#which is an important symbol in the threes dynamic bc i said so

[nextstopparis]

sorry but the way merlin tells arthur that girls prefer pretty things like jewels and stuff and arthurs solution to that is to BEJEWEL A DAGGER is hilarious. any other person wouldve been like oh fuck i shouldve gotten her a necklace and hes like wait the dagger is too ugly???

[eggsaladstain]

Hey, it's me again! Bc I loved how insightful your posts about Olek and Ling Yi were, showing you clearly think deeply about the show, I would like to ask you something outside the couple, if that is okay! So, I was rewatching Ep 3 (I have a severe case of brainrot for the two lovebirds) and something that Eyk said about the ships messed me up. He said the company bought 3 German ships. We have Kerberos and Prometheus, but who do you think is the third? I almost lost it. Could it be important?

@inferubim hello hello again, i'm so glad we are all still foaming at the mouth over this show.

i don’t know if the third ship itself is important, but the fact that there are three ships is important, and that importance is twofold: first, it continues the show’s central theme around triangles, and second, the ships themselves serve as a clever bit of foreshadowing for the plot.

triangles are obviously a huge part of the show, both literally and metaphorically. you have the ship company’s logo being the triangle with the line through it (the alchemical symbol for earth) and that symbol is repeated throughout the show in the set and costume design. we see the symbol tattooed behind elliot’s ear, and later on in the “present,” we see it tattooed on maura as well.

the characters are also grouped into sets of three, but never equally. there is an imbalance in each trio, and while that is certainly just a fact of human relationships, given the context of this show, i think it’s an intriguing detail we can’t overlook. maura’s first family unit is with henry and ciaran and her father prefers her to her brother. her second family unit is with daniel and elliot - she doesn’t remember either of them and the two of them are working together to change the simulation, and henry later tells elliot that daniel will always pick maura over him. maura has a love triangle with daniel and eyk and while she is married to daniel, she arguably has a stronger connection with eyk. speaking of the captain, he has three daughters but nina is clearly his favorite as she’s the only one he calls out to by name over and over again. clemence is married to lucien but has an instant connection to jerome and jerome and lucien have a shared history and secret from the war. krester, tove, and ada are siblings with krester and tove being much closer in age to each other than they are to ada. ramiro and angel are lovers but angel is tempted by krester. ling yi and yuk je are both employed by and at the mercy of virginia wilson. i could keep going but i won’t, and i should mention that of all the main characters, olek is the only one who doesn’t have this dynamic. he does have a brief scene with the two stokers, but that’s really it. instead, he has two strong duos - his partnership with jerome and his relationship with ling yi. this may or may not be significant, but when you take a step back and see all the other trios happening on the ship, olek’s lack of one really sticks out even more.

there’s also the fact that more or less everything significant to the plot is presented in a set of three. the three items that can alter the simulation - the pyramid, the remote control, and the lockpicking bug (alfred, you’re doing amazing sweetie). the three distinct time periods - 1899, the 70s/80s look of henry’s office, elliot’s bunker, the soundtrack, etc., and 2099. the three times we see the words “wake up” - on the memorial cross, on the stone pyramid, and on the toy pyramid. and of course, the fleet of three ships that started it all.

which brings me to my second point - the ships and their names directly tie into the events of the first season. prometheus is a titan who stole fire from the gods and gave it to mankind, giving them knowledge and technology, and it’s only after discovering the prometheus that maura and eyk gain the knowledge that there is something deeply wrong about both ships and their entire reality. kerberos is a computer protocol that provides authentication and allows a server and user to identify each other and it was named after cerberus, the three-headed dog that guards the gates of the underworld. many of the passengers on the kerberos are hiding their own and discovering each other’s true identities, and in the last episode, the remaining survivors end up in an afterlife of sorts in the graveyard with all the other failed simulations. i love little details like this when you reach the end of a story and then realize all the breadcrumbs the creators left starting from the beginning. and fun fact, in episode 1, we learn that the prometheus had 1,423 passengers, and in episode 2, we learn that the kerberos has 1,612. which means the kerberos has an additional 189 passengers. i know we’re missing a whole digit, but come on, what a great detail!

i’ll end with this - cerberus’s three heads are said to represent the past, present, and future. you have prometheus as the past, kerberos as the present, and the unnamed third ship as the future. but is that a happy future where everyone is free of the simulation or is that future simply a return to the beginning of the loop as the cycle begins anew? despite ciaran welcoming maura to “reality” in 2099, the fact that they are once again on a vessel named prometheus also with 1,423 passengers should at least make us consider the possibility that they have simply traded environments, swapping a steamship for a spaceship. so perhaps we end at the beginning where the future is the past. after all, a triangle can always fit a circle inside it and vice versa.

[skrunksthatwunk]

ok so idk if this is a hot take or whatever but i rewatched the rgg movie from 2007 and that shit ROCKS i like it so much more now bc like,, the first time i watched it i was expecting a straightforward adaptation of the first game's plot and that's just fully not what it is at all nor what it was trying to be

like yeah most of the nishiki final boss stuff at the end is pretty underwhelming but it's not about him. it's about kamurocho!! it's about the reasons people turn to crime and the humanity of everyone involved except for jingu lmao and how fucking bonkers mad you feel when it's a little too hot outside and?? sadomasochism??? between the masochist info guy and majima using the same door slamming technique on kiryu that he used for said info guy and then the very very sexual connotations to the majima chestsitting knife dick shot in the bedroom at the soapland I'm just saying there are. implications. like additional ones to the inherent ones of the kazumaji dynamic like yeah!! that's all good. and once you stop waiting on game events to happen you can just like,, enjoy the stuff happening in it. it's a very character-centric movie and that scratches an itch for me.

it's also like wayy funnier than i remembered lol. some of it's not really on purpose like the cg helicopter just skating all over town shattering windows for idk reasons I guess. probably because jingu's an asshole? idk you could probably read meaning into jingu's symbol of power carelessly wrecking kamurocho but i think it's probably just for shits. but like,, the baseball stuff (the scene where majima calls their match a doubleheader and then the subtitles explain what that is for like three lines over like 30 seconds of gunshot footage is fucking top notch) and kiryu's flip phone troubles and the hostage takers requesting nice expensive food and the hostages thanking them and then the cop being like "if they'd asked for anything more expensive we would have taken them out" and all that idk I'm so endeared to it rn

i also find it kinda fascinating that majima is so present in this because like,, to my understanding, before the release of 0 (and therefore before kiwami's majima everywhere system and whatnot), majima was considered this kinda random side character, like he'd just show up whenever and fuck off again like that. he played a much smaller role. he's not even especially important in the og yakuza, and this came out around 9 months before y2 so it's just based on y1 majima's vibe. yet they gave him significantly more attention than nishiki or kazama or even yumi (though all three were sorta background figures it's like they were already ghosts. man kazama doesn't even DIE in this, he just leaves. they make up for him living by making nishiki's hair a casualty bc oh my LORD what was that jdhshsh). truly goes to show what a silly guy does to a mf

(also they actually give majima and haruka an interaction here??? and he's kind to her and kiryu trusts him to not hurt her and she's like "idc I'll beat you up don't fucking TOUCH ojisan" and he's like "well damn. go on then" gah augh love. closest thing we have in rgg to my knowledge is majima kidnapping her offscreen and him [vague rgg5 spoilers] risking his and saejima's lives to save her bc she means so much to kiryu. here he just doesn't wanna hurt a kid)

obviously it's kinda weird to ditch most of the plot/key characters of the game and i don't think it's great that they tried to tie it in at the end how they did but like. eh idk I'm happy with it. it's a good time. i won't argue it's a masterpiece (mostly bc i don't like arguing over whether media is "objectively good" or whatever) but it DOES make me happy :D. so. thanks like a dragon (2007) mwah mwah xoxo

anyway point is it's about the vibes of playing yakuza, which is (for me) about getting immersed in the city and the little side plots of the people in it and whatever and then cramming the plot in last minute :)

[miengsol]

💋✂️💘⚠️

romance? romance ( ft. shipping ooc meme w/ @velvetineblue )

💋 was answered so i'll do 💐 – What are your muse’s top three favorite flowers? What would they have in their wedding bouquet/boutonniere?

the first is forget-me-not flowers especially since they're a shade of blue he likes. but they also represent his everlasting love for both mana and daniel.

the second is chamomile flowers, mostly because they make good teas and can help with stomach pains. that and they're white- he has an inclination for blue and white flowers :'D

the third is irises. honestly i picked it bc it resonates with the idea of the cycle of life and death- they bloom in the spring and eventually die, but they always come back eventually. that and they're a symbol of faith, hope, and courage...i believe in china, they can also be a symbol of vitality and change.

calum would have a bundle of forget-me-not flowers in his boutonniere though!

✂ – How does your muse handle a break-up? Have they ever been dumped before? How do they break-up with a partner?

unfortunately not well :/ especially if it's a messy breakup, he's usually blame himself for the break down of the relationship even if he knows logically both parties are responsible....let's see he had two relationships before the one with mana so. one was in high school; his girlfriend initiated the break-up there but ultimately it was mutual....

the other one was in college, which he initiated because he felt like his boyfriend at the time was treating him like a trophy of sorts....he was really conflicted about initiating it but ultimately went thru with it w/ mana and daniel ( mana especially )'s encouragement.

basically though, if he has to break up with someone, it's bc he's exhausted all other options/they're not good for his child to be around. he would most likely do it over coffee/ in a cafe...aka somewhere semi-public bc he wouldn't want his child to see that.

💘 – What is a romantic AU you’ve always wanted to write, but haven’t yet?

HMMMM...see i used to have a few but honestly?? i kinda prefer to develop something according to what i see happening between the characters ( unless i get a shower thought!! ). that being said....this isn't so much of an au so much as it is, a 'enemies-to-lovers' relationship?? mostly bc i love seeing bickering and banter...things he is very good at it

⚠ – What is a ship (or type of ship) that you have no intention of writing?

with other characters i'm all for this, but with calum, i will never do 'childhood friends-to-lovers' dynamic bc it's too important to me that mana is his first legitimate love ( not that his previous relationships weren't real, but the one with mana, he found peace in her and that never happened before ). the first person he was truly in love with.

I just think a 'childhood friends-to-lovers' dynamic would compromise on her significance to him even if it is that they were dating in say high school and reunited as an adult. sorry folks, the places mana and daniel holds in calum's story are the two things i will not compromise on.

[bokvshou]

i agree. just a small correction: vivinos said she didn't want them to OVERLAP mizi but in the end she was very happy because ivantill also showed the tragedy that is alien stage. but yeah. not denying that there's a bias towards male characters and mlm ships in fandoms bc it's true, but i think a lot of fans are completely ignoring all the other reasons people might be more invested on ivantill:

1) the thing is, we see more information and scenes about ivantill in the MVs than we do about mizisua. we see ivan at the end of Round 2, Round 3 is exclusively dedicated to ivan's unrequited love, they create expectation of their round in Top 3 and All-in, and Round 6 is their duet. even without looking at the official arts the MVs scenes help us build a timeline and a more concrete idea of how they were together (we have their first meeting as babies, the scene where ivan falls in love with till, childhood scenes, the failed escape under the stars, the karaoke scene, and finally their round together). their version of My Clematis even offers us a little more of their dynamic. it gives us time to get to know them and take an interest in them.

mizisua on the other hand ends very quickly for most people to be seriously invested; sua dies in the first round, and even if her character definitely continues to haunt the narrative, she's not as present as i would like, yes it's important that mizi hallucinates her (like in Round 5) but there are not many clues that can tell us how they lived their life before Round 1 because their scenes are more symbolic than anything. we know they were in love, we know it was reciprocal and they spent all their time together, but what else? did any major events ever happen between them? i wish we could see more of that.

2) they are different types of tragedy, people are always fascinated with dramatic stories, but they don't offer the same thing. ivantill is tragic because it was a mess of misunderstandings, an unrequited love (and that generates more pity in people bc it's easier to relate to that) and it feels more unattainable because as much as we like to pretend otherwise, it's never been established if till is interested in men at all, not really, so that adds one more layer to it.

mizisua feels stable, perhaps too stable for some. they were a reciprocal love since the moment they met and there's no remarkable event in their life that we know of (something like ivantill's meteor shower scene) until the moment sua dies. and of course, those of us who are up to date with comics and official arts know sua was tormented by what would happen and felt she was harming mizi with her love, but that's not common knowledge (and that's a problem in itself but i'll comment on it later). you don't see that in the MVs and you can't blame the general public for that.

3) i think the lack of mizisua songs is a big mistake. Alien Stage is a musical project at the end of the day, and neither of them really has a chance to sing much. sua dies in the first three minutes, Sweet Dream is basically just the opening of Alien Stage, and mizi left the tournament too quickly to be allowed to sing, because in Ruler Of My Heart she only serves as a background voice, which even if it makes sense story-wise, it's still a shame (and listen, if they want to sell her as the protagonist, it's a crime for me not to let her sing that much. no wonder there are people who believe till is the protagonist).

4) going back to a previous observation, i think the fact that more than half of the content is hidden in official arts, merchandise, and patreon sometimes does more harm than anything. i know there's only so much information you can cram into 3-minute music videos, but a lot of the content isn't easily accessible to audiences, and unfortunately mizisua suffers a lot from this (and individual characters like luka and ivan, too). i understand the reasons why the patreon exists and why vivimeng don't let fans show off certain merchandise, but it's still sad that there's a percentage of fans who have to miss a lot of details.

i definitely think that if ivantill and mizisua had their roles reversed, ivantill wouldn't be as popular as it is now. they would still be relevant because it would still be an interesting story and being men will always serve in their favor, but it would not be the same in any way.

i don't know if it's true but i read somewhere that said that vivinos didn't want it to be an ivantill kiss because it would overshadow mizisua (which happened) and this person said it's because they're men (which is mostly true) but i also think that mizisua love is tragic but more tender? and ivantill is more of a despairing kind of love. i love mizisua and i find them really interesting and maybe it's just me but the whole ivantill dynamic feels so tragic in a different way. mizisua is tragic sure but their love feels more pure and when i think about ivantill it's just makes me feel kind of heartbroken, like no matter what could have changed they were bound to end up like that. like truly doomed by the narrative. i fr think if mizisua and ivantill changed stories the interest people have on ivantill would not be this massive. or maybe not, since they're still. men (and that still plays a part) but i sure as hell would be more invested in mizisua (but i also feel like applies to me because im kind of a pessimistic type of person)

[epic-sorcerer]

Queer imagery in BBC Merlin

Content warning: kink/fetish, fisting in particular but I show I big image containing a long list of different kinks, homophobia, dom/sub dynamics, sex

Merlin is shown wearing a purple tunic in s4, despite the fact he is a servant and purple(especially with such saturation) was extremely expensive bc purple dye was so hard to make. Gwen also has a light purple dress(or maybe 2? It’s hard to tell). Even though it’s definitely lighter than Merlins tunic, it’s still expensive.

it was illegal for peasants to wear expensive fabrics because of the Sumptuary Law. Basically it makes sure that lower class people are not fashionable. However, BBC Merlin doesn’t seam to care about that law, considering Merlins other bright clothing so take this was a grain of salt.

Basically what I’m trying to say is that there’s no way they could have gotten their hands on these clothes without the help of nobles. Gwen might have, because she works with clothing and could have easily mixed blue and red dye together. Merlin probably not have because he’s never shown to be particularly materialistic or interested much in fashion, despite his bright clothes. Bright Purple would have been much, much harder to get.

It makes the most sense for Merlin and possibly Gwen too to have been gifted such expensive clothing by a noble for being a good servant. I’d imagine Arthur would be the one to give Merlin the tunic and morgana the dresses.

Why does this matter? Lavender(and also purple in general) was considered a queer color starting in the 19th century. Queer men especially were said to possess a “streak of lavender” and a serge of homophobia at the time was often referred to as the “Lavender Scare.” Purple and lavender is still used now to symbolize queerness.

Since Merlin is a modern interpretation of Arthurian myths, it would be perfectly plausible that this symbol was on purpose. Merlin/Arthur and Gwen/Morgana are both extremely popular ships and they are both shown to have a very deep form of trust(Gwen/Morgana being at the beginning of the show). Arthur and Morgana gifting Merlin and Gwen purple clothing could be show them they accept their queerness and/or signaling their own queer attraction to them.

Now, this next symbolism concerns only Merlin/Arthur.

Merlin is shown to have three neckerchiefs.

Navy blue, red, and light grey. Why does this matter? Well, let’s take a look at something called the handkerchief code, also known as the hanky code or “flagging.”

This code has its origins all the way back in time during the Wild West in the USA, but got more popular during the late 20th century in USA and UK gay bars. This code was used mainly by queer men and some nonbinary people to signal to other queers what they wanted sexually. While typically worn in people’s back pockets, a handkerchief could also be worn around one’s neck to show they are a versatile and experienced.

According to this code, Merlin is into;

Red: fisting and getting fisted. This color was hard to get an exact shade from, but the second best option was dark red for double fisting which is honestly so similar I’m not sure if it really matters much.

Light grey: stone topping and getting fucked by a stone top

Navy blue: fucking and being fucked anally

For any one wanting to make their own interpretations of Merlins neckerchief colors(the lighting makes it hard to tell the exact ones) have a look at this handy chart

Not only that, but Arthur is seen wearing a favour on his left arm in s3 ep 4.

What’s a favour? It’s a fabric strip of affection commonly given by maidens to knights before a tournament as a symbol of good luck. It’s often a very important scarf, hankcerchlif , towel, really any bit of cloth that can be tied around someone’s arm. This is also a popular trope in historical media for a female love interest to give a favour to a male one to show chemistry between them.

Regardless of your stance on Merlins gender identity, you have to admit how commonly Merlin is shown to be gender nonconforming(GNC) or otherwise be associated with “womanly” qualities. Especially in a society so heteronormative, the only “pure” option for a knight receiving a romantic gesture would have it be from a woman. If the token was from a queer man, it would also out the noble and cause lots of horrific chaos and destroy both of their reputations.

Even if it was common for women to give knights favours, queer men still existed and with that came romantic gestures—this time hopefully more secret.

Even though the favour on Arthur’s arm doesn’t look exactly like Merlin’s neckerchief, Merlin was the only person to speak with him while preparing for the tournament. Also, the original theorist who I linked in my sources also pointed out that Merlins neckerchief looks lopsided. Almost like Merlin tore off a bit of it and hastily tied it back on.

Although this theory is definitely flawed, it doesn’t matter. Arthur is still wearing a red handkerchief on his left arm. But what does that tell us exactly?

Regardless of wether or not it was Merlin’s, the red is the same shade and also implies Arthur is also into fisting. What about the placement? Sicne it’s on his left, it shows that he is a top/dom, meaning that he prefers to be the one fisting. Since it is worn around his upper arm, it shows that he is simply into the fetish, compared to what other placements mean. In another source, it shows taht upper arm means switch, but because Arthur is wearing it on his left it wouldn’t really make sense for him to signal being a “top-switch” compared to being a top and having the fetish in general.

If you look closely, you can see a different colored stripe on the favour. It’s hard to tell exactly what the color is, it could be yellow, gold, orange, etc. because the color is so dubious, I’ll just leave y’all with a list of color meanings that may apply to Arthur’s favour.

YELLOW: pisser/watersports kink

YELLOW, Pale: spitter/spit kink

MUSTARD: Has 8+ inch dick

GOLD: two looking for one

ORANGE: anything anytime

Also, it’s important to bring up what many in thsi fandom refer to as the “fisting scene.” Where Arthur threatens Merlin by showing him his gloved fist and pulling a bit at the glove.

In the blooper, you can see Merlin’s actor(Colin Morgan) breaking character and giggling as Arthur shows him his fist. Many in the fandom agree that this was a clear innuendo for fisting, and it is very well possible.

Merlin is shown hitting Arthur and saying he was just doing some horse play, but still indirectly convincing Arthur that he needs to teach Merlin a lesson. This is actually a common act in BDSM sex, where the submissive person purposely angers the dominant into punishing them in a way that somehow involves sex or fetish play.

If you look closely, you can see Merlin is wearing at kinky red fisting handkerchief, showing Merlin is perfectly capable of being a submissive fistee. Also, the hanky code also includes other symbols such as latex or rubber gloves that, surprise surprise, also mean fisting. Although it’s more likely Arthur’s gloves where made of leather, it can still further be interpreted as a fisting symbol if you want. Either way, Arthur’s favour still holds water as he is undoubtedly the dom in this situation.

Also, Merlin is very impulsive and a madlad. Tell me he wouldn’t wear his secret fetish symbols infrount of stuck up, Roman Catholics who are none the wiser. He’d probably think it’s hilarious which is probably why he wears them almost everyday. Merlin loves playfully misbehaving(and is also a brat sometimes) so it makes sense for him to have some dangerous fun.

Now, you may be asking. Why does this matter? At the end of the day, it probably wasn’t intentional. Well, there is alwyas room for doupt BUT I do have some ferther proof. One of the co writers of BBC Merlin—Johnny Capps—actually won a Stone Wall Award. You know, an award named after a core part of queer culture?

The award’s website and Wikipedia page say they give the award for art that describes the LGBT experience well. While I am unsure why or what Capps made to be nominated, it still shows he is very much in touch with queer culture. Capp himself even said at an interview about Merlin, “... in the end, deep, deep down it’s about sexuality and things you just can’t tackle head-on.”

Well, what says more about sexuality than the main characters fist fucking each other? That’s a lot of sexuality. While I am unsure of Capp’s age, he does look to be about middle age and it would make sense for him to know about a code popularized in a 70s to 90s. Especially for someone who has made multiple queer oriented stories in his life time.

Sources:

Why is purple considered the color of royalty?

Sumptuary law

How lavender became a symbol of LGBTQ resistance

How Lavender Became a Symbol of LGBTQ Resistance(part 2)

flagging opinicus rampant

Handkerchief code

DO YOU KNOW THE HANKY CODE?

Picspam: The Red Favour (Proof of Arthur Wearing Merlin's Favour in 3x04)

Five medieval love tokens

The Lady's Favour

Hanky codes

Nominees for Stonewall Awards announced

Merlin series 5 spoiler-free launch report

Pls reblog I spent hours on this /np 😭👊

[literaryfic]

Episode 11 breakdown

chayenzo has reached their bonnie & clyde peak in this episode and i’m living for it.

cha-young TORTURING and KILLING the three killers and vincenzo not holding her back

vincenzo letting her take the lead while ‘interrogating’ them... WHILE HOLDING HER COFFEE

at one point he looks worried when she ups the toxic smoke(?) flow (i think he doesn’t want her to lash out and regret what she did) but he doesn’t stop her.

he looks at her when they say they want to answer for their crimes in front of the law and she says “and who would that benefit?”

he’s letting her handle this all throughout the scene, and he’s seeing first hand what she’s capable of, what’s she comfortable with and how far she’s willing to go (which is all the way)

their dynamic has changed a lot from the previous episodes. they’ve truly become partners IN CRIME. (murder couple!!!!).

and as a good husband he tells her he’ll help her throw the people who killed her dad in the tiger’s cage when they’re done using them.

him telling her she belongs in the mafia!!!!!!!!!!! he fully recognised her as one of his own, someone who is capable of the same atrocities as he is and who he can rely on and trust as his equal.

her not reacting negatively when she finds out the extent of vincenzo’s mafia past / when shown the pictures of his killings. she even takes the picture of one of his murders out the prosecutor’s hand....

the HUG scene!!!!!!!!!!!! the chayenzo one, i should say. i think this is the most transparent vincenzo’s feelings have been made for cha-young and the audience to see (excluding the scene where he watches sleep).

first, he doesn’t want to stop drinking and uses the snacks as an excuse to continue drinking until 4 am. i think it’s important because so far vincenzo has done everything he’s said he would do. he does not lie or goes back on his words easily, EXCEPT WHEN CHA-YOUNG IS INVOLVED. the only time he does it for something else, it’s because he breaks the promise of not hurting others. although we’ve seen before how he lied about buying wine, it could just be because he was aware they were being followed and wanted to make sure nothing happened. but here, he clearly says they’ll only drink until 2 am, and when 3 am comes, HE’S THE ONE TO ASK HER TO DRINK UNTIL 4. he uses yet another excuse bc he doesn’t want to part ways with her yet.

then, she apologises for hugging him all of a sudden and he says there’s no need to say sorry, because she was worried. HE NOT ONLY DOESN’T MIND, HE’S TELLING HER IT’S A NORMAL REACTION. i truly think this says a lot bc all throughout the episode vincenzo is being hugged and he HATES it. he’s not a touchy person (except with cha-young ofc) and doesn’t like to be touched. but not only does he hug cha-young BACK, he’s saying she’s allowed to do that. They’re both testing their boundaries with each other.

also, when cha-young tells him she doesn’t know if her heart was beating bc of the situation or bc of her feelings for him, he looks like his own heart is beating really fast!! he swallows, looks away... vincenzo cassano, the mafia consigliere with no fear, is NERVOUS bc of hong cha-young 😭

finally, the HUG. when she says she’s testing to see if she has feelings for him, he smiles bc he finds her cute and he says he won’t move BC HE WANTS HER TO HUG HIM. he smiles as she’s hugging him bc he likes it UNTIL she hugs him harder and he feels nervous again (like he doesn’t want her to hear his fast heartbeat hahaha.) and his holding the chair bc he wants to hug her but he’s holding himself back. and then they look at each other and i just know he doesn’t know what to do hahaha.

meanwhile, cha-young looks at him intensely and i can just TELL that when she says “ah, i was wrong, it was because it was a dangerous situation” she’s LYING YOUR HONOR. she has the softest expression on her face, she’s definitely deeply in love with him lol.

then when she goes back to lie down, vincenzo literally doesn’t know what to do with himself. you can see he’s almost distraught!!! and the way he looks and smiles at her really softly just proves he knows she’s lying as well lol.

i think it’s interesting how the background music from chayenzo’s hug scene introduces his scene with his mom

in this episode vincenzo truly deepens his roots in South Korea, first with cha-young, then his mom, and finally the tenants

it’s also super symbolic that he picks up a thread and gives it back to her haha. it means that instead of serving their relationship, he’s ready to come back to her. he’s healing from the scar of being abandoned and he’s forgiving her.

also am i the only one who thinks the mom lowkey suspects/knows he’s her son? i really can’t tell if she can tell or not....

CHA-YOUNG BEING JEALOUS OF MIRI/POSSESSIVE OF VINCENZO IS SOMETHING I DIDN’T I NEEDED. the way she pushes her chair and hides her face hahahaha... and then she holds his arm!!!!!!

cha-young also puts her hand on his shoulder a lot this episode. they’re so naturally touchy with each other, and the contrast between how vincenzo handles physical touch from literally anyone but cha-young makes it even more domestic 😭

ALSO, vincenzo asking cha-young to come with him when he’s arrested... the parallels between him saying ‘let’s go, lawyer-nim’ when he protects her and ‘come with me, lawyer-nim’ when he’s in trouble...... PARTNERS IN CRIME

the tenants being not only understanding of his past, but PROUD and IMPRESSED???? they respect him much more now than before 😭

the whole Mr. An scene was soooo cool and satisfying!!!!!!

today’s episode was just ‘everyone wants to fuck vincenzo because he’s hot’ and where is the lie???

the tenants throwing him A LITERAL PARADE when he’s back. CHA-YOUNG ASKING IF IT’S A WEDDING HALL WHILE RESTING HER HAND ON HIS SHOULDER AND EVERYONE THROWING CONFETTI AT THEM????? they’re married in canon idc

she even tells him “with all the support that you have, why don’t you make your own family here?” YOU TELL HIM, HE CAN JUST SETTLE HERE WITH THE GEUMGA GANG BC THEY HAVE HIS BACK AND STAY WITH YOU

the tenants telling him about the gold was so funny... hopefully V finds a way to get the gold and they all divide the money equally or something

now the scene where he tortures the arms dealer..... THIS IS THE HOTTEST SCENE IN THE DRAMA IDC IDC IDC

playing the Russian Roulette himself and not blinking an eye i’m— ��there’s no limit to fear” your honor i know he murdered countless people but have you seen him at work???? who wouldn’t forgive him

I’m so glad we’re getting darker!vincenzo... i want to see the ruthless consigliere everyone fears !!!! more vengeance and murder everyone !!!!

i’m thankful they didn’t drag on the “who’s babo” story line bc that would’ve been frustrating. when vincenzo called cha-young and told her who junwoo was WHILE SHE WAS WITH HIM!! AND SHE ACTED SO PERFECTLY!!!

also she didn’t doubt vincenzo for a second and she straight up asks him if he’ll stick to the plan (of killing him) without a beat

this episode just showed that everyone in this show is a morally grey villain and i don’t think they’re going to be like ‘the main couple went to jail for a few years to pay for their crimes and then lived happily ever after’. if we follow that logic everyone has to go to jail for something loool. i want them to win with no consequences, get away with everything they did and destroy Babel, idc!!!!!!

[euclydya]

ideas we have so far for the Before The Earth Fuckenings happen (aka shit abt The Kitty Sibs before oc!rosie yeets hirself to Earth) uunder thee cut

(btw this is LONG. and very rambly. and probably makes no sense to anyone but us.)

Collars. So. The core gave oc!Rosie a rose collar fucking Forever ago, before we had our hatena account even iirc, and Welp. to keep things balanced™ they gave oc!Janus and oc!Alex collars too bc why not bur there was never a reason Why?? just did so bc their designs felt bland. buuuuuuttttt I'm thinkinnnngggg waht if:

The collars represent which parts of the solar system they reside in/watch over. Alex's has the Mercury symbol on it because he primarily watches over Mercury, Janus' used to have the symbol for Uranus possibly? But he switched his out for a scarf bc he decided to embody Pluto and Pluto Cold™. Tho he still keeps his w him. Rosie's would probs have a moon symbol on it but sie's a rebellious bitch and said fuUck no <3 and probs carved hir rose collar out hirself. As for what it's made of we always assumed wood of some kind (as that's what it's made of in-sys) but The Moon Don't Have Trees On It, So. Moon rocks ifg??

Their mom wanted all her kids to stay somewhat close-ish by and the idea was that while her and her husband embody the sun and moon the kids were to embody/protect/ETC. the planets in between/around the sun and moon.

Like Alex was to rule over Mercury and Venus, Rosie was destined to be stuck on the moon and help their mom (but would've controlled Mars, Jupiter and Saturn), and Janus was to watch over Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Earth would've been a grey area between the three of them but alas. NONE of that happened HDJAJKAKSDKDKSKSKDK

So tl;dr the collars have importance and show the main planet (and in Rosie's case the moon) one of the sibs lives on. Since Alex spends his time on Mercury his has the Mercury symbol, Janus' originally would've had the symbol for Uranus, and Rosie's WOULD'VE had the symbol for Mars on it but their mom said Nooo. "I like this one too much sie stays with me now" basically JSJAJDJ

Or maybe to be a bit more inclusive their collars would have symbols that embody all the planets they'd watch over... Dunno how I'd draw that though hdjsjwkdsksk so. fuck it that's for future me to figure out

Actual family dynamics and shit:

Their Dad Is a Controlling Bitch probably. I imagine since he's a (Something) of the Sun and Alex is physically closest to him then Alex would bond w their dad the most and slowly end up being used as a sort of. Puppet? Or Something?? For their dad. And what sucks is Alex truly believes their dad is in the right which is Also terrifying bc the fucker manipulated him over time; Alex (along w Rosie and Janus) did Not Like Him At All bc he was distant and wanted nothing to do w any of them, their mom included

We don't have a Catalyst for the story yet In Full but the bare bones idea is Rosie Goes Against Their Father's Wishes/Ideals/Something Similar In Some Way and he wants hir... Gone. dead r alive doesn't rlly matter. Just So Long As Sie's Not Being Annoying 2 Him </3. Since their dad Cannot feasibly fit on earth (He Lives IN The Sun. Hell he probably makes up most of the sun's mass in this universe, dude's HUGE) he sends Alex to... (in his mind) hopefully assassinate hir. Or, in Alex's mind, talk some sense into hir.

Violence runs in the family a bit thus why they're all dysfunctional as hell, so naturally Alex's first instinct is To Attack Kill While Trying To Force Hir To Come Back And Not Be A Nuisance To Their Father. Rosie, being 10x More Violent, fucking hates that and will not Hesitate, Bitch. This never ends well and they probs almost have tons of near death experiences bc neither want to stop fighting until they Win. tl;dr: It's Bad! NDJSJSJD

Now, while their mother is passive and doesn't agree with Her Husband Tearing The Family Apart she also answers things claws first and thoughts second.

However, Janus is NOT like any of them though. He thinks fighting is: 1. stupid, and 2. painful and not worth it what the fuck is everyone else's problem?? So he took control of the planets farthest away from his family and resides on Pluto to stay the hell away from them allHDJAKSKDJ

Their mom dotes on Rosie the most bc Only Daughter <3 and "Waow u like the moon just like me that makes me so happy <3" bc the moon is the satellite their mom embodies. Bc YES we r all for the sun and moon dynamics of it all. stfu. <3 HFJSJSJDJ but anyways bc of that Janus nor Alex saw much of their mom's attention thus letting Alex get manipulated more easily by their dad and thus leaving poor Janus to kinda just isolate ncndnsjdn

Rosie did Not Like That Though! Sie hates Being The Center Of Attention and the fact that their mom Wants Hir To Be The Next Moon Embodiment/Protector/WaHTEVER bc sie hates responsibility and thinks everyone in hir family is insane. So. Sie leaves <3 Which causes problems FOR LIKE. SPECIES REASONS WE'RE JUST *NOW* STARTING TO TRY TO PUT TOGETHER IT'S A COMPLETE DIFFERENT CAN OF WORMS JFJAJSKDKCJSJJDX

Species specific shit:

Hte more I think of it the more it'd make sense for the family to be apart of a larger celestial species... Which we're just now thinking of well over ~12+ years of the sibs existing as ocs cndjsjfkdkd soooo. More vague ideas:

Two (or more??) beings of the species choose each other, bond, and then find an uninhabited part of space to call home. they then form a galaxy. After, they form two planets; the planets they Embody. A planet one Embodies gives them powers related to said planet, generally, be they mild or strong. (Ex. Rosie's powers include mild telekinesis, not powerful enough to cause Much damage (tho sie can practice w them and make them stronger) but enough to give things motion like how the moon controls Earth's tides.) After this, should they choose, they can create as many other planets as they please, so long as they create a being in their image to Also Embody said planet.

Now. You can see the issue here right. The sibs' parents fucked up majorly. And thus everything in rhe solar system is out of whack </3 uh oh! JFJSJAKSKDKXDK

Wait this mena

s. oh my god

. they're fucking. gods essentially. fucked up and evil!!! hopy shit. ANYWAYS, CNSKDKFKXKDKDKD

This species can also take form of whatever, there's no set rule w them as a whole. Rosie's parents chose cat-looking things bc uhhhh Well. when i was like 11 I wanted to make a litol cat oc and it's causing me PROBLEMS down the line now! /JOKE JAJAJDJXJXKADKXKSKDJZKDKXKXJSJXJX bUt there's some set rules w some things:

Each being has to Embody a planet (or if their parents fucked up, a satellite object or similar will do in a pinch! /lighthearted).

Each being must have the symbol associated w their planet/satellite on their body in some way. The sibs' family chose collars—the symbol CAN indeed be removable if the being so wishes but most don't care abt it ig I don't know ok.

And finally (for now??) each being grows in size over time. They start out small but eventually become the size of what they Embody give or take. Since they tend to live for millennia, they have. TIME to grow. The bigger the being the more power they have irt what they Embody (ex. The sibs' dad is as big as the sun, and should he choose he can destroy the solar system Whenever he wants w his flames. He won't tho. probably).

It's kinda also possible for one being to pass on their planet to one they trust. Takes a lotta energy tho. That's smth we'll think more on though. I imagine others in the species don't do that much bc there's no reason too and again Rosie's family is extremely dysfunctional in everything that they do

Other notes:

Things like Rosie's family having ink tail tips and such are Most likely specific to them. Idk. I don't plan on fleshing out another family in this species so HDJSKAKDKDJDJ if our friends want they can do that we don't mind

The collective species has no name yet as u could probably guess fjsiaodkds if anyone has ideas hmu. we r bad at naming things! JFJSJSJDJ

The sibs' parents DO HAVE NAMES but they're placeholder names kinda???????? V iffy on making them their actual names bc they're just yoinked from googling "god of (thing)" and going w what sounds coolest and we don't want to lkke. appropriate anything. rip. And as for why the sibs have celestial names AND more normal names is Solely bc Earth exists in this story So to blend in Just a tad bit more they started using more human sounding names. But why humans don't look at them and scream bc they're anthro cat things is a different question completely that I haven't thought of Ummm. I'll figure that out later! NXNSAKSKDKXK

[chiliconsharls]

The unsolicited AlexReggie ship manifesto

DISCLAIMER: This is obviously meant as a rant post about a ship I can enjoy in fandom spaces and not an actual request from me to make AlexReggie canon in the show or any of the sorts. I am quite happy and excited about the actual canon LGBT+ ship of this show, which is Willie x Alex. Do not get that twisted.

That being said, let me talk to you about the amazing, entertaining dynamic Alex and Reggie have that makes them super easy and fun to ship them:

I wanna start off by saying that I’m mostly writing this because I feel like they are either unfairly underlooked or just grossly misread; and I’m more upset about the latter. (Someone on this hellsite actually had the nerve to say Alex doesn’t take Reggie seriously so. I just had to get this off my chest)

So what’s this amazing, entertaining dynamic you speak of?

Alex and Reggie are best friends. That much is clear from the very first minutes of the show. It’s not Alex is Luke’s friend who’s friends with Reggie or the other way around. They’re all best friends. 

In fact, Alex and Reggie’s very first interaction is just about the sweatest we get to see them. Their first interaction:

Reggie goes over to Alex to compliment him specifically on how he played at the rehearsal which leads us to a lot of grey areas of headcanoning (was Alex the last to join and so he was shy or nervous around the others? Maybe Reggie just likes to compliment him for some reason, or my personal favorite: Reggie knew Alex was anxious about playing the Orpheum so he thought Alex needed reassurance of his awesomeness? ), but the matter is: Reggie thinks Alex is awesome. 

However, them being sweet best friends is not their entire dynamic (and thank God), no. Alex and Reggie are the quippy best friends, they’re the Vitriolic Best Buds (type one– with Reggie being more on the ‘unaware of the vitriol’ side): 

“A very good measure of how good your friends are is how much you can insult them without them taking offense.”— Heliomance

When two people who are the very best of friends behave like the very worst of enemies.

Alex pokes fun at Reggie saying “he can see you” when Carlos asks if the ghost is “hiddeous”. Reggie makes fun of Alex for crying and being “a very emotional person” (even when Alex isn’t even there). 

But at the end of the day, and this is where I wanna emphasize: they’re the ones to show care first and immidiately for each other. 

It’s stated that their friendship runs deep between all three of them (Luke, Alex and Reggie), but I’m not gonna write the manifesto for the OT3 yet so bear with me: 

In episode 1x02: when Alex complains about them not giving him a hug when he was crying in the “void”, Reggie goes to hug him without hesitation – for Alex to turn him down because, again, that’s their primary dynamic. 

Same episode, a few minutes later: Reggie gets overwhelmed about Ray crying and asks to see his parents and Alex turns to him and sotfly goes “Yeah”

In episode 1x07: when Alex is upset about Willie and Reggie gives him a reassuring comment about how there’ll be others which Alex takes greatfully and openly. 

Episode 1x09: after Alex has said goodbye to Willie and Reggie goes over his shoulder to ask him if he’s alright

Same episode, a few minutes later: when Reggie voices his concerns about what will happen to them if they cross over and Alex turns to him, again, his voice softer than it usually is when he speaks to Reggie, and tells him that “It’s not like we have a choice”, to ease him up a bit. 

What I mean to say with this is: Luke is, as I can read in the context of what we’ve seen in the first season, the least emotionally intelligent out of the three of them and so since Luke lacks in that department–> it means Alex and Reggie have each other. 

Again, they’re like – really best friends when you truly look. Mostly because Luke suffers from his trope of the front-man and main male protagonist, so he’s capable of going on his own or with Julie to explore other bonds while Alex and Reggie have less and lesser and a lot of that is spent with each other. 

Alex tells Reggie about Willie, Reggie pays attention and actually cares about the stuff he’s learning both from Alex as an extension of Willie and then about what he can get from the rest of the world. Alex and Reggie – most of the time during the season – are on the same page about stuff and together, while Luke is off doing his own things, mostly with Julie as she is the protagonist. 

Granted, Alex main focused relationship is with Willie (and I’m super greatful for that), but after Willie, and this is where I take no criticsm, it’s Reggie who comes on the list. Not Luke, not Julie or Carrie– Alex immidiate secondary focused-dynamic as of Season 1 is Reggie (if only slightly tied with the boys as a trio itself, obviously). 

Then there’s the aspect of them individually and how they contrast each other. Alex is obviously the smarter of the three and Reggie falls further on the scale, all the way to the side. That makes them a little the Smart Jerk, Nice Moron trope except Alex isn’t that much of a jerk all the time. However, it works, because not only it makes up for great comedic bits (literally all of their scenes together omg) but also because you can’t have one without the other or it’d be awfully unbalanced.

The “rhythm section” duo

Yes, I even wanna talk about the symbolism of their instruments too and how they’re linked through that. Drums and bass are not only essential to any band but they’re also very important and rely on each other. I’m no music expert at all, but even I know one usually follows after the other to keep the pace of the rhythm. 

This article has some many interesting takes on the relationship between the drummer and the bassist: 

“A drummer’s comprehension of the role of bass guitar is often far greater than most guitarists.”

“Everyone in the band is of course on the team, but the bond between the bassist and drummer is something so deep that it usually takes a long time to develop.”

“Bassists and drummers are the rhythm section together, meaning one instrument consisting of two parts.”

“Simply put, the bassist and drummer really are the rhythm section. It’s not the guitarist and certainly not the damn keyboard player. That can be an unclear distinction at times, but I feel strongly about it. Bass and drums should be an inseparable pair, sonically speaking,” he continues. “That’s not to say that all kick patterns should be followed to the tee, but there should be an obvious and palpable awareness of what each other is doing. There are too many nuances to list that can go with or against that grain. In short, bass and drums should always be intertwined like hot, sweaty lovers having the rawest, musical sex.”  —  Miles McPherson

I find the whole ✨semiotic✨ of this very poetic on its own, but it’s also an OT3 thing I’ll get on later, I think. 

Ultimately, Owen and Jeremy make it work, too. Duh. Their chemestry on screen really gives you the vibe that despite all the times Alex looks at Reggie like he’s fed up and wants to die all over again ("I wish I couldn’t see you”), Alex still finds him endearing and just…he loves the guy. And obviously Reggie – the heart of the boys trio– just loves him right back: 

I just think they’re cute and funny and even when I’m not shipping them, I’m still appreciating them from a mlm solidarity pov (bc Reggie is definitely bi) and whoever said that Alex doesn’t take Reggie seriously or ever tries to even imply Alex wouldn’t set the whole world on fire to keep Reggie warm is just not watching the same goddamn show.

[c0rpsedemon]

i am curious, as someone who’s only exposure to arthurania was reading jane yolen’s young merlin as a child, would you mind saying why hnoc is a bad adaptation? i’m super curious but no worries if not <3

this has been sitting in my inbox for months bc i kept telling myself i needed to write a full essay with proof from medieval lit to make myself feel smarter.  however, since i’ve recently lost all credibility bc i can’t articulate points to save my life, and since i’ve realized that i could answer this in a just a couple paragraphs, now seems like the right time to answer this ask. sorry for the wait.

under a cut bc length

also warnings for mentions of racism bc this is hnoc we're talking abt and sexual assault bc this is med lit we're also talking abt

the basic problems are pendragon polycule itself, the story beats of the album, the fridging and lack of characterization of morgan le fay, the clear influence of pop culture arthuriana, and whatever the fuck happened with gawain/e.

pendragon polycule is... just not a good take.  there’s a bit in the lancelot-grail abt arthur viewing lancelot like a son (and lancelot not giving a shit abt him).  also arthur knew his parents for years before lancelot was even born.  plus lancelot just Doesn’t care abt him and i can’t stress this part enough.  arthur repeatedly tries to have guinnevere killed, mostly in the lancelot-grail, and guinn didn’t really have any say in marrying him bc she was a teenager.  lancelot and guinnevere is a lot better but that’s not saying much.  guinn doesn’t exactly treat lancelot too well... like at all, BUT it’s not intrinsic to their relationship and is completely caused by medieval misogyny and i’m all in favor of modern retellings saying fuck that.  but also lancelot has multiple pseudo-canon boyfriends (this is med lit after all), and one pseudo-canon husband so like... there were better options.  (also lancelot’s husband is basically in a lavender marriage with guinnevere’s maybe girlfriend who most authors just eventually forget abt as the story progresses).

this next one is a problem with a lot of modern arthurian works bc the inclusion of elayne of astolat is too much to ask apparently.  the grail quest isn’t tied to the fall of camelot, it just happens to be one of the last grand adventures the knights of the round table have.  the event that traditionally sets off the fall is the death of the maiden of astolat/the lady of shalott/elayne of escolat/she has a lot of names, her story has a few variations but usually she either is cursed to stay in a tower and weave and only be able to see the outside world through a mirror positioned across from her window, until lancelot rides by and she rushes to see him out of the actual window and her mirror shatters, setting off her death, or she lives with her father and brothers and takes care of lancelot bc he was injured for a time and she gets to go on adventures to find him and she’s friends with gawaine and she dies bc lancelot rejects her and this version’s a lot more fun but also more happens which makes it harder to explain.  the way her story ends however, is that she dies after she makes arrangements for a glorious boat to drift from astolat to camelot carrying nothing but her dead body and a letter explaining that she died of love for lancelot du lac and the court mourns the death of such a beautiful and young maiden (her age varies a lot but i’ve always read her as a young teenager at most).  but the important thing is, camelot is doomed from the moment she washes up on its shore bc she’s an omen of the end and has symbolic meaning and all that, the maiden of astolat washes up on camelot’s shores, the court mourns the loss of a maiden in her prime and she marks the end of camelot’s prime as well, morgan le fay reappears after being presumed dead and warns arthur of guinnevere and lancelot’s affair, aggravaine and modred conspire to bring lancelot and guinnevere’s affair to light, they succeed but lancelot escapes, guinnevere is to be burnt at the stake and lancelot rescues her, killing aggravaine, gaheris and gareth (gawaine’s brothers) in the process, gawaine drags his uncle and camelot to war bc he was driven mad due to the loss of his brothers, lancelot accidentally kills gawaine, his best friend and maybe boyfriend (i have RECEIPTS), and gawaine forgives him on his detahbed while lancelot and guinn rejoin arthur, meanwhile modred, who practically had the throne handed to him, usurps and invites the saxons in, camlann happens, and camelot is destroyed.  no where in there is the grail quest.

morgan le fay is honestly the most questionable part of the album bc there’s not a single text where she dies.  like....  at least with eurydice in udad she died in the original... there’s no basis for morgan dying.  also she is NOT modred’s mother and anyone who tells you otherwise is a liar, she interacts with him once in the vulgate bc she had three of her nephews over and that’s IT.  it’s a horrible take which originated in the mists of avalon by marion zimmer bradley who is an honest to god monster for reasons i don’t want to trigger tag this post for.  also she’s one of the most dynamic and thought-out characters in the entire canon and they just made her a watered down morgause (modred’s actual mother, morgan’s sister, canonical milf)... there was no reason for it to be her apart from the fact that she’s more well known......

pop culture arthuriana is,,, one of my least favorite things.  no, morgan wasn’t modred’s mother, no, morgause wasn’t abusive but her husband sure was implied to be, no, aggravaine didn’t kill his mother, that was gaheris, he loved his mother, you’re only saying that bc he has a reputation as the “evil” orkney, no, the once and future king is not a good descriptor for arthur, stop making me read it, no, morgause wasn’t the one to initiate the thing with arthur resulting in modred, no, lancelot and arthur weren’t friends, no, tristan wasn’t a self-centered asshole, tennyson is a fucking liar, no, galahad didn’t have sex or want to, he’s one of the first ever explicitly asexual characters out there, no, galahad’s conception was NOT consensual, lancelot was tricked, and no, elayne of astolat wasn’t galahad’s mother, she’s implied to be younger than him.  those are just the big glaring ones, but i swear it’s bc of arthuriana’s reputation as a mythology and the connotations belonging to that word (no one true canon (which is true but there are still things that just AREN’T canon, not completely written down, passed by oral tradition) that causes ppl to see mediocre modern texts and go “oh. well this is abt as close to the original as i’m going to get” and don’t bother to look into so much as malory (who i only name bc he’s one of the most well known medieval authors with the most commonly used storylines, don’t read malory kids, he’s a mediocre-at-best writer even by medieval standards).  the big perpetrators of modern arthurian tropes are the books the once and future king by th wh*te, who is a shitty person and lets it bleed into his writing (which isn’t like... nice to read or anything, seriously why do ppl love this book so much it doesn’t have redeeming qualities), and the mists of avalon by marion zimmer bradley (it’s poorly written, the story is a mess, and mzb is honestly a monster and one google search will tell you that), and unfortunately the writings of tennyson, which are mostly good but he clearly didn’t read the povest (a later text that’s also my favorite, known for significantly improving ppl’s opinions on tristan, isolde and co.) before deciding he hated both tristan and isolde and he has HORRIBLE takes on them.  high noon over camelot is SEEPED in pop culture arthuriana and i think it would have been so much better if the band had read so much as a SUMMARY of the events of le morte.  it’s evident in the song “the once and future king” bc it’s,,,, literally named after one of the worst books in existence.  it’s shown in the morgan le fay thing, and it’s shown in the pendragon polycule thing.  and hell, i think you can even explain away the lack of elayne of astolat with pop culture arthuriana, bc ppl have had bad takes on her ever since th wh*te combined her character with that of ela*ne of corbenic, and the band probably went “huh, let’s write lancelot’s abuser out of this” and they would’ve been right to do so if that’s who elayne of astolat was.

the final big issue is gawaine, the closest thing the genre has to a protagonist, he’s pretty much canon bi and, in some texts, arospec, he’s a dashing knight of great reknown and he derails every romance to steal hearts, commit murder, and make out with every knight and lady mentioned.  and in hnoc he’s... racist.  that’s it.  it’s,,, almost completely unfounded by the arthurian canon and shows a major misunderstanding of his motivations (like i said earlier, he wants to avenge his brothers bc there’s a reoccuring motif of how much the orkneys value family).  i say almost bc in one text it’s his motivations for killing palomydes but i’ve never heard it mentioned by name bc that’s just what it’s known for.  most arthuriana fans just look away from it except when critiquing hnoc but that one text is an outlier, shouldn’t be counted, and i highly doubt the mechs made hnoc gawain how he is bc they found this text.  it’s just a bad text.

hnoc has,,, quite a few more minor issues, such as villainized ladies of the lake (their ONLY crimes were sealing away merlin bc he tried to assault teenage nimue/ninniane (proto-nimue/vivianne from the vulgate), and that one time vivviane/ninniane kidnapped adopted baby lancelot), assigning brain to merlin (y’know,,, the predator who helped arrange the [redacted] of arthur’s mother and tried to assault a teenager,,,) although merlin is portrayed in a positive light throughout modern arthuriana so i don’t think they knew, giving a song to pellinore, who my perception of has been forever altered bc i was introduced to him through malory and the explanation of torre’s conception, which you can just look up “sir torre arthurian” to find out abt if you can’t just Guess, if they wanted a song abt the questing beast palomydes was Right There AND has been associated with the questing beast for longer, but once again i don’t think they knew.

also namedropping a bunch of knights in the fiction is... it Suggests a bigger world full of all these other stories but they just don’t work bc the world of hnoc wasn’t designed in a way where the appearance of half these characters would make sense.  like,, tristan is referenced as dying in the grail quest in the same sentence as bedevere (one of the characters who is known for almost always surviving), but tristan Isn’t one of the knights who dies on the grail quest, his possible deaths (ignoring the potentially happy ending of the povest for a second) are either being murdered by his uncle, king mark (bc mark married tristan’s gf to try and get tristan killed and also to spite him), bc he was driven into a fury bc of tristan and isolde’s affair, or he’s injured and only isolde (the best healer in the world) can save him so he sends for her and if the ship he sent for her is supposed to fly white sails if she’s there, or black sails if she’s not, and the ship flies white sails but his wife (also named isolde) says it’s black sails (the why depends but usually comes down to jealousy), and so he gives up bc he thinks all hope is lost and usually succumbs to his injuries, either way isolde dies of a broken heart over his body.  there’s no way for the tristan and isolde story to play out like it’s supposed to in the world of hnoc, just as there’s no way for any story with gawaine (and Oh Boy are there a lot of stories with gawaine) or pretty much anyone else, without severely altering the canon.

of course, there are still parts of hnoc i like a lot, most of the music i adore and i just like the idea of space cowboys and the secret good hnoc that lives in my head.  and it has one of my favorite characterizations of galahad, even though galahad hnoc is nothing like galahad arthuriana.  it’s not GOOD but i like it and it’s fun to turn my brain off too, and i’ll always value it as my introduction to arthuriana.

also there are modern arthurian tropes i do like such as characters being genre-savvy/knowing they’re fictional/knowing they’ve done this before (which hnoc does wonderfully!) and bedevere-as-the-storyteller (everyone say thank you lord tennyson).

WOW that was longer than expected, i feel very passionately abt this, when i was planning to write a fully sourced essay i meant to include a bit at the bottom with recommendations to get into better arthuriana and i think i’ll keep that in this post.

if you like hnoc for the arthurian music i’d like to suggest heather dale’s arthurian music to you, she does occasionally fall into the trap of modern arthuriana (some parts of lancelot and arthur being close, morgan as modred’s mother), sometimes she’s just wrong (galahad at lancelot’s trial, a lot of tristan and isolde), and her stuff is kinda straightwashed sometimes (sir gawain and the green knight, for example) but i’d be lying if it wasn’t catchy, and it’s not quite as bad as hnoc adaptation-wise.  culwch and olwen is pretty accurate (albeit abridged bc culwch and olwen has SO many tangents), as is lily maid (it’s abt elayne of astolat!).

if you liked hnoc for king arthur... in space! then may i recommend to you my own fanfic? it's not posted yet but the second i finish writing the first chapter i'm going to make a Big Deal out of it that'll be impossible to miss!

if you want to learn abt arthuriana through tumblr-osmosis like i did at first, i’d like to recommend the love of my life @acegalahads, first and foremost (it’s me on a sideblog i’m just obsessed with myself), and i can’t recommend my arthuriana mutuals over there, @/gringolet, @/merlinenthusiast, @/jcbookworm, @/elayneofshalott, and @/elaineofascolat (the elayne urls have been popular recently), also i know for a fact that my mutual-in-law, @/itonje makes great arthuriana posts that i look forwards to whenever i open the tag.

here are a few good reference posts, a quick guide to the characters, a guide to characters of color, and a much more comprehensive intro to arthuriana post with even more texts linked to it.

if you want to ease into med lit, i’d like to introduce you to pre-raphaelite poetry, alfred lord tennyson and william morris are my favorites, although tennyson can’t be trusted with tristan and isolde.  the poem the lady of shalott is basically a rite of passage for arthuriana fans, although when it comes to tennyson’s writings abt elayne of astolat, i prefer lancelot and elaine, which is part of his much larger story, idylls of the king.  for morris, don’t trust what he says abt aggravaine killing his mother, but my favorites of his are sir galahad, a christmas mystery, which sounds like a shitty disney sequel, and palomyde’s quest, which i blame for my love of palomydes (that and the one bit of the povest where he asks tristan to be his greatest enemy and that he wants nothing more, gay ppl,,,,).

if you want to read abt lancelot and his husband, there’s the lancelot-grail cycle, which i believe was taken off of archive dot org and i think i found it on @/tobeisexhausting’s blog but don’t quote me on that.

the povest, which was a religious experience for me and i can’t reccomend enough if you want to like tristan and isolde, is here, i don’t know who scanned it but i think i found it on @/lanzelet’s blog

the dutch texts are just good in general, here’s a link to their section of a(n unfinished) site for hosting various texts by my former mutual @/reynier (who’s no longer on tumblr).  i’d like to recommend lancelot and the white hart specifically bc it’s mainly just just gawaine being gay for lancelot.

if you want older works, here’s my scan of the history of the kings of britain, and here’s culwch and olwen and pa gur.

oh wow this is even longer than i thought it would be so i’m going to wrap this up by saying that i always love to talk abt arthuriana more than anything if you have any questions or just are curious!

[hamliet]

feel free to ignore me, but you mention the ying/yang thing in naruhina and didn't naruto and sasuke have much more symbolism? what do you think of sasunarusasu ship? i'm happy you liked the manga, and ship and let ship, but i find it fascinating bc i was friend of a hardcore narusaku shipper who didn't like bl ships and she said sasunaru made more sense to her than naruhina or sasusaku. in my case i find sakura and naruto relationships with sasuke compelling but i think it's bcs he's my fave xD

Yeah, they did have more; just looking at the time it was published and its genre itwas obviously never going to be canon. But times are changing slowly and that’s good.

It’s a common thing that the most popular ships tend to be between the characters with the most emotional energy between them, the ones whose dynamic contains exploration of many of the stories’ themes and tension.

However, my complaint is that I felt their dynamic was more told to us than shown. I didn’t understand why they liked each other as friends and was told they did, but I just didn’t think it was as strongly conveyed to us as it could have been. Don’t get me wrong; this is a problem in most Naruto ships, including Sasusaku.

Naruhina was the most show don’t tell ship, at least on Hinata’s side (well of the main ones). Her actions and feelings made a lot of sense when you consider her background and goals. Narusaku is nice but the lack of yinyang motif which was important in Naruto meant it never had a chance, and the scene where Sakura tries to tell him she likes him was portrayed as something wrong, and I appreciated that. I find stories about how girls need to leave their childish fantasies behind for the responsible nice guy all too often patronizing—it works in a context of a certain stories about leaving childish dreams behind, but Naruto elevated childish dreams as a worthwhile goal. In the end the main three all accomplished their dreams—Sakura marries Sasuke, Naruto is hokage, and Sasuke found purpose again. Of course those come with their own challenges that aren’t what they dreamed it, but it was fitting for the theme. Imo anyways.

Sakunarusasu aeems like a good ship except like I said, Naruhina made the most sense of any ships in some ways (and it still wasn’t written well in most ways; I just understood the foundation as more than “because the mangaka says so). Still the lack of exploration and build up disappointed fans because... build your ships so that your readers will want them. Build the emotional energy. Build the drama.

[muwitch]

Why the Fullbringer Arc is an important plot milestone - 2

the continuation of this post and I’m bak on my bullshit~ remember my brain will jump to things

also CFYOW spoilers

so part 2/?

key figures and themes of the arc

So last time I said that ppl disliked the majority of new characters because, as opposing to the ones we grew familiar with, the arc was differently paced and so we didn’t have time at large to form some sort of solid connection to them.

And here the magic happens, because we do not have time to get attached to the characters and they seem to be faded against the background of all the others.

But apart from COMPARISON Fullbringers are quite an independent unit that focuses not on how much reiatsu you have, but on skill

In the Can't fear your own world novel the origin of Fullbringer power is revealed and it’s shown how actually universally badass those powers are, take Tsukishima for example, who grows a tree in a second to ward off lightning, simply adding himself to the past. Atomic.

For living people even just getting close to the level of those with whom they fought (three captains and three leutenants) and not dying in the first moment (except u Giriko) is a great achievement. For people who are not Ichigo Kurosaki with a family tree rivaling GoT of course. 

There is another important motive associated with fullbringers, which I mentioned above, and this is LONELINESS. And it's served so brilliantly that I'm going to die now.

If you look and read carefully, it becomes clear that even the fullbringers gathered together are unusually, exasperately lonely. (See the cover? They reach out but never do truly connect) This is the curse of their power. This is their main weakness. This is their unusual humanity and kinship with the Hollows.

This is also why, but that’s my guess, their whole presentation is very lacking, to show how they fall out of everyday life and proper sozialising, so even we, as readers, cannot properly connect to them. Same reach out, but not hold symbolism. Or I am giving too much credit, we just don’t know?

Even the one who has assembled the whole group, Ginjo, is an even lonelier person who has terrible trust issues, who survived betrayal and persecution, and everything that he once believed in was set upside down. And even knowing what kind of person he is, fullbringers, driven by loneliness, followed him. (Though, we must admit, he weilds his words well and rolls +20 on persuation)

Because, although for a short time, he helped them to bear the burden of this loneliness.

Needless to say, the entire initial situation with OG fullbringers happened not only bc of some noble meddling, but also due to the fact that Ginjo gathered people to TAKE POWER FROM THEM SO THEY COULD LIVE A NORMAL LIFE

Ironically enough, each Fullbringer posesses a piece of SOUL KING, which is the source of their power and lures Hollows to pregnant mothers, which is such an important piece of information it makes me mad it was only explained in CFYOW. 

Although it is understandable why Kubo chose not to focus on it during the arc. My take is he planned to show the importance of Fullbringers and their origins during TYBW, but we all know it didn’t happen.

Another common theme that follows from the previous two is PTSD, which unites the characters and key figures of the arc, and the paths of experiencing trauma constitute another conflict, where Ichigo overcomes it through friends and the return of strength and motivation, as opposed to Ginjo, who choses destuctive way to handle his own trauma.

In short flashbacks shown during “Pray for Predators” chapters, we can also clearly see PSTD practically in every person’s past. Each of Fullbringers go about it differenly, most proactive being probably Riruka and most reactive being Tsukishima and Ginjo. Which is also symbolically shown that people, who can go own with their lives and finally integrate into society stay alive. Those, who cannot, go to SS and are set into new path by more drastic measures.

I will surely attribute to the pluses how Kubo shows Ichigo's PTSD, literally in 3-4 chapters showing how he cannot, like Remarque's hero, settle in peacetime, because he constantly catches triggers, for example with his substitute badge.

Through Ichigo’s thoughts is shown how he merged with his position as a substitute shinigami and constantly thinks in categories that are not very applicable to his normal life, which he seemed to have dreamed of for 16 years And now he actually got it, but absolutely does not know what to do with it.

Kubo skillfully fuels PTSD and Ichigo's anxiety which is why he is being swayed by Ginjo's words correctly spoken at the right time.

 Example: Karin speaks of his brother, they say he always fought to protect  Ginjo fuels Ichigo’s doubt , saying he must act to protect his family

Accordingly, the theme approaches the climax for a push into the plot at the time of the attack on Ishida, Ichigo gets a punch in the gut twice: first from Ishida himself, who, with his unwillingness to tell things, pokes Ichigo into his helplessness and excludes him from the circle of trust, which IS the last blow 

And then from Ishida's father, who by his behavior shows that Ichigo's efficiency now amounts to zero, so much so that he cannot even protect Orihime while she walks home, which is why he runs away in frustrated feelings, realizing the message. So this intro is absolutely veritable and ingenious.

And so that you understand how desperate Ichigo is, if not yet, then here is a panel where FATTEST visual forshadowing happens. And here is an absolutely genius moment to understand that Ichigo is not a child but a teenager with all that it implies

He may be battle-hardened, but this is a 17-year-old living boy with trust issues, and if we remember that through his manager's lips we are given a direct hint that Ichigo is still immature in a way, so the meaning of this arc as a stage of Ishigo's psychological maturation becomes clearer.

Just look at the face he has when Ginjo promises to return his powers (not to mention the hysterics after that) Is this a healthy person's face?

And here my hands are literally itching to start talking about Ginjo, because to give an antihero who, in addition, will have a much closer dynamics with Ichi than Urahara, plus for the duration of the arc  will act as a mentor and father figure, this is just genius. Don’t @ me.

But the next plus, which will then bring us further, and this is THE Forshadowing 

Everywhere, just everywhere, starting from the very first pages.

And Kubo still confuses us in the course of the narrative, but my god, when you re-read, Easter eggs are crammed almost in every chapter and I think its beautiful. Both verbal (Ginjo is such a bad actor that he has to change his memory badumts) and visual

The plus that I mentioned earlier is 100% more lively dynamics between Ginjo and Ichi, because both are people and in fact, there is much more than it may seem at first, that brings both together. And the friendly connection that they establish with each other in this arc still not 100% false placeholder. (Which is easily spotted by the way Ginjo adresses Ichigo through the arc especially last chapters). 

And at the same time, they are in many ways the antonyms of each other, in age, color scheme, design, even names and also in what gives them motivation, in how they react to this or that event. For example, Ichigo is quite an emotional guy and puts his soul into everything, so to speak, then Ginjo, for example

Plus, the latter is not only skillful manipulator, but also embittered. And through such contrast, with generally the same input data, Kubo shows us that there is always a different path, leading to the topic choice, and where each specific one can lead a character.

Which absolutely doesn’t stop Ichigo from familirizing himself right off the bat and the two of them have comedy gold moments from the start. It is more lively, than being set against 300+ y.o. Urahara (whom I love as a character).

And, cross my heart Isshin is a great character, but he’s got that father of the year award, and Urahara can only give like a little itsy bitsy of information at a time only if it benefits him or a bigger picture, so the mentor’s role goes to Ginjo, which is well earned as he is technically the First Substitute. 

Ginjo is a mentor, a guide, and the main antagonist of the arc, which in itself is an unexpected and interesting combination within the framework of  Bleach. Here is a living example, in the moment of training he can go so far as to help Ichigo overcome his psychological barrier by simply and cruelly breaking him.

Which he does in the most painful way, through the trauma and inability of Ichigo to protect his loved ones. And from the reaction of the latter, childish and naive, his immaturity can be clearly seen (see the previous points). Although we do not know this yet, Ginjo is constantly trying to teach Ichigo one lesson that he himself learned the hard way. 

Combining this with such an important praise for a teenager and faith in Ighigo’s powers, which Ichigo was deprived of for 17 months as soon as he lost his powers as a shinigami ( all relatives are trying to isolate him from this, no one believes that he can and is able to stand up for him). This is another plus of the arc, namely the whole depth of the betrayal that Ichigo experiences when the cards are revealed.

Maybe the quincy arc would go completely differently, if Ichigo felt Ishida's betrayal or reacted to the truth about his mother in a different way. Did Ginjo not temper/prepare Ichigo in the way he did, did he involuntary not strengthen Ichi internally... Who knows how Bleach would end in general.

 This is to the question of the importance of this arc yes 

P.S  Strengthening the body also benefited Ichigo.Friendly reminder that he fights in his physical body for the entire arc except the end.

And the training episode immediately appears in a different light, right? 

And in my next hot take I will focus on another really important thing which is salvation and my own bitterness of why didn’t Kubo explore the whole SS thing and now we have to fee ourselves

[occidentaltourist]

1. I’m usually a silent reader who somehow chose ur tumblr to update myself what’s been goin on on SG. (Probably it’s bc IMO quite objective, if u know what I mean) Sometimes I write a ask (“thinky thoughts” w no tumblr acc) and now after S5’s finale I have to “voice” my thoughts again. Kara & Lena’s (friendship) relationship is so layered on many many levels. The complexity, the difficulty, but also the deep love & care, the burden of their “Romeo & Juliet” family. It’s just so wow. Of course

2. it is “bit” dysfunctional & toxic in their own dynamic. But that’s also what makes it so wonderfully fulfilling & three dimensional when Kara & Lena make it at the end & overcome the demons of their family. My first thought - should the writers really make William Kara’s LI - was “are they mental?” I’m absolutely convinced that’s not bc the “biased ppl just want to see gays” Lena is Kara’s counterpart, the one who completes her better than anyone else. (And I probably said this once but I

3. always kinda liked Mon El, thinking of them as cute) but that’s it. KaraMel is cute, Kara & Lena is intriguing & pulling at our heartstrings (and I believe not just when ppl r biased towards gay) William is too bland, since he doesn’t even have the cuteness & chemistry of KaraMel. Sometimes I really like to know what’s been goin on in the writer’s room or who calls the shots plotwise. bc I really like to know what kind of „logic“ they follow. The symbolism @ the finale was really deep &

4. beautiful, even more emphasizing Kara & Lena‘s importance to each other & their deep yet complex & multiply layered love for each other. So should Kara get a LI which doesn’t make any sense I’d really question the writers ability to think.

-------------------

Thank you for hanging out with me and sharing your thoughts, my friend! 

We don’t agree on all points - like Karamel being cute ;)  - but I certainly agree that William doesn’t work as a love interest for Kara, or quite frankly as a standalone character. Minus the strange, truncated ‘dating’ phase with Kara, his presence at Catco and as the Designated Journalist took away valuable screentime and development from Nia especially. 

Back to Kara. I think the timing of the confusing and awkward romantic William scenes - when Lena was basically completely out of the picture and literally locked in her lab, as distant from Kara as possible - is interesting. 

As you said and many a reviewer has pointed out, Kara and Lena have a depth of history (and chemistry!) even apart from their family connection - that any new love interest has to stack up against, not directly but for the viewing audience. Maybe it’s not impossible, but romantic storylines have never been Supergirl’s strong suit. And the best, longest, most resonant love story they’ve told ... is the one they never meant to tell at all. :)

[firebirdsdaughter]

Alright...

... A wee bit more rested, and w/ a better quality video, we are back at it! XD

In no order:

Okay... Seems the Wozes aren’t switching off... Which is vaguely disappointing. I wanted to some day see them fight over the recap.

THAT WAS ABSOLUTELY A FAMILY MOMENT. Sworz is scolding Heure, and he even straight up is like ‘Are you listening to me?’ like a frustrated dad, oh my god. XD

So... What did Mirror¡Shinji just hang out in there mirror world and didn’t get effected by the time alteration, or... What. Not complaining, just curious,

Ah. So this, too, is Decade’s fault.

That look Sworz gave his son there was somewhere between proud and suspicious.

Oooo, infinite mirror trick!

Really? We’re really just gonna... Skip Geiz coming home? Really? *cries in exasperated, friendship-obsessed language*

Well, the boys are still working together well--even if this fight isn’t going great.

I love the parts of these three hanging out discussing things. I just live the Zi-Ot3, okay?

They’re having a sit down to discuss all the multiple timelines and goals of everyone involved, using chess pieces. This is adorable.

Awww. Sougo’s asking what future they want. I think he’s been playing it down, but is genuinely kinda bothered by the ‘Geiz is still gonna kill you’ thing. Partially bc he really wants to think that he can not become Puma Zi-O, rather than the only option being to kill him.

Oh my god, that cute little smile.

Geiz.exe has stopped working. God, Sougo, I get why you’re asking, but you know Geiz is bad at feelings! You’re gonna break him!

I think that also just showed very well that whatever Shiro Woz has said, Geiz is still just getting more conflicted. That was the face of someone who has no idea what they want anymore.

Tsukuyomi to the rescue! She’s well-acquainted w/ Geiz’s problems w/ interpersonal relations.

Aw, look at the babies investigating!

Oooo, editor man looks good!

This is so ‘amateur investigators’ and I LOVE IT.

Geiz ensuring the other two cover their mouths and noses before coming in (also him just using the collar XD). Even if it’s tiny, I love protective Geiz.

Yay! Shinji lives! It’s okay, dude. It’ll be okay. Having watched the ep once I get why you’re upset, but I promise it’s okay.

Also, Ren, come get Shinji. He’s gonna get himself killed again. Does he still owe you money in this timeline?

So here’s my question. Was Shinji actually trying to kill himself bc he thought it might stop his mirror self, or did it just look like that bc he was trying to cover up all reflective surfaces and accidentally trapped himself?

They’re all sitting here. I love this. I love the Zi-Ot3. I LOVE THEM.

Geiz is one of those people where, if punching it doesn’t work, he just punches harder.

I feel like this is a perfect example of his personality and fighting style though. Just, like. Go for it. Just tank right on. Like, oh, this guy reflects attacks? Simplest way to deal with that is just sacrifice myself.

Sougo is like ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea’ and thinking it’s theoretical, but Tsukuyomi literally standing w/ this face like ‘no, Sougo, you don’t understand just yet, he absolutely will do this.’

Sougo’s goofy geometry pyjamas. That is all.

Junichiro does the only acceptable movement for describing Woz’s appearance w/ hand motions.

Why is Sougo shocked by this thing? HE SAW IT LAST EPISODE!

I get that Sougo’s distracted, but does have to walk in the middle of the path and where is everyone?

Sougo can’t think and talk to Kuro Woz at the same time. I will admit, dealing w/ Kuro Woz is a bit much, so...

I LOVE THIS SCENE. Kuro Woz is being Kuro Woz, and Sougo just walks away. YES. Force the asshole to walk after you! Do it!

Also pretty sure he’s bullying Kuro Woz again, and I love it.

My first guess is that the reason the Zi-O II Watch wouldn’t activate was that Sougo was doubting himself? Or something like that?

If you are a Woz, you have no sense of personal space.

Elbow him in the stomach, Sougo!

Kuro Woz is... Really not getting it that Sougo’s not interested in that, is he?

Tsukuyomi expressing concern, very valid concern.

Okay, here’s the thing. Even if he’s not saying ‘only I can do it’ exactly, he’s still very much not suggesting Sougo do it. Like, at all. When he actually tries it, he does it. He knows perfectly well he could die doing it. And if he dies, then Tsukuyomi’s on her own trying to prevent Puma Zi-O (Shiro Woz does not count). And besides, if Sougo dies doing it, that’d be sure to prevent Puma Zi-O, right? But even if it’s not explicitly stated, he’s making an active decision to risk his own life rather than Sougo’s. Have I mentioned I love protective Geiz, even lowkey protective Geiz? Bc I DO.

This is like, another reason why I see him as the ‘protector’ sort of point of the triangle that is the Zi-Ot3. That’s just who he is. He’s the tank, the guardian. Even if he’s not quite noticing it right now, he’s absolutely shifting into being willing to die to protect the other two.

Also, it’s kinda another show that, no matter what else happened, he doesn’t really want Shiro Woz’s future, either. Bc he can’t be the ‘saviour’ or anything if he’s dead from this, ya know?

Tsukuyomi’s like ‘I knew it, you bloody idiot!’ and also pointing out that Sougo was against the idea which causes Geiz to have feelings for a moment bc he’s actually touched Sougo doesn’t want him to die, but also CONFLICTED. XD

I love how both Geiz and Sougo have come to the conclusion that if either one of them stand still in one place for a certain amount of time, either Shiro or Kuro Woz respectively will be somewhere in the vicinity and they can just yell. ^^

Also, I love how he seems to almost always have Tsukuyomi w/ him when he talks to him. It’s like he’s decided he needs a chaperone or something. Reasons vary from funny to sad.

So I guess Geiz is asking what Shiro Woz’s future is like. Apparently... It’s the same? So... No new inventions or anything? I dunno, I find this answer suspicious.

Okay. ‘It’s as if time has stopped.’ This line ratchets the suspicious factor up. It seems simple and sensical enough for the online translator to be right about it, so I’m just gonna take this as what the line basically means for now. But... Remember how a lot of the symbolism in this series has been about ‘restarting clocks’ and stuff like that? In the Build arc, Junichiro had that speech bout how you can only restart your own clock, which Sougo reiterated when meeting Heure. Just this past arc, Hiromu’s father’s watch started moving again at the end. Therefore, I hypothesis that ‘time has stopped’ is not actually a good thing and there is something else going on here.

WHO IS GOOGLES? Seriously, was he Geiz’s brother, his friend... Is that even a guy, I can’t really tell, I shouldn’t be assuming... It’s nice to see their dead body again, I guess, but I need more information here, Toei!

That was not the face of a person I trust. Admittedly, at this point, anyone w/ Woz’s face doesn’t have the face of a person I trust.

Okay, not you in real life, Keisuke, you’re a sweetheart.

See, this makes me think we’re not meant to trust Shiro Woz even more. Geiz only seriously tried to kill Sougo when he knew only about the crimes Sougo committed as Puma Zi-O and nothing about him in the present, when he perceived Sougo as moving toward that path, and when he thought he had no choice (Kasshin showing I think made hims start to wonder if it was even possible, but he got some hope again when Sougo was willing to actually give up and had to be pushed back into it etc.). Shinji, however, is not, whether now or in the future, an active or willing participant in these incidents. It’s like a Yummy, twisting innate wishes out of shape. He’s terrified and upset, and may even have been trying to kill himself to make it stop (not sure though bc this is a kids’ show). When Geiz actually considered things, saw Sougo as the person he was at that moment rather than just as Puma Zi-O, he balked at going through with it. Shiro Woz knows perfectly well this guy is innocent. But he doesn’t hesitate at all. Big red flag. Did any of that make sense? I don’t think that made sense.

Also get away from Shinji you bastard. Ren!

I literally spent this whole episode yelling for Ren to come help Shinji.

No, wait. I’m sorry. Ron.

I mean, I guess Geiz, who looks kinda like how I’d imagine a baby Ron might look, is protecting him, so there’s that.

Ron! Come help Shinji! Ron? RON!

Okay, so... Ryuga was an actual thing in Ryuki? I’m so sorry, it’s been so long since I watched Ryuki.

Heure is absolutely getting revenge on Shiro Woz for the car incident and you know what.... Valid.

Honestly... It’s nice to see someone beat Shiro Woz up a bit for once.

Rider Kick interruptus. All the little hiragana digitise out of existence when Sougo pulls him out of it, that’s a nice effect.

Also I feel like that was slowed down, but I dunno. How fast do you move in a Rider Kick?

Dramatic friendship moments in suit for you viewing experience! XD

I love this, though. These two, I feel like are gonna have a sort of dynamic ‘don’t you dare die on me I’m the only one allowed to kill you’ on Geiz’s side and ‘I’m the king and I didn’t give you leave to die’  on Sougo’s side. XD Like, not necessarily exactly that, I’m being silly w/ the wording, but you get the point. I hope.

Anyway, Sougo is upset that Geiz was risking his life like that, which results in more feelings.

I feel like it might be an important distinction that he uses the Zi-O II Ride Watch not purely in order to gain power and become king or whatever, but in order to save people--most specifically, at the particular moment, a rather self-destructive warrior-type friend. Though the preview does indicate it comes a little late... DX

Geiz is embarrassed. I mean, like I said earlier, there’s a level of this that’s basically him making a choice to risk his own life rather than Sougo's... Or even Shiro Woz (I woulda made Shiro Woz do it).

Sougo is like ‘nope, nope, nope, that’s enough of that.’

So Geiz recognises the Watch? Maybe. He wasn’t there when Kuro Woz dropped it off. Tsukuyomi was, though. Did she not know it? Hm.

I managed to pause it when it looks like Geiz is looking at the camera like he’s on the Office bc Sougo’s power up isn’t working. XD

Also, oh my god. Sougo gets pulled into the mirror world, and Geiz’s immediate response is to rush over and try to follow him/pull him out while yelling (well, yelling ‘Zi-O’ we’re not quite to regular name status yet) worriedly. I LOVE THEM.

I’m assuming everything is backwards, but I couldn’t read kanji in the first place so...

Did Okuno drop his voice an octave for Mirror¡Sougo?

Sougo is initially surprised to see another version of himself, then worries that it’s him from three days in the future again.

Mirror¡Sougo is doing this weird head tilt and it’s so hilarious I just... Can’t.

Sougo makes the unfortunate discovery that not all other versions of you that appear are your friend. I’m sorry, sweetie.

Wow, Mirror¡Sougo just straight punched him.

Okay, I know we all saw it in the preview, but... Mirror¡Sougo does this, like... Really weird walk/motion, and... It just. Has to be seen. I’m serious. HE’S FREAKING WINKING.

Sougo is confused.

Okay, I know this is serious, but it literally looks like he pulled the mirror Ride Watch out of his hair.

Mirror Driver has very weird, distorted voice.

Also WHY IS HE HUNCHING LIKE THAT NO SWEETIE THAT’S BAD FOR YOUR SHOULDERS!

Preview: I saw a translation that said ‘I’ll cut the future’ but the online thing here says ‘create’? Personally, I’d prefer create, but it’s probably ‘cut.’ In other news... If they make a mention that defeating Another Ryuga might be the way to get Sougo out of the mirror world, that would raise Geiz’s ‘sacrifice myself to defeat it’ thing to also being sacrificing himself to save Sougo. And. I love it. ^^ XD <3

Anyway, that’s all for now. Digital macaroons for anyone who read all that. And if you don’t like macaroons... Caramels! Digital caramels.

I’m slightly worried about the little ‘what’s your future like’ convo bc it might indicate Shiro Woz is getting his claw sin between my kids, but pretty much everything else was great. Geiz doesn’t seem to even consider suggesting Sougo try the plan, and Sougo’s genuinely upset when Geiz tries to do it, and at the end, Geiz is upset when Sougo disappears into the mirror world. Tsukuyomi tries to mediate, and do so quite well, is the one who clearly is well-aware that Geiz will absolutely go through w/ the sacrificing himself plan and that he needs dissuading. Looks like she’s unable to stop him next eek, though... And, finally the Zi-Ot3 are investigating together again, and frankly, I just LOVE IT.

How about I subject everyone to my new favourite picture again? (It’s not technically spoilers now, there was a version in the preview for next week)

If you could all the ‘XD’s in this post... You get another hardy handshake.

[inspireland]

Personally, I think that those working behind the show were very aware of the importance of delivering wangxian as a couple on screen - respected it and risked big time to deliver it. Ofc, they were limited by censorship so they couldn't be explicit in the way the western expectations want, but through time I've read the opinions of various Ch inese viewers who were impressed by how much cql pushed the limits of censorship in order to keep certain elements that define wangxian and were wondering how they managed to pass censorship despite that. We need to keep that pov in mind because applying our expectations and context to a reality that's so different to ours is not exactly fair (although understandable in this instance).

Moreover, certain elements/scenes were added to their relationship in the show in order to compensate for the things they could not put in there from the source. One example is the whole ep 6/7 cave scene where wangxian very pointedly, symbolically (or unconventionally) got basically married.

The show was very careful to point out who can touch the ribbon (and why wwx couldn't), and then later on in the same episode, lwj willingly ties their wrists together (symbol of marriage in many cultures) with that same ribbon. The directing and editing focuses on that moment A Lot (and they basically walk towards an altar, too 😭).

The ancestral Lan weapon thus recognizes wwx as family (wwx is not lwj's parent or child - so he qualifies as spouse) and let's not miss the symbolic meaning of them kneeling in front of a Lan ancestor and, later on, after wwx's return, them bowing three times in front of wwx's family.

My theory is that cql passed censorship bc whoever was in charge of analyzing it, missed the various pieces completing each other in the show context.

wangxian is not built on one specific, explicit big gay moment that queues the audience in - which is what Western audiences are used to. They're built on many moments and elements and talks and symbols that all come together to present them as a couple. And in their togetherness they're surprisingly explicit - just not the type of explicit one would expect, which is why it may seem like it's within censorship limits. Like, you have to be awfully obtuse to declare them platonic guys being bros after all that.

I think that everybody working on the show knew very well what they were dealing with and you can see the intent of making wangxian canon in the whole series. Directing, writing and acting (of not only wwx and lwj themselves, but other characters as well and their reaction to wangxian) on the first line, of course, but also props (hello ancient gay erotica that escaped censorship!) and, of course, score and editing (oh there's a lot to say about those).

And for crying out loud, they managed to very naturally confirm wei wuxian's bisexuality, which left me stunned honestly and made me wanna cry.

I'll be honest, despite censorship imposing its awful limits, wangxian managed to go beyond that and imho they're easily one of the best written/acted couples in visual media that I've seen so far - and I consume a lot of media where censorship ain't a problem, so they have 0 excuses for the barely developed (at best) couple dynamics that they put out.

Notice, I said couple, period. Among all the couples I've seen in visual media so far, be them lgbt+ or straight, imho wangxian is one of the best written and presented.

If you can build up an lgbt+ couple so well with serious censorship breathing down your neck and still deliver, then this shows how complacent many people on our side of the world are, where such limits are not imposed.

So TLDR: cql was limited by censorship and that meant that they had to focus on the emotional dynamic between the two more bc they couldn't show anything explicit in the sense one would expect (kissing, having s*x, saying "I'm in love with you" etc), but they did not stop at that. Beyond that, there is just too much stuff that's... subtly in your face (I don't know how to explain it) that shows respect towards these two lgbt+ characters and their love, as well as a clear intent in properly representing them on screen (as individuals and as a couple).

I hope my ramble makes sense. It's 4 am and English isn't my mother language. Also excuse my typos.

the untamed! wangxian vs novel! wangxian 🥺

hahahah hello anon! I can’t tell if this is a request for me to post the cut essay I mentioned in this post or if it’s just a general expression of ~emotions (believe me, I feel u

tagging: @silvercrystal1 and @kurusutakatsu since I saw they expressed interest also.

just as a warning, this isn’t really about wangx/ian at all–it’s mostly a heavily qualified ramble about my complicated feelings re: homophobia, censorship etc. along the same lines as other posts i’ve made in the past. if that’s not what you’re interested in, probably don’t click through?

Keep reading

[nyxelestia]

Hi! I'm on anon bc I mainly worry about that sort of thing, heh. Besides this, I'm asking about, specifically, Sterek - in the sense that I don't really ship it myself, and I wanted to say that regardless of this, and that you do - your blog is brilliant. In general, your posts on the TW fandom and the various ships within are perfect and I agree 100%. Mainly, I'm asking about the sterek, or more specifically Stiles/Derek from actual canon tw, because I could never see anything other than (1/?)

Derek being physically aggressive towards the younger and weaker (in the sense of physical strength) human - a person in a position of power over another abusing that power. In a sense. Since, whenever I watch the show I can't help but see that, I was hoping you could either explain in that great way you usually do that makes things make sense, or at least point me in the direction of posts that have already done so, how exactly their friendship developed(because, yes, I don't think I could(2/?)

ever ship it romantically). Mainly I'd just like to see another's less biased point of view/take on their dynamic, so as not to alienate a serious amount of my fanfic readers despite the fact that it's probably gonna end up as Stalia(oh the horror, that gets like 0 reads ever)I don't want to sideline any characters that are important, such as Derek, and when I watch the show I can never get his character and his dynamic with Stiles down in my head because it's screaming at me not to like him 3/?

And I hate that, because I never like to despise a character without good reason to; I don't want to misrepresent the dynamic, I have to repeat, when I get to later seasons. It'll also help me understand him more, I think, and I hope you don't mind this ridiculously long anon ask, oops. I'm on anon mainly bc of a worry of this being received negatively, as I've seen this sort of query being done in the past for related topics. Ehrm, that's it, thanks for reading this even if you don't answer.4/4

Derek is pretty violent with everyone, including Stiles, in the first two seasons. Fandom has taken this violence and projected sexual tension onto it to justify the ship, but if we're going to count every instance of violence as belligerent sexual tension, then everyone on this show has foe-yay with everyone else.

The thing is, Derek was trying to do the right thing - he just didn't really consider things like collateral damage or value of life in the process. When Scott was Bitten, Derek did try to help Scott learn to control his wolf...it's just that he also lied to Scott about a potential cure for lycanthropy in order to manipulate Scott into helping him. Neither of these somehow negate or undermine the other.

Similarly, in Season 2, Derek felt responsible for the kanima, and thus wanted to kill it before it could kill anyone else. The problem is that he wasn't considering the life of the human who was the kanima without knowing, and he was jumping to conclusions and nearly killed the wrong person (Lydia) because she might be the kanima. Derek wanted to build a pack, and ended up dragging three new teenagers into the mess, two of whom would still be alive if he hadn't. But, they were also extremely isolated before they were in a pack, and never seemed to resent Derek for turning them, even when (in the case of Boyd, at least) it got them killed.

Derek tries all the time, and tries really damn hard. He also fails all the time, and fails really damn hard. Most of that failure all traces back to tunnel vision - he gets so focused on one problem or factor, he never really thought about anything else. Isaac called him out on this in Season 3A - Derek was wallowing about Cora's life and Jennifer's betrayal, which meant he was forgetting about all the other stuff going on that needed to be dealt with.

Derek also tended to presume to know best in the first two seasons and diving head first into problems. A lot of his development in Seasons 3 and 4 was taking a step back to think through the circumstances, and/or taking guidance from those around him. Whether he was the alpha and taking guidance from his betas (i.e. following Boyd's plan against the alpha pack, listening to Isaac calling him out, etc.), or when he was a beta again but following others' leads (following Scott as an alpha, taking proverbial marching orders from Allison in 3B, following the Sheriff's lead and Braeden's lead in Season 4, etc.), Derek always did better working with someone else instead of trying to lead on his own.

To put it another way: Derek really sucks at being King Arthur, but he makes for a fantastic Merlin.

Derek was a wonderfully supportive and empathic individual. Because he struggled with being an alpha, he was a confidante for Scott when he struggled to be a (true) alpha. Derek went from tunnel vision, brooding, and wallowing in the first few seasons, to learning how to use "human" self-defense mechanisms in Season 4 when he realized he wasn't healing and seemed to be losing his lycanthropy (and his strength and senses with it). IIRC, he never just sat down and listened to someone pour their heart out on him in the first two seasons, yet Season 3 opens with him doing exactly that, and this is something he continues to do throughout the rest of his time on the show.

I've said before that "quiet" =/= shy or introverted. Derek is never the kind to talk a lot in the show. In the first two seasons, this manifested as him doing things without really telling anyone or talking to anyone about it. Later, this manifested as him listening to people. He didn't have to change this part of who he is, he just learned to be more empathetic and productive about it.

Derek's story also plays into one of the central themes of the show. The werewolf symbol of revenge is the spiral, but here's the thing about spirals: if they aren't stopped, then they'll go on forever. Derek could've kept pursuing vengeance for his family, but chose not to, and came out better for it. This is highlighted by the nogitsune in 3B, when Derek is infected by one of the flies. Yes, Kate was already dead, but Kate was one person and his family was way more than that. He could've kept going, he could've murdered Allison and Chris just because they were Kate's family (the same way his family died just for being werewolves/in a werewolf pack), and the nogitsune nearly pushed him to do that. But instead, Derek ended the spiral of vengeance, recognizing that Allison and Chris had nothing to do with Kate's murder, and how different they were from Kate (regretting their own participation in Hunter psychosis, trying to change the family motto and M.O., etc.)

Derek's story is very much one of someone grieving tremendously and suffering from horrific trauma. But, it's also one that shows that one's own trauma can end up hurting those around them (the fact that Derek was traumatized and suffering for the first two seasons doesn't change the fact he engaged in a lot of manipulative and abusive behavior at the time). And, Derek's story is the process of recovering from grief and trauma, and learning to let go of anger in pursuit of one's own well-being.

How this relates to Sterek in particular, I've written about here and here, and feel free to ask if you have any more questions on it. :)

And here are some fics which capture Derek's character really well:

See You on the Other Side - Derek doesn't swoop in and save the day - but he does help Stiles, and he learns to share with Stiles and take help from others.

The Nightmare of My Choice - Long-distance relationship FTW.

Starts with "F", Ends With "U" - Fantastic way of Derek using his own experiences to help Stiles with his current abuse, and a great exploration of Derek's trauma that doesn't tokenize it or reduce his abuse to stereoptyes of what abuse actually entails.