Part-Time Homura Propagandist

still got nothing to caption my homucifer posts with anymore

It was just a quick sketch with no real effort put into it (for the funni)

There’s a post somewhere on this lovely hell site that talks about Rozemyne’s connection with her many mothers, and the inherent sadness of none of them ever really being able to properly mother her.

In her first life, it was because Urano was distant, and didn’t fully appreciate everything her mom did for her, and she died before she could realize that.

Then she became Myne, and she struggled with the love given to her by Effa because it felt so disorienting and alien. But then too she grew as a person, and realized the faults of her past life and realized that Effa was her mom, and that she loved her family so much, to the point that she was willing to die again rather than be taken away from them.

But ultimately, after only a few short years, she is taken from them, and she has to accept that because it’s the only way to protect her family.

She then gains Elvira, but Elvira doesn’t know her and she doesn’t know Elvira. In her head, Effa is still “mom”, but Elvira is only “mother” whenever Rozemyne has to talk to someone else irl. We very late in the story learn how much Elvira grew to love and appreciate Rozemyne, and how much she regrets never taking action to properly mother Rozemyne, instead making the assumption that, with Ferdinand and Florencia around, it wasn’t her place. And the fact that she feels this way even after knowing the whole time Rozemyne was commoner born is so so so tasty. She comes to regret her prior hesitation and ignorance towards what she could’ve been for Rozemyne, and those conversations they have in the hidden rooms emotionally devastates me every single time I read them.

And finally, Florencia. Florencia, for a long time, never really saw Rozemyne as her daughter. She couldn’t say that she loved her, even though it wasn’t long until Florencia would come to admire and respect her adopted daughter. Still, though, her lack of action to be a mother to Rozemyne always sticks out to me, and in the latest parts of Part 5, you finally learn that she does actually regret it. In a sad ironic twist, Florencia thought very much in the same way as Elvira did, thinking that it wasn’t her place to be a mother for Rozemyne.

Ultimately, it’s implied Florencia doesn’t know about Rozemyne’s commoner status, but we don’t actually know. Whatever the case, by the time the series comes to its climax and Ehrenfest prepares to separate from Rozemyne, Rozemyne learns that, after everything, she doesn’t really have a place in her home duchy anymore.

Whether that could’ve been fixed by Elvira or Florencia is unlikely, but it’s sad. Just when both adoptive mothers realize what they’re losing, they also realize just how much they actually cared for this girl who became their daughter. And now she’s leaving, and any chance to build their relationship with Rozemyne is leaving with her.

Rozemyne forgot Effa, Gunther, Lutz, Ferdinand, but she didn’t forget Elvira. And every single time I realize that, I can feel my heart ache for the love that could’ve been there but never was.

Ascendance of a Bookworm and its many parents is so layered. It has so many stories of how complicated these relationships can be, of how regrets can build from ignorance, misconceptions, and simple miscommunication. Or of how obsessive adoration can hurt a child’s future, or how explicit physical and mental abuse from a parent can shape that person’s entire life.

It’s so human, it’s such a human story. It has magic and politics and things to say about government, power imbalances, religion/faith and corruption, but at its core, Ascendance of a Bookworm has always been about family.

I think it was @rozemynelovebot who relatively recently made a post discussing their very complicated feelings towards Wilfried? Hopefully I’m right. Anyways, it was a post that of which I really enjoyed reading, and I want to add onto that discussion, if just a bit.

I really like Wilfried as a character, because more than any other, he feels like an actual child to me. Children in this series have a tendency to show a lot of maturity, even at really young ages, and while I do think that is reflective of real life (children irl are WAAAAY smarter than most adults give them credit for. they’re people too), I do think it goes a bit too far sometimes.

Ultimately that’s just my opinion, but it reflects my thoughts towards Wilfried. He’s impulsive, brash, naive, thick-headed, arrogant, and thinks he knows everything: which is exactly like many a teenager.

But that’s not all there is to him. Much like his father, Wilfried can be kind and thoughtful. Ultimately he wants to do good for the people around him, and he grows to understand the qualities of people that one should hold respect for. As the story progresses, he does grow and change, and it’s so great to see.

And yet…he’s so dumb. He’s a spoiled brat, who doesn’t understand anything about the real world. As far as I remember, he never comes to realize just how often he’s so easily manipulated by the people around him. He’s blind to the harm he often causes, and unlike his father, he never shows that greater judgement you’d want to see in someone who’s supposed to be a leader.

He makes decisions and says things without thinking, he forgets his place and orders around people he has no business ordering around, and he never truly understands either of his sisters.

It’s hard to blame him due to the damage Veronica’s obsessive love caused him growing up, especially since that damage is so difficult to see. But at the same time, much of his faults are, well, his fault.

How many times does he refuse to grow as a person? How many times does he accept when he’s made a mistake? He almost never comes to these conclusions himself, he only ever evolves when given external pressure and expectations. It’s almost like he has little to none self reflection, and what self reflection he does show is, ironically, inherently selfish.

spoiler !!!

flag from @rozemynelovebot

A Homura monologue briefly and succintly explaining How We Got Here (quite possibly the Homura and Madoka dialogue in the concept movie trailer). Bonus if the dialogue or visuals reveal huge plot twists from the get-go or if there's any hidden dialogue.

A scene showing, rather than telling, the audience the rules of the current world and just how weird things are, similar to the first Nightmare fight in Rebellion. Since the wraiths are structurally the equivalent of Nightmares - a scary early boss that seems like a big deal, but is quickly supplanted - my guess is that the mystery girl fighting the wraiths may serve this purpose.

Madoka waking up and going about her morning with her family, as in Beginnings and Rebellion - some things are the same and some things are different, again showing us rather than telling us what "ordinary" life is like in this world and includes a thematically relevant Junko conversation.

Seemingly unrelated TV-style OP with a ton of symbolism that Hits Differently on rewatch.

Madoka meeting up with Hitomi and Sayaka and walking to school - again, with similarities/differences from previous iterations of this scene.

Previously, the inciting incident was always a new transfer student, but it looks like instead we get Madoka meeting the other Homura on the way to school.

Classroom sequence with thematically relevant lesson/Ms. Saotome rant; Nakazawa gets 1 line.

(whatever Hitomi and Kyousuke are up to is also probably thematically relevant as well, even though they are unlikely to play a huge role in the plot except as well-meaning outsiders/victims).

Kyouko meeting the green girl in the cafe is a direct Rebellion callback; the fact that the green girl is sitting in Homura's place suggests she's going to ask Kyouko to go somewhere/do something with her that will push the boundaries of the world somehow (possibly leading to the club scene).

Madoka being attacked in the green girl's labyrinth gives major "first episode stumbling into a labyrinth for this first time" vibes from the original season

Homura spends the middle part of Rebellion exploring the world and trying to figure it out; looks like that role goes to Sayaka, Mami, Kyouko, and Nagisa in WnK, as they are clearly looking for something.

The sequence with Homura, Sayaka, orange girl + Kyubey (possibly others) looks like it parallels Homura's dollhouse scene in Rebellion - I expect a lot of self-righteous and smug Kyubey exposition followed by all hell breaking loose.

Countdown to Walpurgisnacht's appearance, roughly in the same place as Homulilly's, followed by a big and visually impressive fight; the outcome is ultimately determined by Homura's revelations and her relationship with Madoka, as in Rebellion.

Mostly or entirely dialogue-free post-credits scene with surreal imagery whose interpretation is left to the audience

My two biggest questions are "What is WnK's equivalent to the Cake Song?" (possibly the teahouse/amusement park sequence because of the same cutesy/sinister vibes, but TBD) and "What is WnK's equivalent to the Mami vs. Homura fight in Rebellion?" Personally, I'm hoping for Homura vs. Homura (original vs. mirror image), and I don't think the original Homura will win, especially if it takes place in the middle third or so.