#duel 16

[cleave-and-plough]

you just don't understand an adult's fashion sense

ah, a big flashing neon light in the darkness. time again for one of nanami's funhouse episodes, and though this one is just as silly as the curry episode, it reveals a bit more about nanami and her place in the show's evolving world than her trip to india.

fashion takes center stage in this episode, as nanami has thrown a party to unveil her newest pendant. however, her adolescent insecurities and competitiveness are activated by the arrival of the school's most prominent fashionista, juri. wearing a necklace given to her by one of the designers she's modeled for, juri immediately appears as the more mature, experienced young woman. yet, before nanami can be fully upstaged and forced to reveal her now-insufficiently impressive pendant, a gift arrives. identified by miki as a piece by the famed designer sebastian dior, nanami sees her chance to make good on the party's promise. the case shines with an otherworldly golden glow, stunning the audience both before and after they realize what nanami has donned: a silver cowbell.

as is often the case, once given a reason or justification, nanami becomes invincible. as the school buzzes about the strangeness of her cowbell, she hears only that she has become the center of attention, the school's fashion icon. the mix of tones of these conversations is striking: some give credit to her boldness, others decry her stubbornness. i wonder to what extent nanami is aware of these differing interpretations and choosing to filter them as general admiration - all press is good press, as it were.

of course, there are those who worry for her. utena and miki debate whether they should say anything, while tsuwabuki does his best to counsel his adoptive older sister. at this, nanami brings everything into focus. she tells tsuwabuki that he's simply too young to understand, and brings this episode fully into conversation with the arc as a whole. as students, the cast generally only has to worry about their uniforms, but nanami now stretches her reach into the world of ~*adult fashion*~. this stands neatly alongside the other recent episodes' more adult themes of getting along with one's in-laws, interviewing for life after high school, and building a new dynamic with a sibling after a childhood schism. to actively engage with fashion, much less set trends, is to risk and construct one's own identity, a challenge that the students of ohtori haven't needed to consider outside of the occasional school dances. it's here that nanami's stubbornness and boldness resonate most strongly - as controversial as her look is, many admit that she's owning it, and thus she draws real security and confidence from her outfit.

of course, it wouldn't be a nanami episode without some animal hijinx and angst over touga, so things start to go off the rails as nanami dreams of being sold and turned into a steak. honestly, it's not an inaccurate representation of touga's manipulation and callous use of her for his own gain. following this, the episode enters b-movie horror mode, as nanami's behavior becomes more and more bovine, as if she were a werecow. even then, it's not difficult to see parallels to her coming of age and changing physicality - like many pubescent teens, her appetite and energy levels change, she loses motivation in her schoolwork, and, as is most common for people this age, she turns into a cow.

[utena bullfighting ensues]

as ever, nanami's true antagonist is anthy and her love of animals. it was all a misunderstanding, as anthy had ordered the cowbell for her pet cow late at night, and the courier must have gotten confused because anthy's cow is also named... nanami... anthy is never beating the passive aggressive subterfuge allegations, huh? (finishing that red sweater just in time for nanami's transformation, eh? real slick...)

meanwhile, juri tuts over nanami's pitiable obsession with brand names while gesturing with a jewel-covered hand, suggesting no lessons have been learned. just another day in the life of kiryuu nanami.

stray observations:

it might be a stretch, but the silhouette routines shifting from a puppet theater to news bulletins also feels like a reinforcement of this arc's transition to themes of adulthood and growing up. additionally, tsuwabuki is able to respond to the silhouettes as well. deeper and deeper into the mystery of their existence...

i always love how obviously callous touga is in nanami's fantasies of him. whether he's celebrating the fact that he's finally killed her and able to date anthy freely, or saying "farewell, nanami" in the most apathetic voice possible after sending her to the abattoir, he never seems to look as good as she pictures him, even in her dreams.

cow-stian dior, huh? how'd you miss that one, miki?

it really doesn't sound like a neutral (or positive) term but i'm interested to know more about the word nanami calls utena during their argument. the subtitles translated it as "boy-girl," though i'm sure that could have been softened from its original tone.

next episode preview: AGH

[docpiplup]

EMDT Historical Tournament

Character 1

Complete name: Enriqueta Martí Ripoll "La Vampira del Raval" (San Feliú de Llobregat, February 2, 1868 – Barcelona, ​​May 12, 1913)

Status/Proffesion/Charge: Medicaster, prostitute, pimp and serial killer (allegedly)

Actress: María Rodríguez

Episodes: 2×06, Tiempo de magia 2×09, Óleo sobre tiempo

2×10, Separadas por el tiempo

Character 2

Complete name: Jaime Blanch Montijano (Collado Villalba, September 9, 1940-)

Status/Proffesion/Charge: Actor

Actor: Raúl Mérida

Episode: 3×13, Entre dos tiempos

[kisaraslover]

pinterest is constantly trying to convince me the thigh pouch is such a normal and big part of fashion and i keep going "haha yeah maybe in the yugioh universe" anyway here are two of the most popular Kisaras from fics

[hourly-yugi]

[cafeleningrad]

Repeated symbolism: Predatory cats and coniving mices (unsorted notes)

EP 10 Nanami's precious one; The shadow play showcasing how Nanami partly can't name and partly won't take repsonsibility for naming her relationship with Touga. By the time it has been given a cute description, their relationship has actually turned out monsterous. (Note: Touga likes cats, and is Akio's apprentice)

➸

Episode 14 Landscape framed by Kozue; Anthy imitating mouse noises while getting (routinely) assaulted by Akio.

➸

Episode 16 Cowbell of happiness; Shadowplay about the logical trap to think that cozying up to an oppressive power would make them the individual exception from systematic abuse. Applies to multiple chracters, in multiple forms.

[inkblackorchid]

To add another section or to not add another section....

[jazz-kity]

goldenleaf tradition...

[idontliketomatoesleavemealone]

how spoiler free do you want to go into this because I have a joke to make but it will absolutely spoil the ending

that’s fine

[ectoplasmer]

actually no I think it’d be really funny if my hs s/i and my ygo s/i switched places

[viola-ophelia]

i was just reminded of how for YEARS i thought that “dual meets” (which is where, in swimming, two teams do a smaller meet against just each other) were called DUEL meets because the 2 teams were “dueling” each other one-on-one ALDKDKSK

[rosykims]

thinking abt alistair kissing ella's sword before the landsmeet. and just in general. when she leaves to go kill things bc shes the stoic knight and hes the gentle king. i know we dunk on bioware rightfully but dear god thank you for making the most malest of wives to ever exist

[yugiohcardsdaily]

Why does it cost so much to beat yer meat?? (This is a post about meat mallets, a cooking tool.)

[hourly-yugi]

[rxmye]

" 𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐌𝐘 𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄 . . . "

𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐂 𝐘𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐉𝐎𝐂𝐊 — Lucas Raine . . introduction | masterlist | requesting rules . . warnings : nsfw content / sixteen + content / gender neutral reader / yandere oc x reader / voyeurism kink / yandere jock / yandere content / pathetic / submissive(?) yandere /

Appearance: Lucas is pale (he's korean american) and a brunette, with light brown hair which is curly and cut in a mullet—which is almost always styled—he has a personal obsession with skin care (thanks to his ma) and he has glass skin. Lucas has vieny and large hands, along with a large physique that appears to be very overbearing to those around him—with a skinny waist—he stands at an outstanding 6,2ft. Lucas has hazel eyes, and during golden hour he'll stare at the sun and challenge it to a duel (he'll always fail), he often wears silver bracelets and has ears piercings, though he'll rarely wear earrings.

Character basic info: Lucas's birthday is on November the 3rd! He is bisexual, he has a hard time connecting with people, and has had a scarce amount of serious relationships, he usually loses interest fast, he's unamused and finds love repetitive and somewhat boring. Lucas is a possessive, obsessive, clingy, stalker type of yandere, who is somewhat dependent on you, not at much as Yoichi though.

backstory: Lucas is currently attending University for a degree in mechanical engineering and business, he got in through a sports scholarship, though he plans on becoming an athlete and is currently looking into it. Lucas is actually adopted, with two mom's, he calls them mom and ma respectively. His mom is a famous lawyer who is a perfectionist at heart, which seemed to have rubbed off on him as a result of observing her so much (he'd often read and do homework in her office). Lucas's ma on the other hand, put him in a whole lot of sports and afterschool programs, mainly because she wanted him to not be too feminine—and because she wanted him to try as many new things as possible. His parents can be a bit overbearing, but his childhood was decently comfortable, his parents were more than involved in his life and he couldn't be more grateful.

NSFW | 16 + CONTENT BELOW THE UNDERCUT . . .

Lucas is a switch, with an extremely high sex drive, he's a power bottom—he'll whine and nag as you have him pinned under you—he cries so easily, fucking into you, your insides so warm and soft—he's obsessed, he'll overstimulate you both, and leave you both a crying and sticky mess!!

As a top, Lucas is either rough or gentle, there's no in-between, he loves loves loves taking his time with you—savoring you—watching your face contort into pleasure as he has his way with you, his nails digging into your soft thighs, his mouth on your neck.

Lucas might have a small voyeurism kink—in the sense that he loses control around you, with you, to the sheer thought of you—you're like the off-switch to rationality, he seriously forgets where he is!! He can't help but grow—a little touchy, flirty, needy—the way your hands ghost over his own makes his knees weak!!—he really can't help it, if he's being a little out of hand . . if you didn't like it, you'd tell him to stop!!!

Lucas loves hickies, both receiving them and giving them . . . especially receiving them—mark him, make him your territory, he loves you, he loves being yours . . your hands on him are a delight, the feeling of your lips, teeth, saliva, on his skin is paradise, your marks—he wears them with sheer pride.

Kink-wise Lucas is into anything, he's very calm and open with anything, nothing is really a turn off for him . . spit on him, kick him, tie him down . . he doesn't mind!! . . Though he will be a bit more wary of doing the same to you . .

NON-NSFW HEADCANONS

Lucas's love languages are physical touch and acts of service, he'll have your favorite drink ready for you, every morning. He'll make handmade treats just for you—anything for you . .

Lucas collects small trinkets, and he has a special box filled with things he thinks you'd like—he's a bit embarrassed about it, it just seems very unlikely that someone like Lucas would collect trinkets, so he's a tinsy bit worried you'll judge him—which is weird since he's never really cared about anyone's opinion before you.

Lucas will get you to meet his parents pretty early onto any relationship, he just finds that if his parents like you, then it's a good sign beforehand, he's actually done this to all his friends and though he knows he'll marry you, and that you're the one . . . he wants you to meet the people who made him who he is now!

Lucas does have a note on his phone of the names of his future kids with you, and yes . . he does slightly plan on taking your last name . . . maybe. . possibly . . no comment.

@ rxmye , do not repost, plagiarize, translate, or adapt my work/theme without prior permission and or confirmation.

[her-imperius-condessy]

OK Yeah So Here’s The Thing

Word count today (3,990). The Middle Epilogue (there three ‘technical’ epilogues, I don’t know why I’m like this) is finished. Chapter 19 of 20 is finished. Chapters 15-18 and 20 are still...Percolating.

Word Count on Chapter 15 (18,779). Maybe I can work more on that one now I’ve hammered out the Middle Epilogue. It’ll need polish later, but...Phew. That one’s heavy on the feels.

We are on our way to Tortuga. (Other things happen first. Then things happen after. Stop at San Juan and then they’re on their way to Florida. Which is recommended in fiction only.)