At first she seems calm and has a smile on her face but the more she goes on the more emotional she gets, even starts crying.

🍵 What would happen if you decided to leave her out of your life immediately though? Maybe you start avoiding her on purpose or you outright announce to her. Either way; it ends the same. If you avoid her she'd come up to you, maybe in an alleyway near your house or somewhere you can't back away easily. If you announce it to her what's to come would happen then and there. She's silent for a few seconds. Then she starts sobbing, panicking more than she's ever panicked before. You then attempt to walk away and for the first time in her life as a magical girl she uses her magic out of the battle.

🍵 Most of her magic is based on ribbons, so expect to wake up with a bunch of em' tied around you, keeping you in place. She's a magical girl and you're just...a normal girl/boy/person. There's nothing you can do against magic ribbons. If even Homura couldn't get out of the ribbons then there's no way you would. She'd probably try to act as if those ribbons don't exist though. As if you're just a friend, or even something more, staying over for the night. Although it's going to be a lot longer than just the night.

🍵 Keeping in mind that you're tied with a bunch of magical ribbons that get tighter the more you struggle there aren't really many ways you could misbehave. Yelling at her would be the only thing you'd be capable of doing and she could either ignore it or have a ribbon cover your mouth as well. She's trying to convince herself that what caused her to do this never happened, trying to pretend all this is normal.

🍵 Once you gain her trust she'd let you out of the ribbons. It would be quite easy, to be honest. Her entire mental stability depends on you at this point since you're the only one she has. Good luck with trying to get out of her apartment. Everything is locked and it's too high for you to jump off. If you somehow did manage to go out though... It's you against a veteran unstable teenage girl with the power to summon hundreds of rifles at once. So once again; good luck.

🍵 If you did really learn to love her she'd be so so happy, crying tears of joy even. She'd get a lot more physical as well when you're in her apartment so you'd get a lot of hugs. And free desserts. Unlike some yanderes she'd let you get out of the house; on your own as well. As long as you came back in time. You'd also be able to go to school again, although you'd spend all of your time by her side. She'd even force Kyubey to help you telepathically talk to eachother during class as well.

🍵 If anyone ever made a move on you she'd probably get between the two of you, literally, and threaten them. She'd somehow make herself seem intimidating while still sounding pretty calm and wearing a smile. If someone decided to hurt you though... Well; if they were to insult you they'd get the same treatment as making a move with you. If they actually hurt you physically...oh boy. At first it's just a playful threat. Once you leave that fake smile on her face would be gone though, replaced by a glare instead. She'd threaten the person again, this time sounding more determinated than before. She wouldn't use her magic though, she still has to keep the whole Magical Girl thing a secret after all.

🍵 When and if she learnt the truth about witches... It'd be tough. Learning that she's going to either die fighting or become what she's been fighting all this time messes her up by itself, but realising that she's never going to be with you no matter what makes it one trillion times worse. She would still do the same she did in the series. What if one day she turned into a witch and ended up hurting you? No. She'd rather end it all sooner, it was for the better. If she somehow learnt it without the Sayaka fiasco happening and the circumstances were ideal she'd send you a voicemail before ending it all. Her last goodbye.

🍵 I'd imagine her witch form to be the same but with some changes. For example; her familiars would give the people who entered the labyrinth a missing poster that read "Vidisti amica mea?" before walking them to the tea party. I can even imagine the witch taking people in hopes of finding someone one day. She can't remember anything about who it was exactly but she's just desperate to find them; maybe they'd make the tea party more fun, whoever they were.

Aaand that's everything! I apologize if it wasn't exactly to your liking dear reader, it's my first time writing yandere headcannons.

(Also don't worry about the reader not being a magical girl/boy, I'm saving that for the future 👀)

With all that being said; I hope you liked the headcannons! Or some of them, at least. Requests are still open of course. Have a lovely day/night! 💕

[madillhethen]

I just finished the original series PMMM, and just wow. It definitely is a great anime. There were at times where I felt pacing could’ve been done better but the bittersweet ending and the character relationships were really amazing. (I’ll watch the side story and movies afterwards or finish the NGE rebuild movies and then finish PMMM) but I wanted to post my thoughts on each of the girls. In order of my favs:

1. Mami: I thought she was suspicious at first because the weird ‘letting them tag along’ and going into this series with the knowledge of the girls turning into witches already known, but no, she was really what the show defined her as. She was lonely, and didn’t get a choice. But she did fight for others and she did try to mentor the girls as best she could. Something about her design I really like, I think it’s her color palette and tavern maid type of attire (no idea what you call it lol) also she’s mature but still has a youthfulness of her. Plus her combat is hella cool. Definitely my favorite (wish I saw more :’D of her).

2. Madoka: I feel like in the series I felt she was interesting because she was the given protagonist but many times she felt as if she wasn’t the limelight, she wasn’t the hero, she was just a girl who tried her best. And I don’t know, I really liked that. She couldn’t understand the things around her, Kyubey or Homura, and she didn’t have the answers but she was there and she tried, and was just really hopeful. She has so much heart, and in the end, it was really sad but the way she steps up, the way her potential becomes unleashed and her wish to save everyone with her sacrifice was really bittersweet but beautiful. Her goddess form is so pretty, and gosh I could just talk about the symbolism of the design (maybe I will.)

3. Kyoko: when she first showed up, major Mordred vibes lol. She’s like the fusion of Cu, Li Shuwen and Mordred that’s what she makes me think of but I like her tough but sensitive attitude. She has a good heart and a rough exterior. I liked her relationship with the other girls—it was nice with Sayaka if not one sided (and I bet ppl ship em…can’t say I’m a fan). Her powers are interesting, and I hope to see more of her fighting capabilities maybe in the movies? Well I kind of just want to see her with the other girls in general.

4. Homura (I actually want to say she’s tied at 3 with Kyoko): I wasn’t initially impressed with her cool, angst attitude, in fact I was frustrated with the fact she didn’t just tell everyone what was going on. Her design is pretty (kind of looks like Akiha Tohno to me) but I think what made me like her more was when I saw more emotions. She feels like she has determination and potential to do whatever it takes (and she does) her dedication to save Madoka is heartbreaking, if not a bit obsessive? I think I want to see more of her relationship with Madoka in her timeline to fully understand why go through so much lengths. I think her time powers and fighting is cool, the shield/clock type of weapon is really cool. I love the symbolism of her having the shield and what it means.

5. Sayaka: oh boy�� she’s my least favorite. There were times that she kind of screamed Shirou Emiya, the ally of Justice, the wanting to protect others not fight people and the sword being her main weapon but my God…. She came off entitled and preachy. I felt a lot of the times she was just projecting her own problems on others, and I get it they’re all like 14 so of course no one has anything figured out, but it’s just hard to like her in my opinion. I think where Shirou has a lack of sense is that Sayaka had too much self—she heard Kyoko’s sad story and went ‘yeah, I’m better than you. My wish was to help someone else’ and sure, it was and it did but it also…was for herself? She kind of pushed it to be like it was for Kyosuke when it felt more like it was for her. I think it was more the initial reaction when Mami warns her not to do it for others, she kind of gets put-off and defensive. BUT Sayaka does have a strength of Will, when she wasn’t projecting her issues, she was there for others, and she tried to care more for others than herself and I think that’s where the problem came from. I do think her story was heartbreaking though, especially when they find out about the soul gems. I wish to see her in action mode? I don’t have much opinion on her beyond her magical girl outfit looks cool.

[absolutepokemontrash]

This took forever…
 (Click for Quality!)
 SO! I finally got a proper fully colored drawing of my Obey Me MC! Character info + her relationship with the bros under the cut so I don’t clog up the tags!

Character info first!

Himiko is the third oldest in a family of seven sisters and is arguably the most responsible of the bunch. You could say she’s the Lucifer of her family, but if you’d like to continue living I’d recommend against saying that. 


She puts on the facade of a proper and polite lady but deep down she’s hiding a metric tonne of snark and sass, and even deeper she’s hiding a caring older sister type who would take a bullet for you.

You may be asking yourself, why is she wearing a devil horn headband? The answer? Spite. She was wearing it pre Devildom too so it has nothing to do with the boys! 


Her family is *incredibly* wealthy, so while she did learn a lot of things, it’s kind of turned Himiko into a bit of a dumbass when it comes to normal everyday household things. Ask her how to understand the political history of Japan and she’ll give you a five hour lecture on the topic, but ask her to cook dinner and you’ll need to call the fire department. 


Her birthday is December 25 and she’s 20 years old at the start of the game.

Himiko has… problems with emotional intimacy. She’s never really had the opportunity to really bond with anyone outside her sisters, so the idea that she could ever care deeply for someone that ISN’T family is absolutely terrifying to her. (Welp, bad news for her because she’s about to be forcibly adopted into a family of crazies) 


When she first got dropped into the Devildom… Hoo boy… her entire life she had been put on a pedestal and no one other than her sisters had dared to say ANYTHING critical of her in her presence and now she’s figuratively AND literally at the bottom of the food chain… let’s just say reality hit her hard in the face.

Relationships!

Himiko thought Lucifer was the one sane person in the entire House of Lamentation. That opinion did NOT last long. After the first attempted murder and the shit he said at the retreat, Himiko and Lucifer’s opinions of each other were in the gutter. Then the London trip happened! Their opinions of each other rose! Then the first timeline’s Belphie incident happened and oh wow would you look at that, back into the gutter. Damn. FINALLY, after all the time travel shit, they both think of each other as a pain in the neck, but if anything happened to the other there’d be blood spilled. It’s tough when Himiko’s biggest flaw is her own pride and she’s actively needling the Avatar of Pride.

Mammon was Himiko’s worst nightmare made reality. This person, widely regarded as a scumbag moron was supposed to protect her??? Uh uh. No. Mammon thought that Himiko was the human embodiment of annoying. At least till the Goldie hostage situation, Himiko mainly went along with it because she wanted revenge for all the eating-related threats and name-calling. Now, Himi’s way to prideful to ever admit this buuuuuut, she was incredibly lonely during her first week. She needed a friend and she needed one FAST. Before the two needed to binge TSL, Himiko took Mammon shopping under the guise of needing him to carry her shopping bags, and ended up buying him a sick new jacket and sunglasses. You can buy affection right? Apparently. Or was it the compliments she gave him while she was making him try on the jacket? We’ll never know for sure. Listen, just because the two of them want to spend a lot of time together DOES NOT MEAN THAT THEY HAVE A CRUSH ON EACH OTHER ALRIGHT?! HAND HOLDING SHOULDN’T MAKE HIMIKO THIS NERVOUS UGH-

W E E B P O W E R U N I T E! Well, not at first. Himiko’s a closet weeb! She probably teased the crap out of Levi about how much he obsessed over his “totally stupid” anime. It was all fun and games until Levi walked in on Himiko watching Sailor Moon. “YOU LIKE ANIME?!” “N-NO!” “YOU’RE AN OTAKU TOO!” “W-WAIT! NO I’M NOT!” “WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE ANIME????” “…Madoka Magica.” Now the two are anime and gaming buddies! At first Levi was miffed about Himiko’s rampant hypocrisy buuuuut they both moved past it for the greater anime good.

Satan and Himiko’s joined energy is too much for Lucifer to handle. The two are constantly pestering him to let them get a cat, and they somehow found the time to collaborate on a 50 slide PowerPoint presentation on why Lucifer would suck 55% more if he didn’t let them get a cat. At first, Himiko was low-key intimidated by Satan, and he generally seemed pretty disinterested in most of the shenanigans she got up to until they made a pact. Now they’re pretty good buddies and think quite highly of each other.

Himiko: The circumstances of one’s birth is irrelevant, it’s what you do with your life that matters.

Satan: Thanks Himiko. That’s nice of you to say.

Levi (whispering to Himiko): Are you quoting Mewtwo???

Himiko (whispering): Shut up! It’s making him feel better isn’t it??

If this were a musical, Asmo definitely would sing a rendition of Popular with Himiko. Before the pact was made, Himiko *really* wanted to be Asmo’s friend but would never admit it, his sass was impeccable! Asmo thought Himiko was cute yeah, but nothing special. After the pact, total besties. It takes a true friend or a certified insane person to tell the Avatar of Lust that the shade of blue he’s going to go clubbing in isn’t doing him any favours and he should change into different shoes. The Himi/Asmo duo is to be feared by all who come across them.

For the love of all things good in the world DO NOT LET BEEL AND HIMIKO NEAR YOUR FRIDGE! At the start, Himiko found Beel’s near constant eating annoying as HELL. Like, he’s the avatar of gluttony but all that *gross* junk food must be wreaking havoc on- Holy shit junk food is amazing. After the hiding Luke incident where Himiko’s big sister instincts ™ kicked in and she got between Beel and Lucifer, Himiko had to come to terms with the fact that she may *actually* care about some of the people she had met. After all the other shenanigans, Beel is basically her thousands of years older little brother.

 Belphie… hoo boy… strike one: He took advantage of Himiko’s rarely seen sweet side. Strike 2: he fuckin killed her dude! Belphie is yet to hit strike 3. I like to think there’d be a mini lesson between 16 and 17 where the two hash out their issues. After that, their relationship is probably the closest to an actual sibling relationship. They annoy and tease the everloving shit out of each other but if anyone messes with one of them the unfortunate soul will have to deal with the other AND Beel.

I might do the undatables if anyone actually cares and I’m not just talking to a brick wall lol. Thanks for making it this far and reading all my OC brainrot!

[silvermoon424]

What do you think of the interpretation that Homura was never a good person at all and that's why the Rebellion ending was great? I personally don't agree with it, mostly because Homura usurping Madoka wasn't the original ending anyway (and was just a cash grab) and also because I feel that ignores how Homura put herself through torment for the sake of one person who made her promise to do it.

I think I know the video you’re talking about, but I haven’t seen it (and don’t really want to from the title alone). 

But yeah, Homura is not a bad person. She’s deeply flawed, but at her core she is a good person. She’s even more of a good person before her extensive trauma hardens and embitters her. The anime and Magia Record (and some of the other spinoffs) portray her as a kind, shy, compassionate girl who genuinely cares for not only Madoka but the other girls as well. 

For many of her do-overs she did try to save everyone, but eventually came to the pragmatic conclusion that it was impossible to save everyone (or even most of them, specifically Mami and Kyoko who were already magical girls and therefore doomed sooner or later) so she was better off focusing her efforts solely on Madoka. It’s not like from the very start she was like “I only care about Madoka, fuck everyone else,” she only came to that conclusion after God knows how many time loops of trial and error. Homura of Magia Record (and other early timelines) has not given up on the other girls and wants to help and be friends with them. She still cares about Madoka the most, but she values and cares for Mami, Sayaka, and Kyoko (and in Magia Record, some of the girls of Kamihama) as well. 

And even after Homura becomes jaded and bitter, she is still driven by her love for Madoka and the promise she made to her. I could write a 30 page essay on why that love is not entirely selfless and pure (basically, I think that Madoka basically became Homura’s symbol of sanity/purpose the reason to keep going so she wouldn’t fall into despair, but I digress), but she still does primarily value Madoka’s safety and happiness above all else. 

Hell, all you have to do is look at Rebellion itself to see that Homura is fundamentally a good person. In her “ideal, perfect world” (Homulilly’s barrier), it wasn’t just her with Madoka all to herself. She was also friends with Mami, Sayaka, and Kyoko and did her best to make them happy and fulfilled too (Mami has Charlotte/Bebe as a companion, Kyoko lives with Sayaka’s family, etc). She was also back to her Moemura persona, implying that that’s the self she wishes she could be, not the aloof, jaded Coolmura persona she puts on. Deep down, Homura just wants to be friends with everyone and live happily with them in a world where being a magical girl isn’t a death sentence.  

I’m not in the “HOMURA DID NOTHING WRONG” camp, because she’s made a lot of mistakes, but I also don’t like it when people demonize her. She’s very flawed, but that doesn’t make her a bad person. 

[izumi-fanclub]

A3! Translation: Shift SR Card “Wanting To Be Relied Upon” [Special homemade udon noodles]

Director meets Shift at an udon shop and asks her for a favor along with Azami to prepare something for his family.

Izumi

(These are all the documents I’ll need for the next meeting, and I think I’m done compiling the surveys too.) 

Is it still noon? I should go out and get something good to eat today. 

I’m really craving some curry udon for some reason... 

Come to think of it, there’s a good udon shop somewhere around here. 

Alright, let’s go to that udon place for lunch today! 

  Clerk 

Welcome~ 

Izumi 

Good afternoon. 

??? 

Ah! Director-saaan! 

Izumi 

Hm? 

Izumi 

Shift-kun! Talk about a coincidence. 

Shift 

Right~ 

Oh, you can sit next to me if you want! 

Izumi 

Thanks. I’ll take you up on that. 

Shift-kun, do you come to this udon shop often? 

Shift 

It’s a long way, isn’t it? I ordered some croquette udon today, and it’s real delicious. It’s got my no. 1 seal of approval. 

Izumi 

Heh, I see. You’re right, it does look delicious.... 

Clerk 

Are you ready to order? 

Izumi 

Oh, yes. I’d like some curry udon, please. 

Shift 

What, but isn’t croquette udon the trend nowadays!? 

Izumi 

Ahaha, sorry, sorry. 

I was in the mood for some curry udon today. 

Shift 

Well, I guess I also crave those every now and again. 

But you should definitely try the croquette udon next time! It’s really good. 

Izumi 

Sure, I’ll keep it in mind! 

Clerk 

Sorry for the wait. 

Croquette udon and curry udon fresh from the kitchen. 

Shift 

Let’s dig in, thank you for the food. 

Izumi 

Thank you for the food. 

Shift 

….. Hm! It’s so good! 

Izumi 

The udon here really must be top-tier. 

I tried to make my own udon before, but I couldn’t get it to be firm like these ones. 

Shift 

Ooh.... director-san, a fellow person of culture! You can’t just get this kind of firmness at home, y’know? 

I mean, you did make your own udon noodles, right? 

Izumi 

Yup, that’s right. 

Shift 

For real!? I was actually thinking of making some homemade udon today. 

I usually heat up some frozen udon, but I want to make something for my little bro and for my mom who’s always home late from work. 

That’s why I’d like to ask a favor from you, director-san. 

Izumi 

From me? 

Shift 

Can we make some udon noodles together? 

I’d like to get advice from director-san since you’ve made authentic homemade udon before! 

Izumi 

Is it really authentic...? You know I just followed a recipe, right? 

Shift 

Well, no, but I’m sure you can do better than me, it’d be great if you can teach me a lot. 

Shift

Director-san, I’m gonna need your powers! Please! 

Izumi 

(Well, I’m done with my work for the day, I don’t have any plans after this, so...... Oh fine.) 

Okay then, I’ll lend you a hand.

Shift 

Alright! Thanks!  

Let’s head to the store after we finish eating the udon! 

    (Part 2) 

 Shift 

Now that we’ve brought all the ingredients from the supermarket, we should start making the udon right away don’t you think? 

Oh right, I should invite Azami over to help out. 

Izumi 

Azami-kun? 

Shift 

He complains but he helps a lot.

Izumi 

Fufu, I think I get what you mean. 

 (LIME) 

Shift: 

Director-san's with me making udon, come on over and help us out! 

Azami: 

Huh? Director? 

Shift: 

We’re waiting~ 

Azami: 

Alright

Shift: 

You don’t need permission to enter the house by the way, it’s all good 

 Shift 

Well, looks like Azami will be here soon. 

Izumi 

Then, let’s get things ready while we wait for him. 

Put the dough in the bag and... Shift-kun, could you knead on these with your feet? * 

Shift 

Ooh! Sounds like fun! 

Alright, like this...? 

Izumi 

Mhmm. 

Azami 

That was tiring. 

Shift 

Oh, you’re finally here~ 

Azami 

You weren’t kidding, director’s actually here.... 

Shift 

I told you so. 

Azami 

I got a DM from Shift earlier, he was a pain in the ass and didn’t go into all the details. 

Izumi 

Ahaha, actually... 

Azami 

I get it. Shift’s troubling you, isn’t he, Director? 

Izumi 

No, it’s no trouble at all. 

Shift 

You heard her! 

Director-san's just acting as my advisor for now. 

Azami 

Don’t tell me that when you’re the one who got her into this. 

…So, what am I supposed to do? 

Shift 

You can help us out with stepping on the udon dough with me first. 

Azami 

Shift looks like he’s got this one, if you ask me. 

Izumi 

Ah, it gets firmer the more you step on it, it’ll be faster if you two worked together. 

Shift 

That’s what I’m trying to say, so come on already. 

Azami 

Guess I got no choice... 

*Approaches Shift to help* 

Shift 

E-easy does it. 

Azami 

Am I even doing this right? 

Shift 

Yeah, that’s it! Director-san, can you snap a pic of us stepping on the dough with my phone? 

Azami 

Why the hell do you even want a picture of us like this? 

Shift 

Nothing wrong with saving up memories, right? 

Izumi 

That’s right! 

Okay, say cheese― 

Yup, that was a nice shot. 

Shift 

If you say so! 

I’m gonna send that to Haruto-san and Madoka later. 

Azami 

How about you don’t. 

Shift 

Time to cut the noodles... is this thick enough? 

Azami 

Doesn’t matter, they’re all uneven. 

Shift 

Oh well, as long as it tastes good. 

Izumi 

Okay, it’s done. You can boil them once your mom comes home. 

Shift 

Got it! Director-san, thanks for sticking with me till the end. 

Izumi 

You’re welcome. 

Shift 

Thanks to director-san, I think I was able to do a pretty good job! 

[ Option 1: Glad I could help. ] 

Izumi 

I’m glad I could help you. 

Shift 

Director-san's advice was easy to understand. And you were pretty good with what you were doing too. 

Azami 

She screws up a lot in our dorms, though. 

Izumi 

Azami-kun, hey! 

Shift 

Ahahah! I knew it! Director-san you’re real funny! 

I wanna talk some more with director-san! Let’s go to the udon shop together again. 

Izumi 

Sure! I’m up for it. 

[ Option 2: I had fun with it, too. ] 

Izumi 

I had fun with it, too. 

Shift 

Same here! 

I’d love to make other dishes with you when I get the chance. 

Izumi 

Sure, why not. 

Shift 

Nice! I’m looking forward to it! I’ll be back to visit you again at the MANKAI dorms. 

Shift 

Thanks for helping out too, Azami. 

Azami 

It’s nothing. 

Shift 

We made a lot, so I’ll share some with director-san. We can’t eat it all by ourselves. 

Izumi 

Then I’ll take it, thank you very much. We’ll have curry udon for dinner. 

Shift 

If you’re gonna go through all the trouble, why not make croquette udon instead? 

Izumi 

Hmmm, but I can’t be separated from curry.... 

Azami 

Oi, don’t tell me both of you had udon for lunch...... 

 Story Clear! 

  -------------------------------

(Yes, the feet) The dough is usually hard to knead with just your hands, so Japanese people traditionally use their feet to roll the dough. 

[writer-and-artist27]

Flower Petals

For @panyum, since your art had me thinking on my breaks during my day at work today. Addressing some of Ayako's lore via the Vy-and-Ayako-coexisting AU. :)

Was listening to a piano version of Madoka's Luminous to go with this. Please enjoy.

In other words, Dantes adopts Vy as a daughter, I think.

-------------------------

"I'll be heading out first, Vy," Ayako said over her shoulder, her red-band Command Spells glowing on her right wrist as she waved her hand. "Anything I need to remember from the 'Material Shopping List' while farming?"

"Restocking on Cursed Bones and Dragon Hearts would be ideal, Aya-san!" Vy called after her from her seat at one of the tables in Chaldea's Dining Hall, trying not to laugh at Ayako's exaggerated air quotes. "Material Hell" wasn't exactly fun for either of them, after all. Not to mention QP hell. The "Material Shopping List" kinda just happened, and hey. It was a good way to keep some semblance of normalcy. Thus, Vy added after a second of extra thought, "Some more Void's Dust would be a nice bonus, if that's okay!"

With one last glance in her direction, Ayako sarcastically rolled her eyes while saying an exaggerated, "Fineeee~!" It was hard to make out her figure past all of Karna's fluff-armor-things and Raikou's many headpieces, but Vy could still see her fellow Master shoot her a warm smile. It was rare to see Ayako smile these days. "Don't die from overwork!" was the last comment Ayako left in the air, the Servants flanking her masking any remaining signs of her friend as she left the area.

Vy barely got the chance to reply with, "I-I won't die!" by the time Ayako was gone.

Still, the Dining Hall wasn't exactly devoid of people. Once Ayako had left, and before Vy could go back to her snack bowl of pineapple slices, a cold, almost bony hand decided to land on her head.

Pat pat.

Vy did her best to not flinch, taking in the feeling before opening her mouth. "...Count? You're not going with Aya-san?"

The Count of Monte Cristo did nothing but shrug once Vy raised her head and looked up at him through her glasses, quiet and rather mysterious-looking as always with his dark cape and fedora. The wisps of darkness still lingering on his figure were telling of his usual teleportation powers. Or, were those wisps smoke? Vy was never really sure with Ayako's Avenger. "I am, just not immediately," was the soft answer, and in spite of the glints of what seemed to be irritation in the corners of his yellow eyes, the man known as Edmond Dantes still seemed... serene. Somehow. "Is it so wrong for me to check on a little flower?"

It was rather amazing in hindsight how Vy didn't blush at the title. It wasn't everyday an Avenger wouldn't be... well, all "Avenge-y", or so some of the staff would whisper in the hallways when no one was looking. "You're the only one who calls me that, Count," Vy pointed out gently, raising one of her hands from the table to grab his hand before he could retract it from her head. "And you don't have to keep patting my head. I'm okay today."

The fact that Vy didn't feel the need to take a nap yet was a good enough sign for the rest of the day. At least, it felt like one.

The Count still smiled at her. Vy wasn't sure if it was a smirk or a grin at this point. "Still, it is remarkably rare to find someone like you, little flower. Merely take these gestures as a sign of appreciation. Hell can be a vast place to explore."

For some reason, Avenger's words sparked something in Vy's heart. She slowly let go of his hand, instead choosing to tilt her neck up a little more so as to make better eye contact with the taller Servant. "...If you say that, Count, can I ask you something before you go back to Aya-san?"

"Why, a little flower like you, asking me a question?" Dantes threw his head back to laugh out loud, but Vy still sat quietly to wait for him to finish. A few seconds later, he stopped, lowering his head and kneeling down so that Vy wouldn't be craning her neck so much to meet his eyes. He was still taller than her by quite a few centimeters in spite of the kneeling, not helped by how Vy was sitting, but he still said in a gentler voice, "Go ahead. I shall make the time for you to speak freely."

Vy pursued her lips. Okay. She had permission. But, was it really okay?

To voice such a silly thing...

Her heart beat once, twice, then—

"...Do you think I'm helping Aya-san enough, Count?"

Dantes slowly blinked at her, clearly not expecting her voiced line of thought. "...Helping?" he echoed.

Vy blushed, turning her head away and ignoring the urge to clutch at the hems of her cape provided by her Mages' Association uniform. "Aye," she admitted. "I'm just wondering, really, if... if I'm really helping her. That's all."

Dantes stayed remarkably silent.

Vy flubbed, feeling heat start to climb up her cheeks. The faint scent of expensive tobacco wafting off of Dantes from the closeness wasn't exactly helping much. Vy couldn't wish for Robin Hood or some of the other Servants to come to her rescue right now. She made this bed. It was time to lie in it. "I-I mean, I know we're fellow Masters! And in a time like the Incineration of Humanity, we're supposed to help each other!" But, but—my mana levels suck, I overwork a lot without meaning to, I can't help but sleep in sometimes when I'm tired, I— "But, but sometimes I wonder," Vy said instead, taking a few deep breaths to try calming the anxiety starting to wash over her brain. "...To a Servant like you, Count, who's been with Aya-san since the beginning, am I..."

"..."

Am I strong enough? Am I good enough?

Am I helping her enough?

"Am I being a good enough friend to her?" It took all of Vy's courage to turn her head back to look into the Count's yellow eyes. Even with her cracking, higher-pitched voice, she finished her bit with a tinier, "What do you think, Count?"

The ball was in his court now. Edmond Dantes could judge in whatever way he wanted at this point. And it was because of that Vy was scared.

Still, Dantes blinked at her again. His shoulders seemed to relax as soon as Vy was looking at him, and Vy blinked back once he raised one hand.

Vy probably should've expected Dantes to rest said hand on top of her head again, but she still flinched once his fingers brushed her hair. The look in his yellow eyes as he did this reflected a lot of things.

Wonder, amazement, and... and gratitude?

"...Vy," Count said finally, a long exhale following the call of her name. "Little flower, to my Accomplice, you are a guiding light post."

"Light...post?"

Dantes merely patted her head again, and the smile on his lips seemed sad in spite of the warmth reflected in his yellow eyes.

"It should be obvious to even you that Ayako walks the depths of hell. For her, my Accomplice, I would gladly follow her into hell," he elaborated, his hand still patting Vy's head. The touch was cold, but still gentle. "But for you, little flower..."

"Muu?"

Dantes sighed at the unsaid question Vy posed through one of her instinctual noises, pulling Vy in by the back of her head as a response. Vy did her best not to wince once his forehead hit hers. Still, she thought, Ow.

Yet somehow, through the sparkles that blew up in her vision from the sudden headbutt, Vy could faintly see Dantes smile again.

"Vy, my Accomplice would not be alive without you. And for a little flower of change like you, I would gladly walk into the light I abhor just to see you bloom again."

Vy blinked, just once, and with the sparkles gone from her eyes, Dantes too had disappeared.