#which is why she's named after DON QUIXOTE

[melonisopod]

Still reeling after seeing a guy call Don Quixote a violent psychopath willing to murder literally anyone who meets eyes with her but then compare Hong Lu to Astolfo.

You mean the tiny, sparkly-eyed, energetic, Chaotic-Good character deemed “irrational” by their teammates, kind of androgynous-looking and at one point jumps in to save a random person and is immediately tortured by their superiors for it? Also they have a big lance weapon?

And you compare HONG FUCKING LU to Astolfo?

[zeravmeta]

don quixote fgo is just so good, he is such a hopeful character and i absolutely think he's the standout from traum

what really strikes me about him is that traum is a story dedicated to broken ideals and unfulfilled dreams: the major players of each faction are all characters with failed ambitions and who wage war against panhuman history to achieve those dreams. kriemhild wants revenge on siegfried even after killing hagen, komstantinos wants to remake his old empire, johanna abhors that she is a living fictional character and wants to become a real person, all the nameless servants from each faction are dedicated to rebel not only because of zhang jue's influence but because they all, in some form, had unfinished business, dreams they never fulfilled. this even extends to moriarty himself, a younger version who's fixated on defeating holmes because his older version could not, and he follows through on it because he did not really understand the value of his own nemesis, a fact that ultimately left him defeated no matter how much he tried to control fate. All of these characters refused to face the reality of their failures, and honestly don quixote was the most guilty of this

he was originally a servant summoned in the atlantean lostbelt, and genuinely did try to rally heroes, but as he saw these legendary figures he adored be struck down he lost hope. it wasn't just that he was afraid, it was that the heroes around himself had given up even before him, a craven old man.

the thing is though that the reason don quixote and sancho ran is antithetical to the reasons that the other servants ran: they did it specifically to survive. sancho was able to convince don quixote to leave because she reminded him that it wasn't wrong or evil to want to live, and this was only possible because don quixote, despite being a servant, still thinks of himself as being human. even though he consciously understands himself as being a servant, his way of thinking and reasoning is undeniably that of a normal human

A big part of his too is that traum is also a singularity in which the names of heroic spirits have lost their meaning: the sheer volume of servants means that there is no singular standout hero, sure, but when kriemhild killed the lancer who was about to declare his name she called him merely a foot soldier because said name was worthless, in traum there is only the endless war of people slaughtering each other, and ironically a unifying peace in that.

names are the linchpins of heroic spirits: servants aren't the ghosts of dead people, they're the manifestations of what those legends meant to humanity, all codified by the names they carry. servants have to name themselves and have names for their noble phantasms which directly identify them because they are literal living legends. Yet in traum, those names and legends and meanings become all but worthless in the face of endless war as armies of these protectors of humanity are reduced to mere foot soldiers. there is a similar parallel to this when vlad goes to the righteous realm, and as he sees the army gathered he finds it entirely lacking because it's fully composed of singular standout heroes who are all used to essentially being the main character and thus cant function as a unit. Traum is a world where being a hero has no meaning.

but i think that's also why don quixote declares himself against konstantinos and challenged him: in this moment, he reclaimed the value of being a knight who fights for his ideals, that of a true hero

konstantinos throughout traum is presented as equally a legendary figure as charlemagne is, and yet his reason for fighting is incredibly simple: he's in love with johanna and wants to make her real to panhuman history, and to this end he'll continue the war in traum as needed for that end. kriemhild has an equal but opposite reason rooted in the same thing: love. she wants revenge against siegfried for having gone through with hagens plan, for not letting her in to his pain, he was too much of a hero for everyone that it led him to sacrificing himself even if it would hurt her. konstantinos wanted to be the perfect knight, and kriemhild wanted to get revenge against her own knight for being too perfect.

The thing is, despite their insistence on traum being the cruel reality of a war, both of them were holding onto rather idealized, almost romanticized versions of what a knight should be.

konstantinos knows and declares don quixote as being likely the most famous knight to have ever lived, but he dismisses him as a threat when actually fighting him. When he's about to finish him, he tells don quixote that he has to face reality as he's about to die. However, the story of don quixote was always that of an old man whom lost himself to his fantasies of chivalry and knightly idealism, and despite the troubles he caused still continued to fight for what he believed was honorable. Even if he had returned to reality in the end, there was still meaning to the outright silly journey of an old man knight long past the age of chivalry, of the old man who, despite his fear, still chose to rally an army and fight for the world he felt he had failed.

what traum needed was someone who did good not as a hero but as a human. almost every knightly character in fate carries grand ideals as to why they are knights, but the only requirement to BE a knight and a hero is the simple desire to do good for others, and don quixote is fittingly the most famous knight in the world because he's utterly obsessed with the great chivalric legends of old, yet still strived to do good in the way normal people do.

it's why charlie finds him so inspiring, as well

for all the non-extella link players, charlemagne as we see him in fgo is actually the fictionalized version of him from the tales of the paladins of charlemagne and not the actual karl der Große. He's even more fictionalized than johanna and don quixote himself, because while johanna might have been an erroneous account and don quixote a story book character, charlemagne is a full on sensationalized re-imagining of an already real person. but even if he may be a fictionalized person, what he represents is what matters the most, the same with any heroic spirit, which is why charlemagne considers johanna just as real and why the actual karl der Große saw fit to send him to traum

at the center of traum we ultimately find wakamori, who despite seeming cruel and mysterious throughout the entire plot, has shown multiple times that he's essentially trying to fill in bigger shoes than he can: He's obsessed with defeating sherlock and presenting himself as the ultimate evil, but he's still green at the end of the day, and I think this is in part what leads him to somewhat even respect don quixote

when he tries to taunt don quixote, he does so with the assumption that much like himself, don quixote is attempting to play the part he represents most: don quixote is surely trying to be the greatest most idealized version of a knight, the same way wakamori is trying to be the perfected version of himself, the true evil mastermind whom can finally defeat sherlock. But don quixote flat out tells him that conflict and even life itself has always had no inherent meaning nor any inherent roles to play, so much in the same way that he has no special value to his life tied to being a knight, wakamori's own value is not tied specifically to that of being sherlock holmes' greatest evil rival. There's a surprising empathy in this exchange I feel, because don quixote understands wakamori immediately where it took sherlock the entire story: there's nothing wrong with being a little delusional, but you have to treat them with respect.

wakamori ultimately fails because he believed that defeating sherlock would finally give value to james moriarty as the ultimate villain, unaware that sherlock holmes is the defining equal to james moriarty. there is no purpose to a story with an evil mastermind that doesn't have an equally great hero trying to stop him, and wakamori failing to understand that his own value as such is not diminished by not having ever defeated holmes is what ruins him: He didn't respect the story he was so enthralled by. shinjuku showcased a similar dynamic, but the difference between shinjuku and traum is that the older moriarty very much understood what it would take to succeed, and that would be to become the protagonist of the story, rather than the ultimate final boss.

the stories of knights and heroes and monsters and spurned loves and great detectives and evil masterminds are all in part defined by the meanings that people derive from them, from the ordinary good that they can inspire first and foremost. And even though don quixote may have been a craven old man who eventually gave up chivalry, he still tried to live a good life and do good the way any ordinary person would.

And that's such a genuinely hopeful and kind sentiment to tie to the concept of knightly ideals: you don't have to be grand to be a hero, and you don't even have to be a hero to inspire others.

[feather-is-a-bad-car]

im curious about everyones predictions for future chapters, how you think stories will be adapted from the source material in the books. (or if you havent read any of the books the sinners are based on a want to see your wild guesses!)

(my predictions under the cut, i havent read any after metamorphasis yet but im familiar with basic plots and stuff? i may get the themes or something of each book drastically wrong but honestly thats the fun of this)

canto V- ishmael meets up with all her old sailing friends!! (the ones who arent dead at least, maybe queequeg mets up with her and tells her about the tragic fates of the others), maybe she fights the whale? maybe she learns to accept that she never needed to kill that whale in the first place. either way, she wont be so haunted by that darn whale after this chapter. i saw someone say that her mili song should be a sea shanty nd i agree WHOLEHEARTEDLY. it will be a sea shanty nd it will be a BANGER.

canto VI- catherine appearance followed by heathcliff rampage, i have to assume theyll be very protective of each other, his mili song will start loud and angry then maybe get calmer in the second half

canto VII- don quixote isnt her real name. WINDMILL THEMED ABNORMALITIES. sancho appearance? spanish in the mili song? (unlikely but i can dream)

canto VIII- (i know next to nothing about his book) a visit to hong lu's family mansion, the sinners get to enjoy luxury for a few days! maybe theyll get to meet his siblings, maybe one of his siblings will be the main enemy? someone (dante, donqi or hong lu himself) finds out the secret behind how his family became so so rich and it starts the conflict of the chapter over it being evil (theres no way any rich peraon in THE CITY isnt doing something unspeakably bad, especially with how much of that sort of commentary ia in project moon games.) mili song has verses/phrases in chinese (much more likely than spanish)

canto IX- ryoshu is revealed to have been a big name artist, maybe famous enough that another sinner had heard of her nd gets to be shocked by finding out. shes also revealed to have a daughter who died, everyone is super shocked over how she could have a kid, maybe she learns over the course of the dungeon how to grieve for her instead of just smoking nd isolating herself to cope. after this shes more social with the other sinners

canto X- he killed someone, the other sinners find out. they all kill people daily for their job or in their backstory but its somehow different and (some of them) freak out over it. he may be a wanted criminal in the area they visit?

canto XI- we see all the war crimes outis committed, ive seen someone else predict that outis would betray dante, which i think would be interesting with how much she sucks up to them! we know that she doesnt actually think very highly of them from when she slips up a few times, but shes so militant that she has to respect their higher rank.

canto XII- either this will be the final one, or dante (maybe vergilius too) will have one afterwards. either way, a lot of mysteries will be revealed here. what the golden boughs do, how faust and vergilius met, why limbus company was founded, what mephistopheles even is and how faust built it, lots of secrets!

[beantothemax]

okay i simply must know what this don quixote lass's deal is and why she's named after the protagonist of the first novel ever written (who's like. a somewhat senile old italian man who thinks himself to be knight. he fights a windmill at one point)

oh iris the wrath you have just evoked….. (my entire limbus company knowledge comes from calc (@soup-for-ghosts that's you! hi!) if my explanation is lacking in some manner you can go ask them stuff as well!)

okeydokey SO don quixote is a character from limbus company! she's an exceptionally silly lass who. has a few issues BUT WE’LL GET TO THAT LATER JUST FOCUS ON THE SILLY-

her deal is… well there’s a bunch of more in-depth lore stuff you can ask calc about but her IMPORTANT deal is that she’s whimsical!!!! she talks in ye olde english filled with thou’s and henceforth’s and so on! her whimsy is unmatched :]

said ye olde english stems from the fact that she. has miiiild (they are far from mild) delusions of grandeur, believing herself to be some sort of heroic knight in a fantasy-like world which. limbus company is absolutely not. but she stays silly regardless! there’s a whole buncha stuff about alternate versions of her showing said delusions but I unfortunately do not possess the brain strength to explain that coherently

as for the don quixote (the first novel don quixote, I mean) connections, there are a few! limbus don's shoes have the word 'rocinante' on them, which is the name of book don's horse! on limbus don's spear the phrase suẽno imposible, which is spanish for 'impossible dream'! its spanish because the book don quixote is hispanic in origin! (also the impossible dream part plays into her whole. deal but dont even worry about it)

^in conclusion: her

[paradoxcase]

@cornon-thekopp:

Colum really got the short end of the stick from the beginning. Got eugenics'd to become a human battery, tossed around by a little twerp, and then dies cuz said twerp is trying to do too much at once and some weird dead thing climbs into his body instead

Yeah, he really did. He wasn't like a super entertaining character, but I was kind of hoping he'd survive the book and get to live a life without Mayonnaise Uncle somewhere. But she really is killing off almost every single character in this book, huh

@korla-the-kenku:

!! You've been wonderfully observant through the book. I hope it didn't lessen how you enjoyed the reveals.

Oh, it didn't! I'm normally not this observant, normally I just read through books and don't stop and think and react and try to predict what will happen. But just sitting down here after each chapter and reasoning things out and going back and recording my reactions to every part of the chapter actually got me very far with this one. So the reveals are more like puzzle pieces fitting together and less of a huge surprise, but it was still fun.

Although, I think I would have identified Dulcinea as evil even if I hadn't been doing that, and I feel like you're maybe not really meant to do that until the beginning of Chapter 35 (which I just finished). Admittedly, it was partly because I read the pronunciation guide and learned that a number of characters had Reasons for why they were named that way, and started thinking about what her name might mean for the story, although I guess the reference to Don Quixote's Dulcinea was meant to be with respect to Palamedes' relationship with the real Dulcinea and not about her being in some way "fake". I guess she didn't actually turn out to be that fake, she really was a Seventh House heir, and she really did have blood cancer, and she really did want to become a Lyctor in order to avoid dying. But like, also, just the whole way that Gideon like instantaneously fell for her felt very suspicious to me.

[finallydelight]

WeLive 230108 | Ming

name WeLive: ming ming birthday party 🧁

— GREETING

''Hi, everyone! It's my first time doing a live on Weverse alone.'' Ming looked between the camera and the staff, a bit unsure of what to do next.

''We were busy with GDA, so I couldn't meet you guys on my actual birthday,'' she explained why she's doing the live broadcast two days after her actual birthday, ''but I'm happy we get to do it now.''

— FAN QUESTIONS

Q. Did you receive any gifts from the members?

''Yes, it's a pretty crazy story. When it was midnight, they all came to my hotel room and they were singing 'Happy Birthday' to me. I think it was Seungkwan-oppa who said that they had a collective gift for me, something from all of them. Then, Coups-oppa pulls out this tiny box and I was a bit upset, because it was something from all 13 of them and it was super small.'' Ming copied the size of the box with her hands, showing Carats it wasn't anything big at all.

''I got a bit upset, because like Jihoon-oppa got a guitar and Shua-oppa got a bike, so I thought it would be something big as well. So, I obviously complained to them, but they told me to just open it and stop complaining. I opened it and there were keys inside. At first, I was very confused, because why would they get me keys? But then I saw a certain logo of a car brand (Mercedes-Benz) and they had gotten me a car!'' She told viewers all wide-eyed, remembering the shock she felt once she realised they were car keys.

''I've had my driver's licence for a few years now, but I didn't have a car and recently, I had been talking to the members about getting one. They asked me all kinds of questions about it, like what colour and which brand, etc. I should've known, honestly.'' She laughed, thinking about all the questions they had been asking her the past months.

Q. How is Soomin noona doing? 😊😊

''Soomin is doing good,'' Ming chuckled, ''we celebrated my birthday a bit earlier, before we left to go to Bangkok. We went to karaoke, cause we hadn't done that in a while. It was so much fun.''

Q. Funny episode about GDA? ㅋㅋ

''I don't think I have anything funny or anything,'' she nervously smiled, ''but I did run into a lot of our labelmates, which was fun.''

Q. Did you meet Le Sserafim?

''Yes, yes! I did.'' Ming exclaimed. ''Eunchae got me a gift, it was adorable. I think she was a bit nervous to give it to me, but Yunjin-ah helped her. It was a cute shirt and she also has a shirt like that, so now we have matching shirts. I promised I would buy her food when we were back in Seoul, so I'm gonna contact her one of these days.''

''I also met NewJeans, the youngest member is 9 years younger than me. It's unbelievable, they're practically babies. They were so sweet and full of energy, and they said I was their role model,'' Ming pouted, still feeling touched, ''I'm gonna take care of them well, they're super talented.''

Q. I was sad you didn't get to perform Don Quixote, unnie 🥺

''I know, me too. I didn't get to rehearse with the members, so I wasn't prepared for it. The members did very well, I was very proud watching them.'' She smiled, a proud look on her face.

''I'll be performing with the members soon, my knee has recovered and I want to perform in front of Carats again. It's not nice having to sit backstage every time they perform.''

— TMI

∙ Ming will be appearing in the second season of 'In The Soop’, but her screen time is very limited since she was still sick at the time.

∙ After she complained about the staff posting about BSS on her birthday, Dokyeom was acting sulky because she knew that he wouldn't actually scold her. Ming thought it was very cute of him.

∙ Multiple Carats asked about her reaction to Wonwoo's GDA outfit. She had to look the outfit up on her phone, because she couldn't remember it. She called him handsome and said that many Carats must have liked it.

∙ Coups had gotten upset at the styling team, because they gave Ming heels even though her knee had only just recovered. They would've given her other shoes, but there were only heels left for her. Ming didn't mind the heels, and she thought it was very considerate of him.

— FINAL WORDS

''Thank you for watching my WeLive today. I was very happy to talk to you to celebrate my birthday. I know I said last year I wanted to do more live broadcasts and I didn't keep my word, but I promise to you I'll come online more this new year. I had so much fun. Stay healthy, take care of yourselves and we'll meet soon. Thank you, bye bye!''

Taglist: @mystic-luv @cosmicwintr @mythicalamphitrite @billboard-singer @stopeatread @still-astray @sakuurra @multiplums @giverosespls @seongwhaffels @kimhyejin3108 @smoooore @smh-anon @cixrosie

[hellsvestibule]

It’s not really fair to say like, All of the limbus people are bad people. Some of them have more or less redeemable qualities but all of them have like, some degree of major character flaw which the plot wants you condemn. Gregor is a kindhearted victim of a corrupt system which exploited him and just wants to survive however hes been so abused he now thinks lowly of people like himself to the point of having no qualms about killing them, he’s literally proud to admit he’s a bootlicker, Hes Not Like Other Bugs but he’s also your like, calmest most “normal” and reliable sinner. Rodion -was- a revolutionary but now she’s a loser and gambler who doesn’t really believe in justice, but she will steal for you, and she’s kinda got those MILF vibes, so,! Dante, the prototypical “stand there and watch people suffer” person, will stand there and complain everyone is just watching them suffer, but you can see changes to the base concept from inferno dante where after watching a sinner struggle they will start to understand them and speak on their behalf as though understanding them as part of the collective.

So it’s not 100% cynical about these people being irredeemable it just wants you to know why they are “sinners” why their stories weren’t about good heroic people, and by sort of portraying them as your unpleasant coworkers or strangers you’d sit next to on a bus, the plot both recontextualizes them as understandable modern tropes (my favorite example being, that Don Quixote is an LARPing otaku genki girl in the most miserable setting possible, making her annoying to everyone around her) but why that paradoxically makes you want to see them do better bc making them normal people removed of any meaning of their main character syndrome (and there is an adjacent gag where the side characters will sometimes look more like main characters with anime hair colors while your sinners by and large have npc vibes) it makes you want to treat them with the compassion and sympathy you would someone normal in their position

On the other hand, this is my perspective of it removed from knowing anything about the other PM games. Bc I’m sure some of that will explain changes to the setting and plots. Like they aren’t straightforward executions of the stories, at all, they are unique characters named for them, but they build from the themes of them or at least the ones whose stories I’ve read seem to.

[ranty-ramblestein]

(captions~) Violet continues to be fun... though another grinding moment is incoming.

- Midterms had some funny moments, but later I realized that somehow Fomantis had been evading me and I spent that and the next day hunting for it, only to eventually pull out the Sandwich Simulator and whip up the perfect grass encounter sandwich! (Why can’t I sort the recipes in-game??)

-Since I was grinding mons I only wanted for the Pokedex I did raids for EXP Candies and finally noticed that Maushold don’t share the jewelhead, nuu...

- After getting a shiny spider from WT (-Attack, ew) and before getting that blue worm above, I jumped off a cliff a split second before I noticed a bright pink spherical Pokemon... Pretty sure it was a shiny Lechonk, augh!  Unfortunately it wasn’t a cliff I could get back up easily, so all I could do was fast travel back to that area, but that made the ‘mons respawn, duh...

- Before taking on the Medli Gym I decided to evolve all of my starters, which meant Don Quixote deserved a new name, a reference to Sylvando of Dragon Quest 11!  When I took part in my first online raid and someone brought along Quaquaval I realized he’d need a rename, lol.  That sprite didn’t include the feather/lights!

- Wha-oh, the League is catching on to Penny’s hacking!  Run!!

I’ll put more images from the classes under the cut!

pic 1: dec 21st: I'm so used to anime tropes I started out wondering if she was planning on make lunch for her crush, but she doesn't seem the type, honestly. pic 2: Clive, buddy, ya gotta do that transformation in the bathrooms, or wherever you home is. (I don't /feel/ like he'd live in the school?  But he's got all that research machinery, so...) pic 3: What, you didn't pin a note to the-? Oh, right, the grounds area has multiple entrances. pic 4: Bro, I'm only here for the Pokedex completion.  But also, please fix the problem where you can't look through forms of Pokemon when you select the 'recently battled/caught' section. pic 5: dec 22nd: First shiny in WT that doesn't have a website name! (Only second shiny, tho.)  Love the pallet, but it's -Att, ew. pic 6: I followed the sandwich creator at https://cecilbowen.github.io/pokemon-sandwich-simulator/ to help me spawn Fomantis! pic 7: :(( They don't share... pic 8: First full odds shiny in a while!  I missed a shiny earlier in the evening, though... pic 9: dec 25th: Don evolving into Quaquaval means it's time to rename him to a certain DQ11 character! pic 10: dec 27th: *sweats*

So, uh, I stumbled across a BrassiusxHassel ship art before I met Hassel, so when I met him and recognized his hair shape (I exited out of the post very quickly...) I wonder why people shipped him with Brassius...

and this is definitely the reason, holy shit.

...Note to self: Look for ship art of these two later. (I mean, there’s no way they’re plot twist villains, right...?)

I swear I saw something that showed Hassel being a villain, but that crying thing... Now I’m not so sure I read that right. (I still wanna experience the story on my own, though; No spoilers!)

[strangefellows]

hi its me. the Dante is X anon. Ive been rotating Sapling of Light abilities in my mind all dayyy so heres my takes on which Sephirot we’ll get abilities from next for Sapling of Light and what those abilities will be (get ready for some wild speculation)

We seem to be descending down the tree/the floors of the Library, so my prediction is its going to be Hokma, Binah, Chesed, Gebura, Tiphereth, Netzach, Hod, Yesod and then lastly Malkuth

now for predictions on abilites, Hokma’s is to slow down time, and his symbol was a clock, so going off that, Binah’s could potentially be locking/unlocking something because her symbol is a key (or looks like one) Dante also mentioned the ability to speed up time, so maybe we’ll get that too. Gebura’s is definitely going to be something to do with damage output, maybe enhancing it 2x? honestly idk about the others. Netzach’s might be a healing/defense ability like immunity or something based off his nature motif. Feel free to speculate on the other abilities for me

Hokma’s ability name is Pigritia, which is Latin for sloth, so the rest of the abilities will definitely follow that trend (maybe thats why its called knowledge of all good and evil because its assembled like the tree of life but the abilities are all named after sins) a cool thing to do here would be to name some abilities after the sins from the circles of hell exclusive to the Divine Comedy (Treachery, Heresy, and Violence) because you know who else speaks Latin? Dante Alighieri

As for when we will get the rest of the abilities, with six Cantos left and eight abilities, we’ll definitely get some during Intervallos, I do hope we get Gebura’s ability during Don Quixote’s Canto. For obvious reasons. Definitely think the Keter ability will be gained during Dante’s own Canto, as Keter is represented by Angela and if the Dante is X theory is true, they are connected to Angela through her being their assistant (also parallel between them with Angela being intended as a copy of Carmen who became her own person and Dante/X being a copy of Ayin who becomes their own person)

idk how to end this. several paragraphs in your inbox jumpscare.

GIANT ASK JUMPSCARE I LOVE WAKING UP TO THIS HELLO YES THANK YOU

i've been rotating the same thing in my head too honestly, and i do think it'll go reverse order in that way, like going down the stairs of the library, that makes a lot of sense.

and abilities have been stumping me so i absolutely love your thoughts on that-- geb's being damage based felt the easiest to pin down, and netzach's being healing fits too!! also, maybe something to do with their breakdowns in lobcorp or that kind of skills their library floors are good at? i had a thought about chesed doing something for sin attributes similarly to a) his deterrence effect in his meltdown and b) the fact that paper chairman/coffee and cranes has chesed vibes

speeding up time might work for binah too because she turns off the tt2 protocol effects in her meltdown as well! not sure about tiphereth, but given malkuth changes the works around in her meltdown, maybe she'll give you the ability to reshuffle skills around or something? hod did sedatives to lower the agents' stats, so maybe hers will lower enemy stats. yesod is....a bit more difficult though. hm.

YEAH THE SINS THING TOO DEF!! there's only six sins left and 9 sephirah, so they might DEFINITELY go for the ones in the inferno, and there are also two sins that were cut from the current seven, acedia as its own thing more like apathy than sloth, and vanagloria, or vainglory, a different flavor of pride, so those could slot in for the last two as well!

i definitely agree we'll get some abilities during intervallos and events as well, given the amount of cantos left, and MAN. MAN YEAH. donqui and geb's ability would work so well. and agree on all the thoughts about Keter too.

(please keep up the asks if you have any more thoughts i am enjoying this immensely!!)

[dejatiny]

I was tagged by @vesvosmozhno thanks!!!

who is your favorite group(s)?

Ateez, seventeen, bts, stray kids, txt, monsta x, blackpink, the boyz, p1harmony

when did you discover them?

Blackpink-2022

Bts, seventeen, ateez, stray kids, txt-2023

The boyz, p1harmony, Monsta x-2024

which member sparked your interest?

Blackpink-Rosé

Bts-Jin

Svt-S.Coups

Ateez-San

Skz-Bang Chan

Txt-Soobin

Tbyz-Sangyeon

P1h-Keeho

Monsta x-Shownu

who was your first bias?

Blackpink-Rosé

Bts-Yoongi

Svt-Hoshi

Ateez-Mingi

Skz-Bang Chan

Txt-Soobin

Tbyz-Sangyeon

P1h-Keeho

Monsta x-Hyungwon

who is your current bias?

Blackpink-Rosé

Bts- Yoongi

Svt- Hoshi

Ateez-Mingi

Skz- Bang Chan

Txt-Soobin

Tbyz-Sangyeon

P1h- Keeho

Monsta x-Hyungwon

why are they your current bias? (short ver.)

Blackpink-idk she's pretty lol(screams in bisexual)

Bts-CAUSE HES MY SOULMATE

Svt-fellow tiger enthusiast lol

Ateez-he my boo he my bae

Skz-its the accent for me

Txt-cutie

Tbyz- he looks like an actor I'm also into

P1h-hottie

Monsta x-meme king

why are they your current bias? (longer ver.)

Blackpink- honestly again she's pretty!!!! And I liked her outfits in the music vids lol

Bts-oh boy, where do I begin? I'll try to make this shortish, lol. We are both Pisces!!! We have a lot of the same mannerisms, like a lot. And we are into some of the same things. Were the same person. He's my soulmate! We both have shoulder injuries. Listen, I could go on and on, but I won't.

Svt-He's absolutely insane and I love him for it, haha. Both are obsessed with tigers!! Horanghae!!!!! Yes, he has an amazing body, but God damn its his adorable freaking face that I'm obsessed with!!!! We are both 5 stage clingers, lol. Both introverts

Ateez- Mr. FIX ON!! I absolutely adore Mingi!! He's such a complete goober, but he's also smart. That's a big turn-on!!! We both suffer from anxiety. Again, hottie with a body!!! He tall dorito man, and im a sucker for that!!!! Listen, that man was hot from the beginning y'all where just sleeping on the man!!! Could also be my soulmate!! I feel like we're the same person sometimes!

Skz- again, honestly, it's the accent and his personality, plus he's hot, so there's that as well, lol

Txt-he's so freaking adorable, I can't!!! I just want to cuddle him and feed him snacks!!!

Tbyz-yeah, he looks like an actor I like, and that's kinda what started it, lol. He also has a body, lol. He's so cute!!!!!

P1h- im still just getting into these guys, but he's the one that has standed out the most for me, lol.

Monsta x- MR. MEME KING!!! Also, tall dorito shape man, absolute goober!

who is your bias wrecker

Bts- Jk

Svt- S.Coups

Ateez- JEONG YUNHO!!!!!

Tbyz-Eric

P1h-Intak

Monsta x- Shownu

which members are you currently obsessing over that aren't your bias/bias wrecker?

Bts-Hobi

Svt- Dk, Mingyu, DINO

Ateez- all of them lez B honest

what are some of your favorite songs by this group?

Blackpink- how you like that, ice cream, crazy over you, boombayah, pink venom, shut down

Bts-run bts, butter, mikrokosmos, black swan, dna,DNA, mic drop, euphoria

Svt- spider, cheers, call call call, darling, I don't understand but I love you, left & right, chang up, clap, HOT, DON QUIXOTE, shadow, crush, God of music, monster, fighting, ruby, wait

Ateez- all of thier music really but i guess....rocky, take me home, dreamers, say my name, utopia, wonderland, thanxx,thanks, inception, not okay, days, halazia, win, im the one, hala hala, wave, stay, answer, sector 1, cyberpunk, guerilla, BOUNCY, celebrate, turbulence, the real, we know, emergency, Crazy Form, arriba, silver light, dreamy day, matz, it's you, YOUTH, everything

Skz-mirror, DOMINO (I NEED TO LISTEN TO MORE OMG)

Txt-anti-romantic, ice cream, CROWN, blue hour, chasing that feeling, happy ever after, magic, back for more, do it like that

Tbyz-bloom bloom, lip gloss, watch it, rat in a trap, honey, delicious,

P1h- scared, do it like this, siren, fall in love again, gotta get back, jump, back down, killin' it, latw night calls

Monsta x-who do you love, tied to your body, it ain't over, love me a little (I just started liking them so that's all I know lol)

have you ever been to one of their concerts

No but I hope to

Tagging:whomever wants to do this!!!

[impalementation]

spike, angel, buffy & romanticism: part 3

part 1: “When you kiss me I want to die”: Angel and the high school seasons

part 2: “Love isn’t brains, children”: Enter Spike as the id

* 

“Something effulgent”: Season five and the construction of Spike the romantic

Prior to becoming a romantic interest, Spike is everything I discussed in the last section. He is an id and a mirror for Buffy, he’s prone to both romantic exaggeration and cutting realism, and his liminality suggests ambiguity. But outside of “Lovers Walk”, the writing doesn’t actually delve too deeply into Spike’s nature as a romantic. If you stopped the canon at “Restless”, you’d probably think that Spike’s love for Drusilla was intriguing, but that the show hadn’t really gone anywhere with the implications of it, and for all you knew, that might not be an important part of his character anymore. So one of the most interesting things about season five to me, is that in this season in which the writers first consciously, deliberately decide to explore the sexual and romantic tension between Spike and Buffy, they also emphasize Spike’s romanticism more than ever. The choice to define Spike by his romanticism is a choice that follows naturally from everything established about his character, but it was also not an inevitable choice. Therefore, it’s a choice worth looking at in some detail.

Consider everything that “Fool For Love” establishes about Spike, especially the things that contradict what was supposedly canon at the time. It makes Drusilla his sire instead of Angel, meaning that he is sired by a romantic connection, and as a direct result of heartbreak. It makes him a poet living in the middle of the Victorian era, an age at odds with his previous ages of “barely 200” and “126”. Meaning that the writing specifically decides to ignore its canon in order to associate him with an era in which passions would have been repressed (rather than the Romantic era of the early 1800’s or the modern energy of the early 1900’s). Moreover, the episode reveals his entire aesthetic and personality to essentially be a construct. But most tellingly of all, it reveals him to be an idealist. Spike is not just a performance artist; he yearns for the “effulgent”, for something “glowing and glistening” that the “vulgarians” of the world don’t understand. In other words, he yearns for something bigger and more beautiful than life: something romantic. Later, he chases after “death, glory, and sod all else.” Spike may be a “fool for love”, who has a romantic view of romantic love specifically, but the episode is very clear about the fact that he is also a romantic more generally. When Drusilla turns him, she doesn’t tempt him by telling him she’ll love him forever. She tempts him by offering him “something…effulgent”. (Which, in typical Spike form, the episode immediately undercuts by having him say “ow” instead of swooning romantically). The fact that “Fool For Love”, Spike’s major backstory episode, is so determined to paint him as a romantic--and in particular, a disappointed, frustrated romantic--that it is willing to contradict canon to do so, tells you that this choice was important for framing Spike and his new, ongoing thematic role.

I’ve talked in the past about how season five is all about the tension between the mythical and the mortal--between big, grand, sweeping narratives, and the reality of being human. Buffy is the Slayer, but she’s also just a girl who loses her mother. Dawn is the key, but she’s also just a confused and hormonal fourteen-year-old. Willow is a powerful witch, but she also just wants her girlfriend to be okay. Glory is a god, but she’s also a human man named Ben, and finds herself increasingly weakened by his emotions. And Spike embodies this tension perfectly. He’s a soulless vampire with a lifetime of bloodshed behind him, but he’s also this silly, human man who wants to love and be loved. He wants big, grand things, but every time they are frustrated by a Victorian society, a rejection, a chip, a pratfall, or dying with an “ow”. Furthermore, his season five storyline is all about the tension between loving in an exalted, yet often selfish way, versus loving in a “real” or selfless way. 

There was a fascinating piece a ways back that discussed how Spike’s attempts to woo Buffy in season five almost perfectly match the romantic narratives of Courtly Love. In the words of the author:

The term "Courtly Love" is used to describe a certain kind of relationship common in romantic medieval literature. The Knight/Lover finds himself desperately and piteously enamored of a divinely beautiful but unobtainable woman. After a period of distressed introspection, he offers himself as her faithful servant and goes forth to perform brave deeds in her honor. His desire to impress her and to be found worthy of her gradually transforms and ennobles him; his sufferings -- inner turmoil, doubts as to the lady's care of him, as well as physical travails -- ultimately lends him wisdom, patience, and virtue and his acts themselves worldly renown.

You can see for yourself how well that description fits Spike’s arc. He fixates on the torturous, abject nature of his love, and has it in his head that he can perform deeds and demonstrate virtue, and this will prove to Buffy that he is worthy of her. But despite Spike’s gradual ennobling over the course of the season, I think it would be a mistake to see the season as using the Courtly Love narrative uncritically, or even just ironically. The same way it would be a mistake to see season two as using the Gothic uncritically. Spike is as much Don Quixote as he is Lancelot. He is a character that deliberately tries to act out romantic tropes, giving the writing an opportunity to satirize those tropes, including the tropes of chivalric romance. In particular, the writing criticizes Spike’s (very chivalric) fixation on love as a personal agony, something that is more about pain--and specifically, his pain--than building a real relationship. Over and over in season five, he is forced to abandon these sorts of flattering romantic mindsets in favor of a more complicated reality. 

So at first, Spike’s “deeds” tend to be shallow and vaguely transactional. He tries to help Buffy in “Checkpoint” even though she doesn’t want it (and insults her when she doesn’t appreciate it), he asks “what the hell does it take?” when Buffy is unimpressed by him not feeding on “bleeding disaster victims” in “Triangle”, he rants bitterly at a mannequin when Buffy fails to be grateful to him for taking her to Riley in “Into the Woods”, and he is angry and confused when Buffy is unmoved by his offer to stake Drusilla in “Crush”. While these attempts to symbolically reject his evilness are startling for a soulless vampire, and although Spike certainly feels like he is fundamentally altering himself for Buffy’s sake, none of it is based on understanding or supporting Buffy in a way that she would actually find substantial. Moreover, he lashes out when his gestures fail to win her attention or affection. He has an idea in his head of how their romantic scenes should play out, and reacts petulantly when reality fails to live up to it. 

But these incidents of self-interested narrativizing are also continuously contrasted with scenes in which Spike reacts with real generosity, or is surprised when he realizes he’s touched something emotionally genuine. When Buffy seeks him out in “Checkpoint”, his mannerisms instantly change when he realizes she actually needs real help (“You’re the only one strong enough to protect them”), rather than the performed help he offered at the beginning of the episode. At the end of “Fool For Love” he’s struck dumb by Buffy’s grief, and his antagonistic posturing all evening melts away. He abandons his romantic vision of their erotic, life-and-death rivalry in favor of real, awkward emotional intimacy. In “Forever” he tries to anonymously leave flowers for Joyce, and reacts angrily when he’s denied—but this time not because he wanted something from Buffy. Simply because he wanted to do something meaningful. 

This contradictory behavior comes to a head in “Intervention”, the episode in which Spike finally begins to understand the difference between real and transactional generosity. Up until that point, Spike has been reacting both selfishly and unselfishly, but he hasn’t been able to truly distinguish between them, which is why he keeps repeating the same mistakes. Although he touches something real at the end of “Fool For Love”, for instance, he goes on to rifle through Buffy’s intimates in the very next episode. And so “Intervention” has Spike go to extremes of fakeness and reality. He gives up on having the real Buffy, and seeks out an artificial substitute that lets him live out his cheesiest romance novel scripts. It’s important that the Buffybot isn’t just a sexbot, even if he does have sex with her. She’s a bot he plays out romantic scenarios with the way he played them with Harmony in “Crush”, allowing him to almost literally live within a fiction. But then he “gives up” on having Buffy in a way that’s actually real, by offering up his life. He lets himself be tortured, and potentially killed, for no other reason than that to do otherwise would cause Buffy pain. The focus is on her pain, not his. For the first time, he acts like the Knight he’s been trying to be all along. He performs a grand, heroic deed that causes the object of his affection to see him in a different light, and even grant him a kiss. Yet ironically, as part of learning the difference between real and fake, he ceases to press for Buffy’s reciprocation. Through the end of season five, Spike continues to act the selfless Knight, assisting Buffy in her heroism without asking for anything in return. Which culminates in his declaration that he knows Buffy “will never love him”, even after he’s promised her the deed of protecting Dawn, and even though she allows a kind of intimacy by letting him back in her house. He proves that he sees those gestures for what they are, rather than in a transactional light. The irony of the way Spike fulfills the narrative of chivalric romance, is that his ennobling involves letting aspects of that narrative go. 

In a Courtly Love narrative, the object of the Knight’s affection is fundamentally pedestalized. The Knight himself might be flawed, but the woman he pines after is not. She is “divinely beautiful” and “unobtainable”, something above him and almost more than human. This is why it’s so comic that in Don Quixote, which was a direct satire of chivalric romance, Alonso Quixano’s “lady love” is a vulgar peasant farmgirl who has no idea who he is. (Think of the way Spike asks if Buffy is tough in “School Hard” or threatens to “take her apart” despite “how brilliant she is” in “The Initiative”, followed by scenes where Buffy is acting like the teenage girl she is. Or how Giles in “Checkpoint” says that Buffy has “acquired a remarkable focus” before cutting to Buffy yawning.). Although it’s true that Buffy is beautiful, and supernatural, and profoundly moral, she is also very human, and the writing is very concerned with that humanity. Season five in particular, as I’ve mentioned, is preoccupied with the duality of Buffy’s mythic and mortal nature. Thus it becomes significant that Buffy is assigned such a heightened role in Spike’s chivalric narrative. Just Spike is at once Lancelot and Don Quixote, Buffy is at once Achilles, Dulcinea, and a coming-of-age protagonist. 

And part of the “lesson” of Spike’s arc is for him to see both sides of the roles they embody. One of my favorite things about the scene in Buffy’s house in “The Gift” is how adroitly it conveys the dualities of both Buffy and Spike with simple, but poetic imagery and language. Buffy stands above Spike on her steps, conveying her elevated role, and Spike honors the way her heroic status has inspired him by physically looking up to her as he explains that he expects nothing from her. But by expecting nothing from her, and promising to protect her sister, he also honors the fact that she is a real person with no obligation to him, and a younger sister she cares about more than anything. He also honors his own duality by at once making Knightly promises, and acknowledging that he sees through his former delusions: “I know that I’m a monster, but you treat me like a man.” In “Fool For Love” he tried to acknowledge the same duality of realism and romance, by declaring to Cecily that “I know I’m a bad poet, but I’m a good man.” But at the time, he was an innocent, whose desire to be seen, and whose romantic avoidance of “dark, ugly things”, left him unprepared to understand how Cecily really saw him (similar to Spike’s insistence in “Crush” that what he and Buffy have “isn’t pretty, but it’s real” just before Buffy locks him out). Spike is a character defined simultaneously by continuous disillusionment and dogged aspiration, which is why he makes perfect sense as a character to embody a season torn between the pain of being human, and the wonder of the gift of love.

Fittingly, the season ends with Spike’s most devastating loss of innocence of all. He fails to be the hero for Buffy or Dawn (note that Knightly language he uses on the tower: “I made a promise to a lady”), and he loses the woman he loves. He may have become more virtuous, but unlike in a chivalric romance, that virtue wins him neither Buffy, nor something flattering like “world reknown.” The climax of the “The Gift” is full of romance—a god, a troll hammer, a damsel on a tower, a heroic self-sacrifice, a vampire transformed into a Knight—but the end result is that Buffy is dead, in part because he wasn’t good enough, and all that he and the Scoobies can do is grieve. Stories got Spike nothing, even when reality finally lived up to them. It is a swan song to the myths of childhood, and on the other side of Glory’s portal, Spike and the other characters will have to confront a world where those myths have been left behind.

part 4: “But I can’t fool myself. Or Spike, for some reason.”: Buffy and Spike as a blended self

[bangtansmau]

midnight memories

pairing: kim taehyung x you

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

summary: you moved in to a new apartment because you couldn't live another day with a noisy neighbor. to your luck, your balcony faced another apartment's balcony from the building next door and he also is infamous for making sounds. however, you can't seem to care when the noise is actually from a nice violin and the player himself is also nice-looking. 

------------–------

track 6: don't forget where you belong

she was the last person he wanted to see standing behind his door.

taehyung’s eyebrows furrowed at the sight of his former muse that still held the same smirk and the glint of mischief in her eyes. her clothes looked like she just came from a club and his nose twitched when the faint scent of booze permeated the air.

“minji, what are you doing here?”

his icy tone made her pout and she leaned against the doorframe and crossed her arms.

“is that how you call me now, taetae?”

the nickname made him flinch and she grinned.

“come on, taetae. can you let a girl in? you don’t want me to stay in the streets, do you?”

everything in him screamed to refuse but he wasn’t given a chance to answer as she already barged her way in through his door. 

“you belong in the streets”

he mumbled but she didn’t seem to hear it.

minji stood at the end of the hallway, surveying the whole room and her nose crinkled at the sheer size of it.

“you really stay in this shed, tae? you could do so much better”

she chided but taehyung ignored her and grabbed her arm to face him. his eyes were no longer warm and inviting- rather, cold and upset.

“what the hell do you want, minji? why did you come all the way here? how did you even know my address?”

she rolled her eyes as if the answer was so obvious that he should know. but he didnt, a sharp stare boring straight to her face.

“i have friends everywhere, tae. and i just wanted to see you, since it’s been so long”

her manicured hand travelled to his shoulder and was about to rub his shirt when he swatted it away. taehyung exuded an aura of anger and he clenched his jaw.

“i don’t want to see you nor do i want to do anything with you. now get the fuck out of my home or so help me God”

but the threat didn’t faze her. minji reverted to her true colors, the mischief being replaced by malice and her lips curled into a sneer.

“don’t forget who i am, taehyung. i could ruin your reputation here just like i did at home but surely, you don’t want me to, right? you don’t want to be looked at like that here too, right?”

the faux sympathy annoyed him and he chuckled humorlessly. of course she would threaten him with that. she was what chased him away from his home and everything he knew towards a family friend who graciously accepted him to live with them in the city.

the city where he would have a fresh start. 

“it’s nearly been 2 years. you’re still holding on to that?”

he looked off to the side to contain himself then looked back at her with a harsh glare.

“you may have friends and connections in daegu that could believe you and every lie you could spout off. but here? this is my territory. they know nothing about you, or my life back then so they won’t believe you if you spread them. besides, you’re the only one in them. would they think it was me who took the photos in the first place?”

he was right.

she knew he was right.

the explicit photos he consensually took of her were what ruined his image at the small town but in the big city, no one would bat an eyelash. and no one knew who lee minji was. compared to their rural home where everyone knew everybody to the capital of the country, she was just another person living in this city like the other millions. taehyung has been here for nearing 2 years now, making friends and connections from the middle of his senior year to current. he has an upper-hand than her and even if she tried to blame and point fingers at him, the photos only showed her face and none of who was behind the camera- him.

taehyung laughed at her defeated face and was about to go on when his phone rang. minji watched her former lover pick up the phone with a bright smile and answered happily. 

“okay. yea, sure. i’ll be there. on my way now”

when he hung up, his face shifted to the same coldness from before and tears welled up in her eyes. not from sadness, but from frustration. that she no longer holds a threat over his head and he was finally free from her.

tae paused for a second, then sighed.

“this is the last time you’ll ever hear or see from me again. if you come back, i will release the videos of you, like you did to me. i could’ve done it immediately after you leaked it but i had a feeling i needed to wait. and i was right. so try something again, i’ll really destroy you. both in seoul, and daegu.”

minji gulped and harshly pulled away from his grasp to cradle it close to her and glaring hatefully at him.

“i hate you, kim taehyung”

he chuckled.

“sure you do. now, i have to go somewhere. i’ll go first but don’t even think about looking for anything because i have nothing in here. i really shouldn’t be this nice but i’d feel bad kicking you out when you stink like the combination of a beaver’s ass and puke. so go take a shower and leave when you’re done. and your clothes? use my robe and go. it would be a shame to find you dead in a ditch because you wore something like that. terrible cause of death, don’t you think?”

she stomped her foot on the tile in the bathroom as she replayed the last things taehyung said to her. minji looked at herself in the mirror and resisted the urge to throw the vase by the door at her reflection.

“stupid, lee minji. you shouldn’t have come here”

you didn’t do anything or say anything because you should’ve expected this. taehyung was one handsome and fine young man, of course he would have women begging to sleep with him. unfortunately, you saw one of those girls leaning against the railing of his balcony with nothing but a robe.

he even let her stay at his place.

the curious stare you had was met with the girl herself and her lips turned up to a smirk and her head cocked to the side. minji caught your eye since you could be seen through the large windows of your living room.

so you were the girl in his camera.

she even raised her hand as a hello and beckoned you to come outside. at first, you didn’t know who she was talking to, even pointing to yourself as confirmation, but she nodded and you slowly walked to the doors and out to the balcony.

at a closer look, this girl was beautiful. duh, only pretty girls should be with him. with the perfect skin and even flawless natural beauty, she was the girl you would envision to be his girlfriend.

of course, he has a girlfriend!

the topic never came up and you assumed he was single with the flirty texts he sent but she might be his girlfriend.

minji smirked when you said nothing and just kept staring at her. it was so unlike taehyung to find interest in a little girl like you.

“you must be,, diana?”

you stopped.

“huh?”

how does she know about that?

minji chuckled.

“sorry. i was in tae’s laptop and saw a folder named diana. and your pictures were in there so i assumed,, you are diana. you are, aren’t you?”

it made you feel awkward that his girlfriend knew you and the fact that she found out about you was because her boyfriend’s laptop had pictures of you in it. you would be curious too if your own boyfriend did that.

so you just nodded.

“um, i guess? but don’t misunderstand! i’m just helping him! that’s it!”

you clarified but minji didn’t seem bothered, even just examining her fingernails.

“it’s alright. tae’s always been like that. he wasn’t interested in anything strikingly attractive or beautiful so his standards of beauty are quite rare. but once he does find it, he doesn’t let go. he takes pictures of it and keeps it as,,, a collection?”

you didn’t understand anything she was saying but the energy you got from her was suspicious and negative.

“what are you saying? i’m not following”

you awkwardly chuckled to lighten up the air but minji kept going.

“once you become taehyung’s model, he becomes drawn to you- almost, obsessed. but in the end of the day, you’ll still just be his model. that’s it. why? because he doesn’t fall in love with the eyes. he falls in love with his camera. you can be the most beautiful thing to ever walk the earth but if one day, his lens doesn’t capture that, he would cast you aside and find a new one. so darling, i want to give you a bit of an advice to save you the heartbreak. you can like him all you want- hell, even fall in love with him if you so desire-but don’t forget who you are, don’t forget where you belong. stay in your place, know your purpose, and just be his good little doll, nothing more. okay?”

there was conflict inside you because you weren’t in love with him, attracted sure, but you weren’t going to fall in love with him. but why does it feel like your hopes were just crushed? was it because he could easily cast you aside when he no longer needs you? but she was right. you were just a model. 

then again, who was she to be saying this stuff? 

“why are you saying this?”

you quietly said and minji showed a ‘sad’ smile.

“because i was once you. and if you don’t follow my advice, you could end up like me. thrown away and forgotten.”

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

fun facts:

- lee minji was taehyung's ex-girlfriend and they were,,, doing stuff and she told tae he was allowed to take pictures and all that but tae broke up with her which made her spread the pictures and taehyung's family were ashamed of him so they sent him to seoul where a family friend let him stay.

- minji didn't know there were videos too but he kept them just in case for payback or revenge or just something to keep over her head

- namjoon is currently reading DEMIAN and DON QUIXOTE and he switches from that language to crack for the group chat

- jimin still has an X and jungkook keeps teasing him about it

- tae works as an intern for a photography company but he usually does the editing at home so he never leaves the house

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

//masterlist//

← track 5 // track 7 →

taglist!:

@weasleyswizarding-wheezes​

[miss-mollys-ballet-blog]

Ballets of Marius Petipa: Don Quixote

Natalia Osipova in Teatro Alla Scala’s production.

Don Quixote is very loosely based on Miguel de Cervantes’ novel, focused mainly on Don Quixote’s journey through Spain and the queen of his dreams, Dulcinea.  His travels take him to a small town where he encounters a young woman named Kitri and her love Basilio.  Lorenzo, Kitri’s father, refuses to allow the lovers to marry, instead promising her to a nobleman named Gamache.  Don Quixote sees Kitri and believes she is the woman of his dreams, Dulcinea.  During a rowdy party, Kitri and Basilio escape and run away to be married, with Lorenzo and Gamache following behind.  Don Quixote finally sees Kitri is not Dulcinea and he feels a deep need to protect her and her lover which is why he mistakes a windmill as a giant kidnapping Kitri, attacks it, and falls into a deep sleep.  He is taken to a dream land where he sees Kitri and Dulcinea merge into one, but is reminded once he wakes up he promised to ensure Kitri and Basilio’s happiness.  At a tavern, Lorenzo and Gamache catch up to Kitri and Basilio.  Basilio fakes a suicide because he cannot live without his beloved and Kitri convinces Don Quixote to “marry” her and Basilio after his death.  However, since he was not dead, they were successful in marriage!  Act 3 is a celebration of their wedding, with the famous pas de deux as the crowning glory.

Petipa was not the first, nor last, person to create a Don Quixote ballet.  The first production we have record of is by Franz Hilverding in 1740.  The first time Don Quixote was created in Russia was in 1808, choreographed by Charles Didelot and music by Frederick Venua at the Imperial Ballet (Mariinsky) Theatre.  Petipa’s first version debuted at the Bolshoi Theatre in 1869 to music composed by Ludwig Minkus.  Petipa then took his ballet to the Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre in Saint Petersburg in 1871, creating an almost entirely new ballet.  He was first choreographer to turn Kitri/Dulcinea into a dual role and instead of Basilio faking his suicide, Kitri threatened to legitimately kill herself to make the ballet more dramatic.  This version lasted until Alexander Gorsky created the version of the ballet we know and love today at the Bolshoi Theatre in 1900.  

Currently Don Quixote is performed worldwide with each ballet company having their own production, however famous ones include Carlos Acosta’s for the Royal Ballet and Rudolf Nureyev’s whose choreography is used at multiple companies including Teatro Alla Scala and the Stanislavski Nemirovich-Danchenko Theatre in Moscow.  Mikhail Baryshnikov staged his own production at the American Ballet Theatre which was recorded during a live performance with Cynthia Harvey.  During this recording, the film crew messed up and did not capture the famous pas de deux and finale, so the entire company stayed and reperformed the piece.  The audience stayed as well and gave a standing ovation.  You can watch that recording here.

[stannyramirez]

𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔬𝔩𝔡 𝔤𝔲𝔞𝔯𝔡

❝I’ve been here before… over and over again.❞ ❝Each time, the same question. Is this it? Will this time be the one?❞ ❝Each time, the same question.❞ ❝Is this it?❞ ❝Will this time bet he one?❞ ❝And each time the same answer.❞ ❝I’m just so tired of it.❞ ❝You good?❞ ❝You travel?❞ ❝And I got you something.❞ ❝What’s that?❞ ❝Ooh, first edition Don Quixote.❞ ❝That couldn’t have been cheap.❞ ❝So, why am I here, _____?❞ ❝No, we don’t do repeats. You know that.❞ ❝It’s too risky.❞ ❝You look great.❞ / ❝You look okay.❞ ❝Thank you! Thank you!❞ ❝And I have something for you.❞ ❝All in. Here it is.❞ ❝No, no, no. Don’t worry.❞ ❝Admit it, boss. You missed us.❞ ❝It’s a job, guys.❞ ❝We can do some good.❞ ❝Have you been watching the news lately?❞ ❝Some good means nothing.❞ ❝I don’t know about this.❞ ❝We’re not helping.❞ ❝I know you needed a break.❞ ❝This is what we do.❞ ❝I’ll hear him out.❞ ❝It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.❞ ❝You haven’t aged a day.❞ ❝They reached out to me, and I’m reaching out to you.❞ ❝You can name your price.❞ ❝We’ll invoice you when it’s done.❞ ❝Peace be with you.❞ ❝Are we too late?❞ ❝Mother fuck--!❞ ❝What the hell?❞ ❝Look out! Reload!❞ ❝Everyone still with me?❞ ❝Very pissed off.❞ ❝We’ve been set up.❞ ❝One has to admire his attention to detail. The _____ were a particularly grotesque touch.❞ ❝I knew this was gonna happen.❞ ❝We did it right. For the right reasons.❞ ❝And what did it get us? What? Nothing.❞ ❝We’ve done nothing.❞ ❝The world isn’t getting any better.❞ ❝The world isn’t getting any better. It’s getting worse.❞ ❝I checked him completely, and everything seemed legit.❞ ❝They know who we are. They know what we are.❞ ❝We have to find him. We have to tie this thing off.❞ ❝And then what?❞ ❝And then nothing.❞ ❝The world can burn for all I care.❞ ❝I’m done.❞ ❝Get me some information.❞ ❝Keep it respectful.❞ ❝Don’t we always?❞ ❝Never hurts to repeat it.❞ ❝You do not disrespect your family by telling us where he is.❞ ❝There are no men here.❞ ❝To use women as shields is to be no man at all.❞ ❝Thank you for allowing us into your home.❞ ❝We will leave you in peace.❞ ❝Look at all this shit. It’s a jackpot.❞ ❝They wanted him alive, remember?❞ ❝Do not… Do not touch me.❞ ❝I’m trying to save you, man.❞ ❝A little help, please?❞ ❝Stay with me!❞ ❝God! Jesus, no.❞ ❝Come here. Stay with me. Look at me.❞ ❝Look at me. You’re gonna be okay.❞ ❝You’re okay. It’s okay. Stay with me. Just look at me. Look at me.❞ ❝Not another one.❞ ❝What did you see?❞ ❝I felt her die.❞ ❝It’s been over 200 years, why now?❞ ❝Everything happens for a reason, boss.❞ ❝We have to find her.❞ ❝No, we stick to the plan.❞ ❝So we just leave her out in the open?❞ ❝We’re out in the open..❞ ❝We’re the ones who are exposed now.❞ ❝You can’t tell me you don’t remember what it was like.❞ ❝Whoever she is, she’s confused, and she’s scared, and she’s more alone than she has ever been in her entire life.❞ ❝We all remember what it was like.❞ ❝She needs us.❞ ❝I’ll handle the retrieval.❞ ❝What do we do in the meantime?❞ ❝I’ll meet you there.❞ ❝I know I saw her die.❞ ❝A little blood can look like a lot.❞ ❝Let’s see the trophy.❞ ❝Fuck me. There’s not even a scratch.❞ ❝That what the doctor said?❞ ❝You’ve seen my research.❞ ❝What about the hard proof?❞ ❝Recovering an uncontaminated sample of the site proved impossible.❞ ❝But you promised me hard proof.❞ ❝There was an unanticipated amount of carnage.❞ ❝I think I can get you one.❞ ❝These are extraordinary individuals. They are extremely resistant to capture.❞ ❝Make a plan, make it happen.❞ ❝Orders just came through. They’re sending you to ______ for more tests.❞ ❝But I’m fine.❞ ❝Been looking for you.❞ ❝Why does it have to be so goddamn slow the first couple of times?❞ ❝You shot me.❞ ❝I need you to get back in the car, please.❞ ❝This isn’t real. No, none of this is real.❞ ❝You haven’t figured this out yet?❞ ❝You can’t die.❞ ❝Get up.❞ ❝Can you please not do that again?❞ ❝Who are you?❞ ❝You’ve got questions, kid.❞ ❝You want more answers?❞ ❝You want more answers? Get back in the car.❞ ❝Put those on.❞ ❝Where are you taking me?❞ ❝You’ve got blood in your hair.❞ / ❝Wonder why?❞ ❝This guy’s a drug runner.❞ ❝This the shit you into?❞ ❝Well, sometimes you gotta work with people you don’t wanna eat with.❞ ❝Is this even safe?❞ / ❝Does it really matter?❞ ❝Hey, boss.❞ ❝You find ______?❞ ❝Nothing but dead ends. He knows we’re hunting him.❞ ❝Keep looking. He’s doing the same to us.❞ ❝I have the new one.❞ ❝Well, she stabbed me, so I think she has potential.❞ ❝I’ll see you soon.❞ ❝So, why is this happening to me?❞ ❝I wish I knew.❞ ❝You said you’d have answers.❞ / ❝I didn’t say you’d like them.❞ ❝Are you praying?❞ *laughs softly* ❝God doesn’t exist.❞ / ❝My God does.❞ ❝You know, there was a time when I was worshiped as a god.❞ ❝Don’t worry. I can’t do shit like that.❞ ❝You said there were others. How many?❞ ❝You’re an army of four?❞ ❝So that’s why you took me?❞ ❝So that’s why you took me? So I could join your army.❞ ❝No. This is some bullshit.❞ ❝You must… you must have hypnotized me, or… or, uh, drugged me, or something.❞ ❝And that was a blank that you shot me with.❞ ❝And I was the one who cut your throat. Right?❞ ❝Listen, kid. You already believe in (god). You should just keep following that illogic.❞ ❝You’re already on board with the supernatural.❞ ❝If I were you, I’d get some sleep.❞ ❝We’re not going to Paris.❞ ❝Come here.❞ ❝Sit your ass down!❞ ❝Stand up!❞ ❝You do not listen to her. You listen to me.❞ ❝Trust me. She’s not gonna shoot you. I am.❞ ❝We can jump and survive.❞ ❝I am not jumping from a plane!❞ ❝You don’t speak Russian, do you?❞ ❝Because I told _____ to play dead.❞ ❝You really want to do this, kid?❞

❝We’re done.❞ ❝I said we’re done.❞ ❝You’re very good.❞ ❝What’s your name?❞ ❝You see? You’re already healing faster.❞ ❝Is this real?❞ ❝I got people that love me. People that are gonna worry.❞ ❝They’re going to lock you up.❞ ❝This place has been abandoned for 50 years,❞ ❝So, are you the good guys or bad guys?❞ / ❝Depends on the century.❞ ❝We fight for what we think is right.❞ ❝How are you all in my dreams?❞ ❝We dream of each other.❞ ❝We dream of each other. They stop when we meet.❞ ❝I believe it is because we… we’re meant to find each other.❞ ❝It’s like destiny.❞ ❝No, more like misery loves company.❞ ❝What he said.❞ ❝Yeah, I died fighting with Napoleon.❞ ❝So… you’re even older than him.❞ ❝The love of my life was of the people I’ve been taught to hate.❞ ❝We killed each other.❞ ❝Many times.❞ ❝You’re the oldest.❞ ❝So, how old are you?❞ / ❝Old.❞ ❝How old?❞ / ❝Too old.❞ ❝So, we really never die.❞ ❝Nothing that lives lives forever.❞ ❝But… you said that we were immortal.❞ ❝I know what I said.❞ ❝We mostly are, but we can die. And one of us did.❞ ❝One day, your wounds just don’t heal up anymore, and… we don’t know when or why.❞ ❝So, if we can die, then why would you shoot me? You could have killed me.❞ ❝You could have killed me.❞ ❝You’re too new.❞ ❝It is a lot to understand.❞ ❝Come with me. I’ll show you.❞ ❝That’s not gonna help her.❞ ❝You tell her that.❞ ❝What’s going on?❞ ❝What happened?❞ ❝It’s just a… a bad dream.❞ ❝I dreamed about a woman locked in an iron coffin under the sea.❞ ❝She kept drowning then coming back to life.❞ ❝She was hammering her bloody fists and knees against the iron.❞ ❝She felt like something insane, something furious.❞ ❝But she kept fighting, and she kept drowning.❞ ❝They ran through the world together. Fought thousands of battles side by side.❞ ❝I’ve never been burned alive before.❞ ❝What do you think It’s gonna be like?❞ ❝Excruciating.❞ ❝Just you and me.❞ ❝Until the end.❞ ❝Where are you taking her?❞ ❝You are too powerful together.❞ ❝For creatures such as you, there is no salvation.❞ ❝Why do you blame yourself?❞ ❝I lost a soldier.❞ ❝I feel her pain. Her rage. She feels crazy.❞ ❝Over 500 years in a box at the bottom of the ocean would make anyone insane.❞ ❝That’s the reason we dread capture.❞ ❝I don’t want this. I don’t want ay of it.❞ ❝There isn’t one good thing in any of this.❞ ❝I know this is hard. It’s happening whether you want it or not.❞ ❝I know you’re scared. Me and those three (men/women/people/etc.) in there will keep you safe.❞ ❝We’re all you’ve got.❞ ❝What’s happening?❞ / ❝They found us.❞ ❝You still with me?❞ ❝Hey. Hey. Come on. Come back to me.❞ ❝You’re still in this shitty game with me. You hear me? Now wake up. Wake up!❞ ❝They’re not here.❞ ❝Welcome back, asshole. Thanks for taking your time.❞ ❝It hurts everywhere.❞ ❝How bad is it?❞ / ❝It’s an improvement.❞ ❝A grenade hit me. Lost the plot after that.❞ ❝They’re coming back. They want all of us.❞ ❝You stay here.❞ ❝Wait for my signal.❞ ❝What signal?❞ ❝What does that even mean?❞ ❝You’ll know it when it comes.❞ ❝And, by the way, it’s not always like this now.❞ ❝Big wounds take longer to heal.❞ ❝We’ve got to get out there. We need to help her.❞ ❝No, that’s not the signal.❞ ❝I strongly recommend that we leave right now.❞ ❝Wait for the signal.❞ ❝How the hell can you even tell?❞ ❝_____ did this all herself?❞ ❝That woman has forgotten more ways to kill than entire armies will ever learn.❞ ❝Who are they? How did they find you?❞ ❝I don’t know. Let’s go!❞ ❝____, wake up.❞ ❝I know what you said.❞ ❝What are you gonna do? Kill me?❞ ❝Destati. Destati.❞ ❝Wake up!❞ ❝I’m here. I’m here. Wherever here is.❞ ❝They used gas.❞ ❝I told you, shut up!❞ ❝I need to know he’s okay.❞ ❝That’s sweet. What is he? Your boyfriend?❞ ❝You’re a child. An infant.❞ ❝Your mocking is thus infantile.❞ ❝He is not my boyfriend.❞ ❝This man is more to me than you can dream.❞ ❝He’s the moon when I’m lost in darkness and warmth when I shiver in cold.❞ ❝And his kiss still thrills me, even after a millennia.❞ ❝His heart overflows with the kindness of which this world is not worthy of.❞ ❝I love this man beyond measure and reason. He’s not my boyfriend.❞ ❝He’s all and he’s more.❞ ❝I don’t suppose it would be possible to get these chains off of us?❞ ❝I guess not.❞ ❝We are usually a better judge of character.❞ ❝I suppose you are taking us to the person who paid for your betrayal.❞ ❝It’s a nice plane.❞ ❝There’s a TV, ____.❞ ❝What is this place?❞ / ❝An abandoned mine.❞ ❝I used to keep my stuff here.❞ ❝This is an honest-to-God Rodin.❞ ❝It can hardly be unique if they can make another copy.❞ ❝I’ve got to go.❞ ❝I am truly honored to meet you.❞ ❝Together, we shall do such things.❞ ❝What they are yet, I know not, but they shall be the terrors of the Earth.❞ ❝Or, um, rather the saviors.❞ ❝Um, can we take the cuffs off?❞ ❝No, sir. We can’t.❞ ❝My apologies. Let’s get off on the right foot, shall we?❞ ❝Our work here is all about balance.❞ ❝There’s your balance, asshole.❞ ❝I was provided footage of your unique talent, but I prefer my evidence to be indisputable.❞ ❝God damn it! Ugh!❞ ❝What do you see?❞ ❝Now, I didn’t ask for their little permissions. I’m not gonna ask for yours.❞ ❝He thinks you’re a mouse, _____.❞ ❝There’s genetic code inside you which could help every human being on earth.❞ ❝We’re morally obliged to take it.❞ ❝What is that? Wait!❞ ❝I’ll keep you informed of my progress.❞ ❝Yes. Yes, you do that.❞ ❝This is about science, not profits… or sadism.❞ ❝Come on, ____. You’ve been working on that for hours.❞ ❝He leaves no footprints. It’s gonna take time.❞ ❝Follow the money.❞ ❝I’m sure you already tried that.❞ ❝Yeah, it won’t hurt to try again.❞ ❝You know how it works. Get some sleep while you can.❞ ❝I brought you a change of clothes.❞ ❝I’m going out for a bit.❞ ❝Are you alright, boss?❞ ❝Just because we keep living doesn’t mean we stop hurting?❞ ❝I thought you were the brains of this outfit.❞ ❝Tell you what I do wonder… is why you? And why now?❞ ❝What about you? You have someone?❞ ❝I had three sons.❞ ❝The only way is forward now.❞ ❝What do you mean?❞ ❝You’ll always and forever be the young woman right there… but everyone around you, everyone you love, is gonna grow old, is gonna suffer, and is gonna die.❞ ❝If you try to touch their lives, well… they will get to learn your secreat.❞ ❝They will beg you to share it with them, and you won’t be able to. And they won’t believe you, of course.❞ ❝And they will tell you that you don’t love them. That your love is weak, or selfish.❞ ❝And you will never forget the hate and despair in their eyes.❞ ❝And you will know what it is to lose everyone you’ve ever loved.❞ ❝Do you have a bathroom?❞ ❝Do you need help?❞ ❝Stitches would be better, but… this will help.❞ ❝You haven’t asked.❞ ❝Your business is yours. You need help. What does it matter why?❞ ❝Today, I put this on your wound. Tomorrow… you help someone up when they fall.❞ ❝We’re not meant to be alone.❞ ❝Help me! Why won’t it stop?❞ ❝This can’t be happening.❞ ❝It’s time.❞ ❝It’s impossible.❞ ❝How long will the testing take?❞ ❝Until we have results we can replicate.❞ ❝Do you feel the wound trying to close?❞ ❝They go in the vault. They stay there under lock and key.❞ ❝For… ever?❞ ❝We can’t have them strolling back out into the world.❞ ❝What does it matter to them?❞ ❝Remarkable.❞ ❝You will not be able to give him what he wants.❞ ❝You think I go too far? That I am unethical?❞ ❝I would say immoral.❞ ❝I believe this can change the world.❞ ❝A fine justification. I’ve heard it so many times before.❞ ❝As much as I like watching you sleep, I’m glad you’re awake.❞ ❝Bed head?❞ / ❝Nicely tousled.❞ ❝Do you know, I was thinking about Malta?❞ ❝What time in Malta?❞ ❝Oh, that time in Malta.❞ ❝We should go back there.❞ ❝That would be nice.❞ ❝You have my phone?❞ ❝Where’s your father?❞ ❝You come from warriors.❞ ❝I can’t remember what my mother looked like. Or my sisters. None of them.❞ ❝Time steals it all away, I guess.❞ ❝It’s not what time steals… it’s what it leaves behinds. Things you can’t forget.❞ ❝I gave up searching for her. I made _____ a promise, and I broke it.❞ ❝I’m getting _____ back. Whatever it takes.❞ ❝’Whatever it takes’?❞ ❝Guys, I found something. An address. We gotta go.❞ ❝Go scout the back.❞ ❝I can’t do this.❞ / ❝Yes, you can.❞ ❝I mean, I’m not doing this.❞ ❝You’re one of us now.❞ ❝We would do the same for you.❞ ❝I never even had a choice.❞ ❝None of us had a choice. There isn’t a choice.❞ ❝The day I died, I killed the guy that killed me.❞ ❝They try to condition us, you know? Thousands of hours of training. But they can’t teach you how to live with it.❞ ❝You’ve gotta feel it. Every one.❞ ❝I saw what you did in that church. All those bodies.❞ ❝Is that supposed to be me?❞ ❝Is that what we’re supposed to do, and we don’t even know why?❞ ❝You think knowing is gonna make you sleep better at night?❞ ❝I can’t be that.❞ ❝I still have time with them.❞ ❝Take the car, and when you ditch it, ditch the weapons.❞ ❝You gonna be okay?❞ ❝Where’s ______?❞ ❝You and me, _____. Now and always.❞ ❝What are you doing?❞ ❝Calm down.❞ ❝You set us up?❞ ❝Please listen.❞ ❝What was dismissed as a myth was, in fact, immortality.❞ ❝You could help end needless suffering.❞ ❝Humanity needs you to share your gifts.❞ ❝Humanity can screw itself.❞ ❝Don’t, you fucking coward.❞ ❝Why? Why, ____?❞ ❝If he can discover how we keep living, he might find a way how to end it.❞ ❝Hey. That’s what you wanted.❞ ❝Oh, _____. What have you done?❞ ❝Not like this, ______.❞ ❝What’s going on? You’re still bleeding.❞ ❝You’re still bleeding.❞ ❝What? Shit.❞ ❝She’s not healing.❞ ❝Look at this. She’s not healing.❞ ❝Go get something. Go on! Go on!❞ ❝_____, look at me. Look at me. Why didn’t you tell me?❞ ❝It wouldn’t have changed anything.❞ ❝Get her out of here.❞ ❝Secure him.❞ ❝Nice work, ______.❞ ❝Look at you.❞ ❝Why isn’t she healing?❞ ❝I don’t know.❞ ❝She’s not immortal.❞ ❝What do you mean, ‘not immortal’?❞ ❝I mean it’s gone.❞ ❝You’re a bloody mess.❞ ❝Now, how old are you?❞ ❝Come closer and I’ll tell you.❞ ❝Let’s get them home.❞ ❝Let her go.❞ ❝I’m sorry, _____. I’m sorry.❞ ❝Hold him still.❞ ❝If it’s true and she’s somehow not immortal anymore, then she might not survive the testing.❞ ❝This will be murder.❞ ❝As if the CIA never disappeared anyone.❞ ❝As if they never conducted covert research.❞ ❝No. No, this is not what we agreed.❞ ❝We don’t stop.❞ ❝She’s not healing. I killed her.❞ ❝Keep her alive at all costs.❞ ❝All things die.❞ ❝What was that?❞ ❝Everything has to die.❞ ❝The only reason we haven’t is that it’s not our time yet.❞ ❝It is now _______’s (time), nothing you can do will stop it.❞ ❝You’d be surprised by what my products can do.❞ ❝I will carve slices off you for years to get what I want.❞ ❝Your time is coming.❞ / ❝As is yours.❞ ❝I expect results!❞ ❝He sent you to finish me off.❞ ❝Son of a bitch!❞ ❝You’re another one.❞ ❝Yeah. I’m new.❞ ❝Where are they?❞ ❝They’re in a lab being tested. Tortured.❞ ❝She’s in it. She can’t see it.❞ ❝I thought it could be the end of disease.❞ ❝I thought it could be the end of suffering.❞ ❝It was supposed to be a gift… to the world.❞ ❝It wasn’t your gift to give.❞ ❝Why would the immortality end?❞ ❝What are you doing?❞ ❝I’m gonna make this right.❞ ❝Your dying won’t do that.❞ ❝But I’m supposed to let you walk in there by yourself?❞ ❝Out of the two of us, I’m the one who will walk out of there again, one way or another.❞ ❝You got me here.❞ ❝Floor’s closed. How’d you get up here?❞ ❝Sorry, I was just looking—❞ ❝Hands! Let me see your hands!❞ ❝We’ve had an intruder.❞ ❝You selfish piece of shit!❞ ❝____, leave it. Please!❞ ❝What do you know of the weight of all these years alone?❞ ❝You’re a pathetic man, ______.❞ ❝You two always had each other, right?❞ ❝All we had was our grief.❞ ❝Well, now you have even more.❞ ❝I’m locking you down in the penthouse until this is over.❞ ❝Immortal or not, you made a promise. Whatever it takes.❞ ❝I’ve seen it. I know all the good you’ve done.❞ ❝You came back.❞ ❝No, just leave me here.❞ ❝No man left behind.❞ ❝There’s always a first time. He’s nothing but a traitor.❞ ❝Stop! This is not the time for it.❞ ❝We don’t get a say in when it ends. We never have.❞ ❝But we can control how we live.❞ ❝And, to be honest, you and I, we’ve been doing a shit job of it.❞ ❝Now, get up. Let’s go.❞ ❝We stop him here and now or he never stops coming after us.❞ ❝Are you sure?❞ This changes nothing. We walk out of here like always. Together.❞ ❝Let’s get this motherfucker.❞ ❝What’s your location?❞ ❝Enough of this shit.❞ ❝This gonna be like the last signal?❞ ❝Go big or go home.❞ ❝Stay tight to me, okay?❞ ❝I’ll protect you.❞ ❝I go through first.❞ ❝I always go through first.❞ ❝If this doesn’t work out, next time, you go first.❞ ❝What the hell are they waiting for?❞ ❝You shot _____. You shouldn’t have done that.❞ ❝He’s getting away!❞ ❝It just hurts. Actually, everything hurts.❞ ❝Well, wait until tomorrow.❞ ❝I think you showed up when I lost my immortality so I could see what it was like. So I could remember.❞ ❝Remember what it was like to feel unbreakable. Remarkable.❞ ❝You reminded me there are people still worth fighting for.❞ ❝I know how I want to spend the time I’ve got left.❞ ❝You’re gonna spend it with us.❞ ❝You selfish little bitch!❞ ❝I will kill her!❞ ❝All the lives you could save.❞ ❝Don’t you see what we could do here?❞ ❝You are priceless.❞ ❝Do you think he speaks Russian?❞ ❝Play dead, motherfucker.❞ ❝Faster than the elevator.❞ ❝How’s it going?❞ ❝They’re still deciding.❞ ❝There’s not much to decide. It’s not like they can kill me.❞ ❝Oh, she gave it back?❞ ❝My family will mourn, but, uh… they’ll be able to move on.❞ ❝I just really want to hear my mom’s voice one more time.❞ ❝You’re a good kid. You’re gonna be great for the team.❞ ❝There’s got to be a price.❞ ❝One hundred years from today, they’ll meet you here. Till then, you’re alone.❞ ❝I hoped for less, but I expected more.❞ ❝______ was gonna let you off with an apology.❞ ❝Just give her some time.❞ ❝I’m gonna miss you.❞ ❝I won’t see you again.❞ ❝Have a little faith.❞ ❝This is only what I’ve found going back the last 150 years or so.❞ ❝When you think about how old you are, the good you’ve done for humanity becomes exponential.❞ ❝Maybe this is the why.❞ ❝It’s nearly impossible to disappear in the world we live in today.❞ ❝There are too many people like you who can bend it to your will. Too many with bad intentions.❞ ❝We don’t have all the answers, but we do have purpose.❞ ❝And you’re going to help us.❞ ❝When we leave a footprint in the sand, in the snow, in the ether, you’re going to sweep it.❞ ❝You’re going to protect us from those who want to put us in cages, and you’re gonna help us find those jobs that are best suited to us.❞ ❝She’s not asking.❞ ❝I’d be honored.❞ ❝Then let’s get to work.❞ ❝It’s nice to finally meet you.❞

[captainpikeachu]

Differences between The Old Guard film & Book 1 of the comics (and how I feel about the changes)

Long story short, I actually do prefer the film version of the story, as I think it makes for stronger character dynamics established upfront and for greater character growth and arcs throughout the story.

I’ll list the differences here and I will speak about how each of these changes I think affects the story we saw on film versus the one we got in the comics, and how these changes may play into character dynamics and arcs if a sequel film were to happen.

1. No Baklava tasting scene.

In the comics, the team meets up at some outside cafe to speak about meeting Copley and teases Andy a bit about her “hall of fame” of bed partners. In the film, we have the Baklava tasting scene when everyone meets up at the hotel. The big difference between these two scenarios is that in the comics, it is to set up the job, and to comment upon Andy’s rotating door of bed partners which we are shown over the opening narration. But the film forgoes to the more sexualized focus on Andy’s love life to explore and show visually the bond of these 4 immortals. Using the baklava tasting, we immediately establish the character personalities and dynamics of the team, making us more invested in this group and their bonds with each other - all without sexualizing Andy, in fact, there’s more than a few times in the comics where Andy’s love life gets randomly brought up, including Andy saying Nile’s brother is hot upon seeing his photo. The film thankfully decided to focus on the character dynamics instead.

2. In the comics, it’s Nicky and Andy who meet Copley instead of Booker and Andy. (also Booker and Andy’s dynamic)

This change in the film where we have Booker and Andy meeting Copley instead is a continuation of the film’s intention to highlight Booker and Andy’s close dynamic. In fact, it begins even earlier as the movie opens with Andy and Booker meeting up first and Andy giving Booker the first edition Don Quixote. And this continues throughout the film where Booker basically acts as Andy’s right hand man, and this dynamic remains even through Booker’s betrayal and in the ending scene where they part ways. The little change with a different character swap doesn’t seem very important until you see the whole film and realizes that a lot of hinges on selling the audience of Booker and Andy’s relationship and Booker’s love for the team. And this is where the film, aware of each character’s full arc, changes things around to make sure every scene in the film is used to push character arcs into the right resolution at the end.

3. Killbox scene - in comics, team is still standing on their feet. 

I noted upon reading the comics that when the team gets shot by the soldiers in that killbox ambush, the team are still on their feet, and Andy verbally signals “it’s our turn” before attacking. In the film, our team actually falls and dies, the soldiers then turn away from the group as the team regenerates and between a few shared gazes, wordlessly get up and attack. This is another indication of the film’s intention to SHOW not TELL. Through the visual language the film uses, we immediately not only see that our team can fall and die and the healing takes time and is not pleasant, but also that they move as a unit without so much as a word. And just like that baklava scene in the beginning of the movie, it builds up the team’s relationship and speaks to their years together without having to dump any exposition.

4. No Andy and Nile fight scene on the plane. (also Andy and Nile’s dynamic)

Not only does Nile not have a fight scene with Andy, for pretty much the entire run of Book 1, Nile really does not exhibit much agency beyond just following along with everyone else. Sure she asks questions and such, but her relationship with Andy is not built up much, and Nile seems to only be there because she’s got nowhere else to go, she seems to just serve as a plot point that happens and less as a character. The film, on the other hand, carefully crafts an arc for Andy and Nile to go on, culminating in Andy and Nile sharing that scene where Andy expresses that she now knows why Nile appeared when Andy lost her immortality. We see their relationship grow and change throughout the film, we see Nile react to Andy and eventually teaching Andy about how to live again. 

5. Nile does not meet Nicky and Joe before their kidnapping.

In the comics, Nile does not meet Nicky and Joe until the very end fight when they’re all escaping from Merrick’s place. Nile basically has no relationship with Nicky and Joe, barely even knows them, because when she comes to the safehouse with Andy, Nicky and Joe were already kidnapped. The film instead changes scenes around where Nile does return with Andy and meet the team, spends at least some time with them before Nicky and Joe get kidnapped. I tweeted to the director Gina Prince-Bythewood to ask her about the decision to have Nile meet Nicky and Joe before the attack on the safehouse, and she confirmed my belief that it was to establish a stronger family/team dynamic to the audience. After all, if your main cast of characters don’t even know each other’s names until literally the last act of the movie, it is very difficult to make the team/family dynamic believable. This change of having Nile knowing Nicky and Joe establishes Nile’s further relationship and attachment to the team, that they aren’t just two random strangers that she doesn’t even know. And it builds up this team of 5 so that when they do go on to escape from Merrick’s labs at the end, we are cheering for this team to kick ass together, rather than wondering why Nile would care to go rescue two strangers she’s never met.

6. Copley is not sympathetic.

Copley in the comics is not a sympathetic character. While he is not necessarily evil, there is no motivation of grief and loss that drives him to act the way he does. He basically bails on Merrick at the end out of self preservation. In the film, we know that Copley watched his wife die and that pushed him to wanting to create a cure to end suffering, his backstory mirrors Booker’s struggles, in turn creating sympathy for both characters. The fact that Copley in the film is still a decent person makes Booker betraying the team and working with Copley a more palatable and understandable choice, especially as Copley ends up helping Nile get to Merrick’s lab and even ends up serving as the team’s tech/eye-in-the-sky person. This change for Copley’s character serves as another aspect where the film took great care to focus on character motivations and arcs. Copley’s research at the end serves to give Andy a reason to keep fighting, thus helping Andy and the team complete their arcs where they started jaded and tired, but now ready to fight another day.

7. Booker shoots Andy and Nile in revelation of his betrayal.

In the comics, Nile is also there with Andy when Booker turns on them upon meeting up with Copley again. Booker shoots both of them and doesn’t really say much as Copley talks about why they’re doing this. Then Andy basically kills Booker, threatens Copley, and jumps out of a window with Nile and Booker. They get to a desert where Booker and Andy proceed to shoot each other again multiple times until Nile stops them and Booker tells them why he betrayed the team. This chain of events is obviously different in the film, and this difference sharply contrasts Booker and Andy’s relationship in the comics as opposed to what they are in the film. In the film, when Booker shoots Andy and she’s tied up, he keeps on trying to explain to her why he’s doing this, Andy’s reaction is pained and heartbroken, and Booker is too and later on panics when she won’t stop bleeding. When Merrick’s men arrive, he tries to get them to leave her alone and fights to get to her when they take them both. This change, along with Andy’s more touching reaction to finding Booker injured at the safehouse, paints a more deep and nuanced bond between the two of them. Instead of them just repeatedly yelling and shooting at each other, we actually get to see them talk, we see them being gentle and physically caring towards each other. This shows to an audience a relationship that feels deeper and more loving than the comics which seem almost colder in comparison. And this deep bond the film creates plays into both Andy and Booker’s character arcs at the end of the film upon their separation. Again, the film takes care to focus on character relationships, and allow those relationships to fully form and fully reach the resolution that befits the character arcs. 

8. Merrick is far more despicable and murderous. (also his doctor character is toned down)

Merrick in the comics is literally psychotic. He not only stabs Joe once, but multiple times, and proceeds to do the same to Nicky. And he constantly talks about wanting to hurt them and takes pleasure in it. Merrick in the film is not only smaller in stature than his buff comics counterpart, he’s also less physically violent. Sure he stabbed Joe because he wanted to see the evidence himself and he’s hardly that caring about ethics, but he still seems like an otherwise normal if not just simply greedy CEO type, not psychotic serial murderer type. This difference in toning down the character ultimately I think serves the film better because as Copley is more sympathetic, having him work with someone who is clearly and obviously behaving like a murdering lunatic would be really hard to swallow. This toning down of characters also happens with the doctor. In the comics, Doctor Ivan is basically just stated to not care about ethics, while Doctor Kozak in the film does share a talk about ethics and morality with Nicky where she says she believes they can be used to save the world. Again, the film seems intent on giving every character an understandable motivation, even among the villains of the story, which grounds the film in a feeling of reality, because no one is so outlandishly just being an evil mustache twirling villain. This change also produces some possible loose ends for the film’s sequel, as while the comics version of the doctor is dead, the film version only got whacked on the head by Nile, not outright killed so she may pop back up again in the sequel.

9. Nile does not get her solo fight.

In the comics, because Nile escapes from Copley with Andy and Booker, she returns with them to go find Nicky and Joe at Merrick’s place in Dubai. So she is never actually on her own at all in the comics. As I spoke about before, Nile’s character in the comics just tagged along, never really getting to come into her own. There is really no arc for Nile, whereas the film did the opposite. Because the film lets her have an arc, and lets her making the decision to join the team be something she comes to terms with on her own choice, this agency affords Nile growth that the comics doesn’t give her. Her solo fight is the culmination of her coming into her own power and acceptance. Once again, the film is consistent on ensuring that the characters change and grow and have arcs. This character building makes Nile a much more interesting and complex character than one note. Nile also gets to kill Merrick while protecting Andy and mirroring the plane moment from earlier in the film, while in the comics, everyone kills Merrick together. That moment in the comics did not serve the narrative catharsis that Nile taking out Merrick did.

10. Andy is mortal.

In the comics, Andy starts immortal and jaded, and ends the story really not much changed at all. Other than defeating a villain, you really don’t get the feeling that she’s changed from the experience. There is no revelation of her purpose, she just kinda does what she has to do, even if that means threatening an old woman. Andy in the film clearly starts out feeling lost in her purpose, but gradually through Nile’s joining of the team and Booker’s betrayal and her own mortality, she starts to see what her purpose is and wanting to be alive again. The scene of Andy at the store with the employee who helps bandage her up doesn’t exist in the comics because Andy is not mortal, therefore there is no sudden questioning of why, of re-evaluating her feelings about humanity. But the film takes the time to make Andy confront this, forces Andy to not only face it but learn from it. This change not only gives the story more stakes, but also allows Andy to have a character arc that affords her growth and an answer to her opening narration. It also makes Nile more than a plot point and her joining the team be an important narrative that makes an important change.

11. We never see Joe and Nicky’s reaction to Booker’s betrayal.

In the comics, because Andy and Booker never gets captured, when the team meets back up together, Nicky and Joe has no idea of the betrayal. And we never see them find out because after they kill Merrick, the next scene is them exiling Booker. In the film however, we do see Joe reacting angrily to Booker, we once again get a look into their dynamic and Booker pointing out how Nicky and Joe always had each other, meanwhile Nicky is trying to calm Joe down to stop him from saying something that he might regret later. This change is a further way that this film builds upon the established character dynamics. We as the audience see their reactions, see their humanity, and see them behave as a family would when feeling betrayal. But also that Andy has changed from that jaded tired person into someone ready to fight again when she tells Booker that they’ve been doing a shitty job of living and he needs to get up and stop wallowing in his self pity and pain. This makes their separation hit harder at the end because there are real emotions on all sides. Like all families, feelings can be complicated but there is also care and love. At the end, we see Booker nod to Joe as they all leave, signaling that despite the anger and chasm between them right now, they are still family. The film once again reorients the story to focus on character relationship, on selling the audience this familial bond, because if we don’t believe in it, then Booker’s redemption falls apart, and the film in many ways falls apart.

12. Noriko and Lykon.

Now the obvious change here is casting. Noriko is Japanese in the comics and her film counterpart Quynh is played by a Vietnamese actress. And Lykon is white in the comics whereas in the film he is portrayed by a Black actor. In the comics, Noriko fell overboard during a storm. In the film, due to budget constraints, they went with her being dropped into the ocean locked in an iron maiden. In the comics, Lykon spent over 2000 years with Andy before he died during the Renaissance, meaning he would have met Nicky and Joe. In the film and the history clips that Netflix posted, Lykon died before Nicky and Joe were immortal. Obviously with Lykon, it ultimately does not affect the story either way since he is dead, it’s just clearly the film changed the years he spent with Andy to avoid any confusions and to make things a little more simple in streamlining the team’s history. But the change with Noriko/Quynh is a much bigger thing. Firstly, character motivation - it’s one thing to be lost during a storm and another thing to be purposefully locked into an iron coffin and left in the ocean to suffer. This difference could make the difference between how Noriko reacts to Andy and the team in the comics, and how Quynh will react to everyone in the film. Secondly, because of the way the film presents Andy and Booker’s bond and especially now with Andy’s mortality, which the comics does not have, this could spell a big divergence in what a sequel could do with Booker and Quynh’s interactions. Because Booker would still be guilty over Andy’s mortality, and he would be more reluctant to do anything that could hurt Andy and the team, leaving me to suspect that he is less likely to go towards a villain route in betraying the team again. Whatever Quynh may get him to do is likely going to be out of force/coercion, if Quynh’s intention is less than good.

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

So these are just some of the big differences that I feel like affects the story ultimately told in the comics and the film. I did enjoy Book 1 of the comic and I am planning to get Book 2 once the collection is out. But I think the film’s changes really made it a focus on enhancing the character relationships and allowing individual characters to have their own arcs of growth. The comic tells a great action fare. But the film’s changes effused more humanity into the characters in a way that I feel the comic lacked. The film also really make you question the issue of immortality and what it all means and how it effects people while the comic focused on more of the action adventure story with the immortality as more or less a tool than really a theme.

Ultimately, I think the changes in the film took what worked in the comics and really elevated the story.

[catatonic-writes]

Eyes - Gladius x Reader

Title: Eyes Summary: Dancing can be so intimate. You decide to dance with Gladius, because why the heck not? Relationship: Gladius x Reader (she/her) Warnings: - none - Prompt/AU: 120 words - 120 oneshots AO3 Link

You plunged the rest of the contents of your glass down your throat and let your gaze wander over the street festival. It was exuberant, cheerful mood on Dressrosa. People were dancing and loud music could be heard from every street corner. Colorful decorations hung from the street lamps and the children had colorful masks on to cover their faces. It was a mild, pleasant summer night. You were glad that you wore a v-cut dress up to the hem, otherwise you would probably sweat a lot. Sometimes the climate of Dressrosa was much too warm for you, but other days you were more than happy about the nice weather on this island. The screams and laughter of the children reached your ears, but as the evening grew late, the mothers dragged their little ones back into their houses and the streets emptied. The last three drinks had done their work in the sultry evening air and you felt free and light. You felt like celebrating, which had been waiting for you all day. With an ever improving mood you made your way through the winding alleys of Dressrosa, your dress waving lightly in the pleasant summer breeze.

You stumbled when two children ran past directly in front of you and lost your balance. As unexpectedly as the two boys had appeared from the small alley, you had to make an abrupt emergency stop and stumbled. You squint your eyes together, ready to make acquaintance with the cobblestones, but a hand lay under your back and saved you from a fall. Surprised, you opened your eyes and looked into the masked face of a Donquixote. You knew him by sight and as far as you could remember his name was Gladius. "Thank you!" you breathed to him, somewhat surprised at his sudden appearance. After a few seconds, you felt a little uncomfortable - was he planning on not letting you go? With big, questioning eyes, you looked up at your rescuer, who was still holding you. "Ehm-", you started, but at that moment he pulled you out of the horizontal position. Two steel-gray eyes stared at you, scrutinizing you extensively. "Thank you." You repeated yourself and smoothed your dress. Embarrassed, you brushed your hair from your face and gave him a smile. "You're celebrating, too?" "You could say so." the young man replied and you looked over to the street corner where a black-haired woman was dancing a wild flamenco. You were a good dancer, extremely good even - every man dreamed of being your partner. You were known throughout the city for your great talent in tango dancing - everyone knew your name. Maybe you should invite your savior for a quick dance? After all, almost all the people were already back in their homes, hardly any living toys were left in the city. The small square where you were standing was deserted. Only the small crowd close to the dancer on the corner was still cheering and celebrating. You nodded briefly in the direction of the musicians who were about to play a new piece and looked at the Don Quixote questioningly. He hesitated for a moment, but then took a step towards you.

The harsh tones of the guitar were heard and before you knew what was happening to you, the young man pulled you with a jerk and placed his hand on your waist, with the free one he grabbed yours. A seductive smile adorned your lips - no man had ever managed to resist you before. "Are you sure that you dare to do this?" you whispered to him and you saw the cheeky flash in his eyes. "I dance very passionately, you should know." "Good," he replied coolly. "So do I." Gladius whirled you around, wrapping his arm around your waist, and he pressed you a little closer. "So you want to dance tight." you breathed to him, and even through the mask you could feel his hot breath on your skin. "Does it bother you?" it came back teasingly and you laughed for a moment. Never in your life would you have thought that he was that kind of man! Until now you had always imagined him as a serious bore - but what was one of the golden rules on Dressrosa - at street festivals everything is allowed! Determined and energetic Gladius led and you followed his lead. Your footsteps became more and more narrow and your skin more and more frequently touched. He danced well, very well indeed. More and more a deep, erotic tension built up between the two of you. Again and again he pulled you close to his upper body and let his hands move over your body. Tango was your element. The rhythmic, pure movements quickly created a connection between strangers, a tension. And although you had never met Gladius before, you were an absolutely perfect dancing couple. Every step was perfect, every movement was as if you had practiced it for weeks. Rarely had you danced with someone who suited you so well. The world around you disappeared, only his steel-grey eyes kept you balanced. You got more and more out of breath as he picked up the tempo further and further. He pulled you along, spinning you with an impressive lightness and catching you after a pirouette with a natural ease, as if you were light as a feather. You were thoroughly impressed by his skills and gave him an admiring smile. How long have you been dancing? You could not say. You stared spellbound into his eyes, which were the color of a light gray. Neither of you wanted to break eye contact, so you stared at each other as if hypnotized, until Gladius grabbed you by the waist and pressed you against the next stone wall. A startled sigh came over your lips as he pressed you against the wall with his body and came closer and closer to you. "Had enough dancing?" you asked breathlessly and brushed some stray strands from your face. "Are you tired already?" With a quick movement he pulled the mask from his mouth and leaned towards you, covering your mouth with his.