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pastelraccoons · 1 year ago

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SuleMio Week Day 7: Gardeners

(If you’d rather read this on AO3, you can read it here!)

Suletta stared hard from her porch towards the rather empty backyard. She had just moved into her new home and unpacked everything, but something definitely felt off about her outside space.

It’s too lifeless, she thought. Suletta scratched at her cheek. Maybe I could get some chairs and a table? Oh, maybe some plants for a garden? That would be nice.

She nodded to herself. She pulled her phone out of her pocket to search for local greenhouses. After all, she’d rather support smaller businesses than some giant company. She quickly opened her browser and searched for ‘greenhouses near me.’

After scrolling for a little bit, one finally caught her eye: the Rembran Greenhouse. It was only about a mile away, an easy enough bike ride for her, and the reviews were phenomenal. They mainly mentioned the sheer variety of plants available and that the owner knew what she was talking about.

“Sounds like the perfect place!” Suletta said to herself.

She slipped her phone back into her pocket. A small grunt came from her when she pushed off the railing of the porch. She quickly ducked inside to grab the small backpack she kept by the door so she could easily bring back any plants she bought. Suletta paused for a moment to lock the door behind her. Then, she jumped off her porch, ignoring the few steps that led into her yard. She made her way towards her bike that she had propped against the side of her home.

Picking it up, she threw a leg over it to perch herself onto its seat then pushed off towards the greenhouse.

-----

The summer sun warmed Suletta’s skin. A slight sweat clung to her forehead that she wiped away with the back of her forearm. Several large greenhouses were lined up in a neat row. A small, white truck branded with the greenhouse’s name was parked nearby. The rumble of a lawnmower from somewhere in the distance cut through the air. She carefully leaned her bike against the fence at the entrance.

The gravel pathway crunched beneath her shoes. Peeking into the first greenhouse, she could see rows upon rows of brightly colored flowers. Concentrated pollen tickled her nose then made her let out a loud sneeze. With a sniff, she shook her head.

I don’t think I want to grow flowers, Suletta stuck her hands into her pockets while moving on to the next building. Something practical would be nice, like vegetables.

Suletta stuck her head into the next one to see more of the same. A disappointed sigh fell from her lips as she moved on.

The last seemed promising when she stepped inside. The heat and humidity inside pressed down on her when she started to move through the rows of produce. Anything she could imagine seemed to be in there. Brightly colored peppers were to her right and fragrant herbs to her left. As the choices swam around her head, the sound of what she assumed was a shovel being stabbed into soil finally registered in her ears.

Suletta walked in deeper until she finally found the cause of the sound.

A rather petite woman knelt down in front of a bed of tomatoes. A wide brimmed hat shielded her face from the bright summer sun that shone through the windows of the greenhouse. Silvery hair flowed down her back from beneath it. Her lightly colored sundress had been smeared with soil, though she seemed to pay it no mind. Thick, tan colored gloves that seemed a bit too big covered her hands. One of which held a small rake in its grip. She wore a calm, loving expression on her face as she tended to her plants.

She's so pretty… Suletta thought.

"Uhm, excuse me?" she stuttered. "Are you the person who I should talk to?"

The woman stopped moving to look up at Suletta. She smiled slightly, causing her gray colored eyes to crinkle at the corners.

“Yes, I am.” She stood up, pulled off one of her gloves, then extended a hand towards Suletta. “Miorine Rembran. I’m the owner of this greenhouse. How could I help?”

“Oh!” Suletta accepted the handshake with a smile of her own. Even though Miorine’s hands seemed delicate, she could feel several callouses in her grip. “I’m Suletta. I was interested in growing some vegetables in my backyard.”

“Have you ever grown anything before?”

Suletta shook her head. Miorine clicked her tongue then motioned towards the tomatoes she had been taking care of.

“If that’s the case, tomatoes are actually a decent starting plant. Since we’re at the beginning of the summer, they’ll grow wonderfully.”

Suletta pressed her hands against her knees to bend down and look the plant over. Very small, obviously unripe tomatoes grew on their vines that were wrapped around a sturdy piece of wood. A hum buzzed in her chest.

“If you think so, then I trust you.” Her smile widened when she looked back at Miorine. “May I get one of these, then?”

Miorine nodded then knelt back down. It was then that Suletta noticed a small toolbox practically bursting with gardening tools were at her feet. A moment of noisy rummaging later, and Miorine held a trowel in her hand. With meticulous precision, she carefully chose a good looking tomato plant and dug it up. She carefully held the bundle of roots in her hands as she plucked an unused pot from a stack nearby. Once she placed it inside, she offered it to Suletta.

“Since you’re starting out, I’m assuming you don’t have any tools or soil?” Miorine asked.

Suletta shook her head again. A laugh bubbled up from Miorine’s chest.

“I thought so. Then come on. I’ll help you.”

Suletta’s head spun at all the new information being shown to her. But as she followed behind Miorine, she thought it might not be so bad.

-----

Suletta stood up with a grunt. Sweat made her hair stick uncomfortably to the back of her neck, but she felt satisfied nonetheless as she looked down at her newly planted tomatoes. It looked a little sad, being the only thing she had for now, but she couldn’t deny how proud of herself she was.

“And it was all thanks to miss Miorine helping me,” she said to herself.

All day she couldn’t seem to get the gardener out of her head, even while she was hard at work. She brought a gloved hand to her face to brush the hair and sweat from her eyes.

“I wanna see her again and tell her how I did…”

-----

The next day, Suletta hopped back onto her bike and went back to the greenhouse. Now that she knew which building had the vegetables, she headed straight for it. Again, she looked up and down the various rows of plant-life, though this time looking for Miorine.

Her shoulders dropped when she couldn’t find her. A disappointed frown pulled on her lips.

“Ah! Miss… Suletta, was it?”

Suletta spun around to see Miorine in the doorway. She carried a small palette of barely sprouted plants in her hands. She wore another, different colored sundress from yesterday, and the same wide brimmed hat. Her strangely graceful movements had Suletta staring when she approached.

“Miss Suletta?”

“Ah! I’m here!” Suletta’s posture stiffened once she realized she had been staring. “I’m sorry! I zoned out for a minute there!”

“It’s probably the heat. It gets rather hot in the greenhouses,” Miorine sighed, obviously knowing from experience. “But what brings you back here? Did the tomato plants not work out?”

“No. I mean, yes, they did!” Suletta stammered, nearly biting her tongue. “They’re fine! I wanted to tell you that I planted them.”

“That’s wonderful. I’m glad to hear you had no issues.”

Suletta responded with a hum and a nod.

“Actually, would you mind helping me choose another plant?” She fidgeted slightly with her hands. “It looks kind of lonely with only one. That’s not really a garden, is it?”

Miorine gave her a bright smile that strangely took her breath away.

“I’d be glad to.”

-----

“I think I have a problem…”

Suletta leaned against her porch’s railing with a sigh. She looked out at her transformed backyard. Vegetables and herbs lined her fences. Everything from hot peppers, to rosemary, to her precious tomatoes stood happy and healthy. Only a bit more than a week had passed since she started making the garden, and it already looked like she had it for months. She ran a hand through her hair.

“And it’s all because of Miorine,” she mumbled. “I can’t get her out of my head.”

Suletta clapped her hands against her cheeks to try and clear her thoughts, but they kept going back to Miorine. Back to her hardworking hands. Her flowing sundresses. Her caring smile. Over and over again, like she haunted Suletta’s every waking hour.

Squeezing her eyes shut, Suletta soon gasped from a sudden realization.

“I think I love her…”

-----

Suletta put her bike in her usual spot by the greenhouse’s entrance. It had become like clockwork. Every day she would show up in the afternoon, find Miorine, and ask about another new plant.

Though she had another question on her mind this time.

One by one, she checked each greenhouse. Part of it was to make sure Miorine didn’t happen to be in one of the other’s for a change, but it was mostly so she could delay the inevitable. Unsurprisingly, she found her amongst the vegetables, like she always seemed to be around this time.

Suletta gulped. The noticeable increase in heat inside stopped bothering her after her third or fourth visit there, but it felt stifling that time. Her mouth went dry as she approached Miorine.

Miorine’s eyes seemed focused and a bit distant, like she was lost in thought. It was a stark difference to her usual content look when she worked.

"You've come here every day now, Suletta." Miorine suddenly spoke up, causing Suletta to let out a surprised squeak. She stabbed her trowel into the dirt. She stood up with a grunt and planted her hands on her hips, not bothering to remove her usual thick gloves. "There must be a reason other than the plants. You've bought so many!"

Suletta fidgeted and bit the corner of her lip. She'd been caught red-handed and now she felt stuck. Her eyes darted around to look at anything but at Miorine’s face.

"I just wanted to start my own garden," Suletta stuttered. She figured it wasn't a complete lie, so she thought she could get away with it. "And the stuff you've grown is so impressive that I wanted it to be like yours."

"While I'm flattered you think like that," Miorine stepped up to Suletta and stood on her toes to get in her face. Despite the height difference, her intimidating aura made Suletta shrink into herself. "I'm also not stupid. What's going on?"

“I-” Suletta’s heart pounded hard against her ribs. Her palms felt clammy, so she reflexively wiped them against her shorts. Nerves started to make her stomach churn. It made her want to throw up, but she shoved the feeling down. “I think I love you, Miorine! Would you go out with me?”

Suletta’s face lit up bright red once she registered what she blurted out. She tightly gripped the bottom of her tank top and bit her lip to keep herself grounded. She waited in silence for Miorine’s answer.

Miorine’s eyes went wide. The surprise on her face was obvious. Slowly, a blush of her own spread across her fair skin all the way to her ears. She soon stared down at her feet while biting her lip.

“I thought you’d never ask…” she muttered.

“What?” Suletta couldn’t believe what she heard. “So you mean-?”

Miorine nodded then finally tore her eyes away from the floor to meet Suletta’s gaze.

Something behind that familiar shade of gray felt different. It felt warm and inviting. It was then that Suletta realized what Miorine said.

A large grin spread across Suletta’s face when she threw her strong arms around Miorine. Without thinking, she lifted Miorine off her feet and spun her around in her hold. Her musical laugh spilled directly into Suletta’s ear. The sound caused her feelings to swell. Suletta’s grin widened to the point her cheeks hurt.

What started with visiting a greenhouse on a whim bloomed into a romance she didn’t expect; and she was quite fine with that.

#the witch from mercury #g witch #sulemio #sulemioweek23 #PastelRaccoon Writes

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paxesoterica · 1 year ago

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Some Thoughts About the First 3 Episodes of Mobile Suit Gundam [0079] Part 2

*Spoiler warnings again for both Mobile Suit Gundam and The Witch from Mercury.

*I forgot to mention this in Part 1, but the first time I saw Amuro in animation isn't 0079, but was instead the time he met Hello Kitty, who proceeded to transform his enemies into super deformed versions of themselves:

youtube

*And yes, you should watch this, even if you know absolutely *nothing* about Hello Kitty or Gundam (or, perhaps especially if you know nothing). Incidentally, super deformed (SD) Gundams have a long history in the franchise, so what Hello Kitty does isn't even that weird for Gundam (just imagine if she met Suletta instead, and transformed Aerial).

*Another thing I forgot to mention, was that the show's pretty competent about transitions: the Zeon's soldiers earlier were scouting Side 7 via binoculars, which led to them spying Fraw's buggy and switching to her perspective, and her discussion with Amuro about his dad incidentally transitions to scenes with the folks working on Side 7's secret military projects. While the titular Gundam is one of those projects, it's not the only one: I've mentioned before that several characters will be joining White Base, which is a new battleship the Earth Federation has been constructing:

*Shiny! And yes, very toyetic, though I'm growing to get very annoyed at people who refer to Gundam shows as toy commercials as a pejorative about their storytelling quality (some folks have been especially fond of talking about Witch from Mercury that way, and always for the same reason).

*Aboard White Base, we get to meet Amuro's dad, Lieutenant Tem Ray.

*The book he's reading is the instruction manual on how to pilot the Gundam, which I believe was written either partially or in whole by him (yes, this will be important shortly). The other guy with him is Bright Noa.

*So, Bright is rather (in)famous for slapping Amuro at least once during Gundam (maybe more?), so much that there's memes about it, and that, along with the fact that he's a captain, is probably one of the first things you'll hear about him. However, this is an excellent example of how memes decontextualize stories, and fun though they can be, can give you an extremely wrong impression. See, when I first heard 'Captain Bright Noa slaps Amuro for insubordination', it gave me a rather negative impression of him, since it sounded like a military officer flexing his rank against a kid who was drafted into battle (and understandably not okay with this). But if you actually *watch* 0079:

*It turns out Bright is only a few years older than Amuro, and is very much a teen himself who's only been in the military for half a year. Meaning the only way he's becoming a captain anytime soon is if he's the highest ranking officer who's not dead or incapacitated.

*In short, yes, Bright Noa using physical force against Amuro still isn't a good thing, but this is also very much the story of (essentially) someone who'd normally be a freshman at college being put in charge of a bunch of high-school-aged kids in a life-or-death situation and finding himself a bit in over his head, so I'm inclined to be a bit more sympathetic than I might otherwise.

*I really like this scene, even though I find it sad. Tem is very clearly talking to Bright here, but the camera notably focuses on Amuro, and it's pretty good foreshadowing if you didn't know Amuro was getting in the Gundam. With the passage of time, this scene has also taken on a layer of dramatic irony as well.

*I'm also not sure what to make of Tem from this scene. He seems friendly enough to Bright, and seems distressed about the idea of kids like his son fighting in wars, so he doesn't really come off as someone bad (except for the naive belief that you can build a weapon strong enough to end war, of course). While Amuro and Miorine seem to have a bit in common, I'm not sure yet how much that's true of Tem and Delling, aside from being military officers who want to protect their children, since Tem doesn't really seem like the sort of guy who'd authorize the UC equivalent of the Vanadis Incident. I'll have to mull this one over a bit more.

*It seems that unfortunately the White Base was followed by a Zeon ship, which was where the Zaku pilots were dispatched from, which segues into the audience meeting this guy:

*Char Aznable, whose very first lines instantly reminded me of this exchange between Belmeria Winston and Prospera Mercury:

*Char is is quite possibly the most (in)famous Gundam character, to the point that he's featured in commercials for cars and fast food (in Japan at least), and, of course, a number of memes. An examination of Gundam as a whole will reveal that many shows feature at least one mask-bearing antagonist or rival, who's typically manipulative and/or vengeful, and all of them can be traced back to Char. While I will be mentioning points of similarity between him and Prospera, I honestly feel like the connection between these two is by far the most obvious, and that it might be more worthwhile to discuss the ways in which they differ.

*Case in point. In addition to having unusual perspectives on luck (likely influenced by their high levels of confidence), Char and Prospera also have a good grasp of tactics, and are generally skilled at predicting opponents and choosing good moves to counteract them (though they are not always completely successful).

*Their attitude toward subordinates is also noteworthy. Prospera doesn't have a lot of interactions with her Shin Sei staff, but her calmly interrupting the one in the screenshots above (during the stress of the attack on Plant Quetta no less) is the rudest I've ever seen her act toward any of her them. In general, she seems to be a congenial boss who doesn't seem to get angry at her employees for disagreeing with her, a trait Char seems to share with how he treats his followers (so far anyway), and which is probably remarkable to me due to how often I see antagonists act like jerks to people loyal to them. Of course, both Char and Prospera are also known for manipulating people close to them, so how much this might be an act versus how much they genuinely care about others is ambiguous (and, admittedly, makes them interesting characters to observe).

*Char's mention of mobile suits shifts the scene back to the three Zeon pilots from the start, and one of them, Gene, decides that spying on the mobile suit project isn't enough, and opens fire.

*Amuro leaves the shelter to look for his father, and has his first encounter with a mobile suit.

*Anyone who's seen all of Witch from Mercury will already be aware that, leaving aside any armaments, the sheer size of a mobile suit is already incredibly dangerous to a human, as the Zaku simply taking a step knocks Amuro around a bit and prompts him to get in the buggy he and Fraw were in and drive.

*Amuro finds some soldiers and asks for help, but they meet a very abrupt end:

*You have absolutely seen shots like these before in anime, but I recently learned that they're typically referred to as postcard memories, a technique pioneered by Osamu Dezaki back in the early 70s, and since made ubiquitous. It's use is particularly interesting here for a couple reasons, the first being that MSG was made less than a decade after Dezaki started using this animation technique, meaning it would still feel relatively 'new' to audiences at the time. This shot also experiments by including some more traditionally animated objects in the scene, namely the transparent books and papers flying forward on the left side.

*The other reason, is that typically these were shots shown (at the time they were first used at least) to mark a transitional point, either narratively or in a character's arc, and while my knowledge of 70s anime is currently impoverished, I think Gundam may have been among the earliest to use this in such a tragically violent way (possibly beaten out by The Rose of Versailles since that also came out in '79, but I'm not familiar enough with that one to be sure). In any case, this a transitional shot, as it marks Amuro's first encounter with the horror and death caused by war, and the end of his childhood.

*This is a rather somber note to leave on, but at least next time we'll be finally seeing the eponymous Gundam, so hopefully that's somewhat comforting.

...to be continued in Part 3

#text #anime #mobile suit gundam #mobile suit gundam: the witch from mercury #hello kitty

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skye-huntress · 2 years ago

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The Witch from Mercury Reaction

Episode 3: “Guel’s Pride”

The fact that Suletta has a wish list of things she wants to do at school is adorable. That said, the one about eating on the roof has me convinced that her idea of what school is like comes from anime or other fiction, and unfortunately not the kind this show is.

It’s funny, Suletta wants to date, but she also doesn’t want to cheat on her future wife. She is such a good girl, but someone has to explain to her that monogamy is overrated, even more so when we’re talking about arranged marriages.

Meanwhile, Miorine hears Suletta wants to date and comes to the conclusion she is “sex-crazed”. I mean, they are teenagers, but my impression is that Suletta is more of a hopeless romantic (like me). Plus given how shy and awkward she is, it’d probably take her a few dates before she builds up the courage for a kiss on the cheek.

Despite having heard the term a lot when she was little, Suletta no longer seems to know what a Gundam is. I’m assuming her mother made her avoid using the term in favour of referring to Aerial exclusively by her name until she eventually just forgot.

There’s something funny about how relieved Suletta felt when she heard Guel will be her duelling opponent even as she is cowering from him behind Nika. She keeps bringing up his loss in the most matter-of-fact way that she clearly doesn’t mean him any disrespect. Yet for his bruised ego, it still feels to him like she is mocking him.

Shaddiq should be an interesting one to watch. He seems well informed, the type to do his due diligence, so we’ll see how he goes about investigating Suletta. Since the girl doesn’t have any friends or contacts besides Miorine, he’ll probably end up approaching her directly sooner or later, like a certain someone else has.

Suletta: My BFF!

Miorine: No

Me: YES!

But seriously, Suletta needs to slow down a bit. Miorine has only just accepted her into her personal space but she’s still a very closed off and anti-social individual. She’ll be worn down eventually, but it’s going to take some time.

I like how Miorine immediately stops what she is doing when Elan approaches her fiancée. Girl can’t hide her jealousy. For the record, I don’t think she is necessarily romantically interested, yet, but I can see her wanting to keep Suletta to herself, or even protect her from those who might take advantage of her, even if she won’t admit it.

Interesting that Suletta restates she wants Guel to apologise to Miorine, but Guel merely says his stake is the “same as last time”. For whatever reason, he chooses not to say it out loud even as everyone else knows what he means.

Suletta is so uncompromising on her beliefs she thinks nothing of defending Guel from mockery. It’s one of the things I am growing to love about her that she wishes the same treatment for everybody, even someone that intimidates her so much her immediate reaction upon seeing him is to hide behind the nearest object or person.

It makes me uneasy, the idea that Suletta’s life goal is to be like her mother. The person she thinks her mother is is her hero, so I can’t imagine what it would do to her if she ever found out that her mother is lying to and manipulating her.

Miorine was apparently so jealous that Elan became one of Suletta’s contacts that she chose to add herself as well. I mean, she could have asked but when the girl wants something she makes it happen, probably because from her experience that was the only way to get what she wanted. Hopefully that’s something she’ll figure out later, that she can ask Suletta something and not expect immediate rejection.

At this point, I’m not surprised by how much the match was rigged in Guel’s favour or how the Duelling Club just accepts it as fair play. That said, Elan still seemed convinced that as a “witch,” Suletta would still manage to win.

The other thing I find interesting though is that Guel seemed naive enough to write off the fire suppression system going off as luck. Even more interesting that he can accept being a mere passenger in his own mech but not his family actively interfering in his duel.

Speaking of interference, it’s good for Miorine that she actually does get to contribute this time around. It makes it feel like it was as much her win as it was Suletta and Aerial’s.

Respect to Guel though, for taking control at the end. He honestly did pretty well there. Despite his loss, he earned Suletta’s respect (for his skills at least) and more confidence in himself. And even though he still lost, it was his loss. If he left things to continue as they were, he’d wonder if he lost because he gave up too much control rather than trust in his own skills.

It’s nice to hear Miorine laugh. Also, for like the second time this episode, Suletta tries to rush things and have to be reminded that this relationship is a slowburn. She has a long way to go before she earns the right to use a nickname. That said, the nickname is hilarious and I will now be using Mio-Mio especially when I talk about how relationship with Suletta.

As for that last bit, I don’t even know what to say other than I knew exactly what the reaction would be.

#the witch from mercury #g witch #g witch spoilers

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