To make people actually remember, here's it once for posterity: Minako is nonbinary and uses they/them. This message will be pinned so you people stop getting it wrong and pissing me off. If you get it wrong in the future I'm going to be much less nice, considering you have to scroll past it just to read the quest.
I think it's mostly because, whilst they/them can be used to refer to singular individuals, it's much more common practice to use him/her. I'm pretty sure in school I was actively discouraged from using they/them when talking about individuals (even ones of unknown gender), actually. As for why people refer to Minako specifically as female by mistake, it's probably a mixture of it being PMMM (which has an almost entirely female cast), and Moid usually drawing her with a skirt (which is generally a feminine item of clothing, and thus tunes perception towards 'this person is female' regardless of whether it's true or not).
Though with all that said, by now it's been brought up and made clear enough times that people really shouldn't have to be reminded any more. I can certainly understand Moid getting annoyed at this point.
(Here's a tip, if you aren't sure you can get the pronouns right. When you write something, read over it once. It's also just good practice in general since you can catch spelling mistakes too, that way.)
(Here's a tip, if you aren't sure you can get the pronouns right. When you write something, read over it once. It's also just good practice in general since you can catch spelling mistakes too, that way.)
Yah, spotted that and edited it pretty much the moment I'd hit post. It was the skirt thing that tripped me up, for exactly the reason I outlined there ironically.
There are stereotypical phrases (in English) by which you can determine the nationality of Scandinavians.
Most are best rendered phonetically and are hard to transcribe (for instance the Norwegian is mostly recognized by the language melody by which one says it: "How did you come to know I'm Norwegian, dah?", the Swedish is less specific and more about the non-word pause for thinking sounds "eeeh, eeer, aah").
The Finnish, is basically "My wife, he told me..."
whilst they/them can be used to refer to singular individuals, it's much more common practice to use him/her. I'm pretty sure in school I was actively discouraged from using they/them when talking about individuals (even ones of unknown gender), actually.
So was I. Not because of my teacher's personal feelings on the matter, she's very cosmopolitan, she was just very uptight about proper Grammar. But I guess it's like the recent 'shall'-'will' rule correction. When I was in the elementary, it was correct to say "we shall" instead of "we will" and now it isn't, I think.
But that's not an excuse, mostly. Just have to suck it up and learn to do things differently, that's like a definition of adulthood in general, lol.
So was I. Not because of my teacher's personal feelings on the matter, she's very cosmopolitan, she was just very uptight about proper Grammar. But I guess it's like the recent 'shall'-'will' rule correction. When I was in the elementary, it was correct to say "we shall" instead of "we will" and now it isn't, I think.
But that's not an excuse, mostly. Just have to suck it up and learn to do things differently, that's like a definition of adulthood in general, lol.
Pretty much my feelings on the topic, too. Habit, how you're taught, posting without thinking, etc, might be reasons for getting this wrong, but they're not excuses (and I say this in full admittance of the fact I screwed up a post or so back, even if I did spot and correct it almost immediately).
I think it's safe to say that Kyubey contracts plenty of people of other genders in this story.
The only common factor so far has been having two X chromosomes, but I wouldn't be surprised if that "rule" got broken too. After all, the more people that QB can feed into the grinder, the more energy it gets.
The reason Kyubey contracts teenage-ish girls in canon is because they're apparently the most emotionally vulnerable/unstable group. Absolutely nothing stops him contracting anybody else except that there's no need to to meet his energy quota and it's lower efficiency- but if he can get other advantages out of it, such as destablising two prominent Magical Girls he has a major grudge against? He'll do it, no hesitation.
The reason Kyubey contracts teenage-ish girls in canon is because they're apparently the most emotionally vulnerable/unstable group. Absolutely nothing stops him contracting anybody else except that there's no need to to meet his energy quota and it's lower efficiency- but if he can get other advantages out of it, such as destablising two prominent Magical Girls he has a major grudge against? He'll do it, no hesitation.
The thing is that since Urobutcher created PMMM as a cruel deconstruction of the Magical Girl Genre, it makes sense to maintain the most defining conventions of the genre to twist them.
So from a logical point of view, it is absurd for Kyubey to ignore both males and adults, but from a storytelling perspective, it makes sense to make Kyubey only target teenage girls.
The thing is that since Urobutcher created PMMM as a cruel deconstruction of the Magical Girl Genre, it makes sense to maintain the most defining conventions of the genre so that you can twist them.
So from a logical point of view, it is absurd for Kyubey to ignore both males and adults, but from a storytelling perspective, it makes sense to make Kyubey only target teenage girls.
I think it's a bit more complicated than that, thematically? But this also isn't the place, honestly, to go through the tenth go-around of PMMM arguments.
I think it's a bit more complicated than that, thematically? But this also isn't the place, honestly, to go through the tenth go-around of PMMM arguments.
I agree that it is much more complicated than that, but deconstruction of the magical girl genre is the first thing that comes to mind when I think about what PMMM is.
The same way that when I think in what other works it first define them with a small phrase, for example, The Hunger Games: Young Adult Dystopia, Berserk: Dark Phantasy, etc
They are more than that, but it is undoubtedly that they are that.
Given that one interpretation is that Kyubey can be considered a metaphor of sorts for patriarchical society, the fact that he can exploitcontract people who are genetically female but don't identify as female is a reasonable assumption to make, not just logically but thematically.
Okay long answer because this is wildly off topic.
The rules of who can into contracting actually vary wildly. Like any system worth a damn, the Incubators change their priorities on who to contract wildly, sometimes on a yearly basis depending on a person's place in society and how much potential influence they have.
Kyubey has always contracted everyone. But priorities shift; back in 2011, young girls tended to be the more favorable pick.
Really the ideal candidates tend to be people who could and would change the world if given a reason to contract, who also have a desire for rapid, sudden change. Be it because this person is a strong personality, is someone with a lot of political pull, or has the potential to be a charismatic leader, or sometimes some other, entirely different reason.
Madoka (when you see her) is kind of one of those people. Sayaka is a natural leader right now. Kyouko has an incredibly strong personality. Akane runs a school. Homura is wildly solitary but her desire and willpower was lead to her getting an incredibly powerful magical ability.
Come 2031, and priorities have shifted again, this time it encompasses nonbinary folks, cis women, trans women, trans boys, and a very small number of cis boys.
TL;DR the selection was always arbitrary, and it ultimately shifted to fit new priorities and needs.
I think it's safe to say that Kyubey contracts plenty of people of other genders in this story.
The only common factor so far has been having two X chromosomes, but I wouldn't be surprised if that "rule" got broken too. After all, the more people that QB can feed into the grinder, the more energy it gets.
What Moid said, but also lol at the idea that Kyubey wouldn't misgender the fuck out of people. I can just see that little piece of shit calling a transgirl a 'he' and a 'him' and a 'boy' constantly and being like "ohhh sorry I'm just telling a technical truth my species doesn't understaaaaand your irrational emotional complex about your arbitrary gender roles, I just can't understand why you caaaaare."
What Moid said, but also lol at the idea that Kyubey wouldn't misgender the fuck out of people. I can just see that little piece of shit calling a transgirl a 'he' and a 'him' and a 'boy' constantly and being like "ohhh sorry I'm just telling a technical truth my species doesn't understaaaaand your irrational emotional complex about your arbitrary gender roles, I just can't understand why you caaaaare."
He's definitely that much of a dick, but I rather suspect he'd instead be all too understanding in order to trick the relevant person into making a relevant wish.
He's definitely that much of a dick, but I rather suspect he'd instead be all too understanding in order to trick the relevant person into making a relevant wish.
I could see misgendering to try and get them to contract? Like "oh sorry I was just confused by your appearance, which by the way I can change for you if you make a contract with me."
Actually, I could see Kyubey being very affirming about gender stuff, but ah, wouldn't it be better if you just contracted? Then other people wouldn't make that mistake. He's a horrible fucking asshole, but he wants you to like him. You're easier to manipulate that way.
Ultimately, while I think e can all agree that Kyubey can make people feel like he cares, in the end he thinks anything with emotions is insane and does not give a damn if Kriemhild Gretchen eats us all. In Kyubey's eyes, all humans are somewhere between inferior species and cattle.
[X] Quick rundown for Reika, and Reassurance for Minako
You quickly move to Reika and drop to a knee. "Are you injured anywhere? Not hurt too bad?"
"Y-y-y-y-you're...uh...u-uh..."
"We're magi, yes." You look back to Kyouko as she puts her hands on Minako's shoulders. "We've been at this for a while."
"S-super p-powers?"
"Kinda, sorta, yes very much so." You scratch the back of your head. "We fight things like the monster you saw a minute ago. It's kind of a part of the job. It's dangerous, and most people don't live too long in a labyrinth."
She looks at you like you've grown two heads. Then you hear a clanging sound nearby. Her head darts to the side of the sidewalk, where there is, in fact, a rat climbing out of a dumpster. She doesn't seem to relax at this.
Girl's rattled.
"It's miserable work, and the only vacation you have is family time. I wouldn't recommend it."
"No kidding." She shakes her head. "I s-saw how bad Takane got fucked up. I-is this why Mina was really off this morning?"
You wince. "Yeah. It was."
"Okay, cool." She stares ahead at nothing in particular. You follow her gaze to asphalt. Nothing on the asphalt, just the black street top. You put your hand on her shoulder.
"It'll be alright now."
"A-are there more?"
You have a myriad of ways to answer this question, so you opt for the least horrifying answer. "Yes. There are. But Mitakihara is by far one of the safest in the world. The witches are nasty, but they're also rare."
"Mmm...hm." She nods weakly. "O-alright."
You look her over again. She keeps looking over your fullplate, like she really can't believe it's real. Or that you're moving in it like you would normally.
You chuckle a little bit. "This outfit isn't normal for magi. Most of us usually look like something out of an anime." You crouch down and your armor softly slides against itself, clanking and grinding so faintly that you could never hear it over the din of the city.
"But the only reason I have it is because I've been doing this for twenty years. It's cool, but it isn't worth the cost of entry."
Reika stares at you, wide-eyed, slack-jawed, before she slowly nods. "Okay-u-uh Mrs. Miki-Sakura."
You give her a nod and walk towards your kid and your wife. You're probably going to want to keep watch on Reika, make sure she doesn't contract. Lord knows Kyubey wouldn't let someone like her slip by.
But Minako's more shaken. You know they are. Your wife's holding your child's shoulder, having already transformed out of her armor. You should probably do that too. You take a few steps towards your child and they're curled up into a ball.
You're both in broad daylight, right next to the gaping hole in the ground that Walpurgis tore out twenty years ago that the city never bothered to fix; they just built around it. Midway there, your armor dissolves into blue, glittering smoke. Your black loafers hit the ground and you crouch down next to your child.
"Hey." You press your hand into Mina's back. "You did the right thing, you know. You saved multiple lives today, you stayed safe, you did everything right. You even avoided it."
Their hands tighten around their knees. It's probably not what they wanted to hear, but it's still important that they hear it.
"I know things are not okay for now. I know you feel awful, that you feel like shit and like nothing will be okay again. But I can tell you that it'll get easier with time." You really wish you could call Madoka right around now. Ask for some advice on how she dealt with Homura back in the day.
It's been long enough that she's probably okay with Homura-related topics now. You hadn't talked to her about Homura in ages. It just never came up, and you don't know if that's on purpose or not.
You take another deep breath. "Think we should go home?" you ask.
"Y-yeah." You hear a sob.
You slowly wrap your arms around their shoulders. When it seems like they're not throwing you off, you immediately finish the hug. Kyouko follows up by giving her own hug, and you keep yourselves around Minako's shoulders.
They aren't crying full-bore. You've seen them like that, seen them just sobbing after being rejected or being bullied or being treated like trash. This kind of crying? This quiet, understated sob is when they're trying to stay strong. This is when they're trying not to break under something overwhelming.
You keep a tight hold on her for several more minutes. Finally, though, you do have to go back home. You ask Minako what they want for dinner. They just say whatever.
You and Kyouko are going to make tempura. It's a mess, but you know Minako loves it when you cook it. And you have the ingredients anyway.
[=]
Hours later, and you're finally done cleaning the kitchen. Predictably, Minako ate it up. They poked at the food, trying not to look interested, but then you heard a loud, thunderous crunch of bread crumbs and their face in a rice bowl.
It was a nice, refreshing thing to see after everything that had happened today. The last thing you see is them in their bed, texting their girlfriend.
You keep an eye on them as they stare at their phone. They wipe their eyes, and as you close the door, you hear them sobbing again. You shake your head and walk back to bed with your wife.
She doesn't say anything as you scoot close to her, then she maneuvers your head on top of her chest. It's comforting, really. "Mnnrhgle."
Kyouko strokes your hair. "Do you think we should talk to Madoka?"
"Fucked if I know," you mutter. "She's so busy."
"Well she's not too busy for you."
"Yeah she is." You sigh. "That woman has so much shit to do and I'm shocked she kept in touch after all this time."
"She still gets along with Mina. That's not nothing."
You grumble.
"What was that?"
"She introduced Minako to Death Grips and I will never forgive her."
Kyouko cackles, head thrown back, fangs out, before she sighs. "Hey, don't knock it 'till you try it."
"It sounds like noise, Kyouko. It's just noise."
"I'm sorry, Sayaka, I can't hear you over my superior gigabrain music tastes. I'm a fucking genius. My music is superior to, uh, what do you listen to?"
"Koko, we listen to mostly the same kind of music."
"My taste is still wider."
"Mneh mneeenehe mneh mneh menhmneh."
Kyouko gives you a chef's kiss. "Ah, alas, my wife, still immature, still so basic~"
It's been long enough that she's probably okay with Homura-related topics now. You hadn't talked to her about Homura in ages. It just never came up, and you don't know if that's on purpose or not.
