#then madoka would never have become as powerful as she did and she would never have had the power to make such a universe-shattering wish

[saltyloafy]

madoka magica teaches us to never lose hope even in the face of absolute and definite failure bc there is nothing worse than succumbing to despair. it teaches us that there is always a way out and that the only way to truly overcome overwhelming fear is by continuing to shine through it. there is always a way out if you just keep believing that there is one

#homura was stuck in a time loop for who even knows how long with saving madoka as her only goal #and in the end #she may not have succeeded in the way she wanted to. but it wasn't for nothing!! her hope didnt amount to nothing!! #if it wasn't for homura's hope for saving madoka #then madoka would never have become as powerful as she did and she would never have had the power to make such a universe-shattering wish #she finally gave madoka what she really wanted: someone that loves her unconditionally and fully and truly SAW her. homura never thought #for a moment that madoka was useless or weak. she was a pillar of strength for homura in her darkest hours and that love changed the WORLD #LESBIANISM CHANGES THE WORLD MAN!!! #I'm getting sidetracked #we could not have had the ending we did if homura didn't hold out hope through all those loops. she is everything. she is THE character (tm) #the power of love and the power of hope can beat all odds #the moment we lose hope the oppressor wins.... madoka magica you..... yOUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!! #madoka magica #madoka magica spoilers #homura akemi #madoka kaname

[himehomu]

Homura did nothing wrong. And I stand by that. Because, she didn't do anything wrong towards anyone nor did she do anything with malicious intent. The only thing she did wrong is entirely in regards to herself. Rather than basing Homura's entire character around an act she made out of love or reduce her character to an evildoer with no morals nor love in her heart like some people still do to this day under the poor facade of “valid criticism,” I'm going to explain what Homura actually did wrong in Rebellion and her what her act of selfishness actually was.

What Homura did wrong was condemn herself to suffering as an immortal deity, the Devil whom acts as a rebellion against God, The Law of Cycles, strict laws of the original universe, which included Madoka Kaname not existing. That is what she did wrong, but not in the black and white, Good-vs-Evil way most people interpret this as. Yes, they are meant to be enemies one day, but because God favors rules and always doing the right thing, whereas the Devil favors her desire to stay in a world where Madoka is happy, where her friends are happy, where they are safe and have a chance at a life. A desire for happiness vs maintaining order of a broken world for the greater good, even if maintaining order means making sacrifices and making hard choices that directly rebel against that desire and yearning for happiness.

But, here is why Homura is wrong in dooming herself to her fate as the Devil. It's very subtle, but seconds before the Flower Field scene, as they are walking, Madoka turns and tells Homura that it really hurts her seeing her in so much pain and not being able to do anything about it. This may seem like a simple thing a friend would say, but remember that Madoka lost her memories as a goddess. And, as a goddess, she was stuck alone in Heaven having to watch life go by, Homura's life go by, and wasn't able to interfere. Think about that for a second. Think about being Madokami.

Think about when she could finally understand just how much Homura did for her, just how much Homura fought for her in all those time loops; the moment she's able to reciprocate her feelings, she fades from existence as the consequence. Wanting so badly to comfort Homura as she bears the psychological burden of being the only person to remember her, to know her, to miss her, to grieve and mourn her. Thinking the only time she’ll ever be able to see let alone talk to Homura again is when she’s essentially dying from all the grief, the pain, the guilt, the sadness of not being able to save her from her fate of being a goddess trapped in isolation. Think about that, then look at what she says here again. Of course it hurts Madoka seeing Homura hurting so badly and feeling powerless to do anything about it. Because that's what she's been doing as The Law of Cycles. Much like how she said she'd never make the decision to become a Goddess in the first place a few seconds later, she says this because this is the real Madoka who loves and cherishes Homura, who hates to see her hurt.

Take that into consideration when looking at what Homura turns herself into at the end of Rebellion, how she's suffering and you can see the exhaustion on her face and in her eyes, how you can see the immortality essentially sucking the humanity out of her to the point where she herself believes she is evil. This was never about Good vs. Evil. This is about Homura hating herself so much not only for being unable to save Madoka, but possibly even for loving her in the first place considering her love is what made her powerful enough to condemn herself to her fate as a Goddess trapped in Heaven with her wish. This is about Madoka hating herself so much to where she only deems herself worthy so long as she's helping others, her self-loathing making her reduce herself to a sacrificial lamb and throwing away her life for the better of everyone else, caring so little for herself and being unable to even fathom that she'd be mourned or grieved if she were to die, thus sacrificing herself over and over, seeing herself as a means to an end if it means freedom for everyone she loves. Madoka has always been there to comfort Homura and protect her since the first timeline. How can she do that if her memories and powers to do so are locked away? She can't. Because Homura doesn't believe she deserves Madoka's love.

Homura doesn't believe she's worth Madoka's sacrifice in becoming a God and Madoka doesn't believe she's worth Homura's sacrifice in becoming the Devil. Madoka cannot understand that she is so so much more than what she can give to other people whilst Homura is the only one that does. Homura can't understand that dooming herself to immortality pains and hurts Madoka because she can't do anything about it thus she can't save her from her suffering like how Homura ceased her suffering. It's a cycle. A snake eating it's own tail. A pumpkin that spins round and round and round. They're both selfish and they're both selfless. Homura is selfish in the sense that she's not taking into consideration how Madoka would feel if she knew how much she were suffering as the Devil for her sake yet she is being selfless because she's only suffering as the Devil for Madoka and her family and their friends to have a happy life. Madoka is selfish in the same sense that she's not taking into consideration just how psychologically damaging it is for Homura to not only have to watch her die over and over again throughout 100 timelines but to then erase herself from existence with Homura being the only one to remember her and she is selfless by of course only sacrificing herself so much because she cares for everyone and all Magical Girls, Homura especially included. They both love each other enough to sacrifice themselves for the other but they both hate themselves so much to where they believe they are undeserving of the other's love hence they keep dooming themselves to suffering in isolation and in turn dooming each other.

#pmmm #puella magi madoka magica #puella magi madoka magica rebellion #mahou shoujo madoka magica #madoka magica #madomagi #pmmm rebellion #madoka magica rebellion #madoka kaname #homura akemi #madohomu #i dont wanna say they invented doomed yuri but at the same time.... #did homura do anything morally wrong? no. she did something wrong in terms of dooming herself to internal psychological suffering #which is something madoka outright says hurts her to see homura go through whilst not being able to do anything about it #homura took away madoka's agency to help her because she feels she deserves this for madoka's sake #homura didn't trap madoka she trapped herself and locked madoka out so that she can't interfere bc she wants her to have a normal life #homura is really not the abusive monster y'all make her out to be the only person she's abusing is herself #she's my self destructive pookie bear and what about it #cw long post

[epicmomentforthegamers]

My Analysis of Madoka Kaname's Magical Girl Outfit.

This post will contain spoilers for Puella Magi Madoka Magica as well as Madoka Magica: Rebellion!

This is Madoka Kaname's magical girl design she maintains throughout all timelines of Madoka Magica. In this analysis, I will be explaining why this design is mote important than aesthetics, and how it plays into PMMM's storytelling.

The Red vs. Yellow Ribbon

The red ribbon Madoka wears all throughout the series is introduced in episode 1, where her mother, Junko, instructs her to pick it over a yellow ribbon. This scene has a major significance in Madoka's character, showing her as a timid and generally maliable person, but also has the importance of introducing Madoka's first moment of autonomy. Madoka chooses to wear this ribbon, even if it is under the instruction of her mother, and picks it over the yellow ribbon, which she can later be seen wearing in Rebellion and sharing the eye colour of in her goddess form. This is important as Madoka's other forms, whether altered by a wish or a corrupted soul gem, all contain something she did not choose: the colour yellow. In Madoka's final moments as a conscious human being, she hands off her last bit of autonomy over to Homura, both metaphorically and literally with the passing of the red ribbon. When she reaches godhood. Madoka can be seen wearing white ribbons, which, in a traditional fashion, represent the purity a holy being would possess. However, this could also be seen as the nullification of both the red and yellow ribbon. Madoka has made the ultimate choice and therefore has rid herself of mortal woes, including that of need for autonomy and personal choice. She becomes merely a concept, which is everything and nothing. Madoka has made the ultimate movement of autonomy by choosing to sacrifice it, and the white ribbons show how neither the red nor yellow ribbons have an impact on her anymore, and how neither what she wants to be vs. who she is matters in her new state.

Madoka's Self Design

Unlike all the other main magical girls presented in the show, Madoka willingly chooses her outfit to wear while fighting witches. While not the most practical, it represents her first step towards being her own person, separate from friends and family. Madoka has found a way to prove her worth as a singular individual through the form of being a magical girl, and while she does not become one until much later in the series, this significance shows in her designing what will ultimately become the beginning of her end and the end of the witches. When wearing this outfit in the last episode, Madoka has fully embraced her self-worth, capability, and ability to make her own decisions. She has taken her first rudimentary step towards self-confidence and embraced it, defining herself as both the Madoka who chose to sacrifice everything for the world as well as the Madoka who was scared she would never make an impact on the world.

Feminity and Girlhood

PMMM, under all the scary scenes and flipped expectations, is still a magical girl series. A series directed at young girls and women to generally find self-worth in their feminine qualities. Madoka is the epitome of this, being the almost idealistic girl. Mild-mannered, timid, quiet, and kind. Madoka is the "perfect" girl in manner senses. However, instead of turning this trope on its head to present feminity as a negative, it instead shows it as a strength. Madoka's feminine design, both as a magical girl and as a goddess, represents her feminine qualities without shying away from the weaknesses of patriarchal societies and negative self-worth projected onto young women (I will touch on this more in my Sayaka outfit analysis). Madoka, as well as embracing feminity, is embracing girlhood as a whole. This feminine design is a representation of being a girl, or at least what society expects from girls. Madoka, in embracing what it is like to be a teenage girl, is made to represent the power behind women in any society, magical or not.

Godhood and Acceptance

In Madoka's final appearance in the main series, she appears as a god who is watching over the world, eradicating witches and saving magical girls. In this design, we can see her as a large figure dressed in white. This, of course, is similar to how many holy figures are presented, white generally being the colour of purity. Another thing to notice is Madoka's eye colour, which had changed from pink to yellow. I believe this shows Madoka has not only done what was mentioned prior but accepted all parts of herself, including the girl who was afraid of looking too flashy.

Rebellion and The Yellow Ribbon

Madoka, existing within Homura's new world that was created from her corrupted soul gem, is seen wearing the yellow ribbon from the first episode. I believe that this version of Madoka, being Homura's (in her mental state in Rebellion) ideal version of Madoka, is less confident than the already meek Madoka we see in the first episode of the main series. With no friends like Sayaka or Hitomi to support her due to her being a transfer student in Homura's new reality, it is natural she would be less bold. This coincides with the yellow ribbon once again, representing Madoka's lack of autonomy in the situation, being a fabricated version of herself to represent Homura's idealistic view of her. This concludes with Homura being unable to handle this version of Madoka she has created and returning her red ribbons, but even this can not return Madoka's basic autonomy to choose her own destiny. Madoka's choice, as timid and frail as it was, was to wear the yellow ribbon, only to have that replaced by Homura with the red ribbon. No matter what, her self-control is taken away from her, whether it is by death, witches, corruption, or obsession.

#puella magi madoka magica #madoka magica #madoka kaname #mahou shoujo madoka magica #character analysis #pmmm #design analysis

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

I ask this because you posted about Braeking Bad and Madoka a few times, and the world calls me mad for my vision, but do you imagine Walter White or Jesse Pinkman being willing to make a deal with Kyubey? How do you think it would end?

Sure, the whole magical thing might be a hard sale to anyone above a middle school girl, especially a scientist like Walt, but I still think he's been in some pretty desperate situations before that Kyubey could use.

Jesse, I'm pretty sure he'll just assume Kyubey's another hallucination.

I have indeed posted about Breaking Bad and P3M on occasion.

But alright, let's do this.

Walter White

No.

It's not that he wouldn't be interested, even if he does doubt the veracity of magical girls and talking cats, it's that Walter isn't interested in a wish or a miracle.

That's the whole crux of Breaking Bad: he was too proud to remain a member of Gray Matter and got bought out even when it would have been a better idea to stay, he was too proud to later accept money from Gretchen and Elliott to pay for the cancer treatments or to even discuss it with his own mother, he was too proud to want to pretend that the money he'd made cooking meth came from donations across the country in a GoFundMe campaign because he wanted Flynn to irrationally know that Walt had made the money.

Walter is driven by pride and some cat offering him a wish to solve all his problems? He'd rather die of cancer and cook meth.

Now, Kyuubey could loiter around for when Walter panics, when the situations get so dicey it really looks like he's going to die this time, but I imagine it'd be such a last resort to Walter out of that same pride. He'll blow up hospitals, poison children, do anything before he makes that wish.

Jesse Pinkman

Also no, because there's no real wish that Jesse has. Jesse finds himself mired throughout the series in worse and worse situations, despising himself, and realizing there's no way out for him.

What could flip him is Jane's death. Now, Jesse may not have the power for such a wish (he himself doesn't personally make enough people miserable, not like Walter who'd be quite powerful from blowing up planes, old folk's homes, destroying each life he touched) but if he did he'd wish for Jane to be resurrected and would glady become a magical girl "dude" or whatever the cat thing is offering.

Jesse then gets the horrible experience of Zombie Jane where he has to murder her himself to save everyone else, realizing she was never Jane (or was she? It's unclear Kyuubey. IT'S UNCLEAR) And comes out of the whole experience more depressed than ever but somehow managing to hang on without going full witch. Kyuubey's slightly impressed when Jesse makes it to Alaska without giving into despair.

#breaking bad #breaking bad meta #breaking bad headcanon #puella magi madoka magica #puella magi madoka headcanon #puella magi madoka meta #kyuubey #jesse pinkman #walter white #anti walter white #meta #headcanon #opinion

[pinkberrypocky]

pmmm rewatch live notes: ep 8

the conversation between homura and sayaka in this ep makes me feral. also the way we see homura expressing emotion and breaking down after madoka in a way kind of rejects her... literally stabbing me would hurt less.

Sayaka keeps hitting the witch even after it’s dead until the labyrinth disappears

As they leave the labyrinth she has a hollow empty look on her face

She gives the grief seed to kyoko bc she thinks that if she refuses the rewards she is making up for the fact that she isn’t being totally selfless / she wants to punish herself

Clinging onto the last fragments of her ideology

Sayaka sees herself now as only a weapon for killing witches

Nothing can be good for her or bad for her it doesn’t matter what she wants or how she feels bc she’s not human

Sayaka telling madoka to fight the witches herself if she doesn’t want sayaka to shows sayaka breaking on a fundamental level

Her whole thing is protection and yet she tells her friend to risk herself for her

Right after that sayaka says she’s beyond saving and doesn’t understand why she acted that way

Beyond saving from becoming a witch, which means being a different person

Homura’s room is so interesting why does it look like that there must be a symbol

Only thing is images of her goal on the wall of a blank white space

She is nothing but her goal

The weapon thing swinging in the background shows both the violent nature that has become her only choice and also similar to a pendulum of a clock 

After homura reveals that sayaka will become a witch soon if they don’t do something the room/lighting turns to yellow and kyoko and homura become black silhouettes

The lighting is yellow around sayaka as she watches hitomi confess to kyosuke

When she fights the witches she is screaming and crying trying to fulfill her purpose and be a hero of justice when she knows that she does regret her wish, she did want something more from kyosuke

She is forced to face that she made the wrong choice and has been selfish all along

Moon as sayaka’s symbol 

Shape of her soul hem

Shot of the crescent moon as sayaka rejects the grief seed from homura

She  says it's bc she doesn’t want help from those who are not in her definition of good

“Do you realize this is just making madoka suffer more?” - homura

“Madoka? This has nothing to do with her.” - sayaka

“No. Everything has to do with her.” - homura

Black and white during the train scene where the guys shit talk their girlfriends

We don’t see their faces just their legs and when we do see faces there are no eyes and it's only for a split second

Sayaka’s head lolls unnaturally like a doll and her eyes are glazed over

This is the scene where she really is forced to accept that the world is not good

Kyubey having the audacity to ask madoka if she was upset w him too is so manipulative

She is in a way more mature than sayaka bc she understands that benign angry won’t fix anything and instead tries to understand and forge a new path

The background track of the haunting chorus is SOOOOO

Resembles church choir

Madoka always thought she would never do anything important and stumble through life never being able to help anyone so the idea of being able to be such a powerful magical girl is SO enticing

Homura kills kyubey just as madoka was about to make the contract even though 

Don’t treat yourself like you don’t matter! There are so many people who would be sad if you died! 

Homura breaks down crying asking madoka “what about the people who have fought hard trying to protect you” 

Rain drops in the air representing all the timelines

She sobs and asks madoka to stay but madoka rejects her and that is why she collapses and is unable to keep going

Bc she can take anything but madoka rejecting ehr

She killed kyubey in that moment bc stopping the contract was more important than madoka’s opinion of her but she still cares SO MUCH

Kyubey as incubator bc he creates the magical girls as eggs and raises them to be witches when they “hatch” to be a food source

“Hope and despair balance out to zero”

Sayaka’s eyes are hidden when she talks to kyoko before becoming a witch

UNTIL she turns crying and says “I was so stupid” and BAM becomes a witch

And it has to be kyoko in that moment bc kyoko understands she has also been stupid in this way and faced the consequences and even tried to warn sayaka but she was too blind and stubborn to see it

#puella magi madoka magica #pmmm #madohomu #madoka magica #holy quintet #madoka kaname #homura akemi #mahou shoujo madoka magica #sayaka turning into a witch makes me so unwell the tears in her eyes #unrelated but my friend who loves homestuck is classpecting pmmm characters and i am so enraptured by the process and their conclusions

[neppednep]

Hello! I would like a request for Madoka Magica

Mami or Sayaka with the reader looking like Gojo Satoru from Jujutsu Kaisen (like he is very strong but arrogant)

Sayaka Miki w/ Gojo!Reader

I choose Sayaka for this one, as I haven't touched her yet and I already have something in the kitchen cooking w/ Mami. May or may not have to do with everyone's favorite spin-off manga. In any case, hope she isn't too OOC. Enjoy.

》 If she claimed Madoka was a cute anime character, you'd bet she'd convince herself you were the main character of some battle shonen manga.

》 Seriously, what don't you have? You're hot, powerful, confident… hot. Who the hell is Kyosuke again?

》 She would be lying if she said she didn't have a bit of a crush. It would be hard not to fall for you. In the course of a few days her life practically did a 180 and was going to hell in a handbasket real fast.

》 She lost her crush to someone she considered one of her best friends, Mami died right in front of her, then that magical girl, a spit in the face to what a magical girl should be came along. She was powerless to stop her and she was falling into despair… that's when she first met you.

》 You may have been a bit arrogant, sure. The way you talked down to the red haired girl, tossing her around like a ragdoll with a smile on your face, treating her like nothing more than a minor nuisance may have not been the most ‘heroic.’ Yeah, she definitely enjoyed watching that girl get her comeuppance. After red was firmly planted in the concrete, you walked over to her and Madoka to check if they were still okay, Sayaka couldn't help but blush as she stared up at you.

》 In Sayaka’s eyes, there were two people she hoped to be like. Mami, the girl who introduced her to all this magical girl stuff. She was kind and caring, saving many innocent lives with a smile on her face, even if she did end up dying, she did it fighting against evil. Then there was you. You weren't selfish like that other girl, even with all that power. You were untouchable yet still cared for others who were quite frankly far below you. If she also had that kind of power and had the mindset of Mami…

》 From there, the two of you start meeting a lot more often. She's far weaker than she'd like to admit, and she had to learn that the hard way. All great heroes had to have someone to teach them at some point, so if she's going to become the Magical Girl of Justice, she might as well tag along and see what she can learn. She never really gets tired of seeing you crush witches and familiars with ease. No matter what kind of weird powers they may have, she's relieved to know you'll make it out fine and have her back In the process.

》 Eventually you did end up explaining more about magical girls to her. She wasn't too big a fan of essentially just being a gem, going into schizo mode and going on about how she's just a zombie and such. She wasn't really listening to you when you told her it isn't all bad and tried explaning the perks… so you took her sword and stabbed yourself in the neck. That understandably spooked her back into the real world, but it at least gave you time to explain everything to her. Your thanks was a swift smack and getting called an idiot. Tough crowd.

》 Luckily, with you by her side she never fell into despair, having someone there to remind her what she’a fighting for, keeping her grounded, and helping her grow into the best hero she could be really helped. She never really got over her crush, and she really wanted to confess. Turns out after seeing how powerful you are and the whole thing of essentially just being an empty husk got to her head and made her doubt herself.

》 After putting her pride aside and going to Madoka, who she is much more protective over after finding out the truth about magical girls, she was talked into going through with it, only having to wait until whatever she thought would be a good time to ask.

》 After thanking her best friend and leaving, she ended up running into Homura who recruited her to help against a very powerful witch who was supposed to be appearing soon. She just brushed her off, saying she'll help but I'm reality she suspected she wouldn't have to do much at all. With you there, everything would be fine. Maybe even after the battle she would finally ask you out. Then the day finally came…

“So, this is the strongest witch, huh?” You say to yourself, arms crossed with a confident smile on your face.

Sayaka nods, seemingly put at ease by your presence despite the inevitable battle to come. “Strongest witch vs. the strongest magical girl(?). You think you can win?”

“I'm disappointed you'd even ask that of me Sayaka.” You sigh, pushing off the wall you were leaning on and taking a step towards the edge of the roof you two were standing on.

“Wow, am I finally going to see the great Y/N get a run for his money?” She playfully retorts, lightly jabbing you with her elbow.

You just huff, glacing at her before bringing your attention back to Walpurgisnacht.

Y/N:

#sayaka miki x reader #sayaka x reader #madoka magica x reader #madoka magica #puella magi madoka magica #sayaka miki

[someseriousthot]

Madoka Magica: Rebellion - A Soapbox

Madoka Magica: Rebellion has to be THE most watched movie I’ve ever seen. I’ve watched it at least 30+ times by this point over the past 6 years, and I’m still noticing some little things here and there the animators included in the movie that I didn’t see on a previous viewing.

But for all of my viewings, whenever I see people commenting on why the movie sucked, why the anime sucked, why the anime’s ending sucked, why the movie’s ending sucked, or why all of them were good, I’ve yet to see someone with this take, and I feel like as a result a lot of folks are missing an extremely important Thing™ that directly lead into the ending of the anime and the reason why the Rebellion story turned out the way it did.

This is going to be filled to the BRIM with spoilers for the movie and the 12-episode series, so if you haven’t watched it I highly highly recommend you do, even if you found the ending of the anime dissatisfying. I was one of those people (the ending felt like it fell super flat for me, and I heard at the time it split the fandom 50/50) and I was so glad I watched it, it’s one of my favorite pieces of cinema ever and I recommend it to everyone I talk to when I mention Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

(I watched a vid about a guy’s blind reaction to the movie and it was hilarious but the comments had me FUMING because I kept seeing the SAME takes over and over and I GET! Where they’re coming from with their theories! But at the same time I feel like it’s missing a HUGE, VERY ESSENTIAL PIECE THAT WAS IN THE ANIME! Hence the soapbox moment)

TL;DR at the very, very bottom

A quick refresher on what happened at the end of the series:

- It’s revealed that because Homura kept rewinding time, a bunch of threads of Fate have tied themselves to Madoka as a result, and because of this, every time Madoka makes a contract, she becomes the world’s most powerful Magical Girl before turning into the world’s most evil Witch.

- Homura has created a noose for herself with those very same threads of Fate, because if she fails to save Madoka she’ll either reset the timeline again or turn into a Witch herself.

- Madoka uses her wish to become a “concept” that purifies Magical Girls before they can become Witches, ascending to a higher existence and essentially becoming a God as a result, disappearing from the world and everyone’s memories save for Homura.

- Homura decides to carry on for Madoka’s sake, trying to protect the world that she sacrificed herself for in honor of her memory, but at the very last second we see a strange scene in the final episode post-credits...?

Sound familiar? Familiar enough? Good. Now, before I go into what happened in Rebellion, I want to tackle an elephant in the room that’s going to be extremely important for what takes place in Madoka Magica: Rebellion, as it’s this Very Important Thing™ that serves as the catalyst for the entire movie.

Point 1: What was that ending?? (aka The Final Timeline)

A lot of folks were really dissatisfied with Madoka essentially disappearing from reality/becoming a God because it felt like it came WAY out of left field. Why didn’t Homura just reset again? Why did Madoka have to disappear like that? Why didn’t she just wish that magical girls weren’t a thing, or that the Incubators never came to Earth?

If you remember the anime, then you know that:

- Resetting the timeline again would have just added more Fate to Madoka, which would have exacerbated the problem without solving it (which is why Homura began to despair when she realized she couldn’t stop the cycle she was currently trapped in).

- Because of the nature of Madoka’s wish, she couldn’t do that just as a normal Magical Girl; she had to be able to reach every Magical Girl that was falling into despair and risking the destruction of their Soul Gem (and becoming a Witch). Unfeasible for a measly human body, or even the body of a single Magical Girl.

- During her discussions with Kyubey, it specifically says that Magical Girls were the sparking factor for a lot of humanity’s development and creating the society that Madoka lives in today. If the Incubators never came to Earth, then we would all still be naked living in caves.

NOW: Up until this point, the timeline has been playing out like every other that Homura has lived through thus far. The month starts over, she goes back to school and meets Madoka for the “first time”, she tries to warn her not to make a contract with a creature promising a miracle in exchange, she starts preparing for Walpurgisnacht while trying to keep an eye on her. If she can’t beat Walpurgisnacht, or she fails in keeping Madoka from making a contract with Kyubey, she resets the timeline.

And things play out normally! She was hoping to prevent Sayaka from making a contract with Kyubey, considering she knows what’s going to eventually happen to her, and Madoka losing her closest friend (that she knows of) at the time is tragic, but that’s not Homura’s priority. Losing Kyoko was tragic (especially since she was trying to save Sayaka somehow), but that was another calculated loss. She manages to prevent Madoka from making a contract with Kyubey (with a couple extremely close calls) until the end of the month, and then it’s the showdown with Walpurgisnacht, and past experiences have her pulling out all the stops to finally defeat her this time.

Unbeknownst to her, Kyubey has been having these little meetings with Madoka, where he reveals that she has an insane amount of Fate attached to her, despite her being just a normal school girl. In their next meeting he tells her that once she makes the contract, she’ll be the most powerful Magical Girl ever, before becoming the most powerful Witch ever. And in a later meeting, he reveals the reasons why Magical Girls fall into despair (with disturbing visuals), the reasons why Incubators came to Earth, and the purpose of Magical Girls dying to release energy into the universe. It’s also because of these meetings that Madoka decides to use her wish to help save Magical Girls before they become Witches, so their wishes (and their hopes and dreams) wouldn’t have been in vain.

So, right when Homura is about to succumb to despair and turn into a Witch, Madoka intervenes and promises her that all of her sacrifices, all of those timelines she spent trying to protect her, won’t be in vain, and she makes her wish and disappears forever.

Sound familiar? Frustratingly familiar? Good, because there’s something I want you to think about before we proceed to the movie:

At what point did Homura find out about these little meetings between Kyubey and Madoka?

She’s been way too focused on preparing for Walpurgisnacht to know about their little clandestine meetings. Not to mention that this is the first and only timeline that these discussions even happen. Kyubey even comments on this in the first couple episodes, that he’s never encountered a Magical Girl with so much potential before. He’s twigged onto it early on, and that rouses his suspicions, even moreso every time Homura kills him or interrupts before Madoka can make a contract with him, and it comes to a head when he finds out about her time magic. (Remember, Homura is NOT from this timeline, and so Kyubey doesn’t remember ever making a contract with her.)

Kyubey has never revealed the secret about Magical Girls to Madoka in any other timeline. In fact it’s because of Mami’s (unintentional) death that spurs Sayaka into making a contract with him (despite Mami’s trying to warn her not to), then Madoka throwing away her Soul Gem that it eventually comes to light, and it’s following Sayaka's (and Kyoko’s) death that he reveals the rest of it. Things never played out like this in previous timelines either.

Now, onto the movie, but keep this plot point in mind. This is going to be really important later.

Point Two: The Flower Field Scene (aka The Turning Point)

Midway through the movie, we get to the infamous flower field scene between Homura and Madoka. Homura’s already realized something weird is going on and has been trying to figure out who’s created the labyrinth they’re all trapped in, and now that she and Madoka have time alone she’s able to come clean about a lot of stuff that’s been weighing on her in the past three years. Namely her “bad dream” that Madoka disappeared and she was the only person that remembered her, that she began doubting her memories and thought she was someone she just made up, etc.

Madoka then tells her that she would never go somewhere so far away that she couldn’t see any of them again.

“I would never want to go somewhere I could never see anyone again. Even if there were no other choice, I know I’d never have the courage to do something like that.”

And Homura has a horrible moment of realization.

“Right...that’s right.”

Those are your honest feelings. And yet, I...how could I have made such a stupid mistake?

I shouldn’t have allowed that to happen. That no matter what I would’ve had to do, I should have stopped you back then.

This scene comes back to haunt her later in the movie, as well as DIRECTLY influencing her actions all the way up to the ending. However, I feel like a lot of misinformation has been happening that’s colored the reason why the movie went the direction it did.

A lot of people think that Homura realized that Madoka essentially martyred herself to save all Magical Girls from despair, feeling that she was forced into that decision on behalf of others. But we know that’s not the case, she entered into that contract willingly and was content with her fate, even if it meant everyone would forget her. Even her own family.

That Madoka seemed like she was happy doing this, but with what Madoka’s saying she thinks those are her “honest feelings” and that she should have stopped her from going through with it. That Madoka’s ultimate fate was her fault instead of a conscious decision Madoka made on her own.

Homura then spends the rest of the movie angry with herself for allowing it to happen and then trying to figure out how to reverse it.

Point Three: God and Demon (aka What was that ending?? 2: Electric Boogaloo)

Homura’s turning into a Demon in the end of the movie and splitting the mortal girl Madoka from the Law of the Cycle seems to be a really big point of contention for fans as to the reason why she did that. From the comments I’ve seen:

- Some folks think that Homura “knew” she was going to turn into a Demon if Madoka and the others saved her while in the labyrinth, and was wanting to destroy herself before that happened

- Some folks think that Homura was dishonoring Madoka’s wish by separating her, exercising her will over Madoka’s, which is completely unfair and disrespectful to what Madoka wanted

- Some folks think that Homura was planning on separating the mortal version of herself from the Law of the Cycle the whole time, or at LEAST after Kyubey revealed the truth about the Isolation Field and the experiment

- Some folks thinks it was because Homura missed/loved (or was obsessed with) Madoka so much she couldn’t bear to be apart from her any longer and that’s why she tore a piece of her away (to “keep”, as evidenced by the spool of pink thread - the records of Madoka before she ceased to exist - literally becoming the basis for Homura’s new Soul Gem)

But overall a lot of folks were probably confused (and rightly shocked) at the events that took place at the end of the movie, and were trying to figure out the justification behind it.

Now, I’ll ask you again: At what point did Homura find out about these little meetings between Kyubey and Madoka?

The answer: She never did. Therefore she is missing a very massive and crucial piece of context for the decisions Madoka made.

Remember, these discussions never happened in any other timeline. Homura found out the truth about Soul Gems and Witches long before anyone else did, but with the reactions they garnered in previous timelines she felt no reason to try to hammer it home with folks because they’d either be in denial or snap.

Another thing: Kyubey and Sayaka both said mentioned alterations with Madoka’s memories - Kyubey with wiping (or supposedly wiping) the memories of everyone that came into Homura’s labyrinth, and Sayaka saying that she and Bebe were “holding onto them” while the Incubators were focused on her so they could move about freely under their noses without their realizing.

Neither of them could have realized the ramifications this would cause with the famous flower field scene between Homura and Madoka, because not only does Homura not know that Madoka knew this whole time about what was happening and why, but that she thinks what Madoka’s saying (about never wanting to go somewhere she couldn’t see everyone again, that she’d never have the courage to do something like that, that she wouldn’t want to do that even if there were no other choice) are her honest feelings. And Madoka has none of her memories that helped her make that decision to do all those things. Homura takes her at her word because she has absolutely no evidence to the contrary.

So when she’s presented a chance at the end of the movie to undo that decision? To undo the damage done to Madoka and to give her that second chance of living a “normal” life that Madoka herself said she wanted?

It was inevitable. I couldn’t see the movie ending any other way, and I’ll explain why.

Point Four: Breaking down the arguments (aka that Pepe Silvia conspiracy meme from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia)

1. The idea that Homura “knew” she was going to turn into a Demon if Madoka and the others saved her/was planning on turning into a Demon (somehow) the whole time

I don’t think this was the case at all. Homura was pretty damned determined to die during that whole fight scene. In her Despair Zone™ she was even about to put a bullet in her skull to kill herself before Madoka reached her, since her plan for the others to kill her fell through. She was so intent on it because she wanted to prevent the Incubators from reaching Madoka through her, which would have rendered everything the two of them went through for nothing.

If anything, being forced to relive Madoka’s deaths over and over in her own private Despair Zone™, AND Madoka coming to save her herself, is what probably influenced that part, which I will get into.

2. The idea that Homura purposefully, intentionally went against Madoka’s wish

Again, Homura was missing several very big and extremely important pieces of context that lead to what happened. Would she have still made that decision knowing? Who knows.

3. The idea that Homura was obsessed/”loved” Madoka so much that she undermined her wish

This might have some part in what happened, but I don’t think it’s the biggest player in this.

Again, it’s been three whole years since Madoka disappeared and Homura was left with only memories of her and the timelines she went through. During the flower field scene, she said she was starting to doubt her own mind, wondering if she had made all of it up. Then during the final battle, Homura was stuck reliving all the times she failed to save/protect Madoka over and over. Reminding her of the pain and sorrow she went through trying to change her fate. That those emotions were real, that those things happened, that she went through hell and back for her.

That whole thing with Homura saying she just wanted to see Madoka one more time? Betraying her “wish” (Madoka warned her not to be alone/go anywhere by herself, and if you remember the post-credits scene from the anime, that was PROBABLY how the Incubators got ahold of her), not caring what she would become as a result (which I think she meant turning into a Witch, NOT a Demon, or at least not yet) as long as Madoka was at her side?

And then the two of them team up, bolstered by the innate power Madoka has as the Law of the Cycle to destroy the Incubator’s trap and free her? Showing Homura that there was a way the two of them could be together without risking Madoka’s secret?

Homura saw a chance to fix her “mistake.”

She wasn’t scared, after becoming a witch she accepted whatever was going to happen to her.

And she wasn’t going to hesitate anymore.

NOT TO MENTION what do you guys think would have happened had Homura not done that?

What if Homura had allowed Madoka to whisk her away, joining the Law of the Cycle?

What if she hadn’t turned into a Demon and imprisoned the Incubators, using them to hold all the curses of humanity?

The reason this happened at all was because, right before the end credits, Homura was telling Kyubey about what happened in previous timelines. The Incubators had three years to plan this for when Homura was ready to be taken by The Cycle. (A fact that Homura is deeply frustrated with during the whole reveal scene when Kyubey starts monologuing)

What would have stopped the Incubators from doing this with another Magical Girl? Now knowing that the Law of the Cycle is more than one entity/aspect, what’s to stop them from trying to create another, more cunning trap for next time? Chipping away at the Law of the Cycle’s power a little at a time until they do eventually completely conquer it? How many Magical Girls would be sacrificed to this end? They created the Isolation Field for Homura, they could probably come up with something smarter for next time. And if it were any other Magical Girl do you really think they’d have the willpower she had not to call upon Madoka to save her?

Homura saw what she thought was a happy ending and, if fate wasn’t going to give it to her, she was going to bend reality and force it.

This also sets up the scene for the fourth movie because: 1) Homura can't sustain this reality forever. Once all the Curses are gone, or if she decides to destroy this universe, there's probably going to be a final battle somewhere, which will involve all of the other Magical Girls and their ultimate fate, especially since Sayaka alone remembers the truth (and Madoka was so close to remembering as well). 2) With the Incubators otherwise out of commission, this also means that there's going to probably be a finite number of Magical Girls now. With no Incubators there to grant wishes, for all the girls that fall into despair, that means others won't be there to take their place. Does that mean Madoka's Godhood (and therefore Homura's Demonhood) will become finite? Will the curses of humanity begin to overrun reality? Will reality reset itself and all the magical girls up to this point will have history rewritten to where their contracts, and therefore their adventures as magical girls, never happen?

Thanks for letting me get on my soapbox for a bit. If you have a chance to see the movie, I highly recommend it if for the fight scenes if not the story. The soundtrack is super nice too.

TL;DR: Homura didn’t know Madoka was told The Secret about Magical Girls and Witches™ by Kyubey in the timeline during the anime, so during the flower field scene she thought Madoka’s words were her honest feelings (when they weren’t). Then when being stuck in her own head after turning into a Witch she was forced to relive all of Madoka’s deaths over countless timelines over and over, which also served as a reminder why she went through all those timelines (because she loved Madoka) which is why she turned into a Demon in the end and forced a “happy ending”, not out of obsession or to ruin Madoka’s wish but because that’s what she thought she wanted.

#madoka magica #puella magi madoka magica #madoka magica: rebellion #madoka magica rebellion #kaname madoka #akemi homura #god madoka #demon homura #witch homura #don't mind her #god this was a long rant #my hand is cramping up but I've wanted to get this out for ages #thank you for anyone who took the time to read all this #and sorry to clutter up your dash #I have Very Strong Feelings about this series and the movie #can't wait for the fourth one to come out

[industria-adastra]

[Genshin Impact] - The answer given by god, tastes like sand - Chapter one: Act V, scene ? (take ?) - [1/8]

Summary: In multiple timelines, Furina and Neuvillette always have this conversation. And in every single timeline, Neuvillette cannot understand, and cannot accept Furina’s answers. No matter how far back she falls into the abyss of time, Neuvillette thinks that she’ll never understand. - Or: In a world where witches and magical girls exist, to circumvent fate is to create a god out of love, and be left wanting.

--

Next

Note: I genderbent neuvi for this madoka au

-----

Their first conversation, perhaps a hundred thousand turns ago—when Neuvillette had been just some gangly teenage girl, unknowing of the horrors of the world—about it, went a little like this. 

-

In the comfort of Furina’s room, on her bed, they watched a recording of an opera. Neuvillette was sure it had been Turandot. Her memories of later times were fuzzy, but this timeline had always, and would always be, one of the clearest ones. 

Their legs tangled together, and Furina was warm against her skin. Neuvillette remembered being vaguely surprised that Furina didn’t put up as much of a fuss over her often cold feet touching her much warmer ones. But she also remembered being happy and content with Furina in her arms, enough so that she didn’t question why Furina didn’t try to act out an improvised dramatic comedy about the state of Neuvillette’s poor blood circulation. 

She remembered thinking that Furina’s new spur-of-the-moment hairstyle would surely be less likely to tangle between them as it’d often done before. She remembered the smell of petrichor and the smell of lilies, fresh tea, and cakes. So, only half-focused on the singing actors, Neuvillette soon found her attention drawn to the teardrop on Furina’s fingernail. 

Absent-mindedly, she unwrapped an arm from Furina’s waist to lift that hand, staring at the ring and the blue nail print.

“Hm? What are you doing, Neuvi?” 

“Furina,” Neuvillette suddenly said, prompting her to pause the ongoing video, setting the laptop aside.

“Yes?” Two-toned blue eyes turned to look at Neuvillette. “What is it?” 

“Could I ask you a question?”

For a brief moment, something unreadable had flashed across Furina’s face. But it left as quickly as it came, and Neuvillette had dismissed it as a mere trick of the mind. (Stupid of her to do so—it should’ve been the first sign of the injustice to come; the first sign that she’d taken everything in her life for granted.)

“Of course,” she smiled, as radiant as the sun, “You don’t have to ask for permission, silly. Whatever it is, ask away!”

“Then… If I may ask, why did you decide to become a magical girl?” Neuvillette gently placed down Furina’s hand, waiting for an answer. Furina, in turn, leaned further back against Neuvillette. Tilting her head upwards, Furina’s eyes—forever mesmerising blues—stared deeply into her own. 

“Mmm…” Furina mused as the silence dragged out for what felt like an eternity in seconds. “Well, this world… It’s a wonderful, beautiful place—so of course I’d protect it. If I have the power to do so, don’t you agree that I, too, should do my part?”

It was a simple answer—casual, expected. It told Neuvillette absolutely nothing at all. She liked to think that she knew Furina. As such, the lack of eager elaboration, and the lack of clear, substantive reasoning all told Neuvillette that there was something she was missing. Something was being withheld from her, and Neuvillette did not understand why. Were all these years of friendship not enough for them to be close enough to share such personal matters? Neuvillette wasn’t just a member of the audience, one of many in the adoring crowd. 

“We both know that this isn’t your true answer, Furina,” Neuvillette said in return, deciding to be honest with her thoughts. “Let me ask once more, and give me the truth, and only the truth. For what reason did you decide to become a magical girl?” Her hands cupped Furina’s face, gaze boring down upon her.

Neuvillette watched as her eyes darted to the side.

Then, she sighed, eyes closing as she did so. “Oh alright, you’ve caught me,” Furina said, shifting Neuvillette’s hands away from her face, straightening up on the bed. “I’ll give you a proper answer in just a second.” The space between them widened as Furina turned to face her directly. Yet only a few moments later, Furina then beckoned Neuvillette to come closer with a hand. So, Neuvillette followed it with not even a moment’s hesitation. Just as their shoulders were about to touch, Furina lightly tugged on her arm, silently asking Neuvillette to lean down.

Furina’s arm curled her head, lightly pushing it down further. The smell of lilies was all the more distinct now, so close to her neck.

“It’s because you’re a part of this world,” Furina whispered into her ear, a string of words said with a gravitas that Neuvillette never understood (even in the distant tomorrow of a hollow victory). Those words warmed her heart as much as they confused her.

“...Because of me?” Neuvillette questioned. Perhaps she had wanted more confirmation, or perhaps even the truth given freely did not feel quite so complete. Furina’s skill with words had always left her floundering in more ways than one. Why her specifically? Why not mention her large family, or even the recent friends they’d made? Why only her as a reason? Imperceptibly, her cheeks warmed.

Furina giggled, all previous tension now lost. Taking advantage of her shocked stillness, in the blink of an eye Furina was now behind her. In an unexpected display of magic, she’d conjured up a comb and untied the ribbon holding together Neuvillette’s long, long hair in that same moment. Confused as she was, Neuvillette simply let her continue with whatever it was Furina wished to do with her hair.

After minutes of silent combing, Furina suddenly said, “I want you to be able to experience this world, from the delightful to the depressing…” Placing down the comb, her fingers artfully braided Neuvillette’s hair. Her hands never wavered in braiding, even as she presumably searched for the correct words to continue that unfinished line. “To the fullest extent possible, no matter what. That day… I—” Her breath hitched, and then all was silent.

The sensation of Furina’s fingers braiding her hair was a comforting one as Neuvillette waited for her to continue speaking. There wasn’t too much pressure, nor were the strands braided so tightly that they pulled on her scalp. Time trickled away in her hands like fine sand, but as Furina had always said—no use rushing the process to only fall flat at the finishing line. 

“There,” said Furina, all of a sudden. The noise jolted Neuvillette out of her previous relaxed state. She blinked, quite sure her expression looked hilarious to Furina, judging from the muffled giggle. “Want to take a look?” She asked, emphasising the question with a wave of her handheld mirror. Just now’s conversation was also clearly over. But that was alright. There was always time to ask later anyway.

“Since it was you who did it, I’m sure that it’ll be as perfect as always.” Yet with that said, Neuvillette still reached out for the mirror, curling long fingers over Furina’s hand. Well, she did need to see it with her own eyes if she wanted to properly praise Furina’s efforts.

“Ever the flatterer, hm?” Without resisting, Furina let Neuvillette move the mirror this way and that, waving it in all directions to find the perfect viewing angle. 

“I’m being honest,” said Neuvillette, admittedly more focused on her current task.

“At least let me remove my hand first,” she huffed, yet made no move to extract her hand from Neuvillette’s firm grip. At those words, Neuvillette simply hummed in response, finally having seen all she needed of her newest updo. 

“I like the braiding pattern,” she said, setting the mirror down, and Furina’s hand free. This time, she was the one to lean back on the other. Furina, of course, supported her without a fuss, letting Neuvillette’s head slide down until it hit her lap. Now comfortably nestled between a pair of soft thighs, Neuvillette picked up the tail end of the braid. Gazing at the multicoloured teardrop gem attached to the new ribbon, she asked, “When did you get this? It reminds me of your eyes.”

“Just yesterday. It reminded me of you.” 

‘I… I see.” Involuntarily, heat rose to her cheeks. There was only one thing to do in response to such a gift. “I overheard some classmates discussing this new cafe—would you like to try their desserts together sometime?”

“Of course, my dear Levia.”

-

They never did get to go to that cafe. That had been the last time they’d ever got to truly enjoy each other’s company as they were in that timeline—the one that had started it all.

#my writing #fanfiction #genshin impact #neuvillette #furina #furina de fontaine #neuvifuri #focallette #magical girl au #angst and fluff #time travel #genderbend #ping me if i left out any tags or if the current ones are incorrect #nvfr now doomed yuri in mind body spirit and situation #recently i rewatched pmmm and also finished link click s1 so

[chaosspear]

oh!

what did everyone wished for?

EEEEHEHEHE I'll admit right now I'm not 100% on everyone's wishes, but for the most part have general ideas down for all of them.

putting this all under a cut cause its gonna get wordy

For Sonic-- well for quick reference, most of the characters do not have their iconic powers from the start. The only exception would be Tails having his tails (which is just like. a totally plausible genetic mutation) and Shadow having his chaos powers (cause you know, scientifically made ultimate lifeform. He doesn't have the skates or speed, though!)

Anyways. For Sonic, he made his wish in the midst of Eggman's first attacks and establishment of the Eggman Empire. 12 years old and without his speed, there was only so much he could do to help. His wish was on the lines of "I wish the Eggman Empire would fall and never rise again", though nowadays I've been thinking about tweaking it a little to just generally something along the lines of "i wish i could help/protect others/stop Eggman". Either way, Sonic kind of becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy after that. The answer to his own wish in the form of a hero.

For Shadow, as I've mentioned, it was to cure maria, so she could finally go see mobius herself. He actually stalled a lot on making his wish, out of skepticism, cause like. It's not like kyuubey had any proof to back up that he could grant wishes yet. Shadow was the first target (in at least 3000 years) and he's also in space. But as maria's hopes started dwindling, he got desperate. I also detail how that goes here

I think Amy mirrors Madoka a lot, in the sense that, while I'm unsure what her wish would specifically be, the idea i had in mind was always that its more in being a magical girl and helping people that her wish is fulfilled. I imagine maybe she wishes to heal Lily (the flicky from sa1 :]), or something of that nature. In general shes a much newer magical girl to the team.

And Knuckles. oooooohoho man I want to figure out the specifics of Knuckles and his arc and what happens to him, because his wish is interesting. He wishes for the echidnas back. Angel Island is actually very populated. Which is WILD to think about. makes it even more wild to think about how chaos' release goes, then....

The only one I'm really totally in the grey for, is Rouge... her main magic ability is invisibility, so theres something to be had with that? Whatever wish she had, I imagine it to be a kind of naive one, or one made in the spur of a desperate moment. I have a feeling if she could change it, she would.

#pmmm au #ask

[dreamerwitches]

Wich witch introduction was your favorite?

Ohhh! What a good question! I suppose a good build up is always what I want for a witch. Some of them are hard since they just appear suddenly like Gisela or Roberta...

I think Elly is a great one. I adore her labyrinth's introduction, especially in the movie version. You just see blobs of blue and then these skeleton horses passing by behind Madoka. Though I prefer the music in the tv version, i think a darker tone suits it better (contrary to charlotte's new music which i think fits very well). And the pan of her endless labyrinth is great. It's pretty memorable

I think Oktavia's is great mostly because there's a lot of emotional weight to it all. I mean, it feels the whole middle of the anime is leading up to this moment. Sayaka's transformation scene is so good, especially with the iconic line. I love how you don't really see all of her in her first labyrinth as she's got her cape over her arms, it's like she levels up before the second fight. And the sweeping scenery as Kyoko and Madoka enter her boss room, mimicking a train rushing by, is amazing as you're hit with the orchestra. I'm so glad so much effort is put into her <3 I think her timeline 3 appearance is good too, sadly she doesn't get any build up but I think the rock concert theme with the lights, stage and backup dancers helps the brief moment be cool enough

I think Izabel's introduction is pretty unique and cool, we get a one time view of what it's like for a civilian to run into a labyrinth. I think the build up is great but the payoff of Izabel being such a stationary boss and how she's killed so quickly isn't very exciting... it feels a little wasted but the build up is still good

I have complicated feelings about Kriemhild. I think her first appearance is pretty dull. Cool, but after seeing Sayaka's transformation it's nowhere near as good. I like ultimate kriemhild, of course. Her appearance is amazing and so different to anything we've seen up to it but of course it's very quick and brief. I think my favourite appearance of hers is in timeline 4 where she's this colossal giant in the background and in the movie version you get a thud as her name appears on screen. I love it, it's so subtle as she never does anything but you already know her power.

Walpurgisnacht is great and she earns it. She's built up the entire anime goddamnit! (well on the tv version at least). Homura's room, the storm warnings, the familiar parade, it's all amazing and you, me and she knows it. The fact that we see the cool and unbeatable Homura struggle against her is also amazing, she barely flinches and always laughs. She's amazingly imposing <3

Do these count, do they not? Well... I think the introductions to Quitterie and Itzli are good. They're unique witches hidden at the end of dungeons with lots of floors and they just come out of nowhere! I'm sure if I was playing portable blind I would be amazed

But ooohhhh, ohhh of course my favourite witch introduction, hands down, HANDS down, so down they're on the floor, the prize goes to Homulilly by beloved. Everything leading up to it is golden, the flower fields scene, the flaming bus, 'when did i become a witch?' the bit where Homura interrogates Kyubey 'i am anything but happy'/'this is not the happiness i asked for', the scene where Homura sees Madoka fall off the chair, the countdown ala Walpurgisnacht, then you're blessed by 'theatre of a witch' as Homulilly and a literal entire army appears. It's all beautiful and stunning. It's my favourite part of Rebellion absolutely, no contest, its probably my favourite part of madoka magica at all (well, including the fight too)

A special addition for Plejaden von Asunaro, the only spin off witch I could think of with a good introduction. I love the scene where she kills Mirai, the panelling and art is beautiful

#ask

[muffinrecord]

Sorry the images are so long here-- I feel like all of that was necessary for this ending line though-- “I have been betrayed by the power of precognition that I gained from my wish.”

Oriko is flailing. She’s been temporarily broken by this. Madoka becoming a magical girl without becoming a witch already shook her, but she was quickly able to bury that in her mind as she found a new target to focus on. But I think it’s telling that she doesn’t think about Mitama here, she thinks about Madoka. Her precognition has failed her. Nothing she did was worth it all.

The ends justify the means, but it turns out the ends never existed-- so all she has is the means, and that’s a whole lot of blood on her hands. If there was no destiny, no justice she was reaching for, then what has she done? What is she?

I’m really obsessed with the precognition line. I love it. You can view it in so many ways.

Does she feel like she never had a choice? Does she feel like, in this moment, that she would have been a completely different (less murderous) person if she never became a magical girl?

Does she feel like her precognition didn’t make her a monster after all, and this is just what she was all the time? She always had this darkness inside of her that was capable of coldly using, hurting, and killing people? Does the “betrayal” of the precognition just highlight her coldness and cruelty?

Does Oriko wonder if she had a set purpose before her wish, or if her wish (and precognition) gave her this purpose before pulling the rug from under her feet?

I think it’s interesting that she focuses on Yuma and Kirika here. I reread Kirika’s MGS recently (I’d like to liveblog it too actually when I’m done with this event), and it actually confirms that Oriko and Kirika have killed several magical girls-- it wasn’t just one accidental death. But that’s not what Oriko thinks about.

I’m not sure if it’s because the writers are trying to downplay those deaths (so that Oriko can have a happy ending without going “hey what about all the people you killed”), or if it’s actually intentional. But let’s assume it is-- I think it can still be in character.

Oriko has dealt with death. She’s lost both of her parents and even a semi-rival friend, assuming that Komaki is dead in this timeline. The dead have it easy. Their suffering and long journey is over. It’s the living who have to pick up the pieces and keep moving. 

And it’s Kirika and Yuma she is thinking about-- she’s not think about those who’s she’s hurt in a direct way, like Mami getting attacked or Shizuku getting knocked out. She’s thinking about the people she’s corrupted.

Kirika is an easy explanation, but Yuma fits too. Yuma became a magical girl, which damned her soul. One day Yuma might be tasked to make horrible decisions like this too. What if Yuma has to make a choice like Oriko did, and chooses the wrong path?

How many people has Oriko dragged into the darkness with her, for what amounted to no reason at all?

#Muffin Record #Muffin Liveblog #My Only Salvation Liveblog #Oriko Mikuni

[libbyhersch]

Homura x Madoka Rant(?)

Spoilers. Obviously.

I've only seen Puella Magi Madoka Magica and the Rebellion movie. As far as I know, there's no other media that would invalidate the following SCATHING opinion:

So I see a whole lotta Homura x Madoka content, which is totally nutso to me. Sure, with the show's original ending, I can see where one might draw that conclusion.

But PMMM: Rebellion completely changes their relationship from a timeless, hard-fought love into a creepy, predatory obsession.

I can't possibly envision a happy life between them. With Homura's devil powers, sure, she can simply rewrite history so that Madoka loves her (I think?) but the relationship would still be poisoned with the reality of what is really going on.

Granted, before I ever watched the show, I followed this one artist who loved the ship and wholly embraced the predatory aspect of their relationship post-Rebellion, which painted my view of it when I eventually did watch Madoka Magica myself.

But it's there. It's impossible to miss. I have to wonder if aaaaall these people drawing the cutesy, innocent Homura x Madoka pics are even aware of the movie, or maybe they just don't care. Or they hop on board the silly little gay magical girl bandwagon without thinking.

I don't know, but it itches my brain oddly.

It's like everyone else watched an entirely different show.

Even if you never watch the movie, Madoka is gone FOREVER. She will never be with Homura no matter what after that. There's no universe or timeline in which they can ever happily be together.

And even in the perfect, happy, generic magical girl anime universe we see at the beginning of Rebellion, Homura has reverted back to her timid, dorky self, and she hardly knows Madoka, so she has no motivation to pursue her romantically anyway.

The only timeline in which Madoka and Homura are together is after Homura has become a demon and changed everything to trap Madoka with her forever. Yet I do not see that reflected in the happy, carefree ship art that I always come across, which really ought to be more obsessive and predatory for accuracy.

Maybe I am applying too much logic to it, but Homura x Madoka does not work for me.

I like Mami x Bebe instead (AS FRIENDS).

#madoka magica #puella magi madoka magica #mahou shoujo madoka magica #pmmm #otp #rant #madoka kaname #kaname madoka #homura akemi #akemi homura #mami tomoe #tomoe mami #bebe

[semi-imaginary-place]

guess I'm on weekly release now. ep 40 that must have been the most confusing battle for megumi. getting his ass kicking planning to get hit just so he can get another hit in and then his opponent stabs himself through the head. i was not expecting this much characterization from jogo. like usually you can tell which characters are going to be important based on how "cool" the mangaka makes their visual design and jogo looks like a normal flunky but he has a fully fleshed out character. sukuna and jogo are having a naruto style heart to heart wtf.

ah i wanna watching gojo go feral again what ep was that... ep 33 huh was it that far back? guess this whole arc is more about the fallout of gojo being sealed. damn yeah who animated that cut with the arm. the animation for this series really is top notch all around but especially the fights, i think jjk has cemented it's place as best animated fights i in any anime i have ever seen. satoru-chan is so manically happy to be fighting. wow this episode feels so much longer than it actually is.

41: well at least sukuna is having fun. and he took an interest in megumi, this can't end well for megumi.

I wonder why the author made jujutsu high be 4 years. for even 1st years its essentially on job training with them already being put to work. I do wonder how much schooling they're actually getting. and then narratively at this point there aren't even 3rd years and when i checked the wiki 4th year characters dont exist. and then with nanami leaving, originally i thought he then went to college but he's a lot younger than i initially though and most office jobs want more than highschool. so does jjk give you a university degree at the end? i know japan has 4 year universities but do they do 2 year associate degrees? just an all round weird decision.

i started out curious why people were mad about the sukuna fight and now im reading the manga i guess

yuuji: I don't need purpose i'm going to be a cog in the machine

huh itadori is actually choso's brother. huh. but the whole thing with the cursed womb fetuses was that they were never born. i dont know what is going on here. and why didn't choso recognize the stitches earlier. if brain dude is swapping bodies then the genetic material like gametes should be changing or is the implication that yuuji is also made from cursed energy/weird human experimentation. ... panda's right yuji really is attracting older brothers.

*squints* is that kazakstan????? when did kazakstan become a world superpower???? idk if its the translation but im having trouble understanding. kenjaku changed people into being more suitable vessals and to give non sorcerers cursed techniques? because that's not what the text says. then was does the remote activation do? and why did he need mahito's technique? it wasn't garunteed he'd be able to absorb mahito. i cant make sense of this.

poor megumi just got dragged headfirst into clan politics.

does the culling game apply to all cursed technique users or just ones brain dude implanted?

145: instrumentality??????? instrumentality. -_-

maki's new design is goated, love the sleeves. i like her more i hope she pisses off more men. i also finally noticed that meimei isn't wearing a dress, it's a tricked out onsie. i love that design

152. suguru was too pure hearted. see you can totally get away with mass murder you just need to play the politics game.

alright my curiosity is sated. not like i was watching jjk for the plot anyways.

powered by children lol. madoka level harvest negative emotion energy as a renewable fuel source.

i think i get why people were saying the zenin clan is kinda incest-y

huh is gege trying to say gojo taught sukuna about love.

so sukuna just ate his own mumified corpse's head, im getting that right?

Saw someone compare gojo to achilles (so geto would be patroclus?) And im mad i didnt think of that first

#jjk #jjk spoilers

[biganimal92]

Homura decided to oppose god-madoka because madoka said in the labyrinth, with no memory of her own sacrifice, that she would hate to be away from her friends and family more than anything else in the world, and homura realized there was no happy ending for madoka like this after all and all of her efforts to protect up until then had been pointless, despite what she had tried to believe for all those months since madoka rewrote the universe, and broke down. of course after all this and discovering she became a witch and could never even be taken by the law of cycles because of kyubey, her grief made her as powerful a being as even madoka's wish did her. I don't think what she did was too out of character, she just chose to make it so madoka could live a happy life, even if it was entirely at homura's own expense and madoka would probably loathe her for it. As usual, really. Opposing a god's will as an equal makes you a devil, at least in homura's eyes. Sorry, I don't know you I just saw your liveblogging in the main tags.

I didn't realize just mentioning the characters names would put that post in the main tags so just deleted it, sorry I didn't know tumblr's tagging system worked like that now I thought you had to explicitly separately tag something for it to show up. I didn't mean to bother anyone with my complaints so sorry about that, I'll be more mindful in the future in general about that

anyway since you reached out to me, i understand what youre saying but i think im interpreting things differently. I saw madoka in the labyrinth saying that she'd never be happy being separated from her friends as part of the illusion that homura created for herself as apart of the fantasy she wanted to live and the self-inflicted grief she was suffering through and she began tricking herself into thinking this was what madoka wanted since, even though it was the real madoka, she had no memory of who she really was because she was trapped inside homura's world, but then homura realized that madoka actually does have the strength to overcome difficult odds because she tells her immediately that even though she's sorry that it came to that end, she knows madoka is strong enough to be able to do the impossible even if it might seem like she isn't

like the movie is about cyclical grief and self-hate because of mistakes you've made in the past and being unable to come to terms with losing the person you love in your life, and it's an extension of the themes of not being able to accept fate that are present in the original series where homura represents hopelessness and madoka represents. well, hope, but I think the movie was fine until she became satan

the reason I think this is weak is because I interpreted homura's world falling apart as her accepting the truth and the reality of the situation she's in, especially since that's literally what kyubey told her, and her witch form represented immense guilt over her actions for what madoka did. I already thought it was a stretch that after everything from the first series she'd rather be a witch than allow kyubey to take advantage of madoka, but it's a lot more believable at this point given her fragile state of mind and her fears of kyubey undermining everything madoka sacrificed herself for.

I also prefer this as the climax to the movie because I feel that homura becoming the manifestation of evil makes no sense for her personality period, but given that witches are the most concentrated form of a person's suffering, her witch form represented something entirely separate than her demon form which I consider to be more in line with her development as a person and is a much better representation of the way she chooses to tackle and express her grief.

but then madoka is coming to take homura away and then she turns into Satan and explicitly undermines everything madoka sacrificed herself for, alongside undermining homura's realization at the end of the series and realization that she already had in the movie like. I would argue twice, once in the field with madoka and once in that chamber with kyubey

she's having this realization throughout the entire movie that an ideal world where she's with madoka and all their friends exists solely in her imagination and that even if she feels guilty for madoka's fate and taking her away from her friends and family, she accepts it was madoka's decision and this was handled just fine during the segment where she became a witch, and when she became Satan I have to disagree but she felt like a radically different person due to her personality changing and her attempting to repeat the entire events of the movie again. I think that the ultimate issue I have with this very well might be the pacing of the movie because the movie very much did reach its reasonable climax and conclusion but then it continued to repeat what the entire movie was about for another 15 minutes before finally ending, so if it had gone on longer and happened a bit sooner in the movie and been apart of the third act proper instead of what's basically the epilogue it'd be less disappointing for me

although if I'm still misinterpreting the movie feel free to let me know, I like talking about and analyzing media so even if I feel bad now and I have to become a witch to show how guilty I am for my post showing up in the tags because of this crappy websites tagging system, I do appreciate you coming to me because this was a fun way to start my morning and I'm glad you took the time to send me an ask about your interpretation of the events in the film

[zak-kondo]

It was going to happen eventually. Still, the mistakes were mine. At my most careless, I got copyright blocked yesterday with my latest video. It's called "A Dance With Madoka Magica," A look and appreciation into what has quickly become one of my most treasured series. The video is still up, however, on Patreon. I will provide a link in the description and comments setion for anyone who wants to see it. It is up for free for anyone to watch. I would hope it will be seen as an appreciation of the television series.

With this copyright block, I figured I'd subvert it and turn this situation into something better perhaps. As a result, I want to talk a little more about Madoka Magica, and the creative process I went through in making that video. I spent a week, ignoring all seasonal anime I was watching almost, immediately after finishing "A Paranoid Analysis Of Oaranoia Agent," and watched Madoka Magica twice. I spent 25 hours on the video. I handpicked 350 clips out of the series that I felt I could work with, and that I felt could be part of the vision I saw for this video.

I was daydreaming the first few days while watching the series. I visualized how the video would look, and did the editing in my head, remembering my ideas and looking forward for when I'd put them together for the video.

What I found in the re-watch is that this anime crushes a lot more. It's mostly because of Homura, and once you know and understand her pain, and why she is the way she is, it all hurts more to see again.

I felt the most connection with Sayaka. Her tragedy of losing herself in her powers, the decline of her romance, and redemption of tears in the the end really moved me and spoke to me.

I often wondered what role Madoka would play in all this. By the end, she become one of the most inspiring and selfess characters I'd ever seen. Within all the hopelessness and darkness of this series, and the brutality of every episode, she shone bright and pulled me out of that misery by the end.

The reason why my video got copyright blocked is because of some of the parts in 2 of the 4 songs I used. Initially, I saw a copyright claim coming, and sure, I'll take that, I've done it before. However, I underestimated how strict on copyright this composer is. There was nothing I could do. The music is irreplaceable to my video. The edits would fall apart, and I had to take a loss on this one. More than anything, this will be a lesson for me to be more careful. It's tragic that it had to happen with this video. They say, if you lose, don't lose the lesson. One of my patrons advised me to do test uploads, which in all my ignorance I didn't even think about doing. That should help for the future.

A Dance With Madoka Magica is the culmination of what the previous videos were building up to; the light at the end of the hundreds of terrible videos I made. Previously, I managed to make "A Paranoid Analysis of Paranoia Agent," and I felt very satisfied with myself with that one. With this, I wanted to do better. I see A Dance With Madoka Magica as the best video I can make up to this point and it is very special to me. Naturally, I would be upset that it won't see the light of day on Youtube, unfortunately. It will be the ghost of my content as my current favorite video.

I spent a few videos before, working on my style, and this felt like the conclusion to this character arc to myself in my life with my work. I picked up on my style by accident. A lot of what I do in my work is accidental, coincidental, and improvised. In this context, my mind of ideas feels like something that if you were to reach into, you'd never find the end. It is a pretty irresponsible way to make content, you could say. Regardless, I'm not getting any younger, and as I grow older, I can feel my mind deteriorating.

I am alone. I don't have an editor, a script writer, or a team of people helping. I do all the work by myself. I want to be an example for aspiring content creators as someone who had nothing, almost no money, no experience, no proffesional equipment, no audience, but kept going. And out of passion and love for my work, I persevered and found a better way.

I'll be honest with you. I cried when I watched my introduction to A Dance With Madoka Magica after the finished product was rendered. I rememered all those terrible videos I made in that moment, how I was barely audible, my embarassing plot summaries, how I got so many things wrong. That is why this video is special to me. Still, I don't know where I am going now with my content. The next video will take a while, and will be much more challenging than anythign else I've done. I will do my best to make sure it doesn't get copyright blocked, which shouldn't be too difficult since it's a much older work that doesn't get talked about much here where I live.

For the first few days, I could not figure out what to say about Madoka Magica. The script was one of the last parts I did. A lost my way with my own advice. They say that a series can be talked to death with no more room for discussion; that all that can be said has been said. That's false. There will always be new interpretations by new individuals. Talking about an anime is much more than just the plot and the characters. Viewers can relate, and talk about how it impacted their own lives. Viewers will always find new interpretations to say something new about a work.

My style has become this amv, analysis type of hybrid. I even stopped talking about whether or not a series is good. I've taken more of an approach to appreciate, provide commentary and celebrate a work rather than just a review. My edits are how I see the series in my head. I don't want to just put in long random clips, I want to do my best to make every clip have a purpose. In this video, I open with a minute and a half sort of visual storytelling of the series. There is attention to detail in every second of this video. An example, there is a one second moment with Mami where I used like 17 edits. It's where she's spinning and attacking the monsters. I used several cuts to black between it, because I wanted to make the edits feel as if they were dancing with the music. That is why I called the video A Dance With Madoka Magica. Cutting to black is something that just became part of my style recently with my videos. It helps me introduce climactic moments with the songs and clips. Timing my edits with the music and what I say is curcial, and I often push my laptop and video editor to the edge zooming in near to max to place the clips as precisely as I can. With this intro, I wanted to visually tell the entire story of the series. I made it in a way for people who have already watched it to understand, without giving anything important away. I make content for people who have and have not watched the anime I choose. I challenge myself to find a way to talk about a work this way. That's why in my second most successful video "The Brutality of Space runaway Ideon," i left out the ending and some other major parts of the series. And yes, I am considering remaking many of my older videos, "Lecture: The politics of Yang Wen-li," in particular.

Also, I try to make every video expressive in the style of the series, keeping the types of feelings and emotions it has in mind. That's why I tried using the emotions of mystery in Steinsgate, melancholy in a Return to millenium actress and Violet Evergarden, Absurdity in A Paranoid analysis of Paranoia agent, and Beauty, Hope, and theater with A Dance with Madoka Magica.

With all this said, if you want to keep up with my all of my content, just follow my Anilist account. I update with what I watch live, and make lots of commentary on what I am watching. There some reviews that are exclusive to Anilist and My Anime List that I don't think I'll have time for to make a video. Recently, I did a review Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Die Neue these, and Estab Life: A Great Escape. Sometimes, I'll stream on twitch also, though usually late in the middle of the night.

I'll be gone for while, as I want to immediately start on my next project now, and it's on a longer series. Look out for my new video, which will be titled, "VICTORY."

Thank you for listening.

After watching the original Mobile Suit Gundam, Ideon, Zeta, ZZ, and Char's Counterattack, next came Victory Gundam. I wondered how Tomino and the staff would approach this, seeing as though they'd have to bring something new to the table. I was not dissapointed, and impressed with the amount of fresh ideas that were poured in. This is the culmination of his work up to this point, as it follows a similar story behind a prodigy pilot and is a critique of war as in the original, has some comedic moments that reminded me of ZZ, and mystery as in Ideon.

Taking place several centuries after Char's Counterattack, the Earth Federation is now under attack by the newly emerging Zanscare Empire. They use old execution techinques, such as the guillotine, to send a message of fear into the public, and want to take over space. Their religious leader is not a bad person, though others in the upper crust of leadership have different intentions and use for her. Also leading them among the ace pilots if Chronicle Asher, who despises the corruption of the Earth, and though he is part of this wicked Empire, his motivations are for the best of mankind.

Uso Ewin is the young protagonist, who finds himself in the beginning forced into the war, and becomes Chronicle's rival as a result. Uso himself stands out on his own compared to previous Tomino protagonists, such as Amuro, Cosmo, Kamille, and Judau. As the others, he is critical of war, and also critical of himself. The war in Uso's head feels more brutal than the war on the battlefield at times. One of Uso's greatest strengths, is his improvisational and unorthodox style of combat. It is amusing and fascinating to see how creative he gets with the Victory Gundam, and resorts to many briliant strategies that often perplex his opponents. It's a breath of fresh air that deviated from keeping the fighting repetetive and predictable compared to the earlier works.

The large cast of characters grow to love each other, and struggle together to defeat the empire. One by one, they begin to take up the Gundam. Shakti is Uso's childhood friend, and often worries not just about the war, but about Uso as well. She sees the effect war has on him, and worries that he will be consumed by it and lose himself.

Uso becomes the hope against the empire. The adults, as shameless and useless as they are, are self aware that mere child is fighting the strong fight for them. As Uso struggles, the war continues to expand with all sorts of wonderful new ideas, that make Victory great and unique on its own. By the end, I placed it in my current top 5. There is also something else that Victory Gundam does that makes it it's own. It's what I have not mentioned yet. It's own unique interpretation of something Tomino is known for doing in his work...

[beelsnack]

I Put A Spell On You - Obey Me Boys and A Witch MC

I may have mentioned it in an ask or something before, but I'm actually a practicing witch. (Sorry, Mammon.) So, in honor of spooky season, I bring you witch MC!

----

Lucifer: "Can I ask you something?"

Lucifer looked up from the report he had been working on. In the House of Lamentation, hearing that question was very rarely followed by anything but disaster. He bit back the urge to sigh and turned to look at the human. "You may."

"Have you ever been summoned by a witch?" the human set down their pen. They had taken refuge in Lucifer's room in an attempt to actually get their homework done, and had been working diligently up until this point. "Like, successfully."

He raised an eyebrow. "No, I haven't. I doubt any mortal witch would have the power to actually summon me."

"That's what I thought," they leaned back in their chair, stretching.

"What brought this on?"

"A witch I know up in the Human Realm swore up and down that he had, quote unquote, ‘summoned Lucifer himself.’ No one believed him anyway, but I figured I would ask just to confirm my suspicions.”

“No, it is highly unlikely that a mortal witch would have the magical power to summon me,” Lucifer chuckled darkly. “Although many have tried.”

“What happens to them when they do?” they asked, completely abandoning their work at this point. Part of Lucifer wanted to reprimand them for getting distracted, but he couldn’t deny that he liked having their attention on him. “Do you curse them or something?”

“I do nothing,” he smirked as they got up to lean against his desk. Perhaps he could stand to take a break as well. “The minor demons they actually summon, however, often have their fun with those foolish enough to try.”

“Oh, I’ll bet the Little Ds have a blast with them, huh?” the human grinned.

“Ask Number Two about the time he possessed a ouija board and convinced a human they would die if they ever wore the color blue again.”

Laughing, the human moved to return to their spot at his coffee table where they had spread out all of their study materials. Lucifer, however, had different plans.

“Oof!”

In one quick, fluid motion, he had grasped the human around the waist and tugged them into his lap. The movement had mussed up their hair, and he affectionately moved a few strands out of their face to see their adorable pout.

“You know, my dear, you are the only human witch able to summon me. You should wear that fact like a badge of honor.”

Mammon: “Now that’s just playin’ dirty!”

The human had to make a concentrated effort not to laugh at Mammon. “Yeah, they really didn’t have to go that far. They already have you by the balls.”

“They do not!” Mammon growled, crossing his arms. “Nobody has control over The Great Mammon!”

“Except for the multitude of humans who you made pacts with because they promised you a few bucks.”

“Wow, okay.”

Shaking their head, they gently plucked the doll out of Mammon’s palm. It was a standard poppet, made out of cloth. “Why don’t you just have Lucifer or Satan undo the curses?”

“Because,” Mammon huffed. “Human magic is different from demon magic. None of us know the first thing about it.”

“You just don’t want to admit to anyone that the witches pulled one over on you again.”

“Can you fix it or not?”

Smothering another laugh, they brought the poppet closer to examine it. Aside from the basic filling, it felt like there were some stones in there, and they thought they smelled some herbs.

“So, basically all you need to do is remove whatever link they used to bind the doll to you,” they muttered, more to themself than anything. “Usually it’s hair, nail, a drop of blood if they’re feeling particularly nasty…”

“That’s what they were doin’?”

The human looked up, tilting their head. “What?”

“One of the witches was bein’ real nice to me,” Mammon sighed. “Patting me on the head when I dropped off some money for them. Shoulda known she was trying something fishy!”

“Okay, that answers that.” they made their way over to their desk, plopping down in the chair. “So she probably pulled out some of your hair and put it inside the doll. So all we have to do it get it out, this thing becomes a regular old doll, and voila, curse broken.”

“How do we do that?” Mammon asked, peering over their shoulder as they reached into their drawer. His blue eyes widened when they pulled out a pair of scissors. “Whaddaya plan on doin’ with those?”

“Mammon, this is going to hurt like a bitch.”

“Wha - ack!”

Mammon doubled over in pain at the same time the human cut open a slice on the doll’s belly. There, right in the center of the stuffing and stones - and there were herbs in there, they had been right! - was a little bundle of white hair, tied with a piece of twine.

“Ah-ha!” they plucked the bunch out of the doll, and Mammon just barely managed to catch himself on the corner of the desk before he went crashing to the floor.

“Holy shit, human, I’m gonna fuckin’ hurl.”

“Do it somewhere that isn’t my room, please.”

Leviathan: “Levi, I don’t know how to tell you this, but ‘witch’ and ‘magical girl’ aren’t the same thing.”

Ever since they let it slip that they practiced witchcraft, Levi had obsessively forced them to watch every magical girl anime he could think of. It was his way of relating to them, they were sure, but it was starting to get a little out of hand. There were only so many variations of the magical girl trope in existence.

Levi frowned at them. “It’s not?”

“Well, for one, I don’t own a super cute lolita dress.”

“Do you want me to make you one?”

The human laughed. “Somehow I don’t think showing up to a coven meeting wearing a pink loli dress will make the others take me very seriously.”

“What about blue?”

“Leviathan.”

“Fine, fine,” he huffed. “So if it’s not like in the anime, what is human magic like?”

“A lot more boring than demon magic, honestly.” the human shrugged, turning back to the monitor. Since they had put their foot down against watching Madoka, the two of them were rewatching Sailor Moon. “A lot of using herbs and crystals and energy. Really symbolic.”

“That is boring,” Levi scowled. “You don’t even get a transformation sequence.”

“I’m just as mad about it as you are, dude.”

Satan: “Holy shit, Satan, that is a ton of books.”

THe demon had no reason to look as proud as he did as he sat the stack of books on the table in front of him. “This isn’t even all of them. Some of them are cursed, so I let them be for now.”

“That’s...both impressive and concerning.” the human picked up a book off the top of the pile. “Whoa, it’s even handwritten!”

“I’ve collected my fair share of grimoires over the millennia.” Satan took a seat across from them, watching as they turned each page with reverence. “I believe that one is from a Scottish witch from the 16th century.”

“Should I be wearing gloves or something?” they cradled the book like it was made of glass. “This is historic, Satan.”

“I’ve cast the appropriate spells on them to prevent them from decaying, don’t worry.” Satan laughed. “Although your concern is appreciated.”

“I could learn so much about the craft from these,” their voice was barely above a whisper, eyes wide as they scanned each page like it contained the secret to eternal life. “This is...wow…”

The look of utter rapture that the human had on their face was endearing, and Satan couldn’t help but smile softly at them. “Feel free to peruse them whenever you like. They deserve to be appreciated.”

“You mean it?” they looked up with hope sparkling in their eyes. “Thank you so much, Satan!”

“Of course,” he reached over to tuck a strand of hair behind their ear. “That look on your face is worth any price.”

Asmodeus: “I have a gift for you!”

Asmo poked his head up from where he had buried it in his D.D.D. The human stood next to the couch, arms clasped behind their back and a giddy smile stretching across their face. Asmo could practically feel them vibrating from excitement.

“Ooh, for me? Darling, you shouldn’t have!” He pocketed his phone and gave them his full attention. “What is it?”

They held out their hands, revealing the treasure they had been hiding. “Ta-da!”

Asmo carefully picked up the chain from their palms. Dangling from the end of it was a small bottle, wrapped carefully in wire and turned into a pendant. Tiny, translucent pink stones sat inside, nestled in a layer of salt and herbs. The magic surrounding it was faint, as most human witchery was, but it was so uniquely them that Asmo could just about cry.

“Oh, darling, you made me a love charm!” he exclaimed, immediately slipping the necklace on. “It’s so cute! I love it, thank you so much!”

The human smiled. “I’m glad! I wasn’t sure what to do with the rose quartz, but I knew you would love them, so I figured I would make you something! Not that I really think a love charm would work on you, but I figured you would appreciate the aesthetic.”

Asmo laughed, reaching forward to cup the side of their face gently. “You don’t need to use a love charm on me, darling. I’m already captivated by you.” His other hand came up to touch the pendent resting against his collarbone. “This will just serve as a reminder of how spellbound you’ve made me.”

Beelzebub: When they had first described themself as a “kitchen witch,” Beel had thought that they meant they were a really good cook.

And while that was true, they also were literally a kitchen witch.

“Basil for protection...oregano to ward off negative magic...there, that should do it.”

To Beel, it just looked like they were making pasta. Which was never a bad thing. But they chose which herbs to season it with such intention and purpose, Beel knew it was more than that.

“Do herbs really have magic?” he asked, leaning on the counter next to the stove while the human worked on magic dinner. “I’ve never thought of them as particularly magical.”

“It’s more of a human thing,” they said, sprinkling the last of the oregano over the pot of sauce. “We don’t get the flashy sparks and all that, so we had to develop our own magic.”

“Hm…” Beel regarded the pot with curiosity. “Is that why your cooking is so good?”

“Sure, we’ll go with that.” they laughed, swatting at his hand as he slowly approached the pot. “You aren’t sneaky, Beel.”

“Can I just have a taste?”

“Your ‘taste’ is drinking the whole pot like it’s soup.” they rolled their eyes. “I haven’t even started cooking it yet! It’s cold!”

Beel pouted, looking every bit the kicked puppy. “But I want to taste your magic.”

“You can taste my magic when dinner’s ready.”

Belphegor: On nights when he couldn’t sleep, Belphie usually ended up with the human.

Sometimes it was just him wiggling his way into their bed and cuddling with them until he felt sleepy. But tonight, it looks like they were sharing a case of insomnia.

So that was how he ended up sitting on the human’s floor with his hand in their lap as they studied it like it was a textbook.

“So? What do the squiggly lines of destiny tell you about me?”

“That you’re a little bitch.” they shot back, running their thumb over the center of his palm. “You have a lot of crosses on your heart line.”

“Which means?”

“You’re emotionally fucked up.”

Belphie snorted. “I could have told you that one.”

“You’re the one who came in here and wanted to see some human magic, I don’t want to hear any complaining.” they let go of his hand. “The only reason I’m breaking out the salt and candles is to banish your demonic ass from my room.”

“You know that only works on lesser demons.”

“Anything will work as banishment if I throw it hard enough.”

Diavolo: This...felt kind of pointless, honestly.

They knew it was mainly because of Diavolo’s obsession with human culture. But doing a Tarot reading for the Crown Prince of Hell seemed like a waste of everyone’s time.

Well, regardless, a summons from Diavolo was not to be ignored, so they had dutifully gathered up their cards and made their way to the Demon Lord’s Castle.

“You know,” they began hesitantly. “If you want to know the future, you have a time-manipulating butler right there.”

Barbatos, ever watchfully, chuckled and inclined his head. “My Lord is fascinated by human methods of divination.”

“It’s true,” Diavolo nodded. “Tarot especially has always piqued my interest, but very rarely do I have time to indulge with the other witches who visit the Devildom.”

....Oh, they really couldn’t say no to the hopeful gleam in his eye. A man that large had no right to look that cute.

“Alright,” they handed him the deck of cards. It looked hilariously small in his hands. “Go ahead and shuffle them.”

“Oh, I get to do it?”

“If you want,” they shrugged. “I usually have whoever is being read for do the shuffling, so the deck can get a feel for their energy. Unless you don’t want to, of course.”

“No, this is exciting!” He really did look like he was having fun. “How many should I draw?”

“Just one, and we can go from there.”

With a focus that might have been a bit too intense, Diavolo began shuffling. He handled the deck carefully, which made them happy. So many people were rough with the cards, and they were always worried they were going to get ruined.

“Alright.” Diavolo laid a card face down on the table between them. “Would you like to do the honors?”

He was being dramatic, but they couldn’t help but play along. What was the harm in a little bit of fun? They flipped the card face up and let out a startled chuckle.

The Devil.

“Did you do that on purpose?” they asked, laughter dripping from their voice.

“No, honest!” Diavolo was laughing too. “What does the Devil card mean?”

“It means my deck has a sense of humor.”

#obey me shall we date #obey me #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me leviathan #obey me levi #obey me satan #obey me asmodeus #obey me asmo #obey me beelzebub #obey me beel #obey me belphegor #obey me belphie #obey me diavolo