#I still fondamentally agree with this post

[r95irth]

me : this post is really violent and made in a moment of anger. I will put it on the programmed list and check it later when im calmed down so i can edit it and make it less….agressive. Let’s give it a date *gives herself one day* me *proceeds to calm down then immediately forgets about it*

post in the queue : oh it’s the time she entered ! *published*

me *see the post on her dash suddenly*

[maaarine]

I'm gonna be a little hard on you right now but I promess I'll mean well. Elon's type is only misterious if you abhor the concept of wings and trifixes for the sake of not sounding like a lunatic and having everything overly tidied up. All those old posts you made about him being a 6 stand completely still if you could just accept him as a 7w6.

Someone could come out of their 1w2 164 closet too by the way.

god bless you for thinking I could perceive this as being hard on me, you make the internet a warmer space

“for the sake of not sounding like a lunatic”: it’s not just an aesthetic choice on my part to appear a certain way, I think that this kind of intricate categorizing is misguided at a fondamental level

that being said I do indeed believe it makes you sound like a lunatic, and worse, it makes you sound cringe

“all those old posts stand still”: I don’t agree, it’s not like I’ve kept my core idea and only added nuance to it — I’ve changed my core idea

as for my alleged closet: we disagree on that as well but I wouldn’t want to sound like a cringey lunatic by arguing with you about my typing

[eruanee]

Parallels between the Student Council Arc and the Apocalypse Arc

Well, at first I was only rambling about it on my private Twitter and then I told myself I could maybe make a post because you know, why not. 

This is obvious but just in case: spoiler warning for the whole series. And since it’s Utena, a lot of this post is “just” my personal interpretation of things.

I don’t know what are the feelings of the community as a whole - but I think I can say that the Student Council Arc is the less interesting Arc of Utena and a lot of people would agree with me. Not that it’s bad, it is just, as I said, less interesting. It’s actually amazing how the show gradually gets better and better throughout the whole thing. 

I personally enjoy the SC Arc overall but it only has a few worthwhile episodes to me (even the comedic “fillers” are better in latter arcs) - episodes 7 and 10 (because I love Juri and Nanami) but most importantly episodes 9, 11 and 12. 

Utena is full of parallels. All the time. That’s one of the many reasons I’m so obsessed with this show - I FREAKING love parallels, and the SC Arc is filled with elements that only (painfully) makes sense once you rewatch the show. 

So let’s start with episode 9 if you will - one of my personal favorites. First of all because I (shamefully) really like Saionji as a character. And honestly ? The coffin scene gives me chills every time I watch it. This episode confused me the first time I watched it because I obviously couldn’t grasp what it exactly meant. It offers such a violent contrast with what the series has shown so far. It shows a fondamental scene of the series for the first time, moreover it reveals a glimpse of what the show will turn out to be as it gradually gets darker. This is completely a built-up for latter arcs, especially Apocalypse. 

So what do we learn ? Well, Touga, like the scumbag he is, wants to convince Utena he is her prince, so he can emotionally manipulate her and wins against her, as he wouldn’t have any chance to win otherwise. He also wishes to get rid of Saionji for reasons and tricks both of them in that extremely weird scene where Anthy appears into a coffin. Touga wants to remind Utena of her own coffin, so she can at least start to doubt he is her prince after all. 

At this moment, we know a part of why Utena wants to become a prince - she wants to win over her hopelessness against the cruelty of life. To her, it means becoming a prince and nothing else. So Utena wants to save Anthy, because the prince has to save the princess. Utena still doesn’t remember that she has been doing this all along for Anthy’s sake and her sake only - but she already knows she wants to help Anthy. She doesn’t know why but she must help her. 

This scene very obviously foreshadows the ending - Utena pulls Anthy out of her coffin. The only difference is that, this time, Utena has caught Anthy’s hand. She still doesn’t fully grasp how harmful the Prince ideal is but she perpetuates it by protecting Anthy as if she was her prince. 

Another foreshadowing element I really love in this episode is how the castle seems to crumble and fall on Saionji and yet everything is back to normal afterwards. This is another element that indicates the castle is a mirage before we learn it for good in episode 38. This is also interesting to note that it’s on Saionji it’s falling, the same Saionji who said in episode 1 that the castle was only a “trick of light”. Well, Saionji has been extremely dumb and naive in a big part of the show (repressed homosexuality and envy do that, apparently) but from the very beginning, he was right about that. He just didn’t know how right he was. 

Let’s switch to episodes 11 and 12. In episode 11, Utena wants to convince Anthy and then Touga that Anthy actually wishes to be a “normal” girl. Anthy appears to be sincere when she says she wants friends and stop being the Rose Bride (and I believe that it was, indeed, how she truly felt). Yet, Touga (Akio’s right-hand man and one of his favorite puppet) denies her this humanity. Well, Akio hasn’t appeared in the show yet and Touga is the antagonist of the SC Arc, so he has to “replace” him. 

Ultimately, Utena loses to Touga. Her breakdown after it makes me so incredibly sad, honestly. Look at how hurt she is, how dearly she already loves Anthy. She has seen such a small part of Anthy’s burden yet and though she is already confronted with the fact she can't do anything to help her. To free her from this cruel Rose Brise role. 

And so, Utena goes through the same cycle she will eventually repeat at the end of the series :

Anthy is taken away from her. She is forced to repeat the same cycle once more. In the SC Arc, it’s “only” leaving with another duelist, but in Apocalypse Arc, it’s taking the Swords of the World Hatred for Akio’s sake. Which will lead to repeat the duels all over again because Akio will never be able to open the door. 

Utena doubts herself and her ability to become a prince. She’s a girl after all, that must mean she is powerless. And if she is powerless, she can’t save Anthy. For a moment, she conforms to what the world tells her she should be - a weak princess, who can only be protected by the prince. The color code of Utena’s Rose Bride dress is very close to the feminine uniform of Ohtori. 

Utena finds the strength to fight back.

But what is the difference between episode 12 and episode 39 ? Well, many things actually. (Or it would be bad plot and character development.) 

As I said earlier, in the SC Arc, Utena conforms to the Prince ideal. In episode 12, she doesn’t exactly fight for Anthy, even if I completely understand why she would want to get her out of Touga’s stinky hands (this was also my wish as a viewer). Still, she fights to get her pride back. To get her princely nobility back. Winning Anthy back just happens to be her way to do it. After all, at this point of the series, Utena still ignores many things. She haven’t met Akio yet, she also doesn’t know who he really is. She doesn’t how awful Akio and Anthy’s relationship is yet. And most importantly, she doesn’t remember why, in the first place, she wished to be a prince. 

She forgot she promised to become a prince out of pure empathy after witnessing Anthy’s eternal agony. But in episode 39, futhermore after preventing Anthy from committing suicide and everything this scene implies, she remembers.

This time, Utena breaks the cycle. She doesn’t take part in the duel system anymore, as it did nothing to lessen Anthy’s suffering. It’s only reinforced it. She opens the door by expressing her remorse and her love for Anthy, what Akio has never done and never will. (Or at least, not sincerely.) She opens Anthy’s coffin but she lets go of her hand. Anthy realizes she never needed a prince in the first place and leaves Ohtori on her own. And that’s how Utena accomplishes what she has always meant to do. The Rose Bride doesn’t exist anymore. The duels can’t go on anymore. The power of Dios will never be taken back. 

But she didn’t save Anthy. 

In my opinion, Utena very purposely let go of Anthy’s hand. She just wanted to touch Anthy’s hand. She wanted to show her there are people in this world who genuinely loves her and wants her to be happy. 

“I love you Anthy, I hope you’ll forgive me and know I forgive you too. Please be happy. Someday, together, we will shine.” This is how I see this scene, and this is honestly the gayest (and most heartbreaking) thing ever. 

Utena thought her only way to have a significance in the world was to conform to the prince ideal, while all she did was to perpetuate a cycle of endless suffering. Yet, from the very beginning, her feelings were pure. She wanted to be powerful enough to help and save Anthy. She only forgot you shouldn't save people in order to become a hero or a powerful figure. You should help them out of pure empathy and sympathy. Or in Utena and Anthy's case, out of pure love and care.

Utena is about breaking the cycle of abuse. The show itself constantly repeats and breaks the structure it has introduced. It genuinely turns me insane. 

On a side but not really unrelated note, I think a lot about No One Has Anything to Tell, the duel theme in episode 12. It’s one of my favorites. First of all because it SLAPS but also the more I listen to it, the more I feel like the lyrics fits episode 39 better.

No one has anything to say. There's nothing to be said about anything. Except in the enclosed darkness called yesterday. Except in the momentary flash of light called now. Except in the darkness, awaiting the light of tomorrow, in the theater.

There's the possibility to be anyone. There's the possibility to be anything. Except in the enclosed darkness called memory. Except in the momentary flash of light called creation. Except in the darkness, awaiting the light of tomorrow, in the theater.

(...) A flash and it's born, a flash and it fades. Born and then gone, I, the jewel. A flash and it's born, a flash and it fades. Born and then gone, I, the star.

(translation)

I feel like the last verse is about life being so short it can look like a sudden flash to the world, but I also think it could be about Utena’s disappearance from Ohtori because she rejected its system. 

I think about this show way too much. I finally got this out of my system, maybe I can finally focus on college work from now on. 

[in-the-trashcan-where-i-belong]

@kpop-fanatic-lover16​ if you don’t mind I would like to answer to your comments point by point. I do not want to fight with you, nor do I want you to feel disrespected by what i’m about to say : I’m looking for a common ground, because I do understand your point of view, and I need you to understand mine despite your anger. We’re on the same side of this fight, I promise.

1) My problem is that your post was only adressed to ARMYs. If you know that multiple fandoms are guilty of this, why did you only adress it to us? Because you are being blinded by your rage. BTS has a massive fandom, one of the biggest on twitter ; it’s only logical that they have the most antis too, and that these antis are the most visible. These antis come from other fandoms, so this is not our fault ; we’re just as disgusted as you are. My TL is full of ARMYs saddened by this news ; just like the rest of you, we grew up with Cameron, you shouldn’t forget about that.

2) By answering to them and getting angry in their mentions without even trying to know if they really are ARMYs or not, you’re doing exactly what they want : giving them attention. They are trolls ; if they post comments like these it means they don’t care about being in the right or the wrong in the first place. All they want is to give a nasty reputation to a fandom. You can’t talk to these people simply because they don’t give a fuck about what you have to say. They just want you to react, and then they want you to make assumptions about a whole fandom. That’s it. So the best thing to do, even if it’s easier said than done, is to block and report.

3) You stand up against the hate, but you spread more hate against a fandom by making us, ARMYs, look like we’re the only culprits here, when we’re really not. I hope you realize the hypocrisy of the situation. I’d like to point out that we’re the first ones to ask those fake ARMYs to delete comments like these, because they’re disgusting, they’re extremely inappropriate and they make us look bad ; we don’t want any of it.

4) I’ve been insulted by Blinks on twitter, exo-ls tried to destroy BTS’ career when they started to get big with pl*giarism accusations, I’ve had heated arguments with VIPs who were BTS-antis. I’ve never met anyone nice from these fandoms either. However, I know that fandoms all work the same : the stupid, uneducated and agressive ones are the loudest, and they’re the only ones we seem to hear even though they’re not even 10% of the whole fandom. I am still able to recognize that these fans I see are just a loud minority. I would like you to be able to open your mind a little more, maybe, and do the same with my fandom.

If you wanna have a civilized conversation with an ARMY for once, you can maybe try to  DM me and see how it goes? I’m not the ennemy here. I’m just as disgusted as you are ; Cameron doesn’t deserve any of this, from any fandom, this is highly inappropriate and i’m really sad for his friends, family and his fans. I really admire his dancing, he worked with one of my favorite actors/dancers.

We’re the same in this situation. As I said, if you wanna talk a little more, my DMs are totally open for ya.

(that was long, i’m sorry)

EDIT : i just saw your most recent post about not wanting to talk about this subject anymore. I apologize, you posted it while I was writing this so I hadn’t seen it. My proposition to have a conversation still stands if you ever feel up for it sometime in the future. Still hope you read my answer to you though, i really felt like the conversation was left unfinished and it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, especially since we fondamentally agree on the main thing, which is : respect Cameron, his friends and his family.