Fandom Specific Plot / Puella Magi Madoka Magica

• By far the most common fandom plot is a Happy Ending. Many fics will go out of their way to give the cast an ending that is happier than canon, particularly for Homura.
  • A typical source of a happy ending is putting Homura in a situation where she has to discuss her time traveling, having it come out in a way to get everyone on the same page as her. Typically with a different execution than when Homura tried this in canon with Timeline Three, the execution typically will lead to not only everyone being willing to help Homura and follow her lead to an ideal ending, but for Homura to be touched by their kindness and slowly begin to open back up in a mutually beneficial feedback loop.
• The classic Fix Fic where Madoka or Sayaka or both come back from the afterlife so they can romance their old friends, or those old friends enter the afterlife to romance them. With the release of Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movie: Rebellion this is actually made canon. Given everything else going on in the movie, it's very possible that this is Ascended Fanon. This type of fic still exists for those who either want to alter the events of Rebellion or ignore it to tell their own story.
• Homura's timeline jumps leading her into strange timelines, building off the hints in canon that not every timeline is the exact same even without Homura's interference, a concept supported by Magia Record where Homura outright notes in some login quotes that the timeline in question is moving irregularly, is a fairly common set up in fanfics. This tends to put Homura in either very clear Alternate Universes from canon, fling her father back in time, or get her into an involuntary crossover, and tends to be a source of drama that has the potential in story to either solve the problem, or finally drive Homura over the edge.
  • One idea that never was explored in canon that does crop up in fanfics and fan material on the semi-regular is the idea of what exactly Homura's time jumping actually does. If it either stays in a single timeline and sees things shift slightly as a result of either the smallest of changes Homura does or completely unrelated shifts, everything is exactly the same no matter what Homura does even if canon disagrees, or Homura actually jumps between different realities each time she travels back in time. The latter, if explored, will lead to delving into the moral implications of Homura leaving behind fairly busted timelines on the regular or the fact that every Madoka who Homura failed stays dead and isn't revived by Homura's wish. A few fics will even explore the fates of the timelines Homura left behind.
• The idea that there are ways to harness the power of a Witch without dying and turning into it. The anime and mangas makes this fairly clear this is not possible, at most you have someone as strong willed and virtuous as Tart be able to temporarily hold the state but quite aware she won't last long in it, but fans, who naturally like to both power up characters and grant happier endings to them, often strive to change this. A common result being the Magical Girl gaining a super mode not unlike that of a Visored from Bleach. Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story would make this idea Ascended Fanon via the Doppel system, though via a different execution than the Bleach inspired method in most situations (with a few exceptions such as the Eternal Darkness variants and Kyoko-Doppel).
• Homura training Sayaka is a common concept in stories aiming to improve the relationship among the Holy Quintet, particularly between Homura and Sayaka, as well as address Sayaka's inexperience without defaulting to the idea that she's just weak.
• Junko and Tomohisa Kaname adopting the cast. This is most typical with the canonically orphaned (Mami and Kyoko) and typically assumed to be orphaned (Homura), though it will also apply to Sayaka, often informally, that usually comes with demonizing Sayaka's parents.
• Among the common fan plots after Rebellion is the idea that Homura's transformation into the Magical Girl Devil being played up as a severe case of both ongoing or post- Witch insanity mixed with the divine slash satanic equivalent of Chuunibyou, meaning that all Madoka and Sayaka have to do to escape Homura's Lotus Eating Machine is wait out Homura's worst foibles and act once she's got it out of her system. This is naturally on the fluffier and lighter end of post-Rebellion stories where the solution to the movie's events is hugging out the remainder of Homura's problems until she submits.
  • Post-rebellion fanfics exploring Madoka and Homura's confrontation and how it would go between them are rather common, though most end up having Homura and Madoka reconciling (with Homura apologizing) and getting a Relationship Ugrade.
  • Post-rebellion fanworks also like toying with Ultimate Madoka and Akuma Homura ruling the universe together as a compromise, where Madoka saves magical girls while Homura ensures Kyuubey doesn't try to bring back witches again, with it often played as Lighter and Softer.
• While the idea of it happening at least once is sometimes mentioned, there are fics such as Persephone's Waltz that focus on Homura kidnapping Madoka to prevent her from contracting or dying. Naturally these fics will play up just how broken and damaged constant time loops of failures make Homura, and how terrifying it would be for Madoka and her family to see her go to such extremes.
• A means of creating a different, often happier ending that pops up semi-frequently is the idea of Madoka's wishes, being extremely powerful as they are, being implemented in tandem with Homura's Groundhog Peggy Sue wish. This typically involves Madoka making wishes that either allow her to remember things across timelines with the idea to help Homura and the others out, or to pass on the wishes effects to later iterations of time with the goal of, if not always the perfect implementation, helping Homura out. Depending on the length and focus of the story they either do this directly and immediately, or they do this indirectly after having various unexpected side effects that, while typically not counter-productive to Homura, complicate things.
• Soulmate AU Fic is a common type of fanfic in the fandom that typically aims to use the typical elements of the genre to affect the events of the series to the common end goal of a happy ending. This typically involves a pairing of Madoka and Homura, with just a bit less common but also near universally Sayaka and Kyoko, with the idea that the tropes of the genre are meant to smooth out rough edges that create problems in story. As an example with Homura with clear evidence as Madoka's soulmate, this typically lends itself to others being more receptive of her, while Kyoko and Sayaka being soulmates is both meant to reduce their fighting and also to draw Sayaka away from her canonical love interest. While this is the ideal goal, fics will often also explore unique oddities involving the Madoka universe interacting with the tropes of this genre, typically exploring how Homura's time travel and the many deaths of her soulmate or how Madoka's wishes interact with the genre's tropes.
• Mami, either due to a misunderstanding or time travel shenanigans, coming to see Homura has a more experienced Magical Girl who, alongside having a better first impression in that timeline than in canon, comes to lean on her as a mentor or 'senpai' as a means of addressing Mami's loneliness, to Homura's great initial confusion and disbelief. This is common in stories trying to make a more stable relationship between Mami and Homura, with the initial reaction of Homura to the development tending to be played for comedy.
• Just how sapient a Witch is has varied levels of comprehension in canon, ranging from what can be described as garbled attempts at communication, to slight echoes of the Magical Girls past personality in them, to being completely thoughtless monsters. Fan works often like to explore this further, delving into the idea of any sort of communication or higher thought among them. This can take the form of both speaking to a Magical Girl's Witch while the Magical Girl are still human (which tends to be a part of fanfics where a Magical Girl can gain powers from this in a manner that is rather Bleach-like, or something similar to Naruto talking to his Tailed Beast) as well as communicating with or exploring the thoughts of fully formed Witches.
• Among the common choice for an Ascended Extra among characters mentioned or only briefly seen in the series is Momo, Kyoko's little sister. Having Momo still be alive after the death of her parents is a common way of keeping Kyoko somewhat more moral than in canon, frequently leading to her staying with Mami to help with Momo and having the normally delinquent Kyoko come off as more of a Bad Butt. Momo still being alive but somewhere else also works well in giving Kyoko a motivation beyond survival. In earlier stories it was also common to have it be revealed Elsa Maria is Momo's Witchform, but that has become less common in subsequent years.
• Magical Girls who know about the origin of Witches and deliberately act to make other Magical Girls become Witches to gain grief seeds to harvest themselves. Collaborator Magical Girls that work with Kyubey for some reason that is not in the best interest of other Magical Girls are not unheard of in canon, but a Magical Girl who outright manipulates others to not only turn them into Witches for their own benefit, but often encourages others to contract with the intent to manipulate them into despair for their own survival, are a distinct form found in fanfics. They often are depicted as evil counterparts to Mami, who are as helpful to Kyubey's goals as Mami tends to be, but completely aware of all the things that Mami is not and intentionally aiming to cause the worst outcomes for their student victims.
• In crossovers, organizations from the other side of the crossover from Madoka, such as the TSAB, Order of the Guardians, and Bleach's Soul Society, they tend to come in three flavors. They either are ignorant of the Incubators and Magical Girls and are horrified to find out about them, aware of the Incubators and acting against them, sometimes also directly antagonizing Magical Girls in the process, or actively working with the Incubators in secret in regards to the anti-entropy plans. How the crossover handles this will affect the tone of the story and the way the groups are presented and seen by the characters in-story.
  • Crossover stories will also often have a plot point where the other half of the crossover will be the source of a better solution to the generally dire state of Magical Girls on the ground level than Madoka's. This will typically come in the form of using elements or resources from the other half to find a means of restoring Witches to Magical Girls, creating a more stable source of magic for Magical Girls to sustain themselves with than Grief Seeds, or a way to use their powers without risk of turning into a Witch. The method used is dependent on the series in question and what ideas the writer has with them.
• In stories that don't ultimately end in Madoka making the same wish or having the same result as canon, having Ultimate Madoka intervene or assist in some way to bring about a happier ending than her own in the story in question. This would become Ascended Fanon in the game events of Magia Record.
• A frequent addition to Homura's timeloop backstory is her having undergone relationship upgrades with past Madokas prior to the timeline that the story takes place, adding additional tragedy to Homura's past.
• A common set-up for stories in which Homura is being paired with another member of the Holy Quintet than Madoka romantically is her attempting to prevent that other Magical Girl from falling down their usual problems either by training (Sayaka) or connecting with them (Mami) going in directions Homura intended did not intend. A common joke is that this starts with her accidentally asking them on dates and being unable to get out of it after realizing just what she had done without creating the very problems she's trying to avoid.
• Fan stories will often incorporate Oriko and Kirika into the plot as direct antagonists, taking advantage of their history in the timeloops to give Homura and company Magical Girls to fight that aren't themselves, enemies that have more agency than Witches that can be killed or turned to your side unlike Kyubey, and as easy set up for Homura's better reception if she's shown preventing Madoka's death by their hands as a first or early impression.

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