#sulemio vs. destiel

[paxesoterica]

List of Personal Highlights from the Sulemio vs. Destiel Poll

Happy Suletta Sunday! In celebration of both the G-Witch victory last week in the Sulemio vs. Destiel poll and my upcoming birthday, I decided to organize a list of notable highlights (for me at least) from the event so that they can be revisited without having to scroll through 18K+ notes (also included are some posts separate from the poll but related to it).

Links are divided between memes (self-explanatory), art (fan art excluding memes, such as drawings, custom gunpla, and poetry), data (such as histories and statistics), and shameless self-promotion (anything I personally contributed, separated because I wanted to go into detail).

While I opted to include some bits of kayfabe/posturing/saber-rattling i.e. challenges made in an over-the-top/not-serious manner, I didn't link to any of the actual heated arguments that emerged during the poll, regardless of which side I agreed with. Unfortunately, this means there isn't any pro-Destiel propaganda in the list, since for whatever reason, arguments and casual insults were the only things offered. To pay respects to the vanquished then, I offer this:

https://archive.org/details/JenTitusOhDeathSupernaturalOSTFullSong - "O Death", sung by Jen Titus, was originally offered as a free download as a Season 5 promo on the official Supernatural website, and has now been preserved by your friend and mine, the Internet Archive. Good addition to a Halloween playlist.

And now, on with the list!

Memes

https://sapphicselene.tumblr.com/post/750334061001736192/this-is-it-boys-this-is-where-you-boys-grow-up - Statement advocating voting for Sulemio. A seamless looped gif of tank driving from Girls und Panzer.

https://lexingt0n.tumblr.com/post/750515914588438528 - MMORPG meme about Suletta winning tournaments. That little blocks knocking down large blocks chain of events meme featuring Suletta's promise not to lose duels leading to the events of the poll.

https://www.tumblr.com/rdmaaron/750826628142202880/whats-honestly-funnysurprising-to-me-is-that - Meme of Miorine urging people to invest in Sulemio stocks.

https://strawberry-starstruck.tumblr.com/post/750955995182825472/all-hail-our-new-space-lesbian-overlords-the - Destiel news meme interrupted by Aerial and Suletta (warning: some blood).

https://www.tumblr.com/alphajaye071/750567808166985728 - Meme featuring Utena Tenjou and her teacher as Sulemio and Destiel respectively.

https://www.tumblr.com/incoherent-orca/750650851349200896 - Multiple instances of the GUND stocks with Miorine meme to commemorate the poll reaching 69,420 votes.

https://www.tumblr.com/pisfool/750604772606918656/but-i-do-have-the-fact-that-i-am-the-original - Video promoting Suletta Sundays.

https://www.tumblr.com/the-eeveekins/750614460006367232/templates-for-both-versions - Sulemio news meme template.

https://anachronistrocketeer.tumblr.com/post/750504949128085504 - Parody of the Destiel news meme, with Suletta and Aerial responding in place of Dean.

https://www.tumblr.com/alphajaye071/750965871770468353/woohoo-happy-suletta-sunday-everyone - Meme featuring Anthy Himemiya vs. Nanami Kiryuu's friends as Sulemio and Destiel respectively (from a scene which, in turn, references an infamous scene from Mobile Suit Gundam '79).

https://lotus-3dart.tumblr.com/post/750963665459691520/the-girls-did-it - Meme video of Suletta hurling a giant energy sphere at Dean and Castiel (I believe it's a Dragon Ball Z reference, see below).

https://but-a-humble-goon.tumblr.com/post/750735354875805697 - Meme of a scene from Dragon Ball Z featuring Goku as Sulemio.

https://fireprincesslily.tumblr.com/post/750978007676682240/combining-my-love-for-wrestling-with-my-love-for - Meme featuring pro-wrestling with Sulemio vs. Destiel.

Art

https://hibiscus-ships.tumblr.com/post/750923769121554433/gundam-fans-grab-your-backlogs - Video of a wedding-themed custom Aerial gunpla. Photographs of Suletta gunpla dressed as Utena Tenjou from Revolutionary Girl Utena and a Chuchu-themed custom Demi Trainer. Videos on gunpla diorama construction.

https://incoherent-orca.tumblr.com/post/750501055681413120 - Sulemio art by the G-Witch staff.

https://incoherent-orca.tumblr.com/post/750341224176795648/did-they-even-hug-the-artbook-though - Anime scenes and G-Witch staff art of Miorine being clingy with Suletta.

https://elioherondale.tumblr.com/post/750419275455627264/the-traveler-yet-walks-onwards-towards-a-shining - Destiel-themed parody of Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem, "Ozymandias".

https://xxsiegeubsessedxx.tumblr.com/post/750615446013853696/you-arent-immune-to-lesbians - Parody art of an old U.S. army recruitment poster, with Suletta urging people to vote Sulemio.

https://knockknockitsnickels.tumblr.com/post/750861564977020928/suletta-miorine-redraws-of-iconic-char - Art of Suletta and Miorine re-enacting iconic Char Aznable scenes (which themselves frequently get memed).

https://bace-jeleren.tumblr.com/post/750587225223446529/i-couldnt-help-myself-i-had-to-make-some-art-to - Art of Suletta and Miorine dressed as Dean and Castiel respectively.

https://verraise.tumblr.com/post/751019430886178816/congratulations-to-my-ship-of-all-timeeeee - Sulemio/G-Witch merch collection and display.

https://kaban-bang.tumblr.com/post/750956121635880960 - Art redraw of an infamous scene from the comic Invincible, with Suletta in place of Mark Grayson (warning: lots of blood).

Data

https://www.tumblr.com/sodasa-was-taken/750973801504899072/also-of-note-is-that-by-round-3-sulemio-already - Poll statistics and commentary.

https://tamaotamamura.tumblr.com/post/750607299417096192/its-a-ghost-from-the-2010s-sleep-well-grandpa - Commentary on the poll by Korean and Japanese Sulemio fans.

https://www.tumblr.com/amalgamasreal/750665351494238208/bringing-this-back-for-the-people-who-want-to-talk - Photographs of a 2023 Pride parade in Warsaw, Poland, in which a large sign featuring Suletta Mercury was displayed.

https://gurrenprime.tumblr.com/post/750402869030797313/11-life-size-gundam-transforms - Brief overview of the history of Mobile Suit Gundam in general, and The Witch from Mercury in particular. Three examples of popular memes Gundam has inspired. Two videos showcasing lifesize animatronic Gundam statues.

https://www.tumblr.com/littlegaygirly/750420814002798592/my-space-lesbians - Analysis on Suletta's and Miorine's relationship.

https://incoherent-orca.tumblr.com/post/750415682315993088 - Linguistics lesson involving the Korean localization of The Witch from Mercury.

https://www.tumblr.com/osakanone/750482397445931008/update - Extensive notes on fandom history, the queerness (both textual and subtextual) of Gundam, and fanworks as lost media.

https://www.tumblr.com/matrixdragon/750803839916097536/it-had-no-right-to-be-as-fun-as-it-was-and-had - Data on previous poll numbers for Sulemio. Photographs of the Yokohama Gundam Factory closing ceremony. Descriptions of many other Gundam shows.

https://smoltron.tumblr.com/post/750709653103689728/1991s-getter-robo-go-manga-is-also-a-very-direct - Discussion of Gundam history in particular and mecha history in general, with mentions of Neon Genesis Evangelion and Getter Robo Go.

https://touchoffleece.tumblr.com/post/750932621568163841/for-others-who-might-want-to-see-the-actual - Brief overview of why Suletta and Miorine are significant to Gundam history. Video of the Yokohama Gundam Factory closing ceremony.

https://www.tumblr.com/thelastbigkat/750687982920581120/gundams-impact-can-be-felt-not-only-in-the-things - Discussion of media that influenced Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury, poll statistics, and mecha RPGs.

https://sharkbatez.tumblr.com/post/750917362328518656/now-for-some-psa-in-asia-marriage-equality-is - Memes about the match-up based on the first duel between Guel and Suletta. PSA concerning marriage equality in Asia.

Shameless Self-Promotion

https://paxesoterica.tumblr.com/post/750322033801510912/hail-destiel-fans-know-that-you-have-my

Some kayfabe I wrote toward the beginning; it's a micro-history of the G-Witch fandom, with a declaration of our will to win, written with my best impression of a hot-blooded super robot pilot who is also a pretentious Shakespearean nerd. Someone noted that I sound a yuri town crier, a compliment I appreciate.

https://paxesoterica.tumblr.com/post/750465124605870080/the-sulemio-japan-tour - Masterlist of all videos relating to the Sulemio Japan Tour skits (with bonus trips to the orbit of Mercury and New York City).

https://paxesoterica.tumblr.com/post/750561169104928768/hail-again-destiel-fans-our-duel-has-reached-its

Second and last bit of kayfabe I wrote (in the same voice as the previous piece); I offered examples of some over-the-top insults that both the show and fandom of G-Witch have received. This bit of writing was compared to both Mashymre Cello from Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ and Urianger Augurelt from Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, and I honestly don't know either character well enough to know how I should feel about that. ?_?

https://paxesoterica.tumblr.com/post/750485058864005120/well-yeah - An example of my extremely dubious sense of humor.

https://paxesoterica.tumblr.com/post/750579878836011008/eh-you-want-some-soup-wellwere-enemies-right - Another example of my extremely dubious sense of humor, soup edition. I am in no way responsible for making the video.

https://paxesoterica.tumblr.com/post/750765994169040896 - Video of Suletta and Miorine dancing in a parody of Yakuza 0. Again, no responsibility for creating the video, but I think both the various 3d cgi and gunpla stop motion animated videos G-Witch fans have created are very impressive (and more people should check them out).

https://paxesoterica.tumblr.com/post/750956102760398848 - A set of screenshots with slightly modified dialogue from the first episode of the anime Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury, followed by a bit of fan animation that still makes me laugh everytime I see it. This post seems to have been well received, and I'm glad because it was a pain in the neck to make, and I considered giving up a couple times before I completed it.

I wanted to be ready with an appropriate tribute in the event that Sulemio won (which I did not take for granted until it was actually over), and knew that I wanted to include the Suletta emoting video as part of it.

All of the 'who are these girls' questions reminded me of Vim Jeturk's reaction in the first episode, so that was the basis for me including that particular scene.

Unfortunately, I only settled on these ideas a couple days before the poll's end, during which I had no access to my computer, and thus had to do everything, from taking screenshots, to adding in altered dialogue, to struggling to remember my password for the website since the app has a 10 image posting limit, to looking for the correct storage file for the images, on my phone. Quite the experience, but not a recommended one.

The shot with the feathers and light rays was included as an allusion to Castiel's angelic nature.

Hannigram and Ineffable Husbands were named because, like Destiel, they're live action mlm ships (albeit much more difficult opponents, much like the corresponding princes in the show).

I wasn't quite sure what lines would match Suletta's expressions, but then I remembered the oldtype Gundam fan saying, "It is always correct to take pot shots at Bandai", and things worked out from there.

The exact wording of Miorine's final line gave me a bit of trouble, but I'm happy with what I came up with.

Whew! Hope some folks out there find this list useful, and in any event, have a good rest of your weekend.

[tunaculosis]

I think it's very fascinating that, back to back, we have had a pair of what I want to call system shocks on tumblr.

The first wave was the beef between Kendrick and Drake. The beef reached truly titanic levels in order to breach containment and reach our shores in any real way. What was then immediately revealed is that a very loud (if not actually numerous) portion of the tumblr userbase is not simply ignorant of rap music, but proudly so, and not just proudly so, but ignorant of it in ways that have become stereotypes of rap critics. Accusations of violence, misogyny, and difficulty of understanding it were particularly visible to me. With a side helping of racism. The response to this was twofold: tumblr users either got into some damn funny fights when idiots doubled down on their ignorance, or they were curious and we got some damn good recommendations.

The second event was this week: The AO3 Ship Bracket finals: Destiel vs Suletta. The strongest yaoi of the past vs the strongest yuri of today. As Sulemio tore through the polls, again this trend emerged! Deeply incurious, proudly ignorant people parroting criticisms of anime that have become stereotypes anime fans repeat to make fun of critics! Accusations of sexualization, misogyny, and obscurity were particularly visible to me. With a side helping of racism. And then, just like last time, people split off into two camps. The first was idiots without any actual knowledge of Gundam showing up to crow about Destiel like the franchise isn't older than some of their parents. The second was some really good recommendation threads with people willing to learn (just start on Witch From Mercury, it's fine, then maybe watch The Origin or something, other people have better recs than me).

I think it's really interesting that tumblr's userbase has been exposed for being really inflexible and driven into a rut in its fandom spaces. And defensively so. I think that expanding your horizons is good for you for a lot of reasons, but avoiding looking like a jackass on tumblr is a really good incentive, I think.

[incoherent-orca]

nothing important after all

*read from left to right

**image descriptions under the cut

[image description: a short comic of Suletta Mercury and Miorine Rembran from the anime Gundam: the Witch From Mercury. image 1 shows Miorine looking at her phone in confusion and then smiling smugly at it in the next panel. she is then shown getting up out of bed, and ends up at a door, calling for Suletta excitedly to tell her what she found. her dialogue reads: "Suletta, look! we won!" the rest of her dialogue becomes gibberish scribbles. image 2 shows Suletta's hands transplanting a tomato plant with a gardening spade, and a closeup of her face from the nose up, eyes wide as she notices Miorine. image 3 is simply of Suletta kneeling in a tomato garden, spade in hand, backlit by the warm yellow light of the sun. she says: "what did we win, Ms. Miorine?". the 4th and last image is two panels of Miorine from the shoulders up, leaning against the doorframe. at first her mouth is slightly open and she appears surprised or awed. in the second panel her eyes and mouth flatten a into a soft, tender smile at Suletta. below her, their dialogue continues. Miorine: "Ah... it was nothing." Suletta: "Eh? But you were so excited! I want to know why my wife made such a cute face <3". Miorine: "I wasn't—! It's just a silly poll, nevermind." The remaining dialogue from Suletta is gibberish/scribbles. end ID]

[vyriadurav]

Lmao, okay sure, like one of the biggest mecha series of all time owes anything to an American queerbaiting series. Ya, alright. Nevermind that like it's absurd to think that Destiel has any impact on a YURI couple, who canonically get married, and who feature in GUNDAM, whereas I'd imagine outside of the West nobody knows jack shit about Supernatural. If anything, Destiel shippers probably owe something to Gundam and the whole Char/Amuro shippers or any of the other mlm ships that Gundam spawned. SuleMio deserve to win because they are wonderful women IN LOVE who get married and who save the day. What do they owe to a pair of white guys from one of the most infamous bait series in Western media? Jack shit lmao

[touchoffleece]

A collection of hashtags from the Sulemio vs Destiel event that tickled my funny bone (pt 2)

Edit: I kept feeling a disturbance in the force and I finally figured out why. I forgot one of my favorite screenshots:

edit 2: I found this one from earlier today iirc it was too long to get the name in the screenshot and I forgot the name of the user but very relatable

[cseni-bean]

Wishing victyuri to Tumblr new top ship with this drawing I never got a chance to post before

Suletta and Miorine sweep baybeeee 65.2% that ain't shit

[amalgamasreal]

Sulemio "News Template"

Going off another post decided to try my hand at making a template to compete with the classic Destiel News Meme, so here's the template:

or:

Tried my hand at it a couple of times:

[larena]

In honour of their victory. Template under the read more

[bace-jeleren]

This is so funny

Literally beating their ass since hour one, you love to see it!

[toweringclam]

To the Destiel die-hards

[ghitathepanda]

The biggest impact the Sulemio vs Destiel poll would be if something major happened in the real world right after the end ala Reigen vs Sans

[ladyloveandjustice]

Also I need to give my biggest apology for saying "anime famously does well with white people, so this would be like claiming white bias if an anime ship was losing" because the chaos around the sulemio poll proves I've overestimated my fellow whites again, they absolutely will cry reverse racism if an anime ship is winning against white boys, that is the level of whiteness we are on.

TBH I should have known better I've been in anime fandom for so many years, I'm aware of how ridiculously racist white anime fans themselves are about the people who create the media they love, it was nonsense to think tumblr was immune from that.

[syd-beads4evac]

In light of the Sulemio poll, I’d like to share my recreation of Miorine’s earrings! 50% goes to help my sister’s friend’s family in Rafah!

[paxesoterica]

https://ohtori.nu/audiology/albums/02/07_Magic_Lantern_Butterfly.html

I thought it was a bit too mean-spirited to post at the time, but if I had to sum up the Sulemio vs. Destiel poll with a Revolutionary Girl Utena duel song, it would have to be Gentouchouga Juuroku Seiki a.k.a. Magic Lantern Butterfly Moth 16th Century.

[mllejacquesnoel]

SuleMio girlies (inclusive) and Destiel converts!

If you want to get into Gundam, awesome, I have a list. That’s not this post. (Please hold.). But if you just want the gay lineage of SuleMio as a ship—

Obviously SuleMio is a Gundam Red/White ship and that tracks back to Char/Amuro from First, so the watch order there is First (0079 TV or film cuts, Zeta, ZZ, and Counterattack + Hathaway for Their Child). I’d actually argue that Miorine tracks more onto Garma so SuleMio is a Red/Purple ship where the purple actually lives (and there is no White) but. That’s a bit of a hot take. But if you like that aspect for their dynamic, The Origin is right there and Yasuhiko has said you can fully consider it a BL if you want.

For shoujo influences— GWitch’s first episode is pretty much a beat for beat send up of the first 20 minutes of the Adolescence of Utena (1999), which is a canonical rehash of the first episode of Revolutionary Girl Utena (1997). And if you’re into that, you should 100% look into Sailor Moon S (a lot of the creative team for SMS went on to Utena), Oniisama E…, The Rose of Versailles, and the works of Riyoko Ikeda, Moto Hagio, Keiko Takemiya, Yuu Asagiri, and Yasuko Aoike generally. The authors mostly deal in BL, but that’s because that’s how you did queer themes in the 60s-80s in shoujo manga due to heightened scrutiny of women’s media. While you can trace the “princely woman” trope to Tezuka and Princess Knight, it found its own with Ikeda and the Rose of Versailles (and later Oniisama E…).

And for folks who are already Otaku of all of the above, read Mishima Yukio’s Beautiful Star. Mishima is like the equivalent of Fitzgerald when it comes to a Japanese HS lit syllabus but it’s absurd the impact that particular novel has had on this really weird sub-genre of content.

[touchoffleece]

A collection of hashtags from the Sulemio vs Destiel event that tickled my funny bone (pt 1)

As I said I would @runningheadless part 1 of the post I refered to. I plan to share part 2 (which will be less laughing at posts and feelgood posts I found while scrolling the g witch and sulemio tag) as a wrap up since the poll happens to end on Suletta/Sulemio Sunday(s) tomorrow.