#and the whole 'oh no she has emotions and um. tried to end slavery too much :(' thing they had going on with their ~mad queen ............. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

just-horrible-things · 3 years

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Story: Mina and Marten [First | Prev | Next]

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Phone Call

"Mum!" Mina exclaims, making her voice just sunny with cheer. "Fancy hearing from you! What a nice surprise." "Yasmine, we need to talk." Well duh, thinks Mina, it's not like you'd call me just to catch up. "What would you like to talk about, Mummy dearest? I could tell you how my day is going, or you could ask about my love life, or--" "You know what," Mum interrupts. Mina sighs dramatically. "I'm sorry," she says, "I can only read minds over video call." "The boy." "You mean Marten? He has a name, Mum, although I suppose that would be a lot to ask since you can't even remember mine. I thought you didn't watch my 'brainless non-content'?" "Your Aunt Kate told me what 's going on."

"Oh, of course!" Mina giggles, high-pitched, aware of how the phone line will mangle the sound. "Auntie Katie hasn't talked to me in donkey's years so I'm sure she understands all the details of my life." "I've watched the videos. You have a human being, wearing a collar, living in your apartment and sleeping in a dog bed for Christ's sake."

Marten likes his bed, he said so. He said it's comfy. It's what the promotional videos show, it's what you're meant to do for a Boxie. Some YouTubers keep theirs in cages. What's she meant to do, have him sleep in her bed?

What she says is, "Everyone's doing it, Mum. Didn't you want me to make money? This is where the money is. Viewers just love Boxies!" "Stop using that tone with me, Yasmine. Just talk like a normal person." "That tone, Mummy? This is just what my voice is like! Maybe there's something wrong with the phone line, hold on a second." She blows into the microphone sharply.

Mum sighs dramatically. "Oh forget it. Don't you understand what you're doing?" "Boxies are perfectly legal, Mum. He signed a contract, I've seen it with my own eyes." "It's a thin veil over slavery! The corporations won't get away with it for long. The courts will come down hard on it, and then where will you be? Think about your reputation! You'll never get a real job if--" "I have a real job, Mum." "Legal or not, it's completely unethical. I'm ashamed to call you my daughter!" Another too loud giggle. "Oh I'm sorry Mummy, whatever will I do without your support? How about continue how I have been for the last ten years! Goodness, I don't know if I'll cope."

"He's a human being, Yasmine!" "I know that!" Mina snaps. "I never asked for this! Did you actually watch anything or did you look at a thumbnail and decide that you know everything? I didn't want some... stranger, living in my room! I didn't want a human pet! Someone else sent him to me!"

There is a silence. Mina sniffles, and fakes a little sob. Mum hates it when she cries.

"Well," Mum says at last, sounding affronted. "Can't you send him back?" "What a great idea," Mina sighs. "I sure wish I'd thought of that." "You could you just... set him loose. Doesn't he deserve to be free?" Mina is absolutely sure that Mum has not watched any of the footage. Probably she just looked at the video titles. She tries to imagine Marten on his own. Where would he sleep? What would he eat? He had a panic attack when he tried to ride the elevator down two floors to the laundry room for goodness' sake.

"Boxies have to be supervised, Mum. He'd be breaking his contract, he'd get into trouble! Do you need me to Google the rules for you? I could copy it out in nice small words if you'd like that." "Well you can't keep him. He's a human being!" "Mummy dearest," Mina's voice is cracking with emotion and she leans into it, overacting. "I am an independent adult, and I make my own choices. You ran out of excuses to control my life years ago! If you wanted a say, maybe you should have been nicer to me while I still cared!" "Oh Yasmine, do stop going on. It has nothing to do with our relationship. This is much more important." "I'm not even important to you?" "This is a person's life." "I know that, Mummy dearest! What do you even want me to do?" Mum hesitates. Mina pounces on the opening. "I know, I'll just send him back to the factory he came from, I'm sure the corporations will take much better care of him than I can, won't that be just fantastic?" "Why can't you ever discuss anything like an adult?" "I can! I just choose not to when it's you!"

She hears her mother start on another barb as she takes the phone from her ear. Her nagging voice cuts off as Mina ends the call.

Sniffling, she pulls a kleenex from the box and dabs delicately at her tears. It comes away black with makeup, and she wonders how badly she is smudged. Oh well. It's not like Marten cares.

Marten.

"Oh sugar."

Marten sits in his bed with his knees drawn up to his chest. Tears stream down his cheeks and over hands he has clamped over his mouth. He is shaking with silent sobs, staring horrified at Mina as if she might be about to murder him.

"Oh no, Marten!" Mina is mortified. "I'm so sorry, honey. I'm not mad at you, no one's mad at you. Marten, sweetheart, I was just on the phone to my mum, don't be upset!" She crouches beside him, worried, but he doesn't move. "Honey, you're not in trouble, what's wrong? I didn't mean to upset you, sweetie, talk to me?" “Don’t send me back!” he gasps, voice half-smothered with terror. “Please, please don’t -- don’t send me back!” "Okay! Okay, I won't! Don't panic, sweetheart!"

Without his hands holding them back, the sobs tumble out of Marten uncontrolled. Great ugly, breathy gasps of panic and despair. “I’m not sending you back,” Mina assures him frantically. Should she hug him? Give him space? "Oh honey, I was just saying that to my mum to make her go away, I would never! Don't be scared. You're so well-behaved, and so good for the cameras, and the viewers love you, why would I send you back?" ”I... I’m good?” “You’re very, very good. Poor sweetheart, how can I help you, I didn’t mean to upset you!” “Could, um, could you h-hold me?” Marten snivels pitifully. “Of course sweetie, of course I can. Come here.”

Marten practically throws himself into Mina's arms, knocking her back on her butt. She shuffles backwards to the closest beanbag, pulling him along with her, and gathers him into her lap. He clings to her clothes and sobs into her shoulder while she puts her arms around him and awkwardly pats his back.

"Shh, shh," she soothes, “There there, poor darling. It’s okay. It’s okay, you don’t have to be scared.” “Please don’t send me back,” he begs again, “I’ll be better, I’ll be anything you want, don’t send me ba-ack…” “It’s okay honey, it’s okay. I’m not sending you back. If you don’t want to go back, you don’t have to.” “Do… do you promise?” “I promise. If you don't want to, you don’t ever have to go back.” “Thank you,” Marten sobs, “Thank you, Mina.”

But he doesn’t stop crying.

“There you go,” Mina assures him, rocking him gently. “Poor thing. It’s okay. It’s okay to cry, just let it all out. I’m so sorry I scared you.” She thought he was crying hard before, but when she gives him permission he wails like a lost child.

And he doesn’t stop.

She holds him. She pets his hair and apologises. She rocks him and murmurs comfort words and he cries on and on and on, clinging tightly and bawling his eyes out.

Eventually, worried and a little exasperated, she pulls her head back far enough to see his face and asks “Honey, why are you crying?” He sniffles, and tries to stop sobbing long enough to answer. “I just want to be good,” he blubbers miserably. “I only want to be good for you, that’s what I’m for, I don’t know what to do.” “You are good, sweetie. You’ve never done anything bad at all.” He hides his face in her top and cries harder. “But,” he whimpers, “but you don’t want me…” “Oh, honey, no.” Mina feels awful. “Honey no, I didn't mean that, I was only talking to my mum...”

“I just want to be good.” The words seem to be spilling out of Marten now. “And good Boxies are, are wanted, they get bought and they go to nice homes with nice owners and, and they have happy lives fulfilling their owner’s desires and, and I thought I was good, I only want to make you happy, Mina, but I, I thought you wanted me and, and you don’t…” “Of course I want you, Marten, of course I do. I didn’t mean it like that, I, erm…”

“But you didn't even choose me,” Marten says softly. “You didn’t want a - a pet...” “I didn’t know that I wanted you,” Mina tells him. “That’s what I should have said. I didn’t know I wanted you. But Marten, you were a great surprise. It’s me who should be sorry. I’m not a very good owner. I don’t know how to keep you happy, and I don’t have a nice house or anything…” “You’re the best owner,” Marten blurts out with surprising vehemence. He starts crying again. “You’re so good to me and, and you’re kind, and pretty, and I love you, Mina. I just want to make you happy.” “You do make me happy, sweetie. You do.”

Mina has to hold him a good while longer, but he does start to calm down slowly. She stares solemnly at her posters on the wall, not really seeing them, as she murmurs reassurances on autopilot. Are these the right things to say? This is... such a huge responsibility. She wasn't ready for a cat, let alone a whole entire human being. He needs so much affection, all the time.

Mina is not cut out for this.

Eventually he stops crying. Mina waits another ten minutes before she tries to talk to him.

“Would it really be so very bad," she asks carefully, "going back to the company?” Marten stiffens instantly, hands tightening in her clothes. “Don’t worry!” she hurries to tell him, “I’m not gonna send you back! Not unless you want to go. I'm just asking, because I want to understand... why you’re so scared?” Marten is quiet. "You don't have to talk about it," Mina backtracks. "That's okay, I was just curious, don't worry about it. “If the owner sends a product back," Marten's voice is wobbly, "it needs to be refurbished. I… I don’t want to be refurbished…” “But you could have a better owner. A rich one, who can give you the luxury and stuff you signed up for. A big, tidy house. An owner who knows what they're doing...” “I don’t want anyone else,” he sniffles. “I want you.”

He’s starting to cry again. Mina sighs. “That’s okay then. You’ll stay here, and no one’s gonna send you back. Nothing to worry about. It’ll just be you and me.” She brushes the hair carefully away from his damp and sticky face. “And hey. If you keep bringing in the views, maybe some day we’ll have a nice house too.”

“I’m sorry I’m not better,” Marten tells her sadly. “I wish I was a smart Boxie so I could help you out and stuff…” “Oh sweetie. Shall I tell you a secret?” Mina smiles sadly. “I’m not very smart either. But it’s okay! You don’t have to be smart to do well on YouTube. You just have to look pretty. And we’re both pretty good at that!”

[Next]

#my writing #my ocs #mina and marten #mina #marten #box boys #slavery tw #modern slavery tw #human trafficking tw #youtuber whump #pet whump #reluctant caretaker #dehumanisation tw #animalisation tw #(mild)#collar tw

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fandomn00blr · 5 years

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Fenris in Dread Moon

In the spirit of the recent (BLESSED) Fenaissance, here’s an excerpt of a thing @figgypudz and I wrote a few months ago for our post-Inquisition Dread Moon collab (which was not meant to focus so much on DA2 companions, but I was not properly reined in so conversations like this happened and we ended up with a 15 chapter fic featuring all my favs and multiple spin-offs)...

Context: Evelyn has just received a letter from Harding in her search for Dorian. Hawke is pouting because SHE JUST CAME FROM THERE. And Fenris has joined them along the way, coming fresh off of Isabela’s ship-turned-slave-emancipation-vessel with Merrill to yell at Hawke for being...well, Hawke. Oh, they also went and found Anders in his sad hermit cave because it was ON THE WAY (and because they needed a healer). Um...I hope that’s enough of this chaotic adventure to make sense of the following conversation?

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Inquisitor,

Our people have tracked them to Kirkwall. Head east as quickly as you can along the coast and I will meet up with you there.

Also, I assume by now you have been made aware of the Venatori activity in Nevarra. Not sure if they have anything to do with this. But we are also hearing word of a network of well-placed elven informants working as slaves, servants, mercenaries, and in the alienages all across Thedas. They are calling themselves the Agents of Fen’Harel. They are incredibly secretive and it is difficult for us to estimate the size of the organization or their amount of influence, but they seem to have inserted themselves into every powerful political organization across Thedas. We have yet to fully understand their purposes or motivations.

Be wary,

Harding

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“So...this means we have to go back to Kirkwall?” Hawke looked like she was on the verge of a temper tantrum as Evelyn read the letter from Scout Harding aloud to them.

“Yes,” Evelyn nodded. “Immediately.”

“I hope at least you’re happy, Fenris!” Hawke made a pouty face at him and crossed her arms belligerently. “This is probably your doing, isn’t it?! ‘Agents of Fen’harel,’ Fen-ris…coincidence? I think not!”

Merrill looked curiously at Hawke. “But Fen’harel is the Elvhen god of betrayal. Fenris would never --”

Anders scoffed, “Ha!” and Fenris scowled at him.

Evelyn exhaled impatiently. “Yes. We’ve already heard an awful lot about the Dread Wolf.” She looked knowingly over to Cullen and Bull. “It seems the whole ‘betrayal’ thing was a bit complicated.” She clasped her hands behind her back and began talking strangely, with an uncharacteristic air of superiority that made the two of them snicker. “He was also, apparently, the god of rebellion. A hero to many ancient elves whom he freed from slavery to the Evanuris…”

She trailed off then, and turned abruptly, eyeing Fenris with suspicion. Whatever the joke was, she had suddenly decided to abandon it.

Fenris met her stare, and explained,“I was given this name by someone who intended it as a joke. I have no delusions of godhood, nor a desire to manage a vast network of spies.”

“Maker! I was just kidding!” Hawke moved defensively next to him. “You don’t actually think Fenris has anything to do with Dorian’s disappearance, I hope?”

Evelyn raised a dangerously inquisitive eyebrow. “What is it that had pulled you away from Kirkwall, Fenris?”

“Retribution.” He met her questioning with an unnerving sort of calm, choosing his words very carefully.

Anders smiled knowingly. Certainly not Justice or Vengeance. Though 'retribution' was a good substitute.

Bull peered curiously at him. “Could you be more specific?”

“Decapitating and ripping vital organs out of slavers’ bodies...mostly.”

Varric laughed nervously. “That settles it, then! Dorian isn’t a slaver, and as far as we know, he still has all his organs. And his head. Seems like Scout Harding would’ve mentioned otherwise. Shall we head to Kirkwall?”

But Evelyn continued to glare at him. “You were a slave in Tevinter, right? Before you came to Kirkwall?”

“Yes.”

Hawke looked far more offended than Fenris at her questioning.

Evelyn ignored her, refusing to look away from him. “Who was your master? A friend of the Pavus family, perhaps?”

“Yes, actually. And I killed him.”

Hawke’s eyes were beginning to dart back and forth between them, her arms tense and her hands ready to reach for her daggers behind her, eyeing Varric and Merrill and even Anders, knowing they were with her should it come to that, and trying not to think about Cullen or Bull probably preparing reluctantly for the same fight behind Evelyn.

“Surely, all of Tevinter’s nobility is complicit in the slave trade to some degree. Dorian’s family had slaves. Why stop with your master?”

Hawke opened her mouth to protest again, but Fenris held up a gauntleted hand and stepped forward, staring directly into Evelyn’s intimidating gaze as Cullen quietly placed a hand on the hilt of his sword behind her.

“I didn’t. I killed his apprentice, my most dedicated torturer, as well. And I’ve killed dozens of slavers since.”

“Dorian’s father, too…?”

“No. He was one of the few who spoke out against what Danarius and his lackeys did to me, refusing to take part in the ritual that robbed me of my memories, of my whole life up to that point, and made me into this.”

His markings suddenly lit up, a demonstration of his power, but also his vulnerability as he winced a little at the pain, physical and emotional, that still always came with it.

Evelyn’s eyes widened. She felt the Anchor buzzing in her hand, reacting to the raw magic, increasing from an irritating tingle to a full-blown jolt that travelled up to her elbow. She’d heard about Fenris’ abilities, and read Varric’s accounts of him in the Tale of the Champion, but she’d assumed much of that was embellished. Feeling the power of the activated lyrium etched all over his body, though, she wondered if that part of the book, at least, was true.

As his lyrium markings faded, Fenris took a deep breath, and then continued, “I do not know Dorian enough to know if I would like him or despise him, though I imagine we would not see eye-to-eye on many things. But I bear him and his family no personal grudge.”

Evelyn’s eyes narrowed on him even more intensely, searching his face for any sign of deceit, while everyone else seemed to be holding their breath.

“I believe you.” She nodded, finally.

Hawke’s entire body relaxed, and Varric let out an audible sigh of relief. Cullen and Bull nodded approvingly at Fenris as if they’d been rooting for him to make his case all along, while Anders tried to look unaffected.

Merrill smiled broadly and clapped her hands in celebration. “Do me next! Ask me if I did it!”

“Daisy…no.” Varric shook his head, trying to hide his smile from Evelyn.

...

#dragon age #my writing #writing collab #dread moon #fenris #proto-blue wraith #evelyn's kind of an asshole sometimes #retribution #long post #post-inquisition #pre-trespasser #fenaissance

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novadreii · 6 years

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The Ancient Magus' Bride: A Review

Big spoilers ahead.

I’m not often compelled to write full-length reviews on series that I watch, but this one elicited an interesting response from me. I don’t think I’ve ever negatively changed my mind about an anime halfway through. If I like something from the start, I usually like it all the way through to the end. If I loathe something from the start, I try to determine if there’s room for development/improvement before continuing. And I’ve seen a good amount of shows turn it around.

But TAMG was really a strange experience for me. Everything pointed towards this being a quality show. All the signs were there. And I will commend it on what it did right. This show had gorgeous animation, lovely voice acting, and a breathtaking original soundtrack. As I said, all the signs pointed to this being a winner, maybe the best anime of the last 5 years or so.

But sadly, TAMG is, at its core, a reductive escapist fantasy for young girls.

I know, that is a bold statement. But I have evidence to support my claim! Promise.

We start off the show with Chise being bought by the titular Ancient Mage at a slave auction. It’s okay, though, because she willingly sold herself into slavery. Wait, you can do that? I guess. Anyway. This show’s big selling point is Chise’s growth from a sad girl with nothing to live for to...well, someone who is not that way. And it’s a relatable backstory for a main character. So far, so good.

But the rest of plot fails to sufficiently develop the rest of the world, lore, and characters in a way that makes Chise’s development interesting enough. Side characters are given at most one (1) episode of backstory before being utterly forgotten for the entire rest of the series. Plot points that you think will eventually loop back for an interesting game of Raise the Stakes just kind of wander out to sea and never come back (aka Chise’s family...um...her dad and brother are still out there!). The lore of the fairies and magic is just kind of there and never properly explored or utilized. Chise is supposedly there to learn magic from Elias as her teacher, yet we don’t really ever see him instructing her in the theory of it, or her magical skills progressing. All we’re really told is that Chise is both incredibly strong and weak as shit as the same time. Makes sense.

Elias’ origin is completely ignored, even that could have been an amazing addition to the story as it’s so shrouded in mystery and intrigue and often hinted at by several characters. So, at about the rough halfway point of the series, I had all these loose ends and unexplored areas of the story in my head that I was really excited about, but they never materialized in the second half. The main “villain” in the show was kind of sad and easily defeated.

The second cour of the show was focused almost exclusively on what is, in my opinion, the most mundane, cloying, and dull part of the story: the relationship between Elias and Chise. Yep, sorry friends. I don’t find these two even remotely well suited to each other in any capacity, least of all romantic. Try picturing them together when Elias is in human form; that creeps me out more than his usual form. From the very beginning, I have disliked Elias. I find him boring. Oh boohoo, you’ve been wandering around Earth for hundreds of years and still haven’t figured out what “sad” “happy” “jealous” and “angry” feel like? Are you stupid as well as inexperienced, or just willfully ignorant? Because he managed to study and become proficient in the art of magecraft, but never could figure out why watching Titanic made his eyes leak? How many times do we have to watch Elias clutch his heart and say, “Is this what _______ feels like?” Just shut up. I find it hard to believe that in between all the magic and failed cooking lessons with Lindel, they never talked about how they felt in the hundreds of years that Lindel was taking care of him? *Dr. Phil voice* Really now?

Elias’ cluelessness about basic human emotions is the basis for about 99% of the personal conflicts/drama in the story, and it gets tiresome and feels cheap. Why does anime love to center on characters who don’t know how to feel? Does it give them more agency to act like a dick? Do young girls swoon after men who don’t really care about anything? Elias is frustrating, because we never get to see him break through that monotonous “teach me how to feel” crap, except for when he’s having a rage tantrum. But we never see him buckle down and really unload on how he’s feeling in an open and communicative way. He’s very selective with what he shares, and when he does it’s because Chise is prodding him to do it.

What I found essentially disappointing about this story is how everything in it was just there to further the drama between Chise and Elias without actually furthering the story itself. Everything Elias does to Chise, from how he constantly touches/grabs/picks her up without her permission, how he looms over her menacingly in his monster form when he’s jealous, how he calls her diminutive pet names, irritates me. Chise is a child who has nothing; of course she is going to gravitate to someone who offers her the only thing she wanted: a place to call home. What’s his excuse? He is the one in the position of power, and does he ever use it to his advantage.

How many times do we witness Elias withholding information from Chise, policing her, acting shady, throwing a giant temper tantrum, and being generally creepy and possessive? The anime is masterful in that it succeeds in writing it all off as romantic and cute, because “Elias doesn’t know what emotions he’s feeling! It’s cause he must love her LOL” Again, this was a lame excuse so that Elias could have license to be an asshole. All they needed was a cool/handsome/monstrous character design and a smooth af voice actor to make it all okay. But it isn’t. Chise did not, and still doesn’t have the agency to choose differently.

And I almost fell for it too; that’s how good it is. Because it ropes you in with great production value. I admit that instinctively I am just a dumb ape who will go gaga over anything shiny and pretty. And this anime certainly is those things, but it doesn’t capitalize on the amazing potential it set up from its very beginning, choosing instead to focus on relationship drama between two people who really should not be involved romantically at all.

I ask this: would it have detracted from the story at all for them to have had an adoptive parent and child relationship, to which both characters’ age, experience, and power dynamic was a lot better suited? Would it have been less meaningful? Why did they have to be set up as husband and wife from the get go? What was the point, other than to provide a weak and frankly disturbing plot point? If parent/child is a no-go, how about we make the female main character older than 20 years old for once? Even that would have been preferable.

I did read the manga, and the author tries to dance around the issue by once again using Elias’ inexplicable lack of emotional intelligence as an excuse. He doesn’t know what a bride is, he doesn’t understand the concept of marriage, he means it innocently etc. Okay, BUT, Chise, the rest of the characters, the author of the manga himself, the readers, and literally everyone else understands exactly what marriage is and what it implies. That is the connection the author intends us to make with all the symbolism and mushy dialogue between the two of them (as well as other characters’ observations about them both). It doesn’t matter how ambiguous the author is being about something; if it’s there, it’s there. Let’s call the spade a spade.

So the story revolves primarily around the romantic development between an indisputably adult male who also holds all the resources/power, and an emotionally broken child who can’t refuse. TAMG did not develop the rest of its story enough to distract me from this point, and I was just never able to look past it. It was glaring at me with each episode I watched.

Sure, Chise gets mad sometimes, and Elias eventually comes around from pouting when he realizes he could lose her. He eventually offers a monotone apology and all is right as rain. Chise eventually develops into the Needlessly Self-Sacrificing Main Character that anime relies on just a touch too heavily. It feels disingenuous and not at all relatable. It’s tiresome.

Towards the end, Chise gets some resolution from an old painful memory during an arc where she finally breaks free of Elias so she can act of her own accord for once. Which I really liked. But then she just ran home, forgave Elias a little too easily for all his bullshit, and ended up “marrying” him (again, everything is shrouded in an infuriating layer of ambiguity because nobody wants to call it what it is, but alllllll the right symbolism is there, we can figure it out ffs). That came completely out of left field for me and solidified my hunch that this is meant to be a teen fantasy and little else: leaving everything behind only to be saved, controlled by, and obsessed over by an ominous, rich, handsome, and overbearing man who just won’t keep his hands to himself.

There’s so much more I wanted to know about, and I get that you can’t fit everything into 24 episodes. But people like Silky, Ruth, Renfred, and Alice were utterly forgotten about even though they had solid, developed stories in the beginning of the anime. It’s like they hooked me in and left me hanging; the whole time I was waiting for MORE from those characters. For Silky to say even one word or to have more of a relationship with Chise other than hugging her dramatically from time to time, for Chise and Ruth to have another mage/familiar moment (or even arc). Things like that would have added so much more depth and significance to the story than even one more minute of Elias and Chise awkwardly and needlessly cuddling (or sleeping in bed together....honestly, wtf).

So in conclusion (am I writing a thesis or something?), The Ancient Magus’ Bride felt something like a betrayal. It drew me in with the promise of a gorgeous and heartfelt story, only to focus on what I thought was an inappropriate and forced relationship. I’m sure 16-year-old me would have eaten all of this up like a six-course meal. It’s a Japanese twist on Twilight (therefore also reminiscent of the even worse Fifty Shades franchise). As I get older and automatically tend think a lot more critically about why I like or dislike things, something like this isn’t going to cut it for me. It pulled at the heartstrings with emotive music and pretty visuals, but left me wanting so much more. I don’t want the media I consume to make me feel like I should like it; I just want to.

To any teen girls who adore this anime, I’m not telling you what to personally like/dislike. But I do hope you’ll think about why you do, and contemplate the fact that just because something is wrapped up in pretty packaging, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s harmless. Love doesn’t have to mean being dominated, stalked, policed, or controlled. And you don’t have to be married before you’re 20 or it’s game over. Healthy relationships are balanced, with an equal flow of power, love, and trust between parties involved. They can happen at 17, 45, or never, and that’s all okay. My fear is that this anime will reinforce the exact opposite message with its audience, in a manner that is honestly kind of insidious. It was so well-made, the tone and ambiance they created is so lovely that the harmful messages will just fly over your head; like they almost did to me.

Or...just enjoy it without a second thought and leave me to my over-analyzing. I do admit I look very closely at things, but I don’t know any other way to be.

TLDR; A lot of style, not a whole lot of substance. 4.5/10

#review #the ancient magus bride #mahoutsukai no yome #beware if you liked the series you may not want to read this lol #diary of nova #i'm not even trying to be a contrarian or anything #this has been my genuine emotional and critical response and honestly i'm a bit sad #i really wanted to love it

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stilljumpingback · 7 years

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(via Black Sails Episode 304 - XXII)

WELL-FORMED THOUGHTS

Let’s talk about Flint and his relationship to vulnerability.

In this episode, Silver makes two gestures of vulnerability to Flint. First, he allows Flint to sit beside him while he cleans his stump with his prosthetic off, even though he has isolated himself from the crew to do so. Second, after falling in the woods, he uses Flint’s shoulder as a crutch during the hike. This is not necessarily surprising, since in the last episode Silver established a precedent of vulnerability with Flint in a bid for his partnership (by both admitting his role in stealing the Urca gold and in admitting his dependency upon the Walrus crew for purpose).

What is especially interesting to me is how Flint reacts to this. Instead of using Silver’s vulnerability against him, Flint responds with vulnerability of his own. In the dark of their cage, Flint tells Silver his past: about Miranda and “her husband,” Peter Ashe, and their goal of obtaining a universal pardon to introduce to Nassau in order to establish colonial rule. This is something he’s told no one else (I don’t think Gates even knew this). I do think this is partly because he thinks they will all die on that island, but even so, he wouldn’t have shared that with anyone but a Silver who had previously opened up to him.

What I’m saying is, Flint is desperate to love and be loved, to know and be known. His role as a pirate captain has necessitated that he close himself off from all emotions save greed and anger. Miranda was his one outlet, but even his relationship with her was guarded and abrupt until very recently. Now there is a person in his pirate captain life who interacts with him as an equal to be trusted and relied upon, and it is no surprise that our secretly tender-hearted Flint blossoms under such attention. He wants a safe place to be vulnerable, and for now, he has found it in Silver.

FRAGMENTED THOUGHTS

When Silver lets Flint in on his revelation about the bigger picture about the pardons, he says it is “the opening move in [the] attack.” As things get murky and even Flint finds himself wondering why they’re fighting against what seems to be his original goal, it’s important to notice Silver’s choice of words. The pardons they are being offered are an “attack” while the pardons Thomas envisioned were forgiveness. TBD as the series continues.

“For whatever reason, when you and I speak with one voice, we seem to be able to compel them to any end.”

Why is Flint/Silver as the unstoppable dream team SO SEXY? Full confession: I did not ship Flint and Silver the first time I watched through the series. I didn’t even think of it as an option until I finished and saw that fandom was all about them. I remain a diehard James/Thomas fangirl, but I SEE IT, OKAY. I see it.

Woodes Rogers has a very accurate summation of Eleanor: “Because you’re smart without needing anyone to explain to you how to be. And because you’re not afraid of being thought to be wrong when you know that you’re right.” Later, when she admits the worst of herself to him via the opinions of those in Nassau (“That I’m untrustworthy, that I would turn on anyone at any time, no matter how close they were to me. No matter who it hurt or how severely.”), he takes it in and then continues to use her as his senior counselor. I’m not emotionally attached to this relationship, but I can totally see why Eleanor would feel seen and valued.

Jack the badass! The way he opened the fort’s door, shot a guy in the head, and shut the door again?? UM.

Anne is very smart in this episode. I think everyone in the show overlooks her, but she’s the one questioning why Vane is singled out as unforgiveable, and later she’s the one telling Jack that they’ve won. They have an enormous treasure, and they can go learn French and live in Brussels. Anne, honey, you deserve to be listened to.

I LOVE our introduction to Maroon Island. The men and women who have escaped slavery are initially presented to fit into our historical narrative as “savages” covered in paint. But they are immediately shown to be smart and prepared (littering their forest with traps) and civilized (in the good sense). They have built a stunning city considering they started from nothing about fifteen years ago, and they have a system of government fun by the ineffably elegant QUEEN. “She is everything here: priestess, governess, warlord.”

I love that the Black Sails writers thought, you know what we need? Another strong female leader! No wait, TWO.

MADI AND HER MOTHER.

I love them.

When the Queen asks who their captain is, Flint immediately assumes responsibility. When she asks for the quartermaster, Silver pauses before doing the same. Since this season is all about Silver learning how to be a leader, this is very indicative of his progress.

Treasure Island alert! Ben Gunn joins the Walrus crew.

The only thing this show could do to make me like Hornigold for even a second is to have him warmly greet Mr. Scott and show him special attention. Augh, fine! You get ten seconds of my goodwill!

Mr. Scott, however, is being very problematic by offering to find the escaped slaves and return them. Of course, we later learn that he actually found them and is helping them escape to Maroon Island!

Speaking of escaped slaves, we learn that Jack left their prison unlocked when the fort exploded, which…okay, that’s nice. I’m glad he didn’t leave them there. But this is framed as something practical more than moral, since by letting them escape, he prevents the English from using slave labor to rebuild the fort quickly. This whole plot line (now ended?) has been very frustrating for me, but I suppose I appreciate that the show refused to make our heroes anachronistically heroic.

Hallucination alert!! It’s a short one but a good one!

Miranda: You’re curious again. Ready to follow me through a door that is somehow less frightening knowing I await you on the other side. Flint: I miss you. Miranda: I miss you, too. Flint: When we arrive out there, I am to leave you behind? Miranda: Yes. Flint: What if I were to stay?

Flint’s death wish is now fueled by sadness rather than rage. He’s moving through the stages of grief quite nicely.

Silver goes on a field trip to meet Madi! This is when the show steps up a notch. So far it has been a story of oppression of white people by white people. But instead of letting that be an analogy for people of color to see themselves in, Black Sails says, no. We’re bring African men and women who were enslaved to the table and letting them speak about their oppression for themselves. IT IS SO GREAT.

“There are one thousand men and women here. Among them there is no shortage of anger or hate or fear. Perhaps you have noticed. They have suffered cruelties you cannot possibly imagine. Sisters separated from brothers. Husbands from their wives. Mothers from their sons. No one has greater cause to swear England an enemy and desire vengeance against her as we do.”

Mrs. Hudson is being nosy, and we don’t know why.

FIRE SHIP! This is definitely one of the coolest naval strategies they’ve done so far. The pirate fleet escapes, and England is down one ship.

Silver is confused as to why Flint is not plotting. His knowledge of Flint’s psyche is revealed by this telling question: “Where are you?” Flint is in 1705, which he tells Silver about in a stunning display of vulnerability (discussed in more depth in the Best Flint Moment above).

“Peter Ashe, Miranda, her husband, and I, we worked to obtain a universal pardon and introduce it to Nassau to eliminate piracy and restore colonial rule there. I moved away from those things. Inch by inch, I forgot it all. And now, in this cage, in the belly of this thing that has swallowed us whole, I wonder if the civilization of Nassau isn’t exactly what I tried to achieve all those years ago. If resisting it doesn’t set me in opposition to everything I once understood to be good and right. To forgive. To make order of chaos. I wonder if the pardons are the victory, and that the most enlightened thing that I can do is sit still. Accept what appears to be inevitable, and let this be the end of Captain Flint.”

I assume anyone watching the show knows that Captain Flint will not just sit still, but technically saying so spoils the next episode. Whatever. This is Flint’s dark night of the soul; he’s tired of fighting, he’s confused, he misses Miranda, and he wants it all to be over. But I’m reminded of what Miranda herself once said about Thomas: “Great men…are made by one thing and one thing only: the relentless pursuit of a better world. The great men don’t give up that pursuit. They don’t know how to. And that is what makes them invincible.”

In the midst of his grief, Flint makes some Very Astute character assessments. Billy’s lie is that he will fight his way out, and Silver’s lie is that he will talk his way past. Flint is usually a combination of both fighting and talking, but now…he says he has no more lies within him.

Which is very FITTING, because when Madi confronts her mother, the Queen says she doesn’t trust “lying pirates.”

Madi is too trusting because she did not experience life as a slave. The Queen is not trusting enough because she did.

Oh, and REVEAL. Mr. Scott is Madi’s father and the Queen’s husband, which makes him a KING. Our man is finally given the role he deserves.

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