#similar to the witches from madoka

[specterslefteyebrow]

dude, youll never believe what my humanization design of a plant looks like that i made 3 days ago...

she still doesn't have a name (I am not looking for suggestions) full page under the cut

[greatgoddyke]

some bobbles (+ two unfinished things)

[magireco-collection]

Magia Exedra Livestream Summary!

I started watching it halfway, and my Japanese isn't perfect, so feel free to correct me if you see any missing or wrong info.

From what I understand, Magia Exedra will be similar to HSR. Open-world game with turn-based combat and 3D designs! It will be available on Steam, PC, Playstore, etc and there will be a global server too!!!

These are the 3D models of Madoka and Iroha. They look amazing!

We will be able to use up to 5 characters per team, and instead of Memorias, we will get Portraits to use on our characters.

There are gates and stars too. We will probably pass from the gates to fight witches, and collect the stars to get our beloved megucas!

Last but not least, a bit info about the story:

The shadow is called Namae (Name). She lost all of her memories and sense of self, she has no idea why she turned out like this.

The matcha kyubey is called AQ. During the livestream, they kept saying it is different than the Kyubey we know. I think I understand why:

AQ is pronounced Eikyuu. It is possibly a pun for EQ (Emotional Intelligence). If that's the case, then this one is capable of feeling emotions.

I am so excited for this new game, and I suggest everyone to collect side story megucas (Tart, Oriko, Kazumi, etc) because we saw them on PV and we might be able to transfer their data from Magia Record if they allow us to use our characters!

[tothepointofinsanity]

I could probably explain this more another time, but I genuinely believe Sayaka, being the other character who consistently afflicts grief and suffers from soul-breaking despair, is the most witch-like among the cast, where she’s typically seen hanging out with the familiars and motifs belonging to other Witches, even being able to change the environment to resemble the labyrinths she had once been in.

Sayaka has that persistent air of mystery similar to Madoka, but Madoka is shrouded in divinity while Sayaka is changed by the Witches’ arcane nature.

[usagifuyusummer]

Oh, its a FOP Madoka Magica AU fanfic... 🥺🥺🥺😢😢😢

I think the baseline draft here so far is pretty solid. I understand the premise of the plot and how and why it went there. I'm not sure if this fic has a definite ending or if this is just the background prologue explanation story to Timmy's whereabouts in FOPANW.

So..., who granted that wish? Was it the Fairy Council? Or is it his Fairy Godparents?

After the wish has been granted, does this make Timmy similar to the other mythical (magical beings that are different/above than fairies) creatures like Father Time, Cupid, Easter Bunny, etc.?

I'm understanding Timmy now is kinda like an overseer of the universe after that wish. That makes him somewhat OP and omnipotent lmao.

Also, kinda sad that he doesn't find value in continuing his life in the physical world. ("It's A Wishful Life" episode kinda hinted at this type of outcome as a possible future, what i mean is he doesn't think of himself so highly but he cares about others too much, like his fairy family) 🥺🥺🥺

Still, I think this fic has a solid foundation! I'm wondering how can Hazel help in reuniting them, since Timmy isn't exactly accessible through normal means now.

I'm just not sure how this fic will be executed in full (or if it's just a short story, it depends on you, you're the writer). Still, I am intrigued and fascinated so far.

Besides that, I don't mind being tagged if you just want outsiders opinions on something. I'm a pretty flexible guy. It's just that sometimes I might be too busy or what you're asking is out of my depth of knowledge that I can't help much. Those are the only limitations that I can think of though.

Yeah, so have fun with the fic! I don't mind if you want to continue this discussion though. If you're going to just continue writing, then good luck! I will check it out when you're ready to share it.

I'm not sure how to tag you lol, so I will just type this as a repost.

I'm working on a Fop au where a 17 year old Timmy wants to wish himself out of existence- but for real this time.

I have the basic outline pretty much done but not really at a point where I want to share it. Hopefully I'll get there this weekend.

To make a long story short, Timmy couldn't wish himself out of existence but, he made such a convincing case to the Fairy Council that, they let him rewrite history so he could avoid making most of his more catastrophic wishes. Effectively writing the current version of Timmy out of existence.

There are some things Timmy couldn't change per the Fairy Council, ruining Crocker's life being one of them. And Timmy refuses to unwish his baby brother.

Timmy's final request was that he could watch over his fairy family and make sure they never question why their memories don't quite line up with reality.

The Council agrees but due to some unforseen circumstances Timmy can only oversee Cosmo and Wanda, he has no influence on Poof/Peri. So he just has to hope that Peri doesn't question anything.

The part I'm stuck on is the part where it ties into a new wish.

In this Au Dev still has Peri. I'm going to be vague on if he never lost Peri to begin with or if he was given a second chance later on since it's not really relevant to the plot of the fic.

I want Hazel and her friends to be the ones responsible for reuniting Timmy with his fairy family. I just don't know how Timmy would be brought up.

If anyone has any questions or suggestions please share!

[lacevalentines]

(madoka magica / rebellion spoilers below. TW: suicide and controlling behavior)

I don't know the direction in which walpurgisnacht rising will take homura's character but I can say with confidence that from at least where rebellion left off that I truly believe that homura made the decision that she felt was the most correct one even if it meant she had to become a monster in the eyes of every person that loved her. she felt that if things were left in the way the law of the cycle was currently running things that it was inevitable that kyubey would eventually capture madoka in her goddess form, study her, and use her to as a source for mass amounts of energy at the suffering of herself, the others within the law of the cycle, and magical girls at large again. this is something he explains very clearly when talking to homura before her transformation into homulilly.

I get so exhausted when I see people try characterize homura as an actually evil person with completely selfish desires and no regard for others. all of her actions, while not explicitly explained outright, when looked at closely always indicate that she does things out of her care for the other girls but feels like she bears the burden of having to do it alone because she believes she's the only one who doesn't let her emotions get in the way of protecting madoka and the others from kyubey and sometimes each other.

I will always use the scenes of her interactions with mami and sayaka in rebellion as huge examples of this. she has no reason not to kill them if she's a completely selfish and unemphatic person that only cares about madoka and no one else when given many opportunities to do so. I also don't personally think she keeps them around JUST because of madoka's happiness either. she very easily could have suppressed their roles in madoka's life with the world rewrite and clearly choose not to. I believe her mocking sayaka and acting in a clearly "evil" manner is deliberate acting on her part to frame herself as a villain. she might believe this would her actions more palatable and will create distance between herself and everyone else to protect them as well as allow her to assert more control in this situation. it is further emphasized how she truly feels with imagery displayed in homura's new world around herself (shoes abandoned on the side of a building to potentially indicate suicidal ideation, a half moon alluding to homura feeling unfulfilled and unhappy with this decision, her dancing around happily before stopping and slowly falling off the cliff side with a similar implication as the shoes).

homura's relationship with the others is incredibly complicated but she cares for them deeply too as they are also people she considers friends, she just had a particularly strong attachment to madoka. we don't get to see as many instances of her interacting with them as we do them interacting with each other as we are unfortunately only really privy to homura's life after she began looping for the most part but we can see it in the way she has expresses concern and distress for them in moments where she believes they are in real, tangible danger of being hurt (she's winces and tries to turn away when aiming for mami's leg and screams out when she believes mami is about to be truly harmed after their gun fight, which neither ever had the real intention of hitting one another with any of those bullets in the first place). her entire witch's labyrinth is one where everyone is happy and gets the lives they desire. why would her labyrinth, which is meant to reflect in-part her inner feelings and desires, appear that way if she didn't truly want that for everyone?

rebellion is so compelling to me for all of this and so much more!! (I could write a whole other post on the way it presents it's freedom with danger vs control with safety question at the end of the film) she is a girl who has repeatedly suffered incredibly traumatizing events and longs for a world where the person she loves and the friends she considers dear are safe. homura is not really the devil, but she wants to appear to be because being the devil would be easier than being a human being in these circumstances.

[djljpanda]

hello. it is i, cheeskake. i would like to request Alastor x a reader that is an overlord similar to witches from Puella Magi Madoka Magica? like, reader can transform between a normal demon form and this crazy jumble of things and misery, and reader is just an over-all bringer of despair. bonus points if reader is seen as generally very abnormal and creepy. THANK YOU ☆

Alastor X Witch Overlord Reader

(Based on madoka magica)

Just like Alastor you when you got into hell your name became instantly recognized. I think Alastor was really interested in you and just loved the devastation you bring.

You guys only formed a relationship with something similar like goals. You were very creepy in your normal form as you are silent like a ghost, move fastly through shadows, and your blank stares can send a shiver up anyone's spine.

But that's what Alastor likes and you find some of what Alastor said funny and you listen to his radio show.

But Alastor knew he wanted to be in a relationship when you showed your true form, a big looking witch that looks like it's been made with metal, color fabric, and how the background was dangerously colorful as well. He loved that form and the way it took so many lives, brought so much chaos, he couldn't ask for more.

You two would be the perfect partners in crime. Just you two alone can cause so much damage in the happy hotel. But you two love each other in your own sickly twisted way.

[atamascolily]

A few more observations on the second Walpurgis no Kaiten trailer, building on my earlier post. This trailer is so detailed and so intricate, I can really only watch it shot by shot in slow motion, otherwise I miss too much, otherwise it all goes by too fast.

The scallop shells on the handbag look similar to the scallop shell hand mirror that Homura is holding.

I can't decide if teapot on the table has the same pattern/design as the cup in this other shot. There are at least 2 tea parties in this trailer, and possibly more that we haven't seen yet.

Speaking of which, the angle on the stabbing shot suggests that the person is stabbing themselves in the arm--it looks like the salamander, representing Devil Homura's power, is trying to get to them, only to get stabbed by what appears to be a box cutter blade (??) and then it morphs into a cuff to try and control the person anyway. So I think perhaps Devil Homura will have a tea party of her own, though it's not clear to me yet if she's meeting with the green-haired girl in the glass dome or not. Or maybe someone else is meeting for tea and the salamander tries to sneak up on them when Devil Homura is not present. TBD.

Before the salamander becomes a cuff, though, it forms this lattice network first:

Oh, and you know where else the box cutter turns up? The box fan shot, of course. There is something sticking out of the middle left side of the box that looks suspiciously like a handle. And given that the box is all cut up enough to be taped together... well, that certainly seems like some kind of sabotage, doesn't it?

(SHAFT, are you giving us a magical girl whose weapon is a box cutter?? Or is this the Doppelganger Homura's answer to the salamander/dark orb? Either way, I'm here for it.)

The "fragile, handle with care logo" looks an awful lot like the cracked glass in this shot, too. Things are holding together, what is damaged is being repaired, but for how long??

Sayaka in the theater is literally experiencing a flash of insight, likely heralding a return of the memories Homura took from her at the end of Rebellion.

It seems like Sayaka is going to be in a unique position in this movie, since she is both magical girl and witch, and it sure looks like the witches are coming back (along with Walpurgisnacht!) It begs the question of whose side is she going to be on, and I suspect she'll be conflicted about that.

This other shot also suggests some kind of soul-searching, given that mirrors/portraits/stained glass on the walls were used to symbolize Homura regaining her memory in Rebellion. However, the books that are frozen specifically appear to be associated with the "book of witches" in another shot and the books piled up in the background behind Kyubey:

You can see one of the Anthonies (Gertrud's puffballs) in this shot along with other witches. Each page looks like an illuminated manuscript and/or possibly a card (?). You can tell Inu Curry had a lot of fun with this one!

There are madeleines in one of the jars behind Mami, which are associated with memory (cf. Proust's A la recherche du temps perdu) but the jar is closed and they are out of reach.

I'm really leaning towards this girl being an alternate Nagisa given the similarities between this shot and an early character design from Rebellion. (Either that or they just recycled the design, lol.) I can see the resemblance to the bear girl from episode 12, but somehow I think SHAFT is gonna stick to established characters/witches, especially given the witch book shot.

I think the exploding white feathers are from the same scene as Madoka-Doppelganger Homura waltz, and either represent Madoka regaining her memories or something going out of control and/or an interruption. TBD.

Anyway, that's all I got for the moment.

[puellamagiholyquintet]

My theory regarding our 3 new girls:

We all know that Nagisa and Sayaka are Madoka's "secretaries", brought back from becoming witches, so I immediately thought of these 3 in the same way.

With that background information in place, I went through the list of witches in the original 2011 TV anime:

Charlotte, Gertrude, Elsa Maria, Oktavia, H.N.Elly, Gisela, Roberta, and Walpurgisnacht. (I didn't include the ones we only saw familiars for)

We can immediately rule out Charlotte & Oktavia since we all know they are Nagisa & Sayaka. Furthermore, I doubt either of them are going to be Walpurgisnacht because we already know she's an amalgamation of girls, and who I have a separate theory for.

That leaves: Gertrude, Elsa Maria, Gisela, Roberta and H.N Elly.

After that I decided to rule out the witches we only saw in flashbacks, which were Roberta & Gisela.

So, we have a perfect 3 witches left: Gertrude, Elsa Maria, & H.N Elly.

I think the most on-the-nose obvious one would be the green girl as gertrude:

She obviously has the green hair which is commonly associated with plants, i personally was reminded of leaves or trees when i saw her, which are present in the background. She also has a purse with flowers on it, but other than visually there isnt much else to go off of.

A friend of mine brought up that the tattoo on her nail isn't the same as the symbol on Gertrude's grief seed:

Initially I'd said it could've been a placeholder or that it disproved the theory but I later realised that Mami's fingernail is also different to her soul gem & grief seed, so it's still possible.

What I think takes away the credibility of the theory is the lack of rose imagery, considering gertrud's obsession.

Secondly, H.N Elly as Cinnamon Buns:

The reason I think she's H.N Elly and specifically not Elsa Maria, is because of this section of the puellamagi wiki:

And we can see this girl is still a mitakihara student, probably a first year at that since she seems young, as a similar age to Nagisa.

Its also evident that Elly has pigtails, which I thought held some relevance since Mami's hair looks like ribbons, parallel to Candeloro's arms being ribbons, and Nagisa's pigtails being present in Charlotte: (PART 1: REBLOG, CHECK TAG "PUELLA'S KAITEN THEORY" )

[wazzuppy]

SPOILERS FOR THE NEW WALPURGISNACHT RISING TRAILER!!!!

And now for some other random things I noticed. Sequel-ish to my previous post.

Homura now has slight curls in her hair. It might also be more purple than before? Though that could just be because of the lighting.

Madoka looks really surprised and confused, but Homura looks all soft and somberly warm. Did she just randomly start dancing with her out of nowhere? 😭 Homura's such a gay little mess, I love her.

Was Homura fighting something here? The way she falls feels less like a dramatic one that she did of her own volition (like at the end of Rebellion) and more like she's in actual danger. Plus, she's in her devil form and the scenery doesn't look normal. I would say it's a witches labyrinth, but no labyrinth we've seen has ever looked like this— this one looks almost heavenly by comparison. Maybe there's some kind of new threat, or perhaps Wraiths are going to come back and get a proper labyrinth of their own. She might even be fighting another magical girl, and they're just in a barrier of some kind high above the city.

This teacup. I feel like this teacup is so important, but I have no idea what it could mean. However I do know what those golden cracks are. That's an example of Kintsugi, where broken things are repaired by mending the cracks with gold. It treats being broken and fixed as part of the object's history, rather than something to be hidden.

Also, this girl's eyes are golden and her hair is green like the tea inside the cup. The spoon and other parts of the tea-set are golden as well.

Nagisa has a new friend!! I thought maybe this orange haired girl might have been the unnamed magical girl from the first trailer (the one who fought with a bow), but that girl only had a single ponytail as opposed to pigtails.

Although... This girl kind of looks like what would happen if Nagisa and orange hair fused together.

And this other (same?) girl with orange pigtails is seen with Kyubey. Her outfit looks a lot like Kyoko's original outfit, too. Hmmm... I wonder if this is Kyoko's little sister? And she's been brought back because of Homura having rewrote the world? Kyoko does go to school with the rest of the girls now. She could have altered more about her life than just that.

Actually, this witch/familiar from earlier in the trailer has orange hair too. Does this mean something or is it just a coincidence???

Anyways, speaking of Kyoko, we get to see a bit more of her new outfit in this shot here. She now has puffed sleeves similar to Madoka's, and her dress in general looks much frillier. It feels a lot more girlish and cute, as opposed to coolness of her original design. Maybe it's a reflection of how Kyoko is happier in this new world?

Is Sayaka in her original outfit here? And just where the hell is she? Wasn't there a location like this in Rebellion, or am I just misremembering?

We see a flash of Oktavia in this shot, but Sayaka seems surprised and confused by it. Maybe she's had her memories erased since the end of Rebellion and doesn't remember Oktavia at all. Although, her shock may just be because it was so sudden.

Also, Sayaka's new outfit has more gold detailing than her original one!

So, the presence of the lizard makes me think that this is Homura. It looks like she may be attempting to cut it out of her, only for her blood to solidify and straight up break the knife (? possibly a boxcutter?). She may be trying to rid herself of her power in some way, or if this is a different girl entirely (the tea makes me think it could be Mami or the green haired girl from before), they're trying to get rid of Homura's influence.

This shot is interesting. It shows a white feather turning black as it falls from a heavenly-looking sky. This is probably a reference to not only fallen angels, but the status of Madoka's godhood. It's initially high in the sky with her, but is pulled down to Earth and turned dark as Homura takes it for herself.

[shortcakecuties]

Madoka magica x Twisted wonderland! (And reader >u<)

Summary, In which the madoka cast stumbles upon a mirror, leading them to somewhere unknown...

I will write a part 2 to this or make hcs to this !!

Ask by @themoshi666 ♡

The quintet was on daily witch patrol, just like any other evening. As they all entered the entrance to a labyrinth, they were greeted with a sweet lullaby.

"I thought these labyrinths were supposed to be scary, this witch is definitely is gonna be a cake walk." Kyoko commented confidently, her voice echoing in the elegant halls. The halls looked similar to a castle from a fairy tale, having huge windows showing fake scenery.

"I feel like a princess in here! Whoever turned into a witch definitely had taste." Sayaka mentioned, completely captivated by the beautiful architecture.

They finally arrived to what seemed the entrance to the main part of the labyrinth. All of them prepared their weapons to attack. Homura pulled the giant wooden doors and there it was, the witch. The majority of it was a mirror, with a face? Some of the quartet was distracted by the strange coffins levitating and the paintings of famous childhood stories decorated all over the strange patterned walls. "Its like someone's childhood here..." madoka mumbled. Sayaka agreed, "I kind of feel bad trying to kill this witch." Homura quickly interjected their conversation. "This is a witch, it's not human anymore. let's go."

No doubt that they were being bested by this witch. One by one they were getting exhausted. The labyrinth kept changing from a castle littered with hearts and checkered floor to an ocean with fish of all kind swimming around. With each place change, it kept getting stronger. It didnt help that their soul gems were getting quite clouded with darkness.

Kyoko yelled at everyone, "We have to go! Were getting nowhere with this fight!" Madoka looked over just for second and suddenly felt a sharp pain behind her. The tentacles of the sea witch had hit her. Homura caught a quick glance of it and yelled "Madoka!"

She fell to the floor hard near where they had all entered. Homura quickly came to her aid. The rest had given up quickly and rushed to the entrance. The wooden doors was now a huge coral blocking the entrance. Mami tried shooting at it but it wouldnt budge. Before everyone knows it, they were cornered. They all thought their last moments would be near as the sea witch swung her tenticals their way. Before they could feel any pain, a blinding light overtook their senses.

☆

Spending after school cleaning with ace, deuce, and grim was not on your plan today... Yet they somehow managed to drag you down with them. You sigh as you wipe down the mirror in the mirror chamber. Hearing them bicker for the 10th time today was getting to you. "It was not my fault! Those hedgehogs have a mind of their own!" Ace complained. Deuce followed up with, "all because you wanted to take a break...yeah, definitely not your fault." Grim snickered at ace and once again they continued to fight.

Suddenly you noticed something weird about the mirror it had a faint glow to it...maybe its just your imagination? The glow started to intensify little by little. You wanted to ask the trio about, "Hey-" before you could even finish, a blinding white light enveloped the room and you felt something push you down.

Multiple grunts of unfamiliar voices filled your ears. Once the light died down, there was revealed to be four, no..five girls? You were frozen in place once you saw one of the girls point a gun at you.

"Where are we?" Homura demanded. Ace and deuce tried to get closer but homura pointed the gun at them instead.

"Damn! You don't have to be hostile! You're the ones who came out of nowhere!" Ace argued back. Mami held her arm out, blocking homura's aim of fire.

"I dont think we're in a labyrinth anymore. These are actual humans." Mami stood up and apologized "Sorry, we were previously in a battle before this, were kind of shaken up."

Deuce finally spoke up, clearly confused, "then why are you guys in school uniforms?" To their dismay, their transformations faded. Quickly the rest of the girls stood up and walked up to mami,

"our soul gems look fine but I cant transform!" Sayaka panicked. Then quickly asked the boys, "how can we go home?! We're completely magicless here!"

You lift yourself up from the floor and walked over to the group, "all you have to do is go up to the mirror and say where you came from." You spoke, you had a gut feeling that it wouldnt work and they'll maybe end up just like you.

Madoka went up to the mirror and sternly told it, "bring us back to Mitakihara city!" The mirror did nothing. It only replied, "there is no such thing as Mitakihara city."

Everyone just stood in silence as they took in the information. You hate how you're always right.

☆

[tomtefairytaleblog]

Diamonds, Toads, and Dark Magical Girls

According to Bill Ellis in "The Fairy-Telling Craft of Princess Tutu: Meta-Commentary and the Folkloresque," the fairy tale of Cinderella can be seen as one of the earliest examples of the transformation sequences/henshin seen in magical girl anime, particularly in how the title character is given items that help her achieve a goal, usually given to her by a magical being (her mother's spirit in a tree, a fairy godmother, etc.).

Thinking again about the connection between magical girls and fairy tales--even if they aren't as meta as Tutu, many magical girls do use imagery and ideas from European fairy tales (Sailor Moon alone has references to Hans Christian Andersen and Charles Perrault)--I wondered what other character types from the genre may have some precedent in fairy tales. Then I started thinking about the Dark Magical Girl character.

Not every magical girl story has a Dark Magical Girl, but they do crop up in a lot of works. To name a few, there's Fate Testarossa from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, Homura Akemi from Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Rue/Kraehe from Princess Tutu, and countless others that would be too numerous to name. In general they tend to be more cynical, darker counterparts to the main protagonists, who tend to come from relatively more stable environments. Whatever magic they possess also may be more sinister, at least initially.

Tying in somewhat to the story of Cinderella is the Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index fairy tale type "The Kind and Unkind Girls" (ATU 480). Many of the stories of this type involve a rivalry between two stepsisters, one being favored by the stepmother due to being the latter's biological daughter. The general idea in most versions of the tale is that both girls encounter a magical being at separate points in time. The kind girl helps the magical being in some way, at which point the magical being gives her a magical ability or magical presents. Meanwhile, the unkind girl refuses to help the magical being and is cursed in some fashion, or, worse, killed. The kind girl meanwhile usually ends up marrying a prince, or a similar character. One of the more popular versions of this story, "Diamonds and Toads," has the kind girl gain the ability to have a jewel or flower fall from her mouth when she speaks, while the unkind girl is cursed to have toads and snakes fall from hers. And while the kind girl does marry a prince, the unkind one is kicked out of her house and dies alone in the woods. (Insert something about Revolutionary Girl Utena's comment about how a girl who cannot become a princess is doomed to be a witch.)

Typically in these fairy tales, the unkind girl is never shown to be a real threat to the kind one; the ultimate threat is the stepmother, who uses her daughter as a means to an end. In contrast, Dark Magical Girls tend to have, well, magic that helps them attack the magical girl protagonist. In this regard, they're the Heavy in the plot, while the witch/mother-like figure/real enemy waits in the background (as is the case in a lot of magical girl shows--the Raven and Rue, Precia and Fate, Fine and Chris in Symphogear etc.). Sometimes the Dark Magical Girl will be a major threat, though--like the Princess of Disaster in Pretear (who is loosely-inspired by the Evil Queen in Snow White).

In The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales (1976), Bruno Bettelheim argues that the stepmother as a character is a way for children to process the negative traits of their own mothers, while still idealizing the good qualities of them. With that in mind, the unkind sister and the Dark Magical Girl can be viewed as a way of processing/externalizing the negative traits that a girl can have, being cruel, rebellious, and uncaring. They also embody their fears, too--the fear of being alone, rejected, and doomed to fail.

Of course, nowadays, Dark Magical Girls have a tendency to be redeemed and reconcile with/befriend the main magical girl, something the kind and unkind girls never seem to do in the fairy tales. Maybe it's just emblematic of society deciding that killing a girl off for being a little rude is a bit unfair. She's just a kid trying to find her place in the world, too, after all.

[liridus]

The loops, role reversals, and Walpurgisnacht: A PMMM meta

Madoka and Homura seem to consistently take on roles similar to each other. And because I haven’t been able to stop thinking about this, I’m going to write it all down. This stemmed primarily from NezumiVA’s video Understanding Madoka Magica- Part 2, especially where they pointed out that with each loop Madoka becomes more docile and the other magical girls tend to die earlier.

Timeline 1

At the beginning of the first timeline, Homura is relatively unconfident. When overwhelmed by others talking to her, Madoka steps in, and converse to what we see in episode 1, Madoka introduces herself as the nurses’ aid, asks to be called “Madoka” and asks if she can call Homura by her given name.

When Homura expresses hesitancy about her given name, Madoka says that it’s a cool name and Homura should become “cool” to match it. Immediately after this, we see a compilation of Homura performing relatively badly in both academics and athletics, both in front of an audience. While in both cases, others mention that she likely needs time to catch up, Homura seems to take this on herself. She also seems to have taken Madoka’s comment about becoming cool to heart, seeing herself as not being able to. Though most of this is likely amplified by the effect of the witch, Homura sees herself as being useless and a burden on others.

After Mami and Madoka save her and explain that they’re magical girls, we see Homura happy, visibly happy, opposed to earlier in the episode.

When Mami and Madoka fight Walpurgisnacht, Homura is the one to call attention to the fact that Mami just died, also here seemingly caring about death more directly than in other loops. As Madoka says that she is the only one left to defeat Walpurgisnacht, Homura pleads with her to run away, saying that no one would blame Madoka for doing so. Madoka persists, saying she is glad that she became a magical girl, eventually dying in the fight.

After Madoka dies, Homura is left with an immense amount of survivor’s guilt, placing emphasis on the fact that Madoka should not have died “Saving someone like her”. Bringing back ideas of her being a burden on others. Thus, as opposed to just saving Madoka, Homura wants to instead become someone who can protect Madoka, someone “cool” like Madoka wanted her to be. And most centrally, someone who would not be a burden, someone who others can rely on; someone who Madoka can rely on so she won’t need to fight alone.

This wish traverses time and continues to rewrite it. Homura finds a moment of gaining control in a moment that seems hopeless, and decides to take responsibility for the new world she wants to create herself, regardless of how long realizing this wish may take.

Through the loops, Homura continues to do what she believes is necessary to protect Madoka: she trains, she becomes less docile, she becomes more hostile to the other magical girls (especially Mami and Sayaka who more directly influence Madoka’s involvement as a magical girl). She becomes colder, and she physically loses aspects of herself (her braids, her glasses) that might stereotypically be associated with weakness, or her old self. Then we arrive at the present loop.

The series loop, loop n.

In the nth loop, Homura begins with taken on the initiative of reaching out to Madoka, who in this timeline is visibly more timid. She also seems to speak with less conviction than she used to in timeline 1. She seems hesitant to approach Homura as she previously had. Homura introduces herself, and initiates Madoka and herself referring to each other with their given names. Homura is notably leading the way this time.

Homura here has restarted their first meeting, however she seems to have taken on a role similar to Madoka back then. Here she issues Madoka her warning, telling her that she does not need to change, ironic considering that Homura’s timeline resetting seems to have affected Madoka’s personality the most.

Just like Homura in loop 1, we find here that Madoka does not see herself as anything special, the idea of becoming a magical girl in itself gives her a sense of joy and a sense of purpose. This is cast aside with Mami’s death. However, Madoka does try to help out in whatever way she can. The feelings of being a burden reach a hight for Madoka when Sayaka (at this point almost a witch), brings up how unhelpful she is despite having an enormous amount of potential (this likely coming from Sayaka’s frustration in not having the same abilities despite putting her all into her fights).

In this timeline, Homura has decided to, like Madoka in timeline 1, take Walpurgisnacht alone. But Madoka decided that she will not let her. With each timeline, Madoka becomes a magical girl later and later, this potentially being the latest in the timeline Madoka has become one. Madoka here decides on a wish to rewrite time, like Homura, and be directly involved, taking a position of control and executing her wish herself. She is also willing to take on this role for however long it might be necessary, similar to what Homura continues to do.

It is interesting to note that in every timeline despite what Homura does, Madoka in the end, due to the cosmic energy now tied with her, ends up becoming more powerful than her, and ultimately due to differences in how involved they want to be with the world, Homura is consistently unable to “save” her from her “fate”. Even when Madoka takes on Homura’s timeline 1 role, Homura is consistently unable to escape from her own role at the end of timeline 1; being helpless.

At this point Homura cannot restart as she usually would, and even if she was able to Madoka has become so powerful that Homura cannot be the one protecting her.

Rebellion

As a witch, Homura here is essentially causing herself misery and despair, perhaps partially due to the incubators containing her, or perhaps due to her self-loathing being so great that she first enacts it on herself.

The labyrinth she traps herself in is ideal where she and the others are safe. Interestingly, Homura here is Homura similar to herself in loop 1. As time passes, even with Homura figuring out the true nature of the world, she is essentially unable to do much able it, taking back her role from loop 1. Before her witch form takes root, there’s a scene with Madoka literally braiding her hair, putting her back into the mindset of this role. We see her consistently fail to save Madoka, consistently being helpless, consistently not being strong enough. Emphasized further by the Nutcracker imagery (Homulilly’s imagery is similar to the Nutcracker in the story of its’ namesake after it’s jaw has been cracker, rendering it useless. Pointed out by NezumiVA (Understanding Madoka Magica- Part 2)).

Rebellion changes things however, as here Homura learns that Madoka does not like her fate at the end of the series (interestingly, Madoka never said she was okay with in in the finale as far as I could find, she mostly just assures Homura that she technically won’t be alone). Homura at this point has tried to fight fate countless times, and each time, despite what she does, Madoka does get involved. Her braid unravels, things are moving away from their usual loop. At this point she realizes that she needs to protect Madoka from herself. She has to fight Madoka.

She pulls Madoka away from the circle, again taking on a role of control and resetting the world to create something that she desires (similar to the end of loop 1). However this time, similar to Madoka at the end of loop n, Homura herself moves outside of the loop, gaining power (likely connecting enough cosmic power to herself via the loops, largely unintentionally, to do so), and considering that Madoka here is now to be not in her God form, Homura finally has more power than her (and even in case of Madoka regaining her powers, she at least has a chance of having equal powers).

Loop n+1

When we reset this time, Madoka and Homura more literally switch roles from loop 1, with Madoka being the transfer student and Homura guiding her. Homura gives back Madoka’s ribbon, perhaps signifying that she will not be taking Madoka’s role in loop 1. Homura has decided that she will do everything necessary to keep Madoka safe, even if that means fighting her. Somewhat unwittingly, Homura also seems to have taken a little more of Madoka’s sacrificial nature here, seeming to have less self-preservation her than in the past, though this could also be due to the influence of her witch state.

Walpurgisnacht

Seeing that in the finale we see Madoka save magical girls before they become witches, I find it interesting that we do not see this for Walpurgisnacht.

From the wiki:

“Its nature is helplessness. It symbolizes the fool who continuously spins in circles. The Witch's mysteries have been handed down through the course of history; its appellation is "Walpurgisnacht." It will continue to rotate aimlessly throughout the world until It completely changes the whole of this age into a drama.”

As many others have pointed out, the chairs that appear randomly, for example in Madoka’s room, and the curtains that at points seem to resemble a stage with curtains and a seated audience.

At the beginning of Rebellion, as @atamascolily has pointed out here, there are several elements that go around in circles. Knowing what we know now about this being Homura’s world, and her time loops, essentially causing her and Madoka to circle and loop around one another, both literally and in terms of roles, and Homura’s primary fear being too helpless to have influence and help Madoka, I think at some point Homura or Homulilly becomes Walpurgisnacht, or the primary witch that triggers the creating of the merge of witches that we now know as Walpurgisnacht. As pointed out by @sayaberry, here, in the trailer for Walpurgisnacht Rising, Homura’s dress becomes similar to Walpurgisnacht’s. The loops also are consistently linked to Walpurgisnacht’s appearance, so she ends up keeping the cycle going. Additionally, it might be that the way that Homura might move away from the helplessness of not being in control, might be in taking total control via creating, essentially the ultimate show.

Also, interestingly, Walpurgisnacht and Madoka’s witch form, Kriemhild Gretchen are said to form two halves of an hourglass; together needing to literally switch places in order to reset time.

[its-gettin-weird]

"I want to be an admirable person. Like Mother Fortuna, who’s my role model. Or Geuse, who’s so kind and strong. Like Archi, who kept smiling until the very end, just so I wouldn’t be scared. Or Puck, who always protected me and never left me alone. Like Ram, who wished to do the one thing that would be the most helpful for someone who’s truly precious to her. Like Otto, who does his very best for his friends. Or Garfiel, who never once uttered a word of complaint. Like Subaru, who says he loves me, and does reckless things even when he’s wounded and hurting. I want to earn the respect of each of them. From now on, I want to be the one reaching out to help someone.”

It’s Emilia!

I don’t really have much to say about her in regards to what her powers or wish would be in relation to her design since in my au she hasn’t made a contract (yet… ;) and talking about it here would be spoilers lol), but what I can say is that I wanted her outfit to be very reminiscent of Madoka’s magical girl form (you know, for the Homura x Madoka / Subaru x Emilia parallel) (also some Satella elements like the roses because, you know :) ). I also took note of the spin-off magical girl event in the game Lost in memories where they have magical girl designs for some of the characters, and they happened to have one for Emilia, so I took a lot of inspiration from her outfit used there. Since the majority of y’all voted for her to have the main color in her outfit be white, I went with that for her top and boots and made most everything else a different shade of purple.

A quick aside, I really want to thank all of you who voted on the poll and gave positive comments/ feedback on not just the designs that I’ve made so far but on the art that I’ve been posting here since last year. I know saying this is cliché (and even saying it’s cliché is too) but it really does mean a lot seeing so many people like my art and my ideas. I have been posting art for a while now (on Instagram but I’m pretty new here so bear with me 😂) but I have never really seen as much engagement with my stuff as I have on other platforms and I’m really happy about that :) I have a hell of a lot more to make and show you not only about this au but in general, and I am so glad all of you will be able to see it and I hope you like it to. Thank you for everything so far!

Now with the sappy shit out of the way, I’ll go over a few last thoughts I had about Emilia’s weapon and soul gem.

I didn’t know what to give her for a weapon since in canon she makes a lot of her weapons out of ice, so I just decided to give her a typical magical girl wand/staff since I thought it would fit her and it’s what she wields in the Lost in Memories spin-off. I made the staff look similar to Madoka’s bow (again, parallels) with elements of the concept art for the magical girl rings in pmmm and of Madoka’s soul gem at the bottom. The crystal star shape on top of the wand is also a Madoka reference because it’s the same star on her grief seed and Law of cycles symbol / witch kiss. I also made it crystal sort of call back to Puck’s crystal.

Now for Emilia’s soul gem I made it look like a certain key that appeared in season two… It was based on the comment by a certain someone that said something along the lines of “imagine you are the key.”… This character is very important to this au not just in the world of Lugunica… :)

[wyfy-meltdown]

I'm betting my PMMM Tumblr posting permissions that Mabayu is Itzli.

Although Itzli definitely wasn't designed with the intent to be Mabayu's witch (because that was many years ago and they definitely weren't planning Scene 0 that far back), Mabayu seems like she was designed with the intent to be Itzli's magical girl.

Mabayu's dress pattern (and most official art depicting her with film rolls), matches well with the trim of Itzli's film roll (specifically the side edges of the film). This prominent film roll theme sticks out to me, as Team Madoka/MagiaRecord is good at avoiding unintentional similar themes between witches and magical girls to avoid confusion on their true magical girl/witch forms. Unless the film stuff is a BIG BIG COINCIDENCE, they are intented to look similar through the film reel themeing.

Itzli's description (from the wiki):

"The witch of oblivion, with a vengeful nature. A witch who is said to have originally been a magical girl who came from the end of the galaxy. She has shown herself now in order to forget about all the magical girls from this universe."

Itzli's description implies she wishes to be killed to finally forget about something. What could she be trying to forget? Homura's timeloops.

Mabayu has the unique ability to remember past timelines as well as move around when Homura stops time. Mabayu knows of what happens to magical girls. Mabayu sees everytime her friends die and/or become witches and has no goal to distract herself like Homura does. Mabayu becomes erased from existence; presumably only remaining in the incubator's memories (hence the far reaches of the galaxy) and being erased by Madokami's witch annihilation. Mabayu wants to forget the pain of the timeloop, and by extension, herself as a magical girl and her friends as magical girls ("she has shown herself now in order to forget about all the magical girls from this universe").

ALSO Itzli is the oblivion witch. Oblivion is the void, the void is nonexistence, IT'S ALL CONNECTED

ALSO ALSO The "vengeful nature" could possibly be towards Homura (or even Madoka) because of the timeloop taking away Mabayu's sanity, daily life, friends, and even existence.

It's not to hard for me to believe that Mabayu became Itzli at some point due to the stress of the timeloop; her sanity would decay and she'd be powerless to stop it. Even Homura, with all her time magic, eventually succumbed to being a witch simply because she couldn't hold on anymore. Mabayu, with no goal to hold onto, and no way to end the timeloop or at least to stop herself from remembering, would crack too (if not sooner and/or worse).

The connection to Walpurgisnacht exists both in Itzli and Mabayu. Itzli's familiars are nearly identical to Walpurgisnacht's, and Itzli is said to only show herself after Walpurgisnacht. Mabayu being in the timeloop is a direct result of Walpurgisnacht (since that's when/what starts Homura on her time shenanigans), and it can be presumed that Mabayu would have fought against Walpurgisnacht at some point.

The final point I'll talk about (at least for now) is the appearances: Mabayu's hair tips look like Itzli's roots, and her green moppy hair evokes the feeling of Itzli's surrounding brain goo(?). They both have a primarily green + purple palette (again, BIG COINCIDENCE if unintended). The ribbons on Mabayu also remind me of the stem and head(?) accessory on Itzli. (The brain shape is heavily connected to the concept of memory; with memories of Homura and other magical girls depicted on the side rolls.)

It's not hard for me to believe that they would give an interesting witch a magical girl in a movie because it's already happened before; Nagisa was only created for Rebellion after fans loved Charlotte. Itzli being one of the most interesting and lore-filled witches more than gives the chance that her magical girl could be featured in a movie.

In conclusion, if Mabayu isn't confirmed/revealed to be Itzli I. will. RIOT. They are perfect matches for eachother, and it will be extremely irrational to not have them be the same. (I will only accept Mabayu not being Itzli if she is instead revealed to be Walpurgisnacht).

Finally, I understand that Itzli is implied to be an alien magical girl, so please do not reblog/comment about the alien implications. I think that's pretty interesting, but Mabayu seems like such a perfect fit and my theorist brainrot must be fed.

[sayakxmi]

Saiouma Puella Magi AU, but Kokichi takes Madoka's role and Shuichi takes Homura's.

For one, Kokichi's too naturally distrustful to just hear "I can grant you any wish :)" and not think ok where's the hook. So he just does what no one ever has & essentially interrogates Kyubey, so he knows it all even before he gets to make a contract. So, some of his classmstes are MGs & he won't become one himself BUT he still ends up tagging along to just protect them in his Kokichi ways. (Though I'm entertaining Kokichi lying about being a magical girl, because, well, it's Kokichi).

(I also got a small idea of Gonta being a magical girls and Kokichi originally tagging along him into labyrinths, Gonta also makes him a magic gun from the toy one he had, and at some point witches out & Kokichi manages to kill him with that gun. So he always has that spare Grief Seed on himself, bc it's still his best friend & he can't handle the idea of just giving it away or using it himself (he does anyway in the end).)

Shuichi prolly ends up being a new kid & it isn't like MadoHomu, the ppl who reach him first are Kaede & Kaito, classic. Kokichi's there, too, but he's his usual sus self. He's actually discouraging ppl from making a contract when they find out magic and miracles are real, which absolutely includes Shuichi. He's very vocal abt it, but he won't explain stutf, bc 1) he's a liar, so who'd believe him? and 2) he doesn't want them to witch out upon finding out the truth or, idk, murder everybody Mami-style.

Anyway, fast forward, bad things happen bingo & by the end of the run most charas are dead, there's Walpurgis nachting, and he makes his wish to bring back the ppl who died notably not as magical girls. Contract signed, he fights & fails, rip. I also thought it was similar to how he thought he could end the killing game by himself - he though he could finish Walpurgisnacht by himself, too. And he failed in both times. Whatevs.

Shuichi doesn't actually make his time travel wish for Ouma specifically, he wants to save all his friends. Timelines are messy esp at first bc he either tells then or it backfires or just makes himself look very sus bc he's trying not to tell them. He also realizes why Kokichi hadn't told anybody aby witches at some point, bc, yeah, it messes them a lot, assuming they believe it.

Still, Kokichi ends up one of the few people who are nearly always giving him a chance, not necessarily out of belief, but out of pragmatism - bro can stop time & knows the truth, that's just too useful. So they often work together & Shuichi grows closer to him but still we ain't there yet. But the thing is, Shuichi's time travel still makes Kokichi more & more powerful with each timeline, bc Shuichi usually goes back after Kokichi dies, so the universe figured out this guy's life's important. Anyway, another notable thing is the iconic Homura kills Madoka scene, but it's Saiouma with guest stars of Kaito & Maki. It's Walpy, it's not defeated yet, but the training trio are spent & just kinda accept their fate of turning into witches together. And then, boom, Kokichi appears & steals their Soul Gems for a sec & he's like did u know you can cleanse your Soul Gem with a darkened one? But it's a lie & he quickly tells them so, he just had a spare Grief Seed after cleansing his Soul Gem & he needs them to do some stuff. Shuichi can travel back in time & fix things, and Maki & Kaito are needed to fight Walpy here. He actually questions what happens to the timelines Shuichi leaves behin, and ofc he doesn't know. There's a chance they remain, so Kokichi needs Maki & Kaito to fight Walpy here.

Kaimaki leave, and Shuichi finally looks at Kokichi & realizes sth is Wrong. Kokichi struggles to hide how he's trembling & grimacing, and it's Kokichi, so obviously it must be extremely bad. Shuichi dreadfully realizes something worse, and he weakly asks Kokichi why aren't his wounds healing. And Kokichi just falls, laughing weakly, and Shuichi catches him & searches for his Soul Gem and, God, he knew it. It's nearly completely black. Kokichi laughs & admits he lied abt having two Grief Seeds, he only had one he never wanted to use. But they'll have the second one soon, so no need to worry. He asks Shuichi to maybe destroy his witch form as it's hatching, so he'll have the Grief Seed without any fighting… and he admits that he hates fighting, he hates this magical world and all its violence. He says that Kaito was right in calling him a coward, even here he just can't handle the idea of fighting any longer, he's so sorry. And Shuichi tells him he ISN'T a coward. He was scared, but he always followed everybody, trying to help, and when push came to shove he would always make a contract for the benefit of others rather than himself. He's a lot of things, but a coward isn't one. Kokichi actually tears up hearing that, and Shuichi promises he won't let him fight ever again, and especially he won't let him turn into a witch and hurt anybody, because he knows it's the last thing he's ever wanted. Even now he only accepts turning into a witch to help them fight to keep others safe. So Shuichi won't let him. Kokichi probably apologizes and thanks him and then he dies.

Keeping Kokichi from fighting starts off as a side quest that gains importance with time, bc it's something Shuichi won't compromise on (ah, trauma), which leads him to occassionally neglect others a bit, which makes them more likely to get hurt & ironically Kokichi more likely to make a contract, especially since he gets more powerful & Kyubey is more interested in him with each timeline. And that also makes him witch out super quick. Shuichi's paying more attention to him & over time grows resentful of others for how they're treating him. To Shuichi it's no question that Kokichi cares & is just doing his best to help, but nobody realizes that.

But the biggest obstacle in keeping Kokichi from fighting is actually Kokichi himself, bc he's too smart and nosy, lmao. Even if he knows nothing, he will find out quickly. Doesn't help that Kyubey wants him to make a contract.

Also, obviously Kaito is Sayaka-coded and Maki could be Kyouko-coded, so that's a thing, BUT it's usually Maki that witches out. Kaito is usually pretty close, but Kokichi intervenes & he survives, but Maki later cracks on her own (and since in the new timeline Kokichi isn't there, Kaito's the one to die, so he's still the secretary). So it's Kaito who gets the dramatic sacrifice. I imagine he genuinely hoped you could bring somebody back if you tried Very Hard & Kokichi called him a moron bc obviously it's not possible. If it was there'd be far less witches that there are. But it's Kaito, he doesn't listen to reason. So, Kokichi follows him to the labyrinth. At first Kaito's mad cuz what if Kokichi being there ruins the plan? Maki hates his guts! But eventually he gets hit pretty hard, and Kokichi is near immediately by his side, trying to help him get up, which kinda makes Kaito short circuit a little bc wait Kokichi's trying to help? But witch!Maki attacks them & Kokichi pushes Kaito away & gets caught himself (and choked until unconsciousness, naturally). Anyway, Kaito gets him away, Shuichi catches Kokichi & Kaito makes up his mind about going down with Maki & asks Shuichi to tell Kokichi that he's sorry. He doesn't get him, but he got hurt trying to protect him, so he'll believe in that if nothing else. F.

As for The WishTM, in the last timeline Shuichi lashes out at Kokichi for his willingness to just become part of the system. In no timeline has his wish actually helped, it did NOTHINHG, which OUCH but it also makes Kokichi think out of the box more & he becomes the Law of Cycles. And Shuichi realizes what is happening & freaks out bc Kokichi's doing it bc of what he told him & like Homura they end up having a momentTM in space & Shuichi remembers. He feels a lot of guilt even tho he also questions whether anything was real, but if it was, he pushed somebody he far too realized he loved into erasing himself from existence.