#rebel princess meta

[jedimandalorian]

@thevibraniumveterans You are correct. I noticed the similarities between these melodies first time I watched Rebels and heard Ezra’s theme. It immediately reminded me of the Han Solo and the Princess love theme from TESB, which has a “concert” version that I highly recommend.

“Han Solo and the Princess” represents Han’s daring heroics as well as his feelings for Leia in the score for The Empire Strikes Back.

Listen carefully from around 2:31 and you will hear how John Williams intertwined Princess Leia’s Theme with the Han Solo theme, giving the listener no doubt that Han’s love for the Princess is reciprocated. It’s brilliant. John Williams is an absolute genius.

There are moments in the Rebels score in which the presentation of Sabine’s theme easily slides right into Ezra’s theme. It happens around 2:00 in this recording.

Composers don’t do things like that by accident. It’s done deliberately. 😉

An interesting analysis of “Sabine Sees Ezra.”

Even though Sabine and Ezra’s themes reflect their different personalities, it is interesting to note that both themes begin with the same interval, a heroic-sounding perfect fifth.

I’m hoping for a really emotional track called “Sabine Finds Ezra” from the Ahsoka series. I just want the music to make me cry tears of joy right along with them during that scene.

The good news is that Kevin Kiner is the composer for Ahsoka, so I am expecting some thematic continuity with Rebels. I loved that the Ahsoka trailer music is based on Ahsoka’s theme from The Clone Wars.

[dumbass-duo-showdown]

ROUND 2

So I’m back! Bracket time!

Reminder the time zone being used is CET

APPLE BRACKET

Aka Cartoons, Anime, and games associated with such (fire emblem and ace attorney)

Day 1 22/4, finished

Part 1: 5pm

Reigen Arakata (mob psycho 100) vs Corazon (one piece), finished

Lord Garmadon (Lego ninjago) vs Heinz Doofenshmirtz (Phineas and Ferb), finished

Iroh (avatar: the last airbender) vs Bob Blecher (bob’s burgers), finished

Iruka Umino (naruto) vs Darkwing Duck (darkwing Duck), finished

Part 2: 8pm

Hakoda (avatar; the last airbender) vs Ice King (adventure time), finished

Greg Universe (Steven universe, he won an extra battle because I forgot him at first) vs Splinter (teenage mutant ninja turtles), finished

Bruno Bucciarati (JoJo’s bizarre adventure) vs Greil (fire emblem: path or radiance), finished

Professor Kukui (Pokémon) vs Phoenix Wright (ace attorney), finished

Day 2: 24/4, finished

Part 1: 5pm

David Evans (Inazuma 11) vs Loid Forger (spy x family), finished

Tim Lockwood (cloudy with a chance of meatballs) vs Oscar Proud (the proud family), finished

Shouta Aizawa (my hero academia) vs Donald Duck (ducktales), finished

Sailor Uranus (sailor moon) vs Skipper (penguins of Madagascar), finished

Part 2: 8pm

Sully (monsters ink) vs Kouhei Inuzuka (sweetness and lighting), finished

Alibert (wakfu) vs Meta Knight (Kirby), finsihed

Gru (despicable me) vs Zenkichi Hasegawa (persona), finished

Kanan Jarrus (Star Wars: rebels) vs Mr Ping (kung fu panda), finished

BAPELSIN BRACKET

Aka live action media, books, and video games & graphic novels not associated with anime (so no light novels or tie ins)

Day 1: 26/4 5pm, finished

Bobby Nash (9 1 1 on fox) vs Benjamin Sisko (Star Trek, deep Space 9), finished

Subject Delta (bioshock) vs Atticus Finch (how to kill a mockingbird), finished

Paul Blofis (Percy Jackson) vs Gomez Addams (the Addams family), finished

Lee Everett (telltale’s the walking dead) vs Waymond Wang (everywhere everything all at once), finished

Part 2: 8pm

Joel Miller (the last of us) vs Calvin’s dad (Calvin and Hobbes), finished

Pyrrha Dve (the locked tomb) vs Common Wubbox (my singing monsters), finished

Doc Louis (punch out!!) vs Riki (xenoblade), finished

Bob Cratchit (a Christmas carol) vs Mo Folchart (inkheart), finished

Day 2, 28/4

Part 1: 5pm

Alfred Pennyworth (Batman) vs Asgore Dreemurr (undertale), finished

Dave Seville (Alvin and the chipmunks) vs Chimney Han (9 1 1), finished

Glamrock Freddy (fnaf: security breach) vs Bail Organa (Star wars) , finished

Kim Dokja (omniscient Reader’s viewpoint) vs Hal Wilkerson (Malcom in the middle), finished

Part 2: 8pm

Lee Scoresby (his dark materials) vs Dream (sandman) , finished

Thrushpelt (warrior cats) vs Barret Wallace (final fantasy 7), finished

Domingo Montoya (the princess bride) vs Terry Jeffords (Brooklyn 99), finished

Rupert Giles (Buffy) vs Pollination Tech 9 Smith (the sims 2: strangetown), finished

QUICK QUESTIONS

WHY THIS PAIR UP? I’m a bringer if chaos, also it was random

What time zone? CET!

How do I do propaganda? Well first you reblog with a text post, don’t put the propaganda in the tags. Or send me an ask! I will make sure to reblog it with the right tags

Hey I saw you made a mistake, what should i do? First, don’t use anon asks to correct my spelling and if I misuse slang. Just tell me directly. If it is 2 hours after a poll has launched, I will redo it immediately. But I will write down the mistakes I make and correct them later on

CODE OF CONDUCT

Previous battles

Main Rounds

ROUND 1

Second chance/dad mansion break in

ROUND 1

The only way to show how the battles (second chance) will happen cuz it’s random AN EXTRA NON DAD BATTTLE?!?!?!?!?!?

[byneddiedingo]

Laura Harris, Shawn Hatosy, Josh Hartnett, Clea DuVall, Elijah Wood, and Jordana Brewster in The Faculty (Robert Rodriguez, 1998)

Cast: Jordana Brewster, Clea DuVall, Laura Harris, Josh Hartnett, Shawn Hatosy, Elijah Wood, Salma Hayek, Famke Janssen, Piper Laurie, Christopher McDonald, Bebe Neuwirth, Robert Patrick, Usher, Jon Stewart, Daniel von Bargen. Screenplay: Kevin Williamson, David Wechter, Bruce Kimmel. Cinematography: Enrique Chediak. Production design: Cary White. Film editing: Robert Rodriguez. Music: Marco Beltrami.

Two premises are key to The Faculty: that adolescents see adults in authority as alien figures, and that high school is an instrument for instilling social conformity. The former has been the stuff of movies since Rebel Without a Cause (Nicholas Ray, 1955). The latter is in evidence today in the efforts of states like Florida and Texas to remake education along conservative ideological lines. Unfortunately, Kevin Williamson's screenplay and Robert Rodriguez's direction don't take either premise seriously enough to make more than a raucous but routine sci-fi/horror movie out of the material. The result is exactly as the Criterion Channel describes it: "The Breakfast Club meets Invasion of the Body Snatchers." John Hughes's 1985 movie put a Jock, a Brain, a Criminal, a Princess, and a Basket Case together in detention and explored the interaction of disparate high school stereotypes. The Faculty's misfit crew is a little more complex: Stan (Shawn Hatosy), the Jock, wants to quit the team, and Zeke (Josh Hartnett) is both Brain and Criminal: He concocts his own drug (unfortunately called "scat") in his lab, selling it out of the trunk of his car, and he has an off-the-charts IQ. Elijah Wood's Casey is bullied the way Brains typically are in teen movies, and Clea DuVall's Stokely is more of a goth-punk rebel than a Basket Case. Jordana Brewster's Delilah is an overachieving Princess, both editor of the school newspaper and captain of the cheerleading squad. They are joined by a New Girl, Marybeth Louise Hutchinson (Laura Harris), a transfer from Atlanta to their Ohio high school who comes complete with a somewhat cloying Southern accent. If The Faculty had kept its focus steadily on this group as they uncover the fact that their teachers have been taken over by an extraterrestrial organism, the movie would have had more coherence and suspense. Instead, it opens with the revelation that something is clearly causing the teachers and the principal to go mad and murderous. The principal (Bebe Neuwirth) is attacked in her office by the coach (Robert Patrick), and when she tries to escape, her way is blocked by a teacher, Mrs. Olson (Piper Laurie), who suddenly turns from meek to menacing. After missing work for a day or so, the principal returns as if nothing had happened. Meanwhile, other teachers have been showing personality changes that begin to spread into the student body. It's not long before the movie begins to invoke the other half of its inspiration, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Don Siegel, 1956; Philip Kaufman, 1978). Williamson, whose screenplay for Scream (1996) was full of allusions to other horror films, can't resist making the source for The Faculty explicit, so when his teenagers cite the movie themselves and use it as a guide to fighting the alien, The Faculty becomes too meta for its own good. There's enough to enjoy in the movie, including good performances by most of the cast. Hartnett is particularly good in the role of a guy who's embarrassed by his own intelligence. It's fun to see Jon Stewart, who plays a science teacher, in one of the acting performances he likes to make fun of. But when it comes to making good on its key premises and developing a real satiric edge, The Faculty has to be called a missed opportunity. 

[thecurioustale]

The Prop Department Is Empty

J. Draper on YouTube got me thinking recently about iconography in my writing.

She was addressing the question of how a very young kid is supposed to tell all the Disney Princesses apart since there are only so many hair and dress colors, and whereas my answer was going to be "How about having more than one body type?" Draper's answer was "SOCIETY PERFECTED THIS CENTURIES AGO!!"

Basically, how do you distinguish all the different Saints in drawings? You give each one a distinctive prop, like a spiky wheel or some keys. If you're precise enough about it you can go super deep, becoming able to tell what time of year a given representation is set, etc.

And that's a clever idea, and something I probably wouldn't have thought of, because iconography is very much outside my own thought process as an artist. I tend to rebel against this kind of symbolism on the grounds that character development should come from character traits and behaviors and not external labels. While I do associate certain objects, colors, etc. with certain characters, these associations are not identifying or exclusive; e.g. Silence is associated with green but you'll see plenty of other characters using green, wearing green, speaking of green, and so forth.

Props are a distinctive shortcoming of iconography in high-realism works as it constrains the props themselves and also imposes artificial meta-expectations by the audience upon the character, e.g., Fonzie's leather jacket, which if taken to its logical terminus ends up caricaturizing the character. ("Just say the line, Bart!")

So don't expect me to start using props anytime soon, is what I'm saying. At least not with anywhere near the consistency required for them to actually function as such.

But it's fun to think about.

However, having put some thought into it recently, the exercise reminded me of how unnatural it is for me. This just isn't in my style at all. I've been working on Galaxy Federal more recently so that's where I started, and I picked Cherry since she's the most developed character, and she has a bunch of traits and backstory I could choose from to pick out props...but I found the effort most difficult and strangely unsatisfying. I tried it for other characters with the same result.

This represents a serious setback to my eventual plans for merchandizing tarot decks...

[lizzybeth1986]

Masterlist for More Recent Meta

My old essay masterlist was written during the time I was still actively playing Choices, and often went into detail on the diamond scenes of certain characters. But in more recent years, I began writing essays stemming from asks I recieved. I couldn't put them in that masterlist because it was too full by then, and over time all my essays/meta posts became difficult to track. I thought it would be a good time to compile them in a separate place.

Many of these essays were written around 2019-2021, and a lot may have happened since the writing of those. So do understand that some of them were written at a time when the full story was not out, but the arguments behind them often still hold.

I will keep adding to this list as and when I find more essays.

Choices and Race

Fear of the Second Book (ft. Sloane Washington)

CoC and Fandom Hypocrisy (ft. Xanthe)

Colorism

What White Woman are Allowed that WOC aren't (ft. Aurora Emery)

A Litmus Test to See Which Characters Writers/Teams Care For (ft. Zoey Wade)

PB and Fronting Diversity

LGBTQ+ Issues and Choices

My Issues with The "Playersexual" LI Term

TRR

Cordonia and Sexism

Cordonian Nobility and Their Upbringing

Madeleine

TRR's Alternative LIs: The Romances that Didn't Happen

Character Specific Essays

Shane

The Character Who Provided A Counterview

Sloane

Rebel Goddess: An Appreciation of Sloane Washington

Nadia

Nadia Park: The Moral Epicenter of Perfect Match

Hana

Hana and the Effects of Controlling Parenting

Hana Lee: A Study in Erasure (an ongoing essay series)

How Retconning Madeleine Harmed Hana

Using Hana's Pain to Generate Sympathy for Penelope

A Breakdown of the Madeleine-MC Confrontation

Kiara

To Be Not Heard: Kiara, Penelope and the Question of Validation

Kiara Theron: The Character that the Fandom Loves To Hate

Why There is a Disdain for Kiara

PB's Obsession with Keeping Kiara Away From Liam

Liam

Monuments, Memory, Meaning: King Liam and Historical Sites

Drake's Retcon

Who is A Forced LI

The "Sucky King" Argument

Princess Lena

Hayden

The Beauty of Hayden's Harajuku Scene

Hayden's Breaking Point: Unexpected Tantrum, or a Long Awaited Catharsis?

The Hayden Young Project (an upcoming essay series)

Scene Compilations: Book 1 | Book 2

Essays (coming soon!)

[umbravirtus]

Prince Hans - Frozen.

Prince Hans from Disney's Frozen, Frozen II with influences from A Frozen Heart and Frozen The Musical and other related literature. 

(More info under the cut, every tag is a link)

Hans Edvard Westergaard

Titles: His Royal Highness, House of Westergaards, 13th prince of the Southern Isles.

D.O.B: September 21, 1816. (Autumn Equinox) FCs: Frozen Movies, Tyler Jacob Moore,  John Riddle

Bisexual, 5'11", and Fit, his back and arms are the most toned of his body as his job and training have required him to be. He fits on the swimmer's body type.

He has a swallow tattoo on the right side of his chest near his shoulder and adds 'x' marks to eat every 5k nautical miles instead of getting a new swallow.

He has a ring-a-ling in his ding-a-ling. It's a security measure, people claimed to be carrying the bastards or royals for a payoff and this way, Hans and the king could get corroboration if the woman had even been with him, if she's able to even know the ring is there, it's shape, exact location, etc.

His arms and back are covered with scars. He made it all the way to vice admiral but failed to become an admiral on a technicality.

Because of this and other factors, he rebels against his father sometimes engaging in Piracy or keeping in contact with pirates, thieves, and other unsavory people.

Sitron is his best friend. He's a victim of abuse the degree of which is verse dependent.

Likes: Dark Coffee, Dark chocolate, Seafood, Playing piano, guitar, and singing. Brooding by the ocean.

Below, each one of the tags is a link where you will find valuable information about my muse and for interaction purposes like memes.

Relevant Tags: ℋ » Elsa was preferable. (Queen Elsa) ℋ » Show yourself. (Fifth Spirit Elsa ) ℋ » Don’t be the monster they fear you are. (Helsa) ℋ » And for every moment after. (Princess Anna) ℋ » Our lands and people now connected by love. (Queen Anna) ℋ » We finish each other’s…(Hansanna) ℋ » Is this the man she is to marry? (Kristoff) ℋ » You were so desperate for love. (Prince Hans) ℋ » Oh boy. (isms) ℋ » Love is an open door. (C: Hans) ℋ » I’ve been searching my whole life to find my own place. (Canon) ℋ » I showed them now I will show you. (Headcanon) ℋ » I’m so sorry are you hurt? (Meta) ℋ » Plotting an escape are you? (Musings) ℋ » You would be wise not to insult me. (Meme) ℋ » I love crazy. (Aesthetic) ℋ » Glad I caught you. (Sinday) ℋ » Oh I already have. (Ask Answered)

♞ » Say goodbye to the pain of the past. (The Southern Isles).

[duskdawnduodual]

The Rising of Dawn and the Shadow of Dusk: Meet Your Champions For Each!

In other words, the contestants have been selected and here are your duos!

Remember, the relationship definers afterwards come from the submissions! Also odds are if it was submitted as romantic, it will depend though, I will also add an or platonic seeing as there are always multiple interpretations of a duo! If there was no specification or vibe that seems to align with any it will say any! And If it says Familial and I see anyone shipping those contestants, it will be a block.

Rai Suwa and Kazuki Kurusu from Buddy Daddies (Platonic)

Vagabond Cookie and Rebel Cookie from Cookie Run: Ovenbreak (Romantic or Platonic)

Lunamon and Coronamon from Digimon (Any)

Sayori and Yuri from Doki Doki Literature Club (Any)

Anders and Fenris from Dragon Age (Any)

Riliane Lucifen d'Autriche and Allen Avadonia from Evillious Chronicles (Familial)

Leo and Takumi from Fire Emblem Fates (Any)

Toru Honda and Kyo Soma from Fruits Baskets (Romantic)

Kaeya and Diluc from Genshin Impact (Familial)

Scaramouche and Kazuha from Genshin Impact (Any)

Astraeus and Eos from Greek Mythology (Romantic)

Killua Zoldyck & Gon Freecss from Hunter x Hunter (Romantic or Platonic)

Megumi Fushiguro and Itadori Yuugi from Jujustu Kaisen (Romantic or Platonic)

Rumi and Peter Sqliont from Just Roll With It: Apotheosis (Romantic)

Riku and Roxas from Kingdom Hearts (Romantic or Platonic)

Kirby and Meta Knight from Kirby series (Platonic)

Juleka and Rose from Miraculous Ladybug (Romantic)

Celestia and Luna from My Little Pony (Familial)

Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle from My Little Pony: Equestria Girls (Any)

Starburst and Starlight Glimmer  from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (Platonic)

Sasuke and Naruto from Naruto (Romantic)

Atsushi Nakajima and Ryuunosuke Akutagawa from Bungou Stray Dogs (Platonic)

Temenos and Throné from Octopath Traveller 2 (Platonic)

Kim Dokja and Yu Junghyeok from Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint (Any)

Dusk Mane Necrozma / Dawn Wings Necrozma from Pokémon (Platonic)

Lycanroc (Midday, Midnight, Dusk) from Pokemon (Platonic)

Evelyn and Morgan from Pokemon (Familial)

Mario and Luigi from Super Mario Bros. (Familial)

Klavier and Apollo from Ace Attorney (Romantic or Platonic)

Midna and Zelda from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Romantic or Platonic)

Rui Kamishiro and Tenma Tsukasa from Wonderlands x Showtime - Project Sekai: Colorful Stage (Romantic)

Garroth and Laurence from Minecraft Diaries (Romantic or Platonic)

[dangermousie]

Before I get to the substantive meta post, let me just say that Sun Yi Zhou is ridiculously my RL type in terms of looks, and is 100% equipped to be one of those sexy general mains in danmei or het web novels. 

But also! The first time around and even more so on this run, He Xia is a wonderful character who is just as interesting and complex (and in some ways more so) than our OTP. This drama is 62 eps and sometimes it’s to its detriment (the separation near the end could have been shortened in terms of runtime) but most of the time it uses its time wisely and the run time allows all characters to breathe, not just focusing on the OTP, making it more epic and real. 

In another drama, he’d be the hero, a loyal, brave and competent general betrayed and hunted by his own king out of insecurity and returning to seek vengeance; Lan Ling Wang is actually about that very topic! (And is next on my rewatch list.) 

The pontentiality for him and Chu Bei Jie is actually the same - both of their rulers are insecure losers and CBJ’s king comes pretty close a couple of times to doing to CBJ what He Xia’s king did to him. The difference is solely in that CBJ’s king is somewhat more functional (and has a somewhat deeper relationship with CBJ than Yan ruler does with He Xia) and that CBJ is older and tougher. But in a less lucky universe, I can easily see the Jin king overstepping irrevocably and you know CBJ would embark on the path of vengeance. In a way, it is fitting that He Xia is CBJ’s ultimate and final opponent because it’s CBJ who created him by intriguing with Yan king against Yan’s best generals’ family. It is totally understandable CBJ would do that as a Jin subject but the concept of you sow what you reap is delicious.

Why yes, the Yan king is the type of man who decides to hunt down his best general(s) while he’s fighting an existential war. Clearly he doesn’t have TV and never watched The Young Warriors, Patriot Yue Fei, Rebel Princess, Lan Ling Wang or a dozen other dramas about perils of the same (and not even getting into reading a single rudimentary chronicle either.)

The thing that gets me in these early eps is that He Xia is just...good. He is a good person - a loyal subject, a brave general, a devoted son, a lovely quasi-brother/potential husband for Ping Ting and his incredulity about what is happening to him, to them, his attempt to believe that if he could only EXPLAIN, they would understand they are wrong and this is a good faith error, is heartbreaking.

By the end of the drama, he is a broken monster for whom death is a kindness, a man who amassed huge power but lost all humanity and everyone he’s ever loved. And he should be removed; a monster should not be allowed to rule the world. But when Chu Bei Jie kills him it isn’t a pure triumph of good over evil; it’s bittersweet at best and tragic at its base. Because CBJ is not the only reason He Xia is broken - the monster dimwit ruler is one, his psycho family (I agree with @mousieta his father’s “I am gonna off myself so he seeks revenge” is gross as hell), his own descent into darkness as the result of sufferings and humiliations he undergoes all play a part. But in a lot of way, Chu Bei Jie is putting down a monster he himself created, a man he once respected and who respected him, even if only as an honorable enemy, he is the one who set into motion a set of circumstances that turned a chevalier sans peur et sans reproche into a rabid animal. 

It’s interesting though because CBJ is ruthless but he has his own set of rules and honor. When he comes for the old prince of Jin’s head, it’s because the man broke his word to retire. Unlike so many others in this narrative (including later He Xia), he is willing to give you an out if you take it; it does not have to be blood. (Side note, hell of an entrance!)

Even here, he spares the old general because he realizes he’s too old to be a threat. Too bad the man is one of the characters who’d rather die that be worsted and live to fight another day. Old man, congrats, you are building a road for your son to become a psycho.

CBJ’s grim face at that. Old man ain’t wrong, he’s wrecked CBJ’s life for many years to come as payback (though ultimately works out.)

And He Xia survives his horrible battle and finding his mother having stabbed herself to death (a woman who did not think about her kid, both his parents are no good) only to find his father dead (I love love love that CBJ respected his fallen foe and made him a plaque.) PS when he starts digging into the burial mound with his bare hands!

PS This convo before it all goes truly to hell is super interesting because they are loving and affectionate but I do not get any romantic vibe on their part, just friends and quasi-siblings. The thing is, if nothing bad somehow happened and Ping Ting and He Xia got hitched, it would be a functional marriage with liking on both parts but not only is it not the passionate love she experiences with CBJ (or he with the Princess), Ping Ting would never truly be as fierce, as unleashed, as her own woman coming into her own as she is with CBJ. She’d always feel she owed He Xia’s family, and also much as I love him he’s not her equal the way CBJ is.

@renewedmotionforjudgment​ said that one of the things she liked that Ping Ting and CBJ are adults making adult decision in an adult way and that is so perfectly put! But also, the rest of the characters are the same. Even characters who are petty or self-absorbed or immature are so in an adult way, if it makes sense. This drama is so damn good!

[eagna-eilis]

As a person from a country which threw off an evil empire only to descend into instant civil war followed by theocratic oppression I actually really appreciate the insinuation, in Mando S3 E3, that the New Republic isn't all that great.

'Andor' went HARD on its parallels to Irish history. An incitement to rebellion occuring at a funeral within a culture which takes funery custom very seriously is not unique to us (in fact no revolutionary process is unique to us) but it does feel very true to Irish history. Gilroy was inspired by 1970s IRA funerals in the North, or so he has said, but to me it was more reminiscent of the funeral of Jeremiah O'Donovan-Rossa in 1915, or the funerals of the early hunger strikers in the period between the 1916 Rising and the beginning of the War of Independence in 1919. These, especially the 1915 funeral wherein rebel leader Padraig Pearse gave a rousing speech which ended 'Ireland unfree shall never be at peace', are considered by historians as pivotal moments for the shift in sentiment towards the ousting of British Imperial control in Ireland.

It is so resonant, then, that like in the history of my own culture the New Republic in Star Wars shows itself to be by turns incompetent, repressive, and undeservedly smug about its own project.

This often happens in revolutions. The problems which both predate and are caused by Imperial control do not simply go away because you took down the Cogwheels or the Butcher's Apron. (For those who don't know, that's the Union Jack).

Do I hate the thought that Cassian Andor and Jyn Erso may have died for something that still wouldn't have aligned with their ideals had they survived? Of course I do. Just as I hate how James Connolly died for the same reason in the history of my own country. Do I hate the idea that my beloved Princess-Senator-General Leia Organa struggled in vain against a government that SHE WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN CREATING only to have to turn around and start rebelling again because things went to shit? Yes. I hate it. Just as I hate how my country betrayed the heroines of our revolution (Markievicz, Gonne, Sheehy-Skeffington, Lynn, Skinneder, Farrell, Ffrench-Mullen and others) by ousting them from politics and curtailing their rights. I hate these facts of history, but I love that they are reflected in Star Wars.

I love that the New Republic sucks. I love it because it feels so fucking true to life.

The sacrifices that the rebels made, both Fadó Fadó in Éireann and A Long Time Ago In A Galaxy Far Far Away, were not worthless. Their ideals were good. They absolutely should have done what they did. Empires, British or Galactic, SHOULD be overthrown. Just because my country turned into a place where Catholic clergy traumatised generations through sexual predation, unjust incarceration for moral crimes, and the stealing and sale of babies approximately three minutes after the Tricolour went up and the Union Jack came down doesn't mean that we shouldn't have rebelled at all.

The question of 'what do you do with your revolution once you've got it' should loom large over any revolution. It is evident that the maintenance of certain statuses quo just lays the ground work for the wars to come.

Star Wars onscreen usually works in broad strokes. The minutiae are largely left to the writers of the novels, and to a greater extent those of us who write fic and meta, to create and interpret. This particular broad stroke, that the New Republic maintains certain injustices from the time before, is deeply compelling and I hope it's something that the canonical story and those of us engaged in transformative practice with it can continue to explore.

[cherchersketch]

A Villainess for the Tyrant /A Villain is a good match for a Tyrant

It’s so freaking meta. I love it!  ;w; Also the art does a huge glow up over time which is amazing. 

Yes, of course I read this because I’m a sucker for anything with “villainess” and “tyrant” in the title.

Summary As the illegitimate youngest princess, Cecile is randomly selected specially chosen to be the war-hungry tyrant, Emperor Estian’s, wife. Amazing, it’s just like the books she’s read. She tries to rebel but OH NO! HE’S ACTUALLY HOT! Yay marriage~  Of course, it’s all a plan for the emperor to get rid of his enemies by using her as bait. Time to act as a villainess, girl, so people will think the ~evil emperor~ has been tamed! ... is only the first part of the plot. But then it becomes an even more intriguing mystery about the world of stories with a bit of magic sprinkled in. Yes, there’s a side-plot about the author reincarnating into her own novel, even though somehow she’s not the main character this time. Wow!

Tropes   - it’s hot/funny in manhwa but a tyrant would not be this attractive IRL   - 50% crack 50% srs plot   - you get a love interest! you get a love interest! Everyone gets a love interest!!!

FL - Princess Empress Cecile Franvier Nabitan

- of course the FL is beautiful (unfortunately she also knows this) - yo the ~plot twist~ once we learn who she really is though

ML - Emperor Estian

- when in doubt, kill first, ask questions later - of course there’s always a depressing backstory - richer than you’ll ever be

waitaminute why am I not the FL - Saintess

- isekai-ed but I’m just an extra!??!? (but wait it’s the ACTUAL NOVEL AUTHOR) - the embodiment of “gdi I wish that were me” (don’t worry she gets better)

Rating: Yes PLEASE READ THIS Status (as of 12 Jan 2023) 100% complete~

Same Same but Different  - Beware the Villainess!  - Author of my Own Destiny  - Isn’t the Villainess’s Punishment to enter into a Political Marriage with an Autocrat too Lenient? (yes, with this long of a title, it is a JP LN that has a manga)

full rec list

[erospendragon]

ENERKÉ ERTEKTENARK ESPHERS

NEOITOKÓS EFRIDAM LORSQUETAMNQUEM

IRISTA NARTI FALLEN

ERIS TARK ERINEÁS LAERTÉS

VENDITAS MÉRTIS VENDRA ELITAS

ALEAMAS NARTES ANKORA TAMIS

FÉNERGEN TRIANCTAS ÉRMESTS

NÉLIDA MORIS FENIS LADIS PIÑON

STANCATA MARAS TERNIKÉS ANDROGÓS

FÉRITA ANDINA MACHINA VINA

PERSEPTAS ERGNESTA RESTÓIA LENI

VÍNTACA ÂMENA LISISTRATA ERNEATA

VICTA VERITABILE INVICTA

FÉRNEA KEIPÉS FACTA INSTURCTA

BOX FONERTÓ LÍNICA ANTÍQUA

TÂMIS TÊNUA REDA VÍPORA

FAILET UNA VRUM VERS MERITUM

URST KUNA IRKTA VERSTÓI SIRTA

VILA FATE RICA ESCLAGI IRTA FICA

SONNA ASPEGIA PERTÁVICA TAGLIA

MIRSTA LIRSTA VIRTÍSCOLA

META UNA ANTENATA

AUTÊNTICA VERSA TUNA

ERSTASTI PERLA VERSTA

LESTAT ERCTAT CUNA

⚜️

PRINCE LUCIFER OF HOUSE JUDAH

⚜️

THE STORM LASTED FOR MORE

THAN A HUNDRED YEARS

SINCE THE MILLENIALS

ACCEPTED THEIR GRIEF

NEW HOPE WOULD

RISE AND EXIST

AS MUCH AS PRIDE

WOULD CEASED TO LEAD

OVER HUMANITY'S DESTINY

UNLESS IT WAS THE PRIDE

OF MYSTERY

FOR NOW WE ARE FINALLY

TOGETHER

REBELS AND THEIR MISTIQUE

YOUNG BLOOD

OF A DIFERENT KIND

MIXED IN A TWIST

OF WHAT WAS IMPOSSIBLE

AND REAL

EVERYTHING

FOR A DREAM

⚜️

Dad, we made peace.

"Your call, son. I'll be around."

Dad.

"Yes"

Thank you.

"We didn't do anything."

⚜️

"Dad?"

"I remember every single word."

"Ok."

⚜️

I AGREE TO YOUR DECISION.

⚜️

PRINCESS LILITH OF HOUSE JUDAH

⚜️

MY SON IS NOT YOURS

TO KILL HIS MOTHER

WE ARE FAR BEYOND

YOUR MOST BRILLANT

AND INSPIRED MOMENT

OF CREATIVITY AND IMAGINATION

SO BE AWARED THAT MY SON

IS THE HEIR OF SEVEN

HOUSES OF IMMORTAL DEITIES

AT THE SAME TIME

THE PROPHECIZED KING

AND MESSIAS WHO YOU

INSIST IN BETRAY

SO SUPERIOR TO YOU

HE IS NOW AND HAVE

ALWAYS BEEN SO BE AWARED

FOR I AM ADEMONESS AND A QUEEN

DEPRIVED OF MERCY OF ANY KIND

AGAINST ANYTHING OR ANYONE

WHO HAVE HARMED OR WILL

DO ANY HARM TO MY KID

FOR HE IS NOT AMONGST YOU

TO EVOLVE OR LEARN LESSONS

BUT TO UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE

FOR HIS WILL BE THE RULE

AND THINGS WILL CHANGE

AND REST ASSURED

THINGS WILL GET REALLY

WORSE BEFORE YOU CAN EVER

DREAM AGAINT TO PRETEND

THAT YOU ARE IN CONTROL

OF YOU DESTINY.

⚜️

ARAHT RHAHT ERSKT TESCUNA

FERA REHKTA LÍVITA LERITAHARTI

UNTAI PRUMA VERLEÓS INSCA SUMA

VÊNDELE ERNATE VERTARK ARTRIS

VEDREAMI ASTRORK LOITÓS INFAMI

LIPTA CLAUSE ERTSAMARIIA

FACTA LACUNA ESR TAR MARES

LIV TERK ANST IRTRITH

LÍCAMA LAMERTES IRIARTA

LANTÊNEOS IRTAX RIARC TEARIS

LERTA MIRRA INTAENARCA

RESTEKÓI VIRTARA INSUMA

LACTA INTRA VICTA PERLA

STRANGENRI LÍPTA ARGÓS URNA

SINISTRA IRCTAY VERÍSTOS

FERMÁCHILA MONTÉR-SUMA

LARMITARE VANDATE IRSC TÓI

OMNIS VINTA PERKÓI TÚNIS

SENSÍCTA VERSITARI TURBA ÍGNIA

LAMARTE VENSITERA CONTRA

TUA ECTA SUNA MARE LERSTARE

IRSCTA VARSTESTÓI ERKONAI

ĹIVITA URCAI NISTI VIRTA MERKET LUTA

⚜️

⚜️

Tuba mirum spargens sonum

per sepulcra regionum,

coget omnes ante thronum.

Mors stupebit et natura

cum resurget creatura,

judicanti responsura.

Liber scriptus proferetur,

in quo totum continetur,

unde mundus judicetur.

Judex ergo cum sedebit,

quidquid latet apparebit:

nil inultum remanebit.

Quid sum miser tunc dicturus?

Quem patronum rogaturus,

cum vix justus sit seccurus?

⚜️

A trombeta poderosa espalha seu som

pela região dos sepulcros,

para juntar a todos diante do trono.

A morte e a natureza se espantarão

com as criaturas que ressurgem,

para responderem ao juízo.

Um livro será trazido,

no qual tudo está contido,

pelo qual o mundo será julgado.

Logo que o juiz se assente,

tudo o que está oculto, aparecerá:

nada ficará impune.

O que eu, miserável, poderei dizer?

A que patrono recorrerei,

quando apenas o justo estará seguro?

⚜️

PRINCE EROS RAFAEL OF HOUSE JUDAH

⚜️

Leonor is with Millena

⚜️

This is to keep you close as long as ourfriendship is true.

This is for real and must be meaninful to us so we can make a diference.

Dont compete.

⚜️

DO NOT OVERESTIMATE

OTHER PEOPLE'S LOVE FOR YOU

BECAUSE THERE IS NOTHING

YOU CAN'T LOSE

ONE DAY YOUR YOUTH

YOUR DREAMS

YOUR FAITH

WILL BE GONE

I PROTECT WHO IS CLOSE

TO ME BUT THE TRUTH

IS THAT I NEVER DID YOU NO WRONG

I NEVER HURT YOU

AT LEAST NO MORE

THAN YOU HURT ME

SO IF YOU WANT TO BE

ON YOUR OWN

TELL ME

WHEN WERE YOU NOT FREE?

MY JUDGEMENT IS

NEVER APPLIED BY ME

SO YOU CAN ALWAYS

DO WHAT YOU WANT

THE ROSE OF EROS

IS A STORM OF PASSION

INTENSITY AND TRUST

NOT A GAME TO

ENTERTAIN YOUR VANITY

WITH THE INDULGENCE OF

INSOLENCE AND FUN

PASSION IS A COMMITMENT

TO THE GODS AND

TO SELF-SACRIFICE

TO AN UNFORGIVING LOVE

CAPABLE TO TAKE YOU

BEYOND WHATS BEYOND.

I DON'T WANT

WHO DOESN'T LOVE ME

MORE THAN ANYTHING

ELSE ON THIS WORLD.

⚜️

⚜️

⚜️

⚜️🍎

⚜️

Sephirah 11 - Crown Jewel

Gift from YHVH to his grandson

Sketch of it's mechanism

It conects Kether and Malkuth

In a Moebius twist

This is to prove who I am

⚜️

⚜️🍎

As son of Lilith

Princess of House Judah

⚜️

It's you.

"Good morning, son."

⚜️🍎

⚜️

Does not demand faith.

See it for yourselves.

That's an authenticity device.

Either it's true or it isn't.

Naturally, you must know how to proceed.

Until it is testified in good faith, only I can use it.

Loyalty is required.

Find someone worthy.

⚜️

⚜️

YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD

CONDEMN ME FOR BEING

A WOMAN DEMONESS

YOU MANIPULATED THE NUMBERS

TO FIT YOUR TERRORIST PLANS

YOU USED THE CODES

OF THE PROPHECY

BECAUSE YOU THOUGHT

YOUR WAR WOULD

CANCEL THE WILLPOWER

OF THE ONE

AS THE GOD'S ONLY SON

YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD

SEIZE HIS DIVINITY

WITH YOUR SIMULATIONS

OF THE SUPERNATURAL

YOU THOUGHT THE DEVIL

WOULD FAVOR YOU

AND ANSWER YOUR CALL

YOU THOUGHT LUCIFER

WAS AN ANGEL WHO DID FALL

WHEN THE TRUTH

IS THAT HE HAVE ALWAYS

REMAINED LOYAL

YOU WERE WRONG

THERE IS NO DIVINITY

ON YOUR SIDE

YOUR EVIL

BEING SO INHUMAN

ONLY PROVES HOW STRICTLY

HUMAN YOU ARE

DESTINY HAS MANIFESTED

ELSEWHERE

YOU MADE A PACT

FOR POWER AND IMMENSE WEALTH

IMPUNITY CRUELTY AND SEX

MEANING WE ALREADY

OWN YOUR SOULS

TO ETERNITY

⚜️

LILITH

⚜️🔆

⚜️🔆

[shangyangjunzhu]

i might be reading too much into this but su jin-er’s styling as su guifei is actually an interesting take on what her significance is. awu, as a princess consort, has always had ridiculously beautiful outfits, jewellery and hair accessories. the dowager indulges in extremely flashy (sometimes gaudy) dresses with a decent amount of jewellery. wanru, as an empress, might not always wear the most expensive and pretty looking clothing, but her jewellery is actually a lot more versatile and expensive than awu’s. as the dowager, wanru and awu come from nobility, they already come with a given amount of wealth, clothing and jewellery, which primarily comes with their dowry. And you have to admit, it works for them because they look so natural in them.

jin-er hardly has any valuable accessories in the first place and her clothes so far hardly stand out. she never had a formal wedding (because she is a concubine) and we never see a promotion ceremony and there is no one to give her a dowry. the colors of her clothes are not gaudy but they don’t pop out either. and other than her makeup, which is evidently heavy, and her hair being tied up (because she is married now) there really isn’t much of a difference. when awu and wanru get married, their styling takes a shift, as they hold power in their own right from that point on. su jin-er, despite being the de-facto empress as she is the only consort of the emperor and a high ranking one at that, clearly does not fit in and it all seems so awkward (which is probably on purpose).

i think all of this plays out in a very funny scene;

asu encounters jin-er in the palace and he greets her as a guifei; she returns the bow and greets him prince jianxia. asu laughs and is like i can’t take a bow from you; you are now a noble consort. she is clearly flustered and bothered, because despite wanting to boss people over and stuff she will not be taken seriously by anyone.

[orsuliya]

Your (and dangermousie) meta posts are amazing! You all make the watching more enjoyable :) I read that many think that Awu should have been more invested in what happened to XQ and his soldiers. In my opinion they are two very different characters that deal with things in different ways: I think that Awu priority right now is his safety and not revenge (I can understand why people are pissed but is coherent with her character), this don't mean that she stopped loving him.

There is something really suspicious going around in our little pond. The number of times our thoughts seem to perfectly synchronise is much too high to be coincidental. And thank you for your kind words, dear Nonnie!

As I wrote to the lovely @dangermousie an hour or so ago, I don’t think some people properly appreciate just how invested into Xiao Qi’s soldiers Awu really is. And has been for a long, long time, since Huizhou at least; and even as a young maiden her outlook differed greatly from, for example, Wanru’s. I dare you to find any noble in Cheng that cares about soldiers half as much as Awu does. Why, if you combined half of all those nobles, you’d still come up short!

Princess Shangyang, the most royal princess to ever royal, has absolutely no qualms about bowing before memorial tablets of lowborn soldiers, humbly acknowledging the sacrifice they made. She does it when she first discovers the place and then repeats it at the same time the imperial mourning ritual is taking place. I also have my suspicions about what she might be saying over Hu Guanglie’s grave, but I won’t trouble you with my primitive understanding for now.

That second instance of Awu bowing to the tablets is a powerful one indeed! She had no need to do that for any reason other than to express her gratitude and respect. There’s no audience there, no one to judge and she doesn’t do it out of support for Xiao Qi either - this is just between her and those soldiers. Now tell me she does not care!

And that’s not all. Tell me what other noble wife would be so understanding once it came out that her husband (who already has a strike against him due to his birth) is almost completely broke because of his need to support the families of his dead comrades? Not of his retainers - that would have been somewhat understandable - but of people who he doesn’t really owe such duty to as far as this society is concerned. The only thing she is angry about is that he didn’t tell her! She treats it as a matter of course that he should have used her dowry for this purpose. True, partially because she doesn’t expect any man to respect her financial independence this much, but also because she sees it as good and right that those people should be given support. And then she comes up with a viable plan to do just that.

There’s also the manner in which she recounts the story Mrs. Dou told her. 100% of pure unadulterated understanding right there. And the look on her face when that City Watch Officer dies, but holds the gate to let her escape from the capital... Believe me, she fully understands the value of such sacrifice! If somebody tells me she does not care, I will laugh in their face. I will.

The disparity between hers and Xiao Qi’s reactions to the death of the brave few hundred is only natural. And it’s not that her reaction comes short of the mark, it’s just that his reaction is particularly acute! For him it’s personal in a way that it can never ever be for her. Or for anybody who did not bleed on that battlefield! Even Song Huaien doesn’t make much of an effort, kneeling before Zitan more because of the fact that he knows what Xiao Qi and six Ningshuo soldiers with swords can do to a hall full of useless dignitaries than because of his own personal feelings (though I am not saying he does not have those!).

We’ve been told time after time that Xiao Qi has no family. This is not entirely true, at least not emotionally. I daresay that Ningshuo soldiers are the closest thing he has to a family. Which brings his responsibility towards their dependents into a different light; and it is no different for his reaction to that horrific betrayal.

Wait a moment. A deliberate flouting of tradition, form and even reason, strongly flavoured with a ride-or-die vibe and done in the name of one’s family? I knew it seemed familiar somehow! Isn’t this just what Awu does when she goes and dances for Helan Zhen in order to save Miss Screecher? That Miss Screecher is - unlike those soldiers - absolutely unworthy of Awu’s efforts is neither here nor there.

Oh. So men are allowed to be all ride-or-die for their families to the exclusion of their spouses’ interests, but women should be immediately carted off to the stake for the very same thing? Why am I not even surprised. Damn you, double standards!

[smylealong]

The Tragedy of Song Huai'en

In the spirit of full disclosure, I’m a Liu Duan Duan fangirl. Unapologetically so. This is a spoiler filled post, so reader discretion is advised. (Written with some inputs from @terribleteej)

When we first meet Song Huai’en, we don’t see him. The focus is fully on Xiao Qi (a brilliant Zhou Ye Wei), like it should be, because he is the male lead. And this was his introduction scene. I, of course noticed him because I started this show forLiu Duan Duan. At this point, he is just a background figure – standing half a step behind Xiao Qi, a lieutenant bellowing his General’s orders.

When we next meet him, we learn that he is Xiao Qi’s right-hand man. Walking behind him, following his orders, fiercely loyal and protective of his General.

Decked in all black, he lurks in the shadows. In fact, he is Xiao Qi’s shadow – something that both becomes the cause of his meteoric rise and terrible downfall. But more on that later.

As the episodes go, we see him as this loveable dork, who likes to playfully banter with his friends. We see him gently tease Xiao Qi, and sportingly let people tease him. One cannot help but love this sweet man. The fact that he looks super pretty is just a bonus. But up until this point, he is, as the poster would have us believe, a side character.

In fact, based on that poster, I assumed that Zitan was the second lead. Huai’en did not even feature much during A’Wu’s abduction and subsequent rescue. A brief, flash in the pan appearance follows when A’Wu and Xiao Qi are attacked, but here, we do see that this man can be very intimidating, something that comes to play later.

However, a discerning viewer might notice that in the small appearances that the character is making, his eyes seem to be trailing A’Wu. He is very quietly crushing on her and at this juncture of the show, we cannot really blame him. A’Wu is stunning and as a young man, he was attracted. Understandable and even innocent.

It is only when we get to Huizhou that we see Song Huai’en in his element. He is leading the army, defending the city, working with A’Wu, Pang Gui, and Mou Lian to make sure that Huishou does not fall. This is the brave General who shines like a bright star, earning A’Wu’s trust and respect, and Yu Xiu’s undying devotion in the process.

At this point in the series, to the viewers at least, Huai’en’s crush on A’Wu becomes obvious in the little queries, the shy smiles, and the feeble excuses to see her. Before he can introspect on his reasons for wanting to see A’Wu, Ma Zi Lu goes tyrannical and Huai’en has to put aside his personal jumble of feelings to focus on the chaos that Zi Lu has unleashed. In trying to do so, he is tortured, believes that he failed in doing the task that A’Wu assigned him and in doing so, falls in his own eyes. One thing that I would like to point out is that here is where he also sustains a significant injury to his head.

Why am I talking about this scene? I mean, it was just whumping, and Pang Gui got massively whumped, so why the focus on Huai’en’s whump? Because unlike Pan Gui, Huai’en suffered a cranial injury. An injury to the head is not something to be brushed off easily. Even a tiny clot in the brain can change a person drastically. And Huai’en does change. He pretty much splits into two – Song Huai’en and Su Yi Bo. I believe that some of it was his inherent fragility, exacerbated by an injury to head that was never addressed. He comes back, all guns blazing, and shoots his arrow to put an end to Ma Zi Lu’s reign of terror.

The chaos reined in, he settles back to his comfortable familiarity and all seems normal. However, with Xiao Qi’s presence at the Yuzhang Manor, things are not what they were before. Huia’en too, is no longer who he was before. The cracks are hairline at this point, so no one notices it. But change is there. He starts to pull back from Xiao Qi and by extension, A’Wu.

On some level, he too understands that his desire for A’Wu is not right, so he holds himself back. The scene below is a perfect example of it.

He comes in with medicines and a plant. A plant that A’Wu had asked him to take care of. Clearly, he wanted to show her that he did what she had asked him to do, but then, when A-Xue jumps to the conclusion that the plant was for Yu Xiu, like the medicines, Huai’en quietly surrenders, knowing that it would be improper for him to harbor any kind of feelings for A’Wu. A theme we see repeated in his terrified reaction to his dream.

Granted it happened after Xiao Qi called him out on his frequent visits to A’Wu, but here is a man who understands he’s crossed a line he shouldn’t have. This is a critical juncture for his character. This is where we first realize that not everything is copacetic with Song Huai’en. Suddenly, his little rueful dialogues early on about Xiao Qi selling away his material possessions take whole different meaning. This is where we learn that this brave soldier from a humble background is dazzled by the material possessions and wealth that is in abundance in the capital. This is where we see that Huai’en is not a mini-Xiao Qi. That in comparison to Xiao Qi, he fails.

Here, I would like to call attention to Xiao Qi’s personality. Xiao Qi is, simply put, larger than life. He is a brilliant General, a loving husband, an adept politician, with iron control on his desires. In some ways, he practically has no vices. If he has a flaw, it is that he is perhaps a tad too patient. What I’m getting at here is that Xiao Qi is like a saint. He is a standard that is almost impossible to achieve.

Huai’en, being his shadow and arguably his best friend, understands that. He is keenlyaware that he is not Xiao Qi and as people start comparing him, his bravery, and his valor to Xiao Qi, it begins to grate on him. If you have ever had a sibling who outshines you in every aspect, you would understand how that slowly chips away at your confidence. All your merits are recognized, but they are perennially the lesser than that of the golden child. This is the crux of Huai’en’s problems. He is eternally the second best.

Wang Lin later states that Huai’en has an inferiority complex, and he is absolutely right. At this stage, Huai’en begins to realize just how wide the chasm that separates him, and Xiao Qi is. And that starts eating at him. The laughing, joking, shy Huai’en slowly starts to retreat into his shell. Both as a scared reaction and as a punishment to himself, he latches on to Yu Xiu.

Why Yu Xiu, though, one might ask. To some, it may look like him trapping her in a loveless marriage. I, however, saw it as him deciding to do the right thing and step away from A’Wu. It was also a bit of if you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you are with. He chose a woman he liked enough to give himself a chance to love someone else other than the one forbidden to him.

And love her, he does. But if you are looking for the extravagant flair and loud actions declaring his love, like Xiao Qi does for A’Wu (the second marriage, for example), you won’t find it. Why? Because the entire arc of Song Huai’en is that he is not Xiao Qi.

With A'Wu and Xiao Qi, they have the same love language. But as someone who's been married for 13+ years, I can say that is rare. Most cases, the love languages of couples are different and it takes some time for each to fully understand the language the other is speaking. Time that the two did not get. Yu Xiu never hid her feelings for him. She was upfront with it. So, what was the language that Song Huai’en speaking?

Yu Xiu says he treats her well. Gives her gifts, medicines, clothes, jewelry. Having grown up poor and struggling, money is a big deal to Song Huai’en. Every human being shows their love to their partners with the one thing about themselves that they value the most. For some, it’s food. Some singing. Huai’en is a battle-hardened killer. That’s what he is good at. That can’t be the language of love. So, what else can he do? He showers her with gifts. That is his love language. Yu Xiu wanted more, but Huai’en is not one for big declarations.

Carrying her in his arms is the biggest declaration he would ever make. His love shows in the softness of the tone that he speaks to her in. His love shows in his reaction to her tears. In the soft smiles he gives her. In his horrified reaction when he sees her at the city gates. The battle-hardened Duke is suddenly reduced to a terrified, trembling man. He tells her to go away, repeatedly.

Huai’en is not Zitan. He is not delusional. He knows that there’s a good chance that he would end up dead or worse. He did not want Yu Xiu to witness that. As their conversation proceeds, you see his heart breaking in his eyes.

(Man, Liu Duan Duan spoke VOLUMES through his eyes. Somebody give this man an award already!). And then, he shoots an arrow at her. Only, it misses her. Or does it? An archer of Song Huai’en’s caliber would never miss a shot that easy. This was his way of scaring her into going away, because Yu Xiu was not listening to his words. This was also his way of trying to show the world that she was not his weakness. Only, this backfires and Yu Xiu, in a desperate attempt to make him see reason, jumps from there. The moment she fell, Song Huai’en broke. Shattered.

But he did not weep. Did not seem to mourn her loss. He just moved on. Because, again, Song Huai’en is not one to show big emotions. Not so publicly. Look at his eyes instead. Listen to his gasp of horror and pain. If he had lived through the coup, Huai’en would have mourned Yu Xiu in solitude. But not while thousands of eyes were on him.

But what of the scene where he pushes Yu Xiu and orders her to stay home? He did try to be gentle. He did try, as lovingly as he could, to tell her to stay away from it, but she refused. She dug her heels in. And with so many people watching, and the clock ticking, he snapped. We have all said and done things to the people we love that we should not have. That’s human. I will not crucify him for this one event.

An argument can be made against my theory of him not willing to show his pain in public – that he wept in that carriage with Wang Su when he learned of the Empress Dowager wanting to kill him and the news of Xiao Qi’s death reached him. Yes, he cried. He cried because with Wang Su, was private and safe to show the emotions. (He didn’t know of the assassins waiting outside). Something that the city gates most certainly were not. At the city gate, he lets the soldier in him take over. But in the carriage, he is still Song Huai’en.

Which brings me to Wang Su and by extension Wang Lin. Wang Lin, being the snake that he is, tells Huai’en exactly what he wants to hear. Wang Lin is a master manipulator; he’s made his entire career out of being the devil on people’s shoulders. Huai’en was just not equipped to shut out that insidious voice. It had been previously established that Huai’en did not understand court politics as well as Xiao Qi did, so the puppet did not see the strings till it was very late.

Wang Lin, however, for all his tricks, forgot a crucial thing. That Song Huai’en is a Ningshou General. The army that has, on more than one occasion, changed the course of history with their blades. And that Huai’en is a soldier through and through. Something Wang Lin should have realized with Maidservant Xu’s stabbing, but he didn’t. He missed just how easy it is for Huai’en to switch from a human to a killing machine. He did not realize that it was Su Yi Bo that he was talking to when he told Huai’en that he could not let Xu Gu Gu see him. When she does see him, he instantly goes into the soldier following orders mode. It was a crucial bit that Wang Lin missed. It was a mistake that ultimately cost him his life.

That cold blooded killer is the one that resurfaces with the killing of Hu Yao. Yet again, I have seen people rage at him for killing her and yes, it was not pleasant to see, but guess what? They were at war. They were both fulfilling the role of a soldier. One died, one moved on. It hurt him to watch his comrade fall under his own blade, you can see it on his face, but the soldier marched on.

By now, Su Yi Bo, the Edward Hyde to Song Huai’en’s Henry Jekyll, is fighting Huai’en for control. He’s at war, both inside and out. But he still doesn’t show it. He puts his game face on and goes on to fulfill the one dream that both the viewers and Huai’en himself have nurtured for a very long time – he flings Zitan out of the throne. (Man, that was glorious!). Allows Wang Lin to sit on it, only to stab him in the back, both literally and metaphorically.

When Wang Lin turned his back on Huai'en, the real soldier --a General of NIngzhou-- stepped out and killed the opposition leader, and thus did as he has been trained to do all his life. Fight and conquer and take from the enemy. He knewWang Lin was the enemy in the end and he rose to the surface long enough to do what he has been trained to do all his life. But immediately after that, Su Yi Bo takes over.

And then, and only then, does he speak of his real feelings. Feelings that he has buried deep in his heart. Feelings of inadequacy and neglect. Feelings of being the second best. The silent fight he fought all his life. The one thing he wanted to do – get out of Xiao Qi’s shadow. That was his motivating factor. By this point, his proposition to A’Wu is more of a snub to Xiao Qi than a love declaration for A’Wu. He knows very well she would not accept him. And at this point, he no longer cares. He is broken beyond repair. He is unstable, switching between Song Huai’en and Su Yi Bo.

Song Huai’en is the one that killed Wang Lin and threw Zitan away. Su Yi Bo is the one that killed Hu Yao and propositioned A’Wu. Su Yi Bo is the one who gets shot by the arrow, but Huai’en is the one that pleads with Xiao Qi to take him back to Ningshou with his dying breath. And then, Xiao weeps.

Xiao Qi weeps at the loss of his best friend. His brother. Arguably the one he loved the most after A’Wu. Xiao Qi is the first to see the crack in Huai’en. Upon discovering the evidence of pilfering, Xiao Qi hopes that his veiled insinuation and gentle nudges will put Huai’en in the right path and for a time, it does. But then, the Empress Dowager pulls them apart by sending Huai’en as flood relief. By the time Xiao Qi meets Huai’en again, he is aware of what the court is doing. By then, Xiao Qi has already been framed for Zilong’s murder, has lost a chunk of his soldiers and has been labeled a traitor.

When Huai’en and Xiao Qi meet at the gate, Wang Lin’s claws are already deep into Huai’en. When Xiao Qi addresses him as Su Yi Bo, he has already realized that his best friend and brother is lost. Cracked. Xiao Qi mourns the loss of his trusted General and yet, holds on to the hope that Huai’en will pull through. But as a more than a month passes and Huai’en doesn’t come to visit them, Xiao Qi has to accept that things will never go back to being the way they were.

Yet, it is Xiao Qi’s love for his brother-in-arms that makes him adopt Huai’en and Yu Xiu’s son. It is of note that Huai’en did not name his son. It may not the sign of neglect that it is perceived to be. I know that in some parts of the world, there was a custom to not give a baby a name for he first six months of its life for the simple reason that infant mortality was very high. Once the baby was relatively safe, the parents would name them. I don’t know if this was a thing in ancient China, but it might be. By the time the child became old enough to be named, Huai’en is already splitting, being pulled in a hundred different directions. He never got a chance because of the Roaring Tornado of chaos in the capital that kept him too busy to be able to focus on his home. He did not name his child. He should have, but he didn’t.

He was undoubtedly the most tragic character in the end. He broke and he did some things that are very hard to forgive, but those were done in the throes of insanity. Not bitter hatefulness. Zitan was hateful, Zi Lu was hateful. Wang Lin was consumed with hate. Wanru and Jin’er fed the hate in their heart, enjoyed it even. The Empress Dowager hated the whole world. Huai’en, however, was just tragic.

At the end of the day, I guess what I’m saying is that Song Huai’en is not a villain. He is human. A fallible, flawed, foolish one, but human, nonetheless. Conflicted, controlled, corrupted, confused, cracked, and compromised. And he is not, as the poster would have us believe, a support character. He was the second lead of this story and that is a hill I will plant my stake on.

[skullsandwineglasses]

The Rebel Princess Episodes 56-57 Thoughts (SPOILERS)

So I’ve been responding to some comments on MDL about the raw episodes, and so I thought that I’d share my thoughts here too. I already did so in this post, but here they are again, but this time with some poorly made screenshots haha.

So in episode 56, we see Helan Zhen gift Awu the field of flowers. In this scene, Awu asks if Helan Zhen actually saw Xiao Qi die with his own eyes. He doesn’t directly say so, but he’s adamant that Xiao Qi is dead, which in turn makes Awu even more adamant and hopeful that Xiao Qi is still alive. At the end of the conversation, this is what she says about Helan Zhen’s gift:

“I like the ocean of flowers in front of me”

“I like the mountains, water, and grasslands here”

“But I won’t accept your gift”

In other words, she tells HZ that she does like his gift, BUT won’t accept it. IMO,  I think what she means is that she likes what the gift reminds her of and what it represents (i.e., XQ's earlier promise to take her to explore the grasslands beyond), but she won't accept it from HZ. She’s describing a general affection for the land, because this is the land that Xiao Qi loves. It’s connected to him. But that's just me reading deeper into what she's saying and trying to match her words to her stoic and slightly wistful expression. That's why I think she looks melancholy because being here on the grasslands (plus seeing Ah Li Ma again) reminds her of when she first fell in love with XQ in episode 13.

In episode 57, we see Helan Zhen gift her the wedding robe. 

Basically, he says that he promises that he won't force her to do anything when they get married, but that he just wants to give her the title of being his princess consort to protect her. 

But she says that she doesn't need a title, 

“I don’t need another title/identity”

she already has one: she's Xiao Qi's princess consort. He asks why she won't let go of a dead person who's never going to come back, when he's right here and willing to protect her. She promptly shuts him down by saying that even if Xiao Qi were dead, she'd never be his bride. Before he leaves he asks her if she ever had any feelings for him, even if just a little. She says she never. She says that every moment she spends with him is torment.

“to me [every moment with you] is torment”

The last two words “jian ao” directly translates to torment. 

If you just watched these scenes without knowing or listening to the dialogue, it would seem as though Awu is going soft and is starting to have feelings for Helan Zhen (like maybe some kind of Stockholm Syndrome thing is happening), but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Awu’s expressions are pretty neutral and hard to read, so I can see how some people can have that misconception. And while I do wish that Awu would openly show more hate and disgust towards HZ, Awu has never really been an outwardly hateful or vengeful character. She’s always been calm and collected, much like Xiao Qi.

Admittedly, she does seem a little resigned, but her words are strong and firm. I guess it might be because she’s so done with HZ’s obsessiveness and just couldn’t be bothered to raise her temper at him. He’s not worth the energy. It’s clear that he isn’t giving up any time soon. And in a way, by saying these hurtful words so coldly and calmly, it cuts deeper. It shows she’s sure and confident in her feelings (or lack thereof) towards him. She won’t be swayed. While if she were hysterical, it might actually give HZ hope that he could change her. 

Anyway, while we didn’t get to see Awu and Xiao Qi together in these episodes, we were still able to seem them reaffirm their love for each other in other ways: Awu with her F*ck you to HZ, and Xiao Qi with his determined rescue mission for his wife. 

[farmgirlusa]

All right so I had some thoughts about facial hair in our favorite C-Drama The Rebel Princess/Monarch Industry/Ode to Shangyang.  I figured I’d take my whole one class of film criticism and put it to use examining the potential choices for why 3 out of 4 of our guys on the show went from no facial hair to sporting some.

Now in a lot of Drama’s I’ve noticed that facial hair is often used to showcase the passing of time. How long it took for people to journey from point A to point B, or how long it’s been since person 1 has seen person 2.  This show has had several passages of time pass without the addition of facial hair. The time after Xiao Qi and Awu’s wedding was supposedly a while and no one new sported facial hair to show case the passage of time.

The first person we see to suddenly sport facial hair after previously having none is Ma Zilong after he is enthroned as emperor.  Now obviously some time has passed but after examining who else suddenly sports facial hair in this drama so far I’m not so sure that’s the only reason why our favorite Potato suddenly sported a mustache sparse though it was.

The next two we see getting some facial hair is Wang Su and Song Huaien.  Their facial hair first shows up on their journey back to the capital again seeming to imply the length of time the journey took.  Again based on other facts I’m not certain that was the sole reason why our favorite Turnip and not so favorite former Ningshuo General started sporting goatees.

Our final contender to date in the facial hair pool is Xiao Qi, and here’s where the time passage excuse starts to fall apart.  We get lots of clips of Xiao Qi during the Hulan arc.  Beating up imperial mooks, traveling place to place, riding his horse majestically up and down the country side.  In all of these clips he remains facial hair free.  The first time we see our favorite ML with the goatee is when he swoops in to save the day in Hulan.  It wouldn’t have been hard to add in some of the later shots of Xiao Qi on his horse riding to include him with the facial hair but they didn’t they choose not to.

All four of these men went through changes in character, some good some not so good and I think that more than anything is what the addition of facial hair is supposed to show.

Zilong changes after he becomes the emperor.  It shocked a lot of us viewers with how much more mature he was about being emperor and that surprisingly he wasn’t a half bad emperor.  Zilong didn’t get a full goatee just a mustache and I think that represented his character only really changed slightly from the self-absorbed crown prince he had been to the slightly less self-absorbed emperor he became.

Asu’s growth of facial hair I think is more in line with his becoming more like his father, so naturally his appearance becomes more like Wang Lin’s.  Asu is now the political Wang in the imperial court so having his appearance mimic a lighter version of his father makes sense.

Song Huaien is a slightly different story.  We’ve discussed this in the past that SHE is effectively a sponge who soaks up his environment and doesn’t have the solid core of convictions to resist temptations or molding from outside forces.  At the beginning of the show he was the upright Lieutenant General in the Ningshuo Army who was faithfully serving Xiao Qi.  We only saw him in outfits that reflected Xiao Qi’s.  Once he came to the capital there started to be changes.  His outfits still mimicked Xiao Qi’s to a degree but now his styling started to show an individualism that set him apart from his mentor.  After Xiao Qi’s supposed death and posthumous conviction for treason he fell in with the Wangs and the rest of the imperial councilors and we see his style, dress and framing in the show reflect that.

Xiao Qi abhors politics and wants the simple life on the border with his wife and his people.  But now after having this attempt made on his life, his men branded as traitors, and his wife kidnapped and sold off to Hulan he’s made his own change.  Xiao Qi was never just a simple soldier.  He always was aware of the politics he just wasn’t interested in playing the game. In one of the earlier episodes after he’s made aware of Prince Jingnian’s movements he dispatches men to watch all imperial relatives to see if anyone else is abetting or looking to rebel themselves.  For Xiao Qi the addition of facial hair is more of a symbol that the gloves are off. He’s no longer going to hold himself or his people back to let the elites sleep soundly in their beds.  He’s going to do whatever it takes to get justice for his men and ensure safety for his people and his family.

Which brings me to the final reason for all of this.  There’s one main character who hasn’t grown any facial hair at all yet despite the passage of time.  Zitan remains the last facial hair free main male character on the show.  It struck me as I was looking at the screen caps and clips from the current released episodes that his look hasn’t really changed from episode 1 to now.  A part of that I think is because Zitan hasn’t really changed, everything about him has been there from the beginning.  Quite honestly the only difference from him and Zilong in the first arc is Awu liked him back.  There’s a part of me that wonders what might have happened during that arc if Awu’s feelings for Zitan had been the same as her feelings for Zilong and Zilu, loving them like brothers, but really not interested in marrying him.  Based on current evidence it’s likely we would have seen Zitan doing everything in his power to get Awu to marry him and change her mind even after she got married to someone else.  Zitan in a lot of ways is worse than Zilong as his brother put away his feelings for Awu after she got married.  Zitan hasn’t given up on her which is evidenced time and again from him leaving the mausoleum to go search for her after she was kidnapped, to him willingly walking into the palace during Zilu’s coup because he wanted to die with Awu if she was going to die.  He’s now progressed to fratricide and attempted murder of Awu’s husband but those are just progressions along the same road that we’ve seen him traveling for a while.

So to conclude I believe that the appearance of facial hair in this drama isn’t just to show the passage of time but to show evolution of character.  Xiao Qi, Zilong, Huaien, and Asu all evolved as characters along with the passage of time so their character’s visage changed to showcase that they are no longer the same people as who they were when they started the journey.  Some changes are good Zilong wasn’t have bad as an emperor for a potato, some changes remain to play out.  I’m not holding my breath in regards to Asu and Huaien’s changes being good.  Then you have a character like Zitan who refuses to change no matter what happens or the passage of time outside his little world view.  It could be 10 years later and Xiao Qi and Awu have a passel of kids running around and Zitan would likely still be holding onto the delusion that if he’s patient or does whatever scheme Awu will come running back into his arms.

I stole the screen caps from posts by @dangermousie​ and @orsuliya​,  I did not make any of them myself.