#but i had a BAD madoka phase | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

silver-ace-of-spades · 1 year

Text

Mobian Monster Mash: Chapter 30

Super Amy Moment

I'm gonna tug your emotions (hopefully)

Fricking long chapter

Blood, swearing, gore, violence, death.

~~~~~

October 31, 5:24 PM

Amy felt a surge in power she hadn't felt before. "Is this..."

Tears flooded her eyes as her body became a shining golden color. Her eyes became red, and her Piko Hammer became massive. Her mummy costume glowed and turned into a red Madoka Magika-esque outfit. Her quills pointed up and the light faded to reveal her new form.

"I... I'm Super Amy..." She gasped.

"How's it feel to be Super?" Sonic asked. His body was a shimmering yellow, too.

"This is AMAZING!" The girl exclaimed. She flew around and did a few backflips.

Sonic had never gone Super as a werehog, so it felt like his first time going Super again. He felt an adrenaline rush and howled energetically, then laughed happily.

Silver looked a bit annoyed. "A-HEM! We have a mission here!"

Sonic giggled nervously. "Right, right."

Amy flew at the abomination and crushed it under her giant hammer. She heard a sickening crunch and lifted the hammer up. Sonic.EXE was brutally squished into a bloody pulp.

It disappeared in a puff of smoke and reappeared unscathed next to Silver, then grabbed them. Silver stuck their tongue out, went incorporeal, and phased out of the monster's grasp. They reappeared in a golden light behind EXE and held it with their Super Psychokinesis. The abomination smiled. It snapped its fingers and teleported out of Silver's grasp, and right into a Super Chaos Blast from Shadow.

"And stay down!" He yelled.

EXE laughed menacingly and began draining the Chaos Energy like Eggman in the Sonic Unleashed intro, but Omega, who had rebooted, shot EXE when they saw what it was doing.

"Thanks, Omega!" Shadow said.

"Activating cheer mode. Kick that monster's ass, Shadow!"

The vampire joined the other three and impaled EXE with a Super Chaos Spear. Sonic unleashed (ha, reference) a Super Werehog Slash on EXE and red blood sprayed onto his golden fur. Silver held it down to try to prevent it from recovering, and Amy's hammer became spiky as she crushed its head in.

EXE reformed again, to the dismay of everyone, and it drained the Chaos Energy again. The four hedgehogs cried out in pain and got reverted back from their Super forms. Sonic, Shadow, and Silver lost their monster forms. The Chaos Emeralds lost their glow. The four heroes fell to the ground and struggled to get up. Their friends ran to their sides to help them.

EXE laughed menacingly and shattered the Emeralds.

~~~

[Sonic]

Sonic felt Tails and Knuckles lift him to his feet. His breathing was heavy and he felt immense pain in his whole body, like he was being stabbed everywhere.

"You okay, Sonic? That looked like it hurt really bad." Knuckles asked.

"Hah... yeah..." Sonic put a hand to his chest. "I'm... ngh! ...fine..."

"You don't sound fine." Tails stated. Sonic groaned in pain and smiled sadly. A few tears fell from his eyes.

"I... failed..." He sighed.

"You're Sonic. You've always found a way to save the day!" The echidna gave Sonic a gentle, but firm, pat on the back.

"Thanks." Sonic smiled and hugged his friends. "I love you two. You're my best friends." The Chaos Emerald started glowing and reforming.

Tails gasped. "Look! The Emeralds are coming back!"

Tails and Knuckles glowed orange and felt a transformation. Not a Super transformation, but something else. A robot arm cannon appeared on Tails' left arm and his shoes became like Mega Man's. Knuckles didn't really change much, but he gained recovery powers that rivaled Shadow's, more pain tolerance, and poisonous punches. Tails and Knuckles had matching silver bracelets on their right arms.

A golden bracelet appeared on Sonic's left arm. He became a Super werehog again and the three of them charged at EXE.

~~~

[Amy]

Amy struggled to lift herself up, but with the help of her hammer's handle, she got to her feet. Her breathing was heavy and exhausted, and her legs were figuratively on fire.

"Are you okay?" A man's voice asked. Amy looked and saw Vector.

"Not... not really..." She groaned in pain and fell to her knees, holding her hammer for support. "Ow..."

"That magical girl transformation was amazing!" Charmy, who was next to Vector, exclaimed, eyes wide.

"Ha, thanks..." She smiled sweetly at the young bee, despite the immense pain.

"Miss Rose, you look sad." Charmy frowned.

"Yeah... because... we lost..." The hedgehog sighed. Tears stained the bandages of her costume and her vision became blurry.

She felt a tiny hand rest on her shoulder and gasped. She looked and saw Charmy, with tears in his eyes.

"But... Magical girls never lose! You have to win!"

"Yeah! Kick that monster's ass!" Vector cheered.

"Language!" Charmy exclaimed.

Amy giggled a bit, then burst into genuine happy laughter. "You two are such dorks." She sighed and reached her arms out for a hug. "Thanks for cheering me up."

The boys accepted the hug, and the Chaos Emeralds started to reform and glow. Amy saw the rainbow glow and gasped.

"The Emeralds!"

A green glow enveloped the boys, and Vector transformed. The wings on his dragon costume became real, and his claws became sharper. Charmy didn't transform, instead, he picked up a yellow box with question marks on four sides and reached inside.

Charmy pulled out a chilly flower and transformed. His mushroom hat became blue with red spots, his wings shimmered light blue, and his blue vest became white. He summoned a snowball in his hand and giggled. "I'm Ice Charmy!"

Charmy and Vector noticed their matching silver bracelets and smiled.

Amy, too, underwent a transformation. She became Super Magical Girl Rose, also known as Super Amy. On her right arm was a golden bracelet. The three heroes rushed into combat.

~~~

[Shadow]

Shadow wasn't used to feeling this... drained. With no Chaos Energy left in his reserves, he didn't feel very ultimate. They felt like they were painfully withering away.

"Shadow!" Rouge gasped. She and Omega lifted the him up to his feet. "You're hurt!"

"I'm... fine..." They lied.

"Negative." Omega blared. "You are lacking Chaos Energy."

"I have to- GAH!" Shadow tried to run to EXE, but stumbled and fell. He let out a pained wheeze and a few tears started to form in his eyes. "No..."

Omega picked them up and held them gently. "Shadow. Do not push yourself."

"I'm... the Ultimate... Lifeform..." Shadow felt a tear fall down his face. "But I failed..." Their tears fell like a waterfall. "I failed you... Mobius... I failed you... Maria..."

Rouge put a hand on Shadow's head and sighed. "Hey, bud, I think if Maria were here, she'd be proud of how hard you tried. I know I'm proud of you."

Shadow looked at the bat and quietly chuckled. "I guess you're right... Thanks..." He closed his eyes and let out a soft sigh. "Rouge... Omega... I... I love you both... You're my... friends..."

Shadow went limp and their heart stopped beating. Rouge went silent, unable to cry. She hugged Shadow and the Chaos Emeralds reformed and began to glow.

A black light enveloped Team Dark, and Rouge and Omega started to transform. Rouge's devil horns fused to her head and her feet became goat's feet. She grew sharp fangs and her eyes turned red. Her prop pitchfork became real and dark energy surrounded the prongs. Omega grew vine tentacles at their feet and their eyes glowed yellow. Their body got a glowing jack'o'lantern mouth and it shot fire. Rouge and Omega had matching silver bracelets.

"I am Jack'Omega!" They blared happily.

Shadow woke up and saw that he was a Super vampire. They felt a golden bracelet on their left arm. "What... happened?"

"You died, but our friendship revived you." The devil bat explained. "You feeling okay?"

"Yeah. Let's go kick some ass!"

~~~

[Silver]

The pain was unbearable. Silver felt like they were going to die or something.

"Silver, can you get up?" Blaze, who was next to them, asked.

They tried to get up, but fell back onto the floor, panting heavily.

"I'll take that as a no." Espio, on Silver's other side, sighed.

"It... hurts..." Silver wheezed.

"I know." Blaze softly ran her fingers through their quills and smiled sweetly. "Can Espio and I help you sit up?"

Silver nodded, and their friends helped them to their knees, then helped them sit up.

Espio smiled slightly, then sat next to the hedgehog. "You're one of our best friends. It hurts to see you in so much pain."

Blaze sat next to Silver as well and put an arm over their shoulder. "I love you so much. You're like my sweet, dorky, little sibling." She giggled and leaned on them a bit.

"You're... the best... big siblings... a hedgehog... could ask for..." Silver choked out. They smiled, but it hurt their mouth to smile.

"I'm honored that you see me as an older brother." Espio smiled. He and Blaze hugged Silver, and a rainbow glow filled the room.

"The Chaos Emeralds!" Blaze gasped.

A purple light shone over Espio and Blaze, and they transformed. Espio's legs and chameleon tail became a ghost tail, and his body went transluscent. Blaze didn't change externally, but she felt a verdant calm and a transformative spark, as well as her original fire. She waved her magic wand and lightning crackled. Espio and Blaze saw matching silver bracelets on their right arms and looked at each other.

Silver looked down and gasped. They were a Super ghost again. On their left arm was a golden bracelet. They laughed confidently and looked at Sonic.EXE with a smug smile. "Time to kick that bastard's head in!"

~~~

Sonic, Amy, Shadow, and Silver felt immense energy build up in their hands unlike any power they felt before.

"The four of us need to charge our powers, you guys distract the monster!" Sonic yelled.

"On it!" Espio responded.

Espio turned invisible, then floated up and shot ectoplasm from his fingertips at EXE. It was stuck for a bit, but broke free. It slashed at Vector, who flew out of the way and unleashed a dragon slash. EXE screamed and tried to kill Knuckles like Mephiles killed Sonic in '06, but the wound immediately healed. EXE created illusion copies of itself and tried to confuse the heroes.

"Snowstorm!" Blaze cried. She waved her wand and it started to snow. The real Sonic.EXE got dusted in snow.

"Let me help!" Charmy giggled. He threw ice balls from his hands and froze EXE. It broke out of its ice prison and slashed at the young bee. He didn't bleed, instead, his ice powers went away.

He reached into the question block and pulled out a flower shaped like a boomerang. His vest got turned into a replica Koopa shell and a Boomerang Bro helmet covered the Toad cap on his head. "Boomerang Charmy!" He threw a boomerang at EXE and caught it.

Omega ensnared EXE with their vines, then their Pumpkin Flamethrower roasted EXE. Rouge spoke in a creepy, echoey voice, and her pitchfork shot a dark energy orb at EXE.

EXE recovered from the assault and teleported behind Knuckles, but Tails shot it in the face with his Mega Buster. "Ugh, my fur's covered in blood... I'm gonna need therapy..."

EXE, unharmed, teleported to Vector and tried to slash him again, but the hedgehogs felt their powers reach maximum potential. From their hands, golden rays blasted at EXE. It got torn apart into nothingness and the 12 heroes got teleported to Sonic's house.

The Chaos Emeralds all left the hedgehogs and scattered around, and they turned back to their normal monster forms, but Amy kept her magical girl outfit and a bit of magical girl powers.

"What do these bracelets do?" Sonic asked. He turned the symbol on his bracelet from the full moon to the ribbon. Amy turned her bracelet from the ribbon to the bat. Shadow turned his from the bat to the ghost. Silver turned theirs from the ghost to the full moon. The four of them started to glow.

#toxic electricity #mobian monster mash #werehog!sonic #magicalgirl!amy #vampire!shadow #ghost!silver #sonic.exe #blood tw #swearing tw #gore tw #violence tw #death tw

3 notes · View notes

therealvinelle · 3 years

Note

I know this is like taking a bat to the beehive but... I really wanna hear your opinions on the whole... Imprinting thing

(Note before we go any further: this meta is written purely about the shapeshifting aspect of the Quileute characters, I don’t at all get into the racism in Twilight or any kind of social commentary. This is a purely watsonian meta. Others in this fandom have already addressed the racial dynamics at play, far more eloquently and knowledgeably than me. If I say something in here that’s in any way offensive, that’s not my intention and I’m open to criticism.)

Ooh imprinting.

I touch upon it here, basically I hate it.

The imprinting is part of this theme where the shapeshifters lose their free will and autonomy, and I find it tragic, cruel, and unnecessary.

First of, the fact that they have to phase at all.

They’re made warriors to protect their tribe. There’s no choice involved, only genetics and magic irrevocably changing their lives, and at a ridiculously young age, too. Sam is the oldest of them, and he is 19.

Violence is an inherent part of what they become. Their purpose is to protect the tribe, by fighting vampires. Not only is this insanely dangerous (we see Jake get so injured by a single vampire that he’s bedridden for weeks), but if they succeed, they will have killed. In the singularly brutal manner of tearing apart and burning someone who looks a lot like a human, who talks and might beg for their life, at that. And I remind you, most of these shapeshifters are literal children. They might not see vampires as people, but all the same, killing one can’t be good for their mental wellbeing. (Thought: Perhaps an argument can be made for Laurent’s death having a part in the turn Jake’s personality took? Some, though not many, of the symptoms for PTSD do fit. I don’t know enough about PTSD to pursue this train of thought, but it occurred to me just now, in particular he becomes quite aggressive and prone to outbursts after that incident, so into a parenthesis it goes)

Not to mention how inhumane that responsibility is. Vampires in the Twilight-verse are terrifying, and the shapeshifters might have the power to fight them. But (and this is where I plug one of my all-time favorite animes, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, as it asks the question “Is it okay to sacrifice yourself for others?” because that’s... well there’s a parallel to be made to the shapeshifters. It’s on Netflix!) does that mean they should? Is it really their responsibility? Again- they’re kids!

Then there’s the time Sam lost control, and accidentally mauled the girl he loved. And it’s so cruel to both him and Emily. Sam never chose to have to control himself in the first place, he never chose shapeshifting. He didn’t choose to imprint on Emily either, and he didn’t choose to lose control that day. At no point in the series of events that led to Emily being mauled did Sam have any real choice, and yet he will shoulder the guilt for what happened for the rest of his life.

These kids get superpowers, and several of them seem to enjoy being shapeshifters, but the fact remains that they now carry this huge responsibility to protect their families and homes, doing so is incredibly dangerous, they lose out on their regular lives, and they can’t opt out of it.

This all sucks, but then we get to the fact that they are deprived of their free will, as their alpha can issue an order they physically can’t break. The alpha becomes alpha because of bloodlines, not because of a democratic election. Jake got a mockery of a choice in that he could choose to become alpha himself, or let Sam continue, which was really just choosing between a rock and a hard place. There is no limitation to what this order can be, from “don’t say X to person Y” to “let’s kill someone you love”. Jake has to struggle to break that last one, and he’s only successful because of the bloodline thing letting him become his own alpha.

Oh, and there’s the massive invasion of privacy when they have a hive mind. Cool concept, less cool to have it be reality. Leah is the poster child for how a hive mind can backfire, and they can’t opt out of this.

I’m not good at gifs, but the shapeshifters just make me think of that gif of someone flicking a lightswitch on and off, “WELCOME TO HELL!”. Of course, Twilight in general is a pit of despair for everybody, so I suppose that gif really is... well it sums up all of canon.

So, we have these kids aged 19 or younger, as of Breaking Dawn they skew as young as thirteen, their lives are turned upside down by something they can’t opt out of, they must shoulder this huge responsibility to protect their homes and families from the terrifying threat of vampires, and on top of all of that, they must obey orders that are so irresistible, they can compel them to harm someone they care for.

With all of that in mind, you’d think that the shapeshifters had enough on their plate. That through all of this they would at least retain their selves, and be able to look forward to a future where they could stop phasing, and go on to live normal, human, lives.

Yeah, NOT IF THEY IMPRINT.

I’ll just quote Jake’s description:

Everything inside me came undone as I stared at the tiny porcelain face of the halfvampire, half-human baby. All the lines that held me to my life were sliced apart in swift cuts, like clipping the strings to a bunch of balloons. Everything that made me who I was—my love for the dead girl upstairs, my love for my father, my loyalty to my new pack, the love for my other brothers, my hatred for my enemies, my home, my name, my self—disconnected from me in that second—snip, snip, snip—and floated up into space.

I was not left drifting. A new string held me where I was.

Not one string, but a million. Not strings, but steel cables. A million steel cables all tying me to one thing—to the very center of the universe.

I could see that now—how the universe swirled around this one point. I’d never seen the symmetry of the universe before, but now it was plain.

The gravity of the earth no longer tied me to the place where I stood. (Breaking Dawn, page 237)

Everything that made me who I was disconnected from me.

Jake’s love for his father, his home, his very own self, it’s all gone now. And while I have thoughts on the authenticity of this imprint, whether it was organic, the description above is apparently how imprinting feels. It’s along the lines of what Sam, Jared, and Paul all describe.

I don’t think I can put into words just how devastating I find imprinting, I think the above quotation speaks for itself. And as with all other shapeshifter things, there is no choice involved.

We see its devastating effects in the Emily, Sam, and Leah debacle. Sam and Leah were serious together, so much so that they were engaged. Sam had fallen for and chosen to be with Leah. Perhaps they would have broken up eventually, but Leah was still the choice he made. Then he imprints on Emily, and all that is for naught. He had to break up with Leah, who if she hadn’t phased never would have learned why, Emily and Leah’s relationship is ruined, and Emily must forever live with the knowledge that if Sam had his free will intact he would be with another woman.

Then there’s Jared and Kim. Kim crushed on Jared, but Jared never noticed her. The fact that they were in the same class is damning: if a boy is attracted to a girl, he's gonna notice her. Jared never did.

Quil imprints on Claire, who is a toddler. That’s just a recipe for misery and disaster all around.

And I’ve only touched the shapeshifter side of things. They lose their autonomy and freedom, but the imprintées draw the short straw too. They’re now responsible for this other person’s happiness. Sure, having someone who’ll be whatever you need them to be sounds nice (well, it sounds horrifying, but I’m playing ball) on paper, but you can’t opt out of them being like that. The imprintée can’t say “Sorry, not interested,” and she certainly can’t shut the imprinter out of her life, not without irrevocably ruining the imprinter’s life. The imprinter needs her. She’s the center of his earth now, but she didn’t choose to be.

Imprinting is a liferuiner for everyone involved.

Then we have the question of what imprinting is even for. I’m afraid I agree with Billy, that it’s for procreation. We see Sam, who was dating a woman about to phase (even if Leah isn’t infertile, she’s a warrior now. She can’t run in the woods and fight vampires, and gestate and nurse a child at the same time) conveniently imprint on her cousin, who as cousin to Leah is from a shifter bloodline. Claire, as Emily’s cousin, has those same genetics. Paul imprints on a woman from the Black family line. Jake is the outlier, but either Renesmée’s gift helped that imprinting along, or he imprinted because of the offspring they could potentially have (I firmly believe it’s the former because the latter... NOPE. Also, I can’t imagine whatever magic drives imprinting would want vampiric progeny for the future generations. Regardless of Renesmée’s person, her biology is wired to desire human blood. That’s exactly what Jake is supposed to protect people from. Bad match.).

I just.... ughhh. God, I hate imprinting so much, and on every level.

To me, everything about the shapeshifters is about free will, autonomy, and the loss thereof. And it would have been beautiful if their story was about reclaiming that, but it isn’t. None of this, with the exception of the alpha orders, is even acknowledged.

So, in summation, yes I hate imprinting, but it’s only the horror cherry on top of a very sad and problematic cake.

408 notes · View notes

deedis · 2 years

Note

Hi Areeba. hxh, sk8 the infinity, haikyuu, jjk, mp100, madoka magica, sailor moon, demon slayer, horimiya, fairy tail, k project, black clover, tokyorev, noragami, shugo chara, vnc, fruits basket, banana fish, devil is a part timer, the great pretender, fire force, inuyasha, tokyo ghoul, yugioh (all of them!!!!!!!!!!!! except the latest two ones itthink), cardfight vanguard, yuri on ice, dgray man, rurouni kenshin, soul eater, free, blue exorcist, naruto, yuu yuu hakusho, assassination classroom, code geass, ons, to your eternity, fire force (<- if i listed that one already no didnt), guilty crown, magi, kuroko no basket, shironeko project, saint seiya tlc + also the original series, beyblade burst series, given, high rise invasion, odd taxi, etc. Like theres more but this is already an essay i even put commas 4 u!!!!!!!!!!!

long reply 😏 forgive me

firstly ☝️ i sorted your list

have watched:

- haikyuu; I HAD A HAIKYUU PHASE I PRINTED A CUTOUT OF KAGEYAMA TO SLAP ON MY WALL I HAD A CRUSH ON HIM FR 😭😭😭

- jjk; this one was just so captivating i binged it it was so easy to watch

- mp100; !!!!!!!

- sailor moon; by god i LOVE magical girls i love them so much

- demon slayer; i just recently watched the movie!!! 😢 honestly demon slayer is a little shallow and a stereotypical shounen anime but its still top tier the animation is soooooooo crazy

- horimiya; SO GOOD!!!!!!! their relationship is so healthytthttyh

- noragami; i read noragami and i was obsessed w it!!! i Had all the manga but then i stopped keeping up so im way behind now :(

- shugo chara; literally such a huge part of my formative years. have you ever seen this vocaloid version of the first opening. i used to watch it all the time as a kid it put me in a trance

- fruits basket; 🥺

- tokyo ghoul; ok so i only WATCHED season one because i heard that season 2 wasnt faithful to the manga and it was kinda weird so i decided i was gonna read from where s1 left off but i havent gotten around to it yet. s1 was so fucking good though

- yuri on ice; the chokehold yoi had on tumblr in 2016...

- free; unfortunately

- blue exorcist; one of the first animes i watched!! fuck yukio

- ons; you already know this. but. had a phase. mikayuu had a fr Grip on me

- given; TO BE HONEST. given was saur good but i thin kits a little overrated

- inuyasha; i read a Lot of inuyasha but i didnt finish!! and i forgot where i am so i probably have to start over.

havent watched:

hxh (too long and also itll never end.), sk8, fairy tail, black clover, tokyorev, vnc, the great pretender, fire force, yugioh, cf vanguard, dgray man, rurouni kenshin, soul eater, yuu yuu hakusho, to your eternity, guilty crown, magim knb, shironeko, saint seiya (i just learned about this one recently!!! one of the only major magical girls series i dont know), beyblade, high rise invasion, odd taxi

dropped:

- madoka; I DONT KNOW WHY!!!!!! I CAN NEVER GET PAST THE FIRST THREE SPISODES IVE TRIED FOUR TIMES SPACED APART BY MONTHSSSSS im gonna try again though and ill watch it. i WILL i want to SO BAD i KNOW its good

- banana fish; listen. i watched it w my sister. we couldnt pay attention it was so boring too convoluted. to be hoenst if i tried again i might like it but idk.

- devil is a part timer; i think theres a significant chance i watched this all the way thru but honest to god i cannot remember so im sticking it here bc i know i watched at least some

- naruto; i got so sick of all the fillers and how each scene was 8 seonds longer than it needed to be like during a fight itd cut to someones face stay there for a solid minute then cut to someone elses and repeat back anf forth. and i have issues w skipping episodes. what if im missing somethhing small.

- ass classroom; i watched s1 but dropped during s2 because it was just saur so slow and boring. like it wasnt That Great

want to watch:

- k project; i tried to read some of the manga a few years ago but got bored. i might try again though because the concept seems so cool!!

- code geass; i NEEEEED to watch this i know its a classic

questions for you:

- have you seen parasyte. i think youd like it if you havent the ending is a little rushed but the soundtrack fyucking slaps and the plot is so intriguing

- whos your favorite character of all time. out of everything youve ever watched 😊

- have you dropped anything. any anime you just coulfnt watch all the way thru

- youve watched so many that i havent seen!! out of the ones i said i havent watched which one would you recommend the most

- hi :)

#💌#miette tag #thank you for taking the time to compile this list hehehehehe

18 notes · View notes

magicalgirlagency · 3 years

Note

Why are you still complaining about Madoka? This is getting boring, honestly...

I know I'm sounding like a broken record at this point, but trust me, my complaints this time are on a whole different context.

Apparently, people are complaining about Magia Record, and how its stakes and body counts are lower in comparison to the original.

Some even say "you might as well be watching Pretty Cure", when the only similarity that this series shares with the Puella Magi series is with seiyuus/VAs (Kitamura Eri and Aoi Yuuki).

Like, of course MagiReco won't replicate the same gimmicks that MadoMagi has done 10 years ago. We already know how their magical girl system works, we already how Soul Gems and Grief Seeds function, we already know how Witches are born... WE KNOW.

Everyone and their mother knows what happened 10 years ago. We don't need to go through that again.

The thing is that MagiReco's story is more mystery-driven; starting with simple questions (what was Iroha's wish, and why did she had trouble remembering it?) and leading up to something bigger (the Wings of Magius and their plans of salvation).

The stakes are still there, such as the consequences of the overusage of Doppels and the arrival of Walpurgisnacht, for an example.

Besides, it's not like the OG series is officially over; I mean, the controversial and dreadful Rebellion movie is getting a sequel after eight years.

People like you are just upset that MagiReco isn't like the series that came after MadoMagi's success.

You're just upset that it's not like Magical Girl Raising Project. Or Yuki Yuna is a Hero. Or Daybreak Illusion. Or Mahou Shoujo Site. Or Spec-Ops Asuka.

These series I just mentioned have tried to replicate what MadoMagi has done, but failing epicly as a result and making its spiritual predecessor tamer in comparison.

Because seriously, how much of a soulless monster do you have to be to kill off a trans child, a lesbian couple and a pregnant woman? To bully, torture and abuse a girl to the point of suicide? To treat teenagers like disposable soldiers and sexual objects? To compare disabilities to a terrible curse and a fate worse than death?

These "Tragical Girls" were just a passing trend, and trends come to an end someday. People would have to grown out of their edgy phase somehow.

MadoMagi, as frustrating as it was, at least ended on a somewhat hopeful note (despite the fact that it was a half-assed ending that has eventually resulted into toxic lesbianism on an universal scale).

It IS possible to come up with a high-stakes story and build emotional investment without the need of character deaths and shock value at every corner. If you give MagiReco a chance and do a research on its in-game story, you might see it with other eyes and open up to new stories that don't rely on overused clichés that edgy teens loved to use, reuse and abuse back in the 2000's.

Magical Girls don't share the same universe. There won't be another another series like Sailor Moon. Or like Tokyo MewMew. Or Ojamajo Doremi. Or Mermaid Melody. Or Princess Tutu. And so many others.

These are different stories, each of them with their own sets of rules. They may be similar in some aspects, but they're never the same.

Hell, not even PreCure is the same; there's a different gimmick every year.

Just because something is different from what you're used to it doesn't mean that it's automatically bad. It's nice to get out of your comfort zone sometimes; you'll be in for some surprises.

9 notes · View notes

01tsubomi · 3 years

Text

okay after some digging i found a list deep in my drive so here are the first 10 anime i watched and if i still stand by them:

haruhi - haruhi was soooo influential to me and like my tastes in stories and storytelling styles and i still consider it my favorite anime and think the direction is fantastic. that being said. i have never been able to get more than like 10 episodes into a rewatch. i don’t know why but it just like can’t hold my attention even though i consider it a 10/10

ouran - obviously it’s a product of its time (which is part of why i don’t. Want a season 2) but yeah ofc i still stand by ouran. ouran’s gotten like a new wave of life in these past 2 years because now everyone considers it their comfort anime. i’ve watched ouran twice this year

madoka - after getting way into magical girl anime (and watching the genre devolve into Edgy Shock Factor Series Of The Month and Also Precure) i have mixed feelings on madoka. i never got into the spinoffs and barely watched rebellion so idk if this is like incorrect but my lasting impression is that madoka is mostly about having hope and that the people blaming girls for wanting things are the ones in the wrong, and then every anime studio ever for the next 10 years looked at that and said “okay but what if they ARE in the wrong. and what if they die”. i don’t think shaft could’ve known the wave of garbage they were about to inspire but it still taints my thoughts

fruits basket - i would never ever in a million years rewatch fruits basket (2001) but literally fruits basket is one of the best anime of all time. to clarify what i’m saying is that last year i rewatched what i know was my favorite episode of fruits basket (2001) when i was 13 and found it like borderline unwatchable because of everything from the visuals to the sound direction to the just general way it felt. not saying things that are goofy are inherently bad but the reboot is waaaaaay more what the manga demands. furuba was always great in concept but it’s finally also great in anime execution

sailor moon - this like shouldn’t even be on this list because who would i be to renounce Sailor Moon. but also like yeah of course sailor moon’s still good. the things that were bad about sailor moon were things that we already called bad back in 2014, and honestly, if i were to rewatch it, i probably would spring for the goofy old dic dub. sailor moon being zany and dated adds to its charm because it’s such a classic. there’s nothing to ridicule it’s just the blueprint for monster of the week magical girl anime

k-on - hell fucking yeah i still stand by k-on!! honestly i think i like k-on MORE now than i did back then!! i just rewatched it last month and i don’t even know what else i could say. top 5 anime ever made

mekakucity actors - i mean like. it should be obvious that 1) yes and 2) no. but also like at this point in my kagepro phase i’m not mad at mekakucity actors for existing. when it comes down to it i think kagepro as just a series of music videos and a vocaloid creator’s passion project is absolutely incredible and the fact that they’re hard to approach doesn’t really take away from that. in theory yeah a really incredible kagepro anime that anyone could understand without any prior knowledge that would also condense all the other bits and pieces from the different mediums into one would be incredible. but you know what you can do with mekakucity actors? laugh at it. and look at a scene of your favorite characters, then laugh more, and go watch otsukimi recital again. i love mekakucity actors the worst anime ever

baka and test - honestly i think i mostly watched this because it was one of the few on netflix at the time and i think the last time i actually rewatched it was like 2016? with maybe like two episodes in the past year. but i do have fond memories even if most of those fond memories are of being 13 and making bad jokes w my 2 friends who liked it. i’m not against a rewatch bc i do remember there being kind of a lot of heart behind the generic anime stereotype jokes (tsundere girl yandere girl boy who gets a nosebleed every 2 minutes) but it’s not high on the list

black butler - full disclosure i’m pretty sure i only made myself get into this one bc it was one of the 5 anime hot topic carried merch of so i thought i had to if i was an anime fan. i don’t really remember liking this one much and the only plotlines i can remember are where lizzie gets turned into a doll and sebastian invents curry pan. also i feel like there’s a lot of stuff that’d be called problematic that only slides under our radar bc it’s old genre anime (and the genre is yaoi). no i would not watch this again

princess tutu - yo i haven’t watched princess tutu since two thousand and fourteen and i would still recommend it to anyone in a heartbeat. i just have such fond memories of it and i remember really loving that it was a darker magical girl anime that didn’t seem to hate magical girl anime (not that madoka did, but that became a defining feature of the Edgy Magical Girl Anime genre). i really should give it a rewatch it’s been way too long

#fma technically belongs on this list too but i only ever got like 20 episodes into it #so i'd basically just be repeating that i know it's still a classic and a legend #this is like a lot of word vomit but whatever i wanted to talk abt old anime #personal #i also really associate love live and danganronpa with this period of time but i guess that was like immediately after this #and those franchises have both lived on kinda to the point that the anime doesn't even matter anymore #to speak to that though yeah i would rewatch love live but i probably wouldn't rewatch the dr anime #i have a lot of fond memories of my dr phase so i kinda have thought abt watching a playthrough or something but also not high on the list

7 notes · View notes

pair-annoyed · 4 years

Text

Anime I Watched in Quarantine

With some of the restrictions being lifted, I wanted to make a sort of master post to see just how much I’ve watched in my time off. Plus, I wanted to share something more lighthearted with everyone.

All of these anime will be rated on a 1-10 scale, 10 meaning masterpiece, 1 meaning complete garbage. I’ll also share what I liked/didn’t like about each show. This list will go in chronological order, and will encompass all anime from 3/13 - 6/13. Multiple Seasons will be grouped together.

1. Beastars - 8/10

I dig how human and down-to-earth Beastars is. The pacing was a nice and the animation was unexpectedly great! It’s driving force is its characters and their interactions. Felt a little slow at times, and Juno annoys me, but that’s okay. I’ll be watching season 2.

2. Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun - 8/10

Oh my god! This visuals for this were absolutely wonderful! It did feel a little cliche at times, I won’t lie. But, I still loved all of these characters and the nice balance between creepy and comedy.

3. Ao No Exorcist - 6/10

I posted about this one after I finished it. The ending really pissed me off. I feel like if I had watched this when I was 13, I would’ve given it a higher score. Compared to some of the other shounen I’ve watched, this felt a bit basic. That doesn’t mean I still didn’t like it. Still have to get around to watching season 2...

4. Kaichou wa Maid-sama! 6.5/10

Shoujo usually isn’t my cup of tea. Maid-sama was a nice way to ease into the cliches of shoujo. Misaki is a great protagonist and the ending Maid-sama was so satisfying. I’m only giving it a low score because of its slow pacing and lack of certain character development.

5. Violet Evergarden Gaiden: Eien to Jidou Shuki Ningyou - 7/10

I’m a big Violet Evergarden fan to begin with, so of course I liked this movie. It did not resonate with me as much as the series itself, but I still enjoyed it. Kyoto animation is never disappointing in their visuals and sound design

6. Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! - 8/10

Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! Ren - 6.5/10

Chuunibyou was a breath of fresh air for me. It was so different from all other romance anime I had seen at the time. It for sure has a slice of life vibe to it, but it was still so good! It reminded me of being in middle school and my “chuunibyou” phase. The second season was not as enjoyable as the first. I guess I just had higher expectations for Rikka and Yuuta.

7. Dr. Stone - 7/10

Dr. Stone is honestly such a perfect shounen for me. I’m a science nerd, and with taking AP Chem this year it was kind of nice to sorta apply my knowledge. This show also has some of the best reaction images ever. The tone, however, is a little inconsistent which made it hard to keep watching. I do love the relationship between Senku and his Dad, that whole sub-plot was so endearing.

8. Oshiete! Galko-chan - 6/10

This one only gets a low score because its so short and the op takes up like half an episode. This show had been in the back of my mind for a while. I decided to watch it after seeing a video essay discussing it. Its masterful subversion of tropes and stereotypes was refreshing. The message of this show is so positive, and everyone can benefit from watching something like this.

9. Mairimashita Iruma-kun - 5/10

The second half of Mairimashita Iruma-kun was so much better. I’m not completely sure why I didn’t like this as much as I should have. Overall, its a really average show. The comedy (and musical numbers???) give this show and charismatic and chaotic vibe. I’m someone who focuses primarily on character-character interactions, and this show definitely had it. It isn’t monogatari levels of dialogue but it’s still nice. For the studio’s low budget, they were able to make a really bright and colorful show. I’ll be watching season 2.

10. Byousoku 5 Centimeter - 8/10

Very. VERY. Pretty!! This one was another one that didn’t completely resonate with me emotionally. I still loved the story and the way it was told. Its not like Your Name or Tenki no Ko, it’s realistic and grounded.

11. Mob Psycho 100 - 8/10

Mob Psycho 100 II - 9/10

Style alone made Mob Psycho 100 so impressive. By the second half of each season I was emotional invested in Mob and his whole journey. Season 2 is receiving a higher score because it was able to make me cry. That’s something I NEVER expected. I’m mad I didn’t watch this sooner. It is a great balance of action, comedy, and heart.

12. Noragami Aragoto - 8/10

Not sure why I put off Norogami’s second season for so long. I absolutely loved it. The focus on Bishimon was a nice change of pace and it was great to see Yukine develop more as a character and begin to loose his arrogance. Kazuma was my favorite character in all of this. His ability to affect the people around him was presented nicely. I was emotionally invested the whole way through, and I’ll probably pick up the manga.

13. Ookami Shoujo to Kuro Ouji - 3/10

Ah yes. My least favorite thing on planet earth. This is a wonderful example of Shoujo at its worst. Their relationship was incredibly toxic, and the characters themselves were poorly developed and generic. The whole time all I could think was that I was watching normalized Stockholm Syndrome. Our MC deserves so much better.

14. Youjo Senki - 6/10

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t expecting to like Youjo Senki as much as I did. I’m not usually one for iesekai. The action was great, but the use of CGI bogged down scenes. I do NOT really like the protagonist that much because she came across as apathetic. Towards the end, I started to like her more. This was also my first military/warfare-focused anime. If either a movie or second season is made, I will probably not watch it.

15. Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica - 6.5/10

I wanted to like Madoka Magica more than I did. I really did. The style was compelling and the story was interesting. Especially in the beginning, a lot of the death and sad stuff didn’t feel all that sad. The last 4 episodes are a solid 8/10, I love time shenanigans. The emotions and character development really shined through in the end. Madoka is such an inherently kind-hearted person, I love her so much!

16. Yakusoku no Neverland - 8.5/10

I was expecting Yakusoku no Neverland to be more graphic, but I’m kind of glad it didn’t go that route. Like Madoka, the last four episodes had me really invested. However, the character development was not as rushed. It’s a smart show and welcomed change of pace. Emma is my favorite character and you bet I’ll be watching season 2. The more I think about this show, the more I appreciate it.

17. Mo Dao Zu Shi - 9/10

Mo Dao Zu Shi 2nd Season - 8/10

I know that is is technically a donghua, but I’m counting it as an anime because its on MAL. Amazing visuals and an incredibly layered story. Censorship makes it difficult to fully appreciate this work and its original novel. Even though I was confused for the first 2 episodes, Mo Dao Zu Shi did a great job of developing the time period and character relationships. The second season wasn’t as satisfying as the first but still great! I don’t think I’ll be watching the live action anytime soon, but I believe that a 3rd season is confirmed for 2020.

18. Banana Fish - 8.5/10

I knew nothing about Banana Fish going into it. Although I didn’t cry at the ending, it definitely made me feel some type of way. Kind of... numb. Banana Fish is painfully realistic. So much so that I had to take a break after episode 15 because I felt sick to my stomach. I also praise Banana Fish for it’s healthy, non-fetishized relationship representation. Eiji and Ash have such a complex but healthy relationship. I hope Banana Fish is able to pave the way for better representation in media.

19. Promare - 5/10

Why do people praise Promare so much? I hated how predictable it was. The whole movie felt like a 2 hour animation flex for Trigger. The only character in this movie that didn’t manage to piss me off it some way was Lio. The only other thing I’ve seen by studio Trigger is Kill la Kill, so compared to that, this felt like such a step down. :( I was disappointed.

20. Given - 6/10

Given made me both sad and made me want to start a band. Overall the animation is nothing special, I do like the reactions that some of the characters had. Especially that “It’s Mutual” gif set. I couldn’t get over how much Ritsuka looks like Kageyama. My only complaint was how rushed Mafuyu and Ritsuka’s relationship felt. More time should have been dedicated to Mafuyu dealing with and moving past the loss in his life. All that said, I’m still watching the movie.

21. Enen no Shouboutai - 5/10

Generic Shounen, bad ending, great animation. Need I say more? I did not watch Soul Eater (made by same creator), but this was enjoyable. Really cool fights, not so cool character development. A lot of the explanations towards the end felt like complete bull shit. Same energy as using fancy sounding science words to explain things.

22. Hataraku Maou-Sama - 5.5/10

This is another show I felt I would’ve liked more if I watched it when I was younger. The iesekai trope is so beaten down that classics like this don’t really carry as much weight as they originally did. A 24 episode season with more Slice of Life episodes would’ve benefited this series greatly.

23. BNA - 7/10

BNA, in my opinion, was so much better than Promare. Like Hataraku Maou-sama, BNA would’ve benefited from a longer season with more Slice of Life Episodes. Trigger’s newer animation is beautiful and I really hope BNA gets renewed for a second season. The ending was cliche as hell, but still really enjoyed this show!

24. Devilman: Crybaby - 7/10

A.K.A. The one show I’ve got to watch when I know I’m alone. The use of multiple languages besides Japanese in the sub was a unique take. The animation was also a little jarring at first, but I came to love it. The themes in this are not the most positive. The end left me feeling numb, but also appreciative. Ryo pissed me off as soon as he tried to kill that cat, so it was hard to sympathize with him in the very end. It is a really good show, but also sickening, Watch at your own discretion.

238 notes · View notes

dullanyan · 4 years

Text

magia record girls ranked by how clean their hair is

this is only gonna be a few of them btw, not All of them, sorry if i didnt write about your fav.

iroha- very polite girl, definitely clean. super long and well brushed, braided, etc.

yachiyo- smooth and silky, shes a model so you know shes probably got some high quality conditioner

tsuruno- average but she brushes and otherwise takes good care of herself, nothing special. probably got some tips from yachiyo

felicia- if it werent for her living with yachiyo, it would be awful. but since shes got a whole adopted family of clean girls, she too is clean.

sana- i feel like her hair quality wasnt great til she started living with yachiyo. her parents didnt care for her so she probably did the bare minimum to be clean. but she probably bonds w the others by brushing each others hair and yachiyo ONLY provides that high quality shampoo and conditioner

momoko- average like tsuruno i imagine, probably a bit better since its so long and she does those braids. an idol probably sponsored some hair care product and she bought it

rena- shes very stuck up so she uses high quality stuff, definitely. it makes her hair soft and silky.

kaede- probably uses some home made stuff with all organic materials. might be a bit strange but it gets the job done; fluffy, soft hair.

mitama- as the coordinator she has an image to maintain and so she takes exceptional care of her hair, probably either on par with or second to yachiyo.

madoka- about like iroha, shes got fluffy soft hair.

homura (glasses)- pre-incel phase. soft and silky hair

homura- shes too focused on being edgy and sad that madoka has fates that ARENT being with her so her hair is all greasy and stringy.

mami- acts like she uses high quality stuff but really its just really aromatic. those drills are pretty thin...

sayaka- average as well

kyouko- shes living on her own and apparently living with yuma. probably washes yuma’s hair more than her own. (this will count as yuma’s as well.) its not the best but its something. and her own is just, not the best.

nanaka- average, a little under yachiyo’s quality

akira- it may be short but its super fluffy. she washes it very well, but nothing special.

meiyui- shes got really silky hair, definitely premium quality shampoo and conditioner from the Blue Sea’s Family(tm) connections.

kako- also average, maybe a little dry since a bookstore is the opposite of a humid environment

tsukasa and tsukuyo- both probably had average hair, tsukuyo’s was probably better since she had an image to maintain. but now its probably a bit above average, they might help each other with their hair care.

mifuyu- its really soft and fluffy, probably not as great since she stopped using the conditioner provided by yachiyo.

alina- im a bit torn on this one. she either uses some pretentious tiger shit shampoo that costs $30000 or just leaves her hair with bits of anish kapoor’s toxic paints dried in it. her hair is probably just greasy but it looks silky. horrible to touch.

karin- probably washes her hair too much bc she doesnt know its bad for her yet. but shes still very clean and nice

mel- it was very soft and fluffy, so its average.

kanae- probably pretty greasy. but in her final months-year(?) she was living with yachiyo so she might not be as bad really.

darc- she was a late medieval-early renaissance peasant, so while it was cared for more than say, a noble’s wouldve been, she cleaned it with like, ashes or plant oil or something.

liz and melissa- probably the same quality as darc, melissa probably a bit more

corbeau- i feel like shes too busy being antagonistic to worry about her hair. i mean, its pretty obvious its not the best.

ria- a model so shes on par with yachiyo.

manaka- has an image to maintain for her fathers restaurant, so its very well cared for. probably only a bit messy to move it out of the way when preparing food.

asuka- very silky but probably a little greasy. she works out a lot but she seems pretty clean.

sasara- average and silky

konomi- probably like kaede, uses organic home grown floral stuff. but it works well.

ren- silky, definitely. she may be depressed but i feel like she still takes good care of her hair.

alright its 3 am im not doing all of them. maybe later if anyone cared to read this far. once again sorry if i didnt do ur fav :c

#magireco #magia record #mawcie.txt #idk why i did this #long post

32 notes · View notes

takerfoxx · 4 years

Text

An entirely too long ramble about how much Imperfect Metamorphosis means to me

(Tumblr please actually show that submissions are not just text posts please)

So. It’s almost the last day of the decade. I usually get weirdly sad and nostalgic in the last 30 minutes of New Year’s Eve, but this time it’s been like, a whole week, and I’ve been reflecting on this decade as a whole as well as like, my path in life.

The 1990’s were the decade of my birth and early life.

The 2000’s were the decade of being REALLY into Harry Potter.

And my 2010’s were, wholly and singularly, defined and shaped by Touhou.

I got into Touhou sometime around Easter 2010 when McRoll’d came into my YouTube feed, and something about the music was just so god damned catchy I just had to know where it came from. So I discovered Flandre’s fight and from there, I learned just how great the music of this weird bullet hell game made by some rando in Japan. It quickly became my Thing. When I wasn’t playing sucking at the games, I was listening to the music, and if I wasn’t listening to the music, I was at school (where I’d probably not be paying attention let’s be real here).

So there I was, happily consuming fanart and fansongs and fangames and doing that little smile in appreciation when you see a reference to a thing you like (shoutout to raocow for also playing a few Touhou fangames way back when). It expanded my gaming interests into the sphere of “modding games to make them harder can be fun and cool”, which then lead to a general interest in playing modded and moddable games. It even made me interested in visiting Japan (on my bucket list), not in that stereotypical “weeb” way of visiting all the anime and manga stores, but more in the “something I like put a country on my radar and holy shit some of those restaurants, l want to eat at ALL of these places because they’re gorgeous” way.

You’ll notice that I specifically withheld from mentioning Fanfiction. See, as a teenager who did have the “try something once and if I don’t like it I’ll probably hate it forever because it’s always like that” mentality, I had the unfortunate experience of coming across My Immortal.

That, and the fact that one of my close friends in High School had taken to reading Twilight Fanfic (and complaining at almost every story she read and their bad use of tropes) kinda solidified fanfiction as “something dumb and stupid written by people who solely want to roleplay fucking the protagonist”. And on that pedestal sat the entire concept of fanfiction for a long-ass time (actually it was about a year and a bit).

Fast forward a while. Patchouli had cemented herself as All Time Favourite Character, I’d begun to grow out of my Harry Potter phase in search of new stories, and I’d made some new friends, one of whom said they read fanfiction all the time and some of it was actually better than original, published books because they had the freedom to explore ideas that weren’t entirely publishable. But also to roleplay fuck their waifus.

At some point in Summer 2011, not too long after it came out, I decided to replay Portal 2, and something about the story left me feeling… incomplete. Empty. I sought people discussing what they thought of the story and hidden nuggets of info peppered throughout the game, and at some long buried comment section on YouTube, someone mentioned how some fanfiction went into a headcanon and took it further. I read it, considered it for a moment, deemed it worthy of being called “not trash”, and immediately set to looking at the Touhou section on FF.net.

The first fanfics I read of Touhou were… Well, they were. There were some good ones and not so good ones. But they were all, in some way, at least interesting. I quickly discovered the frustration that New Friend had brought up once, of when you discover something great but it’s over all too soon. Setting FF.net’s search to include only 100k and up fanfics, I was delighted to discover that there was a fanfiction called “Imperfect Metamorphosis” that was over 350,000 words long. And then my carefully crafted plan of going to bed at a sensible time to maximise Summer Gaming Time was devoured by staying up until 4:30am, reading fanfiction on a shitty laptop that could barely run UFO. Thank fuck it was the summer holidays.

There was something special about Imperfect Metamorphosis. The characters all had their own personality, their own history, their own implied history beyond what was written, they had goals, thoughts, feelings, and different takes towards other people working to further their own goals. And it was all wrapped up in a package that started with a simple premise, grew to encompass a world more broad than mere canon or fanon, and then billowed into an eldritch monster of ungodly size (hi, Yuuka!)((kind of like this post huh)).

I was so fucking hooked on IM. I went back to school with theories buzzing about my brain as to what was going to end up happening, my mind wandering to the latest chapter and the bits I thought were cool, actually having the drive to focus and actually learn something about story structure in English Literature. I suddenly had the tiniest flame of interest in creating. Maybe one day I could write fanfic, and do my tiny part in expanding the universe of fan-content.

Regardless of the fact that my own attempts at conjuring stories weren’t successful (for a while), IM was there to be read throughout my last years of Normal Schooling, and it served as both a rock and an escape from the stress of school. I laughed with the jokes, I took Marisa’s death harder than the sum total of Harry Potter’s entire bodycount, and I could never hear Soulja Boi without thinking of Mima trolling Satori.

Just like how Touhou expanded my gaming and cultural horizons, Imperfect Metamorphosis expanded my horizon with Literature. I got into reading Neil Gaiman’s work, I read some Lovecraft, I consumed all kinds of works of fiction, across a multitude of genres, which all felt, in some way, like I was reading them because of IM. I mean I only started watching Madoka, and any anime beyond that, because of Resonance Days. Interesting way of coming across a show filled to the brim with spoilers.

It’s been three years since you put Imperfect Metamorphosis onto hiatus, and I have never read anything that has filled me with such emotion to the same extent. Other things have come close, some of them were even written by other people! (the most recent mega-update of Walpurgis Nights hit me particularly hard). And Swiftly Descending Darkness has been such a great read thus far, the slowly ramping tension is so. god. damned. good.

And as I think I mentioned a while back, I finally managed to start grinding out a touhou fic at my own, absolutely glacial, pace. I always find myself asking “is this canon to Touhou, or is it just canon to IM?”. The line has forever blurred in my mind.

I’m not asking anyone to read my work. This isn’t a plea for you to return to the original IM at any speed, I just wanted to say thank you.

Thank you for writing Imperfect Metamorphosis. For the work that’s been a steady constant throughout the vast, vast majority of this decade. For inspiring a wealth of emotions and ideas in the mind of a British guy who you’ll never meet. For just, plain writing a good story.

And for making Marisa the biggest badass to grace the land.

Here’s to the 2020’s not sucking, and to the ever expanding list of stories written by Internet user Takerfoxx. Here’s hoping you find great success.

Thank you.

P.S. Oh, and The Friend Who Said Fanfic Was Good Actually? They’re now my Fiancée, as of last month. Funny how the world works like that.

@diggertron, dude, you honestly have me feeling pretty humbled right now. I have to admit, it’s getting harder and harder not to see anything but the flaws when I look back on IM or RD, to the point when anyone compliments me about my writing my reflexive response is to be self-deprecating about my weaknesses, but this has helped me gain some more perspective about my older work, and for that I thank you, and am glad you have stuck around for so many years.

And congratulations on your engagement as well!

8 notes · View notes

ask-shakespearehigh · 5 years

Note

in true highschooler fashion i must know.... who are the weebs and the gamers of the cast

Aster’s Kids

(( [name]*= has responded/been mentioned/is set, but has not appeared in design))

Macbeth

Macbeth— no, he did homestuck but he doesn’t really do games and has seen one (1) anime, bc of Banquo (it was FMA:B)

Lady— she’s “too pretty to know what that (anime) is”

Banquo— he’s like. Casually anime. FMA and FMA:B, Yu Yu Hakusho, he had an Inuyasha phase briefly, and he’s big into Pokemon. He doesn’t do much console or PC gaming, but he has a DS and he plays Pokemon games, Stardew Valley (if that’s on DS???), and Animal Crossing (he likes. Chill task based games)

Macduff— will play smash and Mario Kart at parties and is decent

Duncan— nah

Malcolm— dumb shoujo anime/manga is his secret guilty pleasure

Donalbain— he plays indie games. He got Very into Undertale. He likes Bastion, One Hand Clapping, and Cave Story.

Twelfth Night

Viola— their family owns a Wii and she fucking kills it at Wii Sports. Also Mario Kart. She’d be better at Smash if she didn’t insist on always playing as Kirby.

Sebastian— same as Viola.

Antonio— he’s played overwatch. That’s about it though

Duke— he’s seen a few anime, mostly via Netflix surfing. He actually really likes Ouran.

Olivia— nah

Malvolio— nah

Taming of the Shrew

Kate— nah

Bianca— nah

Petruchio— he feels like he plays some sorta FPS

Julius Caesar

Julius— nah

Calpurnia— animal crossing sometimes

Cassius— yes he’s anime but it’s a secret and he will Never admit it

Brutus— he’s anime and Will admit it but no one has ever asked

Octavius — he plays fortnite but he hates that he does so

The Tempest

Miranda— fire emblem baybee

Caliban*

Prospero*

Much Ado About Nothing

Beatrice— probably but idk what

Benedick— same

Borachio

Others

Antony— Smash and Mario Kart at parties and stuff. Got very hyped about Dream Daddy, it was ironic at first but then.

Cleopatra— same as Lady.

Star’s Kids

Hamlet

Hamlet (Tristson) - no. Watches horatio and ophelia instead of playing bc he has “better things to do”

Ophelia (Elskerson) - beats her brothers ass in smash. Mains peach and isabelle. Has played stardew valley. Also mario kart

Horatio (Venson) - plays smash w ophelia and sometimes w yorick. Mains fox and ness. Surprisingly good at mario kart.

Laertes (Elskerson) - has gotten his ass beat in smash. Mains ganondorf and bowser but he sucks at it lol. Aggressively hype abt wii games for no reason

Yorick - hes baby but he has played smash.

Fortinbras - hes too busy studying

Rosencrantz* - yeah both but i dont rlly care abt them sorry :(

Guildenstern* - “”

Gertrude* - no

Claudius* - no

Hamlet’s Dad* - no

Romeo and Juliet

Romeo (Montague) - YES the montacrew has game nights (smash, mario kart, just dance) Benny made him watch ouran and his favorite is tamaki

Juliet (Capulet) - has played mario kart w tybalt but isnt rlly a gamer girl. She likes shoujo anime a Lot and loves cardcaptor sakura

Mercutio (Prince) - KING OF JUST DANCE!!!!!!! KING. Owned a sasuke body pillow on a dare from romeo in middle school. Benny got rid of it. Has seen princess jellyfish

Benvolio (Montague) - shounen stan for the most part. Fairy tail, naruto, dragonball etc. watches slice of life to make fun of it for being cliche. Cried really hard at the nina tucker episode of fma:b

Tybalt (Capulet) - i feel like….he plays overwatch….and mains hanzo

Paris (Bellarico) - has seen episodes of bnha and sailor moon but isnt an avid anime fan. Thinks the 90’s anime aesthetic is sweet

Escalus (Prince) - owned a gamecube growing up and loves pokemon. Slides references to them in his homework like a NERD.

Rosaline*

Othello

Othello (Cuore) - mario kart and smash (doesnt main anyone he likes trying out every character but thinks big mac is fun even tho hes not rlly good at the game) he likes pokemon but doesnt play the games. Watched the anime growing up.

Desdemona (Di’Bianca) - “”””fake”””” gamer girl energy but she’s already tracer AND widowmaker. Good luck stopping her. Sipped a grande low-fat whip caramel macchiato while watching the E3 stream.

Iago (Ilmale) - HE LIKES SONIC UNIRONICALLY BC HE GREW UP W IT. He’s seen some classic shounen anime like bleach and tried bnha. Liked bakugou.

(Michael) Cassio - played persona. Catches himself singing Last Surprise under his breath. Thinks akira kurusu is really hot. Hes right. Has yet to try anime but hes interested

Roderigo (Ingenuo) - i wanna say hes played like dating sims? But not gross creepy ones i mean like from indie artists. Undertale fucked him up real bad.

Emilia (Ilmale) - she likes women she hopped on revolutionary girl utena and keeps searching for wlw anime. Bloom into you got her messed up rn

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Puck (Robin Goodfellow) - runs a gaming channel on youtube and watches a Lot of anime. Definitely has a lot of merch

Oberon (Kingsman) - anime and game nights at his house! Owns dream daddy for the gay rights.

Titania (Queensland) - realized she was gay after watching sailor moon and the “””cousins”””. Pretty good at video games. Has the persona dancing star night game for seemingly no reason (its for ann)

Peaseblossom - LOVED princess tutu and never shuts up about it. Plays the hall om mig amv all the time

Moth - sings anime ops randomly for no reason. Mains the cute characters on smash

Cobweb - married tharja in fates for the goth rights. Mains bayonetta.

Mustardseed - MINECRAFT.

Hermia - puella magica madoka girl. LOVES the magical girl aesthetic. Started sewing bows onto her dresses

Lysander - the designated gamer of the 4. Immediately attaches to pretty boys in animes. Claimed he was a “bishounen” himself when he was like 14 and the rest havent let him live it down.

Helena - likes mystery/horror anime like baccano and tokyo ghoul

Demetrius - action shounen stan. Owns an akatsuki cloak

Nick Bottom* - watches hentai

Puck’s Dad 1 (Puck based) - pokemon champion fire red

Puck’s Dad 2 (Oberon based) - pokemon champion leaf green

Love’s Labor’s Lost

Ferdinand - started playing volleyball bc he likes haikyuu. didnt think hed get this far

Birone - thinks fma:b is the peak of anime and hes right.

Longaville - likes the boxing anime (cant remember what its called) and smash (mains ryu)

Dumaine - hes the video of the drunk guy making all of the noises in the crash bandicoot game

Princess - she Is revolutionary girl utena

Rosalina - won’t ever admit it but does watch some anime from time to time.

Katherine - hibiki girls euphonium stan even tho she doesnt play an instrument

Maria - got tricked into playing fortnite once. Plays minecraft on peaceful and is rlly excited about bees being in the game

Others

William Shakespeare - “anne whats a waifu”

Anne Shakespeare - has a pkmn card collection. Loves sylveon

#shakespeare #mod star #mod aster #UGHHHHHH #all

20 notes · View notes

deann1120 · 4 years

Note

What are your thoughts on Western Magical Girls shows compare to anime Magical Girls ? like Winx Club, W.I.T.C.H, Lolirock, Miraculous Ladybug, and Mysticons. How are they compare anime Magical Girls shows and what are they missing from anime Magical Girls shows ?

Hello! I have no idea how long ago anon sent me this since I never got a notification for it and I just checked my inbox by chance, so I’m sorry if this is like months late op lol.

As for your questions, I haven’t familiarized myself with Westernized magical girl shows as much as their Japanese counterparts. I got into the magical girl fandom (and, by extension, anime as a whole) when I saw Glitter Force (the dubbed Smile PreCure) on Netflix. Since then, I’ve enjoyed the formula used in magical girl anime.

I did grow up watching some non-Asian cartoons that could be included as magical girl shows— Winx Club (a little bit), W.I.T.C.H. But as a 2000s kid, there weren’t really many shows I watched that fell into the category. Arguably, Steven Universe kind of set off this magical girl revolution of the later 2010s, with popular shows that followed like Lolirock, Miraculous Ladybug, Star vs. The Forces of Evil, etc.

While I plan to watch Steven Universe after I finish my anime, the only other Western-ish cartoons I was really interested in were RWBY and Lolirock. Besides that, most other non-Japanese magical girl shows haven’t really caught my eye. I did watch the pilot of Mysticons but I wasn’t compelled to keep watching. Here’s what I see that’s different about the two:

One of my guilty pleasures of magical girl anime are the transformations—it’s one of the reasons why I love Pretty Cure so much. They’re elaborate, vivid, and beautifully animated (most of them). If I look up a video on YouTube for a non-Asian magical girl show, it’s probably to watch the transformation. Most shows either have a 5 second animation or nothing at all—a few exceptions being Winx Club, Miraculous Ladybug, Lolirock. I’m not saying not having elaborate transformations is a bad thing, but they’re kinda what drew me into watching the rest of Pretty Cure in the first place. This point is more of a personal thing.

One pro that specifically Western magical shows have over their anime counterparts is the diversity. There’s that Twitter post I reblogged and had a fit over that basically bashed Western magical girls for not all being white and/or skinny (among other things). As feminist as most magical girl anime are, it’s a rarity to see a magical girl that doesn’t fit into a long-overdue standard. As much as I love Pretty Cure, I can’t ignore the fact that they had “International Cures” who were only themed after stereotypes of their countries in HappinessCharge. Luckily, America in particular has taken a different approach with characters like Emerald and Amber in RWBY and Garnet and Connie in Steven Universe who, as far as I can tell, have fleshed out identities and personalities. She-Ra and the Princesses of Power also gave the titular heroine a body shape that actually resembles that of a young girl who would watch the show. America is a little more progressive when it comes to people who aren’t white and have the physique of a Barbie doll, and it allows for a wider audience to feel empowered and valued by these characters. There isn’t much difference in sexuality, as magical girl anime is gay as hell, but I know there was a literal wlw wedding in Steven Universe, so,,,

Bonus pro for non-Asian magical girl shows: BARELY ANY UNNCESSARY FANSERVICE

Most magical girl anime fall into one of two categories: 1) this is for 8 year olds, or 2) if you show your child this, they will die of trauma. Non-Asian magical girl shows tend to fall in the first category. I mean, yeah, some shows have their pretty dark moments, but not to the level of shit like Puella Magi Madoka Magica or Magical Girl Raising Project. Did you know there’s an episode of Ojamajo Doremi where Aiko’s dad almost accidentally drowns her in the tub as a child, and she has a deep fear of water afterwards? Doremi was a kids’ show, but Jesus Christ, sometimes it didn’t hold back. And I don’t not watch magical girl shows because they’re not edgy and dark; they just don’t interest me as much.

So why don’t I watch a lot of non-Japanese magical girls? The short answer: there is no good reason. I have a lot of other TV shows, animated and live action, that I wanna watch, and I just have so much other shit on my plate. I’m kinda still in this anime phase that I’ve been in since 2017, and right now I like to focus on magical girl anime since it was my stepping stone into anime. I might watch more non-Asian magical girls in the future, but for now, I wanna finish other things.

A final note: I don’t know if op was trying to ask this directly, but I feel like I should answer the question of whether I prefer Western or Eastern magical girls. The answer: I don’t know. I haven’t seen enough non-Asian shows to give a definitive answer.

#magical girl anime #magical girls #answer #long fuckin post #sorry again for the late reply op

3 notes · View notes

ghosthunthq · 5 years

Text

Are We Breaking Up, or Is It Just the Heat?

She served him unfiltered Earl Grey tea. Post-canon.

For: @sprghosthunter

By: @dreams-of-kalopsia

Prompt: Noll having his tea leaves read (before or after the series)

Hi, sprghosthunter! Here’s your fic~ :3 Thank you for your prompt; I didn’t know anything about tasseography before, so writing this was an educational experience for me. The title is still subject to change since I just wrote the first one that came to mind. Suggestions are very welcome. XD Anyway, I hope you enjoy the story! ^u^

____

The past three weeks had been rather… trying.

June had quickly switched to July, like a spark that set Japan on fire. To Noll, whose body could not ventilate itself as efficiently as an average human’s could, any venture outside his apartment or the office was hell. On particularly hot days he would hole himself up in his apartment and leave the office to Lin, who never failed to set out in time to open SPR at 10 AM. On cooler days, or when he needed to consult a reference book in the office library, as was often the case, Noll would begrudgingly take the cab to Shibuya early in the morning, his mood spoiled for the rest of the day.

It did not help that whenever he mustered the effort to go to the office, he was forced to put up with the usual bothersome rabble. Yasuhara had recently started part-timing again despite being well into law school, saying that he needed the money to get his air conditioner repaired, but Noll could tell that it was just an excuse to stay somewhere closer to his school. The others had been shamelessly and unapologetically forthright with their intentions, much to his annoyance. It also did not help that Mai was on leave until she finishes gathering data for her thesis, which meant there was no one to remind those noisy people to keep their daily contributions to the world’s noise pollution to a minimum.

Thinking of Mai only turned his spoiled mood absolutely rotten.

Despite being gone from work for three weeks, she never thought to phone and check up on her workplace. He understood that data gathering was a time-consuming, important step in writing an excellent thesis, and he would have overlooked her radio silence had the others been treated the same way. But according to what he would overhear from the chatter outside his office (and, given the noisiness, he heard a lot), Mai had been in contact with everyone else but him. That presented the possibility that she had developed some sort of aversion to him. Perhaps all the months they had spent together finally convinced her that his bad personality would never change, and she grew tired of it.

Noll knew what was happening. He had heard about this situation from Madoka before, witnessed Gene use it as an excuse to almost every girlfriend he had lost interest in. The time of onset at eight months into the relationship seemed to fit, too.

‘End of her honeymoon phase?’ Gene laughingly said through their mental link the last time he had woken up, completely unaffected by Noll’s death glare. ‘I can assure you, Noll, the real thing’s so much messier and more troublesome.’

Coming from someone who had the attention span of a goldfish when it came to relationships, Noll did not feel the least bit assured.

The hot summer days dragged on without any reprieve from his rotten mood. He soon started wondering if he could blast the whole world away.

His suspicion came to a head the day Mai returned from her leave. She acted so normal, so happy to be back.

And then she served him unfiltered Earl Grey tea.

Noll stared blankly at the cup, watching the floating tea leaves sink to the bottom. “Do you expect me to drink this, Mai?” he asked just as blankly.

“Yup,” Mai answered with an eager nod. “But before you start drinking, you have to think about what could happen in your immediate future, and keep thinking about it while you drink.”

He narrowed his eyes in distrust, but her eagerness did not waver even under his scrutiny. “What are you planning?”

“To read your tea.”

Tasseography?

“Why?”

“Because I learned it recently and wanted to try it.” She checked the cup’s temperature with the back of her hand before gently pushing it towards him. “Drink it while the temp is right. Leave a tablespoon’s worth, though.”

Noll considered glaring and shooting down her request, but he knew that that would not work on her. It never did. Nevertheless, he glared at her as he sipped the tea to express his displeasure, ignoring the uncomfortable sensation of loose leaves brushing against his lips.

While he knew enough about tasseography to disqualify it as an authentic demonstration of ESP, he decided to momentarily suspend his disbelief in favor of Mai. He reflected on the question she wanted him to ask.

His immediate future… Why would it interest her? Was there some event in his future that she wanted him to be aware of?

A breakup, for example?

If this was how she had planned to break up with him, she sure was putting too much effort into it. Noll would have to appreciate the painstaking way she chose to end things. He should make it easier for her, then, as courtesy.

He swallowed against the sudden bitterness of the Earl Grey.

In a few minutes, the cup of tea dwindled into a tablespoon of tea. Using his left hand, he swirled the teacup three times counter-clockwise before inverting it on the saucer. Then he rotated the cup three times again at Mai’s signal. As he turned it upright with the handle facing south, he surreptitiously rearranged some leaves into certain shapes.

Twisted figures, to denote disturbances. A deer, denoting quarrels or disputes. A raven, disappointment in love. Scissors, separation of lovers.

Four ominous symbols. Those should help her open the topic so they could get this over with quickly.

“Let’s see…” Mai said, pulling up a chair to sit across from him. She peered into the cup and concentrated on the figures formed by the leaves.

He unconsciously held his breath.

“I see an… uh… umbrella on the rim?” She pointed at one of the figures he had distorted with his PK. “You must be experiencing difficulty and annoyance recently.”

It appeared to him more like a mushroom than an umbrella, but he held his tongue. It was not like she was wrong with her interpretation.

“I also see… a ladder. And a line going west. There’s a ship, too, and… a bird?” She squinted. “A swallow. So I guess you’ll have a successful journey westward, and it’ll have a pleasant ending.”

Noll studied the scattered tea leaves in the cup. Aside from the symbols he had formed, he could barely see anything else. His brows furrowed. Was Mai looking at the same things as him?

“At the bottom… there’s an abbey, surrounded by squares. You’ll eventually be free from worry and find comfort and peace.”

None of the symbols she just mentioned were in his teacup. Now that he thought about it, she could not have possibly found time to memorize tasseography symbols and their meanings while preparing to write her thesis, much less learn to read tea leaves. Her swift, confident reading and interpretation could only mean that she had memorized this particular set of symbols beforehand, and that she had been merely pretending this whole time.

He regarded her with a cold glare. “Mai. Stop wasting my time and get straight to your point.”

Mai had the nerve to look sheepish. “Ehehe~ You got me,” she easily surrendered as she produced a white letter envelope from her jacket. She handed it to him.

It contained a flight ticket to London via Heathrow. His flight ticket. He met her gaze with wide-eyed confusion.

“I thought you needed a vacation,” she answered his unsaid question with a smile and explained further, “So I talked to your parents, Madoka-san, and Lin-san as soon as I was free. They were happy to arrange things. I also cleared up our schedules for that time period; I’ll take care of the office while you’re away.”

“What makes you think I needed it?” he finally managed to ask.

“Well…” Mai propped an elbow on the table, resting her chin on one hand. Her other hand held up a finger for each of her reasons: “I heard from Ayako and Masako that you’ve been unbearably grumpy for weeks now. Bou-san complained that you rejected seven promising cases consecutively. John told me he’s worried about your health because you barely step out of your office. Even Yasu volunteered to take care of you in my stead, though honestly he just wanted to stay in the office because your ‘colder treatment than usual added to the air-conditioning’.” She chuckled. “I figured the heat was getting to you.”

“You sure have a lot of free time, chatting with the others in the middle of data gathering,” he commented, his tone disapproving and acerbic.

“Of course not! But they kept calling even if I don’t answer. It was really bothersome!” She crinkled her nose, then smiled again. “But at least I got updates on you and the office.”

With this piece of information, Noll’s earlier suspicion was dispelled, and for once he willingly acknowledged that his brother had been right all along.

He released a long sigh, weary but relieved. If he had gone so low as to jump to an irrational conclusion, then the heat must really be affecting his mental processes. Maybe he did need to go home for a while, at least until it cooled down in Japan.

For him to accept the time off, though, he required one condition met.

He slid the envelope back to Mai to start bargaining for it. “I don’t need it.”

Her smile fell. “What do you mean you don’t? Haven’t you been in a constant bad mood lately?”

He shrugged. “I feel fine.”

“Just take a few weeks off, Naru,” she said as she slammed her hands on the table, her frustration visibly mounting.

He raised a brow. “And leave the office to you?”

“Yes! It’s not like you haven’t done it before!”

She was right, so he disregarded her reply.

“I’d rather keep working.”

“I won’t let you work yourself to exhaustion!”

He crossed his arms and scoffed at her words. “Well, what will you do, come with me to Cambridge just to make sure I’m taking a break?”

“If I have to!”

There it is.

Noll took the envelope. “It’s settled, then.”

“Wh-What?” Mai spluttered, thrown off by his abrupt turnaround.

“You said you’ll come with me to Cambridge.”

“Eh—You were serious?! I thought you were mocking me!”

He gave her a dull look. “Am I the type of person who took vacations?”

“N-No.”

“So do you think I’ll stop working just because someone told me to?”

“I guess not…” she agreed but still looked unsure.

“You look like you need the break more than I do, anyway.”

She scowled at him. “Hey, what do you mean by that?!”

“It means I want you to come with me.”

Noll watched, amused and secretly in awe, as Mai’s angry expression froze, morphed into open-mouthed surprise, and became flushed with a radiant smile.

“Okay,” she finally said.

He couldn’t help smiling back.

For the first and last time in his life, he believed what was foretold in his tea. Mai had read him well.

____

References:

- “Tea-Cup Reading, and the Art of Fortune-Telling by Tea Leaves” (2006) by A Highland Seer, found in the Project Gutenberg website.

- “Your Essential Guide to Tasseography, the Practice of Reading Tea Leaves” (2018), an article by Aliza Kelly Faragher, found in Allure’s website.

- “Tasseography Symbols for Reading Coffee or Tea Leaves: What Do the Forms in Your Coffee or Tea Cup Mean?” (2019) by Lindsey Goodwin, found in The Spruce Eats website.

#Ghost Hunt #GHW2019 #Naru #oliver davis #Mai Taniyama #sprghosthunter #Dreams-of-kalopsia #submission

52 notes · View notes

wheremytwinwatches · 4 years

Text

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

*comment shared a comic shipping Sayaka and Kyoko*

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

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

Jeebus.

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

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

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

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

Why did you just throw the Grief Seed

Why did you just throw the Grief Seed to Kyoko

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

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

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

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

Intro of Lies

Ep 8: I was Stupid… So Stupid

Later, as it’s raining…

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

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

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

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

“What’s ‘good for me’?”

Uh oh.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wait.

Ep 8: I Was Stupid… So Stupid

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

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

“Then you fight them.”

What.

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

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

Sayaka, stahp.

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

Ok, that’s just unfair, Sayaka.

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

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

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

AND STOP DOING THE CREEPY STARES.

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

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

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

And Jerk-Sayaka runs along- crying?

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

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

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

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

Whut.

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

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

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

...what Statistics?

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

Kyubey

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Homura flips her hair and-

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Oh no. no no no.

die.”

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

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

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

“...then I…”

Raised hand.

“...will kill you…”

Bright purple light.

“...here and now. Sayaka Miki.”

Run. Run run RUN!

Homura pulled back? What?

KYOKO!

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

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

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

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

But she can still do something with her shield?

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

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

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

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

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

Wait, when did Sayaka stand up?

“Hey, tell me more about her.”

Um, Sayaka?

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

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

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

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

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

Kyubey

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

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

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

But

Oh no

Madoka, NO.

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

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

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

“If I had made the contract with you…”

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

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

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

Will we ever get an answer for this?

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

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

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

Wait. I’m seeing possibilities here.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Madoka says that it would. For Sayaka.

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

Madoka will do it. Make her into a mag

WHAT

BUNNY-CAT IS SWISS CHEESE

WHAT

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

What

Homura?! What the hell?!

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

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

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

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

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

Homura… are you…?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Whoa, what?!

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

Kyubey?! You’re alive?

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

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

...what.

So Kyubey’s alive, and

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

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

Kyubey is a clone or whatever or what?

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

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

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

“That was Time Magic, wasn’t it?”

Time Magic?

TIME MAGIC?!

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

YOU GUYS

HOMURA IS A TIME TRAVELER

THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Or should I say, ‘Incubator’?”

Incubator? What does…

Oh.

Oh shit.

Kyubey’s been storing the Grief Seeds.

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

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

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

Kyubey is Anti-Kyubey!

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

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

You son of a bitch! You killed Mami!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“I was stupid… so stupid.”

Whoa what the hell?

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

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

Your Soul Gem just broke

That

That is a Grief Seed

Your Soul Gem just turned into a Grief Seed

What

“Sayaka!”

I… what…

Construction site.

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

No. No no no no NO NO NO

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

…

what.

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

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

Episode 9: I’d Never Allow That To Happen

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

1 note · View note

thefloatingstone · 6 years

Note

Heya! I was just wondering, why don't you like magical-girl horror games/tv shows? (This isn't meant to be confrontational at all, I'm just wondering! :3)

Hey anon! :D no worries! This didn’t come across as confrontational at all!

This is gonna be largely more anecdotal than factual, and the factual parts will come from other people’s posts more than what I’ve made myself, and whose opinions on this I found as explaining emotions I’d felt myself for a while, without knowing how to articulate it.

(Under the cut because this is gonna be a lot of words. And gifs because of course I put gifs in things)

So I’ve been a Sailor Moon fan since I was about 13. (this is not the reason WHY I dislike grimdark Magical Girl Shows but its a good place to start). the Sailor Moon R movie was the very first DVD I ever bought and the first thing I ever saw of the show (I had seen anime before and had a good idea what it was but this was my first experience with Magical girls and Sailor Moon). And I remember very clearly how enthralled 13 year old me was at this story. About these girls a year older than I was, fighting this bad guy from outer space who badly injured Usagi’s boyfriend. And that no matter HOW MUCH Usagi reached out to the bad guy to try and understand him, just how much he RESISTED her friendship. I remember the scene where he grabs the Silver Crystal on her chest and tries to rip it off little me actively thought “holy shit! This guy just WILL NOT STOP!! How on earth can he be stopped if he just KEEPS COMING???”

But of course, in the end, Sailor Moon is able to reach him. She is able to offer understanding for his sadness, and when he finally realises her sincerity, he is “defeated” BUT. More Importantly. He is the one who ends up saving Sailor Moon’s life at the end as a last goodbye gift to Mamoru, the boy he was in love with and who Sailor Moon loves as well. Before he leaves forever.

So a thing here. Not ONCE while watching the film the first time, did I EVER think to myself “Just stab him, Sailor Moon!” or “Stop trying to reach him and just kill him!!”. Like, NONE of those thoughts came to mind. I was fully invested in seeing Sailor Moon stop the bad guy, not by stabbing or killing him, but by REACHING HIM.

So anyway. We move on and for a while as a teenager I went through that dumb phase where I thought every magical girl show was a “Sailor Moon Rip off” and that they must all be bad because of it! In part it was true, as Sailor Moon was the first Magical Girl show that had girls use magic to fight bad guys, rather than become Jpop idols or adults or anything along those lines. However, Just because something takes cues from a genre changer doesn’t make it bad… right?

So, as I grow up I start to understand Magical Girl shows. I get what they are. They are, at their core, about young girls (usually between 12 - 16) transforming into a magical alter ego to fight bad guys and protect or save a love interest as well as their friends (mentored by a small animal friend). And this idea just seemed like… so obvious to me? But I had the luxury of growing up with this idea. That girls could fight bad guys without being tom boys or masculine or “hot and sexy”. I had the Powerpuff Girls growing up after all. Girls could be heroes while still being girls and liking girl things and wanting to have boyfriends and loving their families and wanting to protect their friends! And magical girl shows are always about getting more and more powerfull, so that by the END of the show, you face the biggest meanest bad guy of all! And then you beat him in the end. And it takes great sacrifice and you lose things and even people you love, and you have to give up so much. But in the end you win! and the biggest bad guy is dead. And you get to live your life full of hope and happiness as you’ve granted the people of earth and your friends a safe and happy life. You have protected that which you love. And it was hard, but by believing in yourself and your friendship you did it! And now, even if something bad happens again, you are powerful enough to face it.

And then, in 2011, along came Madoka Magica.

I was recommended Madoka Magica by a guy who runs (to this day) an anime store in the city I lived. Saying it was a Magical Girl show with a darker edge to it. And told me “watch until episode 3, and you’ll know if you’d like it or not”.

Having watched Revolutionary Girl Utena by now, I was excited by what I considered a “Trap” anime. An anime that leads you to believe its one thing, and then after a few episode throws the curtain back and goes “HAHA FOOLED YOU!! THIS IS ACTUALLY SO MUCH MORE THAN IT SEEMED!”Utena did this as well. And Utena was and is my favourite anime. (tied by Sailor Moon.)

So I watched Madoka Magica and I liked it a lot!! I watched all 12 episodes, and it was hard, but by the time I got to the end, I felt rewarded for sticking through all the really terrible things that happened to the characters. I described it to other people as “It’s going to make you feel terrible and if you’re able to stick with it, it will reward you by the end!”. Some people saw the end of the show as rather hopeless, or stagnant, but I saw it as an empowering message. That even if someone tells you something is impossible, you should try anyway! Because you are more powerful than they realise! And THAT, I felt, is why all the suffering was important. Because it needed to challenge just HOW TERRIBLE being a magical girl is, and just what a bad idea it is, and even if you become one you can’t change anything. But then Madoka at the end plays the system against itself, and fixes things for every girl throughout history forever. And yes there are still bad times and friends still die, but she took away the dark core of the situation.

Also, Utena had given me a taste for genre deconstruction by this point.

So yay! a great show with a really unique take on the idea of “Magical Girl!” Awesome! There was nothing else like it!

….aaaaand then…. Madoka became super super popular. And that’s when the trouble started.

I found out a few months ago, that Madoka Magica’s writer and creator, Gen Urobuchi, (a man) created Madoka Magica with a very specific idea in mind; That women having goals and wishes are dangerous and lead to suffering. That girls should not have ideals and ambition. Because it will only hurt and punish them. And he wanted to show that in Madoka Magica by showing how, if no girl in the show had ever made a wish, none of the bad things in the show would have happened at all. He has stated this in multiple interviews.

Madoka Magica, however, was an anime, and had several people working on the show, not just one guy. So how much was altered and changed to circumvent his intentions I don’t know. But even if his opinions could devalue the show as a message of empowerment, it can’t change the fact that I WAS empowered by it.

But as I said, then Madoka Magica became OBSCENELY popular. But like… that was not the problem. What the problem was was… “an anime, written by a man, about cute magical girls suffering horribly, became popular with a male audience”.

And due to the insane level of popularity, this lead to copycat shows. And these shows did not copy Madoka Magica’s deconstruction of the genre, they did not copy the art style, they did not copy the deeper look at Magical Girls as a concept. They copied the idea of “Grown Men making shows about cute really moe looking girls suffer horribly for a male audience”.

And during this surge of Madoka copycats, I watched “Yuki Yuuna is a hero” and I HATED it.

Yuki Yuuna is a story about a group of girls who are given the opportunity to become magical girls and help make the world a better place. They are already all part of an after school club called “the hero club” where they do things like volunteer work, or babysitting, or helping out at libraries etc etc. So the idea of becoming REAL heroes and saving the world?? Of course they absolutely want to do that!!

So they get essentially tricked into this situation where they fight giant monsters who come to destroy the world, and they each have a “final move” they can use to destroy these monsters. However, after a difficult battle which had all of them use their biggest move at least once to protect each other and save the world, they all find themselves slightly injured and, weirdly, a part of their body stops working. One girl becomes mute, another loses sight in her one eye, another hearing in her one ear etc etc.

The show goes on to explain that, in becoming magical girls, what these girls have really become, are sacrifices to the gods to protect the earth. And each time they use the gods’ power, they sacrifice a physical part of themselves to use the power of the gods.

So these girls essentially get slowly MAIMED throughout the series, because they wanted to make the world a better place! They didn’t even get wishes like in Madoka! they LITERALLY just wanted to save the world. And they were punished for it.

And just in case it wasn’t clear who this show was for, ALL their transformation sequences are accompanied by aggresive fanservice shots.

of these 14 year old girls.

youtube

And that’s where the entire idea of “Grimdark Magical Girl” show fell apart for me as a concept. And I didn’t bother checking out any more.

And what did we get after this?

Magical Girl Raising Project. a show where a group of CHILDREN who want to become magical girls have to Battle Royale each other to fucking death until the last child standing

And now the recent Magical Girl Site. A Magical girl show that includes Domestic abuse, vicious school bullying, self harm etc etc.

Even Re:Creators, a show I LIKE had this with their ONE magical girl character, Mamika. I am extremely pissed off that Re:Creators decided that Mamika, the magical girl, is the character that had to be killed horribly so that her death could motivate OTHER characters into action.

The only reason I am able to swallow this in Re:Creators, despite being angry about it, is that before she died, Mamika was shown to possibly be the strongest character in the whole show. To the level of being completely OP. And the fact that she died because she tried to reach the main bad guy, knowing full well she most likely would not survive, but she wanted to try anyway.

youtube

It still makes me mad, but at least it does take the sting away SOMEWHAT. Especially since Re:Creators is not a magical girl show. And its entire point is to dissect all its characters by removing them from their own anime and video games and forcing them into a reality where they have to face things they would not normally have to worry about in their safer, more genre-based universes.

“Dark Magical Girl” or as I like to refer to it as; “Grimdark magical girl” shows are now the most popular versions of the magical girl genre.

a genre that STARTED as manga written by women for girls to read and feel empowered by. They have now been turned into a genre for teenaged to adult men to enjoy cute moe girls in horriffic torture porn. (see. Because torture makes it MATURE and ADULT).

They are no longer shows spreading messages to young girls about believing in themselves and their friends and their own power, but are instead torture porn for men.

There is an excellent post by a tumblr user called @timemachineyeah which I link to all the time regarding this topic which I will do so again here;

https://thefloatingstone.tumblr.com/post/165077370034/i-cant-remember-if-youve-posted-about-this#notes

And in the OP’s words (emphasis mine):

“[…]That’s not subversive. That’s our whole fucking lives. That’s what we get everywhere else. Nothing a girl does can be right. We’re bad to have ambitions and to want things. Even the “nice” things we do are dismissed with ulterior motives as soon as someone decides they’re done with us.

And I fucking hate people calling it “so profound” and whatever, when it’s ultimately torture porn and the message isn’t even deep.

And more than that, I hate that it’s success has spawned a series of knockoffs, so that now moe torture porn grimdark magical girls has become the most common iteration of the genre. So we had the incredibly ableist (OMFG WORST SHOW EVER MADE) Yuki Yuuna is a Hero, and we’re getting the “Magical Girls have to CULL EACH OTHER in a grim CHILDREN-LED FIGHT TO THE DEATH” of Magical Girl Raising Project and like I’m so fucking done with these grown ass men making shows for other grown ass men shitting all over girls’ power fantasies and thinking that shitting all over girls’ power fantasies is something new and subversive and not a reassertion of the status quo.“

Does that mean I think men can’t make magical girl shows? Of course men can make Magical girl shows! Revolutionary Girl Utena is an ENTIRE show about the patriarchy and its destruction of girls and the role of women in society and the eventual triumph of our female heroes OVER PATRIARCHAL BULLSHIT ITSELF” and it was created by a man!!

Namely Kunihiko Ikuhara!

And not only did he make Revolutionary Girl Utena, but he is large responsible for not only making Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune a couple in the original anime, but for largely fleshing out their motivations and drive in the anime, making season S of Sailor Moon PROFOUNDLY better than the exact same arc in the manga!

But this is not what is happening here. Heck, I have a suspicion one of these grimdark shows might have originally been written by a woman.

What’s happening here is not about who the creator of these shows are, it is who these shows are INTENDED for. And what their intent as a show is. And yes. a lot of Magical girl shows have the intent of selling merchandise. Let’s not pretend PreCure or Jewel Pet are trying to become feminist icons or anything. But even if their intent is merely to sell toys, they STILL have the function of telling girls to have hopes and dreams, fight to protect their friends, and that it is OK TO DO SO WHILE STILL BEING A GIRL. Something American tv wasn’t doing at the time! Instead all girl characters from America who were “tough” were all tomboys who hated pink and refused to wear dresses, a la Spinelli in the cartoon “Recess”.

It was not until Sailor Moon showed up girls were taught you don’t HAVE to be a brutish loud angry tough girl to believe in your own power.

But now the magical girl genre’s most popular shows are not about girls being powerful and having dreams and protecting the earth.

It’s about how much our cute moe looking protagonists can suffer. For having the audacity to want to having power to protect others.

#Anonymous #Magical Girls #Mahou Shoujo #anime #long post #gif warning #video

156 notes · View notes