#no but the way Suletta was so desperate at the end

[astraskylark]

Miorine doing everything she never wanted to do for Suletta. Miorine driving Suletta away cause she wants her to be happy and free from wars and Gundam and she knows that if she becomes CEO and a part of quiet zero Suletta will forever be embroiled in it. Miorine loving Suletta so much she's ready to let her go.

Miorine being cruel so that Suletta will hate her. Miorine loving her so much. Suletta always loving her, wanting to get rings and wear wedding dresses. Just. Them.

[incorrecttowerofgodquotes]

Gundam: The Witch From Mercury Season 2 Episode 5 Review

- Happy Birthday is forever doomed, and that greenhouse does nothing but destroy relationships. God, I am suffer

- Sadly, Miorine fell for Prospera’s provocation and decided to team up with her, but on the condition that she leaves Suletta alone. But that’s perfectly fine for Prospera, Suletta doesn’t matter to her. She’s just a replacement daughter, and now that Aerial has hit Permet 7 or 8, she doesn’t need her.

- Shaddiq has the worlds most punchable face, but he is playing the game smart. Peil was an obvious wildcard, so he’s decided to partner with them in order to get them out of the way. And it looks like he already got his father out of the way too. RIP Sarius, you were the only good parent.

- Jeturk House is a literal found family and I can’t stop crying. They all love each other so much. It seems Petra and Lauda are dating and Felsi just learned about it. Also, the fact that Lauda loved his brother and wanted to support him from day one is sweet. God I hope nothing bad happens to any of them.

- The callbacks and dark reflections in this episode to Episodes 1 and 3 have slayed me. The end of the episode was an exact copy of the end of episode 1, but this time, Miorine is saying goodbye instead of hello, all underneath a darkened sky compared to the bright dawn we originally saw. The entire dueling room and then elevator-hallway scene was an exact copy of Episode 3, so much so that they reused Secelia’s animation. Since the three main characters this episode were Suletta, Miorine, and Guel, it makes sense to bring back references to the episodes that started their character development in the first place

- also somebody gotta glue Secelia’s ass to that couch cause every time she gets up some bad shit happens

- Guel and Suletta’s scene at the greenhouse made me feel like I was walking on air. Guel has grown so much and has decided to be honest with his feelings, and you can tell just how happy those words made Suletta. But at the end of the day, Suletta loves Miorine, and Guel supports her. He isn’t that selfish jerk we saw in episode 1 anymore. He wants what’s best for others to, not just himself. But also the GueSule shipper in me was crying a bit

- But that beautiful scene in the greenhouse leads to Miorine strengthening her resolve to give Suletta a good life, even if it means hurting her. She’s willing to work with Guel, someone she absolutely hated, because she knows he loves her just as much as she does, and all they want is for Suletta to be happy. The fact that Miorine is willing to sacrifice herself and enter a marriage she doesn’t want is heartbreaking, but there’s no one else she can trust.

- The scene where Guel says there’s no world without Gundams and weapons hurts a whole lot. Miorine and Suletta, despite all they’ve gone through, still haven’t seen the true harshness of the world. Guel, who’s experienced even just a fraction of what horrible things are taking place, can’t see any world where peace is absolute.

- Guel suffering from PTSD makes so much sense. As much as we like to meme that suffering builds character, what it ultimately did was fuck up Guel’s life forever. He’ll always carry the trauma of killing his father, but as we saw in this episode, the impassioned cries of his family is what snaps him out of it. Really, between Chuchu and Guel, I think Felsi has the magic voice ready to heal trauma. Maybe she should hang out with Suletta after this ep

- All right, this is going to be a long fucking section about El5n, because I genuinely have so many thoughts rotating in my head about this failson. First, the greenhouse scene. Seeing the way he so violently assaults Suletta out of desperation is terrifying. He’s being pushed to the absolute brink. He even brought a taser just to knock Suletta out. It’s a large change compared to his usual “just smile and wave” and I think it’s wholly because of last episode. El5n had his mind violated by Eri, the one place that not even Peil could assault and change. And that combined with Belmeria’s whining set off a bomb inside him. He realized in that moment that he will never be safe as long as he plays by Peil’s books. Any more attempts of hijacking the Aerial would continue to hurt the one thing he has control of, his mind, and if he sticks with Peil any longer, he’s going to die

- But what hit me the hardest was his anger at Suletta’s cries for Elan, specifically the line “The man you’re thinking of isn’t here.” It’s a short line but packed with so many meanings. First of which, the simple one being that El5n finally lets the cat out of the bag, stating that he and El4n are two different people. But looking at it deeper, we can see more to this statement. The second meaning could be the intense hatred he possibly feels towards the original Elan. That the man Suletta thinks he is has been hiding behind body doubles and living his life without even sparing a single thought towards her. The third meaning is that El5n is pissed that El4n is dead, and that Suletta’s cries for him just make his grieving so much worse. Fourth, and finally, is the fact that El5n doesn’t want to be a replacement for Elan, he wants to be his only person. All Suletta can see is Elan, not the kid underneath the mask, and that hurts him. The fact that his very identity and status as a person has been torn away is sick, but no one but him knows.

- But before any more of his true self can pour out, Guel comes in to protect Suletta, just twisting the knife further into El5n. He’s had no one to stand up for and protect him, he’s alone from everyone, separated by a mask. And the fact that the one who comes to Suletta’s rescue is a man who’s lived in luxury and hasn’t struggled a day in his life (at least on El5n’s eyes) is even more painful. The final shot was the “What are you afraid of?” line Guel says to him. Cause for the first time, someone has finally seen the pain and hurt he’s going through, and it happens to be some spoiled rich kid. But really, what is El5n afraid of? Is it a physical death or a spiritual death? Is he willing to wear the mask of Elan as long as he isn’t incinerated, or does he not want to lose his true self?

- Ultimately this retrospection El5n goes through is hidden to us, but we see the outcome. In which he’s chilling in a room with Norea and Nika for no reason. Truly a king. The dub said this line, but El5n feels like Norea is a kindred spirit. Someone who can understand what he’s going through and the amount of rage bottled up inside him at the unfairness of his situation. God, I hope these two end up together, or at least as partners. They need to fix each other so bad

- But where does El5n go from here? He can’t hang out with Peil anymore, so will he cooperate with Shaddiq? But Shaddiq is now working with Peil so that would cause some issues. Will he go full scorched earth at the presidential elections and air everyone’s dirty laundry? I think that would be an amazingly funny moment. Will he and Norea bond over their tragic pasts? I want to dig into his backstory so fucking much, but I know that doing so would only hurt me further

- Also small detail but El5n saying to Nika that her friends missed her was pretty sweet. He understands what it’s like to feel alone so he reassures Nika that she isn’t.

- When the happy birthday song came in and Suletta pulled out the big fucking gun, I got scared for Guel. We’ve already seen that thing eviscerate a mobile suit’s legs, so it’d probably have killed Guel if Mio didn’t step in. But still, who the fuck decided to put that song in there?! This isn’t funny anymore Okouchi

- God, Suletta’s love for Miorine hurts so badly. She wants to be properly married and do everything a married couple can, but in the end, it’s taken from her. Suletta’s codependency on her mother, Aerial, and Miorine is not healthy, and she needs to experience the loss of these things in order to grow as a person. But the real question is will she regress or progress? She still has Earth House, who are filled with nothing but the sweetest children, but she could also be taken advantage of by Shaddiq or simply dig herself into a hole. In the end, it’s all Suletta’s choice. She has to find strength within herself

- Miorine hesitated when hearing about Suletta’s dreams for the future. She wants just what Suletta wants, a happy life with the one she loves. But in Miorine’s mind, as long as Suletta is tied to the Aerial, her mother, and her, then Suletta will forever be stuck and taken advantage of. Miorine is willing to play the bad guy, no matter how much it hurts her, because she loves Suletta. She’s become the person she hated so much, her father, and you can feel the pain it’s causing her.

- Guel and Miorine feeling extremely guilty for what they did just means that Jeturk finally took another L. Though I hope Guel will be able to help Miorine realize it’s okay for her to love Suletta

- Ever Eri feels bad for what happened, but it also seems like she’s moved onto a higher plane, possibly within Prospera’s mask. I guess if she really is gone, that means the Aerial is back to killing people status. Or maybe it’ll find a new leech?

Guel claiming a W but still getting an L is perfectly on brand. The lesbians are going through a divorce arc. And I can’t believe I spent that much talking about El5n when he only showed up for like 3 minutes. All of our characters are suffering but Shaddiq, the bastard

[smokestarrules]

hi! i wanted to ask u a question abt gwitch if that’s okay. during That episode 17, before miorine does the cruel/idiotic betrayal breakup she tells guel that she’s the same as him and also doesn’t want to lose her precious things. obviously she meant suletta but i was always confused, bc she’s still going thru with the backstabbing and pushing her away so she IS losing her precious thing unlike guel who with this deal is preserving his precious thing which is jeturk company by partnering w her. so they’re not the same in that sense OR did she mean 2 other ways: that she doesn’t want to lose the precious suletta she knows and loves to prospera’s manipulations that’ll turn her into a murderer, or that she means it like suletta will surely die on this path if it continues and she doesn’t want to lose her literally.

sorry this got long but i’m v curious how u interpreted that, like she said that and then goes and gives up her precious thing- unless it was the latter reasons i mentioned. also i’m realizing now it sounds like i hate miorine, i don’t, i get what she did and im nuetral/like her character but i never got the catharsis and resolution from that act bc of the rushed ending, and now i have this unresolved frustration and anger towards her that pops up sometimes when i think abt the 2nd cour.

i rly rly wish they’d gotten to talk abt this more during their reunion than just the one line “pulling u away from ur mom, it was all a mistake” like i desperately needed the words im sorry. i KNOW she probably said it offscreen but maaaan, i know u like this trope but break your heart to save them gets under my skin so badly i just want to shake the character!

this got long again i’m so sorry for the rambling, like i said i’ve got baggage from ep17 that imo didn’t pay off well enough to justify doing that. i still ship sulemio tho and am so happy they’re married, it just breaks my heart that we didn’t get more episodes to unpack that miorine acted exactly like her father. have a good day! thanks for reading all this if u did

To me it was both of the reasons you yourself mentioned: Miorine weighed her options, and ultimately decided that Suletta would be worse off if she didn't cut ties with her in the worst possible way. As a result, Suletta would be taken out of the most dangerous areas (re: Prospera also giving her up, as was the deal) and she wouldn't be further corrupted by Prospera either.

There just really wasn't any good decision to make. I love that episode because I think it's incredibly good character development for Miorine to be able to make that choice; she's always been somewhat of a selfish character and that's been shown alongside her protection of Suletta, so obviously this is a huge decision for her no matter what.

I would have also loved to see an apology, but unfortunately it's pretty clear that the tail end of the show was pretty rushed and while the scene we did get of their reunion was done incredibly well, there's a few things that they simply ran out of time for. In the end, I think I would have loved a true season 2 where they could flesh everything out more slowly and thoroughly, but I am happy with what we were ultimately given. You are absolutely valid to have some misgivings about how it all went down.

[adracat]

G-Witch episode 12 thoughts

Well, that was a wild ride. I think we all know the big moment that everyone is talking about but before we sprint to the finish in angst-ville, let's enjoy the relatively lighter bits-- just joking there aren't any.

Seeing the witches go all out with their permit scoring really highlights how unique Aerial and Suletta are. Still, Sophie is able to beat the GUND-format antidote by sheer force of will. And unlike Suletta it takes a huge toll. This fight was incredibly one-sided on behalf of DoF which I think we all suspected. Witches aren't feared for nothing.

In the middle of all this chaos, Miorine is shielded from debris by Delling. His talk to her and mention of Mio's mother was enlightening. They way he speaks of her makes me wonder if she was a soldier too, possibly killed by a Gundam? Whatever the truth, it's unmistakable how much he cares for Mio's well-being. He might have a shit way of showing it in a non-deadly situation, but it's better than Fail Mother of the year, Prospera.

Before we open that masked can of worms, here's a brief mention to Nika. We see her save herself and the rest of Earth House by signaling to Norea's gundam. Lucky for her, she was recognized as an ally of the 'Prince'. Not so luckily, her little morse code session was seen. Oops.

I'd like to see her collusion and secrets come to light early in the next cour. She's a good egg, just trapped between her past ties on earth and the friends she made at military school. Will it end terribly? I'm anxious to find out.

Pour one out for Bob by the way. I won't mourn Jeturk, but it's scarred his son for life. Imagine changing to become a better man all because someone was nice to you, but whoops. Patricide. That's a twist I didn't forsee but it piques my intrigue. Will Bob return to Guel with a massive revenge scheme as CEO of Jeturk industries?

But speaking of parents and children...

Posting this entire scene because I wanted to showcase, beginning to end, how informative this is for what follows next. We have Suletta fearful for her life, shocked by seeing her mother kill. She's completely shaken, yet calms once Prospera repeats the philosophy we've been hearing the whole show. The light shines upon Prospera as she offers her hand, appearing angelic in spite of the killing. You can see the moment Suletta internalizes this. Killing for those you love is just; fighting gains you two, running would mean losing someone. She moves forward and pilots Aerial as Prospera demands. It's a subtle manipulation, and from Suletta's wide-eyed stare (similar to another episode where she's desperate to believe her mother) she accepts this new reality.

Small aside, I like this brief confirmation Aerial can communicate detailed things to Suletta despite only appearing as lights and a whale-like sound to us. Very interesting.

Now onto the penultimate scene.

Messed up and shocking as this is, I found it completely in character. I don't think she's snapped or anything like that, merely accepted her mother is right and killing for another person to survive is an acceptable trade. Her unnatural cheer in this scene is unnerving, but I read this as her desperately trying to keep herself and Miorine calm; she's acting the same as always to downplay the gruesome reality.

So she does what she has always done and mimics Prospera, positioning herself in the same way. All the while she's oblivious to how horrifying her behavior comes across. Yet it doesn't escape us, nor poor Mio. I would not be surprised if Prospera used that phrase as a means of conditioning Suletta to do what she asks.

From groom to murderer in the span of one episode and cour 😔 Suletta now persona non grata. It's cruel to leave us here until April but also brilliant ngl. I can't wait to see how our fav couple navigates this conflict. All is fair in love and war.

I do love this shot though, bookends are my weakness.

[casliveblog]

Custom Toonami Block Week 196 Rundown

The Witch from Mercury: The group continues to try to infilitrate Quiet Zero but it turns out everyone in the corporate world had a Death Star in their back pocket just waiting for the battle of the teenager drama queens to break out so they had an excuse to use them. The Space UN has their own giant laser ready to just blow up Miorine’s dad’s whole deal and let the creepy cult ladies and Real!Ceres take over so we got a Death Star vs Starkiller base situation going on since this one eats solar energy and craps world destroying beams. Suletta desperately tries to get through to Eri while Chuchi drives without wifi to shuttle everyone inside and something unspecified stops Eri from blowing them up right off the bat. Meanwhile Guel and Lauda are still having their family fight and Lauda’s just like “WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME YOU KILLED DAD DID YOU THINK I’D GO CRAZY OR SOMETHING!?” and Guel’s just like “Of course not, you’re clearly handling it very well right now” and they really made me think they might actually kill Guel for a second there but luckily their girl has anti-explosion charges ready to stop his dramatic death and seal their family problems for now. Miorine breaks into the Death Star and they fight Prospera and eventually end up hacking a world-destroying superweapon with tomatoes or some shit, I don’t get it but hacking montages are all nonsense anyway so at least this one’s thematically relevant. Miorine tells Prospera she’s a bitch of a mother-in-law and turns out Miorine’s dad is up and about enough to fake a Zoom call for a few minutes to distance the group from the literal Death Star but the bad guy with the most punchable face in the world fires Starkiller Base anyway and Eri blocks it with her ultimate wifi shield though it blows her up in the end because in the end the thirst to kill people for war was stronger than the thirst to kill people for peace.  

Ranma ½: It’s Ranma’s first day of school and it’s time to flesh out all the secondary love interests now that we’ve got the premise and main pairing down. First Ranma runs into Dr. Tofu (seriously is that an actual name?) we don’t get much on him but he’s a deceptively strong but gentle doctor and seemingly the only male presence Akane’s actually fond of. Next we kinda get some insight on why Akane’s kinda done with the whole male gender as she’s greeted by every athlete in the school trying to fight her every morning because resident Kendo President Kuno told them only the person that defeats her can date her and I kinda don’t get it like Akane’s cute and high school boys like a challenge I guess but she doesn’t seem ‘every boy in the school willingly gets the shit beat out of them every day for her’ pretty. Anyway Ranma and Kuno fight and they seem even-ish (the powerscaling in this show is kinda weird because they have to mix it with comedy) but gender shenanigans ensue as it starts to rain and it hadn’t occurred to me that they had to keep Ranma’s girl identity secret, like I thought that’d be an open thing but the whole double life deal is kind of another wrinkle. The whole school eventually finds out Ranma and Akane are ‘engaged’ and I know arranged marriages are a thing but is it still legal in Japan to literally force someone to get married against their will? Either way Kuno and Ranma fight again but end up getting interrupted when Ranma’s death-defying third story kung fu jump actually lands him in the pool which is technically safer but gives him his extra floaties no ones allowed to see. Still through some shenanigans and Akane trying to help keep Ranma undercover, Kuno gets his shit kicked in by Girl!Ranma and ends up falling in love with her because old-school love triangles are so passé, this is a THREE DIMENSIONAL love triangle with the gender identities of participants swapping around and that’s kinda fun, like I feel like it’ll get old real quick and they’ll never quite address the confusion this places on Ranma but for now it’s fun and his and Akane’s relationship is inching a little more familiar even if they’re still in ‘stupid baka’ tsundere levels.

Castlevania: It’s final fight time, Ratko and Varney attack the Underground Court while Germain’s forces siege Castlevania while he does human transmutation upstairs where Dracula died. Trevor fights Ratko and takes way too long to use the awesome new weapon he just grabbed, resulting in the death of that one lady who finally came to her senses and is like “I have a heroic sacrifice now, we good right?’ and bitch no, you did one good thing after months of running an insane kangaroo court and abusing your people, we’re not square, like I’m not mad at you but I’m not gonna scream your name (whatever it was) and do a rallying cry of “AVENGE HER” during the final battle. Meanwhile the other forces attack Alucard’s castle with a foreskin monster that looks like those giant demonic chicken things in Lost Izaleth that no one bothers fighting, so they have to move inside the castle. Alucard legit finds Germain in his childhood bedroom gloating how he can by his own admission sacrifice dozens of people and create an abomination against god just so he can get his dick wet. I don’t think I like Evil Germain very much, much less interesting, much hornier, bad show. Alucard doesn’t have the time or mental faculty to process all THAT shit so he goes to help people not die from the foreskin demon. Meanwhile Trevor finally finds his new weapon upgrade and uses it to kill Ratko while Varney finds the big transportation mirror and jumps through it (I mean there are other big transportation mirrors, was that really the only one available to them? Seems like a lot of work for a glorified bus ride, like they KNEW where they were gonna be doing this, why didn’t they just meet up ahead of time?) either way Trevor and Sypha jump through the mirror too and all the protagonists are finally back in one place, whoo.

Dandadan: Since Momo is not ready to process the guy she’s been thrust into a supernatural plot with having the same name as her celebrity crush, Ken gets the nickname Okarun to make this all flow more smoothly. The two realize they’ve literally been up all night fighting aliens and go to resident Oshino-style apparition hunter Momo’s Grandma’s house for help, having to lower the protection against evil spirits to get Okarun in since he’s technically an evil spirit now. The two bond a bit and Momo tells him she’d still hang out with him even if they weren’t in horrible danger and literally contractually obligated to not get more than a few feet away from each other right now. Something I like about the characterization in this show is they are kind of hilariously petty and dorky and will fight over silly things but they’re also very chill with each other and don’t start shit over nothing, a lot of the time the ‘you can insult your friends’ trope kinda runs too hard and seems like veiled abuse but here it’s really silly and wrapped in such genuine care it’s nice. Anyway they get attacked by a Sumo Alien and it turns out aliens and evil spirits basically work on the same rules so if they can get the barrier back up it’ll be cool. They try to use Okarun’s Hollow Senku powers to stop it but it just turns him into a depressed Zoomer and he can’t hold onto it long enough to get a definitive blow. Eventually through teamwork and Momo Tatsumaki-ing her way through the alien’s Jet Gatling long enough to dig a hole in the wall they do get rid of it but the exhaustion catches up with Momo and she passes out, letting Okarun’s curse run free in the decidedly un-zoomer way.

Delicious in Dungeon: The group don’t have much time to contemplate their new species and ages before they’re attacked by the Gargoyles again and find that they ARE the changeling mushrooms so creating a ring with their bodies also changes things which is a fun little mechanic though I question the biology of that, but yeah much like Resident Evil 8 it turns out the real mushrooms were the friends we made along the way. They kinda figure out off-screen that they can just… take a bath and get rid of the mushroom spores, like they even say it’s an anti-climactic answer in-universe but I guess it is a logical next step from discovering you have magic mushroom spore powers and eating changeling variety roulette dumplings. They get on a dwarven trolley and Laios gives the cliffnotes of his backstory while Marcille realizes just how much she misses Falin and how much they meant to each other. Senshi comes up with the idea that if they kill Falin again and only eat the dragon parts, digestion works as a kind of ‘unbinding’ for magic so it literally beaks down the dragon bits to not be able to regenerate anymore. I have questions about this since Falin’s bones are all that are left of ‘her’ and she’s way smaller than the dragon even now even though they only ate a small slab of the dragon meat but far be it from me to question digestion magic. But yeah, we’ve had “We must slay the dragon”, we’ve had “We must fuck the dragon”, now we have “We must EAT the dragon”! That’s where we end the season, just deciding to use the power of friendship to eat Falin, good times.

Gleipnir: We immediately jump back into the fight already in progress, getting enough of a flashback of this girl who’s attacking them and the flashback’s like 50% pantyshots but long story short she’s a runner and got stronger with the coins but isn’t into having demon claws so she wants to un-monkey’s paw her powers with more coins and just FUCKING HAPPENS to overhear Clair dumping exposition last episode, like holy shit the contrivance, I know coincidences that get the protagonists into trouble instead of out of it are supposed to be fair game but that’s kind of a stretch. Anyway Clair maces runner girl and Shuuchi is not down to do a murder so they run and runner girl chases after them even though, like, she’s in Clair’s apartment, she could just wait for her to come back or at least take a shit in her bed or something, alternatively Clair and Shuuichi could go to the police but getting them involved in Mascot Monster Murder Mayhem 2015 is probably not the best idea even though that’s exactly why she’s chasing them. They exposit for a bit and Clair unzips his mascot outfit and makes a gratuitous amount of sex puns about slipping into his meat curtains and runner girl just kinda… finds them… somehow, never explained. Unfortunately for her the two are now a gundam and the perfect combination: a beta male in a furry suit and a sociopath, truly an unstoppable combo. They beat the shit out of her and it becomes very clear just what a fucking unhinged bitch Clair is like she’d probably be doing half this shit without the furry suit but yeah they don’t get any more exposition out of runner girl so they snap her leg and Clair pulls a giant gun out of nowhere and shoots her, so if she just had a gun I guess the whole melee brawl was just for kicks. Shuuchi is very uncomfortable that they just did a murder but Clair has the post-coitous glow of disemboweling a barely established but still relatively ignorant human being with a giant revolver. They try to salvage this and pretend it’s not just abuse with Clair basically making a suicide pact with Shuuichi but part of me’s not buying it, like throw all the panty shots you want at me I don’t fucking trust Clair. She made it very clear this was a relationship of convenience and kinda gaslit Shuuichi into thinking the world’s gonna be out to get him even though it’s her fault runner girl found out about him and even her stunt to try and jump off a warehouse balcony to pretend to die with him probably wouldn’t have done more than break her legs, like girl is an insane amount of crazy and if they’re actually trying to play that side of the relationship straight I may pull out my hair. Also Clair’s sister has a crush on Shuuichi and made the wish that turned him into a furry or something idk.

Revolutionary Girl Utena: Wakaba’s back in the story after like six episodes and you bet it’s for plot relevance as Touga sets his sights on her as the weak link in Utena’s group. Meanwhile Utena still feels weird about Touga saving her and hates his guts but also wonders if he might be heroic like her ideal prince deep down, no one can seem to get a read on Touga and even the other evil council members are trying to figure out how far his Aizen planning goes between getting Saiyonji expelled and having Nanami lose her duel. He confronts Anthy, claiming she needs to do nothing but be a pretty trophy and Utena tells her to stand up to him and she does but he’s like “Aha she stood up to me just like her fiancée wanted, such an obedient bride” like you can’t really win on that one since Anthy never really puts her foot down on anything, like it’s clear she has other interests but she also doesn’t as vehemently reject her position as Utena does for her. Utena still thinks Touga’s her flashback prince even though she literally depicts him in her memories with completely different hair and mannerisms and it combined with Touga giving mixed signals leads to a weird sexual tension between them when he’s like “I’mma kiss you nah on second thought let’s fight with swords at dawn.” Though spending some time with Anthy and having her finally express an independent thought to branch out more and make more friends motivates her enough to say she don’t need no man and she’s gonna protect her girlfriend even if it fucks up her backstory. Still, when the duel comes and Touga dances around her until she tries to use the Dios Thrust, he abandons the will to fight her and she loses her will to strike him as well, only for him to cut her rose off at the last second. Utena still thinks she can salvage something and asks Touga to free Anthy out of the goodness of his heart and take whatever reward he can without her. However Touga reveals something kind of complicated, Anthy’s a blank slate and not only didn’t feel any need for freedom but COULDN’T, she’s just a mirror that reflects what the person who owns her gives her and the slice of life shenanigans and budding desire for freedom where just Utena’s projections onto her. Now this does kinda ring true a bit since Anthy never really expressed much of the wishes Utena was talking about and just kinda nodded along, not that Utena’s wrong for suggesting it, she’s the only person who genuinely wants what’s best for Anthy and even if that’s a projection she knows it wasn’t ALL fake, Anthy declaring a wish for friendship on her own was real, her horrible cooking was real, glimmers of joy within her were real and that’s enough for Utena to resolve to get her back.

[decretum565]

Gundam Witch Season 1: Thoughts Upon Rewatching

So I have just completed my rewatch of the first season of The Witch From Mercury. It’s a show of many talents, certainly, for better or worse, but I am still overall enjoying myself on the second time through. Without further ado, here are what I liked and what I didn’t!

THE GOOD

—Starting off, Suletta remains a great protagonist. From the get-go, she’s an anxious delight with a steel spine, and I love that about her. Her story of desperately trying to reconcile those two aspects of herself is deeply compelling, and I also love just how snarky she can be on occasion. Love her!

—Miorine can be a bit harder to appreciate, but I still continued to like her on this rewatch. She’s very flawed, of course, but those flaws are ultimately sourced from the environment she grew up in. She’s great to analyze, and, like Suletta, is quite compelling.

—Their relationship is also really interesting to watch. There’s a lot of rough spots along the way, but it’s genuinely nice to see a canon lesbian relationship that feels authentic in this manner.

—I love Earth House. All of them. They’re so fun to watch, and I’d totally watch a show with only them.

—The production values are really pretty! The CGI does stick out a bit, but I didn’t notice that on my first viewing, so it’s not too egregious. The backgrounds are lush, the lighting is beautiful, and the character designs feel nice and distinct.

—The soundtrack is amazing. Both the orchestral score, and the OP and ED are fantastic. They really fit the show. The voice acting is also excellent.

—The stakes of the season finale are really well-handled, and the atmosphere the writers went for complemented that perfectly.

—The show’s super engaging!

—I find Guel’s arc fascinating. The second season fumbles it slightly iirc, but it’s both (initially) satisfying to see him taken down a peg, and horrific considering the amount of trauma the poor guy goes through.

—The Trial Scene is the best thing I have ever seen in my entire life.

—Other good scenes: Prospera calling Miorine out on her privilege, Suletta’s anxious breakdown in the bathroom, the entirety of Episode 8, the Grassley fight, and any Earth House scene.

—I think the fact that the school is meant for Wealthy Business Kids does a good job sliding past some of the more illogical parts of the concept.

—Sophie, Norea, and Secelia (plus Rouji) are also great. Couldn’t find a good place to put them in here, so might as well show my appreciation at the end of the good list, haha.

THE BAD

—The Utena homage doesn’t work for me as well this time. It worked in that show because the environment itself felt largely closed off from adults. Here, it comes off as more strange than anything just how powerful the Dueling Committee is. Am I supposed to believe that the teachers just do NOTHING? The entire time? Come on. Besides, we only see class like three times. If you’re gonna go with a school setting, you might as well do something with it.

—Prospera is . . . I don’t know. I like the way she’s set up in the Prologue, but after that the show feels like it’s spinning its wheels whenever she comes on screen.

—WHAT. IS. THE. TONE. Seriously Okouchi what are you going for here.

—There’s more glaring moments of writing than I remember. Episode 3 has Shaddiq talking to Sarius while researching Prospera, where he points out that the mining accident listed in her ID is likely the reason for her prosthetics. But she had previously explained this in Episode 2’s trial scene, where BOTH Sarius and Shaddiq were in attendance. Did the writers forget or something?

—There’s too many characters. I get that Shaddiq’s not-harem is supposed to be an IBO homage, but this show’s lesser episode count does not do them any favors.

—I don’t like how Suletta and Miorine’s reconciliation involves the latter hitting her. I just don’t.

—I don’t give a shit about Elan Ceres. #4’s literally Bargain-Bin Rei Ayanami, except Rei was actually interesting. The real one is fine, I guess, but he’s also pretty underutilized. And #5’s just plain creepy.

—What was up with that scene in Episode 1 where Vim tried to assassinate Delling? I suppose it was meant to be foreshadowing, but the scene feels so erratic compared to everything else in the pilot.

—Shaddiq is . . . Ugh. His initial interactions with Miorine are okay, but I don’t find him all that compelling. Also, I find it pretty “yikes” that the show decided that a (heavily implied) Middle Eastern character was going to be a prominent terrorist.

—Oh my god the pacing with Lauda is even worse than I remember.

—Episode 7 has some good moments, but the one scene with the Peil House ladies interrogating Suletta is so painful to watch. As is Miorine begging her father to give her money, which is in the same episode that Prospera calls out her financial privilege.

—Some of the direction feels off. It kept being framed in Episode 11 that Sophie and Norea were in the opposite Gundam. There was another moment that felt off to me but I can’t even remember it at this point.

—Just hearing the name “Quiet Zero” makes me tense up. I am not ready for Season 2’s pacing problems.

And . . . That’s about it! All in all, I’m enjoying the show, but watching Iron-Blooded Orphans has really highlighted the problems that Gundam Witch runs into. I might do a write up for Season 2 as well, but tbh that would depend on me actually knowing what was going on in the last two episodes. I do want to write a rant about how much Lauda sucks tho so who knows at this point.

[waterloggedsoliloquy]

[image ID: 3 screenshots of a discord conversation with @piromantic​ .] Cygnus — holy fuck holy shit suletta oh no oh noooooo Cecil —  YEAH. YEAH  the thing i really really liked about this episode is that like prospera is obviously grooming Suletta, but is doing so in a way that uses objectively true things like, suletta should not be a child soldier, but she is doing the right thing by protecting the entire plant! shes also right for killing that guy. trolley problem. it's much, much easier for an abuser/manipulator to use truth to string along their victim than to spin a lie that they need to consistently maintain Cygnus — YEAH Cecil —  suletta stepping into the blood spilled by her mom as symbolism of the fact that she cannot have protagonist moral immunity in a fucking warzone is so so good. and then literal blood on her hands. christ also. also. also. a figure clad in white after our protagonist experiences death for the first time, coming to console her and reassure her and bear her up to violence?????? prospera dios/akio moments. Cygnus —  goddd ur right. its going to be sooo much more difficult for her to break away from prospera because there's no easy 'you lied to me about x!' thing to make it all a simple case of 'her worldview is different now' i rly screamed when they did that especially regarding the way this show has presented itself so far! like its mentioned war and war profiteering obviously but to make the main character an undeniable part of it.... god oh god prospera dios/akio moment youre right. Cecil —  and suletta dissociating away the violence immediately after she squashes someone like a bug [An emoji of Utena Tenjou from revolutionary girl utena sipping tea.] "nothing bad has ever happened to me. im pink!" suletta "im willing to participate in a violent structure as long as it fulfills my desperate wish to feel like im doing the right thing. the adults said its okay, so it is, isnt it?" tenjou.

Cygnus —  MAN the amount of dissociation shes experiencing for that last scene to play out just. hurts i had to rewatch the scene w/ prospera after that just. the way she immediately goes to 'this is the right thing, this is how you save people' and applies the nice little saying she taught suletta to literally participating in war Cecil —  NEVER LOSE YOUR STRENGTH AND NOBILITY!!!!!! Cygnus —  HGHGGHH Cecil —  THIS SHOW MAKES ME WANT TO RUN INTO TRAFFIC /pos Cygnus —  FOR REAL it keeps making me get up and walk in circles just to process. the everything

End ID.]

[preordered-gf]

.49 Suletta Mercury

To be honest, It's a bit hard to pick.

Maybe her overall optimism about life and people.

It feels like the crux of her character, and her arc throughout the show, from her first appearance in Craddle Planet novel, to the last we see of her in the grass fields, it's something that is underlying to her actions and understanding of the world.

I like how it is presented as one of her personal faults, it doesn't always bring fortune to her, she's constantly having to constantly play catch-up to understand the underhanded and pessimistic politicking of Asticassia, and at times it makes her seem rather dim because she doesn't know about the social rituals of rich kids. On a more constantly shown example, there is the stuff with the Elans; from No.4 manipulating her in order to get inside the Aerial, of course, eventually things work out and he builds a genuine sense of friendship with her, which sadly leads to the original Elan and No. 5 abusing that trust and putting her directly in harm's way, or in some cases directly assaulting her in an increasingly desperate bid to obtain Aerial.

But it is also presented as one of her virtues, it's one of the reasons she can make such social impact on a school full of snot-nosed brats who are being groomed into inheriting the position of heartless military and soulless corporate, simply being a genuine person who expects other to reflect that genuineness back changes the dynamics of the school, and eventually makes characters turn around their opinion of her ie. Guel, Shaddiq (one turns around much, much sooner than the other but still)

And of course, that sincerity and good-will is a big part of what makes Mio eventually fall for her, so, pretty big aspect overall.

And I love how, as she grows more mature throughout the show, she doesn't lose that sense of optimism, it just grows alongside her, after the second terrorist attacks, she doesn't pretend not to be aware of how much destruction and death she witnessed, how many people have succumbed to it, but she knows she can still save some of the victims from it, and so she works tirelessly from presumably an early morning class until presumably late night, when Earth House eventually finds her.

Hell, I would say a lot of the entire end arc relies heavily on her optimism, being willing to see the goodness of Earth House after the revolving door of betrayals she received recently, helping thorugh the aftermath of the second attack, putting together the situation regarding Mio/Eri/Prospera and becoming set on talking to all of them, in order to set things straight, despite how badly she had been affected by their recent actions, as the show puts it, it's unrelenting kindness

If I had to put a second option, maybe her self-worth quirk of tying it to how useful she can be to others, a weird option to pick maybe, but it felt really relatable to see, and I guess I projected a little from it, so it felt extra great to see her slowly overcoming that, until eventually we see her as a confident, joyful woman in the epilogue.

Of course, her situation is much more complex, raised in a colony that disliked her until she proved to be an useful asset as a rescue pilot, she eventually ties her sense of worth with her usefulness to others, but I can relate to the idea of overworking yourself and throwing away your wishes in order to do well for others a bit.

Idk, i just think she's neat :3, she's a girly girl and her femininity is a major aspect of how she's able to eventually succeed in her goals, and that just warms my heart

[a-dauntless-daffodil]

Rational Thought: You don’t even watch that show!

Me: gwitch final mirroring the first ep but ariel bodyswaps, and suletta ‘dies’, and miorine gets a giant mecha robot wife

Gay Thoughts: … go on

Me: ok so-

Big battle going on. Aerial has been infected and is in the process of being corrupted/controlled by The Bads (who are the bads? idk. i don't watch this show argh). Suletta is forcibly removed from her sister’s cockpit, leaving it blood splattered, while trying to go save her friends.

The Bads are about to shoot her in the head when Miorine (off doing emergency sabotage) manages to block the corruption of Aerial for a split second.

Aerial breaks free, literally, breaching the hanger doors and sending everyone tumbling out into space. She tries to reach for her little sister, but the virus takes hold again, and Suletta is left drifting away, leaking air and blood from the shot that will probably still kill her anyways.

Miorine suits up and goes out after the thrashing Aerial, pleading “Aerial, can you hear me? We’re running out of time! The download is almost complete, you’ll be out of that body and away from the virus soon, but before that- You’re the only one who can do this! You have to, please-”

Aerial notices the person clinging to the outside hull and goes for a hand smack- Miorine braces herself, screaming

“-save her!”

Smash cut. Aerial’s hand is cupped over the hunched down Miorine, spasming. Jerkily but carefully Aerial gathers Miorine up in her palm and brings her to open cockpit. The lights inside are flickering frantically, sparks shooting out here and there. A desperate Miorine asks “What am I supposed to do?”.

Two words appear on the screens. HELP ME.

Static as the screens bring up a view of Suletta’s prone form, drifting amid the battle. The screens cut to black, taken over by Aerial new master’s logo. A recoding of Miorine plays. “SAVE HER!”.

Then static. The Gundamn’s lights go red.

“Aerial? Aerial!” Miorine, frantic, jostling the unresponsive controls. “I can’t! Suletta is the only one who- I don’t know how! Tell me how to-!” The touch pad flickers to life with the outline of a hand. Miorine looks down at her palm. It’s red. Wet with blood.

“This is…hers…?”

(irony)

Miorine clenches her hand into a fist and then slams it, palm down, on the panel. New pilot accepted. Green light bleeds through the red, glowing lines crawling up Miorine’s arms, framing her face. Static and then low, ragged breathing.

“Ah, she feels better now… though it’s a bit weird being so small… thank you… miss Miorine…”

“SULETTA?!”

Relief panic fury. Miorine moves the controls and the Gundam shoots forward, into the battle. “Don’t waste air, we’re coming, just-” An explosion knocks the Gundam off course. “-damnit, BASTARDS!”

A faint laugh over the coms line.

“Aerial says sorry. She’s losing her connection to her old body already… and… our friends… They need help. I can’t do anything… sorry, but… it’s up to you now.”

“What are you saying, idiot? Don’t you remember my only duel?!”

“It’ll be fine. I’ll talk you through it. Like you do for me, in practice…”

“Talk? TALK!? You’re losing air! You’ll-”

“Please… I don’t want our friends to die…Miorine… please?”

A war raging outside as Miorine slumps forward, trembling, red with her groom’s blood.

“…we’re coming to get you, Suletta,” a promise, “but we’ll do what we can on the way. So. Tell me.”

A blur of destruction as Suletta guides her through it- shoot there, cut here, Chuchu needs help- it’s a trap, go around the other side- let Aerial handle the weapons for a second, she thinks she can hold on enough for that…it’s okay, just focus….Keep moving forward ….

People dying all around them and Suletta’s voice is dying away too.

Miorine, screaming in rage, terror, tearing away from the fight, lines of light on her skin blazing- Until there she is, drifting at the end of a sparkling tail of oxygen and blood droplets. An echo of the day they met.

Miorine dragging her into the cockpick, pulling Suletta close.

“-wake up, you have to wake up, Suletta, open your eyes-” trying to close the hole in her suit, trying to slow the bleeding.

Suletta covering Miorine’s shaking, bloody hand with her own.

“You did it.” Suletta smiling weakly, eyes unfocused. “Aerial’s all back on the station now, but she says she’s impressed. Good job….”

“Press down on this.” Miorine, clinging to her, clinging to hope, letting go to reach for the controls. “I’ll get us back in a second and you’ll be fine.”

“Mm hmm.” Suletta limp in her lap, head slumped on Miorine’s shoulder. “This is nice…”

“Don’t fall asleep! Are you pressing on the wound, idiot?”

“I’m trying ‘m trying…. hey Miorine… guess what…”

“What? I’m a little busy-”

“Today’s my birthday...”

“Great, wonderful. I’ll get you a cake later I promise. Throw a party, wrap presents- the whole normal birthday experience, I promise okay? Just don’t-”

“… we could get married now, if you wanted to.”

“Eh?”

“Right now. If you wanted…”

“NOW? Suletta, can you see where we are? How much blood have you lost!?”

“Well… a lot, probably.”

“And you want to talk about weddings?!”

“..eheh… silly right..”

“I’m not discussing this here, we can talk after you- Suletta? Suletta!”

….

“Don’t- don’t you DARE- Aerial she’s- I need help! I can’t, I can’t hold the wound and pilot- I KNOW YOU’RE IN A DIFFERENT BODY NOW, I’M SORRY OKAY!? Just help me get her back, the bleeding, we have to stop-”

_ _ _ _

“… what? I don’t understand..”

_ _ __ _

“… no…”

_ _  

“No, no you’re wrong, she just needs- She’ll be fine.”

_ _ _ _ __ _ ___

“But that’s not possible- no one has ever-”

_ _  ___ _  _ _

“… you?”

_ ___

“…”

_ _ __ __

“…will it, still be her? Will she remember… no, it doesn’t matter.”

_

“I said it doesn’t matter.”

__ -

“Aerial! Just tell me how.”

_ __ _

“I’m sure, so hurry! Please!”

 _    _____ _ _ _ __ _ __  _  _ _ _ _

….

“…Suletta..?”

…

(Ten Years Later)

Earth from a distances, small, bright, fragile.

A continent smudged with green. A field, dotted with launchpads and runways, shuttles and ships arriving and departing like clockwork. There at the edge, a forest, a set of apartment housing.

A rooftop garden. A greenhouse.

A small redhaired child with bushy eyebrows, couching in front of a tomato plant, frowning in concentration.

“This big one? Or maybe… this really red one over here?” She tilts her head and the small robot hovering next to her tilts too, humming.

“Ah!” Laughter. “Look look, that one at the back’s got a weird shape! It looks like a BUTT!”               

The robot jerks in shock.

“Heh, sorry auntie.” Rubbing the back of her neck the child grins. “But you know… it really does…”

“Aer?”

Miorine, older, not much taller, pokes her head around the door.

“Are you in here?”

“Heeeere!”

Aer rocks backwards, dirty hands on scraped knees, upside down and beaming, twigs in her messy hair.

“Honestly...” Miorine groans. “I told you to try staying clean today.”

“Booo.”

Nose in the air, Aer huffs, haughty and unabashed.

“All the fun stuff is in dirt. And you were busy all day! It was boring…”

“Well I’m not busy now. Here.” Edging the door open a bit more, Miorine waves a hand, the rest of her still hidden. “I have a surprise.”

Aer cringes. “It’s not a bath is it…?”

“It will be later.” Miorine rolls her eyes. “Unless you intend to major in collecting your own personal asteroid belt of orbiting filth, but no. This is something fun.”

Her daughter perks up. “Fun? What kind-”

Smiling, Miorine holds up a small helmet.

Aer bounces to her feet with a shriek, the robot next to her beeping gleefully. “SPACE? SPACE FUN? You mean-”

“Yes.” Miorine steps into view already suited up, her own helmet under one arm. “There’s an opening. Let’s go.”

“I’m ready I’m ready!” Aer squeaked, running forward try pushing her mom out the door. “Let’s go go go- Ah! Wait! Tomato…”

Miorine glanced at the plants. “You want to bring-?”

“Can I?” Aer pushed out her lower lip. “Mom? Pleeeease?”

Laughing Miorine handed her the smaller helmet. “When do I ever say no? Here. Put them in this for now.”

“’kay!”

Hurrying back to the plants Aer hesitated, deliberating, Aerial hovering at her shoulder.

“Don’t take too long.” Miorine warned. “You know how quick schedules change.”

“Right.” Nodding firmly Aer looked at her aunt. “The big one and the red one, maybe?”

Aerial beeped agreement.

Aer picked them carefully, then paused. “And…” Reached to the back of the plant she plucked one more. “… she’ll like this one, right?”

Aerial sagged midair but beeped affirmative again.

Grinning, Aer held the third tomato up to the light.

“….. butt tomato…”

“Aer!” Her mom called, already half way across the garden. “Hurry!”

“Three two one LAUNCH!” Aer cried, racing after her. “Last one in outer space is a butt tomato!”

“A what? Aer? What is- Aerial, just what have you been teaching her?!”

BEEEP ;

(Meanwhile, in outer space.)

A station still under reconstruction. Shuttles and suited workers easing along it’s scaffolded ruins, a steady hive of controlled chaos.

Or, mostly controlled.

A leaking cloud of sparkling gas. Arms waving as a suited space walker points to a nearing shuttle. The scrap of impact on a piece of debris, the shuttles lights flicking out, the shuttle itself now drifting dangerously towards another group of tethered workers….

A giant hand, forged of scratched metal, reaching gently out to scoop them safely away.

-Ah Please Remain Calm-

Tiny shuttle cradled against an armored giant, broadcasting in an anxious tone.

-You’ll Be Back Station Side In A Moment_ _ _ Um-

Hesitancy from a machine built for war.

-Would It Be Okay If I Dropped You Off At Hanger C  Though_ ? _ _ _ It’s Just _ _ I’m Supposed To Be Meeting Someone-

A head crowning with iconic razor sharp fins, bending to peer through the small shuttle windows.

Even smaller silhouettes wave eagerly, giving a thumbs up.

-It’s Okay_?_ Really_?_ _ _ Oh Thank You Very Much_!-

Burners pulsing gently, the giant Gundam weaving it’s way cautiously through the other shuttles and half rebuilt structures.

-I’m So Excited-

The Gundam admits for anyone to hear.

-It’s Hard To Get Free Time On Three Different Timetables And Calls Just Aren’t The Same You Know_?-

A synthetic voice, somehow utterly bursting with happiness.

-She’s Been Growing So Much I Wonder If She Can Reach The Controls On Her Own Now-

Swinging gracefully over a collection rubble, the Gundam tucks it’s cargo closer as the hanger doors come into sight.

-And Miorine_ _ _ She Gets Prettier Every Time I See Her_ _ _-

-Ah We're Here-

Nudging the shuttle inside the Gundam drifted back to let another ship pass.  

-I Especially Like The New Little Wrinkles At The Corners Of Her Eyes _ ! _ _ _Oh But Don’t Tell Her I Said That-

“Too late, idiot.”

-M_Miorine_?_!-

Lights flickered in surprise as the Gundam turned, looking down at the side of the station nearest it.

Three figures drifted there, holding onto an access ladder. One small. One smaller.

And one floating robot.  

“Mooooom…! Don’t call mom and idiot! It’s rude! She’s been working hard rebuilding the station!”

Beep.

“Yes yes, you’re right, I’m sorry. I’ll try to hold back.”

-Ahaha It’d Be Strange If She Suddenly Stopped Though-

“Just what are you implying with that?”

-Nothing_!-

“Well then mom should at least say it all lovely dovey like they do in the manga!”

-Um-

“With the floating hearts and stuff. ‘My idiot~’ like that!”

-Er-

“Her taste in books is entirely your fault, not mine.”

-A_ Anyway_!_ You’re Early_! _ I Thought We Were Supposed To Meet _/_Inside_/_ The Hanger_?-

“We got bored.”

“Bored! In! SPAAAAACE!”

“So we thought we’d come meet you. Now. Suletta.”

-Yes_ _?-

“Catch.”

Laughing, and beeping, three figures launch themselves off the station and into open space.

-UWAH-

The Gundam chased after them, reaching out and reeling them in as carefully as if they were soap bubbles.

-Why Every Time_!-

Beep beep Beep.

-It’s Not That Funny At All_!_!-

“Older sister always wins, older sister always wins!”

“Aer, you just say that because someday you’ll be one.”

“I WILL??”

-She Will_?_?_?-

“An older cousin at the very least. I’m sure someday soon, Ariel will meet a nice AI of her own, and then-”

BEEEEEEEEEP! BEEP BEEP BEEEEP!

-Ah Eri_! _ _ _ Not In Front Of Aer Please_!-

“Mom, mom- D’you wanna see a butt tomato?”

-A Butt _ _ _-

“Butt tomato.”

-_ _ Tomato_?-

“Butt tomato!”

-But How Can A Tomato_ _ -

“It’s a tomato that looks like a BUTT!”

“My god you two stop saying it.”

“BEHOLD THE BUTT TOMATO!!!”

-OH-

“Oh no.”

-OH WOW IT REALLY IS A-

“Suletta NO you’re still broadcasting on all channels-”

-BUTT TOMATO_!_!-

All work on the station paused for a moment. A long, long, very awkward moment.

The giant Gundam that had just overridden all their communication lines was too busy looking at the clear plastic tomato terrarium her daughter was showing her, though, and didn’t notice.

Miorine sighs. Mostly fondly.

“Unbelievable.”

Beeep.

“Well at least I only married her. You’re the one who’s related.”

Beep beep beep.

“Aer doesn’t count. She has my genes too, she’s purely a result of nurture, not nature.”

Beep boop….

“Oh hush and take a picture of us all already.”

Beep!

roll credits THE END

[the-stray-liger]

Okay, so Things are definitely happening in Episode 18. Suletta coping in her usual, unhealthy Suletta-like way, with the remainder of Earth House recognizing how unhealthy it is for her to be acting the way she is, and Chuchu in particular encouraging Suletta to give Guel and Miorine a piece of her mind. Which... kind of falls apart, fast. Rather than meet Miorine, Sulettta uses the opportunity to have a heart to heart with the Aerial, and learns the truth of what the Aerial is, or rather, WHO it is... and that Eri no longer needs her. As Suletta is trying to make sense of it all, Eri tells her to let go of both her and her mother for her own sake, and ejects Suletta from the cockpit, and is met by Prospera, who Suletta seeks comfort from, only to be left drifting alone by her mother, who tells her to go to school and live her life.

In a surprising turn of events, Prospera... lets Suletta be, because Eri wanted her sister to live her own life. This is probably the kindest thing Prospera has done for Suletta, when previously she'd done nothing but manipulate her own daughter for her own ends, and from her own subdued actions and tone of voice... it feels remarkably genuine, even as she tries to suggest to Eri that they take her along anyway, but in the end agrees with Eri to leave Suletta alone for her own sake. But even then, it's only served to hurt Suletta all the more, especially as she is desperately trying to find a way forward, and is unable to do so on her own. Miorine cast her aside, even if it was to protect her. Prospera and Eri cast her aside, because Eri wants her sister to live a normal life, and Prospera does so at this point because Eri asked her to, and Prospera herself has no real need for Suletta as Aerial's pilot anymore. She is, as Lauda states... "empty." As hurtful as his words are, he's right in a way. At this moment in time, Suletta's a puppet with her strings cut, struggling to find a way forward out of the darkness she's found herself in.

But then of course there's the B-plot, with Guel and Miorine struggling to find support for Jeturk Heavy Machinery in the wake of his father's death. Prospera reveals that they have a Gundam in development, which angers Miorine, but as Prospera points out, the Schwarzette was a joint venture between Jeturk and Shin-Sei, before the latter was acquired by GUND-ARM Inc.. Miorine refuses to deviate from her vision to have GUND-ARM remain a medical tech company, but plans to bring Aerial to Earth to help de-escalate the riots, but without fighting. Only time will tell how that works out for them, but in the mean time, they confront Shaddiq, who had been attempting to sway Prospera to her side, but is interrupted from his under the table bullshit by Guel and Miorine. Shaddiq then takes that opportunity to declare himself their opponent in the race for the presidential seat.

Meanwhile Martin confesses what he did, trying to convince himself that what he did was the right thing to do, but SURPRISE BITCH, IT'S SECELIA DOTE, calling him a dirty double crossing rat while looking like the cat that just caught the canary. She's found a BIG scoop, and she's not about to let Martin go any time soon. I'd feel sorry for him, because while what he did makes sense from a certain point of view, he still sold out Nika without understanding her side of the story, believing her to be no better than the other terrorists when the viewers know otherwise. Thus, this doesn't make me feels as sorry for Martin as I thought it would, and instead feels more like Karma getting the guy in a chokehold.

frst of all I need t oknow who the FUCK let Secelia into that room. Like she has a talent for making things worse why the hell is she in there

This episode left me so confused. Is Eri trying to protect Suletta by breaking her heart too? From what I read in the short story, Aeria's priority has always been protecting Suletta from Prospera. Eri wants Suletta to be free, is that why she also broke her heart? And what about Prospera. Prospera wanted Suletta to come along but agreed with Eri in which she should be free. Does she care about Suletta after all? Like you said, this was the kindest thing Prospera has ever done by Suletta.

But I'm also realizing that Suletta has had no agency in anything since the start of the series. She's always doing what someone else wants, be it her mother, Miorine, or even Aerial. And now for the first time those bonds of dependency are broken. It destroyed me to see Suletta cry so hard but for the first time she is truly free and she is empty. What is she gonna do with that freedom?

Another thing I actually loved about this episode was EL5n. He really has reached a level of desperation where he doesnt' care about the consequences anymore because he knows what's waiting for him at the end of the line. He knows he's going to be scraped like El4n and he's like hey might as well explain what I'm about. I have come to really like El5n after all because I'm a garbage lover and also because his story is as sad and heartbreaking as El4n. He's a teenager who got genetically manipulated to pilot gundams and had to throw away his identity only to be killed when he isn't useful anymore, and he has become increasingly more desperate, and he is empty because he also has no agency over anything. Him telling Norea and Nika the truth about himself was probably the only act he has ever had control over.

ngl I was really excited for the Schwarzette reveal. I thought we weren't gonna see it until a final battle or something. I'm so worried about Guel and Miorine too. They're going againt Shaddiq, with Prospera as an "ally". Shaddiq has ties to earth and a whole team of shady lesbians who support him, and we know Prospera is manipulating Miorine to do what she wants. And Guel is getting dragged into this as well. It's funny how Miorine is going to earth now. Will she realize her dreaming about going to earth for freedom was childish once she gets to see the situation there? (I have a lot of trouble following through with these bits because I'm not very brigh so I'm also hoping they will dub this into spanish soon so I can keep up with the company stuff)

anyway what an episode. my brain is mush

[hesitationss]

gundam: the witch from mercury cour 2 ep 2/ep 14, spoilers ahead!

okay okay i did make a post freaking out about this episode, but i'm a bit normal again. if you haven't watched the prequel episode, i highly recommend doing that! my personal watch order was watching gwitch ep 1 season 1 and then doing the prequel, it made for a really cool experience and gave me much to think about and OH BOY ep 2 has me THINKING HARD.

we get more of prospera's evil schemes... is it evil? she wants to end all war... by the end of the ep... YEAH it's fucking evil lol.

i am so glad that the earth students aren't just being tossed aside for the main plot, they are being included as a part of the stakes. nika's involvement with shaddiq's plans and them all having personalities, it's so nice to see! martin is becoming more and more upset with nika and nika we are seeing both a bit of nika's backstory as well as her personal wants and dreams beyond the mask that she has put up for everyone. her story about her being in extreme poverty and working on machines and being really happy about being able to go to school, if viewers haven't picked up on war is bad themes yet... this episode for sure solidifies so much. even still, she wanted to bare the burden of everything after realizing how bad everything was turning out to be. even still, she didn't want her fellow earthians getting involved and wants them and suletta to have a normal school life... but nika is just a kid too 😭🥺

also lol...elan is so annoying oh my god.. i know he is like desperate to live, but damn lol 😭

also just a side note but lilique is so cute!! she's very sweet and was just trying to share goat milk with space ppl, they did not have to be so disgusted with it!! also one thing i appreciate is that there are characters with a variety of bodies. lilique is a plus size teenage girl and she even had normal teen boy troubles in season 1 when things were more normal... <3

okay onto the rumble ring: um another side note but lauda having a moment with petra while that other girl is like HUH...dat cold hearted boy is capable of having feelings?

anyway,.. the emotional beats of the rumble ring happening with like all of the pilots personal goals and thoughts coming together on a "mock" battle field while belmeria confront prospera is so chef's kiss. like ugh so much is happening and then chuchu in her usual anger at the elite/spacians is about to blast them in her machine, but it thwarted by flashbacks from the plant quetta incident... i really think that plant quetta is such a major turning point for all of the earthians. they have had to suffer the most already, and now they realities of war are starting to sink in. i'm also just assuming that chuchu's rage is mostly from experiencing the prejudice and aftermath of war as well as wealth inequality and being raised by her 9 dads who are amputees or disabled in other ways from warfare, but she herself has never experienced it first hand until plant quetta. all these earth kids are being haunted by the consequences of imperial and capitalist violence and they are the ones who must endure the most. it's such a noteworthy moment for me in this episode, especially after sophie and norea make their appearance and nearly kill lauda. chu, even after everything knows the reality of war violence and moves to protect them because she doesn't want to see anymore people die.

but chu isn't the only one in the aftermath of war, that's all of the earthians, including sophie and norea... when sophie gives her mini monologue about the things she wants, the things she will kill for "meals big enough to fill my stomach, a fluffy bed to sleep on, warm showers, [...] and also.. a family who will always love me" despite the killing, you can't help but feel for them too, they also took on the "GUNDAM curse" to pilot killing machines to hopefully change their lives. and they fully believe in what they're doing because they have no other choice. the fate of the witches from earth is tragic because children fighting wars in machines that kill them is tragic.

new elan clone doesn't want to die, so he is also fighting for his life, nika has been kidnapped, suletta is starting to realize the weight of taking a life. sophie and norea... i shan't go on... there is so much happening and at the centre of it all is prospera and truth about eri samaya... "creating a world where eri will be happy" AAAHHHHHH

any way i'm going to become a villain now 🚬🐀😭 we're really in it for real now... earth students PLS survive!!

[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!

[smokestarrules]

Guesses at to where various characters will be in their character arcs at season's end? All I have is Suletta and Miorine having spoken again, Suletta having pushed back against Prospera somehow, and Miorine having hit at least A rocky bottom with actual recovery happening next season... Which depends on all the hits like Norette coming this season.

I feel like Aerial will be dead by the end of this. Maybe she sacrifices herself to save Suletta and/or to defeat Prospera or maybe it happens another way, but I don't see her surviving the end of the season. Suletta and Miorine will almost definitely be back together in some way (I say, hoping so desperately) and depending on how things end up, I have a feeling they'll continue working with the rest of Earth House, be it through GUND-ARM or something else entirely.

Prospera's story is a tragedy, that's the point, and I'm almost positive she won't survive. Suletta's story is about becoming her own self, and I think that in the end, she'll be alive and well (and Miorine can apply to the same kind of logic as well).

Overall though, I think it kind of depends on whether or not there's going to be another season of the show. If this is the end, then I think it'll be wrapped up really well. If the creators are banking on another season, I wouldn't be surprised if there's some major cliffhanger concerning one of the main characters. A death scare, maybe, or something like that.

[clacing]

Mixed thoughts? 👁 Would u like to share with the class?

I'm reserving judgment until the finale but let's just say if Eri is just dead like that I'll be. very disappointed 😭 It was all so quick I barely felt anything and she deserved to have a true talk with Suletta before it happened. We know from The Blessing and Cradle Planet that Eri adores Suletta and wants to keep her safe but then?? Spends a whole episode threatening her and her friends and turning down her offers for help, only to turn around at the very last minute and sacrifice herself? Like yeah yeah I get it sibling behavior and all but if this is how Eri goes out, before Suletta can manage to reach her and like. Talk to her. Get to know her a bit before she passes. Then their whole relationship falls flat to me. It was built-up so much and then it's just non-existent in the end? I really really hope Eri isn't dead yet because she desperately needs a heart-to-heart with Suletta and with Prospera. I want them to try to find a way to save her yet again and I want her to realize that she can't be saved anymore, not at the expense of everyone else, and that's okay, it's just time for her to go. And I want Prospera to let her. If they give me that in the next episode I'll forgive them for everything but if they don't..... that makes this episode kinda mid ngl

Like man what are they doing. This is the second-to-last episode and they're not prioritizing the familial relationships, they're not prioritizing the romantic relationships (Suletta and Miorine have only interacted in three episodes this season. Three), instead they're prioritizing wrapping up as many storylines as they can as quickly as possible while also adding new ones at the very last minute. Stop it with the storylines there's no more episodes left

It makes me sad because these relationships aren't incidental to the plot they are the plot they're what the show comes down to and yet. They're not as important as the thousands of plot threads still left dangling because they couldn't pace the show decently

[jintheblue]

Listen I get it. Dean/Castiel is very important to fandom on this sight, but that's basically all it is. Suletta and Mirorine is just so much more important over all. It is cannon from episode 1(or 2 if you count the prologue), it is accepted as ok and valid from literally the moment it's brought up, and then uses a different fact about their relationship as allegory, so these two can suffer the strain without ever letting anyone in the audience say "well this is why lesbian relationships don't work." The show mentions homophobia exactly once so that it can slaughter it in the crib, because while the show is interested in the struggles of young lesbians, it knows the struggle is about the world they live in, and not their human nature, and it doesn't want anyone to confuse the two.

The whole show plays on the tropes of Gundam as tragedy and Shakespearian tragedy, so that it can point an accusatory finger at Yuri tragedy and say "Hey stop being cowards and let the gay girls stay together". They get married when one or both of them should be dead and it's not a cop out or a mistake, it's a statement. It's basically an unwritten rule that in shows like this the relationship is doomed, so it can be milked for tragedy, or worse never meant to be so that it can be milked. It even share's it's dueling game with the first big anime of it's type to celebrate it taking that first step, but also to say "We've come a long way since then, we can do better." And finally the reason this ship works so god damn well for me? The two get together in episode one, and their relationship is not actually healthy and stable until basically three episodes to the end. The "will they won't they" of the ship is "Will these two broken people get their shit together before one of them dies over it". And it's not just the girls fixing each other, but their friends helping them come into their own, real honest people giving them perspectives beyond the little bubbles they were raised in, and genuine honest to god self reflection. Both of these girls for separate reasons need to be pulled out of blanket burritos, because life is just a lot, and it's not until after they do that they can have a real adult relationship and get married.

I'll be honest I stopped watching supernatural long before Dean/Castiel became the main ship, Sam/Dean was bigger at the time, but if anything actually came of it in the text it was as consolation, not intent. Sulemio wants you to get invested, so it can tell you a story. Destiel wants to keep you watching. Desperately.

Tumblr Top Ships Bracket - FINALS

This poll is a celebration of fandom and fandom history; we're aware that there are certain issues with many of the listed pairings and sources, but they are a part of that history. Please do not take this as an endorsement, and refrain from harassment.

[randomidiocyncrazies]

Ah. The gwitch finale was actually more mid than I thought it'd be, while being very paint-by-numbers serviceable at the same time?

I think the reason why I found the ending so unsatisfying/kinda empty was because the last 3 eps literally just kept throwing new concepts in my face at a breakneck pace—I think the ending would've hit a lot harder if we had more info about how things work on a technical level? We'd have appreciated the miracle and how hard Suletta and everyone worked to achieve this outcome where things are relatively peaceful. Instead everything went by so fast (beautiful visuals and impressive animation though!) with little explanation; it feels like i was bamboozled into the happy ending.

(Like... Elan Prime's ending would probably have meant something if we literally got time in the story to give a shit about him

Also Lauda's whole standoffish "don't die" moment with Suletta was so so so awkward. Like... you know the writers probably meant for it to be a resolution of Lauda's arc and his animosity with Suletta+Miorine, but i just found it really funny in part because it felt like they desperately wanted to make a meaningful monent out of it while knowing it can't really carry the moment they wanted? It's slightly too tryhard for me, and i am a mean bitch towards emotional manipulation that doesn't land in media.

Just to be clear—i don't mean manipulation in a bad way here; literally all narratives manipulate the audience's emotional response, in the sense that it strives to make the audience feel specific emotions at specific points. Sometimes it works really well; sometimes it... does not.)

Anyway. I'm glad Suletta and Miorine got their happy ending, and while I think their relationship feels satisfying, the ending as a whole was very just kinda okay. I don't agree with people who shoot down a happy ending bc it's "not gundam" or whatever, but I kinda wish it felt more earned/not rushed through