#PLEASE KEEP SENDING ME MESSAGES

[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!

[nopanamaman]

How often do you read questions on Tumblr without answering them?

I wish I could say never but

[necrotic-nephilim]

in lieu of having posted any writing/headcanons/asks in the past few days because i have been *so* busy and unable to do anything fandom-related which is terrible and evil, i have a poll out of morbid curiosity and self-indulgence. i've been meaning to ramble here about how i feel about DC's lack fo Deaf representation and which Batfam members i would personally make Deaf, but i am mildly curious about the larger opinion and now i will subject you all to the question, i would love to hear thoughts/opinions/headcanons on any specific choices. (would love d/Deaf/HoH opinions esp but i'm mostly expecting this to reach the hearing crowd, so opinions from hearing ppl are ones i'm very curious about. if you've never given it thought before you are going to now or else /lh)

[canon-gabriel-quotes]

I randomly get inspired to write weird stuff with Gabriel that I'm usually not even into and a lot of the time I get comments that amount to I'm not into this. Am I? or being surprised they were into it. Gabriel is just randomly inflicting this sort of thing on everyone I suppose

Gabriel Ultrakill has been reclassified as a gateway drug. Please keep an eye out for any suspicious activity.

[fluffomatic]

I honestly don't even know how to start this, or even if I should. I know that this community has had its issues, controversies, etc. At this point? It's getting ridiculous. I'm disgusted by the actions of the fucking ADULTS in this community. This is supposed to be a safe space. For everyone regardless of age, race, sexuality, gender expression, religion, etc. The fact that you've used that to hurt people is revolting. I've gotten more information about what's going on by a friend, and honestly, everyone who is associated with the current thing going on except the minor or minors who were harmed. should be ashamed. If there is anything to take out of what has happened, it is this. Don't put any creator up on a pedestal. We're all human. We make mistakes, sometimes really bad ones. Myself included. Just be aware of the people you support and follow. If they exhibit bad behavior, call it out. I hope that all of you will hold me accountable for any harm I might have or may cause. I think the best thing about being human is that we all have the ability to learn and change. I wish everyone was involved the best, and I hope this situation teaches you a lesson. And to the people harmed, it doesn't matter if these creators do change and learn and grow, if they apologize up and down, if they do everything in their power to make it right, you don't owe them your forgiveness, you have every right to be mad. You're valid no matter what you choose.

I may take some time away from tumblr. Probably not for very long, but the air here is definitely toxic at the moment. My messages will still be open for my friends, of course. Just give everyone time to heal from what happened. To the adults in the community, we have an obligation to make this place safe. Not just for each other, for everyone. We all need to do better.

[svtskneecaps]

friends and fiends if this truly spells the Over for the qsmp i may let the brainworms that have been festering in me for MONTHS--A YEAR, EVEN--win.

i may summarize the goddamn fucking lore.

[myrtaceaae]

I'll not lie, seeing other countries voting systems baffles and infuriates me.

What do you mean voting isn't compulsory?? That's like. If a candidate wins but 30% of people in the electorate didn't vote at all, how is your representative actually going to represent the views of their electorate.

What do you mean you need to bring photo ID??? Surely they can just cross your name off the electoral role in the big books???? What if you don't have appropriate ID???? How are you supposed to vote.

And what are you talking about that you can only put your vote towards a single candidate???? Surely that's not true, surely you can number them according to your preference?? Please tell me that you can just rank them, please tell me that your vote has power over every party, not just one.

It's like. How are you supposed to have a democratic country if people can just. Not vote, and be unable to vote without ID, and can only put their vote towards a single party. Literally so fucked up.

[simandy]

I see something broke in the last update 😅

[hel7l7]

I just want to see you happy again

[edge-oftheworld]

if I wrote an essay about activism and the newbrokenscene (how to navigate having an actual platform for activism when you feel helpless most of the time and why we should give people grace for it and also they might just make our best activists) would you read it?

[crossplanarcleric]

The device is now making a low humming noise…it's kind of soothing, actually. It reminds me somewhat of the orrery in Errk's office, back in Ardmore. It seemed like he was always fussing with the mechanisms, making sure they were all aligned properly. …Well, I guess we will have to wait and see whether this device has any alignment issues I need to take care of. Heh.

The countdown has dropped to 5.

[lunalycana]

I guess I should finally say something since I’m noticing it happening very commonly.

So I get a lot of messages about Barry (obviously since I draw them a ton) and a lot of these messages refer to them with “he/him” pronouns? Now I know not everyone knows the canon info (and some people… don’t care lol) but Barry uses “they/them”, a choice by the team that made the game they’re the protagonist of.

If that’s a thing you feel ambiguous about, go off I guess since at the end of the day they’re a fictional cartoon animal person, but just know that whenever I write or draw Barry, their pronouns are they/them exclusively. Please respect this when I write fics and draw comics about them! Thank you. :’)

[ophthalmotropy]

Having uninstalled both Tumblr AND Discord, I have to say I feel comparatively fantastic. I do feel that my friends on both apps are wonderful, and I'm sorry for going offline without warning, but I think the constant influx of notifications was making me anxious without me realising it.

[skania]

I noticed you replied to my ask and it seems like you misinterpreted my question! I did mean to ask why you think kana would be the most predictable choice for the endgame - is it just a feeling or did you notice some clues etc. while reading the chapters?

Ohhh my apologies anon, thank you for clearing that up for me! I have to admit that it didn't occur to me that other people may not notice it, to me it's just extremely blatant because of the basic tropes and clichés behind it: first girl wins, light to the boy's darkness, "oh he's his old self around her", etc. But in all honesty, the biggest thing to me is how the series just won't let us forget that Kana has feelings for Aqua. Remember when Aqua and Akane started dating for real and the manga was like: Have you seen how sad Kana is over him?? And that Aqua is obsessed with her? How sad, right? And here have Aqua and Akane on a date—but Aqua is attracted to Kana! And here is Kana crying over Aqua again! It just stands out to me because they don't have the development to warrant that kind of attention, yet it's there. But mostly, it stands out to me because I've already lost two shipping wars for this very same reason and my gut won't let me forget lmao

But like I said before, it's possible that Aka wants us to feel this way because he is planning to subvert all these tropes and deliver a platonic Aqua and Kana ending. I can only hope that's the case, so that's the reading I want to focus on in my posts because it's the one I personally find the most interesting and rewarding set-up wise 😂

[thislittlekumquat]

Just because I want folks to remember that an internet without amazon does still exist - if you ever want to remove amazon from your google results, just add -amazon after a space at the end of your search query and it will do the trick most of the time. When there’s product placement involved, or if you have googled something like an amazon-produced book or TV show, you might struggle with the algorithm a bit, but I promise you it is always ethical to avoid clicking or sending amazon links when possible

[its-joshs-fault]

something is Happening to my blog and I can't tell if the app is just being glitchy or if @staff tried and failed to nuke me, leaving me with a shambling corpse of an account