#maybe i am just in denial

[dianessunflower]

Art in The Good Fight (2017-2022) - Part 2

part 1 here:

this part 2 is mostly about s6, because i think you can really track what the art is doing for story and character. so, let's get into it!!

still mad the new partner Ri'Chard took away this beauty, but they're forgiven for 603's art history references.

in the scene with the Dr, Diane mentions Landscape with the Fall of Icarus, originally attributed to Pieter Bruegel the Elder (oil on canvas, c. 1560). it's in the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium in Brussels.

this is absolutely fascinating, because the composition of the painting is original—to give prominence to the 'low' subject matter, being the agricultural figure, rather than Icarus, to whom Diane is drawn. this is called 'Mannerist inversion' (yes i screamed, i'm a nerd).

this piece is brilliantly used this ep. Icarus, small, drowns unnoticed by everyone else. death happens all the time, and we move on. i'm reminded of Diane's sane little corner. the world is oblivious to the tragedy of hubris, concerned only with themselves. seems apocalyptic...

which leads me to my next point. behind the Dr is a Jean Andran engraving of a painting called Winter, part of a Seasons series now in the Louvre by Nicolas Poussin from the 1660s. and what does it depict? the flood. 100% premonition of impending death.

i love that *someone* has done their NY homework and seen that Guggenheim Hilma af Klint exhibit (i am not jealous at all), because also in the Dr's office is af Klint's Tree of Knowledge, No. 5 (Kunskapens träd, nr 5), from the 1915 W Series.

for various reasons, af Klint was for a long time ignored in favour of Kandinsky, Mondrian, Kupka etc in modern Western nonrepresentational art (also her queerness 🍵). her work has two overlapping levels, one biographical and one relating to the history of humanity.

the Tree of Knowledge series is part of her series of 193 Paintings for the Temple, which was af Klint's vision for the future as given to her by a spiritual medium, to depict 'the immortal aspects of man'. hence, she uses iconography from Christianity and Hinduism.

each piece in the Tree of Knowledge series is a variation on a theme, a tree with a heart-shaped crown. and there's a progression to the biblical allusion to Genesis symbolising innocence to fall from Grace, but there are also organic forms and ornate details.

the Tree of Knowledge (of Good and Evil) is usually paired with the

symbol of the Tree of Life, and in af Klint's work, signals binaries melding into unity. but the tree also signals Buddhism (the fig tree), the Tau/life force, the Arasa Maram in Hinduism.

the colours have meaning, yellow for female and blue for male. put them together and it becomes green, and the colours have become purer. this is No. 5, so the white radiations that were pale rose-coloured in No. 4 are now inverted.

af Klint probably knew Rudolf Steiner's colour meanings—yellow as spirit, blue as soul. green as the lifeless image of the living, peach-blossom the living image of the soul. white as the soul's image of the spirit, black as the spiritual image of the lifeless (cf swans).

the 12 sections in the top lotus leaf crown seem to represent the zodiac, months. also, there's a multi-coloured, lobed 'cross' in the small box middle-right, which maybe suggests the first awakening of the higher self?? compare this to the unity of colourful two birds in the bottom circle. there's a lot to be said about how this art represents how humans navigate their smallness in the world.

as seen on 604 in Diane's office, this is Street Musicians, by the American artist Norman Lewis (oil on canvas, 1948). part of the post-war movement.

from 605, i have identified some of the pieces Ri'Chard chose for the office, and they were clearly chosen for reasons. (unfortunately i couldn't find Liz's but i love the home decor and don't doubt this was also carefully chosen.)

this is by Kara Walker, known for room-size tableaux of black cut-paper silhouettes. her work illustrates the origins & legacy of slavery in the American South. i suspect there's a Civil War reference too. the 1994 piece riffs on Gone With The Wind (MOMA).

i really love this one. this is Holy Mountain II by Horace Pippin, a self-taught artist post WW1. he was influenced by Edward Hicks, a Quaker minister who painted interpretations of Isaiah’s biblical prophecy of world peace and harmony in nature (Peaceable Kingdom, c 1830-32).

though the gatherings seem tranquil, the Holy Mountain series is very dark. poppies, soldiers, grave markers, a limp body hanging from a tree... Holy Mountain I refers to D-Day, Holy Mountain II to Pearl Harbor Day, & Holy Mountain III (Smithsonian) to Nagasaki.

so there are parallels between WW1/Civil War, but it is also very Eden-esque. i rather like that the pastoral figure in a white dress with the yellow cheetah is the centre focus. all very biblical, which fits right in with Ri'Chard's style. Pippin himself stated that,

"'Holy Mountain' came to my mind because the whole world is in such trouble, and in reading the Bible (Isaiah 11:6) it says that there will be peace in the land. If a man knows nothing but hard times he will paint them, for he must be true to himself, but even that man may have a dream, an ideal and 'Holy Mountain' is my answer to such dreaming."

i was thinking about how much gold Ri'Chard brought into the office in the context of his Brand™ (1 & 2 old decor, 3 & 4 new, but none identified yet oop)

there are other etchings in the Dr's office: top: 'Rotherhithe' by James McNeill Whistler from the Thames Set (1860, V&A) bottom: 'Clearing a wreck on the north coast of Cornwall' by Thomas Rowlandson (c 1809-1822, British Museum).

Dr Dude likes ships that's all i can say 🤷‍♀️ but actually i think there's something interesting about all the Flood references in the Dr's office, like Diane is drowning. possibly, there's a subtle allusion to a very famous painting, Le Radeau de la Méduse, by Théodore Géricault (1818-19, oil on canvas, Louvre).

this is an icon of French Romanticism, depicting the aftermath of the wreck of the French naval frigate Méduse, which ran aground off the coast of what is now Mauritania on 2 July 1816. what's so interesting about this painting is that it presents ordinary people, rather than heroes, reacting to the unfolding drama. as Christine Riding says, the painting represents,

"the fallacy of hope and pointless suffering, and at worst, the basic human instinct to survive, which had superseded all moral considerations and plunged civilised man into barbarism."

by 607, Diane's office art has changed to a piece called Three Tumblers by Daniel Clarke (2018), perhaps a reference to her revolving office bar. also did we notice her flower obsession has dulled a little? but there are still orchids all around the office. i'll leave you to google the meaning of the original Greek word 👀

elsewhere in the office, FIRES abound on the digital screen in the conference room. flood, fire…and?

where there's a mansion, there's sure to be art (609): Asher Brown Durand, Landscape—Scene from "Thanatopsis" (1850, Met); Max Ferdinand Bredt, In the Courtyard of the Harem; John Frederick Lewis, Intercepted Correspondence (1869).

in 609 when same sex marriage is overturned (and Christine Baranski's acting chops is on full show with her shocked face), the image on the tv screen is Witch burning in Regenstein, Saxony-Anhalt, 1555. It's a wood engraving after an original printed on flyleaf (Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg).

frankly there's a lot of misinformation about witch trials, not least of which is that they happened a lot later than most people think (ie. not the medieval period). the early modern period 16-17th centuries were the height of the European witchcraft trials.

and it was an ongoing, systematic persecution that resulted from the targetting of Christian heretics and Jews throughout the 14th century, and gradually both the church and scholars became more and more obsessed with demonology. it was really about the 'other', the concern about the loss of a certain way of life.

Diane, of course, calls herself a wench, so i think it's interesting that her s6 arc eventuates with her heading up a female-only law firm in DC working on women's rights and Roe v Wade. i dislike the way that the word 'witchhunt' is misappropriated like other historical terms in modern contexts, but it's probably fair to call the current backsliding on women's rights a witchhunt. so i love this double meaning.

finally, i wanted to return to how Diane's office art tracks her journey. the Surrealist art was the tone of the show throughout. but the violence seeped into the everyday and everyone just got used to it. hence the second painting is war (contrast the flowers).

but then Diane chooses to stop PT108. almost immediately, a bullet lands on the realist painting of a woman (where does she end up? in Washington DC fighting the good fight for women).

the violence doesn't end there. and then the office literally explodes & you can see a painting is off-centre. which seems like a good metaphor for where the world is at.

so yeah, the progression in Diane's office from Peony Girl to Post-War to a painted version of Chris is just chef's kiss. the way it tracks her psyche in s6? i'm obsessed.

[morgaseus]

Sunday has you wrapped around his finger.

You love the man too much to even second guess him. Yet it is not him that you swore your oath to but to the family and the harmony. To harbor something other than disgust to a traitor, a follower of the Order at that, is tantamount to a sin, borderline blasphemous. He's always been virtuous, dedicated in upholding his duties for the family and the whole of penacony. You feel a dull aching emanating from the cavity of your chest; You'd never guessed he was the traitor all along. 

When you caught him in the middle of escaping from his cell, along with the wine purple haired woman- Kafka, a stellaron hunter, you surmised, you've seen her posters plastered in walls enough for you to recognize her anywhere. They’re recruiting him, you think. They're taking him away. Your mind tells you to uphold your duties as a member of the family. He’s a traitor to the family- to the harmony. He tried to usurped Lord Xipe! Your heart (aches to see him go, to leave you) tells you to let him go. To let him live, to experience everything for himself. 

You've always been the family's dog, always following their orders as if you were merely born for them and not for yourself. But this time, you decided to choose for yourself.

You let the halovian go. You clenched your hand, crescent shapes left at its wake. You don’t want him to leave, you never want him to leave because that would mean you would no longer see him. But if he were to stay here.. If he were to stay here, the family will capture him, hand him over to the IPC for trial (he will most likely be found guilty), imprison him until he rots in prison, until he serves his sentence. You don’t want that, you will never want that for him. Sunday has been nothing but kind to you. He treats you as if you were the most precious and fragile thing in the whole asdana system. He makes you feel, wanted, needed, loved. Even if you think his words were lies. So, you think, that is the best possible outcome.

He lived his whole life believing the sickly sweet poison instilled to him by the dreammaster (You’ve always thought there was something wrong with Mr. Gopher Wood). Nobody really sees how his left hand, that he always keeps at his back, would clench his right arm. Nobody sees how many nights he had to stay up, worrying, wondering, who could've killed his sister, why they killed her. Nobody- nobody sees his struggles. All they know is that he's sunday- the perfect, meticulous oak family leader. Sunday the traitor. Sunday the order’s remnant. He needs this. He needs another chance. So, you decided to let him go. Maybe then, he would learn to live for his sake. 

[forlouren]

Leslye's recent interview might seem like she's stepping on our sandcastle, but this just makes me more concrete on the Knights Of Ren's theory, personally. The Kylo Ren theme was said to be purposeful, and we still haven't been told as to why. I highly doubt that if the story continues, Osha and Qimir will remain Sith.

[idontwanttospoiltheparty]

It is truly fascinating how the common tumblr narrative around John and Paul somehow makes the guy who literally got violent multiple times over people insinuating he was queer appear more "on board with the whole gay thing" than the guy who said some awkward/dated stuff in interviews a couple of times.

[beanghostprincess]

Sometimes I think that even if shanks was asked by buggy for help because of the cross guild he would probably do nothing that useful since mihawk is his other close bond and he wouldn’t want to go against him and I get for some reason kinda sad

Agree to disagree, anon, because this is saying that hypothetically Buggy would ask Shanks for help because of the Cross Guild. A thing that could never happen in a million years and Buggy would rather die than ask Shanks anything. But let's say that Buggy (reluctantly) asks Shanks for help.

There are a lot of outcomes here, tbh, since it's hard for me to picture this situation but-- If Buggy is seriously in a big problem with Cross Guild I think Shanks wouldn't hesitate to help him? He won't kill Mihawk, obviously, but I don't see why Shanks wouldn't fight him if talking doesn't work. They get along but they're still pirates and if Buggy is in actual deadly danger he's going to help him out. I love Shanks and Mihawk too but, like, story-wise and canonically Shanks' bond with Buggy is a lot more crucial and important (as I see it) and I don't see why his bond with Mihawk would affect his decision here, tbh.

It's either that or he sends Beck and goes "haha Buggy how could you say you're in danger??? I trust you can get out of this one alone 🙏🏻 And also I don't wanna go, so here's my first mate to keep an eye on you. Don't stab him, please". And Beck wants to die a little bit because why the hell does he have to do this-

But if Shanks knew Buggy was in real deadly danger, he would help. Also, the fact that Buggy is asking him for help is enough sign of something going extremely wrong, so-

[bisexualcherdegre]

D:BH Rarepairsweek 7 | @dbhrarepairs

Day 7 - Chloe/North | Good Luck, Babe! ~ Chappell Roan

[starchasersversion]

going through a sexuality crisis was not on my 2024 bingo card

[mamawasatesttube]

heres how t4t timkon can still win.

[cak31ssuperi04]

Henna not being back in any capacity in the second Mariposa movie gives me two impressions:

1). untapped potential for a 3rd movie where we get Henna reformation or some such.

2).

Mariposa: I wonder how Henna's doing out there.

Willa: ..... what if she's dead 😧

Mariposa: 😨

Honestly it's entirely possible that she IS dead; a lot of her control over the Skeezites hinged on the promise of invading Flutterfield, and we can see their patience wearing thin throughout the movie. It's possible her failure to follow through would be the final straw, and that her lights would only be able to carry her so far when her entire army is against her. I do like the potential for another sequel to tie up that loose end though, in no small part because "dramatic revenge declaration followed by offscreen death that's never mentioned" is just kind of anticlimactic. Even if it's been a decade and that ship has sailed at this point. We could've had it all. Two fairy trilogies. Also consider: The Skeezites don't seem to be a threat--or even present at all-- in Fairy Princess. They're not once brought up unless in past tense. Regellius brings up Flutterfield defeating them when that's not necessarily how it happens in the first movie(which she does point out but focuses more on the method than the outcome so it's still unclear). Yeah they succeed in driving them off, but if Mariposa's quest or the fact that they've been terrorizing the kingdom for centuries says anything, it's that there are probably way more hanging around than Henna's immediate army. I'm imagining a midquel where she manages to get the Skeezites to hold out for a little longer so she can get her Revenge Plan in, and Flutterfield deals with them for good.

[five-nights-at-artsys]

shakes fnafblr shakes fnafblr shakes fnafblr

hey i know we are talking about a franchise steeped in the supernatural since day 1 but i beg you to read up on dissociative disorders

[themyscirah]

This is how this went right?

Parallax!Hal: I miss being a hero... wish I had my ring back

Kyle: oh well you can have mine then! That way you can have a second chance : )

Parallax!Hal: YES!!! A SECOND CHANCE TO PLAY GOD AND RESHAPE THE WORLD AS I WILL IT MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Kyle, now ringless: .................huh. im gonna be honest here I really didn't see that coming

[nbcheeso]

hiya tumblr, is it possible to be allosexual and sex repulsed at the same time?

[maybemeursault]

look okay it's bad to erase marvin's canonical sexuality and the fact that She Likes Men but i literally genuinely with all my heart think that she is a trans woman

[batbeato]

Yet again while talking about Umineko my partner put a hand on my shoulder and told me "you should write a tumblr post about this". Save me, everyone.

Anyway, about Sayo and Confession of the Golden Witch - I know I've talked about this before but bear with me - Ryukishi has talked about Sayo and her thoughts about her message bottles before.

Behold: the similarly named, though entirely different, Our Confession. For those who haven't read it: Beatrice shows Dlanor her unfinished manuscript, which involves some of the mechanisms behind how she carries out the murders. Afterwards, they talk about how many people won't be able to understand the truth/all layers of the story, and while Beatrice wants 1 out of those 1000 people to understand her, it might not be possible. Beatrice tells Dlanor she can release the unfinished manuscript upon her death. Dlanor releases the manuscript upon Beatrice's death and, in her notes, has these lines:

She said that she wrote two stories and revealed one. However, that was also wrong. She wrote three stories and revealed one. By reading this incomplete manuscript, you will know two of those stories. I would like you to reach the third and final one with your own power.

If we go by Our Confession, even knowing what happened (the first story, and the fantasy), and how it happened (the second story, the reality), there is still a third unreleased story (the whydunnit, the heart). Even after Beatrice's death, the third story - Beatrice's heart - is not revealed, and we as the audience are still expected to reach the heart on our own.

The Twilight manga began release in 2012; Our Confession was released in 2011. Our Confession, in its original pamphlet format and in the VN release for Umineko Saku, asks the reader to choose to open the catbox (the pamphlet has a physical seal). Confession of the Golden Witch does not - the reader agreeing to open the catbox is not part of the manga.

Rather than opening the catbox being a meaningful choice the reader makes, the manga chapters are forcing one interpretation of 'the truth' onto the reader, eradicating the catbox which Yasuda Sayo worked so hard to create.

Beyond even whether or not it would be in-character for Sayo (which I don't believe it is, nor do I like the confinement to one interpretation of their character, or giving shape to a character who does their best to have none at all, to instead haunt intangibly), it goes against the very delicate treatment given to the subject before. Even in opening the catbox in Our Confession, we still aren't given all the answers to Sayo's heart. We are still expected to search and interpret and find Sayo in the stories they left behind.

In opening, against our wills, the catbox in Confession of the Golden Witch, we are told this is the answer, and to look no further. The catbox is dead; how is Ange ever meant to reconstruct it so Battler and Beatrice can sink peacefully into the ocean?

[strwbrrysauce]

i have abandoned all hope of cleaning.

a man has irritated me.

what sort of advice is “just dont forget to clean.”

great fucking advice, i wonder why i never thought of that. honestly, someone get this guy an award

i may just throttle him.

[irisvienna]

MAYBE I WAS BORN FOR THE STAGE