Magical Girl Who Is Just Pretending - B-side
this story is an answer to the prompt "Magical Girl Who Is Just Pretending"
the goddess' most powerful magical girl is, in fact, not a magical girl at all.
she has no transformation sequence and no spells and has made no pact with incomprehensible forces to gain magical powers
sure, some of what she knows and does is arcane and known to relatively few others, but it's all explicable without requiring that the laws of physics cave to love or some other magic
even though her friends find her extraordinary, she's mostly an ordinary girl.
even though there are no spells in the world she lives in, she still tries to make some of her own
as she faces down the sink full of dishes, she whispers "Magical Girl Sparkling Spork, go!" and feels somehow more prepared and motivated a moment later
she's the goddess' most powerful magical girl; dishes are no problem
her "transformation" fades after she puts the last dish away
as she shuts her work laptop after a long day, she feels a wave of relaxation pass over her
although nothing changes about her appearance, she has transformed back from being a magical phenom of productivity who's completed a week's worth of work in a day to a tired girl who needs dinner
late one night, she sips a glass of sparkling wine, and in its bubbles, sees a glimpse of her magical girl transformation
she's Magical Girl Sparkling Spork, and the wine sparkles just like she imagines herself doing
after drinking half the glass, she feels detached from this magicless world, as though at any moment she can break its rules and cast her first "real" spell
sometimes, she idly dreams about what her magical girl transformation would be like
she thinks about what limitations and rules of reality would be lifted and what that she dislikes about herself that would be gone or softened
without magic, she feels as though something that she can never have is missing, and it feels similar to her dysphoria about her gender
she knows that this world doesn't have magic, as much as it pains her to admit it
the goddess' most powerful magical girl is just pretending, and that's okay.
FIN.
thank you to all of Cohost's magical girls, enbies, and boys for indulging my magical tendencies. les extrañaré.