#although her eventual romantic interest is supposedly english

[abirdie]

Gael García Bernal in Letters to Juliet (2010, dir. Gary Winick)

(these gifs also feature Amanda Seyfried)

Gifs are all 540px wide so you can click to see larger.

[other gael filmography gifsets]

[matterofperception]

MUSTAT LESKET FINAL MUSINGS

Okay, so I finished the second (and last) season of Mustat Lesket (Black Widows) a little while ago. It ends on a significant cliffhanger, and with a number of loose ends, but the series was never renewed despite the success of its first. Excuse me while I rant into the void, because there is zero fandom here for me to bounce things off (it’s an old show, 2014/16 AND not in English, so...) and I have so many thoughts...

Firstly, I actually really enjoyed the first season of Mustat Lesket, and would recommend it based on that (and because I think Pihla Viitala is wonderful). It had just the right balance of mystery/thrills and drama, but also black/dry humour (I laughed a lot in S1). A lot of it was far-fetched and beyond belief, but you could kind of let that slide because the show never took itself too seriously. As far as character introductions went, I loved Veera and Johanna, and could understand the trajectories that had led them to feel like killing their husbands was a viable way out. Kirsi, well, she just felt like a necessary caricature, designed to milk the drama for everything it was worth. The dynamic between sweet, gentle Veera, emotional, crazy Kirsi, and strong, wilful Johanna somehow worked in S1.

And when Jukka returned, his redemption arc in S1 was done fantastically. Suddenly, you could understand (although not necessarily condone - same as with the widows and the boat) why he’d been such an asshole, and you could also see Veera start to come to that realisation too. The build up to their reconciliation at the end of S1 was the most authentic and believable in the entirety of the series (with the possible exception of Johanna and Petri, though they didn’t have the romantic chemistry that Veera and Jukka had).

S2 however, was an odd and fragmented ride. With the truth of the boat blast that bonded them no longer a looming threat, suddenly the widows were thrown into very separate storylines. Kirsi, despite Veera and Johanna inexplicably taking her back into the fold after her betrayal, spends half the season away from them locked in a genuinely abusive marriage to a man she’s known for about half a minute. She pushes so far past the point of what is forgivable in terms of her friendships with Veera and Johanna, and becomes increasingly difficult to sympathise with. The bulk of Veera’s storyline is focussed on her weird open relationship with a high-profile MP/author who she has absolutely no chemistry with (I used to think Pihla would have chemistry with a rock - she’s had it with basically everyone else I’ve ever seen her paired with - but I don’t see it at all with this guy) while her own husband becomes a mere inconvenience, and Johanna...well I can’t even remember what Johanna was doing half the time, besides the will-they-won’t-they dance with Petri. The widows then intersect at the tiniest dribs and drabs to talk about the DVD. That’s really it.

And Jukka, oh my god, did they write him into the ground or what? S1′s redemption arc shows him falling back in love with his wife, so much that he’s willing to leave her to make her happy, and then to go to jail to keep her and their daughter safe. And S2 opens with him trying to drown her, not even stopping to question the legitimacy of what Kirsi - who has just been coming on to him behind Veera’s back - is saying? He then spends half the season locked in a basement, and when he does finally get free and worms his way back into Veera and Siiri’s lives, there isn’t a single proper conversation between him and Veera about all that’s gone down between them. Yeesh. By the end of the season, he’s gone legitimately off the rails. Even if there had been a S3 (and Jukka hadn’t been shot in the S2 finale), it would’ve been really hard for him to redeem himself.

I honestly don’t know what drove the storyline decisions here. You’d think that logically, the Veera/Jukka conflict and relationship would have the most potential for drama and rich storytelling (not to mention the strongest bond to the underlying trigger plot of the show - the boat blast). We saw nothing of it in S2. Nothing. It was just swept under the rug. They barely even interact.

I guess I’m just really disappointed in where they took this. I wonder if even the writers/actors were in the dark about where they would take that relationship in S2, because the way they played Veera and Jukka’s reconciliation in S1 was just so…emotionally romantic? In that post-sex scene where they’re talking by the fire, Jukka looked like he absolutely adored her, like he’d have done anything for her. The show had also made an interesting decision to not show them having sex (only the prelude, which was incredibly loving and tender), in contrast to Veera/Erno and Veera/Anttu who we quite graphically see having sex... For a while I’d wondered if they were using the whole ‘making love vs having sex’ contrast to highlight that her relationship with Jukka was special, but that quickly got blown out of the water in S2.

(An aside - it’s interesting that Veera and Anttu barely ever kiss throughout the whole relationship, and I wonder if there was a recognised chemistry issue between Pihla and the guy who plays Anttu).

Based on what they’d shown us about their feelings, realistically both Jukka and Veera should’ve been way more devastated by Kirsi’s reveal. Surely, he would’ve wanted to understand. Surely a part of him wouldn’t even believe it until hearing it from her (especially bearing in mind Kirsi has just been coming on to him behind Veera’s back)? Surely he’d have been heartbroken as well as angry? And surely Veera would’ve been more hurt by his reaction, would’ve understood his anger, and would’ve wanted to explain things to him (they basically wrote S2 as if she didn’t care enough to try)? S2 made a huge mockery of the redemption arc of S1. It made Veera look fickle and unattached and Jukka regress into the volatile asshole he’d been presented as at the start of S1. And perhaps most significantly of all, it denied Veera of a redemption arc of her own. The reality, is that she should’ve wanted that redemption - she was wrong about him, and had nearly killed him because of it. Why didn’t the writers address that?? It really pissed me off that they just had Veera brush that whole thing under the carpet.

And Anttu, oh my gosh I don’t even know what angle they were going for with this storyline? Were we supposed to be rooting for him? Because I was really not. First off, I don’t believe that Veera would ever be so desperate to seriously pursue the relationship in the first place - she is fiercely protective of her daughter (to the point she was willing to kill her husband to protect her) so I doubt she would’ve engaged in a relationship that she knew would never provide any stability for Siiri. 

And Anttu himself, what the hell? He takes her out for a public dinner, and then everyone acts like it’s such a shock when the media snaps them out together and reports on it as gossip? Veera’s humiliated and hurt, but doesn’t even have enough pride to walk away from a) him b) the job she has working for his wife until way later on? All the while, her own husband is popping in and out of her life and it’s like she’s just flicked the off switch on her feelings for him? It just makes no sense to me! 

And then there’s the fact that we aren’t shown any great emotional connection between Veera and Anttu. They basically had no emotional or sexual chemistry. We’re meant to believe that the pull between these characters is so strong, and the audience is told by way of the characters that Veera and Anttu are supposedly so attracted to each other, but the chemistry is so non-existent that we don’t see it. The clincher though, is that he was actually kind of an asshole. The show tried to present him as this wholesome guy, but he didn't actually seem to give two shits about her wellbeing at all - he showed up at her house the first time she broke it off basically to convince her to keep sleeping with him on the side (telling her how attracted he was to her while her kid was in hearing distance, wtf), took her out to dinner knowing that people would likely talk, brushed off her concerns about the photos, outed her name to the press against her wishes, stood by his wife and basically belittled her and treated her like the other woman on live television, then when she tried to break it off for good he kept pursuing her because he wanted her, like she was some kind of trophy (and ‘I’m not used to being dumped’ - OH PLEASE!). He had no regard for her feelings or wishes at all. The scene where he shows up at her house with the party invite and wouldn’t even let her speak raised my hackles - I mean, was that supposed to be romantic? Him constantly stalking her despite her saying ‘no’ on multiple occasions, and showing up at her house (and scaring her kid) despite her wishes? Honestly, it just about killed me seeing Veera allowing herself to be treated like that. She deserves so much better, and it was really unsatisfying to see the series end with her going back to him (the fact that he left his wife is really the least of the issues).

So maybe I wrote all that just to come to the conclusion that - I’m actually kind of glad that we’ll never see beyond the ending of S2. Perhaps I’ll just pretend that this universe concluded at the end of S1, before Kirsi had the chance to make that phone call. I’ll pretend that Veera eventually told Jukka of her own accord, that they fought and got angry, and made up and were able to understand each others’ circumstances. That they talked and kissed and made love at the villa, and plotted a way to keep the police off Veera’s back. And then they lived happily ever after with Siiri. Sigh.

[arsnovacadenza]

Lan Wangji, Sir, I’m Sorry

So, today my friend ranted about the changes in NCT Dream and how she feared that SM Entertainment might end up letting go of her favorite Chinese member to the Chinese management forever. It leads to us talking about weird marketing directions and the resulting alienation of the non-Chinese fans. 

In the middle of that conversation, I found myself coming back to that time when I criticized the danmei’s characterization of Lan Wangji and his romantic plot with WWX up to chp. 59. Needless to say, the reactions I got were rather…..curious to say the least (more on that later). 

After that painful trip down the memory lane, I decided to sit down and put into words what was it that made me stray away from Lan Wangji as a character and eventually the MDZS fandom as a whole. Now after some thought and seeing the matter through new perspectives, I’m ready to put this case to rest.

After some time away from the fandom, I began to watch the first season of the donghua, which, surprisingly endeared me to Lan Wangji’s character. It shows that, on his own, Lan Wangji actually has the potential to be a solid, complex, and relatable character (which, in my opinon, was in no small part thanks to the animation team, the show’s writers, and his outstanding voice actor). Therefore, I conclude that my troubled impression of Lan Wangji of the novels may have stemmed from factors related to the writing style (since the POV is exclusively Wang Wuxian’s) and other stuff lost in translation (although Exiled Rebels Scans’ translation was nothing but excellent), and me just being more interested in Wei Wuxian’s platonic relationships with other characters.

In any case, I understand that other fans find Lan Wangji (in any incarnation) an appealing character and a good romantic lead for Wei Wuxian. I respect their opinions because everybody deserves to be part of the fandom despite having different opinions.

But marketing-approved fandoms are where opinions and healthy discussions go to die. Especially if the producers or creators make demographic-pandering decisions that alienate portions of their fanbase. Especially if said creators micromanage what their own fans can and cannot produce (even ships, apparently). 

And everything is made worse when the majority endorses their behavior and overtakes nearly the entire fandom by driving away other camps that voice objections to those decisions. Meanwhile, the creators continue to shower fans with loads of fanservice dedicated to the remaining demographic. What results is a symbiosis that not only alienates part of their audience but also ensures that newcomers from different demographics will never feel comfortable within the fandom.

That, my friends, is my impression of the MDZS fandom —now entirely converted to WangXian hell. And my plunge into the SVSS fandom further confirms that.

You see, I’ve been following SVSS fan artists on Instagram and while they do make MDZS art once in a while, I never follow artists or artwork-stealing fan accounts that exclusively post MDZS content. Still, this doesn’t keep Instagram algorithms from flooding my explore tab with WangXian pictures and nothing else, aside from the occasional Jiang Cheng or Jing Lin fanart. Thankfully, the whole thing died down a bit once the donghua’s second season and The Untamed drama came out  (not gonna lie, I’m thankful for C-Drama and x nine fans suddenly getting involved in the fandom and making Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo content).

Last year, out of curiosity, I looked around Youtube for MDZS video essays and came back empty-handed. While there are plenty of review videos, the most views they can get is at 95K. Needless to say, I don’t recall ever seeing big-name reviewers specializing in animated series (Gigguk, Mother’s Basement, Saberspark, etc.) pick up the donghua.  Which in my opinion is baffling since it made quite a scene among the Japanese BL fandom. And then I realized something.

To sum up what I feel about the MDZS donghua’s marketing as a foreigner: it’s a BL work made for MXTX’s loyal fujo fanbase. Not the Chinese-speaking or BL fans, mind you, just MXTX’s fujo fanbase.

The post I made (which mostly addressed my problems with LWJ’s characterization up to chapter 59) led to an interesting exchange with a Vietnamese fan who attempted to refute my opinions but couldn’t because of potential spoilers. I should probably chalk it up to the misfortune of reading slow-burn romance novels (which MDZS supposedly is) with untranslated chapters, but all direct responses to my post were all from people who share the same ideas, among them a fan who has read the novel from start to finish. 

To date, no one has ever approached me directly via DMs or reblogs in the defense of Lan Wang Ji’s characterization. It could be that my post is just too irrelevant to warrant replies or reblogs by other fans, but it sure didn’t stop people from making passive-aggressive posts that in no way address the points made by me or other LWJ critics directly.  

See, this is where the author-endorsed hive mind mentality rears its ugly head. As someone who didn’t immediately buy Lan Wangji’s setup as the romantic lead found it baffling at how quickly the English-speaking fans embraced him as the perfect Seme without question. It doesn’t help that we get bombarded by promotional pictures that fans quickly translate as Wangxian fanservice.

To be fair, the English fandom is directly influenced by English and Vietnamese speaking fandoms and the official materials they translate. However, I can’t accuse them of deliberately concealing information and refusing to translate promotional materials unrelated to Wangxian, because there are little to none, apparently. Which brings us to the bigger problem at hand.

Now, I don’t know if the donghua on its own has exploded outside of Weibo or Twitter (do tell me if you know), but it certainly doesn’t circulate well enough to be picked up by foreign audiences with no prior interest in BL, which is strange because the Donghua itself doesn’t contain the same amount of homoerotic elements, unlike the novels. It could be that Tencent is trying to protect its reputation to avoid association with a novel that is sure to put them in trouble with the Chinese government. 

But why wouldn’t it garner a cult following outside of China, especially with more and more people embracing same-sex relationships in media regardless of whether or not they’re hardcore BL fans? While I understand that Western fans may have trouble accepting some aspects of MXTX’s depiction of same-sex relationships, I think that everyone can still have a good time and make great content together while respecting each person’s preferences and values—

Oh. 

Well, my friend, to quote Anita Sarkeesian:

In case you mistake me didn’t get my point, the problem is not about the acceptability of MXTX’s depiction of her couples by Western fans, it’s her fans (Western, Eastern, what have you) that’s censoring discussions brought up by other fans and then deeming said fans unfit to stay in the fandom. 

Funnily enough, people in the SVSS fandom do frequently point out things they don’t like with the main pairing or the characters themselves without facing repercussions from fellow SVSS fans. I also never hear anything about TGCF fans being banned from shipping non-canon pairings. CMIIW though.

So, to sum things up, I find the MDZS fandom uncomfortable due to MXTX and her fans acting like inquisitors whenever somebody critiques her work or simply pointing out things they simply don’t sit well with.  

Cry all you want about me not being able to comprehend MXTX Chinese values and writing style, but I’ll have you know that I’m part of the SVSS fandom where everybody acknowledges that some parts aren’t for everyone due to language barriers and cultural dissonance and that’s FINE.

Ex-MDZS enthusiast signing out.

[vethyourhalflingmother]

Elaina, Syldor, and their Twins: I Ramble About Character and Relationship Headcanons Like I’m Writing A Fucking Academic Essay

***SPOILERS FOR CAMPAIGN ONE OF CRITICAL ROLE***

**THIS POST IS VERY LONG. NO, I DON’T KNOW WHAT CONCISE MEANS**

PART ONE: WHAT WE KNOW

As viewers, we do not know much about the details of the relationship between Vax and Vex’s parents, Elaina and Syldor, and we actually don’t know that much about the twins’ relationships with each of their parents (although there are some key moments that give us certain hints). Therefore, most of this is based on my own headcanons and impressions, which I will attempt to explain, but this is the disclaimer that ultimately this is my own interpretation and everyone is entitled to see view it all how they want to see it.

Now, that said, I am going to start by going over what we know. 

Vax and Vex’s history summaries, which appeared at the beginning of early Critical Role episodes, give us the most information about their parents. 

Vax’s says,

“Along with twin sister Vex'ahlia, Vax was born by a chance encounter between elven royalty and human peasantry. Raised by their mother in their early years, the twins were eventually sent off to their father in the elven capital of Syngorn. But their cool reception among the elves there never warmed, and their time in the capital didn't last. The siblings stole away one autumn night and set out on the open road.” (source)

and Vex’s tells the same story, 

“Born of a human mother and an elven father—who only later in life took an interest in their existence—, Vex'ahlia and her twin brother Vax'ildan quickly realized the only people they could truly rely on in this world were each other.

It was at the age of ten when the two were taken from their mother, and brought to live in Syngorn, the isolated elven city for which their father was an ambassador. He quietly took them in, but always kept an icy distance, and after too many years of disdainful looks, the pair decided to leave his indifference behind, and set out on their own.” (source)

However, this isn’t the entire story. (Most of my source for the following information comes from Heredity and Hats, and I recommend watching the twins’ entire conversation with their father, their step-mother (Devana), and their sister (Velora), from roughly here until here).

Firstly, we learn the Syldor Vessar, the twins’ father isn’t exactly royalty; he’s an ambassador with substantial rank and privilege, but not as much as an actual royal, which is implied when he tells them that he can only get them one meeting with Syngorn’s leader, the High Warden - he’s probably more like a nobleman, which I’ll go into more about later. This also explains why he was out of such a closed off city in the first place. 

Secondly, it is unclear how involved Syldor and Elaina’s relationship was, probably because the twins themselves don’t know. There’s some implication that it was a brief fling or a one-night stand, from the language “a chance encounter” and how Vex crudely describes her and her brother’s conception as Syldor “fuck[ing] some random woman in a city [he] passed through.”

Thirdly, it is also unclear how Syldor came to take care of the twins. At times (like in Vax’s summary, and in some of Vex’s mentions of her mother), it is suggested that Elaina sent the twins to Syldor, whereas in the twins’ conversation with Syldor in Heredity and Hats, it is suggested that he took the twins from her (Vax’s line about leaving them to be with their mother when she died strongly suggests this). 

Fourthly, we know that Elaina was a peasant seamstress from Byroden who was killed when Thordak the Cinder King destroyed the town (when the twins were roughly 12 years old, probably before they ran away from Syldor - one of the artbooks supposedly puts the twins at 13 or 14 when they left Syngorn, but since I don’t have a copy myself, I’m not sure). This tells us quite a bit; both Vex and Vax’s summaries mention the racial difference between their parents, and in Heredity and Hats, Syldor brings up his people’s bigotry against humans and half-elves and how his life is easier when the twins aren’t part of it. Vax’s also mentions their class differences. And because Elaina is dead, we don’t see her until Vax dies himself - where we get one line of her saying that she’s proud of him. 

PART TWO: BASIC ASSUMPTIONS ON WHICH MORE COMPLEX INTERPRETATIONS ARE BUILT

Now that those facts are on the table, what do they mean for my interpretation and subsequent headcanons? In order to get into that, we have to start with my more basic assumptions based on the above information. 

To start at the beginning, Vex is likely right when she says Syldor was passing through Byroden and had a quick fling with Elaina. He probably didn’t know that he got her pregnant. It’s altogether possible that he stopped in this little town for one night on his way to do some ambassadorial duties and didn’t think twice about it until he passed through again and heard a rumor about some half-elf children, and I headcanon that’s what happen. (That said, they could’ve had a short fling as well, though I doubt there was any love. Syldor clearly looks down on humans, and Elaina’s class likely doubled that bigotry.) 

As for a timeline about when the Syldor first heard he may have bastard children and when he decided to interfere, I don’t have a specific one, but I feel like he probably spent a long time debating about it - and how it would affect his personal and professional life. As mentioned above, Vax’s summary implies that Syldor is royalty, but his status is more complicated than that. It does have special privileges, and I know because in Syngorn is childbaring is very regulated (as described in Matt Mercer’s Tal’Dorei Campaign Guide, children have to be approved by the government before conception, and unapproved children, even full-blooded elves, are sent to live outside the city). As an ambassador Syldor probably gets special passes on certain things, like leaving the city in general, and bringing back illegal wines and children to Syngorn and claiming they’re gifts that just can’t be turned down from the city’s allies. 

Ultimately, he either fell prey to his own arrogance about the importance of his bloodline or he felt guilty. I’m inclined to believe it’s a mixture of both emotions, though probably more guilt, since Syldor expresses that he cares about the twins in some capacity - just not nearly as much as children deserve from their father.  

Now, for Elaina, at this point, I have a considerably less clear picture of her than I do Syldor, just due to lack of information. However, I’ve seen a few interpretations that don’t particularly do it for me, such as her being lovelorn and entirely passive. I don’t tend to like that because 1) her children are both very active in their own destinies, including their romantic lives, and 2) that’s a pretty stereotypical position for her to be in, especially given that Syldor has a lot of a status over her. But when I was developing Elaina, I had to sift through some deeper stuff before I started deciding what she would be, as a character in my head, rather than just what she wasn’t. 

Which brings me to a more complex question that ended up being fundamental to my personal interpretation of Syldor and Elaina, both together and as individuals: did Elaina send the twins with Syldor or did Syldor take the twins from Elaina? 

PART THREE: ADDRESSING THE NUANCE

So. I already said that Liam contradicts himself on this wording. The real world explanation for that is likely that he wasn’t thinking about the difference, or that the twins’ backstory became clearer once they played more, which are both incredibly valid possibilities. But I am an English major, and if you’ve followed my blog for awhile, you know I like to pick on little details for fun. And this little detail has some interesting implications.

The difference between Elaina sending the twins with Syldor and Syldor taking them is a matter of both Elaina’s personal choice and Syldor’s use of force. But’s not so simple as she definitely gave them of her own will or Syldor definitely made her - and this isn’t just due to lack of information, it’s also because I get the impression that the twins themselves view the situation differently. 

I don’t have sources on hand, but I got the feeling that Vex felt more like Elaina gave them over to Syldor too willingly, whereas Vax’s frustration with the situation was only directed at Syldor (perhaps because he holds his mother in high esteem, or maybe because he really does believe she did what she could to try & keep them/was forced to give them up against her will). Perhaps at a later date, I will write something else going into the twins’ perspectives on their parents and general heritage, but since that’s a whole other can of worms, I’m going to leave it there for now. 

The point is, my understanding was that the twins were not unified in their thoughts of moving from mom to dad, and what I took from that was, well it was probably a very nuanced situation. 

Elaina obviously cared for her children. There’s evidence. As mentioned above, Vax would’ve rather died with her than live in Syngorn. They went back to try and find her after they ran away. The Raven Queen used her to ease Vax’s passing. But that doesn’t mean she wouldn’t give them up to Syldor. She was a peasant. The twins imply that they were poor growing up - this, combined with their time on their own after Syngorn, seem to be why Vex is as concerned with money as she is. If Syldor said, “I could give them a life where money wasn’t a worry,” I would think she’d take it under consideration.

I don’t think she would be eager to send her children into the unknown with a man she barely knows, especially not one that also looks down his nose at her, though. Perhaps if she were desperate, but there’s no indication that the twins were starving, and they did have a house and clothes (as Vax dramatically recalls at one point when he thinks he’s dying), and Elaina did have a job as a seamstress. Obviously, I can’t say for certain that she wasn’t completely desperate, but my impression is that she wasn’t. 

The other factor is how willing she is to just let things happen to her. If she was quite passive, then perhaps she would hand them over simply due to her lack of ability to stand up for herself. But very early into this, I started formulating an Elaina that was very headstrong and fierce and took control of her own destiny. This, to me, felt true to the part of her we know most about: her children. And ultimately, it’s the kind of thing that turns a flat character into one with more substance - it’s not an easy decision for her.

So that is the Elaina who sees the merit of Syldor’s suggestion, but also the Elaina who wants to refuse it. Why doesn’t she? Because Syldor is a man (elf? you know what I mean) with power, something I’m sure she’d known from the moment she met him. It isn’t as if men like Syldor hide that shit. Do I think he outright threatened to beat her down if she didn’t hand over the twins? No, not at all. But an implication of how... traumatic it would be for the twins if he stopped asking nicely could work well enough coupled with promises of good futures for them. Or it might not even be that overt; maybe he could’ve  just demand a decision from her without giving her time to think, or time to talk to the twins about what they want. And so now not only is it not easy, but maybe it’s not even entirely her own. There’s another layer to her and the situation. 

Therefore, in my mind, when Elaina watches the twins leave, she roiling with all sorts of emotions - anger, loss, apprehension, anxiety, maybe even a small bud of hope - but most immediately, regret. My version of Elaina, more than anything, curses herself over her decision to let the twins go, until the moment her house catches fire. 

PART FOUR: SYLDOR, A CHARACTER SUMMARY

Syldor Vessar is an asshole. He was probably an asshole to Elaina, though I doubt they talked much. He’s a bad father. He brought the twins into an environment he knew would be hostile to them and then neglected them. Then he tried to hide behind the excuse of “well, I did all I could.” However, I see a lot of asshole fathers portrayed in fiction that remind me of cartoon villains with black and white perspectives and iron fists. But Syldor’s a different brand.  Because Syldor says that he cares and that he’s proud of the twins. He gives them access to the High Warden. He admits to some of his wrong doings. And on some level, that stuff is probably true and genuine. I think he believes he did all he could. He knows he wasn’t the best father, but clearly he didn’t see himself as bad enough to not have another child. He probably assumes he can do better by Velora. And maybe he can, with a full-blooded elf, with a daughter he actually considers his own. But maybe not. To me, it looks like Syldor’s love is extremely conditional. From what Vax and Vex imply, the conditions are how pointy your ears are, how much money you have in your pocket, and how well you can conform. 

PART FIVE: ELAINA, A CHARACTER SUMMARY

I’ve said most of this already, but Elaina is my tragedy that really tried to resist being a tragedy. As far as her life prior to Syldor, I like to think she was doing her best to enjoy life in order to balance all the damn work she had to do. I like to think she was popular in Byroden, and that she had lots of acquaintances but few really close friends. I like to think she had one night a week where she went to the tavern and got piss drunk. I like to think that she spat at the men who told her to smile. I like to think that he needlework was some of the best in the region, which is a small prize, but one of her to be proud of. I like to think that she slept with more than just Syldor. 

And I like to think that she kept all that fervor when she had the twins, but that she repurposed it a little to better suit them. I like to think she made up wild stories and told them to the twins every night. I like to think she wasn’t a great cook, but that her meals still had that something special that only mothers can add. I like to think she instilled the sense of goodness in the twins that follows what is right, not what is the law. And I like to think that she sparked something in them that led them to be champions of literal gods. That she was more than just a footnote to encourage their vengeance against a dragon they were going to kill anyway and more than just a random woman Syldor fucking Vessar fucked.  

Because to me, it feels like she did mean much more than can be said, at least to her children.

[tinyliltina]

Chris bio

BASIC INFO

Name: Christina Kay Harrison

Nicknames: Chrissy (private nickname)

Gender: Female

Species: Human

Age: 22, 23 come 2019

Birthday: February 2nd

APPEARANCE

Height: Five feet, six and a half inches

Weight: One hundred forty pounds, give or take a few

Build: An hourglass figure, with a bit of emphasis on her thighs

Hairstyle: Chris has light brown hair she usually parts to one side, and that curls towards her face. It’s a little over shoulder length.

Eye color: Brown

Freckles?: Seasonal ones, they become more prevalent in summer and spring

Piercings?: Nope, she lacks the will to get any

Tattoos?: No to this as well

Clothing: In the winter, Chris usually wears sweatpants and sweatshirts with jeans and her tennis shoes. In spring, she usually wears tank-tops or t-shirts with shorts, and flipflops.

PERSONALITY

Chris is an incredibly kind person up front. She can come off as shy or reserved, but give her time and she opens up completely. She is very open about herself and is an open book. This can be both a wonderful thing and a terrible thing, as it leads to her revealing too much about herself too soon. Chris is working on it, though. If you know her for several years, you’ll eventually see her “mama bear” side. This side comes out when she is worried about someone, and will manifest itself by constant nagging, fussing, or worrying. These fits of fussing are accompanied by Chris trying to offer help in whatever way she can. Yes, this includes getting eaten.

When it comes to herself, Chris goes slack. She’ll often become so concerned for work, a friend, or family member she will forget about herself. When this happens, she begins to sleep less and will not eat as much as she normally would. This also happens when she is under incredible stress. Chris will never let a person know this is going on up front, but it will make itself known soon enough. Chris can be very grouchy when overtired and underfed.

Chris is incredibly trusting. Perhaps too much so, and again this results in her getting into trouble. If a giant or any creature asks her for help, she will drop everything she is doing and will help wholeheartedly. It isn’t hard to lie to her, and it’s even less difficult when she is preoccupied with something. Since this is almost always the case, it’s easy to trick and manipulate the little brunette. However, once you wrong Chris, she is unlikely to forgive you. Despite her kind and outgoing nature, she holds a mean grudge.

LIKES

Coffee, sweets, chocolate, food in general, anything spicy, anything involving buffalo sauce, pop, candy, sleeping, naps, cuddles, attention, animals (dogs and dragons are her total weaknesses), singing

DISLIKES

People that mistreat her or others, being grabbed, being ignored, not feeling wanted, feeling left out, the dark, loud noises, fireworks, being alone, snakes, spiders (and by default, driders)

RELATIONSHIPS

Romantic: None, not currently looking

Friendship: Basically everyone she meets, to put it shortly. Her best friend is hands down @princesaltine ‘s Kellian. He’s more like a brother at this point, and she 110% adores the big lug with all her heart.

Family: Her mother, who is believed to be dead. Adopted family includes Damian and Claire Kelley (mother and father), Kellian (brother), Tierney (other brother) and the Thomas brothers (brothers? Annoying cousins? She’s not really sure what they are). She also has a small, sentient goo friend named Io.

HISTORY

Chris was raised by her mother, Rose Harrison in a small town just outside a large human city. Chris was very close to Rose, especially when she was older. When Chris was about ten, Chris’ home was attacked by a gang of giants, species unknown. Chris fled her home after her mother saved her from an attack, risking her life for her daughter. It is believed Rose perished that day, although a body was never found. Per Rose’s will, Chris was adopted by the Kelley’s.

Claire was devastated by the news of Rose’s death, and offered to take Chris in until she could take care of herself. Without much of a choice, Chris agreed. She was horrified to learn Claire’s home was full of giants, the creatures that had killed her mother. With time, though, she learned to accept that not all giants were bad, and formed close relationships with Ethan, Josh and Damian.

After being officially adopted by Claire and Damian, Chris enrolled into a new school. She worked hard. To spare Claire and Damian time and money, Chris took several college entry classes to help get her into college sooner. Eventually, Chris graduated with several college credit hours. She decided she wanted to become a veteran for mythical creatures; her being partly raised by a family of them made her curious to learn more about creatures outside her own species. Thanks to her high school credits, she graduated college early with Dean’s List her freshman, sophomore and senior year. Junior year had been a nightmare!

Chris currently owns a small house not far from Damian’s and Claire’s bakery, and is often there when she isn’t at her office. Her vet clinic is a massive, wooden cabin like building, and it is her pride and joy.

INTERESTING FACTS

Chris has the uncanny ability to learn languages, and is a self-proclaimed polyglot. So far, she has learned about seven languages. Of these are elven, dragon, English, and many others. Her favorite language, though, is dragon speak. She loves learning the different dialects. That, and roaring (or attempting to) is fun!

Chris is left-handed in everything but sports. No one knows how she managed to be left handed.

Not much is known of her father, although rumor has it he is living upstate. Supposedly, he is off the grid.

Give her too much caffeine, and she will either bounce off the walls or fall asleep. Usually, it is the former followed by the latter.

[goodguyjean]

@mirandafandomette Yup! In this booklet that comes with an Armin figure, it says that “Jean dislikes that Armin is always together with Eren.” As we’ve already talked about on chat (but I haven’t talked about it on my blog before, so I’m gonna use this comment as a jumping off point, thank you lol), this booklet’s canon status vis-à-vis the manga is questionable, but I think it’s a defensible interpretation to say that Jean is at least slightly jealous of Armin and Eren’s relationship in the manga. However, I think Jean primarily dislikes their closeness because he thinks Armin underestimates his own skills as compared to Eren’s. And Jean is right, in a way, as we know from the Trost arc–Armin is surprised at the faith that Eren and Mikasa have in his abilities, worried that he’s primarily been a burden to them. The way I read it in the manga, it seems that Jean wants to be close to Armin himself, but in a way that he feels is more genuine and equal than the manner in which Eren and Armin relate. (I’m not taking a stab at Eren and Armin’s actual friendship here, only attempting to explain Jean’s initial understanding of it!)

The rest of my analysis is under the cut because I’m long-winded and I like pictures ^^’

To begin, I’m pretty sure the booklet is making a direct reference to the following scene from chapter 23:

Now, I know these panels have caused a lot of discourse, and I’m probably getting myself into hot water by bringing them up, but I feel like I eventually have to address them as a Jean/Jearmin fan (just like I inevitably had to talk about chapter 53 …), so here goes nothing. 

This scene poses a lot of difficulty of interpretation because it’s translated slightly differently each time I see it. This screen grab is from the official English translation of the manga, and it seems to be riding a pretty hard line between Jean calling Armin a sycophant who depends on a guy when he doesn’t need to, and Jean essentially saying, “No homo, like you and Eren, but you’re a pretty legit dude.” “Creeped out” and “fawn” are quite ambiguous words, and (according to a friend who reads Japanese) they’re reflecting a similar ambiguity in the original text, although most of that polysemy is apparently generated by Jean using “rude conjugations”. The gist of her reading is that she can’t definitively say Jean’s language is homophobic, but she also can’t rule it out as a possible meaning. However, the English dub of the anime (and my friend confirmed that the Japanese is the same in the anime and the manga for this scene) translates Jean’s comment as, “It always bothered me how you clung to Eren like a security blanket, but I always knew you were brilliant.” I think, based on the second half of Jean’s statement here and after consulting with my friend, that this is an equally defensible interpretation of Jean’s words. His line “I always thought you were capable” implies that his first comment is mostly about Armin relying on Eren when he really doesn’t need to; Armin is very capable on his own, and Jean sees this about him. And Armin’s response almost seems to affirm Jean’s assessment because, according to my friend, he’s also using rude speech forms! He rises to the occasion and meets Jean banter for banter. In the words of my Japanese consultant (who, I should say, doesn’t read or watch Attack on Titan), “Wow, they’re really going at each other!” 

So, keeping all of these difficulties about the language in mind, how should we interpret this scene? I’ve seen several different readings of it, but I don’t think I’ve seen one that totally captures all the nuances at play here, so I’m going to try my hand at it. Jean is saying that he is disturbed a capable or “brilliant” soldier such as Armin would waste his time on a guy like Eren–so this comment is kind of a dig at Eren too. At this point, Jean just doesn’t get Armin and Eren’s friendship, and suggests that Eren doesn’t deserve Armin’s attention. He expresses himself in strong language, in a way that implies there is something extreme about Armin’s devotion to Eren. In the manga translation there’s an implication of a romantic interest on Armin’s part, and in the anime translation Jean suggests that Armin’s reliance on Eren is childish. I prefer the anime translation in this case because I think it also speaks to a broader criticism of Eren that Jean has: that he’s not thinking of the way his choices hold back his childhood friends, who are both more capable than Eren in someways. 

Chapter 3. 

When this critique is turned on Armin for following Eren instead of Eren for leading a friend astray, the accusation becomes that he is hero-worshiping Eren at his own expense. I recognize that “no homo” is still a possible valence of this moment, but I think that doesn’t account for the full meaning of the sentence: even though you devote your efforts to Eren’s causes, your capabilities actually exceed his. Whether or not we fully agree with Jean’s assessment, that appears to be the sentiment behind his words.

There’s further context for interpreting this moment to be found in Reiner’s reaction to Jean and Armin’s exchange. 

Throughout this whole conversation, Reiner has been commenting on how supposedly selfish Jean Kirstein has suddenly starting thinking about others and acting like the member of a team. Here we get a rare personal reflection from Reiner on the change in Jean, seemingly triggered by his conversation to Armin: “Jean really is different.” Given Reiner’s response here, I think we should read Jean’s comment to be intended as a compliment, even if it comes out in a really backhanded and problematic way. Does that absolve Jean of his rudeness? No. But it gets at the core meaning of his words: he respects Armin despite the fact that he’s a confidant of Eren, Jean’s ideological rival. And in order to have come to such an opinion of Armin, Jean had to be observing him. Jean has revealed to Reiner that he has been paying more attention to his comrades than he previously let on, that he actually has respect for some of them, and that he’s willing to assist them when they need it, even at great personal risk (ex: the whole “distract the Female Titan” plan they’re about to execute). 

And perhaps we can read some jealousy in this moment too. Jean thinks Armin is too capable to be relying so much on Eren. I think, based on later scenes of Jean and Armin’s burgeoning friendship–a development which is spurred by Jean continually seeking Armin out to debate morality and strategy–that we can interpret Jean as jealous of Eren having such a talented friend, although I think it would go too far to say that Jean wants Armin to “fawn” over him like he thinks Armin “fawns” over Eren (even for a shipper like myself, I don’t think Jean would want a romantic relationship where there was a lot of fawning; it might feel disingenuous to him). Jean admires both Armin and Mikasa, and doesn’t seem to want to become their Eren so much as he wants to build his own kind of relationships with them. He sees their relationship to Eren as unequal somehow, with Eren under-appreciating their talents and support, and thoughtlessly leading them into serious danger.  So I believe he is jealous of their closeness, but not wishing for them to see him exactly as they see Eren.

As a final thought to wrap up these ramblings, Jean also seems to have a peculiar way of expressing affection for Armin where he jokingly insults him. We see him speak this way to Armin at least twice more, once at the beginning of their friendship and again when they are closer.

Chapter 33.

Chapter 82. 

Although Jean seems comfortable openly expressing his admiration for Mikasa, he tends to qualify his praise of Armin’s brains with tongue-in-cheek digs at his intelligence. This is probably due to their genders; while Jean does appear to be comfortable showing more physical affection to Armin than his other male friends, he struggles sometimes with open verbal affection. And so they have this repartee, their own particular way of communicating within their friendship that does, indeed, differ from the way Eren and Armin interact. Although there is clearly mutual affection between them (and Jean takes such care of Armin’s emotions, but that’s a subject for another post), there’s also a semi-ironic lack of “fawning���–Jean’s admiration and care for Armin is palpable, but he jokes that he’s not fawning, nope, not even a little bit! We can see here that Armin understands his meaning from the way he smiles … and Armin must feel some guilt about how he’s about to sacrifice himself for a victory at Shiganshina.

Okay, so to try to tie all of these seemingly disparate observations together into a coherent conclusion: Jean initially dislikes Eren and Armin’s closeness because he feels it undermines Armin’s own talents; he probably feels jealousy over the fact that someone like Eren has such a capable friend like Armin, even if he doesn’t want to have the same kind of friendship with Armin as Eren does; his distaste for “fawning” (even if we do want to interpret it as a homophobic dig) does not necessarily mean that his attraction to Armin does not have the potential to be romantic, only that he distrusts elaborate expressions of affection and possibly has some internalized homophobia; and that this scene fits into a pattern of Jean expressing his respect and admiration for Armin with ironic insults.

[chargrowsref]

LETTERS BETWEEN ONE.

12th October 2018

Dear Vera,  

I haven’t heard from you in a while. I was wondering how you are? It’s been so long that you’re starting to feel like a mere fictional fabrication festering in my mind. Writing you a letter feels right; it feels special enough for you to physically feel my appreciation for you, but also distant enough that you feel I could still leave you.  

The written word feels permanent unlike sending an e-mail, or a text. The physical movement and process of letter writing has an impact on me as the writer, the same as the action of guiding a paintbrush across a canvas or moulding clay with your hands. Letter-writing has a long and important place in history. I hope you to experience the pure exhilaration that letter-writing provides me with. I’ve been thinking a lot about where letter-writing sits within my life, our relationship, and my artistic practice. I’ve been looking to others to try and gain an understanding of the art within contemporary society and I'm hoping you can offer some kind of perspective on this. I’ll start by suggesting you read a book titled, I Love Dick (1997) by Chris Kraus, it's opened up new ideas for me on how letter-writing can be used to bring people together and tear people apart. The book follows a woman called Chris Kraus, her husband Sylvere, and Dick who Chris falls in love with. The first chapter titled ‘Scenes from a marriage’ we see Chris and Sylvere obsessing and re-writing letters to Dick, who the couple had dinner with one evening. In an interview the author Chris Kraus stated that the ‘character’ “writes him a letter because she's too shy to call” Kraus(2018)and I relate to that, I’m too shy to call you in the fear you wouldn’t pick up, or you would and I wouldn’t know what to say to you. 

Letter-writing in this book becomes a game for Chris and Sylvere, an art project, this is something that resonated with me and our relationship, Vera.I hope that us exchanging letters will, unlike Chris and Sylvere, bring us closer together and something beautiful will come of it. The blurred lines between auto-biography and fiction is what makes this book all-consuming, you become wrapped in the complex narratives of these seemingly average people. The idea of someone or something being ‘average’ or ‘mundane’ is what excites me as a reader or viewer, the small chance of something being a possibility in my own life. I too could become infatuated with you and like Chris start tirelessly writing you letters. This style of writing feels loose, like a playground of language, I feel I could piece together any words and it would be okay. I do hope you reply, and we can begin to discuss with each other not only what letter-writing  may mean to others but what it could mean to us. 

I look forward to hearing from you.

All the best,

Charlotte. 

 28th October 2018

 Dear Charlotte,  

I’m well, although I am slightly baffled as to why you think sending me a letter is going to make me forgive your neglect of me. I will forgive you, but I will not allow your gesture to move me like I think you thought it would. I think it’s a rather selfish gesture. Your desire to be in touch with the words in which you write, and to really feel the words you piece together, is the real reason you like to write letters. Not to make someone feel special, not to create a beautiful object for someone else because if you wanted to create beautiful objects for someone else why not send someone a painting or a sculpture? You claim to be an artist but you’re giving me a letter - my bank sends me letters too. I think your romanticism of letter writing is dated and somewhat naïve.  You also forget to acknowledge that Chris and Sylvere actually “pass the laptop between them” which means not even these characters, or people, you are fantasising about are experiencing the process of physically writing a letter. I think you’re disregarding the use of e-mail as a contemporary form of letter writing, the contents of an email can be just as emotive as a letter and have just as much potential to move the receiver. Take Sophie Calle’s Take Care of Yourself (2007) for example, Calle received a break up email from an ex-lover; The words are emotive and the message is one of sadness. The email ended with the words “Prenez soon de vous” which translates to “Take care of yourself”, Calle did just that by asking 107 women to respond, critique and extract notions from the email. Thus involving other people in the reaction to the letter (similar to Kraus only reversed).

Uniting professional women in a joint effort to simply get over the break-up, allowing them to respond in their own personal way. Even the women who were involved in this process would have felt something from that email (letter), so not only is it drawing a emotion and feelings from Calle (its recipient) but also the other women involved and the audience visiting the exhibitions that it eventually became. I feel like I need to do such a thing with you. Never reply to your next letter and get everyone I know to send you their own reply. The email was meant to be private but Calle took that from the sender and allowed other people to become involved in this supposedly intimate exchange, theres something unsettling about the level of intrusiveness which is relevant to Sophie Calle as an artist but this time she is encouraging other women to be just as critical, observational and intrusive as herself. So why shouldn’t I do that to you? I don”t think you deserve the privacy of keeping these letters to myself, I shall leave it out on my kitchen table in the hope some will be interested enough in my life to read every word you pieced together for me. 

Yours Sincerely, 

Vera.  

P.s Please find attached a picture of Sophie Calle, Take care of yourself (2007), The French pavilion at the Venice Biennale. 

  2nd November 2018

Dear Vera, 

I understand and respect that an email can contain emotive content and be meaningful to someone, but imagine if the email that Sophie Calle received was a letter? The physicality of her partner would have been felt. The paper that he had touched would have been touched by her as she read the words that he had physically written. The envelope that his saliva sealed would have been opened with her hand - He would have been felt. I think a letter is the next best thing to physically being stood in front of someone. Do you not feel my presence when you receive a letter from me? It's also proven that there are psychological advantages to hand-writing your message. I was reading an online article published on Psychology Today written by Diana Raab Ph.D(2017) and she explained that ‘Neuroscience has proven that when you write something down, it requires deep thought, building more than 10,000 new neural pathways in your brain in one sitting; whereas writing on a computer appears to build only 600 new pathways’(Raab Ph.D,2017). Its genuinely scientifically proven that theres psychological benefits to writing letters. How can this not change your opinion on my argument? Science is proving the benefits. If I cannot begin to change your mind with this small but huge piece of information I may have to give up. I don’t know why I’m acting shocked by your narrow-mindedness. You claim I’m being naive but maybe my naivety is the very thing that is bringing me back to you? 

I wouldn’t mind someone reading the letters I send you, go ahead and leave it out. 

All the best, 

Charlotte. 

22nd November 2018

Dear Charlotte,  

That’s interesting, it makes you wonder why students aren’t forced to hand write essays if it has positive effects on the brain, But that would be long winded and waste a lot of time which is somewhat my point. People just do not have the time to write correspondences. You’re not considering the convenience of sending a digital message. Also you argument about  ‘Presence’ which I assume you mean ‘a person or thing that exists or is present in a place but is not seen’ (Oxford English dictionary ,2018) I feel the presence of you through the words that I read but only because its a message from you, I do however feel the presence of the postman that posted the letter through the door.

If you’re concerned about the process of letter writing I think you’re forgetting the process in which you have no control over; once you put that letter through the letter box or hand it over at the post office, it's out of your control. I could argue that you are merely just one artist in a long line of creatives who work to get the letter where it needs to go, almost like an interlinking performance piece. In the research of this idea I have come across an artist who explores this process, Walead Beshty uses the worldwide known postal service, FedEx, to post glass sculptures made to it the measurements of FedEx boxes all over the world. Rather than taking the measures to protect the work Beshty ships his work to galleries like any other ordinary parcel in the hope that they will shatter. The shatters and broken glass are physical scars of the process that the materials have gone through to get to their destination. Much like you were saying in your previous letter about letters having a physical presence of the sender with the saliva having sealed the envelope the journey that these sculptures have been on are shown through their materials. You could argue that the sculptures sit within the boundaries of  Involuntary sculpture which allows the material to take on its own form with the help of human interaction. I want you to think about the process that our letters go though to get to each other. 

In retrospect I think we’re both focusing too much on the romantic symbolism of letters, we’re not in a romantic relationship but we’re sending each other letters. As I’m smoking my cigarette watching the world go by my window I have a sudden feeling of panic -  are you in love with me? 

Again, please find a picture attached. 

Vera.

  24th November 2018

Dear Vera, 

I will not consider Walead Beshty's work in this argument because his practice isn't about language or human narratives/relationships represented through letter-writing which fundamentally all of our previous discussions have been about. I do appreciate your argument and will take it into consideration for further research. As for the postman being a part of the process, I’ll think about your argument while listening to ‘Please Mr.Postman’ by The Marvelettes(1961).

Also how dare you be so big headed. I do not love you. You fester in my mind and anyone or anything that festers cannot be loved too.  

Festering thoughts, 

Charlotte. 

1st December 2018

Dear Vera, 

In response to your previous letter and your fear of me being in love with you, I have decided I want to discuss the book Here and Now (2008-11) by Paul Auster and J.M Coetzee. Auster and Coetzee have published their personal letters to each other which offers an intimate portrait of two two men, their lives and their friendship. Much like if we were to publish our letters. Through the very medium they’re known for we are handed a portrait of them, to hold, to touch, to take on the bus, to read and read again. I cannot carry a portrait of Bacon around with me, I cannot sit on the bus pouring through his ideas of friendship or details of his interest in watching sport. 

Unlike both Kraus and Calle, the contents of letters between Auster and Coetzee are mundane to the reader. The whole book I feel as if I’m eavesdropping on a long conversation between the two. Stuck somewhere between being bored and interested, I think the intrusiveness I felt as the reader is what made me

continue reading in the hope either one of them would reveal something shocking or out of the ordinary. I think this hope came from the pure exhilaration of reading Kraus’s work. In comparison to the previous work we’ve discussed the letters between friends isn’t as exciting as a love letter, Which makes me wonder if anyone would every want to read our letters? The possibility of one day someone could be sat at home, on the bus, or even in a library reading our letters excites me. Reading our correspondence, trying to figure out what our relationship is. Let me know your thoughts. Hope to hear from you soon.

Charlotte 

                                                        5th December 2018

Dear Charlotte, 

I’m yet to read Here and Now (2008-2011) but I look forward to reading it. I think its interesting that something can be incredibly mundane and somewhat boring but can still keep you hooked, it’s the connection to your own life and our natural desire to know ‘inside knowledge’. By what you’re suggesting about the book it seems it will help us being to understand our own relationship with letter-writing. Although I do find letter writing dated and a bit of a chore I do enjoy our conversations and want to continue this further. I wonder how a three way letter communication could work? Another opinion and perspective. 

Let me know what you think. 

Vera 

Bibliography

Artwork:

Beshty, W. (2008) FedEx Boxes [Installation]. Signs of the Time, The Whitney Museum of American Art (2008).

Calle, S. (2007) Take care of yourself [Installation]. The French Pavilion at the 52nd French Biennale, 2007.

Articles:

Chrisafis, A. (2007). 'He Loves Me Not', The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/jun/16/artnews.art (Accessed: 20th December 2018)

Raab Ph.D, D.(2017) Letter writing: A sexy way to reconnect. Psychology Today. Available at:https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/the-empowerment-diary/201712/letter-writing-sexy-way-connect.(Date accessed:3rd January 2019)

Take Care of Yourself (2016) Available at:http://www.slow-words.com/take-care-of-yourself/  (Accessed: 30th December 2018).

Audio and Visual:

Louisiana Chanel (2018) Chris Kraus Interview: Changing Lives. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa-pG9UCTyI&t=34s (Downloaded: 3rd January 2019).

The Marvelettes (1961) Please Mr.Postman. Available at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=425GpjTSlS4 (Downloaded: 4th January 2019).

Books

Auster,P and Coetzee, J.M.(2008-2011)Here and Now. London: Faber and Faber Ltd. 

Kraus,C.(2016) I Love Dick. First British edition, London: Serpent’s Tail.

Images:

Klienefenn,F.(2007) Take care of yourself [Installation view] Available at: https://www.arter.net/en/projets/take-care-of-yourself/ (Downloaded: 3rd January 2019)

Arts on 5.(2008) FedEx Boxes [Installation view] Available at:https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2017/01/fedex-works-walead-beshty/ (Downloaded: 28th December 2018)

[ladyandtherose]

As the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will arrive in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg on Thursday, 20 July, I thought I would finally share photos from my exchange year of Heidelberg Castle (Schloss Heidelberg or Altes Schloss). Although the Cambridges are unlikely to hike up to visit the Castle ruins, I am sure they will see it from the Altstadt (Old Town), especially as they wander around Marktplatz (Market Square) before heading to the Alte Brücke (Old Bridge). I wonder if the Cambridges will be told that the famous English painter, J. M. W. Turner, painted Heidelberg many times, at least one of which is at Tate Britain.

View of Heidelberg Castle & Old Town from the Philosopher’s Way

When I first heard that the Cambridges were going to visit Heidelberg (it is a twin city of Cambridge, UK), I was beyond excited as I had left my heart there many years ago… as have many people for decades if not centuries. It’s such a beautiful town, I have many happy memories there, and even though I didn’t have a sweetheart there, it was the perfect place to be for a naive 20 year-old.

Ich hab’ mein Herz in Heidelberg verloren I lost my heart in Heidelberg

This popular German love song was composed in 1925 and is still the theme song of Heidelberg. When renowned Dutch conductor, André Rieu, went to Heidelberg to perform with his Johann Strauss Orchestra in 2009 (after I had left!), it was a no brainer to include this song, sung by Australian soprano, Miursia Louwerse.

View of the Altstadt from the Castle

View of the Heiliggeistkirche (Church of the Holy Spirit) in the Old Town

A view of the Old Bridge from the Castle

But, I digress. Back to the Castle.

Heidelberg Castle should be on all castle lovers’ top 10 castles in Germany (if not the world) to visit. The Castle is partly in ruins, thanks to Louis XIV (scroll to the bottom ‘The Castle is on fire!’ to see why) and a lightning strike in the 17th and 18th Centuries, but this Gothic/Renaissance Castle has maintained its charm.

The first castle on the site was built before 1214. By 1303, there were two castles but the upper castle was destroyed in 1537, leaving the lower castle (this Castle) for the Elector Palatine rulers to inhabit.

Fast forward to 1613. Elector Frederick V has just married Princess Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of King James I/VI and Queen Anne of Denmark on Valentine’s Day. The young lovers moved to Heidelberg two months later and Frederick, being the perfect husband, goes about beautifying the Castle and garden for his beloved wife. The Castle now has a monkey house, a menagerie (fancy term for zoo), and an Italian Renaissance garden, the Hortus Palatinus, once deemed as the Eighth Wonder of the World. On the tour I attended, we were told they spoke French with each other.

What do you get for your beloved wife for her birthday? Elector Frederick V had the Elisabethentor (Elizabeth Gate) built overnight (who knows) in the Piece Garden (Stückgarten) in 1615 for Elizabeth Stuart.

The beautiful Hortus Palatinus gardens of Heidelberg Castle painted by Jacques Fouquiere in 1650… before the garden was destroyed. Now it’s too expensive or impossible to restore. What an utter shame. Merci Louis XIV!

Elizabeth gives birth to three of 13 children at Heidelberg Castle, one of whom becomes the father of Elizabeth Charlotte, better known as Liselotte. (Elizabeth also gives birth to Rupert who was the first governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company.) Liselotte was born at Heidelberg Castle but grew up with her aunt, Sophia, (her son becomes George I) in Hanover. She was married off to Philippe, Duke of Orleans, the brother of Louis XIV. Thanks to Liselotte’s extensive letters, we know that she considered Heidelberg as her home and had happy childhood memories of the Castle.

A model of the Castle before it was destroyed

Unfortunately, the Castle was destroyed at least twice by Louis XIV’s troops and eventually, the Castle fell into ruins. Elector Karl III Philipp would have redesigned the Castle had he the money but since he did not, he moved to Mannheim and set up his court there. He supposedly asked his court jester, Perkeo, to guard the wine.

Perkeo of Heidelberg. His real name is Clemens Pankert or Giovanni Clementi and he was the court dwarf and jester of Elector Karl III Philipp. The wine-loving man usually answered “perché no?” (why not) in Italian whenever he was asked if he’d like another glass of wine, hence the nickname. Wonder why it wasn’t Perkeno.

Care for some wine?

His son, Karl Theodor wanted to bring the court back to Heidelberg and tried to renovate it but when the lightning started a fire in 1764, he thought, ‘I better not mess with God.’ In 1777, Karl Theodor won the kingship lottery of Bavaria and moved to the Residenz in Munich – much nicer than any palace he’s ever lived in.

At one point, Heidelberg Castle was in danger of becoming more than just ruins. Had the government of Baden succeeded, there might not have been anything left of the Castle and God knows what would be in its place. Thanks to Charles de Graimberg, a former French count who escaped the French Revolution, he practically became the first person to conserve the Castle and to promote the ruins for tourism. I cannot emphasise how important it is to have Graimbergs in the world.

Staircase in the chapel

The castle chapel

The apothecary. Apparently Liselotte was very interested in herbal medicine too so you can buy some bonbons for your throat.

The Castle is on fire!

Thrice a year on the first Saturday of June, July, and September, the Castle is illuminated and is followed by spectacular fireworks. The Castle is illuminated to look as if it is on fire (with dry ice to look like smoke) as it had been burned down in 1689 and 1693 by the troops of Louis XIV of France (viewers of the TV series Versailles might remember this episode although Heidelberg Castle was not mentioned). There is then a 10-15 min firework display from the Castle and Alte Brücke. Apparently the tradition of having firework displays first began in 1613 as a grand welcome for Elector Friedrich V’s new bride, Elizabeth Stuart (daughter of King James I/VI). Very romantic!

Der Studentenprinz (The Student Prince)

Imagine being in romantic Heidelberg and falling in love with a prince who also falls in love with you. Wilhelm Meyer-Förster wrote a play called Alt Heidelberg (Old Heidelberg) about a prince from Sachsen (Saxony) who studies at Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Germany’s oldest university and one of the most prestigious universities in the world, and falls in love with Käthie, an innkeeper’s daughter. Unfortunately, the romance does not last as the prince’s father dies and the prince becomes king. This play was first performed in 1901 and has since been adapted into at least five films and an operetta.

One of the songs from the operetta is ‘Deep in my heart’. German tenor Jonas Kaufmann and American/German soprano Dawn Marie Flynn sang the duet in the courtyard of Heidelberg Castle.

Window display for ‘Der Studentenprinz’ (The Student Prince) from 2011.

Another window display for ‘The Student Prince’ from 2011 with the elderly prince (now king) and Käthie.

While there is no shortage of German aristocrats studying at Heidelberg University, I for one never had the fortune of lovely Käthie. Just as well for I was a very silly girl.

Address: Schlosshof 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany Opening hours: Mon-Sun 8:00 – 18:00 Entrance: 7€ for adults or buy the Schlosscard to see more castles and palaces in the Baden-Württemberg state).

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