#I don’t disagree with you

[alighted-willow]

I used to work on a ranch an found it rather meditative. Not relaxing, per se, since there was always the risk that a certain oreo-coloured horse might charge in a random direction and potentially hurt himself or I (he's a sweetheart, just maladjusted), buuut still.

Folks with that sort of fantasy either don’t know the reality of these kinds of jobs (such as hauling a lot of fresh manure on the daily or finding repeatedly finding the eventual outcome of tending to critters with far shorter life expectancies than yourself) or they like the idea of isolation. Isolation plus manual labour is surprisingly comforting (unless the wasps get territorial about the gate again, in which case you're in for some trouble…).

*whispers* it's the bourgeoisie ideology

[each-uisge-enthusiast]

the modern villainisation of demeter will never cease to enrage me bc it wasn’t ENOUGH to just take a story of a girl being torn from her home from everyone who loved her and dragged away to be forced into marriage and twist and corrupt it until it was a romance story about female empowerment that wasn’t ENOUGH they HAD to take the original hero of the story the mother who went to every length to find her daughter again to bring her home and demonise her character until she was this horrific overbearing unloving mother. overprotective controlling without love. they turn the story of her grief at her YOUNG daughter being torn from her without her knowledge into the story of a misunderstood bad boy and a horrible cruel mother who won’t give him a chance and i really find it sickening. it’s ironic, that the ever misogynist age of hellenistic greece, has a better grasp of how disgusting and horrifying this situation was that a modern, self proclaimed ‘feminist’ era.

[sh5]

[burnorgetburned]

EVEN MORE CLARA DOLL DETAILS:

So you know how the Dolls have their own distinctive clothes?

Guess who else has their own distinctive clothes!

That’s right. The multiple Homuras are actually Clara Dolls.

And that’s why ‘Homura’ is smiling.

Here they are! The one with the striped hat is Nekura (Gloominess or Pessimism) and the one with the flower is Mie (Vanity).

Here’s their descriptions from the art book.

[The second one to come was Gloominess. Walking out with a tapping sound, she sneered at Good-for-Nothing. “This is Good-for-Nothing! How very unbecoming.” These dolls are only disciples of Freedom, and are devoted to their lust for it.]

[The tenth to come running is Vanity. She exaggeratedly avoids Good-for-Nothing's head and says a few words. “I wouldn't be able to bear dirtying my cape with that sticky blood!” These dolls make fun of the witch's self-mutilation.]

Good-for-Nothing is Homura, by the way, but the Clara Dolls seem to consider Good-for-Nothing to be good for something after all after she splits Madoka. She turns into the Devil, and the Clara Dolls are stated to be “okay” with the Devil. If the young voices in the trailer belong to the Clara Dolls, then they also call her “Akuma-sama” now. Something like Mistress Devil, implying a sense of respect.

[… if they are not summoned, they will simmer. There are orders they will comply with, and also orders they will disobey. What they are and the witch herself's own magic are not well understood.]

At the end of Rebellion, Homura gave Madoka her ribbon back. She declared that they might become enemies in the end. Honestly, I thought that Homura would try her best to avoid Madoka entirely. The trailer suggested that Homura was meeting Madoka, though. Here’s the answer: it wasn’t Homura herself, but Gloominess, who wants freedom.

Now, I’m not sure how this situation works out. Do Clara Dolls have free will? Are they obeying Homura’s orders? Acting out Homura’s true emotions? Is Homura perhaps directly puppeteering them in order to fulfill her goals, or do they act on their own?

I find it likely that it’s a mix of both: some of them obey her, and some of them will try and fulfill her (probably very conflicting) desires, as familiars usually do. Gloominess is likely part of Homura who wants the freedom to talk to Madoka, for example, but Vanity seems to me like a Clara Doll who is obeying Homura. After all, she still needs magical girls to fight wraiths, at least until she finds a way to wipe them out.

[I'm Vanity (Mie). I'm pushing myself to the limit for someone.] And she is, of course. All of the theatrics, the calls, the organization of magical girls. These are things that Vanity is shown to engage in. All of this is for Madoka.

We see with Gloominess, at least, that she seems to be fulfilling a specific desire: in the background are white spider lilies. Instead of the red spider lilies that mean death, final goodbyes, and lost love, white spider lilies mean a hope for the future and a fresh start. Maybe this really is the first meeting for these two in a while, and she wants to be friends again?

Or maybe, being Gloominess, she wants to warn her about something.

[I'm Gloominess (Nekura). Forcing smiles tires me out.]

Then there’s this Homura.

Nothing about her clothes is very different. She is wearing ribbons as Homura in the wraith universe does, but look closely: the ribbons are different. They have some wavy stripes on them, while Madoka’s ribbons are plain. She does not correspond to any known Clara Doll.

However, there’s mentioned to be a fifteenth Clara Doll that is not yet born: Ai, representing love. This could be her. Is it love for others? Or love for herself? I’m hoping it’s the latter, but very likely it’s love for Madoka and her friends. This would explain why she’s trying to fight Homucifer in the poster, as Homura believes that she’s a danger to everyone else.

How can this be? Well, here’s a few options:

- The Clara Dolls are grown-up familiars. They ate souls, and they became a copy of their witch. This is a process that was explained to us in the original series, where some magical girls are stated to farm familiars by letting them eat people so that they would grow souls/grief seeds.

- The Clara Dolls are not familiars, or wraiths, but instead a secret third thing. “What they are and the witch’s own magic are not well understood”, as said in the Rebellion art book. They could be magical constructs of a different kind, but I do think that this would get into overcomplicated explanations quickly, so I favor the familiar explanation.

- The Clara Dolls could be familiars, but instead of eating souls they’re simply powerful enough to change their shape. Their strength is equal to the strength of a magical girl…. when Homura was a witch, before Homura became something more. It could also be energy from the contracts making them stronger. Maybe it’s me being sentimental, but I don’t like the idea of Homura letting anyone’s soul be nommed on.

Now, before there’s a panic about how they’ll juggle fifteen extra characters, here’s a few thoughts:

- Just because they seem different doesn’t mean they’re actually different. It might be that the Clara Dolls are a way for Homura to present herself. As Vanity, she might show off more, or have dramatic flourishes like her throne and her dress. As Gloominess, it might be that she doesn’t believe that her plans will work, so she tries to do what makes her happy. It’s likely that the Clara Dolls are just extra ways to explore Homura’s character. They’re parts of her soul, after all, and right now she is extremely powerful. She might simply want to keep her true self away from humans.

- They could work like projections. Homura wants more bodies to work with, but she has to filter herself through the Dolls’ personalities. This could result in a lot of juicy character interactions, as the things she tries to keep hidden are closer to the surface.

- Will ‘Ai/Mystery Homura’ fight against Devil Homura? Very likely! How can this be when they’re the same person? Well, who hates Homura more than Homura? That’s right. Nobody. Anyone can fight and argue with their self, it’s just usually not on the level that a reality-warper like Homura can manage.

If this is true, there’s plenty of interesting directions they can take it.

- Because the Clara Dolls have a degree of separation from Homura, they can show other characters things that Homura herself has ignored or locked away. Bad memories, affection for her friends, the resentment she must feel - everything from concern to a cry for help can be plausibly shown through them as the actors.

- Manuke (Stupidity) is specifically more naive/sincere than the others. Maybe interacting with this Doll would show the Quintet that there’s something more going on than a Devil who wants to hurt other people.

- If Ai represents a love for other people, Ai can have a strange character arc where she learns to value Homura/herself, and become self-love.

- On the other hand, Ai can represent self-love from the start, and because Homura looks very fucking unhealthy in the trailer, she only wants to stop her because she’s hurting herself. This option plays into the themes of self-sacrifice and happiness, which I believe to be some of the major themes that they’re going for.

- The poster could be misleading and Ai ends up fighting everyone but Homura. I find this the funniest option.

- Homura can hug herself. It’s possible. In fact, every character can hug Homura 15 different times.

Smiles are a Clara Doll’s default expression. We have yet to see Homura smile for real.

Is this going to get very ambiguous and confusing? Probably. But rewatching for details was the fun part in Rebellion, so I’m looking forward to it!

[thesaintofnevergettingitright]

Have you ever wondered how Dimension 20’s Intrepid Heroes (+Aabria) would react to being told “I’d die for you”? Because my brain would not allow me to rest until I shared my thoughts on the subject.

[crab-hole]

Hey to all those dickriding the Watcher boys right now taking about how 50+ US dollars a year “isnt that much and is cheaper than all the other streaming services.” Fuck you. Most people can’t afford groceries right now.

To all the Watcher fans shaming their own community for being upset that they can no longer watch something that they enjoyed. Fuck you too.

To all those who are signing up to have a subscription to this completely new and know nothing sub service. Or are donating to this google forms raffle thing. Please direct your money towards a charity of your choice or the Genocide that is happening to the Palestinians.

It will be a cold day in hell when I support someone who drives a Tesla over the starving and war ridden people of Palestine. Free Palestine. Eat the Rich. Fuck you Watcher TV for giving your audience something NO. ONE. ASKED. FOR.

[jewishbarbies]

ethel cain is actually so funny and by funny i mean stupid bc what do you mean Kamala “got on that debate stage and said israel had the right to blow the levant to smithereens”? are you just dumb? is that what it is? I genuinely don’t understand where she got that from bc it doesn’t even sound like we watched the same debate. if you take “israel has the right to defend itself from terror attacks (as all countries do)” to mean “israel has the right to blow everyone up indiscriminately bc why not” you should probably refrain from public speaking, bc that’s embarrassingly intellectually dishonest.

[dreamerdrop]

holding garak responsible for his behaviour on empok nor is kinda ridiculous for a number of reasons, one of which is obviously the fantastical nature of specifically what happened there in the first place, but. i gotta say.

if someone was slowly induced into a state of psychosis, dosed with utterly absurd amounts of basically amphetamines against their will, and then placed into a situation that involved them being encouraged to murder at least two people in the name of self defense, if they went ahead and flipped out and tried to kill everyone else present at the time, well—

i think i would forgive a real world human for that too, honestly. i do not think that would be their fault. i would think that situation was fucked up and they (and everyone else) were gonna need therapy forever and ever but that was not their fuckin’ fault.

[appeypie]

Demise and ghirahim remind me of rose quartz and pearl from Steven universe

DO IT FOR HIM…..

[inklore]

this may be an unpopular opinion and please by all means take my little headcanon with a grain of salt. but i fully believe that before season three, before his seventeen city travel, colin bridgerton was a virgin. which does not matter either way, like who cares. but i think it’s important to note because it goes in hand with his ‘big change’ in s3.

he has stated many times how he has changed and become more himself, even going as far as trying to convince his family in which eloise insinuated he must be lonely, and his mother did not believe it at all. but then when he’s confessing to pen he says he’s tried his hardest to be what society wants him to be, and even got pressed at the guys he went out drinking with because they were acting how society viewed the best way for men to act back then; having a dozen different conquests and bragging about it.

so while many dislike his little threesome scene i think it was him just further trying to convince himself that he was this suave man of society like his brothers and like hey look i’ve grown up i’m no longer the golden boy. (also let’s not forget how annoyed he got with his brothers talking about purpose, this is important ok because with this ‘big change’ he did i fully believe he thought he’d find himself and his purpose)

HE’S LITERALLY JUST AN AWKWRD BOY WITH A MASK ON THAT ONLY CAME OFF FOR PEN OK LIKE THIS IS SO IMPORTANT TO ME I’M SCREAMING!!!

[sadaveniren]

Hey! So I left the fandom in 2019 and only recently came back. I did all the catch-up research and was like "cool, looks like larry are still probably together". But it seems that's not the popular opinion these days on tumblr?? So I guess I'm wondering if I missed something pretty major that led to a lot of people thinking that way? Or maybe it was a bunch of small subtle things that I didn't pick up on in my readings? I thought who better to ask than one of the old timers (no offence lol)

You know how babies think that the ball disappears when they don’t see it anymore? That’s what I always assume it is.

[geryone]

Having followers on tumblr is irrelevant but for some reason once people believe you have any kind of following they stop treating you like a person & instead think that it’s normal to say insane things to you and send you weird parasocial messages

[nicoappreciation]

i get that it’s fun to be a hater sometimes but personally it’s a pet peeve of mine when people get too pessimistic/negative about something when i think it’s not really necessary and i feel like that can apply to a lot of situations on this side of the fandom. like not to be a hater of haters but i started having a lot more fun once i stopped fixating on every plot hole and worldbuilding decision i didn’t like and i think some of y’all could benefit from that

[dykebeckett]

fascinated by this subset of ostensible leftists who pivot hard into fash rhetoric as soon as something doesn’t go their way.

[turtleblogatlast]

One of the biggest things that makes me see Leo as trans is absolutely the size of his carapace in comparison to his brothers’.

And I’m not talking about height! I’m specifically looking at his shell here, because when you compare him to the others, particularly Donnie who is nearly the same height as Leo, it’s very clear that Leo’s carapace is much longer in proportion to the rest of his body.

Like - standing side by side, even though Donnie is shorter his carapace ends noticeably higher up than Leo’s does. And I like this not only because it really helps push the idea that Leo could very likely be trans (or intersex!), but it’s also just a fun design difference between them.

(It also lends way to future scenarios of Donnie eventually getting taller than Leo, but sitting down still has Leo being the taller one haha.)

[lucky-clover-gazette]

tbh i think volo would have been significantly more normal and fine if he hadn’t been hiding so much of his true feelings and personality. like when you deny yourself genuine human connection to that degree you’re probably going to come off as a machiavellian monster who wants to make the world and the lives of others worse, but looking at his actual stated motivations and intentions it’s clear to me at least that the guy is deeply empathetic and idealistic and more than anything disappointed that the world can’t be better