Title: Fargo
Author: Bavitz
Rating: T (Honestly, I feel like it should be higher though)
Genre: Adventure
Chapters: 43
Words: 336,493
Updated: April 17, 2016
Published: May 5, 2015
Status: Complete
Fandom: Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Summary: [Post-Rebellion] In the frostbitten American Midwest, ragged Magical Girls vie for territory to survive the unforgiving landscape. One such girl is Sloan Redfearn, who wastes away in Fargo, North Dakota, nursing a grudge and watching her hopes slowly die. But when Kyubey approaches with a unique opportunity, she becomes embroiled in a conspiracy that threatens to topple gods.
Link: FF.net

Fargo is a post-Rebellion PMMM fic with a similar world to Puella Magi Homura Magica. If PMMM was a grimdark take on a typical magical girl anime, this is a grimdark take on PMMM. Limited resources in the form of Wraith hunting grounds lead to brutal lives for magical girls filled with violent territorial disputes. The story is focused around OCs in USA, though we occasionally get interludes from Homura's point of view as she coolly manages the fucked up world she's created.

Let me start with the characters.

They're ALL absolute fucking cunts.

(Pardon my Australian)

In PMHM, almost all the characters were ruthless, but you sort of rooted for them regardless because they were all still likeable and had good reasons for their actions. Fargo is the opposite. Every single character is irredeemably and absolutely despicable. There's an angry, vengeance obsessed arsehole of a cunt. There's a Kotomine Kirei psychopathic cunt. There are cold, ruthless cunts. There are absolutely batshit insane cunts. There are violently arrogant cunts. Spanish Inquisition imitating cunts. There are good girls who got fucked over so many times that now they're apathetic cunts. There's the devil cunt herself. And of course, the biggest cunt of them all, Kyubey.

Apparently in the USA, Kyubey only recruited girls who were already having pretty shitty lives, and getting thrown in the Puella world just made that worse. Hell, some of the scenes are hard to read as you get to see the kind of brutal shit they do to each other. Every time you think they're can't be anymore cuntish or may actually be improving, they always prove you wrong.

This can make it a bit hard to get into at the start, because you can't really like any of the characters. But as you read on, you realize you're not really meant to. The characters are quite unlikeable, but as they're explored more and more, you also realize they're actually very interesting. And despite the fact they aren't likeable, there's usually just enough slightly redeemable features to keep you from wanting them to all just die.

Spoiler

Like Delaney. Wow. What a character. A genuine Jack Slash level psychopath who trying her best to be a hero and a good person. She probably was the only consistently likeable character in the story too.

Her POV is amazing. That weird jumble of absolutely fucked up violent fantasies warring with self deprecation and attempts at trying to understand what a normal human behavior. Like the following scene:

"She tightened her grip on the steering wheel. So Sloan had spurned her advance in the motel room. Come on, that's totally fair. Totally! You're kind of Grade A Batshit, remember? But Sloan's vulnerable state had led you to believe you had a chance. That's exactly the point! You completely misread the situation. You thought death = emotion, emotion = vulnerability, vulnerability = need for comfort, need for comfort = sex. A simple formula that probably works in a variety of easily replicable contexts, but Delaney had underestimated just a wee bit the DEATH part of the equation, the fact that someone had DIED and that was not normally the best omen to hang over a rite of fertility? So ultimately all you did was reveal your insanity and ruin any chance you had, any at all! Fuck you, Delaney! Fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck YOU!"

Love the following paragraphs too, where it talks about her initially hoping to have sex because she originally thought it was some pure expression of love and may be a way of actually experiencing something righteous for once, only to find out via the internet that it can be just as depraved as the rest of her fantasies.

And that awkward situation where the psychopath is the only one who is trying to resolve all the conflicts with minimal pain, death and fighting. I honestly feel like the biggest tragedy in the story is her. She tried so hard, consistently, to do the right thing and failed because no one would actually listen to her. Furthermore, everyone just gives her shit and never really acknowledges her efforts at all.

The plot and story narrative are really well structured and come together brilliantly. The unlikeable nature of the characters serves an actual purpose in the grand plot and the character developments. The whole thing keeps you intrigued the whole way and doesn't disappoint when all the various threads finally come together and you see the big picture. It aims for world scale epic and it achieves it via a gradual build up from such a seemingly small starting point.

Spoiler

You can't help but feel pretty damn impressed with Kyubey's plot - I mean, it has to be that complex when your opponent is the demon goddess controlling the world.

There's a lot of interesting world building details too that the author gives you glimpses of that are pretty interesting.

My main gripe is a technical one. The author has a really bad habit of switching the third person limited POVs mid scene. You're reading Sloan's thoughts on something, and next paragraph you're seeing Delaney's thoughts. It's pretty annoying and can make getting through scenes confusing and jarring.

4.5/5 - Despite the technical issues, and perhaps less enjoyment because of the characters, this is a real epic-scale fanfic with a intriguing universe, complex characters and a fantastic plot. It feels more like original fiction than fanfiction and really creates its own universe, characters and story rather than just exploring a specific premise built on existing content. And I feel any fanfiction that can pull off something like this deserve high level of kudos.



Checked January 11, 2017
By now the story is complete.

 

This is frankly amazing. An intricate plot that continually unveils new layers of nuance and complexity without ever managing to collapse into a tangled or incomprehensible mess of conflicting agendas, an incarnation of Kyubey that lives up to his reputation, multifaceted magi who are simultaneously interesting and loathsome, and plenty of trauma for everyone. Don't do yourself a disservice and let the large number of OCs turn you off; if you have even the slightest appreciation for schadenfreude, Fargo will make your day.

5/5.

 

Update today.

Spoiler

Absolutely loved Homura's POV here. It really got across that insane, creepy obsession with Madoka with zero fucks given to anyone else in the world, including her other "friends".

I'm liking Sayaka and Nagisa getting their memories back. I'm guessing they'll feature more as characters going forth. And I guess Sloan is no longer dead too.

 

So, finally finished this. What's there to say, I loved it.

The characters, for one, were distinct, fiercely interesting and compelling. At the same time, as was already said, they are vicious, apathetic, self-serving, ruthless and at times sadistic bitches. Many are quite literally insane and in a society where might makes right, where the current ruler of the universe doesn't care for them beyond their function as small cogs in the world to make Madoka happy, and the other entity who sees them as exactly the same, only also as potentially useful but ultimately just as disposable, it really doesn't bode well for anyone.

Magical girls carve out territories, the fertile ones, i.e. the ones where the suffering is the biggest, the strongest girls flock to, not to help people but to get the cubes which is the resource that keeps them from dying. They abuse each other, lie, betray, kill and bully, to survive.

I loved several characters, Delaney was probably my favourite. Her twisted world view, her past deeds and what she tried to do with her life and where she found herself, all of it was just so fascinating.

Spoiler

Sloan was interesting because she started out as the rational one, the sympathetic one who got betrayed by her best friend but it slowly became more and more apparent that while said friend was an asshole, Sloan herself was just as big of a jerk when she was in power. Not to mention that her quest for vengeance has blinded her to everything else, which is ironic, considering her power and wish, and you occasionally wished that Delaney did strangle the stupid out of her.

Her current quest, to interact with the main PMMM quest, to see how Kyubeys and Homura's machinations play out, is also great. We build up this character for over 200k words, saw what kind of person she was, and her current attitude of "well, might as well see this through" is just oddly compelling.

So, in a way, the character interaction, the dialogue, the world building and the sheer scope of misery in the setting alone are what makes this worth a read. The plans going in the background as two forces beyond understanding play their games while, the magical girls just try to make sense out of it if they find the time inbetween being horrible, just makes for a great story.

5/5

 

New update today.

Spoiler

As Nemrut said, Sloan's mild curiosity on whatever is happening is pretty unique and works really well for the character we've slowly built up. It's more like she just feels obliged to go have a look at what's happening in Japan after seeing her entire life seemingly controlled by this world level conspiracy. She's a very different sort of protagonist - the petty revenge focused individual who fucks up stuff for everyone.

After having a few sleeps over it, I actually feel like I do the opposite of what I usually do and increase my original rating. It's just too much of a well structured, well put together story not to have a 5/5 rating.

Edit:

Spoiler

I also reread the scene of Woodbury the night after Delaney cut her throat out. I think that has to be one of the most gut wrenching scenes I've read. The image of this young girl who still hasn't been completely jaded by the magical girl world trying to sleep in her own bed and not being able to for constantly choking on her own blood, trying everything to try to stop it and finally giving up and wanting to just die is so damn hard to read - moreso because the character who caused it was one of the ones you were actually rooting for..

 

One of the best fanfiction I've read in the past couple years, maybe even the best outright. Every character is fun to read, the plot gripped me from the very beginning, and it has a rapid-fire update rate (for fanfiction). My only worry is where the story will go from here, now that most of the threads I cared about are wrapped up, but I trust the author to make it work. Easy 5/5.

 

New Fargo chapter and damn, that new magical girl group is making Delaney look sane and well adjusted.

 

Update again, and we got a long talk between Sloan and Sayaka, lots of exposition.

Interesting take on Homura and everything but beyond all, I'm loving this new perspective of Sloan, how she is just tired and sees her own mistakes in Omaha and knows how reason won't work.

Cool chapter, story is nearing its end, btw.

 

An update.

Really loving the way the last few chapters have come together.

Spoiler

Wasn't so sure how the fic would work after they came to Japan, but it has been working really well. Perhaps less interesting from a character exploration point of view (most of that has already been done), but the plot is no less interesting.

Really liked the way the author imagined the Law of Cycles office in the last chapter and great to have Delaney back.

The dynamic of this little war between Homura and everyone else has been really interesting. Sloan murdering Madoka to force Homura to restart.

 

This is the weakest arc, but it's still pretty good. Hopefully the last two chapters don't go and screw everything up.

 

So, uh, that actually happened.

Spoiler

Omaha just decided to nuke the entire world and Homura was like "lol, you think I give a shit?" and then actually destroyed what was left.

And then "love triumphs all" happened.

Actually love the way the conflict suddenly rapidly escalated, only to be ended with a simple conversation.

Anyway, going to assume that's the climax of this arc (unless Kyubey has some more tricks up its sleeve - its been suspiciously absent most of this arc).

It wasn't quite as intense as the Minneapolis archon was, but still worked well (what with the Earth being Alderaaned and all). Both Homura and Omaha doing something so clearly awful that even they have to stop for a second and realize they've gone off the deep end.

That being said, I can't say I was a fan of how lazy the author got in the end of the chapter. Like sure, going through cycles of reactions from characters is probably draining, but reducing to script style writing isn't the answer...

 

And it's finished.

What a ride.

You can see why being dying and joining the Law of the Cycles makes everyone forgive and get along. Madoka as a Goddess of unconditional love is really portrayed well. That in the end, even a bitter, violent and cold Puella Magi like Sloan is able to admit she loved her sister and even Clair when faced with Madoka.

The story was really well structured. The author's bio page says:

and if true, I can see why.

That being said, the last two chapters felt very...rushed? Abrupt? Strange to read? Sloan seemed to disappear as a character - we weren't even seeing things from her point of view anymore. It lost some of that emotional impact for me because of that. Second last chapter didn't feel nearly as climatic as it should have, and while the last scene did fill me with feels, it could have been a lot more.

Still, story remains a clear 5/5 for me. I'd honestly recommend anyone who hasn't tried it yet to give it a go.

 

Spoiler

My impression was that the nukes were supposed to be so jarring Madoka would have to snap out of it. The logic was that Homura's magic wouldn't be strong enough to blind Madoka to so much large-scale destruction, or to the weird witch doll world she'd have to build for her to keep up the facade, not that Homura would care about it and reset or anything. But apparently they miscalculated, and Homura was powerful enough to blind Madoka to the destruction of the entire fucking planet.

(Seriously, wtf was Madoka seeing during all this!?)

And that's part of why I'm not entirely happy with the way the conflict was resolved. Anyone who's batshit insane enough to destroy the entire fucking planet without hesitation isn't going to be talked down with a few armor-piercing questions. Take it from someone who obsesses over shit; Homura had most probably already asked herself all those questions and more, and constructed answers for each one.