#black swan symbolism

[biggesthomuradefender]

homura akemi & birds: black swans, crows, & ravens (analysis)

i feel like i've noticed that homura has some interesting similarities/coincidences (?) w birds, specifically crows, ravens, and black swans. and since i haven't seen anyone rly mention it yet, i decided i might as well and have a crack at it :)

i hope you enjoy !!

- black swans.

now, the easiest comparison u can make first is the fact that homura's entire devil outfit seems to be made entirely out of dark feathers, or at least replicating the appearance of them. she even has wings made of black feathers and bone (i had no idea the white part was bone, deadass thought that was just for aesthetic purposes only. isn't that cool and morbid as hell???) as well.

i feel like this is a very obvious reference to the black swan from swan lake, aka odile, often presented as odette's (the white swan, aka madoka/ultimate madoka in this scenario) double or opposite, causing them to create yin and yang together.

(an image of the black swan, aka odile, and the white swan, aka odette, from the 2010 "black swan" movie)

homura believes herself to be the devil, the very embodiment of all that is evil, wicked, unlovable, etc. bc of her very black-and-white mindset caused by repeated trauma; this makes her the opposite of madoka in her eyes, who embodies hope, love, selfishness, etc.

just as odette's outfit is pure white, so is ultimate madoka's attire.

on top of that, when i did some research on black swans, and there is apparently a metaphor called the "black swan theory" that characterizes an event that has a huge outcome, occurs as a surprise, and often used incorrectly when someone wants to or tries to rationalize/make sense of their actions after they know the outcome of them.

in a more broad sense, it can be used to highlight or represent how we have the tendency to underestimate or overlook the possibility of events that are unpredictable and rare.

sounds exactly like devil homura, doesn't it? her taking the power of the law of cycles (or at least part of it) was a huge shock to everyone, including the audience, and the way she tries to (incorrectly) rationalize her actions by proclaiming herself the devil and all that is evil and cruel after she has done it, when that clearly isn’t true.

the term itself comes from the idea that people thought that all swans were white, so when black swans were discovered, it challenged their beliefs.

kinda like how homura believes herself to be/calls herself the devil, even though she is technically a goddess, like ultimate madoka is. referring to/seeing herself as a goddess in any capacity would surely challenge her black-and-white mindset, bc how could she be anything like madoka when she's oh-so-terrible and madoka is anything but?

- crows.

in different cultures, crows symbolically represent transformation, death and the afterlife, fortune telling and the prophecy (such as warnings and good omens), intelligence. even more so, seeing a crow in your dream is apparently a sign of change that is coming into your life.

without saying much else, you can probably see the similarities to homura very easily. not only did she transform into a supposed "devil", but she also had a transformation when she went from moemura, aka her glasses and braids self, to the more cold, closed-off persona and demeanor she portrays.

homura is clearly very intelligent, and she served as the embodiment of a warning and a good omen since her introduction, albeit quite ominously and cryptically. her constant warnings and protection towards madoka and her telling madoka the truth about who she is and what her goals are in ep. 10 are both parts of what directly allows madoka to make the ultimate wish and sacrifice she made in ep. 12 to begin with, besides the fact that she was directly affecting madoka's karmic destiny.

not to mention, madoka had a dream about homura the night before she transferred to her class, and her life promptly changed tremendously right after that.

when the research about crows i researched mentioned death and the afterlife, i instantly thought of homulily's design.

- ravems.

ravens basically say the same thing !! but unlike crows, the research.i found mentions that ravens have symbolic connections to the spiritual and moral world, and be able to move across them as messengers.

ironically enough, homura's clara dolls, which represent the way she sees herself, call themselves the "troupe of the mortal world"... very interesting.

even more so... doesn't homura's hair kind of look like dark bird wings because of how they're parted due to her constantly wearing braids before moving them, especially when it blows in the wind? (i sadly don't have any gifs of that but hopefully, you know what i'm talking abt lol)

look at how even more bird-like and dramatic it becomes when she's devil homura.

before

and after

anyways, that's my analysis !! hope u guys enjoyed and thanks for reading :)

[annalifes]

⪩ sisters 💌

[dollyiia]

[magiizine]

Dancing in a cathedral

Yknow those moments when you feel your artistic abilities kinda level up? That was me when drawing the lineart for this.

Anyways, Fyolai dancing fyolai dancing fyolai dancing

Theres totally no minor symbolism

[ilyispector]

— 𝐲ou used to be a genius. / — 𝐧o, i didn't.

[jaexxie]

𝂅 ✿ ׁ ㅤ𝐔sers for ( blackswan )ㅤ ִㅤ𝅄ㅤ𑁯

imblackswan b1ackswan black_swan

blacswan luvswan divineswan

b1ack5wan dearest.swan bl4ckswan

[scrumptiouskitty0x]

𝗠𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗿 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗼𝘄 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝘆 𝗺𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗿 𝘀𝗰𝗲𝗻𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 !! 🎀. ݁₊ ⊹ .

[glowinlemon]

Can’t function right now because all I can think abt is Corazon=black swan symbolism:(

WARNING!!! Me becoming the epitome of the phrase “the curtains are blue” AHEAD!!!

Like, black swans *black swan theory* symbolizes in literature and stuff a big change, twist, betrayal, or a surprising development. And than there’s Cora’s whole time as a spy before revealing himself to Law (twist!) and running away and betraying Doffy in the process (betrayal!), before he winds up double crossing the marines too (betrayal/unexpected development!) and his whole life for the time he had known Law was just unexpected reveal after another.

Another thing is that black swans were assumed to not exist by the Romans, the ppl who created most of the sayings and symbolism around these birds. Like how for much of Doflamingo’s life he had lived assuming that his brother was dead, thus no longer existing.

And once ppl realized that there IS such a thing as black swans, sometime in the 1600’s I think, the phrases where changed to reflect times when peoples ideas and systems of thinking are proven wrong by the mere existence of an unknown trait. Similar in my mind to the assumption that just about everyone in the Donquixote family had that Corazon was a clumsy, stupid, grunt who’s only real reason to be kept around beside his relation to Doflamingo was his unwavering loyalty to his brother. Literally every trait listed here became disproven once Corazon dropped his cover and proved himself to be highly intelligent, rigorously trained marine who was strongly opposed to much of his brother’s actions. (Admittedly the clumsiness wasn’t MUCH of an act).

Black swans are also known to be birds who are incredibly protective of their young, willing to fight another animal to the death in order to protect their chicks. God I’m going insane enough that I can’t tell how much of a reach all this stuff is.

And while this isn’t a BLACK swan, I also find there to be parallels between Corazon and MUTE swans for some pretty obvious reasons. Obviously there’s the whole mute thing linking them, but I also think that the fact that neither Corazon nor a mute swan is actually mute. Mute swans are generally quieter than most other swans, but they DO make their own calls, sorta like Corazon’s fake muteness.

And than there’s the whole phrase “a swan song”, meaning something or someone’s last performance, greatest achievement, or final battle of sorts. My mushy brain looks at this and immediately starts thinking about Corazon’s death, where he not only fought his last battle, but also completed what he considered to be the most important action in his life by saving Law. PLUS the phrase refers to the old belief that swans didn’t ever sing or make noise until just before their deaths, similar to how the only time that Doflamingo ever hears his adult brothers voice is during the few minutes before his death (at Doffy’s own hands)!!!

I’m not rlly sure how much of this is actually like a bunch of observations, and how much of this is just incomprehensible rambling from someone who reads too much in their free time and hyper-fixated on a side character who died years before the story he’s in even starts. Whatever. If u made it this far thanks tho!

[wingriddnd]

⋆˚✿˖° 𐙚 ₊ i just wanna be perfect…

[t1dalwave]

˖ ݁𖥔 ݁˖ 𐙚 ˖ ݁𖥔

Watch the way she moves; imprecise but effortless.

[guadita-4738]

Black Swan - 2010

"I want to be perfect"

[annalifes]

ೀ‎ lana del rey 🍒

[frizzle-mcshizzle]

it's about time i started Kesline posting again

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[lanitashiddencrackstash]

“have fun in flordia”

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“that girl didn’t wanna die she just wanted out of that house”

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“you changed the scenery not the fucking situation”

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“you’re a fucking movie star”

[crustyfloor]

Watch Till get decked out in white in round 7 to symbolize his and Luka's equal chances of life and death

[dollthings]

me now