#misstrashchan

It focuses on fleshing out Mami and Kyoko, having them as the protagonists and exploring their pasts, including Mami and Kyoko having a mentor/mentee relationship when Kyoko was newly contracted. Like the name suggests it's also a different timeline, one where Mami didn't die in episode 3 because Sayaka makes a contract much sooner and is there to aid Mami.

I say it ties really well into the main series because there's a fair bit in the anime that implies Mami and Kyoko knew each in the past and were close. Mami reprimanding Sayaka in episode 2 for the idea of making a wish for someone else, telling her to take serious thought about what the person she's making the wish for actually wants. Getting weirdly personal about it when we know Mami never made that kind of wish, and Sayaka pointing out how harsh she's being. Because Mami knew Kyoko and saw how her wish made for her father backfired on her and destroyed her family! Saw her how that made her more jaded and cruel! And doesn't want that to happen again with Sayaka!

And Kyoko reacting strongly to Sayaka saying "Mami's gone because of magical girls like you!"/"...okay. That really pisses me off!". Like Kyoko was just gonna leave at that point during their first confrontation. She beat Sayaka up to send a message and told her to cool off. But then Sayaka says *that* and suddenly the fight gets waaaaay more personal for her and she's out to kill Sayaka instead until Homura intervenes. Because Mami was her mentor in the past! And seeing another magical girl with a strong sense of justice who idolizes Mami as the perfect magical girl reminds her of her past self! And she left Mami! She abandoned her! And now she's dead! So that hits a reaaaal sore spot for Kyoko. (...and she came back to Mitakihara after Mami's death to take care of her territory for her. She felt she still owed her.)

As well as Mami's need to present herself as the perfect mentor figure to Madoka and Sayaka. Because if she doesn't, she'll end up alone again. They'll leave her, just like Kyoko did. And with Mami alive past episode 3, Sayaka's idolization of Mami as the perfect magical girl of justice gets kind of interesting because, well, it's much easier to idolize a dead matyr than a living girl. And there's no way for Mami to live up to that image, especially when the realities of being a magical girl settle in for Sayaka and she starts spiralling like in every timeline.

idk it's just after reading Different Story it makes a lot of little things about Mami and Kyoko's characters hit a lot harder and felt like it adds a lot to the story and world while fleshing out two characters who don't get as much time to shine as Madoka/Homura/Sayaka do. I feel like you'd enjoy it. (it's two volumes, not especially long tbh, you could probably read it in a day or two)

(unlike Homura/Madoka and Sayaka/Kyoko, Mami and Kyoko's relationship is less yuri and more... Complicated siblings/turned rivals kind of relationship. Somewhere between Ruby/Yang and Vi/Jinx)

ooooohhhhhh I'll definitely read this. I think Mami and Kyoko are such an interesting pair bc they're kind of...inverses to one another. The selfish wish that leads to martyrdom and the selfless wish that leads to isolation.

I think Mami in particular is so wonderful, for how little we get of her in the series. She obviously regrets her wish bc of how her snap decision to save herself just led to further isolation. She keeps trying to ease her guilt and loneliness by helping other magical girls, but whether because of her fear of abandonment brought on by the loss of her family, or the knowledge that what she's doing stems from a (very valid) selfish desire to not be alone, she can never truly bring herself to open up. And it probably warped her perception of the other girls too (hence the above panel). "I am selfish and only think about easing my own pain, so they must be the same. We're all using each other."

I think that's why the knowledge that magical girls are fated to be witches hits her so hard she goes all murder-suicide. The one thing she's been using as a coping mechanism has only doomed her and others she's mentored.

Like it'd be particularly interesting in regards to her foiling with Mercury, whose parent and mentor stole their semblance, part of their soul, as Salem is doing to Cinder, symbolic of their abuse stifling their sense of self, their soul.

Also it'd be pretty ironic if Cinder shows up during the Vacuo arc, sand as far as the eye can see, perfectly suited for her semblance to weaponise and she just... can't use it.

oooooooh, that'd definitely be interesting 👀 and honestly, i don't think it would be impossible at all? like, based on 'before the dawn' grimm do enjoy munching on aura, so the grimm arm wouldn't even necessarily have to spread that much, it could just be leeching on cinder's aura gradually and very very subtly, and before she knows it, she isn't left with enough to properly use her semblance the way she used to.

there's also like. that's her semblance, ya know? sure, she probably could get the same effect by using her maiden powers, but one's her soul power, the other is something she stole with the help of the grimm beetle.

something something the fall maiden's lesson is about appreciating what you already have, something something which one would cinder choose to keep, her very own semblance (and aura) or her ability to steal more maiden powers? which power is really hers? which is more important to her and her sense of self?

In celebration, tell me what you love the most and/or everything you love about Ruby Rose!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN AND HAPPY RUBY DAY!!! As for what I love about Ruby Rose, the answer is yes. :3c

In all seriousness, most people have "types" when it comes to fictional characters, and I've always been a sucker for hopeful, brave red-headed ladies that fight for what's right. Although I think it actually started with Ruby, which is a bit crazy to realize aha.

Wanting to be like the heroes in her stories, the righteous anger and hope she always tries to embody, the way she handles and experiences trauma, how she carries her grief, the goofy kid that she's always been still peaking through from time to time despite it all... it's all admirable, and often relatable. Very easy character to love.

Of course! It's Solasaich!

Would that be an intentional parallel to how Penny chose the circumstances of her death and what her legacy would be after becoming human, freed from her robotic parts with RWBY's help, similarly freeing her from ever being controlled again like how Cinder would be freed from Salem's control? Do you think there could be a callback to when she stood up to the Madame, but instead does so with Salem, potentially like how Hazel sacrifices himself fighting Salem and gives Oscar the opportunity to deliver a finishing blow, except it's Cinder giving Ruby the opportunity to finish Salem? Especially with how Salem manipulates and directs Hazel and Cinder's frustrations towards Oz/Ruby in the past?

I'm sorry I know that's a lot your metas just had me thinking a lot.

Hello!

Sorry for the long wait!

I am happy you were rereading my meta and thank you for often leaving nice tags!

Anyway, I do not know the specifics since mine is just a theory and I have no idea of how the plot and the conflict will develop.

I think that if this is where Cinder’s arc is going her choice will parallel and foil both Pyrrha’s and Penny’s.

They are the two major deaths of the series so far and it is interesting that the one responsible is not Salem, but Cinder. I think that this has to play out somehow in her arc.

What is more, she projects on both Pyrrha:

Cinder: It's unfortunate you were promised a power that was never truly yours. But take comfort in knowing that I will use it in ways you could never have imagined.

And Penny:

Cinder: I was hoping your friends would be here. But it looks like they left you to do all the work. You’re just a tool to be used!

She is the one who stole a power, who was not hers and she is the one who is being used as a weapon.

However, Cinder can’t see it because she thinks power is what makes you whole and that relationships with others make you vulnerable and weak.

This all obviously goes back to respectively Madame and Rhodes aka her Evil Stepmother and her Fairy Godmother (father).

This is why it is interesting she is currently under Salem, who embodies both.

Anyway, I think Cinder’s final sacrifice (if it indeed happens) will be about truly becoming a Maiden and truly becoming heself.

If this will happen with a similar dynamic to Hazel and Oscar’s moment I have no idea. It might, but imo I think Cinder’s choice should be more resonant and personal.

Like, Hazel’s sacrifice was great, but Hazel is not as important as Cinder as a character. He is a character whose role was to push Emerald and Oscar’s arcs. I think that Cinder is a character there for herself in the narrative. So, yeah, I think she might help Ruby, but I do not know if it will be meant to be a parallel to Hazel. And it is difficult for me to say with no idea of how the plot will develop.

for the record, I wasn’t actually planning on responding to any of these with writing, but this idea has been bouncing around my head all day and I have been curious about dabbling in writing for jonmartin soooo here we are

.

Martin attempts to hold back a yawn and fails.  It’s getting late, he knows, but he doesn’t want to go up to bed.  Not yet.  They don’t get many moments like this.  There’s a part of him that still doesn’t really believe a moment like this could exist honestly.

“Tired?”  Jon murmurs.  The hand he’d been using to idly toy with Martin’s thick, curly hair pauses.

“No,” Martin lies.  He nestles closer against Jon.  The fabric of Jon’s jumper is coarse under his chin, but he doesn’t care.  It’s just nice.  This is nice.

“Hmm.”  Jon makes what is arguably a grunt of disbelief.  “Are you quite sure?”

Martin rests his head fully on Jon’s shoulder.  “Yes.”

“If you fall asleep here, I’m not carrying you to bed.”

“I know.”  Martin chuckles quietly.  If he falls asleep here on the sofa, they’ll most likely spend the night right where they are.  Given Jon’s current employment as Martin’s pillow, the likeliness of him moving if Martin nods off is incredibly slim.

Martin knows they should go to bed properly.  It’s selfish of him to keep Jon here like this.  He simply doesn’t want to move, to break the peace they’ve found.  They don’t know when it’ll come again, or even if it will.  So, while Martin still has it—still has Jon—he wants to savor these moments as long as they will last.

“Very well.  Where were we?”  Jon returns his attention to the book he’s holding.  He finds the spot where he left off and begins reading out loud again.  His voice carries, permeates the room, gentle and soft.

Martin listens attentively.  It’s rare for Jon to read anything out loud these days.  The scars of his voice being taken and used against his will, though not visibly present, remain fresh.  He’s even more careful now.  Cautious.  They wrestled control of the world back from fear itself, but knowledge of just how powerful the Archivist’s voice is remains out there.  As do those who would abuse it if given the opportunity.

But Jon still likes to read, to be heard.  Still wants to share that part of himself.