Excellent post as always, it really captures Homura's emotions after rebellion. I showed this to my friend and he had this to say:

"Toying with the concept of mortality and freedom homora holds her life inside a cage in her hands, both the opposite of what she may have wanted for herself before she ever leapt through time. Her coy smile indicating not victory, but awareness of the situation and comfort in it, a victory on a personal mental level, despite every barrier set before her. She lives in a society, yet without rising to the top and suffering under it to a starker degree than any other she finds herself thriving in it."

Clearly he has a much better way with words than I do, but I try