#guel etc

[md-guel]

happy suletta sunday! here's something lighthearted before the suffering begins again

[perpetuallyfive]

This isn’t an especially insightful observation, but just seeing people on twitter say that Guel should be the actual protagonist after that last episode of The Witch from Mercury is such misogynistic brain rot I can barely even cope

[sapphic-haymaker]

While I have my own thoughts on the design from a personal taste perspective, I really do love the new Aerial design from a thematic perspective. Such a smart decision.

G-witch does a clever thing with it’s Mobile Suit designs where the actual military use suits are a lot more plain than the ones we’ve been seeing in the sanitized environment of duels where there’s no lives on the line. You compare Guel’s Dilanza and the military use Dilanza Sol we saw suppressing protestors and you know immediately which one is the mass produced military hardware.

No ornate fancy antenna, no superfluous wings out the back, no giant plume or vibrant colors. It’s a crude bulky war machine and I love it.

You can see this with a number of designs, like the Demi-Trainers vs the Demi-Garrison or the Zowort vs the Zowort Heavy

Even the Witches from Earth’s gundams, while distinct, are still a much more plain design than the flashier Aerial or Guel’s Dilanza or Michealis or Phract.

Which brings us back to Aerial, comparing the new designs side-by-side like the previous ones, it’s immediately obvious what they’re trying to convey with Aerial Rebuild

It follows the exact logic we’ve seen of Duel suits vs Military suits, much more muted colors, heavier armaments, bulkier design, etc etc, it’s even called to attention by Gundam Ur’s pilot Sophie who says Aerial has a scary face now. Aerial has a very unique design among Gundams and Aerial Rebuild is much more in line with conventional Gundam design.

It’s a wonderful visual change to go along with Suletta’s newfound willingness to turn a man into tomato paste.

[midnight-talescape]

𝒩𝑒𝑒𝒹𝓈 (𝒜𝓁𝓅𝒽𝒶 𝑀𝒾𝑔𝓊𝑒𝓁 𝓍 𝐵𝑒𝓉𝒶 𝑅𝑒𝒶𝒹𝑒𝓇)

Kinktober Day 6: Dubcon + Frottage

I want this man so fucking bad and I don’t know why. He’s a buff angsty walking red flag workaholic dilf, who throw hands at a 15 year old. But fuck i want him to do unspeakable things to me. I will and am going to go feral for this man. I want him to [bleep] me and [bleep] [bleep] [bleep] [bleep] [bleep] and [bleep] [bleep] [bleep] [bleep] [bleep] and [bleep] [bleep] [bleep]…

Warning: grinding, a little very dubious consent, miguel whimpers, and other stuff, etc, etc you get the point not for kid

Genre: filthy filthy smut

Word Count: 2425

｡･ﾟ･｡+☆+｡･ﾟ･｡+☆+｡･ﾟ･｡+☆+｡･ﾟ･｡+☆+｡･ﾟ･｡+☆+｡･ﾟ･｡+☆+｡･ﾟ･｡+☆+｡･ﾟ･｡

You knocked on the door to Miguel’s office before walking in, the report he asked for a neat stack in your hands.

“Miguel, here are the rep-“ you began before pausing and taking in the scene in front of you,

Miguel’s eyes were dazed and his body flushed as he looked up at you panting.

“Oh you’re here…” he groaned out as he saw you, his eyes focusing on you with an animalistic desire,

Seeing the state he was in you ask in a slightly confused voice,

“Are you- are you in a rut right now?”

As a spider person, you have seen many things in the last few years, but you were certainly not expecting to see your boss overcoming with lust today.

Miguel let out a noise of confirmation as he tried to ignore your pheromone which seemed to tempt him to do some very unprofessional things to you.

Sighing you begin looking through your jacket before walking toward Miguel.

As you walked toward him, Miguel's mouth began to water as the smell of you began to engulf him.

He pulled you into his arm, his mind filled with lust and the need to mark you as his. He doesn't give two shit about professionalism right now, he want you. He want you right now.

Unfazed you tilted his face up,

“Calm down big guy, now open your mouth real quick.” as he opened his mouth you quickly popped a suppressant into his mouth, before handing him a glass of water, “There, is that better?”

Letting go of you he quickly gulped down the glass of water, the suppressant giving him back his control.

…until he looked at you again.

The desire to mark you as his was overwhelming and none of it made sense. You were a beta and your scent shouldn't even be that tempting for him. He shouldn't even want you in his rut.

But oh god he wants you…

Your scent was unlike anything he smelled before, it was dark with a hint of sweetness. As if to tempt him to do unspeakable things to you.

And he does.

He wants to bend you over his desk and fuck you silly. He wants to hear you scream out his name like it's the only thing you remember. He wants to fuck you against the window where everyone can see him claiming you, to slam his cock down your thro—

“-guel? Hello? Back to earth, Miguel. Are you feeling better?” you ask snapping your fingers in front of him breaking him out of his train of thought,

As far as you were concerned he was only acting weird because of his rut, and it's over now you fed him some suppressant.

How wrong and how naive you were….

Miguel stared at you for a beat, his eyes burning with a primal urge. He leaned forward, his body almost pressing against yours.

“Mhm,” he murmured, his breath warm against your neck. The scent emanating from your body… you were just too tempting. Why couldn’t he have you?

Miguel’s claws extended from their sheaths, and his teeth extended to their full size. He had all the animalistic instincts of his spider nature… all the bloodlust… the need to devour you…

Hearing his confirmation you nodded your head and began again,

“So about the anomaly in univer- Miguel, I just fed you a suppressant, what the fuck?!” you groaned out as you felt Miguel grind against you,

Miguel’s eyes flickered, the need for you was driving him mad.

His arm wrapped around your waist as he pressed against you, his body rubbing against you for relief,

“Just let me do this, please, and then we can finish your… your report.” his voice desperate as he pleaded with you, his eyes red with lust and needs,

“I hate it when you plead with me, you know I can't say no,” you sighed as you pinched your nose bridge before continuing “Fine you can grind against me or something. I will just read the report to you out loud and when I'm done you go take another suppressant”

“Okay, okay, thank you, Cariño” Miguel said, his teeth grinding against each other,

He wasn’t happy with this arrangement … but he had no choice. He will take what he can get for now, maybe you will let him do more later if he plays his card right…

As you begin to read the report, ignoring the way he grinds against you desperately, Miguel’s voice is low and seductive next to your ears.

Your voice faltered for a second as his breath hit your ears, and it was beginning to get harder and harder to ignore his whimpering as it seemed to get louder.

As you speak, Miguel can’t help but squirm. His grinding becomes more intense with each word spoken, eventually becoming aggressive and frantic. His eyes are filled with lust, his expression desperate for relief.

It wasn't enough. It would never be enough…

He wanted more…

He wanted you.

“Miguel, are you listening?” you asked your face starting to flush from the action,

“Yes… I am,” Miguel said through gritted teeth,

His eyes were glazed over, his breath coming in rapid and heavy moans.

He tried to keep his focus on the report, but you were too tempting. Your body, your pheromones… your scent… they were driving him insane. His primal urges were growing stronger by the second. His body was shaking with the urge to push you down and have his way with you, but he kept it together… just barely.

As you were closing your report, ready to get away from here as fast as possible. Just as you were about to leave, Miguel grabbed your neck and pushed you back toward his chest.

With a snarl, he bit down on your scent gland and began injecting his pheromone into you as he forced you to stay still.

You tried to struggle and get away as your face flushed from the sensation of someone else pheromone coursing through your veins. You let out an unconscious moan as your body flushed and reacted to the pheromone.

Miguel’s body grew more eager now that he had finally injected his pheromones into you. You were in his grasp now. And he wasn’t letting you go that easily.

As Miguel’s pheromones flooded through your body, he began placing kisses on your shoulder and neck. Licking and biting to mark you as his.

You were his… and his alone.

You leaned onto his body, panting as you tried to calm down your feverish body.

Miguel smiled against your neck, nipping your shoulder again. You were so… soft… and so… tasty. You were all he needed right now and all he ever would need.

You glared at him your face flushed before saying,

“Get off of me Miguel, what the fuck was that?” you froze for a second as you felt something wet on your ass, “D-did you just came on my ass through your suit?”

Miguel grinned as you mentioned the cum dripping down your suit,

“Yes, of course. But can you blame me? You are so irresistible after all~” Miguel pulled you toward him again, “I think I want a little bit more of you, darling.”

Miguel’s claws wrapped around you, pulling you tight against his body. Tilting your head up he pulled you into a deep kiss. His tongue slid into your mouth as he kissed you. He wanted to mark you… he wanted all of you… he needed you…

He kissed you in a way nobody else could—with the primal hunger of a spider, and the love of a moth to a flame. And in his eyes, you were both—you were his soulmate, his prey.

When you guys broke apart a string of saliva connected the two of you, your face was flushed and your eyes were wet with tears.

Kissing away your tears he whispered possessively,

“You’re mine, mi amor. I will mark you, no matter what it takes…”

In your daze state, you said possibly the worst thing to say at this moment,

“Y-you can't mark me, I'm a beta no one can mark me…”

Miguel heard your words and it just made his mind snap. His lips grew into a dangerous smile.

“Not permanently, no…. But what's stopping me from fucking you till you can't walk, every day till you’re covered in my cum and scent?”

Before you can object he pushes you onto the wall and pierces your neck again injecting his pheromones into you.

Your body reacted almost immediately, weakening and growing more sensitive. The fact that you weren't meant to be marked just meant you’re body wasn't prepared for the side effect of the pheromone, becoming more sensitive than it would have if you were an omega.

Seeing the way you’re body reacted to his pheromones this time he grinned as he whispered into your neck,

“Maybe I’ll keep you like this, your body always hot, always craving my touch… always mine.”

You shooked your head trying to object but your mind began to fog up as you were forced into a heat.

As he forced you to stay still and injected you with his pheromone, he began to shred your suit, he was ready to mark you as many times as he needed to, to make it clear that you belong to him.

As he caressed your body with his rough hand he looked at your face and smirked,

“What if I keep you trapped in a heat? Your mind would be all fogged up, and you’d be desperate to have me every second of the day…”

Miguel's voice dripped with malice and his eyes were cold as ice.

“You’d be a mess without me—and your body would go crazy after a while… you wouldn’t even be able to walk, that’s how much you will need me.”

Your eyes widened in terror as he said that, and you tried to push him off. The logical part of you is telling you this is bad and you need to run.

But that logical part of you is slowly getting tainted by the lust that is fogging your mind.

“Just imagine it…” Miguel murmured, his voice hoarse, “You wouldn’t be able to think straight, every time I come near you, your legs would practically give out… you’d only be able to think about me. Just the thought of me would force you into a heat.”

Miguel leaned in and kissed you, a rough snarl on his lips.

“Imagine how much you’d crave me… how much you’d need me.”

You growled as you bit down on his shoulder trying to get him to let go of you, as he felt you bite down on him Miguel let out a loud moan,

“Just let me fuck you, mi amor...” As he said that he hooked your legs around his shoulder,

With a grunt, he slammed his cock inside you, and your back arched upward as your eyes widen. Almost immediately you can see a bulge in your stomach as he begins to pound into you.

Despite how wet you were from the pheromones his dick was too big for you and you let out a choked sob as your body tightened around him.

Miguel let out a rough chuckle, as he heard your pained cry. His hands slid down to your thighs, his fingers massaging the skin.

“I bet you’d go crazy with need every time I touch you after I'm done with you… Your body would be on fire, your mind so foggy that you wouldn’t know what to do with yourself until I filled you up once more.”

Miguel turned his head to the side and bit down on your leg, his fangs digging into your leg as he forced his way into you.

“And imagine what it would do to your body,” Miguel continued, “Your legs, practically shaking when you hear my name… your ears going red whenever I enter the room. Growing wet just from how close I am to you….”

Miguel’s tongue slid out as he lapped at the blood seeping out of your bite mark, the rough edges of his tongue grazing along your skin.

“You’d be desperate just to be close to me, your body craving every inch of my touch.”

You let out a loud cry as he hit your sensitive spot and came onto his cock as he thrusts into you.

“F-fuck you…” your eyes dazed as you pulled him into a kiss,

It's too late to turn back, might as well enjoy it…

Grinning Miguel kissed back viciously, his tongue filling your mouth as he suck on the tip of your tongue.

Carrying you in his arms, he begins to walk toward his sleeping quarter in his office. Each step of the way cause you to let out a sob as his cock plunges into you deeply every step of the way there.

By the time you guys finally reached the bed your body was glistening with sweat and the part you guys were connected to was sticky with your fluid.

Groaning Miguel twisted your body so now your back was facing him, drawing a loud moan out of both of you as his dick grind against your wall.

Pushing your face into the bed, Miguel chest press against your back as he fucked into you like a animal.

Your hand gripping the bedsheets tightly as your cry and moan was muffled by the bed. Wrapping his arm around your waist and pushing down on your belly bulge he snarled into your ears,

“I'm going to fill you up and mark you, Cariño. I will lock you up and fill you with my cum till it's dripping out of you…”

With that, he bit down on your scent gland and started injecting his pheromone into you as he spilled his cum inside you.

You screamed into the bed as your body wrecked with a violent orgasm.

A few minutes later Miguel pulled you into his embrace, his dick still inside you as you sobbed onto his chest. Miguel kissed your shoulder as you tried to calm down.

“P-pull out, I-im full…” you cried out,

Miguel chucked as he said,

“Can’t, my knot hasn't deflated yet.”

You let out a loud whine as you heard him say that. As Miguel waited for you to calm down he whispered in your ears,

“We're not done yet, an Alpha’s rut can last for days…”

“W-what?”

[gremoria411]

*This post will contain spoilers for Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury. Also, I’ll probably ramble more than usual here, since a lot of my points are interconnected*

Alright then. I was planning on doing a big post breakdown on Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury after rewatching it, since I find that my general thoughts on a series typically coalesce around the second viewing. However that probably won’t be for a good while yet, so I figured I’d do a big post now, and I’ll add a few notes if anything jumps out on me on my (eventual) second viewing.

In a nutshell, I found The Witch from Mercury to be really, really good, with an excellent cast and gorgeous action. However, I feel it’s let down by its comparatively low episode count.

And I’d like to stress that that low episode count is basically my only major criticism - I have several smaller ones, but they’re ultimately all extensions of that low episode count.

The Cast.

As above, really good. You’ve got a good selection of characters coming from various strata’s within society - Spacians, Earthians, Mercurians. It’s a good variety of characters and seeing how they interact with each other. They all feel pretty well-rounded as characters honestly.

Like, Suletta’s great, obviously. I feel like you don’t need me to tell you that which is great, because I’m not sure how to put it. I guess I like how emotive she is, how she portrays how she’s feeling so well, but then that might be because we, the audience are close to her as a protagonist (I’d argue that Miorine and Guel could also be counted as protagonists, if you wanted, but Suletta’s the one we spend the most time with). Suletta’s also good because she’s a newcomer to the Asticassia, so not only do we learn things with her but she’s also absolutely primed to upend the status quo there, which she does fantastically. I like the contrast between her doubts and capabilities - she’s not the most social of characters and doubts herself multiple times, but put her in a mobile suit and she is confidence incarnate.

Miorine feels like an extension of Gundam’s “Princess” archetype: your Sayla, your Relena, your Lacus. I really like how proactive she is - we first meet her in the process of attempting to run away from her school, and her arc feels more about her recognising the power she weirds and how to best use it for what she wants, rather than rejecting it outright. She’s in the process of actively cultivating “soft power” (negotiations, word-of-mouth, etc) rather than just having it inherently and -crucially- because the hard power isn’t actually that valuable. Compared to, say, SEED. Lacus has a whole lot of soft power, but it’s Kira and the Freedom that’s the driving force of the plot. Suletta has Hard Power - Aerial, but it’s borrowed power fundamentally, and it’s Miorine’s soft power that ultimately does more good. Actual Diplomacy versus Gunboat Diplomacy, if you will. I also like how Suletta and Miorine’s relationship progresses - they balance out each other - it starts out with Suletta having the power Miorine needs, but as Miorine grows they start relying more on each other. Also their interactions together are really great. They’re compelling because of both who they are in universe - a pilot and a princess, and because of their personalities with each other and how they spur each others development.

I do want to call out Lady Prospera as being amazing. She feels exactly how Char would be as a mother - manipulative and ruthless, but still caring in her own way. I’m given to understand she’s the first female Char Clone in the series, which is neat. Her relationship with Suletta (and Miorine) is just really good. She’s not unpleasant and she’s certainly charming, but she won’t sugarcoat how things are. Miorine knows she’s being manipulated in her interactions with her, but it’s genuinely good advice so she goes along with it, even as she has her own reservations. It’s also rather telling that once Prospera doesn’t need Suletta anymore, she leaves her. While callous and heart-breaking, we know now that Prospera fully believed she was going to die. While this doesn’t exactly forgive her abandoning Suletta, it does cast her interest in Suletta making friends and having relationships outside her in a new light. Prospera wants vengeance for Nadim and the rest of the Vanadis Institute, but she recognises that that is her and Eri’s vengeance, not Suletta’s. And doesn’t that sound similar to Mr Char “I have never once betrayed any one, in my life, ever” Aznable, who just wants his sister to grow up in peace while he avenges their family? It’s a fun relationship dynamic and it’s done well, is what I’m getting at. I also like how unapologetically villainous she is in some of her actions - both the audience and Miorine kinda clock her as a threat immediately, but we can also see why Suletta trusts her so much, even if it’s not the healthiest relationship. I just really like the juxtaposition of her being sweet with Suletta, uncompromising with Miorine, and absolutely brutal with everyone else.

Setting

I find the school setting genuinely fascinating, I don’t have a clever segue so I’m just going to get into it.

Asticassia School of Technology is a school to pilot giant robots. Great, Instantly appealing. However, then you get into all the ways it’s indicative of the wider society. It’s maintained and run by the Benerit Group - a Mega-Corporation that dominates the field of military-use mobile suits, which requires actual military force to be brought to heel and is basically a sovereign nation all its own - it’s rather telling that we never really see any national representatives throughout G-Witch, it’s all about the companies. So it takes this normally aspirational thing “wow, a school to pilot giant robots!” And extrapolates it out to what kind of setting would create that. Giant Robots are used in military applications, so you end up with a facility basically dedicated to the production of child soldiers to serve this military-industrial complex actively profiting from the glaring class inequality present in the setting, as set out in the prologue. And because the characters exist within that system there is no “easy fix”, the story ends with the characters making small progress against those inequalities rather than solving them in one fell swoop because the inequalities are systemic, and you can’t just take out the superweapon and expect everything to work out on its own. The existence of child soldiers is baked into the setting- not as a desperate gamble or as an illustration of the necessities of survival, as in other series. But as an accepted and -crucially- normalised thing. Notably, no-one expresses surprise or horror at Sophie and Norea being pilots - just that they’re a threat and have GUND Format units. We also see several child soldiers in Fold of Dawn in addition to Asticassia itself, so there’s also the angle of generational differences - the children exist in an unfair world built and maintained by the adults, fighting for the causes they are taught to. Many of the Benerit Heirs have unhealthy relationships with their parental figures, typically conflicting over them wanting different things (Guel vs Vim’s expectations, Shaddiq going out from under Sarius and basically everything about the Elan’s). So there’s the angle of the children fighting against the unfair world of adults, tying into the familial relationships in the cast. Which is a theme Gundam’s got a lot out of historically. So the school setting shows to illustrate how Ad Stella is civilised a first glance, but far more beneath the surface, and demonstrates several of the issues inherent in the setting.

I also really love how GUND format is actively debilitating to its pilots and how Suletta, while still a very good pilot, is essentially unbeatable because she has a way around the downsides for most of the series. Because it feels like an examination of “the Gundam is the strongest mobile suit”. G-Witch essentially states that having a stronger or better weapon does not solve these problems, in fact, the various elements of the company all fighting over Aerial gets several people killed, so if anything it feels like a takedown of “Gundam” as a concept (ie This great strong weapon that will win us the war”). It also puts emphasis on themes of dehumanisation - both the Elan’s and Sophie&Norea show that child experimentation, while not exactly common, isn’t unfamiliar ground in Ad Stella, particularly with Elan being replaceable, which again ties into the child soldier angle. I also find it delightfully hypocritical that Benerit, the weapon merchants, have issues with it because of the PR backlash of it killing its pilots, not because of any “moral” reason. It’s a bad look to have a weapon that can harm its user - who’s going to want to pay for that? The militant liquidation of Ochs Earth was essentially a PR stunt to show that Benerit will not make these weapons (not that that stopped Peil). Which is really horrifying to think about, really.

The Space Assembly League, Quiet Zero and the Interplanetary Laser Transmission System (or ITLS, that big gun in the finale) all function as illustrations of the excess of corporate power - a near full-scale war/ large scale destruction is only prevented because of Suletta and Ericht’s intervention. The SAL functions as a regulatory body for the corporations, but while it isn’t exactly lacking in force, it acts far too late to prevent the damage - Benerit has been allowed to run independently for too long, so it’s difficult to pull back even with evidence and force because it’s just so big. Meanwhile, the ITLS was constructed under the guide of a power transmission system, but it’s intended to be fired as a weapon. Furthermore, the destruction it will cause is written off as “Oh, Peil will get the reconstruction contract”, killing hundreds for corporate gain. The fact that it’s Peil specifically is also notable, since they are probably the most ethically bankrupt of the three corporations and were actively involved in the GUND-format technology themselves. But because the corrupt elements of the governing body favour them (and can presumably cut a deal for reconstruction costs), much of their misdeeds would have essentially been swept under the rug. Notably, other than their stock plummeting, we don’t actually see much in the way of consequences for the Peil CEO’s.

Mechanics

A fairly short one here - I’ll admit I’m not crazy about a lot of the mobile suits in Ad Stellar, but I like how each company has a different designer and are different thematically. Jeturk has big, bulky beetle-esque machines - heavily armoured and analogous to Zaku’s and other grunt suits from the series. Peil focuses on mobility - spindly MS with lots of thrusters, and typically deployed with aerial combat in mind. Finally, Grassley tends to lean towards units with exotic systems, such as the Michaelis’ beam bracer and Anti-GUND format and often have monoeyes. It’s a good illustration of the competing philosophies within the group and each one is distinct and easily recognisable (Burion’s utilitarian, I don’t have much more to say on it). It also emphasises what a big shakeup the Gundam’s are, since they look so different, and can put down any of these units with little trouble. I rather wish we saw more of the smaller developers - those units Suletta swatted aside en masse with the Aerial Rebuild, since they seemed to have a greater variety of designs (I particularly liked the little Acguy-looking one - the Hosler II?). Also, really liked the Prodoros used by Dawn of Fold (though that’s likely due to how it moves).

Criticisms

Or rather Criticism. Your typical Gundam series is usually around 40-50 episodes, whereas Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury is a comparatively paltry 25. Now, one series having a lower episode count than another isn’t inherently a point against it - better a short story well told rather than a long story poorly told, and it’s a new show, and (despite my persistent comparisons with other Gundam shows) should be allowed to stand and be judged on its own merits. But it kinda feels like it was meant to be a 40-50 episode series that was cut-down mid-production and fundamentally, it feels like we could’ve gotten more.

The pacing of the second season ratchets up considerably compared to the first, and I would like to stress that Witch From Mercury is a very-well-paced show - every episode has some sort of plot development, but it feels like that’s because it had to be. And every criticism I have of the show feels like it flows from that cut-down episode count.

It kinda feels like Peil Industries was supposed to be a much bigger player in this, and the Pharact doesn’t really do anything after its opening fight.

Peil’s never brought to justice, and Elan 5 just decides to join Earth House’s move on Quiet Zero. Meanwhile, the real Elan Ceres just resigns from Peil, even though he was presumably in on the Enhanced Person stuff too.

Lauda’s whole subplot about him piloting the Schwarzette had very little foreshadowing - I assume they put just enough of it in that they couldn’t cut it entirely (i.e. the Schwarzette), and it was necessary for Guel’s character arc.

Guel taking over Jeturk Heavy Industries didn’t really go anywhere.

Sophie Pulone and Norea Du Noc are really only there to tick gundam’s “Doomed Child Soldiers” box. Also Dawn of Fold just…… still exists after the events of the series?

The fact that Ochs Earth was still a thing kinda didn’t amount to much did it? Prospera just destroys them and their Gundam Lfrith’s. The ones used by Dawn of Fold might have well been older models, scavenged or bought by them.

Chuatury (Chuchu) Panlunch - great character, great design, excellent illustration of the tensions of the setting, but it feels like she was supposed to have a subplot focused on the people supporting her on Earth.

It just feels like they made the first 12 episodes of a 40-50 episode series, with a bunch of setup that’d pay off later, and then they got cut down to 24 episodes and had to cut a lot of stuff to fit. I’d like to stress I think they made a good compromise - most of my criticisms are minor and the Suletta and Miorine are the heart of the series, and they come out very well. But all the same, I’d rather the compromise didn’t need to be made in the first place, so we could’ve seen the “full thing” as it were.

Even my….. restraint on the mobile suits designs can be pinned on this. My favourite designs are typically Monster of the Week and late-season Weirdo’s - the stuff that’s the purview of your charismatic villain or a specialised grunt. But if you’ve got to cut stuff for space and time, then by their very nature, those designs won’t stick around.

I should however mention that I’ve been unable to find any reputable source as to wether The Witch From Mercury did have its episode count cut, before or during production. My criticism is mostly about the series feeling like it should have had more, not that it was actually cut down. It is possible that Bandai wanted to see if the show could make a comparative return on a smaller budget than usual, especially considering most of their recent Gundam output has been adaptations (IE. Shows that already have a proven audience and prior success, and are consequently a lot less financially risky), like Unicorn or Thunderbolt.

All that said, I do think that the emotional core of the show - Suletta and Miorine was excellently done, and I found the action and themes to be similarly well-done. I’m mostly only complaining we didn’t get to see more of the world, since it has so many interesting concepts that feel like they would’ve been interesting to see.

[adracat]

GWitch: As Above, So Below

Hermes Trismegistus is the syncretism of the Greek god Hermes(Roman Mercury) and the Egyptian god Thoth. His name means thrice great, an epithet shared between both figures. Their combined worship was observed in Hermopolis and spawned Hermetic philosophy;  personal ascension from the constraints of physical being.

"As Above, So Below' is paraphrased from a Hermetic text known as the Emerald Tablet and gained great relevance in the occult, astrology, and alchemy-- All domains of Hermes/Mercury

Quod est superius est sicut quod inferius, et quod inferius est sicut quod est superius.

That which is above is like to that which is below, and that which is below is like to that which is above.

"As above, so it is below. That which has been, will return again. As in heaven, so on earth." - Helena Blavatsky

In the occult and witchcraft, it's taken to mean there exists a balance between the cosms. Macrocosm, the universe, and microcosm, the human body. That which happens as above, so it is below. They are one; a perfect union

Symbology

What is happening, has happened, and will happen again. As I've observed in my Cycles of GWitch analysis, this theme is very prevalent. Cycles themselves are a sign of As Above, So Below. The World Serpent and World tree are symbols of this principle, along with the sign for infinity 8, the caduceus, and circles.

One major sign is the Magician from the Rider–Waite tarot deck

The magician is signaling with his hands As Above, So Below and is haloed by the sign for infinity above. A pentagram lies to the left, depicting the tie to the mystic world. It's no accident that we have Prospera referred to as a magician with her gentle words; hinting at her significance through Mercury (god of communication and trickery) and the hermetic principle. She is the Magician. And an argument can be made that Suletta is also a magician (witch) who inadvertently influences rather than manipulates. But that line of thought is for another day

The Sabbatic goat Baphomet is another Symbol of As Above, So Below

They are a sign of a perfect union of opposites; Man/Beast, Female/Male, Dark/Light, etc. All while bearing Mercury's caduceus and mirroring the magician. Note the pentagram and torch pointed to the sky as the Magician does. As Above, So Below. The words on its arms are Solve (dissove) Coagula (coagulate). An alchemical principle that means to create something new, you must dissove what came before. The End must come before the Beginning. The Beginning must come before the End. A connected cycle.

Ragnarok is an obvious use of this concept but it also exists in Greek myth; Cronos who overthrew his father Uranus who was overthrown by his son in return. What has happened will happen again.

Notrette, the Hermetic Alchemist

This is more on the speculation side of things but considering ep23 and soft confirmation she resides in the GUND nexus and even more of a genetic genius than expected; let's assume she's the one who created Suletta, the 12th key.

In Alchemy, there exists something called the philosopher's stone. FMA fans are very familiar but in layman's terms it's the holy grail of alchemy. And one of the boons is the ability to create a clone/homunculus. Considering QZ, the ability to unnaturally extend life is similarly on the nose. The 12 keys of Basil Valentine is an alchemical text by which you can create the philosopher's stone

This is the image for the twelth and final step. Twelfth Key. Inside a laboratory an alchemist stands with tongs in his left hand, while with his right he points to a triangular crucible on a bench behind him, with two rose-like flowers growing out of it and the symbol of Mercury above it. On the left is a barrel-like furnace from the top of which flames emerge. On the right a lion devours a snake. Through an open window behind, the Sun and Moon are seen.

Mercury's symbol and 12th key are undeniably Suletta but the Snake and Lion are Shaddiq and Guel. The Moon is Nott (Notrette) and the Sun is her child Dagr (Miorine)

We are meant to associate both Notrette and Prospera as Hermetic Alchemists, and the pursuit of their craft has led to the events of GWitch and the perpetuation of numerous cycles. As Above, So Below.

I do find it intriguing that the stone is said to be not one, but two. A red stone and a white stone. It's not hard to equate our girls to both. After all, they too are a perfect union of opposites

[themattress]

............Actually, let’s amend that statement.

In regards to the past few episodes of G-Witch, there’s been discourse about Miorine’s actions, how right or wrong they were, how culpable she is in the presently unfolding disaster on Earth, etc. And looking it all over, I gotta say...for the most part, this is 100% on Prospera, not Miorine. Because here’s the thing: Miorine in-universe and out gets a lot of praise for being really smart, a prodigy, a girlboss, etc. and yes, she is all that...but she’s also still a child. Realistically, there was no way that Miorine, for all her talents, was going to stand a chance matching wits against an experienced adult master manipulator like Prospera, and I’m not sure why anyone expected otherwise. Prospera knew exactly how to get into her head and how to lie or half-truth with believable conviction, so of course Miorine was going to be manipulated. l feel like assigning blame to Miorine is in the same vein as assigning blame to Sansa Stark for being manipulated by Cersei Lannister, or blaming any given Teen Titan for being manipulated by Slade Wilson. How about we just blame the grown-ass adult instead?

With that said, there was one thing she did wrong, which also gets misunderstood. See, looking at the situation from an objective lens what she pulled on Suletta in Season 2, Episode 5 was completely justified in terms of accomplishing what it needed to for Suletta. She’d tried being straightforward with Suletta and it didn’t work; Suletta’s known and trusted her mother and “sister” way longer than she has Miorine and couldn’t be persuaded to abandon them; they needed to abandon her if she was ever going to wake up from her brainwashing. However, the way in which Miorine did it was completely wrong-headed. Letting both her own personal realizations and anxieties mix with Prospera’s manipulation led Miorine to believe she’s doomed by blood and is her father’s daughter no matter how hard she tries not to be, so the best thing for everyone is for her to embrace that, to emulate her father and cut off all emotional ties, to let people believe she doesn’t care even when she does because “they’re better off that way”. Some people claimed she’s continuing an abuse cycle, but that doesn’t work when she’s this self-aware about her actions. What’s actually happening is that Miorine is continuing to abuse herself, and thinking that’s fine so long as she’s the only one who remains miserable as a result (and, as we all know...she wasn’t.)

Bringing up the Teen Titans and Slade again, this line from Robin fits well here: “Focused, serious, determined...as much as I hate to admit it, he and I are kind of alike. But there's one big difference between me and Slade. He doesn't have any friends.” Miorine should have realized that no matter what the similarities to her and Deling, she has friends and he doesn’t, and she should have reached out to them instead of just keeping things between herself, Prospera and Guel, neither of whom are people she likes. What she should really be kicking herself for now is just cutting Suletta loose and expecting her friends to pick her up rather than incorporating said friends in her plan of cutting Suletta loose from the beginning. Because now they don’t know what the Hell’s going on and are stumbling around blind.

Does anyone at this point, Suletta? Does anyone really? Thanks a lot, Mio-Mio!

[daisukoth]

I want to explain the reason why people were expecting a kiss for sulemio, aside from the "leaks" (which currently are in debate as to whether it was all a lie or just more censored content from Bandai.)

It might make sense for some people that there was no kiss, after all this is Gundam, and when a kiss does happen its usually not with the protagonist's intended endgame, but only a fleeting romance.

But sulemio is not just a Gundam couple, it has been hugely inspired by shoujo and yuri like Utena. And there have been romantic parallels thru the entire cour 1, building up for the climatic kiss between the real couple. Of course there's Shaddiq and Guel and their absolute failure at romancing either girls But when it comes to the kiss, thats when Elan comes in.

Elan was always a character meant to be paralleled with Miorine, just like Caliban with Ferdinand. where Caliban fails, and scares Miranda; Ferdinand succeeds and they fall further in love

This was a huge theme in season 1; Miorine gave her a tomato to eat, El4n gives her food in the jail cell. when El4n wants to "help" Suletta by making her join Peil house, Miorine intervenes and helps Suletta instead, leading her to a good path, with Earth house. When El4n insults and fights Suletta, Miorine is there to support her no matter what. etc etc, many scenes like this happen in cour 1. This almost kiss scene between El5n and Suletta being one of them. It happens in cour 1, episode 10, the episode where the girls have a brief breakup, due to El5n making Suletta insecure about her relationship with Miorine. And then they makeup by episode 11, with the romantic hug between them.

Its no surprise that people think this was the perfect timing for the kiss to happen, after all this would be the climax and the perfect parallel to the almost kiss, the true kiss of love between the leads. But instead the scene ends abruptly, there is a brief time skip and we see Miorine holding the matching keychain that Suletta gave her, all of that exchanged happened off-screen...

Now I am getting into the conspiratory territory here, but the alleged kiss leak was said to happen in cour 1. Before being "moved" to cour 2, this same thing happened with Sophie and Norea, who are introduced in the same episode this hug happened. Seeing as how cour 2 was changed from what Okouchi wanted, i would honestly not be surprised if the kiss was altogether censored due to executive meddling too....

[mahoushoujotechsupport]

hey its time for episode 4

starting off with one of the funniest fucking scenes in this whole show with suletta just fucking hauling ass right out of there after guel just surprise proposes to her

just want to juxtapose this with her wild feelings speech in 17 about buying rings and wearing the prettiest dresses

this shot just reminded me of a random detail from the manual for chuchu's demi trainer - it says earth house can't afford their own demi trainers so chuchu's is a modified older version because thats the best they could do.

suletta pilots a demi trainer during the whole field test thing so like... does she own or have a demi trainer loaned out for school use or something? i honestly forgot chuchu pilots her own suit in this scene cuz i had just accepted that the demi trainers for practical exams etc were like just there for the students to use whenever

i know this was like probably the easier way to write suletta becoming friends with earth house but lmao why didnt she just ask miorine from the start to help for the makeup exam. baka suletta.

suletta please.

till will forever go down as bestboy in the series tbh. like someone needs to write a fic where he wingmans for suletta while nika does it for miorine

suletta, you naive little baby

there really was absolutely no reason for miorine to get all handsy and possessive here lmao like she could just stood infront of suletta or even right next to her and still had the same confrontation and warning about the other houses being bad news

the 2nd light novel picking up from here and highlighting miorine's jealousy over el4n during this whole arc is perfect lmao

kinda fun to speculate on how suletta saw miorine during the beginning. like she was completely surprised miorine didnt belong to a house. suletta's so awkward and socially inept she couldnt tell she was dealing with the one other person at school who was equally socially inept

i feel like there's a lot of frames i never paused on to read like this one lol. i never realized suletta got so many questions wrong. well "wrong" cuz reading through her answers it almost sounds like she just didnt give the benerit group approved answers lmao kinda like when you get stupid training stuff at work and they're just chockful of anti-union propaganda

never forget the first time we saw miorine's room

i know so many people don't really care about the class conflict in ad stella, but god, i wish they really hadnt dropped the ball on this. like in the 1st cour they had something really good here

obligatory shot of chuchu's dads

miorine rembran will not let anyone insult her woman

does anyone know what this gold gate/door thing was supposed to be? after the second school shooting, there's a shot shown where it's the only thing left standing in that area and i dont think ive ever seen anyone talk about it before

see like even this is good re: class politics. like its not this cut and dry all spacians are evil capitalists thing. mercurian miners were pretty much lured out by the benerit group to be exploited for their labor and then left to dry once a cheaper source for permet was found. bless the fic writers who've turned that into appalachian town suletta because it's such a perfect analogy

suletta mercury literally got decked in the face and we all just focused on the chuchu punch

imagine miorine sitting with her in her room just helping her ice her face

by the way how excited do you think suletta was to call someone senpai just like in her fair use mangas lmao

ok all set with episode 4. ive gotta say, it is super jarring to go back to these slice of life school episodes after everything we've been through in the second cours. like yeah that was kind of the point in having the first half of the series have pretty much no stakes since these kids are about to be thrown into war

you know for all the complaining a lot of losers did when the show started about this not being a "real" gundam series, the only difference between watching suletta's journey versus say amuro's... is that we got to see suletta's life before everything got wrecked. with amuro we just immediately start off at the point where Everything Goes Bad

[susie-dreemurr]

It’s really funny how some Guelbros hated Miorine and put Guel in a pedestal of “he will be the bridge between earth and space and help it”

Because like…Guel didn’t do shit to help earth lol. He saw The Horrors and immediate went “welp now it’s time to inherit my dad’s war factory” and didn’t help no earthian after ep 15

Meanwhile, Miorine was the one who became more of a “bridge between earth and space” being ultimately the one who helped it the most by dissolving the benerit group and etc, and in her first visit to Earth even if she didn’t know the extent of the problem she tried to help them so hard and almost established a temporary peace, before Prospera fucked it up lol

This began ina. guel hate post ended in a Miorine love post. Stan Miorine.

[md-guel]

well this is a shock! joining suletta and miorine who was released much earlier on, mechaguerumi in the darilbalde becomes 3d!!!! his pre-orders are starting tomorrow through premium bandai though I can't see any news on his price yet.

honestly not sure if I'm going to bite from just this preview (his acrylic stand looks cuter??) but knowing me, I don't think I'll be able to resist 😅

dengeki hobby offers another source

[l-crimson-l]

Hello, I have several expensive kits that I want to do a good job on, so my focus lately has been minimizing nub marks. I have a range of sanding sponges from 240-10K but whenever I sand it leaves the surface looking very scratched up, do you have any recommendations for minimizing this?

I’ve never had the patience for the whole sanding process so I’ve kind of always done a lazy one snip and cleanup with a file.

That said: it works Very Well and the vast majority of the time leaves the part with a nice shiny smooth finish. I’ve said this in a couple posts but the Gate Remover set I snagged on Newtype really was a game changer. That said, there’s other options to getting glass files and you can buy the Recover cloth and Balancer sponge separate to save some $$.

The double snip method is to help minimize stress marks and prevent craters. After that hitting with a glass file should be all you need to do.

EXCEPTION: Plastic that marks up easy, like blacks, the Guels Delanza pink, etc are all parts you should give some extra love just to help minimize stress marks

I only really use sanding sponges for those harder to reach nubs or if I’m doing a lazy matte finish.

[seaofolives]

well! I already talked about this on Twitter (I'm seaofolives on there too etc) (also on bsky), so I might as well talk about it here, too! I'm gonna do another October daily drabble challenge and this year, I'm going to use my son guel jeturk as inspiration! if anyone wants to join me (doubtful when talking about the English-speaking g witchdom, I know), I put together an ickle site for more info! (日本語の情報もウェブサイトに掲載されて��る！)

so like...this is probably gonna kill me but yanno I already did a poster and a website for it so might as well lmao

[randomidiocyncrazies]

Gwitch S2E3 “Father and Child”

w o w the Jeturks really cannot catch a break! after the L Lauda took last ep, this ep starts off with Guel being taken hostage by the Fold of Dawn and in a BAD way, unable to respond to outside stimuli

the terrorists intend to use him as a bargaining chip (I wonder how they found out his identity—I’m guessing their intel is good enough to recognize him on sight, plus Guel probably didn’t put up any resistance at questioning attempts, having been broken by accidentally killing his father in combat)

i’m guessing the camp will be attacked, and Guel will help the refugees evacuate—we saw kids trying to feed/deal with him when he was broken, so he’ll probably try to save the kids as a sign of him gaining resolve (and he’ll fail, probably, because the Jeturks are here to be punching bags)

it’s kinda ironic that, for all that she hates spacians (beating the shit out of Nika when Nika says her acts of violence will cause spacians to have a pretext of ignoring earthian voices), Norea is forced to work for spacians, who have all the power in their working relationship

although... the way she calls Sabina a “traitor”, i wonder if my previous speculation of Shaddiq’s squad being his fellow orphans—and them being Earth orphans specifically—is on the money? there has to be a reason why Shaddiq is so hung up on splintering the Benerit Group, and why the squad is so ride or die for him

glad we finally get some sense of Shaddiq’s deal! “Can’t fill stomachs with grudges” was extremely good, and i’m like 99.9% certain that the squad are fellow orphans (though i don’t understand why there are no other guys... i guess the other guys would’ve been rivals to the Grasseley inheritance? it’s been implied before that Shaddiq isn’t the only potential heir to Grasseley Defense.

and as for why none of the girls are potential heirs, well. apparently sexism thrives in space)

lmao punch me in the feels! Sophie's motivation was to get creature comforts and attain a family... and she did have a family who remembers & mourns her. also, children inherit bloody conflicts from their predecessors in a never ending cycle of violence, etc etc

THEME OF BLOODY CONFLICT LOCKED IN AN UNBREAKABLE CYCLE OF VENGEANCE AND REVENGE INTENSIFIES

(also, despite Guel being understandably devastated about accidentally killing his dad, i’m glad Vim Jeturk died. sorry not sorry.)

dumbass, your job is to defend and buy time for your fleeing civilians. good fucking job bro

our dead child of this ep. sorry girl, if someone SOMEONE didn’t draw attention to the garrison, maybe you’d have survived

...i still think Guel is going to fail in saving her, because being Guel is suffering. this man’s purpose in this show is to get kicked down at every opportunity. BUT at least he’s showing some initiative (good for him?)

Ah yup, there she goes...

with Guel’s assertion to not let the things that bind him to his father (who is still a POS btw) disappear, i wonder if he’ll go back to Jeturk Heavy Machinery—Lauda is in critical condition after the attack last ep, but if Guel does go back I’m guessing there’s going to be a split faction within Jeturk for who should be the next CEO

and about Quiet Zero... from Prospera, we know Quiet Zero (and potentially Vanadis Institute’s project with the GUND format) focuses on transhumanism, and I’m wondering what sort of plant survival strategies Nortrette has in mind when proposing Quiet Zero, and how it differs from the current project (if it does)

We know Miorine is going to be involved with Quiet Zero in some fashion either way, but it could be kinda interesting if she chose to walk away EXCEPT outside circumstances forces her to get involved. HOWEVER, with Gwitch’s themes of parents using children in their schemes/children following in their parent’s footsteps, I’m guessing Miorine will willingly get on board with the project, at least to investigate it

[anhilliator1]

I can definitely see a moment in WFM where Suletta is seriously torn up after discovering what her mother's been doing behind the scenes, and is pretty much stuck in a rut.

At which point, Miorine, Guel, etc., all pretty much collectively decide "Hey, she helped us break away from our parents' machinations, and now it's our turn to help her do the same."

[adracat]

GWitch 23 thoughts

Sorry for the wait on this, I had to rewatch a few times to really drink in everything that was going on. I didn't have the best knee-jerk reaction initially ( I enjoyed it ofc but was a bit ambivalent about some things) and wanted to give it a fair shake.

First up, seeing Suletta zip around like the ace pilot she is was quite rewarding and fun! Now all those auto-pilot rumors can be laid to rest. However, the circumstances weren't the best and it broke my heart she was gasping for air the entire time. I had no doubt she'd live but it's still miserable to witness that

Ah Lauda. Your tomfoolery knows no bounds. We knew this was coming after the last ep, but it's still a bit frustrating. On a technical narrative level, it works since we're seeing two sets of siblings confront their simmering tension with one another. On a personal level, I wasn't very amused. I first saw this at 4 in the morning and had no patience for Lauda lmao. But rewatching it a few times gave me a deeper appreciation for what's going on. He's really intent on scapegoating Mio for everything wrong in his life. Fitting for her role as the Rose Bride and Lauda's demonized witch

This little aside from Chuchu is so suspicious tbh. Considering Mio's failure at piloting, this seems to imply either she does not have a permet implant of any sort or a flat intolerance. I have a sneaking suspicion it'll become a factor in the next episode.

Mio staring wistfully at Cool-san/etc memento of Suletta will always grab me by the throat. Girl wants to wife up Suletta so bad. And really, who could blame her?

Schwarzette is so pretty and cool. Unfairly so. Like, why did you make that thing so unique and cool? For dipstick Lauda?? Who is that pink permet for and why does it look like Utena??? ANSWER ME OKOUCHI

That's nice of Delling to rise from his sickbed to try and negotiate with the SAL. Unfortunately, this would be for naught because they're here to purge and replace. Not make nice. It was the thought that counts, I suppose.

Speaking of, the debut of a solar ray blindsided me. I mean, yeah it's Gundam, but I kinda thought we were skipping the big death ray lmao. After sitting on it, I think I know where it's headed. Totally on brand for SAL too in hindsight. They like to act removed, but they're just as entrenched as Benerit in the skeevy corpo politics. Allying with Ochs and now Peil cements it

Check the link above to see my Utena related thoughts on this moment btw. It might be the highlight of the episode beyond the Prospera confrontation. Stunned they finally stopped playing coy and seemingly confirm Notrette is indeed a GUND entity residing in pseudo hell, and likely a GWitch newtype like Eri

This was very sweet and I enjoy it more on a rewatch but I also understand why I and so many people had a gut-deep aversion to this subplot. The issue is entirely investment based imo, and tbh I just don't care that much about the Jeturk family dynamics. At best, I don't mind them. Guel is a bro but Lauda is SO exhausting on multiple levels. His misogyny and gross negligence of Petra in favor of revenge doesn't help.

If something came of this other than Lauda/Guel sibling closure, I'd consider it fulfilling. But if you lack investment in the conflict, it's going to feel limp or frustrating in comparison to the siblings you want to see. So while I appreciate the parallel with Suletta/Eri and the continuing subtext of witch coded Mio, that's it for me. But hey, it serves a purpose. A tragic cycle was broken after all, thanks to love and MVP Felsi!

The one big gripe I have after consideration is this man's continued existence. Kenanji doesn't deserve to play buddy buddy with the cast. He's a dirty space cop who bullies children and murdered Nadim, now he's joking with 5lan? The hell. I get the theme of the show is forgiveness and not perpetuating the cycle of revenge but... really? KENANJI gets to be happy but Norea/Sophie don't? Sigh

It was so dirty of Eri to use Suletta's love for Mio against her. She knows Suletta would panic over their mother possibly 'gaining two'. It's crafty and unrepentant, but Suletta holds fast. Her faith in Mio is greater than her idle fears

Mio scolding Prospera over her favoritism was great. We love a fiancé willing to take a stand against her shit in-laws. Speaking of, looks like Mio has fully embraced becoming a Mercury one day. 'All of us will be family' YEAH YOU WILL so suck it up Prospera. The holidays are gonna be so awkward

Btw love Mio was shouting at her while having an emotional breakthrough deciphering her mother's QZ riddle. This moment was excellent and easily superceded my minor gripes. UGH when will you reveal Notrette's whole deal GWitch? We're waiting

Such a bittersweet moment. We know from the Blessing and Cradle Planet that Eri loves her sister but it may not have been until this moment that Suletta understands her feelings. Now, I don't think she's 'dead' tbh. Or deader anyway. I suspect it's a false flag to hook you until the finale. It would be quite anti-climactic if she passed without a proper goodbye. I'm still holding out on a Tempest end where Prospera voluntarily sets her free.

The next Sunday will be our last. Hard to believe tbh. Feels like just yesterday we set out on this spectacular journey. Que sera sera! I'll see y'all in the finale~