#fucking Jeturk man

[lordsmaf]

oh my god of course it is

[stacotto]

Ok, wow, that episode was soooooooooo fucked up™ and I have so many thoughts™.

First off, absolutely heartbreaking to see Suletta throw herself into The List and taking care of the Greenhouse to cope with the fact that she just lost everything and she blames herself for it all (which hits really fucking close). She thinks she deserves it and I just wanna reach through the screen and tell her it's not her fault at all.

Lauda is still emotionally constipated and can't express gratitude without insulting someone in the process.

Shaddiq really out here proving why the emblem for Grassley Defense Systems is a snake, the bastard. Really hope he dies at Guel's hand, the Akihiro vs. Iok vibes are strong here.

Schwarzette was a Jeturk machine to no one's surprise, origin is cool though, Vim making it behind the scenes (likely ever since cutting a deal with Prospera all the way back in episode 2). I get the feeling Suletta's going to be the one fielding it first.

So two things that really stuck out to me during the Backroom Trio scene, 1). the fact that Peil has an AI decide who's who gives me such Destiny Plan vibes and makes the four CEOs that much creepier, and 2). El5n and Norea need to just bang already.

On Mio's plan to use Aerial as a symbol of de-escalation, I think Luke Skywalker said it best: "This is not going to go the way you think"

And of course, the big reveal: Suletta, and the eleven other consciousnesses inhabiting the GUND bits, are all clones of Eri - the bits to expand her consciousness and autonomy, and Suletta herself to act as an interface to the physical plane. It was legitimately heartbreaking to see that Suletta was effectively "born" the day Eri "died", which horrifyingly reveals that Elnora didn't suddenly just snap the moment Eri's body gave out - she saw it coming and prepared ahead of time. Jesus fucking Christ.

I have thoughts about Eri rejecting Suletta. She's clearly coming from the same "cruel to be kind/break her heart to save her" place as Miorine - she never wanted Suletta to be an accessory to Prospera's revenge from the get-go - but y'all keep throwing her out without a lifeline, and banking on someone else picking up the pieces. I am curious though, to see exactly how much Eri cares about revenge; we know she's in on it - again, she just doesn't want Suletta involved - but from her PoV back in Cradle Planet, she made it seem like she had no choice but to go along with it, so that may provide an interesting turning point, we'll have to see.

There has to be a reason Secilia is on the other side of the confession booth therapy room, hopefully for more than just comedy.

That came out a little more rambly than I anticipated, but man, this episode was a wild ride.

[incorrecttowerofgodquotes]

Gundam: The Witch From Mercury Episode 12 Review

- On this episode of Gundam, we have pain and suffering!

- Already getting real fucking tired of Sophie. I mean I love psycho lesbians, but she’s seriously fucked up. Also it seems the Dawn of Fold girls are either genetically modified like El4n, or less stress is out in their body due to the absence of GUND Bits. However, the fact that they’re affected by Permet once again makes me question what the fuck is up with Aerial. Also Dawn of Fold has truly gone from resistance group to actual terrorists. Their job was to kill Delling, but they destroyed the base and murdered the people working there

- Prospera is the stinkiest fucking bitch in this series. She doesn’t even refer to Suletta as her daughter, just as “that girl.” And the brainwashing she’s doing to Suletta, telling her it’s perfectly fine to murder and not feel guilty is fucked up. The fact that her voice never changed tone in her entire convo with Suletta shows how fake she is. If she really cared about her daughter, she would comfort her and tell her that murder is wrong but sometimes a person has no choice, but they should always choose to prioritize lives and only kill when absolutely needed.

- The Earth Houses almost got caught up in the cross fire, but luckily Nika came to the rescue. Though now Martin saw her and knows she’s up to shady shit. It’s sweet that he knew she was missing and went back to her but he ended up seeing something he shouldn’t have. There are three ways this can play out:

1) Martin immediately tells the other guys and Nika gets excommunicated

2) Nika explains herself and Martine keeps it a secret

3) Nika’s terrorist upbringing kicks in and she kills him

- Shaddiq’s plans got foiled once again, but he doesn’t seem too shaken up. He wanted Delling’s head but he caused a big shakeup when in the Benerit Group still. But he’ll have to watch his back carefully. Because when one man learns he was behind this… he’s dead. Speaking of that man-

- Guel…just my boy Guel…

- I don’t think words can fully articulate how broken I am from that moment. But that’s not even a fragment of what Guel is feeling

- If this were any other anime, Guel would have came in just in time to help out, but instead he ended up murdering his dad. He tried to play the hero but he ruined his entire life. His thoughts of wanting to see Suletta again and not wanting to die really resound because he’s still just a child. He has so many things ahead of him, but now he’ll be stuck in a prison of self-torment due to his accidental patricide.

- Where will he go from this? Well they’re are a lot of ways, and none of them good. He could finally join the squad and either bond with Suletta (over both having killed a guy) or Miorine (over watching someone get killed brutally). Or he could go back to Jeturk and meet up with Lauda who’ll probably say he didn’t anything wrong, but that’s not at all what Guel wants to hear. Or he’ll go one a one man army to kill Shaddiq, either sneakily or just straight up fighting him and the harem. All I know is that my son is horribly traumatized and the show will probably go in for yet another punch in April

- Miorine and Delling’s moment really fucking hurt. Her dad wasn’t good to her, but he still wanted to protect her as decided by himself and her mother. Miorine, with all these conflicting feelings, wants her dad to lives cause even though she hates him, she still hopes that one day they could be a family. She’s doing her best to take care of protect her dad, even shielding him like he did to her when facing the end of a gun. And just when it looks like she’s saved by Suletta, everything crashes back down. The person she trusted more than anyone else and hoped to live the rest of life with committed a terrible atrocity in front of her and didn’t even care. I doubt she’ll be able to look at Suletta any longer, and any attempt to laugh it off will just hurt Miorine.

- Those tomato’s growing in the greenhouse… Miorine took such good care of them. She hoped to make them blossom and become their best selves. But Suletta squashed it. Now there’s nothing remaining but the icky guts of a once pure love.

- And now Suletta. frankly:

WHAT THE FUCK

- The way Suletta went from terrified of people being killed to happily squashing a man, making a joke about slipping in his innards, and then attempting to touch Miorine with those filthy hands is way too jarring. While some might say we’re carrying on from the Eri’s actions in the prologue, there’s a clear difference between the two. Eri had no idea what was happening. She just thought they were playing a little game on her birthday. She didn’t understand the concept of death. But Suletta fully knows well how precious life is and she squashed it under hand, making no mention of it. The problem is t that she killed a man, it’s that she disregarded him completely after he was dead. She continued on with her happy life, unburdened by the man who’s life was cut short. She had a choice. She could have put her hand in between them or pick him up and yeeted him, but she didn’t. She didn’t assess the situation and choose the option with no fatalities, she just jumped straight in with no regard for life and murdered a man.

- “If you run away you gain one, but if you move forward you gain two” This has been a message that permeates throughout the entire anime. At first, it’s very inspirational, but here we see the true colors of such a saying. Sometimes, it’s best to run away. Sometimes, it’s best to not use force. Because if you move forward, you have the capability of losing more than you gain. Guel attempted to move forward and killed his dad, Suletta attempted to move forward and lost her innocence as well as became a demon in Miorine’s eyes. Only Prospera, a revengeful woman still mad over having to leave in order to save Eri and her life would create such a saying. It’s a saying rooted in nothing but regret and burning hatred. Suletta’s blind faith in her mother has distorted the way she sees the world. Either she’ll be deprogrammed, or will be used as a weapon by her “loving” mother. However, only Suletta can do this. No one can save her but herself.

- With the second cour coming in April, we have a long ways to wait. Our three main characters, Suletta, Miorine, and Guel have all seen or committed an atrocity, one they will never fully heal from. Whether or not they can move forward in the good way, the bad way, or just run away is to be seen.

[randomidiocyncrazies]

Gwitch S2E3 “Father and Child”

w o w the Jeturks really cannot catch a break! after the L Lauda took last ep, this ep starts off with Guel being taken hostage by the Fold of Dawn and in a BAD way, unable to respond to outside stimuli

the terrorists intend to use him as a bargaining chip (I wonder how they found out his identity—I’m guessing their intel is good enough to recognize him on sight, plus Guel probably didn’t put up any resistance at questioning attempts, having been broken by accidentally killing his father in combat)

i’m guessing the camp will be attacked, and Guel will help the refugees evacuate—we saw kids trying to feed/deal with him when he was broken, so he’ll probably try to save the kids as a sign of him gaining resolve (and he’ll fail, probably, because the Jeturks are here to be punching bags)

it’s kinda ironic that, for all that she hates spacians (beating the shit out of Nika when Nika says her acts of violence will cause spacians to have a pretext of ignoring earthian voices), Norea is forced to work for spacians, who have all the power in their working relationship

although... the way she calls Sabina a “traitor”, i wonder if my previous speculation of Shaddiq’s squad being his fellow orphans—and them being Earth orphans specifically—is on the money? there has to be a reason why Shaddiq is so hung up on splintering the Benerit Group, and why the squad is so ride or die for him

glad we finally get some sense of Shaddiq’s deal! “Can’t fill stomachs with grudges” was extremely good, and i’m like 99.9% certain that the squad are fellow orphans (though i don’t understand why there are no other guys... i guess the other guys would’ve been rivals to the Grasseley inheritance? it’s been implied before that Shaddiq isn’t the only potential heir to Grasseley Defense.

and as for why none of the girls are potential heirs, well. apparently sexism thrives in space)

lmao punch me in the feels! Sophie's motivation was to get creature comforts and attain a family... and she did have a family who remembers & mourns her. also, children inherit bloody conflicts from their predecessors in a never ending cycle of violence, etc etc

THEME OF BLOODY CONFLICT LOCKED IN AN UNBREAKABLE CYCLE OF VENGEANCE AND REVENGE INTENSIFIES

(also, despite Guel being understandably devastated about accidentally killing his dad, i’m glad Vim Jeturk died. sorry not sorry.)

dumbass, your job is to defend and buy time for your fleeing civilians. good fucking job bro

our dead child of this ep. sorry girl, if someone SOMEONE didn’t draw attention to the garrison, maybe you’d have survived

...i still think Guel is going to fail in saving her, because being Guel is suffering. this man’s purpose in this show is to get kicked down at every opportunity. BUT at least he’s showing some initiative (good for him?)

Ah yup, there she goes...

with Guel’s assertion to not let the things that bind him to his father (who is still a POS btw) disappear, i wonder if he’ll go back to Jeturk Heavy Machinery—Lauda is in critical condition after the attack last ep, but if Guel does go back I’m guessing there’s going to be a split faction within Jeturk for who should be the next CEO

and about Quiet Zero... from Prospera, we know Quiet Zero (and potentially Vanadis Institute’s project with the GUND format) focuses on transhumanism, and I’m wondering what sort of plant survival strategies Nortrette has in mind when proposing Quiet Zero, and how it differs from the current project (if it does)

We know Miorine is going to be involved with Quiet Zero in some fashion either way, but it could be kinda interesting if she chose to walk away EXCEPT outside circumstances forces her to get involved. HOWEVER, with Gwitch’s themes of parents using children in their schemes/children following in their parent’s footsteps, I’m guessing Miorine will willingly get on board with the project, at least to investigate it

[the-stray-liger]

I didn't think I could genuinely feel so bad for Elan 5, but this episode just kicked me in the gut. Dude found a kindred spirit in Norea, and any notion they could go on the run and be free together was cruelly shot down, both metaphorically, and then quite literally when one of Cathedra's pilots sniped her Gundam's cockpit.

Suletta bonding with Petra, the pair of them working so hard to help evacuate Asticassia, and then Suletta seeing Petra being crushed by rubble... our girl is NOT okay.

THEN WE HAVE LAUDA. He still doesn't know what the fuck is up with the Schwarzette, and not only does he hear Shaddiq talk about how Guel was the one to kill their father, and Guel indirectly confirming that fact, and THEN being informed about what happened to Petra. There is so much goddamn pain in this episode holy shit.

I honestly have liked El5n for a while now. As douchey as he is he is literally the same was El4n-a tool that was modified and twisted for a purpose and could be discarded at any time. And he was so afraid to die and so desperate, and that's why he found a twin soul in Norea who was also another child who was only a tool kept around for the purpose of piloting a gundam until she died and was terrified of dying. I knew Norea's death was coming for a while, but I never expected it to be such a heartbreaking moment in which we also saw El5n say his first honest words from the heart ever. Him telling Norea was the landscapes in her sketchbook made me tear up. He understood her in a way he'd never tried to understand anyone else. A spacian who understood an earthian. And it was all in vain because Norea was killed before he could even answer the only question Norea had for him-what his real name was. I'm absolutely destroyed

Suletta bonding with Petra was such a sweet moment that illustrates the delightful complexity of gwitch characters-bullies who are more than that and who can actually bond with main characters and show kindness and hope. And then she died. Without being able to see Lauda. After asking Suletta what she was looking forward to do after she survived. Ouchie. I'd really come to appreciate Petra because of how much she cared for the Jeturk siblings and this was really painful. And Suletta who apparently isn't traumatized enough gets to destroy her own hands trying to rescue people out of the rubble. Because what else can she do now that her entire world is broken besides trying to help others.

(Side note: Secelia showing again that beyond being a bitch she's willing to collaborate with the earth house by lending Chuchu an ms. Perfect. And Chuchu and Felsi getting together to fight the Gundvolvas, outstanding, marvelous, showstopping, etc etc etc. And the most important part for me was that they managed to save the animals. Tico is okay y'all)

I am SO CONCERNED FOR LAUDA. My man hasn't known a moment of peace since his brother lost that duel to Suletta in s1. His brother disappeared, his dad was killed, he had to control the sinking ship that was the company without even having time to mourn his father and now THIS. He finds out his brother killed his father from Shaddiq in the middle of a terrifying battle. Literally what is gonna happen why do the writers keep torturing these boys. I'm so stressed out. At least Guel managed to defeat Shaddiq but I wonder when will Guel actually win a fight without getting into more trouble

Overall an incredible episode that crippled me emotionally and left me unable to continue with my html homework 20/10

[zakublaster]

g-witch thoughts! i loved this show, it’s my favorite non-tomino gundam by a mile and while i wish it had gotten the full 50 episode gundam treatment to better pace certain plotlines and flesh some things out, i think it was still satisfying.

spoilers //    and such under the cut.

suletta and miorine get married 🥰 the ending felt like a direct reference to the ending of iron-blooded orphans, with miorine in her suit rolling up at the nice little farm suletta is living at with the rest of their family. two mainline gundams in a row ending on women being married. not that bandai will acknowledge it.

it’s a relatively low-death ending, but miorine and suletta floating in space gave me echoes of fa and kamille, though with an immediate happy ending instead of waiting through zz to see how it went. and it certainly doesn’t have the punch or power of utena’s ending. i think it could have hit those zeta or utena highs with more episodes, but for what it is, it’s simple and sweet.

i warmed up more to the miscellaneous elans as i began to saw them both as a broad comparison point for suletta and eri - el5n unmasking prospera seemed anticlimactic at first, but i think his place as a clone makes that more interesting and it was put into perspective by el4n being who suletta meets in the data storm. and after him barely being a character prior to this, it was amusing to see original elan be like ‘lol anyway later losers, gonna go fuck that jeturk guy.’

the slighter death toll and happier ending also brought me back to utena in some ways, with the elans reminding me in ways of mamiya.

i still wish sophie and norea had gotten some lines from the data storm, though. i liked seeing prospera’s husband and all, but sophie and norea were more interesting so i want some follow up beyond ‘they’re just vibing in the soup~!’

but speaking of nadeem or whatever, wild that kenanji never got any sort of comeuppance for killing him or, like, threatening children and shit. even prospera could not defeat his immaculate tboy swag, good for him. he’s too hot for me to hold it against him.

prospera is a very interesting char clone, and while i think she suffers more in the finale from that rushed feeling than sulemio do, i like the broad strokes. my biggest criticism is the ableist tendency of shows like this to go ‘eh, shaddiq gets years in prison as his punishment, and prospera gets (checks notes) being in a wheelchair’. as though that is a punishment, or that it would hinder her ability to commit further crimes. (her actual reason for not doing so is love of her family, but if i were the council who was about to space laser quiet zero and everyone in it, i’m not sure i’d accept that one as an out.)

but eri being able to connect with her sister reminds me of ple two’s connection to the original elpeo ple swaying her to aeug’s side; and i think we see in char’s ending a similar hesitance about his plan that prospera has, when he revealed he gave amuro the psycho-frame for nu gundam. so i think there’s some gundam history shorthand helping with the shorter episode count, for me.

the tone of the ending prior to the cute mercury family stuff - the ‘well we solved this conflict but let’s be honest it’s gonna last like a decade at most’ - reminds me, again, of iron-blooded orphans... but also turn a gundam, in a way i appreciate. turn a has that same vibe of ‘these evil capitalists are out of the picture, this conflict is resolved, but the ones who remain or who replace them? they are just building more mobile suits for the next time a war comes.’ it’s a happy ending for our heroes, but it’s not a resolution to the class war between earthians and spacians.

nika’s hair is sooo cute, yessss! she looks so good!

lilique has such a cute outfit in the future, nice!

guel... i get why you cut your hair but it’s been three years, man, hire a stylist. it’s not a good look on you my guy!

for how little time they got on screen, petra and felsi made me smile.

i think it needed more episodes to deal with some of the other conflicts - miorine and her father largely just make up by way of his near-death, for instance - and i could use a couple of one-off episodes with chuchu and her eight union dads or an ojela/nuno comedy hijinks episode. but i still really like it, overall.

[officialtokyosan]

need to top vim jeturk bad. he wants it, he needs it. man is aching for it. lack of cock is making him act up. sir, i will fuck your ass just shut up and take it you silly chatty bitch

[toyota-supra]

it is genuinely funny to me how gwitch fan because I distinctively remember going "ah man idk where this is going but I'm LOVING IT" when shit started Going Down and then. And Then They Started Talking About The Things They Were Doing Too and the whole dashboard was like 😬

what I personally would have preferred is if at least more people actually died instead of just some child and The Terrorists because that's at least some fucking consequence to whatever was going on (I know that's too much Normal About Zeta Gundam of me but let me have this) but nope not even that. no it's fine. Suletta and Miorine totally acted and sounded like people in those last episodes. Guel Jeturk was a well utilized character with a completely satisfying arc.

I already didn't think the marriage thing was gonna result in anything so

[theskyexists]

gundam ep 5 & ep 6 & ep 7 &8

Poor elan, raised a tool, tortured as a child. surprising he wouldnt want aerial for himself if it doesnt hurt him. but he can actually feel the robot as his own body....

i love that jeturk actually came to protect suletta. really like him now tho i dont understand him.

aha he did want it

Suletta is definitely starting to get on my nerves. i know shes just in it for the sleepovers and the boyfriends and whatever it takes to set up a school and not the high stakes intergalactic political game. but like. get with it. stop accepting duels.

hold up hold on, Elan was old enough to accept the role of being a surrogate Elan... i get that it takes the life out of the surrogate, they didnt want to make Elan go through it. i guess...i guess it makes sense.

why wouldnt aerial have thrusters. we SAW that lfrith has thrusters.we know she went flying around on mercury. you’re telling me she couldnt fly there? shes in zero gravity here....we SAW her pick up miorine. wwhat

theyre in outer space. they could blow each other to quick goddamn death here. aerials voice is that of a child....

theres a lot of Nanoha in this. she trounces everybody decidedly and befriends them in doing so. they realise that winning - everything they thought theyd get through winning - that its not actually what they want or need. But that Suletta can give them something else...

IM AN UNDERSTANDING BRIDE. I WILL TOLERATE SOME MINOR TWO-TIMING. i adore the concept of suletta harem anime. but mio is first of course

oh shit. ok they showed quite deliberately. by jeturk getting thrown out. by not-elan getting discarded. that capital does not CARE for fairytale befriending.

it is merciless

MIO DOESNT JUST LET SULETTA INTO THE GREENHOUSE BUT EVEN LETS HER NEAR THE TOMATOES WITH SHEARS

the beautiful and simple metaphor

RED AND BLUE. TRULY BEAUTIFUL DRESSES. OH MY GOD

Nika tries to compliment Mio and she takes it as sarcasm lololol

STAND UP STRAIGHT. their dynamic is so great sfjlkdsjfaksd

why is suletta’s mother trying to make an enemy of mio - why is she letting on shes not fully to be trusted? (or is she trying to teach her a lesson? why say it so evilly tho)

ah. Nika got the thrusters from Shaddiq.

she actually got out of her stutter because of mio’s harsh love haha

wtf. how are they getting out of this one. why did Delling let them go in the first place and why go about accusing her once again of possessing a gundam in public in such a roundabout way. what is stopping him from using his power fully?

ok thats cool. thats a very cool idea by miorine. but everybodys afraid of delling mio

VERY GOOD IDEA BY MIO. VERY GOOD. (it’s not pride, it’s hatred, far more effective lol)

japanese people always seem to think so weirdly from anime. ‘the gundams curse is heavier than you think’ - IT IS JUST A FUCKING MACHINE. A KILLING MACHINE. oh no its pilots die. yeah. so what. why the fuck is that the line. its not MAGIC. you cant just mash ‘witch hunt’ with ‘killer robot’ and be done with the worldbuilding..

Anyway Delling goes in for it lol why. does he care about miorine after all? he set this whole thing up to destroy the gundam and now he’s like ok yeah you can take on the curse then i guess. what.

anyway yeah its definitely better to be ceo of a startup company funded by the whole group including your father (who is only 3% owner!) than be a daughter completely dependent on him. i do not understand why Delling did what he did, why he made Mio a ‘bride’, why he didnt destroy Aerial last time nor why he went along with setting up a company for MAKING GUNDAMS when he already ‘knew’ the pilot dying problem had been solved. what is this man thinking

her mother is completely underestimating what having lied to her daughter and then admitting to it will do to their relationship

so is Mio buying up Peil’s team and shin sei’s to work on gundams based on Aerial and Pharact? Peil and shin sei didn’t even agree. tho i guess suletta’s mom was like: yep sure lets go

even the intro song is kannazuki no miko as heck.

still lying to suletta

‘i didnt come here to build mobile suits’ then why are you at the mobile suit school

IS THIS THE FIRST TIME THEY’VE DEALT WITH THE REALITY OF MOBILE SUITS BEING WEAPONS????

miorine is very smart. suletta is not very smart but has other qualities.

miorine really does have a LOT of freedom of movement right now. yet she hasnt thought to use it at all to get to Earth.

no one but the vanadis group ever thought to use robot tech to save lives? prospera literally has a prosthesis and mio wasnt TOO shocked. how are spacians suriving space right now??

what the fuck lol. who in the world was like: yeah lets leave the billions of investment to the high schoolers to make a silly video with. THE WHOLE GROUP WAS LOOKING TO MAKE WEAPONS AND NOW THEY’RE LIKE HEY LOOK AERIAL IS HERE AND WE”RE GONNA......USE IT TO IMPROVE PEOPLE’S BODIES? there is simply no way to marry the giant robot with developing medical technology.... why do the cyborg parts need an ai....why develop a suit at all? just to please the shareholders? mio is gonna be in the same problems as vanadis

‘Its better than being complicit in war’ YOU ARE AT A MOBILE SUIT ACADEMY. YOU WERE ALWAYS GONNA BE COMPLICIT

hold on. the group just invested 240 million in this startup and now some school regulations are gonna stop the establishment of the company? lol come on

[honestlyvan]

Furthermore there is a real problem in fandom where people will take the ability to describe events within a text’s continuity in certain ways as canon. I would argue that the confusion between the text and discussions of canon such as “can this character be interpreted as x” is why so many of us feel the need to defend the very existence of a canon.

Like, to be absolutely clear, description is interpretation. Me saying “Guel Jeturk impulsively proposed to Suletta Mercury” isn’t canon, this is:

and anything I can say about it is interpretive. Saying that he specifically did this because he’s in love with Suletta is interpretation. Saying that this is him realising he’s a bottom is interpretation. I can’t say either of those is canon, I can only try to make a persuasive argument why either is supported by canon.

Furthermore, the kind of media that tends to draw a fandom is increasingly intertextual. Marvel movies reference each other all the time, it’s totally normal that an anime has a companion novel that is concurrent in continuity with the events of the show, games will offload worldbuilding and backstory to a prequel to animations or even a lore bible if we’re lucky. And IDK know why we call the events within the continuity of any given text “canon”, but it’s a very convenient word to have, if for no other reason than shorthand.

Even what is considered canon, what is accepted as a valid part of the board to be playing on changes depending on the conversation that is being had. People are, for example, free to reject the concept of “sworn brothers” existing in the setting and two characters calling each other that are referencing an in-universe familial bond they share and then argue that them being brothers is canon -- and they fucking do. But the board they set up doing that precludes other people from playing, and people saying “IDK I don’t think that’s canon” are relying on shorthand to basically go “you haven’t convinced me”.

“You can’t pick and choose what is canon” is, to me, similar short-hand. To me, it’s meant to communicate a general lack of being persuaded by other people’s preferences. It's meant to communicate a counterposition to “you’re not obligated to care for and incorporate parts of the text into your analysis that you don’t find engaging, you don’t have to have a twelve-point list of events from within the continuity to prove your point and explain your experience with the text” that basically goes “but nobody else is obligated to share your experience regardless of your reasoning”. It is a counter to the idea that fandom can ever agree on what a text meant.

Jonathan Harker being both a transbian egg and a frail, failure of a man who only constitutes a minor character are both things that can be supported by canon. But neither of them are canon. The canon is the quotes that you’d use to support either reading -- but it’s a rare interpretation indeed that can directly quote canon to support itself without being subject to further interpretation.

Actually, you CAN pick what "is" or "isn't" canon. This is called critical analysis, and the lens you use will determine what canon is.

This is why, for example, Jonathan Harker is both a transbian egg (queer theory) AND a frail, failure of a man who only constitutes a minor character (new critical formalism).

Like, sorry to have to break it to you, but the idea of One True Canon is fucking nonsense and always has been.

I understand the intellectual urge at play, but it's a Bad Fucking Idea to let yourself believe that even when given the same 200 word bullet list sequence of events, two different readers will interpret it the same way.

Let alone something as meandering as a novel or, god forbid, a multi decade TV show.

[nenestansunsthings]

HOLY SHIT THE NEW EPISODE????

the whole gundam thing has FINALLY been openly revealed holy fuck

(also, occupying less space in my mind but still there- og elan is doing SO fucking bad at pretending to our beloved el4n. i hate him a normal amount. he was so out of character i am honestly stunned suletta didnt notice)

eyeing nika and shaddiq and whatever was going on in their scene. hey man are you good. what are you thankful to nika for will we need to be worried

anyway i was terrified when they got suletta up on that stage and i was RIGHT to be. the sheer balls the peil and whatever the jeturk companys name is had to a) reveal they had actually made a gundam and b) USE THAT TO TRAP SHIN SEI AND SULETTA, with no fear of repercussion???? and to keep prospera outside too, so she couldnt explain herself

what confuses me most, though, is like- in the end, we can see that she could hear them from outside. she definitely heard miorines declaration of the new company and her getting the funding. why would she not have heard suletta? it looks like she was in the same place both times. did she just ignore her girl???? prospera if you ignored your girl begging for you to help her im going to fucking kill you

MIORINE THANK YOU FOR EXISTING HOLY SHIT. she saw her wife in danger and IMMEDIATELY acted to save her when no one else would. the sudden act of starting a company on stage right then and there to actively fund gundam production, in front of the guys who literally locked suletta in prison for being SUSPECTED of owning a gundam and her father who is called a hero for DESTROYING gundams, took insane levels of courage. im so proud of her. and to ask for his help in the end regardless because she needed it to act anyway, and delling granting it... god. what is wrong with their family (/pos but also im shaking them)

also HELLO???? FIRST OFF, PROSPERA CANONICALLY SAYING SHE THINKS HER DAUGHTERS, PLURAL, ARE IN GOOD HANDS WITH MIORINE???? SO ERI IS LIKE DEFINITELY 100 PERCENT IN THERE RIGHT????

im so worried for miorines new company now. girl does not actually know how aerial works and i dont fucking think prospera is gonna explain it to her.

also suletta.... oh my dear girl suletta... im so sorry

she is going to be REELING at finding out her mom was lying to her for her whole life about her own sister, and ALSO possibly putting her in danger, because the gundams HAVE killed people. like. how do you react to that. im going to kill prospera again a second time for this. she really did believe her mom was an amazing parent who trusted her and loved her- finding out she was being manipulated all her life??? is NOT going to go well. i hope this leads to her bonding with like miorine or guel or something about this but also dear god

suletta deserves better at all times

im so interested in how the next episode is going to go now

[incorrecttowerofgodquotes]

Gundam: The Witch From Mercury Season 2 Episode 2 Review

- There’s so much to talk about

- First, let’s start with the people I hate so I don’t have to think about them any more. Shaddiq and his loser harem. I fucking hate Shaddiq so much. This dickhead just got innocent kids killed and traumatized so many others for what? To be the new Grassley President? And all of his girls just follow his lead. Fucking brownnoses. The real question is why did he kidnap his father instead of just killing him? Is it because he’s scared if he does kill him, he won’t be the stated heir?

- Poor Nika. Her backstory was pretty sad. She just wants to live a happy life, and she wants others to have the same thing. However right when she was about to solidify her love for her friends, Shaddiq’s number one simp, Henoa, stopped her and probably kidnapped her. And now with Nika being branded a terrorist, and Earth House being arrested, she won’t be able to explain the situation and they’ll think the worst of her.

- The Jeturk curse hits once again with Lauda almost fucking dying. Dude literally just wants to avenge his brother and father and he’s getting fucked by the narrative. Meanwhile, Felsi seems to be feeling outcast since Petra has a crush on Lauda, and thus the two are leaving her behind. At the end of the day, the Jeturk house seems to be a family, all working to support each other.

- Chuchu was too powerful so life had to nerf her by giving her PTSD. She was about to go on a killing spree, but she snapped out of it when she realized that people needed to be saved. It shows just how kind she is under her big attitude. Even if she doesn’t like Spacians, she doesn’t want them to die, and she’ll prioritize their rescue over revenge. But now she’ll have to deal with the fact that her “big sister” was labeled a terrorist

- El5n once again being the ultimate babygirl. However we also get to see past his happy facade. He’s someone who desperately wants to live. He refuses to use his Permet because he sees no use in wasting his life. And his mention of El4n indicates that the two knew each other? Were they close? And how will El5n bond with Norea as the show is putting those two together. Finally, why did El5n become the body double when he knows the Permet will kill him? He says it’s because he wants to live, but wouldn’t becoming a Gundam pilot just kill him faster? I’m so interested in his story.

- Norea and Sophie. One wants revenge against the Spacians who destroyed her world, and one just wants what everyone else does. A nice home and warm meals and a happy family. But they’re Gundam pilots which means they’ll die before they’ll ever see their goals realized. They want so desperately to be happy but their circumstances means they can’t. And poor Sophie dies, and all Norea can do is mourn her and move on. But what will Norea do now? She seems set in her ways on destroying Spacians, but maybe El5n can break her from that curse. Maybe there can be a happy ending?

- Finally, the moment I’ve been waiting for. The reveal that Eri is the Aerial and Suletta is just a clone/second daughter. Eri’s conscience has been locked into the Aerial and when it goes Permet 6, she fully takes over. The side story implies Eri knows what’s going on and agreed with her mother, so will she be the true big bad? Or is she going to ultimately side with her little sister and protect her? How lonely she must be locked in a robot, never being able to love a normal life. And is there more? Cause once you get one kid in the suit, it’s not too hard to put more in there.

- Suletta almost broke out of her programming. She realized her mom put her in a suit of war and that she took a man’s life with its hands. She realized that her “siblings”, Sophie and Norea, were cursed. But then the brainwashing takes over. Aerial tells her that everything will be okay. Aerial doesn’t want her to feel guilt so it says that Suletta did no wrong. And Suletta, who wants to believe her mom is good, takes the bait and reconditions herself. Only Suletta can break herself free, but she needs support in Miorine and her friends.

- But where do we go from here? The school’s been attacked and people have died. What small basis GUND-ARM was gaining has been torn apart. Gundams are evil again. And maybe this pressure will make Miorine crack and finally take up Quiet Zero. And then no more wars and everyone will be happy! Yay!

[the-stray-liger]

I AM 100% NOT OKAY AFTER TODAY'S EPISODE OF G-WITCH. FUCK.

Like... the reunion between Guel and Suletta after the former drove of Bitch Boy Elan 5 genuinely warmed my heart, especially with Guel finally, properly confessing, and clearing the air on the previous misunderstanding between them. You can tell that Suletta is genuinely touched that Guel cares so deeply for her, even though she's already committed herself to Miorine, says as much and gently lets Guel down, who takes the rejection with grace, which is a far cry from his attitude at the beginning of the series. Bravo, Guel Jeturk... you've unequivocally proven yourself to be Best Boy™ in this show.

Then we move on to the main conflict of the series. Miorine recognizes that Suletta is little more than a pawn in Prospera's schemes, and after another conversation confirms Miorine's suspicions of just how deeply that Suletta's been metaphorically brainwashed into being dependent on both her mother and the Aerial, and that because the Aerial is the one thing that Suletta refuses to give up in spite of how easily she'd cast aside everything else if her mother told her to? She's become an obstacle. So now, Miorine conspires with Guel to take Suletta's title of Holder as well as the Aerial from her, not just to save Suletta from herself, but to also provide Guel with the means to rescue his company from bankrupcty, given her own empathy with Guel's situation... all while keeping Suletta in the dark, as usual.

So... the duel. As we see, Guel is still wrestling with the guilt of killing his father, which seems to be manifesting as a sort of PTSD induced cockpit-phobia, similar in nature to another character from After War Gundam X, Jamil Neate. Guel isn't just fighting Suletta, but also himself at every turn, and it shows in just how desperately he is trying to keep himself together, even as Suletta not only overrides the Darilbade through the Aerial activating Permet Score 6, but appears to achieve a level beyond that, with Permet Score 7 manifesting as an iridescent white glow... and then Aerial apologizes before she's remotely shut down before Suletta can secure the win, allowing Guel to claim victory, and more importantly, the title of Holder and the Aerial from Suletta.

Whether you interpret that as Ericht apologizing to her sister for getting her so deeply involved with Prospera's schemes and implicitly allows herself to be shut down, or Eri apologizing to Suletta for being unable to prevent what was coming next, both conclusions are utterly heartbreaking to think about, as the entire sequence of events could be interpreted by Suletta as Guel, Miorine, and the Aerial herself all betraying her. The episode is capped off by Miorine pushing Suletta away even as she screams to be allowed to try again, everything slipping through her fingers like grains of sand as Miorine dispassionately tells Suletta that it's over between them, all because Miorine is desperately trying to push Suletta away to keep her safe from Proospera's machinations.

My only concern is that despite Miorine's best efforts... Prospera's probably accounted for all of this, and even expected this outcome.

This is an excellent breakdown and I am REALLY sorry I cant say all I want because Im on my period and in a lot of pain and the brainfog is serious dfadfjd

I love Guel so much. He came out of all he went through a much better man and he thanks Suletta for that and genuinely cares about her and Suletta accepts that in a way she can't accept Elan's gross and agressive invasion of her private space. I sincerely hoped to see Guel just beating Elan's ass I wanted it so badly

The "I have to hurt her to save her" trope drives me up the wall but I also love it. Miorine really wanted to do all of this to protect Suletta and try to free her from Prospera's grip but I am also so so so worried that she did indeed play right into Prospera's hand and honestly I cant with this show its kicking my fucking ass

I cant really say more bc Im not feeling too well but this episode was legitimately one of the most intense and heartbreaking so far somehow and it featured minimal violence. It was a masterpiece honestly

[the-stray-liger]

God, Episode 15 was just BRUTAL, and Guel was put through the wringer on SO MANY LEVELS.

He's still reeling from the loss of his father by his own hands, and is attempting to starve himself, likely both to end his misery, and yet also punish himself with a slow death, only for Olcott to force-feed him. He finally regains his will to live when he realizes his father's company, and by extension his brother, are in jeopardy... only at that point everything goes to hell. He desperately tries to save a little girl who had been trying to kill him up to that point, because she desperately wanted her father to save her, only for her to die in lap as he tried to use a mobile suit to locate a vehicle to rescue the pair of them.

Though, he hasn't fallen back into despair just yet; he still has something to return to, something he's willing to fight for, and Olcott is willing to fake Guel's death for his sake because he empathizes greatly with Guel's resolve to save his family, as well as his failure to save that little girl. The dynamic between the two of them almost immediately brings to mind Banagher Links and Suberoa Zinnerman from Gundam Unicorn, albeit with far fewer punches being traded.

GANBATTE GUEL!

I fucking swear to god this episode ASSASSINATED ME and I can't even rewatch to assimilate because I have a lot of homework to do but here's a few thoughts

I was right to guess this was going to be a Guel centric episode because of the title (it has the same name as the one in Zeta where Kamille fights his dad) but I could've never guessed what it would do to Guel

Jesus CHRIST Guel. Oh my god. The writers hate this man. EVERYTHING happens to him. He started the series as an antagonist and now he's just a marthyr. What breaks my heart is that despite the way his father treated him Guel still mourns him and is so destroyed over the fact that he died that he wants to die??? But it speaks so much of his character that when he saw someone in pain at the brink of death, a child that had come into that bathroom with the intention to kill him, he still jumped into action and ran to save her even if it was in vain. And he even made a grave for her. This kid has his heart in the right place. I fucking love Guel Jeturk

I'm really excited to see where the relationship between Olcott and Guel goes. I wonder if Guel's motivations will change while he's on earth. I wonder if he will find a family on earth? oh this episode was heartbreaking and so intense

I'm glad we finally got to see the situation on earth, the refugees and the children mourning Sophie. Even if Sophie is gone she haunts the narrative and her death is meaningful!

I wish I could write more Im just super stressed with hw dfslsdsdfsd

[incorrecttowerofgodquotes]

Gundam: The Witch from Mercury Episode 10 Review

- The start of this episode is very cute. Watching Suletta get all these victories and becoming more comfortable talking to others (she didn’t stutter at all early on). Chuchu especially was pretty adorable with her happy jump and laughing hard enough she coughed.

- Miorine’s scene with Delling was pretty cute. He finally complimented her and she seemed pretty happy. Also liked her scene with the pilot lady. Hope she becomes pretty important cause she’s really cool.

- Guel is apparently missing, which makes me think he ran away instead of taking his dad’s offer. Also cute we got to see Petra, but where’s Felsi?! I will not accept a substitute like Renee!

- Secilia and Rouji finally got character development. They left the couch! Also their relationship is pretty cute.

- Belmeria is the only good adult in this show. She tried her best to give El4n a good life and cares for Suletta. However sadly she didn’t get to acquire into what was happening in the cockpit. Kinda thinking she’ll die which would eliminate the one reasonable adult.

- Now for the heavy shit. Shaddiq is becoming even more of an asshole by plotting to kill his crush’s dad. He’ll do whatever it takes to climb the ladder even if it’s a horrible act. It seems Sarius just wants his son to live a school life and do things fair and square but Shaddiq is very cutthroat. And his scene with Nika was very chilling. Girl feels indebted to the man that raised her so she’s willing to work with Shaddiq to help him, but darling, you need to see that Shaddiq is gonna throw you away as soon as you’re useless. Also poor Nika thought the key chains were for her, but when she found out differently, she realized just how separate she is from everyone.

- Dawn of Fold seems to be an Earth resistance group that salvages old suits in order to use for their mercenary deeds. Basically they’re the IBO group. The two suits the girls are piloting are Lfriths which means that at least some of the technology survived and was transferred into the hands of rebels. However are the girls genetically engineered to handle it? Or are these suits like Aerial and don’t need linking? We also now know why Nika was so enthralled by Aerial. She’s worked with Gundams before so she must’ve been pretty happy seeing another one

- The Elan’s are officially the worst boys but I can’t help but love them. El5n is a real piece of work, not even bothering to act like his predecessor, which Elan Prime at least attempted too. He’s probably just like Shaddiq, wanting to climb no matter what he has to do. Also he’s a slut. But Elan Prime should probably wipe that smug look off his face. If El5n is like Shaddiq, then that means he might try to fully replace him. Clone Wars time

- This episode we got introduced to a new character, Bob! I’ve only had for a few minutes but I already love him, I wonder why?

- All joking aside, it’s so nice to see Guel find worth and support in a job separate from his identity as a Jeturk son. He started as an arrogant man getting angry at any slight against him to a hard working employee finally living a life he feels comfortable in. His smile near the end was the happiest we’ve ever seen him and I love it. His boss has been a better father figure to him in the two months he’s been working than Vim has his entire life. But as always, the universe can’t help but conspire to fuck Guel over at every opportunity it gets so not only is he on a ship heading to a soon-to-be assassination spot, but it got hijacked by Gundams. Poor guy can never catch a break. However I expect him to somehow get a suit and either kick those girls asses or come in to save Suletta and Miorine. And if he dies… I’m dropping the anime.

- But the real problem this episode was Suletta and Miorine’s relationship tripping on a rock and tumbling down a hill. The tomato’s in the greenhouse aren’t ripe enough yet, but will they get their chance or will they be plucked too quickly?

- Miorine is very similar to her father as much as he hates him. I’m guessing the reason he’s such a shitty father is because he focused on work rather than his family, and Miorine is showing the same tendencies. She doesn’t realize just how important tending to the greenhouse was to Suletta and she didn’t even have a discussion about it.

- Meanwhile Suletta is too scared to actually confront Miorine which leads to her getting heart broken. Though it also doesn’t help that she was almost assaulted right before by someone she thought was a close friend (Still waiting for the bomb to drop on that one). She’s becoming more liked by her peers but the two people she’s become closest two feel like strangers now (and in Elan’s case that’s literal). I expect this misunderstanding to either be fixed in the cour 1 finale, or we’re going to go into cour 2 with some serious shit to work out. And with Prospera maybe assassinating Delling, the relationship could be split entirely. (Is now a bad time to say I ship GuelSule?)

- We have two weeks until the next episode but my brain worms will keep me fully functioning. Next episode is gonna be a real kerfuffle. Suletta and Miorine are both gonna. E part of the thunderdome and Mio’s probabaly gonna witness her father getting killed, maybe even directly by Prospera. Then Prospera will go into some big Char speech and break the news about what the fuck is up with Aerial and Suletta. I also expect Guel’s going to get caught in the crossfire and have to choose between running (gaining one, himself) or fighting back (gaining two, Suletta and Miorine.) Shaddiq will probably stroll right in to claim ownership, with his harem and a scared Nika in tow, and Chuchu’s gonna be crushed. Then we’re going to have to deal with a possible disbandment of the school and if so, here are my predictions for all the characters

Miorine, Suletta, Guel, all the Earth House kids (minus Nika), El5n, and possibly Belmeria will be on the run and will eventually use the school as their base ala 3 Houses Style

Shaddiq, his harem, and Nika will fully take over Grassley and work on fully disbanding the Benerit Group. Dawn of Fold will join as a mercenary group but will wait her betray or be betrayed in the future

Lauda, Petra, and Felsi will work with the Jeturk House, Lauda becoming a replacement for Guel and attacking our group of heroes to “save” his brother. Petra and Felsi will be his unnerved allies who eventually join GUND-ARM because they can’t stomach the horrible shit they have to do and want to be with Guel-senpai

Secilia and Rouji will be staying at the school and managing it as the group Secilia belongs to owns it and Rouji just wants to work on his little robots. The two will eventually become management for GUND-ARM.

Prospera will be elected as the new leader of the Benerit group with Vim as her dog. Peil and El0n will just be watching everything go down and planning to jump ship if things go south. Sarius will be very opposed to Prospera and may also get killed.

- Overall, this episode gave me a lot to think about and a lot of memes. Please, Bob, live!

[randomidiocyncrazies]

gwitch ep 3

lmao what the FUCK is going on anymore

the writing for this ep is really. hm. decent concept, questionable execution? they’re too blatant when they should’ve been subtle, and i personally found one of there character’s characterization a little... inconsistent, both from their established background and just their behavior within the episode itself.

i’m willing to see more of it but like. hm. i’m less confident in the writing after this ep

I personally found the climax of Guel’s arc in this ep kind of... confusing? he’s obviously upset that his dad doesn’t trust him enough to let him fight without resorting to underhanded tricks, and the resignation of “you don’t even need my will, do you” was a really poignant character moment...

But like. maybe i’m just being nitpicky, but his previous behavior suggests that he’s cool with using his family’s influence to throw his weight around; hell, the writing makes it soooo blatant that their world and values run on “screw the rules i have money.” I get that piloting is his pride and joy and he’ll care more about using his own skills to win, but he he didn’t seem all that upset about the sprinkler sabotage... making his rebellion against his dad feel hollow.

i mean... i really liked the character beat of him being resigned to having the AI pilot for him, and his “you don’t even need my will” is so sad and bitter (and perfectly illustrates the themes of the narrative). from that, we can extrapolate that Guel and his family are perhaps resigned to obeying his father’s will—he’d have been raised to believe that obeying the will of the strong, reluctantly or otherwise, is the only possible outcome. As such, his rebellion in the middle of the match feels like clumsy writing; it felt like he had that specific reaction at that specific moment because the plot demanded it. i think it flattened a potentially more subtle character arc into “rarrrgh hell yeah rebellion now! stick it to the man!” and comes off as rushed development.

(also, the proposal at the end is very. uh okay that happened i guess. i feel like they’re going for a “arrogant jerk but surprisingly pure in romance” angle for him, and i’m wary of it lol. i don’t think Suletta/Guel is really a serious option, except if Guel performs a sacrifice to save her or whatever, but the whole thing feels like they’re trying to absolve Guel for his beastly behavior towards Miorine? i’m just not a fan of “jerk falls for a girl who made him eat humble pie” stories; a lot of those stories try to brush the jerk’s wrongdoing under the carpet in light of their flustered ladykiller-in-love shenanigans, and I’m kinda tired of that.

also:

knowing Guel will be pining over Suletta is gonna get real annoying real fast, not to mention the unknown factor of Elan. it also doesn’t exactly inspire confidence that the creators aren’t queerbaiting, though i still have faith that it’s not just bait.)

on another note, i get that all the blatantly evil adults are very blatantly evil, but it’s annoying to have the same over-the-top “mwahahaha children are just tools of their parents!” conversation multiple times. it doesn’t help that the dialogue is a kinda cringeworthy, especially having come off of Delling “I am a King; I Give the Orders, You Obey” Rembran last week. we get it, these parents are evil.

also, the way everyone was like “teehee it doesn’t matter if Jeturk cheated, the only thing that matters is their sponsor” was also kind clumsy in terms of its execution? bro we get it, we know capitalism is bad. just have Elan say the thing about how the strength of the backer counts towards the pilot’s strength (and have other characters share little smirks or whatever at appropriate moments). it’s disappointing that they virtually repeat the same dialogue at least 3 times across the episode.

honestly, it’s like the writers are scared that the audience wouldn’t pick up on the central themes of the work without having characters SCREAMING in our faces about it; i personally am not a fan of this style of writing and prefer a lighter touch, but part of it is personal taste.

the only thing revealed/reinforced in this ep is that the setting of Gwitch is blatantly sexist. They specifically mention trading women in duels, and obviously Miorine’s situation is steeped in sexism—and unless we get in-universe evidence that people also set up their sons to be won as a prize, it’s safe to say Delling only did that to Miorine because she’s his daughter, not his son.

In a way i think it fleshes out the worldbuilding a bit more: same-sex marriages are apparently common enough that it’s no big deal (though we have no idea if it’s an overall thing, or if such progressiveness only applies to political matches), but it sucks for women and poor people.