#skins meta

[musashi]

i want more nuance to be entered into the discussion of the green girl sorority and how differently cynthia plays elphaba in comparison to those who came before her because while a lot of people are rightfully like "why was elphaba not black from the beginning" and celebrating that she is now being played by a black woman, i think we need to be careful in just writing off all the elphabas of the past as Random White Girls when the role was championed (and often followed/succeeded) by a jewish woman

the pop culture archetype of the Wicked Witch has deep roots in antisemitism stretching faaaar far back. there is a level of reclamation happening in casting idina menzel, a jewish woman, to play the Misunderstood and Maligned young girl who is branded as exactly that. and stage!Elphaba is also written and acted with jewish stereotypes in mind--she is loud, aggressive, no-nonsense, blunt. she is quick to advocate for herself and shut down the discrimination she faces. all of this is very intentional! her personality is abrasive from years of abuse, and that makes propagandizing her easy. this is literally the thesis statement of the musical--it's not about aptitude, it's the way you're viewed.

cynthia's performance of elphaba is fucking INSPIRED despite going in a completely different direction. she's much more reserved, analytical, one of her key character traits is how well she can read people (see her calling out Galinda as insecure/putting on airs in their first scene together, clocking that Fiyero is using his party guy persona as a shield for his own depression) elphaba's attempts to blend in and make herself smaller all fail simply because of her existence, if not that then because she feels empathy so strongly she often struggles to hold back from acting, protecting.

personality wise, though, cynthia's elphaba is very quiet and closed-off, not at all the bullet-to-the-face that she is in the stage show, and... she still gets propagandized and maligned. though this seems to contradict the other interpretation, it tells of the other end of the spectrum of propaganda, one that black women watching (and many, MANY other marginalized folks) are sure to identify with--it does not matter how "nice," how reserved, how small a black woman makes herself. a racist society will still scrutinize her every action for a way to parse ill intent from it, brand her as an angry black woman who is dangerous and wicked, and write off any humanity she has in the process.

these two very different interpretations tell of the lie of assimilation. the fact of the matter is, when you are marginalized, there is no way to sand down your edges enough to make the people oppressing you "accept" you. that is why wicked is a tragedy at its core. whether loud and aggressive or quiet and unimposing, there is nothing elphaba could have done to make the people of Oz see her as anything other than a scapegoat to blame all their problems on.

so while i definitely appreciate that people are excited for black girl era elphaba, i would encourage us all to still show appreciation for what came before--that was not white girl era elphaba. that was jewish girl era elphaba. two houses, both alike in dignity, two stories both worth being told.

[akanemnon]

Wow, not even 5 seconds in and they're already starting a fight.

FIRST - PREVIOUS - NEXT

MASTERPOST (for the full series / FAQ / reference sheets)

[t3chborb]

Cuddling the big scary robot would save me actually.

[grim-work]

thinking about that post that said the real horror of spn was the ways abuse will resurface and thinking about how season 1 is so explicitly intensely overwhelming about domestic violence and abuse in the home…………….there’s something in the pipes, there’s something in the walls, there’s something in the closet the children see at night. we know, but we can never say it

[deancrowleycas]

Favorite Shots Per Episode ✩ 1.06 Skin (3/3)

cinematography analysis and queer reading under the cut

It's of course very obvious that the shapeshifter is functioning as a mirror to Dean, but I still find it fascinating how this is depicted in the cinematography. Because the director isn't using physical mirrors, despite them being such a popular trope in horror for showing the true self or the mental state or metamorphosis of a character. The only time where you sort of see one is in a foreshadowing shortly after the establishing shot with the side-view mirror (which I absolutely love):

But for the rest? Not really. I always wonder if interpret waaaay too much into certain frames, but I am kind of obsessed with how Dean and Becky are divided by the crime scene tape in this shot. Becky is the victim. Dean, well Dean? He's the monster. Kind of. I think a lot of the reflection in this episode happens through what Dean is not also, and he's are not living the lives of 'normal' people. I love how the directing of the episode shows early on that Dean does not belong to that part of society, just like the shapeshifter.

I mean I obviously am doing a queer reading of that (being queer myself), with the monstrous and othered bodies in media being those that are not conforming to various aspects of white cishet society. But I am going to say - the implication that there is a sort of inherent tragedy to Dean's life, not just a sense of not belonging because of his 'lifestyle' but also the fear of being monstrous enough to destroy other people's bodies and livelihoods? Ugh. It hurts, and it's sadly coming back in anti-queer narratives to this day. But yeah, as I said, Dean is portrayed in a way that is disconnecting him from the rest - also from Sam who is the link to this 'normal' life by knowing Becky and who has kept Dean from 'being himself' by pursuing his own dreams and conforming to the exact society that Dean is not belonging to, letting Dean behind in a position where he's neither free to be himself nor enough to be someone else -, and that is giving him a sameness to the shapeshifter.

Dean has to hide the queer part of himself, in a desperate attempt to be accepted, mirrored by the monster of the week: "So maybe this thing was born human but was different, hideous and hated...until he learned to become someone else."

I think that's why I am also obsessed with these shots. Because both the shapeshifter and the shapeshifter as Dean are getting one, revealing their true self underneath the mask that is this body, a body that is subjected to other people's ideas and is projected on and isn't their own. But also the eyes are mirrors? The body part described as the 'mirror to the soul'. It's a little cliché and on the nose, but I find it way cooler than just working with physical mirrors, you know?

And yeah, when it comes to reflections, of course, we cannot forget this scene:

Which is Dean seeing himself, but more so is actually Dean seeing how he is perceived by others. It's not a depiction of his actual self, it's a depiction of the concept of him. We know this, we know Dean is not the 'bad guy' that is televised nor is it an accurate portrayal of him. But I think that it serves to show the audience how media is a place that can shape ideas and construct norms, and it also serves as a way to remind Dean that this is how he will be reacted to if he dares to 'become' monstrous. If he dared to be like the shapeshifter, the outcast, and put his own being over his responsibility to conform. Despite his brother Sam being allowed the same egoism - but Sam's egoism is striving to conform, he's lawboy@stanford.edu you know, and Dean's egoism is striving to be free, to regain control over his body.

And then we have this shot.

Followed by this shot.

Dean 'killing' this reflection of himself, this part of himself in favor of serving and saving. He's a freak, but he's not just a freak like Sam in that he's currently living the hunter lifestyle and didn't really fit into Stanford. Because - well, he's different than Sam. Queer. He's isolated, alone, born hated like the shapeshifter if he ever lived his true self, yearning to be loved. The shapeshifter literally says it: "All he wants is for someone to love him. He’s like me. You know, everybody needs a little human touch now and then. It’s so hard to be different." I think this episode hits so hard for me because you can see Dean's self-hatred, especially in that last shot, Dean's internal struggles that he hides so well under his hero-esque facade. But also how he is ultimately a loving and caring person, putting everyone's happiness above himself.

I think despite this episode reading like being queer is an inherent tragedy at first glance, it walks a fine line in actually trying to convey quite the opposite. Dean is other, but the other isn't bad. Yes, he does good by suppressing himself, so does that mean he has to act according to others to be happy? I don't think that is what the episode is saying. I think it is more an example of Dean's 'monstrosity' being not the same as the shapeshifter's monstrosity in the end, that despite all the sameness they aren't one. That despite what society depicts him to be, evil and harmful to others, he isn't this mirror image projected onto him. He isn't what was shown on those televisions, or in a wider sense, the media. He isn't what is hunted down by the SWAT team, or in a wider sense, institutions in power. Dean's self IS good. Dean's self IS caring and loving, despite his fear to pursue his own dreams and be free, and it's not coming through his actions of suppressing those desires, but because he ultimately is neither those 'normal' people nor the shapeshifter, but his own truth. So yeah, while I think this episode definitely walks a dangerous path by having Dean continue to live this old life in the end, the cinematography in this episode also functions to reveal how - while horror is a love letter to the monstrous, represents counter-narratives and helps to deconstruct normativity (like in this episode!) - the monstrous is often instrumentalized to suppress and oppress and depict victims as an inherent danger to the established systems of oppression. Dean's true self isn't bad. People are just made to believe that it is.

[grahamfolgersdeliciousnotebooks]

Thinking about Jon’s time with the Circus again. Thinking about what a month spent in a refrigerated warehouse would do (because it would have to be refrigerated, wouldn’t it? it’s meant to store waxworks), just how cold his skin would be. Do you think it even still felt like his skin? Do you think his fingers brushed the skin of his arm and felt only the inhuman chill of wax, and his arm received the touch of his hand and felt only the dead press of plastic?

Thinking about how thoroughly his time with the Stranger would have made him a stranger to himself.

[otheredsam]

1x06 skin provides us with so much insight into dean’s perspective he has always been a big weirdo!! and a freak u guys.

SHAPESHIFTER: It’s funny. I kind of understand him. He’s all alone—close to no one. All he wants is for someone to love him. He’s like me. (REBECCA looks very uncomfortable.) You know, everybody needs a little human touch now and then. It’s so hard to be different.

it is fascinating to me that the shapeshifter is used as a foil for dean. because usually we only get parallels between sam and the ‘monsters’ to other him. if sam is both the subject and the other, what is dean? he felt hopeless from the start and his fear of being alone AND his fear of sam being ‘impure’ - these were the biggest catalysts for the main plot. fear not action. and i think that’s why kripke’s s5 ending makes so much sense because dean has to give up this fear of being alone and sam being corrupted.

SHAPESHIFTER: I am your brother. See, deep down, I'm just jealous. You got friends. You could have a life. Me? I know I'm a freak. And sooner or later, everybody's gonna leave me. [backs away]

the biggest difference between him & sam in season 1 is complacency. his submissiveness towards their dad (the OG architect of their life) & ‘roll over & die’ attitude is striking from the beginning and only gets worse.

another thing i missed is how much refuge he seeks in killing and violence right from the start! he finds genuine comfort in it unlike sam. see below

DEAN: I hate to say it, but that's exactly what I'm talking about. You lied to your friends because if they knew the real you, they'd be freaked. It's just... it'll be easier if...

SAM: If I was like you.

DEAN: Hey, man, like it or not, we are not like other people. But I'll tell you one thing. This whole gig, [takes out gun] it ain't without perks.

DEAN: Well, that’s ‘cause you’re a freak.

it’s a lil sick but sexy how dean keeps reiterating we’re freaks, we’re so different, it’s us, you only have me and i only have you. there is a bit of possessiveness & an urge to keep sam away from the rest of the world. maybe out of fear of him leaving dean again. it feels like: no one will understand you like i do. which is true in a way. this is that delish subtext they sprinkled.

SAM: Yeah, thanks.

DEAN: Well, I’m a freak, too. I’m right there with ya, all the way. (SAM laughs.)

SAM: Yeah, I know you are.

pretty much sums up the entire freak show <3

dean placing his claim on sam and establishing that they are cursed and separate from society/the norm/civilisation

[lunarriviera]

[overthinking about blorbo follows] [quasi-spoiler for uts s2 e3] look okay so here's the thing. shen yi is an insanely gifted classically trained painter who now lbr spends most of his working life sketching holdup mugshots off of grainy cctv footage, an occupation that at this point for him has to be boringly straightforward. maybe once in a while there's a cool serial murderer and he gets to come up with a way to reconstruct an entire person's body from one molar, or invent some new shrimp colors or something. then he goes home and paints his fucking heart out all night and for what, who is seeing it? who is seeing him? (and don't say du cheng bc i love him but we all know he probably wears black because he's red-green color blind.) so here he is, showing his canvases in a little group exhibition and trolling quietly amongst the clueless spectators, and no one even knows who he is because he's not showing up at the gallery opening in a suit du qing poured him into, clutching a glass of room-temperature champagne. instead here's someone standing the correct distance away from the canvas and you can practically hear shen yi's invisible antennae go sproing. idek who this charismatic pointy-faced guy is yet, maybe he's under the skin's answer to sheev palpatine but the point is, no one who can see what shen yi is doing talks to him about his work. so when weasel man says "he's a genius" and shen yi gives that tiny smile that's so frail it's almost invisible— he gave that smile one time before in s1, remember? when du cheng says "it could be that shen yi is wrong—but that's impossible, so we're crossing that one out." it's a beautiful little character note from tan jianci bc very likely shen yi isn't even aware he's doing it. maybe he's even telling himself "oh please how dare this guy, who does he think he is, clement greenberg"—shen yi who literally set fire to his ambition in the service of honing a moral compass so ruthless and unbending you could set greenwich mean time by it. but somewhere down in there, always—inside any person who chooses a life devoted to making things—is the desire for those made things to be seen.

who was the last person who said "he's a genius" not about his police work but about his painting? the last person who looked carefully at all of his values, hues, lines, shapes, gestural movements, mark-making, brushstrokes, depth of field, play of light, and really saw what he was doing, enough to be critical of it? when you're a working artist and someone sees you well enough to critique you intelligently? the pleasure is breathtaking, frankly on a spectrum with the erotic. (you could also argue he's smiling ruefully at the declaration that the painter's having become a cop is what ruined his work; when shen yi possibly thinks: you know nothing, it opened up everything for me. but i'm not so sure about that. because did it? has it? do we know that?) tl;dr weasel man is holding out an opened box of fresh turkish delight and it remains to be seen whether shen yi is going to faceplant into it. but i for one could not blame him. it is exhausting to have an enormous part of your psyche be all but completely invisible for years on end.

[stargirl230]

let the light in

I finished 猎罪图鉴2 and I think at least 10% of shen yi's problems could be solved by not living in a concrete dungeon, so I’m using my art powers to home-ify his house (see tags for more rambling)

(no reposts; reblogs appreciated)

[twig-tea]

Apple My Love Quick Pitch

Apple My Love is the first GL from Kongthup, and I am already obsessed.

As of ep 1, it looks like this show is going to be dealing with:

Figuring yourself out after life doesn't go how you expect

Recovering eyesight after surgery and dealing with that change in ability [so far minimal, I hope it comes up more]

The difference between idolizing someone and loving someone

Great friend group dynamics

Great sibling dynamics

The deep embarrassment of being too gay to function

Starting on a misunderstanding and building back to understanding one another in a workplace context

Identity porn

There are also a lot of familiar faces in this show, almost everyone here has been in a couple of Kongthup shows. Orm (playing Kris) was in La Pluie, Folk (playing Karn) was in the now-maybe-not-going-to-happen Be Mine that we got a long trailer for last year, and the boys in this series are all from Monster Next Door, Knock Knock Boys, Two Worlds, and/or Unforgotten Night.

If you need any more incentive, this show is so pretty. To prove it, here's the trailer.

6 episodes total, airing every Saturday at 11:45 AM EDT (10:45 PM GMT +8) on GagaOOLala and WeTV (check your region) and a cut version is also airing on YouTube (I assumed it was cut but h/t to @yet-another-wlw-shipper in the reblogs for confirming it is NOT).

[sable-pigeon]

Tingsheng, Mei Changsu, and Xiao Jingyan in the early episodes of Nirvana in Fire

Looking at how early episodes of the show use Tingsheng as a way of bringing Mei Changsu and Jingyan closer together (with an end note about how, having fulfilled that purpose, he remains a connection that they both draw upon to communicate with each other).

Tingsheng is there from the very beginning of Mei Changsu and Jingyan's (re)acquaintance, starting from when Jingyan first notices Mei Changsu; Mei Changsu is talking to Tingsheng (and starting to realize who Tingsheng might be), and this leads into their first conversation:

The subject of this conversation is primarily Tingsheng and, most importantly, what Mei Changsu is offering: to teach Tingsheng, and also to get him out of his present situation, and, to his credit, Jingyan is listening (so much so that he will echo the same sentiment back to Mei Changsu in episode 33):

Checking in on Tingsheng is also what brings Jingyan, who by now has asked around about this mysterious individual, to Jingsu's next meeting, where Mei Changsu is very direct about why he's here, and reflects back what Jingyan has heard about him by recasting the previous scene as something solely towards that purpose:

When Jingyan next speaks privately with Mei Changsu, it's in the aftermath of Nihuang's matter in Episode 5, and a displeased Jingyan lays down an ultimatum about his limits, but is still willing to listen to what Mei Changsu has to say, and what Mei Changsu has to say explicitly links Tingsheng with asking Jingyan to trust him:

Jingyan is shocked to learn Mei Changsu knows Tingsheng's true identity, but he also has to acknowledge what Mei Changsu's silence means. In addition, Jingyan's frustration with having to keep that secret, alongside his recognition of the necessity of doing so provides another opportunity for Jingyan to hear what Mei Changsu is telling him:

The conversation ends with Jingyan continuing to process and getting up rather abruptly after Mei Changsu's salute, but even though he doesn't turn around, he does stop on his way out; he needs to thank Mei Changsu for saving Tingsheng, and we get the reaction shot from Mei Changsu to close the scene:

The next time Jingyan and Mei Changsu are onscreen together, in Episode 9 when Mei Changsu visits Jingyan at the manor he remembers so well, the atmosphere is markedly different from the last time we saw them, and Tingsheng, a settled Tingsheng who Mei Changsu did succeed in getting out, is there:

As in their first meeting, Mei Changsu helps Tingsheng up while Jingyan looks on, but the positions have changed: Mei Changsu has done what he promised and succeeded in bringing Tingsheng out and to Jingyan's side. Tingsheng's bow too, is different, he is no longer cowering, but saluting:

The warmth of the sequence is supported by the accompanying music, and Jingyan's acquiescence to Tingsheng keeping 'Feiliu's' present flows directly into his introduction of Mei Changsu to his subordinates, where, in far cry from their previous scenes, he specifically names Mei Changsu as his friend.

From the initial meeting through this gift sequence (which leads into their first truly collaborative scene), Tingsheng features in each of Mei Changsu and Jingyan's early interactions, and their discussion of him functions as a way for Mei Changsu to show his intentions and for Jingyan to believe in them.

Finally, even when Tingsheng is no longer central to their interactions, as he is in these early episodes, he remains a way for Jingsu to communicate sincerity to one other, whether by Jingyan reaffirming his trust in Mei Changsu after the infamous occurrences of Episode 33, or by Mei Changsu acknowledging his connections in the aftermath of the reveal.

[mollysunder]

The easter eggs in here are so cute and foreboding.

You've got dog(?) Ekko.

Best Boy Ekko with a crossed out left eye and dork Ekko with a bullet coming toward his head.

Who is booing at who here tho?

"Lost the Firelights"!!! Maybe that's referring to events in season 1, but who knows with season 2.

On one hand the hearts are cute. On the other hand I'm getting vibes that Jinx is going to shoot Ekko in the face, specifically his right eye.

If she did that would explain all the weird eye horror in the Firelights' mv.

And that scene where Jinx shoots a firelight and it immediately cuts to the back of Ekko's head.

[anyrei-snarks]

A Study in Subtext

Just my funny take on the last scene of Season 2, episode 21 of UTS.

Finally Fang Kai Yi and Du Cheng meet. I was waiting for the moment and I was not disappointed.

My shippy subtext meta with pictures under the spoiler tag! I wanted to make gifs but the program I used was crap and the quality was horrible so I had to use pictures. (sowy)

Shen Yi was super quick to tell Du Cheng that he would join him to visit the company.

And his secret boyfriend was of course happy, only having eyes for Shen Yi (who can blame him?)

Well, Du Cheng can, cuz he immediately is like WHUT? WHO IS THAT GUY?

When Shen Yi admits that he knows Fang, Du Cheng immediately gives him a critical once-over, checking out the competition.

Fang is wearing his civil non psycho face but Du Cheng is still reluctant to shake his hand cuz reasons... He is still like "Who the fuck are you and why do you know my boyfriend.

Shen Yi is probably comparing their height cuz at this point I think it's clear that he likes them tall.

Fang tries his best to show Du Cheng how much he knows Shen Yi and how much he is only interested in him. (Because he knows)

I'm including this cuz when Shen Yi says "desire" he looks at Du Cheng. (And I'm a clown)

And then the camera has this framed when Shen Yi talks about the strong conflict. Well yeah, there will be a strong conflict with those two, I'm sure of that. XD

In this scene Fang is shifting on his leg and tries to appear taller than Du Cheng to look more dominant. (I wish the gifs would have worked out T_T)

Du Cheng is unimpressed.

So Fang proceeds to blatantly flirt with Shen Yi in front of Du Cheng.

Giving him soft longing looks and complimenting him.

He hits a nerve there cuz Du Cheng gets angry now and raises his voice.

Shen Yi is uncomfortable, and it looks like he is fighting two emotions, the wish to calm Du Cheng down but he is also a little miffed cuz he wants them to get along. I think at this point Fang already has his fangs (haha, sorry guys, ignore me) deep in Shen Yi's psyche. Shen Yi sees Fang as someone who understands him on a level no one else can.

When Fang starts to tell Du Cheng how much being a police officer is killing Shen Yi's talent and creativity you can see how Shen Yi looks down. It's not the first time Shen Yi is confronted with that from other people but usually he brushes it off cuz he knows who he is and what he wants to do. He knows his work is important. But this reaction is new. He looks upset and uncomfortable and I think it's because this is coming from Fang. In Shen Yi's perception Fang is someone who sees him, his intellect, his uniqueness. Fang is a genius himself and they bonded over having a special view of the world.

And I laughed so hard when Du Cheng just casually ignored everything Fang had said and just tells him "thank you for cooperating with us" which was basically "I don't care for your input other than stuff that was case related and fuck off"

[fumifooms]

Namalin

Namari x Falin

Easy short rarepair spotlight post for prosperity~ This one I didn’t think of on my own for once, I don’t know if it’s just I forgot the decided-on ship name or what but I remember seeing really nice art and a couple posts about it that I can’t find again 💔 Namalin warrior you are out there and not forgotten ty for making me see the light

I like that Namari’s critical of Falin! I have a whole character analysis on Falin if you’re interested, but it’s generally well noticed that people around Falin idealize her a lot. Laios, Marcille and Toshiro all put her on a pedestral of ultimate goodness in the world, a saintess if nothing short of perfection. Sounds like Chilchuck felt sort of creeped out by her vibes, uncomfortable because he couldn’t read her, so unlike Namari it seems he preferred steering clear of her rather than debate opposed ideologies like he usually does. Makes sense if unlike Namari his issue is with her cryptic aura rather than the stances she does show. "… The dungeon is no place for soft hearts" my ultimate namalin scene <333 It’s fun because while this scene is there to show us a lot of things, mostly to establish Falin’s characters better as it’s the first flashback of her we get, the conflict in it is more than anything else Falin vs Namari in how they contrast and clash and approach situations differently. Namari wants security in swift effective violence and thinks Falin too soft for her own good when she prefers a pacifist approach and promotes compassion even for the "undeserving" in Namari’s eyes. Falin steps between the battle ready Namari and the ghost, fearless. Falin effortlessly gently exorcises the ghost without one step back, quickly. Falin proves someone wrong. Falin proves someone wrong.

I love thinking of Namari being surprised when she learns new aspects of Falin. I like Falin having the power to shape people’s views on her. With Falin ships the most fun part for me is usually that point where Falin/the relationship becomes a clean slate: the person realizes they haven’t been seeing all of her, realizes there’s more of her they hadn’t noticed or that she hadn’t shown, that there’s change, a shift in the views on each other and the dynamic a bit.

Namari often feels like an external view looking in to me… I need to make a proper analysis on her but like. I made a lamari post once (analytic more than personally invested rip sorry) and I go with the same Namari take here, I think she’s someone who tends to have an outsider view on people and relationships if that makes sense, she’s a coworker before anything else and she’s content staying at a distance, she’s not objective per se but she tries to keep feelings out of her choices and how she sees people (her lil arc on not staying to save Falin despite the existing camaderie but in the end asking to work for the Flokes more because she wants to stay with them). She’s serious no nonsense on the job but friendly off the job and likes having casual friends, but she’s not… She doesn’t really feel connected to the group. She’s so focused on doing her job, even if she does get impulsive and passionate and too assertive for her bosses’ tastes, so focused on working her reputation and life from the ground up that that professionalism and attitude limits her social life. It doesn’t help that her reputation makes her widely judged, so she probably enters social spaces on the derensive. The closest person she was to pre-canon as far as we knew was Chilchuck and even they have a very "coworker I get along with" dynamic more than friends, with a similar sense of boundaries, humor and world view. Also like canon says a few time, the party didn’t really try to get to know each other well pre-canon, didn’t hang out after work often no one knew where Marcille was from and no one thought that was weird (also how no one had the instinct to ask about Senshi’s past) etc, the notable exception is we’re shown Namari and Chilchuck hitting taverns together and having a grand time. Everyone’s fine with things as they are, they get along decent even if not everyone considers each other friends exactly. Where I’m getting at is that to me, it feels like she tries keeping emotional distance. Emotional distance from people in general being something which in my interpretation of Falin is also present, which would make it a theme and common thread interesting to explore imo. But yes like, Namari looking at Falin, and how everyone treats her, and being more skeptical, seeing her for what she is a little more, maybe even uncharitable. "Why is everyone treating her like she’s all that? She’s gentle sure but seems like a doormat to me" and then one day she comes running up with her mace ready to cave in someone’s face to protect Laios. So yeah… Keeping her distance but one day Falin offering her some gentleness that feels very too personal for someone who’s not used to being genuine and simply showing that they care… Them talking a bit which leaves her stumped and mindblown in a quiet way when Falin defies her expectations. Namari growing on Falin when she stays and decides to open herself up more, or when Falin ends up reading her really well like she’s shown to do with her parents and Marcille’s worries. She’s very attuned to worrying and why and when different people do it especially when it comes to when they worry for others, perhaps because she does a lot of that too, so I think she’d nail down how Namari does care for the rest of the party and it’d make Namari feel seen both in a warm validating way and in a scared naked way.

We see in the tentacles chapter that she’s someone’s who’s very protective and looks out for her peers in a tough love way. She’s overbearing but it’s because she wants everyone to have the best chances. I like that she’s very confrontational and somewhat pushy and rude, but it’s tough love, it’s protective care: asserting herself to better protect and defend. The opposite of Falin’s type of care, quiet and self-sacrificial devotion. They’re barbarian x healer but they’re also bodyguard x bodyguard in their attitude and role. … What I want for them is slow burn slice of life of being coworkers and slowly getting to know each other better, pretty fluffy, but god, put this way they’d have the potential to be such a hot layered mess of insanely mutually devoted codependence… Falin taking a hit for Namari and Namari being scarred by it forever, lots of arguments about it, my god.

I like that she’s the fighter to Falin’s healer. I looove thinking of scenes of Falin healing Namari, necessitating touch and like, a moment of slowing down and sitting together in silence, too intimate, the perfect opportunity to connect that neither truly want to take until one day they do. I love how onesided I imagine the relationship would be at first. Again, as per my interpretation of Falin, I think Namari would have all these little observations and opinions on Falin meanwhile Falin really doesn’t think of Namari much at first. So Namari thinks a lot about Falin and thinks she’s got her pinned down but hasn’t (not that she’s fully wrong, she’d have credit and confront Falin on some of her flaws like the doormat thing), while Falin is very passive about Namari and doesn’t think deeply about her or anything but she read Namari’s insecurities and logic well. Not unlike how Laios was the one who seemed to understand Namari’s way of care the best in the party in the tentacles episode, and how he was very understanding of her choice and reasons. In Falin’s case it’s more like, the objectivity of passivity… She cares about Namari less than Laios who generally seeks to form bonds, so her lack of investment allows her a neutral perspective. In that way another parallel with Namari that I’m drawing, except Namari lets feelings from her opinions seeps in more… Onesided beef my beloved. I’m going insane save me this post was a mistake. I think Falin takes the crumbs of friendship and love where she can without expecting or asking for anything more than what’s offered, and I think her relationship with Namari (or anyone really) would start out the way it did with Marcille: the other takes the initiative and they end up spending time together, Falin is friendly but unattached until the bond gets gradually and wordlessly strenghtened through regularly spending moments together. So! I think Namari would need to take a lot of the first steps, which since again she’s confrontational & argumentative and doesn’t hold herself back on that front that could spark a lot of conversations I think. Ooor since Falin cares about Namari less than Laios and Marcille she allows herself to be bolder herself lol. Or also circumstances force them to spend time together like dungeon party getting separated shenanigans.

I think their personalities match cutely, I think falin would try to protect namari like she does others but also Namari simply doesn’t need protection, just support. And I think they’re complementary in that way that Namari’s friendly but also won’t sugarcoat things, and I think if she takes an interest in Falin it could go from there and she could develop some understanding of her and idk like an intrigued crush….

Namari wants stability & security & to, like, not be judged and rejected and exiled lol, to find her nest her pack the place where she feels good and wanted in. I think having a fitting partner would help in that (similarly to how the found family with the Flokes seemed to. Oh another parallel, Falin’s top priority is protecting Laios her brother and what Namari are a family figure) and I think Falin would fulfill that cozy protection and that warm ‘being seen and not judged’ feeling. But also Namari would run up to her and yell about her trying to sacrifice herself ever.

Another fun thread to explore: post-canon guilt for not having gone to save her. Sure, they weren’t close, but they had some nice memories, didn’t they? Namari cares, and it stings despite herself when it feels like people think she doesn’t. Oh it wasn’t a lost cause after all, oh it’d have worked out, oh I could have stayed loyal and it wouldn’t have compromised myself in the end. Wanting to apologize to Falin, or just ahnging out with her and sharing a moment after she wakes up. And tangent but that’s interesting to think about… Narratively, I think the purpose of Namari and Toshiro in the story, beyond strenghtening the theme of "seek to understand what is different from you and promote unity despite them" and fleshing the cast and worldbuilding, is Toshiro’s purpose was being a foil & tool in Laios’ arc (trouble connecting with people) while Namari’s was being and a foil & tool in Marcille’s arc (standing up for ideals without being out of touch with harsh realities and needs). They are the conflict that push our protagonists to grow— and they explore different ways of dealing with a situation or topic, different ways of growing into themselves on that end: Laios needing to listen to others more and Toshiro needing to focus on voicing himself more to be able to connect, Marcille needing to learn ideals sometimes cost too much and Namari needing to internalize that ideals are sometimes worth risks (not only to be able to find a reasonable but fulfilling life balance, but also to get in touch with their compassion: Namari restricts her own too much and Marcille is too harsh on people she deems to be breaking values, like Namari not risking her life and career for a friend with no promise of success, or even like how Namari is harsh on Falin’s way of doing things : too gentle, too soft, too idealistic) (similarly to Chilchuck’s arc with Marcille too, and he also plays a hand in advancing that arc in the Namari chapters). We are getting far from namalin sorry ummm preview for future analyses like Toshiro’s contrasting approach to grief and accepting loss.

More post-canon namalin! Thinking about a timeline where… Namari is fond of Falin finding herself and going off to do her thing. "Finally!" she thinks. If she’s still for hire, maybe Falin would want her to come along, either as guide or bodyguard <3, she knows Namari has a lot of good avice on a lot of things to give, plus they’ve worked together before. She hires Namari and they travel for a bit. Travel would do Namari good too I think, even if her end goal is to settle and I think Falin’s would be too eventually. Seeing sights that light her wonder for the world and going places where people don’t know her story, don’t recognize her face or her name. Them, feeling free. Finding a companionship that feels uplifting instead of stifling or charged. Namari having been too in her head about reputation and social games and money that they hit the roads and spend time in nature and it’s like, woah. I’ve been living in a small world with made up rules.

Ahh yes romance, Namari and Falin kissing after 3 years of not really knowing each other despite seeing each other every day then 2 months of wanting to spend more and more time together until they’re an inseparable duo! Workwives. I want them to stand next to each other during campire time and Namari cracks little jokes and Namari laughs. I want Namari to gift Falin a bug caught in amber and for it to be their wedding/promised to each other thing.

TLDR

Rowdy but levelheaded barbarian x gentle healer that will also cave your face in with a mace I like it…… They’re an interesting duo of mixed stuff. Protection being your purpose and what you’re worth for, literally being a meat shield (Laios, Tansu), finding your individuality recognized and validated through a growing bond with the other. Sticking around as a love language. Also bug immortalized in amber and it being beautiful.

Nevermind this wasn’t short. Um! Anyways.

[firethekitty]

Ranking Every Wolfwood!!

happy wolfwood wednesday! i've ranked every wolfwood and it very quickly got out of hand and turned into more of a character analysis/meta. it was really fun and helped me better understand why i love this guy so much!

yes, really!

i hope you guys enjoy and that my autistic rambling makes sense!

1. trimax wolfwood. yeah he’s perfect. nothing else to say. god bless

while i can’t fit everything i love about him into one post, just know that i’ve written almost 30,000 words in wolfwood (and vash) character studies. so when i say “i like trimax wolfwood” that really means “i am fucking obsessed with trimax wolfwood”.

he’s the perfect mix of silly and heartbreaking, funny and serious, annoying like an older brother, deeply kind, so so painfully human; and a PERFECT foil to vash. simply phenomenal writing.

my only complaint would be that his tits are not on display like they are in the 1998 anime. but i can appreciate the subtly, so this doesn’t detract from his otherwise flawless score.

2. 98 wolfwood. omg hiiiii hehe twirling my hair ohh he’s so handsome what an absolutely beautiful design for him. his nose, his spider-esque shape, his TITS…… they even kept his little whiskers!

on top of an amazing design, he’s a very good balance of silly, irritable, playfully annoying, and serious! he fits pre-trimax wolfwood to a T!

but, as trimax progressed…

he’s cool. too cool. he has too much pull. wolfwood should NOT have swag. genuinely it is imperative to his character that he is, and i say this as lovingly as possible, a fucking loser with no friends.

wolfwood is a deeply traumatized man. he isn’t nearly as charming as we, the audience, thinks he is. no one laughs at his jokes, his insults are crude and immature, he embarrasses himself in front of literal children…

god, he is so painfully awkward. and who wouldn’t be in his situation? to have your childhood stolen and forced to grow up as a weapon? not allowed to interact casually with anyone else during the most important developmental stage of your life?

he's just not suave like tri98 wolfwood is. so, while 98 wolfwood is an excellent character, he doesn’t entirely read “wolfwood” to me. similar to how 98 vash is good on his own, but he’s just not “vash”. this is, of course, the result of making an anime out of a manga that wasn’t even 30% finished at the time. while i don’t understand the reasoning behind this, i know that nightow desperately needed the funds the anime brought in, as well as the motivation to keep making trimax, so i have to simply make peace with the dated characterizations tri98 has.

but don’t get me started on the milly situation. really a godawful writing decision, idk who approved that mess.

3. tristamp wolfwood. he is so bullyable. he’s like a sopping wet cat. absolute fucking dweeb.

i debated this for a long time—whether i should rank tristamp wolfwood above tri98 wolfwood. and i asked myself, do i love tri98 wolfwood because he’s a good character and is similar to trimax wolfwood? does he even remind me of trimax wolfwood at all? well, not really, he’s very clearly based on pre-trimax, just like tri98 vash is.

ultimately i decided i do genuinely just prefer tri98 wolfwood, but i felt the need to defend tristamp wolfwood because i see a lot of fair criticisms but also really dumb discourse throughout the fandom about him. so here’s my attempt at trying to address these:

so, there are some things i really enjoy about him and some things i really dislike; and, unlike vash, most of these criticisms are not a result of time/pacing issues. they’re easily fixable.

like, for the love of god he NEEDS to get sillier. they got the loser part down, but he’s a bit too overtly sad in tristamp. i think he will be more like his trimax self in season 2, but wolfwood’s humor is in-part a coping mechanism and important to his character. he’s an older brother! he’s fucking annoying! he thinks he's funny when he isn't! we do get a little bit of this with him and meryl, when he's tormenting her at the campfire, and that’s what i want to see more of. even if he’s playing it up, he should be working on getting their guards down, convincing them he isn't going to betray them.

since tristamp takes place in a weird prequel sort of canon, i get that he would look/act younger than he is in trimax. i think he was modeled after the teenage wolfwood we see in the flashback scenes of him training for the eye of michael, where he’s noticeably less outgoing and more reserved.

however, this doesn’t change the fact that he WAS silly as a kid in trimax, before his “teenage angst phase” (hate to call it that when it’s more like a “realizing he’s going to die by the gun and not being able to do anything about it” phase). but he’s still a lot quieter and reserved in tristamp as a kid, so i think we really need to find a good balance here in the trigun adaptations.

another example of an easily fixable issue—i really hate how they did the “vash sees how kind wolfwood is” scene, in which wolfwood gives money/snacks to children. in tristamp, wolfwood already knows the kid is zazie, which tells us absolutely nothing about his character. this scene is almost entirely worthless, only good for reminding vash that he should eat, which gives tristamp its own not-as-good hospital yuri scene.

and, so, about the elephant in the room… i don’t think he was whitewashed. let me try to explain my thought process.

tristamp, as far as i can tell, doesn’t seem to be taking any inspiration from tri98, whose wolfwood is very explicitly a brown man. trimax wolfwood i feel is a bit more ambiguous in his skin tone, which alternates between dark screentones and completely uncolored pretty much at solid 50/50 odds. just fairly inconsistent overall, even on the official manga covers.

but this doesn’t mean wolfwood is white in tristamp, and it doesn’t mean he doesn’t have his aquiline nose. the notorious scenes of him in the suns, looking white as a fucking sheet, shows us how a 3D environment can diminish a character’s silhouette and distinctive features.

compare this to scenes of wolfwood in a dim environment, or to the 2D scenes of child wolfwood and livio that i can't include bc i'm only allowed 10 pics. he looks MUCH better, much darker than vash, and as they both should appear in such lighting. it just doesn't add up—he should be much darker in strong light if they followed the same color values:

SO, even though i feel like all of this is more of a technical issue rather than malicious whitewashing, that doesn’t mean i think it’s acceptable. it looks fucking awful, and the lighting system needs major improvement to work with darker skin tones.

and, like, at the end of the day, wolfwood isn’t canonically latino, and he doesn't really have a consistent skin tone either. it’s a great headcanon, one i partially share, but it’s not canon. the only ethnicity that could technically be considered somewhat canon is japanese, as wolfwood was based off a japanese singer named tortoise matsumoto. you can see this resemblance best in early trigun!

and i really need to defend his nose!!! a lot of people say he lost his nose but he didn’t!! i promise it’s there!!! another victim of his 3D model, you can only see his nose from the side or in the 2D frame after he gets his shit wrecked. see how clearly he has a very well-defined nose when he’s hand-drawn? this is what i mean when i say a 3D environment can drastically alter a character’s important features, as much as i otherwise adore the animation for this show.

also, if you think nightow would let studio orange get away with not including his nose, you got another thing coming.

in conclusion, while i think tristamp wolfwood is a great start, he’s just not quite there yet. but i have immense faith that the next time we see him, he’ll look and act a lot more like he does in trimax!

i know this is true, because there are already some shots in tristamp where i’m just like. oh yeah. there he is. that’s wolfwood. there's the guy i love so much

...

well, that was long! this was really fun to write and i

oh jesus christ what the hell is that thing

4. badlands rumble wolfwood. ah, now here’s a great example of overt whitewashing. no lighting excuses this time, just blatant colorism.

even if he wasn’t ghostly white, there's just something about his design that makes me viscerally uncomfortable and i can’t pinpoint what it is exactly. he’s just so… angular. he has no scruff, no kitty cat mouth, his eyes are very oddly shaped, almost no eyebrows... i just really hate looking at him!

his ONLY saving grace is how mentally ill he acts in this movie. and his tits. otherwise i don’t really have much to say about him!

ok, now we’re done! and here’s a handy wolfwood chart i made to summarize everything.

really hope this was fun to read and if people liked this i'd be glad to write a vash version or other characters!! happy woowoo wednesday :)

[qpjianghu]

**UNDER THE SKIN 2 FINALE SPOILERS**

man... I have thoughts (and, certainly, feelings)

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SERIOUSLY DON'T LOOK UNTIL YOU'VE FINISHED

* * * * * SORRY I HAVE VACATION AND NOTHING ELSE TO DO WITH MY TIME

*

Okay!

To start at the very final scene, I can't believe the season actually ended on the cliffhanger of Du Cheng getting stabbed. I had seen that spoiler ahead of time, though I honestly wasn't even mad because it made the anticipation greater for me -- *extreme Gordon Ramsay voice* "finally, some good fucking whump." And when the credits started to roll on the finale, I was a bit disappointed, but figured the Du Cheng stabbing was just an elaborate deepfake. Because there's no way they would shoehorn that into the last 30 seconds of the season, with no confirmed season 3 at the ready... right?

Ugh. Minutes after finishing the finale, I honestly can't yet tell if I'm mad because I'm excited for more or just mad mad. Either way, it's definitely unsatisfying. Leaving viewers unsatisfied is certainly one way to ensure they all come back for another season, but that approach necessitates there actually BEING another season (prayer circle ACTIVATED), and it is still, IMO, a kinda cheap storytelling technique. ESPECIALLY when another season is far from certain (RIP to all my cliffhanger-ending shows that never continued... Prodigal Son, Flashforward, I will never sleep well at night again because of you...)

But okay, fine, cliffhanger mileage aside: The finale left me a bit cold in the same way that the season 1 finale did. In season 1, there was all this tender and intricate build-up to the resolution of Shen Yi and Du Cheng's longstanding trauma-feud and then one day Du Cheng just... forgives him? And then Shen Yi gives up his artistic destiny and becomes a police officer?? (That image of the two of them standing side by side in their uniforms always rubbed me the wrong way, and I think @lunarriviera put it best by saying it's giving extreme "take your kid to work day vibes," which is SO TRUE lol.)

Also: We never even find out who M was (do we? Did I just totally miss this?) -- which is a pretty bold narrative pivot if you underline and highlight the point you're trying to make (ie: life is messy, you can't solve every mystery, you have to learn to live in the liminal spaces of forgiveness and faith and lack of certainty, etc.). The fact that I'm not even sure if the main mystery / tension was resolved at the end of the season shows that, well, it could have been made clearer either way.

When I started season 2, I was ready to brush all of my previous reservations under the rug, because I'll tolerate almost anything just to watch two gay men solving crimes it seemed like the show was actually addressing my aforementioned quibbles. And not just addressing them: using them as narrative fuel for deep and complex character develoment, and to propel philosophical and emotional tension between our two leads. Season 2 wrestles with ideas about existential responsibility: is Shen Yi misusing his god-given gifts by working for the police? Does a person have a utilitarian responsibility to live their life a certain way? What does real criminal justice look like? And is murder actually okay if you're a lonely opera-loving middle-aged sweetie pie with doe eyes?? (I love you, Ge Yutian)

I mean, shit, this season did such a good job of convincing us that all humans deserve empathy and catharsis, and that maybe Shen Yi is onto something with his criminal psychology atlas thing, and the storylines this season were, brilliantly, devastatingly, not about the crimes or even the criminals but about the humanity of it all.

Which brings me to Fang Kaiyi.

The season very obviously set up Fang Kaiyi as a mirror for Shen Yi. Shen Yi even states this outright, both to Fang Kaiyi himself and to Du Cheng (which honestly felt a bit unneccessary, as it was giving intense Main Character Energy from Shen Yi, geez). Regardless, I actually loved the set-up and development of Fang Kaiyi and Shen Yi as foils. This is an excellent way for an episodic drama to use the B plot to shed light on the relationships and struggles of the main characters.

My problem with it is.... the resolution makes no sense! Not to be an antogonist simp on the main (because I'm really not), but: accessory to murder (which itself felt very cheesy and moustach-twirly, tbh) aside, what did Fang Kaiyi really do so wrong?* The season does such a fabulous job of building up the ethical murkiness of contemporary genetics research, positioning Fang Kaiyi at the center of a very relevant debate that, to most of us, truly does not have a clear-cut moral imperative or resolution. And this plotline so brilliantly intersected with Shen Yi's thirst for knowledge (pssst I love how he calls Fang Kaiyi's lab his "Eden") regarding the innermost workings of the human heart.

And the resolution of all this is: actually, it is all black and white. Fang Kaiyi, who pushed boundaries, is evil, insane, wrong. Shen Yi, who pulled back from the precipice, is good, steady, correct.

(For that matter, what was wrong with a young Shen Yi, that he talks about wanting to "save" Fang Kaiyi like Du Cheng "saved" him? This hearkens back to my s1 finale complaint about Shen Yi's arc resolving with "and now the wayward artist fulfills his destiny of becoming a police officer yayyyy", which I THOUGHT this season was addressing, but it turns out... not really.)

And the TLDR of it all is that Shen Yi betraying Fang Kaiyi was KINDA EXTREMELY SHITTY (Fang Kaiyi tearfully telling Shen Yi "I opened my heart to you and you betrayed me" ... he's right and he should say it!!) and also retroactively subverts all of the delicious tension of Shen Yi's character arc this season. So, was Shen Yi stringing Fang Kaiyi along the whole time, and was not once actually tempted to push past the boundaries of conventional ethics and societal norms? Please, he's an artist; he exists to tug at societal norms. Okay, so maybe he was tempted, but ultimately found his way back to Du Cheng the side of the light, to use the show's language. When and how exactly does this shift occur? It's just frustrating that this entire season teased the idea of Shen Yi hovering over a precipice and then... never actually pushed him over the precipice.

Meanwhile, Shen Yi starts ranting about how Fang Kaiyi is subverting the natural order of things and maybe there is a spiritual reason for the fetus dying (I swear I half-expected him to go on an anti-abortion rant or something). Cut to the Bejiang police crew triumphantly being like yay! we policed so well!! Anyway... it felt icky.

My other complaint with the resolution of this whole plotline is that Shen Yi's grand breakdown / revelation is shown in a flashback. A flashback! Why on earth does that not play out in real time? Was that not supposed to be the core part of what this entire season had been building up to? Also why wasn't his boyfriend Du Cheng there to comfort him??

(Btw: Gay as hell to sit teary-eyed in a room full of paintings of your archnemesis, bereft and aching...god, the fics write themselves...)

Alright, alright, enough of me complaining about subtle copaganda, I obviously knew what I was getting into here. It's just so weird to me that both seasons 1 and 2 set up these juicy questions and encourage us to dig deep into the murkiness of these gray areas only to just circle back around to... criminals bad! police good! law and order 4eva! natural order good! progress evil! Even Shen Yi and Du Cheng's extremely insanely unequivocally romantic reconciliation in the finale primarliy speaks to their recommitment to... catching criminals, I guess??

(Part of me wonders if the show is bending over backwards trying to figure out a way to keep Shen Yi and Du Cheng together without putting them in a romantic relationship, because IRL they can just.... have different jobs and still BE TOGETHER, jeepers, it's not that hard. Du Cheng is a police captain, Shen Yi runs an art therapy studio, and they're boyfriends. DONE.)

On a final note: this truly IS one of the gayest cdramas out there and I am here for ALL of the angst and pining <333

If anyone wants to chat, hmu, I'm vibrating at an intensity heretofore unknown to humankind and would love to DISCUSS. In the meantime I'm gonna go touch some grass.

--

(Full disclosure: I understand that the narrative resolutions may be a result of censored ideas and ideals, so if that's the case, I'm really just venting my frustrations as a western viewer.)

*This is may be an area where I'm just confused about the plot -- everyone was all up in arms about Fang Kaiyi gene-editing the Zhou Shanshan / Cao Jian embryo, but wasn't that... the whole point?? And I'm definitely missing something about the sketchy involvement of the hospital... but all of this is still to say, it would have been more interesting if Fang Kaiyi weren't breaking any actual laws, just psuhing ethical boundaries.