ladylingua

[ladylingua]

I think I just feel alienated by a certain subset of pop culture ostensibly aimed at women because I simply do not yearn for or nostalgize girlhood

I mean I had a perfectly nice childhood and all, but I am an adult now and I like it that way I’m not tempted by the idea of going back to being thought of as soft and delicate and coquettish

I rather think I want more media that yearns for cronehood, that state of being where you do whatever the fuck you want and perhaps share what knowledge and skills you have with your community, and your mere existence terrifies a certain kind of man who wields power he knows he hasn’t really earned

I want pop culture about that

[ladylingua]

I'm doing my part to make Willow World OSHA compliant!

[ladylingua]

Lan Mandragoran from Wheel of Time for my amazing patron Troy! Thank you so much for supporting me :3

[ladylingua]

im in my moiraine feelings again (as if im ever not)

[ladylingua]

me when a driver acts annoyed at me for daring to use a crosswalk while he wants to turn right on red

#shogun fx #fx shogun #shōgun #shogun

[ladylingua]

my cat when it’s 9am and I still haven’t gotten up to feed him yet

#fx shogun #shogun fx #shogun #shōgun

[ladylingua]

me when I’m running to the train and the operator closes the doors right in my face

#shogun #shogun fx #fx shogun #shōgun

[ladylingua]

BLACKTHORNE: <taps mike> This is really more of a comment... MARIKO: The Anjin does not have a question.

[ladylingua]

Just watched the last two episodes of Shōgun back to back.

[ladylingua]

“Hell’s no place I haven’t seen before. Let it from your mind."

Gif credit: the amazing @yocalio

'Shogun showrunner Rachel Kondo revealed that the idea to have Blackthorne step up as Mariko’s second was initially “a shock” to her.

“It was one of those things that felt both surprising to us, but also inevitable. Like, naturally, this is the woman he loves. He doesn’t want her to writhe in eternal hell that he knows she believes in, right? I don’t even know if he believes in it, but he, this was his moment to look at her and to see her and to do something,” Kondo said.

“The one thing he does not want to do — he most doesn’t want to do — and he does it because of her, for her.”

Blackthorne’s poetic “last words” to Mariko during the seppuku scene were a suggestion from Cosmo Jarvis: “Hell’s no place I haven’t seen before. Let it from your mind,” to help him grapple with Blackthorne’s out of character decision to volunteer to kill the woman he loves.

“It was quite a challenge to find the motivation for a man to do that,” Jarvis said. “A man who hates unnecessary violence. Blackthorne hates unnecessary violence. And this would be the pinnacle of unnecessary violence and it’s somebody that he cares deeply for.”

“But, you know, that’s the joy of the work. You have to find motivations for these things and you have to do them and commit to them,” he said, explaining the genesis of the line, applauding the showrunners' collaborative nature for keeping it in.

According to Anna Sawai, Blackthorne’s decision to step up and second Mariko’s seppuku was “the biggest gesture of love that she feels from him.”

Gifs: the incomparable @yocalio

“It’s when she realizes how much she means to him. Because he is a Protestant and he’s going against his religion and he’s taking her over himself. He’s allowing her to die a loyal Catholic and a samurai,” Sawai said during an interview earlier this week. “It’s a very romantic thing for her and she’s in a way kind of seeing him in different eyes because of what this means."

“He’s taking her over his own religion and beliefs,” Sawai explains of the powerful moment. “A couple scenes before that he’s asking her to keep living for him. And so I think that it just shows that he really, really cares, and that is the most romantic thing that you could ever do for someone that you love.”

Mariko is spared, for a night. A night that Mariko and Blackthorne get to share together. Although Yabushige’s treachery would result in Mariko’s death later that night, the two lovers get to spend one last evening in each other’s arms.

Gif: the extraordinary @yocalio

“It was just a moment of like, ‘I deserve this. We deserve this. We accept each other, we see each other and we can share this moment together,'” Sawai said, giving Mariko’s story a bittersweet, tragically romantic ending.'

Full interviews:

Anna Sawai Reveals the Moment Mariko Fell in Love With Blackthorne

Anna Sawai Details How Mariko’s Seppuku Attempt in Episode 9 Binds Her and Blackthorne Forever: “It’s a Very Romantic Thing for Her”

[ladylingua]

shōgun memes pt 6

(Spoilers)

#fx shogun #shogun fx #shogun #shōgun

[ladylingua]

Shōgun memes pt 5

(Spoilers within)

#shogun #shogun fx #fx shogun #shōgun

[ladylingua]

Some sweet moments in an episode filled with treachery and death:

Mariko putting her hand on John's arm:

Kiri No Kata keeping herself in front of Shizu No Kata and the baby to shield them:

Also, give it up for the most genki guy in Osaka. Bro is putting his life and soul into that drum like there's no tomorrow. (I know it's probably the required technique, but I choose to believe he was just really feeling it.)

[ladylingua]

...he even seeks to exploit his connection with her, begging, “Would you consider living for me?”

She takes his hand and looks at him with pity and sadness, breaking him when she walks away.

Ultimately Blackthorn accepts that he may not understand Mariko’s choices, but he can support her in the only ways he knows how: following her lead and seconding her, so as to save her mortal soul from Christian hell.

Without knowing, Blackthorn has done the thing her husband never could: giving her the freedom of a life beyond anyone else’s understanding, logic, or control.

[ladylingua]

no it's like. it's like.......blackthorne stepping up to be mariko's second when kiyama doesn't show up. blackthorne not being a catholic, not necessarily buying what they're selling, but seeing how terrified mariko is of committing the "sin" of taking her own life. blackthorne raising a katana to strike down this woman who navigated her way into his heart – because she needs him to be the one to step up and do it, even though every bone in his body is rebelling against it. but what she needs comes first. she comes first. i'm drinking bleach.

[ladylingua]

Mariko and Ochiba-no-kata are having the culminating moment of their tragic childhood friends to rivals relationship while John-barely speaks Japanese-Blackthorne is standing off to the side like

[ladylingua]

ok so here's how a yabushige + blackthorne bromance can still win—