#walpurgisnacht came and went with no madoka news | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

tsukiyadori · 11 months ago

Text

Reading (+Watching) Log 2023.09-11 - September to November

Trying this out, not sure if a continuation is feasible, this took a bit to collect...

Reading languages: German, English, Japanese, not listing which was what

Titles are as I've read them either first or most and thus remember it for that title mostly

Not going to bother putting in the original titles of translated reads

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

SEPTEMBER

Tried starting reading some of that little stack of doujins and failed to continue right after the first

Still in the middle of an Anime watching slump, but there's an actual tiny titbit watched. Somehow it was only now that I realized Puella Magi Madoka Magica apparently gets counted as a GL?

Anime:

Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movie: Walpurgisnacht Rising Trailer

Doujinshi:

Gusari (Natsuki Kizu) - Kuroko no Basketball Fanbook 2: Ashita no Tenki

Light Novel:

By the Grace of the Gods V2-5

Manga:

Aishiteru Game wo Owarasetai ch38-39 Ane no Shinyuu, Watashi no Koibito ch20-21.1 Boku no Diamond Star ch11-12.2 Buta no Liver wa Kanetsushiro ch29 By the Grace of the Gods Ch35.3-4 Cinderella Closet v6ch24 Deep Scar v2ch14 Die rachsüchtige weiße Katze und der Drachenkönig ch1Leseprobe Eikyuukei ch5 Girl Crush Ch46-52 Hari to Hitsuji no Fune ch7.2-8.1 I'm a Maid, but I've Pulled Out the Holy Sword?! Ch21-24 Juuban-sama no Enmusubi: Kamiari Hanayome Kitan ch2.2-3 Kakegurui Ch103 Kemutai Hanashi ch7-10 Kimi ni wa Todokanai ch40.1 Koisuru (Otome) no Tsukurikata bangai-wink Komorebi Shoutengai no Changing Wonder ch14 Leaving Our Truths to the Shooting Star ch1-4.3 Love is an Illusion - The Queen Intro ch1 Midnight Clubbing Sex V1 Midnight Delivery Sex v1 Miryou no Otome to Katabutsu Hittou Majutsushi no Hatsukoi Kiroku ch13.3-4 Moteki v1-3ch15 Motokare ga Fudanshi ni natte Orimashite v2 Mr. Mallow Blue ch27 My Regret ch9final.2 Noragami ch106.2-107.2 Oshi no Ko interlude 1-4 Oshi no Ko ch126 Phantom Seer v1 Prinz Freya v2-v6ch18 Promise Cinderella Ch119 Re:Zero the Mansion v1ch4 Seraph of the End ch117-129 Shuumatsu Touring ch32 Sonna Kazoku nara Sutechaeba? ch55-56 Taberare Usa ch67-70 Tenmaku Cinema Ch1-21 The Case Files of Jeweler Richard Masago Nasu Part 2-3 The Devil is a Part-Timer! v18ch90-94 The Villainess's Guide to (Not) Falling in Love Ch7-12.1 Unnamed Memory ch30.1-2 Verliebt in die Nacht v5-9 Watashi wo Tabetai, Hitodenashi ch32.1-3 What did you eat yesterday? v20 Yoshios Jugend ch1?

Notes:

Koisuru (Otome) no Tsukurikata - Excellent as usual, but only a special there

What did you eat yesterday? - Excellent as usual, but it was a wee bit weaker than the last one or two volumes

Oshi no Ko - I keep going back every week

Seraph of the End - What are they even doing now. This smelled like something inbetween queerplatonic to the edge of romance (? - albeit a not exactly healthy one) for a helluva long stretch, but then it just has to come around the corner of, hey, look, they weren't even humans. Well, ok, they weren't really all that "human" right of the beginning. But anyway, can we go back to having some more Mahiro? Thanks.

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

OCTOBER:

End of the month, at the same 27th October it was supposed to be a Jeweler Richard day as both the new English and Japanese volume were coming out. Things that went wrong: Seven Seas botched up v6's English release by leaving out the second half the Sinhalite extra case and the afterword. I also went out of my way to take a few days off to read the 13th's volume in Japanese in any sense of a safely time planed healthy manner right upon release, but entirely forgot, that ebooks have a delay in release date, so that one came out a week later. I was positively furious about my own stupidity and misplanning.

Light Novel:

Bottom Tier Character Tomozaki-kun v6.5 By the Grace of the Gods LN v6-9 The Case Files of Jeweler Richard Masago Nasu Part 4 The Case Files of Jeweler Richard v2.Garnet Reread The Case Files of Jeweler Richard きらきら星たちのパーティ

Manga:

100-nengo ni Tenseishita Watashi, Zense no Juukishi ni Kyuukonsaremashita: Heika wa Watashi ga Moto Oujo da to Okizukidenai you desu ch12.1-2 Aishiteru Game wo Owarasetai ch40-41 Ane no Shinyuu, Watashi no Koibito ch21.2 Ane no Shinyuu, Watashi no Koibito tokubetsuhen.1-2 Ano Natsu ga Houwa suru. ch11-12.1 Arte v13ch64-v16ch79 BL Game no Shujinkou no Otouto de aru Koto ni Ki ga Tsukimashita ch17 Boruto: Two Blue Vortex ch2-3 Buta no Liver wa Kanetsushiro ch30.1 By the Grace of the Gods c36 Dead Company v1-3 Dekiru Neko wa Kyou mo Yuuutsu ch100 Deliquent Daddy & Tender Teacher v1 Detektiv Conan v101 Flüster mir ein Liebeslied v1 Girl Crush Ch53-55 Harebare Biyori ch20.2 Hatsu * Haru v1ch4, v3-6 I've become an Omega Today v1 Isekai de Ane ni Namae wo Ubawaremashita ch12.2-14.1 Kemutai Hanashi ch11 Kimi ni wa Todokanai ch40.2 Koisuru (Otome) no Tsukurikata Ch71-72 Kuni Watari no Renkinjutsushi: Ouji ni Damasare Oukyuu wo Oidasareta Watashi wa, Aru Tabi no Ichidan to Deaimashita ch6.3-7.2 Loop 7-kaime no Akuyaku Reijou wa, Moto Tekikoku de Jiyuu Kimama na Hanayome Seikatsu wo Mankitsusuru ch26-27 Love is an Illusion - The Queen ch2 Miryou no Otome to Katabutsu Hittou Majutsushi no Hatsukoi Kiroku ch13.5-14.3-4 Motokare ga Fudanshi ni natte Orimashite v2-v3ch18 My Dear Agent v1ch4 My Regret ch9final.3 Noragami ch108 Okazari Ouhi ni Nattanode, Kossori Hataraki ni deru koto ni Shimashita ~Usagi ga Iru node Hitorine mo Sabishiku Arimasen!~ ch20-21.4 Oshi no Ko ch127-130 Rental Girlfriend v17-v18ch157 Seraph of the End ch130 Shinde Miro to Iwareta no de Shinimashita. ch5.1-2 Sonna Kazoku nara Sutechaeba? ch57-58 Taberare Usa Ch74-75 Motokare ga Fudanshi ni natte Orimashite v3ch17 The Lady Likes a Nerd over Princes Ch1-7 The Saint's Magic Power is Omipotent ch36-37.2 The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent: The Other Saint ch1-4.4, ch21.1-4 The Valiant Must Fall v1-v2ch18 Watashi wo Tabetai, Hitodenashi ch33.1 Yomei Ichinen to Senkokusareta Boku ga, Yomei Hantoshi no Kimi to Deatta Hanashi ch6-7.1 Your Tears are Mine Ch1-25 今日からここで暮らシマす!? ch1

Notes:

Arte turned into out to be surprisingly good after all. Both characterization and artstyle (especially on Arte herself) have gone quite a long way compared to the beginning. Irene is posively an awesome character and the covet yet devoted and subtly beautiful one sided GL-side plot was a surprise addition I hadn't expected at all.

Boruto: Two Blue Vortex - Sarada your earrings are actually pretty, but do you know some space time jutsu to freeze your coat in space like that without ever falling off despite all sorts of moves and jumps?

By the Grace of the Gods - The MC is technically this super overpowered character stereotype that is quite prevalent, but there's something about this character just going methodically step by step and just conquering everything that somehow never makes him come off as boringly OP. Also it has quite some iyashikei effect properties to it. It kinda feels... healthy. (Well it is a story about healing.)

Dead Company - This was kinda trash that had me confused if I missed out on some prequel (I didn't, there's only Doubt and Judge otherwise), and while it goes and explains the foundation mechanics of those two, it effectively is just a short version of Btooom.

Deliquent Daddy & Tender Teacher - Soft cheese, it kinda is predictable, but there is nothing offensive about it and propagates a healthy relationship, so worth a mention especially in the BL department. Obligatory spicy extra chapters remain cursed, but this was at least inerweaved with the characters and their relationship progression.

Girl Crush - This series has been excellent before, but with chapter 54 it has become a marvel that positively floored me. The climax of that chapter was nothing short of awesome. It's also such a great culmation of the main character's, Tenka's, character development progression in a nutshell. She was that character, which she is employed to depict in a music video, she met someone, showered her with irritation and jealousy, couldn't stand herself so resolved to leave it all behind and pursue getting that one thing she was so jealous of by going into the same career. But she also can't have in the same way, so grinds to the place in her own meticulous way. Gets this acting job where she's playing a role very like her past self and she pulls it out with this beautiful scene reel while thinking of what she almost became and then throws the papers for the scene but also at her past self. It's such a picturesque showing of how you can still be ashamed of what you were and did in the past, but still look back at it and use the experience to forward yourself instead of just desperately trying to bury it. I'm cursing and crying: Why does this series not have a print version. Neither in English nor Japanese or anywhere. 😭

Hatsu * Haru - I've read some vols of Yuzuki-san Chi no Yon Kyoudai from the author and that one was pretty good, but this this one is a patience wrecking piece of Highschool-Shoujo-Cheese. It does have some fairly interesting paneling here and there. But darn it, it's just exhausting.

I've become an Omega Today - Certainly wins a price in the "if you only talked (but then we'd have no plot)" category. Noteworthy tho for especially being Omegaaverse and not abusive or dubiously coercive. (How sad that this is something noteworthy.) Also interestingly this is the third in the set now that shares the same visual character design and personality template as I Hear the Sunspot and Summer with You.

Isekai de Ane ni Namae wo Ubawaremashita - Cute, nice dresses and just gimme those hairdoes, too.

Koisuru (Otome) no Tsukurikata - Very good as usual, this now has a sort of Aishiteru Game wo Owasetai arc atm, but it's a helluva better one.

Speaking of Aishiteru Game wo Owarasetai, sigh, I'm really not liking how it introduces some kinks, depicts the courage it needs to confess to it to your crush, only for the narrative to keep using it for gags that ultimately imo are based on shaming on it.

Motokare ga Fudanshi ni natte Orimashite - I previously had read the first few free chapters and then the end of the series on pixiv as it ran. I thought they were all just kind dense adorkable adults or a bit of late bloomers, but then it turns out that of the four main characters 3 are looking very demi aro/ace, and furthermore it gets revealed that two of them are about as officially aroace as you can possibly be without using the label.

My Regret - Finished. Excellent series that I had started at around the same time as My Diamond Star which both had me confused if it was supposed to be BL or not. The latter turned out to be one, this one pleasantly did not and was just about two very different people, whose lives get connected though an old man dying and leaving behind a legacy of grief, self reflection and self betterment. The climax would have been a perfect stopping point, but then it throws in the epilogue that comes along with a complete curveball of looking like something that smells queerplatonic and seems even more interesting. Which makes the series now just mean for stopping right there. D:

Taberare Usa - Flashback arc, so there is a break of the buns-as-sweets doom main plot. Instead lots, lots of bun cheese.

The Case Files of Jeweler Richard: Masago Nasu - I wrote about that one a bit before. But Seigi, Seigi, what are you doing with just hanging up on Richard after splurting off something like that?

The Valiant Must Fall: I thought Gunslinger Girl was a pretty good series. But this series from the same author is kinda on the nose about how much it has researched the history of that epoch. Sadly this is also the only thing really interesting about it. There's a few pages of essays by a historian at the end of the volumes and probably I may stick to it simply for those.

Yomei Ichinen to Senkokusareta Boku ga, Yomei Hantoshi no Kimi to Deatta Hanashi - This guy totally is gonna live in the end, while the girl dies, it just screams that trope. And woe and behold: Surprise surprise there is actually a possibility of an operation for this terminal death doomed heart disease teen. (And silly boy refuses to do it as of yet, are you serious?)

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

NOVEMBER:

I noticed Comikey's "free" and "free with ads" per day isn't globally counted (like Manga Up! for example), rather than per title.

That caused a reading spree there, which saw the advent of a good bunch of webtoons.

There was a regular classic novel read inbetween (gasp)

Reading actually good series remains a health hazard of reading everything too quick with too little breaks and sleep (Unnamed Memory, Goddess of Healing)

I still have not even started Jeweler Richard v13 and don't dare to for health and stamina safety reasons...

Light Novels:

By the Grace of the Gods V9-V11 Unnamed Memory v3-6

Novels:

The Old Man in the Corner

Manga:

A Side Character's Love Story Ch1-14 After God Ch1-27 Aishiteru Game wo Owarasetai ch40-41 Alabaster Ch1-4 Ano Natsu ga Houwa suru. ch12.2 Arte Ch81-83 Asobi Asobase Ch1-20 Barbara Ch1-14 Beauty as the Beast Ch1-15 Brutal ch1-8.1 Buta no Liver wa Kanetsushiro ch30.1-4 By the Grace of the Gods Ch34-V8Ch40.3-4 Color of Happiness v9-v11 Crime and Punishment ch1-4 Dekiru Neko wa Kyou mo Yuuutsu ch100 Dienerin des verfluchten Kindes v6ch29-ch38 Eikyuukei ch7 Fesseln der Liebe v6 Girl Crush ch56-57 Grimoire Heilkunde magischer Wesen v4-5 Hari to Hitsuji no Fune ch8.2 I'm cute enough to get away with it Ch1-19 Isekai de Ane ni Namae wo Ubawaremashita ch14.2-ch14.4 Kakan no Oukoku no Hanagirai Hime ch7.1-8.2-3 Kemutai Hanashi ch12 Killer in Love Ch1-30 Kimi ni wa Todokanai ch41 Kindergarten Wars ch1-25 Knitter's High ch23-24.3 Koisuru (Otome) no Tsukurikata ch73-74 Komorebi Shoutengai no Changing Wonder ch15 Loop 7-kaime no Akuyaku Reijou wa, Moto Tekikoku de Jiyuu Kimama na Hanayome Seikatsu wo Mankitsusuru ch26-27 Lost Youth Ch1-2.2 Mein geliebter Gaming-Freund ist mein fieser Boss?! v1ch20 Miryou no Otome to Katabutsu Hittou Majutsushi no Hatsukoi Kiroku ch15.1-2 Monster 8 ch70-97 Mr. Mallow Blue ch28 Noragami ch108.2 Okazari Ouhi ni Nattanode, Kossori Hataraki ni deru koto ni Shimashita ~Usagi ga Iru node Hitorine mo Sabishiku Arimasen!~ ch22.1-2 Oshi no Ko ch131-132 Phantom Seer v2-v3ch25 Repeating Your End Together ch1-5.1 Shibatarian Ch2-16 The Ichinose Family's Deadly Sins ch1-48 The Lady Likes a Nerd over Princes Ch8-16 Together Forever Ch1-16 Unnamed Memory ch31.1-32.2 Verliebt in mehr als dein Gesicht v1-4 Watashi wo Tabetai, Hitodenashi ch33.1-3 Witch Enforcer ch1-3 Yomei Ichinen to Senkokusareta Boku ga, Yomei Hantoshi no Kimi to Deatta Hanashi ch7.2-8.1-2 Your Tears are Mine Ch26-31 Zombie 100 v7-9ch34

Webtoons:

A Royal Princess With Black Hair ch1-47 A Spoonful of your Love ch1-20 Blind Passion Ch1-3 Breed my Dear Enemy Ch1-43 Conspiracy of Love Ch1-9 Corridor of Mirs Ch1-19 Dawn the Teen Witch Ch1-65 Fall in the Night with you Ch0-40 Flowers for the Outcast ch1-23 Flowers in the Secret Place Ch0-2 For Stella Ch1-33 If Future Ch1-49 Night Crying Crow v4ch35 Phoenix in the Imperial Palace ch1-7 Sand Castle ch1-35 She Had You at Hello ch1-7 She is also cute today ch0-47 Spirit of Peach Blossom Ch1-27 Taberare Usa ch75-79 The Blue Snake and the Red Moon Ch0-32 The Giantess wants Love Ch0-60.5 The Goddess of Healing Ch0-159 The Mermaid Wears a Dress ch1-25 To be Winner Ch0-49 To be or not to be Ch5-11 Scroll of the White Silk Cloud ch4-31.4

Notes:

By the Grace of the Gods - Things are progressing more actual plot wise and it has had a few twists in there. The healing bit of this tale has even more strongly become a center piece and it just works. Does that count as an iyashikei? I'm inclined to count it. Also gimme some of these slimes. They seem like such a life enrichment.

Unnamed Memory - Positively excellent series, tho the ending had me a bit "somehow this is too easy, why didn't they just do this from the start". Anyway, it's not actually the end there, but Yen Press still has no announcement for the After the End sequel. Booo.

The Old Man in the Corner - read because it was mentioned in The Case Files of Jeweler Richard v5. *cough*. Granted it is very good classic orthodox mystery.

After God - This is weird and trashy, and sometimes just, uuuh, okay.... but also some of these monsters' designs and drawings are quite the eyecatcher.

Barbara - Read because Tezuka and being one of his gekigas. Same boat as MW. It was rather "what the...."

Beauty as the Beast - I've read Arcana from the author before. There is something sad about knowing how the art looked like in classic print b/w-style and then to see how it looks after moving on to webtoon, and this one is one that clearly downgraded, especially on the backgrounds and coloring. The narrative is still starting off straight forward and moving on to become about as convoluted and confusing as Arcana was. Funny also the main character is called Ines yet again.

Color of Happiness - I think I do not like that ending at all. It feels a bit like it took the easiest way to dodge the a cheese-cheese route (which would have come off as questionable given she is so young) and took the only one that was going to be safe from even any implications. And the way it went about it is a bit too deus ex machina convenient, while making hardly any sense. Do think it's kinda too bad, that it also ruins the side plot about the mother and grandmother, that wasn't so uninteresting about how toxicity gets inherited. How to break the chain could have been a nice focal theme and it's also kinda there, but completely drowned by that nonsense pulled, which ultimately renders the mother right with her telling Sachi it wasn't "going to go her way" after all.

Kemutai Hanashi - Chapter 12 is absolutely great, a generally important conversation to be had and breathtakingly beautifully depicted. I exploded in word count and basically translating most of the whole thing over here.

Killer in Love - I'm not sure what this is, it looks very toxic, but also seems to be a bit of.... I don't know why something about these two's relationship reminds me a little bit of Azure & Claude. Maybe it's this flair of this is absolutely going to be doomed, they are definitely doomed bit?

Kimi ni wa Todokanai - After a long detour from going from a shoujo-style that happens to be a BL to feeling very BL-genre BL, I finally got some shoujo feels back from it. Specifically it reminded me of A Condition Called Love, as far as I read that one. As in that talk about a sort of desperate to obsessive desire vs. someone who is on track of developing desires, but not quite so quick vs. boundaries. Considering that the talk about that in v4 was something I thought was great, if it comes back to what happens between v5-7 with all the bad dubCon glory and discussed that, maybe I'll come to like those bits in hindsight or when revisiting, too. (Personally I am inclined to suspect the drama adaption may have had a hand in this detour of tonal style.)

Kindergarten Wars - This was surprisingly way better than expected, too bad, that the art is a little bit unpolished. (Imagine that, but with, like, Spy x Family levels of art? Actually they have kinda similar vibes, just no Anya there.)

Shibatarian - It is creepy, it is horror, it's doing it's job right, but it is also just so creepy. The scenes in the aquarium were definitely quite a beautiful mood. Despite or maybe right because of all the snarling creepiness looming.

The Ichinose Family's Deadly Sins - Does its mystery box mystery very well, especially in the first half, but can't say I really have re-read urges. If there is, it probably would be about the art in the beginning - It is a bit on the cruder side of things, but manages to cement it right as its own signature style (kinda Shin Chan-wise), but then also has these panels and double spreads with an absurd amount of detail levels. Unfortunately all that experimental bit about the art vanishes after a while. (Would not surprise me, if it just was to taxing to draw.)

Together Forever - I think the girl is actually pretty creepy. But this is essentially a female Seme character and the older guy is a sort of uke. Female Semes are ludicrously rare, so I'm somehow still on it...

Witch Enforcer - This has some really good looking art, especially in the color pages.

Your Tears are Mine - Starts decently enough with centering around a little kink of the protagonist girl and goes steady with that and the relationship. Unfortunately just feels axed by the end.

A Royal Princess With Black Hair - The main is a strong female lead and perfectly cool and entertaining to follow. Also consistently solid art despite being a full color webtoon.

Blind Passion - The art is pretty good looking, also historic setting GL, Arte kinda appetized me a bit on that. Will probably take a good while until the free bonus coins on Leizhin will have collected it up.

Breed my Dear Enemy - The title is eyebrow raising as is the premise that has an isekai into a book, where the main doesn't even read the book, but just gets to have it magically downloaded into her brain, while isekai'd. But anyhow, some very digital looking, but still pretty art, especially in terms of the customes of that historic china epoch. And the female lead is a strong and wry one, that's always good.

Dawn the Teen Witch - Cute and good looking art and colors and actually shadings and all, also solid characters and good worldbuilding and weavings of a intruiguing wide spanning mystery plot next to a coming of age + romance plot. And then it just ends. Feels very like an axed series, and while it kinda ends with a finish line, it feels more like just a season end than anything else.

The Goddess of Healing - The complete suprise hit of the month out of blue nowhere. Very pretty dawings. Lots, lots of hairdoes, hair ornaments and jewelery, a huge wide wardrobe of outfits from that ~16h century China epoch. A huge display of varied pouts. The female lead is great. The whole plot is a multi layered mystery/thriller plot. It has a little bit of plot armor, but then it's also a reincarnation story with tinges of fate implied, so kinda excused. The lead is very determined and just so badass, clever, determined, who can stand her own ground, but also knows how to rely to compensate her own weaknesses. Her romance with the male lead is build over mostly intellectual attraction. There's even a little side romance of another pair, adult, mature, cute and chiefly over emotional attraction. Both have integrity at their foundational centerpiece. I quite like all of that.

(3h 50m: 1.5h of which data extraction)

3 notes · View notes

foretoldfew · 3 months ago

Text

I could go on a tangent about THE Homura Akemi ALL DAY. People probably didn't really understand what happened in Madoka Magica JUST BECAUSE it was very trippy and strange to viewers when it first came out. I remember people jokingly recommending it all too well. But I remember the storyline by heart, far worse than my knowledge on Sonic.

If you wanna read this rant, check below. Cause hoo boy, do I have a rant for you.

Homura is not completely evil. Her intentions are selfless in her eye, but to the others she's become the enemy. And she doesn't even mind that. She accepted the fact that they're going to hate her, no matter what, all because she wanted them to live. She became the devil just so she could change the world around her, to take things back the way they were with the real Madoka. Not the clone she made within her witch's dreamspace. Her Madoka. The one she sent spiraling into the same fate over and over, simply just to save her.

She was always best friends with Kyoko. You probably wouldn't recognize it at first but golly gee it was pretty obvious she always went to Kyoko each time she went through another loop. (Someone mathed up that she's been in a time loop for about 10 years.) So she's constantly teamed up with Kyoko, no matter what happened. In Rebellion, she went to Kyoko FIRST to share everything she found out. She probably still considers Kyoko her best friend, all because she never judges. She still enjoys Mami's company, but Mami always questions and suspects her of everything. So she tries to watch her from a distance. She still warned Mami, even if she didn't have to, in hopes that she would finally listen to her for once.

She wiped Sayaka's memories of being part of the new law Godoka created simply so Sayaka could live the life she wanted as a human girl. In the last timeline of where Madoka became God, Sayaka was distressed when Kyubey told her that their souls were no longer part of their body, to the point she became a witch. Her only wish was to fall in love like any other girl, but couldn't because she was a zombie.

In Rebellion, when she spoke with Madoka, her dream Madoka claimed that she would of been heartbroken to of been separated from all of her friends/left them all behind. So Homura tore Madoka apart so she could live her life with her family and friends again. Of course it had to hurt. But she was willing to do what she needed to just so her friends could live normal lives again.

She doesn't care how her friends view her, so long as they're not DYING over and over again.

I'm so freaking excited for the Walpurgisnacht Rising movie releasing this (or next) year, it's gonna add so much to my view on Homura and how she literally threw everything she had away for her friends. (And more importantly, Madoka, because she was her first friend ever. Her best friend forever.)

#ooc. 𓂃 #i'm a literal nutcase when it comes to angst between best friends #if you've read knockabiller's tvult comic on deviantart you GET IT #this is why my name is HOPE and not DESPAIR /ref

0 notes

magireco · 3 years ago

Note

Would love to hear more thoughts on how these girls have understandable teenage motivations (A+ tag analysis by the way)

1. Thank you!!!!!!

2. ALRIGHT IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS (shuffles my papers). i’ve gone off about homura’s motivations in depth before but i think it was only in dms/groupchats? anyways i’ll go in order with All the girls bc i think about this all the time as a teenager who grew up mentally ill and had their perceptions skewed because of it, and also i don’t think it’s talked about nearly enough for the others, at least on my blog... so, buckle up!!! this is REALLY LONG!!!!

3. i tried writing like, an individual thing for every member of the quintet all together in this one ask, but i ended up talking a little too much about homura and now i’m going to split up all the different analysis stuff for each character into the reblogs and work on it every so often! you’re free to kinda skim of course because i really did write a whole novel but here we go!! read under the cut. :3 this is literally essay length btw. i did NOT expect it to get this long but if you want to read it all i’d recommend it but i don’t expect most people to

First: Homura Akemi

okay so i’m going to kind of summarize everything but from the perspective of empathizing with her so if you don’t want to reread a whole recap you can skip to the ending few paragraphs

Summary

first of all, in episode 10, homura’s past is explained for the viewer. she was a shy, unsure girl who had been bedridden for a long time. she was clearly unsocialized, not to mention she went to a catholic school and those can be brutal, esp in japan... that’s all we know about her in that episode, but it’s revealed in one of the drama cds that she was bullied as a child(& further at mitakihara middle), her parents never were mentioned ever (i assume them to either be dead or neglectful, considering she lives alone and unchecked), and in magia record, homura says to natsuki that she’s never had friends before, she hasn’t been on vacation before until the beachside bonds event, hasn’t ever celebrated valentine’s day, has never celebrated new years, etc...

clearly, she’s missed out on a lot not only because of her sickness and hospitalization, but because of her isolation as a child at school. judging by her demeanor and the way she reacts when madoka comes up to her without being asked to, something like that had never happened to her before. it’s clear to me that madoka was many of homura’s “first’s”, her first friend, the first person who reached out to her, the first person to compliment her name honestly(validating her, disproving her dislike of her name), the first person to regard her so kindly rather than judging her based off of her appearance and demeanor (like other students had apparently done, this is also shown when the other students at mitakihara middle make fun of her for being tired after only being able to run one lap). AND, madoka (and mami, but homura knew madoka better at that time) saved her life, even though homura was so willing to die, just in that moment... i’d assume it made homura feel like someone believed in her even when she was at her worst. it’s really clear by the glimmer in her eyes that these are nice people that made her feel happy and welcome... and then walpurgisnacht came. she didn’t know much about magical girls and just believed in madoka and mami to be able to defeat the witch because she saw them as strong and saw the witch as defeatable, despite its size. and then mami died, right in front of her and madoka...

this kinda seems headcanon-y when i phrase it this way but it’s practically proven in her actions but i really think homura is scared to be abandoned, especially by someone who was as overtly kind and nonjudgemental to her as madoka... it’s in the way she cries her name and says “don’t go” before madoka runs away to fight walpurgisnacht. OH ALSO, i need to address this one thing really quick because people like to assume that homura didn’t care about mami from the beginning and only liked madoka. it’s not that she wasn’t sad when mami died, she was clearly terrified and didn’t want the same to happen to madoka, also mami LITERALLY WASN’T IN HER CLASS OR HER GRADE so i assume she spent most of her time with madoka considering they were in the same grade and class and probably shared most of their periods with each other... but also, once again, mami is older than both of them and homura probably saw her as more of a mentor/teacher that she needed to impress rather than madoka who was more on her level, i guess?

anyways, moving on... homura had to see madoka die (& experience the crushing guilt she felt for “letting madoka go” even though there was nothing she could’ve done) and literally says “i’d rather you had lived than saved someone like me” ... her self worth is below zero. she makes her wish to be strong enough to protect madoka(because she sees madoka, her first friend, who saved her life which she felt had no worth, as so strong and noble) which causes her to go back in time, etc. etc., you know the deal. okay before i move on to talk a little more abt the timelines and the personality change i’m going to address why it’s reasonable that she’d be attached to madoka.

i mentioned before that homura said herself that she had never had a friend before. just like, put yourself into her shoes for a second. this girl has no idea how to make friends; it was never taught to her. it’s literally rational that she’d get attached to her first ever friendship. it’s not “normal” the way she views madoka, but how could it be? this is her first time having a friend, she’s afraid of being abandoned by her, but she’s had to see her die over and over again anyway. she doesn’t want to lose madoka. even if she doesn’t go about it in the right way, there’s no way she would’ve actually known how to Do relationships. no one taught her. i think that needs to be empathized with more...

i kinda feel like i need to summarize all this just bc if i word it right it kinda reminds you & puts into perspective just how terrible and scary all of this was.

anyway Again, i would skip straight to the end of timeline 3 (where a New Flavor of trauma is given to homura) but i need to first address timeline 2 for a second. it was homura’s first time repeating the timeline, she trained with madoka and mami again, she was still hopeful despite what happened, etc. kinda just bonding further with madoka Again... and then it’s at the end of this timeline that she watches madoka turn into a witch, just in front of her very eyes... and realizes the true fate of magical girls. when she resets the timeline again, it’s up to her to start anew and break the truth to the group when she sees them again. when she tries telling the truth, sayaka immediately shoves this aside, claiming homura was just trying to split everyone up. it’s clear that that hurts homura. (also the little shinies in her eyes were wavering which is anime-code for sad) her feelings were immediately disregarded by sayaka and she couldn’t defend herself, but madoka did for her, and mami tried to diffuse the situation.

after they all find out homura was right when sayaka turns into a witch, mami kills kyoko and ties up homura in her ribbons and aims a gun at her, and this, rightfully, ignited a fear within homura... madoka is forced to kill mami in order to save homura, leaving only the two of them to fight together. then, when walpurgisnacht comes that time, The Promise is made... madoka tells homura to go back in time and save her from becoming a witch (because she doesn’t want to curse the world that way, she still sees beauty in it) and homura agrees, saying she’ll never stop until she saves madoka, and then... homura has to mercy kill madoka before she becomes a witch. she cries loudly and shoots madoka’s soul gem... it’s literally so heartwrenching and (usually) brings the viewer to tears, or puts something into perspective for them...

then we assume the personality change happens in the timeline right after. this personality change causes a lot of discourse because sometimes it’s seen as kind of irrational, but personally, i think even moemura had at least SOME resent for the world around her considering what she’d been through. it’s madoka’s repeated deaths that finally push her over that edge. i could get further into the coolmura arc but that’d take a WHILE, so i’ll just kind of explain something briefly though -- why homura ended up becoming even MORE focused on madoka. and i’m also going to debunk the claim that homura doesn’t care about her other friends as fast as i can before moving on.

also, ONE LAST side tangent, for those that think homura really did do a 360 degree personality turn are wrong. it’s shown explicitly in homulilly’s labyrinth that there’s this... “core” homura, a shadowy purple silhouette with braids. every time the series depicts homura’s internal self, it’s always glasses+braids, symbolizing her “child” self, who she truly is. she never stopped being that person. she doesn’t want to kill. ...but i can get into that in a rebellion analysis later! this is also shown in wraith arc bc the person inside her soul gem has glasses+braids. anyway let’s get to the next part i’m going to rant about

Homura’s Love for Madoka, but Otherwise Apathy

homura has seen many different, yet all similar, versions of her friends. the first claim i’m going to talk about which i saw brought up quite a few times before is in regards to homura and mami. first of all, homura absolutely still cares for mami, and not just in the “i only care about your life if it affects madoka’s” way. one part that always gets me is when mami ties her up in the series timeline after homura frantically warns her that this witch isn’t normal, to which mami IMMEDIATELY brushes this off, without even giving homura a chance. then, when mami’s ribbons fade away, homura looks horrified and just goes “oh no...” and it’s kind of obvious to me that it was in response to mami’s death rather than madoka’s reaction. this is arguably up for debate i guess because i’ve seen different takes on that reaction and it’s ambiguous, i guess? but i’m about to get into something extremely similar and that’s the sayaka situation, where madoka throws sayaka’s soul gem onto a moving car. homura gasps and immediately pauses time and disappears, running in literal open traffic and climbing on top of a moving car to retrieve sayaka’s soul gem. one could argue that this is ALSO only just because homura wants to save madoka (and kyoko) the fear, but don’t you think her expression would be different? if homura truly didn’t care for sayaka’s wellbeing, wouldn’t she be making an expression more similar to like, “oh, this shit again...” instead of the frantic one she was making in the scene? this kind of thing Also happens when kyoko asks homura to leave while kyoko’s about to sacrifice herself in oktavia’s labyrinth, and homura looks up sadly at kyoko and then back down at madoka, and once she knew kyoko was dead, she just quietly said “kyoko...” to herself. she usually refers to them as [last name, first name], but she dropped that during that moment... it otherwise sounds like a bare minimum thing to do, but keep in mind the timeline we’re shown in the series is implied to be like, the 110th timeline, i think? like, this is the last timeline, she’s worn down, but she still does have empathy -- or at least sympathy -- for the others. she still loves them.

homura promised to be madoka’s protector, she dedicated her life to her, and also she doesn’t have a choice not to dedicate her life to her anymore, even though that’s not fair to her... homura is in a really hopeless situation and madoka is her hope, and madoka is the one that judges her the least out of the quintet (like saying “i’m sure homura is good” to herself) upon first impression. also okay i mentioned this already in my last post (which you saw) but i’m going to bring it up one more time, homura is not mentally 26!!!!!! she is still 14 mentally!! in order to be 26, you have to have experienced 26 years of new life experience. maybe you acquire that through school, maybe you aquire that through friends, whatever it takes. but homura just repeated the same month over and over, and it’s not like her body (canonically) ages ever. she just kind of gets transported back into her body in the hospital again considering she’s back wearing her braids and pajamas... so, yeah. no mental development there. i also mentioned this here but i’m gonna say it again, that just makes it even harder for her to actually age correctly... it stunts her to 14. imagine being 14 for 10-11 years...

In Defense Of My Own Claims

btw before you think i’m just going full-on radical homura apologist, i’m not explaining all of this to be like “homura made ALL THE RIGHT DECISIONS because her trauma gave her an excuse!!” because like, Obviously, she did a lot of bad things, she killed people, did a lot of callous things, a lot of thoughtless things, a lot of things that make her seem emotionless, etc. but i just have trouble blaming her considering how things ended up, and it’s not like she enjoys killing people. she’s not sadistic... she ends up becoming short with all the others not only because of her (extremely) weakened trust in them, but also because the amount of times she repeated the timeline. i’d imagine it makes her feel like the others can’t truly die because she can just go back and see them again. (this is also why wraith arc/post-tv series must’ve been hard for her because she can no longer turn back time, things are permanent now, deaths are forever) she’s become so worn down that she’ll do anything to escape the loops... also considering she has no choice but to continue? although it shouldn’t be, it’s technically her job as a magical girl to defeat all witches and walpurgisnacht counts. it kills magical girls and tears up the whole city and she’s usually the only magical girl left... her choices, when defeated, are either to give up and die or to go back and try again, and she made a promise to her first ever friend to do just the latter... i just don’t understand how this isn’t easier for people to comprehend, that all of this trauma and stress and responsibility on top of an already traumatized 14 year old does not mix well. ever. she had to figure out all of this by herself.

TL;DR:

homura was a previously traumatized, unsocialized 14 year old with (very)low self esteem & self worth whose first friend (and first love, really, let’s be honest) died in front of her in horrific ways and she watched as she (and the other friends she came to make) drifted slowly apart from her in her endless and futile attempt in saving her from what proved to be an inescapable fate. also she’s 14 and also she’s (canonically) mentally ill and a lesbian. not a monster, not evil, not “psycho”. and that’s that!

#asks #luna-mistrunner #homura akemi #analysis #THIS MAY HABE TAKEN ME LIKE 2 DAYS ON AND OFF

94 notes · View notes

yeonchi · 4 years ago

Text

Kisekae Insights #19: Madoka Magica Part 2 (Yuki Magica)

(Art by アスカール)

In the last instalment, I talked about Takumi Kamijō and Madoka Magica’s involvement in my project, but I stopped after Gokaiger because things are about to get complicated; there is another story thread that I need to cover before we can continue.

In this instalment, I’ll be talking about another magical boy who became a GARO-esque Kamen Rider. He and his powers have their own backstories which would normally be impossible in the eyes of other Madoka fans (if Takumi’s story wasn’t crazy enough). Basically, I’m the Australian Shinichiro Shirakura and I’m breaking all the rules. Wait, was I supposed to save that joke for the Decade instalments? Oh well, anyway…

One man’s trash, another man’s treasure

In the sixth block of the 50th Anniversary Series, I made an adaptation of The Name of the Doctor but with Hiroki instead of the Doctor. When Hiroki’s timeline gets invaded by a vexatious villain (not the Great Intelligence), he makes a contract with Kyubey to save his past, present and future. He meets Goddess Madoka and becomes a magical boy similar to that of Madoka’s magical girl form. Calling himself the Loveshy Boy, Hiroki enters his own timeline and sends out splinters of himself across his timeline to repair the damage. Zhuge Shu and Nodoka Manabe were among those echoes, along with five individuals whose syllables of their names spelled the syllables of “Nodoka Manabe” and “Madoka Kaname”.

The only other time Hiroki used his magical boy form was in the ninth block when he fought Girl Power and his other enemies in Koshi Castle. He is shot and sent flying in a desperate attempt to save Akari and that is the last we see of Hiroki’s magical boy form – though Walpurgisnacht would influence his next (female) incarnation, he would no longer be a magical boy by the time he moved into his final incarnation.

But by some miracle, Hiroki’s magical boy powers would show up again in 2018, albeit utilised by someone else. How did that happen and why? You’ll find out very soon…

Yuki Yamaki: Secret Inside

Yuki’s timeline is a bit complicated to pinpoint, but it doesn’t matter since this project runs on wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff.

A note before I go on – Yuki’s name would usually be written as Yūki given his Japanese name and my usual habit of denoting long vowels with macrons as per Hepburn romanisation, however I only found his Japanese name recently in an old document I wrote ten years ago, with that same document denoting Takumi’s surname as “Kamijou”. Then again, I didn’t know much about the rules surrounding romanisation back then, so I’ll continue to write Yuki’s name as I have and not bother changing it for the sake of consistency.

Naisho no Tsubomi (Secret Tsubomi) is a manga series that covers topics centred around female puberty and sex education, with a different girl (named Tsubomi) featured in each volume. The first volume was adapted into a three-episode OVA in 2008 and was released in North America by Sentai Filmworks in 2018. Spoilers if you haven’t seen it (but given the premise of Kisekae Insights, you shouldn’t be surprised by now), but based from what I’ve read about in reviews and my own observations, it seems that the character of Saya Endō is likely to be the spirit of a dead girl who reincarnates as Tsubomi’s little sister, or Tsubomi’s little sister who died and came back into the past as a spirit or something. But that doesn’t really matter because this is Doctor Who, what did you expect?

Yuki was born in 2008, the same year as Tsubomi’s little sister, Saya, in a universe where the Third Doctor is the Prime Minister of Australia. In 2018, they joined their universe’s Torchwood at the age of ten and a year later, they were sent on a mission back to the year 2008 to investigate anomalies involving Tsubomi and Yuki’s cousin, Shisei Nagato (長遠志成). During that time, Yuki, Saya, Tsubomi and her friends came to the Doctor’s universe three times over five years from their POV (in our POV, they came once each before, during and after the Salacian Time War). It turned out that Yuki and Shisei are Parker and Hiroki’s counterparts in that universe and that Shisei was taking the place of Futoshi Kuki, who was exterminated by the Daleks. They were unable to find any conclusive evidence regarding the anomalies when they were called back to their time (2023) to fight the Beta Uprising.

Torchwood then sent Yuki and Saya on their second mission in the past, which was to kill Elliot Rodger on his Day of Retribution, 23 May 2014, and prevent the Beta Uprising. Their comrade, Alex Schmidt (played by Alex Williamson) was with them, but he disappeared by the time Yuki and Saya returned to their time. The two had fallen in love during their time together and by 2028, they decided to get married. However, when they were having yum cha with their friends, Alex came in with a group of Chads and revealed his betrayal to everyone; he went back to 2014 and helped Elliot Rodger with his Day of Retribution before spurring Chads and Stacies around the world to fight the incels (nerds basically). He killed Yuki in 2018 because somehow, he was the anomaly surrounding Tsubomi and Shisei that was motivating the incels to continue fighting – Tsubomi and Shisei were never the problem at all.

The 2028 Yuki was killed along with his fiancée and their friends and was taken back to 2018, where he was “fixed up” and prepared to be married to Hideko Kimihara (NOTE: The Kikuchi Clan were not involved in this incident). Kyubey arrives and offers to turn Yuki’s pain into power; Yuki accepts and makes a wish for someone to come and get him out of his mess. It is then that Hiroki, Kayley, Firerose, Narutaki and the Salacian Riders (including a future Yuki and Marcela) were brought to this universe through a dimensional hole. At the same time, Marcela (see #13) arrived to protect Yuki. It is then that Yuki transforms into his magical boy form, which is exactly the same as Hiroki’s Madoka-esque magical boy form (due to interdimensional genetic multiplicity, as Takumi would later speculate), by swinging his Soul Gem necklace in the air similar to how Barago transforms into Dark Knight Kiba in GARO.

(Hiroki and Yuki’s magical boy forms are based on that of Madoka’s magical girl form, albeit genderbent. Art by 黒野ユウ and Makarii)

Hiroki and the Riders from his world help the past Yuki and Marcela out by attempting to hide with one version of them (past or present) for two weeks, but they are captured after four days. While the Stacies brainwash Marcela, Yuki and Hideko are hooked up to the Progenitor, combining their DNA and making super-soldiers from them. Yuki begins to fall into despair, but despite Hiroki telling him not to give up, he transforms into his witch form, Legendorgarc, which is similar to Kamen Rider Arc’s Legend Arc form, freeing himself in the process.

After a few moments however, Yuki manages to change his despair into hope, allowing him to cast away his witch form and combine it with his magical boy powers into a stronger power. Yuki’s rose bow transforms into the bladed Barayumi Rose Bow (バラユミ), which he swings around him to transform into Kamen Rider Magica, similar to how Aguri Kusugami transforms into Sky Bow Knight Gai in GARO: Yami o Terasu Mono. Two of his signature finishers are the Rensha Ranbu/Rapid-Fire Attack (連射乱舞) and the Naginata Ranbu – Gōka Midaresaki/Naginata Attack – Luxurious Bloom (ナギナタ乱舞・豪華乱れさき). Magica’s Rider design takes inspiration from GARO and Kamen Rider Hibiki, particularly the latter as Magica was originally planned to take its place in Decade before being reinstated.

(Kamen Rider Magica logo concept. Art by aqmr)

Hiroki as Decade kills Alex and destroys the universe to get back with to his own universe with his friends and the Salacian Riders, taking the past Yuki and Marcela with them as well. The two, having lost their memories of what happened due to their timelines not being in sync, were left in the past and the only thing that they remembered was that they were enemies; Yuki blamed Marcela for killing his lover and destroying his world, while Marcela blamed Yuki for killing her family.

Decade Episode 7 happened and during the final battle, Decade’s use of the Magica Final Form Ride card allowed Magica to unlock his final form, Loveshy Form, upgrading his weapon into the Ultimate Barayumi Rose Bow in the process. Subsequent transformations only require Magica to squat down and draw a circle on the ground around him similar to how Takeru Jakuzure transforms into Flame Sword Knight Zen. In this form, Magica can split his Ultimate Barayumi in half and use it as a nunchaku or a pair of swords. One of this form’s finishers involves shooting an energy beam from his bow, with the first such usage being aided by Decade using the Magica Final Attack Ride card, breaking Marcela’s brainwashing in the progress.

Following that adventure, Yuki and Marcela reconcile and agree to help each other find the truth about their pasts. By the time they encounter their past selves again in their home universe, they have become a couple. Later, they would thank Hiroki and Narutaki for bringing them together, saying that without their help, they would have kept wandering the land fighting each other without realising their true feelings.

Soulbound and Magia Record

A few days after the last instalment was published, it was announced that there would be a new Madoka Magica film produced as a sequel to The Rebellion Story. This, along with the Magia Record game and anime, means that I can’t have a definitive happy ending for Takumi when my project ends this year, though I might be able to do something for Kamen Rider Zi-O.

Soulbound Series 3 is where Takumi and Yuki’s plot threads converge, with the Madoka Magica tribute being shared with the tribute for Sea Princesses (see Dark Sea Princess in #13).

Following the events of Gokaiger and Decade, Yuki and Marcela begin living in seclusion from humanity, working to protect it from various threats as the “rejected beings of their universe”. Meanwhile, with the rise of magical girls in nearby Kamihama, Takumi started becoming territorial and competitive towards other magical girls, including his own comrades. Despite his efforts to save magical girls from becoming witches, Takumi became frustrated that no matter what he tried to do, the universe seemed to rewrite everything and ruin the work he put in. Unbeknownst to Takumi, the Incubation Cleanser was sabotaged, leading to the continued appearances of witches and other evils; said device was taken out of the equation when the Doppel system came into effect. Takumi’s rivalry with Homura still continued, though they began siding with each other so they could fight warriors (including Kamen Riders and magical girls) for their own enjoyment. Takumi and Homura even attacked Yuki and Marcela, only to be saved by Mami and Hitomi.

At the start of the two-parter, the Barrier Base and SEPTAN crews arrive in Kamihama, where Kyōko and Sayaka, alongside Takumi’s twin sister, Kumiko Hayashi, ask them for their help in saving Takumi. When the Salacian Riders appear along the coast in response to a protest against the human exploitation of marine life, the Barrier Base crew and Torchwood Pleiades fight them. After a while, Takumi and Homura arrive and single-handedly defeat everyone, inviting them to bring more warriors to fight them next time.

Following the battle, the Salacian Riders agree to work with the Barrier Base crew, the SEPTAN crew and Torchwood Pleiades to defeat Takumi and Homura. After Torchwood Pleiades gathered up all the magical girls they could find (technically all the playable Magia Record girls released on the Japanese server up to the end of the Rumors in Disguise event in October 2019, not including Tart Magica or crossover characters), they all confront Takumi and Homura outside of the city. During the battle, a number of magical girls use the power of their Doppels and so do Takumi and Yuki; Takumi’s Doppel resembles Walpurgisnacht to differentiate it from Sayaka’s, namely Oktavia von Seckendorff (but also because he was somehow able to command Walpurgisnacht’s power), while Yuki can only use his Doppel, Legendorgarc, for a maximum of 99.9 seconds (like the Makai Knights in GARO) because he only became a witch for a very short time and as such, is unaccustomed to its power.

The negative emotions and minus energy gathering above them from the constant fighting manifests into the Despair Monster, Kanaderos, a sight observed by Kyubey as he thanks everyone for providing the universe with more energy. Hikaru Tomokaze transforms into Ultraman X while Yuki and Marcela transform into Gaia and Agul to fight Kanaderos. After Exceed X uses the Exceed X Slash to purge the despair from Kanaderos, he joins Gaia and Agul as they fire the Xlugger Shot, Photon Edge and Photon Crusher, but the monster is still standing because of the sheer amount of despair still powering it. Gaia powers up into Supreme Version while Hikaru switches into Ginga. The three Ultras finally defeat Kanaderos for good with the Sparion Beam, Photon Stream and Agul Stream.

After the battle, Kumiko convinces Takumi and Homura to stop fighting and work together to investigate what is going on in Kamihama. Following the two-parter, Takumi would appear again at the end of Arcs 11 and 12, while Yuki and Marcela would only return at the end of Arc 12 alongside the Salacian Riders.

Takumi gained further development in Soulbound Series 4 when he was featured in a two-parter at the end of Arc 13, which was just recently broadcast at the time of publishing this instalment. Due to an increase in dimensional fluctuations through the Cardiff Rift over the past 18 months (since the end of Series 3), Kamihama and Torchwood Pleiades disappeared from this universe and so did Takumi, however he resurfaced recently with his comrades nowhere to be found; he had been cut off from his friends and the magical girl circle. Whether Kyubey and the Incubators had anything to do with it is unknown, though even if they did, the most they would have done is indirectly manipulate events to achieve this goal.

Upon receiving a message from Torchwood in Cardiff notifying them of Takumi resurfacing, the Barrier Base crew head to Mitakihara to meet with Hiroki, Akari, the Doctor and Captain Jack Harkness. After encountering Yuki and Marcela nearby as well, the group heads to Porthcawl (one of the entrances to Kamihama) upon hearing that police have spotted Takumi there. When they get there however, Takumi had killed the police officers cornering him and it is then that Yuki realises that something is wrong. Takumi asks where his lover, his friends and his comrades are before taking his cutlass and transforming into his magical boy form similar to how the Golden Knight Garo transforms.

In the ensuing fight, Takumi summons another cutlass and uses it with his other cutlass to transform into Kamen Rider Serranon similar to how Rei Suzumura transforms into Silver Fanged Knight Zero. Serranon was created as a secondary Rider for Magica in response to Geiz Majesty (I had to create a Rider whose name rhymed with Zeronos so that I wouldn’t need to change the transformation tune because this wasn’t like Decade where I could just do whatever and get away with it). At the moment, I don’t have any plans for Serranon’s final form and it’s likely that he won’t be getting one. Takumi’s cutlasses transform into a set of twin swords called the Yanagiba Sōken (柳葉双剣) that can combine into the Yanagiba Ryūtō (柳葉流刀). His finishers are the Sōken Ranbu/Twin Sword Attack (双剣乱舞) and the Ryūtō Ranbu – Mugen Shinken Nuketsuki/Cutlass Attack – Blade of Infinity (流刀乱舞・無限真剣抜けつき), the latter being similar to the signature attack of Zodomas/Skatana from Gokaiger/Super Megaforce.

While the others fight the familiars that Takumi summoned, Yuki and Takumi fight in their Rider forms, resulting in the former being defeated. Takumi is later spotted at the Roald Dahl Plass, right above the Hub, with the intent of opening the Rift to find a way back to Kamihama. Though the Doctor, Jack, Hiroki and Akari try to stop him, he is only stopped when another villain, Doctor Wells Moreau, shoots him out of nowhere. Moreau later approaches Takumi and offers him a way to get back to Kamihama. Takumi is given a gun which he uses to transform into Galactron MK2 and attack Cardiff, but is defeated by Ultraman Ginga.

After the battle, Hiroki and the others convince Takumi to use his powers for good and so, he takes up Captain Jack’s offer to join Torchwood for the time being until his friends return. While the magical girls will be featured in Soulbound Series 4, they will have to part ways with Takumi again at the end of the series because of Magia Record and the fourth Madoka Magica film.

So this is it for the involvement of Puella Magi Madoka Magica in my personal project. I’d like to remind everyone not to worry if you’re confused at anything you’ve seen so far in Kisekae Insights; chances are that I will address it eventually.

#kisekae insights #puella magi madoka magica

4 notes · View notes

sand-rose · 4 years ago

Text

This is super late, but I finally got around to thinking about my answers to Magia Rapport. Between life in general and the announcement of the EN server closing I just didn't feel like doing it before. But I did want to participate so better late than never, I guess!

Day 1: If you could give advice to a new player, what would that advice be? If you could restart the game from the beginning, what would you do differently this time?

Oh boy, does that question hit different now. Well... For a new player, I would say save your gems as much as possible for the fate weaves you really want to pull for. Try to decide what girls you really want, and how many slots you want to try to get for them. I was maybe 80% f2p. I managed to get quite a few limited girls I wanted by saving up, and even though most of them only have one slot that was perfectly fine with me because I just really liked the character. As for restarting the game, I am restarting on JP, and this time I decided I'm going to go my own pace. I'll still play every day to get those bonuses and dailies done, but I'm not too worried about catching up to where JP is in the story or farming for materials. I'll probably only do the story portions of events, and I'm going to try to cut my playing time compared to how long I play the EN version every day. I want to get back to doing other things, and even if I haven't felt like writing or drawing lately because of personal reasons, the game's become a larger part of my daily routine than I intended it to be.

Day 2: What was your favorite event, and why? Is it because of gameplay or the story?

The Tart Magica events will always be my favorites because I just really love the spinoff series. The fact that I got to see the characters animated and hear them speak just makes me smile. I also really liked the map layout for those events.

Day 3: What is your proudest achievement in the game? Is it a character you got from a fate weave? Is it a moment you defeated a really difficult event? Did you get a high ranking in mirrors?

My proudest achievement would be managing to get all the Tart Magica characters. I didn't get Tart or Riz their first run and was so disappointed. So I made sure to save up just for a rerun of their banners and when it came back around I got Tart, and I did have to spend a bit IRL money for Riz but it wasn't too much and I felt it was worth it. Another moment would be when I made S class in ranked mirrors 2nd and 3rd rounds. I was having awful luck this last time especially but thanks to @muffinrecord 's advice I managed to make it!

Day 4: What is your favorite memoria in the game and why? Is it because it's unexpectedly good? Do you like the artwork? Is it the flavor text that stands out to you?

My favorite memoria would be I Made Friends!. Not only is it such a good passive memoria with great effects but I just really like the art too. I always liked seeing Kako, Felicia, and Ayame's interactions in the story and events because these girls have been through so much in their lives, before and after becoming Magical Girls, and it's nice to see them just being kids and playing together. Two close seconds are Hopes Combined and Our Backs Together. They're my two favorite groups of characters and the flavor text really speaks of their bonds and how strong they are together. And the artwork is just cool!

Day 5: What character do you identify with the most? Why is that? Do you have a favorite quote or moment from them?

There's a few characters that really remind me of myself. I have social anxiety like Seika, though it's not nearly as severe. I mostly keep to myself and a few close people like Konoha did. I have a hard time expressing myself to others like Ren. And Tsuruno... When we learned everything she was dealing with and how she tried her best to keep smiling and taking care of everyone else's problems, that definitely struck a chord with me.

Day 6: What character has your favorite wish? Do you think it's the best wish or is it something close to what you would wish for if you could?

I had to think about this one, but in the end I think Mitama's wish is my favorite. It's just very interesting to me. We know growing up in Daito Ward is... not that great. The class difference is bad enough, and I relate to her on that level from growing up in a similar situation. Then to get that chance to have a brighter future, better education taken from you due to circumstances out of your control (in my case money, in hers rumors leading to a ruined reputation)... Of course she would be devastated. Furious, even. In her eyes, Kamihama took her future away from her, so why not wish to take Kamihama's future away in retaliation? Her wish to have the power to destroy Kamihama is a powerful one, and she harbored it since making the contract, hiding her true thoughts from everyone and playing neutral as Coordinator. But the thing is when she made this wish, it WAS granted, though not in the way she thought. When the time came for her to choose a side between the Kamihama Magical Girls and the Magius, she very easily could have chosen to side with the Magius. If she had, that would have been the end of Kamihama. She was a key character during the final battles. She distributed grief seeds, shared vital information, looked after injured girls. If she hadn't been on the Kamihama Magical Girls' side, they would have lost. That was her opportunity to fulfill her own wish, but she didn't take it. During her time as Coordinator she met and became friends with so many Magical Girls, and came to see Kamihama was full of good people too. She turned her back on her own wish to help those that had shown her kindness and friendship and I think that's fascinating.

Day 7: What moment, concept, or character makes you happiest from the game? Why is this?

I think what makes me happiest about the game is that they went for a completely different tone from Madoka Magica... I was so surprised as we went through the story and it was a pretty light-hearted story of found family and friendships with some slice of life thrown in. I love Madoka Magica so much, and the truth about the Magical Girl system was so shocking when I first watched it. It explored so much in so little time, and seeing the girls struggle to survive the system was intense. But I always wondered if more Magical Girls had teamed up to fight Walpurgisnacht, could they have defeated her? And I got my answer in Magia Record. The game focuses on all these unique characters, who still have struggles of their own due their lives and their contracts, but they're not alone. They have teams, other Magical Girl friends, and there's this sense of community between them. And when they all banded together they were able to take down one of the most powerful witches known to Magical Girls. It's a wholesome spin on the Madoka Magica series, and I am here for it!

#magia record #magia rapport

6 notes · View notes

takerfoxx · 5 years ago

Text

Coming to Terms with Homura Akemi, My (Formerly) Least Favorite PMMM Character

Or, How I Learned to Stop Whinging and Love the Emo Meguca!

I have a…complicated history with my favorite anime’s main character (and yes, Homura is the main character. Madoka might be the title character and the show’s POV protagonist, but like most things in this series, that was a clever ruse, and it’s really more about Homura’s journey than Madoka’s). The first time I watched the show, I walked away feeling kind of ambivalent toward her, even mildly hostile. And that’s weird, right? I mean, just look at her! Look how her character arc plays out! She was practically grown in a lab to be my favorite! And you know what? In pretty much any other series she would have been my favorite, no doubt. She would have been a first pick Fav of the Day, the starring character in whatever fanfic I wrote about it, etc. But since the show she premiered in is anything but traditional, the way I eventually came to love each character turned out to be a little…unorthodox.

Now, I’ve gone over most of this before, so sing along if you know the words. My first time watching Puella Magi Madoka Magica went a little something like this:

Episode 1: Blue funny, Pink cute, Yellow badass, Purple mysterious.

Episode 2: Blue favorite, Pink alright, Yellow probably evil, Purple mysterious.

Episode 3: Yellow’s not evil after all, and now is the dead. My bad.

Episode 4: Pink getting all fucked up, SOMEONE SAVE BLUE!

Episode 5: Hate Red for attacking Blue. Kick her ass, Purple!

Episode 6: Still hate Red.

Episode 7: FUCK YOU, BUNNYCAT! Red’s not so bad after all. But someone save Blue!

Episode 8: Aw, hell no, Purple! You don’t threaten Blue like that! You go, Red! You’re pretty cool after…oh shit. BLUE, NO!

Episode 9: GO RED! GO PINK! SAVE BLUE! YOU CAN DO IT, I BELIEVE IN…no.

Episode 10-12: Stuff is still happening with the plot, but I no longer care. My heart has been shattered, all light has gone from the world. My babies are gone. If only they had more time together, if only there was someplace they could reunite, really get to know one another, and go on adventures together…huh.

So yeah, that’s the story of how I fully got on board the KyoSaya train. Obviously, writing Resonance Days only solidified that, and coming across A Happy Dream by angel0wonder, AKA the potato lady AKA @smxmuffinpeddling (wazzup?!?!), pretty much cemented it as my top reigning OTP.

Now, obviously I got invested in the whole story as time went by. Subsequent rewatchings of the show, mainly through convincing people to watch it blind so I can laugh at them when they get to certain scenes (don’t hate, y’all did it too!) and taking part in online discussions really got me into the show as a whole instead of just being confined in my little KyoSaya bubble. But coming to love the other characters for their own merits took some time.

Mami was next. I’ll be honest, I just didn’t care all that much for her during my first watching, mainly due to believing that she would turn out to be evil for the first couple of episodes (I blame Disney and their recent trend of turning almost every kindly mentor/confidante figure into the bad guy lately), and me being more surprised that I was wrong when she died instead of being shocked that she was killed. Again, had nothing against her, that was just my reaction the first time around. However, she was included in Resonance Days because it felt like the logical thing to do, and she turned out to be so much fun to write for that I really came to love and care for her character in general, and her relationship with Charlotte ended up becoming one of my favorite parts of that story.

Madoka honestly took more time. I think the main reason I wasn’t all that invested in her is that she was pretty passive in the series proper while my attention was more on the more proactive side characters. And again, this wasn’t a bad thing! In fact, it was a clever bit of deliberate storytelling, as it’s revealed that she originally was a proactive main-character type, only to unintentionally get relegated to her observer role by the butterfly effect caused by Homura’s time loops. But anyway, the thing that made me turn the corner on Madoka actually also ended up being fanfiction, but not one of my own. Specifically, I came across a popular, yet also somewhat controversial, fic called Persephone’s Waltz (and wazzup, @erinptah!), in which Homura decides to just stop beating around the bush and lock Madoka up in a basement until Walpurgisnacht had passed. And as weird as it sounds, making Madoka a prisoner actually gave her more agency, as the fic really went into detail about the psychological effects of being a kidnapping victim, from the strange rituals to the escape attempts to coping strategies to Stockholm Syndrome to bouts of depression and so on and so forth, all the while never deviating from her core character. It really got me rooting for Madoka and, by extension, invested in her character in canon as well.

That just left Homura.

By then, I had gotten over being a little sore at her for trying to kill Sayaka that one time, and I was interested in where her actions would take the plot. I just wasn’t interested in her, per se, as I hadn’t had an icebreaker moment like I had with the other characters.

And then The Rebellion Story happened.

The Rebellion Story: PMMM’s End of Evangelion

Puella Magi Madoka Magica is often compared its nearly two decade-old predecessor, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and not without reason. Like Evangelion, it took a genre mainly known to be fun and kid-friendly (giant mechs for Evangelion and magical girls for PMMM) and turned it on its head, resulting in a brutal and twisted deconstruction that would end up altering the direction that genre would take for years to come. The key difference is that Evangelion’s brilliance was in many ways an accident, with the bizarre places it went being largely informed both by its troubled production and its showrunner’s personal demons staying bottled up through the early part of the show but letting them loose later on, whereas PMMM was meticulously constructed from top to bottom to become the hand-grenade to the genre that it would become. But in the end, the effects were the same. They even both had a follow-up movie that was not originally supposed to happen that ended up being highly divisive among fans due to the shots they took at the fandom that had sprung up around the original series, even if The Rebellion Story wasn’t nearly as spiteful as End of Evangelion was.

Now, I’ve already gone into at length about how PMMM brutally dissects and deconstructs the Magical Girl genre, and it did it so thoroughly that the genre itself was totally wrenched in a new direction, much like Evangelion did to the Giant Mecha genre. But after you’ve completely taken apart the genre in your first season, where exactly do you go? How do you continue when your work is seemingly done?

The answer: deconstruct yourself.

Much as Puella Magi Madoka Magica went after the Magical Girl genre, The Rebellion Story went after the fandom that had sprung up in the original show’s wake. The first third of the movie gives the fans what they claimed they wanted: a traditional Magical Girl reimagining of PMMM where everyone is alive and working together, everyone is mentally and emotionally healthy, the two fan-favorite ships are just a kiss away from being canon, Kyubey is now a cute and silent mascot that helps out instead constantly manipulating everyone around him, and even the most popular witch is back as a benevolent secondary mascot in a happy friendship with the character she had killed. We see Madoka and the Moemura version of Homura being adorable together, we see Kyoko and Sayaka goofing off, we see Mami cuddling with Charlotte with nary a head-chomp in sight, we see everyone being just being friends and protecting the city from weird but essentially non-threatening monsters. It is basically the summation of a hundred fanfics that had been posted between the end of the show and the release of the movie.

But this is still PMMM, and something is not quite right.

We all know what happens next. Homura starts subconsciously noticing that something is off, she gradually becomes Terminator Homura as she investigates the situation and regains her memories, and the perfect happy world is exposed for the farce that it is. Things collapse, and the truth is revealed: Homura had become a witch that had been trapped inside her own soul gem, those close to her had been lured in to complete the illusion, and of course it is all Kyubey’s fault. Because this is PMMM, and Homura doesn’t get to be happy.

But the movie doesn’t stop with that reveal. Once we learn the truth, it changes targets. It stops deconstructing the fans, and instead goes after something else.

It starts to deconstruct Homura Akemi, its own main character.

Despite her promise to continue fighting on in Madoka’s name to protect the slightly more kind world her beloved had created, Homura had found herself unable to cope without Madoka. Her mission had failed, and without that stabilizing force, despair had slowly crept in, corrupting her from within, to the point where (I believe at least) she had been fighting not to honor Madoka, but in hopes that she would fall in battle and be carried off by her goddess. She had been fighting not in hopes of building a better world, but as a way to seek release from her pain. She had been miserable in Madoka’s new world, even moreso than she had been during her time loops.

And because she had been foolish enough to tell the truth to Kyubey, the little rat had taken the opportunity to use her to set a trap. Madoka had been pulled out of Heaven right into the Incubators’ clutches, and it was all her fault.

Is it any wonder that she had been unwilling to accept Madoka’s salvation during the climatic battle? Is it any wonder that her own labyrinth had featured her own familiars dragging her away to her own execution? Homura hated herself. She hated what she had become, she hated what she had allowed to happen, she hated that she had failed so utterly and completely.

In fact, I’d say that this movie shows something about Homura that I don’t think a lot of people will appreciate me pointing out, and that is as much as Homura was single-mindedly devoted to Madoka, she never really came to know her. I mean, how could she? She only knew Madoka over the course of a few of a few infatuated weeks the first time around, which she then repeated over and over and over again, becoming increasingly traumatized over time. I don’t doubt that her devotion to Madoka is real, but The Rebellion Story does seem to suggest that after a while she was fixated on Madoka as an ideal rather than Madoka as an actual person, something to be protected and possessed rather than as a living, breathing person with her own autonomy.

Now, am I saying that Homura is a bad person and that anyone who felt inspired by her resilience and devotion is wrong? Of course not. Am I saying that anyone that ships MadoHomu is bad, promoting toxic relationships, etc.? Hell no! What I’m saying is that due to everything she’s been forced to endure and fight again, she is a very mentally unhealthy individual, one who is in desperate need of help. And if an actual relationship between her and Madoka is going to realistically work, well, first something drastic will have to happen to upset her new system and give Madoka her power back, but Homura is also going to need tons of therapy.

As I said before, Homura’s decision to rip Madoka out of the Law of Cycles and turn herself into Homucifer has been pretty controversial, with many people claiming that it betrayed her characterization. To those people, I would say that they never really knew the real Homura Akemi. The show set up an idealized version of Homura, and people had that ideal imprinted in their mind. And I can’t really blame them for that. The show ended on a big, optimistic moment with Homura making a big speech about how she was going to keep fighting in Madoka’s name. It’s all very stirring, and I can’t fault anyone who would feel betrayed by their Homura acting against that promise.

But as a sadistic bastard in another dark show that is now also very controversial once said, “If you think this story has a happy ending, then you clearly haven’t been paying attention.”

Homura Akemi Did Everything Wrong, and It’s Okay to Admit That

Even though The Rebellion Story got me interested in seeing where the whole Homucifer vs. Godoka thing would go, I still wasn’t all that invested in Homura as a person. I was entrenched too deep in my KyoSaya world, and everything outside of that was just so much plot. Most of my focus was on Resonance Days, which just didn’t involve her at all.

It took years, but three things finally cracked me out of that shell. The first was writing Walpurgis Nights, of course. Granted, Homulilly was more of a Moemura than Homucifer, but that story really made me dive deep into her innate insecurities, to explore her struggles with self-loathing and her reliance on Madoka for any kind of validation.

The second was watching through a few blind reactions to the series, seeing how other people reacted to her character and the things that they picked up that I had missed. One thing in particular stood out to me: during Homura and Madoka’s first meeting in episode ten, Homura is actually shocked when Madoka casually addresses her by her first name, as no one ever called her by her first name.

And the third might get me some hate, but it was through coming across this little video:

youtube

Now, like many things I’ve discussed in this post, this video has been pretty polarizing, with some people outright hating it and labeling it as slanderous character bashing. The clickbaity title certainly doesn’t help, and I can’t say I agree with all of its points. But the video really isn’t the character-bashing piece that it might seem like. Rather, it’s as much a deconstruction of a character that has been heavily idealized by the fandom, pointing out the many mistakes and, while it certainly was not her fault, how she was driven more by a personal need for validation rather than selfless love.

That’s when it all clicked for me, all the little pieces coming together.

Despite how badass she appears to be, despite how unwavering her adoration for Madoka is, Homura Akemi is someone who was broken from the beginning, who was re-broken again and again, who never seemed to make the right choice, who was never allowed to have what she wanted, who was never allowed to win, until she finally snapped and ripped apart the carefully-laid plans and systems that seemed to be set against her.

Homura Akemi did everything wrong, and that is fascinating!

Consider: when we first meet her, she is a young girl who has known nothing but neglect, who has been shuffled around by an uncaring system her entire life, who is physically weak due to a heart condition, who is terrified by any kind of attention and is genuinely perturbed just by being called by her first name.

Of all the tragic backstories in the series, hers is easily the worst. Mami and Kyoko’s characterizations are both defined by having a single horrific event in their respective pasts that took everything away from them, events that shattered their worlds and which they blamed themselves for. But at the very least they had something before the cruel hand of fate reached into their lives. Homura never had anything! Her family is so completely out of the picture to not even warrant a mention! Her heart condition leaves her constantly balanced on the precipice of death and frequently leaves her weak and in pain. She’s never had a real friend, never had anyone close, never had anything that made her feel good about being herself. So when the Arch of Victory witch ensnares her with suicidal thoughts, it doesn’t really have to try very hard.

And then Madoka came into her life. A cheerful, outgoing girl who showed her kindness, one who called her by her name and said that it was pretty. Someone who came to her during the scariest moment in Homura’s life like a guardian angel and saved her. Someone who was everything Homura had ever wanted: kind, humble, encouraging, non-judgmental, loving, powerful, protecting, and the list goes on.

Is there any wonder that Homura became infatuated with her? Not one bit.

But then something terrible happened. Madoka and Mami were faced with the horror of Walpurgisnacht, and it killed them. Finally Homura had someone in her life that made her feel good about being herself, and that person was stolen from her. She had to watch Madoka fail. She had to watch Madoka die. And she just stood by and did nothing.

And it is then that Homura made her first mistake. Kyubey being the opportunistic manipulator that he is, he took advantage of her vulnerable state in order to add another soul to his quota. And of course Homura accepted; who could blame her?

But consider this: Homura could have wished for Madoka to be resurrected. Walpurgisnacht had been defeated; it was no longer a threat! Then the two of them (or three, had Mami been brought back as well) would have been together, fighting side-by-side! I mean, it would have eventually ended in tears anyway, but Homura had no way of knowing that. As far as she knew, she was in a traditional magical girl story that just so happened to have a bad end, one that she could have fixed.

Instead, she wished to be sent back in time to redo her first meeting with Madoka, only this time as a Puella Magi. That way, she could help Madoka and Mami prepare for Walpurgisnacht! She could protect Madoka!

It wasn’t enough just to have her dearest (and only) friend back in her life. Homura wanted to switch the roles. She wanted to protect Madoka like Madoka had protected her. She wanted a reason to keep existing, a mission, a way to prove her worthiness, because she still hated herself and needed something to validate her existence.

But it wasn’t that kind of show. She didn’t have all the information. How could she have known that Kyubey was being deceptive? How could she have known of the truth about witches? How could she have known that her time-looping would make Walpurgisnacht stronger? How could she have known that each loop would alter the timestream, entangling both Sayaka and Kyoko in its web?

Still, she kept trying. She made herself stronger and stronger in hopes that she would be able to stop Walpurgisnacht in time. She tried to warn everyone about Kyubey and the witches only to be disbelieved. She watched the others die around her again and again. She watched Madoka either die or succumb to despair and become a witch herself.

And then it happened.

That all-important timeline, where everything in her changed.

The one where she and Madoka finally successfully defeated Walpurgisnacht, but lost everything else. The one where they laid side-by-side in the ruins and the rain, as their cracked soul gems grew darker and the darker. The one where Homura resigned herself to becoming a witch.

The one where Madoka sacrificed her final grief seed, Sayaka’s grief seed, in order to save Homura. The one where she made Homura promise to go back and prevent her from making a contract in the first place. And the one where Madoka died again, not in battle against a witch, but by Homura’s own hand.

Something inside Homura broke that day, something that was never repaired and never will be. It was then that Homura shed the last remnants of the frightened, insecure girl she had been and became the Terminator-esque warrior that we were first introduced to. Her missions was clear then: stop Madoka from making a contract and defeat Walpurgisnacht by any means necessary. Nothing else mattered.

But despite all her resets, despite all her preparations, despite (supposedly) finally having all the information, Homura still kept failing! No matter what she did, Madoka always made a contract and became Kriemhild Gretchen. And Walpurgisnacht just seemed to be getting stronger.

Finally, in the timeline that encompasses the show proper, Homura learned the reason why. She was doomed from the start. Her own resetting of time was only building Madoka’s karmic destiny, increasing the power of both Walpurgisnacht and Kriemhild Gretchen. The more she went back, the more the universe itself stacked the deck against her, and now it was all but impossible. And what was worse, she had done it to herself.

Just look at her in that second to last episode, when she’s lying there bloodied and broken, when she’s about to go back yet again but stops herself. Just look at her face as her soul gem darkens as literal years of despair seep out of the defenses she had built up around herself. She knew that it was hopeless, she knew that both she and Madoka were doomed, she knew that she was seconds from finally becoming a witch after all of her efforts were for naught, and it terrified her.

But then, just as all seemed lost, Madoka herself appeared to save her, but did so through the last thing Homura wanted her to do. She took all of that karmic destiny Homura had burdened her with and made a witch that shook the very foundations of reality. Witches were removed from the equation, and Puella Magi who had succumbed to despair were simply allowed to pass peacefully instead of becoming monsters. The contract system and the advancements wasn’t removed, and the girls’ wishes weren’t negated. But the cruelest aspect of it was.

And all it cost was Madoka’s existence.

Yes, Homura was saved. Yes, Madoka was spared of dying or turning into Kriemhild Gretchen. But the person that Homura had devoted her entire existence to protecting was gone, and by her own hand. Only Homura herself was left to remember her.

Can you imagine how that must have felt, to be forced to soldier on while bearing the weight of that knowledge, to know that you had ultimately failed in your mission and had to go on without the only person that had ever meant anything to you? Sure, there was that whole “always be with you in spirit” thing, but that is a poor comfort to someone like Homura. Yes, the show ends on an optimistic note, with Homura promising to fight on in Madoka’s name, but it’s often been said that the only thing that give a story a happy ending is where you end it. And while I’m sure that many fans would have loved to believe that Homura had done just that, had fought the Wraiths to the bitter end until she was welcomed into Madoka’s arms, the sad fact of the matter is that reality is rarely ever so simple.

In The Rebellion Story we learn how true that is. Without her mission, Homura was unable to keep herself together, and despair did finally overtake her. But instead of peacefully disappearing and being taken by her love, she had made the fatal mistake of confessing to Kyubey of all people the truth about the way things were.

Now, why would she do that? Why tell Kyubey about the witches and how Madoka had changed things? Did she not suspect that he might do something with that knowledge?

Personally, I think she did. Maybe not consciously, but I feel that deep down inside, she hated what the world had become, not because the Law of Cycles had removed a significant portion of the pain, but because Madoka had to erase herself in order to create it. Yes, deleting witches was a net positive, but it wasn’t the positive Homura had been fighting to achieve. Madoka had made her promise to keep her from making a wish, and Homura had to execute her right after. So I do think that she told Kyubey the truth because part of her was kind of hoping he would intervene somehow and bring Madoka back.

And he did, and he did so though screwing Homura over. Again.

Within the labyrinth contained within her own soul gem, Homura build the world she had always wanted to exist. The endless loops had been washed away, and she and Madoka were fighting together in a joyful magical girl show. She worked so hard to build a place that would make her happy, but in the end she had been unable to accept even her own gift, in part because she subconsciously knew that something was off, but also because she had conditioned to be suspicious anything that seems like it would be working in her favor.

Learning the truth broke Homura yet again. She had done this. She had been the one to admit the truth to Kyubey, and he had used that knowledge to ensnare Madoka once more. Her love was again trapped by Incubators, and it was all her fault. Is there any wonder that while everyone was fighting to rescue her from herself, she was screaming for them to stop while her own familiars executed her over and over again?

Homura’s decision to rip Madoka out of the Law of Cycles and again rewrite reality is a controversial one, and I get that. But when you put aside the cool, determined badass that she presents herself as and look at the whole of her journey then it only makes sense. She was sick of it all. Sick of being manipulated by the Incubators and their contracts, sick of having her desires denied by the Law of Cycles, sick of being held back by her own inadequacies. She was sick of losing, and that was going to end.

The movie is called The Rebellion Story, and that title couldn’t have been more accurate. Because at the end, Homura rebelled against everything: against the Incubators, against Madoka, against herself, against a world that seemed set against her from the beginning. She forcibly seized control, dominating Kyubey and his ilk, ripping Madoka from the Law of Cycles and reprogramming her to be sweet and docile, and even erasing Madoka and Sayaka’s friendship so that Sayaka wouldn’t interfere. In the end, she finally won.

And she still hated herself. Even after overcoming everything and embracing her status as the world’s new Devil, we see her own familiars throwing trash at her.

And that is the Homura I came to love. The icy, mysterious warrior that she was presented as just didn’t do anything for me. But the broken girl who seemed to have the entire world set against her, that had what little happiness she had stolen from her time and time again, that made mistake after mistake as she tried to fight against the unfairness of everything and constantly made things worse, that finally said “Fuck it” and forced the world to bend under her will but still wasn’t happy at the end it all? Well, just look at the stories I’ve written, the kinds of stories I gush about. That is a story I can sink my teeth into. That is a character worth investing in, because she is just so damned fascinating!

Now, I’m not going to say that she’s my favorite character now, but her story is the one I’m the most interested in. And when we finally get that long-awaited follow-up, I’m definitely going to be swooning over any and all KyoSaya interactions and watching what happens to Mami and Madoka with rapt attention, but the bulk of my investment will be in Homura’s story, because in a very strange way, her story feels the most human.

Now I just wonder how many people I’ve managed to piss off.

#puella magi madoka magica #pmmm #homura akemi #Madoka Kaname #sayaka miki #kyoko sakura #mami tomoe #the rebellion story #essay #character analysis #don't kill me please i really do think she's an awesome character

156 notes · View notes

madeimpact · 4 years ago

Note

October 3rd. A day that Homura never thought she would reach with Walpurgisnacht once in her way. Homura presents Madoka a box wrapped in pastel wrapping paper. Within the box is a cute stuffed animal with a red ribbon around its neck, a small box of chocolates, and... a soft wool scarf to keep her warm. It has pale pink and white stripes. Lavender eyes gaze at Madoka with warmth and perhaps nervousness. It took Homura forever to gather the courage to walk up to her. “Happy birthday, Madoka...”

She didn’t need anything for her birthday. Not really. But it was always nice to know that her friends were thinking of her. Even if they only had well wishes for her — that was enough.

But Homura...she wouldn’t be satisfied with that. In fact, it’s clear how much thought went into the gift, with its neat and tidy pastel wrapping. Madoka can practically hear the butterflies fluttering about in Homura’s stomach; in fact, they’re almost a bit contagious. But any thumping of her heart is chalked up to excitement more than anything else. She’s ecstatic that Homura went out of her way for her. That someone so important to her also held her so close to her heart.

❝ Oh, Homura-chan! Are you sure? You really didn’t need to! ❞ Her cheeks flush an oh-so-subtle pink. Any insistence Homura has that Madoka accept the gift will be enough to convince her to accept it. ❝ Thank you! Is it okay if I open it now? ❞

Should permission be given, Madoka carefully undoes the wrapping ( it’s simply too cute to rip apart! ), lifting the lid on the box with anticipation.

Oh...it’s so thoughtful, each and every part of it. The cozy-looking pastel scarf, the adorable stuffed animal — the chocolates. If anything...it makes her heart beat just a little faster. The smile on Madoka’s face could light up a whole room.

❝ Wow... it’s so cute! All of it! And I can’t wait to try the chocolates, ❞ she practically singsongs. She’s already fishing the scarf out of the box, wrapping it around her neck and pressing her cheek into it. So soft... Too, she clasps her new stuffed friend close to her chest. The fact that all of this came from Homura makes it all the more important to her.

❝ Thank you, Homura-chan. The fact that you thought of me — I’m so happy. ❞

#I AM SO LATE ANSWERING THIS BUT IT'S STILL THE 3RD IN MY TIMEZONE SO IT STILL COUNTS #THIS IS SO CUTE I'M GONNA GET CAVITIES #I LOVE THEM!!!!! SOBS INTO MY HANDS #clarafell #❛ inbox: madoka.#❛ ic: madoka.#❛ verse: madoka ; contracted.

1 note · View note

wheremytwinwatches · 5 years ago

Text

[Where My Twin Watches]: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Episode 8

*comment shared a comic shipping Sayaka and Kyoko*

What. What is this. Is shipping the Blue-haired Paladin and the Red-Haired Warrior a thing? Because I'm suddenly seeing it as a thing. Seriously that is adorable. Damn it. I'm still holding the "Letting Familiars Go" thing against her, but between her Tragic Backstory and that comic I'm now shipping the two. ...given how short my last ship was I'm suddenly worried.

And we’re back! Watching bloodstained Silhouette-Sayaka hack wildly at the the downed witch while Silhouette-Madoka and Silhouette-Kyoko watch.

Jeebus.

The labyrinth breaks down as Sayaka laughs, staring ahead wide-eyed and muttering about how “It’s easy once you know how to do it. I’m sure I’ll never lose this way.”

Sayaka. Just because you can shut off pain and use magic to heal damage to your body, does not mean that you should!

Back in the real world construction site, Sayaka picks up her first Grief Seed. Well, while I’m not happy with her new fighting style, at least she got

What’s with that creepy head tilt and glance back? Have you been taking lessons from Homura?

Why did you just throw the Grief Seed

Why did you just throw the Grief Seed to Kyoko

Argh. No no no. Sayaka, you know that you only have so much magic, right? That you are not some special Magical Girl that doesn’t need Grief Seeds to recharge? I get that you think that you’re making a point, but you just fought a Witch and used up who knows how much magic, you need to recharge more than the bystander.

So what, you gave Kyoko the Grief Seed so that you wouldn’t be in her debt? Ok fine, that’s a slightly better reason. But still, you’d better find another Grief Seed soon, so you don’t run out of mana when you really need it.

Ok, see?! You just dismissed your outfit and then had to get caught by Madoka! That fight took a lot out of you, you cannot afford to give away Grief Seeds right now! Stop being Lawful Stupid!

“That idiot…” See, Kyoko agrees with me! This is not just someone with a “me first” philosophy scoffing at charity, this is a matter of keeping up your defensive ability!

Intro of Lies

Ep 8: I was Stupid… So Stupid

Later, as it’s raining…

As a mournful cello tells us that “This is a sad moment, u guys!”, Sayaka and Madoka are sitting at a bus stop, Sayaka leaning tiredly against Madoka. Madoka’s trying to tell Sayaka that going all Blood Knight is not a good way of fighting…

“Just because you don’t feel it, it doesn’t mean it’s ok to get hurt.” Yes, exactly!

But Sayaka’s just focused on winning. If she doesn’t fight like that, she can’t win, because she “doesn’t have any natural talent.” Um, you did just start as a MG a little while ago, right? It’s really not that much of a stretch to think you’d be less able than who-knows-how-old-they-are Magical Girls.

Madoka’s still trying to get it through Sayaka’s skull that even if it works, it doesn’t mean that it’s good.

“What’s ‘good for me’?”

Uh oh.

Yup, back to “I’m this shiny gem being held right in front of your face, not the meat puppet you were just talking at.”

Sayaka’s really getting fatalistic, isn’t she? Saying that the only worth she has left in the world is killing Witches. That’s she’s a walking, talking corpse, pretending it’s still alive.

Ok, personal note. Isn’t that what all people are, if we go with the idea that souls exist? Not that I want to make Kyubey sound like he was right, but the body is not the consciousness. Yes, you should take care of your soul-container, but the body itself is not ‘alive’ in that sense. You are not dead, Sayaka, you’re just… offset? Look I’m trying to talk Sayaka out of being Lawful Stupid, give me a break.

There is so much “good that others could do for you now, Sayaka! You can still have friends, you can still enjoy things like good food and music. Heck, there’s my newest ship thanks to that comic you lot posted!

I mean, that solves all your problems right there! Kyoko can teach you to stop being so self-sacrificing and enjoy your life again, you can teach her to care about other people besides herself, and together you act as a more moderate Magical Girl duo like redwulf said. And it even answers your concern about you being so different than Kamijo now, Kyoko’s just like you, an immortal magic user!

It’s not stupid, Sayaka, stop saying that it’s-

Wait.

Ep 8: I Was Stupid… So Stupid

Um, yes! Yes it is very stupid to think about how you could be happy again, Sayaka. Keep thinking that it’s stupid until you’re proven wrong. *fingers crossed*

See, Madoka just wants to make you happy again, Sayaka. So stop making her feel like she’s a bad friend.

“Then you fight them.”

What.

Why are you telling Madoka that Bunny-Cat said that she has Protagonist Powers? Why are you telling her that she could beat Witches easily?

“If you really want to do something for me, you should experience what I’ve experienced first.”

Sayaka, stahp.

“You can’t give up being human just out of a little pity, can you?!”

Ok, that’s just unfair, Sayaka.

“In place of you, who could accomplish anything but won’t-

So don’t talk like you care, when you’ve conveniently overlooked that!”

NO. BAD SAYAKA. TIME OUT FOR YOU, YOU MADE MADOKA CRY.

AND STOP DOING THE CREEPY STARES.

Jerk-Sayaka tells Madoka not to follow her, then runs off into the rain.

Wow. Ok. That was uncalled for, Sayaka. Yes, this situation sucks, but that does not give you grounds to blame Madoka for not getting her own soul torn out!

Madoka’s left standing dumbfounded in the rain, no doubt blaming herself. Argh.

And Jerk-Sayaka runs along- crying?

“I’m so stupid…! Why did I say all that to her?”

Ah, ok. Still a jerk thing to do, but Sayaka realizes that she let her emotions get out of hand. I’m still waiting for her to apologize to Madoka, but I can understand.

Aw, no. Sayaka, you are not beyond saving. Just go back and say you’re sorry for the outburst, I’m sure she’ll forgive you.

Homura? Or a sign that says Homura? Oh, do we get to see Homura’s place now?

Whut.

Well ok. This is appropriately arcane enough for the Mysterious Transfer Student, I suppose. Glaring white walls and floor, candles everywhere, floating scrolls and some huge pendulum…

Seems that Homura’s invited Kyoko over, to go over plans for Walpurgisnact. Oh yeah, the Giant Flying Thing that should drop a Super Grief Seed, I’d almost forgotten about that. Really speaks for the intensity of the “MGs are Lichs” thing that I stopped thingking about it. How much longer until she summons the Super Witch, again?

Kyoko asks how Homura knows where it will appear, the MST says ‘Statistics’.

...what Statistics?

Homura refuses to elaborate. I’m guessing she thinks that Kyoko wouldn’t approve of a plan to actually summon a Super Witch on purpose. Still, Kyoko wants more info. And so does

Kyubey

Ok, good on you for summoning your spear that quick, Kyoko. Go ahead and kick the uninvited guest out. But Bunny-Cat says it came with some important information…

“Sayaka Miki’s deterioration is happening far quicker than I expected.”

Uh oh. So her Soul Gem’s running out of juice faster than usual?

“It isn’t just all the magic she’s using. She, herself, has begun to curse the world.”

Oh crap. I’m remembering Mami’s lesson on Witches, how they are born from Curses.

Are we going to see the Anti-Kyubey soon? I’m actually not sure how much worse they could be than Jerk Bunny-Cat, but whatever actually creates Witches… could it see Sayaka as an opportunity for recruitment?

Going back to my theory that Homura got her powers from Anti-Kyubey (since Kyubey doesn’t know where she got them from), I’m thinking that she made a Ghost-Rider deal and then proceeded to renege on it, just focus on increasing her own power and protecting Muggles who don’t actively get in her way. But if some antagonist could convince Sayaka to be more active against the “selfish Magical Girls”... Oh dear.

(“I was stupid… so stupid… to think that Magical Girls could ever be good. They are only selfish, so I will destroy them all!��)

Kyoko snaps at Bunny-Cat, saying that it’s their fault in the first place. Kyubey ignores that, and says that at this rate Sayaka will be causing them some trouble before Walpurgisnacht arrives.

Kyubey: “So watch out! I don’t want to lose any more Magical Lunch Ladies than I have to.”

Kyoko’s still a bit confused, but Kyubey suggests that she talk to Sayaka about it. And Homura already knows what he’s talking about… although it’s curious where she learned “such interesting things”.

Homura has finally had enough of Kyubey and orders it out. Kyubey just turns around and walks through some shadow out of the room.

Wait, where did it walk out again? That room’s pretty bright, the only darkness is the sides of the seats- oh, wow. Ok, so Kyubey can apparently phase through solid objects or something. No wonder it keeps showing up indoors.

Kyoko asks why Homura’s letting it go, she says that there’s no point in killing it. I’d disagree, but whatever. As for Sayaka…

“Her Soul Gem has become too tainted. If it is not purified soon, there will be no coming back for her.”

So, it’s like a corroded battery? Her Gem’s not got enough full magic-packets in it, so it’s not going to last much longer? And if she want’s to keep fighting after that, she’ll need some new power.

And transition to the classroom. Jeez, in all this drama I almost forgot they’re still middle-schoolers.

Sayaka’s absent again… And Madoka’s blaming herself for not going after her.

Now it’s later in the day and… aw crap.

Hitomi’s deadline has passed. She’s going to confess to Kamijo.

The two are walking by a huge waterfall/dam at sunset, and Kamijo is cluelessly talking about he never realized that Hitomi’s house was that direction. To which she cheerfully admits that she lives in the exact opposite direction. But she went that way today because she has something to tell him.

Madoka is talking to someone, learning that Sayaka’s not home and she hasn’t been there since yesterday… wait, Sayaka has parents?! Or at least a guardian? We haven’t seen anyone, so I was honestly assuming that she was yet another orphan.

Well, Madoka’s not going to give up yet. Off she goes to find her!

Now we’re back at the dam, watching Hitomi and Kamijo talking about something but not hearing their words. As Sayaka watches from the shadows…

Damn it. Damn it damn it damn it. She’s falling, isn’t she. She’s going from Paladin to Blackguard.

Now Sayaka’s stumbling through a dark bubbly background as her theme music is playing

Nope, now she’s screaming as she slashes through a labyrinth. She’s still trying to keep her word, kill Witches…

Sayaka, your Soul Gem is looking kinda dark. Please tell me you’ve got some Grief Seeds to recharge it by now…

Footstep? Sayaka turns around to see Homura walking through the car park towards her. Sayaka is not pleased to see her blank head tilt stare.

“Why can’t you understand? You don’t have the luxury of killing familiars.”

So that wasn’t a Witch? She still doesn’t have any Grief Seeds? Good grief, Sayaka. This is a matter of having the power to fight Witches or running out and being helpless, you need to recharge!

Sayaka rejects Homura’s advice, who only comments about how Sayaka’s Soul Gem must be at its limit and tosses a- Grief Seed! Thank you Homura, that’s just what is ne

Oh for fucks sake, Sayaka! Stop being so goddamn self-sacrificing and take it, don’t just kick it down the ramp! You will run out of magic, be unable to heal yourself from your reckless fighting, and die. Get it through your skull!

Yeah, Homura didn’t like that. Even scrunched up her mouth.

“Don’t be a fool. You’re in no position to be questioning anyone’s help right now. Or do you simply hate being rescued that much?”

Damn, Urobuchi really doesn’t like the self-sacrificing hero type, does he? Sayaka’s had nothing but bad stuff happen since she started, and now the character who’s going to basically summon a demon for more power is sounding pretty reasonable.

Now Sayaka’s saying her Heroic Creed from the after the last episode’s credits, about how she’ll be a different kind of Magical Girl. Good words, but you’ve got to take care of yourself to back them up.

To which Homura can only say “You are going to die.”

“So what if I die.” Aw. Aw Sayaka, no. “It just means I won’t be able to kill witches anymore.”

Ok, fine. If appealing to your own self-preservation isn’t working, how about these two points:

-You are completely neglecting all of the Witches you could kill in the future, all the lives that you would save, in order to go all out against the Witches and Familiars right now. If you really want to save as many Muggles as possible, to go to the extreme of “The Needs of the Many outweigh the Needs of the Few”, then you have to recognize that the lives you save now fighting recklessly cannot possibly measure up to all the lives you will save in the future if you just exercise a modicum of restraint

-If you die, Madoka will cry. Madoka will cry because of your foolishness. Don’t make Madoka cry.

If you define yourself as being “of use” or “not of use”, then recognize that you are loosing effectiveness as a Witch Hunter with this self-destructive behavior. Snap out of it!

So what if you “can’t” defeat Witches right now? You did pretty damn well against the one in the factory that almost killed Madoka and Hitomi, and you’re just starting out! Get some training under your belt and you’ll be a great successor to Mami. But not like this.

Homura can only ask “Why? All I want is to save you.” Aw, so she’s seeing Sayaka as someone to help again, after the whole “Competition for Grief Seeds” thing.

“Why can’t you trust me?” Um. Well, you kinda threatened Madoka’s family and knocked Sayaka out that one time, so…

Sayaka’s so out of it she can’t even come up with a reason that she can’t trust Homura. Other that that somehow, she knows she’s a liar?

“By looking at your eyes, I can tell you’ve given up on everything.” That she’s speaking hollow words, that even now she says she wants to help but it’s not what she’s really thinking. But she won’t fool Sayaka!... yup, Sayaka’s slipping. She needs Madoka-encouragement, stat.

Homura flips her hair and-

“You do realize that you’re just making Madoka suffer more and more?”

Hey, she’s using my second point! Lets see if it works at all.

Nope, Sayaka just says that it has nothing to do with her. Right, after your outburst at her, and the fact that she’s your best friend? Suuure it doesn’t.

“You’re wrong. Everything has to do with her.”

Bwuh? Where did this come from? Are you worried that Sayaka’s brooding will get Madoka to make a Contract, and pose a risk of getting the Super Grief Seed?

Um. Homura just transformed into Magical Girl Mode. Why did she do that?

Um. Homura just admitted that she has no desire at all to save Sayaka. She just doesn’t want Madoka to have to watch Sayaka destroy herself?

Is this Homura’s twisted “Non-Magical Girls are to be protected as best able, other Magical Girls are competition” logic?

“If you refuse my help here, there is no recourse for you but to

Oh no. no no no.

die.”

No no no NO. Sayaka. Transform. Fight back. Run away. DO SOMETHING.

“If you will make Madoka grieve more than she has…”

Running? Is Madoka showing up. Oh crap, Madoka’s going to see Homura kill Sayaka, isn’t she?

“...then I…”

Raised hand.

“...will kill you…”

Bright purple light.

“...here and now. Sayaka Miki.”

Run. Run run RUN!

Homura pulled back? What?

KYOKO!

I am so happy to see you! Character development, yes!

Kyoko the Hero yells at Sayaka to run, who… slowly gets up and shuffles off. Ok, at least she’s moving?

As for you, Homura, what the hell? Get out of that armchair, you can trade seats with Kyoko after that stunt you almost pulled.

Kyoko’s yelling at Homura now, who only says to let go of her. Oh? Oh! If Kyoko’s holding onto the MST, then she can’t use her teleportation!

But she can still do something with her shield?

Oh shit! Grenade! Kyoko quite reasonably leaps back. And that’s all Homura needs to vanish before sudden explosion.

Aw damn, it was just a flash-bang. I mean, still, ouch, but I could have sworn it looked like a classic frag grenade. I must be out of practice with shooters.

And she’s gone. Hopefully Sayaka got far enough away.

Ok good, looks like she got on a train. Although she’s having to listen to two dumbasses who are probably wearing fedoras. Strange art style, everything just black and white…

“You just can’t treat women like rational human beings.” Oh shut up.

Wait, when did Sayaka stand up?

“Hey, tell me more about her.”

Um, Sayaka?

Ok, um. Sayaka, they’re just idiots, there’s no need to go too far…

Listen, these two jerks are scum, they are not part of the world you’ve been protecting. Don’t let them spoil your view of the world.

Sayaka? Sayaka, what is happening? Why are you getting all squiggly?

Aw crap. Her magic’s finally going, isn’t it?

Madoka’s still looking for Sayaka, walking by the river.

Kyubey

. Who just appeared from the shadow of a lamppost. Was it there earlier, or is this confirmation Bunny-Cat can shadow travel?

It asks if Madoka is mad with him too. And instead of saying no, our All-Loving Heroine asks that if she was, if it would turn Sayaka back human. Damn, now you’re on even Madoka’s List, Kyubey.

Kyubey claims that it’s beyond its power to do that. Sure it is, I’m pretty sure it just doesn’t want to give up a Magical Lunch Lady any sooner than it has to.

But

Oh no

Madoka, NO.

Madoka is talking about how Kyubey once told her she could be an incredibly powerful Magical Girl.

No. No no no. Don’t do it, Madoka. We’ll talk her down, hook her up with Kyoko, anything other than that.

Kyubey is going on about how “incomprehensibly powerful” Madoka would be if she unlocked her Protagonist Powers, probably the strongest being in the show. I mean, world.

“If I had made the contract with you…”

Madoka, NO! Sayaka would have made the contract for her own Wish and to help others regardless, do not blame yourself for that!

What’s this? Kyubey doesn’t understand how Madoka’s potential could be so great? It’s on a scale that theoretically shouldn’t even be possible?

(Shades of Tephi’s “That’s not how charts work”)

Will we ever get an answer for this?

“I want someone to come explain it as much as you do.” Ergh. And now I’m torn between finding out and keeping the information away from Bunny-Cat.

So the power that Madoka could unleash could twist reality, or whatever? So her Wish could, I dunno, bring someone back from the dead? (Bring Mami back)

What, you’re saying that Madoka could “even become the god of this world”?

Wait. I’m seeing possibilities here.

If Madoka could really be that powerful, more so than any MG…

I’m picturing a world where Magical Girls are known to exist, where they don’t have to hide their powers. Maybe they could find a way to get Muggles to see Witches and stay away, recognize the threat. The Magical Girl Contract could be understood, and people who can actually give informed consent could make the choice to create Soul Gems and protect the people. (sudden mental image of cops in Magical Girl outfits, ha. Or can only women make the Contract?)

And over it all, Magical Girl Madoka Kaname, leading the growing Magical Girl movement as a team of modern-day superheroines.

Please tell me that’s where this story is going. And not that Urobuchi is going to stop all over my hopes and dreams.

Enough power to do things that Kyubey can’t or won’t do? Like grant Wishes and bring people back? (Bring Mami Back) Even turn Sayaka human again? Kyubey says that it would be child’s play for her (reinforcing my belief that he could turn her back, he just doesn’t want to).

Ergh. This is… if Madoka could really have that power…

Would it be worth trading her soul for? Or at the very least moving it outside her body?

Madoka says that it would. For Sayaka.

Well. Eight episodes into a twelve-episode show. I guess that it’s about time the main character came into her own power.

Madoka will do it. Make her into a mag

WHAT

BUNNY-CAT IS SWISS CHEESE

WHAT

Kyubey is dead. Kyubey is dead and Madoka will never be a magical girl and Mami will stay dead and Sayaka will turn evil and

What

Homura?! What the hell?!

You just fucking killed Bunny-Cat! He was a jerk, but Madoka was about to get her powers! You just screwed Sayaka over, for what? Because you don’t want the competition?!

Oh for- this wasn’t about self-sacrifice, you psycho. Madoka was about to unlock enough power to make things better in this show. You of all people should understand that!

Ok, what the hell? I get that you consider Muggles like Madoka innocent, but you’re getting rather illogical about this. For the potential good that she could do, I think that knowingly putting her soul in a rock isn’t that bad.

What. Homura is crying. What. Why is the Vulcan showing emotion.

She’s babbling about how so many people would grieve if Madoka died.

Homura… are you…?

You’ve been trying to protect Madoka from the life of a Magical Girl. At first I saw it as wanting to prevent competition, then trying to guard the innocent little Muggle from the danger. But you were trying to protect Madoka specifically? Why would you do that, when it conflicts with your behavior?

“Have the two of us… met somewhere before…?”

Are we FINALLY going to get a damn explanation for the Vision? Like, Homura saved Madoka from a Labyrinth before and wiped her mind, or whatever?

Homura’s not saying. So Madoka’s leaving to find Sayaka.

...damn it. I almost got some damn answers here, but nope! Urobuchi is trolling me.

Instead of answers, we’re left with a bullet-riddled Kyubey, a crying Homura, and a running Madoka. And I wish I understood how we got here.

Whoa, what?!

“You knew there was no point in doing that.”

Kyubey?! You’re alive?

What the hell is that image, that silhouette balancing on the fence with red eyes.

“I have countless spares, of course, but making me use them up for no reason like this… It’s a waste.”

...what.

So Kyubey’s alive, and

OH GOD is it eating the corpse? Itself? What?

KANAYA: I Suddenly Dont Understand Anything And Am Currently Casting Sincere Doubt On The Laughable Insinuation That I Or Anyone Else Ever Actually Did For Even A Single Moment

Kyubey is a clone or whatever or what?

Homura’s gotten back to her feet and resumed her Mysterious Transfer Student attitude.

“That’s the second time you’ve killed me.”

Really? Was the first offscreen, or did I miss it?

“That was Time Magic, wasn’t it?”

Time Magic?

TIME MAGIC?!

“You’re not from this timeline, are you?”

YOU GUYS

HOMURA IS A TIME TRAVELER

THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING

-She knows Madoka from an alternate timeline that Madoka somehow got a glimpse of

-She’s seen all this happen before, knows where to show up and how to act to prevent things

-She could have gotten her powers from Kyubey, just not this Kyubey

-She’s fighting with the experience of two runs as as Magical Girl

-She’s acting so cold and detached because these are just counterparts of people she knew in her own timeline

-Her special ability isn’t teleporting, it’s pausing time and moving somewhere else before it resumes

That makes sense now! There’s still so much about this show that doesn’t make sense, but at least that does!

But it boils down to the fact that Homura knows what Kyubey was doing the whole time, coercing these girls into transferring their souls and becoming Magical Lunch Ladies.

...yeah, I guess that does sound pretty out there. No wonder she didn’t just outright say what it was up to.

Kyubey is being remarkable chill for recently learning his opponent has time-travel knowledge. I guess it’s pretty confident that it’s already succeeded, and even though Homura stopped him before Madoka could Contract, if it can replace bodies then it’s only a matter of time before it can catch up with Madoka and finish the deal.

But Homura is adamant that she won’t let things to according to Kyubey’s plan.

“Or should I say, ‘Incubator’?”

Incubator? What does…

Oh.

Oh shit.

Kyubey’s been storing the Grief Seeds.

Kybey’s always been around when a Witch shows up.

Son of a bitch. I kept on going on about some sort of Anti-Kyubey, who was creating Witches the same way that Kyubey was creating Magical Girls.

But if Kyubey was ‘incubating’ the Grief Seeds, planting the Grief Seeds…

Kyubey is Anti-Kyubey!

And if it’s been the one planting the Seeds…

Homura didn’t plant the hospital Seed, you did!!!

You son of a bitch! You killed Mami!

What, we’re just leaving it at that?! No way, we are going to get that thing to confess and

Oh wait, it’s Sayaka at a train station. Ok good, we found you. Let’s just get you home and talk this out. We need to discuss Operation ‘Kick Kyubey’s Butt’.

Oh hey, Kyoko found her! Guess Madoka’s still on the way. Kyoko takes a seat next to Sayaka and jokingly asks about how long she’s going to keep acting like Batman. Sayaka apologizes for making Kyoko look for her. Which confuses Kyoko. Where’s the brash Ally of Justice that she’s been fighting?

Sayaka says that she just can’t care about anything anymore, that she can’t remember what she thought was worth protecting… yup, this is classic Falling Paladin. Quick, somebody try to kick a puppy in front of her so she gets all “Justice Will Be Upheld” again.

Kyoko’s just chowing down on some potato chips during all this.

Sayaka’s pulled out her Soul Gem, and geez that is looking pretty freaking dark. How much longer before it’s completely empty and she can’t use magic anymore? Now she’s talking about how hope and despair balance back out to zero, throwing Kyoko’s words back at her. Ouch.

Yes, you saved people, Sayaka! Never forget that! But… then you started feeling resentment and hatred. Um. And hurt your best friend.

“For as much happiness as we wish on one person, we can’t help but curse someone else.” Oh come on, that’s not true! There’s… ok, give me a minute, I’m sure I can think of an example where someone doing good didn’t backfire on them in this show…

Ah! Mami saving the person who fell off the building! That was a good act that didn’t hurt her!

Aw no. Don’t cry Sayaka. Look, I know that things seem bad, but we can get past this. You can…

“I was stupid… so stupid.”

Whoa what the hell?

WHAT THE HELL THERE ARE FLASHING LIGHTS AND KYOKO JUST WENT FLYING

Sayaka. Sayaka your Soul Gem is cracking. I am fairly certain that your Soul Gem should not be cracking something that contains a soul should never break

Your Soul Gem just broke

That

That is a Grief Seed

Your Soul Gem just turned into a Grief Seed

What

“Sayaka!”

I… what…

Construction site.

“In this country, half-grown women are called “girls”, right?”

No. No no no no NO NO NO

“In that case, it’s appropriate that you, who will one day grow into Witches, should be called ‘Magical Girls’.”

…

what.

...after credits chibi-ish picture of Mami, Homura, Madoka, Sayaka , and that red-eyed ALWAYS SMIRKING MANIPULATIVE LITTLE-

Homura: “Maybe I’m being a fool, but until I know for sure whether she can or can’t be saved, I don’t want to give up.”

Episode 9: I’d Never Allow That To Happen

#wmtw #where my twin watches #ranubis #pmmm #puella magi madoka magica #pmmm 8

1 note · View note

snow-lavender · 5 years ago

Text

Walpurgisnacht

Hey @beerecordings @florenceisfalling, you remember that silly conversation you guys had a few days ago? I did a thing!

2017

“Do we plan to have a bonfire tomorrow?” Henrik asked, glancing up from his book.

“Huh?” Sean replied. “I mean, I guess we could. Any reason?”

Henrik looked confused. “Did I not get the date correct? It is the thirtieth tomorrow, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, and?”

Henrik sat up, closing his book. “Do you not do Walpurgisnacht in Ireland?”

“What, like the big baddy from Madoka Magica?” Jackie piped up from the couch.

Henrik pinched the bridge of his nose in reply. “Gott gibt mir kraft.” he muttered. “No, Jackie, not like the anime. Saint Walburga’s feast. Hexennacht. Whatever you want to call it.”

Sean shook his head. “Never heard of it. But yeah, sure, I’m always down for a bonfire. What exactly are we celebrating?”

“Ah, I have not been to church in awhile, but I believe she battles against sickness and pests. I vaguely remember something about oil. Today it is mostly an excuse for hoodlums to make problems for everyone. Graffiti, vandalism, you know.”

“Oh, so like how Halloween is back in the States?”

Sean glanced at Chase. “I thought you guys just did the candy thing?”

Chase scoffed. “Hell no, Halloween is all about eggs and toilet paper once you’re old enough.”

Henrik shook his head. “You Americans. But yes, I suppose it is similar. For a select few.”

Sean raised an eyebrow. “Careful, all that condescension will get to you one day. I still don’t see what any of this has to do with bonfires.”

“Sean, I thought you were raised Catholic? How do you not know this?”

Sean threw his hands in the air. “There’s a bajillion saints, Hen. No one person can memorize all of them. Why the fire?”

Henrik frowned suddenly. “Ach, my brain is shorting out. Hexen. What is that in english?”

“Hexes? Spells?” Chase supplied.

“No, no, the people.”

“Witches?”

“Yes!” Henrik leaned back. “Witches. The bonfire is because in the old days, they would burn...ah…” he turned awkwardly to the corner of the room by the bookshelf.

Marvin had a shit eating grin spanning ear to ear. “No, Schneep, by all means, continue.” he said teasingly.

Jackie sat up with a gasp. “We should have a witch hunt tomorrow!”

“Uhh, it won’t be much of a ‘hunt’.” Marvin said. “You all know where my bedroom is.”

“And technically the actual feast isn’t until Sunday.” Henrik added.

“Okay then, so we make some rules. Like, not until after breakfast. And no hiding in your room all day.”

Marvin stood still for a few moments. Then he shrugged. “You know what? Fuck it, sure. First one to hug me on Sunday gets...I dunno, I’ll take you out for drinks or something.”

“Wait, first one?” Sean asked. “Are we all doing this? Why?”

“Family bonding!” Jackie yelled.

“Sure, ‘cause nothing says ‘family bonding’ like trying to tackle each other for an entire day.” snorted Chase.

Jackie turned to Marvin, grinning even wider than the magician had been moments before. “I’m gonna hug the shit out of you on Sunday.”

“Try it, spandex.”

2018

When Jameson walked into the kitchen with the breakfast dishes, Jackie and Chase were using the breakfast bar to stretch. He shook his head, dropping the dishes in the sink.

“Is there any reason for the calisthenics, gents?” he signed.

“It’s May first.” Chase replied, his voice muffled by his thigh.

“And?”

Jackie bent backwards to face him. “We do this thing for Wali- Walspi- fuck.”

“Walpurgisnacht.” Chase said.

“Right. That.”

“I’m sorry, I still don’t follow.” Jameson signed. “Isn’t that the German May Day? When they have campfires?”

“We do it different in this family. We’re having ourselves a good old fashioned witch hunt!”

Jameson blinked. “What?”

Chase stood up from his spot on the floor. “First one to hug Marv after breakfast wins. No serious damage or drawing blood. No weapons, super strength, or bribery. Other than that, all bets are off.”

“Jack won last year on a technicality, but this year, I’m ready!” Jackie declared.

Chase rolled his eyes. “It wasn’t a technicality, you’re just a sore loser.” He glanced back at Jameson. “Marvin shifted into a cat for most of the day. He was hanging around out back, and Sean went to cuddle the cat without knowing who it was.”

“...I see.” Jameson signed slowly. “Well, what about me? I can do magic as well.”

Chase and Jackie froze. Then their faces broke into matching smiles. “New rules,” Chase said. “First person to hug Marv and Jamie wins.”

Jameson’s eyes widened, then in a blink, he vanished.

“Hey!” Chase yelled, running into the living room. “No time jumping! That’s cheating!”

Jackie’s laughter coming from behind him was borderline maniacal.

2019

“Henrik!”

“Aah!” He lurched forward as the sudden noise woke him up. “Was?”

Chase and Jackie were standing in the doorway. Jackie winced as he saw that Henrik was still in bed. “Shit, sorry Schneep, I forgot you had a late shift last night.”

Henrik waved a hand. “It’s alright, I slept enough. Is everything okay? What do you two need?”

Jackie plopped onto the bed while Chase pulled over his desk chair. “We need a game plan.”

“....for what, exactly?”

“The thing! Waluigi night! Witch hunt!”

“Neither of us managed to win last year,” Chase added. “We need to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Henrik blinked a couple times. “You did that without me?”

“Is that bad?” Jackie asked.

‘No, no, I’m just surprised. I didn’t think..” He shook his head. “Game plan. Right. Did you change any of the rules while I was gone?”

“Jamie counts now too, you need to get both of’em to win.”

Henrik sat up straighter. “Alright, so first things first…”

=:=:=:=

By the afternoon, all three of them had managed to hug Jameson, who was now reading in the living room. But no one had seen Marvin since breakfast. The others figured he’d just upped the ante this year, but personally, JJ was starting to worry a bit. Marvin had seemed impish when they talked yesterday, like he was planning to spend the day taunting them. Popping in and out, always vanishing at the last second. Not disappearing completely. Jameson finished his cup of tea and stood up. Marvin’s room wasn’t off limits to him, so what was the harm in checking on him?

He passed Chase on the stairs. The American was whacking his cap, trying to brush cobwebs off it. He smiled at Jameson. “Nothing in the attic. You two really brought it this year.”

JJ smiled back. “I’m just going to see if Marvin’s in his room,” he signed.

“Gotcha. If you find him, could you give him one of these for me?” Chase asked, flipping the bird. Jameson laughed, and climbed the rest of the stairs.

He passed Jackie’s room, which had loud music and thumping sounds coming from within. Sounded like he was working out to let off some steam.

Jameson knocked thrice on Marvin’s door, the signal he used to identify himself when out of sight. There was no reply. He frowned, trying again. On the third knock, the door creaked open, with no one behind it.

That was definitely worrying. Marvin never left his door unlocked. His room had too many unstable spells and in-progress potions, it was dangerous for any of them to randomly burst in.

Jameson carefully stepped in. He continued knocking, to no avail. The only light source came from an open laptop. The light wavered as the screen glitched and shifted. Jameson’s eyes widened as he read the message.

D͇̖o̼͍͚ ͘I̪ ͙̭w͇͈̺̘̭͓̻͞i͚̲̫̪͙n̛̦͍͎̣͚͔ ̙t͇̱ḫ͇̖͝e̹͕̣͕̭͓̞ ̹̹̩͍̲ẉ̣i̙̪̪̤t̲̱̱̱̞͈͖͡c̸͖͚̦̼h̟̻͕̙̙͕ ̷h̘̩͕̭̤͎͖un̸̘̖̰͇ț̯?̰

He grabbed the computer and ran downstairs.

=:=:=:=

After that, the hours flew by in a flurry. Jackie managed to track the signal provided, but it took him until after supper to do so. Chase spent most of that time comforting an (understandably) distraught Henrik, who had numerous panic attacks and more than one shutdown. That left Jameson to do nothing but pace and fret, caught up in his thoughts.

“How? How did he manage to subdue Marvin, of all people?!” Henrik yelled from the living room.

“I don’t know,” said Chase.

Jameson didn’t know either.

The next thing he knew, the four of them were standing in front of an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town. Jackie checked his phone. “This should be it. Okay, we’ll pair off. JJ, you and Schneep try and find Marvin while Chase and I distract Anti. Got it?”

Jameson nodded, slightly perturbed. He hadn’t seen Jackie this serious in months.

Jackie turned back to the building. “Alright, so first things first…” He paused, then his eyes widened. “Get down, now!”

It looked like a bomb had gone off. The windows were simultaneously blown out as fire poured out of them. Sparks filled the air. It might have just been shock, but Jameson though the embers floating around them looked like feathers.

The entire building was ablaze in a matter of seconds. All of them just gaped, frozen on the spot. Eventually, Chase snapped out of it and ran toward the entrance. “Marvin!”

Out of the door stumbled a figure. He walked a few steps, then swayed forward into Chase’s open arms. Chase slowly walked him over to where the rest of them were standing.

Marvin was a mess. His hair was haphazardly chopped into different lengths. Most of it was singed, and there were still a few small flames that Jameson patted out for him. His clothes were torn, and bruises were visible through the holes. There were a few nasty looking gashes on his chest. His tattoos were still glowing from overuse.

He smiled dazedly up at the group. “Sorry guys, I think I got the day wrong for the bonfire.”

Henrik made a noise that was halfway between a sob and a laugh. “You’re right, the bonfires were supposed to happen yesterday.”

“Ah well, never was very good with dates.” He leaned further into Chase’s shoulder. “Congrats, man. Where d’you wanna go for drinks.”

Chase’s grip on Marvin’s arm tightened. “Let’s focus on getting you better first, okay?” He motioned with his head for Jackie to support Marvin’s other side. “Jameson, go bring my truck around.” he whispered.

JJ nodded as Henrik rushed forward with his bag. The doctor leaned in, feeling around for breaks and assessing the cuts. Marvin slowly nodded along to what he was saying, clearly out of it.

The drive home was somber. Marvin started dozing as soon as the truck got moving, and the rest of them sat in silence.

Eventually, Chase spoke up. “Aw, don’t look so bummed Jackie. Maybe you’ll win next year.”

There was another stretch of silence, then all of them burst out laughing.

#writers of jack #writersofjack #jacksepticeye egos #septic egos #marvin the magnificent #jackieboy man #chase brody #henrik von schneeplestein #jameson jackson #fanfiction #my writing

3 notes · View notes

clarafell · 5 years ago

Note

Joy, for your headcanon/drabble meme

Headcanon / Drabble Meme : Accepting!

↳ @shorestar (-hugs- I’m sorry in advance)

Madoka and Homura: “Do you know what happiness is?”

Madoka: “It’s bright May sunshine.”

Homura: “It’s the warmth of family.”

Madoka: “It’s fried eggs for breakfast.” ( Link ★ )

To Homura, ‘happiness’ was once just a word that she read in books or saw in other people. To Homura, she never truly felt happiness. When she was a child and stuck in hospital after hospital, Homura would play with her dress-up dolls and she would feel fleeting moments of happiness. Her dolls, once cherished possessions that she cared about, were her only friends that she treasured deeply in her heart. To the doctors and nurses, all they saw were dolls with bright blue eyes and monochrome dresses and a very lonely girl with a deadly heart disease. To little lonely Homura, she saw friends. No, she saw her best friends. But then, one day, she was told by more than one person that her friends were silly little toys. She was repeatedly told that her imaginary (best) friends were just toys and that someone her age shouldn’t play with them anymore. Many people drilled those words into her head and it grew louder for her. “You aren’t a child anymore,” They told her. “You shouldn’t play with dolls anymore. Stop playing with them this instant and throw them away…” They chastised her. So, Homura packed away her dolls and looked at them differently. They were no longer brought her any happiness and they were no longer her best friends. She despised them. Her happiness was snuffed out like a candle… Over the years, Homura turned to books for happiness and she found it. No one yelled at her for reading. Everyone saw her passion in reading as a big improvement. Maybe she would shine as a genius? Oh, how they wondered. But once they saw her decent grades, their wondering was replaced with disappointment. She wasn’t a genius child plagued with a deadly heart disease. She was just a sick little girl…

Bound to a bed in a lonely hospital room, books brought her only a slither of happiness. Books gave her an escape from the world and she desired an escape from the world. She read any single book that she could get her hands on and she would escape from the hospital. But then, just like that, she ran out of books to read. She would try to re-read the books and yet they weren’t the same as before. She kept on reading and reading and soon the escape that the books gave her wasn’t powerful enough anymore. Her passionate and intense reading sessions would dwindle bit by bit. Her depression swallowed up any happiness that she got from books. Going to school was dreadful since her classmates bullied her relentlessly and learning new things started to get too intense for her to keep up. She was bound to the indoors and she didn’t really get to enjoy the outdoors or the warm sunshine. She didn’t really truly have a family and she never felt any joy. Food and eating breakfast didn’t bring her joy. Her long stays in the hospital were affecting her grades and she couldn’t focus on anything. Then on a fateful day, she transferred out of the hospital and found herself in Mitakihara… She transferred into a new school and some people might think that she was granted a fresh start. For Homura, she thought this school was probably going to produce the same result as her last school— But Homura marked her calendar and hoped that things might be different. Even if this new school might be the same as her last school, she would be out of the hospital at least. Wasn’t that something to celebrate— (But who would she celebrate this tiny victory with? Ah, yes. No one.) Yet she focused on being free from the hospital and counted the days down until freedom. Until her first day in a brand new class with unfamiliar faces. The day came and she introduced herself to the class. All eyes were on her and this made it harder for her to speak. But she still managed to say her name and bow to her fellow classmates…

Then she met Madoka Kaname and that was when she felt happiness. Not only did she feel happiness, she saw happiness in the form of Madoka Kaname. It was a day that she would never forget. When she met Madoka, she felt throbbing happiness in her wilting heart. Not only did she meet Madoka, the very same girl would later save her life. Homura had received a Witch’s Kiss and later found herself in the labyrhtih of a witch. She was trapped and her life was suddenly bleak. She would die at a very young age and no one will mourn for her. No one would remember her— But then Madoka Kaname and an older girl, Mami Tomoe, saved her life from the witch. On that day, she learned about magical girls and witches and how Madoka was a strong magical girl with the a bow as her main source of power. Homura would never forget that day either. Homura thought her life was complete now that she found Madoka. Thanks to Madoka, she later befriended Mami and she was often invited to Mami’s house for tea and cake. While she would later get close to veteran Mami, she was extremely close with Madoka. It was so weird to have a friend and yet Homura enjoyed having Madoka as her first real best friend. The world was smiling down on her for once and she felt happiness—

Then Walpurgisnacht arrived…

And then Madoka died.

Homura watched her best friend perish from the world. On that mournful day, she made a contract with Kyubey and went back into the past. She introduced herself to the class again and quickly rushed over to Madoka’s side without missing a beat. Once she saw Madoka’s reaction, Homura felt her heart shatter. Madoka didn’t know what she was talking about. Madoka didn’t know who she was. Madoka wasn’t a magical girl. Madoka was a normal girl and— Madoka was embarrassed. Homura was making a scene. Homura was humiliating Madoka. Homura was just a stranger in Madoka’s eyes. A really confusing stranger. Everything was ruined. This wasn’t a forgiving second chance. This is reality. Her second chance was twisted. No one remembered her or the past timeline. Walpurgisnacht was going to come again. No one believed her story about magical girls turning into witches. No one believed her about how Kyubey tricked them all. No one believed her. No… N̝̘̬̮o̠̯̘̺̯͙̗,͚̟͕̲͚̳͕͙̠̹͎̹ ̮͍̘̪̝̣n͍̰̥̙̥̗͍̳̫̜̗͉̱̱̘ͅo͚̦̝̺̠̞͉,̺̗͈̝̤ ͙̻̺̤̳̖̣̗̲̳͉n̪̜̳̟͍͚͈̗͈̬̰̖͍o̫̟̼̥͔̹̗͉̖̪—

‘Happiness’ is when the witch drops a grief seed.

‘Happiness’ is when you cleanse your dirty soul gem.

‘Happiness’ is when Madoka doesn’t make a contract with the Incubator.

‘Happiness’ is when you steal a brand new gun.

‘Happiness’ is when you make a brand new bomb.

‘Happiness’ is when you kill the enemy without any mercy.

‘Happiness’ is when you kill the Incubator.

‘̤̙̤̘͖Ḫ͎̩̙͓̯̦̲a̩͍̫p̰̲̱̪͈̲̝̭͓p̺̘i̼̲͇̼̹̲n̻͙͕e͎͍s̜̺̜̪͈s͙̺'͎͕ ̹̺̦̙̪͎̤͕͕i͚͓̯͈͈̺̲̳s̞̠̥̗͇ͅ ͇̟̱͍͚̳̫̭w̱̮̬̻̥͙͓̞͓h͚̙͎̯͍̦͇̞e̳͉̼̫͉̱n͇̳̻̻—

“Do you know what happiness is?”

#❛ ✧ ┊ the fairy tale gets a little darker after midnight. answered.#❛ ✧ ┊ lost to the sands of time. drabble.#❛ ✧ ┊ dead melodies in the bone. headcanon.#❛ ✧ ┊ trapped in a blizzard of stars; threatened by daybreak. stella and homura.#shorestar #(JUBI)#(IS BACK I'M SO HAPPY)#(thank you for sending this~~)#(it was a joy to write!!!)#(this turned into a mix of a hc and a d/rabble)#(look at who decided to show her face)#(homucifer)#(i'm sorry in advance)

2 notes · View notes

scribbleranger93-blog · 6 years ago

Text

Prayers and Wishes (One-Shot)

Fandom: Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Words: Approx. 6,021

Rating: T

Genre: Friendship/Drama

Summary: Homura made her wish to protect Madoka because Madoka was one of the few people she could call her best friend. What happened in her past that made her desperate enough that she'd rather give up her soul than accept a friend's death? One-shot.

Author’s Note: Thank you to @takerfoxx for giving me some advice on writing this story; it really helped!

Fanfiction.net Link

“Over here, Yuki!”

“Got it!”

Homura watched from the goal as the girls kicked the soccer ball around, wondering if they knew just how lucky they were to be so agile and fast, to not have to worry about overexerting themselves and having heart attacks. It must have been nice, to not have to think about those kinds of things, to actually be part of the crowd… To be normal… With her heart condition, she had been relegated to simply being the goalie. It was the easiest position during the game, maybe, but for Homura it was just another reminder that she was always a girl on the sidelines, never actually involved in anything.

“Kick it in the goal, Akemi won’t get it!” one girl cried.

“Don’t blow it, Akemi, get it!”

She saw a group of girls rushing towards her, one kicking the ball along the way. Homura readied herself, getting in position. This was it, her moment to prove that she wasn’t just the weakling in the class; she focused intently on the ball…

And suddenly imagined the blue sky turning into a red, pastel-like one glaring down at her, misshapen, humanoid figures slowly making their way towards her with menacing intent…

Her chest suddenly felt tight, her heart beating a mile a minute; knees buckling, she clutched her chest, and began ventilating, sweat falling from her forehead…

At the last minute, Homura snapped back to the present...

Just as the ball went sailing past her, hitting the net.

“Ugh, Akemi!” a few of the girls groaned.

“We’ll never win with her on the team,” someone moaned.

“It’d be better if she just didn’t even try to be in the class…”

Homura looked at all the girls glaring at her, feeling like she had been pierced by a thousand arrows like Saint Sebastian. An airy, inhuman voice seemed to whisper in her ear: “Maybe it would be better if you did just die…”

The bell rang, and all the girls began to make their way to the lockers, walking past Homura, ignoring her.

Well, not all of them. One slapped her on the forehead, which caught her off guard, and another stopped to utter a few words to the brunette.

“You. Damn. Freak.”

Homura trailed behind the other girls, dragging her feet along. She didn’t even bother to look up when she heard footsteps walking next to her.

“Homura-chan?”

That voice; Homura looked up and saw Madoka Kaname standing next to her, a concerned look on her face. There were bags under her friend’s pink eyes; she was out hunting again last night, Homura realized.

“K-Kaname-san,” she said.

“You were remembering again, weren’t you?” the pink-haired girl asked.

Homura nodded, frowning. It had been days since she had wandered into that Witch’s Labyrinth while walking home; days since she had been saved by Madoka and upperclassman Mami Tomoe, days since Homura had met Kyubey and learned of the existence of Magical Girls and Witches… And yet she couldn’t shake the memory of the fear she had felt when she found herself trapped in that Labyrinth, at the mercy of the Witch and her Familiars, her legs freezing up and refusing to let her run somewhere, anywhere…

“Don’t let them get to you,” her pink-haired friend said, placing her hand on her shoulder. “They don’t know what you had to go through; you were doing your best, and that’s all that matters.”

She gave Homura a small smile, and the bespectacled brunette couldn’t help but smile back at her. They began to walk back to the locker room in step with each other, the birds chirping in the distance.

“Kaname-san?” Homura piped up.

“Hm? What is it, Homura-chan?”

“… Thank you,” she said. “For not being like the other girls.”

“No problem, Homura-chan, that’s what friends are for, right?”

Friends. The word stung in the transfer student’s chest. It was such an alien concept to her at this point, after spending most of the last year in the hospital. She had just met Madoka, but the girl had seemed to really take a liking to her; in fact, Homura owed her life to her, and she was enjoying having another person to talk to. It made her feel less lonely.

But, the idea that she had a new friend, someone who would be there for her, who would protect her and keep her from being sad… Homura was almost afraid to acknowledge it, for fear of having it taken away from her… Again.

“Homura-chan?”

“What…?”

“Are you okay?” Madoka asked, looking concerned. They were now close to the locker room. “You seem preoccupied with something.”

“Oh, it’s, it’s nothing, Kaname-san.”

“Please,” Homura said, “Give her back…!”

She tried to move towards the other girl, but the latter’s friends held her tightly by the arms, stopping her in her tracks. The girl in question, Eriko, stood before Homura, towering over her like a queen before a slave. Eriko was one of the many older girls in Saint Anthony’s Home, where Homura had spent the last year. From their first meeting, Homura had a feeling Eriko didn’t like her that much. And at the tender age of eight, she was in no position to fight back against a ten-year-old.

Eriko held up one hand, Homura’s doll held in it. It was a simple doll, with a pale face and a black dress, something that had been with her for many years. “You want her back?” she said mockingly, holding it up. “If you want your precious Clara-chan back, then take her from me!”

Homura tried her hardest to break free from the other girls—Mai and Shiri, their names were. They were all in one of the many rooms of the orphanage that had been set aside for the children to play in. As hard as she tried, she was unable to break free. “P-please… Stop,” she said, her voice barely more than a whisper.

“Look at her, she’s crying!” Mai said, sounding more amused than sympathetic. “She isn’t even going to try to fight back!”

“What a wimp,” Shiri said.

“Just leave me alone!” Homura finally screamed. “I haven’t done anything to any of you!” She tried to force herself forward; in her movement, she hadn’t anticipated Mai and Shiri letting go, and she came crashing down at Eriko’s feet, her glasses falling off her face.

The girls laughed at that, while Homura scrambled to her knees.

“You’re a freak, Homura Akemi,” Eriko said. “You’re no better than the rest of us in this damn orphanage. Never forget that.”

“What’s going on here?” another voice cut into the scene. The other girls stopped what they were doing.

“Fukui-san,” Eriko said, turning to the doorway. There was a tone of resentment in her voice. “It’s just you.”

“Ono-san, what are you doing with Akemi-san?” the other girl asked, sounding cross. “Do I have to report you three?”

There was a brief pause; then, Eriko tossed Homura’s doll onto the floor. “Let’s get out of here,” she said to Mai and Shiri.

“No one likes a tattle-tale, Fukui-san,” Mai muttered as they walked away.

“Don’t listen to them, Akemi-san. Here, let me help you,” Fukui said, taking the glasses and placing them back onto Homura. “There, better,” she said, smiling. She handed her doll back to the brunette. “Your doll is so pretty, and I love her dress.”

Homura perked up a bit. She looked into the other girl’s eyes. They were dark gray, matching her hair; Aiko Fukui was also one of the girls Homura had met when she first arrived at the orphanage. Unlike the others, she had given Homura a warm welcome.

“Y-you shouldn’t help me,” Homura said. “If you do, they might pick on you, too…” A lot of the kids had avoided Homura as much as possible, for fear of raising the ire of Eriko and her followers.

“Ono-san? Ah, I wouldn’t worry too much about her,” Aiko said, helping Homura back on her feet. “She talks a big game, but she’s only brave when picking on kids who are afraid of her. If you don’t let her get to you, she’ll leave you alone…” Just as she was about to finish her words, she bent over, letting out a loud cough.

“Are you okay?” Homura asked, concern in her voice. The coughing went on for a while, before Aiko stood upright again.

“I’m fine,” she said, smiling. “Nothing to worry about. Now, how about we go get some snacks from the kitchen?”

“I-is that allowed?” Homura asked.

“We’ll worry about that later,” Aiko said, extending her hand. “Come on, it’ll be fun!”

Homura looked at Aiko’s hand, then at Aiko. “O-okay, Fukui-san” she said, giving a small smile.

“You can call me ‘Aiko’ if you want,” Aiko said, holding back a laugh when her comment made the girl self-conscious.

“Are you really not afraid for when Walpurgisnacht comes?” Homura asked Madoka as they walked out from the mall. They had gone after school for some food and to just hang out; Sayaka had gone to visit Kyousuke at the hospital, Hitomi had another lesson, and Mami was also busy taking care of some things, so it had just been the two of them.

“A little,” Madoka said, turning to look at her. “But with Mami leading, we should be able to beat it!” She looked up wistfully at the sky; the city lights made it hard to see any stars. Homura gave a small smile; she had to admit that she found Madoka’s enthusiasm endearing. The other girls’ cruel remarks during PE had been forgotten for the past few hours; spending time with Madoka always managed to lift Homura’s spirits.

The sun had set over Mitakihara, casting long, black shadows over the street. Homura clutched her chest, her eyes darting back and forth at the splotches of darkness that were slowly growing. She still couldn’t get the memory of being trapped in the Witch’s labyrinth out of her head. To think that there were unspeakable horrors like that, just hidden in the corners and crevices of the city! After her experience, she couldn’t even think about willingly going into one ever again; whenever her friends went on their hunts, she stayed outside or far away. She even thought about all the people in the city, unaware of the existence of Magical Girls, of Witches, and wondered if it was good or bad that they had no idea of the war brewing beneath the glamour of the city.

“Oh, no, I didn’t realize it was getting late,” Madoka said. “I guess we lost track of time.”

“Well, it was a lot of fun,” Homura said, smiling softly.

“I even forgot to call my mom and tell her I wouldn’t be home early,” Madoka said, facepalming.

“I’m sure they’ll just be happy to have you home,” Homura said. She looked down. “You’re lucky to have them.”

The tone in her voice seemed to catch Madoka’s attention. “Oh, what I meant was—“ the pink-haired girl began to say, realizing she may have been a bit insensitive to her parentless friend.

“It’s okay,” Homura said, flashing her friend a smile. “Really.” Maybe someday soon she would tell Madoka about what she knew about her parents—about her mother who died in childbirth, or her affluent father who had perished in a fatal car accident when she was seven. After being on her own for so long, Homura had accepted what had happened to her parents; it still hurt, but she was used to the pain.

“It’s getting really dark,” Homura said, trying to change the subject. “Could a Witch be out right now?”

It was hardly a cheerful subject, but it did the trick. “I’m sure of it,” Madoka said, her tone turning serious. “Witches are everywhere; for every one we defeat, there’s probably another one somewhere preying on humans.” She shrugged. “But, even so, we have to do our best to save as many people as we can; it’s what Magical Girls do, after all.”

“Just thinking about it makes me freeze up,” Homura said, looking shiftily around at every dark corner she could find. “I really want to help you and Tomoe-san when Walpurgisnacht comes, but I think I’d be terrible at fighting Witches.” She had to admit, however, that the prospect of having a wish granted had its appeal; she had wished many times for things as a child, after all.

“You don’t know that,” Madoka said, smiling again. “Who knows? You might become the best out of all of us.”

“Even if I could, I’m not sure what to wish for; there’s so much I could pick from…”

“Well, there’s no pressure for you to make one,” Madoka said, as they began to round a corner. “And besides, I’m fine with us just being friends; you’re fun to hang out with.”

Friends. The word made Homura’s heart skip a beat. Madoka really did think of her as a friend; she had forgotten how warm and fuzzy it felt to be liked by someone. She wanted so badly to be friends with her forever, to always be by her side. In her heart of hearts, she always hoped to have a fiend like Madoka again, even though she was afraid of somehow losing her. “I like being your friend, too, Kaname-san.”

“Homura-chan…” Madoka said, half-whining. “You can just call me ‘Madoka,’ it’s perfectly alright.”

Before Homura could respond, a familiar voice beamed itself into both their minds.

“Madoka-chan!” Mami’s voice cried out. “There’s a Witch in the industrial area! We have to go there now!”

“I’m on my way, Mami-san!” Madoka thought in return. She turned to Homura.

“Homura,-chan, I’m sorry, but I have to deal with this,” she said. “You’ll have to go home on your own now, okay?”

“No,” Homura said. “I want to come with you.”

Madoka blinked and stared back at her.

“I want to be there when you fight,” the brunette went on. “I don’t want to be afraid of Witches; and, and… I can’t just stay home knowing that you’re out there fighting with your life on the line, Kaname-san!”

“Homura-chan,” Madoka said, bewilderment in her voice. “Are you sure that’s what you want? It’s dangerous, you know.”

Homura clenched her fist. “If my friends can face monsters like that, I could at least try to do the same.” She stared intently at Madoka.

Then, the pink-haired girl smiled and took her hand in hers. “Okay, if you say so,” she said. “Let’s go hunt a Witch!”

“Having a hard time sleeping, Homura-chan?”

Homura turned to see Aiko sit next to her on her bed, the springs creaking as she did so. Next to her she placed a lantern, its dull glow illuminating the two of them. Homura had been staring out the window, out into the night sky, at the stars. She had thought all the other girls had been asleep by now.

Homura shifted in place, hugging her knees to her chest, leaning forward. “Just been thinking about stuff, Aiko-chan.”

“Is it about Naoko-chan?”

After a brief pause, Homura nodded. Naoko had been in the orphanage for less than a year, and had already been adopted; she had left the orphanage earlier this afternoon. Homura had seen girls like Naoko leave with happy adults, off to their new lives in better homes. For the past two years she had seen adults come and go—none had seemed interested in her. Probably, she suspected, because of the hassle her heart problems would cause. It didn’t matter if she was sweet or well-behaved, they probably wanted to just avoid getting close to a girl who might drop dead very soon. And so Homura had gotten used to being passed over again, and again, and again.

“Don’t worry about it,” Aiko said, patting the brunette on the shoulder. “I’ve been passed over many times, too; you get used to it. And think of it this way: you’re at least getting closer to the people who will adopt you someday.”

“How can you be so easy-going about it?” Homura asked. “I keep thinking about it, and it just makes me feel more and more like there’s something wrong with me…” Even when her dad was still alive, she had felt that he didn’t want to spend time with her; he was always busy at work, and never seemed to take much time off. She suspected, deep down, that he had blamed her for her mother’s death.

“Well,” Aiko said after a bit, “Remember what Sister Hanako told us during our lesson?”

“Don’t sneak in snacks while we study?”

Aiko playfully nudged Homura on the shoulder. “No, silly,” she said, though she couldn’t hide the smirk on her lips. “The other thing, you know, about how God closes some doors so that others will open?”

“…”

“What I’m trying to say is, just because things aren’t working out now, it doesn’t mean that they won’t get better later. You just have to have faith that God knows what He’s doing. He’s got a plan, you know.”

“You really think so?” Homura asked.

“Don’t you?”

“… I don’t know.” They had had many lessons, teaching about God’s love and how nothing happened without His knowledge, but Homura was not so convinced. She had gone to confession numerous times, admitted to the priest the doubt that was in her heart, and had done all the Hail Marys and everything else that was demanded of her to earn forgiveness, but it all felt empty. Hollow, to her.

“Well, just don’t let today get to you,” Aiko said, smiling. “Besides, look at it this way: there’s still a lot of time for us to spend together, until we get adopted.”

Homura smiled at this. If there was one ray of sunshine in her time at the orphanage, it was having Aiko to keep her company. The two did nearly everything together—played games, studied lessons, all of that—and it made Homura feel less lonely, even as other kids still found her weird. “Yeah,” she said, “That’s true.” Just as she said that, something in the night sky caught her eye.

“A shooting star!”

Homura rushed to the windowsill just as the celestial object in question blazed across the heavens. She closed her eyes immediately.

“Making a wish?”

Homura opened one eye and smiled at Aiko. “Uh-huh,” she said, smiling.

“What’d you wish for?” Aiko asked.

“If I tell you, it won’t come true!”

Aiko playfully rolled her eyes. “Fine, you win.”

The two of them said good-night to each other shortly after that. Homura silently prayed, more as a routine than out of actual conviction, but it was what the nuns wanted, so she did it anyway. As Homura tucked herself into her bed and held tightly onto her Clara-chan, her wish was still fresh in her mind:

I wish Aiko and I would get adopted by the same family, and be together forever.

Black and white. Inside the Witch’s labyrinth, all other colors appeared to have faded. Far off in the distance, the Witch’s lifeless body lay on the ground, dark liquid pouring out of its corpse. Homura clutched her chest, half-afraid that the shock of what she had just witnessed would cause her heart to give out, and half in horror of the possibility of losing someone close to her.

As the labyrinth warped and faded back into the familiar evening air of the city, she rushed towards her friend, who was currently lying on the ground. “Kaname-san!” she screamed.

She knelt by Madoka’s side and helped her back upright. “What were you thinking!?” the brunette said, her voice a mixture of fear, concern, and anger. “You shouldn’t have gotten too close to the Witch, it nearly killed you!”

“I’m alright, Homura-chan,” Madoka said, her voice groggy. “Don’t worry…”

She looked down at Madoka’s Soul Gem, and her eyes widened.

“Your Gem…” Homura said, horrified. “It’s turning black. Tomoe-san! Kaname-san needs a Grief Seed!”

“Hang on, I’m coming,” Mami said, and Homura could hear the sound of her feet running up to them. Within moments, Madoka had taken the Grief Seed and purified her Soul Gem, which now shone a bright, pure pink once again.

Homura hugged Madoka tightly. “I was so worried,” she said, “I thought I was going to lose you…”

The Witch had been ferocious, attacking with a legion of vines that stabbed and wrapped around any who dared oppose her. The Witch herself remained in the distance, silently praying in the shadow of an enormous monstrance. Both Mami and Madoka were long-range fighters, relying on their muskets and arrows, respectively. It had been difficult to get through the vines, to get a good shot of the Witch and deliver the killing blow. In the end, Madoka had rushed into the fray, while Mami dealt with the vines, and fired the final shot to kill the Witch, but not before sustaining a few blows herself.

And all this time, Homura had watched the battle from the sidelines. She had potential, Mami and Kyubey had told her earlier that night. Mami had decided that tagging along would help acclimate her to what the life of a Magical Girl would entail. “Besides,” the blonde upperclassman said, “The more the merrier, after all.” Homura had thought that her time trapped in a Labyrinth would prepare her for another one, but it had not. She looked on in fear as her friends battled the inhuman beast, getting tossed around and jabbed at by its numerous Familiars. It was Madoka that Homura was the most worried about; back when she had first seen her friend fight, she had thought she was the most amazing Magical Girl ever. Now, seeing this battle, she realized just how inexperienced Madoka was, especially compared to a seasoned Magical Girl like Mami Tomoe.

Kaname-san can’t go on like this, Homura thought to herself as they headed to Mami’s apartment for tea and cake. Even if she wants to help others by being a Magical Girl, she’ll die soon enough if she keeps on fighting! It wasn’t right! Why did she have to keep putting herself on the line like this, risking her life battling such monstrous creatures? There had to be a way for her to stop; some way to free her from this burden!

Homura froze; a thought came to her head: What if she wished for Madoka to no longer be a Magical Girl? That would work, couldn’t it? It didn’t matter if Homura had to be the one to fight Witches, she didn’t have family that waited for her at home, and as for friends—deep down, she knew that she wasn’t worth much in the long run; there would probably come a time when even those close to her drifted away. Such was what she was used to; she had learned to enjoy what she could, and to try to hold onto what she had, as much as possible.

“Tomoe-san,” Homura said later on while they were enjoying their after-battle food. “I... Think I know what to wish for.”

Madoka had excused herself to talk to her mother; they had decided on having a sleepover at Mami’s this evening, as it was too late already, and she had to tell her parents about their plans.

The blonde upperclassman finished sipping her tea and placed the small cup on her equally small plate.

“Really now?” her senpai responded, giving her an encouraging smile. “That’s interesting, Homura-chan; tell me more!”

“Well…” Homura said. “It’s not for me, though… It’s for someone else.”

Mami’s smile shrunk a bit. “Someone else?”

Homura nodded, unsure of whether or not to continue, feeling she was crossing some sort of line.

“That’s interesting!”

The two girls turned to where the voice was coming from; Kyubey scurried on the ground with his white paws, jumping onto Homura’s shoulder. It looked at Homura with his beady, red eyes. “It’s perfectly okay to make a wish for someone else, Homura Akemi,” it chirped. “There’s no rule against it; in fact, it’s been done, many times before.”

“R-Really?” Homura said.

“Thing is, though, you have to be careful about those kinds of wishes,” Mami said, a serious look on her face. “It can be a little tricky when it comes to wishes like that.”

“What do you mean?” Homura asked, her heart suddenly feeling heavy.

“Well, the thing is,” Mami started to explain, ��When you make a wish like that for someone, is it because you really want that person to be happy, or something else?”

“S-something else…?”

“What I mean is, are you sure you just don’t want that person to be grateful to you?”

It was just a rhetorical question, just Mami posing a hypothetical, yet Homura immediately piped up from it.

“N-No, that’s not it at all…!” she said, louder than she intended. “I-I just want her to be safe…”

“Her?” Mami asked, raising an eyebrow.

Homura felt her cheeks suddenly redden. “Um, I-I mean…” she said quickly, before dropping the sentence completely.

There was an awkward silence between the two of them, and Kyubey didn’t seem like it wanted to add anything else.

“Sorry I took a while, guys!” Madoka said as she ran up to meet them. “What did I miss?”

Homura felt like the tension in the room was slowly lifting.

“Um, nothing,” Homura said, glancing at Mami.

“We were just talking,” Mami said. It seemed their previous conversation was done for the time being.

“She’ll see you now.”

Homura rushed into the hospital room, Clara-chan in hand, up to the bed where Aiko lay. Her friend had become scarily thin in the past few weeks, her skin pale as well. Her long hair was now gone, too, the result of the chemotherapy she had gone through. As Homura looked on, Aiko stirred, her eyes slowly opening to look at Homura. “Homura-chan…” she said, her voice barely a whisper.

“Aiko-chan,” Homura said, her hands gripping the metal handles of the bed. “I came here to visit you.”

“Thank you, Homura-chan,” she said, giving a small smile.

Homura spent the next few minutes telling Aiko about what had happened at the orphanage since she had been admitted to the hospital. She told her about the meals they had had, the activities they did, and the lessons they learned in school and at Mass.

“It’s not the same without you, though,” Homura added. “We really miss you, you know.”

“Sorry,” Aiko said. “I wish I could be there with you and the others; well, maybe not with Eriko and her friends.”

Her laughter at the end of that sentence was noticeably weaker than usual.

“Yeah, you need to come back soon,” Homura said, smiling at her. “When are they letting you out?”

At that question, Aiko’s smile vanished. She seemed to be searching for the right words to say.

“Oh,” Homura said, feeling like she said something wrong. “S-sorry, I guess it’s going to be a while…”

“I’m not leaving the hospital.”

Homura froze. “What? What do you mean?”

“Homura…” Aiko said tentatively, “The doctors, they came to me. They told me…” She looked down.

She didn’t have to finish her sentence. Homura tensed up, grasping onto the blankets on the bed. “No,” she said. “You don’t mean…”

Aiko turned to face her. “I’m… Not going to last much longer.”

“Aiko-chan, no!” Homura pulled her friend into a tight hug, tears beginning to form in her eyes. “Why…?” she squeaked out. “Why is this happening…?” Homura had known Aiko was sick for a while now; she had prayed constantly that God would let her friend be healed, and not let her be in so much pain. She hoped—deep down—that it would work. It had to work. So why wasn’t it?

She felt Aiko embrace her. “I know,” Aiko said, her words choked out as well. “They said it’s only a matter of time before I…”

“Don’t say that!” Homura nearly screamed. “You can’t die, not you; I can’t...” Her throat felt like it was full of cement. “I can’t lose you, too,” she finally managed.

They held each other for a few minutes, tears falling as they cried together, finally, Aiko spoke up.

“It’s okay, Homura-chan,” she said, letting go of her friend and wiping her tears. “It’s okay… Remember what Sister Hanako told us?”

Homura stared at her, streaks of tears still pouring down her cheeks; she said nothing, not in the mood to crack a joke.

“Our time here is only temporary,” Aiko said. “And death isn’t the end for us… When we die, we go to Heaven to be with everyone else we know. That’s where I’m going.”

“But, you’ll be there,” Homura said. “And I’ll be…!”

She clenched her fists. “It’s not fair!” she said. “This can’t be happening… I won’t let it happen…!” She had no idea how she would prevent it, but she just knew she couldn’t let this happen.

Aiko gave her a weak smile. “Things will get better for you,” she said. “If you’ve gone on this long, then that must mean God has something bigger for you.”

“The same God that let my Mom and Dad die, that gave me my heart condition?” Homura rambled, unable to hide the bile in her voice. “The same God that’s… That’s letting you suffer?!” She remembered the lessons they learned in class, and on Sunday Mass, but she couldn’t accept it. Couldn’t imagine that this was part of a bigger plan, not after all that she had been through.

“You’re upset, I get it,” Aiko said. “I don’t blame you; I couldn’t stop crying when they told me what was going on.” She adjusted slightly in her bed. “But I’ve thought a lot about it, and… I think I’ll be okay. Before I know it, I’ll be with God, and maybe I’ll see my parents, too.”

“But I don’t understand it; I don’t think I’ll ever understand it,” Homura said.

“You will someday,” Aiko said. She reached out and wiped the tears from Homura’s eyes. “Just, promise me that you’ll try to make more friends.”

“I don’t want other friends, I want you!”

“I know, but our time together is coming to an end, Homura-chan,” Aiko replied, a sad smile on her lips. “Thank you for being my friend; it was fun the past couple of years… While it lasted.”

She took hold of Homura’s hand. “Just… Try to make other friends,” she said. “For me?”

Homura sniffled a bit. “O-Okay,” she said. “I’ll try.”

They parted not too long after that, Homura having to practically be dragged out by Sister Hanako, all the while silently wishing for Aiko to not leave her. Her last image of Aiko alive was her friend waving at her, holding Clara-chan in one hand.

“Why?!”

Tears fell down Homura’s face as she stared at Madoka’s lifeless body. “Even if you were going to get killed all along…!”

Today was the day that Walpurgisnacht had descended upon the city. It rode on a storm, a fierce supercell, without a care for the destruction it caused; it was a force of nature, and Mitakihara didn’t stand a chance against its wrath. The city’s only hope had been in two Magical Girls, one of which now lay half-submerged in the watery waste, her eyes shut permanently. Mitakihara was in ruins, destroyed buildings and debris everywhere. Water flooded through the city, and rain poured from the sky; the remnants of a terrible storm. The world hadn’t ended, but by the looks of things, it may as well have.

She had begged Madoka to run away with her, after seeing the Witch effortlessly kill Mami, but the pink-haired girl had refused, determined to do her best to save the city. And now here she was, dead.

“It wasn’t worth saving me, if you’re not alive!” Homura screamed, before another bout of sobbing overwhelmed her. “I want you back…!”

Her mind was in a whirl, a mix of sadness and rage. First Aiko, and now Madoka… She cursed God for dangling the chance of having a new friend in front of her, before snatching her away. She cursed Madoka for being selfless to a fault, to the point of giving her life, before immediately hating herself for being angry at her now deceased friend. Above all, she cursed herself, for being such a useless waste, for not being there to fight by Madoka and Mami’s side.

She was so busy crying over Madoka’s body that she almost didn’t notice the voice talking to her.

“Is that really what you want, Homura Akemi? Would you trade your soul to have a wish like that come true?”

That voice; she recognized it. It was one that she had grown accustomed to in the past few weeks. Still she couldn’t stop herself from crying, and didn’t bother looking up. That didn’t seem to matter to the creature, though.

“If there’s something you want badly and you’re willing to accept a destiny of battling Witches,” Kyubey continued, “Then I can help you get what you want.”

Now she looked up, her eyes meeting Kyubey as it sat atop some leftover debris, staring down at her with that permanent smile on its face. Her mind began to whir at its words, at what it offered. “If I make a contract with you, would you really grant me any wish?” she asked.

“Absolutely! You have more than enough potential,” the white creature said, its voice as chipper as any other day, as if nothing that had just happened had affected its outlook on the world. Homura envied its indifference to things. “So tell me, what is the one wish you’ll have that will make your Soul Gem shine?”

“I wish…” Homura began, before pausing to glance at Madoka’s corpse. She was at a crossroads, one of those moments where one’s life would change forever. Here she had the chance to have her friend back; she thought about her original wish—she could make it so Madoka was no longer a Magical Girl, and no longer had to take on the burden of fighting Witches. But deep down, she knew that that wouldn’t be what her best friend would want; Madoka seemed to be happy helping out by fighting Witches, it didn’t seem right to take that from her. No, if she was going to have Madoka back, it would have to be different—if anyone was going to change, it would have to be her.

Taking off her glasses and wiping her tears away before putting them back on, she stood up to face Kyubey. “I wish that I could meet Kaname-san all over again,” she said, determination rising within her. “But this time, instead of her protecting me, I want to be strong enough to protect her!”

What followed next happened so fast; first, she felt a pain in her chest, like something trying to burst out of her body. She closed her eyes and clutched at her chest, her knees buckling, but she refused to be forced down; she had to be strong, to be able to endure pain just like Madoka had—and would once again. A bright, purple light appeared before her, and Kyubey spoke again.

“The contract is complete,” it said. “Your wish has overcome entropy. Go now, go and unleash your new magical power!”

She opened her eyes and held her new Soul Gem in her hands… The energy it radiated was unlike anything she had ever felt before; now, she knew, she had the power to fight back against fate, to change things for the better… Could she also defy God as well? Time would only tell, she supposed.

I’ll get it right this time, Homura thought as a circular shield appeared on her arm. I’ll do what I couldn’t do before; I’ll save my friend, no matter what.

#puella magi madoka magica #fanfic #madoka fanfic #madoka kaname #homura akemi #kyubey #mami tomoe #prayers and wishes #text

5 notes · View notes

jean-and-ali-liveblogs · 6 years ago

Text

Ali: Well, wow... wasn’t this a trip? I am so exhausted and tired and everything hurts.

And I would like everybody to know that in that one post I just slammed my hands on keyboard and then just post that like it was. I even thought for a second of backspacing it and actually typing something there before posting, but what liveblog would this be if you didn’t get full scope of my suffering and pain?

And on top of that I feel like I watched half of the episode that cuts of in random moment.

It looks like Madoka already made her wish, it really looks like that. And if that’s true, I have a feeling we won’t find out what it was until the very end. But I am assuming it’s related to Homura somehow. At the same time though, she now knows that making a wish can screw you over. I wonder if she used that knowledge to her advantage somehow.

Because I really feel like Madoka did something Big, like, whatever she wished for, it somehow changes everything. And I can’t think of what could it be. “I wish to save Homura”, “I wish to stop time from repeating itself”, “I wish we will beat Walpurgisnacht together” and all the possible variations of those feel like it wasn’t what she did.

And it feels like she changed, like if something broke within her and changed her perspective on things. And no matter how hard I try to think about it, it keeps escaping me. I cannot name it, I cannot put my finger on it. All I know it that Madoka feels very different and it’s scaring me for some reason. It’s possible I am just overreacting, but I don’t think that’s the case. It’s like... somewhere between visiting Homura, when she was sitting in that shelter building, she came to some conclussion. She had some kind of epiphany. And the thought procces that let her to it started somewhere around the time during the visit at Homura’s place. She kinda feels like she is really determined now. At the same time she feels like she is devoid of any feelings and emotions. But not really. It’s not really that, but uh... I really don’t know.

As to Homura... oh boy... My eyes hurt from crying. I don’t think anything ever destroyed me so much. It hurts to just think about everything she went through. I don’t even want to think about it anymore, I said everything in liveblog already. I just don’t want to think about it again now. I just stopped crying. Not again now.

... *ahem*

As to any predictions for next episode? I am lost. Well, I mean, I have a lot of ideas. They beat the witch. They don’t beat it. Homura dies, Madoka lives on. Madoka dies, Homura lives on. etc. etc. etc. etc. But literally nothing that comes to my mind feels right. And it all ties back to Madoka, like if she somehow suddenly became this wild card and anything can happen now. One thing I am know for a fact is that I am scared. Of Madoka. It feels unreasonable, it feels out of place. But I just can’t shake the feeling that she does something. Something Big. And the idea scares me.

At the same time, no matter how long I think, I keep feeling like I am being wrong. Like I am typing here a bunch of bullshit that won’t come true in next episode. At the exactly same time I feel like I am somehow right.

I don’t know, maybe I am still messed up after the episode. But Madoka does have track record of doing wild shit out of the sudden and then having that shit lead to crazy outcomes. Like when she threw Sayaka’s soul.

It’s funny how Walpurgisnacht feels to be not important at all anymore. She is that end boss, the final battle. But in the scope of what’s going on between Homura and Madoka, she just doesn’t matter anymore. They been there. They fought here. She is old news. She doesn’t even feel that scary anymore to me. Just another witch. It feels like beating her is pointless if it doesn’t save both Homura and Madoka.

And Kyubey doesn’t feel like enemy either, tbh.

They are just fighting with Fate and Time itself.

Rating 10/10

*slowly moves her mouse over post button*

OH WAIT! MAYBE SHE REMEMBERS? Maybe somehow suddently Madoka remembered all the timelines, all of them. Ooooh, that would make sense. That would explain why she is so different suddently. She would know everything Homura went through and at the same time she would be changed by having the 10 years of going through loop pushed inside her head.

That’s the best explanation for now, I am going with that until proven otherwise.

#madoka #liveblogging #liveblog #Ep11

25 notes · View notes

twxntrash · 7 years ago

Text

Who’s ready for some HomuSaya angst????

This was spur of the moment little thing. Triggers for blood and death. Written on mobile so forgive me if the layout ends up weird.

“Homura, damn it, Homura come on! Where are you?” Sayaka yelled out, stumbling through the ruins that was the crumbling remains of Mitakihara City. Buildings and houses were upturned, entire blocks decimated. The grand scale damage and destruction was horrifyingly awe-inspiring.

They, the magical girls of this particular city, had just fought off Walpurgisnacht. They defended the city the best they could, with all their strength, their lives on the line. Just two magical girls against one monster of a witch. Both fighting to protect the city they lived in and to protect Madoka, a dear, treasured friend to them both. They fought, though all the odds pointed in their failure, they fought, though it would have been safer, easier to just run and hide.

To an outsiders perspective it might have been odd that Sayaka was willing to fight beside Homura, considering how most timelines went when the two were involved. It was rare enough that Sayaka survived for the final days, even rarer that she worked with Homura. The distrust, the bloodshed had been diverted this timeline by a different route Homura tried. She intercepted Miki Sayaka early on in the new timeline, befriended her before the girl could plant the seeds of suspicion and distrust. It made it easier to draw her to her own side before any animosity and suspicion could blossom. She told Sayaka the truth after gaining her confidence, rather bluntly, maybe cruelly, but it helped steer the blue haired girl away from despair. When Mami had been killed, Sayaka had understood what had happened rather than pin the blame on Homura. When it came time for her to make her wish, and she did make her wish, she hadn’t been as foolish about it as she usually did because Homura had told her when she confessed her consideration into it what the fate of magical girls were. To become the things they hunt. A monster. Sayaka knew before her wish that if her Soul Gem blackened, she would become what they fought; a witch.

In fact, Homura had told her everything after Mami had died. Including her own wish and reasons. Sayaka had taken it with surprise, but had accepted it. Another result from the alliance she had been able to forge between them, or rather- Homura was reluctant to admit this- the friendship that had formed between them. Sayaka had trouble taking in Homura’s time traveling abilities, let alone the fate she often succumbed to in most timelines. Rarely did she survive long enough to fight Walpurgisnacht, and the cause of her demise had left a bitter taste in her mouth. Yet, it had certainly made her think more carefully over her wish and her reasons. Do it wrong and she could cement her fate to become a witch. Though, in the end she still wished to fix Kyosuke’s hand, but this time knew well enough not to expect her wish to result in him returning her feelings for him. She would settle for hearing him play his violin again. But, by the looks of it, the city destroyed, she wouldn’t hear him play it ever again.

‘Damn it!’ she thought, looking around in frantic worry. She needed to find Homura, they could still fix this. They has to fix this!

With just two magical girls, the fight had gone as well as one would expect it to. They had lost. Mitakihara was all but destroyed, Sayaka doubted there were that many survivors. Even if there was a few survivors, even if Madoka had survived, this timeline had still been a failure. The witch had won, they had lost.

The timeline was going to be reset.

“I need to find her!” she muttered, climbing over debris. Searching desperately for her ally. She needed to find Homura before the girl went back in time to try and redo everything. Find her so she could go with her, so they could try together again to fix it all, “Homura!” she called out again.

There was a weak groan in response, so quiet she barely caught it.

“Sa…Miki-san….?”

Attention at hyper focus, Sayaka was quick to locate the source of the voice. Scrambling over large chunks of upturned roads and buildings as she tried to reach her. But when she made her way over crumbled chunks of buildings, piled high atop each other, she wished she didn’t come and see. Her stomach turned and blood drained from her face. After searching over the wreckage of the city, she had finally found where Homura was.

At least…. she had found where part of her was.

“Oh…. oh god…” Sayaka whispered, feeling her stomach churn. She wanted to puke at the grotesque image before her.

There the magical girl laid, in a pool of blood, her body battered, tattered and torn. What was worse; her entire lower half gone, crushed beneath some building or torn off by familiars. Sayaka could see bone and entrails peaking out through the torn and frayed edges of her outfit. Bits of steel had pierced through one of her arms, pinning it there. Her other arm, like her lower half, was missing as well. torn right below the shoulder.

“Oh god… oh god…” Sayaka whispered again, and then snapping out of her horror, she quickly slid down the rubble, stumbling over until she was at Homura’s side and dropped to her knees beside the broken girl. Quickly she brought a hand to her blood soaked neck, trying to avoid any cuts as she tried to find a pulse. Next her ear to the chest, listening to a heart beat, any sign that she was still alive. It was there but weak.

She should be dead, it was obvious she was only alive because her Souk Gem had been untouched. The agony she just gave been in, even Homura’s infamous poker face couldn’t hide it.

“Homura! Don’t worry I’m going to- I can- I’ll save you!” Sayaka said, fumbling over her own words as she tried to reach into her own magic reserves. She had burnt out almost all she had fighting Walpurgisnacht. Her own gem was nearly at it’s limit. Black covering the blue like a sheet, with just a small amount peeking out. she needed a grief seed badly or she wouldn’t last. No, she had to focus on Homura. She could heal her, she just had to dig deep.

“Mi…Miki-san,” Homura croaked weakly and gave a pained cough. Some blood came up, hitting Sayaka on the cheek, but she didn’t care. “You have… you have to g-go…” it was a clear battle just to get her words out, a battle she was losing.

“I’m not leaving you like this. We’re in this together, Transfer Student,” Sayaka snapped, focusing hard. She could fix this, she could fix Homura and they would get out of here. They could- she could go back in time with her and they could fix this. She just needed to keep Homura alive.

Homura groaned in response, and Sayaka felt some of her magic reacting, pressing hands to the bloodied body of her friend. “Just stay calm, I have you, I can fix this.”

Homura shook her head, and even such a simple action such as that seemed to invoke so much pain for her. "No…” she whispered, “Just…ta…take my soul gem.. c-come back for my body later…” she instructed, weakly trying to hold her remaining arm out to Sayaka. Her own gem had a considerable amount of darkness clouding it up. The purple so dull, it was in just as bad of shape as Sayakas.

“Homura…”

Sayaka’s clothes were stained with blood, white turning dark red. Gloves bloodied considerably, but she didn’t care. "I can fix this, Homura, I can fix this.”

“No… no you c-can’t,” another weak cough. Just talking was using up valuable energy. “We’re… we’re both in b-bad shape. Just t-take my soul gem and g-get to my apartment. I have… I have some g-grief seeds stored there… you d-don’t have the magic right now…” Homura groaned again, what was left of her body shaking from the pain and stress. "Fix y-yourself… cone back fuh…for me.”

Her outfit transformed into her school uniform, her soul gen rested on her shaking palm as she held it out to her, “take it.”

“Homura…” Sayaka whispered, letting the gem be placed in her own hands. Tears pricked the corners of her eyes as she forced herself to stand in trembling knees, her legs threatening to buckle under her. She swallowed the lump in her throat. “I’ll, I’ll be back,” she whispered, backing away slowly, afraid to take her eyes off Homura as she held her soul gem in her hands. It felt cold to the touch. She only turned around when she couldn’t see Homura anymore.

Despite her injuries, Sayaka ran through the city ruins as her legs bled and burned. Holding the soul gem, Homura’s soul close to her heart.

She prayed the apartment still stood, that the grief seeds were still there.

#homusaya #kind of #pmmmm #homura akemi #sayaka miki #cam writes shit

33 notes · View notes

dyingrabbit · 7 years ago

Text

Negated Universe Misadventures - Chapter One

(I thought maybe it would make more sense to post the full chapters here rather than link to fanfiction.net. Kinda long. Sorry to make to scroll for 5 full seconds. Also SPOILERS for Madoka Magica.)

Humor/Dark

Subjective narrator (Homura Akemi)

Word count: 3898

“Fuck” count: 33

Eco Round (Attempt #26)

I'm not gonna say I saw it coming, because that would be vain of me, but I sure as hell knew something was bound to get fucked up this time.

Trying to take down Walpurgisnacht at less than full strength was already pushing it. If Sayaka hadn't gone and blown herself up earlier this would have been a much more feasible operation. But our numbers disadvantage notwithstanding, we were still fucking it up. Kyouko was way out of position, getting distracted by the adds and Mami couldn't seem to land a single fucking shot to save her life. I was clearly the only person who could get anything done. Unfortunately even I can't carry all the time so everybody died again.

Fuck this shit.

Upon reset I awoke to a familiar ceiling. At this juncture I considered a great many things. I had almost lost count of how many times I'd started over by giving this little buckler a spin and all of my runs were becoming confused and hazy. Twenty-five times now I had rushed headlong into this damned loop and each new attempt yielded nothing.

Was I worn out? Certainly. It's no fun seeing your efforts go unrewarded. It's another thing entirely for them to fucking zap out of existence.

Did I regret putting myself up to this? Not quite. Saving Madoka was still priority number one and it wouldn't do any fucking good for anyone if I started feeling bad for myself now.

What was clear was that nothing seemed to be working. It always ended in Madoka dying or turning into a witch. It was one of the universal constants of the timeline. Another thing that was oddly prevalent was Mami dying very early. It wasn't always the same perpetrator, but the cause of death was almost invariably decapitation. There were a surprising number of ways, it turned out, for Mami to lose her head along the course of events. So noticeable was this phenomenon that on the last occasion I actually chuckled quietly to myself.

But in any event, what I needed right now was to strategize. Throwing myself at this brick wall wasn't working so I needed to adapt in order to succeed. What did that entail? In order to beat this time loop I needed to know it from front to back. I needed to find out what made it tick and precisely how to exploit it. For starters, I needed a control run.

To be fair, I also needed a break. This shit was getting fucking exhausting and I was hardly up to jumping right back in again. So there's two dead birds.

Step one was getting money, a practice I had perfected several resets ago. The ability to stop time was a pretty fucking hard counter to any security system designed by man, so I won't bore you with the trivial details. In essence, I robbed a few banks. I stopped feeling bad about it a while ago. The world ended if I fucked this up so I rightfully deserved to have any and all resources at my disposal.

Step two was having a spa day. This was probably the most fucking critical part of the plan so I paid special attention to making sure it was done properly. This entailed no expenses being spared. Importantly, it meant going to the most expensive spa in Mitakihara City, a super classy looking joint called "Subarashi Onsen".

I gave a cursory scan to the brochure in the lobby and quietly cackled, knowing that each and every feature advertised was getting purchased. Even if some of them were mutually exclusive. I didn't give a damn if I had to be there all day, nothing was fucking sacred.

As it happened, the spa's accommodations were somewhat exhaustive and I did in fact end up spending all day there. But the lost day was something of a necessary sacrifice to ensure the rest of the plan went smoothly. Who knows how catastrophic a failure may have arisen if this first step hadn't been executed correctly. It made me shudder just thinking about it. Frightening shit, no doubt.

Alright, step three was pretty fucking boring and tedious but it was technically required according to my outline. I just needed to watch everyone for a while. I wasn't allowed to do anything really. This run was all about getting a solid baseline so I could then semi-directly measure the cause and effect of my actions.

It also meant taking a shit ton of notes. That was fine, as I was a pretty ace note taker, but it also sucked pretty bad because all of my calculations would be based on them and the level of abstraction that would be required of me at the drop of a hat wasn't particularly conducive to easily resolvable data points. I needed to be everywhere, at all times, making systematically unfounded assumptions, and I needed to be correct every time. I needed to be almost entirely omniscient for this to work even slightly. Fortunately my handy little time travel ability made this prerequisite a bit less damning.

Stage one, I suppose, was my classroom introduction. Since I had no intention of reverting to the helpless pleb I had been prior to meeting Madoka for the first time, I felt no desire to alter my current appearance. Still, Madoka recently seemed to recognize me at first sight due to dreaming about me in the previous timeline. So I did need to change something. The glasses would have to do.

So instead of walking in like the drop dead gorgeous yet undeniably bad ass goddess I had been known as for the past several time loops, I settled for walking in as a slightly less gorgeous and bad ass yet very studious looking goddess. The students were impressed, as they always were.

This was generally the only fun part about the whole process. At one point or another fighting the witches was pretty fun, but now that I knew all their moves it was getting dull. The only thing that I found pleasing anymore was the complete adoration I received from these poor impressionable middle schoolers. I put an ungodly amount of effort towards making these kids comment on my hair. Eventually it paid off. I now consistently get one or two girls asking me what shampoo I use. It's disgusting but dangerously addictive.

This time I unfortunately wouldn't get to show off quite as much for fear of drawing too much attention to myself. This meant no more breaking the pole vaulting prefectural record or absolutely killing my math professor's white board problems. But like hell was I gonna drop my fabulous hair. Fuck my spreadsheets. If my curtain of raven black locks was going to significantly alter the timeline then god dammit so be it. After writing my name on the board and wishing everyone a good year I assumed my seat and proceeded to begin note taking.

Madoka, for her part, did steal a few glances in my direction after I sat down. This was to be expected, as I'm difficult to not stare at, but additionally she had probably ID'd me from her dream. It couldn't really be helped. I could have worn a mask or gotten plastic surgery, but those ideas could just as easily go fuck themselves. At least I didn't look exactly like I probably did in the dream. I had the bright red glasses for one. I also had put a concerted effort towards smiling a little bit to hide the stone cold bitch stomper within. That and I made a point not to make eye contact with Madoka. With any luck, she'd think it was all in her head.

After a bit, she seemed to settle down and focus on the lecture. When break came, A few students came to welcome me to the class. I graciously answered each of their questions with poise and class, even the bullshit ones. Then someone asked about the shampoo. I still get a little elated every time, so I launched into my spiel.

"Actually, that's an interesting question. There was a brand that I used to use called-" I was cut off by a really obscenely asinine ringtone.

"Oh. Sorry, Akemi-san. I've gotta take this."

Fucking hell. I couldn't have even one moment of mild satisfaction it seemed. Taking advantage of the lull, Madoka approached me with a timid smile.

"E - excuse me it's Akemi-san, right?" She meekly inquired.

Okay, this was game time. No margin for fuck-ups here. We were gonna play this real cool but also a little guarded.

I nodded while saying, "Yep, that's my name. And you?"

Fucking nailed it. Madoka looked a little relieved that I came across as a normal person and proceeded to introduce herself.

"I'm Madoka Kaname, nice to meet you." We politely shook hands.

This time I didn't ask her to take me to the nurse's office. I went and ate lunch alone from a strategic perch. Not a whole lot of shit was poised to happen at school but vigilance was never a bad thing. Right now the only pieces on the board were Madoka herself and that Sayaka bitch. Things don't really get interesting until after school when they visit that music store.

Stage two was the all important encounter with Kyubey and Mami at the music store. This is generally where I initially make a major impact on the timeline. So this time I anticipated the meeting to play out much differently.

Much to my chagrin, it didn't really. Generally I would rush in here, shoot up Kyubey, and narrowly avoid a confrontation with Mami before peeling out. Now that I thought about it I don't really do much here. This time Kyubey lured Madoka and Sayaka into the witch's labyrinth whilst feigning being under duress.

Fucking bastard.

This forced Mami into rescuing them and revealing her magical abilities. Mami then takes them to her apartment where she talks about the pros and cons of the whole business. Almost exactly the same except no intervention from me. In addition I hadn't blown my cover or given the others a bad impression of myself, so this was already an improvement. That was going in the notebook for sure.

They spent the next couple of days casually tracking down familiars and dispatching them with no trouble. Meanwhile, Sayaka had been granted that super gaudy club that she used to beat the shit out of adds. Madoka whiled away thinking about what she might wanna wish for and precisely how fucking pink and frilly her dress was gonna be. Things were progressing fairly nominally.

Soon they ought to face off against Charlotte and Mami will lose her fucking head. I imagine at this point, Sayaka and Madoka will both insta-contract with Kyubey and probably end up killing the shit out of Charlotte. I'm actually not sure what will happen after that. It really depends on how Sayaka takes the whole thing and how she reacts to Kyouko when she arrives. If they end up killing each other I won't have the man advantage I need to take out big ole' Walpy. But I'm getting ahead of myself now.

Stage three began with Madoka and Sayaka visiting that crippled violin player Kyousuke who Sayaka kinda dug for some reason. After leaving the hospital, they encountered the grief seed conspicuously sticking out of the wall.

Sayaka, the martyr that she is, usually volunteers to stay behind and camp the seed while Madoka goes and fetches Mami from her apartment. Except they both had their phones this time so they just called her up and she was there in a couple minutes.

I must have missed something because I'm not certain how my involvement makes these girls any less aware of their mobile devices. But at least I didn't have to hide in this bush any longer than was absolutely necessary. When Mami arrived, I sneakily followed everyone inside.

For what it's worth, a couple times I've actually managed to convince Mami that something was off with this particular witch. My success rate at keeping her alive through this portion is, nonetheless, lower than satisfactory. Nicer folks might call her free-willed, but the skeptics, the cynics, and the real deal pundits would just call her a fucking idiot. I, being all three of those things, had just about had it with Mami and her gung-ho attitude. It gave me a grim sense of satisfaction knowing she wouldn't be acting so feckless when she no longer had a head.

I silently cursed myself, though, for counting Mami out so quickly. After all, it's not like it was in my best interest if she bit the dust here. If it satisfied my personal vendetta for her to fail utterly without my assistance, that was neither here nor there. That being said, It didn't earn me any fucking brownie points to be optimistic and, given her past performance, objectivity implied a certain degree of pessimism at this stage.

The initiates proceeded into the labyrinth with something of a terrified amusement. Sure, they'd been around the block by now but It would be quite the hyperbole to assert that this particular block was in any sense adequate preparation for what they now faced. So it was good that they were frightened.

Mami on the other hand was practically skipping the entire time. Madoka had just told her that she had resolved to join the ranks as a magical girl. In that moment, all Mami's general misgivings about going it alone had subsided in a flood of tears and a shocking number of "Fuckin' A!" utterances. There were clearly some underlying mental issues here so it warranted taking a note.

Now, with the wind at their backs, they sailed into Charlotte's main chamber to do battle.

I've seen this fight play out several times by now. Generally speaking it doesn't go so well when I'm not involved at first. When Mami lets me assist her, I fuck Charlotte up so fast it makes her head spin. Everyone thinks I'm really cool after that, even if they thought I was a cold hearted bitch before. When Mami doesn't let me assist her, nine times out of ten she doesn't make it out alive.

On a few occasions, one or both of her shadowers have made contracts prior to the fight so it goes much more smoothly even when I'm not there. In all other cases, when I'm not present, Mami gets a big head about herself only to have it swiftly emancipated from the rest of her body. To put it bluntly, I expected to see a headless Mami with near certainty in the near future.

What did end up happening was a bit disappointing. Mami engaged her target with a blistering hail of musket fire for several seconds, as usual. Charlotte responded by doing pretty much nothing for a while, as usual. Mami pinned her against the far wall and initiated her big flashy finishing move whilst shouting "Tiro Finale!".

Nobody else had a finishing move. How vain of her.

After believing the kill was confirmed, Mami dropped her guard for a second. Charlotte sprung out of her doll form straight at Mami, opened her jaw wide open and started munching on the poor middle schooler's head. All of this was expected. I took no notes on this.

What wasn't expected was what happened next. Charlotte quickly finished working on Mami, or decided she'd better go and secure a couple more frags, and focused her attention on Madoka and Sayaka. Kyubey, always on the ball, immediately petitioned them to make contracts.

"Quickly! Make a wish so I can turn you into magical girls!". Sayaka, with an uncharacteristically clear head, instantly wished for Kyousuke's arm to be healed. The transformation process began at once. Madoka couldn't fucking pull herself together and just stared wide eyed at Mami's dismembered corpse.

"Now you, Madoka! There's no time! What is your wish?" Demanded Kyubey. Madoka looked helplessly between Kyubey and Mami's body. Then, wiping away her tears, she managed to eke out a few words.

"Uh, I'd like a really big cake-" In that instant Charlotte swung her head about, slamming into Madoka's fragile frame, and sending her flying into the wall. She impacted with a sickening crunch.

Shit. That wasn't supposed to happen.

It did give credence to my claim that they'd be dead without my help. I guess I hadn't fully believed myself though.

A cake. She wished for a fucking cake. Damn, now I wanted a cake. I made a note of these things.

That aside, It would have been something of an understatement to say that Sayaka was somewhat galvanized at this point. Her eyes were glazed over and a miasma of unadulterated hate oozed from her every pore. With a scream too ungodly for hell she streaked through the air to assail her nemesis.

If I hadn't just watched Madoka get fucking demolished, which was never easy, I'd have probably been a bit turned on by the whole display.

Sayaka slammed into Charlotte, blade first, driving her flailing, tube-like body straight to the ground. Rising quickly, she began mercilessly hacking at the witch's face. Unfathomable amounts of blood and gore gushed from each wound coating the once cute blue outfit Sayaka was wearing. She began syncopating expletives with each slash of her sword.

"YOU—PIECE OF—SHIT—FUCKING—BITCH—CUNT—MOTHER—FUCKER!" Holy shit this was hot. Her manic carvings had left her victim mangled and unrecognizable. With a last cry of utter despair, Sayaka drove her blade straight through Charlotte's face.

There was a horrific screech that reverberated off the walls. It was so immediately deafening that I dropped my notebook to cover my ears. But Sayaka remained motionless, her hands resting on the hilt of her sword which was still deeply embedded in the flesh of her enemy, and her head downcast. The screech increased in frequency until it was no longer audible. Then Charlotte exploded.

The labyrinth quickly dissipated, leaving only Sayaka, Madoka, and I in front of the hospital. Madoka was strewn about in a very unnatural manner. I could tell pretty easily that she was toast. Looked like almost every bone in her body was broken and Sayaka could tell that pretty easily too.

She crawled over to her friend and gingerly pulled her body up onto her lap. It seemed like she'd spent her allotted screaming budget in the preceding encounter and now all she could do was quietly sob. So she did. Her soul gem turned from bright blue to a depressing shade of navy.

Kyubey waited closely by in anticipation, no doubt upset that his big catch had all but gone to waste but, regardless, happy with the quick turnover of his most recent contractee.

Alright then. I quickly summarized the most important details of this engagement in my notebook: Mami dies. Madoka dies. Sayaka goes off on Charlotte. It's really bad ass and sexy. Charlotte is terminated. Sayaka despairs and turns into a witch. Good. Now I was calling it. The timeline was dead.

Facing no repercussions from exposing myself, I emerged from the bush that was my hiding spot and pulled a Desert Eagle out of my buckler. There was really no need for this to go any further so I decided to give Sayaka the old Of Mice and Men treatment, as it was the most merciful way to do this.

She either didn't hear me walking up behind her, or didn't care. I glanced over at Kyubey, who had just now noticed me, gave him the finger, and shot Sayaka in the back of the head.

No grief seeds for you, motherfucker.

Before resetting, I decided I'd indulge myself one last time. I really wanted some cake. Unfortunately, it was rather impossible to get rid of Kyubey after the show I'd given him earlier. Even after destroying his body he kept coming back to bug me with useless questions, mostly pertaining to who the hell I was and what I knew about witches and shit. Only after sitting down in a café and acquiring my cake did I begin to humor him.

"I'm basically your worst nightmare." I said, taking a bite of vanilla frosted angel food. "I can do this shit as many times as I fucking want to and you can't stop me." I was speaking a little unduly loud and the nearby patrons were giving me confused glances.

"I wouldn't be so confident, Akemi Homura-san." The Incubator countered, "It is a certainty that you will eventually see the futility of this endless cycle and succumb to despair."

Okay, I'll give this monster credit. He did make a good point. It was totally possible that if I didn't find a route with a good ending soon I was going to start losing it. But I could delay that. I just needed to make sure to pace myself. That's what this run was all about anyway.

At some point I was going to have to look at myself in the mirror and ask what I'd be willing to settle for, or if I'm willing to settle at all. What constituted a good ending, and if that was achievable. But that was for some other time.

I put the rest of the cake into a to-go box that the waitress had given me and awkwardly tried to shove the box into my magic bottomless storage unit. Meanwhile, Kyubey gazed at me with a look of bemused contentment or maybe seething angst. I couldn't really tell. He kinda just looked like a pedophile or a serial killer to me so It was tough to gauge his demeanor at any given time. In any event, I'm sure he thought he'd gotten to me with that last jab. Which he had, sort of. But fuck him, so what?

"Perhaps you're already losing hope, Akemi Homura-san." He said evilly.

I'd had enough of him. I'd like to say what I did next was in one smooth motion but If I'm being honest with myself it certainly didn't look all that practiced. That is, it was choppy as all hell.

First, I heroically jammed the rest of the cake box into my shield. Next, I grabbed some cash and left an equitable tip for the nice lady who had served me. Lastly, I grabbed Kyubey by the throat, threw him on the floor, and shouted,

"AM NOT! FUCK YOU!" before emptying my Deagle magazine into his chest.

Then I reset.

TO BE CONTINUED

1 note · View note