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princeofheartclasspects · 2 years

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This might seem a little irregular, but how would... you go about making a Prince of Space? I've read through everything, and I'm simply not getting the concept at all, I think. Might be the Time player in my brain, haha. If you've got a classpect analysis up your sleeve, or perhaps moreso, an example? Would be much appreciated! Thank you.,

Hmmm, that’s a tough question. Honestly the way I make characters is super self-indulgent and making them in a bubble with no story attached essentially, though I did have a Prince of Space fan troll many, many years ago. Space is one of the aspects I struggled a lot to understand, just never quite felt like I had a good definition of it. I feel like I know enough now to answer this kind of thing though! I’ll delve specifically into making one for this post and do an analysis as a bonus because I had a lot of fun with this. Space is cool. I’ll bring up things in the comic a fair amount as well as talk about Jade, Calliope, and Kanaya to give some examples to show what exemplifies Space.

So, let’s talk about the aspect of Space before delving into the class/aspect relationship. The Extended Zodiac tells us that Space is primarily concerned with the big picture, seeing things from an overall perspective, and focusing on the overview. They are said to be patient and said to pick their battles wisely – that makes me think that they’re disciplined and focused. They are primarily concerned with the things that they believe truly matter or at least have a better chance of going their way. They conserve that energy to build it towards something productive. ‘Taking things as they come’ paint a composed and relaxed approach to the unexpected, and an understanding that things aren’t set in stone and are liable to change.

Space correlates to creating rather than making. It’s the purpose of fulfillment, a genuine love for the thing they’re creating. Let’s say you’re painting, and accidentally spill a glob in the worst spot possible. You might feel that the whole thing is ruined and may scrap it entirely, but a Space player would likely roll with it and find a way to make it work! They enjoy the process, not particularly stressed over how it’ll turn out, just if they have fun! It specifically states that they’re innovators, and recycle the old to make new, fresh, and beautiful things.

Space gets tied to fashion a lot, which, is neat. But it’s also your straight up physical form! Calliope shows this a lot, putting extensive work into her trollsona cosplay but also inspiring Jade and Jane to have trollsonas too! Jade has her wardrobifier changing the appearance of her symbol, as well as her being a massive furry and ending up a dog-girl when she god-tiers, as well as Kanaya having a passion for rainbowdrinkers – becoming the exact thing she idealized later in the comic!

Space also has ties to isolation and loneliness, but to say it’s just that is a bit of an oversimplification (as Jade says as much to Davepetasprite.) Going through that allows the Space player to be more connected and understanding of their aspect – but it’s hard and not an easy thing to endure. Through Jade, Kanaya, and Calliope we see that it’s a recurring theme. They’re all isolated in some way, Jade having physical distance due to her being on an island, Kanaya for having numerous unusual and unique traits that set her apart from her own kind (“one of the few of your kind” is brought up FOUR TIMES in her introduction.), and of course, Calliope. Calliope’s interests and personality is an oddity amongst her kind, and she is also by far, the most distanced of the Space players. Alone on a desolate planet, with her godawful brother who she can’t directly talk to. She at least was able to talk to the alpha kids but then she was faced with extreme loneliness after her death. Forced to sit and wait for who knows how long before someone came to talk to her. Alt!Calliope takes this to another degree, having never interacted with anyone but Caliborn her whole life – that distance and loneliness makes her the most connected to her aspect.

Creation is a core theme of Space, complimenting Time’s theme of destruction. That’s shown with the assigned duties of the Space player – frog-breeding and the creation of the Genesis Frog. It is the nurturing of life itself and reproduction. That aspect of Space particularly shines through with Kanaya, with her lusii being an extraordinarily rare Virgin Mother Grub whose purpose is that when her death inevitably comes – the matriorb is to be extracted from her and kept to hatch into a Mother Grub who will birth trolls. Creation of life itself! There are also the ties of cultivating and fostering life with Jade’s gardening hobby as well as Kanaya’s landscaping hobby – Kanaya also cultivated an entire oasis for her hive in the middle of the desert.

Now that we’ve touched on aspect quite a bit, let’s move to talking about class. Princes usually do not have a great relationship with their aspect, being adversarial at worst or lukewarm at best, at least at the start of their journey. Even a true Prince likely won’t be super thrilled about their aspect but they come to accept its purposes and use and why it cannot be destroyed entirely. But why might the Prince be rejecting Space? They could still have interest in Space, and that distinctive creative drive and sharp intuition- yet they are rejecting it. They may even be misread as a Time player, but that isn’t right.

Space shapes their world view and values, even if they try to deny and push away from it. So, what might be the reasons for the rejection? Confusion? Fear? Insecurity? Societal pressure? Are they frightened by the vastness of Space and aware of the distance and loneliness that comes with coming to understand it? Or you could play it straight and have the Prince actively discourage creativity and imagination. It all depends! There just needs to be some form of conflict between the Prince and something pertaining to the core aspects of Space.

And just as a quick condense of things tied to Space: Creation, Beginnings, Destiny, the Practical, Physical Space, Physics, Parenthood, what is Tangible, Art, Physical Appearance, Isolation.

I’ve recently been going back-and-forth with ghosting and still am trying to piece together what I think about it so for now we’ll skip over ghosting. Ultimately though, the Prince needs to understand the balance of their aspect. They don’t have to love every part of Space, they can still hate those certain parts that drive them up a wall - but understand that it exists for a REASON. They need to carve away the excess, what isn’t necessary. Only then can their aspect be properly utilized, and with truly devasting effects. Prince of Space is a wild offense class, there’s some absolutely insane feats of raw destruction they are capable of.

As far as examples of a Prince of Space goes… I struggled to think of a solid one so I initially said Superintendent Evil in the episode The Inquisition from the Amazing World of Gumball. That’s an example of a Prince of Space focused on the destruction of imagination and creativity itself… But in the middle of the analysis post for Prince of Space I had a more solid one come to mind. Deidara from Naruto! He has some traits of an egotistical Prince, being arrogant and prideful. But his most distinctive trait is his love of art. He uses his art, clay sculptures, as bombs to destroy whatever or whoever is in his way. Deidara holds the belief that "art" is the moment in which something that has form is destroyed – fitting for a creatively-driven Prince of Space! Here’s examples of his powers in action!

I’ll have the analysis post up soon but I hope this helped a little!

#space #prince of space

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bogkeep · 3 years

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theo’s tarot collection

hi hello i suffer from a terrible ailment called I Keep Acquiring New Tarot Decks Even Though I Am A Tarot Newbie.... so i figured i could do a little writeup about my decks if anyone is interested in that :’) basically i started doing tarot in 2019 because i couldn’t get a hold of a therapist (i was put on a year long waitlist WAHOO) so i basically. self-medicated with tarot readings hahaha. i had a friend who gave me a lot of really good advice and had done some readings for me before who felt immensely comforting. the way i read them is like... it allows you to confront your situation and your emotions through a new angle, but you gotta be brave enough to do it - or ask someone to do it for you. it can be a really intense but also cathartic experience. it’s not for everyone! but i like it. i still consider myself a novice and still learning so i am not in ANY way trying to paint myself as a Knowledgabl Tarot Witch - in a perfect timeline that’s who i wish i was, but i’m ultimately just some guy with a solid appreciation for art and personal growth.

ANYWAY... onto my DECKS (the tumblr post will probably squish the quality outta my photos so i’m gonna link the URLs for Full View)

Children of Litha by Alexandria Huntington

i consider this my main and first deck (i am NOT counting the official homestuck deck i bought as a teen just because i wanted to look at the art. no offense to the homestuck deck i’m just not gonna use fandom decks)! i picked it out but my Tarot Friend gifted it to me... i think it’s a very good starter deck for me personally, and it’s the deck i’ve bonded with and used the most. i even put a fancy sticker on the box as part of the bonding process. i always feel so bad for all of my other decks because i haven’t been able to dedicate as much time for them as i have this one... so it’s definitely the deck i go to for the most accurate readings for myself. Vibes and Thematic Coherence: the art in this is so beautiful and elegant. the symbolism more or less draws on the classic smith-waite deck, but redrawn for its theme. i like that it has a very consistent imagery! out of the major arcana, the fool is the only fully human character - every other character is part animal in some way or other. then the suit of swords depicts birds, winged insects and the air element, coins depict ungulates and equines and earth, wands has felines and canines and fiery imagery, and cups has fish and creatures of and in the sea. the court cards have humans. the suit symbols are always depicted consistently, as white silhouettes. there are also two extra cards: the all and the void. Pamphlet: the reason i think this was a good starter deck is because both because the art feels very intuitive about what it depicts (to me, at least), the descriptions in the pamphlet describe what is happening and why the artist chose this motif for this card. it has honestly helped me remember the meanings a lot, because i’ll be reading the other decks and be like “oh that’s the octopus card i know what the octopus card is about”. there are also little poems next to the main descriptions that work as a pretty solid tl;dr for the core meanings. i also like that the court cards are referred to in the sense of like... a knight is “a young person with masculine energy” rather than “a young man”. it feels more fluid and vibe-y about gender than traditional decks ya feel. on a range from Abstract to Directness this one feels like it sits pretty comfortable in the middle, maybe leaning on Abstractness. it has always given me gentle instructions and advice.

Cardfeel: the cards are very smooth and nice with gold edges. the cards are not NOT solid, but i wish they had been a little thicker because i’m always afraid i’m going to accidentally damage them - but that’s probably a feeling i have about most of my possessions tbh!! i think they’re a good size, too, at least for my small hands. they’re more on the long/slender side so they are good for me to shuffle. i also like the box, it’s a hard flip box with a magnet. i think u can’t go wrong with that. this is the deck i’ve travelled with the most (did u know hotel beds are the best tarot reading spaces. for some reason they just Work). The Spacious Tarot by Annie Ruygt and Carrie Mallon

this is one i really like a lot and want to use more! i absolutely adore the concept of it, but it’s a little harder for me to read than the Litha one. Vibes and Thematic Coherence: this one is like!!! it’s about the open space and the quietness. the vibes are IMMACULATE. the cards aren’t filled to the brim with happenstance and symbolism, but they each feel like a little refuge. very meditative. i also like that the court cards are not gendered at all - there is no page, knight, queen and king, but rather child, explorer, guardian and elder. i am really into that, especially as steps of mastery of their suit. i do think that this deck is probably easier to read if you’re more experienced with tarot meanings and symbolisms, because the illustrations aren’t necessarily that intuitive. Pamphlet: i haven’t read through this one very much, but i think it’s more on the abstract side of the Abstract to Direct scale. it might just feel like that because it describes what the card symbolizes without drawing much on what the card depicts - it is generally a pretty abstract and meditative deck. i like it for what it is! but it’s harder for me to read than my main Litha deck. Cardfeel: there’s something about the cardfeel i wish was different. they’re perfectly ok cards, they’re smooth and not too thin, but i still wish they had had more heft or something. while the cards fit very well into my hands i think maybe they could’ve been Larger to emphasize their motifs of openness and space. or texture. or gilded edges. i really don’t know what i want. the box however is very good and easy to open and use!! never underestimate a good box.

Tarot of the Divine by Yoshi Toshitani

this is a deck i Had To Get because i knew the artist was working on it and i was always Planning To... it is not a deck i use very often but i absolutey adore it. you can also get it with an accompanying fairytale book, i thought i had ordered that but i was Wronge. Vibes and Thematic Coherency: it depicts motifs and characters from stories, myths, and fairytales from a vast variety of cultures. it’s AMAZING. the art is so clean and crisp and i was VERY EXCITED to find a card drawing on a sami story (page of coins)! i don’t have a lot to say except that yoshi yoshitani has done some incredible work on this. Pamphlet: while i do not have the Fairytale Book edition, the pamphlet is really super nice because it shows pictures of the cards, lists what story it depicts and where the story is from, gives a short description for how this scene or character embodies the card. it then lists some of the Card Characteristics beneath. very simple but very nice. i really like pamphlets that explain Why the artist picked the motifs they did - for me personally it really helps me connect to the deck and their symbols. it’s probably more on the Direct side of the scale thanks to this. Cardfeel: these are textured!! they feel like the playing card deck my grandmother has, which feels apt to me. textures make the cards feel solid to me. they’re also a very nice size to hold. the edges are not guilded, but with the white frames it looks good and nice. the box is nice but also Large, possibly to fit with the book? might not be ideal for travel, but there’s nothing stopping you from getting a different box or pouch.

The Star Spinner Tarot by Trung Le Nguyen

my most recent deck... i KNEW about the artist and the deck from before, but wasn’t PLANNING to get it, but then i saw it in the comic book store and i wasn’t able to pass it by. no regrets, it’s a wonderful deck. Vibes and Thematic Coherence: absolutely lovely art and style. it’s another deck drawing on fairytale themed motifs. i’m loving the use of colors and circles. it also has four different cards for the Lovers so you can choose which one(s) speak to you the most, something i think is just wonderful. i think the only thing i found a little... odd? was that the suit of Wands looks kinda same-y, which isn’t a bad thing, but it was the only suit that looked that way to me. they’re still very very nice. ALSO THE BACK OF THE CARDS ARE SHINY. I JUST THINK THAT’S VERY LOVELY. as a Physical Product these are chef’s kiss. Pamphlet: on the Abstract to Directness scale, these are VERY DIRECT. the pamphlet doesn’t say a lot about why the cards depict what they do, but go straight into card meaning, and in a very unambiguous way. i think it can both work very well, leaving you little room to avoid your feelings, but it also has a higher margin to miss completely. for being such a cutesy deck full of fairies the pamphlet is definitely giving you a smack at the side of your head. i haven’t used this deck a lot yet due to its newness, but i definitely want to try it out more to see what it does to me.

Cardfeel: out of all of my decks i think this has the best cardfeel... the cards feel really solid, and have a very good size that feel just right for them. like i sort of fell in love with the deck when i actually started shuffling it and browsing the cards. buying cards - especially on the internet - can be a gamble because you Can’t Know The Cardfeel. with decks like the Spacious Tarot i got a little dissappointed, but this one was a very pleasant surprise. also the box is very good and look like a work of art. The Fyodor Pavlov Tarot

honestly one of my new favourite decks that i ABSOLUTELY am going to use more and become more familiar with. also a deck that i knew the artist was working on, and supported the kickstarter the moment it was announced. my deck also came with two Magician cards and i don’t know why. extra wizard for me??? Vibes and Thematic Coherence: the look and feel of this deck is Immaculate. it looks very classical and traditional (and absolutely gorgeous), it is grounded in the classical smith-waite imagery but Expands Upon It, draws on the diversity of human culture and experiences... also loving the energy of “THIS CARD IS TRANS NOW AND THERE’S NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT” many cards have (most famously the Lovers, but i don’t want to post pics of any of the cards depicting nudity or risqué themes on tumblr). i absolutely adore the knight of coins card (THE HORSE IS HIS FRIEND AND SERVICE ANIMAL!!). it’s just Really Very Good. also the backside has pretty Shiny stars and i like it. Pamphlet: i really like this one. it is a deeply personal pamphlet, where fyodor pavlov directly discusses his relationship to the cards and why he chose the motifs he did. it feels really grounded in the world we live in, and also such a vulnerable thing to share with us all. it’s on the Direct side of the scale without necessarily telling you “the card is definitely this one thing”. my only wish is that it was easier to navigate at a glance. Cardfeel: THEY ARE TEXTURED!!! these cards are definitely long and slender and benefit someone with larger hands than mine, but i still like them a lot. i do wish they had been a smidge heavier just so i wouldn’t worry so much about damaging them... but i don’t want to be ungrateful. the deck and the box are wonderfully crafted. The Botanica Tarot by Kevin Jay Stanton

oh boy did i support the kickstarter for this one... i had actually bought the major arcana when it was the only version available, and then the artist decided to make a full deck. it’s an absolute work of art. Vibes and Thematic Coherence: oh boy oh boy does it serve vibes and thematic coherence. it’s Plants all the way down, OBVIOUSLY, but also like... every card in the minor arcana depicts their suit in its own way. like the range of coins/currency from various times and cultures?? AMAZING. looking at the art of this deck is a DELIGHT. every card manages to be beautiful and interesting despite there not being a single living creature depicted on any of them. i WILL say they, same as the spacious tarot, are not the most intuitive to read if you’re not super familiar with either the Plants or the meanings of the cards. Pamphlet: you can fit so much plant knowledge in this one. i got a version of the deck with a beautiful little book, but there’s also a small pamphlet that follows the deck itself (which i admittedly have not looked too closely at yet). there’s descriptions for why this specific plant has been chosen for each card, and then some Card Meaning Keywords. so definitely on the Abstract side of my imaginary tarot pamphlet scale, because you mostly have plant symbolism to go on. i haven’t done a lot of readings with this deck, i’ll be honest - but it’s a beautiful treasure that i adore. Cardfeel: they’re Smoothe and Guilded edges. they can feel a little wide for my hands, but not so much that i cannot shuffle. i think maybe a smidge of texture wouldve been good with this deck since it would fit the look of the painted art. i also did get like... a big kickstarter reward version of this deck. it came in a tin box with extra treasures and a cloth and pins... the actual card box itself is beautiful to look at, but i have to say that the one i got is VERY HARD TO OPEN. i might transfer the cards into a pouch if i want to be reading them more often. IKEA deck

yes this is a meme deck and i don’t really use it but I WANTED TO SHARE... i think the major arcana is very cool and funny, but i was dissappointed to find that the suit cards are just “ikea part but Multiple Times”. it also does not come with a pamphlet. also yes yes it’s funny that the names of the cards are spelled in a “silly ikea word language” BUT IKEA NAMES ARE JUST SWEDISH....... IT’S NOT A SECRET LANGUAGE IT’S JUST SWEDISH............ it’s a funny deck to have and it doesn’t take up much space so eh! shrugs!!! The Lubanko Tarot by Emily Lubanko

another kickstarter deck... it’s gorgeous but there is a chance i might gift it to someone else. not because i regret getting it or don’t like it, but because i already have so many decks that speak to me, while this one gives me vibes of serving someone else better. does that make any sense? i admittedly haven’t looked at the pamplet so much so i think i’m going to skip that description for this one. Vibes and Thematic Coherency: the MOVEMENT and the COLORS... it’s Capturing Feelings in a really good way. i mean. i got it for the vibes and it’s serving vibes. Cardfeel: Smoothe Cards. shiny silver edges, like a slippery fish in a rapid river. it feels good and right for this deck. also good box. i know most of these decks have Good Box, it’s just the botanica one that let me down by being difficult. The Oriens Tarot by AmbiSun

i don’t have this deck anymore, i gifted it to my boyfriend... i found these pics on my twitter. it’s one of the first decks i supported on kickstarter and it’s VERY pretty, and it has HOLOGRAPHIC RAINBOW EDGES HOT DAMN. it’s another one of those instances where i Yearned for it and then found that it didn’t fit me as well as i had hoped. tarot is just one of those things where you have to find what Works for you. at this time the children of litha was working so well for me and i really liked the depiction of animals in it, i wasn’t able to connect to another animal deck in the same way... and it was before my tarot collection snowballed into what i have now. C’EST LA VIE ... i don’t have a smith-waite deck. i’m a fake tarot fan. i am however familiarizing myself by following Jessica Dore on twitter and subscribing to her monthly newsletters. i really love how she talks about these cards and how she interprets them.

#tarot #i have also backed the alleymans tarot on kickstarter because of course i have.#i'll get back to you when i have it.

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ayzrules · 3 years

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✶ 𝐇𝐗𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐒: 𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 & 𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒, 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇 & 𝐃𝐀𝐌𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 Long story short, I have been thinking about this for wayyyyy too long now and wanted to get some ~thoughts~ & analysis written down! This post is going to be...fairly long, lol. Apologies in advance :D

Also, if you can’t see the last gif (the one for ‘holy’), click here. Tumblr keeps fucking up the image when i try to upload it :////

This post is probably going to be about 2/3 yorknew & phantom troupe/kurapika focused, 1/3 chimera ants, maybe with some references to other arcs (including manga-only arcs) mixed in. so, ofc, tons of spoilers ahead! also, i realize that my blog theme is hard to read (and i’m p sure clicking ‘keep reading’ sends you to the og post itself), so i’m linking the post w/ full text copy/pasted in on my art backup side blog (which has a more legible font) here.

✶ 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇 I’m sure absolutely nobody is surprised with me starting here - there is just. SO. MUCH. DEATH. in hxh. & right from the start, one thing I noticed that togashi really emphasized was the #4 and its connection to death. in japanese, chinese, and im p sure some other asian cultures the number 4 is pronounced like the word for death so it’s associated with death in general, and boy oh boy does the ‘deadly number 4′ thing show up E V E R Y W H E R E. we get to the hunter exam, and hisoka is applicant #44. kurapika is #404. i didn’t notice it at first, but this was so intentional holy shit. togashi is NOT SUBTLE.

So pika & hisoka are, right off the bat, associated with death. okay. and then there are even more clues to drive the point home: hisoka is member #4 in the phantom troupe, kurapika’s birthday is april 4th (aka 4/4). 100% not a coincidence (!!). with hisoka, it’s pretty obvious why togashi’s throwing all this death 444444 stuff around - dude is a psycho murder pedo clown, literally gets off on killing people (and there’s also the fact that judas sits 4th from the left in the last supper painting, and he’s sort of the judas equivalent for the phantom troupe). with kurapika, though, it’s a bit more subtle and woven deeper into his characterization, which i LOVE. togashi puts the mans in blue & gold & white (traditionally ‘pure’ or ‘heavenly’ colors), makes him so fucking kind & so good-hearted.....when he’s not relentlessly pursuing his revenge, ofc. more on this in the next section, but pika = death. togashi has made that v v v clear.

Backtracking a bit to hisoka, though, I also just wanted to point out the 4 is death symbolism in the fortunes too (GOD i love the fortunes): in one translation, he’s the false fourth moon, and in the og japanese (i think), he’s the false hare (4th in the lunar zodiac or w/e it’s called. i don’t know the japanese cultural influences here, but in the chinese legend that established the zodiac animals, they race across the heavenly river & the top 12 animals got zodiac slots. the hare finished 4th, so it’s #4 in the cycle).

And just as a final note, Tserriednich is the fourth prince of the kakin empire, and also another dude who has a hard-on for murder & other gory shit. again: togashi is not subtle with this, lmfao

✶ 𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐘, 𝐔𝐍𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐘 As probably everyone who’s gotten to yorknew knows, togashi is so 0 fucks given when he wants to be. I mean there’s the whole thing where he just. took New York and decided, Yorknew. LMFAO, but also, he made the main antag of that arc be named chrollo lucilfer, sit around in a ruined church, have a reversed cross coat, pale & dark-haired/dark-eyed, generally dressed in dark colors, very terrible murder guy. liiiike......chrollo x devil symbolism game is 1000/10 at this point lmaooo

And i know absolutely nothing about christianity in general, but pt/kurapika & yorknew arc is just so full of christian imagery/symbolism! one thing that i L O O O O O O V E though is how togashi really blurs the traditional christian-coded good/evil, holy/damned boundaries.

Back to kurapika: he wears gold and blue, his coloring is very stereotypically ‘angelic’, he’s precious and good and kind. his chains are all about ~judgment~ and ~healing~ - some of the chains are also in literal cross shapes, aren’t they? And the chain dagger in his own heart...the imagery is very startlingly similar to the immaculate heart of mary, where the swords stabbing thru the heart apparently represent seven sorrows. IDK much about this stuff other than the visual similarities; literally had to google ‘daggers through heart christianity?’ to even get the name of that thing LOL. anyway, at first, it seems like togashi establishes him as the ‘angel’, the ‘good’, the ‘holy’ in the angel/devil, good/evil, holy/damned dichotomy between him and chrollo.

But that’s not the end of the story. his entire storyline is driven by a huuuuuuuge giant desire for vengeance, first of all, and then there’s the scarlet eyes, which canonically are seen as demonic/cursed/what have you (according to one of the movies or smth? where they show pika as a 10 y/o?), and then we also have red eyes in modern culture being associated w pretty much the same thing (vampires, anyone?). the fight scene with uvo has everything in b&w besides the blood on his face & his red eyes & the moon (<<< more fortune foreshadowing & symbolism, i love to see it), and there are tonssss of scenes where he has to suppress his rage. so all of that is obviously not very angelic of him i would say LOL. in fact, what i find super interesting is that the scarlet/red eyes (which are ‘demonic’) is actually the driving factor behind his super powerful nen abilities; this ties in so well with the fortunes & death associations imo! the fortunes call him the ‘death-bringer’ in one translation, or ‘half-angel, half-death’, so that’s one side of pika = red eyes = death, but there’s also the fact that emperor time is literally draining his life force. so pika = death for both himself and others namely the pt, question mark?

Now for chrollo: togashi’s devil symbolism is EXTREMELY overt with him, but i love the subtler jesus references too. the church thing, obviously, and the st. peters cross which is cuz st peter respected jesus too much & didn’t think he was worthy to die in the same way as him (or something like that, i am the most atheist person in the world & hxh is literally my entire christian education pls) but is also used as an anti-christianity symbol these days. bandit’s secret looks like a bible, lbr, and mans has a cross tattoo.

Other things beyond visuals - 12 spiders, 12 apostles; hisoka’s betrayal, where member #4 can be thought to correspond to judas sitting 4th from left at last supper. and this miiiiight be a bit of a stretch, but i think the meteor city being the place of origin may also play into the blurred line between angel/devil and holy/damned here; meteors are defined as space rocks that are in earth’s atmosphere, becoming incandescent in the process. meteorites are for the kinds that actually reach the ground. and idk, lucifer was cast out of heaven / sky too right? so i think there might be some subtle fallen angel imagery/symbolism playing into the pt as well

✶ 𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 (𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒) Last section yay! i don’t have as much to say about this, besides when i was making chimera ant arc edits & realized that there might have been some subtle gon/meruem parallels???

So obviously, everyone knows that line killua says to gon - “you are light” - and then i was just remembering that meruem’s name means.... “light that illuminates all” (!!!!). maybe it’s a coincidence, but knowing togashi, i’m leaning towards nahhhh. there HAS TO be some kinda meaning there (!!).

Going back to the events of the chimera ant arc....ooh boy. let’s see: gon is optimistic & hopeful even in the face of kite potentially being dead, killua says he’s light, they find kite & dude is fucked up, gon is pissed. gets all angry & ~dark~, especially during the palace invasion when he’s staring pitou down as she fixes up komugi. then the actual fight against pitou: more darkness, more anger, but through it all there’s still light, namely his jajanken being very orange & fiery lookin.....and that final sequence, where he puts all his possible nen he’d ever have into his ~final form~ or wahtever & turns into a male version of true form!bisky but dressed in a crop top & short-shorts (i am SCARRED, btw. s c a r r e d !). there’s just huuuge flashes of light as that’s going on, and it reminded me of supernovas or dying stars when i was thinking about it, where the star is like, collapsing under its own weight? & burning thru its own fuel, until there’s nothing left except a dwarf or black hole or what have you. one final, extremely deadly burst of light & energy before death.

On the meruem side of things: born into a dark cave, exhibits a traditionally evil/cruel/wicked/whatever personality/traits so that has ppl associating him with darkness. then he gets to know komugi, starts to appreciate other aspects of humanity, seems like he could have actually turned into a decent person who doesn’t want to eat everyone - so that’s a ‘path to light’, maybe? - and then the extermination team yeets themselves into the palace, netero takes him out to bumfuck nowhere, they fight. netero’s fighting is just ALL light, from his giant ass golden 100-type guanyin bodhisattva to the poor man’s rose. again, there’s the sense of finality to it all, in a similar vein to dying stars: netero comes in determined to kill meruem no matter what, and we all know netero doesn’t flake. then we see netero get destroyed after the zero hand, and he triggers the rose, and everything is burning & on fire before the flames are put out and all turns dark again.

But wait!!! pouf & youpi revive meruem and all he does is play gungi with komugi, even with the poison of the rose. he eventually dies, and the gungi pieces in that final shot of them together (i am BAWLING just thinking about it holy shit) has one that’s all white, one that’s a black ring and white inside. i assume all white is for komugi, who has never done ANYTHING wrong in her LIFE, so i like to think that the 2nd one is for meruem - born “into darkness”, literally & figuratively, but he turns something like ‘good’ by the end. it’s interesting how togashi has sort of gone for a bit of a subversion here: the hero going from light to darkness, and the main antag from darkness to light.

✶ 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐂𝐋𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍 AahhhhHHHHHhhh so if you read all the way down here through my LONG rambles, tysm! i would LOVE LOVE LOVE to hear what other people think about all this, and i’ve FOR SURE missed tons and tons of stuff - chimera ants is just. SO MUCH. and i don’t know it as well as yorknew eeek.

I’m not sure if i’m really ~knowledgeable~ in any other areas relating to hxh, so this might be the only one of these that i do, but i definitely think about some of this - esp all the religious symbolism & #4 stuff - a ton! so in the meantime, if it’s of any interest, i’m just going to shamelessly plug my hxh x religious beliefs/superstitions edit series :D lots of love to all!!!

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salavante · 4 years

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I’m going to do a quick analysis on the pieces I felt I learned the most from during Artfight2020. I made 20 character illustrations over the course of a little over a month, got to draw a lot of different characters and environments, and would like to catalog what I feel I gained from it in terms of technique and process. A little Post-Mortem, if you will. Normally I would draw a little cartoon or something as a header but I’m tired lol. These are not really in any order. I am going to include the username of the characters’ owners but am not going to “@” them as not to annoy anyone, these are just kind of my personal thoughts about my process.

Burn Forever - Character owned by @/evilbeards. Really love the colors in this one, it makes it look very regal, while also reminding me of medieval antiquity. This is the best fire I’ve done in awhile because it has both pleasing shapes, and a variance in hues within the flame. I made a point to remember this when I did “The Last Candle Burns”. I also really went all in with uplit lighting that clung to every crag in Tel’s face and think it paid off, it made me more confident that I could pull off more scenes with dramatic lighting in the future. Also, knocking the top of the throne of branches out of black and into dark blue gives an effective illusion of distance.

Bloodline - Characters owned by @/SaltiestGoat (twitter). A solution to characters presented primarily in black and white was to make the colors more symbolic than naturalistic - the story these two characters (who are father and daughter) were presented with was extremely vivid, and so it wasn’t hard to distill it into motifs that could be represented with color - power and violence as red, which is both compounded and spread via war/material wealth (gold), a cyclical relationship that is bright and searing against a cold, grey world. And white as something strange/supernatural and unearthly (eyes and teeth). Something I like when viewing art on a digital screen as opposed to a print or an original is the way that the brightest value of white feels like a stabbing pinprick, it really feels like it shines and elevates it a bit. But, anyway, using so much black was kind of a leap of faith, but it allowed for me to capture the sort of dreamlike atmosphere I was going for.

Dern It- Character owned by @/slabmangrave. Another one of those leaps of faith in using a lot of black, this time to create an illusion of depth implying that perhaps Hogarth here has been wandering around in an endless, stabbing field of cactuses, injecting a little humor, but also the vastness of the landscape. I found it a fun challenge to try and muster up a desert scene in a setting that effectively has no sun (relying on cool colors). The purple was a last minute addition that I ended up really liking, as I think it did better to silhouette The Teeth. I also used very minimal “line coloring” on this - something I really like about the source material is the textural mark making, and I feel like the starkness of black makes things have a little more of a tactile quality, in this case. I also think I might be on to something, representing specks of floating bits as small, short lines.

It’s Coming For You Through The Trees - Character owned by @/peg-head. One, I think this is my favorite set of teeth. I think the uneven quality of the two front teeth really sells it I also found it a fun challenge to change the camera up and have it be looking from a little ways below - I don’t think I entirely sold the concept of the character handing an object down to the viewer, but I think it’s a lot closer than my other attempts. I also liked using what was mostly a limited color palette, and getting to have a more desaturated, naturalistic range of colors. And like I said before, I love that small, stabbing pinprick of white light on a computer screen, and I think it works really well here.

Grease Monkey: Character owned by @/night-margie. This one may have been the most extreme test of my abilities, as I usually try to stay away from background elements that are inorganic, if I can help it. But I’m in the throughs of working on my own sci-fi setting right now and figured I should challenge myself. Not quite limited colors per say, but I think the division of gold and violet light works to separate the different areas of the piece (I tried it first just with blue but found it to be way too homogenous). Not entirely successful in regards to making a character look like they are seated beyond the lip of an object, but I think the pleasing shapes the character creates make up for it…but just barely, lol. I think this has a good balance of black negative space to grimy such-and-such, and am pretty pleased with the stylization of electrical sparks. I’ll have to experiment with it further.

Cryptid Sighting: Character owned by @/gnarliegnasties (twitter). First of all I think the thing this encouraged me to do the most was invest in more abstract, stylized background elements to create the illusion of depth, and I really gotta keep that in my comic-ing back pocket . Typically, I don’t tint my blacks entirely - I usually just color objects and edges that I feel are of special interest, or need to look more cohesive (as is usually the case with seams in clothing or armor, or a character’s fingernails). But In this case, I felt tinting them violet would make the environment feel more lush, and would also attractively frame the warmer blue of the character. This is a color scheme I haven’t tried (teal, purple, blue-green and a light orange-red) and I really enjoy it.

Summersong: Character owned by @/satourni. I really love the colors on this one - but, this is one of those pieces where I feel like I could do it better if I tried again! I definitely learned a lot from - I don’t think the underwater effect around the character is quite convincing, and would have been better served with the surface being visible in the gap between Kester and the camera. I’d also say the small, beadlike drops of water are more effective than the really big, heavy ones. I’d love to do more underwater scenes - makes me homesick!

Hail To The King - Character owned by @/ petarvee (twitter). This is the one that I think I put the most time in that yielded the least satisfaction for me - I definitely feel like I overworked it. Snakes and creatures with likewise long necks are hard to draw, they need to taper in a way that feels natural, and I don’t think I really sold their feeling of mass - and the way it squishes and stretches - to my preference. I also stepped out of my comfort zone with the brighter, more saturated colors, and though I like the hoodoos, I think the rest of it is a little too discordant, despite my efforts. Should’ve had a stronger light source, or focused less on spectacle and more on portraying the character. I bit off a little more than I could chew with the hydra. I admit, I really like this artist’s work and was anxious about doing something for him - so, I ended up trying a little too hard to make something flashy. But, better to have rose to a challenge and failed doing something ambitious than to do something boring, I suppose.

In summation:

-Let shapes made out of solid colors or black create illusion of distance or more objects.

-More limited color palettes seem to yield the best results for one-off illustrations, I’m still a little new at coloring compared to other people and need to remember that. I need to “grind” a little more.

-A painted-in highlight accentuating an edge can both imply a stronger light source, and be a way to separate shapes too similar in value. But don’t overdo it or it becomes a little obnoxious.

-Knock back an object with color to make them feel further away - you know, atmospheric something or another.

-Balance black negative space with textured surfaces - it shouldn’t be a clean 50/50.

- Those little hash marks do a pretty good job at varying texture and particle effects. Use em more.

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risottostitties · 4 years

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Hi! First time here to ask haha! Any HCs for La squadra with an Otaku s/o? Like she watches anime and even buys merch in secret cuz she's scared they might find her hobby lame and immature? (Also,what will be their fave anime? And genre?)

Oh boy let me tell you I have some THOUGHTS about these boys and their taste in anime

La Squadra with an Otaku s/o

Risotto

at first he’s gonna be kinda confused, not gonna lie. Growing up the only ‘anime’ he knew was like, Pokemon and Dragon Ball Z but at that point he was too old to really get into Pokemon, and he never considered DBZ anime because it aired next to cartoons and stuff.

But that doesn’t mean he won’t appreciate s/o and their good taste. He’s the kind of guy who wants to learn about what interests the people he loves, and he loves you. So he’d honestly enjoy late nights spent binge watching your favorites.

Comes to realize that DBZ was low key his gym goals for the early years of him working out. If you bought him a ‘Swole like Goku’ tank he’d probably wear it to lift in, ngl.

Knowing your favorites he’d probably look to merch for his go to birthday or Christmas gifts. Considering the hobbies and interests of some of his co-workers, a scantily clad waifu figure is honestly a welcome change of pace.

Depending on the style or aesthetic of the anime (ie, is it goth) he would be down to couples cosplay, although he wouldn’t be comfortable with you posting pictures of his face or any identifiable features of him online

His fave is probably the original Dragon Ball Run, followed very closely by DBZ for the nostalgia bit. Something deep like Full Metal Alchemist (Brotherhood and the original) would also appeal to him

Is also a big fan of Beserk, disappointed by the anime. And Vinland Saga, not disappointed by the anime.

Partial to Princess Mononoke as well. He likes some Ghibli films, isn’t afraid to admit it. Thinks the score for Spirited Away is bomb af.

Prosciutto

Prosciutto doesn’t really get it at first either. Honestly? He probably didn’t know the difference between cartoon and anime until you explained it to him.

Unlike Risotto he might be a bit more judgey if you try to get him to watch some with you. So you gotta hit him with the real classics.

But similarly to Risotto, he at least makes an effort to try and indulge in the things you like. He might not be as patient, but he tries.

Probably wouldn’t do cosplay himself, but would hunt down exclusive seasonal merch to gift you. He’d take careful stock of your collections and do some research to pick out only the finest figurines and posters for you.

Would buy that hella expensive premium bandai apparel for you too, might even pick something subtle up for himself if he really liked the show it came from.

Also back on the cosplay note, if you agreed he’d find the highest quality cosplay possible and have you model some of his favorites for him.

(In particular if you were comfortable in fem clothing, Faye Valentine gets him going)

He loves Cowboy Beebop. 100%, wants to watch it again as soon as it ends. Everything from the characters to the story to the music and the fliud animation that has aged like fine wine appeals to him. Prosciutto is a man who likes the finer things in life. He oozes class. Cowboy Beebop oozes class and prestige.

Also likes Maasaki Yuasa. It was his idea to go see The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl in theaters.

In general his tastes tend to lean towards arthouse type anime or bona fide classics.

Pesci

Pesci knows anime and has been doing his absolute best to keep it a secret from the rest of the gang because they already tease him enough.

He’s one of those secret weebs, you gotta know where to look. Your best bet is to look at his accessories. Is there a watch with a certain symbol from an anime you recognize? A lanyard with a familiar print? Something subtle that isn’t immediately noticed by people not looking for it.

He has a secret box in his room full of blue rays from his faves. He watches them sometimes when he’s home alone. There’s nothing X rated in there obviously, he just doesn’t want people to know.

Thank god he has you.

The two of you probably bonded pretty fast over your mutual love of anime. Hell, you being such an open and proud Otaku probably gave him a bit of confidence in expressing his interests too.

Yall are the weeb couple. Yall definitely go to conventions together. Couples Cosplays, the whole thing.

He’s a sucker for Shonen just as much as he is for the really good heart wrenching painful ones.

He watches Boruto because he loves Naruto so much.

He would also tear up at Clannad.

Dango Daikazoku triggers almost a pavlovian response of heart ache.

So does Secret Base.

Ano Hana is probably his favorite, although even you’d need to pry it out of him. Its one thing that Prosciutto gives him shit for liking anime, its a whole different ball game if he found out Pesci liked girly anime

Fromaggio

He knows what hentai is. That’s about as far as his knowledge went before yall got together.

He thinks its pretty interesting though, so he’d be down to watch some with you.

Turns out he really likes action shonen. He got really, really into One Piece. Like, instantly. He likes the fact there’s so much to watch/read before he’s caught up too.

Another boy that would couples cosplay and be really into it. Especially if it continued into the bedroom.

He’s pretty go with the flow, so he isn’t picky about what y’all watch. Even if it isn’t his cup of tea he’ll sit through a few episodes on a night with you.

Fromaggio can’t tell the difference between a high quality figure and a shitty one. Its a crap shoot what he buys for you. Its more a process of ‘oh, so likes this character’ rather than checking the seams and paint quality and how dynamic the pose is/interchangeable parts.

Definitely buys way too much in the dealers room because of this.

He tries his best.

His fave is probably One Piece, liked bleach a lot but never read the manga, Yu Yu Hakusho is another one he really enjoyed. The Dark Tournament arc had him at the edge of his seat and hype as shit.

Illuso

Had a passing knowledge of anime before dating you. Knew what it was, saw a few of the mainstream ones, thought they were enjoyable, moved on with his life.

Your dedicated interest in anime would surprise him at first, because he always figured it was kind of a niche thing.

Would snoop around your collection of manga/figures/plushes in the mirror world while you sleep.

Winds up reading a lot of your manga like that (he’s good at reading in reverse because of his stand)

He finds he appreciates the art style of 80s-90s manga a lot more than he does the modern stuff. He really got into Ranma 1/2 and thinks Rumiko Takahashi’s artstyle is excellent.

If you asked him to watch Inuyasha with you he wouldn’t say no.

Probably wouldn’t want to do couples cosplay, but he definitely has an appreciation for you in cosplay.

You could talk him into going to a con if you caught him in the right mood. It’d be a hard sell though.

Has a surprising enjoyment for J-Rock.

Inuyasha is high on his favorites list, as is Ranma 1/2. Also a fan of Ghibli movies although its pulling teeth to get him to admit it.

Melone

This man has watched so much hentai in his life.

He probably actually knows them by title honestly.

He enjoys anime too, and is not ashamed unlike Pesci. Everyone already knows he has unconventional tastes there is nothing to hide here.

Melone enjoys traditionally feminine anime, especially Sailor Moon. That one has a special place in his heart as he has memories of his sister watching it with him when he was much younger.

Its more of a decompress thing than anything else, so he doesn't tend to favor heavy anime with dense plot and more mature subject matter.

He likes Maid Costumes. On you, on him, it doesn’t matter.

Doesn’t know a whole lot about merch and what makes something higher quality but he learns fast. Between you and him the Dealers Room at cons won’t know what hit them.

Is the type to preorder a figure he knows you’d like. And maybe one for him.

Buy him this and he’s putty in your hands for a month straight (SFW don’t worry) https://www.amazon.com/Bandai-Sailor-Moonlight-Memory-Locket/dp/B00UA9XB48

Sailor Moon is his favorite as I’ve said before, his favorite sailor scout is Rei. Is also a fan of Ano Hana, Violet Evergarden, and Toradora although he needs to be in the right mood to watch them.

Ghiaccio

He went down the Fate rabbit hole and we haven’t seen him since.

The gender bending grates as his soul but he is addicted regardless. There’s just so much dense lore that he can’t seem to stop going.

But also seeing how much care and attention is paid to the historical background of a lot of the servants is intriguing to him. Its the perfect blend of accurate and harem trash that infuriates him but also leaves him needing to know more.

He hasn’t played every game but he has Grand Order on his phone and has sunk an ungodly amount of money into the gacha trying to get his favorite (Its Jeanne Alter, in case anyone was wondering) and has seen all the anime (His favorite is the cooking spin off because its surprisingly calming to watch)

Fate Zero is probably his favorite ‘serious’ Fate adaptation. He enjoys the gravitas of the Holy Grail Wars (and hates how it was tossed out the fucking window in UBW/Stay Night/Heavens Feel) and the ritual aspect to the summoning and foreshadowing of future events as well as hints at a deeper magical lore in the universe hit all the right spots in his lizard brain.

The fact every fate anime has a different version of Saber (or a Saber Clone) pisses him off too.

He really loves Fate. And will scream about it for hours at you.

Getting him to watch or talk about anything else is like pulling teeth but he eventually relents because he loves you.

Its difficult to get through a single episode without him grumbling about something or another, but he tries once he sees its important to you. He does his best not to outright insult your favorite anime.

Can appreciate high quality merch as well, probably collects Jalter Figures himself.

If you’re comfortable in fem clothing, Cosplay Jalter for him and he will literally ascend then and there. Keeps pics on his phone. Would probably make it his background. He’s weak

Outside of Fate he finds he enjoys high fantasy shows. Historical fantasy pisses him off too much, and straight up historical drama would also have him grasping for inaccuracies.

Full Metal Alchemist is a non-fate series that he really loves because of the world building. The movie Maquia was one he enjoyed as well. Likes every Miyazaki film, don’t tell anyone. Cried (and raged) when Ushio died in Clannad.

In general he just likes really good world building. It has to be good otherwise he’s going to spend the whole time picking it apart.

#risotto nero #melone #prosciutto #pesci #ghiaccio #illuso #fromaggio #jjba #jjba headcanons #la squadra #not sfw #just in case #la sqaudra #la squadra x reader #x reader #jjba writing blog

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mysaldate · 4 years

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What are your thoughts on Gyokko? We didn't really get a backstory for him aside from the fact his art wasn't appreciated, so.... Do you have any hypothesis on his past?

I’m not sure if you’re asking for hcs or just a thought process but I’m feeling more into the later so if it’s hcs you want, please request again and I’ll get to you first so your wait is not prolonged.

Anyway, here goes my essay so buckle up, we’re getting started!

Edit: This got extremely long, so I’m adding Read More.

Out of all the Upper Moons, two in particular stand out as generally receiving as little attention as possible, those being Gyokko and Hantengu. Strange as it is in Hantengu’s case (since let’s face it, all his personalities aside from Urami are pretty damn hot), Gyokko might feel very understandable. He wasn’t given a human-like design and is about the collection of all weird things one could think of. But you know what, that’s exactly what makes him all the more interesting as a character.

First, let me get a proper look at his exterior. Because boy, oh boy, do I have a lot to say! Gyokko, in his usual form we get to see first and more, is all but normal. He’s a genie that comes from a pot rather than a lamp, eyes and mouths switched on his head and with a set of four tiny arms sprouting directly from the back of his skull, he certainly does look peculiar. His other form that has slightly more of what we appropriate as human but it still has some unsettling details to it. Aside from the whole... being a naga thing. His arms and hands in particular are monstrously large and there are webs between his claw-like fingers. His hair also grows longer and he sprouts what appears to be a beard out of nowhere. Then, of course, there is the fact that he has a snake tail with scales all over it. Right, his arms are also scaly. The particular difference between skin and scales as well as the fact that he’s missing both arms and legs in his usual form brought me to a simple conclusion – Gyokko’s human self must’ve lost his limbs before becoming a demon for one reason or another.

Given what we know about the Upper Moons, their ranks haven’t changed in exactly 113 years. We can assume that Gyutaro and Daki were the last ones to join them so Gyokko must’ve become a demon some time before that. Since KnY takes time somewhere between 1912 and 1926, that would bring us to the years 1799-1813 which is during the Edo period in Japan. By this time, the usual punishment in Japan was already tattooing but just about two centuries before, limb removal was a pretty common practise, even at the first offense. The Edo period started in 1603 and it took quite some time before the tattoo practise actually took off. Another interesting punishment to take a look at is what’s called fuzuke, a death penalty by drowning. That was in practise all the way till 1868. That would also be the period Akaza is from by the way. Either way, japanese law was fairly strict at the time and a lot of things could get you in serious trouble. I wouldn’t be surprised if an artist like Gyokko got himself into this sort of mess. Which brings me to my second point...

Gyokko is an artist whose art was not appreciated at the time. An artist who struggled to focus on the traditional way of art as it would seem based on how enraged he becomes just seeing how well Haganezuka can focus, although their respective art forms are very different. Now, here’s the tricky part. Impressionism, which is the style that seems most fitting to Gyokko’s portrayal (at least to me, I don’t really understand that sort of thing though so feel free to correct me), didn’t really spread until the Taisho period, that means 1912-1926. You may notice that this is exactly where we are in the current story in KnY so while that fits the current timeline, it tells us near nothing about Gyokko’s past, human life. And he’s not the only one who suffers from the timeline errors or oversights.

But unlike with Akaza, where his past is bound to a martial arts style that literally didn’t exist at the time, art is a tad more interesting. Since it’s been estabilished fairly early on that demons can shapeshift, it is entirely possible that Gyokko changes his form based on modern art trends. The only thing that seems to remain constant is his pottery since we know Muzan counts on it as a way to make money (bless the person who told me bits and pieces from the fanbook!!), thus it has to be a long-term thing. And then there is the goldfish thing...

Goldfish were first brought to Japan in 1502 and they were considered a very important symbol of wealth and a ward against illness and bad luck. They were originally reserved for important samurai families, later in the Edo period they spread among the aristocracy as well. Much like in China, the Japanese took their talismans very seriously and the goldfish were given the same treatment. If a talisman was proved to be fake, the seller of said talisman could be severly punished, depending on the range of harm done and the importance of the family harmed. But there was more to goldfish than just being amulets. Goldfish cultivation and the animals in general have always been linked tightly to japanese art. And not just paintings but also sculpting and literature. See where I’m going yet?

Gyokko has strong ties to both goldfish and art. The Muromachi or Azuchi-Momoyama time periods would both fit the corporal punishment being cutting off one’s limbs as well as the biggest goldfish craze when they were still being kept away from ordinary people. Goldfish cultivation is an art form that requires tons of patience and many errors before it’s possible to fruit some results. If there is also pressure from customers or if other art forms of a goldfish cultivator bring no money, the possibility of serious struggles is extremely high.

To sum it up, based on all of this, I believe Gyokko to come from the 16th or 17th century and I think he may have originally been a goldfish cultivator. However, not an awfully lucky one. Either he didn’t manage to breed the exact goldfish his customers demanded and was forced to steal to make his way through or, what I consider more likely, he’d sold a goldfish to a feudal lord who died or was met with misfortune soon after. He got blamed for this and was punished by getting his arms cut off. It could also be that his art of goldfish cultivation was considered insulting or heretic since there were very specific requirements for the colour of the goldfish in order for them to be considered good merchendise. If Gyokko chose to be just as striking and original as he is in the current timeline, it’s no surprise that he may have been considered a heretic. And that wasn’t really looked upon kindly as well. Either way, he kept his goldfish even after becoming a demon and even found a way to impliment them into his Blood Art, meaning they were clearly important to him even in his human life. I also believe he may have been sentenced to death by drowning based on the fact that it is literally a technique of his Blood Art.

I hope you’re satisfied with a response like this and I apologize for not citing my sources but at this point, I went through so many websites for this post alone that tracking them all back down would be a very time-consuming process and I’ve already spent a very long time on this. I hope you don’t mind it too much. It’s nothing hard to find if you know how to google though so I’m sure if there are any questions and you don’t feel like asking me, you can find everything out yourself!

Still, doing such a large analysis was tons of fun and I enjoyed it a lot! Gyokko is a very interesting character and it’s a shame we didn’t get to see more of him. If anyone would like me to analyse other characters in the future, feel free to hit me up but you may be on hold for a while!

#kny #kimetsu no yaiba #gyokko #kny gyokko #analysis #gyokko analysis

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nikkiwriteswords · 4 years

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Cold foie gras with warm figs.

Coquilles is one of the best Hannibal episodes in the entire series, fight me.

I’ve posted analyses of several scenes from 1x05 before, but each rewatch gifts me with another small detail in its rich tapestry of exposition: It will surprise no one that food can be treated as a language all its own in this show, so I was primed to notice Jack’s surprised reaction: “cold foie gras with warm figs?” when he and Bella dine with Hannibal about ten minutes into the episode.

I wondered if Hannibal’s preparation was unconventional. (It is for America, but according to Wikipedia cold foie gras is traditional in Europe when making a pâté or mousse, to achieve a fuller flavour - a subtle othering? A nod to Hannibal’s ‘exotic’ palate?) And what about figs? There’s a lot of biblical imagery surrounding figs, which ties in with the highly spiritual topic of the episode. The leaves covering Adam and Eve’s genitalia in various biblical paintings are often fig leaves. They are therefore linked with the “sin” of sex, as well as being suggestive of fertility, and are quite literally used to ‘cover indignity’.

This double meaning is highly appropriate for Bella and Hannibal’s later discussion in Hannibal’s office, wherein they discuss Bella’s deceit of Jack - suggesting she is cheating on him, and protecting him from the truth. (Though the red herring of the former only becomes clear if you’re already familiar with Bella’s fate.) Given that the title of the episode is ‘shells’ (coquilles) I also wondered if it was linked to that imagery somehow.

However, that is not the reason for this post (though you will see how it ties in later). What really piqued my interest in this scene is the next part:

Here’s the thing: Bella’s not vegetarian. At least, not that I’m aware. Otherwise wouldn’t Hannibal go out of his way to create a different dish for her, as he does Freddie? Instead he just reassures her “[the next course] was a rather supercilious pig.” So why is this dish too cruel for her to eat? Of course, because we are well aware that Hannibal views rude, uncivilized humans as swine (he kills in ‘sounders’ of three, after all), Hannibal’s witty remark that the “first and worst sign of sociopathic behaviour [is] cruelty to animals” may distract you from this question. (New point to discuss: is Hannibal a sociopath if he respects - and prides himself as part of - the laws of nature? Is he above the ethics of ‘cruelty to animals’? Is he above morality?)

I looked it up, because I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, knowledgeable about French cuisine: according to Wikipedia, foie gras is the liver of a duck or goose that has been especially fattened by force-feeding. (TW for anyone sensitive to animal cruelty. Skip the rest of this paragraph.) It is a dish of high controversy for this fact: the birds are force-fed corn through a large feeding tube in a process referred to as gavage.* They are fed far beyond what they would usually consume in the wild, their livers swelling to ten times their usual size. It is this high fat content that gives foie gras its rich, buttery flavour.

(If this imagery is ringing particular bells concerning a certain FBI agent being force-fed an ear, you’re not alone. This episode is rife with symbolism that repeatedly ties Will, Bella and the Angel Maker together through shared experiences. I might do a follow-up post on that.) Now, Bella could simply find this dish too cruel to consume. I certainly wouldn’t eat either, from what I now know. But her subsequent conversation with Hannibal has me rethinking that simple assumption: “This [deception of Jack] all started as some misguided stab at maintaining my dignity.”

Think again about those fig leaves, and about Jack enjoying those warm figs. Think again about Bella’s desire to protect Jack from the truth and, in doing so, protect her own dignity.

It all comes back to empathy.

Bella, later called on her bluff at Hannibal’s dinner table, sees herself in the undignified end of the goose on her plate: fed through a tube; in pain; suffering the indignity of such a cruel end.

Too rich? No.

The truth is too hard to swallow.

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lesbianmonsterlover · 5 years

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Waterfalls and Whirlpools (1)

So, I’m doing Camp NaNoWriMo this year. This here is my first day of writing, would you guys be interested in any more? If so I’ll post here daily with updates! The title is currently a work in progress

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In an antique store in the middle of Perlston, Washington is a journal that’s surprisingly still empty considering the age of it. The cover is worn brown leather and the spine is stitched with faded jade green thread in the shape of some runic sigils that were meaningless to the shop owner. It sits in the glass front case where the cash register is, mostly just because of the age of the object but something in Walter Herrington’s gut told him not to shelve it with the collection of paperback bodice rippers in the worn old bookcase towards the furniture section.

Now, Perlston, Washington was not a big town. It was situated a few miles off of SR-18 on the edge of the forest. They didn’t get a lot of traffic from outsiders, with the exception of hikers stopping in to stock up before tackling the mountain trails ahead. A new face, therefore, was always big news. Erin Curett was the newest face in town, a librarian brought in fresh out of graduate school to take over for the old school librarian.

Despite it being mid-July the air was still blessedly, the shining sun dappling through the canopy of trees leaving speckled patterns on the ground. Wiping the bit of sweat from her forehead with her wrist Erin swept the frizz of her red curls away from her face. Surveying the little house with a thankful sigh she closed the trunk of her car, the last of her things finally inside and mostly sorted. The last few missing things she figured she could pick up from the antique store she had passed on her drive in.

Stepping through the green front door Erin toes off her shoes and pads through the front hall to the living room. Grabbing a bottle of water on the way through the kitchen, she sighs thankfully as she slumps down onto her favorite overstuffed sofa, a trusty companion through two graduate programs and three moves. “Coffee table…” she mumbles to herself, beginning a mental list of the big things the house would need. “Coffee table, bedside table, ah fuck I need some drawers too don’t I. Shit…”

Capping the bottle of water, Erin faceplants into the couch cushions, stretching out over the piece of furniture. She briefly debates taking a nap before rolling off the couch heavily onto the blue carpeted floor. Standing and brushing off her shorts she turns on the television, thankful to have set it up earlier so all she had to do was find something to watch before getting to work.

Building bookshelves was a relatively easy task, although a little unwieldy for one person. That was the first thing Erin did in every house, without fail. Well, the second, after getting her bed setup, but she usually had help with that either in the form of movers or delivery people. She found the process of setting up her shelves somewhat meditative though, and she found she preferred things in a just-so way, likely a manifestation of her anxiety. At least according to her therapist. With the first of the shelves setup she begins moving books from one of her sets of boxes out onto the shelf.

Organizing home books by the Dewey Decimal System is overkill to most, but it means that everything has a home and is easily findable. There’s no guesswork if everything is done properly. Once the first two sets of shelves are full of books the sun has moved across the sky to paint the Western side of the house with dappled light. The growling of her stomach pulls Erin away from where she had begun sorting through the pile of parts that made up the second bookshelf and into the kitchen.

Dinner is pasta and jarred sauce, the house lacking fresh groceries entirely until she could get out to town tomorrow. The rest of the evening is spent binge watching a new show and putting together two more shelves. When Erin collapses into bed that night it’s with a satisfied sort of weariness. Her thoughts are full, dreams and hopes and fears, would she be able to make friends here?

Seattle had been too much for her, the pressure of the city bearing down no matter how green and friendly it may be. She stuck it out for graduate school, but when the job here came through her email she knew a small quiet town like this would be a much better fit. Besides, even if she didn’t make friends, the kids at the school would like her, right? Her mind spiraled through all of the possibilities, and she lay there awake for what seemed like countless hours until a restless sleep overtook her.

The next morning’s breakfast was some dry cereal shoved hand to mouth right out of the box, and a mug of hot slightly burnt coffee. The shower was blessedly hot, with surprisingly impressive water pressure, and with still damp hair Erin made her way out of the house and to the car. Her clothes were a little wrinkled, considering she still hadn’t unpacked her iron, but she did the best she could steaming them out in the bathroom while she showered. The green shirt dress was one of her favorites, it seemed to hide what she considered her many flaws and made her look casual and presentable.

The drive to the town center was quick, maybe ten minutes and she was going fairly slowly. Pulling up behind another parked car, she eased on the parking break and stepped out into the fresh air and sunshine. The trees were cut back here to make room for a few blocks of buildings. An old diner, right next to an even older looking general store, across the street from them a pharmacy that took up an entire block, apparently still with an old-time soda fountain inside. The bank was kitty-corner to the pharmacy and across the main road from the general store, and as Erin strolled along the sidewalks she found herself pausing in front of the antique store towards the edge of the main road. She wanted to peek around, so with a little trepidation at the thought of social interaction she steels herself with a breath to open the door.

Now, Walter Herrington had always been one for gut feelings. If his grammaw had ever taught him anything it was to trust that instinct in the back of your mind no matter what anyone else tells you. It had saved his hide more than once, especially out in the woods, so when he got his first glimpse of the newest resident of Perlston he found himself searching his gut for how to feel. She was pleasant looking, with big red curls and flushed pink cheeks, but something about her just seemed a little...off. Misplaced. Like she wasn’t from this world. She seemed somehow ethereal and yet so human and grounded, an odd mix that for whatever reason made the hair on the back of his neck raise. Still, at her shy smile and awkward wave he can’t help smiling back and giving a hearty greeting, inviting her to browse around as she likes.

Nonetheless he keeps a wary eye on her as she looks around. She picks through a few pieces of furniture, noting a coffee table she likes and a set of dresser drawers she might come back for, but as she comes up to the counter to pay for the coffee table she gasps and almost presses her face against the glass at the sight of the leatherbound journal. It’s beautifully tooled and looks somehow simultaneously ancient and new. Her soul seems to call out to it, although she says that often when she buys a book somehow this time it feels like the truth. “I need that book…” Erin’s voice is low and reverent, her blunt nail tapping against the glass as she looks up at Walter with almost an air of desperation.

He almost wants to say no, that look raising the hackles of his mind, but that feeling in his gut again tells him this is how it’s meant to go. So he can only close his mouth and nod, unlocking the glass cabinet with shaky hands and pulling the leather bound tome out and placing it before her. She strokes the front cover with a tenderness most people reserved for loved ones, and after a few moments of examining pays him wordlessly in cash for the total of both items. “Can you hold the table for me until I’m done grocery shopping? I’ll come back and collect it in an hour.”

He’s all too thankful to get her out of his shop, her energy making the place feel tense somehow. “Sure thing, if you want to leave your car unlocked I can get this loaded up into your trunk while you’re shopping.” The bright smile, and cheerful expression of thanks, makes him lighten up a little. His gut still pinched nervously at her presence but she didn’t seem like she’d be a danger, at least. Weird he could learn to handle. He breathed a sigh of relief when she walked out, taking the book with her, and found his son in the back to help load up the table.

When Erin had finished buying groceries, and making small talk with the old lady behind the register who although slow was so sweet Erin couldn’t find it in her to be mad, she was happy to find the coffee table loaded into the back of the car. She’d deal with getting it out later, that was a problem for future-Erin. Present-Erin made the drive back to the house, put away the groceries, and went to get looking at the journal more thoroughly.

It certainly looked handmade, and the supple leather is slightly worn at the spine and corners. The simple tooling looks almost runic, although Erin couldn’t find anything about these particular symbols in any of her literature. The green stitching on the spine was definitely symbolic, but her searches there turned up similarly empty. The paper was slightly yellowed, but didn’t seem too brittle, and the end-pages were a lavish hand-dipped marbled paper in the same jade green as the thread and a deep cerulean blue. Erin was in love with this book.

Journaling had been a hobby of hers since she had begun therapy, her therapist assured her that writing out feelings and thoughts would help to make a neatness of her jumbled mind. Erin found it helpful, a free space to get out all of her feelings and frustrations, to work through what problems needed confronting and what problems were entirely manifestations of her anxiety in her head. Usually, she made her own journals, but something about this book made her want to write in it.

Hello

She used to find writing like this awkward. A letter to someone, herself maybe? The universe? The ether? It made her feel judged, like someone would be reading it, but over time she got over it. Somehow it was comforting, to get her feelings out like this.

I know, new journal! It’s strange isn’t it? How moving to a new place can bring you to new places inside yourself? Usually I’d be twisting inside about writing in something made by someone else, like my thoughts don’t belong to me but to whoever made the book. But this journal I found today, it’s too beautiful to leave it so empty. A book like this was meant to be filled. Perlston is nice, the people here are friendly enough but sorta strangely guarded. I was hoping this would be a better experience than the city, but it seems like making friends here will also be impossible. I have to keep my chin up, though, it’s only been two days after all.

Erin rambles on for a full page about the stress of unpacking and moving, but how happy she was to be out by nature. She doesn’t notice how warm the page feels under her, or the way it takes in the ink almost instantly into its fibers. When she signs the bottom of the page with a practiced and flourished “EC” she lets out a sigh and stretches. The way her back pops makes her moan with satisfaction as she pushes away from her desk to head upstairs.

The rest of the week is spent unpacking and organizing, getting the house into a state that’s less sterile and more homey. By the time Sunday rolls around the house is mostly ready and Erin is itching to explore. So, with her journal in hand and some boots on her feet she ventures off onto a small trail she found near her backyard. As she follows it deeper into the forest, she finds a small stream and begins to follow it up until she reaches a pond fed by a thin trickling waterfall. Well, pond might be too small a term for it, but lake wasn’t right either. Still, the calming sound of running water and the fresh scent of grass and damp earth set her heart at ease.

Settling down in the damp grass Erin pulls out her lunch and her journal. Eating her sandwich with one hand she starts to write happily with the other. Although a few sentences in she sees some ink begin to bloom on the bottom third of the page, making her eyebrows knit together. Slowly before her eyes she sees a messy scrawl begin to appear.

Are you there?

#my writing #camp nanowrimo #camp nano july 2019 #sfw #named character #fantasy #romance #lesbian fiction #lesbian romance #eventual romance

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kaylewiswrites · 6 years

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Drunk WIP Week Day 2 - Knifepoint

Welcome to day two of the week where I rant about my wips like an excited drunk person because I’m tired of trying to make coherent and professional sense. Yesterday, I made an extremely long post about my main WIP Walk, so go check that out if you like morally grey characters, almost-dystopian settings, and found families that, every once in a while, get along with each other.

But today? Today, we’re talking about....

Knifepoint

Sometimes I start off a story with a vague idea in my head, and sometimes I literally just start writing words to see what happens. In this case, it was 75k of a slow-burn enemies-to-lovers lesbian romance in the desert between three politically fraught invented nations. It was almost entirely about (a) not having enough water and (b) deep conversations about feelings, so I decided to actually try drafting for the first time in my life, and now we have a plot! but the slow-burn romance and talking about feelings in a desert is still a thing. Like, a big thing.

Premise:

So we’ve got three countries living together, with a rich (not so thought out) history, and a desert sitting in the middle of the peninsula they occupy.

Ceathyia: This is a peaceful country of diplomats, fine artists, scholars, and doctors. They’re, like, pretty stuck up. They’re all proud of themselves because they value selflessness and kindness above everything else, and their neighboring countries can get kind of defensive around them. Not too defensive, though. They’re the best at selling and marketing to the more distant countries, so the other nations sell most of their goods to Ceathyia. Besides, they’re a bit annoying, but ultimately harmless. It’s not like a Ceathyia is ever going to stir up trouble. They worship the sun as a symbol of all they aspire to be (warm and giving and selfless and all that stuff).

Koden: Separated from it’s neighbors by a strip of desert, it’s only been two hundred or so years since Ceathyia and Haryth even knew that Koden and it’s people existed. Before then, both countries just assumed they had rights to the whole desert if they wanted it, but when they found out the other was there, they got...pissed. Koden raises it’s kids in kind of a weird way: each citizen is trained to live for only three things. Any three things, but only three. Is it money? Is it family? Is it peace, or lust, or commitment or happiness? The country doesn’t really care, and it believes everyone has the freedom to do what they need to do in pursuit of these ‘Aspects’ of their ‘Selves’. Murder a man because your aspect is ‘violence’? Fine with us, but that man over there with a ‘justice’ aspect has just as much right to slit your throat. So it reads as pretty lawless and chaotic.

Haryth: They want to fight. They want to fight ALL THE TIME. They want that desert that Koden claimed for themselves. Harythian people aren’t born with names. They have to die a glorious death on the field of battle to be worthy of remembering, so it’s easy to encourage young people to train to be soldiers. They have to pass ten tasks in order to be received: archery, hand-to-hand combat, sword fighting, stealth, on and on until their final task: walking the length of the enemy country of Koden and back without being killed. If you can do that, you’re a soldier, and you’re one step closer to getting your name.

Characters:

We’ve got one main character from each country, because how else would we do it?

Sian: Late teenage Ceathyian (why would I know my characters ages?). He’s studying to be a doctor, but for right now he’s accompanying his dad on a diplomatic trip to Koden. In a country of kind and selfless people, he feels an unhealthy need to be the MOST kind and the MOST selfless, because he’s terrified that people will find out that he’s faking. He thinks he’s terrible. He’s always felt this desire to live carefree lives the way the other nations do, and he’s been bottling up his resentment of his society since his mother died. So he compensates by donating the most, volunteering the most, getting the best grades, but the more praise he gets for his behavior, the guiltier he feels, and the harder he feels like he needs to work. He’s just a big ball of self-loathing anxiety. Oh, and he’s about to find out he’s not as straight as he thought he was.

(Side note, I’m pretty sure the only (maybe) straight people in this book are the villains. Like, even all the named side characters at this point are somewhere in the LGBT alphabet.)

Mona: Like all Kodens, she has a Self: Simplicity, Survival, and Self Control are her three aspects. She’s a blacksmith that makes really cool weapons, and her workmanship is so good that people come from Ceathyia to make requests. This is good, because all that money means Survival is happy. Simplicity likes the process of making everything, the repetitiveness. Self Control is happy to get rid of any trace of anger buy hitting things with a hammer over and over again. So she’s got a pretty chill life. Until these other two nerds come hurtling into it, ruining everything. When she can’t satisfy Simplicity, she gets intense stomach pains (Anxiety), but Self Control refuses to show weakness, so she just smiles. The more upset she is, the more she smiles. If she’s really panicking, she starts laughing. It throws the others off, and makes them think she’s an asshole, but she’s mostly just trying to make it through all these stressful situations without an ulcer.

Rada: That’s not her real name (since she’s not dead, she doesn’t have one), but it is a nickname Mona gives her to piss her off. Actually, most of want Mona does pisses her off. Rada is basically the (ง'̀-'́)ง emoji. She has a short temper, is extremely impatient, and a little too curious for her own good. She tends to feel everything very passionately, which is why she takes every accidental slight from the other two very personally. She’s also ridiculously impulsive. Like, deciding to jump into the final task of breaking into Koden without actually learning the language first kind of impulsive. Like gambling away her only weapons in an enemy country kind of impulsive. Like stealing new, very expensive knives from a famous Koden blacksmith in front of a Ceathyian, leading all three of them on a chase scenes that ends with the discovery of a political plot kind of impulsive. You know the type, right?

Plot

So yeah. Look at the last two sentences of the last paragraph, and that’s basically how we start. Turns out Ceathyian has been manipulating the other two countries into war for decades, for their own gain, and these three idiots have to figure out a way to stop them before another war breaks out. This will require them to: Cross a large, inhospitable desert, make their way through two different countries that members of their party are not welcome in, deal with disapproving fathers, coming to terms with different sexualities, coming to terms with the idea that your enemy might not need to be your enemy, learning new languages, discovering what platonic love feels like, and one very drunk night of dancing.

I really did try to make this one shorter than yesterday BUT it didn’t work. Tagging @aomory and @concerningwolves. Let me know if anyone wants to be tagged in posts about Knifepoint in the future, or in the rest of Drunk WIP Week. If you want to see a more professional explanation of Knifepoint, you can see the WIP page here

Below is a snippet of Knifepoint. Critique and criticism is always welcome!

We’ve already established I’m not good with the mud, right? That point’s been made clear to you? No review necessary? Great. So you understand that while I’m running from the second shop keep of the day, I’m not doing too well.

Each step feels like a gamble, a chance. I’m usually fast—the Speed Task was the first one I passed, after all— but each step I take lands deep in the mud and it’s hard to call what I’m doing running when it takes so long to lift each foot up. Some people yell as my attempts to sprint splatter them with wet dirt.

While it seemed clear pretty quickly that the used salesman wasn’t interested in a pursuit, I’m getting a different vibe from this encounter. Maybe because you actually took something this time, I remind myself. Technically three things. Three very expensive things.

Stupid broach. Stupid Ceathyian. Does he think he’s doing the right thing? Does getting someone killed over a piece of jewelry make him morally superior?

I take a glance over my shoulder, wondering if it’s safe to slow down. The shop keep probably isn’t hard to lose, and the Ceathyian wouldn’t want to get his nice clothes all dirty. But I don’t find either of them behind me.

The blacksmith. The blacksmith running with her hammer in hand. The blacksmith that is running barefoot through the mud like she was born in it.

She probably was, I growl to myself. I take a sharp turn into the market square, using a pole to pull myself in the right direction. It’ll be easy to disappear into the crowd here, I think. I take a few steps leaning back to slow myself down quickly…

…and slip. I slip right into a tent with a wooden board of a gold painted sword.

The poles fall, the cloth collapses, and from inside I hear the sound of clanging metal and an angry roar. I roll off the cloth, just in case any of the sword happen to be sharper than they looked. I right myself quickly, but the blacksmith is only a few tents away, and that hammer doesn’t look friendly. I pull my feet out of the mud and keep running.

So the market plan was a bust. But if I can get into some of the tighter side streets, I might be able to lose her there. I need to, fast. She’s gaining on me with every turn. She might be able to run better in mud, but a Harythian will always be able to outsmart a Koden.

A left, a right. The paths get skinnier, the backs of the buildings point toward us. The paths don’t make sense, houses built and added to at a whim. I’m going to have a hell of a time finding my way out of this, but I guess being lost is a privilege of being alive.

Left, left, right, and then a fork in the road. Perfect. I run to the left, then shove myself into an alley way on the right, folding my body behind a barrel. She’ll have no idea which way I’ve gone. She won’t be able to—

A hand grabs my hair and yanks me up. I pull the new knives out of my sleeves and swipe, but I only gaze the hand pulling back. Even that, though, is enough to draw a thin, shallow line of blood across the blacksmith’s palm.

She smiles as she lifts the hammer. “You give up, you get to live. You fight, I leave a corpse back here. This is your choice.”

I growl and slash upwards, but the movement is awkward in this cramped space. I realize this is the first fight I’ve ever had outside my training yard, and it couldn’t be more different. Narrow alley, muddy ground, and a girl with a hammer—everything I’ve learned in training is failing me. In less than a minute she has me on the ground, knives in the mud, holding me up by my wrist. I wait for her to bring the hammer down on my head and end it, but she keeps looking at me with the same vague smile. “Well? I demand, knees sinking into that godforsaken mud. If this is how I die, I’d rather get it over with.

“You didn’t happen to steal an ax as well, did you?” She asks. Her voice is soft and smooth, not at all what I expect, and I’m wondering if that has something to do with the fact that I’m obviously not hearing things right.

“What?”

Wet running footsetps and wheezy breath narrowly give us warning to the arrival of another person. I feel both ashamed and hopeful at the idea of someone finding me like this, but the person that almost runs by and has to double back is not some savoir but the Ceathyian snitch that put me in this position in the first place.

“Stop!” he pants. “Don’t—Don’t hurt her!” He’s leaning heavily on the silver staff he was holding when I ran.

“Did you steal that, too?” The blacksmith asks.

The boy closes his eyes and pants harder. “No, i…it was in my hand when I chased you out of the shop, and I didn’t realize it until I had gone all the way down the street, and I was afraid it would get stolen if I put it down, so I thought I’d…just return it in person when I found you, but the important part is, don’t hurt her.”

“Did you happen to bring an ax?” The blacksmith asks. Ok, I know I didn’t mistranslate this time. Between her vague smile, calm voice, and irrational questions, there’s something going on with her.

When the Ceathyian looks confused, she continues: “Do you think Gadum was being serious? About bringing back her hand?”

Instinctually, I try to twist out of her grip, but I swear the girl is made of the same iron she works with.

“You can’t cut off her hand!” The Ceathyian cries.

“I know,” the blacksmith answers. “All I brought was this hammer.”

#writblr #writeblr #writing community #writers of tumblr #my wip #knifepoint #drunk WIP week 2018 #long post

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thorupwells47 · 3 years

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vacationcalendar · 3 years

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7/18/21

Good morning Max!

So.

We are steadfastly embarking here on a blogging journey only about 3 entire weeks after we had this fantastic idea. One might argue that a *start* to an endeavor can’t be steadfast; steadfast is a pace that is maintained over a period of time, it indicates a consistency that can’t be identified after mere seconds of typing. But I would argue that that steadfast pace is going a certain speed, and we as a society have a collective idea of how fast that speed is, whether we’ve ever said it out loud or not. And I believe it is that speed at which I am embarking. So there. You bear with me and try to visualize THAT idea, and I’ll try and learn more words so we don’t have to keep having these little thought experiments every paragraph or so.

OK GREAT! WE’RE OFF! I have literally taken two full length breaks since I’ve started writing this. Why was I so scared to get this thing started anyway? Writing comes so naturally to me, like breathing, or shitting. I can’t believe people actually get paid to do this.

Alright, in all honesty, I know this is going to be wildly difficult for me to do with any consistency at all, much less DAILY (good lord...). So in order to make this a more surmountable task, we are going to make the topics and form that the blog takes on a little more free flowing than I might initially want them to be. We don’t care how the river is shaped at this very moment, just so long as there is water flowing down it.

Here are some creative writing projects constantly hanging over my head that might just rear their ugly heads in some form or another during these posts: Comedy Sketches Stand-up bits Segments/ideas for my eternally unfinished novel Standalone essays that I think would work as a youtube video, because of course an introverted depressed guy who thinks he’s interesting in 2021 wants to have a youtube channel. Etc.(?)

There, I finished the list with etc., even though I had no more concrete ideas for creative writing projects. That makes the list instantly 300% more official, and doesn’t paint me as wildly unconfident in my own personality AT ALL. I did mention to my mother that I was working on assorted creative writing projects to keep busy, and she immediately asked, “Oh! Like a [auto]biography?”

She’s pretty confident that I’ve got a bestseller on my hands if I just recounted the sad and lonely details of my life up until this point. She also called it a biography as indicated in my direct quote there, and I tried to fix it in post like any good editor would. But now I’m noticing that “fixing” the quote to say autobiography like she *meant* to say changes the proper article before the word from “a” to “an,” and I have no idea what the protocol for that correction would be...

Maybe it’s [an auto]biography? An [auto]biography? Maybe it’s [an autobiography], but then it’s much less clear what my mother’s initial mistake in vocabulary was, and I don’t want to let her off the hook so easily. Maybe I google this later, if I can think of what the hell you would type into google to find an answer to this. I guess my point bringing this up at all, is maybe I do actually try and use this space occasionally for a journal. Wading through the slimy, fetid bog of my younger days sounds extremely unfun, and, to a point of contention with my well-meaning mother, distinctly unprofitable. But unpacking my current self’s thoughts onto this page periodically does actually sound nice.

And this is a trade secret between you and me (you’re the only one reading this Max, sorry), I think it would behoove you to include several autobiographical moments in your perpetually ethereal novel. You need all the cheat codes you can get to get this wretched thing off the ground. We should lock the name in on that sucker by the way, just to help save you some keystrokes at least. I know I wrote down ‘Elements of War’ a loooong time ago as a placeholder. And I can confirm as of Sunday, July 18 2021, I don’t like it. It’s no good. I look at other titles of other stories, looking for inspiration, and they all seem to work just fine for the story their attached to. Harry Potter is just the name of the main guy, and that worked INCREDIBLY well. “Harry Potter and the [insert magic themed adventure keywords here].” Foolproof.

The main problem I have with a title is simply the fact that I know so little about the contents of my book at this point. It stands to reason that the book should find a title for itself as part of the process of actually writing the book. Seeing the events transpire in the story from a bird’s eye view would give you just about everything you could possibly need to title your book. Choosing a title for a story BEFORE the story really exists feels a bit like working backwards, even though the title would technically be the first thing anyone reads. I guess I could see it plausibly being created in either order. You don’t necessarily need to know the entire story you are setting out to tell to understand the story you’ve shown up to tell. Breaking Bad ostensibly didn’t know many of the finer details of its story before Vince Gilligan picked its title. Hell, it didn’t know many of its details before literally airing on TV. And there was never any consideration of changing the title of the show retroactively, once the showrunners figured out the ending, right? Stories need a title. And I don’t think I’m making some irredeemable authorial error by picking out a title before getting too far into my story-writing process. Although I’m often reminded of the They Might be Giants song “Experimental Film” when I dream up things like titles or dramatic plot points or the like:

“I already know the ending, It’s the part that makes your face implode, I don’t know what makes your fact implode, But that’s the way the movie ends.”

We all want that awesome moment. We all want to create that life changing piece of art. But creating is hard, and dreaming is easy. Or rather, dreaming is natural. We all have a dream at night, we get one simply by virtue of being awake. Understanding the dream, communicating the dream is hard. Hell, communicating anything can be hard. Part of me thinks that creative project that will define my legacy (wow, try unpacking that sentence later buddy) will be an interview show where I work with my guest to try and manifest the story they dream of telling in there head, but have never tried to tell it. Tell me that’s not a million dollar idea! If Ira Glass announced that show next week and Barack Obama was his first guest, you better believe that thing’s taking off like the fucking Quinjet from the Avengers. But you wouldn’t even need a big celebrity guest! I believe that literally everyone has the ingredients of a completely unique story kicking around in their heads. And to conclude this thought, I will often times pretend I’m the guest on this podcast (of course it’s a podcast), and I’ll try to play out what that interview would sound like. And I’ll be honest, that show would need a VERY smart host to keep the flow going. And in my interview fantasy, I’m also the host; so it’s admittedly hard. I think the “Experimental Film” song would be the theme song for that show for SO MANY reasons.

Ok, I’ll be honest. I took yet another break in the middle of that last paragraph, and I may have lost the thread a teeny-tiny bit. So I’m going to try and finish out any relevant thoughts and then I’m going to do a hard break and just move on to a completely new thought.

I actually had an idea of what my (at least for now) title should be. ~The Franz Lion~ This is the name of the ship in the story that all the main characters travel on. This is the primary setting for the majority of AT LEAST the first series of events in the book. I imagine if my story moved far away from the boat, by that point I could that “Part 2,” or it could be like a whole second book. Like the first book is called The Franz Lion, but then a new book comes out and you find out the series is called like “The Greatest Windybilly”; and Book 2 is like “The Drowned.” I don’t know, and I don’t care at this moment. I just know that all signs point to “The Franz Lion” as a fine title for this book. I admittedly can see a world where it’s more of a phrase, like “Aboard the Franz Lion” or “Weaver and the Franz Lion”, but right now, I don’t see something like that being better than just “The Franz Lion”.

The Franz Lion is one of the VERY FEW things that I feel like I’ve hit a home run on. That to me is a fucking great name for a boat. It’s memorable, unique, easy to get on board with. I am aware that the boat from Legend of Zelda: Windwaker was named “the King of Red Lions”, so it’s not COMPLETELY unique. But I’m pretty confident that there is plenty of real estate in the Lions + Boats territory. So confident, in fact, that I’m locking that name in HARD. And then the name of the boat just works great as a title. Literally no one would be confused or lost or tempted to look too far into it. AND THEN, if they did look into it, I think there would be puh-lenty of symbolism and theming to pull out of the boat’s significance in the characters’ lives. And man, I know we talked about autobiographical elements, that’s unmistakable; which I am legitimately happy about. Fran Lyon was a HUGE figure in my life. Our relationship signified a change in my life that I literally was never able to come back from. And using that as inspiration for a ship that literally carries the main character away on a life-changing adventure seems like as great a place as any in trying to tell MY story. One day I can be Kurt Vonnegat-like good at writing stories, and I won’t have to borrow from real life to make convincing plots and characters, but for now this makes all the sense in the world to me. So, yeah, The Franz Lion. It exists in my head and one day it will exist on paper. And then I can die I guess. Wouldn’t that be nice? I look forward to trying to bring a teensy bit to you on your calendar here. Wish me luck!

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

Ok that was the break. This wasn’t THAT hard. Thank God. Cuz we have to do a lot more than this to be satisfied. We quit our job on my 30th birthday in part because the notion that I was missing the chance to do *this* was constantly gnawing at the back of our head. Honestly the fact that I literally forgot that this was the writing project I was supposed to be doing for like 18 days may just be a testament to how hard I had been trying to just read.

I bundled writing with reading when I decided that I needed to be writing more. I said, well writing IS reading, and I can’t just sit down and read for shit. So if I’m going to really put writing at the forefront of my brain, I’m going to have to read too, dammit. And then I tried to sit down and read for, no joke, 2 entire weeks. And it fucking killed me. Unbelievable. Unbelievable how hard it was to incorporate into my life. I still don’t get it. So I quit with the intention of picking up these habits. And then I would evaluate how fulfilling it all felt, before I continued onto my path of adult life. You know, working, trying to meet new people, idk what else.... etc. And now that I can confirm how hard it has been to really stick to this and grind out being creative, all I know at this point is I’m not ready to go back. I can tell I want to be more competent at all this before I can make an assessment on what role being creative will play for my future. Seemingly my whole life I have teetered back and forth between wanting to be creative and being too scared to really try, and wanting to have the full life that hard work gets you; you know, the life that society sculpts for you. A wife, kids, vacations, cooking, friends, parties, movies. It’s not a matter of figuring out how it all works, it’s just a matter of going out grinding it all out. Securing it all piece by piece by putting in the requisite work. It’s not easy, but it’s also not complicated. And I guess ultimately I like to think I’m not someone who’s afraid of hard work. But if I’m not afraid of hard work, then why have I not put in the work to secure a career or friends or a partner or physical fitness or anything? Because I don’t want to? Do I really not want to? Or maybe I AM afraid of hard work.

But let’s take a second to unpack that. I put in hard work at Olivia’s. I truly did. I worked hard enough there to qualify as working hard, period. And it felt good. I know this. I shouldn’t forget that. I worked hard, it wasn’t impossible; it wasn’t unsustainable. And it felt good. This is mostly why I tell myself I’m not afraid of hard work. Because it’s not some dark mysterious unknown entity. I’ve been on the other side of it now. It’s the main reason I didn’t think I HAD to be creative anymore. I’ve seen the whole path of hard work, and it actually looked traversable. I sometimes wonder if I had been so drawn to being creative because I was so afraid of travelling on the path of hard honest work. It would explain why it felt so good to actually work hard for once. It would explain why the idea of abandoning the creative path felt so good once I had it. I would imagine the idea of quitting “comedy” would be a pretty mournful one, to someone like me who had clung so desperately to that dream for so long. But it wasn’t. It was a relief in a way. To know that I didn’t have to pull out some wild success in this tumultuous field to be ok; it felt like taking off a heavy backpack. I just felt more capable, more free. The simple act of allowing myself to “quit” felt ok simply by virtue of spending years of my life thinking I couldn’t do ANYTHING, and that being creative was the only way to be ok with the prospect of being alive. Thinking about abandoning that dream told me I was more normal than I had managed to be for over a decade at this point. I looked up for the first time since I had been in college and had the thought that I could work hard and succeed, whatever that might mean. College was the place I first realized I was useless, and now Olivia’s was where I realized that that wasn’t true, I just wasn’t old enough yet. I am aging much slower than the average population; I haven’t exactly figure out why yet. But it’s clear that I am. And for better or worse, this is THE factor that has cast me aside from the le person. Figuring out why would be nice, but the truly important thing to do clearly is to use this to my advantage. Get my leg up the world with my unique vantage point. And as far as I can tell, in fact it seems quite obvious to me, my leg up is going to come from a creative outlet. A twenty year old having his 30th birthday is only going to have diminishing returns in the traditional American dream. It’s like getting paid 70% of what my peers are making. Part of me knows that even 70% of the full salary isn’t that bad. It’s plenty if you’re a hard worker and know how to live in the moment; but another part of me knows that only a fool should take less than he’s earned. I don’t actually know if I can make up all this time I’ve lost, being the proverbial time traveler that I am. I don’t know how on earth I would ACTUALLY go about recouping my salary back to its rightful 100%. I can’t manifest lifelong friends; I can’t rewrite my relationship to my parents and siblings; I can’t pick up 10+ years of romantic experiences from a youtube video. I could technically go back to college, but I don’t really want to. I only want to do that as much as I want to hop in a time machine and actually be the age I’m supposed to.

Now that I think about it, if there was a story about a man who accidentally travels to the future and the finds out the world moved on without him (I mean there is, it’s called Rip Van Winkle). Yeah, now that I think about it, my story is very similar to a Coma patient’s. I just seemingly was given less time than I was promised. And I have to deal with that. But, what I’m saying is, it stands to reason that if this WERE a story, that character wouldn’t shine under those circumstances. They would wilt. They would lament and diminish. Only the rarest and most inspiring would rise up and overcome their disadvantage. Because it is a disadvantage. It’s not a unique vantage point. It’s not a matter of optimism vs pessimism. The glass is not half-full or half-empty; it is considerably less full than halfway.

Right?

Hmm. What is my point here? I have suffered. Unequivocally. And to suffer is to be alive. Again, unequivocally. So maybe my time-travelling has actually gone the other way. I’ve lived far longer than the scant 30 years my birth certificate claims. It certainly feels like longer than 30 years, even though the activity log of my life would disagree. Maybe that’s it. I’ve replaced my life with dreams. I’ve suffered in places where I was meant to thrive. And in doing so I’ve gone far under my quota of accomplishments and memories, and gone far over my quota of misery and regrets. In that sense I’ve lived out less of my life that I was meant to in some ways and lived out substantially more of my life in other ways. And I can’t say that unhappy (or rather that I don’t love myself as I am), but I can see why I never ever heard anybody recommend living your life this way.

“I am young. I am old”

Why can’t I be the age I am? Why was that so hard to accomplish? What did I need to do to fix that? And why do people think I should enjoy my birthday? Can’t they see I’ve been time-traveling? This birthday was for someone else. I don’t actually know when my birthday is. I only know when it isn’t.

Now that I’ve thought about it, I think a time-traveler is a perfectly fine person to be a creative type. He might not be the smartest or the fastest, and he’ll never be the happiest; but it’s safe to say he cheated and got wiser than his peers will ever get a chance to. At least if he was paying attention he got wiser. We all know what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. But then we all go spending our life trying to get stronger, and rarely do we ever get close enough to getting killed. So I have to show up like the man that survived the fatal disease, and got stronger than anyone should have to, without even really trying*.

Ok calling it here. Day 1 in the books. The daily blog is still at 100% completion rate! Nice

Love you, be good.

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analysis-by-vaylon · 6 years

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Visual language in Violet Evergarden.

Hello, there. As some of you may know, I often browse Netflix looking for animated works that interest me. For example, I recently watched The Long Long Holiday, a French animated series about two children growing up in Nazi-occupied France -- and while I certainly enjoyed watching it and would recommend it to anyone interested in the subject matter, this blog is more concerned with analysis of animated works that have a bit more texture.

What do I mean by "texture"? Texture, like a thick streak of paint on canvas, is something you can both see and feel. Animation is a visual medium. Therefore, it should not simply tell a story (although animation certainly can get by with just a well-told story -- and there are too many that fail to meet even that criterion); rather, good animation should integrate visual cues with story elements in order to express a clear idea. Visual cues include the symbolic use of color, surprising contrasts, an unusual choice of subject, the way a shot is composed, the order in which shots are placed, and so on. Animation is so expensive to produce -- why make it if you don't have a clear idea to express?

A recent series that I watched -- one that appeared on Netflix earlier this month, in fact -- is Violet Evergarden, a gorgeously-animated series from Kyoto Animation. It is based on a light novel, which I have not read; my analysis focuses entirely on the anime. In particular, I'm going to talk about the way Violet Evergarden uses visual cues. By drawing the viewer's attention to these cues, the series encourages the viewer to experience the story on multiple levels -- thus using visual language to reinforce the ideas behind the story.

If you're worried about spoilers, my analysis will only cover the first couple of episodes, and I won't go too far into plot details. Nevertheless, I've hidden the post. Continue on for the rest of the analysis.

It's easy to look at a series like Violet Evergarden and think that it's all style and no substance; apart from the eye-catching scenery, its Edwardian setting may come across as thoughtlessly chosen, and its pace can seem too leisurely aimless for some.

Don't be deceived by such appearances. There is far more going on than there seems to be at first.

The Language of Hands

Much has already been written about the series's use of the Victorian language of flowers, and that's only one example of its use of visual language and symbolism. Shots in Violet Evergarden are deliberately framed to heighten the emotional impact of what is taking place -- as they should be. In particular, shots of characters' hands are used not only to convey extra information about characters but to reinforce a theme that runs throughout the series: we can choose to use our hands to help others instead of killing them. From the very first episode, shots of hands are used to reveal information about characters, from the injured Violet and her unsteady, artificial hands to the evasive Claudia:

Claudia hides his hands when he lies to Violet, and our attention returns to his hands a second time to emphasize the internal tension he feels as a result of his lie; in this way, the series makes a visual connection between hands and secret feelings, a concept later brought to the forefront as Violet herself learns to connect body language to the written word. This is what I mean by visual language: by paying attention to when and how the series shows us a character's hands, we can discern more information about that character than is otherwise presented.

The series returns to this idea later as the characters address the nature of paradoxes: that is, Violet wants to work as an "Auto-Memory Doll" -- a typist who translates a client's hard-to-express feelings into a heartfelt letter -- but appears to have no understanding of her clients' emotions; despite a near-perfect grasp of vocabulary and grammar, Violet struggles with writing anything more complex than an emotionless, literal translation of what her clients have to say -- several characters liken her writing to a military report.

This particularly hurts her chances in the second episode. We see a vain-looking woman enter CH Postal Company -- whose symbol, not coincidentally, is a pair of hands, as if to remind us of the ultimate source of the typewritten word -- and ask Violet to write a letter to a man who wants to date her. What the woman says is that she only likes her suitor because he's rich, giving off the impression that she's mercenary and unloving -- but we're also shown important shots of her hands and legs that reveal more emotion than what the woman verbally expresses:

Later, when the client returns after having been rejected due to Violet’s insensitive letter, she seems genuinely distraught and reveals that, contrary to her earlier words, she truly loved the man and wanted to marry him. Had Violet paid attention to this woman's non-verbal signs -- signs which we, the audience, are invited to focus on in particular -- then she might have realized the woman's true feelings.

Violet's friends state that people are complicated to the point of being paradoxical and that the job of the Auto-Memory Doll -- that is, a writer -- is to untangle these paradoxes and resolve them into a single, heartfelt letter. There is a parallel between the characters discussing their paradoxical clients and that of visual language itself; visual language is the non-verbal communication of animation. The cleverness of Violet Evergarden is that its story elements -- Violet's inability at first to comprehend non-verbal cues -- go hand-in-hand (so to speak) with the visual cues that we the audience are given; by understanding both, we the audience are participating in the same activity of meaning-making that Violet is, which not only heightens our emotional connection to the character but also exposes us to one of the clear ideas behind the series's use of visual language: reading and writing are intimately linked to the ability to empathize with others.

Writers must understand non-verbal communication in order to best use their words; they must grasp the hidden meanings behind the words and body language of others -- discerning their disguised pain, their secret joy, the depths of their misery. They must somehow feel what another human being is feeling. In this way, writing leads to empathy.

The Heart of Violet Evergarden

The idea that reading and writing can lead to better empathy is not a new one; I've mentioned it in previous discussions about the importance of literature and critical analysis, and you can find any number of articles about it online. What I find interesting about Violet Evergarden is that it tackles this topic with one particular case study in its main character while simultaneously leading its audience through the process.

Though Violet starts off as near-emotionless -- she is often described by others as being a doll or tool -- her journey involves her slowly learning how to empathize with others, prompted by her desire to know what the words "I love you" mean and facilitated by her attempt to write letters for others. What I think is endlessly fascinating about this depiction is that Violet's quest to understand love becomes a double-edged sword: in becoming more empathetic, she understands and feels guilt as well -- guilt for her numerous killings as a soldier under Gilbert’s command.

The reality is that feeling empathy for others and understanding their thoughts and feelings makes us vulnerable; we hurt in ways that no one, not even ourselves, can salve. Yet that pain can be paradoxically transformed into a powerful call to action, as characters throughout the series, including Violet herself, demonstrate.

Thus, the letters that the Auto-Memory Dolls type are visual symbols of empathy and an acknowledgement of the semiotic nature of the written word -- that is, human beings cannot communicate brain-to-brain directly, as each individual human being is discrete and their experiences unknowable, so they must find some other way to communicate thought and feeling with one another across the gulf that exists between two minds.

Language is one way of bridging that gulf. Violet Evergarden acknowledges this function of language -- doubly so, for not only do characters communicate with each other through written letters, but the series communicates with us with its visual emphasis on the importance of where these letters originate -- at our fingertips. The series is intimately aware of the power of language and wants us to be as well.

For Now, Farewell

I hope you enjoyed this analysis. This post may have come as a surprise to those who normally read my blog for Star vs. the Forces of Evil analysis -- but rest assured that I have not yet run out of things to say about that series. I simply wanted to take a break and write about something else for a chance to refresh myself. My post on the use of irony in literature is coming soon as well, so keep an eye out for that.

I welcome suggestions of things to write about as well as any questions you may have. Some of you already have questions that I have yet to answer -- I'll get to those, but they may take a bit longer than usual due to their complexity. Please feel free to submit new ones in the meantime. Take care of yourselves.

#violet evergarden #analysis #visual language

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robin-blogs · 3 years

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-26.11.2020- Cross Year Criticality Week 9

This week I had another Cross Year Criticality. Similarly to the previous Criticality I made a PowerPoint presentation to help visualize what I had been doing during the week and the ideas I had. The first person to go and talk about their work was Harriet Briggs.

Harriet Briggs– When Harriet was talking about her work she showed images of different materials she had dyed with fruits and vegetables. She then sewn the food they were dyed with by hand on the front. I personally found these pieces to be very visually interesting as the pieces she embroidered by hand were incredibly detailed and well sewn. She then went on to talk about how she wants to take this idea further with dying a bed sheet as when she was dying the fabrics she really liked the colours and thought they would look nice just as a simple bed sheet. Harriet then went on to talk further about this idea by talking about how she wants to try and experiment with resin by covering fruits in it as she’s heard when you encapsulate food in resin they begin to rot from the inside out. The lecturer we had talking to us all about our work then went on to mention an artist by the name of Joseph Kosuth as he reminded him of Harriet’s work. As seen below, he creates artwork that shows an image of what’s already there. This then links on with Harriet’s work as she mentioned how she wants to make her work more humorous similarly to Kosuth’s work where you can find a kind of humour in seeing an artwork next to an image of itself as its over-complicating itself in a way.

Moma (1999) MoMA [online], 2004 Available at: https://www.moma.org/collection/works/81435 [Accessed:28th November, 2020]

The next student// artist to talk next was Poulina Polutova.

Poulina Polutova- When Poulina started talking about her work she showed us some images of more arrangements of two objects similarly to her last criticality. She then showed us a range of icons she developed as a result of the objects she placed. She created it as a kind of code, so anyone can express what they want to say but can’t through the symbols. She then went on to say how she would want to experiment with leaving messages all over the place using these symbols. The lecturer who was running the call then mentioned an artist by the name of Pixaxao who creates work similar to the symbols in the form of graffiti. Poulina then went on to discuss how she didn’t agree with the form of graffiti and defacing buildings, but she enjoys and understands the idea behind his work. To finish off her segment she then went to talk about how she likes a sense of mystery she gets from creating work like this and how she finds it fun thinking about how it could develop in the future.

The Guardian (2016) Pixação: the story behind São Paulo's 'angry' alternative to graffiti [online] Wednesday 6th January 2016, 09.58am GMT Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/jan/06/pixacao-the-story-behind-sao-paulos-angry-alternative-to-graffiti [Accessed: 28th November, 2020]

The next artist// student to talk after Poulina was Stevie Lowe.

Stevie Lowe – When Stevie started to talk about her work she showed us a variety of images of Van Gough’s Sunflower she did minimalist renditions of. She created different colours of them to represent the different representation of colours in different places in the world. For example she created a minimalist yellow version of Van Gough’s Sunflowers as in Western Culture yellow represents happiness. She then created a second version of the same piece in red as in different areas in the wold such as India, red represents happiness instead. This work is more universal, and shows how if art travels around the world the meaning can change just depending on where you are. Stevie’s work is very much inspired by the art movement of minimalism and she even calls her work through her own name of “intellectual minimalism”. She additionally read somewhere about another minimalist artist who said “what you see is what you get” and she didn’t like that idea. As a result of this, she made minimalist pieces that had as much meaning as possible. She additionally doesn’t like the argument of someone saying “anyone can do that” in terms of art as it isn’t the point. She would rather someone say “I don’t like it” so it means something and starts conversation rather than not having any point. Another issue she spoke about was that it feels like artists have to take their art somewhere and constantly have a next step. When she said this I immediately agreed with it as I feel like it’s an issue I’ve come across with my own work. When I create pieces and show someone such as a lecturer, one of the first things they ask me is what are you going to do with this next? Or what my next step is going to be when thinking about the idea. When a lot of the time this is never the case with my artwork. Personally, with my artwork, I’m very all over the place with my ideas and process. I’ll have an idea and I’ll work on it until I get bored of it or until I find another idea I want to do more than my current piece. So more times than not, I’ll show a piece and that’ll be it, and I won’t want to take it any further as I already enjoy where it is. When people say things like this about my artwork, it makes me feel as if what I already have isn’t enough as they feel it should go further.

The next artist// student to talk about their artwork was me! This is when I showed my PowerPoint presentation that I had previously worked on.

Me// Robin Tinman – When showing my work, I showed everyone the PowerPoint I made which consisted of these images:

I talked about the piece about Stonewall ((the denim jacket)) in a previous blog post where I went into full detail about the process of making it and my research behind it. Although I have yet to talk about my piece with the mix of a skirt and a male shirt. These concepts were inspired by Edwardian fashion and male guard outfits of the time period. I originally found these images when I was looking around Pinterest for inspiration and image references. When I first saw this style of clothing I immediately fell in love. Even with the pieces of clothing that were traditionally feminine and had skirts. As a trans man, I found it really interesting how I saw this style of clothing and wanted to wear it myself considering through all my life I’ve completely avoided wearing dresses and skirts unless my parents made me wear them. As a result of this I created some concepts where I mixed Edwardian women’s fashion and guard outfits into one. I did this by having the top of a male guards outfit along with some Edwardian skirts I liked. After brainstorming some ideas I come to the end point of a concept with a detachable skirt to go along with the shirt and pants. Although when looking at this concept it looks closer to a males tailcoat than a dress or skirt. As a result of this, when I sew and make the shirt I’ll make the skirt longer and thinner to resemble the flow of a skirt rather than a formal tailcoat. I will also like to experiment with taking pictures in the outfit with me wearing makeup and nail polish to show how I’m still valid as a man no matter how I choose to present myself. But when thinking of this and having the idea of wearing it outside I was anxious of people just perceiving me as a woman in a dress rather than a man even though I’d be binding my chest and wearing a packer. As a result of this I might ask someone else to try wearing the outfit such as one of my brothers of friends. After making the outfit I would also like to experiment with painting some subtle segments of the skirt such as writing “I’m still valid as a man, no matter what I wear” around the bottom hem of the skirt along with wearing modern bracers with enamel pins over the shirt. I have never made clothing before, and especially not a whole outfit by hand, but I’m incredibly excited to see how it turns out and if I’d feel comfortable wearing it casually outside or to events such as Pride. A concept I’d also like to go forward with that Stevie suggested was developing concepts for the future of fashion and seeing what gendered clothing would look like in the future, or if gendered clothing as a concept would cease to exist with things such as Harry Styles wearing a dress recently. I have never thought of myself as being a person who is into fashion, so trying to design fashion that people would wear in the future sounds both exiting and different for me. When I start with this idea I would start off by drawing people of different genders and identities in dresses and traditionally masculine clothing. For example having a cis straight man with a long beard in a dress to completely breakdown the serotype of dresses just being for feminine women. Along with this concept, I think it would be fun to experiment more with wearing makeup, especially since it’s something I’ve entirely avoided my whole life just from its connection to women. But sometimes I love the idea of wearing makeup and looking different, so I feel this idea and concept would certainly help me with my confidence, even if it’s just taking pictures of myself in clothing like this.

The next artist// student to talk about their work was Dominic Swinchin.

Dominick Swinchin – When Dom started to talk about his work, he showed a series of paintings he did throughout the week. He created them as a result of his mental health and how he had been feeling throughout the week. He used a range of different colours to create them, I found this interesting as the colours told a story. He used images of himself throughout his life as references, he painted three versions of him when he was younger on smaller canvases, and an image of an older person which after considering it, he thought of it as a painting of himself when he is older. He also deliberately used a green toned paint when shading it as he mentioned how he always struggles with mixing skin tones correctly. I also relates to this as I’ve only ever painted a face twice and both times I found it hard to get the skin tone right, so I’d always use off colours to add deeper shading such as purples or orange. He stuck the smaller paintings onto the bigger one as a kind of way to build up his identity. Additionally, while looking at the paintings, he deliberately decided to leave the sketch exposed and leave parts of the painting unfinished to show how some things have been figured out, but he’s still struggling with his mental health.

The last student// artist to talk about their work was Bethany Cooper.

Bethany Cooper – When Bethany started to talk about her work she showed a terrarium she had been working on during the week. She saw the Terrarium as a kind of living sculpture as everything contained within it was organic and continuously growing and needing support. The moss was also taken from its natural home and was slowly dying. To Bethany, having this Terrarium felt like she was trying to tame nature while also forcing it out of its natural habitat. She then went on to talk about how this piece would be used in a kind of performance piece in an exhibition she’s doing. She explained how she would possibly have this terrarium on its own separate plinth along with having other artworks she has made throughout the year surrounding it. She would then hire people to destroy her work to see how they would go about destroying it. I found this idea to be interesting as I’m curious about how the people looking at her work would react to her work being destroyed or if people tried to stop them from destroying it. The lecturer who was running the meeting them spoke about an artist by the name of Michael Craig Martin who created earlier work similar to this. The work he was talking about was a piece called “An Oak Tree” in which he has a conversation between him and himself about the artwork. The piece consists of a glass shelf holding a glass of water. Martin then claims this glass of water to in fact be an oak tree. The piece has a piece of writing with it that consists of Martin having a conversation with himself arguing how the glass of water is in fact a fully grown oak tree. I had never seen this piece before, and I found it to be very interesting and almost humorous in a way. I had heard of Michael Craig Martin before in High school when I had to study his work, but I never knew he had earlier work like this. I actually prefer this earlier work of his compared to his older more well-known pieces.

Artsy (1973) An Oak Tree [online image] Available at: https://www.artsy.net/artwork/michael-craig-martin-an-oak-tree [Accessed: 28th November, 2020]

TATE (1973) Michael Craig-Martin An Oak Tree 1973 [online] Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/craig-martin-an-oak-tree-l02262 [Accessed: 28th November, 2020]

While listening to Bethany talk about her work with the terrarium I couldn’t stop thinking about my own plants I had at home. I have had trouble with keeping them healthy and alive so as a result of Bethany’s work I started to research the kinds of plants they were after the lecture as one of them didn’t have a tag on it. I found out it was a Fittona or ‘Nerve Plant’. After researching how to properly grow them in the correct conditions, I decided to re-pot them. After giving both my nerve plant and fern bigger pots, I decided to use the two empty pots they were originally in to experiment with planting some weeds and small plants I found around my garden to see how they would grow. So far they haven’t died or rotted so I hope they flourish more in the future!

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logh-icebergs · 6 years

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Episode 29: One Narrow Thread

Early 798/489. Adrian Rubinsky meets with Bishop Degsby of the Earth Cult to discuss his plans to aid Reinhard’s forces in capturing Iserlohn and then assassinate Reinhard to seize power for Phezzan. Degsby points out that under this scheme the Earth Cult’s investment in setting up a puppet government on Heinessen would be a wasted resource, but Rubinsky plans to use his financial control over the Alliance government to manipulate them into backing Yang into a corner. Degsby reminds Rubinsky that he owes the Grand Archbishop for his current position and had better tread carefully. Rubinsky sends his minion Kesserling to Remschild to propose a scheme that will ensure that the Empire and Alliance continue to fight each other, while Admiral Kempf attempts to perfectly sync twelve warp engines to avoid trapping all of Geiersberg fortress in null space. ….....Meanwhile back in the actual show we’ve been watching, Yang loses at 3D chess, Julian attempts to drink wine, and Hilda visits Kircheis’s grave.

A Quick Language Rant

“Words are like icebergs floating on the ocean called ‘heart.’” This quote provides the guiding philosophy for this project: LoGH is a text that uses the nuances of language, in concert with facial expressions, body language, symbolism, etc., to point the viewer to deeper layers of meaning in the story being told. As a close reading of the queer narratives in LoGH, this blog attempts to tease out and expose these slightly hidden layers. But…..we are writing in English. You’re reading this in English. The gifs we reference have English subtitles and no sound. And uhh, how do I put this diplomatically…

Every English translation of LoGH sucks.

...Okay that’s a bit harsh. Translation is fucking hard, especially of such a complicated work, and everyone who’s put hours and hours and hours into bringing LoGH to the English-speaking world deserves a hell of a lot of gratitude and credit. We never would have been able to watch the show without them. But. When we get into the nitty-gritty details of analyzing a scene, the fact that often none of the existing translations matches the nuance of the Japanese gets in the way. I’d much rather be plunging into yelling at Cazellnu right now than writing this note, but the conversation between Cazellnu and Yang in this episode is a mess in both sets of subtitles that I have access to, so here we are.

Let’s start with the fansubs, on the left—notice a couple whole clauses that aren’t in the official Hidive subs at all? Care to guess where they come from? That’s right, they come directly from the novels, as does the word “perfect” in Yang’s “perfect parent” line. Hey, I totally get it, fansubbers, the novels are a fantastic resource for figuring out the kanji or double-checking words that are hard to hear. But the dialogue in the anime is not in fact lifted verbatim from the novels; and while not every difference is super meaningful, we are interested in the intentional choices made by the anime staff, and that makes deviation from the books especially ripe for analysis.

The official subs, which are generally quite reliable, are also unsatisfying in this scene. As I’ll discuss below, the word that Yang uses replacing the novel’s “perfect” is 人並みに, hitonami ni, an adverb meaning “like others/as much as anyone else.” The official sub translation makes it sound more like “under normal circumstances” than “like normal people,” and while that’s not a life-altering difference, the nuance is relevant to my analysis. And they got the grammar of the sentence in the last gif here backwards; indeed, neither subtitle translation understood what I believe Yang is saying in those lines, but the English translation of the novel agrees with my interpretation. (Not that the novels don’t have their own translation problems, which is outside the scope of this blog but also frustrating…)

Phew. What all of this means is that before we can even start writing a post, we have to go through a whole process of triangulating all of the slightly different translations of any scene we want to analyze in detail, making sure that we understand the nuances of the language and can convey them accurately. (Not to mention checking the original LD version to make sure no significant changes were made to the animation in the DVD remaster!) In the case of the conversation between Yang and Cazellnu, the subtitles used in this post are my own synthesis based on the fansubs (modified to reflect the actual anime dialogue) and the translation in the novel (where I believe it to be more accurate).

With that out of the way, we are now ready to plunge into the main battle of this episode, so buckle up for....

Yang vs. Cazellnu!

That’s right, we’ve seen Yang battle Imperial fleets to improbable stalemates at Astate and Amlitzer, outsmart the commanders of Iserlohn to capture it from the inside, and annihilate one of his own nation’s fleets on his way to defeating the military coup; but how does Yang the Magician handle the most intimidating of all battles: having dinner with a married friend?? I’ve said before that Icebergs is not a relationship advice column, and nor is it, usually, a tips and tricks guide for dealing with pressure from peers to conform to heteronormative expectations, but hey—when we have the chance to learn from a Master Tactician, we should take it, right?

...Hmm.

...Well in any case, what’s fascinating and important about this conversation is that it does have the back-and-forth tension of a battle, with multiple strikes and counterstrikes: Yang employs a wide range of different strategies tactics to parry the various arguments that Cazellnu makes in his quest to convince Yang of his duty to marry. This conversation is key to understanding both Yang’s attitude toward marriage and family, and the way that Cazellnu often speaks explicitly in the voice of the normative pressures society puts on people to fit into the “married with kids” box. The dynamics of the entire interaction set Yang and Cazellnu up as opponents, and the sum total of Yang’s resistance to all of Cazellnu’s different angles of attack paints a clear picture of his current reluctance to see himself in the role of husband or father.

Yang does indeed provide the first opening to be scolded about marriage, when he takes offense at Charlotte using the suffix -ojichama (an affectionate “uncle”) in contrast to -oniichama, “big brother,” for Julian. Keep this moment in mind; I’ll be coming back to it in…*checks calendar* about eight months.

Immediately Cazellnu frames marriage as a societal obligation, and failure to marry as a “luxury.” Aww Cazellnu you romantic you.

In the previous episode we saw Mittermeyer pushed toward a normative marriage by subtle, insidious pressures—his upbringing within the context of a traditional family and the (possibly unspoken) expectations from his parents that he’d follow that model; the preponderance of visible heterosexual romance in his society. We’ve seen Yang swept along passively into romantic situations in which he was obviously uncomfortable. But Cazellnu’s line right here is the first time that a character has actually given voice to the institutional heteronormativity of society, actually advocated for it in so many words, actually leveraged it to criticize someone’s deviation from that norm.

Bantering with a friend in the abstract is way less uncomfortable for Yang than being thrust directly into a potentially romantic/sexual situation—unlike when Lapp pushed him to dance with Jessica or when Jessica threw herself at him, here there is no immediate danger, no specific person to reject or offend. This is an intellectual battlefield. And so Yang does fight back actively, starting with Tactic #1: appeal to historical precedent.

Note that while in his initial grumbling Yang said he wanted to be called oniichama while *still* a bachelor, now that he’s talking in the abstract rather than about himself he’s taking the even stronger stance that people can be productive members of society while *never* getting married. This line of argument makes sense; history is where Yang feels like an authority, and even the syntax of his “shall I make you a list?” reinforces his expertise here.

If Cazellnu’s thesis were that marrying is the only way to be an asset to society, Yang pointing out the existence of plenty of queer people—er sorry, “lifelong bachelors”—making contributions throughout history would be an effective rebuttal. (No, I don’t think that Yang is consciously talking about queerness, but yes I do think the creators are, through him.) But Cazellnu’s thesis is that participating in marriage and reproduction is an obligation on top of whatever other accomplishments someone might have, and Yang bringing up historical precedent opens the door to Cazellnu pointing out that not only is marriage the norm right now, but it has been for much of history.

In case you think I’m just being overly cute with all the battle analogies, it comes directly from the source material: The narration in the novel here contains lines like “And the point goes to Cazellnu, Julian thought” and “Yang didn’t attempt another counterstrike.”

In the anime, however, Yang does attempt one more counterstrike here, which is important because it’s the closest he gets to just saying “but I don’t want to.”

For Tactic #2, Yang complains that he didn’t pass thirty on purpose; in other words, Cazellnu may think he’s at an age where he ought to be married, but on the inside he doesn’t feel ready for that role. In case there was any suspense about Julian’s feelings on the matter, he is in no rush for Yang to decide he has to get married—keep this line in mind too, as I’ll be coming back to it in a mere six months.

Cazellnu switches the issue from Yang’s feelings to his outward appearance—a subtle but symbolic shift. If only Yang would suck it up and play the proper role, he would become (outwardly at least) a true adult. The issue of Yang’s desires is casually brushed aside.

This entire exchange is good-natured banter—Cazellnu’s intention here, at least on the surface, is to tease Yang, not to seriously condemn him for his choices. But the framework in which people joke is telling; and Cazellnu’s teasing is framed around the assertion that Yang is selfish for neglecting his duty to play the part of husband. Stage one of the battle is interrupted at this point for dinner, and for stage two, during a 3D chess match after dinner, Cazellnu’s joking tone is gone. The topic at issue this time is not just marriage but also parenting; when Cazellnu casually (but correctly) criticizes Yang’s parenting skills, Yang defends himself with Tactic #3: appeal to special circumstances.

Notice that Julian is paralleled to Hortence here in the role of caretaker to the girls. He’s simultaneously being included by implication in the younger generation—as Cazellnu and Yang discuss Yang’s pseudo-parental role in his life—and acting as an adult vis-à-vis the younger kids. At the risk of becoming a broken record...keep this moment in mind, as I’ll be coming back to it in the future.

The key to what Yang’s trying to say here is that adverb I mentioned earlier, hitonami ni, which is a deviation from the dialogue in the novel and therefore something the anime staff thought about explicitly. Hitonami is an adjective meaning average or ordinary (literally “in line with people”), so the adverb form means “like other/most people.” Yang is situating himself as fundamentally outside of the norms that Cazellnu is so fond of imposing: He couldn’t be expected to be a parent like normal people, because he didn’t grow up with a model of a traditional family and because he’s single.

His upbringing is in the past and outside his control; but being single is (on the surface) a choice that he has made—between the tables full of love letters, and Jessica being none too subtle about her continued interest, and everyone on all of Iserlohn knowing that Frederica has a thing for him, it’s always been clear that he’d have options if he were interested. It’s not that his point here doesn’t stand��I agree, the fact that he’s a bachelor who lives alone and has zero interest in or experience with kids did make him a strange choice for Julian’s guardian. But tactically, within this conversation, this was a huge blunder: It opens the door right back up for Cazellnu to continue the marriage guilt trip that was interrupted earlier. And sure enough...

This is such an obvious error that it seems revealing; in Yang’s subconscious, when he’s thinking about why he can’t be expected to be a parent “like most people,” his status as single might feel like something more innate about himself than a temporary circumstance or choice. His shock here is overdone considering the earlier banter. Tactic #4, blaming the ongoing war, is presumably one he’s used before, as Cazellnu is expecting it and doesn’t bother engaging with it directly at all, instead…

...finally delivering his thesis statement on marriage and reproduction clearly. And well, it’s a doozy.

A human being’s greatest duty is to bring forth new life. Damn Cazellnu. The use of the word “duty” (Japanese: 義務, gimu) echoes what Poplan started to say to Konev and Julian about a man’s “duty” to have sex with women; within the first three episodes of the season we’ve had two different characters explicitly describe heterosexual sex and/or reproduction as an obligation. (And throw in the slightly more coded discussion of Mittermeyer’s parents’ “expectations” about his role in society that preface the depiction of his marriage, as well as Reuental’s discussion of his own parents’ unhealthy and unromantic marriage that we haven’t even had time to talk about yet…..hmmmm is it possible that a theme is being established here?)

I can’t emphasize the importance of these lines enough: This is not passive, silent, subtle heteronormativity. This is Cazellnu voicing a view of the main purpose of human life that positions essentially all queerness as not just unusual or different, but specifically a deviation from the greatest duty of human beings. He is not joking. He’s not bantering. This is his worldview.

...And it pisses Yang off. Leaning forward in his seat, setting his brandy glass down with a noticeable thud, furrowing his eyebrows—this is more visibly angry body language than we usually see from Yang. As for the actual content of Tactic #5, well, as much as I love Yang I have to accuse him of a bit of an obnoxious-Reddit-poster argument style here, completely avoiding what Cazellnu actually said and deflecting the topic to something he’d rather be arguing about instead.

Yang: “Yo can we please go back to talking about how much war sucks? I thought I signed up to be on an anti-war show, not to be lectured at about heteronormative social structures…”

The best I can do to relate this reply to what Cazellnu said is that Yang’s either implying that his own record of causing death as a commander morally disqualifies him from being worthy of participating in the whole creation of new life thing, or possibly questioning the wisdom of bringing new life into the middle of a war. Cazellnu seems to take it to be about Yang’s sins, as he counters with—somehow—an even more obnoxious view of the point of reproduction.

“Okay little Timmy, I’ve caused the deaths of approximately three million soldiers in war, so just be a good boy and go do enough good to compensate for that so Daddy doesn’t go to hell, okay?”

Yang is done with this crap by now, and the next gif is a tactical three-for-one: First he points out that for this specific point of Cazellnu’s, about passing along one’s unfinished ambitions to the next generation, there’s no need for one’s protégés to be biological children (#6); then without giving Cazellnu time to respond (perhaps by pointing out that this doesn’t address his original argument about biological imperative to create life), he adds that this whole discussion is moot in the case that there isn’t unfinished ambition to pass along in the first place—again positioning himself as outside the scope of Cazellnu’s arguments (#7); and finally…

...the ultimate maneuver to win any difficult argument: Tactic #8: get up to go pee.

If you’re keeping score, I’d say that the great undefeated Admiral Yang loses this battle badly. Cazellnu is constantly a step ahead, turning Yang’s arguments back around on him and taking advantage of every opening. Yang is a scholar and a brilliant logical thinker, but you can’t fight convictions like “humans have a duty to reproduce” or “being a bachelor is anti-social behavior” with the kind of logic that Yang is practiced in. Heteronormativity is, for Yang, a more difficult opponent than the Imperial army.

Julian

hey-did-we-mention-Julian-has-dual-identities-of-soldier-and-caretaker.gif

The first episode of season two was all about Julian beginning to grow up as a soldier; this episode forms the natural complement by focusing on Julian’s more domestic roles. Back when Julian was first introduced I mentioned that he’s one of the only male characters who embraces more traditionally feminine roles, and in this episode that side of his personality is emphasized—from happily puttering around the kitchen doing laundry and cooking dinner, to helping look after Charlotte and her little sister (henceforth known as Demon Child Cazellnu, D.C. for short, until someone gives me a better explanation for her namelessness…).

Did I say Yang vs. Cazellnu is the main battle of this episode? I should have said it’s second after the epic clash of Gensui vs. the Roomba.

Fun fact: 1600 years in the future everyone has finally gotten over being pedantic about calling it “Frankenstein’s monster”!

It’s not played up in the anime except in background shots like this, but from Julian’s diary it’s clear that, along with Yang, Schenkopp, Poplan, etc., Hortence also serves as a role model and mentor for Julian—he speaks admirably of her ability to quickly turn her new Iserlohn quarters into a true home, and eagerly seeks out new cooking ideas and tips from her.

Julian is by nature a caretaker and nurturer; it’s as much a part of his identity as his urge to fight to protect the things he cares about. I can’t express how fucking cool it is that one of the main protagonists of this show is a teenaged boy who’s completely comfortable putting on an apron and making stew while the washing machine whirs in the background, who looks up to both soldiers and housewives, who spends the evening playing with two little girls until they fall asleep on his lap. The landscape of fiction is generally not filled with men who are defined by empathy and nurturing. It’s so badass and so important that Julian embraces these sides of himself, without feeling the need to somehow reject or outgrow them in order to become a Real Man.™

.....Okay Julian yes you are a badass but please dear god learn how to hold a wine glass.

...and Yang

Icebergs Canon: The reason Julian’s suit and Yang’s pajamas are the exact same color is not the animators being lazy, it’s that both items were gifts from Hortence, who clearly bought them at the same store.

Oooh what is this? Actual backstory about what the fuck Julian is even doing in Yang’s life? One keyword of the storytelling style of LoGH is “patience,” and the show has taken its sweet time offering any real explanation of their whole deal. From episode 3 we know that Yang is Julian’s “guardian,” that Julian’s father was also a soldier, and that the military has paid for Julian’s schooling, but in typical LoGH fashion we’re forced to try to piece the details together ourselves. Here, finally, we’re given a few more snippets: Julian was sent to live with Yang four years ago, when he was twelve, and the person who had the brilliant idea to entrust Yang with a child was none other than…

This is the one skirmish of their battle in which Yang is clearly victorious. Even Cazellnu can’t come up with a defense of this decision. Seriously, Cazellnu…..why.

Poor baffled Yang has absolutely no clue what to do with this small human who showed up at his house and immediately started cleaning up. I love that Yang appears to have repeatedly gotten frustrated while writing something and strewn crumpled drafts all over the room...wtf Yang.

This flashback, which takes place earlier in the episode, complements and reinforces Yang and Cazellnu’s discussion of Yang’s total lack of parental instincts: Although he’s come to care about Julian a lot, he had no enthusiasm for this arrangement when Cazellnu first foisted it upon him. He’s Julian’s guardian not because he wanted a child, but because Cazellnu, tasked with managing supplies of all kinds, had a surplus of war orphans needing housing and pressured his friend into taking one in.

Back in the present, Julian continues to stress about Yang’s disapproval of his military career, leading to my third-favorite failure of the Yang-Bechdel Test:

Julian’s main reaction to his promotion is to wonder how Yang will react; his pout shows that, doing a bit of Icebergs-style analysis himself, he reads between the lines of Frederica’s words to understand that Yang did not act pleased.

This tension is underscored again when Yang, rather than toasting to Julian’s promotion, toasts his safe return. Geez Yang, kinda passive aggressive.

This episode is all set-up, laying out clearly the main themes of Julian’s arc that will continue to develop through the season: 1) He’s awkwardly between child and adult—offered wine but unable to drink it smoothly; playing together with the girls but in a caretaker role; promoted for his heroics in battle but insecure about Yang’s reaction. And 2) his dynamic with Yang is evolving, with question marks about how exactly they’ll relate as he grows up and about how Yang will deal with the reality of his becoming a soldier.

And of course, we’ll be keeping an eye on Gensui’s evolving dynamic with the Roomba as well.

Stray Tidbits

This breathtaking scene in which Hilda visits Kircheis’s grave is one of the first key signs of how seriously the show takes Reinhard’s grief and the hole that Kircheis left in his life going forward. Naturally we’ll be coming back to this moment in the future, so for now I’ll just say, god damn, I have chills.

Worldbuilding alert! Yang’s fleet may be currently stationed on Iserlohn, but lest we forget that it was originally constructed by the Empire, the incredibly fancy paneling of the living quarters is here to remind us. The animators really live and breathe this world and it shows in these details.

I’d be off-brand if I didn’t comment on Hortence Cazellnu finally getting more than a few frames of screen time; but other than being a cheerful hostess and more or less actually knowing how to hold a wine glass (unlike anyone else at the table—I made fun of Julian but in fact he’s just imitating Yang and Cazellnu!), she remains an enigma. Patience, the Hortence Discourse will come.

And then there’s Phezzan, back on its anime bullshit... Seriously wtf is this guy and what’s wrong with his eyes?? I’m scared.

#Legend of Galactic Heroes #Legend of the Galactic Heroes #author:Rebecca #Alliance #Yang #Cazellnu #Hortence #Charlotte #Demon Child #seriously what is her name #Gensui #Julian #gender #heteronormativity #marriage #translation #dammit Sue #dammit Cazellnu

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