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!
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GOOD GOLLy I NEVER SAID ANYTHING
busy rn so now art but
HAPPY LATE CCCC DAY !!!!!!
on may 2nd the Chonny’s Charming Chaos Compendium album came out!!! happy birthday heart mind and soil we love u sm 💜💙❤️‼️‼️‼️
for context (finally), chonny covered 47 tally hall-related songs and made a narrative out of them featuring the personified concepts of the Heart, Mind, and Soul! Whole (chonny, the guy himself…ish??) was dumped by a girl then split into three (literally, metaphorically, smthn else?? maybe the hms are physical, maybe hes in a coma and fighting with himself, maybe it’s just inner demon stuff as he writes songs. prolly the last one). then they fight and heart shoots mind then soul blinds heart bc theyre supposed to stick together and then they do other stuff and make up and get mad—thing stuff!! angst and goober potential!! SO. MUCH. ANGST. GIVE THE MEN SOME ROOM TO B r e a T H e gosh dangit. they do have literal designs bc chonny cosplays in the music videos, but lots of people make their own designs. heart has wings oftentimes, mind is a partial robot, and soul has a trident + sometimes half-n-half stuff. but stuff can switch up!! me and a friend rainworld-ified the four 👀✨. CCCC is such a wild ride pls listen to it if you’re interested. it’s kinda aggressive so i can understand if some peeps don’t like it, but i’ve been consumed by the narrative and stuff. its very full and often loud but that’s expressive music babeeyy. an album of song covers but its basically a remix!!!! yum🍜
this album changed my life for the better. thank you mr jash we love u sm <333 hopefully ur having a good time and taking a good break after the power hours. wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo forever!! /ref
let’s hear it for the evil fabloo album everyone🎉🎉🥳🙏✨✨ happy birday cccc!
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Alabaster checked his watch again. He sighed in frustration. When would Claymore's seminar be over?
He hated this place: Manhattan. And the bench he was sitting had a pretty clear view of the damned Empire State Building, too. The sooner they were out of here the better it was.
A young child parked his bicycle and sat on the empty spot next to him. His curly black hair swayed with the blowing wind. Alabaster stiffened as the kid pulled out a paper bag out of his pocket. The boy's shirt was bright orange: the exact shade Camp Half-Blood used.
He curled his fist around the card he stored his sword. He doubted the immortal assholes would send a literal child after him when Perseus Jackson was available... but he wouldn't put it past them either.
"Oh, did you like my shirt?"
Alabaster jumped in his place before realising it was the kid. Embarrassment flooded him as he realised the shirt was a regular children shirt with a printed snake on it. Geez, how paranoid he had become?
"I love snakes!" The kid gave a toothy grin, showing off the gap between his teeth. He had a birthmark around his left eye shaped like dragon claws. Alabaster noted that eye was slightly milky unlike the other dark one.
He awkwardly cleared his throat. "That's, uhh, great kid." He checked his watch for the nth time. Shouldn't his father's seminar be over by now?
The kid pulled a handful of seeds and threw them at the pavement, inviting some passing pigeons. Soon, a horde of birds gathered around the kid, and by extension Alabaster.
"Are you waiting for your parents too?" The kid pointed the top of the Empire State Building. "My mom works there."
He side eyed the boy. "Didn't your parents taught you not to talk to strangers? You're like seven."
"Nine actually. You have little siblings and you can't guess it right?"
Alabaster choked. "What?"
"You look like you have siblings." The kid mused as he threw more seeds at the pigeons.
Alabaster sighed and leaned back. "Yeah, I had."
"Did they die? Nine years ago?"
Alabaster whipped his head. Who was this kid?
"Excuse me?"
"Sorry..." The boy mumbled. "Mom and dad get scared too."
'Gee, I wonder why?' would snark Alabaster, if this wasn't a, albeit creepy, child.
"Just..." He took a deep breath, "stranger danger, kid."
"I have a knife!" That would be a concerning statement; if this wasn't New York. "Besides you can't be worse than our mailman."
The child hunched onto himself. "He doesn't like my adoptive parents. I think." He brightened up. "His snakes are nice though!"
"Right..." Where were this kid's parents? Scratch that. Where was Claymore?
The kid started whistling a familiar tune while he continued feeding the birds. It was from a song he didn't know the name of, however, it had been blasted on the Princess Andromeda several times.
"Luke!" A man who was roughly the same age as him from the looks of it yelled from the far corner of the street. He held the leash of a dog as big as a hellhound and was waving with his other hand. Possibly, the boy's father.
The kid got up, pocketed the bird food and mounted his bike. "It was nice to talk to you, General Torrington."
Alabaster froze. He hadn't told his name. He hadn't told this kid anything, there was no way he could know. Unless...
'He chose to reincarnate, you won't find him in the Underworld.'
His mother's words echoed in his head.
"Luke..." He whispered.
"That's my name." The kid beamed and cycled towards his father.
Alabaster put his head in his hands, a sob wrenching itself out of his throat.
He really hated Manhattan.
****
Context: Luke reincarnated but Lethe malfunctioned so :) Something we talked about in the server before.
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