#rip miorine's too

[stubz]

spoilers for those who haven’t watched it yet also good luck

some things that broke me in the end of the episode

Suletta immediately calling Miorine a liar gave me the same vibes as when Miorine immediately suspected Prospera of manipulating Suletta. and it makes me sad to realize that Miorine is and is not lying. She wanted Suletta to lose but does care for her, maybe love but we don’t know for sure but I bet she does

Suletta wanting to have an immediate rematch is also heartbreaking cause I can see her 100% down to keep going until she wins or Aerial/she can’t move. Plus if that did happen Guel would become even more traumatized

Suletta basically trying to keep her uniform from changing and placing her hand over her sigil...where her heart is!! and then that desperate and heartbroken look...I can legit see her trying to grab Miorine before she leaves only to crumple into a little ball

And finally Miorine somehow managing to keep a straight face during all of this. i was impressed, disturbed, and sad seeing this. Impressed because that was sad as shit and I could never do that without breaking character. Disturbed because she was freakishly good at concealing her feelings. And sad because I knew that she knew that if she did break that mask then Suletta wouldn’t believe it and refuse to leave.

Also my brain couldn’t help but imagine the minute Miorine turns away or is out of sight she just breaks down. Cause she just completely destroyed her friend/crush’s heart and basically took her sister away from her...also notice how losing Aerial is like the last thing Suletta’s mind right now  

[ryuki-draws]

How does having only half a brain left affect your survival odds in a Gundam? Time to find out!

N°3 was not meant to ever set foot in Asticassia but I decided she needed to join Geroge and Erik's emo band. I'm sure nothing bad will ever happen to her. (And I just wanted to draw her in a dress. As a treat.)

Rambling under the cut!

Marleen (name assigned by the researchers) has suffered severe epilepsy her whole life and anatomical hemispherectomy - surgery which removes parts of the brain that cause the seizures - was the last resort in effort to make the constant attacks stop. Unfortunately, the surgery was done at Claire's Peil under their enhanced person research program. So the now vacant space in her cranium was fitted with GUND implants and she was basically rolled off the operating table directly into a pilot seat of the company's prototype GUND format MS.

Luckily for her, having half a brain already running on the same format, the implants were able to process the information influx faster to a certain degree, thus making it possible to reach higher permet scores without getting what's left of her organic brain fried immediately. It is, however, not a solution to the overall problem - while the extra implants provide some added resistance, the data storm would still eventually kill her, even though it may take longer than previous subjects were able to withstand (RIP N°1 and 2). Plus, with her condition, permet score 3 and higher come with a risk of seizures unexpectedly returning while piloting, which opens a whole new can of problems.

When the duelling game started, she wasn't deemed suitable for a body double candidate and this ordeal was assigned to N°4 instead. She was, however, dispatched to school alongside him as a second year piloting student with a cover story of being a "test pilot" for Peil Technologies with clearance to participate in duels in non-GUND MS, unless instructed otherwise.

Additional assorted stuff (mostly EPs lore because I'm Unwell™)

the whole AU shenanigans primarly take place one year prior to the events of WfM, hence students with "K" designation in their ID number being second year, as opposed to third in the series

the duelling game started with the year of Miorine's admission to Asticassia, and with it the need for an EP body double to participate in the duels instead of Elan (who's a terrible pilot and would not be caught dead in a Gundam himself). There were three prior EPs at the research facility but N°4 was the first one who on top of everything has become a body double

when EPs outlive their usefulness to the company, they're sent back to the research facility, where they're further used as test subjects, as they may "still have research data worth obtaining in them." Deemed as truly expendable, they're first in line for anything too dangerous or unethical, but are not outright executed (no, I'm not over ep. 6, thanks for asking)

as mentioned in my previous posts, inspiration for Marleen's creation was Siri Keeton from the novel Blindsight by Peter Watts - who also had half of his brain removed due to seizures and replaced with implants - thus, the shared last name (the book is great, go read it. it's a sci-fi thriller and it has vampires in space! there's also a fan-made short film (4 minutes) based on the book worth giving a watch. this post is now Blindsight propaganda)

[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

[adracat]

G Witch episode 14 thoughts

WHAT DO YOU MEAN I HAVE TO WAIT ANOTHER WEEK FOR MORE??? OMG. I need to take a deep breath and calm down fr. Ok ok, let's do this. Starting from the begining—

We open with Prospera detailing Quiet Zero to a very suspicious Mio. You have to admire mama Char's audacity tbh. Just going yeah, here's my evil plan to network all mobile suits and totally use them for peace and not war crimes. Mio's not gonna fall for it(hopefully?), but we do gain insight on why Delling might be pushing QZ. If it's truly Notrette's vision then he'd feel obligated. We'll have to see if Mio feels the same as her father. Granting this woman any amount of control over a whole network of machines sounds like a recipe for bad times.

Back with Suletta, it's time for the 5lan sexual harassment segment. Mans can't read the room. She's besotted with short angry CEOs in training. Gotta give him props for persistence I guess.

Thankfully, Suletta is saveda by Sophie. She thinks he's a creep too, bless her. It's a shame these two are fated to probably die, because I do find them interesting and sympathetic.

Well maybe not TOO sympathetic. When you threaten best girl, you lose any rights. Sorry Sophie. Tickled by Suletta's firm insistence she has a bride, thank you very much <3

And then the casual atmophere breaks, the illusion of duels is lifted, and our cast are treated to what it truly means to use weapons of war. I loved this segment so much because it drives home the vast gap between the earthians and spacians. Spacians, especially the students, only see Mobile suits as toys at best and vehicles for wealth to the corporations. For earthians, they're grotesque harbingers of war and should be recognized as such. As Norea and Sophie help demonstrate by killing prospective duelists, destroying the arena in the process. A fake battlefield just became a real one.

Meanwhile, Shaddiq takes this chance to manuever himself into power. He kidnaps his adopted father and secures Grassley. His faithful girl posse don't even balk. You have to admire their dedication if nothing else.

You really can't help but empathize with Sophie here. She just wants what everyone should rightly have. Things she was robbed of simply because she's earthian. Her desperation for Suletta to join them is out of those desires--something Suletta understands

And recognizes in this moment her hypocrisy. Because just like Sophie, Suletta would do anything if it meant protecting that which she desired/loved. She murdered without hesitation when Miorine was at stake, and likely would again. HNNNNGGHNG ok, I'm ok

As Sophie continues to press her, you can see Suletta slowly piece it together. Aerial is a tool of war. Why did Prospera build her? Why did her mother sanction murder if it's wrong? She's been conditioned to think Prospera is right and only wants the best for her, but then why is she having her kill and fight in a war machine?

And the question that's been on everybody's mind from the start has been answered! Suletta is not Ericht Samaya. Then where is Eri? In AERIal of course! Lol I was expecting it but it's one thing to theorize and another to see it actually happen. You're one messed up mama, Prospera.

Poor Bel did not see it coming though. She's absolutely horrified Prospera went to these lengths. I still think it was an accident probably but Prospera isn't willing to clarify anytime soon. She's doing it all for Eri she says. Hm, X) DOUBT

Well maybe she THINKS that but we all know she's just using her daughter as an excuse to go off the rails. Massively entertaining either way!

RIP Sophie. You will be missed tbh. Very interesting that she could see/hear Eri inside of Aerial. The true extent of the permet network seems to be a hivemind. Hinted before with Prospera ofc.

Poor Norea though. She seems genuinely struck by Sophie's death and the reminder that she'll share that fate. She's also terrified Suletta can operate Aerial without that inconvenient side effect. I do wonder why she doesn't just crush Suletta when she's floating, but maybe even Norea is scared of the dreaded witch from mercury.

And we're back to Suletta desperately clinging to her mother's teachings. You understand why, but it's heartbreaking. Also sad for Eri, who is confirmed to have died as a child and trapped in a metal prison of her mother's creation. These poor girls aren't through the ringer just yet. We still have plenty more season to go. I really hope Mio returns soon and provides some solace or at least can talk sense into her. But that's for next week, ALAS

[ladyloveandjustice]

Fall 2022 Anime Overview- Gundam: The Witch from Mercury

It’s time to start reviewing the anime I watched in the fall season! There’s some anime I chose to save for later, like Bocchi the Rock! (which I’m watching now and enjoying) and Raven of the Inner Palace, though I’ve heard great things about it and it’s a rare shoujosei adaptation so definitely go check it out! I might do a review of that when I do get to watch it, since it’s been overlooked this season with so many heavy hitters.

But onto what I did watch! And this one has so much to chew on it gets a whole post to itself.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury

A top contender for anime of the year for me. It’s not over yet though, so I pray it sticks the landing with the next season(s).

The anime follows Suletta Mercury, a girl who arrives at a new school (and new planet!) with her giant robot Aerial. Quickly she discovers a girl named Miorine, who’s desperate to escape to Earth because her bigwig father has decreed that people can duel with their giant robots for Miorine’s hand in marriage. Mio is not at all on board with this, especially because her current fiance is an abusive jerk. Suletta confronts the jerk fiance, challenges him to a duel and...well, you can probably guess what happens, especially if you’ve seen Revolutionary Girl Utena.

(And if you haven’t, go watch it! Though look up content warnings if you’ve got specific triggers or don’t often deal with darker media. I’ve got an episode breakdown here!)

Anyway, Gundam said Gay Space Rights.

Meanwhille, Suletta’s mother, Prospera (yes, it’s a codename AND a reference to The Tempest) has a thirst for revenge after a horrible wrong was done to her by the terrible corporation Mio’s dad heads, and has secret plan brewing behind the scenes. There’s alson conflict between Earthlings and the space-faring people who are exploiting them. Meanwhile all poor Suletta wanted to do is make some friends and enjoy a couple of dates!

This anime is so good so far, and was specifically targeted for me in so many ways it’s not funny. A fun cast of characters? Well written queer girls? Shadowy parental manipulation? A protagonist who’s sweet and shy yet supremely dangerous? Good action that’s driven by good character dynamics? Lots of cool women kicking ass? Tangled relationships and tons or well written relationship drama?

I’ve definitely enjoyed a few mecha shows (like Planet With),but I tend to bounce off them, in part because I have a hard time telling what’s happening when robots are fighting and the technobabble starts flowing. That still is occasionally an issue in this show, but because the fights are so driven by character conflict and there’s clear stakes I can follow along with (like the fact using a Gundam for too long is supposed to kill you), it’s not as much as an issue as it usually is. And Gundam knew exactly how to lure me in. The second I heard the whole first episode was a Utena reference, it pulled me in and I’ve enjoyed every second since.

The whole first episode echoing Utena does show the show’s pedigree (the series composer actually wrote the Utena light novels) and offers a little reassurance for audiences hoping it delivers on its queer storylines But the show is no rip-off, and it it very much does its own thing from that point on. Suletta isn’t Utena, and Miorine isn’t Anthy and this is apparent from the first episode. Suletta is achingly insecure, Miorine isn’t resigned to being a bride and has a short temper and abrasive attitude. The show isn’t about gender or compulsory heterosexuality (so far), it just has a lot of complex female characters in a wide variety of roles and has a developing romance between two women as the central relationship.

But like Utena, abuse is a huge theme, but very specifically parental abuse. Both Miorine and Suletta are being used as tools by their parents in a complex political game- Miorine is aware of this (though not the full scope of it, probably) while poor Suletta is very much in the dark. The way the parents use their children is chilling, but not without complexity- there are reasons to sympathize with Prospera, even if her treatment of her daughter is unforgiveable. She feels like a person, even thought we don’t know her full story.

The show also isn’t subtle about it’s political themes!

That particular conflict has been bubbling in the background, but handled well so far (there are some great, more subtle moments, like the news showing the ‘weapons’ from the protest above, which included ‘molotov cocktails’ clearly put there by the police, and...an umbrella.) But even if works have themes I like or agree with, what really matters to me is the characters and if they’re executed well. Fortunately, the show has a loveable cast whose journeys I look forward to with both excitement and trepidation.

Whether it’s the wonderfully angry Chuchu and her legendary [redacted] in episode 4, or the unpredictable arc of what started out as the show’s biggest (teenage) jerk, or seeing the funny romantic rivalries Lilique unwittingly gets entangled in, the show makes you care about these kids.

It’s also, as a side note, the best treatment of fat people I’ve seen in anime. There are a ton of plus-sized people in different roles, and they’re never made fun of (except for one mild comment in a later episode that is quickly shut down, and the person apologizes). Lilique is a chubby girl who’s allowed to just be the cute romantic one of the group and is canonically popular with the boys. Considering how anime is usually the opposite of body-positive, it’s really nice to see.

The central relationship of the show is, of course, Suletta and Miorine. And it’s a really fun relationship to follow. Even with the Utena reference and casual acceptance of gay marriage, I was a little worried about being baited by the show. But I’m happy to say I’m really satisfied with the development of the relationship so far. Both Suletta and Miorine are layered characters, and it’s great to watch the girls’ feelings grow as they miscommunicate and struggle and learn more about each other. We watch what starts as an engagement of convenience grow into a real bond, and root for these girls every step of the way. And yes, they’re bringing the gay.

But the relationship, and the show, is not without its shocking twists, and the very last minute of the last episode of this show left me a puddle on the floor and begging for more.This show can grab your heart and rip it out and you’ll thank them for it.

All I’ll say is fans of fascinating, screwed up women will be happy. I’m certainly happy! For now, at least. I like this show a lot, so I hope it doesn’t screw up it’s second season. It’s built up a lot of trust for me, but I’ve had that trust betrayed before. Such is the curse of being an anime fan, and a fan in general.

But for now, I whole heartedly recommend it, and encourage everyone to check it out! It’s got all the good things and there’s a ton to speculate on. Come freak out and theorize over that post credits scene where [redacted] with me.

[typellblog]

just watched the last two episodes of g-witch for the first time (spoilers? does anyone still care?)

its a weird experience cause im kind of already used to and expecting the Problems at this point so it doesn't really stand out to me too much when like, Miorine becomes CEO of capitalism and then just tells everyone to be nice, or how they forgive Prospera in five minutes while Shaddiq gets jail forever, or they establish how everyone is going to die five minutes before they actually get to live anyway don't worry about it. or the thing with the ghosts of every dead character appearing in front of prospera its fine lol

so im mostly just here looking at the good parts which i didn't really know about it before and like. oh my god eri just did the illya scene at the end of HF complete with turning back to the camera and smiling

i do also appreciate the 'fuck you, you get to live' ending in theory its just kinda. yeah this show would have been so much better with another cour. so much cool shit that got dropped i hate it

also what was up with the space laser where did that come from

i think for me the thing with a bad show, or at least one i'm conflicted on, is that nobody can stop me from taking the bits i really liked. rebuild of evangelion is mostly just about the rei scene at the end of the second movie to me

and i really like suletta. and also eri. not miorine so much lol. i have a friend who ships suletta and eri and i have to say i kinda get it now

so yeah this is no longer a 'season 2 went downhill so fast that i completely lost interest in watching the last two episodes and now im going to be mad it wasn't better forever' series its more of a 'well im kind of glad this exists at least' series

there are a few series where i feel a bit conflicted ripping a character from it and relocating them into my head permanently but i don't really have any such qualms with suletta so thats nice

[jtavington]

Disabled Miorine Snippet

TW: Ableism

A too-thick tube forced air relentlessly into Miorine's lungs, pushing her chest up against some kind of wide, tight strap. She would have gagged, but the muscles in her throat were pushed out too far. Her wrists, too, were tightly bound to rough, scratchy linen. If there were bindings on her feet of ankles, she couldn't feel them. Gauzy tape kept her eyes shut, as if she had the strength of open them. Her nose twitched with the acrid stench of formaldehyde and alcohol. Low swirls of conversation and mechanical beeping were her only hints that the world still existed beyond her body. She wasn't even sure of that anymore. Sometimes--inasmuch as time still flowed, or mattered--her mind would melt into a hazy morass and the oblivion of sleep, or at least unconsciousness. The rest of the time, she was still in Quinharbor. Smoke burned her eyes. The roar of explosions deafened her. Worst of all were the bodies. People ripped in twain. The carnage Suletta had wroughtt on her behalf at Plant Quetta magnified a thousandfold and played in a loop in her mind’s eye.

She was the murderer.

Blame began and ended with the executive. It didn’t matter if it was the Benerit Group or a student-run company. She should never have brought a mobile suit with weapons on a mission of peace. She should have researched security arrangements beforehand. She should have known about the disappearances instead of wasting valuable time offering jobs when people needed freedom. She had killed as surely as if she had fired the weapon herself. Worse, she had betrayed GUND-Arm and turned a company meant to save lives into a vehicle for slaughter.

“Sarius was in bad shape, but I found him.” Guel’s voice was somewhere close by. “Dominicus will have a lot of questions for him. Doubt he’ll go to present, but at least we stopped him before he could do anything.”

At least one plan she had made that day had worked out. She wondered what Prospera would make of that. She was probably already snaring her web around the new president, whoever that was. As long as she kept Suletta out of it. Her body seized. She strained against the restraints. The deal. Miorine wasn’t the president. If Prospera hurt one hair on Suletta’s head… Miorine had to breathe, had to get out of here.

A warm hand found hers. Calluses on the thumb and first three fingers rubbed over her. “Shh,” Suletta murmured. “It’s going to be okay.. I’m here.”

It was only a matter of time before her brain added Suletta to her visions. The last duel had been the first drop of poison. Like the princes in a fairytale, she had bargained with a witch to take her beloved’s place in what was to come. And, like a witch, Prospera had demanded a terrible price. The only way to free Suletta was to chain herself to the very system she had spent so long to escape. Even to contrive to regain her first, unwanted fiancé. She had to steal from Suletta the being she loved most in the world. And, to make sure that Suletta didn’t follow her into hell anyway, Miorine had spit in her face. Suletta would die hating her, but at least the real her was safe at school.

The phantom Suletta stroked what part of her hand wasn’t covered with surgical tape. “They’re going to take that stuff off your eyes soon. Then you can see all the stars outside your window. I counted three constellations when I slept in here last night. The doctors say you’ll probably come off the ventilator soon.” Her voice was terribly small. “Seeing you like this, it scares me.”

“Take it easy, Suletta. You know what the doctor said about agitating her.”

“I know.”

Wait. She wouldn’t conjure a conversation like that, even hopped up on sedatives and painkillers. This was the real Suletta. The gauze chafed at Miorine’s eyelids as tears built up. That idiot! She was supposed to be at Asticassia, safe and checking off items on her list. She should be finding someone who would love her unreservedly and give her those rings and prettiest dresses. Miorine should mean less to her than the dirt under her fingernails.

“How is our patient today?” asked a different voice. Hm, vitals are strong. Brain activity indicates consciousness. I don’t see any reason we can’t try an SBT tomorrow.”

A spontaneous breathing trial. This thing would no longer be forcing her to inhale and exhale at a speed set by a computer. She could get some water. Brush her teeth.

“That means she can go to a normal room, right Doctor?”

“Correct. Ms. Mercury, if you would step outside. I need to discuss Ms. Rembran’s plan of care with Mr. Jeturk.”

“Right. I’ll just—I have to go.”

“Let her stay, Doctor.”

“As you wish. In addition to the multiple fractures and internal bleeding we’ve already discussed, the tests we’ve run on Ms. Rembran have revealed severe trauma to the spine. Specifically, a complete injury to the spinal nerve at the fifth cervical vertebra. Or, in layman’s terms, she is paralyzed below the chest.”

What? No. No. No. Paralysis was something that happened to soldiers or athletes, not businesswomen. She had seen people confined to hoverchairs. The lucky ones lived full lives, but it was a full life with a catheter and diapers and depending on other people. They were the before image in a GUND-Arm ad. Was this why she couldn’t feel her legs?

“Our first option is conventional rehabilitation. Due to the injury being relatively high on her spine, she will have total or near total paralysis of her wrists and hands as well as lack of movement and sensation below the waist. Once she’s fitted with a hoverchair, she would be able to move from place to place on her own, though she will need help with the activities of daily living. She will be able to speak normally, but her breathing will be somewhat weak.

I’d rather die. She wouldn’t spend her life as a vegetable, dependent on the mercy of others. An object of scorn or pity. Another princess sitting by the window in her tower.

“What’s the other option?”

“I hesitate to mention this, but the rumor is that your very own GUND-Arm is working on implants that would compensate.”

They were. One day, the NanoGUND implants would be the crown jewel of the company. In theory, they would bypass damaged neurons and allow people to walk, talk, and breathe on their own. It hadn’t moved beyond first-stage prototyping and cloned tissue trials. It caused cellular death in thirty-seven percent of those trials.

“I remember her talking about that.” Miorine could almost see Suletta’s face scrunch up. “It could kill her.”

“Which is why I am asking Mr. Jeturk how he wants to proceed.”

“I--I don’t know! We never talked about it!”

“You’re her next of kin.”

“I--“

Aren’t you supposed to be a risk taker? Of course I want the surgery!

“Guel? For what it’s worth, I think you should go with the surgery. Move for—no. What I mean to say is that I think Miorine would want to take that chance.”

“What she said. She knows Miorine better than I do.”

Alea iacta est. it was simply another duel. If she won, she could rebuild her life and her company and atone for her sins. If she died, well at least she had heard Suletta’s voice once more. Those she had slain had received no such comfort.

---

“Implantation successful. The rest is up to her.”

[mahoushoujotechsupport]

time for episode 5

wow i really just... do not care for peil's mobile suits at all. i bought a pharact kit, but still haven't even built it. it'll probably be my next build though.

by the way i like how we start this ep and miorine's already hanging out at earth house 👀

man, this scene is just so amazing once everything comes together and you know about the replichildren and suletta's place in everything lmao

i am... so so so glad i started watching this show after the el4n arc was over because i would have been so scared like everyone else that we were being baited lmao

i still haven't decided if suletta legitimately had a crush on el4n or not. like even here in this scene after lilique and everyone is all like ooooh suletta has a date, she vehemently denies it's a date. and yea sure you could use the excuse that "haha shes embarrassed!!!" but suletta's kind of honest to a fault. at the same time, suletta is really really bad at picking up social cues lol. she does agree with prospera on their call though that its hang out with a friend

no mask prospera sighting and she's sitting down again

ok like how the fuck does he know this?! he obviously got the info about vim's assassination plans too... but like FROM WHERE?!?!?!

mio...

i wonder if anyone's written about the fact that el4n reads schopenhauer lol asceticism fits him well i suppose and i kinda wonder how he'd get along with norea vs el5n

yeah so like everyone but suletta is trying to turn this into a date lol

was this episode when the eri = aerial theories started? like for sure i figure once el4n gets wrecked by aerial in the next ep it mustve taken hold completely. since i binged the first like 8 eps, at the time i still wasn't really keeping up with the discourse but it feels like the show was pushing hard to make sure you picked up on hey maybe aerial is that little girl idea

huh i'd kinda forgotten the el4n vs. guel duel is because of guel running over to see what's going on. lmao considering guel doesnt know at all about the elans, he mustve thought elan was some grade a creep what with literally stopping him from being an ass to suletta multiple times throughout the series

lmao miorine

and lilique is just here fucking stoking the flames of jealousy

shaddiq's probably always hated guel, huh? he must've known that a worst case scenario here for guel would be bad news once vim found out

the story of guel jeturk

not as if we don't know that the pharact is only possible because belmeria is on the peil payroll, but damn she just really did copy the pre-production lfrith's bits huh

i wish i remembered my reaction to this scene on my first watch because at this point belmeria having been part of the vanadis institute and possibly being the one who sold them out is so engrained into my brain lmao but this was obviously a Big Deal

kinda laughing at this because everyone's reactions make it seem like el4n was just absolutely brutal and like... apart from ripping off the dilanza's antenna, he didnt really do anything differently than what suletta did in episode 1?

lmao their reactions make it seem like el4n just murdered him on live tv

it is a huge fall from grace for guel though and i suppose with the reputation as the ice prince of asticassia, el4n's behavior warrants a what the fuck from everyone

poor miorine sounds so hurt and betrayed here. like finally she was working alongside someone who took her into account and treated her as an actual human being so yeah, it was kinda messed up that suletta accepted this duel without her input. although as we learn later on, as the holder, if you're challenged to a duel, you can't exactly back out, so suletta hasnt exactly done anything wrong by accepting the possibility of a duel. she just probably should've brought it up to miorine sooner

wow so i definitely thought the pharact always looked cool and evil in the show and when i got into gunpla a few months back and saw the actual gunpla kit for it...

i am so sorry but lmao it looks like a fucking mosquito to me

i promise some time before the summer is over that i will build my pharact kit lmao

ok leaving ep 6 & 7 for tomorrow because i usually make these posts as i'm watching the episode and i end up taking an hour or more to watch an episode sometimes because of it

[maguro13-2]

Suletta : Miorine, I just got one thing for sure to these mobile game theory. Where do we spend the money on Gacha Games for what? Aren't collaboration events with Gacha Games sounds very addicting?

Miorine : Nonsense. Gacha Games are worth the money that is collaboration event. Of course we're going to spend the money on collaboration events that they're working on! And best of all, they're the coolest mobile games that Japan had to offer. And besides, what could collaborating a Gacha Games would go wrong if we spend our allowance money with a simple addiction?

"One gacha collaboration event later..."

Chuchu : You guys haven't emailed or dating yourselves in the past months, man! This is the reason that Gacha Games are worth addiction than normal Gambling addiction and that is the exact reason that mobile games are ruining you!

Suletta : OH WHY DID WE LOVE IT SO MUCH!?

Chuchu : Now I wonder how a collaboration event with a Fire Force gacha game feels...

"Meanwhile..."

Shinra : I can't believe that we collaborated with Square Enix and other Shounen Magazine stars. There's too many of these guys! This is worth the money in 2022 since I had my banking account in Chao World from those guys. Why did we collaborated with Fairy Tail and Tokyo Revengers? They're the Weekly Shounen Guys and we are!

Arthur : Oh kiss my fellow knight--*BAM!* Ow, man! I don't know why we collaborated with Fairy Tail, Tokyo Revengers and Rent A Girlfriend, oh wait, they already collaborated Rent A Girlfriend to their mobile game. Wait...What happened to Soul World, I mean Soul Eater, the world that you created?

Shinra : I don't know what really happened to those guys, but they just left for the collaboration after Ohkubo told us that Fire Force is a prequel to those guys! Maybe the collaboration event with those guys are just interested in our incredible gacha mobile game.

News Anchor : If you're really interested in Fire Force's incredible gacha mobile game, then this one happened in real life across the globe. This is a Channel 5 news special report. A giant flaming monster and a bunch of fire monsters from SEGA and Shinra's World gives terror, panic, and destruction in the state of Nevada as Soul World/Soul Eater brings visibility down to zero.

Sonic : The whole state's on fire! (Gets crashed into Silver) UGH!

Silver : Sorry!

News Anchor : The angry citizens of the state is here to blame the apocalyptic madness on Maka Albarn and Shinra Kusakabe for their crimes against the state for using arson, calling it the worst collaboration event for Fire Force's new mobile gacha game in Japan and their newly acted Firefighting policy! *BAM!*

Construction Man : If I ever see Maka Albarn and Shinra Kusakabe in Nevada again, I'm gonna come over there to grab their little flaming heads and literally rip their---!

["WE ARE EXPERIENCING TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. SHARE THE FRUSTRATION".]

Arthur : Yep. We just had to be the prequel to get a mobile game, didn't we?

Shinra : We are so doomed. [Turns back into a Devil Chaos Chao] F***ing Japan.

[the-stray-liger]

God that first episode of GWitch Season 2... Hell, even the OPENING is shredding my heart to pieces. Nothing is the same anymore for the students at the academy and it feels like Earth House is starting to fray at the edges. Guel is still AWOL, Nadim is at his wits end being thrown into the deep waters with all those sharks called CEOs, and Suletta is desperately hoping she hasn't irreversibly damaged her relationship with Miorine while trying to remain strong for her friends... I am SHRIEKING.

Shakes my laptop violently while foaming at the mouth

SO MUCH GOING ON ON THAT FIRST EPISODE. The earth house is obviously traumatized but Suletta somehow seems normal which shows just how fucked up she actually is. Prospera effectively raised her daughter to avoid critical thinking and ignore a super traumatic event with her mantra of move forward earn 2 which makes me so nauseous now skfblsndkslssnxlalsk oh my god shes so fucked up??? Meanwhile Lilique and Ojelo can't look at a mobile suit battle without getting visibly uncomfortable. And THERE IS A GAG ORDER over the earth house. THEY CANT EVEN TALK ABOUT IT. Bruh

Then come Sophie and Norea WHY THE FUCK NOT. Let's make Nika's life harder because that's what Nika does right? Suffer. I do love Norea ngl. That moment when shes telling Elan all the nice things about Asticassia and we see the sketches of the skull and the dilapidated building and the snake skin and she ends it with 'it makes me wanna puke?' LOVE IT. I love Norea's bitterness and violence. When she pulled the knife on Nika I had flashbacks of Kinue in 00. Nika was so close to death TWICE in this episode and I'm so stressed because I feel like if anyone is gonna die soon it's Nika and I don't want her to sknfkslkdksls

And Miorine!!! She's obviously shaken but man Im just so fucking relieved that she blames Prospera and not Suletta for everything that happened. Of course Prospera is gonna take advantage of her too. Jesus I need a cigarette

I wish I could keep up with Shaddiq's intrigue but unfortunately Im stupid so it'll take like 5 rewatches of the whole series before I understand what he's doing ajdbkskd

Above all Im kinda relieved and sorta surprised we went back to the school setting after that. Im relieved because I expected it to go full gundam and start with the carnage right away, but also Im pleasantly surprised because of what the previous events do for the tension in the current setting. These kids just saw war, they were attacked with the intention to kill, and they are forced to go through with their lives like nothing happened and aren't even allowed to talk about it. And the one person who would, who should understand, Suletta, acts like everything is fine and nothing bad ever happened.

How would the earth house kids react to knowing that the people who attacked them are among them, actual fucking earthians too?????? AAÁAAÁAAA

Im ripping my hair out over here Im so obsessed with this show

[jamie-b-good]

G-Witch Episode 14

This sure was an episode, huh? Spoilers under the cut.

Battle Royale was fun at first, but man that escalated quickly.

Neil went down remarkably quick and hard. Guess the Jeturks are officially the Yamcha of the Benerit Group.

The Gundvolvas were pretty cool. I'm surprised they never had newtypes controlling multiple MS in previous series, it seems like it'd be an obvious extension of the bit/funnel thing. (EDIT: I was mistaken about it being a new thing, but still, neat.)

Speaking of surprises, holy shit the status quo got blown up again. A lot of us were probably expecting to go back to the regular school duelling, right?

Yep, the Aerial is actually Ericht, somehow. This has been hinted at from the start, but having it actually confirmed here shakes things up.

We also know what Quiet Zero is now, and it's very much the kind of Utopia Justifies The Means thing we were expecting from something Prospera and Delling were working on.

If Delling does die, can Miorine take his place? That seems to be what Prospera is hinting at.

What happens with Dawn of Fold now? The main characters associated with them are all out of commission. They still have Guel Bob in their custody, so it's not like they're out of the picture completely.

RIP Sophie, you were too adorably unhinged for this world. D:

[houkagokappa]

I had to watch episode 17 twice, partly for the screenshots, partly because it was so fdhjlafhdaoödsafhiodsaö

The scene where Suletta and Guel talk about their precious things, while Miorine eavesdrops on them was the highlight of the week for me. It’s was so cute and heartwarming and nice to see both of them doing better. Of course it was glaringly obvious that the second part would rip my heart out and beat it to a pulp, and the fact that I can’t tell how devastating the series end might be kept me almost too anxious to continue, because I’m INVESTED in SuleMio, both as separate characters and a ship I’m rooting for to a degree where my overall well-being is on the line.

Also, there were so many Utena parallels with this week’s duel, feeding me well, that a part of me is curious to see just how bad things can get before we get our happy ending (please let there be a happy ending)

[casliveblog]

Custom Toonami Block Week 191 Rundown

The Witch from Mercury: Now that we’ve basically had a soft reboot for the status quo from the start of the series, Suletta’s overcompensating and doubling down on her slice of life shenanigans, trying to forget what kind of series she’s really in. You know as soon as they gave her the Holder title I knew there’d be an arc where they rip it away from her, idk if it was that predictable but to be fair I didn’t see exactly how it would come about either. Seeing her struggling, Chuchu actually grabs hold of relevance again and plans a trip for Suletta to go tell Miorine off for being awful to her, always nice to see the rat girl being plot relevant. The one generic Earth House kid is left behind and gets wiretapped by the one tan girl everyone makes porn of and neither have had enough plot relevance for me to remember their names. Nika, Fake Ceres #2 and Norea hang out in the closet of people that don’t wanna be part of the plot right now and basically confirm all the things we already know about the Fake Cereses project where his goal is basically to win the Game of Thrones by just not dying longer than anybody else, basically the Peta Hunger Games strategy. Guel’s having trouble securing support for his company given he’s literally a kid fresh out of school whose resume are beating the main character in a fight and two weeks as a space janitor. Prospera reveals that apparently everyone was fucking around with Gundam shit behind the scenes and Guel’s dad was making a secret Gundam before the series began too, as well as another separate machine that’s supposed to link with Aerial. Miorine is not having this and refuses to associate with any show of force, instead resolving to go to Earth where Shaddiq has inadvertently stoked the riots against the Fortune 500 so she can give peace talks and completely rebuke the ‘if you want peace prepare for war’ philosophy Prospera is trying to push on her. While on her way to see Miorine, Suletta finds Aerial just open and follows her Frieren Mimic instincts and hops right in, venting in her safe space about how bad she feels about stuff and bro it’s about to get a lot worse. The Eri spirits contact her and tell her now that they’ve achieved a high connection to the world they don’t need Suletta at all (which is like the WORST thing you can tell Suletta) and that she’s a clone and all that shit but now Aerial can move on its own and both they and Prospera tell Suletta to just go back to school and continue doing slice of life shit which is honestly a lot more benevolent than I thought they’d be, like I still get why Suletta’s upset at being used and thrown out, that’s consistent for her character but I also thought the process of Eri’s incarnation would be more of a problem given Miorine basically sold her soul to avoid it but no Suletta’s fine and gets to go back to school and shit and that sucks for her but also why was Miorine so dead set on Suletta not being a part of this anymore when she basically did the whole plan anyway and turned out relatively unharmed? Guess it depends on what comes next in the plan and what Suletta is specifically being excused from.

Inuyasha The Final Act: It’s the finale of the battle with Naraku, two hundred episodes in the making and ngl everyone kinda steamrolls him, they’ve spent the entire series powering up OHKO attacks to get around his bullshit so even when he has an infinite regeneration loop powered by an infinite energy source he doesn’t stand a chance. His last gambit  is to lurch his huge spide corpse towards Kaede’s village and crush it in on last move of pathetic spite. That’s ridiculously in-character for Naraku since his whole character is spite but given we’ve seen dozens of villages destroyed over the course of the series and the only one we really care about from Kaede’s village is Kaede it probably doesn’t hit as hard as it probably should despite the place being basically the home base for the whole series. Feels like they missed the opportunity to write some filler episodes fleshing out some extras from the village once they realized this was where the series was going but oh well. As they destroy Naraku’s body Kagome gets one final flash of insight and sees the jewel, repeating the mantra she gave herself at the beginning of the series to believe in herself and shoot to pierce the Shikon Jewel, only this time it doesn’t shatter but seems to be actually wounded by the arrow that contains all the growth Kagome’s gained over the course of the series (feel like the anime missed an opportunity for a cool flashback here to remind everyone this is a callback to her shattering the jewel the first time but again oh well). Naraku makes it to the Bone Eater’s Well and is basically in fetus mode, saying he didn’t get Kikyo like he wanted and in the end the jewel was just using him too, sucking Kagome into a Meidou and Inuyasha following soon after once they realize the well disappeared. We basically get a retread of the dream sequence from the Tsubaki arc where Kagome’s back in the modern era and everything suspiciously forms around her having a normal life until she suddenly remembers Inuyasha. Meanwhile Kagome’s family see the well disappeared and start freaking out, even her friends being clued in on something supernatural going on as Inuyasha shouts from the depths of hell that he’ll find her. The last ploy of the Shikon Jewel unfolds as it bids Kagome to make a wish on it, any wish that will give it power over her, make her need its power to achieve her goals will suck her into it to replace Midoriko and Naraku to replace Magatsuhi so it can be reborn and continue to cause havoc throughout the world as Inuyasha races to save her. I kinda like how the preview for the last episode doesn’t fuck around like they straight up tell you Kagome’s gonna get out of this and the last episode will be mostly epilogue it’s just kinda funny, reminds me of the Yu Yu Hakusho episode previews where they’re like ‘yeah that cliffhanger isn’t gonna be what most of the episode is about”.

Castlevania: Isaac is having a change of heart and the fires of his revenge are starting to cool as he rebuilds the town he destroyed and starts to revel in being the leader in an army instead of a pawn, refusing to get roped into Varney’s schemes and having a weird combination of a power trip and a redemption arc. Meanwhile Striga and Morana are having doubts about the feasibility of controlling and maintaining half the known world because this is the “everyone gets cold feet about everything they’re doing” arc and idk how I feel about it, like I guess it’s realistic to be hit with the logistics of all the grand plans of the previous seasons but having everyone just kinda not feel so great about everything so suddenly during this season feels like backpedalling and makes everyone seem wishy-washy. The conversation’s a bit interrupted when they get attacked by random farmers trying to rip open their tents and we find out Striga basically hat Guts’s armor from Berserk and has a really cool scene ripping the entire army to shreds, realizing in the process that no matter how hard the push down that there’ll always be shitty rebellions across such a wide breadth of lands they’ll have to keep tabs on. Lastly we get Trevor and Sypha examining Targoviste and seeing whatever the so-called Underground Court has been doing it hasn’t done shit for the people suffering like shit hasn’t been rebuilt at all and even all the bodies are basically still in the streets so they’re not too keen on helping this kangaroo court.

Konosuba: It’s the final episode of the season and it’s time for a climax! Kazuma gives Alderp the entire amount of Darkness’s debt and lets the wedding crowd have at it like ‘yup, here it is, now it’s your job to keep it’ and they crash the wedding with Kazuma basically implying he owns Darkness now which they get as much mileage out of as you’d imagine. Megumin and Yunyun also crash the entrance to break them out and Megumin threatens to nuke the whole city and no one is entirely convinced she’s not crazy enough to just do it. She eventually has to hold in an Explosion spell like a really big fart and detonates it partway above the town and the way it’s animated reminds me of the breaching of Wall Maria in Attack on Titan which is really funny. All the Adventurers of the guild refuse to go after Darkness for her bounty and even get in the way of the cops trying to to after her so the group can make a clean getaway. I really like how this season has fleshed out the side-adventurers and how they’re all similar scumbags to Kazuma to a somewhat lesser degree. They meet up with Darkness’s dad to say goodbye before fleeing the country but as usual Aqua figures out it’s just a curse and heals him. Like they said they couldn’t heal someone who died of natural causes so I get why they didn’t do that before but like… did they even try? Aqua says it was a doozy of a curse so maybe the previous priests were just weaker than Aqua and assumed it was natural because they couldn’t cure it but it seems like that’d have come up at some point. Anyway turns out Alderp had the other Isekai Treasure that summons a demon Maxwell whose powers are basically like Rett Con from Rick and Morty where he’s allowed to change anything he wants and pretend like it’s always been that way. Vanir shows up to bust out his demon buddy, revealing that was his plan all along to flush Alderp out and Maxwell harvests Alderp’s soul Princess and the Frog style after their contract is concluded. Now that the guy that’s pressing charges on them mysteriously disappeared the group is free to go because that’s how law works I guess. Kazuma even gets his money back for saving Darkness’s dad and the group laughs over the idea that Darkness joins Senku in the ‘momentarily married to a royal’ club. This was a pretty fun season, definitely a lot more going on than Season 2 and a lot more moments of sincerity than Season 1 which is what I was looking for all along, I know the VNs are done so idk how many more seasons there’ll be of it presuming they keep the anime going since it seems to be a hit but I’ll be looking forward to it.

Delicious in Dungeon: Izutsumi takes Marcille hostage and demands to have her curses lifted, the group make her some food and get to work but end up getting interrupted and fighting the paper shinigami she was cursed with while Senshi goes into Sanji modes and gets pissy about her wasting food. Honestly I’m surprised it took this long for them to find a picky eater, feel like that’s a lot more common (I say as a picky eater x.x) but they do end up recruiting her despite telling her they probably can’t remove her cat-person curse and make her human and realistically have no plan for what to do about Falin so they’re making it up as they go along. Next Marcille gets attacked by a dream demon and Laios has to Inception into her dream to save her and we find out she basically has the same fear as Frieren has where she watches people she loves die way faster than she does and given she’s only about fifty and her people live to be four hundred this problem is only going to get worse from here. Laios gives her the empowerment speech for her to wish for Mad Mage’s Grimmoire to bonk the fear of death in the face with and they escape. It’s really funny that in the end Marcille remembers Laios as a fluffy dog and we really are just doubling down on Laios having that dog in him. Kinda confusing that the Nightmare Demons are actually mollusks that sneak into pillows like if it’s a physical thing you’d think checking for those before you sleep would be standard protocol in a dungeon.

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End: The group continues to agonize over how to beat Frieren’s clone, finding out from the survivor of the previous episode’s party and Lawnie’s familial info that the clones are basically AI mud dolls created by a monster hiding at the end of the dungeon. Fern makes a plan to take advantage of Frieren’s slight weakness to sneak attacks during battle and the others stand guard to hold off the remaining clones. Frieren fights herself in a world-ending battle, giving her clone an opening she can take advantage of and giving Fern the opening she needs to quickdraw kill her. Frieren flashes back to talking with Serie after Flamme’s death and apparently humans didn’t practice magic on any sort of scale before Flamme, basically needing special permission to not be burned as a witch and Flamme was literally the birth of human magecraft not just because she was strong but because she actually founded the instiutions that made it legal for humans to practice magic, with the global magical arms race that entails and the doors of defeating the demon king that opens up, even if she only did it so more people could experience the simple joy of magic she felt. This is all fascinating but bottom line is Serie claims a human mage will someday kill Frieren and we’re doing some loopholes here since Fern is technically killing her clone.

Revolutionary Girl Utena: So as expected this episode is about Nanami and as such is a complete fucking farce. Nanami notices a suspicious amount of accidents happening around her and assumes someone’s trying to kill her which is kind of a safe bet because she’s awful. She goes to Utena and Miki about it and then overhears her brother and Anthy talking about killing roaches and comes to the logical conclusion that her brother has put a hit out on her and is using the most clumsy pacifist girl in the school to carry it out. This culminates when a wild horse is let loose in the school (THERE’S A HORSE IN THE HOSPITAL) and a little kid saves her, thus becoming her boyfriend because that’s how shit works in this universe even though he’s like half her age and that’s even more illegal than the stuff she’s usually into. Still since we’ve established that Nanmi’s awful, having a ten year old for a boyfriend basically means he becomes her butler and does a lot of menial chores and random fighting for her. Sidenote but I kinda like how Anthy’s mostly absent this episode and it’s Utena and Miki reacting to all this shit, like Miki’s just kinda slid right into the friend group pretty easily, given has the last episode ended I wasn’t sure what his status was but it’s nice to see he and Utena are still on good terms. Mitsuru reveals that he actually set Nanami up so he could save her by reenacting something he watched Touga save her from as a kid, essentially paralleling him with Utena as wanting to emulate someone cool they saw as a child rather than filling the opposite part of the romance plot. I really like the gag of Nanami hearing this like she’s wiretapped him or something but really she’s just standing right in front of him holding a microphone, it’s so fucking dumb, this girl drags the IQ of the plot down by like fifty points whenever she’s on screen. However turns out there’s a THIRD wild animal on the loose because Nanami’s plots love the rule of threes and only one of these was staged, now a Kangaroo is on the loose and kicks Utena’s ass which I think means the Kangaroo gets Anthy now, but Nanami does show a little concern for Mitsuru and saves him out of basic concern for losing a hired hand, so she’s still awful but she doesn’t want her minions to die at least. Touga comes and fucking punches out the kangaroo out of nowhere and the three leave to be a weird semi-incestuous threesome that deserve each other. Meanwhile Utena’s just sitting there like ‘fuck bro that guy just one-shot a fucking Kangaroo and I’m gonna have to fight him, shit…’

[incorrecttowerofgodquotes]

Gundam: The Witch From Mercury Season 2 Episode 8 Review

- This’ll take a while and have a lot of feeling and my own experiences, so please do keep in mine. Content warning for suicidal thoughts.

- Let’s start from the happier moments shall we?

- Secelia and Rouji have doomed the narrative. Secelia by standing and Rouji by speaking more than 3 lines. But still, they put the students lives first and act to save them. Secelia giving the new suit to Chuchu and Rouji interrogating Martin shows that they put a lot of importance on their jobs as school leaders. With the school now in shambles, I hope they move on to supporting the resistance against both the Space League and Prospera

- Kenanji is once again a pretty interesting character. He’s clearly suffering from some type of PTSD with Gundams as he was holding onto his arm to stop it from shaking. Also it’s cool that even though he’s moved up higher in the ranks, he’s still a talented pilot. But just when I was starting to like him again, his squad committed the ultimate crime. I will not forgive him

- Felsi and Chuchu claiming best pair of lesbians in the series, I’m sorry SuleMio fans. Felsi going out there to protect others and ultimately teaming up with Chuchu, despite their prideful and angry personalities. I expect Felsi to pilot the canons on the back of Chuchu’s new suit, the two working in tandem to save lives and kiss each other.

- Nika has finally returned to her true home, and while there’s definitely tension, right now she has to focus on saving others. Big props to Martin for standing up and be willing to hear her side. He’s really grown

- I like that Shaddiq’s harem squad weren’t OP. They’re still students, and even if they are talented, they don’t have enough experience compared to the actual professionals. A shame none of them died though. Okouchi plays cruel jokes on us

- Shaddiq is the biggest loser of all time. His pathetic white knighting for Miorine is sickening. He doesn’t see her as a person, he just sees her as an object. And the same goes for everyone else. Shaddiq has a savior complex, either something he developed or something that was drilled into him when he was young due to his talent. He has a point about how Earthian lives are more expendable, and I can sympathize, but the actions he takes are too horrible. He released Norea on purpose to get her to kill everyone. If Spacians are evil for killing innocent Earthians, then he is evil too for getting innocent Spacians killed. The end may justify the means, but that doesn’t mean what he did was good.

- Guel is the biggest gigachad of all time. Gives a cool speech shooting back at Shaddiq, disarms his suit, and then front flips outside of the exploding Darilbalde. While Shaddiq has grown complacent, Guel has seen the horrors of war up front. His father died by his hand, and an innocent child died in his arms. While Shaddiq can pass off his actions as the right thing, not harboring any guilt, Guel has taken on the pain of his sins and moves forward because of him. He knows the true pain of taking a life, which is why he leaves Shaddiq alive. He knows that if you’re dead, you can’t make up for all of the suffering you caused, that you can’t become a better person. He recognizes that Shaddiq has suffered just like him, and that it would be unfair to take his life for such a thing.

- Also the fact the fact Guel keeps performing better and better when more odds are stacked against him is crazy. Shaddiq was fully going in for the kill, with his handicap off, and Guel still beat him with just green beams. RIP Darilbalde, you saved your master.

- The fact that Sarius still refers to Shaddiq as his son, he really does love him. Best parent

- Lauda really going through it, huh? Imagine finding out your sibling killed your parent. Like, how do you even function after that? He put his brother up on such a high pedestal, but it’s all come crashing down. But will Guel be able to explain the situation, or will Lauda have his Joker moment before he can talk to him. With the phone call he received at the end, I don’t think Lauda will be sane enough to listen to anyone. Either he fights his brother or Suletta, possibly in the Schwarzette

- Petra…my sweet child. Her talking about all the things she wanted to die with Lauda reminded me of Sophie’s lamentations before her death. Her wants were so basic, but that just makes them even stronger. And you can tell Suletta realized that she wanted the same with Miorine. But sadly, while helping others, Petra gets caught up in the attack and is buried by rubble, dying. Maybe. I’ve seen some people say she might be alive and get the GUND prosthetics, which would make me extremely happy, but I’m too sad to hope. Some others have been saying she’ll be uploaded to the Schwarzette and while I find that far-fetched it would be pretty cute to have either Lauda or Suletta pilot it with her help.

- All right, this is the heavy part. Norea and El5n. Because he deserves a name, his real name preferably, but this is the best I can do right now.

- Norea, once again reminded of the fact that her and her people’s lives are played with by the upper class and that they’ll continue to hurt them, breaks and goes on a rampage. With no care to how much harm she’s causing, she acts out, because she herself is hurting. She’s carrying the burden of thousands of dead and suffering Earthians. Her howls of pain resound throughout the school as she lashes out, dying her hands red.

- But even still, despite all the pain she’s caused, El5n believes she can live a better life. He wants to believe that. Even if she carries the pain of all Earthians and the sins she commits, he wants to share that burden with her. Just as he believes he can live a happy life despite being just an experiment, he believes she can do so as well. He wants to see the world she lives in. He wants to see the girl who drew that beautiful lakefront. So he rushes out to stop her in Sophie’s Gundam, even if he might die.

- He tries to plead with her but she can’t accept it. She sees no meaning in her life if it isn’t being used to help others (save Earthians.)

- I’ll be honest, I experienced the same sense of emptiness Norea has. The feeling as if you have no future left. I remember near the end of middle school, I was given an assignment to choose what college I wanted to go to and what I wanted to major in and research it all, and like, I didn’t even think I was going to make it pass high school. I didn’t do the project because I genuinely didn’t believe I had a future. I distracted myself with anime and manga, much like how Norea focused on her drawings. It’s taken a lot of work to get where I am today thanks to having people care for me similarly to how El5n cared for Norea.

- His profession of care for her, saying he’ll stay by her side and that she wants her to show him the beauty of Earth, it all melted my heart. He spent almost his entire life locked up in a facility to be experimented on and had his very identity stolen away, but he finally found someone who feels just like him. Someone so desperately looking for a purpose after being shat on by the entire world. He reaches out to her and holds her hand, and Norea is reminded of Sophie, her best friend and only family.

- Finally, Norea puts down her weapons. Her rage isn’t gone, but the idea that someone cares for her makes her stop hurting others. But just when she can finally smile, her life is cruelly stolen away by a sniper shot. She’s shot straight through, the bracelet she and Sophie made together burning away, and El5n is left mourning.

- Just when he finally found someone who he could relate to, someone he wanted to explore the world he was sheltered from for so long, she’s gone. The one person who cared about him. Suletta only saw El4n and Belmeria only felt bad for herself. Norea was the first to see the suffering and lonely child behind the mask El5n put on and she dies.

- This is the very first moment activates his Permet by his own will, and it’s not to battle. Instead, it’s a manifestation of his grief and rage. He takes control of the GUND bits and uses them to kill the men who took Norea away, and then he leaves, because what else can he do? His entire life has been played with in order to serve some higher power. But he won’t back down after all this. Peil better sleep with one eye open, because he’s coming for all of them.

- While Guel showed great skill this episode, El5n, in my eyes, is the undisputed best pilot of the children. Able to keep up with a Permet 4 Norea in an unfamiliar suit and immediately hijacking the Gundvolvas and using them. He’s showing prowess on the same level as the Aerial, though I don’t think he’ll ever climb to her level. El5n will use these talents to carve his existence into the world. I hope he retakes his original name as he does this. No matter what you do El5n, I will support you.

- Suletta continues to move forward. Even though she doesn’t have Aerial with her, she spends hours removing rubble to save others. She couldn’t do anything during the attack, which is why she moves herself now to help others. And her persistence emboldens her friends, who jump into work just as she did. She survived, and now she has to choose what she wants to do. Does she want revenge? Does she want to help others? Or will she go see Miorine? No matter what she chooses, it will be her own choice made by her own will. No one can control her now

Where do we go from here? The Space League is moving now, ready to start a war. Prospera will be theif to fight Ochs Earth and start Quiet Zero, all just for Eri. But what will the young ones do? What can they do?

Well, that’s for next episode to show.

On this day remember to think about the millions of children who die in wars, conflict, or because of horrible circumstances. Let us work for a better tomorrow

[qqchurch]

finally catching up with Gundam...

EP6

- wtf Aerial has the Anti-GUND aoe too?

- wait Suletta why are you referring to the bits as "everyone"

- the creepy child laughter???????

- what do you mean it's 21 YEARS since the prologue

- ELAN???????

- lol Yuru Camp Guel

EP7

- girlboss Miorine

- Prospera is fucking menacing

- Daddy Delling finds his daughter so cringe that he invested into her startup out of pity

EP8

- It's Aerial!

- Tomato symbolism strong

- Yes let's not try to explicitly participate with arms dealing mmkay?

- also Suletta's about face on Prospera's very hoaky "apology" was creepy, it was creepy right? most people don't just accept an excuse like that at face value after being led on for years???

- also the lighting on Prospera, Jesus Christ it's like the entire lighting of the scene changes depending on how the perspective character views hers

EP9

- Aerial goes Ultra Instinct

- also she can just hijack the GUND jammers let's go girl (mecha)

- Guel's getting withdrawn, RIP his camping dreams

- the tear Prospera sheds the moment Suletta uses the Blue Mode on Aerial's GUND systems...

- ChuChu (and the rest of Earth House) with the clutch snipe to end the match!

==

last third left before the Splattening, as expected the memes leave out a lot of crucial details lol

[casliveblog]

Custom Toonami Block Week 190 Rundown

The Witch from Mercury: Oof, this one’s goddamn rough. Miorine agrees to be Prospera’s puppet in exchange for Suletta’s freedom on the condition she do one more duel (honestly I wouldn’t trust that because the way Prospera talks she doesn’t seem to think Suletta will survive that long). Guel comes and saves Suletta from being sexual assaulted/regular assaulted by Fake Ceras #2 and presents her with the results of his Chazz Princeton rich boy humbling arc, him being a much more mature person willing to both admit his feelings for her and accept her rejection while understanding what he wants out of life. Miorine overhears them and says she wants them both to duel one more time and this kinda sucks because she’s hedging the bets and it makes you not sure who to root for going in. Miorine is willing to break off her connection to Suletta and align with Guel, putting Suletta through agony and ensuring they’ll never be together for the sake of getting Aerial forcibly taken away so she can’t be used to reincarnate Eri. Guel’s still having some PTSD about killing his dad and is working his way through it during the duel and honestly doing really well like even with all Suletta’s OP Newtype Beams and shit he has her dead to rights a couple times if not for his own hesitation. Suletta gets ready for a finisher that looks like it’d fucking atomize Guel as much as chop his antenna off, finally verbally affirming she wants to marry Miorine only for Miorine to shut off Aerial’s systems and give Guel the duel. And we see that Suletta’s Newtype Data Storm shit gets REAL close to peaking during the fight like it gives Prospera a mini-orgasm so yeah if Miorine didn’t turn it off we may have seen Human Instrumentality right there. Miorine admits to rigging the fight, saying she doesn’t want to see Suletta again and that she’s always just been using people to get what she wants, leaving Suletta without her wife, her gundam soon to be taken and in absolute AGONY. And FUCK it’s not true! Gaaaah, Miorine’s only doing this in a misguided attempt to SAVE Suletta, assuming that her being safe is more important than being with her or any trauma she inflicts by literally ripping her family out of her arms, like I get it but there’s gotta be another way, but Miorine’s gone full Lelouch mode on this one with the “my plan is too cruel to justify being even slightly kind to myself about it” so yeah her and Guel are doing some Zero Requiem shit right now.

Inuyasha The Final Act: This is it, there’s only three episodes left of Inuyasha and it’s the final confrontation with Naraku. There’s basically a stalemate because Naraku’s just pumping enough poison in and changing the terrain enough to keep everyone from hitting him but he can’t quite kill them either. Sango arrives and gets a hit in on him but ends up getting poisoned, leading Miroku to try and grab her and Shippo has to save them both with medicine he got from Jinenji, good Jinenji callback, love that a one-off character has a key role in the final battle. Naraku finally absorbs the jewel and becomes immune to Meidou Zangetsuha by… just kinda stretching around it, sure. Kagome and Inuyasha both give him the final ‘you’re a fucking dick Naraku you didn’t have to be such a dick’ speech where Inuyasha appeals to their shared half-demon nature and how Naraku chose the evil option every time and Kagome appeals to Naraku having a human heart and still being butthurt about Kikyo and it’s only because he’s known kindness and compassion that he can so viciously embody hatred and betrayal, that even now the jewel can never get him what he wanted and all he’ll do by absorbing it is become a real monster. Naraku fucking goes off on this which is kinda satisfying to see given his whole personality is “my plan failing was part of my plan” and Inuyasha finally cuts him with the evolution Meidou Zangetsuha blades which are basically ‘do not pass go, get cut no matter what’ shards of ultimate destruction. Sesshomaru sees Naraku’s wounded and remembers he has Bakusaiga and doesn’t have to worry about Rin anymore and just fucking goes to town on Naraku’s insides so he can’t keep regenerating from Inuyasha’s attacks. Byakuya sees the writing on the wall and moves to cut Kagome with the Meidou Zangetsuha he absorbed last time, though it seemingly does nothing for now, Everyone regroups and takes aim at the exposed jewel in Naraku’s chest, everyone Naraku’s ever fucked with finally ready to come collect what he owes them for being a fucking asshole for two hundred episodes.  

Castlevania: Hector’s getting used to his cursed life of roaming a giant castle and reading books and being a hot vampire’s sex slave, the horror. But still he seems to be scheming something in addition and isn’t quite taking his new imprisonment lying down even if he is way too casual with Lenore after she slapped sex cuffs that read his mind on him, like I’d think that’d make their penis banter at least a little more awkward but here we are. I also feel like they’ve softened Lenore a lot this season, like suddenly she’s a lot less sure of things and less cruel and commanding, you could chalk that up to her doubting her reduced role in things now that the time for negotiating is over and all out bloody war is coming but it’s still a little jarring. Carmilla goes on a rant about how her backstory is a Lifetime Original movie and how she’ll only be satisfied when she’s destroyed and obtained as much as she can and maybe not even then because she’s been too damaged to ever feel like it’s enough. Idk in contrast I think Carmilla’s a little better written this season, like they had to do a lot of work with her place in the world in Season 3 because of how she stumbled dick first into a good gambit in Season 2 but now they seem to be actively working on rounding out how her end goals are just as self-destructive as Dracula’s were and she doesn’t even know it yet, she’s still not my favorite character or anything but I appreciate the groundwork. Meanwhile Trevor and Sypha have an absolutely shit fight with the cockney vampires’ mooks like they’ve done way better than this against way more guys and I’m not sure if they’re actively getting nerfed or if this is just to show how tired they are during this arc. They run into Targoviste’s underground bodyguards because apparently Dracula killed 99% of the people in that city and missed the royal family somehow like that’s straight up the explanation they give, but now they have a mildly jingoistic official wanting to show them around and two cockney vampires on their tails to try and wear their skin Buffalo Bill style, so fun times were had by all.

Konosuba: Fuck all this plot shit, KAZUMA INVENTED BUBBLEWRAP FUCK YEAH. Anyway, Megumin and Aqua have their own plans to stop Darkness’s wedding that range from loitering to terrorism and despite Megumin giving a semi-false love confession Kazuma isn’t budging, pretending he’s just being stubborn about wanting her to apologize but really legitimately not being able to come up with any ideas to help. He gets a visit from Vanir who finally reveals that the reason Darkness’s family is in debt is because they borrowed from her future husband to cover the costs of damages to the town and farmland done by various other adventures the group’s had in previous seasons, indirectly or otherwise since the old man won’t actually look after his vassals, Darkness’s dad had to go into debt to actually help them out, and now the collateral of that debt is Darkness herself. And sneaky asshole that he is, Vanir arranged for the amount of the debt to be just enough to be repaid with his next payment for Kazuma’s inventions, ensuring the group will be back to being poor and/or any of Kazuma’s future endeavors will have to go straight to him. Still, the time for the wedding is here and Aqua disguised herself as the priestess (pink hair Aqua’s kinda hot ngl) and Kazuma dashes off with Darkness in toe, it’s a god damn rescue arc, a real one this time after like five fakeouts, hot damn!

Delicious in Dungeon: The group FINALLY descends to the next floor and it’s kinda weird because nothing’s really changed, no new party members, still looking for Falin, like the scope of the plot changed but realistically after that whole interlude we’re back to the status quo. They muse about the Mad Mage’s motives and Laios finally talks about the history paintings he was in but they don’t get too far before ending up in a blizzard and confronting several shapeshifters that give three clones of each party member. Oddly enough the shapeshifter doesn’t seem to be able to make copies based on someone’s self-image, only the image others have of them so this ends up being a neat little exchange about how the group sees each other and little details they learn about each other, like it kinda reminds me of fanfiction writers honing in on one part of a character’s personality and playing that up for the plot they want, it’s a neat little Flanderization exercise. Luckily everyone thinks Laios is dumb as a stump and can’t actively replicate his knowledge of monsters so his doubles are quickly sorted out, leaving him the judge of the rest of the copies. It reminds me of the Duplighosts section in Paper Mario where there’s obviously something wrong but you gotta pay attention or something could trick you. Either way Laios ends up making a decision but since there’s an equal number of copies and real ones they all have perfectly symmetrical violence which as we know from Futurama never solved anything. Laios proves he literally has that dog in him and gets the wolf shapeshifter to back down on sheer intimidation factor only to try wrestling a dog for Marcille to just cut to the chase and blow its fucking head off. Just a nice light character development episode after all the shit that’s happened, oh also Marcille’s been kidnapped or something.

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End: Ironically Frieren is ALSO dealing with magical duplicates this week, odd that both shows would line up like that huh. Denken’s group realizes they can’t beat Frieren and so they camp outside the boss door trying to think up a plan. Ubel and Land come across Ubel’s clone and end up beating her with a surprising teamwork combo that does let Ubel claim to worm her way more into Land’s emotional psyche. Frieren and Fern’s group find the central chamber honoring the king of the tomb, just getting a nice little sight for exploring before walking into Denkin’s Frieren-slaying powwow. The only hypnosis expert who appears to have this world’s version of Cursed Speech gets tied up with the clone of the teacher right when the group is wondering if she could help them hypnotize clone Frieren. It’s really funny how they just kinda run down all the ways Frieren is fucking broken and how she seems to have a thing for milfs when hugged by the one analyzing her which makes Fern jealous, just lots of good little moments for character. Either way while the side characters are dealing with their own clones, Fern resolves that she can be the one to kill Clone Frieren, presumably with a quickdraw wild west deal so get ready cause It’s High Noon Frieren.

Revolutionary Girl Utena: It’s the second part of the Miki arc from last time, now that he’s fallen in love with Anthy, he tries to process his feelings, explaining his backstory about how he got sick on the day of a big recital he was supposed to play with his sister and she got so traumatized by doing it alone she quit playing piano forever so his combined feelings of guilt and loneliness make up the mess of a person we see in this arc. He starts taking what Utena said to heart about how it’s kinda nuts that they’re all in a death apocalypse game to force her to marry one of them, showing real concern for Anthy’s sense of agency. To his credit Miki does acknowledge this and try to dissolve the Student Council but according to Touga dissolving the structure of the game wouldn’t change Anthy’s fate to be bound to whoever is the champion. He tells Miki to fight for what he wants lest others take it from him which is really fucking funny because when he says it he’s just standing in a room but when Miki remembers it Touga’s fucking shirtless laying on a bed, combined with Touga saying Miki’s cuter than his sister I think there might be some unresolved sexual tension there. He asks Anthy if she likes playing piano and if she’d stop if Utena told her too, sort of constructing in his mind the idea that Utena could enslave Anthy even though she’s the only one really championing her freedom and Miki’s notion of her being free is doing what he wants her to, which granted is a thing she likes but it’s still a flawed view of her freedom. Getting to the part of Witch from Mercury I’m at now it just kinda reminds me of a role reversal of Suletta and Miorine where Suletta’s the one who will do whatever the people she’s attached to tell her which deeply disturbs her loved ones where in this case it’s Anthy who unquestioningly obeys any command with a smile. Either way Miki and Utena end up in a duel like we saw in the beginning of the last episode and it’s kinda weird cause the audio seems kinda rushed and downed out by the soundtrack even though it was fine in the last episode’s cold open. They’re basically even until Miki hears Anthy cheering for Utena and flinches leading to his defeat. I mean this is less a case of Anthy actually loving Utena at this point than the fact she’s a literal robot that will do whatever the Holder says and Utena’s still the Holder rn, so that should embolden Miki if anything, and sure enough he hasn’t learned a thing from any of this and plans to challenge Utena again at some point. The part I really like though is the revelation that Miki’s sister was really shit at piano and Miki was just that good to make her sound good and it was just Miki’s love for her that made him think she was the missing piece to his music, that’s actually a really nice touch and his internal conflict is surprisingly complex for such a simple backstory that doesn’t make much sense on the surface, I really liked it.