Comments: 14
Cheesecake-Witch [2015-04-25 16:18:59 +0000 UTC]
This is beautiful!! Great work!
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DisturbedToxicReapa [2014-11-25 14:09:14 +0000 UTC]
Who's gonna fight Homura now if puella magi are no longer around?
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DisturbedToxicReapa In reply to Puyurin [2015-01-15 09:06:37 +0000 UTC]
If any of my OCsΒ fought her,(maybe Ekimu andΒ Makuta Chirox from Bionicle) it would be challenging
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Merror-u [2014-08-24 02:05:23 +0000 UTC]
Ke-keren
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alvaro84 [2014-08-23 15:44:56 +0000 UTC]
What do you think did happen to Madoka's world?
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Cheesecake-Witch In reply to alvaro84 [2015-04-10 21:06:15 +0000 UTC]
Mind if I share my own opinion?
Well, it's strongly implied that the world Homura made isn't stable, and that Madoka's memories (as well as the memories of Mami, Kyoko and Nagisa) are being held back by a thread. All it takes is for one of them to remember and everything Homura has made could come crashing down on her, and it could come down hard. Furthermore, if Sayaka does manage to keep her memories in check (which is possible, but Sayaka would find it difficult to do), then she could prove to be a prominent threat.
In addition, Homura's world was basically built for one person and one person alone: Madoka. If her fake Utopia really is just an upgraded version of her Witch's barrier, then it only covers a certain amount of land. It's implied that she didn't make up anything to replace the Law of the Cycles, or she simply wasn't powerful enough to do so, and that means she basically screwed over every magical girl who depended on its existence. And even if she HAS gotten rid of the magical girl system, that may initially seem like a good thing...until you realize that the Incubators have no way to prevent entropy, and that's going to come back to bite Homura eventually. Heck, it may be that her fake world is the only place that has remained intact when, outside of it, there's an apocalypse going on.
Oh, and just to clarify, if Madoka DOES end up remembering...which I do not doubt that she will...she's NOT going to be happy. Madoka is kind, but she's not a doormat. She's going to remember how she trusted Homura, how she risked everything to save her from Witchdom, how she gave her a second chance...she's going to remember how painful it was, being torn apart, and she's going to remember how Homura basically went against everything she wanted. If it's anything like Oriko Magica's Madoka, she won't allow it to continue, it's going to be a war. And war means suffering for everyone involved.
Holy cow that was long!
TL;DR Homura screwed everything over with her unstable fake utopia, there are many consequences and Madoka will be cross.
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alvaro84 In reply to Cheesecake-Witch [2015-04-11 06:59:26 +0000 UTC]
Okay, here's a long-ish reply then
Mind? No way! I'm glad to see a different point of view. The way I see that world is not a fake utopia at all - that's the world itself. I think it's implied that she changed it again, on the same level as Madoka did. (We could see her 'barrier' extend throughout the universe and she wasin a similar place as Madoka had been earlier when she became a 'concept'.) So everything is real.
About tearing Madoka in two - I could never really interpret it like she created two 'half Madokas' this way, like I've seen in a few doujins. It could be more like she divided Madoka from the 'Law of Cycles' that doesn't let any witches to be born. The details are hazy even to me (even though I'm talking about my own thoughts...) but it still has to work somehow, without her as a person (or concept, whatever).
When Homura seized QB and made him work for her it seemed that she acknowledged even their goal, prolongig the life of universe, and found some way for them to keep working on it - on a short leash, at a safe distance from even the slightest idea of witches. She must have learned from her own mistake, it had to be her that informed the Incubators about the possibility of witches, after all. I don't even know why she had done it. Probably she couldn't find anyone else to listen her about her 'lunatic theories' about the Old World. Interesting that QB had apparently known Madoka's name before Rebellion but not how Homura struggled to save her (as she tells it to him like new information in her transformation scene). I plan to write a fiction about the time between ep12 and Rebellion and this is a rather strange point to me.
All in all, I theorized that the magical girl system is still in order (some way) and the original team floats on the verge of regaining their memories (especially Madoka and Sayaka who seems to see herself as Homura's antagonist in the end). And Homura has one weapon against the inevitable: resetting time, like she had always done. The only difference is that she does really rewinds it, not just makes new forks to new universes where she hopefully can finally save Madoka. This is how it looks in my fiction (GOSE chp9-12) and I tried to follow what can possibly happen in such an unstable world - because I saw Madoka bound to get back her memories one way or another.
The main difference is, I think, the way we see Homura. I can't even imagine her as the yandere she's depicted by many fans. I always saw her hurt and regret her decision to take the power and memories from Madoka and. She hadn't done it out of 'ai yo' - she just couldn't find any better way to stop the Incubators from trying to control Madoka. I think she suffered enough before Rebellion to start to go insane (a witch is an insane magical girl, isn't it?) THEN she learned that Madoka missed her friends and family AND that despite being a deity she was in danger - she just had to do something radical along her wish to get strong enough to protect Madoka instead of being protected by her. It probably wasn't a conscious decision. She might not even know the reasons behind it. One thing is sure: she did something wrong and suffers from guilt in the new world. She truly wants Madoka to be happy and sees herself not only as a protector but as a threat to her happiness too. Now that I think she probably tore herself in two better than she did to Madoka...
About the outcome of their conflict after Rebellion: there's a version of it in GOSE. Again, I could never imagine a real war between them. They're not vengeful goddesses in their hearts. They're good girls that did big (and dubious) things because they couldn't see any other way (yes, this goes for Madoka too!)
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Cheesecake-Witch In reply to alvaro84 [2015-04-12 10:48:31 +0000 UTC]
Okay, I'm glad that you don't mind!
Your viewpoint interests me, too. And I realize that I sounded pretty mean towards poor Homura when I first wrote...I was pretty tired unfortunately. I hope this response isn't too late!
Since our main difference is indeed the way we view Homura, I'll start by touching upon that.
Now, just to clarify, I don't think Homura is a yandere (I don't even like the archetype, there are only a few yandere characters that appeal to me). Nor do I think she is irredeemably evil.
In Rebellion - the movie that was pretty much about Homura's downfall itself - she talks a bit about Mami, stating that it "hurt to dispel the truth to her" and how she 'had the softest heart' despite putting on a brave face. So we can say that she hasn't been totally ignoring the others, she's clearly taken notice of key points. People seem to forget that Mami was also Homura's tutor in previous timelines, of course she doesn't hate her.
Also, she sought out Kyoko as an ally in the series, so she must have some respect for her, too. And she didn't exactly sound proud of herself when she pondered over how many hearts she's trampled on (to quote) over the years, so she's not some unfeeling monster.
Despite this...well, my feelings about Homura are complicated. I'll have to explain.
I do acknowledge that the stuff Homura went through is absolutely horrendous. Nobody, especially not a timid, frightened teenager, should have to go through that. In addition, I don't believe that Homura could possibly have saved ALL the girls no matter how hard she tried, so I won't hold that against her.
But that doesn't change the fact I don't like her as a person (note: as a person).
While I've said that Homura clearly hasn't been ignoring the others and does respect them to a point, she still seems very Madoka-centric, as in, Madoka is the end-all. That initially seems understandable, since Madoka was kind to her first and was the one who asked Homura to go back in time, she couldn't save them all, etc.
However, from what the series has shown us, there wasn't really much of an excuse to totally give up on the others so easily. Yes, that sounds harsh. But there are some scenes in episode 10 that make me "raise an eyebrow" for lack of a better term:
1) The scene in timeline 3 where Sayaka shoots down Homura for warning them about Kyuubey and then proceeds to express her disliking for Homura using explosives - exlosives that we saw Homura work hard to make. In my opinion, this scene just consists of cheap writing, as if they were trying to make Homura into even more of a victim than she was (which was completely unnecessary, did they not think she was suffering enough?)
Sayaka is very boisterous and stubborn, so her being skeptical of Homura's plight is plausible, but surely she would have known that "Glasses-Homura" was not the type to lie with malicious intent? I mean, Sayaka is best friends with MADOKA, for goodness' sake. And as for the bit where she chatsises Homura's explosives, couldn't that problem have been solved with telepathy? Like, Homura warns them where she's going to throw? Besides, I'd have thought that they'd be glad to have someone who could make such fatal weapons on their team, and for Mami to agree with Sayaka right after (she asks Homura if she has any weapons other than bombs), it just seems like a very uncharacteristic lack of common sense all round.
2) This isn't a problem about you, alvaro84, but it's just something that's been bugging me and it does tie into this: the scene at the end of timeline three, where Madoka asks Homura to go back in time and shoot her soul gem before she becomes Kreimheld Gretchen. I don't have an issue with this scene's narrative, but a lot of people seem to blame Madoka for Homura's loss of hope due to this, and I don't think that's fair.
First of all, I can't think of anyone who would want to become a creature of vast destruction and insanity/warped ideals. Madoka requesting not to become a witch was...not at the best of times, but what else was she to do? Commit suicide right in front of Homura by smashing the soul gem herself? It certainly did play a large factor in Homura's downfall, but Madoka could have thought she was reassuring Homura...as in, by asking her to do it, she sent a message or something that she didn't blame her and still had faith in her...IDK, that sounds weird, but considering how selfless Madoka is and how she always has someone else in mind, it doesn't sound too far-fetched. Secondly, how was Madoka to know that Homura would change so drastically? Yeah, surely she knew that it would negatively impact her, but...I'm not sure...maybe Madoka just overestimated Homura or something. You have to remember that Madoka was also not in her right mind during that scene, she was just as broken as Homura was.
I've got to go now so I'll carry on later...I hope I don't seem too anti-Homura here! I don't actually mind her character. (I'll explain myself better soon)
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Cheesecake-Witch In reply to alvaro84 [2015-04-25 16:18:37 +0000 UTC]
Sorry this is so late, I've been busy with school :-/ lots of homework.
Right, so...moving onto part 2.
You say that she took Madoka as a person away from the law of the cycles, and you think it could still be working. I highly doubt that; it seems like the law of the cycles needs every piece to work properly, basically, as it looks like they're all connected. For instance, during that scene with Madoka and Homura in the hallway, Madoka nearly became her Goddess self again after, like, ten minutes ("maybe I was the one who changed" indeed). If human Madoka is a seperate entity from the concept Madoka...how could that be possible? Madokami is the physical manifestation of that concept, after all. Besides, it was human Madoka that...wished for Madokami, or wished to become Madokami, if you get my meaning, so who's to say that one could exist without the other? The series itself doesn't really explain how anything regarding the law of the cycles works, so I can't elaborate much more on that (and that's one of the things that bugged me about Rebellion, they could have explained so many things, but they essentially took the easy way out). Still, it strikes me as wrong to manipulate that cycle for yourself, even if it IS still working...comes across as selfish.
As for enslaving QB and stalling his quest to prevent entropy...she's not powerful enough, plain and simple. I know that the movie is incredibly vague about Homura "Akuma" (hopefully she - and everything else - might be explained if the franchise gets another installation!), but she can barely repress people's memories. Heck, everything nearly fell to pieces after ten minutes, like I said, because Madoka remembered. Madokami herself rewrote the entire universe and made it so that nobody could, under any circumstances, remember her, or the original witches (apart from Homura and Tsubaya Kaname). Junko didn't even recall who she was after seeing a picture of her. If she can't even keep memories in check, how is she meant to stop the universe from it's inevitable decay?Β
Also, you've brought up one of my biggest complaints about Homura: she told QB about witches originally. Namely, Homura can be an idiot at times.
I don't care if "nobody else would listen": after all those years, those years of suffering brought on BY QB AND THE REST OF HIS RACE (you know, the emotionless hiveminds that didn't think twice about subjecting billions of children to PTSD-inducing events - as well as eternal despair - for a pointless cause? That race?), she should understand better than anybody what lengths they would go to in order to gather enough energy. Especially since right after their conversation he goes on to say "Oooh, that sounds like a much more sufficient method for gathering power sources than what we have now~!"
So she decides to tell him bit by bit how to go about the plan. The plan that almost destroyed the world and took away her friend. Multiple times.
That's a lot to hold in by yourself, I know. But good gosh...there's no excuse for that level of stupidity. Also, what did she hope to gain from that conversation??
I think she should have sought treatment after the events of the series, or at least confided in someone who WASN'T a total monster (obviously not telling them everything, they'd be a bit skeptical) under the guise of "loss" or something...does that sound heartless? Oh yes. But my gosh...she'd be in a much better state of mind then that she is now. If anything, she basically condemned herself to the horrors of Rebellion. Sorry, but it's true.
Yes, Homura Akuma can rewind time fully now (or she supposedly can). But apart from that...?
Sayaka had a pretty valid point in Rebellion when she called Homura out on relying too much on her time magic.
What frustrates me is, Homura CAN be very intelligent. That final battle with Walpurgisnatch obviously took quite some planning, and she is, like I've said in part one, pretty observational. However, we don't see enough of that!! In the main series, we see Homura attempting to tell the others the truth ONCE, and she never tried again because of ONE failure amidst NEARLY A HUNDRED timelines. She decides that nobody will listen, it's hopeless, all is lost. In addition, we never see her assessing the situation properly (which should be easy for someone of her observational skills to do...).
Again, this mostly stems from lazy writing. By showing her doing the same thing over and over, not changing any tactics, always being a cold and aloof loner who is hostile to everybody and after many years is still clueless about how to approach them with the right words (seriously, it's no wonder nobody trusted her)...her giving up on everybody comes across as less tragic and more lazy on the writer's behalf. All they had to do was show her changing her plans once - Β even if it was the most morally black, brutal thing ever - and her desperation would be justified. It truly would feel like her situation was hopeless.
They even show this in Oriko Magica: sure, a lot of people hate that version of Homura, but she was trying out a different plan...and it was working, she just failed due to forces outside of her control. Up until they confirm that Homura did that in the show, all we have is speculation.
My point is, Homura tends to rely too much on repetition and being familiar with her surroundings. Time manipulation is a very foreboding power to have, as Mami already pointed out, but it's not invincible. Mami won that fight against Homura because she had a back-up plan, could use Homura's underestimating her to her own advantage, and knew how to be resourceful with her weapons/magic. Take Homura's time magic away from her, and she's left severely weakened. So if the other characters find a way to work around that, Homura's going to have a hard time keeping her world intact.
Which leads onto my next issue: what she did with the universe. To me, it just seems worse that more species were affected by what she did; she basically repressed the memories (and possibly the established FUNCTION!) of the entire universe, all for a very weak reason: because she can't live without Madoka. That's not healthy.
During the scene in the flower field, Madoka is telling Homura that she thinks being a Goddess would be miserable. This doesn't justify anything. Why? Because it's the testimony of an amnesiac Madoka who has no recollection of the events that led to her becoming Madokami.
Of course Homura doesn't consider this, because she can't live without Madoka.
*ranting over*
About the war...well, to be honest, I hate the idea of them all suffering again. I think that, by now, everyone has earned their happy ever after, and I think that they should be allowed to live peacefully. Homura is included, since she has probably endured the most trauma out of the entire main 5. However, how much one has suffered does not excuse the bad things one has done. If Homura truly IS sorry or regretful, then she should be willing to be punished for it (even I don't want to see that happening to her, but it has to be done). But the way things are going, she's not going to step down so easily. So they will have to fight, and maybe then, once all has been said and done, they can live their lives at last.
Sorry this is so long!!
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alvaro84 In reply to Cheesecake-Witch [2015-04-25 18:45:36 +0000 UTC]
So in the end it all boils down to one question: how much of Homura's flaws are intended part of her character, and how much is lazy writing? Well... I'm thinking a lot and trying my best to dig deeper than Urobuchi-sensei *ducks down behind some makeshift cover, something, anything* to understand her, as the fiction I'm working on is an important and large-scale project of mine... and I use multiple sources, not only the original series and Rebellion. Oriko Magica is among them too, and it's very good that you mentioned it.
In point 2 you might be right about Madoka wanting to reassure Homura in her mission. I had probably taken it this way even before writing MGC. My version of Homura isn't bitter or anything about it. She simply acknowledges it as an important point of her life and even talks to the 'final' Madoka about it.
The other important question comes naturally, and it is the question of Homura's mental state... My thought is that between ep12 and Rebellion it deteriorated by leaps and bounds. I've tried to extract what she could have told to QB before they caught her in the isolation field and I'm still at loss. From what I've seen at the end of ep12 it seemed that she even mocked QB with the information about the 'old world'. And if she really told him more (which she probably did) I can only agree with you: it was incredibly stupid of her. I can't even understand how could she get to the point where she disclosed such a vital information to the enemy. I could justify her recklessness by telling that she thought it totally impossible for them to stand against a GOD. But it's still against everything she did before. She must have had to learn to be careful what she let out. I'm also thinking about a story from that time and it's a very hard nut to crack. How could she get to that point, really? Maybe she grew insane enough to remember that once even GLaDOS played fair...?
About taking hold of QB's race after everything that happened: she might have acknowledged their goal, but not their methods and wanted to keep them on a short leash (quote from myself). And the whole world, yes. And she's really bad at it. She's really an amateur of a devil. I agree, her reign is bound to end quite soon. Only her time magic could prevent it so far - and that's why she keeps relying on it (it's my head canon again, from around GOSE/chp9-11).
About her not trying to tell the truth to the others more than once: I guess it's the narrative again. She probably did. Just like she tried different approaches like the one in Oriko Magica. I DO LIKE that she did. Oriko Magica is useful research material to me.
About her reason to do the whole thing: that must not have been that single amnesian testimony of Madoka's. The most important must have been the danger Madoka was in (thanks to her blabbing out those details about the witch system and perhaps Madokami, so she can feel guilty for one more thing), but there was of course her wish to save Madoka and her loneliness and desire to be with her. A mix of highly selfish and ultimately selfless reasons.
About her fighting back or accepting punishment: I think if she sees that she could finally save Madoka with this whole Akuma business, she'll gladly take any punishment from Madokami. She just won't mind and won't care what'll happen to her as long as she sees her beloved Goddess safe. Someone said something like "She wouldn't mind if Madoka chopped her to pieces and fed her to Amy." - well, that's the way she is. If she can't see Madoka safe - she'll keep fighting and trying to get hold of her again.
And the punchline would be something like 'We keep entertaining Puyurin with academic debate loosely related to her picture.'
And I've probably forgotten something.
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