#but that's the tragic and beauty of life

[darthlenaplant]

L-FUCKING-MAO,

What sort of loser actually thinks the ending of The World's End is "~forgetable~"?

Bitch, your entire existence is "~forgetable~".

Filmbros (well, certainly 99.95% of them) really are the weakest species out there.

Like, sure, it's not my most beloved of movies, but I actually understood the message of it. And it did hit hard, you know? How about you learn how to deal with your feelings in any other way besides suppressing them and acting as if nothing is there and maybe then you'll calm down.

And be truly appreciative of human art, for that matter, too.

[cortex-rampage]

I find the way that BBC Merlin set up Merlin's powers in the first episode to be quite funny. I mean, we see this sort of lanky guy and it is established that he is Merlin and (according to our own common knowledge) therefore he is the most powerful warlock ever. Okay, cool. One might assume that he has come to Gaius to develop his powers, that maybe he's only in the beginning of his magical journey. But instead the exposition shows Merlin, in the pilot episode of this 5 series show, stop time and employ levitation to save someone's life with magic, and then it is announced that prince Arthur is essentially his soulmate, and their joint power will create the most glorious age Camelot has ever seen. Quite an exciting set-up. And then for the rest of the entire show this man who we know possesses TIME-ALTERING POWERS mostly uses them on-screen to do common chores and annoy and prank THAT SAME Arthur. Like that one post said, "All of it's destiny and all of it's his fault." :p

[gingermintpepper]

One of my biggest pet peeves is the assumption that something has to be sad for it to be tragic.

I've always been a big believer of the 'Apollo has an awful love life'/'Apollo is plain unlucky with love' line of thinking but it does bother me that the general reasoning for that statement is given to the concept of 'Apollo is somehow undesireable and thus rejected' (Cassandra/Daphne/Marpessa) or 'his lovers die young and thus their love is unfulfilled' (Cyparissus/Hyacinthus/Coronis). I personally think that's a very unfortunate way of looking at things - not only because it neglects the many perfectly cordial entanglements and affairs Apollo has had, both mortal and divine - but because it presents a very shallow interpretation of the concepts of love and loss and how loss affects people.

Apollo can still grieve lovers that have a long, healthy life. The inherent tragedy of an immortal who knows his lovers and children will die and cannot stop it does not stop being tragic simply because those lovers and children live long, fulfilled lives. The inherent tragedy of loss does not stop being tragic simply because someone knows better than to mourn something that was always going to end.

What is tragic is not that Apollo loves and loses but that loss itself follows him. Apollo does not love with the distance of an immortal, he does not have affairs and then leaves never to listen to their prayers again. He does not have offspring and then abandon them to their trials only to appear when it is time to lead them to their destinies. He raises his young, he protects the mothers of his children, he blesses the households that have his favour and multiplies their flocks that they may never go hungry. He educates his sons, he adorns his daughters and even in wrath he is quick to come to his senses and regret the punishments he doles out.

Apollo loves. And like mortals, there will always be some part of him that wishes to protect the objects of his affections. Apollo, however, is also an emissary of Fate. He knows that the fate of all mortal things is death. He knows that to love a mortal is to accept that eventually he will have to bury them. There is no illusion of forever, there is no fantasy where he fights against the nature of living things and shields his beloveds from death. Apollo loves and because of that love, he also accepts.

And that, while beautiful, is also tragic.

[functionalasfuck]

Love for Love’s Sake is really just out here giving us two people who have terrible self worth, who can’t understand how anyone could possibly love them, and making them fall in love with their mirror image. Therefore proving they are worth happiness and love.

[vestaldestroyer]

okay, Gerhard is utterly and hopelessly in love with Dali. got it.

[anotherdescentintomadness]

The Sunflower and His Sun

Painted for a lovely moot on Xitter

[jameswilsonmybeloved]

Spoilers: ending of House md

It's comforting to me to know that Hugh Laurie said House was not long for this world as well, and the director and others saying that season 8 would be the last.

Wilson is always there. He'll leave sometimes, or won't be there for a couple of episodes (months or a year in House timelime), but he comes back. It is clear throughout the story that there is no House without Wilson. House cannot exist without Wilson in the narrative, and it's beautiful that the show ends with the both of them riding off into the sunset. Season 9 cannot exist because if Wilson isn't there, then House won't be either.

[katabay]

this tweet & this scene from the mystery of the abyss movie

[biarritzzz]

[frostbite-the-bat]

society if literally 80% of rw fandom and especially rw analysis youtubers (who are great, EXCEPT) stopped calling gourmand heckin' chonker chubby diabetic ginormous whatever and paid more mind to their whole character and not just the fact that they're fat

[faaun]

Jack Marsh (2005), Friendship Otherwise - Toward a Levinasian Description of Personal Friendship

[adracat]

The Cycles of GWitch

This notion has been brewing in my head since I wrote my analysis on GWitch's Cinematic Rhythm. With the second cour nearly finished I can confidently say my suspicions were correct.

When we look at its wealth of influences from The Tempest, Utena, previous Gundam, Norse and now Arthurian myth the truest pattern is Cycles. More distinctly, how the past connects to the present and future.

The Tempest

The most blatant cycle is something we as a society are deeply familiar with. Revenge. It's a base and consuming thing, as we see from Prospera and also her namesake Prospero. The story goes the sorcerer Prospero was once the Duke of Milan until his brother with help from the King of Naples, usurps him. He flees to an isle with his young daughter Miranda and takes a fairy/spirit, Arial, and an island native, Caliban, as his servants.

For years Prospero was consumed by hate and the idea of revenge. However, after he commands Arial to sink the king's ship Miranda falls in love with Prince Ferdinand at first glimpse. And he loves her in turn. Prospero then relinquishes his revenge once he recognizes Ferdinand's love is true and reconciles with King Alonso and Antonio. For its loyal service, the spirit Arial is set free. The cycle of revenge in this story is broken.

Revolutionary Girl Utena

The cycle of Utena is not immediately made clear. The show keeps to the pretense of being innocuous until well into its runtime. But then we're introduced to the Black Rose Duelists, and swiftly afterward the school's headmaster and Anthy's brother, Akio Ohtori. A former prince who styles himself as The End of the World.

Abuse, filial obligation, the horrifying reality of womanhood beneath the yoke of patriarchal systems. These cycles are grounded and are hidden by a veneer of childhood innocence and fairytale mythos. The Prince was the savior to humanity, but was selfishly hidden by a witch. This witch is therefore punished eternally for her sins, pierced by the Swords of Human Hatred. She accepts this role only as someone who loves her brother and wants to protect him. She is branded a witch by the world. But as the show says, if you're not a princess you must be a witch. That's the truth of the Rose Bride. And in the end, all girls are like the rose bride; something we're witnessing now with Miorine.

The cycle Akio implements is to groom a champion with the ideals of princehood, the champion to quest for eternity with the Rose Bride's temptation and guidance, then using the champion's sword to bash down the Rose Gate in the vain hope of regaining his princehood. It's a cycle that has repeated for countless unknown years. And all the while weaponizing his sister's suffering. But just like The Tempest, the Rose Cycle is broken by love. The unfettered and earnest love between Utena and Anthy grants the witch the courage to escape her stagnant coffin.

Ragnarok and Arthurian

The Ragnarok Cycle is a series of myths that depict the birth, reign, and death of the Norse gods. I have an ongoing series of analysis where I discussed gwitch's usage here, and here. More I'm sure will follow. But as dire as it sounds, Ragnarok isn't just about the end of the world and its many gods. It itself is a continuous cycle. The gods will return and so will the world. It's a story of renewal.

The same can be said of the Arthurian Cycle. The tales of King Arthur and uniting Britain are end-capped with a messianic promise that the King shall one day return to rule Britain. Hope, despite the tragedy that follows King Arthur upon Camlann. The fact GWitch is now harking to Arthurian with Suletta in Arthur's role (and possibly Miorine as The Lady of The Lake) is intriguing. But the bones for this twist were there from the start.

Suletta, akin to Arthur, is a child orchestrated by a 'gentle magician' to receive a peerless 'sword'. And it's through Aerial's might she becomes engaged to Miorine, a 'King's daughter. Now, it appears she's to wield Calibarn or Caliburn; a direct link to King Arthur. Whether it will go smoothly is another matter. But the reference remains interesting and again reiterates the theme of cycles.

A Hopeful Note

The ultimate take away from these references is clear in my opinion. It's no coincidence that at the forefront is a positive message that not all cycles are terrible or absolute. They can be broken with love. Gwitch is deeply humanist when you consider everything it's pulling from and I hope this settles a few doubts. Cour 2 is incredibly hopeful, even with the fraught ongoings among the cast. Our protagonist is embodying this message the clearest. Doing something for gain leads to misery. Yet a helping hand costs nothing and connects us all in a cycle itself.

[wonder-worker]

"It is too easy to dismiss [Leonor of Navarre] as an overambitious schemer who would do anything to obtain a crown, shedding the blood of her own siblings and her subjects in order to attain the throne. However, a deeper investigation of her long lieutenancy and ephemeral reign shows a woman who fought tenaciously to preserve her place but also worked tirelessly to administer a realm which was crippled by internal conflict and the center of the political schemes of France, Aragon, and Castile. She tried to broker peace, fight off those who opposed her, repair the wounds caused by conflict, protect the sovereignty of the realm, and keep the wheels of governance turning. Leonor was not always successful in achieving all of these aims but given the background of conflict and the lack of cooperation she received from all of her family members, bar her loyal husband, it is a huge achievement that she survived to wear the crown at all. Many writers have argued that Leonor deserved the troubled lieutenancy, personal tragedies, an ephemeral reign, and a blackened reputation, basing their assumption that she committed a crime that cannot be [conclusively] proven. However, a more fitting description of her would be that of a resolute ruler who successfully overcame a multitude of challenges in order to survive in a difficult political landscape and gain a hard-fought throne.”

-Elena Woodacre, "Leonor of Navarre: The Price of Ambition", Queenship, Gender and Reputation in the Medieval and Early Modern West, 1060-1600 (Edited by Zita Eva Rohr and Lisa Benz)

[giantkillerjack]

Betty is so relatable I would do the same shit for my wife

[ohitschloe]

something beautiful always comes from something tragic

[zappedbyzabka]

Johnny my doll vamp angel minx boo boo bear sweetheart—