Bizarre Love Triangle

Sayaka’s witch form is also really interesting. I love it in relation to the tragedy of the little mermaid story. I too think Arnold could fit this but I won’t babble on.

Helga’s split horn is really meant to show her instability I think, or like the hurt she’s experienced in her life kind of clipping her wings i guess. Or perhaps she is so explosive she’s completely destroyed herself. I’d explain that better but unfortunately it’s 6am oops maybe some other time.

I feel like people might think Homura and Madoka are more fitting characters to use because of Homura’s obsession and devotion to Madoka. Madoka’s overwhelming goodness is also comparable to Arnold’s but her’s is much moreee… complicated because she often freezes up and needs advice (could be wrong since idk her character as well). Arnold is more set in his opinions I think, and holds a much bigger emphasis on doing the right thing rather than wondering what the right thing to do is. And I find Helga’s obsession manifests in a completely different way. She’s not so calculating, and she doesn’t hide her true feelings through apathy.

Also before all the time travel shenanigans, Homura’s personality is quite different to Helga’s (distractingly so).

But Kyoko’s personality is so fitting because of how she treats Sayaka. She is blunt and rude, and threatens violence on people. She’s also considered “selfish” because of her need to protect herself. She made a wish for her father (who I could parallel to Big Bob Pataki himself) and she suffered major consequences for it.

Helga has a bad relationship with food and so does Kyoko. Kyoko loves eating lots of food because she nearly starved multiple times as a kid. Helga has a poor relationship with food because of her parents

Kyoko and Sayaka have a rough start too. They both have very conflicting moral systems. Sayaka wants to kill familiars before they become witches, though this comes at the cost of the reward. Which means she can’t cleanse her soul gem. Kyoko basically is like let it kill some people we need this stuff to survive. And then they beat each other up (Kyoko is much stronger though).

Helga and Arnold also share different moral sentiments. Shown best in deconstructing Arnold. And that’s partially why they clash too.

Sayaka and Arnold fit as well because of their strong moral compass. Sayaka is willing to give everything up for others, even at the cost of herself. And she vows to do the right thing no matter the cost. But because she is human she struggles with this and falls into despair.

She heals the hand of the boy she loves with her wish, but it’s partially for selfish reasons. Maybe he’ll love her back. Arnold acts similarly with Lila if I remember correctly. He does kind of selfish things occasionally to win her favour but obviously he regrets those things.

Sayaka vows never to regret anything, she very quickly regrets. Kyoko comes in and is her opposite, opposes her values. But under Kyoko’s tough exterior you find out she has come to like/love Sayaka. And she admires her in some way.

Sayaka folds under the weight of her morals, and I find Arnold himself in a similar situation. After all he is the character with possibly the strongest moral compass in the show, and he always sticks to his beliefs no matter what. This backfires in the bully episodes I feel. Which is the point, Arnold may always do what he believes is right but it can come at the cost of himself so many times. In a situation as impossible to remedy as becoming a magical girl of course Arnold would fight familiars to prevent them from harming others, even if she didn’t get anything from it. And of course Arnold would use her wish for someone else’s benefit. And over time her soul gem would darken over time too as she slowly realises the situation she’s in, and that she’s no longer in a position to follow her morals fully.

(It’s also interesting to note that Arnold wouldn’t be a strong magical girl, seeing as whoever is repeating this timeline in this AU is the reason she would become a magical girl in the first place. She was basically never meant to be one and so she would struggle to keep up with the others, be strong enough to protect everyone.)

When Sayaka turns into a witch it’s Kyoko who has the hope that Sayaka can still be reached. It’s an optimism she hasn’t had since she started being a magical girl, and Sayaka brought it back. Though when this fails she kills Sayaka and herself so she doesn’t die alone.

I like to think back to the Christmas episode. Helga doesn’t have much hope or joy in Christmas, probably because of her cold family. But it’s Arnold who brings out her generosity and the sacrifice she makes for his optimism. In turn she does something optimistic.

I find that kind of love is the one Helga has for Arnold. Obsessive but also prickly and argumentative, hiding what she really feels so she doesn’t feel that pain of loss. Perhaps Kyoko would redo the timeline over and over for Sayaka, but she’d already made her wish long ago.

It’s interesting to note that early in Kyoko’s life she wasn’t as selfish and violent, similarly to the front Helga puts on in front of others (though Helga’s came up earlier). I do think Helga would make a wish for someone else regardless of her supposed selfishness.

In the end Sayaka keeps the wish for the other person at the cost of her life, even though Madoka has given her the chance to live fully without the burden. I feel Arnold would do similarly.

And theres so much more i could say but this is already poorly written and it’s just gonna get worse if I keep going.