#Shinohara Wakaba

[rei-does-stuff]

:(

[cafeleningrad]

Real talk, Wakaba is such a wild card. She constantly messes up Akio's plans.

So, in the new circle of duelists between the Student council, Utena wasn't actually planned to participate in the duels. In fact, it's questionable if either Akio or Anthy knew that Utena was on Ohtori campus in the first place. They've all three forgotten about each other. Everyone is surprised that Utena wears a duelist ring. Also, Anthy is genuinely surprised at Utena winning against Saionji. Her shock is genuine as this was the only duel she didn't rig. Saionji entirely underestimated Utena.

But who was responsible for Utena wanting to duel? It was Wakaba. Wakaba was so hurt by Saionji's ridicule, Utena wanted to fight for her friend's honour.

Then Touga beats Utena in their duel, and Utena is deeply distraught. She can't get out of her crisis. Finally Akio's game is going according to plan. The guy playacting the most accurately the role of Princehood got the rosebride. But then Wakaba gives the most insightful real talk ever needed, and pulls Utena out of the darkest place. Once again Akio's plans need reconsideration, so he needs to set up the Black Rose duels to indoctrinate Utena into beating other people down (unknowingly). But yeah, Wakaba interrupts Akio's plans again.

Then there is the Black Rose arc. Unlike with the other Black Rose duelists, Wakaba gets a two-parter episode in which her conflict has a long set-up. Saionji ending up at Wakaba's is sheer coincidence because he has nowhere to go. And suddenly Wakaba steps out of her role as unconditional best friend. In fact she becomes somewhat of a shoujo-protagonist: Regular girl, but then shines in school, with three potential love interests. So Akio has to totally bullshit his "exceptional individual" theory because genki gal Wakaba with regular, unnoticable brown hair is bathing in the spotlight.

Hence, it becomes scary when in the Akio arc, even Wakaba doesn't notice the impending dangers exuding from Akio.

[biruesque]

inspo:

[number1villainstan]

do y'all ever think about how wakaba and saionji were this fucking close to leaving ohtori for real and instead they ended up reinforcing its hold on themselves and each other

[emberwritesinsight]

I find it so funny that Wakaba (sweetheart, horrible judge of character most of the time, especially when it comes to the pretty boys/men in her life) canonically hates Touga's guts like. In episode 35 she hears his voice and this is her immediate response

She looks ready to physically attack if necessary. Where's our "Wakaba tackles Touga down a flight of stairs, killing him instantly" episode Ikuhara

[earthasacharactergallery]

01x11 graceful and ruthless; the one who picks the flower

[couldpolyamorysavethem]

UTENA TENJOU, ANTHY HIMEMIYA, and WAKABA SHINOHARA from REVOLUTIONARY GIRL UTENA

Justification:

"utena and anthy did sorta save each other so theres that, but also i think wakaba is really good for anthy when they finally start becoming friends and shes great at reality checking utena. so i think they wouldve struggled a lot less if wakaba knew what was going on and gave them an outsiders perspective on why it literally isnt that serious. also utena saved wakaba in the black rose arc" - Anonymous

[gemishrooms]

commission for @itsjustlikewhateverman

[celestadore]

here's my artwork for the @femslashaction G4G, special thanks to @/KabaretDoll on twt for donating to these causes and for the prompt!!

while the donation period has ended, you can still donate to these fundraisers yourself, please feel free to donate so these people can get the care they deserve!!

Menstrual Kits For Gaza - Gaza Pious Projects - Women for Women International

[fairydust-stuff]

sometimes I think about the fact that Wakaba wanted to be special (heteromativity) so badly that she locked up, ignored the wishes of, and raped the object of her affection. Via black rose arch sword pull. Since the context was it was sexual and aginst his will.

Feeling she was entitled would get that romance as long as she made herself the only girl in his life.

And how parts of the fandom see Wakaba as strictly an innocent good girl in love with a jerk. Because that is 100 percent how Wakaba views herself. ignoring the more selfish parts of her desire.

Also, this is one hundred percent the gender reversal of how that dynamic usually plays out. But the gender flip really did cause people (even me)to not see what was actually going on at first.

And how that is like 50% of the appeal of Wakaba X Saionji for me. It's rooted in the idea of the girl who wants to fix him being terrible/ objectifying actually.

How I can also see bits of Ringo from penguindrum in Wakaba like she was an early prototype for the idea.

[cafeleningrad]

Wakaba thoughts again. There're many things to say about the Black Rose Arc but one of them is not only how the gendered order is enforced with a lot of violence but also the social order. Those who have not been deemed special by Akio, non-duelists, are treated terribly as probs, as means to an end. And if they wish to change that they're faced with (emotional) repression.

Akio categorizes people either special by default (although he selects duelists by the degree he can use them for his own goals, and only ocassionally special if they appear unplanned on his radar. What a terrible worldview, as he says this in "Wakaba flourishes", because actually... Wakaba can be great at sports and schools. I mean alwaready way before Saionji's presence was a motivation in her life, on her way home, many friends asked her to hang out, she's well liked. Anthy and Utena both genuinely enjoy her cooking. Wakaba has not only one but three love intersts, in Tatsuya, Saionji (out of his necessity but curious that it was Wakaba of all people), and Utena, all genuinely close. For someone who would stereotypically occupy the role of genki girl side character that's way more than for even some popular duelists. In episode 12, she was the one capable of pulling out Utena of her depression because she understood and adored her so much. Wakaba always was well liked, has some genuinely good skills, her shining in sports, and school was due to her feeling special enough to dare step out of the role of the regular girl although she already had it in her. It's so insidious that the motivational push to bring out the most of herself depends so much on male attention. As the shadow girl play tells us, Ohtori is a place pushing the idea that people, specifically girls, need princes, specifically male attention, but actually, they don't why they need them in the first place or what they should actually do with them. (Girls like Juri or Nanami get a chance at beig special individuals on their own. in spite of being girls. That rug is pulled away from them when Ruka tries to converse Juri by force, and Nanami's exceptionalism entirely depends on her relationship to a boy, namely being Touga's little sister).

Wakaba was always great but all her potential gets locked away behind the social indoctrination of only male attentiondetrmining her worth, and not by the potential she obviously has in herself. However, Akio's social order that she isn't allowed to be anything than a side character although she, with three love interests, being quiet popular for "a normal girl", and the potentieal to be top of her class, could break down her box easily. Further on, she doesn't recognize that it all could be sourced from her won well.

[mimithealpaca]

is kacchan hot yet // have you tried spit

serving 2 fandoms in one go today with a hidden gem page i found in my first digital sketchbook (i believe it predated my return to tumblr so i'm PRETTY SURE i never posted this)

[number1villainstan]

been thinking about the concept of the 'self' and how it interacts with the roles we play. been thinking about how anthy's role as the rose bride is not her 'self', but it shapes what she is and what she's allowed to be. been thinking about how saionji's personality changes with the clothes he wears, the role he plays. been thinking about how kanae claims that this is her 'true self' during her Black Rose duel even though she's arguably been brainwashed. been thinking about how kanae even before her duel would have had her 'self' carefully controlled by her family and her obligations, up to choosing the man she marries. been thinking about how utena chooses the role of 'prince' because she thinks it's the closest one to her 'self', but has to abandon that role anyways. been thinking about all the masks and fronts and facades that touga wears like second nature, and what he must be like beneath all of that pretending. been thinking about how wakaba plays up her lovey-dovey-best-friend act to hide her jealousy of anthy and (potentially) her own lesbian love for utena. been thinking about how to define personality--is it patterns of behavior or something else? been thinking about how all these characters are teenagers, the stage of life associated with identity formation and choice of roles (at least with Erik Erikson's eight-stage model).

been thinking about the 'self' and how it's affected by the roles we play.

[emberwritesinsight]

Sketches of Anthy Himemiya giving her friends heart attacks for the nth time, drawn when I was on the same train of thought that produced this post

Bonus doodle:

[earthasacharactergallery]

01x04 the sunlit garden - prelude