#anyway... lmk ur thoughts on this

[carbootsoul]

The biggest clues to an inspection of the prince myth are colors. Utena is liberal with its color symbolism, and the flat, primary shades in the myth’s shadow-box visuals are a blatant use of them. Also, since Utena’s color symbolism is semi-internal (e.g. while a lot of connotations are external, like yellow for innocence, the most significant applicability of them are things formed by association within the show, like the combination between purple and a particular pair of siblings), the prince myth is our first introduction to these colors and their logic in Utena. Starting with a blank slate, what is the first impression it wants us to have of its shades? Like all mythic symbols, they’re providing a basis for how we will interact with these elements for the rest of our time in this story. Let’s begin our color examination with the opening scene, after a quick aside on the general visual style.

Like a shadowbox, the figures in the prince myth are paper cut-outs moving in front of a flat background, so while there’s significant detail within each layer, the layers don’t interact. Instead, they’re completely flat, casting a simple shadow on the backdrop. In Plato’s allegory of the cave (which we may as well get over with), prisoners are born into a dark cave with a view of one wall, onto which objects are projected by unseen captors. These captors say the names of the objects that pass, and the association between the objects and the names produce the prisoner’s reality. This is false reality, and fake “knowledge,” but to the prisoners nothing else exists. In the shadow box, we seem to see both the objects and their shadows (the cut outs and the real shadow), but the figures themselves and the intervening “real” moments where the false myth breaks to show Utena’s real memory show the second, more important, layer of cast shadows. The shadow box scene itself is enclosed within a silhouetted frame, and complex figures (like people) are pure black. The fact that the same things are happening between the shadow figures and the real memory show that the memory is clearly casting these shadows, but it’s not clear what is truly happening in the moments when the shadow reality takes over. (Looking forward to the rest of the show, like in Plato’s allegory, the real question is not necessarily “what do the shadows refer to,” which can eventually be answered by walking out of the cave, but by “what will the prisoners prefer? The real world, or the shadows?”)

The use of black as a silhouette also establishes right away that black in the show is always in relation to light—as a shadow, yes, but maybe more accurately as the real object whose details are obscured by light. A silhouetted object is the true object, but the fact that it’s in front of a bright light means that our eyes can’t focus in on it. In this case, we might say that the prince (Dios) is a real object, but the brightness of emotion and desire Utena has infused this memory with silhouette his reality. All that's left is the shadow memory. (This comparison may prove helpful in looking at the Black Rose arc, whose duelists are less shadowy than obscured by the brightness of desire).

Also right away, we’re faced with pink roses over a pastel green curtain. These are not Utena’s pink, but a lightened red, and since it’s our first time seeing this color, I don’t have much to say on it. Likewise with the pastel green, although I do want to note that it seems significant that the show opens with a color we associate mostly with Saionji: an indication that, like Nanami, he is more essential to understanding Utena than we might think. If I were to hazard a guess, I would say that green may refer to ignorance—why it’s paired with innocent yellow here and, of course, why it’s given to Saionji, who is stubbornly oblivious to Ohtori’s rules.

“Once upon a time... there was a princess grieving over the deaths of her mother and father.”

The first few lines present a classic basis for any story of preteen sexuality—sorry, I meant any fairy tale. They’re not only a clear indicator that this isn’t real life, but also present us with Utena’s orphan status as her initial trait. This is a psychoanalytic story, despite the near total absence of parental figures, and nothing plays a more vital backstage role than family. The little princess, of course, is wearing yellow (and here, again, is Saionji’s pastel rose green on her collar).

“Before this princess appeared a prince traveling upon a white horse. His appearance gallant, and his smile gentle…”

A white-clothed prince on a white horse, against a white background, emerges to save her. Here is our first true introduction to white, which is inarguably the most important color to the show. All other colors are adulterated with it in Anthy’s roses or contrasted with it in the Student Council uniform. Note that it isn’t the young princess who wears pure white, but the prince: white is not a color you’re born into, but one you aspire toward, perpetually bleaching the fainter and fainter yellow out of your dress. White is an ideal color, not something actually wearable, and the pure white of the prince in the myth only doubles down on the impossibility of the story. (Also, note the red interior of the cape, even in Dios: a strand of Touga’s chauvinism in the princely ideal, or an indication that there is something genuine Touga is trying to emulate?)

“The prince enveloped the princess in the scent of roses, and wiped away her tears. ‘Little one bearing up alone under grief, never lose that strength or nobility, even when you grow up’ [he said].”

As the prince kneels to embrace the princess, the rosebuds in the background burst into bloom. With the death of her parents, the princess’s sense of the world’s meaning was destroyed. The cracks in the version of reality she had—a glimpse the true objects outside of the cave—began to show themselves. Impossible to handle even for adults, the young princess falls into a depression and searches desperately for a way to obscure this truth from herself, which she finds in the prince and his command: “Never lose that strength or nobility, even when you grow up.” William James, discussing the “process of inner incompleteness and reducing inner discord,” refers to this emergence from depression as the new birth, which may be religious or “produced by the irruption into the individual’s life of some new stimulus or passion, such as love, ambition, cupidity, revenge, or patriotic devotion.” The princess’s new birth, prompted by the prince, could be any of those things, and it’s perhaps because of this shift that we’re able to see our first glimpse of the real memory between her and Dios. Whatever it is, it is what saves her from an orphan's depression, and so becomes the grounding force in her life. Nothing she has can exist without faith in this moment: the prince is the thing keeping the entire system together.

The phrase “even when you grow up” feels very significant. I would say it has its fingers in too many pies to discuss here—in a story about adolescence, the idea of those virtues we lose as we age is essential to our founding myth. Is the fact that Utena changed as she grew older the reason she can't achieve the princely ideal? It's haunting, true or not.

"’I give you this to remember this day. We will meet again. This ring will lead you to me, one day.’ Could the ring from the prince have been an engagement ring?”

Then, the symbolic engagement, with the prince’s white gloves sliding a ring onto (real) Utena’s hand. The true memory says “I give you this to remember this day” and then—crucially—the scene switches and it is the shadow who says “this ring will lead you to me, one day.” Dios, this unattainable ideal which Utena bases her life around, has truly left her something to remember him by, something she will never leave behind: her desire. However, it’s only the false shadow memory which tells her that the ring will lead her to him. It’s the eternal hope of every young person that the overwhelming desire you feel, which seems both focused and directionless, is an indication that it will one day be fulfilled. It’s a message from your prince. This stubborn hope that the need for something means that it is meant to be yours, is what keeps all of the Ohtori students we meet spinning on their hamster wheels.

"Because of the strength of her admiration for the prince,  the princess made up her mind to become a prince herself! But was that really such a good idea?"

As the princess watches the prince ride away, the red roses of the frame are replaced with white ones, before finally becoming the familiar Utena pink, as the shadow version of her stands proudly on screen in princely dress. The myth is over: the story begins.

The twist at the end of the myth is simple misdirection: rather than a desire to have the prince, Utena desires to become him. This confusion, which seems on the surface like a ridiculous misunderstanding, is instrumental to nearly every conflict on the show. Yes, it’s a gendered confusion, but it’s also a natural lack of knowledge about what exactly will fulfill the desire for the princely ideal. We see it most overtly in Utena, but every student council member expresses it in their own way: do you want Anthy (to be the prince), or do you want to have her position (to be the princess), or do you want to somehow merge with her into one through an exchange diary (to be and have at the same time)? When one method fails, maybe the other will work, the student council thinks. Sadly for them, the shadow girl’s rhetorical question applies to all: you cannot just make your mind up to be a prince. He and the princess are only shadows. The more you grasp at them, the flatter they will show themselves to be.

[ping-ski]

hihi!! i got the COOLEST opportunity to be a spot artist for @LMKFanzine aka Megapolis Mania! and guess what? LEFTOVER SALES ARE OPEN NOW!

run along now and go check it out! we all worked super hard on it <3 https://lmkfanzine.bigcartel.com

[st4r-sh0t]

Posting my opinion bc i'm never wrong and don't argue: mouthwashing!!!

I fucking love this game and it has been all over my fyp recently and i wanna talk about it bc 𝔂𝓮𝓼. for those that don't know mouthwashing is a game that u should go check out cuz its rly good. This post is gonna be kinda long bc i have a lot to say but yeah!!😋😋🤞

Stating off with 𝓳𝓸𝓶𝓫𝓪𝓵𝓪𝔂𝓪 i think a lot of people fail to realize that he is the most unreliable narrator ever. He isn't only unreliable when it comes to Anya, he is unreliable when it comes to everyone. He views the entire crew under a convoluted lens. This is because he is projecting! So mf hard!!! Notice how it is only after the crash that these "bad attributes" of every character is brought out.

In reality, 𝓳𝓪𝓶𝓮'𝓼 worse attributes have been shown because of the crash and as he spirals further and further he projects these attributes of himself onto the crew more and more. In this post i personally want to talk about curly because i don't rly see it a whole lot.

When it comes to curly specifically, the crash has turned curly paraplegic and highly dependent on other people. I've seen a lot of people say that this changed the way 𝓳𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓸 views curly but what everyone is missing is that he always thought this way about curly. he always saw curly has someone below him. the only difference is before curly was under him morally, now he is under him physically because he is disabled. He sees what has happened to curly as karma for his way of thinking.

This is common amongst narcissists because the idea of naturally occurring karma absolves them of any fault which lets 𝓳𝓸𝓻𝓭𝓪𝓷 believe that what happened on the tulpar was not his fault. Despite directly causing the crash, jumbo sees it as a necessary evil that had to be done to avoid the consequences of his actions (AKA, taking responsibility for anya). Because he views what happened to curly as justice/karma, having to take care of him becomes a chore and curlys very personhood is taken away from him. He is now a thing. A responsibility that he has to take because of what he has done and he is not happy about it.

Another thing I've seen is people saying that they don't feel bad about what happened to curly and that he deserved it for not defending Anya and while yes i do absolutely hate curly, nobody deserves the abuse that their abuser inflicts on them. "What happened to curly was horrifying" and "curly (in)directly caused everything on the tulpar" are ideas that should coexist. Also thats not the thing you should get from this game. It's not a story of karma, it's a cautionary tale about what happens when we let abuse(of anything; power, people, privilege) go unchecked.

TLDR; 𝓳𝓾𝓶𝓹 𝓽𝓮𝓼𝓽 is an unreliable narrator and people fail to apply that to every character in the game, not just Anya. when it comes to curly, he views him as conceded and sees what happened to him as karma.

Now although I do not argue and my opinion is always correct, I would love to hear your thoughts! Especially because this game is so subjective I would love to hear your opinions and even hot takes on this topic! Stay safe divas😘💅💅

[gravesung-moving]

feeling a little bit weird and lonely tonight @_@ catch me on disco if u need me! ✌🏼

[kamil-a]

RECIPIES!!!!

from Alice Archives - Green Book

1. BY PETER: foil-baked fish and mushrooms

Ingredients (2 servings)

Fish fillet - 2 pieces Onion - half Shiitake mushrooms - 2 of them Enoki mushroom - 1 Shimeji mushrooms - 1 pack Butter - about 10g Soy sauce/Ponzu sauce - An Appropriate Amount Salt - a little Pepper - a little

Slice the onion thinly. Cut the mushrooms into bite-sized pieces.

Spread out the aluminum foil and spread the onions across it. Put the fish and mushrooms and butter on top of it. Wrap the foil.

Put about 100cc of water in a frying pan. When steam comes out, put the wrapped foil in the frying pan and put the lid on.

Steam for 5-10 minutes on medium heat.

Add salt and pepper to taste, put on soy sauce or ponzu sauce, and its done!

2. BY BLOOD: tea scones

Ingredients (makes 8 scones):

Cake flour - 200g Baking powder - 1 tablespoon Butter 70g Black tea leaves (earl grey, darjeeling) - 1-2 tablespoons or 1-2 teabags Milk - 100cc Egg - 1 Sugar - 1-2 tablespoons Salt - a little

Mix the cake flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Mix thoroughly.

If the tea leaves are too big, crush it finely. mix with the mixture from 1

Mix the butter, egg, and milk. Little by little combine it with the mixture from step 2. Mix lightly, dont overmix!

Wrap in plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge for about 1 hour.

Roll out about 1-2cm thick. Cut to a suitable size or use a cookie cutter.

Put in the oven on 180C for about 10-20 minutes, watching it.

Put on as much jam, cream, and other toppings as you like.

3. BY JULIUS: COFFEE SCONES

Ingredients (Makes 8 scones):

Cake flour - 200g Baking powder - 1 tablespoon butter - 70g milk - about 80cc coffee - about 20cc sugar 1-2 tablespoons chocolate chips- 50g salt - a little

Mix the cake flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Mix thoroughly.

Mix the milk and the coffee, then mix that with the mixture from step 1.

Mix what you have from step 2 with the butter. Add chocolate chips. Dont overmix, mix it lightly. Wrap in plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge for about 1 hour.

Roll out about 1-2cm thick. Cut to a suitable size or use a cookie cutter.

Put in the oven on 180C for about 10-20 minutes, watching it. Your bittersweet coffee scones are ready!

4. BY ACE: Rabbit Stew

Ingredients (2 servings):

Meat of a white rabbit similar to Mister Peter - 1/2 rabbit Carrots - 2 White mushrooms - 10 Onion - 1 Dried herbs (bay leaf, basil, rosemary, thyme, etc) - a little Parsley - 2 tablespoons Salt - a little Garlic - 1 piece Red wine - 2 cups Olive oil - a little Pepper - a little Honey - half a tablespoon

Cut the rabbit into easy to eat pieces, submerging it in red wine. Let it rest in the fridge for 1 hour.

Julienne the carrots. Cut the onion, mushrooms, and garlic into thin slices. Dice the parsley.

Put the olive oil in a pan and fry the rabbit until brown. Add and saute the onion halfway through

Add the red wine, carrots, mushrooms, garlic, and dried herbs to the pot from step 3. add salt and pepper and stew on low heat for an hour.

When the meat and vegetables are tender, put them on a plate and sprinkle with parsley.

Add honey to the juice left in the pot and heat for 1-2 minutes

Put on the sauce from 6 and it's ready!

5. BY BORIS: Herb Grilled Salmon

Ingredients (2 servings):

salmon - 2 slices panko crumbs - 1 cup pepper - a little olive oil - 2 tablespoons dried herbs (bay leaf, basil, rosemary, thyme, etc) - a little

Pat the salmon dry, and sprinkle on the pepper and herbs. If the salmon is raw, sprinkle on salt, too.

Mix the panko crumbs and herbs. Put one teaspoon of the olive oil into your mixture to moisten it.

Coat the salmon in the panko crumbs from step two.

Heat up olive oil in a frying pan, then cook on medium heat until golden-brown on both sides.

It's recommended to put on as much lemon juice as you'd like. Enjoy!

6. BY PIERCE: Cheese In Blue Cheese

Ingredients (2 servings)

Your preferred cheese - 1 block Sauce: Blue cheese - 50 g Milk - 100cc Fresh cream (low-fat) - 100cc Pepper - just a bit

Mix blue cheese, milk and fresh cream on your stove. melt blue cheese while stirring

Add cheese and simmer. It will be ready in a reasonable amount of time!

*If you're a person who ISN'T Pierce, it's recommended to put the cheese sauce on spaghetti or gnocchi.

ORIGINALS:

[jjstein2]

i made another sideblog awhile ago specifically to crosspost my writings to tumbr, and maybe ill use it for short snippets that i dont feel like posting to ao3? idk would anyone be interested in having my writing on tumblr

[wanderingmausoleum]

In reference to : https://www.tumblr.com/wanderingmausoleum/770369055434637312/i-am-so-curious-who-the-woman-in-the-tiny-portrait?source=share

I am but a humble Resident Evil roleplayer who reads your blog from afar, but the portrait on Lord Saddler's belt is of Maud Muller by George Elgar Hicks (1824 - 1914). Maud Muller is from a love poem between a village girl (Maud) and a town judge. Granted the source of the portrait, it could represent a love interest or a wife of his, rather than a nun?

(post being referenced link / poem link)

THERE SHE IS INDEED

thank you so much for this info anon!!! this is so interesting 🤔

[strawberri-syrup]

hi berri i started gravity falls for the first time to have something to binge at the beginning of the semester!! any blogger/fic recommendations for me please 👉👈

omg hi beloved mutual lexicled!!!

im going to be so real with u i was into gravity falls before i had a tumblr account so i dont know any specific bloggers to check out BUT i have a couple good post canon fics u should check out once u finish it

mabel fics raaaaaa

dipper fic raaaaaaaaaa

[bisamwilson]

not to post about the nyt crossword on main but the saturday was like. weirdly easy this week????? which is WILD bc the friday was super difficult for me. like i feel like they got switched around on accident this week lmao

[jrueships]

you guys should mlp assign the mnba players 🤧 and send them into my askbox 🥰

[yuquinzel]

dawg we haven't chatted in a while. i literally don't know what to talk about HAHAHAHA

— YOU SAID YOU HAVE UR EXAM SO I HAVENT BEEN TALKING MUCH LMAO BUT I HAVE A LOT TO TALK ABOUT

[baezzz-mid]

Wukong to Macaque

something something wukong misses macaque and despite everything, he is happy to see him and he hates it because he just wants to move on with his life, he wants to focus on the future instead of drowning in the mistakes of the past like he always seems to do when he interacts with Macaque, but he genuinely can't leave Macaque behind, no matter how much he *wants* to

[microwavestim]

every time that one friend posts their iamsober on their story an angel loses its wings

[snoopyracing]

:/

[ni-chome]

i want to start drawing so i can post on my ✨new super cool art blog yay fuck twitter✨ but my only inspiration to draw rn is my super hot kamioshi from a rlly small jpop group that i'm the only english speaking fan of (excluding a few friends that i got interested) .... like do i still just art and post it even tho no one will get it orrrr

[wonusite]

Mtl who has the most yandere tendencies?

Yes im asking you for this when i said i would make it myself but im too lazy to write fucking 13 analysises lol

tbh this is vv hard for me since i can all see them being lowkey obsessed (or maybe i’m just delulu), but let me try.

jihoon, dk, hoshi, cheol, wonu, and hannie