#the importance of being hilda

[the-hilda-librarians-wife]

Going buckwild at the way Hilda The Series portrays adulthood and loneliness. Kaisa has no one to go to to ask for help getting the due book back, even though all it would take was someone she could minimally ask to knock on an elderly lady’s door and ask for a favour; she’s in the library after hours, is shown to have no allies aside from the woman who raised her and who she lost contact with. Johanna is only ever seen working or caring for Hilda, and her lack of a life aside from those two activities is pointed out by her own daughter when she thinks that this is going so far as to affect their relationship. The bell keeper lives alone in a small cabin on the edge of town, barely within city limits and away from everyone, a house barely even inhabitable and clearly only a place to sleep and eat. He works a solitary job and he’s the only one in the town still working it, meaning he’s probably overworked and forced to pull inhumanly long shifts. Victoria hyperfocused so hard on her projects that whatever friends she had before - and she must have had some from college time at least - lost contact with her, and she never made any other connections in Trolberg, anything that would tie her to the city and it’s inhabitants and make it so it wasn’t worth it to live by herself at the top of a hill. Even when that was over, she still chose to isolate herself somewhere abandoned and keep what was essentially another machine she’d built as her source of company, something she could understand and control instead of an unpredictable human being. Gerda works a job she likes but is shown to be disregarded by the person she works the most around, her abilities and intellect thrown aside for the good of someone she has to bear because of a hierarchy she was forced to accept in order to keep working. She’s appreciated by the town, but other than the main characters, we don’t see anyone paying her any mind when they don’t need something from her.

Meanwhile no kid has ever been alone in Trolberg. The mean kids are a group, the good kids are a group, even the gloomy teenage girls are a group. One of nightmare inducing entities, but a group nonetheless. All children in that world seem to operate on a ‘no man left behind’ code, looking out for each other even if they aren’t exactly fans of one another, helping even grown ups without asking why and working together. And this logic seems to extend to the adults who work around children too; especially the Raven Leader, who we see that through the children works as a vital part of the community and a way through which it comes together.

This isn’t very articulate but do you see the point? Do you see how clever that is? That a show about growing up has these themes? You can be magical, kind, strong, intelligent, competent, but none of that will make you truly happy if you don’t keep the most important thing from childhood? If you don’t keep your friendships, your bonds, something to tie you down to your reality and your community? The adults in the show all made their choices, and it’s okay to want to be alone, we all need it and some more than others (this is coming from someone who needs it a lot), but isolating yourself completely is the one thing that will make growing pains truly painful. I’m just so emotional over it. It’s so subtle and so clever considering the whole Mountain King plot that Hilda is willing to change species because she feels detached from her main relationships and surroundings. I love this show so much.

[blaithnne]

so I’m realising my intense anxiety for Hilda’s third season to come out is PROBABLY an autism thing

[cassioppenny]

competitive pokemon prodigy hilda lastname (im sorry i don't have a last name for her)!! her little brother is nate and she's is known for her absolute batshit insane teams she cooks up for battles. she doesn't know what team plasma is she's too busy building her next team to care.

[waifuoftomonori]

No daily paragraphs for you guys (sorry, will hopefully get to amending that by writing more today), but I was looking over my brainstorming notes for the crossover Truth or Dare fic (take 3), specifically the part where I wrote an unfiltered list of a bunch of female characters I like and think could be fun to write fanfic for (because the player list for ToD as it is contains a lot of guys and only two women), and now I think I may have tricked myself into another crossover ship from two fandoms I’ve never tried writing before in my life—

Hilda (Fire Emblem: Three Houses) (post-timeskip, obviously) / Forte (Rune Factory 4).

I may never get to writing them partly because I feel like it would require doing a shit-ton of armor research, but man, there’s some serious potential there and I will not be convinced otherwise.

[reasonsforhope]

"In Zimbabwe, an Africa-born mobility startup is providing women with the catalyst they need to drive change in their community and society.

Called the Hamba, this durable electric tricycle is mobilizing a generation of working women and mothers, allowing them to perform arduous tasks with relative ease and comfort.

Manufactured in Africa and managed by the startup Mobility for Africa (MFA), a leasing program for women allowed one or several locals to lease a Hamba for $15 a month. This pilot program was a huge success, and now these electric tricycles are available to buy, on a lease-to-purchase agreement, and to rent—all on an ad-hoc basis.

It allows women to fetch water and firewood, take family members to medical facilities, or bring and buy produce at local markets, saving sometimes dozens of miles of walking each day.

“In the past transporting our produce to the market was a nightmare we would wake up at 3 am and travel a very long distance using an ox-drawn cart but now it is much easier we can reach the market on time,” a 34-year-old tomato farmer and mother of six, Hilda Takadini, told Africa News.

92% of female customers participating in the company’s pilot program noted an improvement in how safe they feel whilst traveling since they started using the Hamba compared with walking, and some have offered their services as couriers and drivers to other community members, sparking the spirit of entrepreneurialism.

Among the women whose stories were changed by the appearance of the Hamba was Anna Bhobho, a 31-year-old housewife from rural Zimbabwe who was excluded from economic life.

Now, she’s the major bread winner in her house, and Takadini relies on her to bring tomatoes to market before they spoil.

“Even my husband and in-laws have more respect for me now. No one used to listen to me, but now I have a seat when important decisions are being made,” the mother of three told Africa News.

70% of the Hambas are reserved for women, and 300 are estimated to currently own or rent one. The solar-powered trikes have just one moving part in the motor, making them easy to maintain and fix. Batteries can be exchanged when depleted at a cost of $5.00 at one of Infraco Africa’s solar power stations, a partner with MFA on the initiative.

Each Hamba can carry 1,000 pounds or so of cargo, and have a top speed of 37 mph (you couldn’t go much faster on a rural Zimbabwe road anyway)."

-Article via Good News Network, April 9, 2025. Video via Africa News, March 22, 2025.

[mimayaribie]

Headcanon of the chain and their Zelda

Sky and Sun: Lovers. He doesn’t care that she’s Hylia’s reincarnation or that she used him, he just loves her so much!!! He’ll give her gifts like flowers, love letters, or stuff he finds during his journey. If anyone talks mean about Sun/Hylia, he will give a death stare. This man killed a god for his girlfriend

Four and Dot: Absolute besties! When there was a time Four was actually insecure about his height, Dot gave comfort and helped him overcome hard times and he appreciated it. He forged a dagger just for her and she keeps it on her at all times. Both collect kinstones and will try to match them when they have the time

Time and Lullaby: …complicated. They both definitely respect and appreciate each other and they’ll help the other if they need it, but other than that, they don’t interact with each other that much. Both of them have their own life and they respect that. However, they keep an eye out for mail from them that might be important

Legend and Fable: Siblings. I really like the headcanon that they’re siblings. They’re twins but Fable always says she’s older and will try to boss Legend around. They both annoy each other but care each other a lot. Also, Ravio and Hilda are like family to them and the 2 other heroes from TH are like a far cousin

Hyrule and Dawn and Aurora: Hyrule is a little different because he has 2 Zeldas. He is more closer to Dawn just because he knows her longer but he also cares about Aurora a lot. He’s not interested in being in a romantic relationship with them but he’s always interested in what they like and will always have their back for anything

Twilight and Dusk: Friends(?). They know each other and Twi will visit Dusk every now and then when he has time. They’ll have tea and chat about their day and Midna, both missing her a lot. Dusk thinks Link and Midna would’ve been a cute couple because she knew Midna from a long time, but she doesn’t want to tell him

Wind and Tetra: Partners in crime. Both of them know that the other is strong and is capable of fighting. They have their back and trust each other a lot. Tetra cares about Aryll just like her own younger sister. Part of me likes to think they both have a crush on each other and the chain teases Wind about it. Young love

Warriors and Artemis: More than work partners, less than lovers. Warriors thinks Artemis is beautiful and strong but he can’t exactly tell if it’s a crush or not. Artemis secretly likes him but she keeps it to her self as the leader. Others think they spend a lot of time together, but they’re just coworkers, right?

Wild and Flora: Another complicated relationship. Even tho in the games I ship these 2 together, I think they don’t see each other as a lover in LU. Wild was in a relationship with Mipha and Flora knows it so she stays out of it. They really don’t know how to interact with each other post calamity.

[weepingtalecowboy]

Legend as echoes of wisdom link lol but confusing

Fanfic prompt : after Linked universe he decided to go visit Nayru and the other oracles again and then seeing the harp of ages

Realized how he can help Hyrule

Because if the harp can let him travel back several centuries then why not go forward

Because that way he can stop ganon from being revived and Hyrule can maybe travel back with him

He and then travels forward in time and then tries to orientate himself about where the hell he even is… then he sees the riffs through time and assumes that dark link has to learn his lesson again and goes in

He doesn’t appreciate the void for taking his voice… he kind of needs it to figure out where the heck Hyrule is because this one certainly looks too colorful to be the same one Hyrule is from… at least not in the next decades or so

Forests still need to grow after all but good for him that he succeeded eventually

Then he meets lueberry and they figure something out to go create the sword out off the crystal Legend dragged out of ,… hell he supposes

The cloak is cool though

So legend goes beefing with the random copies… so unoriginal of dink to go around and summon even more black blooded monsters or something

Well at least he now has the ability to use gps to find out where the next portal appears

And at some point finds out this Hyrule's Zelda is kidnapped and it sucks but maybe a new link will spawn or something

Then he and ganon get to beef ,,and surprisingly ganon remembers him (talking about the importance of friendship lol )

He then gets sent back to the void but manages to free the new Zelda

Then he at some point finds a random ugly ball thing… man, dink really down graded

He finds it with the club he found chases after it then goes and blocks it before the new Zelda …Nelda can go get kidnapped again

Then legend gets Zelded and now knows how much it must have sucked for fable and Nelda

…he only wanted to go visit Hyrule why must it always be an adventure

He will blame him for it later

He also gets the triforce of courage back while Zelded

Then Nelda is back…but it’s two Neldas now

He then gets freed by one after …she copies (?) a bunch of .. beds (?) and kills the other one

Well , let’s hope it’s the good one who kills the other one he always had problems with Hilda

Then he fights an eldritch abomination and uses the ..prime energy (?) to go restore Hyrule

And his voice is back so the first thing he does is ask , “hey , what’s the date and where the fuck am I .?”

He is surprised when the king turns out not to be an asshole

And fucks off into the RIGHT time promising everyone to stay in contact via the post man

Hyrule wakes up to “I fought the embodiment of nothingness and got vored to visit you be fucking grateful”

He is more confused than he was happy about his brother's return

[soft-sunbird]

‼️Save Hilda's Pregnancy‼️

💥🚨 Pregnancy in War🚨💥

🇵🇸🍉🇵🇸🍉🇵🇸🍉🇵🇸🍉

🔥💥Am pregnant 🔥💥

Please read our story carefully and imagine the situation we are living in. 400 days of war and genocide. 😥

There is nothing in the markets, and if anything is found, it is extremely expensive. 😭

The weather is very cold, and the leaky tents are worn out from the summer heat. 🔥

The children cry from the intense cold and the darkness of the night 💥.

There is no electricity, the water is contaminated, no education, no healthcare, and no medicine. 😓

Pregnancy has exhausted me, and I wonder how my child will survive in these conditions if they arrive. There are not even vaccinations or clothes for children. 😥

Some of my relatives are covering their children with pieces of plastic to protect them from the cold due to the lack of any income sources. 😰

In addition, the sounds of bombing, gunfire, and drones mimic the sounds of wild animals and screaming to frighten people in their sleep. We don't know how long this suffering will last or if we will truly be able to endure it. 😔 🇵🇸🍉🇵🇸🍉

We want to reach our goal, we're still in the beginning 🙏🙏

Plz visit the pinned post on my page to donate or reblog ♻️

https://gofund.me/b845968e

✅verified by @gaza-evacuation-funds

✅bilal-salah0

✅khanger

✅ana-bananya

✅dlxxv-vetted-donations

✅a-shade-of-blue

Hey, Tumblr. This is Hilda, who I care about so so so much. So much that I'm willing to be brave and vulnerable and share my own story under the cut. I ask that you make a donation to either of the below links if you can; Gofundme minimum €5, Ko-Fi minimum $1 AUD. Link to her Gofundme | Link to our Ko-Fi (Ko-Fi proceeds are split between the 20 families I'm supporting, but you can ask that your donation goes to Hilda directly) TW: loss

I was around Hilda's age when I got pregnant, too. I wasn't expecting it. I wasn't ready. My life was just beginning, and I had no money, and I had just escaped from a household that wasn't being very kind to me. I was NOT ready to be a parent. I was extremely distressed. My partner and I talked about it. We decided that, although it broke our hearts... it wouldn't be fair to bring up a child in the circumstances we were living in. We promised that one day we would try again, when things were better, when we'd both grown up a bit. So I booked an appointment, shamefully borrowed $1,000 from a friend, had a surgery... and I wasn't pregnant any more. And that was 9 years ago. I am still sad about it, because I think about what my child would look like, what their favourite animal would be, what their favourite food would have been. I will never know.

In those 9 years, I've been living my life. I'm 30 now, and I have only just started to feel like I understand myself, and what's important in life, and how to participate in the world. I am strong, I am brave, I am good.

But it's not the end of my story. I still get to look forward to meeting my child. I feel capable of raising a kind, gentle, creative child that becomes a passionate, strong, thoughtful adult. The thing is, although they were still overwhelming for me, my circumstances then were so much better than Hilda's are now. I had food, I had a safe place to live, our hospitals are free and operational. I WISH Hilda had that privilege right now. How will she cope, if she's already struggling to find food, taking vitamins in place of meals because she has no other choice? If her tent is already flooding, her bedding soaking wet and freezing cold? Will she have a safe birth with medical care, or will she be alone and afraid and in pain? Maybe Hilda would make the same decision I made, if she had the choice. I think she's very brave. I know she's very lovely. I have no doubt that if her child makes it into this world, she'll do an excellent job with the limited resources that she's got. I would be overjoyed to know that her soul carries on in the spirit of the next generation. I would hope so dearly that her child might grow up in a safe environment, that the war will end soon, that this crisis is something that her child is taught ABOUT, rather than having to live through and experience firsthand. I hope so. I really hope so. What I do know is that we are Hilda's best hope to survive this monumental life change, as safely and comfortably as possible. Whatever happens, I want her to know that she is loved and supported. That she matters, and so does her unborn child, whether they make it into this world or not. That they are worth fighting for. Give a little, or give a lot.

[anthurak]

So with Gundam The Witch From Mercury having just been announced to be in the upcoming Super Robot Wars Y, I thought it would be fun, as someone who has played a number of SRW games over the years, to do some theorizing about how the game might handle G-Witch.

To begin with the obvious big question we’re all wondering about: How will the game handle SuleMio?

Now to get one big thing out of the way that I know some people will be worried about; I highly, highly doubt that Sulemio will somehow end up being ‘downplayed’ due to any kind of ‘corporate mandate’ from Sunrise. Something that is important to remember is that the production SRW games almost never have much if any involvement from the owners of the various included series’, certainly not on the writing side of things.

The other important thing to remember is that Super Robot Wars games have pretty much always been FANFICTION in the purest sense of the word. Both in terms of the wilder changes they can make (more on that later…), and also that basically everyone making these games are themselves massive fans of the source material. With just how popular SuleMio has been both in Japan and abroad, I have no doubt the creative team will be including their content. Not to mention, SRW has not been squeamish about adapting WLW content in the past. Like when Cross Ange was introduced in SRW V, it absolutely included Hilda’s big love confession to Ange and Ange’s reciprocation.

The only way I can see SuleMio getting in any way ‘downplayed’ is due to simple logistical issues, ergo; SRW is a game focused on mech combat, and Miorine obviously isn’t a mech pilot herself.

This actually brings us to what I think makes the question of how SRW Y will handle SuleMio so interesting. Because yes, historically speaking, because SRW is a mech-combat focused game, characters and plot points that aren’t related to mech combat do tend to end up being downplayed to some degree.

At the same time though, Miorine happens to not just be the big main love interest of G-Witch, she’s also pretty much the other main character of the show. Meaning that the creative team will almost certainly be trying to make her, and her relationship with Suletta a prominent element.

Like at minimum, I have to imagine we’ll be seeing Miorine be included in the Supporter system that we’ve seen in the last few SRW games. For those unfamiliar, it’s basically a bunch of non-combatant characters who can be assigned to provide various active and passive support buffs during missions, which feels like a pretty straightforward gameplay role for Miorine. As an aside, I have to imagine this is how the other non-pilot members of Earth House like Nika, Aliya and... that other guy will be included in gameplay.

But then we come to more unorthodox options, particularly when we consider SRW’s penchant for including some rather wild Secret Unlocks for characters and mechs.

Consider the following: There is a good chance that we will see a VERY briefly playable Miorine as a PILOT when she steals Aerial for the duel against Guel. I wouldn’t be surprised if we as the player get to ‘experience’ just how inexperienced a pilot Miorine is for a few turns, or until Aerial takes a certain amount of damage, at which point Suletta makes her big entrance. This sort of thing is actually pretty common in SRW games. Like Miorine as a pilot probably has horrible stats, a Spirit Command pool consisting entirely of support abilities and can only use Aerial’s most basic beam rifle attack. But! That still leaves us with Miorine as a pilot.

So now just picture: Miorine as a later secret unlockable CO-PILOT for Suletta? XD

I can even just picture what the requirements might be; something like ‘keep Miorine alive for three turns against Guel until Suletta shows up’ or something more tricky like ‘avoid being hit by Guel for three turns’, or even something rather nutty like ‘actually land hits on Guel with Miorine’.

Which in turn leads to a narrative twist of Miorine becoming more emboldened and confident in her piloting ability, which later leads to her becoming available as a co-pilot for Suletta. Probably when Aerial receives her REBUILD upgrade. Though admittedly that also depends on how the whole ‘Slap’ incident is handled. Heck, maybe one of the requirements for getting Miorine as a sub-pilot for Aerial is to somehow AVERT the ‘Slap’ and allowing Suletta to save Miorine in such a way that she isn’t traumatized.

I mean, you want something really fun? Obviously, the whole ‘Aerial Tomato Paste Special’ is absolutely going to be referenced in one of the Aerial Rebuild’s attacks. Maybe just as a ‘Dynamic Kill’ animation, or even its own dedicated attack. But, what if one of the requirements for getting Miorine as a sub-pilot actually prevents you from unlocking that attack? Meaning that the player is effectively forced to choose between getting the ‘Slap Attack’ OR getting Miorine as a co-pilot for Suletta.

And really, this would be far from the first time an SRW game has done anything like this. Really, Miorine being a secret unlockable sub-pilot for the Aerial Gundam would actually be very reminiscent of Tifa Addil being a secret unlockable sub-pilot for the Double-X Gundam back in the first Super Robot Wars Z game.

So yeah, could be a lot of fun XD

Now speaking of Aerial Rebuild, that leads us to another interesting question of what G-Witch pilots and mechs might we expect to even be playable?

Because G-Witch, particularly in Season 1, is in an interesting position amongst Gundam and other ‘Real Robot’ series’ in SRW in that the heroes are pretty much a one-woman/mecha show. Outside of Suletta and Aerial, the only other ‘standard’ options for pilots and mechs would be Chuchu and her Custom Demi Trainer, and conceivably Lilique, Till, and/or whats-his-face using the generic Zowort suits we saw used in the team battle against Grassley house. Outside of that, the only other ‘standard’ option is maybe seeing Elan 5 and the Pharact become available towards the end of the game.

But then of course, this could be where SRW’s penchant for crazy rewrites and secret unlocks to once again come into play.

For example, I would not be surprised at Chuchu’s Demi Barding suit that she got in Season 2 is available as a Secret Unlock.

And of course I’d frankly be more surprised if Guel wasn’t a secret unlock along with his custom Dilanza and maybe even his Darilbalde.

And considering SRW’s mechanic of allowing certain pilots (generally ‘Real Robot’ pilots from shows like Gundam) to be swapped between certain mechs, I wouldn’t be surprised if ‘generic’ mobile suits like Beguir’s, Dilanza’s or Zoworts were made available as unlocks or purchase to be used by the other members of Earth House.

Finally, we come to what is probably the most wild and yet still entirely PLAUSIBLE option, given SRW’s history:

I have a pretty good feeling that it will be possible (albeit probably pretty difficult) to save Elan 4 and recruit him as a pilot, along with the Pharact.

You may find that crazy, but honestly SRW does shit like this ALL THE TIME. They’re actually kinda well known for it at this point. Like this is a series that has, among other things; completely rewritten the second half of Gundam SEED Destiny into something basically everyone agrees was a massive improvement, rewritten Code Geass so basically nobody dies, and has repeatedly adapted the End of Evangelion in the form of repeatedly punching Human Instrumentality in the face, and/or smacking it with a Jupiter-sized hammer until it KNOCKS THAT SHIT OFF.

And I have no doubt it’s going to do some fun stuff with the Witch From Mercury too XD

[burr-ell]

If it's alright, can I ask why you like the Golden Deer house more than the Blue Lions or Black Eagle houses? Like, what caught your eye about them over everyone else?

So I actually got into FE3H through a friend of mine, @dar-draws, who I already knew through mutual good taste (Dickkory), and fanarts like this one, this one, and this one plus the way she talked about Claude and Claudeleth caught my attention. I watched a couple playthroughs of the Golden Deer route on YouTube and absolutely fell in love (before finally getting a switch just to play it myself, for which I was violently bullied here). So like, I was already going into the game biased, which is part of why when I got it I went ahead and played through Golden Deer before doing all the other routes in turn; it was genuinely important to me to personally see all sides of the story. But even as I've played the other routes and replayed SS and AM and gained even more of an appreciation for them, I'm still always sort of drawn back to VW and the Deer.

I think it's ultimately vibes-based, but I'll try to articulate it. I'm not really a big fan of "cozy" sorts of games—I've played and enjoyed ACNH, but the things I most enjoyed about that game were finding things to do and goals to complete, like completing the main quest line or filling up the museum. So it's not so much that I find the Golden Deer to be cozy so much as adventurous. They're not inherently personally invested in the conflicts of White Clouds (they don't know Lord Lonato or Miklan, and their house leader isn't [gestures generally]), but they're also not just ping-ponging through the story. They go through the same events as the other two houses, but they're coming at it from more of an outsider's perspective, and their choice to get involved and react and respond feels more active.

The Deer also don't have any real reason to follow Claude, either, and in the early game they make sure he knows it; none of them are really all that concerned that they're speaking to the future Grand Duke of their country. Lysithea snaps at him, Leonie shoots the breeze with him, Raphael is jovial with him, Lorenz undercuts him, Hilda is blase with him, Marianne tries not to talk to him, and Ignatz gets into theological debates with him. Over the course of the game, they develop the same loyalty to Claude that the other house members already have for their leaders almost by default, and it feels a lot more earned because we see it happen. And that in turn makes scenes like the one at Myrddin, where Claude reveals his true goal of opening the border with Almyra and embracing foreign cultures and the other Deer are surprised but trust Claude and follow his lead, that much more satisfying.

I was a little surprised, when I played through the other three routes, that aside from the designated talking-with-the-cast scenes every route gets, the characters who aren't house leaders or retainers don't really have all that much to do in the story. On Verdant Wind, you pretty consistently have members of the Golden Deer appearing in other cutscenes and giving their two cents; there's even a unique scene where Lysithea realizes there's something up with the Empire's mages because of her backstory and approaches Claude and Byleth about it. It's nothing too obtrusive—they do still have to accommodate the potential for character death—but it's those small details that make a difference to me. Every house has a particular dynamic with odd silly quirks, but the Deer being just that little bit more integrated into the story really helps sell the idea that they belong here and they're making this story their own.

There's also the matter of where specifically their adventure takes them. I respect the choice to focus on Dimitri in Azure Moon, because it does handle his character and arc very well and I think also does the other Lions justice (with the exception of Dedue), but it's also focused largely on Dimitri's personal arc and the Tragedy of Duscur and doesn't really follow through on a lot of the events of White Clouds. (Which some Blue Lions stans have been okay with because they think the Agarthans are bad villains, which...that's valid, but stories still have to like, address plot elements they set up.) Verdant Wind, by contrast, does actually pull back and try to figure out the real impetus behind the whole conflict, and it ends with them beginning to properly lay Fodlan's true problems to rest.

So while the route isn't flawless and I do think there are issues with how characters are written that are part of larger trends within the game and the series as a whole, there's a very specific kind of fantasy adventure energy with the Golden Deer that I enjoy. I think the stories I'm most drawn to are the ones that keep their eyes on a specific goal but still make you feel like the characters would bring that same energy to goofing around with each other, and I think that's something Verdant Wind does very well.

[sweetmariihs2]

So no one in the fandom is going to point this out?

(except for the fact that Malthus is a good person and has a somewhat healthy relationship with Hilda, differently from Frollo...)

Despite being religious figures (AND involved in politics), I have a list of comparisions of them at the end of the post. For now, let me mention the most important points

They tried to "cleanse the sins" of the girls they have romantic interests in (and the reason for this purification of sins would be because they considered these girls are "sinful and promiscuous")

These girls hate them and publicly defy their behavior (Esmeralda spits in Frollo's face while Hilda gets closer to Malthus' face)

They're both feeling this desire for the girls they deem as sinful, and this feeling (and the religious guilt) is eating them from inside

These girls can easily make them vulnerable, which is a unnusual feeling for both

They are jealous of the girls being exposed to other man (Esmeralda dancing, Hilda in the zone), and try to convince them to stop it

(This scene is not included in the disney movie, but it is in the 1939 movie and in the book - The people were waiting for Esmeralda to get on the stage and start dancing, and Frollo appears, hiding in the shadows, telling her he's madly in love with her and can't stand the sight of her dancing in front of other man. She ends up not obeying him, though! Went to dance anyway)

In the book and also in the musical of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, there is a scene where Frollo is just wandering through the streets of Paris, trying to deal with his conflicting feelings towards Esmeralda, and he hears the sound of music and dancing from the inside of a tavern.

"Frollo began to walk the streets night after night, unable to bring himself to return alone to his cold, dark chambers. He thought he saw her everywhere. Until one night, walking down an unknown alley... he heard the sound of distant music and laughter... coming from within a tavern called... La Pomme d'Eve!" (lyrics from the musical)

When he looks into the window he sees Esmeralda dancing, drinking and having fun, then he says "Brazen, lewd, and odious, this vile, depraved display... I cannot bear to watch and yet I cannot turn away..." (lyrics from the musical), which reminds me of Malthus always ending up in the bohemian zone and "accidentally" watching Hilda from afar, while he's against everything that is in that place. An angel on earth actually made an edit with this musical song making it seem like it was included in the movie, and it looks great! I just wanted to add this here because this edit deserves more recognition.

In the book, Frollo is a priest. He grew up in the church and never felt tempted by any woman... except for Esmeralda, what brings him to madness and eventually death. Got what he deserved tbh

Frollo sees himself as better than the others, just like the first lyrics of his song "Hellfire" say, "Beata Maria, you know I am a righteous man, of my virtue I am justly proud... Beata Maria, you know I'm so much purer than the common, vulgar, weak, licentious crowd...", which reminds me of the talk that Hilda has with Malthus, claiming that loving humanity is not the same as loving people, with real scent, color and sins. Of course, Malthus' pride is not as bad as Frollo's, but it is still a similarity

Both Hilda and Esmeralda are 100% publicly against Malthus and Frollo. They despise them, Hilda because Malthus wants to exorcise her and he is part of that political organization "of good manners" (or something like that), which goes against the bohemian area and disturbs the residents there using their faith. Esmeralda, however, hates Frollo because of the genocide he had been commiting against her people for decades, and she sees him as depraved and disgusting, especially after knowing that he is lusting after her. Both of the girls aren't afraid of speaking up about what they believe, making a fool out of both of Frollo's and Malthus' faces, which is something that the other people don't do. Both of them have a sense of speaking up for minorities and mistreated people.

And also while Esmeralda is kind to Quasimodo, the mistreated hunchback character, Hilda says that "ugly people have hearts too", willingly letting ugly guys have a chance with her.

Frollo keeps Esmeralda's shiny scarf while Malthus keeps Hilda's shoe. Both of the objects remind them of the girls they're "in love", make them feel religious guilt for feeling lust, and both of the objects are considered sinful (Hilda's shoe is considered too vulgar and Esmeralda's scarf was used during her sexy dance at the festival, and she teases Frollo with it in front of everyone)

Frollo burns Esmeralda's scarf (out of anger of her) and Malthus tries to burn Hilda's shoe, but ended up returning it to her.

They both refuse to call the girls by their names, calling them by pejorative nicknames instead, in Malthus case he calls Hilda "camellia, Magdalene (prostitute of the Bible), sinner" while Frollo calls Esmeralda "witch, the girl, gypsy girl"

This is not really about Malthus and Frollo, but when Hilda goes to the church, the priest tells her she shouldn't be there because she commited too many sins and she's in debt with God. In the Hunchback Of Notre Dame 1939 movie, Frollo finds Esmeralda praying and tells her that that church is not a place for her, aggressively shouts that she should leave and grabs her arm.

And what can I say about this song?

Notice how he ends up passing out because of his inner turmoil, which also happens to Malthus, when he's punishing himself and was found by the priest

As you guys probably know, Frollo and Esmeralda's character relationship and interactions are extremely unhealthy and toxic, while Malthus and Hilda are cute together and they're a recognized couple in the show. Frollo's feelings towards Esmeralda are just pure lust and hypocrisy, and he tries to burn her at the stake at the end, believing that her death will bring him some peace. They're not the same.

[luvo27]

the rest of the Fantasy High x Very Important People fic that I'm not going to write: Very Complicated Women. story told through interview transcripts between Fig and other characters

episode 2: Fig's maternal grandmother. in which fig interviews her maternal grandmother, asking why she never knew her before, arguing about sandra lynn, fig defending her as a mother, fig having complicated feelings about sandra lynn, closes with fig threatening her maternal grandmother with extreme violence. in response, her maternal grandmother tells fig she's just like her mother and she's glad that they never had contact before

episode 3: Adaine Abernant. in which fig intends to interview her friends about being the elven oracle, but adaine ends up talking about weird customers she's served at basrar's. they end up chatting about people they've met (fig, people on tour, adaine, weird customers). closes with adaine giving a for real intense prophecy and they start yelling into their mics about it

episode 4: Kipperlily Copperkettle. half genuine interview about kipperlily's thoughts on ankarna, half petty teenage sniping, half genuine arguing. arguing about bringing about the ankarna apocalypse vs the night yorb (that was an accident! you did that on purpose!) probably ends in violence.

episode 5: Kristen Applebees. in which Kristen is invited to be interviewed about her faith in Cassandra, but she and Fig end up talking about Cassandra/Ankarna and their lesbian pantheon, and then they end up talking about being queer, and their long and complicated journey's towards realizing they were such, and then they end up talking about resources for queer kids in elmville.

episode 6: Aelwyn Abernant. in which aelwyn gives out too much criminal advice and also a lot of advice on raising cats.

episode 7: Sklonda Gukgak. in which Sklonda is mostly here to humor one of her son's friends but is genuinely impressed with the amount of work that Fig's put into her podcast. She talks about her time as a police officer, why she left her job, and offers legal advice, which Fig says will come in handy for anyone who listened to Aelwyn's criminal advice in the previous episode. ends on Sklonda starting to interrogate fig on what she means by that

episode 8: Dr. Keller/Detective Decker/Hilda Hilda/Wanda Childa. break in the format. all of fig's dialogue is still written in transcript format. the rest of the characters are written in prose as they interrogate fig on why she felt the need to disguise herself as other people so often, and why she's so uncomfortable in her own skin. this episode is a nightmare and ends with ankarna appearing and telling fig so

episode 9: Ankarna Figeuroth Faeth. written in prose, ankarna takes fig to her godly realm and asks what the heck that was all about. fig starts to explain about her podcast, asks if she can interview ankarna, ankarna agrees. switch back to transcript. fig asks a few questions, but the conversation eventually turns to be ankarna asking fig about why she became the archdevil of rebellion and why she ended up following ankarna. fig thinks about her journey as she's been growing up, and all the righteous rage she had felt, and how she shouldn't have had to feel it but she's glad she did. interview ends, back to prose. they hug

episode 10: Sandra Lynn Faeth. written entirely in prose, opens with fig waking up with a red crystal with an audio file clutched in her hand. she goes downstairs to see sandra lynn sitting at the kitchen counter, listening to an episode of fig's podcast. they talk about their relationship when fig was growing up, and during freshman year when it was more complicated, and how they've grown closer since then. sandra lynn talks about how sometimes it scares her how similar fig is to her growing up, and fig asks if that's a good thing or a bad thing, and sandra lynn says that it's not all bad because she's in a good place where she's happy with her life and she knows fig will get there too, but she wishes that fig wouldn't have to go through the struggles she did to get there. ends with them dragging out a photo album and going through it together. thus ends very complicated women

[prankprincess123]

It is vital to my perception of their characters that Link is *selectively mute* *un-breaking stare because eye contact is 'important'* *doesn't even realize there was a social cue for him to miss* autistic, while Ravio is *nervous babbling about special interest* *bunny hat over eyes so he doesn't have to make eye contact* *pretends he didn't miss all the social cues and definitely broke that social norm on purpose* autistic, and Zelda is *rambling incessantly about hyperfixation of the week* "I wonder what's this red button do!?" *stares at painting & dissociates into daydream for hours unmoving* ADHD, while Hilda is *no articulatable thoughts just always internally screaming* "...maybe I shouldn't have pressed the red button..." *vibrating out of her skin with anxiety at being expected to stay still for even a second* ADHD.

[blaithnne]

Ok so my initial theory is that this baby is Johanna (it just doesn’t look like Hilda, the hair seems too dark and the nose too big) but she’s been protected from the big fairy(?) thing for a while now, but now something has happened to break that protection? Maybe it’s something that has to be renewed?

Or maybe Johanna doesn’t even know, and it’s Astrid who’s placing some kind of protective seal. And she’s enticing Hilda and Johanna out to hers so she can renew it better, or because whatever the protection is doesn’t work so well in trollberg?

That could be what this scene is, Hilda’s been sneaking around following Astrid, because when she tries to ask her about her Father Astrid brushes her off with the ol’ “ah but he family you have right here is what’s most important” jargin, but still seems suspicious the whole time Hilda is there. When she catches her red handed, it turns out she’s actually hiding something from Johanna, who enters stage left at the last minute like excuse me what. And here could be Johanna returning, angry at Astrid for lying to her, Astrid feeling guilty, and Hilda disappointed that she’s no closer to finding her dad

Btw this scene of Hilda yelling for her missing mum is put right after the “I will come to take the girl” bit, which is also part of what’s fuelling my theory. ALSO looking at the Initial teaser with Hilda being so excited to find the fairies, it’d be really messed up if she was sooo excited but upon meeting them learned they were actually out to get her.

Anyways Johanna being born via magical means as opposed to Hilda is much more interesting to me, since Jo is for the most part just a regular dude who wants to eat cucumber sandwich and chill. It’s a fun misdirect!

Ofc this doesn’t sense anything abt Hilda’s dad, but I like the idea of him just being a normal deadbeat father in contrast to all this magic. Hilda learning that unconventional families are just as good as conventional ones, sometimes better. She desperately wants her fathers absence to be tied to some big adventure or magical reason, but it’s not.

[majiburger]

obsessed obsessed OBSESSED with how hilda hurricane deals with the power of artifice and appearances. thin waist makes several remarks about how hilda wouldn't be suffering if she weaponized her femininity, if she truly 'became' the image she projects as hilda hurricane - confident, unfeeling, mysterious, sexy. in the same episode, father nelson (very catholically) tells dindin that the way a church looks is an extremely important part of the service - just as important as the sermons themselves - because of the feelings they induce, the way it humbles us, the way it reduces us and magnifies god. and, of course, the most obvious subplot that deals with appearance and artifice is the MC/gabriela subplot, where MC is (understandably) insecure about his appearance as a fat, black man while his voice on the radio exudes a different image to gabriela.

however, the show questions artifice and exteriority multiple times by revealing how exhausting and lonely this performance is for hilda (who is a Yearner and a real human being who Feels Feelings), or attacking the church's lack of human values, or even through aramel, who is conventionally attractive but a misogynistic pimp. appearances mean everything to the characters, but the show exposes these appearances as shallow and devoid of real humanity and meaning. and it's just. SO clever how the writing of this show threads three extremely different plot points with the same theme so smoothly to convey this point. it's not done in an overly obvious way, but you can't help but notice how often the characters grapple with appearances and the effect they have on the human psyche. it's all about the performance, it's all about the grandiosity, it's all about making things look good rather than actually being good, which kind of drives home the entire point of what the show is about without being nauseatingly didactic.

[jaydenix]

Why Mirta is my favourite Winx Club character

I mean, the aesthetic helps. I like redheads and goths, which she is both of, also she has that black sleeveless top which seems to keep popping in my "literally me" characters (Susie from Deltarune, Dipper from Gravity Falls, and Hilda from Pokemon B&W)

So what do I see in Mirta?... Idk I like her ig, what? I don't have to have super well-thought opinions every time, she's just cool! And you know it!

But I guess a little extra analysis wouldn't hurt would it:

So as we all know, Winx Club's witches aren't the best. The show takes a very simplistic view that fairies are innately good, and witches are innately evil. This essentialist view has been critiqued extensively overtime and for good reason: it's a major missed opportunity to have such a narrow idea of what fairies and witches are, and also is just not very original. Witches and witchcraft in media have been portrayed extensively as just simply evil with no real explanation. Winx Club could have chosen to have taken a more interesting and original interpretation, but true to the shows mission statement of being brutally average, it doesn't. I've got some of my own ideas of how they could've handled this and I'll probably share those in a future post. But sufficed to say: Winx Club's witches are definitely a disappointment (for a more comprehensive look at witches, see Unicorn of War's video on YouTube about the subject).

But then we have Mirta, the one good witch supposedly. Bar the Trix, the ancestral witches, and maybe Griffin she's probably the most important witch in the show at least earlier on. The fact that she's actually different by being good invites intrigue to her character, she actually believes in something which is really quite cool and a nice standout amongst the rest. The Trix clearly are the mean girls in Cloud Tower with other witches wanting to be like them or to be friends with them. Lucy, Mirta's best friend, is in this camp and is disillusioned with her looks and supposed status and seeks to remedy this by trying to be more like the Trix. Mirta on the other hand doesn't follow this dogma and tries to convince Lucy to stay clear of them. This is great, though as I've said it would've been nice if the show portrayed witches more broadly as being a bit less black and white. Her assistance to the Winxes was cool too informing them of the Trix' plans and actions. Wow! Isn't that so awesome! She was shaping up to be an interesting and well-developed and fleshed out side character and then they remembered it was season 1 and that's illegal so they turn her into a pumpkin so they can forget about her. Why? Because fuck you! That's why! Though seriously, I don't mind in theory she was turned into a pumpkin but like really? She could've been a really fun part of the equation throughout the latter parts of season 1 as like the Winxes' witch counterpart. ALSO, when they bring her back to Alfea in pumpkin form, did they not think to like, ask Faragonda to turn her back? The Trix did the spell pre-dragonflame I highly doubt it's anything Faragonda or at the very least Griffin couldn't handle which I'd imagine they'd probably want to inform her of what'd happen considering she's one of her students?! Man if I was Mirta I'd be PISSED off. #JusticeForMirta. Eventually she's freed from her pumpkinhood and once season 1 concludes she decides to become a fairy and transfers to Alfea. Like with becoming a pumpkin: I don't hate that she does this on principle, but I do think it says a lot about how the show writes its witches that the one they make out to be good-natured ends up choosing to become a fairy. Like the view of fairies and witches is THAT rigid.

Though I also do think it's a fun transgender analogy, the idea of being able to transition from witch to fairy and vice versa. The 4Kids dub takes this idea much more seriously with Mirta being described as "transmagic" and Darcy also states "she claims to be fairy who just so be happened to be born in the wrong body", this appears to be a very intentional parallel to the "born in the wrong body" idea that is often used to explain what being trans feels like*, and this was back in 2007 for crying out loud. Additionally Mirta and Lucy are probably the closest thing the main show has to a queer couple, obviously not canon by any means, but they have a very strong bond and are shown to dance together at the end of season 2 (or was it 3 I forgot). Mirta therefore arguably has the most going for her out of any character when it comes to Queer representation.

*Just to be clear, I know plenty of trans people dislike and discredit the "born in the wrong body" narrative, I'm just pointing it out because it does seem this is what the scriptwriters were aiming for.

I like Mirta a lot because of what she could have been. I really think she's an awesome character who had a lot of potential to be fleshed out way more and serve a more involved role in her allyship with the Winxes in season 1 and beyond. It would've been so cool and she deserved way better. I imagine many would be wondering if I think she should've been part of the Winx as she's probably the second most commonly proposed member besides Roxy to be one, and the answer to that is fairly definitive no. Six to me has always felt like a natural limit for these kinds of groups, any more and it starts to be a bit much, which is why I'm glad Roxy didn't become a proper part of the group when season 5 came around (though she still deserved more than what she got). Simply adding Mirta the Winx would ignore the problem that she doesn't get fleshed out enough as a character. Maybe it could've worked in some alternate timeline but she could've been a useful asset to the Winx and the show as a whole whilst not necessarily being a member.

So that's why I like Mirta, she's a fun character who I will defend that she should've gotten more until the day I die. This gay little goth redhead has been my favourite for a long time and I don't see that changing any time soon. Keep stanning Mirta people.

P.S: I really didn't expect this post to get this long LOL I genuinely was gonna post just the "idk I like her" bit and then move on but I was like "ehh, I'll write a little bit" and then I spent 2 hours writing way this whole thing it's 3am I need spiritual assistance okay BYE.