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#// MOVING MADOKA HERE

smilepre · 2 months

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❀ minmo/laika

❁ 24 years old

❀ she/her or it/its

welcome to my magical girl account ✿ my main is @minmos

below the cut is my media list, organized by what i have seen & what i'm planning on watching soon!

╰┈➤ currently watching: go princess precure

❥・ have watched: delicious party precure, dokidoki precure, fresh precure, fresh precure, futari wa precure, healin good precure, kirakira precure a la mode, ojamajo doremi, puella magi madoka magica, revolutionary girl utena, sailor moon, smile precure, sugar sugar rune, tropical rouge precure, wonderful precure

❥・ to watch: cardcaptor sakura, creamy mami, fancy lala, flip flappers, futari wa precure splash star, happiness charge precure, hirogaru sky precure, hugtto precure, jewelpet, kirarin revolution, little witch academia, magical angel sweet mint, magical princess minky momo, mahoutsukai precure, mermaid melody pichi pichi pitch, nurse witch komugi, princess tutu, puni puni poemy, suite precure, sweet valerian, tokyo mew mew, twin princess of wonder planet, yes precure 5

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todaywetackle · 1 year

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The Dreamer's Exchange is real conspiracy theory! Just a quick disclaimer, this is based off the book! Not the movie!!!!! Don’t let this scare you away from the movie! But like imagine if Percy Jackson was fuking real? How cool would that be!? The difference is that here? It actually is!? Allow me to explain...

Okay so if you're familiar with Dionysus Frost’s work you'll know Raven Regler is a made up character he uses a lot. He uses her in a few of his short stories and also on his blog… also I doubt a purple haired daughter of Anansi the spider exists while it still wouldn't be the weirdest shit to come out of the Dreamers Exchange given her use in other stories I think she’s fake.

While I won't deny that some elements of The Dreamers Exchange are probably altered to protect the identities of the people involved or just made up entirely such as Raven Regler she's definitely a fabricated element to distance Dionysus Frost from the real life implications of the story! Or worse maybe she is real! She's described in the story as a muse who basically is invoked to ghost write shit so who the fuck knows!? Alot of the other magic is very realistic but we’ll get to that.

Raven is our story teller! Her personality is sprinkled throughout the book. She totally gives commentary on shit. She opens the story by saying it's a very true account! Also she gathers details supposedly by people who knew the "real life Jake Caloway" and in universe had to change the names to "protect the identities" of those involved! Why would this be in here if the story was false? I get that it's immersive or whatever but combined with other details in this theory, that we'll go over, it makes it sound like it's Frost trying to signal secretly to us, that something is secretly true about what he is writing.

Next is the magic in the book. The Dreamer;s Exchange again we're talking book here, has some pretty unbelievable shit in it! That's fine, it's a fantasy story! But the magic in the book closely mirrors real world practices in witchcraft and pagan communities and I can tell you this because I your lovlie Fear am apart of said communities!

The magic is what I would deem "very realistic" it name drops real practices and paths like the "left handed path" "god spousing" "deity work" and more of that shit that just wouldn't be in the book by an author who was an outsider or didn't do fuking years of research. It also gets aspects dead right, which is weird and advanced and is hard for someone new or just researching to idk know about. It’s really dedicated writing, or like in the story- Raven Regler or Dionysus Frost really did know people who knew Jake Caloway and they gave him these details! Or even Jake himself! If you look at the reviews I am not the only one who thinks this or who has noticed it!

[include reviews here]

Next on the pagan thing, the gods tend to well...act like the gods! At least according to what I've noticed anyways as a practicing pagan.. it's just very noticeable to me it reads like a very very real account! I can't say how accurate it is…because while I don't really believe Dionysus is Jake Calloway or anything I believe he certainly KNOWS present tense Jake Calloway and they are still in contact today but I'll get to that.

Next up is the ending. The ending to the book is very very fuking meta. It’s very different from the movie. It has Jake Calloway ready to tell his story, at a writers and painters meet up. Because the fact that Jake does painting is a thing in the book. There he meets the author of the book Dionysus Frost and Raven the fictional story teller, and while it's true this could be totally 100 % made up, for this story it feels just wild and weird to just idk throw this in there. I've followed Frost’s blog for a long long time. It’s actually how I found out about the book.

I’ve dug through it. I personally know that his drabbles can get a little meta. But this specific detail again feels like a little thrown in tip, a nod to us pagans who can see through the bullshit to go "hey so this is how it happened" "this is how it's real". Basically saying “this is how I met him”! Even if it’s not actually how they met, which I do have doubts on, which this post isn’t the place for, its a clue for the audience, that its real, and it’s in here to signal to us that this is a very real account.

I get not believing that The Dreamers Exchange is real. It's a fuking brutal story with a load of bullshit and weird ethnic subtext. It's a fantasy novel that's about gods and demons and magic! It's supposed to be read as fiction. If it is real it probably omits a lot of stuff, because well it would have to! But even if it's not perfect I do believe that it is truly and utterly someone's real life that we are reading about here! Also Jake Calloway total trans babe but that's just my head canon and I will be doing another fantheory on that.

Next up. The evidence. The dreamers exchange was originally posted to watt pad for free as Dionysus Frost was writing it, under this description.

Photo taken from digging through Dionysus's old Twitter. Here’s the tweet I stole it from. Obviously the book is for sale and no longer available under that cover or on wattpad...to my knowledge. But here's the weird thing. When he was promoting it on twitter he made some…..suspicious tweets...that imply he may have known or knew people who knew Jake Calloway! Which let's be real guys isn't his real name!

If you’ve read the book, you’ll see that opener, about the whole “I have to change the names to protect the victims involved thing”. The way Dionysus talks about it, it's like he knew Jake as Jake was suffering and struggling and going through his journey and bullshit just read these and don't tell me they sound suspicious!

Back then, Dionysus had no followers I'm guessing anyways, so he wasn't exactly well known. These stories of his weren't best sellers or movie bait. But like dam am I right? Real life bullshit!

Also another thing! Dionysus posted the ending around- March 11’th 2021. The ending was slightly altered and changed in the final thing. But you can still find it in its original context on his blog if you go digging. Here’s a link.

The ending as he originally wrote it, kind of aligns with Dionysus’s real life at the time! He explains that he had one book out which he did! He explains that it wasn’t selling well and had no reviews! Which it didn’t!

This seems like it was plucked right as shit was happening for Dionysus so Jake’s adventure was summed up, going to be summed up or Jake was in the process of telling Dionysus his story! If we take into account that Dionysus probably still knows Jake Caloway and started posting this work around 2021, given the dates here, it becomes increasingly clear that this is a real story, of someone he knew that he is recalling for us.

Next up is THAT PATREON POST. Once again Dionysus Frost, made his first ever patreon on March 12, 2021. On it, my friend who’s subscribed unlocked the post for me, and this is what the post said. While he denies the story is real (Like anyone trying to keep a secret would fuking do) he makes some important notes that are really really suspicious about knowing the real life Jake Caloway.

I can’t get into it, and I don’t have the full thing anymore because I don’t use Patreon but if you’re curious here is the post:

So what do we do with this information? We know now that at least as far as we know- Jake Caloway was a real fuking person who really went on this adventure and saw these things and met these gods, and “is a god” or aspects of one and met these people. In the story, it says he wants to tell others about it, but wants it told “AS FICTION” because nobody will believe him! That’s a huge nod to us who can see through this and see what Dionysus is doing and going “huh okay so that’s a dog whistle!”

If you’ve only seen the movie you might be surprised by a lot of things in the book. The movie is very faithful but regarding how it portrays the magic it makes it much more “fantastical” I guess. It portrays the magic and in the book it’s more like an invisible sort of thing that you feel. The movie makes the magic look like I don’t know- actual magic!

I guess we have a choice on our hands. To believe it, or to think it’s some sort of bullshit. Just because someone who claims to be Jake Caloway claimed that all of this happened to him, or his friends told Dioynsus Frost all these details that Jake told them (the book has really in depth convos in some places) doesn’t mean that it really did. He could be completely crazy! It’s like the Odyssey. That’s supposedly “also” a true story. Which I also believe for the record.

Do you really believe in magic enough to believe that Jake Caloway saw the things he did, and met the gods he did? Went on the adventures that he did? I don’t know. I believe it. But I’m also a witch, and a conspiracy theorist. I mean my name is fuking Fear. So that’s my theory. Please repost it and share it around. But credit me and link back here! I really really want to hear the fandoms hot takes on this.

Because, if Jake Caloway is real. What the actual fuck?

Sincerely, your lovely fan theorist Fear.

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atamascolily · 3 months

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I watched the Rebellion opening again (as one does) and I realized that almost every single shot in the "amusement park" sequence prominently features "things that spin in a circle and return to their starting point".

The whirling tea cup ride:

The ferris wheel:

The roller coasters with loops, and the spinning airplane (?) ride in the middle. Also, lots of round buildings in general.

The windmill. Note the round shield-shaped insignia on the fence.

The ski lift (actually probably an aerial tramway or enclosed cab for the Ferris wheel, but this is what I call it in my head because of the snow since theme parks are not usually open in winter) and carousel:

More roller coasters (no doubt symbolizing what a wild ride this movie is going to be).

(This whole segment makes me think of the transition between Barbieland and the real world in the 2023 Barbie movie, and while it's not an exact fit here, there are certainly parallels. Note also that Madoka appears to have moved through the seasons and it is now spring again--another cycle! And also, Madoka and Homura first met each other in the spring in the original TV series.)

This shot features a clock in the upper left. Also a round fountain and triangular pennants very similar to those that appear later with Homulilly.

Another Ferris wheel and roller coaster, with round sections of a castle on the left.

And of course, the "dancing on the carousel" sequence with sad shrunken Homura at the center:

My point is that there is a lot more symbolism and meaning packed into this sequence than I had initially realized and I'm never going to be able to unsee it now. Theme parks are a surprisingly good metaphor for the dream world inside Homura's soul gem--a heavily idealized and artificial place designed specifically for people to have fun and enjoy themselves and exist in their own little "bubbles".

#puella magi madoka magica #madoka magica #madoka rebellion #pmmm analysis

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eldragon-x · 3 months

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🐊 krook 🔁 krook

🐊 krook

I don't remember following this Pokemon, they keep posting mushy inspirational screenshots and quotes

🐊 krook

they were previously rottenworld? I see how it is. another idiot falling into the trap of telling yourself everything will be fine and the world is worthwile. im so sick of this. soon you will all see the ugly truth

2 Notes 💬🔁🤍

🍎 guildmaster-wigglytuff 🔁 kingofdarkness

🌑 kingofdarkness

Another successful day of working in Team Teal! ^_^ Funfact: I learned today that the team name was inspired by the color of the glow of the Time Gears ⚙️ My team mates were hesitant to tell me more about it though.

🍎 guildmaster-wigglytuff

That's great, Darkrai! TOOM-YAH!

5 Notes 💬🔁❤️

#guild associates #motivation #funfacts

🍃 paradise-virizion 🔁 lopunnycharm

💗 lopunnycharm

Reblog this if you support trapping Pokemon in ruins! ✨

2.575 Notes 💬🔁🤍

🤡 paradise-emolga 🔁 lake-guardian

⚙️ lake-guardian Follow

Pokemon are upset at me for including Team Charm on the list of explorers with issues. I'm sorry but you can't brush off their actions as "girlbossing". I promise you there are other admirable female dungeon treaders you can support, like Octillery or Virizion.

1.933 Notes 💬🔁🤍

#wait I need to do something funny

🍃 paradise-virizion

Having a moment, but I don't think I could ever express enough how much joining an adventure team has helped me. I was at a real lowpoint when I became a part of Team Scales and would reject everyone around me but thanks to them, I learned to open up and trust in other Pokemon again.

7 Notes 💬🔁❤️

#delete later

🌈 chasingafterhope

Sorry for my recent inactivity, I've been busy getting in touch with some old friends and moving to Air Continent. I don't know if I'm ever gonna start posting regularly again, might abandon this blog altogether, but I'm glad Pokemon appreciate it. Have a nice day!

360 Notes 💬🔁❤️

#personal #madoka tag

🪦 dustnoir 🔁 forest-clock

🏅 expedition-society-official Follow

its been really dire lately if i'm honest. legendary pokemon all over the world are turning to stone and we still have no idea who could be behind it and im very worried for the kids here. i dont know why ampharos thought it would be a good idea to let them join i just feel like everythings getting worse

🏅 expedition-society-official Follow

wrong blog

🌺 forest-clock Follow

Time traveller here! It will pass but you have to make it through The Voidlands first 👍

485 Notes 💬🔁❤️

#predictions #future posting #dark matter incident #friend tag #reblog #expedition-society-official

#unreality #long post #pmd on tumblr #pmd #pokemon mystery dungeon

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evergreenalice · 1 year

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I'll never get over the fucking tunnel of love scene, it's just the best fucking scene I love it so much

first of all, it follows the objectively amazing scene between Homura and Sayaka

the song "Dream World" begins to play as the Clara Dolls chant "fort, da, fort, da" in the background, the meaning of this I'm too lazy to explain, and if you don't know why the words "fort" and "da" are important to Rebellion, just look it up, there are better explanations than I can give. What's important is that these words relate to Homura and Madoka, the Clara Dolls are an extension of Homura, and thus Homura is presumably thinking about Madoka

as we see Sayaka's cape flying away from their confrontation, Homura begins a monologue

we see Clara Dolls dancing on a pink spool, representative of Madoka (if you don't know why, once again, I request that you look up "fort da Madoka") so once more an indication of where Homura's thoughts currently are

we see two swans, generally a symbol of love (fun fact, because of this one scene the moment I see swans I instantly think of Madoka Magica)

we see Homura standing on the front of of the boat, one of her familiars standing in the boat, not doing anything notable, I bring this up to come back to it later, also it's just a good shot

the world shifts as Homura moves through it, remember, this is essentially her dream, the things that appear are from Homura's mind

we see a paper Kyoko standing on an arch asking us if we're enjoying the movie (thank you for asking Kyoko :) Indeed I am)

a tunnel rises from the ocean

Kyoko says this, displaying essentially the ideal life for Kyoko, her relationship with Mami is never soured, and they're still friends, and they're just doing good stuff, none of the darkness that exists in reality

we see Homura's annoyed, perhaps somewhat conflicted even, face

we enter the tunnel, and it's clearly meant to be a tunnel of love, remember, the things in this world are created from her thoughts, there is a reason for a tunnel of love being here and it has to do with Homura's thoughts, EVERYTHING in this tunnel is from Homura's mind, it existing, everything in it, and where it leads, are from HER thoughts, keep that fact in mind

Mami just outright states that everything is ideal

beautiful shot, nothing else to say

Sayaka outright asks if this is so bad. She has a very goofy face because Homura is annoyed with her, I love this detail "YOU'RE TOO LATE SAYAKA I'VE ALREADY DEPICTED YOU AS THE SOYJACK!"

Homura accidentally criticizing herself, however, once again, EVERYTHING HERE IS HOMURA, this is an argument with herself, she's not disagreeing with paper Sayaka, paper Mami, and paper Kyoko, because they don't exist, they're HER, everything they say are HER thoughts, SHE thinks that this is the ideal world, deep down she wants to stay here, and she hates herself for it, viewing it as weakness.

we cut to Homura kneeling beneath goddess Madoka, Homura views Madoka as a goddess, not just in a descriptive sense, but a prescriptive one. In her eyes Madoka is a perfect being deserving of reverence, her love for Madoka is yes, romantic, but also has undeniably religious elements to it

Homura reaching up towards the statue of goddess Madoka as she talks about her sacrifice, it's just, VERY religious, she's over here like "Madoka died for your despair, accept her into your heart as your lord and savior" and it's like, Homura, this is a really unhealthy way to view your crush

this flashes on screen "who is dreaming?" the reason these runes pop on screen at this point is because it's important to this scene specifically, Homura is essentially denouncing whoever is guilty of being, for lack of a better word, a sinner, so these runes prompt the question of who the "sinner" is, and of course, it is Homura

we cut to a boat on fire

we see little paper cutouts of people drowning, presumably the people who should be being saved right now but aren't

Homura caresses Madoka's legs very heterosexually, I will come back to this later

the Clara Dolls throw tomatoes at the statue and Homura while saying "god is dead" in German, this most obviously signifies the blasphemy of the sinner who created this world (Homura) it's also a Nietzsche quote (Nietzsche and Rebellion is a whole nother conversation though)

it's also worth pointing out that the Clara Dolls's antagonism towards Homura is likely symbolic of bullying, which considering the way Moemura acts, is almost definitely something she went through

remember that everything here is from Homura's mind, that tunnel of love didn't even exist a moment ago, it was created by Homura's mind, that includes where it led, Homura's mind created a tunnel of love while thinking about Madoka that led her to Madoka

Madoka jumps down and lands on Homura, she doesn't emote much, but we know for a fact that this caused A LOT of emotions in her. Remember that familiar I pointed out that wasn't doing much? Well once again, everything in here is part of Homura, representing a part of her mind

as Madoka sits up, we see the familiar excitedly dancing with sparklers, because well, gay

as I said I wanted to come back to the statue's legs later, this is why. Where Homura touched it is marked in inky black. Her devotion to Madoka, her love for her, represented by the caressing of her legs, has only dirtied the statue. She views her love as a dirtying force. And for a lesbian that canonically went to Catholic school, views herself as a demon, and her crush as a pure perfect goddess, that certainly has implications, internalized homophobia is only one possible reading of this scene, but it's the one I choose to go with.

that's the end, I hope you enjoyed!

#Madoka Magica #PMMM #puella magi madoka magica #madoka magica rebellion #madohomu #homumado #madoka kaname #Homura Akemi #analysis

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mahou-furbies · 30 days

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Closing thoughts on Magia Record Scene 0

Scene 0 has finally ended! Or the translation I've been following has been completed. To those who don't know, it tells the Madoka Magica story, but the point of view of a new character Mabayu, who for some reason keeps her memory through Homura's time loops and can move while time is stopped. And since we all know how the Madoka plot goes (right?), the main story here is the mystery of Mabayu having lost her memory of why she is already a magical girl.

(spoilers)

First things first, the whole premise conflicts with what I think is one of the core points of the Madoka Magica drama, that is, how Homura had to do her thankless time looping job all alone and became increasingly isolated because of it. But here it's "revealed" that she had a buddy all along, with whom she became very close friends and who is eventually cast as the reason why Homura is able to keep going on in the first place. The whole thing considerably waters down her devotion to Madoka, when most of the story is about how she bonds with Mabayu. And then there's also the inherent awkwardness of inserting a brand new nobody to the story you already know, to whom the characters you've known for a decade become the side cast.

Then again, that is the premise, so you just have to make peace with it if you want to enjoy the story at all. And in fact I like Mabayu a lot, so I'll take it, though I'll have to consider everything a non-canon super AU (even within the canon's actual AUs). There was also the other problem though that some of the stuff was kind of fanservicey, and not in the horny way but in the superficial "let's put the whole cast in maid outfits for no particular reason" way. But I was a fan of some of it, like Nagisa being un-witched in one time loop, so fine.

I don't know how much this is about what the story actually is and how much should be blamed on me not paying enough attention, but in the end I think there's still plenty of holes in the story. Like we learned how Mabayu became a magical girl and what how her personal magic power works, but I didn't understand how her memory doesn't reset through the time loops and why she can move when Homura stops the time. Also the way she erased other characters' memories was inconsistent, she had to cut Sayaka's memory all over again in each loop, but when she cut Mami's, the effect was carried to the next loop. And I guess it was explained how the final resolution worked (duh) but I don't think I quite understood.

That's a lot of complaints but I did have a decent time with this actually, and that is because I really like Mabayu. She's the kind of character I'd really like to see more in magical girl stories: low energy, kind of lazy and self serving, passive and loner but not in an edgy way, and it was interesting to see her grow to be more heroic. She also has a lovely voice, and it turns out the same actor also did Ha-chan whose voice is also great. She also had really good dynamics with the main cast, and I especially like growing friendship between her and Homura, they had good banter with Homura being super serious all the time, and their growing friendship was touching. And she had some interesting stuff going on with Sayaka and Mami too.

And while I complained about the whole premise being about rewriting canon, I also think there were some worthwhile additions. For example in this version Mami used to recruit other girls to become magical girls with Mabayu, and the guilt from that is a major reason for her breakdown when she learns the truth about witches. On one hand I prefer the version of a seemingly strong character actually being weak and emotionally unstable, like she's been through a lot and doesn't need a more noble reason for her breakdown, but I think the Scene 0 version is also interesting.

Ultimately the ending left me somewhat sour with how inconclusive it was. Mabayu cut herself from everyone's memories (including her own), but it feels like there's a ton of stuff about her that's not resolved. Like she's still able to move during Homura's stopped time and doesn't understand why, she's still a magical girl even if she doesn't remember it, becoming friends with Mami again doesn't lead much anywhere if she's going to die to Charlotte in a few days… If the idea is the bittersweet knowledge that Mabayu made a difference in the Homura-Madoka story but nobody can remember it, it doesn't work for me since I didn't really get what her contribution was. Or I guess it was pretty clear how important Mabayu's presence was for keeping Homura sane through all the failed time loops but that was like my number one issue with the premise, so maybe I'm just incompatible with the whole story to begin with.

Still I had a good time following this as the translations came out, I was eager to see where the plot would go and watching a short video every few days didn't require that much from me. Though I do think the story was too long for its own good and especially the early loops could have been condensed.

#puella magi madoka magica #magia record #review I guess

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yuriiofthevalley · 6 months

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basic info

♡ . my name's yuri but you can also call me himmel or law. i really like all three of these names so you can use them interchangeably (if you'd prefer to use one over the other that's fine too) (yuri is what i personally prefer)

♡ . i was born and raised a 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩GIRL👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩 and my pronouns are mainly she/her but i don't mind they .

♡ . i am the lesbian of all time ever. female same sex attraction began with me. i'm also on the ace spectrum and heavily demi + idemromantic

♡ . i'm west african and i really like my hair

♡ . if friedrich nietzsche and franz kafka and fyodor dostoyevsky had a child it would be me

♡ . i am a huge fan of jojo's bizarre adventure,, madoka magica,, tbhk,, shadows house,, castlevania & so on

interests

♡ . i play games a lot and my favorite game series of all time ever is the tales of series (i've only played two installments). i have a sideblog (@talesfairy111) dedicated to posting about tales of arise & berseria so you should totally follow me on there if you're into either of the games 🙈

♡ . i also play genshin. my NA UID is 621347121 and my EU is 717069979

♡ . i LOVE classical music i think it is so amazing to listen to and just such an experience. i don't have a fave composer right now as i mainly just listen to whatever sticks out to me

♡ . i like girls a lot and if you're a girl i think you should follow me and we can be mutuals

♡ . i also really like hearts (shocker) and pretty things // making things pretty

♡ . myself . i think it would've been really funny to leave this at one word but i need it to be known i am very deeply obsessed with myself and you will see proof of that very often

♡ . my less prominent interests are philosophy,, psychology,, astrology & astronomy. i'd like to learn more about these topics one day

♡ . i'm also a big fan of the obscure // unknown and anything ethereal. sometimes i like to pretend i exist only in nameless concept

♡ . basic dni criteria

dni

♡ . i mostly have nothing against religion but if you're a super dedicated follower of an organized religion or actively post about it there isn't anything here for you either

♡ . if you're a man i'm not exactly going to chase you away but there really isn't anything here for you so

♡ . there isn't a super strict age limit so feel free to interact regardless of how old you are. i'm a lot more willing to be mutuals and possibly friends if you're 17 to 20 though

♡ . get lost if you believe misandry is a real issue

♡ . get lost again if you're a bi / m-spec "lesbian" or support them

♡ . i don't have a lot to say here actually. if you're a weirdo i will just laugh in your face and move on

♡ . i might include my socials once i have something other than pinterest (yuriofthevalley). my tiktok is a mess so i will probably make a new one once i feel interest in that app again

ending note

♡ . it was really nice talking about myself. i should've written this sooner

♡ . previously @hearts444wren & @m00nlitzen1th

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dreamerwitches · 10 months

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Could you have a three course meal with only Madoka merch?

I've seen things like this before with Pokemon or Evangelion but I wanted to try it with Madoka, it would probably be a little more difficult since it’s a lot less popular than both but here we goooo!

So we’re looking for food and crockery for this! We want a starter, a main course, a dessert and a drink for our food. And for crockery we want a plate, perhaps a bowl (for starter or pudding), a knife, fork, spoon (perhaps for dessert) and a cup or glass.

I’m more confident with the crockery so let’s start there.

There are plenty of plates to choose from! So let’s go with the Broccoli line which includes every girl, Kyubey and Charlotte. Originally sold for ￥1200. I’ll choose Mami :)

I could only find one bowl in contrast but that’s good enough. From Movic, we have to choose a Kyubey for this one... sigh... at least we can pretend we’re drowning them XD This one’s a slightly pricier￥1260.

Now cutlery is a lot harder... I couldn’t find any knives or forks but we can compensate! It may be harder for certain dishes but we can use the Penguin Parade chopsticks! Originally selling for ￥840, we’ll choose Mami again, of course.

However another option is the cake forks from the "I'm not afraid of anything anymore" cake set selling for ￥5880 altogether. Perhaps we could use the forks for our main but it could also be for dessert depending on what we choose (though if we’re buying it all we might as well choose the cake that comes with it too XD )

Even though we have a cake forks, let’s still prepare well with a spoon! This is actually the reason I wanted to do this in the first place XD I saw a set of spoons on a regular ebay trawl! I believe, these are limited from the Madoka Magica cafe. Unfortunately the listings for these settle to around $150 since they’re limited items from a no longer running cafe...

But fear not! Perhaps instead we can choose the spoon from the Kyubey cake set! Now we get two cakes for dessert! This one is certainly cheaper than the first option at ￥3780.

Next let’s choose a glass and a cup! There’s certainly plenty to choose from in this category. Let’s go for the ACG glass set and choose the lovely Charlotte! This set also includes a Kyubey design, a generic fancy design and runes. You can buy three glasses for ￥2800, we can bring guests!

Let’s go a bit more modern for our cup! The glass was from 2014 now let’s jump to 2021! A lovely cup designed by our favourite Inu Curry for ￥1500!

Now we’ve got our crockery, let’s move onto food! I have a feeling this will be far more tricky...

We can’t really have a traditional starter but what about some bread hm? No, what if I put it in a can for you? Canned bread! We’ve got the same lineup as our original plates but sadly missing Kyoko as many early merch pieces do... sorry Kyoko... I know you would’ve appreciated the bread... This is only a low price of ￥700 hooray!

Now onto our starter! What luck, we have a choice! Would you like the curry for ￥683?

Or the ramen for ￥893? I’m surprised they sold full meals, I don’t know about you

We already bought our dessert with our cutlery so we have another choice of two! Would you like the peach and pineapple Mami cake?

Or the vanilla and raspberry Kyubey cake?

Wasn’t that tasty? Now why don’t we top off our meal with some tea in our 10th anniversary cup! Let’s have the black tea from Mami for ￥525!

So let’s run the maths, how much did our lovely meal cost? A-Ah... ￥40982..? just shy of $300..? P-Perhaps it’s not such a good idea then... shouldn’t’ve bought those spoons...

#madoka magica #pmmm #puella magi madoka magica

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homoeroticbetrayal · 1 year

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Iconic Homerotice Betrayals: Semifinals

Poll Directory

Context:

Anthy/Utena

Summarized by Anonymous Contributor

THE blueprint for homoerotic betrayals of the canonically gay (as opposed to interpretive, certainly there are older iconic examples for that) variety. listed as #2 in the infamous top ten anime betrayals video, iirc.

it is about akio pushing anthy to utena. it is about utena’s protective stance, misunderstanding. most of all, it is about anthy kissing utena’s shoulder before stabbing her.

the story has been leading us to this the whole time — utena assuming once again the protective princely position; akio, always playing divide and conquer, unable to manipulate utena to betray anthy, now reliant on anthy betraying utena; the game being rigged from the start, true victory impossible (for the duelists, who will always lose the game proper to akio, the rule maker, in one way or another; for akio himself, just as obviously); utena’s love for anthy within the princely stance; anthy’s love for utena and anthy’s fear (of the world beyond; of utena loving her truly; of utena not loving her truly but just projecting onto her still as any prince does, and turning out to be the same (as akio) in the end) and akio (framing himself) as the only one who will love her no matter what because friends turn away from you and only connections by blood are forever, the two of them are the only ones who’s real in this projected world, so on and so forth, and anthy’s bitterness towards utena (“do you know, utena-sama, how i always despised you” from that one “in the next episode” bit) and her princeliness and her being not that impossibly unlike akio (all princes are the same). everything has lead us to this moment. and yet we are shocked.

personally, i’ve never moved on from how she kisses her shoulder.

See a whole dissertation on Utenanthy here

Homura/Madoka

Summary by Anonymous Contributor

This is the story of 3 betrayals :

1. Madoka and Homura meet and become best friends. Madoka believes in love and justice and helping people as a magical girl. But she gets killed. So Homura, loving her and believing in her cause, becomes a magical girl in order to time travel and save Madoka. Eventually, however, they find out they were being tricked all along, and none of what they thought they were fighting for is real. And this is BETRAYAL NUMBER 1: They've agreed to give up and just die/become monsters Together, when suddenly Madoka sacrifices herself to save Homura. As she is dying in Homura's arms she tells her she has a selfish goal: "you can travel in time, right ? Go back in time and warn me, stop me from getting tricked and becoming a magical girl."

2. So Homura goes back in time and tries to warn Madoka and their friends, but no one believes her. She can't save Madoka from her fate. So she time travels, again and again and again, trying desperately to save Madoka and failing every time, and becoming more and more estranged from her with every timeline. By the time we get to the timeline we know, she's done it so many times that she's become a stranger to Madoka, but Homura has become cold and hardened. It doesn't matter if Madoka doesn't love her anymore, all that matters is saving her. In the end, Homura's time travel has tied the strings of fate around Madoka so much, that Madoka bcomes the most powerful magical girl of all time and is able to essentially become a god, and rewrite the rules of the universe. She's created a better world, but at the cost of erasing her own human existence. Now no one will remember her except for Homura. As they are hugging naked in the cosmos, saying goodbye as the universe rewrites itself, Homura expresses how devastated she is by this turn of events. Madoka has saved her from the time loop she was in, but has sacrificed herself, and thereby Homura has failed to keep her promise of saving her. This is BETRAYAL NUMBER 2: Homura now has to live without Madoka, and all hope of keeping her promise to save her is lost.

3. And so we arrive at BETRAYAL NUMBER 3, the one they're most famous for : Homura tricks Madoka, and steals her godhood. Homura becomes the devil and undoes everything Madoka has fought for just to save Madoka and let her have a human existence, because she loves her that much. It's the ultimate betrayal because she destroys everything Madoka sacrificed herself for, she refuses to let her make the world better because selfishly, she loves Madoka so much she wants her to be able to exist.

#madohomu #utenanthy #rgu #pmmm #utena tenjou #anthy himemiya #madoka kaname #homura akemi #polls #tournament polls

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enhashoutout · 5 months

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Dating Childhood Friend Hanaoka Fujio

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

Finals season isn't done yet but I need a new post to get me through the last week. I'm never not going to post about dating Hanaoka Fujio there are going to be so many parts I already know it 😂

Genre: it's all fluff up in here

___ is used in place of y/n

Warnings: Typical H&L violence, swearing

This post isn't proofread

I usually write the reader as female since that is easiest for me but if you identify as a different gender please feel free to change up those parts to whatever fits you! <3

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

Dating Hanaoka Fujio, childhood best friends edition

You grew up with Fujio, Madoka, Arata, Seiji, Shinya, and Masaya.

The 7 of you would spend most of your time together at Grandma Sada's store or at each other's places since you lived in the same housing space and your parents weren't home often.

You attend Seiho Girls High School with Madoka and are a part of the band with her

Growing up you were closest to Fujio. Making friends was hard because you didn't talk much but he saw you by yourself one day and decided he was going to make you a part of the friend group and the rest was history.

Fujio who always remembers to ask you what you think when the group talks, making sure you feel included.

Fujio who always saves a seat for you next to him.

Fujio who pouts if he hears you and Madoka talking about a boy you guys think is cute.

"____ -chan he's not as cute as me though right?!"

"ABSOLUTELY NOT HE IS MORE HANDSOME THAN YOU"

"MADOKA I WAS ASKING ___!"

And then there's you who just stares at them as they bicker 😂

Fujio who didn't truly realize his feelings for you until he moved away and didn't get to see you every day

Now he knows why he didn't like it whenever you and Madoka talked about boys

Fujio who is excited to move back because he's going to see his friends at Oya High and now he can see you every day again

Fujio who notices your physical changes when he sees you again after a while but is happy your personality is still the same

Fujio who is acting a little weird around you now and you can't understand why

Fujio who gets a little nervous while you're around

The rest of the friend group can clearly see that he likes you and is doing a shit job at hiding it while they can't tell if you like him the same or not

Madoka who decides to take one for the team and ask if you like Fujio as more than a friend.

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

Madoka asks if you like Fujio as more than a friend, and you deny it at first but admit it just as fast because nobody gets past Madoka

Madoka who is on a mission to get the two of you together once she finds out you like him too but don't think he feels the same

Madoka's thoughts: "Are you dumb? Do you see the way he acts with you?!" *rolling her eyes and frustrated because she cannot deal with y'all*

You who has liked Fujio since you were kids but figured he didn't like you back because he's nice to everyone... so he was just being nice to you also

Madoka, Seiji, Shinya, and Masaya who are sick and tired of how you and Fujio look at each other with starry eyes when the other isn't looking.

JUST DATE EACH OTHER ALREADY YOU IDIOTS

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

Fujio who is sulky and tells Tsukasa and Jamuo he doesn't know what to do with his crush on you

Jamuo suggests a big elaborate confession while Tsukasa says he should just man up and tell you how he feels, no big confession scheme needed this isn't a marriage proposal

The rest of the boys walk right into the conversation and being the nosy kids they are, now they want to know what their leader is talking about

This leads to Fujio telling all of Fujio faction about his girl problem

All his friends: 👁️👄👁️ because what do you mean they're strong leader is being sulky over a girl?!

"Wait who is this girl again?" (Nakaoka)

"The quiet girl who we used to see at Grandma Sada's market remember?" (Nakagoshi)

"Ohhhh ___?" (Nakaoka)

"Yeah." (Nakagoshi)

"Better get a move on then Fujio! The girls tell Nakagoshi and I that a lot of boys in the surrounding schools like her. You might want to tell her before some preppy boy steals her away." (Nakaoka)

Fujio who tells his friends he would rather fight all of SWORD by himself than confess to you because feelings and rejection are scary. The thought of getting punched by every dude in SWORD sounds less scary than getting rejected by you and messing up your friendship.

Tsukasa who tells Fujio that it would be easiest to tell her how he feels because nobody wants to be on the receiving end of Fujio's fist if you start dating someone else.

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

Fujio who tells your friends he is finally ready to tell you how he feels

The rest of the group let out a big sigh of relief at the same time because they're sick and tired of you guys looking at each other like love-sick puppies

Fujio who stands in front of Seiho waiting for you and Madoka after band practice.

Madoka and Yui lie and say they have somewhere to go together leaving you with Fujio.

Fujio who is being a little awkward because he isn't sure how to tell you how he feels.

"Fujio... why are you acting weird?"

oh god she caught me here I go "Ireallylikeyou___I'velikedyousincewewerekidspleasegooutwithmeandbemygirlfriend"

You: ❓

"Since when did you become a rapper Fujio? I didn't understand anything you just said. Say it again slower."

"I really like you ___. I've liked you since we were kids. Please go out with me and be my girlfriend. ONLY IF YOU WANT TO OF COURSE! IF NOT WE CAN STAY FRIENDS AND WE CAN PRETEND THIS NEVER HA-."

"Will you let me talk?"

Fujio goes quiet 😂

"Yes, I would love to be your girlfriend. I've liked you since we were kids too. I just thought you didn't feel the same because you are always nice to everyone so I thought you were just being nice to me."

"Being nice? BEING NICE?! I NEVER SHARE MY FOOD WITH ANYONE BUT YOU WHAT DO YOU MEAN BEING NICE?!"

"LEAVE ME ALONE! I THOUGHT YOU LIKED SOMEONE ELSE! ALL THE GIRLS AT SCHOOL SAY THAT SINCE YOU CAME BACK LOTS OF GIRLS HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT YOU SO I ASSUMED YOU LIKED SOMEONE ELSE AND YOU'VE BEEN ACTING WEIRD!"

"ME?! TELL THAT TO YOURSELF! NAKAGOSHI AND NAKAOKA SAID THAT SINCE I'VE BEEN GONE LOTS OF BOYS TALK ABOUT HOW THEY LIKE YOU. AND I'VE BEEN ACTING WEIRD BECAUSE I DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO TELL YOU I LIKE YOU."

The two looked at each other after their shouting match and laughed at how ridiculous they were.

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

The first time Fujio took you to Oya to meet his friends, let's say it was chaotic.

Fujio pulled you through the halls of Oya and up onto the rooftop.

All the shouting that was going on immediately went silent when the door opened and you two walked in.

"Hey guys! Meet my girlfriend ___. Don't stand to close to her or look at her too long I'll punch you."

The boys broke out into cheers because Fujio actually told you how he felt.

"Wooooow those other guys are gonna cry when they find out ___-san is dating Fujio senpai." (Nakagoshi)

"We have to tell the girls when we see them this weekend." (Nakaoka)

The boys all introduced themselves to you and you introduced yourself back.

The rest of the day was spent with them telling you how Fujio acts at school and you telling them how Fujio acted when you guys were little.

"Come on ___ you're supposed to make your boyfriend look good in front of his friends not embarrass me."

"I'm just telling them about how my boyfriend has always used his fists before his words. You were the one that punched that one boy when we were 9 for pulling on my hair and calling me names."

"Nobody calls my girlfriend names!"

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

Bf!Fujio who gives you a heart attack when you see him after the Oya and Housen brawl and he's all scratched up

Bf!Fujio who won't sit still while you try to tend to his wounds because the products sting.

Bf!Fujio and Arata who give you an even bigger heart attack when they get back from the fight with Kidra

Your friends have to catch Arata up on what he missed and he's happy that you guys are together because he thought you guys liked each other when you were all kids also.

Bf!Fujio who backhugs you and uses you as a shield to hide from Madoka's wrath after she's done crying about Arata coming home.

Shinya and Masaya who are using both you and Fujio as a shield to hide from Madoka's wrath.

Seiji who looks at you guys and laughs.

Arata who looks at everyone and realizes just how much he actually missed all of you.

Bf!Fujio who is a little jealous because you went to Oya to check on everyone after the fight with Kidra.

"___ but what about meeeee?"

"Fujio I patched up your injuries yesterday."

"Okay? And? It's not my fault none of them have girlfriends to patch them up."

You quickly finish checking on everyone and sit with Fujio so he stops being jealous.

Fujio honestly has no room to speak though because whenever he stands in front of Seiho waiting for you and Madoka the girls look at him and make comments about how cute he is.

You walked out of school one time to a girl trying to give Fujio her number and he's awkwardly trying to reject her without being too mean. You had to swoop in and save your prince in distress.

It was a pretty often recurrence where you hear the girls at school talking about him and his friends but sucks to be them because he is forever yours! I don't think you would be able to get rid of him low key so I hope you're planning on marrying that boy lol

You would just ignore them and Madoka and Yui would tell you how you're the best person for Fujio anyways so you had no competition. The times when another girl is being mean to you though you best bet Madoka is gonna argue with her.

It was a often recurrence for Fujio to hear other guys talking about you also, the only difference is that he reacts to it. Probably hits them with a "___? Yeah I think she's pretty too because she's literally my girlfriend stop talking about her." Or actually physically hits them because WTF DID THAT NASTY DUDE JUST SAY ABOUT THE LOVE AND LIGHT OF HIS LIFE?! FUJIO WILL NOT STAND FOR IT.

Tsukasa has had to jump in multiple times to stop him.

That's a lie Tsukasa has stopped him 1 out of 10 times when he felt it wasn't important and not worth it but 9 times out of 10 Tsukasa usually jumps in to help Fujio actually because WTF DID THAT DUDE SAY ABOUT HIS SISTER?!

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

I feel like dating Fujio would automatically make you everyone he's friends with sister figure/mom of the group.

Tsukasa needs someone to talk to that isn't one of the boys? Congratulations ___ suddenly you're a certified therapist.

Jamuo needs help on an assignment or studying? Fujio will ask for your notes.

ChunChun faction member is sick? No worries Fujio will call you and ask for advice. That member might even ask Fujio to ask you for a bowl of soup.

The boys with bleached hair need help maintaining the color? No worries, just call ___ she'll know how to help.

The boys have a date? Don't panic ___ will help them with the planning.

Sachio is having a hard time getting through to Yui? It's okay ___ will help talk to her.

Todoroki needs some peace and quiet? Don't worry, ___ will keep the kids occupied somewhere else so Todoroki can read.

Sawamura needs help shopping for a gift for his and Yui's anniversary? No problem ___ is on the way to help.

When Fujio eventually becomes friends with Rao faction, you best bet ___ is there to help also.

The rare occasion Magaroku ran out of gum? It's okay ___ carries extra in her bag

Kamui's mask strap broke? ___ has one he can use temporarily while she fixes his

Raoh needs help getting something for his siblings by a certain time but he doesn't have time because he's out on Suzuran business? No worries ___ is there to help.

(Good god I hope you're ready to take care of everyone😂)

Vice versa, I think your status as Fujio's girlfriend also means his friends are always willing to help and protect you. Let's be real even if you weren't dating and just stayed friends everyone would still love you.

Boy from another school is bothering you? The nearest guy from Oya or Housen or Suzuran is flying in to save you.

You need help moving your furniture? Good thing you have your boyfriend and all his strong friends to come over and help.

You would end up being friends with all his friends too so that's fun.

I feel like they would all take it upon themselves to teach you how to fight to protect yourself in the rare case someone can't jump in to save you.

I think they would all want you to stay away from the actual fighting so Fujio + someone else is checking up on you at all times.

Could you imagine one of the Senomon, Kama, or Ebara guys following you because they know you're dating Fujio and think that's the way to get Fujio to accept defeat?

Girl... Todoroki, Shiba, and Tsuji fuckin flew out of nowhere to protect you.

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

You would think that with your boyfriend's lifestyle, you would get used to seeing him and his friends all bruised and battered up but I don't think you ever will.

They make you seriously consider a career in the medical field so that you can professionally patch them up but yell at them while you're doing it all at the same time.

Cue Tsukasa, Kiyoshi, Nakagoshi, and Shidaken giving you a heart attack when you see all of them in the hospital.

"Fujio... WTF HAPPENED TO EVERYONE?!" you whisper yell at him.

"Okay so the thing is, Senomon created an alliance with Kamasaka and Ebara to try and take down Oya. That's one of the reasons why they kept following you and that's why that one-time like two weeks ago Todoroki faction saved you because Amagai is a little bitch who can't actually fight anybody without also throwing in shady tricks. Saboten and some other guys beat up Shidaken for declining an alliance offer. Saboten also dropped a bunch of crates on Chun Chun faction. Nakagoshi pushed everyone out of the way and all that shit fell on him so he's here. Kiyoshi sacrificed himself so that the rest of YasuKiyo faction could get away. Then, Tsukasa, Jamuo, and I were in the tunnels and weren't paying attention so we got surrounded and we had to split up. Suzaki fought with Tsukasa and then Amagai beat him over the head with a pipe and took him hostage. While he was hostage Amagai tied him up and kept beating him. Then Amagai tied him up on a pole and cut the rope, dropping him from 20 ft in the air. We just got him back today when we stormed Senomon. I almost got stabbed by Amagai but then Suzaki intervened so I'm okay besides the bruises and scratches."

___ looks at Fujio in silence for a few seconds, and then smacks his arm.

"Owwww you're supposed to be comforting me ___ not adding to it."

"Is this why you've avoided my calls for the past two days?!"

"Maybe... but I did it because I didn't want you to worry."

"I will always be worried regardless! I'm literally dating the leader of Oya High which comes with built-in stress. You should've just answered my calls and told me."

"I promise I will next time ___. I love you."

"I love you too. Now let's go get you patched up."

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

Fujio and ___'s relationship as a song...

Ditto by NewJeans

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jujumin-translates · 5 months

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Misumi Ikaruga | [SSR] Soaring Paper Airplanes | An Important Triangle And A Paper Airplane - Part 1

Misumi: It’s done, a triangle helmet~!

Izumi: (There’s a lot of energy in here. Could it be Summer Troupe…?)

Muku: I tried to make a flower. How is it?

Kumon: That’s soooo good, Muku~!

Tenma: I made a crane. Pretty good, isn’t it?

Yuki: Boring. The paper’s cuteness helps a bit, though.

Tenma: The hell!?

Izumi: You guys doing origami? Looks fun.

Misumi: Ah, Director-san~!

Muku: Kazu-kun bought a bunch of differently patterned origami paper at an art event.

Izumi: I see! It looks a little different from the usual earth-patterned origami. They’re all so unusual and cute~.

Kazunari: IKR~!? It was like love at first sight, so I bought a bunch right away!

Tenma: I’m going to make another crane using this pattern.

Yuki: Just how many cranes are you going to make? Make something else.

Izumi: I think this paper would be cute no matter how you fold it, but… something simple might be better so the pattern is easier to see.

Kazunari: So like, how about a paper airplane? Hey, Sumi!

Misumi: Yeah! I wanna make a paper airplane!

Kumon: Then let’s have a paper airplane contest too! Whoever’s flies the furthest wins, of course!

Muku: Yeah, let’s do that!

Tenma: Then how about we decide on some kind of prize for the winner to up the ante?

Yuki: Sure, but what?

Misumi: How about the triangle I picked up yesterday~?

Yuki: Of course, you’d suggest a triangle.

Kazunari: I’d be cool with that, Sumi! It makes it a lil’ surprise since we don’t know what it is exactly!

Misumi: Thanks, Kazu~!

Kumon: Okay then, the prize will be the triangle that Sumi-san’s talking about! I’m gonna make the mega-strongest paper airplane!

Muku: I’m going to try my best too…!

Izumi: (Everyone’s making them so seriously… Fufu, that’s Summer Troupe for you.)

*Door opens*

Tsuzuru: Huh, all of Summer Troupe’s here.

Izumi: Ah, Tsuzuru-kun.

Misumi: We’re gonna have a paper airplane contest. Wanna join us, Tsuzuru~?

Tsuzuru: I can’t, I’ve got to get to my part-time job now. …Actually, I have a favor to ask you, Ikaruga-san.

Misumi: A favor? What it is~?

Tsuzuru: Madoka is coming to return some materials right now, so could you pick them up for me?

Misumi: Eh, Madoka’s coming!?

Kazunari: Can’t believe that Tsuzurun and Madochin are so buddy-buddy that they’re borrowing each other’s things now~!

Tsuzuru: Well, we just happened to have the opportunity the other day… plus we’re both scriptwriters, so.

Misumi: Got it! I’ll pick it up for you!

Tsuzuru: Thank you so much. Yikes… I should get going now. Well, see you later.

Yuki: Bye~.

Izumi: Good luck!

*Door closes*

Kumon: Hey, hey, if Madoka-san is coming now, then he should join the paper airplane contest too!

Kazunari: Yeah, for real, for real!

Misumi: I… wanna fly paper airplanes with Madoka!

Izumi: Fufu, seems like fun.

*Doorbell rings*

Misumi: Ah! It’s Madoka!

*Door closes*

Tenma: He sure moved fast.

Muku: Fufu, he must be really looking forward to this.

[ Next Part ⇢ ]

#a3!#a3! translation #misumi ikaruga #tenma sumeragi #yuki rurikawa #muku sakisaka #kazunari miyoshi #kumon hyodo #tsuzuru minagi #// got him on the kevin account so #everyone thank the kevin account

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puella-1n-somn10 · 5 months

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⚔️Puella Magi Madoka Magica x Pokemon Sword/Shield: Hop and his Witch Form⚔️

Word count w/o intro: 11,703

Look, I know that the Traveler from Genshin won that poll, but...if I may be honest, I am not ready for what concept I had for them to completely topple apart all thanks to a single shred of lore being aimed at my head at mach speed. Trust me, fellas, I saw the roller coaster that is the Fontaine chapter; if shit is that crazy while we are halfway through the main story, then I dread the revelations that will befall us all when SNEZHNAYA rolls around-!

With all that being said...welcome back, ladies, gents, and those who have casted the dreaded concept of gender out of their lives! For those who are unaware, we are here today to witness what would happen if I were to take the worldbuilding of Puella Magi Madoka Magica and apply them to other media. Today's unfortunate guest for today is none other than the goat himself, Hop!

...Not funny? Ah, alright-

Yes, I am aware that Hop's reputation amongst the fanbase is...controversial at best. Generally speaking, I've noticed that the negative image of this character was formed by the fans prematurely judging him based on his initial lines of dialogue, passionate (which is often mischaracterized as cheerful) attitude, and, I shit you all not, animations (which is more of a fault caused by tight release schedules and the developers being rushed than that of the character himself). From these alone, he tends to be placed on tiers lower than the fucking Gen 6 rivals (no hate towards them, promise, I just wish they were fleshed out more)- which proves to me that not only are those types of Pokemon fans purely visual beings, but that media literacy is dead, rotting, and its tombstone has been Hyper Beamed to Hell and back-

BUT we're not here to rant now, aren't we? My...personal, burning distaste towards those who call him a Hau clone aside, we are here to dissect his character- in more literal ways than one! If I may be honest, this analysis post thinly disguised as a silly, crossover ficlet was created as a thought and writing exercise for myself, and it was quite fun, if I must admit! So I hope from the bottom of my heart that you guys find as much joy in Hop's pain and suffering as I did while writing it!

Just a few quick warnings, this post will contain mentions of child neglect and favoritism, implications of social ostracization and public shaming, and, I cannot stress this enough, mentions of self destruction/S-H/su-c-de. If any of these themes are too triggering, especially that last one, please, please click away! I am being serious here- take the utmost care, and be safe!

Of course, spoilers for Madoka Magica, Magia Record (Anime ver.), and Pokemon SWSH are right up ahead! If I may be honest, I haven't touched upon the DLCs yet, so spoilers regarding them will be minimal at most. There will also be shades of PostwickShipping (Hop <3 Gloria) present, so if that isn't your cup of tea, I sincerely apologize.

It would also be fitting to play some Decretum on the side, too, especially when we get to the despair bit- God damn, he and Sayaka need to be buddies.

-The Wish, Possible Powers, and Soul Gem-

"Before we ever started out on this journey… I remember watching Lee on the telly. He was like a bright star, so strong I could hardly bear to look right at him. But now, I can tell just how strong he really is… And what he's got that I haven't…"

Now, I could go the easy way and say that he'd wish to be as great as Leon- to become as strong as the champion and equally undefeatable, but, honestly, not only does this feel cheap, it feels so...unlike Hop as a character. He doesn't just want to defeat Leon- he wants to prove his worth and make his mark as a trainer. Hop, like the rest of Galar, idolizes his brother- so much so that he copied his strategies and every move; a mistake that had gotten him to lose the fight in the Circhester stadium even after facing off against so many trials and tribulations-

After all, as Bede said it in his own...brutish way, if people looked down on Hop, they will do the same to Leon - the man who Hop looks up to as not just an older sibling, but as a symbol- as an unshakable LEGEND, and not just as a human being -. So if the perception of the man who Hop saw as a hero was to shake all thanks to him...it'd be quite devastating, to say the least. It was this possibility that hit him the most- where his worth and identity came into question.

Hop may dislike losing - a sentiment that grows stronger every time you defeat him -, but what he fears even more is disappointing others; lowering his and his brother's worth in their eyes. He wanted to be number #1 because it was expected of him to do so, by himself, by the public, and, when you think about it, even by his family - whether consciously or not -...

After all, just look at his home- do you see any pictures of Hop around? Left and right you find memorabilia and trophies belonging to Leon, but how much mementos of Hop can you find? Whether or not he was aware of it, Hop craved not just the glory of his brother, but also the validation and positive attention.

This was his path in life- no, this was his destiny, as he'd put it; to become as strong as his hero and receive that blazing torch after living in his shadow for so long. To live up to his splendor, to inspire others to get up and take a stance, and to make something out of himself. His brother was a hero- so it makes sense to imitate someone as amazing and strong as him.

So, after analyzing his character for a bit, his wish could go along the lines of wanting to be by his brother's side, or, more appropriately, to make an impact on the world and the lives of others like he did. After all, we are assuming that he made the contract a bit before his constant losses began to fuck with him; he had confidence in his abilities at least during the beginning, and was certain that he was going to emerge from the final battle victorious.

The powers resulting from this wish could go in a lot of different ways; after all, wishing to make an impact is quite abstract. It isn't like he wished for someone else to get healed or to win on a lottery; so trying to make powers based on that would be tricky. My best guess is that his powers are associated with memories and legacies, which, once more, also fits in really well with how he documented and tried to mimic Leon's strategies and actions.

Now, before we focus on his soul gem and witness it crumble along with his self-esteem, we're going to take a good look at his attire upon transformation into his Magical Boy form- an aspect that, regrettably, I've forgotten to cover back while I was analyzing Medic. Now, this part may be a little unclear to some upon first reviewing the designs present in PMMM, but a pattern is there- and one of the most common reasons behind a magi's design is the intent behind their wish and their desires before or after taking on the contract. In order to prove my point, I'm gonna list some examples:

Sayaka Miki is a knight in shining armor; she wanted to uphold the ideal of a magical girl and fight for what's right

Homura Akemi's outfit is rather...funerary, for lack of a better term; she made her wish as result of her losing Madoka, and had more or less doomed herself to watching the demise of her beloved over and over again

Nagisa's outfit looks like an everyday, ordinary outfit for someone her age; she craved a normal life where she was able to be just like the other kids around her- not having to worry about living in a dump and caring for an unstable parent

Iroha's design invokes the idea of a ranger or even a mercenary; she is dedicated to finding her sister at what cost, even if most of the evidence (or lack there-of) pointed towards Ui not existing in the first place

Being in the spotlight of someone else's life, looking up to his brother, and making said champion an example on how he should lead his life...I think a stereotypical, legendary hero might do it; the main protagonist of tales like Beowulf or even your everyday JRPGs. Hop often made references to him 'weaving his own legend', so this would make perfect sense!

Speaking of-

Regarding his soul gem's shape, simple- upon transformation, it would look just like a small flame placed on his solar plexus like a brooch or button. Comparisons to Leon's charizard aside, it is a simple and straightforward symbol representing his personality; passionate, competitive, hot-headed, and bright- but all flames are prone to dying out one way or another. Hop's association with fire is also presented to us in-canon in his second league card, with him pulling off Leon's signature pose as flames wildly danced around him.

This also brings the idea of him burning himself away to fit into his ideal of a champion to mind, or literally burning himself out. A raging fire ready to render all that is in its path into ash- including himself.

The emblem on the middle of its egg form is a little harder for me to interpret fully. I could go with the easy way and say that it's probably the same as its form upon his Puer Magi transformation, but we all know that my perfectionist ass would not just simply settle with that. The options on our hands are as follows;

The easy option, the Hop flower (symbolizing how becoming a professor is his true calling in life)

A coat of arms (royalty themes- also, a pun on Eternatus' eternamax form, coat of ARMS, heheh)

A spiral (symbol of futility, continuation, cycles, and a downward spiral)

A coat of arms WITH a spiral in the middle (look at the above two points)

A flag (him wishing to create his own legend, and how he was initially a foot ahead of us during the start of our journey together)

A windmill (...we'll get to that, but let's assume it's because of Postwick for now- I personally prefer this one)

A shield with two crossed swords (again, royalty and hero themes)

As for its color, here is where things get interesting; I already spoke about how most soul gems correspond with the eye color of their respective magi, since "eyes are the windows to a person's soul", so a brilliant gold would fit both with this unwritten rule and thematically. However, then I got thinking- Red is also an applicable color, right? It fits his personality, and would clash really well with the cool purples and blues...until I realized that not only is red already going to be present as a sort of secondary (if not primary) color to go along with the existing cool palette in mind, but the added gold highlights would embolden it and make sure this design really pops.

Besides, making red a central color for his magi outfit also adds in to the idea of him still mimicking Leon, whose associated colors are purple, gold, and, of course, the reds of his cape! We aren't completely sure as to how much control a magi has over the outfit they'll don upon transformation, but we do know that Madoka actually designed her own magical clothing, so some input from the magi themselves, whether consciously or not, does contribute to the matter. This would also make a cute little homage to his champion outfit in Pokemon Masters EX!

One last point before we get to the part you've all been waiting for, we have to look at his weapon; yes, his powers are probably associated with memories or even perception, but, according to my research, one's weapon doesn't necessarily have to be tied to the wish. As a matter of fact, aside from Mami's ribbons (symbolizing her being tied to the life of a magical girl and her capturing others in this web of malice whether consciously or not- a literal lifeline), most of the cast's weapons are unrelated to the wishes made, and, like the aforementioned outfits, are more tied to the magi's intents or even personalities;

Nagisa's is a trumpet that blows out bubbles. She wanted her mother to hear her, but she's only ever able to let out little squeaks; the dichotomy between her desire to be acknowledged and wanting to be a decent daughter to a horrible person like her mother.

Homura's is a shield; she wishes to protect Madoka, but a shield alone cannot deflect everything threatening her sweet rose. There's also the symbolism of her hiding behind a shield, both as Moemura (shy and reserved) and Cool Homu (covering her emotions with an aloof exterior); in both cases, she's hiding herself away from the world.

Sayaka's is a cutlass sword. Go figure.

I am not completely sure on Madoka's; she dislikes brutal fighting, so it would make sense for her to use a long-range weapon that she's able to use to snipe enemies from a safe-enough distance. I also heard that a bow and arrow have some sort of significance in Christian lore, but, to be frank, I am not completely sure about this; this section requires further study.

Again, I gotta thank @bluethepearldiver for saving my butt here and on the upcoming natures section! According to them, since I had already removed swords and shields from the equation in order to make space for both Gloria and Victor, a polearm type of weapon would fit him the most! In their own, brilliant words, it is "representing how unattainable his goal ultimately is", and, in my opinion, it is a mid-range weapon- when utilized correctly, Hop would be able to conquer battles that would require either long or short ranged attacks to clear! Also, personally, it brings the image of a sheep herder to mind.

As for the specific type of polearm, that one would require a lot more creativity, but, since Hop comes from Postwick, a weapon that originates from Europe would be fitting. After thinking about it, I believe his weapon is probably a Halberd, due to how it can pierce, chop, or slash depending on the situation. It would also symbolize poor, bright-eyed Hop constantly changing his strategies and teams in order to catch up to us- to finally match us in strength. Every time we met him, he would have different strategies, a different team, a different outlook- he tried every viable, effective strategy, tearing apart the aspects of himself that were deemed roadblocks, pushing himself until he was burning himself way too brightly for his own good, yet...

-Descent Into Despair-

He lost. He had lost yet again, hasn't he?

His grip on the pokeball was shaky. The eyes of the crowd fixated on him as the last of his pokemon fell to the ground. Frozen air filled his lungs; his eyes felt like they were turned to stone, as did the veins in his arms.

The whispers grew louder; the crowd's collective judgement was being passed from one attendant to another. His teeth were about to shatter from the pressure around him alone. Not even Melony's concerns were registered on his mind; all the words around him amalgamated into a brute cacophony that choked all the will and rationality out of him.

His heart was on fire. His lips were dried as he stared at the nothingness before him. It was so hard to continue standing up- fucking impossible to focus on anything but this blunder forged by his own hands- which he now sees as nothing but useless vestiges. His heart was a war drum in the midst of conflict; beating as though the drummer's life was on the line if they were to dare and drop the pace. How he wanted to gouge his own eyes out and rip those ears out...

"Pitiful."

What on Earth was he missing?

He tried to change his strategies, he really did. The sad look on his pokemon’s eyes broke him every time, but they just couldn’t be of good help…he had to be a better trainer.

That’s what good trainers do, right? They make sure their teams were optimal. After all, strategy came first; that was what he learned from all these battles that long moved his heart.

"Foolish."

Another loss.

He looked down at his final, fallen comrade, not taking his shaking hands into account. Was it the cold? The stress? The sheer disbelief of what was before him?

Or was it frustration? A poison seeping between his clenched teeth- ready to curse out himself and direct his anger to the world? Readying him to pound against the earth beneath him until his knuckles were mangled and bloody?

No...no, this can't be it. He had to push himself further- he had to be better. Not a single Pokemon of his would listen to someone as fragile as he was; he had to make an example out of himself if he had to be a strong leader- a hero to them...

"Hypocrite."

Wooloo...

You promised, didn't you?

He stifled his own sobs. Oh, how could you have done this to them, Hop? They were the closest thing you had to a childhood friend! They were right by your side to the very end! All you had to do was to keep their head up, tell them it wasn't their fault, and that you would still enter the league together if you both focused! All you had to do was stay strong-

But you couldn't. You just had to up and leave them; cast them to the dirt where you dragged his good name through.

In the end, he couldn't even uphold that.

"Pathetic."

Over and over...over and over, he had repeated this fruitless, pitiful endeavor- all to no avail.

Finding himself floating adrift, Hop feels as though his very existence was slowly slipping from his fingers; becoming one with the very void surrounding him. He couldn't even feel his limbs, much less his face.

No matter how much he had stretched himself so thin, it just wouldn't work. The evidence was there before him, for all of Galar to see- his true rival and his brother on that field together, the latter holding the other's hand and raising it up in the air...that no matter what he did, all the sacrifices he had made, it was all up there in the air like smoke. His dreams, hopes, and ambitions- gone with what shine in his eyes that were left.

Oh, little sheep...do you not realize that you have tangled yourself within this spider web- the very definition of insanity?

"Worthless."

He's tired.

With each loss, it got a lot harder for him to get up and walk away.

His legs were shaking, and not just due to the harsh winds around him. The winds were picking up their pace, but the eyes, the eyes, the eyes-

Why must you insist on further embarrassing yourself, young man? Can't you tell when it's the time for you to just drop everything and move on with something better for everyone else's sake?

You're just embarrassing yourself at this point- nothing more than a clown attracting disrespect and shame like flies to a rotting carcass much like yourself.

...

Yeah...

What if...it was him?

He couldn't take the watchful gazes of the crowded streets anymore. Oh, how he wanted to hide away in the corners of the world- render his own face into nothing but a crimson pulp just so their judgemental glares, mocking smiles, and whispers would finally leave him alone and hollow.

His heart was racing- his veins were on fire, and his arms were about to burst.

It was too much... Upon stumbling upon a silent, empty, dirty alleyway, he slumped onto his knees as he shook from both the cold and pressure of all the bottled up frustrations in him. At long last, the waterworks finally broke out. Only the night sky and howling winds were his current company; doing little to distract him from his pained heartbeats and dried up throat.

He couldn't hold on to his victories, no matter how feeble or small. It didn't matter what he did or how much he tried, all that he's tried holding on to will just slip away from his fingers, like the breaths of fresh, cold air escaping him; inhaling just enough as to not allow him to pass out on the spot, but it was only that much.

The sound of metal clanging on the ground escaped his ears. It was only when he was finally slumped on the ground that he had noticed the fading luminescence just before his reach. Even as his body shook from the mental strain and the cold, he still recognized the jewel that was on the dirtied ground. Hands shaking, he slowly picked up the once brilliant object...

Through jittering teeth, he just couldn't help but sob whilst instinctively smiling; the sound coming out like a sort of soft giggle...

Hahahah...oh, don't tell him- don't tell him he couldn't...

What a mockery- look at him, everyone! Not only had he failed the challenges before him, but, oh, this poor damn pest- he couldn't even look after his own damn soul gem! The very thing he had traded away what was left of his identity outside of the league for- and even then, with his wish, it only made sure that his mistakes would return to him in even stronger, more merciless manners. Was it due to him being unable to focus on both perfecting his strategies and his duties as a puer magi?

For all Hop cared at that moment, it was just another sign of his pathetic, useless existence. Worthlessness- no, he was way beneath that; he had failed. He had failed, he had failed, he had failed, he lost, he had motherfucking lost.

Answer yourself this, Hop- Do tell how you expected to come so far like this! How you have managed to shamble and shuffle through the league challenge like the worm you are, with nothing but another's achievements to your name- and you couldn't even take good care of that!

"...Useless..."

Hop shakily breathed out.

"Hah...if only I wasn't born so useless..."

His grip on both sides of his head grew tighter. As he gritted his teeth and his eyes twitched, one last thought flashed in his mind-

"There's...nowhere left for me..."

"Everyone else is moving on without someone...some pest like I am..."

With all the air that was left in his lungs, Hop roared into the night and unleashed all the grief in his heart. His anguished wail was interrupted by a sudden crash, and all that was left were the howling, autumnal winds...

Word of the contestants' escalating behaviors grew amongst the people of Galar.

At first, it manifested as deepened anxieties; competitors being so overwhelmed by the upcoming events that it caused them to hyperventilate, shake uncontrollably in between sobs and unintelligible screams, or, at worst, completely melt down; faces reddened by tears as they were unable to remove themselves from the ground due to the paralyzing nervousness and hysteria. Initially, these incidents were brushed off as being related to the individuals' worries over the nature of the Gym Challenge, on top of the resulting trauma caused by the Darkest Day; even after the region was granted another chance at seeing the bright, blue skies, tensions were still at an all-time high, so, at the time, this appeared to have been the most rational conclusion.

It was when they've descended into thrashing bitterness and violence, however, that concern was finally demanded and raised- and, along with them, a whole basket of questions that craved all the answers in the world; anything to make sense of what was unraveling. Many a stadium had to close down - some even in the midst of these breakouts - for investigation purposes in order to get to the bottom of this anomaly.

Before long, rumors began to spread amongst the Galarian public- both on the streets and on social media; ranging from a contamination of sorts, to possible side effects of the Darkest Day that the current chairman was uninformed of. In the end, one by one, the majority of the gym leaders had to step forward admit that they knew as much as the rest did regarding the matter, but that did little to help stop the creation and spread of conspiracy theories, and they soon devolved into a competition of its own; on whose hypothesis is the most click-worthy and attention-grabbing.

Nothing was stacking up; everything had been tested - the water, the air, the soil, and especially the power spots -, the stadiums were inspected from top to bottom, and even the gym leaders were interviewed; it all came back negative.

The chairman himself had gone dark.

In the midst of the mass hysteria, right everyone's noses, the range of whatever was influencing these stadiums, the...being that has sending all these people into these frenzies...was growing.

Violent breakouts and missing persons reports spiked without ever showing a sign of slowing down. Nay, not even the gym leaders were spared- with Bea finally coming to her senses while Allister tried to subdue her and not hurt the rest around her, and Milo's herd of Wooloo going completely berserk and in complete panic not unlike the contestants and their own pokemon.

It was at its assumed worst when it had finally reached Postwick Town. Most of Galar had succumbed to what was engulfing it with its malice and twisted hopes, and, according to theorists, they doubted it would stop there. The people residing in the Isle of Armor and Crown Tundra were given the order to lock down and cease all functions until further information's released, in the vain hopes of preventing the spread of its influence.

And then-

Silence.

Everything around them was completely dim, with nothing but small flickers of flame and their own eyes' adaptation to help traverse them through what became of the region; a dim, cold land with ashy skies overhead, overrun with scared wildlife and...monsters- beasts you have never seen the likes of before. Perhaps staying still while you're able to recognize Galar while you could would be the wisest choice; stray far enough, and the world around you will fade, shift, and turn, until you find yourself not outdoors anymore, but in a dingy, suffocating hallway filled with cracks and little to no light-

and, soon enough, you will realize that you are not alone.

To the most fortunate (or unlucky, depending on the perspective), the sight of the missing people was there for them to see; lined up for their next battles and subsequent executions. Days of being trapped, fought, beaten up, and isolated in pain did a number on their psyches, and that is without mentioning the existing effects that have already engulfed Galar; plunging them into insanity.

By the braver and most informed few, most of the missing people have currently been accounted for- most, had it not been for the unfortunate casualties resulting from...all that has been unfolding around them, whether they were still yet to be found, were done in by beasts swarming through these twisting tunnels, condemned by whatever's waiting for them at the center of this cursed maze, or...just couldn't take it anymore, is still up in the air. Those whose statuses have not yet been confirmed included the younger brother of the former champion himself- who, quite possibly, may have been one of the earliest victims, if the timeline was to serve them right-

Oh, but if only they knew better- that the bright-eyed, enthusiastic Hop was right back to where it all started; watching the competition from atop the stage, waiting for the next match to begin. The empty husk that was once "Hop" was silent; slumped to the back to his seat with his dull, milky eyes staring into the distance, as the crowds roared once the hero and his new challenger entered the fray.

Yes...yes! Cheer for him! ONLY HIM!

Shaking from the cold and the tension of her surroundings, Gloria's attention darted from the armored monstrosity to her unconscious rival amongst the masses. His colors all but completely desaturated- it was nothing short of a miracle seeing his body still somewhat intact, though his sunken face and sloughing skin - some even falling as soon as she grabbed on to him; revealing pale bone -...without thinking, the armored girl screamed.

Contrasting Gloria's priority shifting from grabbing on to Hop's corpse and make a break for it to taking down that thing who must have caused it, Leon was...silent. His heart sank as he fell on his knees- his eyes shook as he fixated on the monster before them. His blood ran ice cold; it was so hard to breathe without sobbing...

Gloria and the gym leaders who have finally located the arena - those who have and haven't contracted - deemed that being a monster- Hop's God damned murderer, but Leon knew better.

The gold hues that were pooling from what's assumed to be the monster's eyes were unmistakable.

His own little brother was right before him, waiting to fight him in the middle of this arena-

Just like how he had promised- like how he had always wished for...

-The Witch's Nature-

Ah, the most unpredictable section of this post- the one where yours truly is expected to agonize and sob over all the options before me. Character complexities are complex! Multiple reasons behind despair! Oh, how is your truly ever going to choose the perfect nature for a warlock that would not only encompass the magi's goals and history with only a few words, but one that would also feel fitting for a spooky being like a witch?!

Welp- once more, I have thank Blue for their brilliant input once more! They've decided that his nature would be Admiration, and, honestly, it's genius! It not only fits his overall character, goals, and what caused his sanity to go downhill with the brakes cut off, but it has the right amount of dissonance that the witches of PMMM are known for! Again, this has been your reminder to support them- c'mon, chop chop, that's an order.

Of course, nothing wrong with mentioning all the other, though scrapped, natures. Again, you're all free to reinterpret the warlock to your hearts' content, and if you do have any other suggestion that would fit, please let me know! I not only want to understand Hop's character better, but I do wish to improve my character-deciphering and writing skills. Once more, I encourage all sorts of fair criticism heading my way, and, with all that being said, here's the losers' club:

Reflective

Smitten

Idolizing/Idolization

Competitive (decided that this one might fit Nemona better if I ever got into ScaVio and made a witch for her. Later. Inshallah.)

Self-abandonment (look at the above, but with Bede instead)

Self-immolation

Guilty

To yearn/Yearning (again, Nemona)

-The Witch's Appearance-

"It's not enough! I've got to try harder! And harder and harder till no one's laughing!"

Alright, first thing's first, before we dive into ANYTHING, we need to touch upon Hop's self-image and how it transforms through the course of the game. From the beginning, he is just so confident in his abilities and goals; it wasn't just a desire, it's a goal- he will beat Leon! He will become champion! One day, he's going to be on that stage; he WILL fight Leon, and he WILL beat him- just we wait!

And 'wait' we didn't.

For all his talk about creating his own legend, of taking up the mantle, we have done nothing but drag his face through the dirt without failure.

The more we beat that poor fella up, the more...desperate he became, and it gets cranked up to 11 once Bede humiliated him; calling him a waste of space, and that all he is doing is tainting his brother's legacy by trying, so it would be best for all parties involved he should just stop that. If he just stopped trying at all. If he just gave up at once. He still tries to maintain the spirit of friendly competition between the main character and himself, but the constant humiliation has been getting to him, and the talons that are digging in to his mind are sharp.

It is then that we finally realize that the once-confident trainer who initially accompanied us is no more. This hatred towards himself only grew with time, and, even when he had reintegrated Wooloo/Dubwool into his team, his self-worth was still nigh-non existent; he dared not accompany us during even the post-game story, believing that he would just be slowing us all down, and how we would fare and be better without someone like him around.

In Hop's eyes, he was a burden; a waste of space, and, no matter how much he tried to fight it, those words would persistently repeat in his mind. His constant defeats didn't help, either, whether it was by our or any other trainer's hands-

Hell, it can be argued that Hop's earlier confidence and passion were nothing but "fronts"; he had always cheered Leon on and idealized (dare I say even worshiped) him to no end, but, aside from the promise that he would, one day, defeat his brother and become a champion, what other positive things did he say about himself? What other dreams did he hold? He owed so much of his own knowledge about Pokemon battles to Leon, after all. This can be seen in the third episode of Pokemon: Twilight Wings, if we choose to interpret Wooloo's actions as reflective of Hop's- trying to be something it is not, and, ultimately, causing it to stray far from "home".

He wanted to be the hero of his own story. That's all he wished for. Instead, we've shoved him into the sidelines- face first on the dirt, without even realizing our strengths.

History repeats once more- the tale of Leon and Sonia all over again.

The image of a knight, a warrior, a hero is definitely a strong base to start it all off. The ideal knight in shining armor, he who stands up for everything right- the unbeatable champion of the people. Not just a person to look up to, but a symbol- that's all he wanted to become; just like how he saw his brother.

When he realized that his current tactics didn't work, everything had to go out the window. We aren't saying this lightly- everything. His plans, his . He had to change everything about himself- until he realized that the problem weren't his teams or his plans...it was him. It has always been his fault- he was just weak, nothing more than a pathetic worm.

The armor is scraping every fiber of his being. No matter what, he still cannot attain the strength and glory of a champion- so he has to keep doing this; break and melt himself. It isn't right, it hurts, but he deserves that pain- he deserves the agony and so much worse for the sin of his existence.

But it's not enough. It's not enough, and it will never be enough. Flaming hot, red daggers will forever pierce through his flesh and skin; melting and reshaping him not necessarily just to fit his desired goal, but as punishment.

It doesn't matter, though. It doesn't change his sheer, fucking incompetence. He'd bash himself against the wall, turn his knuckles bloody, and have his howls of torment be drowned out by his observers' whispers and harsh judgements, but it doesn't change the fact that he deserved every second of it. He had to keep molding himself, he had to suffer, he had to pay for being such a pest to everyone's lives and for being so weak...

No matter how much he tried, it doesn't change the truth that he is no damn hero; he is here as a prisoner, present to repent for his crimes of his pathetic existence...

Oh, yeah. Futility is not just a present theme, but we are running to the HILLS with it.

Next up, we look at his actions- the "spice" and depth this brings to his warlock's design.

Let's retrace our steps a bit and look at Hop's character before and after the main story; as soon as we boot up the game for the first time, there we see Hop being so excited over his brother finally coming home- he was practically shaking and jumping by the news of it alone! He just couldn't wait to see him again, much less what he must have brought back with him- and, when he laid his eyes on the starters and chose his, he was over the moon and the sun; this was the beginning of his legacy! Ah, even his own mother said that he had to learn some patience.

Compare and contrast to his attitude in postgame- he's a lot more mellowed out, but that can be better described as him finally being burnt out. He had nowhere to go, no goal to attain, and not a single strength to his name. Bede and Marnie are training to become gym leaders, Leon's the new chairman of the Galar league, Sonia is on the way to become the new regional professor, but Hop? There was nothing left for him. There isn't anything he was able to do that others could do even better- all that was left for him was to rot in the fields, forgotten and cast away like the object of shame he was.

"I don't know how much I can really help... If I come along, I might just end up slowing the rest of you down..."

I've already established how the warlock might be imprisoned in a sense; all to symbolize how he must have felt during his downfall and the lengths he went through in order to become someone worthy of becoming champion- of sharing his brother's legacy, but we should also take how he first started off into account. We already have the pain, but where is the tragedy in it all? The downfall of his confidence? The fall of Hop, the once bright-eyed, confident, and proud young man? How could we symbolize the face that we have flicked his passion and convictions away with the push of our buttons?

Passion...glory...destruction...hotheadedness...Lee...Charizard...

"Fire- and lots of it!"

Yeah, this should not come off as a surprise - given how I have already mentioned it dozens of times already -, but, hey, if Ophelia has a lot of flames in her design to symbolize the tragic end of her family and her own hotheadedness, then I can't see why the same cannot be applicable to our uncrowned prince of Galar. Truth be told, I think the fire is burning at him to this day; as I already mentioned, he is in a constant state of melting down and reshaping himself to no end to fit an ideal that is so far away from him, and what better way to do so than by forcing himself to endure these flames to no end- not just to burn away all his mistakes, but to subject himself to what rage and disappointment he believes Leon must be feeling? You cannot ask for a more fitting punishment, no? Quite ironic as well, if you'd ask me.

Plus, as a warlock, he wants the people to cheer for him- only him! What better way is there to grab their attention and love than by becoming the brightest thing on the battlefield?! Yes, it's all worth it in the end, hearing the people of Galar scream just for him alone- oh, he couldn't be happier! That is all he desires! If we thought Oktavia craved attention, think again.

Speaking of lengths he went through to become someone he is not, let's talk about him changing his teams; this is his point of transformation as a character, where the cracks in his confidence begin to grow alongside his desperation. At this stage, Hop was willing to make any sacrifice necessary to meet that goal of his- if he fails, not only were his dreams on the line, but so was Leon's reputation. The only constant between these teams is the starter Leon gave him- with teary eyes and a regretful heart, he had damned the experiences and memories he shared with the 'mons he caught along the way, for all that mattered at that moment, all that was worth keeping, was the one thing that held any sort of direct connection to his future glory; the very gift his brother gave him. It should be worth it though, right? He's only becoming better, becoming stronger, becoming the best trainer he could be-

Isn't that right, Wooloo?

Oh, man, wooloo. What kind of Hop-centric design would this be if I didn't incorporate this cute little sheep in some form or another? If not the sheer GUILT he must be feeling? Since I already covered how the warlock would be forever unsatisfied with his form, let us talk about the promise he made with Wooloo, and how him breaking it must be haunting him. Just up and abandoning them, his lifelong partner pokemon must hate him for such a cowardly decision- it should hate him; he had backed out of such an important vow between them, and implied that it was their fault that he was unable to reach his goals. Ultimately, it is his guilt and self-hatred that got him here; whenever he wasn't melting down and reforging himself, he was always fighting for the audience's attention- a whole herd of sheep who constantly demand a spectacular show. It felt right for his first partner pokemon to judge him, after all- he must be condemned for his disloyalty...

Building upon the last point- since Wooloo, his very first pokemon, was also removed from the team, this would translate beautifully into him removing parts of himself to fit that perfect mold, and what better way than to add in sheep elements to his design? The warlock having hooves as dark as obsidian for feet? Broken horns that might be mistaken for parts of his armor? Heck, even the gnarly skeletal system resulting from us combining that of a human's and a sheep's? While I am not too sure about what exactly is going on underneath his helmet, I will just assume that at least its base form resembles a mutilated black sheep's face, because of, well, Hop seeing himself as the black sheep of the family. Combined with his halberd, which I am certain would carry on from his last form to this one, this would bring the idea of a twisted sheep herder of sorts, on top of the existing themes of sacrifice that are already associated with cattle in multiple religions.

Of course, we can't go wrong with referencing him copying Leon's tactics in battle and said worship! This, too, will be a source of pain to his warlock; not only does his armor resemble draconic scales (again, Charizard), but the base of his helmet would bear the shape of Leon's beard. This also ties in to the above point of him trying to reshape his form to that of the champion's in order to achieve prestige and victory by following in his hero's footsteps, but its ultimate purpose in the end is the further erasure his form and himself; all that made Hop 'Hop'. He is constantly slicing away at his being just to fit that mold....

Yes, he also gets to keep the cape; much like his halberd, I can't see why this element of his magical boy form would not get carried over here, as it also assists with establishing the theme and desire to be like a big shot like his brother. Its red coloring would also be of nice contrast to the ashen grey or deep darkness of his armor, although it is tattered and not as magnificent as it used to be in his eyes. The armor already boosts the idea of a hero, but, combined with all of the elements from above and Hop himself going down the slippery slope, this monster right here invokes the idea of a fallen hero; bright-eyed protagonists who have become jaded over the course of their journeys or have decided to outright give up on their ideals and goals- some even opting to join the opposing side of the narrative outright.

I should also mention his inability to look at Leon in the face and how he didn't want negative attention to be drawn towards him in spite of Hop's desire to face off against his brother- some eye trauma, maybe? Would the mementos of Leon in his barrier bring him pain? Or...would the warlock be unable to see past the "glory" of the champion and his dreams? How his mistakes are blinding him? Maybe what he saw was so bright, so brilliant, that it blinded him to everything else; turning his eyes into burning pools of blood resembling molten steel?

Now, we calculate his karmic potential, his emotional volatility, and how they contribute to his warlock's strength.

While I was first working on this post, I thought that maybe he would have cracked after he had lost against the gym leader of Circhester Stadium - Melony -; after all, he must have been devastated, with all these eyes watching him as his final pokemon fell, but then I remembered two key details-

His self-esteem did not get any better by the end of the game's main storyline. In fact, it was at its lowest during postgame- and he even brought a comically large shovel to dig wayyyyy deeper, courtesy of Sordward and Shielbert!

His karmic potential not only stems from him being the champion's little brother, but his role in stopping the second Darkest Day.

So, in a way, that loss would be considered to be more of a catalyst for his despair rather than the straw that broke the camel's back, not unlike Sayaka learning the truth behind the soul gems or Hitomi's confession to Kyosuke. He may have brought Dubwool back to his party, he may have appeared okay-ish after we've defeated him in the semi-finals, he may have helped us save the day, but his internal conflict didn't dissolve just like that- you cannot erase all these years of constant comparisons, long-standing dreams, horrible impostor syndrome, and such an inferiority complex just like that with the snap of one's fingers.

Truth be told, he was supposed to finally give in after said semi-finals, but, out of urgency, he held on just for a little while- for just enough time to assist us with finding Leon and stopping Rose's plans. Now that everything was said and done - now that everything was laid to rest -, the eyes just wouldn't stop staring at him, the whispers didn't cease, and Hop...he was tired- he was oh so tired. Falling on his shaky legs and the harsh thoughts in his heads still not slowing down, Hop had finally closed his eyes and gave out his final farewell...

Also, Sordward and Shielbert will die by my hands for making his self esteem go further down the toilet in postgame, I swear to Allah-

From all that, we can see that not only are legends, prophecies, and destinies HUGE themes for when it comes to the design of his barrier, but that his warlock is gonna be powerful. Now, I don't wanna be redundant by saying that he, too, would be as tough as Walpurgisnacht (we've already done that with Medic, though, after thinking about it, he'd be more comparable to Hyades Daybreak), but saving an entire region is, putting it lightly, a huge feat, and that's without us touching upon his supposed connection with the legendary pokemon, one of Galar's heroes of myth, Zacian. In between being tied to almost a hundred destinies (Madoka) and saving the entirety of France (Tart), putting an end to the apocalypse - The Darkest Day - has got to be up there.

I know this sounds like a sort of repetition on my end, but remember what Homura said back during episode 9; "from here on, for every person (one) has saved, (they) will curse another". So, while Medic got his powers thanks of a combination of his own karma and how he had fused 8 other souls into him, Hop's karma was all his. In short, by this logic, Galar is beyond fucked.

Oh, and, y'know, the whole deal with him being the champion's little brother and Gloria's childhood friend. With all that in mind, bro's warlock is not just stupidly powerful, but outright broken. Not at Ultimate!Kriemhild levels, but that's still not good news in of itself, isn't it?

In the end, whether he had completely given up after he had lost to Melony or during some time between the events of the main story and postgame is up to you and your interpretation of Hop as a character. For the sake of this segment alone, I will just go with the idea that, if he despairs before the climax of the main story, his warlock would be a formidable foe, but not yet a world-ending threat like either Walpurgisnacht or Crépuscule de La Reine.

For comparison's sake (and to paint a clearer picture), I'd say that he could be as powerful as Gisela, if not moreso. From the PSP games, we can see how resilient and tough that witch is - so much so that she is tied to both Mami's and Kyoko's backstories -, so surpassing her strength is still a commendable feat. Much like his depiction in the section above, the warlock would still be capable of cursing many stadiums at once and cause such intense panic in order to take the league challenge down with him by making the contestants to go completely berserk, and, if he so wishes, he could render an entire village into ash.

However, if you guys wouldn't mind, I'll still be running with the idea that, thanks to the player, Bede, Sordward, Shieldbert, his family, and Galar's corrupted celebrity culture, the entire region has yet another apocalyptic event to go through, and only Arceus could save them now- basically what happens during the above despair segment. Good job, everyone! Enjoy listening to Grass Skirt Chase while ya could! /j

Now that we got the basic picture of the warlock down, let's cut to the chase and dive in to his barrier. I've had a lot of fun with this one, so buckle up!

As I already mentioned in my previous Medic post, a witch's labyrinth is stated to be the "mental landscape of the magi before they turned into a witch". From analyzing the barriers of the Holy Quintet and the other existing witches from the original anime, I've already deduced that they must be tied to either core memories, coping mechanisms, or desires-

HOWEVER,

A more simplistic take on all that would be "a place that rubs salt on the magi's/witch's wounds"; makes more sense, no? Candeloro is forever alone in her little tea party, Charlotte is in a silent conversation with another doll- unable to speak about what's on her mind, and, for goodness' sake, Ophelia's barrier is underwater. It is just logical to see that a labyrinth is designed to keep the witch miserable; specifically made to remind them of their own shortcomings, mistakes, broken hopes and dreams, and all that they've lost by the act of contracting with an uncaring trickster like Kyubey.

Unsurprisingly, with this idea in mind, I think the barrier would be a twisted version of a stadium, lit up by raging fire. The audience is present; their eyes ever-staring at you as their yells echo throughout the arena. You just know that your actions and failures will be recorded for future generations to see, mock, and spit at- after all, you are now trapped in a legend that is yet to be completed! Yes, even the style of your surroundings looks like it could fit right in an old storybook or any of the murals present across the region. Not too far away from this labyrinth's center, you are able to find multiple cages housing the victims he had captured; fighters worthy enough for him to test his skills on or put on a spectacle for all the audience to see.

In the middle of the battlefield, in the shadow of a large statue behind him, lies the warlock; broken, battered, burnt, and practically melting, but his duty remains clear as daylight- bound to his punishment and his own selfish desires, it has become his goal to defeat you before the audience. It is his destiny to be bound to this stage, having to pay for the sin of his existence.

The trinkets of Leon - or a silhouette that resembles him - that surrounded him in his own house are also present; after all, they are tied to his motivation, admiration towards Lee, and his wish to become champion. Even until now, the warlock and his familiars take good care of them, though he despises the reflection cast by them.

I should also make a quiiiiiiick note Pokemon Masters EX; you see, upon activating a character's sync move, they are displayed in front of locations present in the canon of Pokemon known as their "mindscapes", and, fellas, upon finding out that said places are significant to each person's story and life one way or another, I've realized that I have stumbled upon a hail Mary for PMMM/Pokemon crossover fanatics out there, myself included. Of course, I wouldn't recommend using these mindscapes alone as a sort of easy way to make barriers, but they do act as nifty, optional blueprints or spices to make those labyrinths look more colorful or representative of these characters.

When it comes to Hop, his mindscape, unsurprisingly, depicts Postwick Town. The location doesn't change when he becomes a Neo Champion, with the only alterations made to the artwork is that it is now nighttime and the presence of small flickers of flames dancing around; burning as brightly as the stars above - one more point towards fire being a persistent theme here -. Perhaps if you've gained enough of an upper hand and luck in battle to grant you some time to look at the ground, you can see that there's specks of white paint that faded away with time; the surface still resembling that of a soccer field's to this day, not unlike the one in his backyard.

To reflect his mental state and emotions of worthlessness and futility prior to him crossing over the point of no return, well, here's where the fun and pain come in-

The halls of the labyrinth are...suffocating; as soon as you enter, you realize that the area is only wide enough for a single person to traverse through. It's so dark, too; only the oil lamps and unmaintained lanterns present provide any form of luminescence, and even then, you have to be careful; one small misstep, and it is you who will be up in flames.

You also get the sinking feeling that you are being watched through the cracks and holes of suffocating halls; a feeling exemplified by the sounds of rain and howling winds just outside. The oil lamps do nothing to alleviate the bone-biting cold around you- the warmth provided is minimal at best. Not too far away, peculiarly enough, you can hear what must sound like...a radio; the details of what is being said is unclear, but the language is actually understandable if you happen to know Arabic. Through static and compressed sounds, you can hear that the voice on the radio is...reciting a nasheed; one chanting about the light of honor, victory, and divine heroism in the face of adversity, with determination being a repeated theme peppered in. No matter which hallway you turn towards, you cannot seem to get any closer to the source of the sound.

As you make your way to the center of the barrier, in spite of the lack of windows present, you decide to be a little brave and take a peak through the torn cloth or any of the cracks on the wall; you find that not only are you not at all far away from the hallway you've already visited, but that you appear to be going down a spiral- but this can't be possible! It is like you've done nothing but repeating the same steps over and over, only for your determination and desires to bring you down...

The winds have gotten louder - clashing with the noise present in the halls -, and your legs feel so tired...

You cannot take it anymore. You finally deduce that, if you want to face off against the warlock right then and there, then you better take a nosedive; break through the halls and descend further and further until you reach the arena, and face off against a furious gladiator- angered and heartbroken by the prospect of you destroying these mementos. How could you?! Such an act is beyond heinous in his eyes! You are no honorable opponent like the rest of them- nay, he is here to strike you down, to restore and clear the champion's name...

To rub salt on his wound a little more, let's add in more references to the people who affected Hop's life- those who have sent him down a spiral, whether consciously or not.

At the end of some of these hallways, you can find shrines that are clearly meant for worship; moreso than the memorabilia that are already present. A large statue rests in the middle of it, surrounded by worn pictures depicting a silhouette of a man and damaged, worn-out books and scrolls. The scent of smoke is present, alongside ashes on the ground; the warlock or one of his familiars must have been near the shrine not too long ago.

Some parts of the halls, namely what items made of organic material like cloth, are clearly damaged- whether caused by burns, cuts, or, most strangely of all, moths. The bothersome nature of these little creatures not only represent Bede tearing apart at his self-worth, but also his reliance on Chairman Rose- such a depiction may symbolize his actions and words' effects on Hop's self-image and life, but it also acts as a subconscious, final "fuck you" to white-haired youth; at the end of the day, Bede is just an unwanted, insignificant insect who gravitates towards any source of light while causing great disaster to others, even at the detriment of his own life.

...but...isn't that what you have cursed yourself into, Hop? Having to prove yourself to someone who is so far away for all eternity? To mimic them? All for a part of their attention and approval- much less a sliver?

They have both locked themselves in a cycle of attempting to appease to someone in their lives at the detriment of their own health...

Upon his defeat, once the crowd cheers at his defeat, the walls will crumble, and the debris will crush and pierce the warlock - whether he was still alive or dead by then - as you finally get a look at the outside world... Rolling hills that span for miles greet your vision as the grey, rainy skies conceal the afternoon sunlight- but it still is brighter than the suffocating arena and its connected halls. Not too far away, you are able to spot a windmill, still going on for what seems like several vicious years, if its poor state was any sign. Ah, if not for the chaos around you, the flickering silhouettes of round sheep in the distance and the smell of grass and rain really makes it feel like you're right back home...back in Postwick...

To end all this on a high note, let's touch upon his witch's kiss/warlock's whisper/evil cutie mark. Thankfully, I got it as soon as I could; one of those old emblems that acted as tickets to a gladiator match depicting a simplified sheep's head! To add some freakiness, the sheep face is stripped to the bone on one half, and glaring right at the person looking at it on the other. A circle of hop flowers surround the disfigured head, and the emblem itself appears to be half-melting.

-Witch Card-

Sayf Al-Muharib. The Gladiator warlock, whose nature is admiration. The light of an old hero's glory - eternally out of his reach - had caused his sight to turn into searing, painful ichor; blinding him to all but his own failures and shortcomings. As penance for the sin of his existence and weakness, the warlock is in a constant state of breaking down, melting, and reforging himself whilst in preparation for his next battle in the hopes of searing away all the flaws in him - all that lead him to his incriminating mistakes - and achieve a perfect form. He is unable to recognize the being beneath his armor anymore, nor could he remember the vision he had prior to his entrancement.

The cries and cheers of his familiars herald another chance for the warlock to prove himself and absolve the legacy of his hero once and for all- but, no matter what, the crowd is never satisfied, and neither will he ever feel proud of himself for the victory. He will never be an inch closer to the light of legend he craves so badly. To emerge from the battlefield victorious, one must not lose sight of their promise in the midst of battle.

(His name is inspired by Sayf bin Omar/سيف بن عمر, a Muslim historian and compiler. It should also be of note that the reliability of Sayf's ahadeeth have been a point of controversy to this day. When translated, the warlock's full name means "The warrior's sword".)

(The fact that his first name literally means "sword" bears two meanings depending on the protagonist- if it's Gloria, then it reflects how he tags along with and respects her though he is seen as incomplete without her presence in the eyes of the rest; while if it's Victor, then it's the clash between their friendly rivalry and his growing respect towards him. Either way, it also symbolizes how the MC stole his spotlight and destiny, and how they broke him and his dream apart throughout their journey.)

(Also, Homura fits the criteria needed to defeat him, let's GOOOOOOO-)

-Familiars-

Batel (plural form: Abatil). The gladiator warlock's minion, whose duty is preservation. A scholar at heart, the warlock analyzes the actions of the hero of legend to learn from them for future endeavors. Prioritizing the opulence and safety of these treasures, these small followers of his are on constant lookout for anything that would posses a danger to these sacred masterpieces while archiving the feats of the champion for future re-readings.

Unfortunately, their master despises the reflection cast on the memorabilia; forever reminding him of what he will never become. He will hang his head down in their presence out of both respect and shame, lest the sight of the failure he had become shatter what was left of his original heart once more.

(Symbolizing Hop's knowledge of battling in general; jokes about type advantages aside, he was always analyzing Lee's battles and was eager to use his knowledge during battles. It's also one of the key reasons as to why he chose to become a professor in the end.)

(Yes, the warlock himself also does his job at chronicling the feats of Leon - even going as far as to imitate them to this day -, but not only are the Batels there to assist him (I mean, they are his familiars), but they also sort of symbolize how...exaggerated Leon's achievements can get, especially in the eyes of others- including Hop's.)

(Its name is a play on words in Arabic; "Batal/بطل" means "Hero", but "Batil/باطل" can either mean "of no good use" or "useless". Leon was the hero, his hero, his ideal- Hop, on the other hand, was just dead weight to him.)

(Another note to add is that Hop's uniform number is 189, which, when read in Japanese, can mean "Hiyaku"; leaping. While the warlock himself would be struggling to walk with these hooves of his and his mutilated form melting and meshing with the armor, I can also see that the Abatil's only way of moving around is through leaping, since they would probably have only one leg to stand on. Ah, I love the smell of symbolism in the morning.)

Al-Daja (plural form: Al-Dajij). The gladiator warlock's minion, whose duty is to uphold competition. Ever-so excited for the upcoming battle, the crowd will explode into applauds whenever a new victim enters the stadium and comes face-to-face with their master. Their never-ceasing cheers always demand for more, and, not wanting their wide, unblinking eyes to stare at all his faults and mistakes, the warlock complies.

The warlock will try and not show a sign of degradation to his opponent- he'll hold out until they sing songs of his glory and his story gets passed down from generation to generation. However, these minions will often times become so entranced with the relics and spectacle that they would forget the identity of their master altogether, and even start cheering for the new challenger once the warlock is thrown into a corner.

(Based on Hop's personal drive - to become as glorious and powerful as the unbeatable champion himself -, how the losses have been affecting him, and him not wanting what negative attention he garnered along the way to affect Leon directly. The audience can be quite the chatterboxes; all it takes is one small piece of gossip for everything to go out of control. Its name, ألضجة, means "The Noise".)

(They also symbolize how everyone else already act around him all thanks to his brother's legacy- looking down on him for every little mistake he makes, while each victory earns him another comparison to Leon. He doesn't want to disappoint them- not the crowds, not his friends, not his family, and not himself, so he carries on with his useless endeavor; constantly chasing after a dream that is so far from his reach. The fact that this familiar is prone to forgetting who they are serving exactly is indicative of Hop forgetting himself.)

-Inspirations-

In-canon:

Sacrificing aspects of himself just to come close to that aforementioned ideal; going as far as to remove his lifelong friend, Wooloo, from his team

Trophies and other memorabilia of his brother being found in their home- almost no mementos of Hop being found there

Corviknight, one of the 'mons he gigantamaxes upon the release of the DLCs (the other is his starter pokemon, which I will assume is Scorbunny)

The fact that he is evidently Arab/Muslim-coded, especially in the French translation of the games where his name is Nabil (fun fact, Raihan is also an already-Arab name)

The third episode of Pokemon: Twilight Wings

Dubwool being able to learn a fuck ton of self-destructive moves

The statue of the Hero of Galar in Wyndon (Motostoke in the anime)

Outside Influences:

The Sealed Vessel from Hollow Knight and their theme; actually, wanna bet that he is trapped in a similar manner as they were if we were to assume that his power is equal to Isabeau's? That he has been gathering power from the mass hysteria resulting from his influence over the stadiums?

How sheep, lambs, and goats are associated with sacrifice, slaughter, deceit, and rituals (to tie the aforementioned wooloo/dubwool and self-abandonment points mentioned earlier)

The golden calf

The fact that some gladiators were prisoners and had to fight and put on a spectacle in order to regain their freedom

nana825763's "My house walk-through"

That one segment from Valle Verde part 2 which starts at around the 3:58 mark

The Devil Within by Digital Daggers (not my dumb ass imagining an animatic in which Bede is this warlock's first victim)

Cause of my Death by Itoki Hana

Dolus Vel Pedica, Area Strigae, and Delusio Summa from the Madoka Magica PSP game

The concept of living armor, but with added body horror

-Closing Statements-

Phew! Well, thank GOD this didn't take as much time as Medic's warlock did! (unless if we count my sick days- then yeah, it took just as much) To say that this was a WILD ride would be the understatement of the century!

I wanted to nail the vibe the witches had before we, as the audience, learned the truth about their origins - that he must have been born out of competition and the impostor syndrome that comes with such high-stakes contests -, and the idea that he, Sayf, was vengeful not just towards the leagues and the people who had beaten Hop while he was down, but also towards himself. I am unsure of whether or not I've completely succeeded on that front, but, if you guys have better ideas and/or criticisms, please do let me know! I aim to improve my writing in general and my abilities to break down character motivations and symbolize their actions in more abstract manners.

Being Bede is suffering; his ass is getting haunted on one hand, and Leon is able to smell his fear from a mile away on the other. He's not fucking winning this, lads :'3

...With all that being said, there is one shred of information that I've been withholding until now- the final piece of the puzzle that, once we step back, paints a rather grim image of what would occur if we were to combine the worlds of Pokemon SWSH and PMMM...

Outside the league challenge, the story of SWSH tackles the eldritch origins of Dynamax/Gigantamax; that the very vessels that allowed the people of Galar to utilize it must come from the remains of the invading Pokemon, Eternatus. Its initial awakening from its 17,000 year slumber heralded the event known as the Darkest Day; in which it had absorbed so much of Galar's energy that it caused its form to change and a dark storm to envelope the region, causing the pokemon to dynamax/gigantamax and go berserk. With the emergence of said storm come what is now known as "Galar Particles"; other sources of energy that, after the defeat of this threat, were utilized by humans for generations to come; rebuilding Galar from the ground up to the region we know today.

Now, a theme that both medias apparently share here from this fact alone is "energy". In a sense, you could say that Eternatus itself acts very much like a living grief seed; absorbing "impurities" in order for its true form to "hatch" and release boundless amounts of concentrated energy that can be used in a useful manner later down the line.

So....what gives? Why is Eternatus such a key element to this concept if the focus of this post is Hop? What does that creature beyond out comprehension have to do with the one we currently have in our hands right now?

See, not only does Hop's karmic potential stem from his destiny to stop the second Darkest Day alongside the main character, but his brother was also tasked by Chairman Rose with capturing the beast and delivering it to him; this was planned out in order to solve Galar's energy crisis that was going to unfold in the next several years or so, and, though it was a hard decision, the Chairman believed that now was a better time than never. The future of Galar, in his eyes, relied on him...

Obviously, Rose's entire plan fell flat on its face, so it was up to us, our bestie, and a very gud boi an' gorl (Pokedex entries confirm Zacian is Zamazenta's older sister) to save an entire region's ass from a wicked, unfathomable threat once more, but what if things went a little differently in this timeline? Obviously, one of the heroes who was supposed to assist/had assisted Gloria fell into despair and became the next world-ending threat she's going to have to put down, but what if this wasn't the only deviation from the norm here?

After all, Rose wasn't the only one who had sought out the means to prevent and remedy a sort of entropy issue at any cost necessary...

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atamascolily · 2 months

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I keep seeing people saying variations on "Gosh, I can't wait to see Madoka fight Homura in Walpurgis no Kaiten!" and while far be it from me to rain on anybody's parade (the id wants what it wants), I can't help doing a double-take every time this comes up, because it's so dramatically different from my own viewing experience and perception of the characters.

Apart from the inherent assumption that violence is the only possible method of conflict resolution, you're telling me that Madoka Kaname, who wants all magical girls to be friends and team up together to fight witches, who repeatedly throws herself in between angry combatants who could break her like a twig, who tosses her best friend's soul off a bridge to break up a fight, who faces down a witch on the faint hope of getting said friend back, who sacrifices herself so magical girls don't have to suffer anymore, and whose reaction to finding that her best friend has become a big scary monster in Rebellion is to rush over and hold her hand--is going to fight Homura, of all people?!

Let's just say I'll believe it when I see it.

It's not that Madoka isn't capable of violence--she made that abundantly clear when she shot Mami at point-blank range to save Homura--but to say it's not her preferred solution is a vast understatement. Being forced to kill both Mami and Sayaka in quick succession devastates her--and if Homura hadn't been present, there was a very real chance of Madoka becoming a witch herself in that moment. When we do see Madoka fight, she tends to win in a single shot, as in later timelines against Walpurgisnacht. Maybe Devil!Homura is the only one strong enough to stand against her--but that assumes that Madoka would ever choose to fight her in the first place, no matter how angry/hurt/betrayed she feels, and no matter what Homura has done.

Madoka is not only the show's title character, she is its moral center, and the literal heart (there's even one on her magical girl outfit to drive the point home); the goddess she becomes, while still bearing death, is guided by compassion and mercy, not aggression and cruelty. Even if she were to fight Homura, it would be very much a "I'll kick your ass to bring you back to reality" kind of fight rather than one to kill.

Homua might well see herself as Madoka's enemy, but I don't think Madoka sees Homura as hers. Their conflict is real and deserves to finally be addressed, but ultimately it be can only be resolved by honest communication with each other. You know, that one thing Homura simultaneously craves and shies away from in equal measures, so it isn't like this is going to be easy! True emotional openness and vulnerability requires far more courage than blowing stuff up and always has.

It's tempting to see Homura and Madoka's reification as two opposite and opposing forces to be the primary conflict moving forward, but I think that will ultimately prove to be a false dichotomy. If the two are truly on the same level, the yin to the other's yang, neither can win against the other in the end; the only true ending involves them united as equals.

Instead, I see Homura vs. herself to be the ultimate conflict, with "self" taking a wide variety of externally manifesting forms thanks to previously established worldbuilding. The key visual for Walpurgis no Kaiten appears to support this premise, with Homura facing off against another Homura, while Madoka hovers in the background. It's not that I think Madoka isn't important, but the framing here certainly does not suggest that a violent struggle between her and Homua will be a large part of the plot.

And sure, trailers and promotional materials can be misleading--but like Kyubey, they generally do so by putting the truth in plain sight and trusting the audience to mislead themselves.

#puella magi madoka magica #madoka magica #pmmm analysis #walpurgis no kaiten #walpurgisnacht rising #madoka kaname #homura akemi

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ask-eden · 3 months

Text

[ Reference Art as of 10/2/2021 ] [ Chrono Posts with Caulklun ] Caulklun

Nonbinary, They/Them

Giratina's personal Mewsistant Strongest with Ghost/Dragon type moves and abilities

Older sibling to Madoka

+ More Information below the cut +

+ Information here may update or change with time +

-> Has known Eden and Alaxia since they were all kids. Used to play with them frequently. -> Studied hard and often competed with Alaxia academically -> Attempted to compete with Alaxia physically (failed pissed cried shidded got wrecked in rugby) -> One of the few who never actively looked down on Eden for his choices

-> Unaware of Alaxia's true intentions/what he really is. Trusts Alaxia and respects him deeply. -> Isn't aware Giratina is actually dead, as their relationship was never that close to begin with. Continuing doing their duties as normal

-> One of the leads on the Celebi Hunt

#CaulklunRef #Caulklun #ref #reference #sfw #Last Updated: 2/26/2024. Uploaded official ref even tho that art is old as shit #UPDATE THAT ART SON DANGGGg #for da mobile users

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