#THE TRANSFORMATION STORIES INHERENT TO THE FAIRYTALE

[queen-mabs-revenge]

ok but look I haven't looked at ouat stuff for years but captain swan being in that ao3 ship poll is giving me the ascending delight of reading tags w ppl declaring killian so gender and YES. YES YEEESSSSSS SO TRUE BESTIES

[chowadoe]

my Metamy kid!! his name is Dusty Rose :D ft. single mom Amy Rose and Absentee baby daddy metal sonic LOL

his name's Dusty Rose after Dusty Miller, a plant that looks like metal/silver. Dusty Rose is also a pink color ! it also rhymes with Rusty Rose. im so smart (/j)

born from Metal Sonic's core and infused with Amy's biosignature, Amy and Metal Sonic had a very brief 'thing'... eventually Metal Sonic was soft rebooted and sent away yet again, but he left a piece of himself (part of his 'core'? infused with chaos energy..?) to Amy, which then became Dusty. leaving Dusty as the last true remaining testament of their love

(I just love the idea of Amy with a Waitress style character arc... finding love again in raising her child and not the way she used to think, being spent with another person)

Dusty would be very fixated on the idea of love, after all his mother raised him on the notion of that. Amy's standards for true love and fairytale romance have definitely changed being with Metal Sonic, but the root message being that love is all encompassing and transformative.

He was 'created' to look like Mobian, and Amy treats him no differently than any other Mobian/human. Still, he believes that he should hide all the parts that 'other' him from society, which means his robot parts. (legwarmers!)

He's got a bit of a bad boy edge to him LOLLL i kind of created him that he'd be an emo kid. (fall out boy.. my chemical romance.. a bit of IDKHow) really good at electric guitar and part of a band. eventually he finds his passion is in lyric-writing (all those love stories and inheriting his mother's gift for writing love letters)

he often wonders what a beating heart is like, as someone without one. he's interested in the heartbeats and the pulses of others, but he is a total sweetheart himself.. still, even to other mobians unaware that he is an android (a weapon at that), it's still a little off-putting..

more abt him belolow

Dusty's core is already made/designed after Amy's biosignature, and in meeting other people, he's able to read their biodata and stash it into an archive, but he doesn't reproduce it onto himself. (though unsure if he could? either his code has a blockade or he chooses not to)

Dusty, additional to his stash of weapons, has the ability to shift too like his papa... become something similar to Metal Overlord but not entirely... like a half robot dragon boy or smth.. IF he's under the right conditions to have it pulled out of him. or something

Dusty DOES "grow" up. basically, he's an inorganic being whose core is trying to emulate/copy the growth progression of other organic beings.

As it would grow in size (and Dusty's cognition "matures"), his mother and her friends would modify as needed to adjust his frame, etc, but rarely were things ever replaced. Like a mollusk, its shell growing in size- but one needing accommodations. A heart bigger than its own body that threatens to spill- a chick that has outgrown its shell, well before its expected date- needing modifications to keep it inside and protected

Metal Sonic and Amy would have something profound-- one of those tragic, star-crossed enemies-to-lovers dark fantasy romance stories Amy's always loved to read about- but then having it play in real time and having to come to terms with the real world implications of actually having one. It's just that- a fantasy. and metal sonic would grapple with the ideas of love, which i think would be inherently dark and a little possessive given his upbringing-- but what him and Amy have would be sweet at the very core of it. so him giving a piece of his core that reads and adapts to Amy's biosignature and oops... accidental baby....

Dusty finds himself drawn to music. his mom and dad couldn't quite communicate love language physically (with Metal Sonic's claws and his lack of mouth) so I hc that Amy taught Metal Sonic how to hum and sing and communicate their love through music and vocalizations (which carried onto Dusty)

4th pic is Dusty doing breathing exercises with his mama... Dusty gets embarrassed super easily so him and Amy would regularly do breathing exercises so he doesn't overheat like a PC

[literallys-illiteracy]

The floor of language:

Did you expect this to be the scheduled essay that got expedited?

On another note, thank you to goat boy Cinna Faun who requested "something Little red (mercenary) related", which caused me to end up finishing this, and also planning a new entirely separate essay which i will explain in a separate post probably It is also interesting to note that, as he has not finished Ruina, he probably should't be reading past the... first(?) section.

and because i care, SPOILERS FOR LIBRARY OF RUINA, INCLUDING TRUE ENDING WHEN MARKED

Desires, Mindless drive, and Inner Nature:

Due to the nature of abnormalities manifesting, the themes of desire are unsurprising, however the abnormalities on this floor are more directly tied to the lens of a bestial, innate desire. The bloodlust inherent to these creatures, being consumed by these desires, losing ones outer mask, showing their bestial urges: 

The story of the Riding Hood and the Wolf is one intertwined, paralleling the fairytale of little red riding hood; yet beyond the ending, Red continues to hunt the big bad wolf.

The primary divergence from the original fairy tale comes in the attitude of Red herself, acknowledging the endless cycle that the two share, yet still seeking the day which she can hang the wolf’s head up to rest; Little Red Mercenary is a person who, through being raised in the bloodshed, become desensitised to it, having the hunt be her every waking hour, endlessly seeking to bring an end to the wolf, so she may continue the hunt unimpeded. 

The Big and “will be” bad wolf serves as not only the Wolf of the riding hood tale, but also as that from the three little pigs, and likely endless other tales passed over time; The Wolf in these tales never had a name, was never a character in the same way that the pigs or little red was, it was simply the big evil wolf, so everyone called it, so naturally it must be true.

The Wolf embodies ones bestial nature, despite how it may have wanted to be, what its nature could have been, it always was, and always will be, the evil wolf of the tale; 

The Big Bad Wolf poses the question of one's nature, with the one of the wolf being largely defined, a flesh hungry beast, yet, through its dialogue we see it regretting its actions, trying to protect others from itself, yet in time, giving into its hunger, its base instinct that, if it were to fill its stomach, it would be happy.

I'll be honest i try to extend the themes when i can, with the semi poetic - video essay-esque way that i write, but really with Mountain of Smiling Bodies there is next to nothing to discuss, it's a big heap of corpses who wants to make you part of the big pile of corpses that is itself. All that's left is a mindless amalgamation of flesh and viscera, endlessly driven forward by bloodlust, by its desire to make others the same way that it is. I'm moving on now, I don't respect this abnormality enough to give it multiple paragraphs.

Unsurprisingly, on the floor that embodies desire in the form of bloodlust, the vampire is not an exception.

Despite not having lore page to draw from like the past 3, I actually have some things to say about Nosferatu.

So first of all, the quite literal bloodthirsty nature of the abnormality, wearing the facade of humanity only to hold back its thirst; transforming it abandons the pretence of humanity in order to quench its thirst, which reveals its nature as a rampaging beast, the madness of the thirst overtaking it.

The second thing of note is the effect “Fear of Water”, which i believe has two possible inspirations behind it, the first of which (and the more likely) being of vampire lore, where vampires are unable to cross running water, and die if submerged in it (i think, i've not read up on vampires too much). The second is simultaneously more and less esoteric, as it links less to the direct lore of vampires, but rather to the thematics of losing oneself to bloodlust. I am, of course, referring to Rabies, who’s patients experience a strong aversion to water, which inhibits the virus’s ability to spread throughout your body.

Thematically the concept of Rabies is in line with Nosferatu, with the Abnormality page sharing the name of its passive, describing the mindlessness in searching and feeding, losing oneself and losing their sight of purpose.

I never actually made the potential connection between those two before, the comparison is interesting but i'm not sure if it goes anywhere.

The Abnormality named “Nothing There” is a creature with a singular goal in mind, to become a “human”, to look like, act like, and in the end, “Become” one of us.

Akin to the Mountain of Smiling Bodies, Nothing There can be thought of as an amalgamation of humanity, the outer shells being worn, making up its whole, a monster wearing the shape of, trying to fool you into thinking it is, a human.

It goes further than the mimicking of our appearance, it also repeats phrases it has heard “Hello”, “Goodbye”, “i love you” and “Manager”.

Nothing there is best described as a doppelganger, a creature which imitates humans, attempting to disguise itself in order to get closer to us.

There is also a possibility that this Abnormality is based on the creature from the movie “The Thing” 

Floor realisation links:

The most obvious connection between Roland and this floor would be that of bloodlust — His blind rampage across the city, killing indiscriminately in an attempt to avenge Angelica.

"The first and last request I do for myself…"

The first Abnormality which Roland resonates with is that of the mercenary, a fitting choice given his past career as a fixer being best described as a “Mercenary” of sorts. The red hood mirrors Roland, being haunted by a beast of the past, never calm, never at rest, until they are able to slay their wolf — Both mercenaries seek the blood of their wolves, each beast having their own story, their own reasons for acting- 

“SHUT UP!!! You want to hear the excuses of those wolves after all that’s happened?"

-neither mercenary caring, only looking to end their nightmare, to finally be at rest “In the affliction of these terrible dreams that shake us nightly: better be with the dead”. 

Likewise to the Riding Hood, Roland sought out the one beast which had haunted him, the source of the distortion, whom he thought to be Angela — Angela, who had her own sorrows, acted as Roland’s wolf. Though she had suffered the same, if not more, than Roland had in the past, he viewed it as separate, after all…

“That's That, and This is This” 

Roland next embraces the EGO of the “Will be” big and bad wolf — Though he has due cause, his own reasons, though he has suffered the same, if not more, than the city folk in the past, he was viewed as a mindless beast.

Like Crimson Scar (Red Hood), Cobalt Scar (anyone else remember when this was just called blue scar?) reflects Roland’s drive for peace, for contentment. Through Roland’s rampage, he only wished to fill the hole within him, the piece of himself whom was by the distortion stolen, to fill this hole with his vengeance, the blood of others. Who would have thought the woman to have so much blood in the end. (I apologise I am re-reading Macbeth and these references keep happening subconsciously).

Oddly Enough the secondary thematic contained within this phase is more akin to one of Chesed’s theme, alongside that of Yan, and the city at large: 

“All humans grow into brutal beings. Why would I be different?"

Roland’s belief is one of nihilism (the fucking clown is back), that the city is a construct which grinds those within down to a cohesive — That all those within the city are the same in the end, that good people cannot survive in the city, Angelica acted as his proof of that.

"I won’t remember your faces… But you will remember mine…"

The Mountain of smiling corpses is as simple thematically as it is to suppress, the amalgamation of all those that roland has killed in the rampage, all those that had their own lives, all those lives he cut short, formed together, smiling, facing him, nothing more than a collective.

The Mountain is the memories of all those he killed in the slaughter, the blind rampage, all those whose faces he cannot remember, all smiling, taunting him.

The alternative lens to view this abnormality though is that of Roland being the mountain itself, fulfilling the same role as the wolf to come, simply a heap of flesh, searching out more to join it.

"Be honest with myself. Was it for revenge? Wasn’t I merely thirsty?" 

Here we have roland’s acknowledgement of his myopic rage in the rampage, never thinking ahead, not seeing a reason to continue living, he simply thirsted for blood, for his primal urges to be released — He planned for, as he puts it:

A night when one is allowed to pursue all kinds of desire… A neverending, blood-red night."

(Of course referencing the star of the city, Blood Red Night, also known as Elena, whom had been defeated by Roland and Angelica in the past)

Just like the bloodfiend he takes the form of, just like the bloodfiend he slew all those years ago, Just like a mindless beast.

The only thing to note here is the name of the EGO he takes on: Dipsia, being a suffix used to mean “Thirst” — Presumably this is simply the name of nosferatu’s EGO in itself, but I thought I would mention this detail.

"The reason I exist…? I’m not even sure anymore."

The final form taken is that of a husk, the purposeless, meaningless Roland, with no desire to continue living, wears the shell of nothing there, the pretence of humanity used to gain his way closer to others, only living to kill, living by way of rote instinct.

Roland is hollow, empty, losing what made him human, simply a monster wearing the shell of one.

The Courage to Protect:

The story of the red mist is one that precedes most other sephirot in the game; Kali, the legendary colour fixer, “The Strongest”, and the first to join Carmen’s entourage (other than A/B). 

* This section contains true ending spoilers * * Also Lobotomy Corporation spoilers * *I mean its expected that you've finished the game to be reading a 3000 word analysis post about it but still *

Hailing from the backstreets of district 23, Kali was an orphan child who learned to survive on her own, her oldest memories being when she was seven, surrounded by viscera in an open alleyway. Becoming a fixer at 20, the child was able to live a stable life, giving money to those who helped her survive, and vowing to use her newfound power as a fixer to protect them — Kali found her hands and legs bound in bed, her neighbours sprawling through her apartment searching for any money they could find.

Disillusioned, the child killed these intruders, these neighbours who she had done nothing but protect; Kali realised that these people were no different from the syndicates, seeking power to use against those beneath them, a natural cycle of humanity. 

Kali, too, had undergone the role of the beast and hunter throughout her lives. In the beginning she was akin to the riding hood, chasing an ephemeral beast, the only thing that stops her from sleeping at night, the evil of humanity – In truth, it was when she was sleeping at night that the beast struck her, when she became disillusioned, began to see the nature of human minds, it was then that she, momentarily, lost her way.

In this exact manner, Gebura mirrors Roland’s past, and Roland her’s; the life of a fixer, though originally a life one could enter wholeheartedly, is one that reveals the underbelly of humanity, the grievous festering wounds of the city, and the rot that infects every mind within – Roland, too, once lost his way, though being a powerful fixer, leading a grade one office before he had achieved this rank himself, he slowly degraded into the mask he wore.

I am aware that I have written about Roland alongside the mask of the persona like… thrice already? At the same time it is really important to state that this psychological overtone within these games’ stories is not one that is being added arbitrarily, and are key to understanding the fundamental themes of human identity within. O’er these characters, neath the worldbuilding, lays a story that is beyond the game, a story of humanity and growth. I have a mutual, @jugendraws whom has said to have a script akin to my own, which covers these same kinds of themes, and I implore you if you like reading these at all, that you should keep an eye out for theirs.

Tangent over

Like Roland, Kali’s emergence from this shell, from their mask of a stoic fixer, came forth from meaning delivered by an angelic woman. Angelica. Carmen. Though the stories are not perfect analogues, they each mirror another so forth that Roland cannot deny his similarity to Gebura’s past – Gebura even shared in his mindless rampage, also following in the death of her loved, ‘the return of the red mist’ in lobotomy Corporation, but where Gebura realised, remembered her past, the reason for her strength, she ended in this. 

Roland, too, ends in the same realisation, protecting those who dare to dream, who sought to live, who wished for paradise, defending Angela from the Reverberation’s ensemble, before making a final decision found through his past realisations, and saving Angela from disappearing.

Uuh also something thighs, ok.

There is also something interesting to note about Geburah herself, so let's do that:

Kabbalah:

So, while I am not an expert on this topic, nor jewish myself, I wanted to note something that I found interesting correlating between Gevurah’s representation in Lobotomy Corporation and in the tree of life.

Gevurah, being adjacent to Tifres and across from Hesed, is a word meaning “strength”. The sephira herself is representative of a loving protection, being the love that comes from limitation.

This correlates, as mentioned before, with Project Moon’s Gebura through her desires to protect Carmen, using her strength to show love to others.

This concept is parallelled in more ways than this however, as the method which the aspect Gevurah shows kindness is that of channelling the Ohr Ein Sof (infinite light), and ensuring that all creations are able to receive this light according to their limitations – the show of affection through limitation, and understanding of another – this may be represented, in a anthropomorphised form, as the ways that we show our care for others, using our various strengths and understanding of others, alongside our dedication, which in its own is a form of strength, to show affection and love.

Gebura, in her Lobotomy Corporation story, shows these traits quite explicitly, being the first to channel the light and manifest EGO, for the purpose of protecting those that she cares of; Gebura’s brutality regarding the abnormalities can be interpreted as her understanding employee’s limitations, wishing to protect them from the unbridled light, or humanity, of the abnormalities.

Departing from the Kabbalah, which I am far from qualified to talk in depth on, we will now be featuring a surprise guest, on a topic I am somewhat more familiar with.

Her:

This section stemmed forth from my wondering of how Carmen relates to the above passage, as despite my obsession with the pretty distortion lady, I had yet to look into any religious or biblical roots regarding her character.

Carmen is a name with two distinct origins, Latin and Hebrew.

In Latin, from the word Carmen meaning song, and being the root of the word “charm” (which is extremely accurate to Carmen LC considering she is extremely charming) (also there's probably some correlation to song and her radiant voice but i’d rather just obsess over her for a bit).

In Hebrew, from the mountain Carmel, which is translated roughly into “Vineyard of God”, and is the namesake of the Mendicant order of the Carmelites, alongside a settlement mentioned in the bible.

It is also important to note that the name Carmen has become innocuous with that of Mary, Mother of Jesus, due to the aforementioned order, once again11 linking Carmen to abrahamic religious themes. 

The settlement of Carmel itself was important on its own due to it containing a natural spring of water, which then man made pools were constructed near to collect from; Carmen herself sought after the “river” of humanity within Lobotomy Corporation, and prior connotations with her names significance in Catholicism make a compelling argument for her entourage being figurative of the Carmelites, woking in poverty for the betterment of the world.

(as an additional note, the Carmelites claim ‘Elijah’ to be their order’s spiritual father, or their beginning of sorts, in the same manner that Elijah is the first researcher to die, and the first of their group we learn the real name of, our beginning of sorts).

(also i don't know if this is intentional, as like 90% of what i say about anything is conjecture). This is rather short as I am likely a decade away from finishing a Carmen essay proper due to the fact that she is the root of every game’s story, and something something 10 years of Limbus Company. Also I'm a needless perfectionist pedant who thinks that it's impossible for me to create something that does justice to the concepts.

[inominati]

I've thought this before but I am re-reading Argenti's character stories rn and they give me a creepy feeling, every time. There's something about the way they're written that makes it sound like something's not as it should be, something's wrong, like a rotten apple covered in gold foil, so you don't see its black core.

Over time, the melodic strains faded into the recesses of his memory, becoming a mysterious and elusive moment. 

He vanquished nightmarish monsters, and with the arrival of spring, rabbits frolicked once again in the woods.

This is so.. taken out of a picture book fairytale. It feels unreal.

The profane words of the Triple Demons resembled fragmented ravings, morphing into manifestations of human desires.

When he finally encountered his former comrade, he found a knight who had become a fanatic, lost in a blind pursuit of power. The former hero who had wielded a legendary weapon and vanquished the sky devourer had degenerated into a beast. His armor transformed into the scaly hide of the behemoth he had slain, his weapon into unyielding claws and fangs, and his blood into a viscous and restless flame. His eyes, once filled with wisdom, now burned with untamed wildness. The voice that had once addressed him as "my dear friend" had dwindled to a hissing cry.

..but has he really degenerated into a beast, or is that just how Argenti suddenly saw him? Because of his actions, his attitudes..? How literal am I to take these descriptions if we don't see them on screen? If Argenti can see Beauty in the inner world of a creature others consider a monster because they fear it, can he not also see darkness and evil in the inner world of a beautiful person? So much so that they become a monster in his eyes?

I think I best describe it as his story gives me the same vibes as Pan's Labyrinth. I've always subscribed to the theory that in that film the fantasy elements we see are Ophelia's way of coping with the terrible reality she is trapped in (the civil war, her mother, etc). Her mind produces these insane, wondrous but also partly truly terrifying creatures and places - such as the monster representing the punishment she fears (or her guilt?) for eating / stealing food after she's been denied food in "the real world". (If you haven't seen this film, I strongly recommend it - but be aware there are brutal civil war scenes and it's not a happy film).

Of course we could say this is just Argenti's warped view of the cosmos - he is poetic, he sees Beauty in strange things, he also focuses on Beauty in all things. The way he talks is certainly unusual. But in the same breath we could argue that perhaps his mind is blocking things and turning them into something absurd, almost, because he cannot cope otherwise. He grew up in war, he's suffered loss and loneliness, everywhere he goes he sees evil and he seems to have an inherent and very strong moral code of what is acceptable to be and do and what constitutes sin and failure and ugliness.

He seems very stable and independent, albeit odd, but I think there is a possibility that something terrible lurks inside him that's been locked away in an ugly little box, covered in thorns and sunken to the bottom of a well. It cannot be let out, so instead his mind sees the world in terms of Evil and Beauty, both grotesquely exaggerated at times.

Will he, himself... succumb to the clutches of the Omen of Evil?

More importantly - is the Omen of Evil an external force or is it his own failure to withstand these things the Knights seem to arbitrarily consider evil, ugly and repugnant (as their approaches differ from one another)?

[goblins-riddles-or-frocks]

Deathless Thoughts:

I only read this book in full once in 2017 and have only really paged through it a lot since. I definitely found it much more deliberate and thematically coherent this time around. I remember initially feeling like the surrealism and constant jumps ahead were disjointed but it reads very cohesively to me now. I’m very curious if that will continue past the latter 50% which I haven’t reread yet. I remember starkly disliking that portion and I have no idea if I’ll feel similarly this time around— because I already enjoyed the second act much more on reread and acknowledged its purpose, when up until now I did not lol

My initial thoughts were that the fantasy elements were too surreal to care about and that the relationship was too much of a nothing, with too little not unpleasant screen time to justify its centrality to the plot. But having read more classic surrealist Russian lit has familiarized me to the former and makes me actually understand what it’s going for. And for the latter I think I’m just more onboard with unpleasantness and abuse being the point. So currently, my perspective is almost wholly positive.

I enjoy the book’s use of its subject material— fairytales set in actual history— as many many metaphors. First folktales and fantasy specifically in the Soviet era, so rife with censorship, as a vehicle for allegory, their use and importance in literature itself being a motif. Then the metaphor for inexorable class hierarchies and unchangeable power structures before and after the revolution, the way only the branding changed, but the power structures remained. And also, most pervasively, as a way to examine gender roles and gendered loss of agency; the politics of a marriage.

I really liked the way the novel built up Koschei and how everything is about Marya’s relationship with Koschei (her relationship with agency and the lack thereof) even when he’s fairly infrequently on screen. From her sister’s bird husbands in the opening, and child Marya’s musing on the potential transformative nature of marriage— but also the inherently unequal power dynamic and resolving that she will do/be better because she knows more than they did. To the metaphor of her thinking that a secret will treat her well and then later the line where the personified secret is then likened to a husband who will be her ruin. Even that when Koschei finally shows up to take her away it’s compared to being taken away by the revolutionary government/the police.

Marya is herself highlighted for her knowledge and her desire for it. Specifically the ability to see discrepancies in the stories she is told whether that is the magical or ideological and political. The sisters in the opening marry into seemingly static unmoving snapshots of history. Meanwhile Marya’s singled out in her precociousness and open admittance of there being anything completely beyond the ideologies presented by each suitor in his human form [the power structure of the Tsarist state, and the Soviet Union]. She’s defined by wanting to see beyond dichotomies and limited scopes of propaganda. She sees it as a skill, and it is, but it’s also something that singles her out for misery, both by her peers (the scarf incident) and by the likes of Koschei who is specifically drawn to willfulness and a lack of adherence to a particular role with the intent of breaking that will.

The entire seduction segment that is turning all the food and her illness into an erotic power exchange is also just explicitly about breaking her will, and fostering perfect obedience and dependence on him. It’s also really interesting that, in going with him, she does somewhat lucidly give up and trade away her agency/ability to dictate a story/her own perspective in exchange for being physically well cared for. (But then even that is very thorny and with many strings attached)

So by part two, she is stuck in the dichotomy of “who is to rule” and either she can be a Yelena/Vasalisa or a soon-to-be Baba Yaga. Yet, either way, she is never good enough and it is still inevitably an exploitative and draining situation.

Marya being successful in her willingness to do degrading and cruel things to earn Baba Yaga’s blessing and Koschei’s favor being punctuated by all her friends— who without which she would never have succeeded at all— dying horribly illustrates that so well. In her success she is only further isolated. She will never repay their help, because being Tsaritsa of Buyan, and having any sort of power, is inherently antithetical to that.

The emphasis on Lebedeva’s girlboss magic makeup and the passage about Marya being told that girls must care only for vapid, pretty things, among other moments, might feel extremely dated. But I do think they’re intended to be employed in a way where traditional femininity presents a sort of deliberate and acknowledged safety? And it goes hand in hand with Marya, while never choosing to be a “Yelena” in traditional soft femininity, does end up choosing to try to leverage soft power and soft manipulation within deliberately gendered terms fairly often. But again it’s just presented from a very dated and particular context.

So far, the sheer dedication of the book to being an explicit Bluebeard tale and a story about abuse, and how there is no winning in that sort of relationship has been very fun for me.

I also enjoyed Koschei outright lying about the Yelenas and Vasalisas— and then later about the location of his death. I think that’s a character type you usually expect to deceive via omission but, no, he just outright lies a lot.

Another example is that Widow Likho’s book makes it clear that humans best enter into Buyan when ill, and meanwhile everything Koschei does is of course explicitly a repetition of previous stories. So it’s practically confirmed that he had taken every Yelena etc on that same long trip and made them ill on purpose. Even though in the moment he claims to be surprised by it, and spontaneous in caring for her through her illness.

Or the suggestion that he found a reason to put all the other girls in the stable when they got to Buyan as punishment for disobeying him. That the point is the punishment and breaking of the will rather than there being any sort of standard the bride could realistically meet where he would be happy with her and welcome her to her new home without that initial humiliation and fear.

It’s also incredibly funny and refreshing that this book buys into Koschei’s nonsense way less than any of its subsequent imitators. (The Grisha trilogy included!) I enjoyed Baba Yaga being like “Why is everything black, stop being dramatic 🙄”

He’s barely present in the book at all. His page count is truly negligible! And it’s great!

Like I mention earlier, that was actually something I was annoyed by on my first read, the relationship just seemed fairly thin, even though the snapshots of it that we get are fascinating. But after being inundated with so many books worshipping the ground love interests like him stand on, I love how much he doesn’t fucking matter and how little page time he has. How that itself allows Marya’s emotions and conflicted feelings to remain central. The narrative doesn’t care about him, it’s only what impact he has on her that’s relevant.

Anyway somewhat superficial but I really enjoy the goth love interest being the Tsar of Life, because authors typically go a more obvious and melodramatic route. Despite all of the goth mystique, him not being associated with death, darkness, night, etc was refreshing. But also I do generally just find the concept of life being equated with the lurid and demanding, the parasitical, something that is always in a personal sense at war with death— aka the mention of him always looking sickly or feeling skeletal initially when he kisses Marya— a compelling one. It’s death and the maiden wrapped up in a single person essentially.

Anyway I also appreciated the parallel of the Yelenas being trapped in eternity weaving soldiers while Marya’s first thought upon seeing Koschei is that if she had knitted herself a perfect lover he would look like that. There is the constant underpinning of Marya being wholly separate from them, the question of whether she is greater or more horrible than them, but at the heart of it she’s really not. She’s just another victim in a long string of them.

[anncanta]

***

A while ago, I wrote about how Dracula in the modern world asks Zoe (actually, Agatha) on a date using Tinder language. That this was a kind of declaration of love after one hundred and twenty years.

But, like everything in this complex text, this situation has several layers.

Let's remember what it was built around. Why is Dracula writing this letter and what does he want Zoe to do?

He invites her to drink his blood if she wants to match him – that, in fact, means she should if she wants to get to know him better and make contact with him.

This is a very ancient fairy tale motif, which we see at the very beginning of the film, when Jonathan, having arrived at Dracula's castle, begins with dinner. I wrote in the essay about the mythological and fairy-tale imagery in Dracula that this is how the motif of involvement is realized when the hero finds himself in the space of myth and a magical forest. In the language of the tale, this means that if Jonathan had not tasted the food and wine in Dracula's house, then nothing that happened next would have happened. Moreover, I suspect that the close connection between Dracula and Jonathan, which allowed the Count to be changed by the influence of his victim, is based in no small part on this ‘common space’ created by them both, which arose when they first shared a meal.

Here we can step back from the main topic for a moment and ask a question.

It is obvious that Dracula lured various people to the castle in one way or another many times and drank their blood. But how many of them did he eat with? I could be wrong, but I have a strong feeling that Jonathan's appearance was Dracula's first attempt to ‘do it right’ – that is, to start, like all normal people, with courtship. But, as we know, first love is not always mutual. Especially if you are a teenager who cannot control yourself.

But let's return to Zoe and Agatha. The vampire canon has existed for more than a hundred years, and blood as a part of it has long turned into an inherent banality in the eyes of the reader and viewer. But Moffat and Gatiss return the original fairytale meaning to the story and its images, and the blood becomes a bridge, crossing which the characters can hear each other, and thanks to what they hear, change.

Dracula offers Zoe-Agatha a very bold and very intimate thing – he literally invites her to penetrate him, learn his secrets, and accept him. And paradoxically, this allows her to recognize herself, becoming whole. And as a result, it turns out that what Dracula longed for hundreds of years – to find a partner – does not require complex experiments with the vampire breed, but ordinary openness and a willingness to give oneself to another.

This is a coming-of-age story, no matter how you look at it. And, unlike similar stories, references to which are scattered throughout the text, it is very clear and healthy. Here I can't help but remember once again that Steven Moffat is a former school teacher. For him, good is always good, and evil is evil. Moffat has no ‘misunderstood’ negative characters. Therefore, Dracula is not a story about a vampire through the eyes of a vampire who has his own truth. No. It is about a person who goes through a long labyrinth, experiences a transformation, and becomes himself. In life, in love, in partnership. And it ends up at the top. Literally, in the culmination and realization of all that he is.

[kennamirzayan]

Viewing Response 6: The Convergent Narratives of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

In The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, director Jacques Demy subverts the tropes and structures of the fairytale genre (and, by extension, the classic American film conventions) by infusing the film with melodrama. Through textual and cinematic elements alike, Demy is able to expertly create a poignant, raw, elevated picture of a relationship torn apart. Through plotting and storytelling, Demy transforms the story of young lovers Jacqueline and Guy into a painful tale of love lost. This decision to play with the fairytale-esque narrative creates the power inherent in the film. 

As Anne Duggan explains in “Fairy Tale and Melodrama: Lola and the Umbrellas of Cherbourg”, the template for storytelling as repeated by the most popular Hollywood films of the early twentieth century was that of a Disney fairytale. The textual mosaic of these stories always results in the same final point: a female character waiting to be saved by a handsome prince. In this style of story, the female character’s passivity is rewarded by material wealth and domesticity. Duggan writes that the happy ending of the fairytale, “is about the reestablishment of heteronormative and patriarchal order, in which virtue is properly rewarded and vice – incarnated by unruly women – is punished” (16). In the fairytale, the male figure has been cemented within the narrative and the life of the princess. This storytelling structure ingrains social pressures concerning heteronormativity and the familial unit, painting it as the ideal. 

The melodrama is a style of story which refers to similar themes but is altogether different in its narrative approach. Duggan explains that the melodrama, “is about what gets repressed or marginalized in the process of adhering to gender, social, and sexual norms” (17). It is a play on the fairytale in that it explores what might happen if the prince could not save the princess. 

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg appeals to both of these influences in its exploration of the relationship and social pressure. Genevieve is encouraged, through the use of fairytale allusions, to accept the rescue of a prince in Roland. However, the structural makeup of the film implies that Genevieve is waiting to be saved by her prince in Guy. It is from this convergent narrative boundary that Demy finds the film’s melodrama. As the fairytale narrative of the wealthy Roland saving Genevieve subducts the Guy-Genevieve fairytale narrative beneath it, the sense of repression which fuels melodrama is produced. Through this clash of narratives, Demy is able to create a heartbreaking and thoughtful portrait of a love story that was lost to societal pressures. 

[demonicintegrity]

Been rotating fanfiction as a concept in my head since I reblogged cryptotheism's post the other day. And instead of starting my large perspective drawing due tonight I'll write down some misc. thoughts.

I love fanfiction. And I've been an avid fandom person since middle school. Before I really used Ao3 I was on Fanfic.net learning the citrus scale and woefully unprepared to filter my content. Those were days lmao.

And one thing the sticks in my mind most is that not all fanfiction is a transformative work. But it sure as hell does blur the line.

Y'see a transformative work is a term used when discussing fair use because the tl:dr of it is that it places a work in a new light enough to be considered it's own thing. Think of all the fairytale re-imaginings or reboots that are basically their own thing but with the same characters. (That ladder being harder to produce legitimately because of how our copyright works, but the same concept.)

Fanfiction isn't transformative, not inherently. Most fanfiction is just taking your blorbos and putting them in a scene you want them to be in. It's not creating a fundamentally new story. Most of the time it's just an addition the already existing work, a love (or hate) letter to the art itself.

However, there are times when fanfiction does create its own stories. And here's when the line blurs. Common tropes can be expanded upon enough to develop characters in a new light.

Timeline rewrite aus are where the obvious start is. "What if's" that take the characters on different paths. It's not it's own story technically, it's exploring a path the canon could've taken, but if done right can feel like it's own book.

(Alternate Universes is where the line blurs. Because now you're actively creating a world that is creating this new light where these characters are in. How expansive this new universe's building is dictates how much the line blurs.)

There are companion stories, where knowledge of the main canon enhances the understand but might not be necessary. Oc centered stuff falls here, as does pre-canon fics, and explorations of background stuff where the author saw a character with two lines and decided to build them an entire life.

There are the wildly different aus, where the new world is something incompatible with canon. The obligatory Human!aus fall here when the entire canon being referenced has little to no humans whatsoever. College!aus as well, human or not, because the main canon didn't and could not have room for that sorta coming of age story. Crossovers might be here too, for their ability to merge worlds and make lines that don't exist.

It's funny, because the most transformative fanwork is the one most often criticized within fandom. The au of an au, the reworking a character so theyre unrecognizable from the sources besides maybe a shared name. That is arguably most transformative because of how disconnected it feels from the original.

But truly, I think the main difference between fanfic and transformative work is the intent. When you set out to build a world that retelling of whatever thing in common use with the explicit intent to play with it's characters and themes but to be new, is when you're truly being transformative.

Take all the adaptions of Shakesphere's work. In high school I watched a production of A Midsommer's Night in Jersey. It was so fun. The key difference between adaptations of Shakesphere's work and fanfiction is the intent. It's a retelling, not an addition or a companion or a "what if."

And I think that's what makes it's so blurry. Because when you get deep in your muse and rewrite an existing world or write your own to put the blorbos in, you tread into the territory of that intent even though that's not necessarily where you've started from.

I think we've seen it slightly. It's gone from "Oh X is a ripoff of Y" to "Oh X is just a shameless fanfic of Y" Because if the two versions of X have a different conception being shamed, it's still called out through the act of being a homage/retelling/whatever of Y. And this is where citing your sources and being enthusiastic of your inspirations comes to an important play.

[onewomancitadel]

The bit I can't get over is that the characters are literally fairytales. The story is inspired by fairytales and myth. They're really walloping you over the head with this in V9. Obviously the problem with Jaune is that he's been conflated with the Rusted Knight to the point of not being himself anymore, and there's all ideals and identity stuff wrapped up in there... but like... the notion of R/WBY is that fairytales are real and the consequences are explored therein, it's not resolutely cynical stuff.

I guess in some sense what I'm struggling with is that I take the perspective that storytelling is transformation, and stories that want to interact with this in a conscious way can be frustrating for me to parse. Once you begin to break apart that subconscious and intuitive framework, you may break things you don't fully understand. Perhaps this is why I'm currently dissatisfied. That, too, that the volume isn't over yet, and to be quite frank judging the full thematic intentions of a work is pretty hard to do without even the ending. The ending recontextualises everything.

I mean, I just want Jaune to be okay. I want Jaune to have a beautiful romance with Cinder and I want everyone to live happily ever after. That is the 'hope' I have, and watching characters interact with that idea is... less interesting to me... I want them to wrestle with meaning in their own lives, and doing it so consciously with narrative (even if I ultimately may agree with their conclusions) is sort of inherently silly to me. It's sensitive ground to cover, anyway.

[yourweddingshopboutique]

Fairy Tale Chic: Elevate Your Wedding Look with a Stunning Ball Gown Dress

Introduction

For brides seeking a touch of enchantment and a fairytale-inspired wedding, the ball gown dress emerges as an exquisite choice. Reminiscent of timeless elegance and regal charm, the ball gown silhouette captivates with its voluminous skirt and fitted bodice. In this comprehensive guide, we will explore the allure of fairy tale chic, delving into the key features, fabric choices, styling possibilities, and the overall impact of choosing a stunning ball gown wedding dress for women for your special day.

The Ball Gown Silhouette: A Symphony of Elegance

At the heart of fairy tale chic lies the iconic ball gown silhouette. Characterized by a fitted bodice that cinches at the waist and a voluminous, floor-length skirt that billows into a majestic shape, this style transcends trends, embodying a timeless and regal aesthetic. The ball gown silhouette not only flatters a variety of body types but also adds a sense of grandeur to the overall bridal look, making it the perfect choice for those who wish to feel like royalty on their wedding day.

Fabric Choices: Crafting Dreams in Luxurious Textiles

The magic of a ball gown extends beyond its silhouette to the choice of luxurious fabrics that bring dreams to life. Satin, known for its smooth and lustrous finish, adds a touch of opulence, while tulle creates layers of ethereal volume. Lace detailing, whether delicate or intricate, enhances the gown's romantic allure, contributing to the overall fairy tale chic aesthetic. The selection of fabrics plays a pivotal role in ensuring the gown not only looks stunning but also feels magical against the skin.

Neckline Variations: Framing Elegance

While the ball gown silhouette remains a constant, neckline variations offer brides the opportunity to personalize their fairy tale chic look. The classic sweetheart neckline, with its gentle curve, exudes romance and femininity. Off-the-shoulder or illusion necklines add a modern and alluring touch, infusing contemporary elements into the traditional charm of the ball gown. The neckline serves as a frame for the bride's face, allowing her unique beauty to shine through the enchanting silhouette.

Embellishments and Detailing: Transforming Gowns into Art

To elevate a ball gown from exquisite to extraordinary, attention to embellishments and detailing is paramount. Intricate lace appliqués, delicate beadwork, and embroidery transform the gown into a work of art, telling a story with every stitch. Brides can choose the level of embellishment based on their personal style, from a subtle touch of sparkle to a fully adorned bodice. These details contribute to the gown's unique identity and its role in the bride's fairy tale narrative.

Practicality and Comfort: Ensuring a Graceful Presence

While the allure of a ball gown lies in its grandiosity, practical considerations are equally crucial. Brides should prioritize comfort and ease of movement, ensuring they can navigate different settings with grace and poise. The weight of the fabric, the length of the train, and the overall structure of the gown must be carefully considered to guarantee the bride feels not only stunning but also at ease throughout her magical day.

Styling Possibilities: Accessories and Finishing Touches

The fairy tale chic canvas of a ball gown invites a myriad of styling possibilities through accessories and finishing touches. A cathedral-length veil adds a touch of drama, while a delicate tiara or ornate headpiece complements the regal aesthetic. Statement earrings, a classic necklace, or a sparkling bracelet can enhance the overall look without overshadowing the gown's inherent elegance. Belts or sashes provide an opportunity to personalize the gown, allowing brides to express their individual style.

Conclusion

In the realm of wedding fashion, the ball gown stands as an eternal symbol of fairy tale chic, allowing brides to transcend the ordinary and step into a world of enchantment on their special day. From the classic silhouette to luxurious fabric choices, neckline variations, embellishments, and practical considerations, each element contributes to the creation of a gown that embodies the bride's vision of timeless elegance. As brides-to-be embark on the journey to find their dream dress, the ball gown offers not just a garment but a transformative experience—a chance to embody the magic of a fairy tale and make a grand entrance into the next chapter of life. With every twirl of the voluminous skirt, the bride becomes the protagonist of her own fairy tale, leaving an indelible mark on the hearts of those who witness the enchanting union of love and dreams fulfilled.

[midsummersbl0g]

Once Upon a Broken Heart Trilogy: An Odyssey of Love, Magic, and Destiny

Rating: 3.8/5

Stephanie Garber's "Once Upon a Broken Heart" trilogy unfolds as a magnum opus, a captivating tapestry woven with threads of love, magic, and destiny. As we traverse the saga through the subsequent volumes, "The Ballad of Never After" and "A Curse for True Love," the narrative deepens, unfurling layers of complexity in characters' choices and the enchanting world they navigate.

1. "Once Upon a Broken Heart": 

The trilogy's overture introduces us to the ethereal Evangeline Fox and the fantastical realm of Orpheus. Garber's exploration of love transcends the conventional, delving into the transformative power of emotions and the profound consequences that accompany heartbreak. The narrative canvas is painted against the backdrop of a world where reality and enchantment blur into one, inviting readers into a realm where the boundaries between the possible and the improbable are delightfully indistinct.

"Heroes don't get happy endings. They give them to other people." "But you have to have a working heart for it to break."

These  two key quotes serve as thematic pillars for the trilogy. The first emphasizes the sacrificial nature of love for heroes, finding fulfillment in giving happiness to others. The second delves into the vulnerability of love, highlighting the necessity of a working heart for genuine emotional connections. These quotes encapsulate the trilogy's exploration of sacrifice, heroism, and the profound consequences of opening one's heart to human connections and destinies.

2. "The Ballad of Never After": 

The second book propels us further into the narrative, exploring the aftermath of Evangeline's choices. New characters emerge as the story deepens, and the ballad takes center stage as a melodic exploration of loyalty, sacrifice, and the enduring essence of true love. Garber's narrative symphony becomes more intricate, weaving a complex composition that resonates with emotional depth.

"I wish our story could have had another ending." "She feared that dreams were like fairy tales, a little bit true and not entirely trustworthy."

These quotes share a thematic connection that revolves around the delicate balance between desire and skepticism. The first quote expresses a poignant yearning for an alternate outcome in a shared narrative, highlighting the theme of choice and its impact on relationships. The second quote introduces a sense of skepticism regarding dreams, drawing parallels between dreams and fairytales and suggesting a cautious view of their reliability. Together, these quotes depict Evangeline’s complex emotional landscapes, exploring the uncertainties inherent in both love stories and the realm of dreams within the narrative.

3. "A Curse for True Love":

The trilogy crescendos in "A Curse for True Love," where the threads of fate are tightly interwoven. The narrative invites readers to delve deeper into the symbiotic relationship between love and destiny. As secrets unravel, Garber's storytelling mastery reaches its zenith, inviting readers to question the boundaries of love and the inexorable pull of destiny.

“For anyone who has ever hoped for a second chance." "Happily ever afters were notoriously boring" “I am a monster, but whether you remember it or not, I'm your monster, Evangeline.”

These quotes capture the trilogy's essence, exploring themes of hope, the nuanced nature of love, and the unconventional aspect of happily-ever-afters. They reflect the trilogy's commitment to transcending conventional tropes, offering a rich and textured narrative that delves into the complexities of human connections, redemption, and ongoing growth in relationships.

As the trilogy unfolds, Garber's narrative intricacy demands an engaged reader. The abundance of twists and turns, while occasionally overshadowing the core storyline, adds layers to the characters' arcs and the magical tapestry they navigate. This complexity serves as an invitation for readers to deeply reflect on the characters' choices, motivations, and the profound consequences they face.

In conclusion, the "Once Upon a Broken Heart" trilogy stands as a literary opus, a profound exploration of the human condition through the lens of love and destiny. Stephanie Garber's storytelling prowess, coupled with thought-provoking quotes, creates an immersive experience that transcends the boundaries of conventional fantasy romance. For those seeking an epic and intricately detailed odyssey of love, capricious in nature and intertwined with destiny, this trilogy is an immersive and enchanting saga that leaves an indelible mark on the reader's soul.

[unimooshi]

They both also desperately need a hug

starop is a fun ship because one of them is a giant truck who radiates dad vibes and generally behaves like a librarian, and the other one is a smaller plane who is also a war criminal and incapable of Calming The Fuck Down. Both of them desperately need a nap. 

[panlight]

The funny thing is,SM really didn want to write about vampires. She wanted to write about Special Beautiful People Vampires were the only supernatural creatures who really fit the bill back in 2005. The really ironic thing is that since 2005 SO MANY books with supernatural creatures who fit the bill better have been published. SM Could totally write a book with the Fey in 2022. It'd sell,but the REALLY big irony is that it was twilight that popularized books about supernatural romance.

Even her DREAM was not inherently vampiric. It was Edward and Bella talking in a meadow. Edward was inhumanly beautiful and sparkling, Edward was saying how hard it was not to kill her even though he loved her because her blood was so tempting. Like sure the blood stuff is vampiric but that's TELLING not SHOWING even in her dream. Nothing about a beautiful, sparkling boy in a meadow with a 'normal' human girl is inherently vampiric. It's kind of anti-vampiric if anything.

And it's interesting how she just doggedly stuck to the dream scenario. If it were me, I'd probably have decided to go with either the sparkling (and write about fae or angels or something) or with the tempting-blood-want-to-kill-you thing, and then edited out the sparkling. I would have thought "people are going to think vampires sparkling in the sun is silly" and edited it out like before I even wrote a first draft.

There are parts I like about her mythology, and I don't hate the sparkling so much as I have a hard time with Edward being so like "ugh I'm a monster" about it when it's so lovingly and beautiful described. Sparkling's not my favorite but it's not a deal-breaker. It's whatever.

And there is a lot of darkness in her vampires--the painful burning thirst, the three-days-of-agony transformation, the lack of sleep (!!!), the razor sharp teeth rather than fangs; the fact that the only way they can be killed is to be ripped apart and burned--and she hints at this. Alistair's backstory is dark. Carlisle's origin story is basically a horror movie. She touches on this vampire stuff but what she's really writing with Bella is a) a romance and b) a superhero origin story. It's about Bella becoming powerful and beautiful and strong, so all those negative vampire things are just . . . dropped or ignored. SM said before that the vegetarian diet is almost impossible to do, that it's basically a starvation diet but they can't die "so they manage," and that the "lack of human blood is constant pain." NOTHING about Bella's "perfect piece of forever" hints at that. It's just pure happiness with her handsome eternally young husband and their perfect baby in white ruffles and lace in their fairytale cottage.

And it's like, what?? Why write about vampires if you just wanted a fairy tale in the end? It's weird.

[attemptsonherlifepdf]

transgression, the other, and the evolving shape of the gothic: a comparison of the bloody chamber and dracula

transgressive behaviours are at the forefront of gothic literature, a device used to impart messages surrounding temporally relevant cultural fascinations and anxieties. this theme runs throughout the reactionary genre’s timeline, including through bram stoker’s contribution to establishing the progression of gothic tropes in the victorian era, and angela carter’s 1970s prose. stoker’s fin de siecle novel explores the threats that transgressive behaviours pose to social norms and british values through binary oppositions, drawing upon victorian fears of reverse colonisation, sexual liberation and disease. conversely, carter’s modern subversion of the gothic explores these threats via stories of transformation and metamorphosis; both authors utilise the supernatural to personify these menaces to the norm, as is a vital characteristic of the genre. by having non-human characters commit explicit acts rather than humans, gothic authors can characterise the acts as monstrous and convey messages surrounding what these threatening acts mean for the characterisation of humanity. as put by kelley hurley, ‘through depicting the abhuman, the gothic reaffirms and reconstructs human identity.’

stoker’s traditional prose utilises the gothic concept of binary opposition in order to depict and villainise the threats posed upon his idealised christain characters by dracula. dracula himself, as an abhuman entity, is representative of sexual fluidity and the risk of sexually transmitted diseases, ideas which are consistent with vampirism but are at odds with victorian english values. lucy’s brutal punishment, however, is contrasted with the anticlimactic demise of dracula himself, where his ‘whole body crumbled into dust and passed from our sight.’ stoker could be using this opposition to suggest that those who give in to threats against typical societal conventions and fail to uphold british values are more deserving of punishment than those who actually pose the threat. the contrast provides an implication of moral inferiority: while villains are transgressive by nature, their victims who fail to resist their ideologies betray the moral code they originally conducted themselves upon. this initial betrayal is what allows the threatening character to infiltrate the population and continue to corrupt the ‘good’ characters. buzzwell supports this, suggesting that ‘lucy’s moral weakness allows dracula to repeatedly prey upon her.’ stoker arguably serves as an other himself, writing as an irish protestant in london. the opposition he constructs here between lucy and dracula’s respective manifestations of vampirism not only examines cultural variations but exemplifies and exaggerates the differences in the reactions of other characters towards them. given the author’s own ‘otheredness’, we could consider the novel a criticism of victorian xenophobia, where o’kelly argues that stoker ‘[pokes] fun at some of the victorian era’s most cherished beliefs.’ however, this view of the novel’s depiction of threats to the norm is highly disputed, with gibson highlighting stoker’s own russophobia as ‘a hatred that determines dracula’s negative portrayal as a condemnation of the orthodox eastern and slavic peoples historically allied to russia.’

contrastingly, carter’s presentation of characters succumbing to villains who jeopardise established values centres around ideas of solidarity, which she demonstrates through the ‘victims’ experience of metamorphosis. her techniques differ from stoker’s in that his use of binary oppositions is undoubtedly traditional of both the gothic and of the manichean mentality of victorian england. the usage of metamorphosis, on the other hand, allows carter to force audiences to grapple with liminality and she suggests to them that ‘othered’ groups or individuals are not entirely evil. this is a view which reflects carter’s modern, second-wave feminist perspective. jaques derrida’s ‘theory of the other’ posits that ‘otherness often provokes a paradoxical response in the viewer: fascination and repulsion.’ often the fascination is morbid, working in conjunction with repulsion: audiences are curious to understand what disgusts them. the tiger’s bride and the courtship of mr lyon, two stories within the bloody chamber collection, are subverted retellings of the traditional ‘beauty and the beast’ fairytale. while maintaining the general events of the original ending, where beauty stays with the beast of her own volition, carter offers up two dynamics between the human and abhuman that serve to recharacterise ‘othered’ creatures as less threatening and more sympathetic and innocent.

the courtship of mr lyon characterises mr lyon as a ‘leonine apparition’ and an ‘angry lion’ throughout, emphasising his predatory nature and resulting in negative connotations surrounding his ‘otherness.’ his initial threatening aura is quickly negated soon after beauty’s introduction to him, as they warm up to one another, and the story concludes with mr lyon’s transformation into a human man: ‘her tears fell on his face like snow and, under their soft transformation, the bones showed through the pelt, the flesh through the wide, tawny brow. and then it was no longer a lion in her arms but a man…’ carter’s use of metamorphosis here humanises a character that would otherwise be considered a threat to traditional norms, suggesting to readers that he may have been ‘just like us all along.’ his change in physical nature is triggered by beauty’s display of affection for him; implicit in this is the notion that we can undo our villainisation of marginalised people, and emphasises the significance of understanding between privileged and unprivileged groups. carter draws the line between what is a threat and what is simply unconventional, stripping marginalised identities of their ‘dangerous’ qualities that are attributed to them by those who abide by social norms. similarly, the tiger’s bride uses metamorphosis to suggest that those who challenge established identities are not inherently menacing, and that typical and atypical creatures can coexist. rather than have a character transform from beast to man as in the previous story, carter’s ending depicts a woman-to-beast transformation. this serves to suggest that people’s desire to understand what disgusts them can manifest as identifying with the ‘other’ and unlearning their own prejudices against them. beauty’s transformation is detailed in the closing sentences of the story: ‘and each stroke of his tongue ripped off skin after successive skin, all the skins of a life in the world, and left behind a nascent patina of shining hairs. my earrings turned back to water and trickled down my shoulders; i shrugged the drops off my beautiful fur.’ beauty’s metamorphosis can be read as a sign of solidarity towards the beast, or an understanding of his nature. roberts posits that ‘to be beast-like is virtuous. to be manly is vicious.’ carter takes this concept and uses it to criticise conventional reactions to unconventional behaviours. she deconstructs the binary that stoker relies upon, and uses a far more modern gothic convention to negate his black-and-white depiction that presents anything challenging the norm as a threat that can infiltrate civilised society, and instead presents these ‘threats’ as liberating.

perhaps an incredibly modern reading of carter’s metamorphosed characters is as an allegory for transgenderism. discussions around gender identity during the 1970s in britain, even in second-wave feminist circles, were more concerned with rejecting and redefining traditional gender roles than they were with the personal identity of individuals, so we can assume this was not carter’s intention when writing these stories. however, ideas of physical transformation, and how proximity to the ‘other’ can ‘radicalise’ one’s own identity are very fitting with treatment of transgender people both historically and presently. genres that stem from the late gothic, namely sci-fi, have been known for using metamorphosis as an allegory for marginalised identities, using physical transformation as an allegory for ideological or emotional transformation. a prime example of this is lana and lilly wachowski’s series the matrix. written as a trans allegory, the movie series criticises the social pressure for conformity the way carter does and attempts to explicitly recharacterise trans people as an innocent non-conforming identity rather than a threat. carter’s exploration and reproval of established values similarly tends to centre around ideas of gender, making this reading not entirely unreasonable. carter and stoker’s gothic texts are equally reflective of cultural anxieties in their respective temporal contexts, but where stoker reinforces racist ideologies that are at the heart of british imperialism and victorian politics, carter suggests that societal fears surrounding gender identity and liberation are unfounded.

both carter and stoker identify the victimisation of women as an established norm that is essential to the functioning of a patriarchal, capitalist society, but once again carter criticises this and stoker instead reinforces it. the notion of female vampirism is a vehicle for this discussion in both gothic texts, particularly in terms of how these supernatural women contain sexual traits that simultaneously fascinate and repel other characters. this duality is vital to what characterises them as a threat: jullian identifies ‘the gothic…’ as a genre ‘where danger is so near to pleasure’. the sexualised traits of vampire women is what allures other characters to them and allows them to infiltrate civilised society. stoker’s ‘hostility to female sexuality’ as described by roth, bookends the events of the novel with the early introduction and later reappearance of the eastern vampire women of dracula’s. their overt sexuality is repeatedly described as purposeful, with explicit juxtaposition between their attractiveness and the threat that they pose: 'there was a deliberate voluptuousness which was both thrilling and repulsive.’ these women are an extension of dracula that serve to specifically explore the threat of sexual fluidity, and the crew of light’s destruction of dracula ultimately eliminates that threat. van helsing’s justification of killing these women, 'then the beautiful eyes of the fair woman open and look love ... and man is weak', demonstrates that it is men’s inability to resist sexualised creatures that will result in this threat infiltrating england, but the responsibility is placed upon the women. while this echoes stoker’s suggestion that those who succumb to villains are at fault, it inevitably criticises women regardless. kaplan argues that ‘the sexualisation and objectification of women is not simply for the purpose of eroticism; for a psychoanalytical point of view, it’s designed to annihilate the threat of women.’ the threat that kaplan refers to here is that of the new woman, an early feminist concept arising in the late 19th century. the new woman is entirely threatening to established victorian values as she ‘was often a professional woman who chose financial independence and personal fulfilment as alternatives to marriage and motherhood.’ (carol senf) by acting opposite to the ideal victorian wife, the new woman challenges normal behaviours and expectations. this is another example of stoker exploring threats to the norm via binary opposition: mina is contrasted with the vampire women, including lucy, a contrast pitting an ‘angel in the house’ character against new women. mina’s pious, devoted and submissive wifely characteristics fit the victorian ideal known as the ‘angel in the house’, a title that originates from coventry patmore’s poem in which he depicts his wife as a model for all women. this stark contrast illustrates how female sexuality threatens the value women are attributed as it prevents them from performing their expected duties for men. having a threatening or taboo act committed by a supernatural figure is a hallmark of the gothic and serves to convey to readers that the act or concept is monstrous. female sexuality is a common victim of this trope during the early and fin de siecle gothic periods, but has since been commonly subverted and empowered in more modern gothic literature.

for instance, the lady of the house of love is the most conventionally gothic text in the collection, using traditional purple prose and exaggerated, decadent settings to frame discussions about heredity, sex and death. it features a countess, whom carter depicts as simultaneously being a victim and a villain. the duality of her character is a result of carter’s signature liminality, wherein the lines between what is threatening and what is innocent are blurred to explore female sexuality as a complex trait rather than fitting the ‘good vs evil’ binary that stoker attempts to attribute it to. much of her characterisation mimics that of stoker’s vampire women, but is subverted to present the countess as a sympathetic villain: ‘her beauty is an abnormality, a deformity... a symptom of her disorder.’ the girl’s attractive traits are made synonymous with a deficiency or sickness, as is the fact that men are inevitably attracted to her. carter suggests here that the girl’s reliance on seducing men for her survival is a hereditary curse, implicitly commenting on the generational trauma women face as a result of having to rely on their relationships with sexually threatening men in order to live financially comfortable lives. this mimics the way in which society relies upon established values and social norms even though they restrict and stifle us. the countess weaponises her sexuality, and while her motivation is survival, this act is conventionally taboo and is therefore committed by a supernatural entity, to traditionally characterise it as monstrous. while carter does draw on this typical gothic trope, she uses sympathetic language to paint the countess as ‘helplessly perpetuating her ancestral crimes.’ the ending of the story, however, mentions the first world war and carter hints at the notion that humanity itself is more dangerous, more of a threat, than the threat of the perceived supernatural ‘beasts’ that people project their fears onto. once again, carter feeds into kelley hurley’s idea that ‘through depicting the abhuman, the gothic reaffirms and reconstructs human identity.’ liminal characters, such as vampires or characters like frankenstien’s monster in mary shelley’s ‘frankenstien’ that exist between life and death, exist as vehicles to discuss the complexities of human nature.

ultimately, carter paints various traits and identities that are widely considered ‘threatening’ to be multifaceted and liberating instead, as she views the established values that they ‘threaten’ to be restrictive and in need of changing. in the preface to the bloody chamber collection, helen simpson writes that 'human nature is not immutable, human beings are capable of change', arguing this point as the core of carter’s work. she suggests through her writing that what is perceived as a social threat is often based upon what is uncomfortable rather than what is actually dangerous. her work is partially ambivalent in that it does not instruct what is right or wrong the way stoker does, but instead depicts societal relationships and allows the audience to interpret it. stoker’s use of transformations that involve protagonists always has them revert back to their original state, a reinforcement of the status quo. those who do not revert to the norms are killed or punished, eradicating the threat and putting readers at ease. the exploration of threats is central to the gothic as a genre that depicts and discusses transgressive behaviours and the implications they have for wider society. as put by punter, ‘the gothic is associated with ‘the barbaric and uncivilised in order to define that which is other to the values of the civilised present.’

i.k.b

[variousqueerthings]

Daniel LaRusso: A Queer Feminine Fairytale Analysis Part 1 of 3

Disclaimers and trigger warnings: 

1. These fairytales are European, although there’s often overlap in themes globally. I know European fairytales better, which is essentially the reason I’m not going to branch out too far. I opted to also stick to Western movies so as not to narrow things down, but also in particular “waves hand towards all of Ghibli” amongst many others. There’s a reason the guys in Ghibli are so gender.

2. TW for discussions of rape culture and rape fantasies

EDIT: FUCK I’M A GOBLIN CHILD! FORGOT TO PUT A MASSIVE MASSIVE THANK YOU TO @mimsyaf​ WHO HAS BEEN THE NICEST, KINDEST EDITOR ON THESE THOUGHTS AND CONTRIBUTED SO MUCH TO THEM AND GENERALLY IS A WONDERFUL PERSON!

Part 2

Part 3

1. Introduction

I recently wrote a little thing, which was about Daniel as a fairytale protagonist – specifically one that goes through some of the kinds of transformations that are often associated with female protagonists of fairytales.

I used quotes from Red Riding Hood, Labyrinth, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and Dracula, which, as an aside – the overlap between fairytales, horror, and fantasy and the ways each of those genres delve into very deep, basic questions of humanity and the world is something that will always make me feral. I will be generally sticking with fairytales though. Also I am very excited about some of those Labyrinth concepts going around!

I’m going to use “feminine” and “masculine” in both gendered (as in relating specifically to people) and non-gendered (as in relating to codes) ways throughout this, depending on context.

To be binary for a moment, because sample-sizes of other genders are low, women are usually able to fall into either feminine or masculine arcs, although sometimes the masculine-coded woman can become a “not like the other girls” stereotype and the feminine-coded woman a shallow cliché – in both cases they’re also under more scrutiny and judgement, so it’s always worth asking “is this character not working for me because of the writing or because I have ingrained biases? (Both?)”

Men don’t often get feminine-coded arcs. Because. Probably a mix of biases and bigotry. But there are some that seem to have slipped beneath the shuttered fence of “Sufficient Narrative Testosterone,” and Daniel LaRusso is one of them.

2. Some Dude Comparisons (Men Doing Manly Action-Hero Things like being trans symbolism and loving your girlfriend… seriously those things are hella manly, I wish we saw more of that onscreen…)

a. Neo

Much like Neo The Matrix, whose journey is filled with transgender subtext and specifically and repeatedly references Alice In Wonderland, Daniel doesn’t go through quite the kind of hero's journey usually associated with Yer Standard Male Hero, especially the type found in the 80s/90s.

Neo is my favourite comparison, because of the purposefulness of his journey as a trans narrative and the use of Alice. But I’m sure there are other non-traditional male heroes out there (but are they trans tho? Please tell me, I want trans action heroes).

Neo “passes” as a socially acceptable man, but online goes by a different name - the name he prefers to be known by - feels like there’s something inherently wrong about the world around him and his body’s place in that society, and then gets taken down the rabbit hole (with his consent, although without really “knowing” what he’s consenting to) to discover that it’s the world that’s wrong - not him. And by accessing this truth he can literally make his body do and become whatever he wants it to.

Yay. (The message of the Matrix is actually that trans people can fly).

Neo is – kind of like Daniel – a strange character for Very Cis Straight Guys to imprint on. He spends most of the first movie unsure about what’s going on, out of his depth, and often getting beaten up. He is compared to Alice several times and at the end he dies. He loses. He has to be woken up with true love’s kiss, in a fun little Sleeping Beauty/Snow White twist. Yes, after that he can fly, but before that he’s getting dead-named and hate-crimed by The Most Obvious Stand-In For Normativity, Agent Smith, and being carried by people far more physically capable than he is (people who also fall outside of normative existence).

Trinity and Neo in The Matrix. The fact that a lot of the time neither of them is gendered is something. Literally brought to life by true love’s kiss.

I’m not about to argue that Daniel LaRusso is purposefully written along these same thought processes, so much as the luck of the way he was written, cast, directed, acted, and costumed all came together in the right way. And this is even more obvious when compared to That Other Underdog Fite Movie That Was By The Same Director as Karate Kid.

b. Rocky

The interesting thing about Rocky is that he is (despite being a male action icon) also not written as a Traditionally Masculine person. Large portions of Rocky – and subsequent Rocky films – are his fear and insecurity about fighting vs his inability to apply his skills to another piece of work and wanting to do right by his girlfriend (and future wife), Adrian. The fighting is most often pushed onto him against his will.

Much like in Karate Kid there is barely any fighting in Rocky I. Most of it is dedicated to how much Rocky loves Adrian and the two of them getting together. The fight is – again like in Karate Kid – a necessary violence, rather than a glorified one (within the plot, obviously watching any movie like this is also partly about the badassness of some element of the violence – whether stamina or the crane kick, it’s all about not backing down against a more powerful opponent).

Rocky is played by Sylvester Stallone. He’s tough, he’s already a fighter (albeit in the movie not a great one yet), he’s taking the fight for cash – so although he’s also soft-spoken and sweet, you’re aware of the fact that he’s got those traits that’d make a male audience go “Hell Yeah, A Man,” or whatever it is a male audience does watching movies like that… cis straight men imprinting on oiled muscle men sure is a strange phenomenon, why do you wanna watch a boxing match? So you can watch toned guys groaning and grappling with each other? Because you want to feel like A Man by allowing yourself to touch the skin of other men?

Apollo and Rocky in Rocky III. This sequence also includes prolonged shots of their crotches as they run. Sylvester Stallone directed this. This was intentional. Bros.

Daniel LaRusso is not built like that. But that doesn’t really have to matter. Being smallish and probably more likely to be described as “pretty” than handsome, and not having a toxic masculine bone in his body does not a feminine archetype make. It just makes a compelling (and pretty) underdog. 

c. Daniel

So where does the main difference really lie? Between Rocky and Daniel? Well, Rocky has the plot in his hands – Daniel, largely, does not. Rocky is acting. Daniel is reacting or being pushed into situations by others. Just like our boy Neo. Just like Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, Snow White – just like some of the women in some contemporary(ish) fairytale films like Buttercup (Princess Bride), Dorothy (Wizard of Oz), or Sarah (Labyrinth).

This isn’t a necessary negative about stories about girls and women, so much as looking at what it is girls and women in fairytales have/don’t have, what they want, and how they’re going to get it. It’s about power (lack of), sexuality (repressed, then liberated), men, and crossing some taboo lines. It’s also about queerness.

3. The Karate Kid Part One: Leaving Home

Daniel LaRusso is a poor, skinny, shortish kid (played by a skinny, shortish twenty-two-year old) who doesn’t fit in after having been taken away from the home he was familiar with against his will. Not every male protagonist in a fairytale leaves of his own will, and not every female protagonist leaves under duress – Red Riding Hood, for example, seems perfectly happy to enter the forest. However generally a hero is “striking out to make his fortune,” and generally a heroine is fleeing or making a bargain or being married off or waiting for help to arrive. She is often stuck (and even Red Riding Hood requires saving at some point).

Daniel then encounters a beautiful, lovely girl on the beach, puts on a red hoodie (red is significant), is beaten up by a large, attractive bully, loses what little clout he may have had with his new friends, and generally has a mostly miserable time until he befriends and is saved by Mr Miyagi. To do a little Cinderella comparison: Miyagi is the fairy godmother who pushes Daniel to go to the ball in disguise as well, and that disguise falls to pieces as he’s running away.

Then Daniel asks for help, Miyagi gets him enrolled in a Karate Tournament, and starts teaching him. Daniel wins the tournament and gets the girl, the end.

While Daniel has chutzpah and is a wonderful character, none of the big events are initiated by him, except for the initial going to the forest/beach (and within all of these events Daniel absolutely makes choices – I’m not saying he’s passive): Lucille takes them to California, Miyagi pushes him to go to the dance, Miyagi again decides to enroll him in the tournament and trains him, and only because Kreese doesn’t allow for any other option, Ali is the one who more often than not approaches Daniel, and even their first encounter is pushed by Daniel’s friends.

Daniel really is at a dance/ball in disguise and receives a flower from a girl who recognises him through said disguise, it’s unbearable! It’s adorable! I get it Ali, I fucking get it!

Daniel’s main journey within this – apart from not getting killed by karate thugs (love u Johnny <3) and kissing Ali – is to learn from Miyagi. He’s not necessarily a full-on feminine fairytale archetype at this point, although there are fun things to pull out of it, mainly in the context of later films and Cobra Kai: the subtext of karate and how that builds throughout all the stories, the red clothes, the themes of obsession, his being targeted by boys whose masculinity is more than a little bit toxic and based on shame… more on all that coming up.

He doesn’t technically get a home until they build him a room at Miyagi’s place, but he definitely leaves the woods at the end of this one, trophy lifted in the air after being handed to him by a tearful Johnny and all.

And then they made a sequel.

4. The Karate Kid Part Two: Not Out Of The Woods Yet

Daniel’s won the competition, Kreese chokes out Johnny for daring to lose and cry, more life-lessons are given (for man without forgiveness in heart…) and Daniel and Ali break-up off-screen, confirming that TKK1 was not really about the girl after all, which, despite Daniel and Kumiko having wonderful chemistry, is also an ongoing theme. Daniel enters the screen in The Most Baby-Blue Outfit seen since Tiana’s dress in Princess and the Frog? Or that dress in Enchanted? Maybe Cinderella’s (technically silver, but later depicted as blue)? 

(Sidenote: At everyone who says Sam ought to wear a callback to that suit,  you are correct and sexy).

Surprise, Miyagi’s building him a room.

Double-surprise, Miyagi needs to go to Okinawa.

Triple surprise, Daniel reveals he’s going with him, because he’s his son dammit.

The Karate Kid Part Two is maybe the least Daniel-LaRusso-Feminine-Fairytale-Protagonist of the three, because it’s not really his movie. Daniel runs around with Kumiko (aka the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen), continues to be The Best Non-Toxic Boy a middle-aged Okinawan karate master could ask for, lands himself another Built Karate Rival (twice is just a coincidence, right? Right?), and eventually doesn’t die while wearing red again – twice: When Chozen almost strangles him to death at the Miyagi dojo and then during the final fight. The Saving Of The Girl (both the little girl in the storm and Kumiko) actually puts him in a more traditional masculine space than the previous movie did, even if the main theme of the film is about compassion and kindness and by the end, once more the boy whose masculinity is built on rockhard abs and matchsticks is on his knees. Daniel just has that power over big boys. It’s called kick/punch them in the face hard enough that they see stars.

There’s an aside to be made here about how much Daniel really is an observer in other peoples stories in this, although he is the factor that sends both Chozen and Kumiko into completely different directions in life (Chozen and Kumiko main characters when?) Anyway he comes out of it presumably okay, despite being almost killed. Maybe a few therapy sessions and he’ll get over it. Too bad Terry Silver is lurking around the corner…

5. The Karate Kid Part Three: The Big Bad Wolf

Alright people have written Words about the third movie. It’s fascinating. It’s odd. It’s eye-straining. It’s like olives – you’re either fully onboard the madness or it’s too off-putting for you (or you’re like. Eh, don’t see what all the fuss is about either way...). It’s basically a non-consensual secret BDSM relationship between a guy in his thirties (played by a Very Tall twenty-seven year old Thomas Ian Griffith) and a 17/18 year old (played by a shorter twenty-eight year old Ralph Macchio).

Also recently we got more information on Mr. Griffith’s input on the uh… vibes of the film. Apparently it wasn’t just The Sweetness of Ralph Macchio’s face, the screenplay (whatever that amounted to in the first place – release the script!), the soundtrack, the direction to not tone it down under any circumstances, the fact that Macchio categorically refused to play a romance between himself and an actress who was sixteen, no: it was also TIG coming up with fun ways to torture Daniel’s character and suggesting these to the director. Clearly everyone has fun hurting Mr Macchio (including Mr Macchio).

The point is that aaallll of that amounts to that Intense Homoerotic Dubiously-Consented-To D/s subtext that haunts the movie and gives a lot of fun stuff to play with. It’s also a film that – if we’re analysing Daniel along feminine-coded fairytale lines recontextualises his role in this universe.

The Fairytale goes topsy-turvy. Through the looking glass. Enter Big Bad Wolf stage right. Karate is a metaphor for Daniel’s bisexual awakening. 

“Oh, when will an attractive man touch me in ways that aren’t about hurting me?” he asks after two movies of being hurt by boys with rippling muscles. “Why do men continue to notice me only to hit me? Do you think wearing red is making me too noticeable? Anyway, Mr Silver looked really good in his gi today.” 

Daniel’s diary must be a trip.

[magicalgirlgrimoire]

Genesis of a Genre: Part 1

Defining the four key archetypes of Magical Girl characters found in Japanese Magical Girl media.

I feel this wouldn’t be a great body of research without outlining some kind of historical context for the media were talking about! In this mini-series of essays I’ll be going over the first part of my research, which seeks to define the key influences of the Magical Genre, including industry and production influences, and provide an outline for reoccurring archetypes and conventions found in the narratives. This focuses mainly on Japanese Media, but I might do one about the history of western Magical Girl stuff too!

I pose there are four key archetypes for the protagonist (and sometimes supporting characters) of any Magical Girl franchise: The Witch, The Princess, The Warrior and the Idol. Any given Magical Girl may be one or a combination of several; for example Usagi (Sailor Moon)  is a combination of the Warrior and Princess while Akko (Little Witch Academia) is the Witch.

Girl Witches and Growing up

Many writer have cited the Witch as the first true Magical Girl Archetype; Sally the Witch and Magical Akko-chan are often regarded as the progenitors of the Genre. Both were published in the notable shoujo magazine Ribon in the 60’s and both were adapted into anime by Toei; Ribon notably also published several of Arina Tenemura’s works, including the Magical girl series Full Moon while Toei is the studio behind Sailor Moon’s anime in the 90’s, as well as creating both the Ojamo Doremi and Pretty Cure franchises in the late 90’s and 2000’s respectively. Sally was influenced by the popular American sit-com Bewitched, but reimagined to focus on an adolescent girl-witch who must keep her identity secret. She was often alone in her quest too, perhaps with a magical pet confidant, unlike future entries where Magical Girls would be a part of a team or have complex relationships to others with powers. There were ideas of destinies or even secret royal birth-rights, but ultimately the protagonist was simply a girl, who was born with magical powers.

These early entries set off the precedent for Magical Girl as a genre being inherently linked to themes of coming of age; the magic of the young characters often being allegorical for childhood innocence and ultimately being abandoned or given up as a part of their growing up. It’s notable at this point in the genre, very few or no women worked in these spaces; both Sally and Akko are written by men. I wonder how the genre may have been different if it was not the case; could these young girls be allowed to grow up magical if a woman wrote their stories? I feel this is a reoccurring theme in so many future works, so stick a pin in that.

In the contemporary sense, while Magical Witches aren’t quite as frequent as they were in at the start of the genre, there are still several shows that carry on the tradition. Ojamo Doremi, while borrowing several features from later warrior/sentai styled shows like Sailor Moon, has the lead characters as girl witches again. Madoka, though stylistically more a Warrior styled show, also alludes to the history of magical girl as a genre with the naming of it’s initial antagonistic characters being “witches” while the leads are “puella magi” or literally maiden witches, though the way it explores these themes is a conversation for another essay. Lastly, Little Witch Academia is the most recent notable example of the pure Magical Girl Witch. The franchise is like a true homecoming for the genre; I could wax on about how it’s a culmination of everything the genre’s gone through in the last 60 years. From it’s allusions to flashy transformation sequences, to it’s shift in focus to friendships between girls, Little Witch Academia is an absolute treat; it’s main character being named Akko undoubtedly a homage to her ancestor of the same name.

Idol Aspirations

As the genre progressed, women were…allowed into the magazine offices. The genre was reinvigorated in the 70’s, and with these new author came a shift in focus. Stories began to take more elements from Shoujo staples, with more focus given to interpersonal relationships and aspirations of the characters coming into place. 

The Magical Idol singer is this weird niche specific thing that sort of came from this period of time, though I think she signifies more than  her actual appearances across the genre. Authors for the first time wanted to create stories that reflected the goals of its readers- and at the time that meant Idol culture and aspirations of being a singer or celebrity. While contemporary examples of a by-the-book idol character is a bit rare since values have changed over time, she was the first step in magical powers for Magical Girls no longer being a part of a divine destiny or something to grow out of but instead powers being the means for Girls to achieve their goals. Magical Idol singers also often incorporate the characters noticeably aging up when turning into their alter egos, serving a duel purpose of giving younger viewers a sort of aspirational character to live through while also unfortunately allowing the animators to get away with fan servicey shots of the more mature looking character. 

The originator of this subgenre would be Magical Angel Creamy Mami, though Mermaid Melody would be an immediate example I’d personally think of for the Idol type character (with a big old additon of the Princess archetype too), a better example would be the aforementioned Full Moon, in which the sickly Mitsuki transforms into a Magical Idol singer to both live her dreams as a singer and to reunite with her childhood love. I’d also argue that series the Utena and Madoka follow along with this influence; in both cases the characters agree to engage with the magic of their worlds to achieve some kind of goal or dream. Still, I feel there’s lots of potential with this kind of outlook in Magical Girl stuff..!! Perhaps in the future we’ll get more magical girls focused on their careers… 

Warrior Princesses

I feel throughout this essay, I’ve been noting how the Warrior and Princess archetype often overlap with the other genres, as well as each other. I believe this is because the ancestor of these two defined archetypes is one and the same, and also the series I believe that actually started magical girl as a genre; that being, Osamu Tezuka’s Princess Knight.

Princess Knight, and bare with me on this, is a story about a Princess born with both a “girl” and a “boy” heart. She forsakes her life as a princess to escape some cruel fate that’s in store for her, and masquerades as a prince by using her “boy” heart. While this is an extremely dated view on gender, it immediately gives us three defining features of magical girl as a genre: First, the Princess archetype, which often holds influence from european fairytales and magical destinies; Second, the Warrior Archetype, in which the lead character must don a more traditionally masculine role of protector against some evil power, and lead a double life; and lastly, the introduction of gender roles as a theme into the genre, and the role of femininity and masculinity in the identities of our characters.  

All of these tenets are then repeated in both Sailor Moon and Utena decades later, and it’s arguably these two series that carry it forward to influence future franchises. As the major examples of these archetypes are one and the same, it is difficult to parse the two apart, even though they are quite different. 

So I’ll try anyway! 

I believe the Magical Warrior is defined as a main character or team of characters who are joined by a destiny to fight against some greater evil, while the Magical Princess is defined as a character who is destined to inherit or reclaim a great power linked to a monarchical structure. Both may have themes linked to western fairytales and fantasy, though often Warrior type characters have a wider breadth of influences while Princesses remain closely linked with ideas of  fantasy and fairytale royalty.

While Magical Warrior is definitely the most prolific of the archetypes in modern times, arguably overlapping with nearly every storyline, I think Magical Princesses are fewer. For example, Tokyo Mew Mew is a clear cut Magical Warrior story; they girl’s aren’t born with powers (So not witches), they aren’t doing it for a personal goal (so not Idols) and none of them have some divine destiny (not princesses). However it’s a lot more difficult to find a pure Magical Princess story; in Mermaid Melody, but the story overlaps with both Warrior and Idol archetypes. Princess Tutu might be the best example, as it’s a story of retribution deeply linked with elements from european fantasy.