#but i guess that suits the source material

[cinderswife]

because i can't go five seconds without thinking about ouatis worldbuilding, here's rose and snow's immediate family! there is so much going on here. infodump under the cut as always <3

(full disclosure, snow and rose's childhood sucked. i watched Iron Claw, a biopic about the wrestling dynasty of the Von Erich family, when i was conceptualizing their dads and the shitty family dynamics from the film twisted with the development of snow and rose i'd already done to create a royally screwed up family. general white and rose red do Not come from a remotely well adjusted family are you kidding me. so. cw about that. darr and eret are doing fine though)

By all the rights of inheritance, Cole's empire should belong to the House of Grimm. After all, it was their family he married into 2,000 years ago. He took his pick of the Princes Grimm (twin crown princes who decided that whoever married for love first would get to be king of Zantine) and became king over the people. It must be understood though that the House of Grimm is descended from the other brother, the Duke of what was then the province of Delinore (long before it was a planet or a star system). Had His Majesty simply died when he was killed, all this could have been avoided. Alas, His Majesty's forays into the idea of immortality and collaboration with a certain vampire would lead to him becoming a star-faring conquering emperor.

This is not a fact known any longer. To the people of the modern era, the House of Grimm is simply his favorite and always has been. The current Grand Duke of the star system duchy of Delinore and Head of the House of Grimm is his heir and that is the way it is and always will be.

John Grimm, the hereditary Grimm father through which Snow and Rose claim their birthright, had a short-lived reign. His own father had died in an unfortunate starship accident when he was young, so he was raised by not his mother, a perpetually stressed woman desperately trying to keep the duchy together, but his uncle, a former military man who was never as good as a soldier as he claimed to have been.

John wanted desperately to join the force but as the only child of his father and His Majesty's future heir, he was forced to train to become Grand Duke instead. This was not pleasing to him, so he made a habit of getting into trouble whenever he could.

As a teen, he took a fancy to a lovely young woman who would later grow into his husband, Eli. Eli was clever with his tongue and understood people in a way that John never quite wrapped his head around. Though he was descended from a far lesser noble house, John saw potential in him as a partner in crime. The two fell madly in love and were wed within months of meeting at the tender ages of 17 and 16.

That was the story spun about them anyways. In truth, it was a shotgun wedding and the two were married to ensure the scandal remained as minimal as possible. Snow and Rose were born several months later to baffled fanfare.

Now, it must be understood that twins have always been auspicious in the House of Grimm. Every generation with twin heirs would find a different way to select which would be the Duke. John elected the easy way: Rose, the older twin by a mere 20 minutes, would be Duchess and Snow, the younger twin, would fulfill his military dreams.

It became quite clear early on that the girls' dispositions were suited for the other's future. Rose was lively and athletic with a lot of fight in her and Snow was clever and calculating with the ability to say whatever she needed to get others to listen. However, John and to a lesser extent Eli were determined that things go exactly as planned.

The girls were raised like military sons, strict and harsh much like John had been. Even Eli, though not as outwardly brutal, was still strict in his teachings of politic and poise. Despite the harsh conditions (or indeed, because of them), the sisters grew close and protective of each other. Rose often bore the brunt of the punishments, stepping in for her sister whenever she could. In turn, Snow would tend to her sister after the fact. Both would run to Doctor Lorenzo whenever they could, more of a father to them than their own two.

When they were sixteen, Snow and Rose were to make their debut into high society before being sent off to their respective academies. As part of this, the day before they were to meet with King Cole himself. Snow's meeting went... fine, really, she just got some kinda weird advice and some really bad vibes off His Majesty. Rose on the other hand came out of that meeting and immediately signed away her birthright to her sister, swapped their papers, and stole away to the military academy. She never said what happened that night, only that Snow would be safer and better off as Grand Duchess.

John and Eli were very disappointed and upset, of course, but things worked out well in the end. Snow proved quickly that she was far better suited to politic than either of her fathers and by the time she was 24 even His Majesty insisted that she become Duchess. And Rose, well, her career in the military catapulted her into living legend status. No one has successfully conquered more planets in His Majesty's name than her (even if, when sufficiently drunk and alone, Rose professes a deep hatred of the king).

They currently live in their family manor on New Constantinople instead of Delinore as when Snow became Duchess she basically kicked them out (and honestly they wanted to go anyways).

As for Darr, well, Snow needed to continue on the family line. Though a romantic as a teen, as soon as she realized she was going to be Duchess she became exceptionally judicial about her suitors. She had ambition and she was not going to let a nagging partner get in the way of that.

Darr Amundsen (also known as Darla or Darrell depending on zer gender at the time) was the fourth child of a middling Marquess. All zer older siblings were deeply unambitious and did little to make the family proud and Darr, a very quiet individual with little skill in politic and a strong desire to get really invested in trains, was supposed to be the one to make it better. Out of desperation, ze decided to sign up for a matchmaking service to see if ze could marry into a greater family.

Well, there's no greater family than the House of Grimm and Snow was quite taken by Darr. Though they aren't properly in love, they make a fantastic team. Darr runs the household of the Eden Castle and raises their son while supporting Snow in her fight for peace and in turn Snow can do many great and wonderful things while wading through the controversy surrounding her ideals.

Unfortunately, Darr does not get on well with Rose. That's fine, Rose insists, really! It's not like she spends a lot of time at home

They currently have one son, Eret! He is three and looks an awful lot like his Aunty Rose. His favorite animals are penguins and snakes, he's obsessed with the ocean, and he's granted a lot of freedom that Snow never got. He's a little rascal and we love him for it <3

He does look up to Aunty Rose a bit too much for Darr and honestly even Snow's comfort. Snow fought hard for her belief in kindness and goodness and while she loves her sister dearly, the destruction Rose has caused is not something she can forgive so easily. Rose is doing her best to try and be a good role model for the kid but she is kind of a disaster when she's away from either the battlefield or cameras.

Ah well, she just learned to knit so the kid gets a lot of fun presents.

#the mechanisms #ouatis #once upon a time in space #mechs ocs #planet's doodles #planet's worldbuilding #also. all these characters die in the wedding day slaughter btw. even Baby Boy. sorry #this turned out a bit bleaker than i'd intended #but i guess that suits the source material

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

No but actually i need to know how somehow the great seven became 'good' in the eyes of history because they are literally looking so evil in every depiction of them???? how come no one has smelt a rat yet????

[Referencing the author’s notes in this post!]

I think that the G7 (or at least most of them) probably lived during time periods when cameras and video recordings weren’t a thing?? So it’s not as though the depictions we do see of them are 100% accurate to how they looked in the actual history of Twisted Wonderland. (This is not counting what we as the audience know to be Real because of our own experiences with the Disney properties.) Rather, the suspicious as hell expressions are likely renditions by the in-universe artists and historians of Twisted Wonderland. A lot of what we’ve seen are them seem to be statues and paintings, which imply a certain degree of artistic merit was applied in their creation.

My guess as to why so many of Disney villains are show with really Obviously Evil faces (well, other than that’s just the source material TWST is pulling from) is that maybe it’s a stylistic choice/trend within their world??? Like maybe in Twisted Wonderland it’s considered flattering or respectful to depict important historical figures like the G7 in imposing ways. (In the real world, it tends to be very neutral poses.)

Side note: it will still never not be funny that characters will drop lines like “Every painting of the Fairest Queen depicts her flawless beauty in such a flattering light” (a voice line from Jade’s Platinum Suit by MysteryShopTLs) right as they hit us in the face with images like this:

LIKE, GIrL… WDYM…

SHE LITERALLY HAS THEBLANK StARE ANnD CRAZY EYES HERE AND AN OMINOUS ShADOW OVER hER FAcE…………………….. ………. ……. ……….. ….. … .. . … ….. … … . . .. . . . ..

If this were an isolated incident, maybe I’d believe J word is just saying that to troll people… but this has consistently been a thing for villains pulling suspicious af expressions paintings in multiple Platinum Suit cards💀 No one ever remarks on how shady the historical figures actually look, so the only assumption I can make is that these sorts of presentations are normal and to be expected in their world??

#twisted wonderland #twst #disney twisted wonderland #twst theory #twst theories #twisted wondetland theories #twisted wonderland theory #question #notes from the writing raven #Jade Leech

[halemerry]

Alright, I've had a few people ask for this now so time to take a break from the big draft I’m writing to dig a little deeper on angel rankings in relation to Crowley.

Before we get into it I want to preface this by saying I am not a religious scholar. Like many of us I have a complicated relationship with religion and as a result this stuff was a long time special interest of mine but, as always, take it with a grain of salt.

To be frank, even if I was an expert, I think it’s also important to keep in mind that the Good Omens angel hierarchy has already taken some liberties on its own. It hasn’t been shy about reinterpreting things to suit its needs or about pulling from various sources to establish its own lore. It's definitely its own beast and there's no guarantee the universe operates the same rules that have become the most popular ones.

That all being said, let's get cracking.

So in canon we actually don't know that much about angelic rank. Before season two we knew there were Principalities and Archangels and that's about it. This season decides to give us a little more information. Muriel is a Scrivener (likely they'd fall under the general Angel category) and then we get a nod to Thrones and Dominions being a thing. We also learn there are orders/classes of various ranks.

With the exception of Scrivener which isn't a traditional rank at all as far as I can tell, these ideas all fit under the traditional Christian angel hierarchy.

The most influential version of this hierarchy comes mostly from Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite's De Coelesti Hierarchia (On Celestial Hierarchy). He divides angels into three Spheres, with three Orders within each Sphere. The Lowest Sphere contains the orders Angels, archangels (different from Good Omen's Archangels who are at the top of the food chain so to speak), and Principalities. The Middle Sphere contains the orders Powers, Virtues, and Dominions. And then the Highest Sphere contains Thrones, Cherubim, and Seraphim.

Now onto the angel that would become Crowley.

Thanks to us witnessing Crowley opening a document only accessible to Dominions and above, we can eliminate the lower half of these rankings.

This leaves us with Dominions, Thrones, Cherubim, Seraphim and the Good Omen’s version of Archangel.

Dominions are tied to things like regulation. Their job is to keep passions in check and deliver justice and judgment (to be frank these last two are in some capacity apply to most rankings of angel), They’re built to keep ranks beneath them organized and optimize their performances. They’re organizers. They’re functionally middle management and are sometimes known as Lordships. They’re also occasionally tied to the set of angels that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. 

The really only thing that even kind of suits him here in my opinion is the interacting with lower ranks bit but the vibe doesn't seem quite right with that. Crowley as we know him is not even really a leader even in his own schemes and has a tendency to rely on his considerable talent at improvisation and quite frequently on the cues Aziraphale tends to send him. (We get a stellar example of this dynamic actively in play in Episode 2 this Season). We also know now that the angel in question tended to work alone. He seemed baffled by the concept of Earth, as if it had been a long time since he’d had a check in with Head Office. 

So Thrones are what people tend to think of when you say the phrase Biblically Accurate Angel. They're the wheels with a bunch of eyeballs. They contemplate the power of God and have, you guessed it, ties to justice and judgment but in a more contemplative sort of way. They are associated with peace and submission, except for when they are sometimes also associated with the erelim - a ranking in the Jewish Hierarchy that tends to be more of a warrior class. They're maybe most famously associated with being a part of the chariot that moves God's throne around. They live where material form begins to take shape and are tasked with maintaining cosmic harmony.

Honestly I don't mind this for Crowley. That last bit especially sounds close to what we see him doing. And there's something very fun to me about a former Throne going off and getting himself a big gaudy throne. I’ll admit I have a hard time associating him with something so passive and again I feel like it doesn't quite fit how out of the loop he was about Earth, but this is probably the second favorite option of mine here.

If Thrones are the wheels of God’s Throne then the Cherubim are the ones making those wheels turn. They’re often represented as pushing Thrones about and attending God directly. Their job is to magnify God’s glory and serve as representatives of God’s power. They also, notably, were thought to be the superhumanly strong guards tasked with the protection of Eden.

Because of this we get a very old piece of theory: that Aziraphale was a Cherub who had been demoted. I’ve gone through phases with this theory but I definitely think it’s at a minimum fun to consider. And though I'm hesitant to take any Amazon promotional materials too seriously during the strike, there's a post here they've made recently that refers to Aziraphale as such.

Partially because this theory is so old and so rooted in the lexicon of my headspace for this media, I don't like this for the angel who would become Crowley particularly well. Superhuman strength feels weird in regards to him, as does situating him as a guard of Eden. And even if that line from season 2 where Crowley talks to Beelzebub about scaring that cherubs was talking about young angels and not literal cherubs, it seems like a weird phrasing for someone who was once the other kind of cherub to use. I like this better than Dominions but not nearly as much as Thrones.

Now Seraphim are a little unique. Their primary job tends to get framed as singing praise to God. They seat themselves around God's throne and sing holy, holy, holy at God. Several interpretations of them argue that they are different from angels entirely and only got grouped in with them in later texts like De Coelesti Hierarchia. They purify Isaiah in a vision he has and have strong associations with smoke and heat. They're tied to clarity and purifying via fire and occasionally are thought to help keep the world in order. Interestingly enough the word Seraph comes from saraph which means to burn and Seraphim can be translated as the fiery ones or those who kindle. Saraph is also used in certain contexts to describe a fiery flying serpent.

Now I’ll admit the Seraphim theory was always one of my favorites. If the show hadn’t recently been adding more ticks to the Archangel column I think I’d still probably be in this camp. There's the obvious bits that tie in here like the fire and snake imagery associated with both. But I can't help but to think of how often we get Crowley implying that just maybe God intended what they'd done to be the right thing. Or that scene where Crowley prays on the throne in season 1. He hangs off of it instead of sitting and begs God to not destroy them. It's an echo of a twist on what a Seraph would do in Heaven.

Now that just leaves us the Archangels. I won’t reiterate my other meta other than to link it here, but I do think the show at the very least wants us to consider this as a possibility.

In my opinion? Seraph and Archangel sit near the top of the metaphorical likelihood scale. I'd then follow this up with the Throne, then the Cherub, then the Dominion in order. But who knows! Half the fun of Good Omens is it doesn't always play by the traditional rules. And honestly there's something fun in never having an answer here. After all, no matter where he started, Crowley is Crowley now and that's the way it should be.

#good omens #good omens spoilers #gos2 spoilers #good omens season 2 #good omens meta #Crowley #angel hierarchy

[agoddamn]

@cardinalgoldenbrow ...is this a bad time to admit that I don't think that Kullervo is real? I have a larger theory on that, but I straight up do not believe he's real and I don't use anything from his story on a literal level to support any of my interpretations.

(Very short version: Kullervo is a native of Duviri. This means that he does not exist in the real Origin System, but is a reflection/growth created by someone that fell into Duviri; just like Thrax is for the Drifter. You'll never guess who I think his source material is!)

Ughh...I really hate the--

Alright, let's agree on terminology right now to help keep all this straight. I'm going to call unpiloted sentient warframes (ie Dagath) preframes. I had been using 'protoframe', but obviously 99 is doing something specific with that so I need a new term.

I don't like the preframes, story wise. I think they exist in an awkward state of canon where their real purpose is to justify frames having personality for both visual reasons (Khora and Atlas animations illustrate very different personalities) and to preserve the twist of the Second Dream.

Practically, Warframe as a story is less interested by the implications of frames representing a real independent human personality; you are either wearing them like a skin suit or taking control of them and using them to kill just like the Orokin did. In the second case, nothing has really changed for the 'life' of a frame. They just got new bosses and the daily grind stayed the same.

"But you took away their pain! Umbra!"

The Sacrifice makes the point over and over again that Umbra's case is unusual and unique. You have not communed with any of your other frames like this; that's why the Operator is surprised and confused in the first place.

I'm actually not even sure that Dante is an autonomous preframe. Because--

You don't get to be any kind of frame without the whole Infestation thing.

Following that, this means that preframes weren't always consciously rebelling, but losing themselves to the Infestation. You get Infested, you lose brain function. That's always been consistent about the Infestation, even the 'tame' Helminth variant, even in the Entrati family.

This also makes most sense to me because if there had been some way to get a functional, obedient preframe if you just found someone obedient enough to mutate, the Orokin would have just kept doing that and had no need for the Tenno. As much as Ballas isn't the most reliable narrator, I think he's being honest and accurate when he talks about how preframes simply could not be controlled. I don't think it's just a matter of personal respect.

I do agree that preframe Insurrections make most sense for what Loid is talking about, but even that doesn't quite add up, because Loid says that he found out that Dante died while he slept. Dante would never have still been active up until Loid went into stasis if he didn't have a Tenno pilot; he says himself in the next line that people harboring (what we're assuming but Loid hasn't actually stated are) preframes were not tolerated.

Dante seems to have been publicly active up until Loid's stasis. Loid is surprised to hear of both Dante and Drusus's deaths. These facts don't fit Dante being a preframe and suggest that he had a Tenno pilot instead.

Neither Drusus nor Loid ever directly states that Dante was an autonomous preframe. Loid says that Drusus purposely blurs the line between Tenno and frame identity because of his fondness for Dante. This doesn't necessarily mean that Dante was autonomous, but that Drusus wanted to believe that he was.

We see in the text that Drusus is extremely emotionally motivated. Personally I'd fully believe Drusus avoiding an inconvenient truth, particularly since the Tenno were supposed to be a complete secret. He could very well have met Dante, found out about the Tenno later, and lied to himself.

#warframe

[sweetbillwriting]

The Finer Things

Part 3 - Too Many Questions

Description: Ines lives a modest life in Brooklyn but has a secret, a valuable painting. Out of nowhere Vincent De Gramont appears and wants to help her sell it. He welcomes her into a life of luxury the question is just why?

Characters: Vincent De Garmont, The Marquis, From John Wick 4, the rest are my own characters.

Setting: This story is set in my own universe, so not exactly the John Wick universe.

Warnings: 18+, prejudice and stereotypical thinking about nationalities, mentions about sex, alcohol, talk about body and weight.

Notes: Don't hate me if the French is bad, it's google translate! The reason why I don't write out the translation is because Ines doesn't understand but of course you can use your sources to translate it if you want to know more than her haha!

He looked at her strangely while he chewed his steak slowly. Ines had expected him to eat something more classy than steak fries but he ate pleased. 

“I guess I like it?” He answered a bit dismissively and looked out at rainy Paris. It wasn't the best side of Paris Ines got to see. She had just asked him about his habit of being barefoot and smirked a little. Vincent was dressed in a gray three piece suit but had taken off his jacket and let a servant hold it while he was eating. The servant didn't look so pleased that he was forced to be a human clothes hanger. 

“You look embarrassed by the question,” she said teasingly and leaned forward on her elbows. 

“No elbows on the table,” he said bluntly without looking at her. Ines leaned back so Vincent could see the dusty purple midi dress she wore. The chiffon was light and floated around her legs. 

“Come on, why?” She said when the embarrassment from her bad manners had been forgotten. 

Vincent sighed and took a sip of his wine. He looked uncomfortable but gave her a long look. 

“My uncle had this… Big castle with soft rugs in every room. I was there a lot as a kid and I guess I just liked feeling the soft materials against my feet…” he said while wiping the corner of his mouth with the napkin he had laid out in his lap. Ines had laid hers the same way, it felt like it was expected. She smiled at his story. Little Vincent must have been cute with his big eyes. A little dolly. 

“But a castle? That's insane! Did you also live in a castle?” 

He still didn't look at her, just cut the steak elegantly. 

“No, not a castle.” 

Ines giggled a little, she could just imagine him living in a mansion that for her would be a castle. 

“Your home outside of Paris, is it pretty?” 

Now Vincent finally looked up at her but then sighed. 

“I like Shangri-La better.” 

He was silent again while Ines tried to come up with more questions while eating. 

“Your parents are dead. Mine too,” he suddenly said. It wasn't at all what Ines expected him to say. Even if she had asked him so many questions she wasn't really comfortable with that subject so she didn't say anything. Vincent just continued to eat unbothered and Ines got the feeling he had just said it to make her shut up. 

They went home to the hotel with a limo after having eaten up. They still were quiet even if Ines wanted to gush over the luxurious limousine. They went to their respective bedrooms without a word. She felt uncomfortable even if it was her own fault. She could have just continued the conversation, especially when Vincent seemed so comfortable dropping that his parents were dead too. She wondered how he knew but could guess, such a rich man probably looked up every person he was around.

There was a knock on the door when she stood in her underwear hanging up the pretty dress. She covered herself with her hands as a reflex. 

“I'm not dressed!” She said in panic. 

“I will not open if you don't give me permission,” Vincent said calmly. “I ordered dessert for us… And a bottle of champagne. I wonder if you want to join me to talk about the plan? About the painting?” 

Ines felt her heart beat in her chest. It sounded kinda romantic, even if she knew it wasn't his purpose. 

“Yeah… Okay? I will… Put something on.” 

“Do that,” he said with an uninterested voice. Ines sighed while she pulled on a pair of old sweats and a hoodie. He wasn't charming, he wasn't interested in her and he didn’t want intimacy. She had no reason to dress up for him. 

She opened her door with a sour look just to show him how disappointed she was by it all but she couldn't hold her face for long. In the big living room with a view over Paris and the Eiffel tower, it was dark, but not so dark she couldn't see anything. Paris' many street lights made it brighter but also the candles that were lit in high candle holders on the floor and tables. She could smell vanilla and something floral scented, something that made her think about Vincent's cologne. She looked at him when he came into the room with two coupe glasses and the champagne in a gold ice bucket. He was dressed in a black silk pajamas with a discreet pattern. 

“What is this?” She said, shocked while she quickly checked her appearance in one of the many big mirrors. 

“Evening dessert?” He said and gave her a confused look. “Didn't you hear what I said through the door?” 

“Yes but… This?” She pointed at the candles while Vincent sat down on the cream colored couch. Elegantly he laid one leg over another and Ines gave his bare foot a look. Why did she suddenly like watching his feet? It was odd and embarrassing. 

“They are there for a reason?” He just said and opened the champagne bottle easily with his big hands. 

Ines laughed a little confused and gave the man dressed in silk an examining look. It was a romantic setting but he didn't want intimacy. She couldn't read him at all. Maybe he just liked the classical romantic things, it was possible but wouldn't he hold back on such things when he lived with a single woman? 

There was a soft knock at the door and both of them looked up. The Marquis raised his voice and said something in French that made the person outside of the door open it. A smartly dressed waiter came into the room with a trolley with several silver coupes. He said something in french but Vincent just gave him a short answer before he left again. 

“I really need to learn French,” said Ines painfully. She knew it would be hard. 

“You should. He just wondered if he should present the food but I don't like it when they stay too long.” 

Ines looked at him amused while he poured champagne for them both. When he was finished and reached for a glass for her she still looked the same. He looked at her unamused, he had clearly already learned she would make a comment. 

“What?”

“You're such a snob!” She exclaimed but with humor in her voice. “Can't have the peasant close to where you sleep?” 

Vincent took a big gulp even if it wasn't the way to drink vintage champagne but he just needed the alcohol. 

“That was not what I meant.” 

“Mhm,” said Ines with a smirk and then took a sip from her own glass. She looked more elegant than him. 

He shook his head annoyed and poked the inside of his cheek with his tongue. He walked up to the trolley and lifted the coupes one after another. 

“What do you like?” 

“Uuuuh, I love chocolate ,” said Ines and ran up to him playfully. Vincent gave her a fast look then down at the three different desserts. 

“I think this is mine then,” he said and took the plate that looked like a symphony of different chocolates. Ines gasped and wanted to hit him playfully but he felt annoyed for real. 

“You just took that one so I wouldn't get it!” She said and looked down at the dessert with pink shades and the other that just seemed to be an apple pie. He clearly took the best one. 

“No, I took it because I wanted it.” He said bluntly and sat down on the couch again with the dessert balanced in one hand. 

“It was just because I called you a snob,” she said and took the pink dessert in her hands. “You've been such a perfect gentleman before.” 

Vincent didn't say anything, just ate slowly while Ines sat down. She looked at him while she also started to eat. It was good and even had some white chocolate in the mix. 

“Can I taste it?” She asked playfully which made Vincent furrow his brows. 

“From my plate?” He almost sounded upset and Ines giggled a little. 

“I can use my own spoon…” 

He gave her a fast look and put down his plate on the table. 

“You can taste mine… It's actually really moist…” she said it playfully sexy because she knew what she said could sound like she talked about something else because even if Vincent seemed irritated she got a feeling he actually liked it.

He continued to stare down at his plate but gave hers a look when she put it down next to his. He sighed and dragged his hands over his thighs. 

“Fine!” He said irritatedly and leaned back on the couch. Ines looked at him amused and giggled. On purpose she leaned forward with a curved back and laid a hand on his thigh like she couldn't reach the plate otherwise. Even if she couldn't see his face she sucked the spoon greedily after having tasted it and made a moaning sound. 

“ That was soo good…” she said and turned to him. She looked at him playfully but he looked just as annoyed. 

“I hope your hand is clean because I don't want grease stains on my pajamas.” 

Ines felt her face drop. It wasn't the reaction she had hoped for and hadn't even thought about. She leaned back on the couch and swallowed hard. She didn't feel embarrassed, more stunned someone could be like him. 

Vincent sighed and sipped his champagne. 

“Are you ready to talk about the plan or should I wait until tomorrow?” He said and looked at her with a bored expression. Ines looked back at him with a confused face but it got so irritated by seeing his bored expression.

“Just get it over with.” 

××× 

His plan was that he would let the rumors go about the painting, send some pictures to the art knowing people and get the ball rolling. A few days later there would be a charity gala where they could go mingle with potential buyers. He was clear that she could be her most charming colorful self there and talk about her grandmother warmly. His part was to organize the speculators to see the painting and hopefully get it sold to the highest bidder. 

“So… My role is just being there and being… funny?” She asked with furrowed brows. She looked at Vincent closely and was fascinated by his skin. Didn't he have pores? 

“To be as vibrant as the painting. It's worth a lot to see the woman in the painting through a living person. You're so alike her,” said Vincent and crossed his legs again. 

“So be there, be pretty and charming?” 

“But don't forget the manners. You don't eat from someone else's plate.” 

There was some humor in his voice but it was so hard to detect Ines wondered if she had imagined it.

“Yeah yeah, yeah…” 

“Yes,” he pronounced clearly. 

Ines gave him an irritated look and stood up. 

“God, you're like an annoying teacher!” 

She took the last of her champagne. “I'm going to bed. You can sit here by yourself and say ‘yes’!” She looked at him annoyed and put down her glass but in a swift movement also took the chocolate dessert. 

“Good night!” She said and stomped away to her bedroom. 

××× 

That Vincent de Gramont was an annoying snob was obvious. That he liked sweets, had great skincare and alluring charisma was also obvious. Ines laid awake and looked up at the ceiling with crossed arms. She was tired of him, so tired. To be with a person that corrected her all the time would not be fun. Once again she was with a person that believed they knew her own self better than her. 

She already needed a break for him. After getting ready for the day in a powder pink blouse and black pants she walked out to the shared space. It was empty. She had expected him to be sitting on the couch or maybe by the table reading. She looked around confused, then annoyed but after having listened to the silence of the expensive suite she just felt sad and alone. She had wanted a break from him but now she felt a heavy panic beat in her chest. What she didn't notice was that the painting, which had stood hidden in a hallway, was gone. Her future but also her past had disappeared. Ines just continued to walk around hurt that Vincent had left her alone and decided to be kinder to him when he came back. That she should stop making sexual jokes and asking too many questions. She should be less. Be a classy woman. The fifth time she walked by the door to the suite opened up by Vincent dressed in a sage green suit, she couldn't say if he had had it before.

“Oh my god! Where have you been?!” She acclaimed upset and a bit too loudly to not make Vincent's eyes get bigger than they already were. He walked into the suite with a strange look on his face and took off his well polished shoes. 

“Hello??” She said and almost jumped to express her frustration. 

“Did you drink too much coffee or something today?” He asked him and put his jacket on the back of a chair. 

“No!” She said annoyed and stomped with her foot. Vincent looked down at her feet and furrowed his brows then he shook his head like he couldn't believe what he was seeing. 

“I met a speculator. On the painting.” 

He gave her a calming look. With his hands rested on the back of a chair. Ines looked at him and let her heartbeat settle. 

“Really?” She sat down on the chair opposite the one he was resting on. 

“Yeah. I've moved the painting to a conference room that is at the end of the hallway so we can be there to meet buyers. Pierre is guarding it. But the buyer…” Vincent sighed and sat down. “He wanted to pay nothing. Like nothing.” 

Ines nodded with big eyes. She understood that nothing didn't mean he wanted it for free but it was nothing for a rich man as Vincent. 

“Oh… But others will pay more for it?”

“Absolutely.” 

He looked at Ines reassuringly and then smiled friendly. Ines felt her cheeks warm and smiled back. Vincent smiled bigger and licked his lips. 

“Tu es une très jolie fille,” he said with a soft voice. Ines furrowed her brows and got irritated that she didn't know any french. 

“What? You can't speak French to me! I don't understand a thing, you know that!” 

Vincent smirked and stood up. 

“Dommage que tu sois juste une Américaine agaçante.” 

“You said something about me being an American!” She pointed at him and gasped. Vincent just continued to smirk and took his jacket from the chair next to him. 

“Apprends le français et peut-être que j'élargirai les règles pour toi. Je promets que ça vaut le coup.” He walked confidently to his room. “Can you order some tea for us?” 

Ines furrowed her brows in confusion, both by the French but also the tea. 

“What about breakfast?” She asked and listened to her stomach grumble. 

Vincent made an amused face and looked at her where he stood in the doorway to his room. 

“It was three hours ago. The clock is eleven.” 

××× 

Ines felt like she played house with Vincent when she lived with him in the suite of Shangri-La, but that sort of game jetset kids played. She slept in long in the mornings, did luxurious treatments in the hotel spa and made herself ready for dinner out with Vincent when he came home from his meetings. He had met with some buyers the couple days she had stayed there and over dinner he complained about how awful they tried to bargain with him. He got her to laugh, but more by his attitude and snobby ways but for every time she laughed he seemed to like it more and more. 

She had been there five nights when it was time for them to go to the charity gala and meet rich, rich people. If she hadn't had Vincent she would have skipped it because of her nervousness. She didn't feel it was fun at all because the nerves took over. 

She knocked on Vincent's door after she heard the shower being shut off for a while. 

“Yes?” He said through the door. 

“Ehhh… Can you help me?” She asked and looked down at her well manicured toes she had done in the hotel spa. She was just dressed in a fluffy robe but her hair and makeup were done to perfection. 

“With what?” 

She sighed to herself because it was embarrassing to confess how little she knew about his world. 

“What I should wear…” 

Vincent didn't say anything and it made Ines feel even more stupid.

“Hello?” 

Vincent opened the door and looked down at her where she stood. He also wore one of the hotel's fluffy robes and his hair was wet. Ines smiled a bit by seeing him so natural and rosy cheeked. 

“I can help you. If you listen.” 

Ines rolled her eyes but led him to her room. For her it wasn't a big deal to invite a man to her room, both dressed in robes but Vincent felt differently and paused outside of the door. 

“Soo… Does black work?” She said and showed him a black dress, or she thought she showed him but realized he stood outside of the doorway. “Why are you standing there?” 

Vincent gave her a pointed look with crossed arms. 

“You're a lady.” 

“Yes, but I invited you in?” 

“Sometimes it's not about that.” 

Ines gave him an irritated look and rolled her eyes.

“Are you slut shaming me now for letting you come into my room?” 

Vincent looked at her confused, confused in a way she hadn't seen him before. 

“No? No, definitely not. It's…” he cleared his voice and looked around awkwardly. 

“It just goes against what I normally do,” he said politely and Ines examined him to see if he told the truth. He looked awkward but tried to hide it behind a hard mask. 

“Okay… Emm… Can you come in now then? Just to help me?” Ines said and looked at the dress instead of him. Vincent cleared his throat and walked in with a straight back. Ines' heart beated heavily in her chest. She had such a hard time reading him and didn't know if he had manners or just issues but she got the feeling there was another man behind that well polished surface. He stopped next to her and before she had asked her question again he had taken the hanger from her hand and put it back in the wardrobe. 

“It's a formal party, you must wear a full length dress. Not black that's… A woman with real style doesn't wear black to a charity event,” he said dismissively and pulled out a red full length dress to her. 

“You have the right skin for red and tonight you should get all the attention.” He sounded like he gave her orders and looked at her like she was a project. 

“The dress is backless, do you need nipple covers? The hotel can fix that.” 

“Oh… Oh… Yeah that would be good?” She got a bit overwhelmed by it all but also a bit embarrassed that Vincent dressed her like she was his Barbie doll, or even worse, his daughter. 

“I’ll call them,” he said and started to walk out of the room. Ines looked at his broad back. She was grateful for his help but knew he would be angry when she told him the bitter truth. 

“But Vincent…” her voice came out thick and weird and she could feel how it rasped in her throat. Vincent turned around with a questioning look. 

“Shoes?” 

He made a sound of amusement that almost sounded like a laugh and walked back to the room with eyes on the stilettos he had bought her. 

“I can't walk in heels…” 

Ines felt her face get red and looked away to not see Vincent. He had stopped in his motion and just stared at her. After a few painful seconds in silence Ines looked at him. He clenched his jaw like he was pissed and pulled on the rope to the robe. 

“I've worn the ballerina flats this week, can't I just use them?” She asked nervously and Vincent shut his eyes as a response. 

“You will wear the powder pink strappy sandals. The color will work well with the red especially if you wear that pink clutch bag also.” He said and opened his eyes to give her a striked look. 

“I would feel much more comfortable in the flats…” 

“But now you aren't five years old. Wear the pink heels,” said he with a hard voice and turned around to walk back to his own room. 

When she was alone she laid out the dress on the bed and looked at it dejectively. The skirt was full and pleated while the neck was high to contrast with the deep back. It was so pretty but it didn't feel good how Vincent decided what she would wear with such an iron fist. She knew it was his world and he knew best but to go against herself completely, to that degree she would have serious anxiety wasn't right. She put on the dress and looked at herself in the mirror. Vincent would see the obvious problem too. She felt the tears push behind her eyes and took a deep breath. She wasn't at all the kind of woman that Vincent should have on his arm. She walked out from the room and walked with slumped shoulders to his room. The door was open and he still wore his robe. 

“This doesn't work…” she said and her voice broke from the tears that now pushed out from her eyes. Vincent looked up at her and gave her an uncomfortable look. He saw the problem too but also her tears. To wear a backless dress demanded another thing, being braless and it was obvious her chest was too big to look good like that. She didn't have the figure of a french model and probably didn't look like the kind of woman Vincent was around. He dragged his hands over his hips and cleared his throat. Would he say something mean? 

“Okay…” he said and nodded a little. 

“You're great at fashion and so on but I don't think you get a woman's anatomy. I have boobs, hips and ass. And I can't walk in heels because I've never been to this sort of event. I go to dive bars and get shit faced. I wear Doc Martens or converse not stilettos.” The tears streamed down her cheeks and messed up her makeup. 

Vincent continued to nod. 

“We will fix it, okay?” 

“How?” She dried her tears and looked at him defeated. 

“I will make a call. What's your dress size?”

She fixed her makeup again while Vincent called someone, she listened to his elegant french through the open bedroom door but didn't believe he would fix it. She was too fat for a french gala. Too trashy to go beside him. 

A half hour later someone knocked on the door and Vincent let them in. Ines was curious how he would solve it. Maybe he had found a skinnier American that could pretend to be her? She walked out to him and saw him stand with an ivory colored tule dream. It looked like something for a swan princess. 

“With a ballet style you can wear your flats… And it doesn't have a bare back…” he said but sounded embarrassed. He looked around in the room like he was uncomfortable with being nice. 

Ines looked at the pretty dress and the man dressed in an elegant dress suit. He looked like perfection in his white bow tie and pushed back hair. Ines laughed in joy and gratitude. 

“Oh my god Vincent…” she said and walked up to him and touched the dress. 

“You're really the greatest stylist.” She giggled and touched his hand affectionately and looked down at her hand with big eyes.

“Just change now,” he said and tried to sound cold while giving her the dress. 

Ines looked at him with a small smile and thought to herself that he was a thoughtful man behind that diamond adorned armor. 

She changed in her room and looked at herself in the mirror. A swan princess. She giggled and felt her eyes well up with tears again. Never had she believed she could look like that. She pulled on the light pink ballet flats and put on a pearl adorned hair clip and the diamond necklace and bracelet she got from Vincent. He had made her into a princess. Her fairy god… Art seller? 

She felt a bit nervous to walk out to Vincent. Maybe he wouldn't like it but somewhere inside her she knew he would. She didn't know where the feeling came from. 

On her tippy toes she walked out to him with a nervous smile. He stood leaned against one of the dining chairs and looked up at her carefully. He also looked a bit nervous but it transformed quickly into a small smirk.

“Bonsoir belle ballerine,” he said and gave her a liking nod. Ines giggled, it didn't matter what he said because his pleased expression said it all. 

“Should we start with a glass of champagne at the hotel bar?” He said and reached his hand out for her. Ines smiled at him with warming cheeks and took his hand. 

“Merci,” she said with a giggle because it was the only French she knew. 

× 

#bill skarsgård #bill skarsgard #fan fiction #writing #story #bill skarsgård writing #bill skarsgård fanfiction #fiction #vincent de gramont #the marquis #john wick #john wick 4

[figurecollection]

I have a question. I’m normally 100% against bunny girl figures for characters under 18, but what do you think of these figures when it is a direct reference to the source material?

To make this more difficult, the example I will use is the 1/4 Haruhi Suzumiya by FREEing

It's a difficult one, isn't it. Obviously there's issues with Haruhi being the face of anime bunny girls, since she's consistently under 18 with the only outfit more iconic than her bunny suit being her school uniform. I guess people can argue that her bunny suit is a symbol of independence, but at the end of the day she's an obvious teenager that's been created by an older man to appeal to... men? teenagers? It's a series about the growth of teenagers, I would absolutely say it's aimed at teens, but these shows have so much fanservice that it ends up kind of questionable. Since she and other teenagers or even kid characters aren't real then they can be controlled all they like to seem like they enjoy what they're doing and it's an expression of their sexuality of their own free will or whatever. But it's obviously not the case.

My point is, I don't agree with it even if it's a reference to the source material, but the issue is much more complicated than "If the character is over 18 than bunny figures are fine". If your average person knew nothing about anime saw the Haruhi bunny fig I'm sure they will probably not think "That's a teenager", they might even buy and display it thinking its something fun and sexy of a random woman. I think the problem is a much deeper issue with not only the anime industry but also the sexulisation of young children and social media and society forcing them to grow up. The best thing we can do is try and support the kids and teens around us, let them be "weird" and "cringe" and "annoying" and let them have a space where they can ask questions about the media they engage in, and let them be upset if they dislike seeing characters their age that they should be seeing themselves in forced to be sexulised.

At the end of the day, I'm not going to tell you what to and what not to buy, but I will say the issue stops being "dubiously weird" when it comes to characters who are obviously made to be/look like young children dressed in skimpy/nsfw outfits whether it's canon or not.

#discourse #i guess. dont clown on my post please #anonymous #asks

[yandere-genji]

Omfg you’re bully!Gabriel had me weak in the knees!!! Please make a second part! I’d very much appreciate it!!!

hnng after writing these college au prompts i am actually convinced this is peak content//fem!reader in this one homies

The semester had started just a few weeks ago but you dove headfirst into your studies like a madman. Carefully studying your textbook and making notes for chapters well in advance, this was the part of your studies that invigorated you the most. You truly enjoyed the material and what would seem like a chore to anyone else was an odd thrill to you. Not only that, but studying was enriching and you hoped your future would benefit from your dedication to your field. Still, you missed socializing with your friends.

In fact, since your encounter with Gabe, you had become a recluse. The last thing you wanted was to chance another run-in with him. It must’ve gotten him off knowing he had such an effect on you, but you didn’t care to indulge him any further than that. So, you continued your studies but never stayed on campus long enough to fraternize with anyone. After class, you went straight to the comfort of your dorm, where you were sure to be safe.

Your dorm mate, Angela, was your only source of interaction. The two of you got along well, both hardworking students. You understood each other, it had been a blessing that she was assigned as your roommate. And she was happy to be your shoulder to lean on while you were keeping to yourself, allowing you to rant about your courses and professors as you pleased. But to your dismay, Angela had grown concerned for you. Obviously you had undergone a change of some kind, one that was affecting you for the worse.

“You know,” she chided, “I can’t be your only source of comfort. I love you, honey, but what’s going on with you?”

You sighed, not wanted to go through the stress of explaining anything to her, “I just…I don’t know. College, I guess.”

“My God, you’re a terrible liar,” she scoffed, “Am I going to have to mother you like this the whole semester?”

“I mean…” you rolled onto your back, looking up at her from your mattress, “am I so needy that I’m becoming a nuisance?”

Angela giggled and sat against your mattress on the floor, meeting your eyes with her icy blues, “I’m just worried. We should go out sometime together. You know, somewhere that’s not here.”

You shrugged, “Maybe that wouldn’t be so bad. But I have some exams coming up that I have to study for…”

She cut you off, “You’ve been studying for those exams for weeks. Come on, it’s Halloween season, you know. Ana is hosting a costume party and I’m just dying to go, I have the cutest angel outfit, wanna see?”

“Jesus, it’s almost November, and then December. Angela, before we know it, the semester’s over!” you propped yourself up on your elbows, “Ugh. Whatever. I kinda wanna see your costume, though. What’re you going for, like a Victoria’s Secret vibe or like Catholic school stage play angel?”

“That’s the best part,” she jumped up, headed for the closet, “it’s both!”

Seeing her so excited made you match her energy. It had been some time since you dressed up for Halloween. And you’d never been to a costume party before, let alone a college party. It sounded like great fun.

Angela emerged from the closet, glowing brightly from the sequins of her white dress. She looked radiant, the corset of the dress fit snuggly around her waist and the short skirt puffed around her hips. It seemed like the dress had been made for her. She flashed you a beaming smile, “What do you think? Isn’t it cute? Oh, you have to come to the party. We should have matching costumes!”

You were never as giddy as when you were with Angela. She brought out the girly side of you that laid dorment whenever you were enveloped in your coursework. You stood up and fiddled with the wings attached to her back, “It’s so cute on you, Angie, but I couldn’t pull something like that off. Plus, it suits you better.”

She pushed your hand away and began to take the wings off of her, “Try it, at least. See if you like it.”

The pajamas you had on would certainly look silly with the wings, you thought, but she insisted. The elastic bands pulled at your shoulders and chaffed your skin. You examined yourself in the mirror, clearly uncomfortable.

“Seriously, Angie, you’re much more the angel type,” you started, already taking off the wings, “I don’t know. I think I’d like to go to the party, but I have no idea what I’d go as.”

She hummed inquisitively, examining you like the fairy godmother of your dreams, “They have those Halloween stores this time of year. Why don’t we shop around today, get you ready for the party. It’s not until the weekend anyways, plenty of time to get you dolled up.”

You agreed, no longer hesitant and finally ready to leave your books and pajamas behind. The two of you set off to a large strip mall just outside campus that had been decorated to theme. Purple and orange garlands framed the stores and pumpkins littered the ground with the vibrant fall leaves. Angela led you by the hand to a large department store full of costumes. Witches, clowns, a bloody nurse, a zombie maid, and a very tempting banana suit. But none of them seemed to appeal to you.

“Oh my gosh, this is perfect for you!” Angela almost squealed in excitement.

“What is it?” you asked, discarding a pirate wench’s corset dress.

She lifted up a plaid, pleated skirt shorter than your own underwear, “Slutty schoolgirl, what do you think? I mean, it’s basically what you wear everyday. Just slut-ified.”

“Great…” you groaned, turning away from her and averting your attention to a werewolf mask on the make up shelf next to you.

It had masks and palettes with artificial blood. Strange to think people willingly put that stuff on their face. Lord knows what was in those things. The palettes were cheap and certainly weren’t made from the highest quality face products. You could already feel your skin breaking out just by being in proximity to them.

“Oh,” you heard Angela raise her voice behind you, “what’s this?”

She picked up some sort of pencil, it looked like an eyebrow pencil but the tip was a much darker black than what you had seen. She looked at the pencil, then at you, then the pencil again. Her brain was brewing up an idea that you weren’t sure you were going to like.

“You know, there is a universal Halloween costume that I know you will like,” she began, “something so basic but so cute that you can’t possibly say no to it!”

You were not sure where she was getting this newfound confidence from, but she had your attention by the way she was selling her idea. “And that is?” you asked.

“A black cat!” she opened her mouth in feigned shock, “My goodness, what an idea! And I could be a witch! Oh, that’d be so adorable! Oh, let’s do it!”

“What about your angel costume?” you asked.

“Oh, well. I mean, I just had to buy the wings, I already had that dress from my sweet sixteen. Or was it prom? Can’t remember,” she shrugged, “Come on, let’s pick out a witch costume and see what else they have for you, my kitty.”

Angela was already getting into character, there was certainly no swaying her now. Besides, going as a cat wasn’t so bad. She was right, it would be cute couple’s costume. You sighed, “Alright, let’s go.”

You felt like an actual pet being led by Angela as she scoured the aisles looking for accessories for the both of you. In the end, she decided on some fluffy cat ears that tied around your own, a thin choker attached to a leash and a flattering black skin suit fitted with a fuzzy tail. For herself, she found a short witch’s dress with matching gloves, a hat, and a wooden broom, of course. Both of you went into the fitting rooms to try on your outfits. Your suit hugged your curves and complimented the shape of your body. The leash, in your humble opinion, was a little much for you, but Angela insisted upon it. You were surprised with the quality of the costume and were content to wear it for the party. Angela was too, happily praising her own styling intuition. It was beginning to darken outside and the two of you headed back to your dorm after a successful day of shopping.

——

Your days were starting to look brighter. There was something to look forward to and because of the busy fall season, you were able to keep to yourself. Angela wasn’t pestering you about leaving the dorm and your anxieties about Gabe were getting weaker by the day. If this was becoming your new norm, it wasn’t so bad.

The party came sooner than expected and you were nervous as ever the day of. To you knowledge, only Angela and a couple of people you knew would be in attendance. Ana was an acquaintance, you had seen her at the library cafe from time to time and waved to her, but the two of you had completely different majors. She was close to Angela, but you didn’t know much else about her.

Angela said there would be boys too, much to your dismay. There were two suitors of hers she was anticipating to meet. One of which was Genji. You shared your comp sci class with him and he was a good guy as far as you were concerned. He was cute and seemed like a good fit for her. Then there was Jack. You’d seen him with Gabe, and that was as much information as you needed to know about him. He seemed cocky, probably only wanted Angela for her looks, something to show off at parties. You told her you much preferred Genji, and she agreed.

“But men have to earn you,” she said, “or else it’s too easy for them. It’s like playing tug of war with a puppy. You know you’re going to win, but it’s no fun for them that way.”

“Um,” you started reluctantly, “I don’t know if that’s true at all.”

“Oh, what do you know about boys, you’re still a virgin!” she giggled at herself and your cheeks burned red.

“Whatever…” you replied, “how big is this party going to be? I might have to cling to you.”

“Oh, you’ll definitely have to cling to me. Why do you think I insisted on matching?” she said, patting her face with blush.

“You’re okay with me being so clingy?” you asked.

“I’m well used to it by now,” she smiled at you, brushing her hair.

“I’m not usually like this, you know,” you started, “it’s just been so weird lately.”

“Dont worry about it. If you need me, I’ll be here. Let’s just enjoy our time tonight, yea?” her words soothed you and the two of you agreed to ride whatever wave of emotion you were on until it subsided. You weren’t sure where you would be without Angela holding your hand through this. Her words about you being a virgin reminded you again of Gabe and you wondered if he would show his face at the party. Jack was going, sure, but probably only to met Angela there. Gabe definitely didn’t seem the type to go to a costume party and you doubted he even knew Ana or Angela very well if at all. You deserved some time away from all the drama and stress of college, you thought. This was the perfect opportunity to decompress and allow yourself some fun.

Once the two of you were dressed and made up, you eagerly drove out to Ana’s house in the suburbs. It was festive, the lawn was decorated with skeletons, bones, tombstones, and a blown-up haunted house gated the entrance. Ana was waiting outside, dressed like a pirate with a fake parrot over her shoulder. Her smile was inviting and she welcomed you with open arms.

“Argh mateys,” she mustered her best pirate voice, though it wasn’t very convincing, “are ye ready to party?”

“What is wrong with you?” Angela scoffed, “That voice is painful.”

“Fine, but you can’t tell me this isn’t the best pirate costume you have ever seen,” Ana retorted. It really was, you had to admit. The neutral leathers of her belt complimented her white blouse and flowing pants.

“The boots are a nice touch, with the heels and all,” you complimented her with a smile.

“Don’t entertain her,” Angela chided, “it’ll go right to her head.”

“Not as fast as the rum will,” Ana opened the door to her house and gestures for the two of you to come inside.

The interior was just as festive. It was illuminated by purple string lights and tv screens playing old horror movies you didn’t recognize. Bottles of liquor and fruit juice lined the kitchen along with bowls of snacks and candy. You were tempted to drift away from Angela that instant, but she pulled you by the hand to a crowd of people on the couch.

There was Genji. Dressed as a flashing neon green power ranger, smiling from ear to ear and looking directly at Angela. He was like a fool in love, it was sweet to witness. With him was another man who looked a couple years older than him, same black hair but longer and tied back. He wore a beautiful black suit, Men in Black, maybe? There was no obvious indication of what his costume was. Across the boys were two girls, one with a high ponytail in a graceful ballet dress and another with a striking duo-toned black and white updo that flattered her pained green skin. Bride of Frankenstein, easily the best costume you’d seen yet. You didn’t recognize any of them, but Angela was quick to introduce you.

“Scoot over, Genji. Make some room for us,” Angela patted the spot next to her and you sat, “Have you met Hanzo before? He’s Genji’s brother.”

Hanzo gave you a curt nod, said something to Genji, and returned his attention to his drink. You met the attention of the girl in the ponytail across from him.

“Hi,” you extended a hand, “I don’t think we’ve met, what’s your-“

“Amelie,” she replied before you finished, her tongue was sweet and smooth as silk, “This is my friend, Olivia.”

“Friends, are we?” she laughed, looked at you, “nice to meet you, heard a lot about you.”

“Me?” you asked puzzled.

“Uh-huh,” she rose from her seat, “excuse me, there’s someone I have to met.”

Something about her tone left you feeling uneasy, like there was some nefarious plan you weren’t left privy to. But Angela kept you from thinking any further into it, offering you a bottle of beer.

“No thanks,” you said, “I don’t know if we should be drinking tonight.”

Her and Genji laughed, “You’re at a party, honey,” she wrapped your fingers around the bottle, “live a little, yea?”

And you did. Although Hanzo seemed stone cold, he loosened up with a few drinks and was eager to chat with you and the group. He told you stories of his childhood with Genji in Japan. There was a lot to learn from him and Genji often interrupted his brother before he was about to say something extremely embarrassing. You and Amelie bonded over a few drinks, both of you being impartial to beer, she offered you mixed fruit drinks instead. She had you giggling like a school girl as she played with your costume.

“I wanted to be cat woman,” she explain, “but didn’t have the time to prepare a proper costume. You look exquisite.”

It made you blush, though it was hardly noticeable through your drunken red face, “I think you would’ve made a great cat woman. You’re a beautiful ballerina.”

She cackled, very amused at your joke. You didn’t quite understand what was so funny, but you gave a light chuckle to entertain her, “Look at you, you’re laughing and yet you have no idea why.”

You weren’t sure if she was mocking you or genuinely thought you were endearing, “Sorry, maybe it’s the alcohol.”

“Well, you two are really enjoying each other’s company!” Angela remarked, “Wanna go outside for a bit? I have to touch up my makeup, the heat in here is unbearable.”

“Sure,” you replied, you weren’t sure what she had in mind, but she came to the party with a plan and you intended to help her, “Amelie? Want to join us?”

The three of you took your leave and left the two brothers behind. You followed Angela to the back of the house with Amelie in tow. It was much quieter and intimate, a nice relief from the crowded party.

“Ugh, I’m starting to drink too much,” Angela bemoaned, taking a breath of the fresh air, “if Jack doesn’t come soon I might just fall asleep in Genji’s arms.”

“Jesus, Angela,” you reprimanded her, “why even bother with Jack? You’re playing those two boys.”

“I admire you, Angela,” Amelie said and turned to you, putting a gentle hand on your shoulder, “those two boys need something to play with or they tire quickly. You’re too innocent, dear. These are just the ways of a masterful seductress.”

The two girls laughed among themselves. You sighed, “Not you too, Amelie. This is just cruel. Genji is so sweet, he really brings out the best in you. And Jack…he’s so upity.”

“Why don’t you just take Genji for yourself, then,” Amelie suggested.

“What? No way, he’s not even into me. I’m not into him, either. But him and Angela really make a cute couple,” you said, looking to Angela. She seemed to be eating up the conversation with a satisfied grin.

“Oh? What are you into, then? Not the nerdy type…maybe the jocks? Oh, don’t tell me, you’re into Jack, aren’t you?” Amelie was being obviously playful, but you weren’t sober enough to detect it.

“No! You know there are more boy on this planet than Genji and Jack, right? Ugh, never,” you leaned against the wall, arms folded.

“Okay, let’s see. What about Hanzo? He’s handsome,” she remarked.

“I don’t know, I don’t really like to think about boys like that. I’m way too busy with school,” you said, fiddling with the leash that dangled onto your chest.

“I think you’re getting somewhere Amelie!” Angela was engrossed, hanging on the every word.

“Maybe not Hanzo. Then who else can I think of. Oh, of course! You go to the same school as Gabriel Reyes, don’t you?,” she spoke intently, closely examining your face.

At the sound of his name you couldn’t help the way your body responded. You froze, almost shuddered, and you legs involuntarily squeezed together. The heat in your face was almost unbearable, “What? Why would you even bring him up?”

Amelie chuckled and coiled a finger around the ends of her ponytail, “Just curious. He’s the biggest name at your university besides Jack, thought you might know him.”

“I don’t,” you practically snapped, like a cornered dog, “I’m sorry.”

Your own reaction stunned you once you directed the rude reply at Amelie. You had only met her just a bit ago and were projecting whatever conflicting feelings you had about Gabriel Reyes onto her. It was embarrassing. You didn’t dare look at either of the girls as you excused yourself back into the party.

It had grown louder since you first arrived. Something had changed the mood, everyone was jumping energetically to the music with alcohol in hand. You tried to make your way to something familiar, but you were lost in the sea of people. Navigating through the house seemed impossible, but you managed to stumble your way into the kitchen, holding an empty red cup close to your chest.

“Hey,” you heard a familiar voice faintly next to you. Turning your head, you noticed Olivia trying to get your attention, “You’re Angela’s friend, right?”

You nodded. She smiled, “You’re not with her?”

You just shook your head. Olivia offered you her hand, “Wanna chill?”

The two of you made you way through the crowd and up the stairs. Most of the party was below you now and Olivia took you into what you presumed to be an office of some sort. There was a computer desk across from a leather couch, occupied by a rugged man dressed as a cowboy and none other than Jack Morrison dressed as…himself, presumably.

“What in hell took you so long?” the cowboy spoke with a deep southern accent, “I was nearly about to blow my damn brains out.”

“Shut it, hillbilly,” Jack retorted, “don’t you see Olivia brought a guest.”

The sound of his voice was jarring but you followed Olivia into the room and sat among the men.

“Certainly, and what a lovely lady you are,” the cowboy extended his hand and you placed one on top of his. To your surprised, he rose your hand to his lips and gave a gentle kiss, “Name’s Cassidy.”

You blushed, unsure what to make of the man or the situation unfolding before you, “Nice to meet you.”

The door crashed open, Ana stood in the frame and raised a six-pack of beer, “Hello, old friends,” she smiled at you, “and a plus one! Perfect, a beer for each of us!”

You counted five people, including yourself. Ana handed you a beer and you held it against your chest, unsure of when or where your red cup had been discarded.

“Where the man of the hour?” Jack asked, opening his beer.

“He’ll be here shortly,” Ana turned to you, “do you need help opening that?”

“Oh, sure,” you shyly replied, not really wanting anymore to drink but perhaps if you just wet your lips…

“Don’t tell me your drinking without me,” you heard a voice speak from the open door. You froze.

“Well, shit,” Cassidy chuckled, “get yer ass in here, Reyes, I’m workin’ up a thirst sittin’ next to this jackass.”

Fuck. You wanted to jump up and run away into Angela’s arms. But something kept you in place, staring down at the beer in your hand. Your costume was beginning to feel all too revealing in front of the man you had been trying to avoid for weeks.

“Here, you can have my seat,” Olivia spoke, sitting up from next to you.

“What a doll,” with all of his weight, he plopped down next to you, making you jump.

You looked away, thumb playing with the lip of the beer bottle and eyes fixed at the hallway outside. Even when you weren’t looking at him, you could feel him staring into you.

“Yo,” he snapped a finger at you and you turned towards the sound. You couldn’t believe your eyes at first. He had really outdone himself, face painting like that of a skeleton. The hollows of his cheeks were black, same for the rest of the areas not painted white. You stared at him like a deer in headlights, “what the hell is a prude like you doing here?”

You blushed and took a breath. Before you could reply, Cassidy spoke up for you, “Shit, if she’s a prude wearing that little number, I’d like to see what the less modest ladies are wearing.”

He and Gabriel shared a hearty laugh and Ana rolled her eyes, “Now that you’re here, Gabe,” she started, “let’s have a little toast.”

Jack rose up, holding his beer out in the air, “To good company,” he looked down as Cassidy, who was beginning to light a smoke, “on second thought, to debauchery.”

Gabe laughed, shaking the couch, “That’s something I can drink to.”

And with that, everyone took a drink from their beer. You took a small sip while Gabe downed half of his in one go. It felt wrong, sitting next to him here and enjoying a beer as if nothing had happened between the two of you. And Cassidy’s comments weren’t helping you feel any more comfortable with the situation.

“Thank you for letting me drink with you guys,” you spoke shyly, “but I should really get back to Angela and see if she’s okay.”

Before you could move, Gabe put his arm around your shoulders and kept you in place with a strong grip. Your eyes met his and you couldn’t hide your anxiety any longer. He could undoubtably see what he was doing to you, a smile growing on his face, “Don’t be rude. Finish your drink.”

“Wait a minute, Gabe,” Jack interrupted, “you said you were going to find Angela?”

You nodded. Jack might be your saving grace yet.

“Let’s go. I’ve been meaning to find her all night,” Jack said, lifting himself from his seat.

“Fine,” Gabe relented, “I’ll go with you.”

“Looks like it’s just the three of us, ladies,” Cassidy sent Ana a sultry smile, to which she responded with a slap to the back of his head.

Jack began out the door, motioning with his hand for you to join, you and Gabe followed him to the party downstairs. The party was still going hard, it seemed, as the floor shook with the feet of the dancing partygoers. You searched for any sight of Angela’s blonde hair or her witch hat. It didn’t seem like she had returned to the party.

“Where did you leave her?” Jack asked, almost screaming to cut through the noise of music and guests.

“We were outside,” you explain, matching his volume, “come on, I’ll show you.”

“Fine,” he said, lowering his voice. You made your way through the party guests and opened a sliding glass door that led to the backyard. Sure enough, there was Amelie leaning against the wall and scrolling through her phone.

Before you could ask her where Angela went, Gabe greeted her, “Wow, Amelie, you’re really enjoying this party, huh?”

She put her phone in a clutch bag and turned her attention to your company, “Well, I was wondering when you would show up. Looks like you found yourself a little pet, too.”

You blushed when she smiled at you, you were really regretting going along with this costume. You cleared your throat, trying to get back on topic, “Do you know where Angela went?”

Gabe tugged lightly at the leash dangling from your collar and you looked up at him, “Don’t you know it’s rude to interrupt adults when they’re speaking?”

Amelie laughed and you slapped his hand. Jack was growing ever impatient and spoke, “I didn’t come to this party to watch your fucking foreplay. Where’s Angela?”

“Her and Genji went to the basement,” Amelie replied, “with his brother or something. Probably playing pool. Might be caught up in some other things, though…”

When her voice trailed off, Jack made a bee line into the house and disappeared into the party. You started to follow him before Gabe pulled you back.

“What’re you doing?” you asked, frustration obvious in your voice and he seemed all too amused to hear it.

“You’ve been drinking like a damn sailor,” he said, “I can smell it when you talk.”

“Oh, please, Gabe,” Amelie chimed in, “cut her a break. Heaven knows the last time you’ve had this much fun, right?”

You weren’t sure if she was referring to you or Gabe but whatever fun you had at the start of the evening was beginning to fade fast.

“I just want to find Angela and go home,” you confessed, “it’s getting late.”

“You know she’s been waiting for Jack all night, there’s no way she intends to go home just yet,” Amelie reminded you, walking towards you and Gabe. She put a hand on your shoulder and said, “I suggest you make the most of your time here.”

“I’m just going to follow Jack, then,” you said, hoping they would let you go, but you should’ve known better.

“She really is rude, you know,” Amelie said, patting your shoulder before making her leave. When she opened the door, she turned to chide you again before leaving, “Be a good girl, now.”

You looked up at Gabe, that same feeling in your stomach you felt in the locker room came back again and you were suddenly reminded of what you had been hoping to avoid. How could you feel so alone and vulnerable in a house full of people? It didn’t make much sense, but your heart raced and you hushed the urge to cry. His face was concealed through the paint, even the line of his lips was difficult to make out. Still, he stared down at you with his hand still holding your arm. Your face burned hot again knowing how tight your costume was against your body, it was suffocating when his eyes trailed downward.

“Cassidy was right,” he began, “for a prude, you’re really dressed like a slut.”

You tried to wiggled you arm away from him, but he tightened his grip. Annoyed and anxious, you spoke, “Stop it, Gabe. I don’t want anything to do with you, and if you don’t like me so much then maybe we should just leave each other alone.”

His eyes met yours, rich ebony that bended against the outline of his pupils. They kept you frozen in place, like the stilling darkness of a bottomless abyss. No light reflected through them.

“And yet here you are,” he said after a brief pause, “Little miss perfect, drunk, at a party, dressed like she’s looking for a good fuck that’ll leave her senseless. What a sight you are.”

“Shut up!” your voice cracked and your words couldn’t reach the volume you had hope, “I didn’t even want to dress up like this, Angela picked it out for me. We’re matching! She’s a fucking witch and I’m her cat familiar, asshole!”

“Jesus Christ,” he rubbed his temples, “you’re such a fucking dork, you know that? Can’t believe I-“

He paused suddenly and looked down at you again, eyes trailing down your body. His stare perverse and he licked his lips in sick anticipation like a hungry wolf, “What am I saying…look at you. If only you’d shut that pretty mouth of yours, you might be the finest piece of ass I’ve ever seen. Hell, you even give some good head.”

“What the hell?!” you spoke up in an attempt to stop any discussion of what had happened in the locker room, “You’re sick, for real. There’s something actually wrong with you!”

He chuckled, “Come on, don’t tell me you didn’t enjoy yourself. Poor thing, you never did get off. Maybe we should finish what we started…”

You crossed your arms in defiance and tightened your jaw in an effort to conceal your frustration. Truthfully, you wanted to slap him in the face for being such an insulting, patronizing, annoying creep. But you didn’t want the confrontation. You didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of ruining your night.

“You’re nothing but trouble, Gabe,” you huffed, “maybe you should stop following me around like a puppy and just pretend like nothing ever happened because I am not at all interested in playing your sick little games.”

He clenched his jaw and turned away from you, a sly smile growing on his face. The muscles in his arms flexed through his hoodie, clearly what you had said cut through him. You didn’t regret it, what you said was true. He’s bad news.

Gabe turned to catch a glimpse of you. In that moment, you thought you could see right through him, piercing through whatever barrier that concealed his true nature from everyone that know him but you. He liked to play with your emotions, to dwindle down your strength and take control of the situation. But now the tables had been turned in your favor. It had stunned you, to think you could disarm him like this. And the atmosphere was tense, silent and still for a while.

It wasn’t long after that he regain his composure, straightening his posture and bridging the gap between the two of you, “What do you want, huh? Want some desperate boy to feed your fucking ego? Always talking about how I don’t like you, like you want me kiss your ass and tell you whatever bullshit you want to hear, is that it?”

He laughed and his chest rose heavily. Staring up at him, you remained aloof, “I thought we were friends once, Gabe. Then you changed your tone quick. You’re mean, actually, you’re cruel.”

His arms suddenly gripped onto yours and he forced you to back up against the wall with nothing more than a squeal of defiance from you. He moved a hand from your arm to hold your face, smearing whatever black makeup that it touched. You felt that same paralyzing fear you had felt before. He crashed his lips against yours and you denied him any sort of entrance to your tongue. This didn’t satisfy him, his hand went to grip your throat and the tight squeeze caused you to open your mouth in an attempt to breath. He took the opportunity to lace his tongue between yours, and a tear rolled down your cheek. It was sickeningly intimate, like the reunion of two passionate lovers. And you were anything but.

Your hands wrapped around his wrist, pulling and tugging to release their grip but it was futile. He didn’t move a muscle as he continued to assault your tongue with his own, both your lips wetting with each other’s saliva. It disgusted you. But why did you hips stutter when he sucked on your tongue and why did your fingers squeeze around his wrist in reaction to the burning feeling in your core? Why did he have to be so perverse, so debauched in his thoughts of you yet still lure you in with his hoarse voice and beautiful visage. It was as if he were the devil himself and you a victim of temptation.

When he pulled away from you, it was sudden. A string of spit connected the two of you for a moment, breaking once Gabe stood at full height. He towered over you, a shadow of a man eclipsing the moon. You wiped your mouth, surely smudging your makeup and drawn whiskers while doing so.

“What a waste of time,” Gabe spoke, “trying to talk sense into is like talking to a wall. Just as dull, too.”

“You’re vulgar,” you spat through heavy breaths.

“You’re in denial,” he scoffed, wiping his lips with a swipe of his thumb.

“You ruined my makeup,” you almost shouted.

“Yeah?” he chuckled, “Wouldn’t mind ruining the rest of you while we’re at it.”

“Gabe,” you felt him staring intently at you like a bloodhound, “let’s just go back to the party.”

He looked up at you from whatever part of your body caught his attention, “Fine, you caught me in a good mood tonight. Just know I’m not finished with you yet, princesa.”

He brought a tender hand to you cheek and rubbed it endearingly, sending you a wink as he walked towards the sliding glass doors that lead inside. His sudden gentleness reddened your cheeks and you walked beside him into the party, trying to find some sort of sanctuary in the arms of Angela or perhaps an unoccupied bathroom. Whatever presented itself to you first. Before you could bid farewell to Gabe, he had already left you, somewhere among the crowded house. A part of you was relieved but another unsure what to make of his sudden disappearance. It was a tendency of his to come and go as he pleased and take whatever it was he desired from you while doing so. You felt vulnerable, even when you sent curses his way it barely seemed to make any difference. He was going to take what he wanted from you and you were powerless in your efforts to stop him.

#yandere #yandere overwatch #yandere!overwatch #dark overwatch #dark!overwatch #yandere mccree #yandere reaper #gabriel reyes #tw: noncon #yandere au #college au #dark gabriel reyes #yandere gabriel reyes #dark!gabriel reyes #yandere!gabriel reyes #gabriel reyes x reader #reaper x reader

[whypolar]

Gundam Unicorn OVA 5: The Black Unicorn

This is the first time watching one of these where I came out of it unambiguously preferring the novel. I guess it's only fair, after OVA 4 was such an improvement on the source material.

There's nothing particularly objectionable about it, to be clear. It just didn't meet the high expectations the previous episodes had given me. I'd been very impressed by how they never left me disappointed when the credits rolled, and it's a shame to lose that streak.

This was probably inevitable. Unless the narrative is deliberately on a small scale— think War in the Pocket— I tend to prefer my Gundam in a longer format. Seven film-length OVAs were never going to be able to cover everything I would want.

It's hard holding off on researching the production until I finish all the episodes. I'm so curious about what limitations they were working under and the motivations behind various choices.

As always, novel excerpts in this post have been sourced from the English fan translation hosted on Baka-Tsuki, with my own (clearly marked) edits to smooth out grammar or correct any particularly obvious deviations from the Japanese text.

The fan translation is very rough, and I'm not any kind of expert. If you're interested in any of the quotes, I encourage you to do your own research and look at the original text!

(Previous posts: Day of the Unicorn, The Second Coming of Char, The Ghost of Laplace, At the Bottom of the Gravity Well)

Surprisingly, a significant part of what I found disappointing was the visuals. The production values up to this point have been incredibly high, so it just feels wrong for such an intense battle from the book to get scaled back.

Some of this is just a consequence of moving the attack on Torrington to Loni's episode, but not all of it. The fights on the Garuda could easily have played out more like they did in the novel, and it would have helped a lot.

Cool stuff still happens on screen— mobile suits are jumping around in the sky! The Banshee has big crazy claws!— but it's all very sterile in comparison to the original text, which is relentless and chaotic in its violence.

I'm not just complaining about missing out on eye candy; I genuinely think this stuff is important for the themes. The destruction reflects the emotional stakes of what's happening for the characters.

I wish brainwashed Marida had actually killed some people during her big dramatic episode.

A Change in Premise: Who Planned What?

Here's how the OVA plays out: Bright sets up everything beforehand. He makes sure both the Nahel Argama and the Garancieres know the plan and agree to it, and he gives Banagher direct instructions. While there are some unexpected complications, everything ultimately goes according to plan.

The situation in the novel is very different, in that it's a clusterfuck of many people making decisions on the fly as they learn new information. The different groups who ultimately end up working together have very little contact with each other before the attack begins.

This is the setup:

Zinnerman plans the attack on the Ra Cailum at Torrington, with the goal of rescuing Banagher and retrieving the Unicorn. He does not know Mineva is there.

Banagher knows that Mineva is on the Garuda and that Marida is piloting the Banshee. He does not know Zinnerman's team is coming to rescue him. He has a positive opinion of Captain Bright after their conversation in his cell, but does not speak to him after that. He refuses to get in the Unicorn to help the Vist Foundation people move it.

Bright is suspicious of the Vist Foundation and unhappy with their behaviour on his ship. Beltorchika gives him some intel on the Box and the conflict surrounding it, to get him caught up to speed with the audience. She also warns him that the Zeon remnants seem to be mobilizing in the area, so he has some advance warning of the attack. He is aware of the Nahel Argama's location.

The Argama is sitting in orbit, doing nothing. The entire crew is bored and anxious.

Zinnerman only learns where Mineva is after meeting up with Banagher, at which point he has to change the plan on the fly to include rescuing her and Marida. Bright only decides to contact the Argama and tell them to rendezvous with the Garancieres after the fight has already begun. He is not able to tell Banagher or Zinnerman. They learn about Bright's plan for the first time at the literal last minute, when the Argama appears to pick them up.

Zinnerman and his crew see a Federation ship approaching and assume they're being captured, even after being hailed and told otherwise. Ultimately, Banagher and Mineva convince them to stop fleeing and go along with the plan.

The new conceit for the anime is fine. I think the changes they made are clever as a way to streamline events, and I can appreciate that. They clearly put a lot of thought into how the original narrative is structured, and how some plot elements need to move to compensate for the removal of others.

It was probably necessary to fit with the time they were given. I just don't like it as much as the original, unfortunately.

I thought everyone coming together in an environment of total chaos was more interesting than a flawlessly executed plan. Characters had to choose whether or not to trust each other in the heat of the moment, with limited information. In comparison, this new version feels artificially clean.

I also just liked that Zinnerman cared enough about Banagher to rally these scattered Zeon remnant forces for a big battle, with no instruction of any kind from Frontal. He's part of the crew now. 🥺

We lose some specific action moments during the battle— not even counting any of the Torrington stuff that was in the last one instead:

Novel Banagher lays down in front of a truck and lets it drive over him during his escape attempt, before he even knows Zinnerman is coming to get him. Alberto tells his guards they're allowed to shoot Banagher when he's running away so long as he survives, yeesh— the book definitely has more human-scale gunfighting generally. Riddhe actually attacks Banagher, giving us a Delta Plus vs. Unicorn fight.

The consequence of moving Torrington that I care about most is that it means Marida didn't get to participate, so she only really gets to fight Banagher. Seeing her actually killing Zeon soldiers who should have been her comrades did a lot to emphasize both the threat she poses and the effectiveness of her reconditioning.

Reunited, Apart

The OVA opens with the Banshee getting the drop on Riddhe and Banagher. It plays out pretty much like the end of novel 6, barring accommodations for the change in setting.

It may be short, but I really like the visuals of this fight. It's fun watching the Delta Plus schmoove about, and I love the lighting at the end.

They kept Riddhe telling Banagher to run here, which was a pleasant surprise. His characterization in the first half of this episode feels significantly more recognizable than like... literally anything else we've seen from him up to this point.

After the fight, we're treated to a sequence of Banagher waking up in the cockpit of the Unicorn and gradually trying to get his bearings. I think it's a really cool framing, and it's another one that's wholly unique to the anime.

A lot of minor dialogue we hear directly in the book is instead silent and left to implication through body language. The meaning is still conveyed very clearly. I thought it was neat.

One example: we get to hear some of what's said to Banagher during the interrogation in the novel. The interrogator is clearly trying to scare him. He claims to be an ex-Titan who got kicked out for torturing too many suspects to death. It's not necessarily notable, just 'flavour'. The silent video feed we see in the OVA gives us the same general information.

The more important part of this scene, which we actually lose, is that Alberto sends the interrogator away so that he can speak with Banagher personally.

Most of the conversation is about their father. Alberto tells Banagher that Cardeas must have enhanced him as a child, making Banagher a Cyber-Newtype. Banagher strongly denies this, but hearing it does plant a seed of anxiety in him going forward:

“You’re really amazing. You have a strong will, [guts], and even the sense [to pilot] the “Unicorn” ... It seems that the Laplace Program’s data can’t be extracted without your neurowaves. Even if we tie you down to the cockpit, nobody else can read the data as long as you don’t agree. When did you learn how to operate it like that?” Banagher [wasn't sure himself]. When Alberto barged into the cockpit, his [immediate] thought was to [make it disappear], [it wasn't something he did by understanding the system]. “Seriously, you’re made too perfectly.” Alberto sighed as he put his elbows on the table. “You [look] like you don’t understand anything, but you’re always in the center of everything. The [situation changes] according to your will; you’re [like] a natural king ... so perfect [it's almost disgusting]. What was unsealed might not be the Laplace Program, but you.” [...] “Don’t you find it weird? You’re too perfect already. As expected of an enhanced human [created by Cardeas.]” “Enhanced…human?” Perhaps you’re the same kind as me.—Marida’s voice, which he heard some time before, suddenly awoke deep within his ears, and he felt goosebumps all over him. “Am I wrong?” Alberto said as his sneer intensified. “When you were in the Vist family, I was in a boarding school, so I don’t know how Cardeas raised you, but…you said before that you don’t have any memories of that time, right?”

Alberto's resentments are obvious. His feelings of inferiority to both Cardeas and Banagher are a major part of his character. The OVA hasn't really shown that side of him at all so far, instead presenting him more straightforwardly as bumbling comic relief.

(Remember, the last time these two spoke Alberto told Banagher that his entire existence is a curse and then tried to kill him. Really, they're both being remarkably civil.)

The family relationships in the OVA are generally less developed than they were in the novels, and I really wish that wasn't the case. The anime cares about family ties, unquestionably— we just had Loni's entire arc about that— but the actual intra-family dynamics between characters are less complicated and less interesting. I think that's a huge loss.

Unicorn is very much about family. The entire conceit hinges on it. The Vist Foundation and Laplace's Box are a pretty substantial bit of retroactive lore to add to the UC timeline, and the reason I'm content to buy into it is that the story does stuff with it, and clearly has things it wants to say. Again, the anime still explores those same themes, but the loss of detail and specificity makes the Vist and the Marcenas families feel more like nebulous plot devices than real groups of people, and I dislike that.

This conversation with Alberto also tells us more about the ideology behind the Box:

“What’s the so called “Laplace Box”? It’s an order. The world’s rules can [be maintained by belief] in this [hidden] “Box”. It’s like a common delusion, an existence that guards people from their selfishness. Once we lose it, the Vist Foundation will not be the only thing that can’t continue. The gears running the world up till now will lose control [as well]. The Dakar incident was [proof] of [that]. If Cardeas never [tried to open] the “Box”, that incident would never have happened. After the chaos of the One Year War, we [have learned] how to control war.” The shadow formed by the lamp caused the slightly arched back to look heinous. That’s the back of someone scared of something. [...] “[...] There is an instinct to fight within humans; as long as society continues to rely on the differences in hierarchy, wars will never disappear from the world. ... Gears to drive the economy, a catharsis that can purge the instinct to fight; without these two factors, humans will continue to start full-scale [wars]. This is a symptom of ill-management of humanity, and it’s impossible to cure [the disease]. We can only think of ways to live with our bad habits.”

The translation combines some sentences in that last paragraph in a way I'm almost certain is incorrect, but I'm not confident in my ability to render it more accurately. Sorry.

The gist is that by carefully managing tensions and allowing occasional smaller-scale conflicts, total annihilation can be avoided. The Box is a tool for this purpose.

Alberto is arguing that the Vist Foundation's goals are a moral imperative, not merely motivated by greed. I cut the paragraph where it comes up, but Banagher gets the impression that he's also trying to convince himself.

Banagher changes the subject to ask about Marida, which catches Alberto off guard. He dodges the question, telling Banagher he should be worrying about himself.

Banagher verbally reiterates his ideals, making it clear that abandoning them is not an option. He names all the people who're counting on him. There's a precursor to his conversation with Bright, where he thinks about the helplessness of the individual and the strength that comes from relationships and connection.

Alberto dismisses Banagher's conviction as Cyber-Newtype brainwashing— and it's clear that the idea had also occurred to Banagher. There's a discomfort taking root about the nature of identity, the self, and the way human beings are inherently shaped (and sometimes deliberately manipulated) by others. Connection with other people is vital, but also frightening.

My final note on this conversation: Banagher and Alberto both frequently describe each other as looking or acting like their father. They usually only compare themselves to him in the context of difference, generally with the subtext that these differences are something that makes them insufficient. Ouch.

There are more differences during this period of captivity. For one thing, Mineva is held on the Ra Cailum before they move her to the Garuda. There's a 'so close yet so far' dynamic where our three protagonists are finally all in the same location again, and they all know it, yet they are totally isolated from one another.

Banagher and Riddhe both get scenes where they chase after Mineva, and in both cases Marida intervenes and prevents their meeting. She almost chokes Banagher out, it's very dramatic.

Banagher and Riddhe manage to meet very briefly. They don't get the opportunity to talk for long; the scene takes place when Banagher has just escaped his room and is being chased by Vist Foundation goons. Riddhe deliberately creates a distraction to allow Banagher to pursue Mineva.

Compare this passage to the closest anime equivalent, where Banagher calls out to Riddhe and Riddhe just turns and walks away:

He ... turned right, and nearly knocked into someone else running [toward him]. “You’re…!” The young man dodged behind to avoid a head-on collision, and widened his eyes. “Mr Riddhe…” Banagher muttered, but the pursuers’ footsteps caused him to look back again. He immediately grabbed Riddhe’s uniform and pulled him over, “Ensign Riddhe. Audrey’s on this ship now. The Vist Foundation wants to use her as a hostage.” “Hostage…!?” Riddhe gasped, and lifted his [chin]. “Wait!” “Oi, get that guy!” the yells came from the corridor behind Banagher, and he gave a pleading stare at Riddhe. It’s all on you. If it’s you, you’ll definitely be able to understand. Banagher had relied on Riddhe when their mobile suits interacted with each [other. He] looked at [Riddhe's face and saw him gritting] his teeth. Riddhe lowered his brown eyes, and [turned away with] a bitter expression. “…Go,” he muttered with a barely audible voice, and took the fire extinguisher installed on the wall. “The mobile suit deck’s straight ahead. Hurry.” Riddhe informed Banagher, who did not have the time to thank [him] as he darted forward. The sound of the fire extinguisher being sprayed [overlapped with] the pursuers’ [approaching] footsteps. "Hurry up!" echoed down the hallway, breaking through the agitated voices of the guards. ...

I don't mind the anime scene, and I actually think it's still well within the bounds of things the original Riddhe could plausibly do. It's just another example of him clearly playing a different role in the adaptation than the original text.

Returning Characters and Cameos

The Bright-centric scene that I consider most thematically important is his talk with Banagher, which is essentially the same in both versions. The only real difference is that the novel shows the audience Banagher's internal thoughts, many of which are about things that aren't in the anime anyway (such as his conversation with Alberto, and specifically Alberto's claim that Banagher must be a Cyber Newtype).

I like this scene, and being unchanged means I don't have much to say about it. It was nice.

I'll be honest: I wish Bright was in this episode less. Making him the mastermind behind everything that goes down inflates his individual importance— and screentime— relative to other characters.

The bit where he came back and talked to Banagher a second time to tell him the plan was the tipping point for me, I think. I was sitting there thinking 'Again? Fucking again?'

I just don't think it's a good use of time, and it rubbed me the wrong way in the context of how much other stuff I thought was important didn't make the cut.

I love Bright— and when I want to see him, there are three other tv shows and a movie I can go rewatch to do just that. When time is clearly extremely limited, I think the priority should be developing the characters that originated in Unicorn.

Bright's scene with Beltorchika is quite different. Aside from her giving different information due to changes in premise, the conversation is very streamlined. I'm fine with it, but it does make her presence kind of... perfunctory?

The information Beltorchika provides is necessary for plot progression in both versions, but the actual character interactions that made it matter that she's the one delivering it have been removed in the anime.

Bright contacts Luio & Co. by private mail with the recipient listed as Hayato Kobayashi, seeking more information about the Box. Later, Beltorchika is the one who responds to deliver the results of the investigation, stating that she is acting in lieu of Stephanie.

Bright was not expecting her. While he obviously knows who she is, this is the first time they've actually met.

Instead of telling him about the General Revil, she warns him about the movements of the Zeon remnants and the possibility of an attack on Torrington base and the Ra Cailum. She makes it clear that she's telling him this unofficially, and not on behalf of Luio & Co.

The novel version of this scene is very much about the Amuro-shaped void in the room.

Beltorchika used her hand to tidy her blond hair that was cut short and gave a somewhat stiff smile. (Because of my relations with [Karaba], senior manager Stephanie has been taking care of me, and Mr Kai Shiden would often come by too.) “Oh…it sounds like there’s quite a few people both you and I [know]."

[...]

The reason why both sides could not show their honest smiles was probably because of the huge hollow they saw in each other, the man called Amuro Ray.

[...]

“What happened to Lieutenant Amuro was a pity.” ... This insensitive line would touch upon a person’s old wounds, but Bright believed if [it caused] Beltorchika to waver, he could be certain that it was best not to trust in her abilities. He realized that he was doing something cruel as he hid his sense of guilt ... with a nonchalant look. Beltorchika herself merely [looked him over carefully], then chuckled. (It’s Commander Amuro, right?) [...] “Ah, you’re right. Sorry.” (You don’t have to think for my sake. We used to be deeply in love with each other, and then we broke up. I heard he died in battle during “Char’s Counterattack”, and I was depressed for a while…but his body wasn’t discovered, right?) “Yes…” (Isn’t him being MIA after the battle against his arch-nemesis Char a suitable ending for a romantic like him? Up till now, I sometimes feel that he should be alive, somewhere. Even if we lose the shell of the human called Amuro, I do feel that his heart has merged with space…) Beltorchika looked like she was staring in the distance as she narrowed her eyes, and Bright felt that these words of her were not forced. The brat who’s always crying about on “White Base” had become a man who made a woman show this expression? Bright was suddenly overcome by grief as he too looked afar, and Beltorchika chuckled, saying, (You’re just like what Amuro said, always worrying.) ...

She also makes him feel old after he starts lamenting about how he thinks the world is getting worse because nobody believes in anything anymore.

(I do understand what you mean, but I can’t accept this way of thinking. Your words seem to imply that it’s alright to start wars as long as we have our own ideals.) On hearing this direct refute, he felt that someone just poked him in the head. (I’m sorry. I’m someone who speaks too much. Amuro used to remind me of this habit I have.) Beltorchika said, but the glance she shot through the monitor showed that she had no intent of retracting her words. Bright was shocked that he was unabashed in beautifying the past and criticizing the present, and that perhaps was the proof that he was advanced in age. “No, I was insensitive in my choice of words. My wife often reproves me regarding this too.”

lol

While he is briefly name-dropped by Beltorchika, Kai does not appear in the seventh novel, and he has no contact with the Garancieres. His big scene is in Volume 8, where he speaks to Ronan Marcenas. It's fairly substantial.

It begins with Kai arriving in Dakar, giving us a look at how things are on the ground in the aftermath of the attack. It's a nice, evocative bit of scene-setting. He sees the remains of the Shamblo being disassembled, still lying in the street. The destruction is so severe that it looks like areas the Shamblo passed through have been carpet bombed. Emergency rescue and clean-up teams are still searching for survivors buried under the rubble. Armed soldiers and mobile suits have a strong presence.

The Shamblo never made it to Parliament, but the building still sustained some indirect damage from tremors during the attack. Repair crews are present, coming and going while everyone else still works in the slightly fucked up building as usual. The phones are ringing off the hooks.

When Kai arrives, he is greeted by Patrick Marcenas (Cynthia's husband / Riddhe's brother-in-law).

Patrick is a fan of Kai as a member of the White Base and seems a little star-struck. He gets embarrassed when Kai wryly tells him not to believe everything he reads.

In his office, Ronan is watching a televised speech by Monaghan Bakharo, the Defense Minister of the Zeon Republic. Bakharo denounces the attack on Dakar and denies all involvement or association with Neo Zeon / Sleeves.

I'm not sure how the tone is meant to read in Japanese, but as rendered in English it comes off very insincere and backhanded. Like, he's denouncing Zeon's past misdeeds, but also simultaneously justifying them and complaining that it's unfair that everyone is still being mean about it.

Kai arrives during this. Ronan gives some political commentary, basically saying that Bakharo is full of shit, then turns off the tv so they can have their conversation. He makes it clear that he is offering information.

Kai acts politely disinterested until Ronan asks if he has heard of Laplace's Box, which manages to shake his composure. He doesn't know much, but he has heard rumours. One of his reporter acquaintances seemingly disappeared after attempting to publish a series of articles on the subject, and the magazine that published the first piece went out of business soon after.

Ronan says he has evidence that the Vist Foundation is interfering with the Senate Council. He explains their goal of preventing the release of the Box, and the connection between the Box and recent battles with Neo Zeon.

He offers to provide Kai with a list of Senate Council members involved with the Foundation. He assures Kai that he will do everything in his power to ensure Kai's personal safety.

Kai is keenly aware that Ronan isn't whistleblowing for principled reasons, but rather wants to use Kai's platform for his own benefit. Ronan tries to appeal to Kai's hatred of Zeon, and emphasizes the importance of ensuring stability and safety to prevent it rising again.

Ultimately, Kai is not interested in being used as a politician's propaganda tool, and he doesn't have much respect for Ronan. He tells Ronan that he researched his career beore he arrived, and proceeds to give him a scathing review— the gist being that Ronan was a left-liberal politician who flirted with big, radical ideas, then moved right over time after being elected.

When he goes to leave, Ronan namedrops Bright as a last-ditch effort, with an offer somewhere in the territory between a bribe and threat (basically, 'I can help him keep his position as Commander now that he's involved with the Box and causing trouble... but only if we root out the conspirators with the Foundation in the Senate.')

Kai is pissed. He tells Ronan that he's shameless and pathetic, and that this is probably why Riddhe ran away from home. Jesus, Kai, were you just keeping that one in your back pocket in case you needed to bully him?

Ronan is too stunned to respond, so Kai gets the last word. The scene ends with Ronan looking at a photo of Riddhe on the wall. It's not the one we see in the anime, but one that feels a little more sinister:

There was his wife, narrowing her eyes [as if to say] that the sunlight in Africa was too strong, Cynthia, who was in the vibrancy of her youth, and Riddhe, who was less than 10 years old. As Ronan stood there, unable to show a sincere smile once he started to understand the rule that this world could not change, Riddhe was showing a weird stiff smile beside him. At that time, he would mimic Ronan’s own actions which he somehow saw, and was often reprimanded by his mother. In fact, Riddhe, who seemed to be giving an adult-manufactured smile, looked just as pitiful as Ronan was. Right, that child understood. Ronan looked at the door and imagined Kai’s back on it, telling himself the words he could not say out. That child understood everything and accepted the destiny of the Marcenas family. I let that child bear the burden of the “Box”. I wanted to change everything in this generation, but I couldn’t do anything, and added the burden of my father and grandfather upon him. Ever since the battle of Torrington, there was no news of Riddhe. His “Delta Plus” was reclaimed safely, so he probably was not hurt. This news alone was enough for Ronan. No matter where Riddhe was, no matter what happened to him, he would not betray the Marcenas’ destiny. Even though others could not understand, he could firmly believe so.

Kai appears again very briefly in Novel 10, when he calls Bright and tells him about his conversation with Ronan.

Martha and Mineva: Negotiation

This line is important. Banagher thinks the same thing almost word for word about Frontal later. People generally seem very aware of how referential Unicorn is to previous Gundam media, but sometimes I wonder if it's obvious to anime-only watchers just how referential it is within itself? The whole narrative is a funhouse hall of mirrors. Everyone is always reflecting at least one other person, and usually more. Characters bleed into each other in other characters' perceptions, both implicitly and explicitly. I say Frontal is my favourite, because he is— but when I think about Unicorn, I'm usually thinking about the ensemble cast as a unit. They're deeply enmeshed. I think this is why the mangling of Riddhe threw me so badly before I had even fully realized that I cared about him and why— if you move one of the mirrors without compensating for it elsewhere, the illusion breaks.

Martha and Mineva's negotiations happen in the novel before they move to the Garuda. The scene takes place on the Ra Cailum, in the unused Commander's room.

One irrelevant but extremely funny detail is that Martha started a feud with Bright over her accommodations, because she originally wanted to stay in that room specifically:

[The VIP room] was the last arrangement Captain Bright made when Martha demanded to have the commander room. As the commander and captain, Bright was staying inside the captain’s room, and the commander’s room that was often kept empty should be okay for anyone’s use, but this was a serious problem to the military. The disputes between Martha and Bright had been becoming a common scene to the crew, but it could be said that this room was the start of the dispute between the two.

I'm not sure if this was meant to be implied in the anime or not, but Mineva is on a hunger strike and refuses to eat or drink anything but water while being held captive, so she's quite physically weak during this scene.

Martha tries harder to be "friendly" in the novel. She's playing fake nice in the anime, obviously, but there's a professional distance there. Novel Martha gets up in Mineva's space— whispering in her ear, putting an arm around her shoulder, saying some truly bizarre shit about wombs... the vibes of this conversation are rancid either way, but the over-familiarity is a slightly different genre of red flag.

I think these are good changes, especially since they've already changed the tone of Martha's character by choosing to omit her sexual abuse of Alberto. The original characterization might feel incongruent with New Martha, leaving aside all question of whether or not the way she was originally written was "good".

God, I still really love reading most of Martha's novel scenes, so long as she isn't directly alone in the same room as Alberto. She has just the right mix of traits for a petty, 'shit-stirrer' antagonist that I love to watch bounce off other people: highly perceptive but still unable to truly understand other people; deeply angry about being wronged but perfectly happy to take advantage of others; carefully manicured and put together until suddenly she's not.

She's a creep. She's morally repulsive. She's mean, and she knows exactly how to pinpoint a person's vulnerabilities, but she's also constantly letting her own bizarre preoccupations bleed into the conversation.

The way she's written and described is, unfortunately, almost always some level of misogynist in its framing— and her bizarre preoccupations as a person are arguably also Fukui's bizarre preoccupations as an author.

And yet.

Later, after Martha leaves, the OVA shows us a flashback of a champagne glass breaking, and we hear Martha chastising Mineva for rejecting her proposal. The implication is that Martha's facade eventually shattered, and she threw the glass in a fit of rage. The novel shows us this directly.

This means we get to hear the specific thing Mineva said that got under Martha's skin, which is, uh... maybe it's easier to just show you.

Martha is doing her spiel about the innate biological superiority of women and the importance of The Womb, and then we get this exchange:

“Miss Martha, do you have children?” The interrupting voice caused Martha’s fingers, resting on Mineva’s shoulder, to tremble. “Two of them. why?” Upon hearing the stiff tone, Mineva felt the reason by the chill in her heart, “Are they the children you bore?” she started to ask with a personal tone. “…What do you mean?” “I don’t understand what kind of person my mother is, and that’s because she [died] before I could remember. However, [I still remember the way she felt]. [A woman who has become a mother, or who has the qualities to become one,] will give off that sort of gentle presence. I can’t sense that maternal presence from you.” Martha’s expression immediately changed as she stumbled backwards. Mineva saw the suit that showed the other woman’s bodyline, realized that she obviously put in her utmost effort to maintain her skin so as to prevent people from realizing her age, ... [This woman played the role of] a clever tactician, [but there was something childish about her]. Her girlish ideals and grudges had [festered, rotting down to the root], and [she seemed to have] lost something as she [grew older]. She talked of her knowledge of humans, but she never understood people, and did not intend to understand them. Martha was a hypocrite of a reformer. Mineva stood up and looked in front, feeling that there was no need for her to be afraid. Martha wanted to maintain [her] footing, but could not do so, and stumbled backwards again as Mineva glared at her with her clearly hostile eyes. “You denied the logic of men, and yet used that to conquer Marida. It’s possible if you explained that it was the ruthlessness of women at work, but you’re acting just like a man when you’re using that excuse to rationalize your knowledge. You’re not the kind of woman you say. Of course, you’re not a man. You’re just using the tone of a man to exercise the cruelty of a woman, a conman who uses whatever indecent weapons—” Something grazed past Mineva’s face before she could finish, and a sharp sound glided past the sky as it entered her ears. The shrill sound of the glass breaking rang from behind, and the Foundation subordinates in black charged into the room, perhaps because they realized that there was something amiss in the situation. Mineva stared at Martha, not moving at all, ...

...There's a lot going on here.

I've gone back and forth on whether the implication is just that Martha is unwilling to actually go through the difficulties of pregnancy despite her posturing, or if we're supposed to assume her reaction implies some kind of complex about infertility.

I feel like the former makes more immediate sense and is the less weird option of the two, but the latter would have some interesting implications on a character level, in that it could be a reason for her to genuinely see herself in Marida.

Even if that were the case, it would be a false understanding. Martha considers the projection of her own desires onto Marida more important than Marida's actual personhood.

One last thing I want to mention is that the original version of Martha is extremely angry and resentful.

It was too cold to call them martyrs, the Zeon soldier that disappeared in the explosion, and Marida, who was mind-controlled to kill her comrade— “How impressive.” Martha, who unknowingly got behind her, had the color of fire reflected in her eyes [...] “The self-satisfaction men have will all—be severed by her sword.” Martha clenched her hand that was pressing against the window, seemingly wanting to [crush] something in her hand. At that moment, Mineva had a feeling that it was this vengeance that was driving Martha, and the rage within Marida’s heart was driven by this poison, ...

If anime Martha is meant to be bitter and vengeful like this, then she's much better at hiding it. Her greed and ambition are central, and whatever sincere emotion or vulnerability she might theoretically have is entirely concealed from us.

The Riddhe Section

As I've said previously: in the first half of this episode, Riddhe feels more like himself (and generally more interesting to me) than he did in the first four. Then, around the 30 minute mark, he has a single line of dialogue that implies a dramatically different ideological viewpoint and motivation. It's honestly kind of fascinating.

I'm not mad about it. At this point, I've resigned myself to the fact I'm dealing with a different character. I'm just surprised, and wondering about the reasoning behind the choice— they pretty much completely inverted the nature of Riddhe's hostility to Newtypes.

The breakdown Riddhe has after Mineva's jump from the Garuda is also different from its novel counterpart. I actually enjoyed it a lot, mostly because it's fucking silly. A character who is unhinged in a way that makes me laugh is an improvement over one who vacillates between being boring and making me angry.

Novel Riddhe doesn't necessarily have a clear over-the-top moment where he 'snaps' like this after Mineva's rejection. His instability becomes obvious long before this point, but he doesn't go violently out of control like this until the climax of his arc. It's a gradual but inescapable downward spiral, with fewer dramatic hard drops.

Riddhe, Alberto, and Marida

The Alberto-Marida-Riddhe dynamic is fascinating in the book, and there's much less of it in the anime. This scene here is still an important one for Riddhe, though.

The novel equivalent is told from Alberto's perspective, and it opens with him talking to Marida before Riddhe appears. It also happens a bit later than it does in the anime, after Banagher has already been interrogated and had his first escape attempt.

Since running into Banagher, Marida has been having a harder time connecting with the Banshee. Her physical symptoms have worsened, with more frequent headaches. Alberto is worried about her, and tries to tell her not to push herself too hard. The moment has a very different tone than the anime version, which mostly seemed to be played for laughs.

Novel Alberto is deeply disturbed and upset by Marida's blankness. There's a callback to an incredibly vile innuendo from Martha about "playing with dolls," and remembering it upsets him so much he yells at Marida, trying to make her understand the seriousness of what he's saying. She just responds with flat, uncomprehending obedience.

Riddhe enters, interrupting Alberto's one-sided argument. His reaction to Marida is interesting.

“It confounds me to think that this lady here is a Cyber-Newtype.” Riddhe said as he frowned and approached Alberto. Since when has that guy been standing there watching? Alberto resisted the urge to click his tongue and turned to face Riddhe, ostensibly trying to block Marida’s sights. “She’s most likely a kidnapped orphan, am I right? Does the Vist Foundation deal with human trafficking too?”

Riddhe asks to see Mineva, then Banagher when this is denied. This is when Alberto tells Riddhe that Banagher is his half-brother. He's deliberately trying to break Riddhe and Banagher's friendship, because he knows Riddhe tried to help Banagher escape.

Riddhe's reaction is more outwardly dramatic than in the OVA. He crumples, bracing himself against the wall so he doesn't collapse— he wasn't thrown by Marida, so he's still standing— and then starts laughing bitterly and saying cryptic things about the history of the Vist Foundation.

I think this would feel very weird and out of place in the context of the anime, so it's good they cut it, but I did like it as a scene in the book. It makes for a nice little chapter cliffhanger, where Alberto realizes that Riddhe seems to know what's in the Box.

Later, Riddhe meets Marida and Alberto a second time.

The scene takes place in the hangar bay while the Unicorn is being moved. As he watches, Riddhe thinks about Banagher— until he catches sight of Mineva, who is also being transported. Riddhe calls out and attempts to go to her, but Alberto and Marida get in his way.

The white frame of the “Unicorn” was lifted by the two “Jestas” and laid down horizontally on the trailer, [...] Unlike the “Banshee” that was moving into the “Medea” on its own, the “Unicorn” was dragged over by the trailer, and the reason for this was due to the only pilot, Banagher, refusing to work with the Vist Foundation. That’s his style alright… he thought, but [he] felt Alberto’s words appear in his mind again, and bit his lips [alone] in the [cockpit.] His rational side was telling himself that there was no reason for him to feel angry, but he could not [help but feel] cheated, and [an uncontrollable frustration] continued to swirl in his heart. That guy [seemed like an ordinary person who] simply got involved in this [by chance]—no, there was already an [unsual feeling] about him right from the beginning. If he really has the Vist bloodline, I can only describe my two battles alongside him as ironic. He’s supposed to belong to the other side, but I got fooled by him saying ‘you’re a man of your word’, and ended up [learning the truth about] my cursed family. I’m like a clown performing ...

[...]

... just when he wanted to shake [this] thought from his mind and [refocus] on the inspection, a [flash of] familiar chestnut-colored hair appeared in the corner of his [vision,] and he felt his [heart that had been pounding suddenly go] silent.

[...]

... Riddhe got down to the deck and yelled, “IT’S ME, AUDREY!” as he leapt off the gondola. Mineva’s eyes widened as she looked back, and she [tried] to break away from the ranks, [but she was] restrained by the subordinates in black suits. Riddhe [ignored] Martha’s piercing stare ... as he continued to dash down the mobile suit deck.

[...]

[Just] when Riddhe was about to see [Mineva's] face, [Alberto interrupted.] “How troublesome”, [he] said as he [stepped in front]. “I should have told you that you’re not to see her, Ensign Riddhe.”

I love this whole section, even through the garbled grammar. It hurt me to trim it down, but I can't justify all that text.

Alberto and Riddhe argue. Marida steps between them when Riddhe gets too close. He tries to push her out of his way, but she dodges and throws him to the ground. When he gets up and fights back, she starts trying to choke him like she did to Banagher earlier. However, the fight ends abruptly when something triggers one of Marida's headaches, and she collapses in pain.

Alberto rushes over to Marida's side and orders his subordinates to fetch Bentner, the Cyber-Newtype researcher who facilitated Marida's reconditioning. Alberto clearly wants to help her, but his only solution is asserting control and further reinforcing her brainwashing. He soothes Marida by walking her through her 'Gundam is the enemy' mantra. Riddhe is still there, watching this happen and getting increasingly creeped out.

It's heavily implied that what Marida is actually reacting to is Zinnerman's approach. The scene ends with an alarm going off, as the Neo Zeon attack finally begins.

Unlike the reader, Riddhe doesn't know what's happening yet— but he has a bad gut feeling. When the alarm rings, he books it straight for the Delta Plus, without even bothering to wait for Bright's announcement.

Newtypes, Cyber and Otherwise

Let's back up for a moment and get some more context on Riddhe and Marida, since what he thinks of her is relevant to his later interactions with both Banagher and Mineva.

What does Riddhe know about Cyber-Newtypes? Not necessarily a whole lot. He's heard what the crew of the Ra Cailum think, though, and their perception seems to be that getting enhanced may as well be a lobotomy.

“Cyber-Newtypes…” Daryl’s face suddenly turned pale as he muttered this. “With those guys from the Newtype research institute around, I guess you’re right.” “You mean that if we end up becoming this thing’s pilot, we might end up being enhanced…?” Watts whispered as he looked at the back of the pilot who disappeared behind the cockpit hatch. There was already a rumor amongst pilots that a Cyber-Newtype was a synonym of being a vegetable. Then what about Banagher? Riddhe pondered, and then shook off this question without an answer ...

This is Riddhe's starting point, before he ever interacts with Marida. It's a bad first impression, and it doesn't get better.

His narration compares her to a guard dog. He calls her a puppet. When he recognizes her as a person, it's generally in the context of a person who is being or has already been destroyed— a kidnapped orphan; a brief flash of emotion in the eyes that fades to nothing. Empathy is overridden by disgust for what was done to her.

Riddhe doesn't know much about Cyber-Newtypes, but he thinks the decision to make them was morally repulsive.

So, what about "natural" Newtypes?

Trick question.

Novel Riddhe doesn't think Newtypes are real.

He has an entire back and forth with Banagher about how fake they are. You can imagine my surprise when "the revelation that Newtypes really exist" came out of his mouth in the anime.

"Newtype" as a word has a lot of historical and political baggage in-universe. It refers to multiple different concepts that are loosely related but not identical, and they're often conflated.

Do you remember the first episode, when Banagher is in class? This is what we hear of the lecture:

They claim to desire autonomy for the Spacenoids, but at their heart you will still find the same ideas of the inherent superiority of the chosen elite found in the philosophy of Gihren Zabi. The concept of Zeonism proposed by Zeon Deikun, the so-called 'Newtype' ideology, was a dangerous belief that ultimately produced rebellious elements such as these.

This is Riddhe's position— Newtypes are just Zeon's equivalent of the Nazi Übermensch. It's an ideological concept, and only real insofar as humans have made it so through enhancement.

He isn't disturbed by the Box because he considers it proof of Newtypes being real; he's disturbed by it as a propaganda tool for Neo Zeon that would strengthen belief in a harmful myth.

Riddhe is terrified of Zeon. It doesn't matter if he's sympathetic to spacenoid rights and disdainful of his father's politics; Zeon is still the greater evil. He's able to make an exception for Mineva because she's acting against her own government on moral grounds, and her words moved him.

That's how Riddhe felt at the start of the series, when he still had an optimistic outlook. He's been thoroughly disillusioned by this point, and just recently spent half a novel watching people die at ground zero of a terrorist attack carried out by Neo Zeon.

This is how Riddhe describes Newtypes during his confrontation with Banagher:

(Zeon is the tumor born from twisted idealism of the Space Migration Issues. This Newtype thinking is just a fantasy they have, and a virus that divided humanity into two after humanity nearly united. If we don’t eradicate them, there won’t be peace…!)

"A fantasy." Not a real phenomenon.

It makes sense that Riddhe would think it's bullshit. We can assume this was probably also true in the anime at first, even if his political beliefs are less developed— we've already established that Newtypes being fake is a mainstream position that gets taught in schools.

The point of divergence is that OVA Riddhe is apparently convinced that Newtypes are real when he learns the truth about the contents of Laplace's Box.

... Why, exactly? Did Ronan tell him that's what it means? Did he come to that conclusion on his own?

I know characters can be fallible and believe things that are wrong, but I literally already know what the Box is, and it doesn't prove anything about Newtypes. Riddhe already has vested emotional interest in them being a myth, so it seems strange to me that he would change his mind without undeniable evidence.

It could be they were trying to make his motivation simpler, so that he wouldn't have to spend time explaining it? The concept of Earth society and "Oldtypes" feeling threatened by the emergence of "Newtypes" has already been raised by other characters, so the writers might have felt it would be self-explanatory.

It strikes me as a dubious choice from a storytelling perspective, even if they don't care about making Riddhe look a bit dim. Sure, we've already seen other characters speculate about the Box, but Riddhe is the first character who we know is aware of the contents to make a specific claim about what's in there. The audience is reasonably going to assume what he's saying is accurate, and I think setting up that kind of false expectation is a mistake.

I've always assumed learning about the contents of the Box is intentionally meant to be a bit underwhelming for the audience, because the ossified political structures around it were more important and dangerous than the thing itself. I just think this particular implication feels more like a bait-and-switch that could lead to disappointment, rather than realization. I dunno.

Anyway: Riddhe hates Zeon. Riddhe is traumatized after Neo Zeon's attack on Dakar. Now Neo Zeon is attacking again— and Banagher is co-operating with them.

(Banagher! Have you really become a Neo Zeon member…!?) The solid anger pierced through the armor of the machine and came right at Banagher. It was a stubborn will that was overly stiff, one that felt impossible to communicate it. ... [Banagher] could sense all warmth of the human called Riddhe disappear as he pulled the control stick in the moment of extreme stress. ... Now’s not the time for this. Banagher felt that the distance between both of them was very far, and gritted his teeth anxiously.

[...]

“You’re saying the same things as the people of the Vist Foundation, Ensign Riddhe. You courageously brought Audrey back to Earth, so why…!” (That Riddhe Marcenas is dead.) ... (I don’t have the power to save the world. Even if order is incomplete here, I’ll protect it if there’s no way to [change] it. That way, I can protect Mineva too…!)

[...]

The humanoid that leapt from the barren land instantly transformed into a wave rider and entered the clouds. If I let him go like this, he’ll really become an enemy. Banagher was driven by the anxiety in him, “Mr Riddhe, wait…!” and called out. (Are you alright, Banagher?) however, upon hearing this call from Zinnerman, he looked back at the sky again, and spotted the homebase-shaped machine of the “DO-DAI Kai” approach him.

I cut a lot here, both action and dialogue. I skipped over the parts where he talks about Newtypes and Zeon, since I already quoted them previously.

These are the details I think are most relevant:

Riddhe's belief— and anger— that Banagher has joined Neo Zeon

His loss of faith that the system can meaningfully be changed

His description of his previous self as dead

The official severance of his relationship with Banagher.

I do think what the anime did, having him catch on to what's happening and conclude "they're all working together," was a smart way to spur him into action. It fosters a similar sense of frustration, betrayal, and paranoia.

God, though, he just feels so much less connected to Banagher in the anime. I thought this was one of the more interesting episodes for their relationship, and the most direct interaction they had was Riddhe ignoring Banagher calling out to him and walking away.

After the fight with Banagher, Riddhe immediately heads for the Garuda, where he confronts Martha and Alberto. This scene plays out fairly similarly at first, with a few tweaks.

First: Riddhe pulls a gun on them immediately.

Second: Martha is not at all worried about the idea of killing Ronan Marcenas' son. It would be an easy cover-up. Soldiers die all the time during battles like this, no matter how important their daddies are.

She backs down when Riddhe tells her that he's recording the conversation, and that the Delta Plus would automatically transmit the contents of its black box if it was destroyed.

Third: Riddhe's paranoia about Zeon now extends to Mineva, even if his entire reason for doing this at all is supposedly to keep her safe. He snaps at her about her loyalties when she presses him for information about the box. When she pleads with him further and reminds him why he brought her to Earth in the first place, he reiterates his previous proposal— Join our family. Renounce Zeon. Prove I can trust you. He doesn't seem to actually expect her to agree, and she obviously doesn't.

I'm so glad he didn't do this in the anime, holy shit. I was sure it was coming and dreading it. After how they changed the first proposal scene to be so much more weird and aggressive, it would have pissed me off to hear it again.

Everything else he says during this scene is roughly the same, up until "the revelation that Newtypes really exist." I've already explained that novel Riddhe doesn't believe in Newtypes, but he definitely wouldn't have told Mineva about it right now if he did.

This scene is told from Mineva's perspective, as with most of the scenes with her and Riddhe. We get more insight into how she's feeling. Her actions and dialogue differ from the anime in several ways.

Points of interest:

Mineva still feels the general "Newtype pull" from Riddhe. She has to actively resist just automatically doing what he tells her, even now that his behaviour has changed to become closed off and aggressive.

Mineva is feeling genuinely angry toward Riddhe, which has never been the case until this scene.

Mineva specifically confronts Riddhe about how his idea of protecting her is just keeping her locked away in his family's house while he handles everything himself. He doesn't seem to understand why she needs to talk about this before she's willing to follow him.

Mineva doesn't just slip away during the commotion of Neo Zeon boarding the Garuda— first, she refuses to leave with Riddhe. Then she elbows him in the gut when he isn't expecting it, steals his gun, and tries to use it to get away from Martha and her goons. lol

And the big one, that I really wish had made it into the anime:

Riddhe's lack of empathy for Marida is the reason she ultimately decides not to go with him.

“Let’s go.” Mineva’s shoulder was grabbed unexpectedly, and Riddhe’s face appeared in the direction she was being pulled towards. He forgot to control his strength, and even if it may be caused by anxiety, this caused her to feel a little repulsed. “There’s no reason for you to be here. Come with me.” “But Banagher and Marida are still…” “Marida? Are you referring to that puppet?” Riddhe [said simply.] [Mineva’s body inadvertently tensed up, and at that moment there was] the sound of something breaking ... as the Medea transport carrier, fastened at the rear hatch, tilted drastically.

...

“It’s dangerous here, let’s go!” Mineva saw the growling Riddhe’s face as he grabbed her arm, and instinctively shook his hand away. “Audrey…?” “Ensign Riddhe, I understand your good intentions, but I can’t leave with you now.” Mineva understood very well that Riddhe did not have any malice, but he would choose to abandon Marida like a puppet without care, and that was [not] something the old him would do. This man who used to be so understanding ignored all that he could see in the past because he tried to kill his old self, but even with that factored in, the pull he had was not enough for Mineva to entrust her life to. ... ... If she went with him at this point, [they] would simply fall into the abyss together—no, that was not the reason. Perhaps it was the feminine aspect within her that gave her the instant conclusion [that] this man was not someone she was willing to go down with.

Mineva's Jump

This smile is the first time I felt convinced that OVA Mineva might have ever had a positive thought about Riddhe. That's kind of nuts, given this scene is supposed to be the culmination of her finally deciding that caring about him and believing he has good intentions is not enough. Still, it's... nice that they kept this line? A little humanizing moment for both of them? An actual hint that there was anything positive about this relationship for Mineva?

The way this scene is described in the novel is more harrowing, since we actually witness the moment the Garuda tears and Mineva gets stuck holding onto that steel frame. She's also wearing normal civilian clothes still, not a protective suit. The floor is warped and falling apart, so Riddhe getting over to her is more precarious.

Again the scene is told from Mineva's perspective, so we see her thoughts as she makes her decision.

She can feel the psychoframe resonance from the Unicorn and the Banshee fighting. She concludes that Banagher will definitely be able to hear her thoughts, because he's in a machine specifically designed for that purpose.

She also considers the jump to be a test, to prove to herself that she's following the right path.

I know that this choice [is] illogical, but the hand I want is in that light. Maybe nothing can be done, maybe we’ll just die with regret, but this is a test to me—a test to see whether [someone so small can affect the fate of] the world.

This is what romance is, to me.

After Mineva's jump, all of Riddhe's appearances for the rest of the episode are anime-original. The fixation on the Gundam as an object of hatred is new. They basically made him do the same thing Marida does, with the verbal repetition, which is interesting. I hope they play up that comparison more.

Novel Riddhe resents the Unicorn and the Banshee for their ties to the Box and the Vist Foundation, but he never responds to them with this kind of mindless rage. He actually doesn't get angry at all during the immediate aftermath of Mineva's rejection. Maybe he would have if he'd been left to his own devices long enough, who knows— he gets taken out of the equation fairly quickly.

Riddhe returns to the Delta Plus and begins searching for Mineva, apparently too addled by grief to accept that she would be dead if someone else hadn't already caught her.

Marida shoots him out of the sky, completely unprovoked. She can tell it's a friendly machine and everything, she just gets pissed that it looks too much like a Gundam. lmao

The thick grey streamlined body was looking towards the sea of clouds below it, completely ignoring the “Banshee” as it tilted its head around. The allied machine marker and the name “Delta Plus” were indicated on the enlarged window, but these details did not matter to Ple Twleve. That was because the visor on the main camera was sunk inwards, and the head looked like it had eyes on it; to her, it simply looked like a “Gundam” without the horns. “You’re a “Gundam” too…!?” Ple Twelve [shouted] as she aimed the beam rifle at [the machine.] The “Delta Plus” showed no signs of [dodging, continuing to stare down at] the clouds. The human thoughts inside the machine suddenly entered her head, causing her fingers on the trigger to numb. —Mineva, where did you go? Answer me. Don’t leave me alone, don’t leave me… That thought interfered with Ple Twelve’s consciousness like noise, and she could sense the owner of this thought crying. The pleading ‘voice’ became a discomforting particle bouncing around in her mind, and she felt nauseous as she exerted strength into the trigger. “If you’re just going to weep here, DON’T GET IN MY WAY!!” The beam rifle let out a flash, and the empty Magnum cartridge was ejected from the gun. The beam grazed the “Garuda” wing, brushed right by the engine block, and the right shoulder of the “Delta Plus” was devoured by the light. As it was deflected by the impact and falling, the engine block of the “Garuda” let out flames as it got hit by the scattered particles that exploded, and the large machine lost another support as it tilted heavily.

His suffering makes her angry. Her own empathy is overwhelming and repulsive...

When I first read this, I found it extremely funny, even if it's obviously tragic for the characters. This time around I was able to take it completely seriously, because it will never match the comedy of "Riddhe repeatedly shoots the Banshee with a handgun while chanting 'Gundam' until Marida psychically brain blasts him into unconsciousness."

I like OVA Riddhe so much more now that he's insane. I feel like I'm being stockholm-syndromed into enjoying him.

What caused Riddhe's heel turn?

Even though Riddhe's dialogue about the box is almost identical, it feels like it comes from a different place because of his previous portrayal.

Both versions of the character experience a disillusionment, but the things they've lost faith in are different.

OVA Riddhe's arc feels like he has been forced for the first time to think about what he believes. His sheltered worldview has been shattered, and he has to grapple with that. Because of his position, he naturally reaches for the comfort of the status quo.

Novel Riddhe's arc is about the destruction of the convictions he already had. It's about watching this guy get repeatedly emotionally brutalized until he no longer believes in the possibility of a better world. He's willing to kill himself for societal stability because he thinks that's the best he's ever going to get.

The thing that drags him down is isolation. Mineva and Banagher both go through similar moments of disillusionment, and they both are ultimately pulled out of despair when they are able to reaffirm their beliefs through connection with other people.

Mineva is the one out of the three who holds up the best under pressure, possibly because her childhood demanded she develop that kind of resilience. A friendly guy in a diner was enough to help her get her bearings.

Banagher is literally catatonic after crashing on Earth. He recovers because Zinnerman deliberately, aggressively pursues him, refusing to let him waste away.

Riddhe responds to emotional distress by withdrawing from other people and throwing himself into his responsibilities. He isn't going to go looking for a friendly man in a diner. He doesn’t have a Zinnerman. Bright and Nigel are something, but evidently not enough.

The people he knew and loved from the Nahel Argama all think he's dead. The two people he's closest to now, Banagher and Mineva, are immediately confined where he's not allowed to see them.

There’s no one he trusts enough left to help him reorient. By the time he finally gets a chance to see Banagher again, he believes he defected to Neo Zeon. Rational communication is impossible.

Then Mineva throws herself off an aircraft rather than take his hand, which. Like. She had her reasons. But lmao

(For anime Riddhe, Mineva's rejection is clearly the final straw. I think novel Riddhe was already over the edge by then. Banagher's perceived betrayal was the breaking point. Losing Mineva as well was just salt in the wound.)

I still don't know why they replaced his model airplanes with this thing.

I'm curious. What do you guys think of Riddhe's lucky charm as a piece of symbolism? Does it add anything for you? They put an incredible amount of effort into visually highlighting it. Obviously, he drops it during his final scene in this episode to represent some kind of significant change or loss. Aside from the charm being an anime-only addition, I think what throws me is that novel Riddhe had already lost all the things the charm would logically represent before this point. He already underwent his most significant emotional and ideological changes. "That Riddhe Marcenas is dead." It's why he can't make peace with Banagher, and it's why Mineva rejects him.

That's what novel Riddhe loses at Torrington: his two most important remaining relationships. I definitely don't think that's what the charm is meant to symbolize in the anime.

Since it's a charm for luck, I'm assuming it represents caring about his own well-being. That makes sense to me, when dropping it is being associated with choosing to pilot the Banshee. "Riddhi" is also a real name and word that means "prosperity" or "good fortune", which meshes well with that interpretation.

I'm assuming this means he's going to finally develop novel Riddhe's trait of deranged latent suicidality going forward. Beyond that, I'm not sure what to make of it— though I did like how it was used in "Return of the Lion".

Marida in the Banshee

The motion sensor showed a matching signal, and the word “RAS-96” appeared on the screen. That’s called the “Anksha”, right? Name and model number, Marida and Ple Twelve. ... What is a name? What significance does it bear? It’ll simply cause confusion to call the same thing two different names. [...] I just don’t have to think. I can continue to fight as long as I don’t think.

There are things I could criticize about Marida's portrayal in the novel— we'll get to that— but I still found the anime version of this arc to be the less compelling version of the two.

I think there are three key issues here.

I've mentioned before that the environment mirrors the conflict between characters. The combat in the anime version is more static and less visceral, failing to match the heightened emotions the characters are feeling.

Characters in Unicorn are very densely interconnected, and minor details are often carrying more emotional weight than it might appear. If something had to get cut, Alberto's scenes were a rational choice— but removing them also means removing meaningful character moments for Marida.

Marida's history of sexual abuse was weaponized as part of her brainwashing, so it is referenced often during this part of the original text. In the anime, this is elided.

I'm sure it's difficult to thread the needle regarding that last point, and I sympathize. I mentioned in my last post that I think Fukui's writing could probably benefit from an editor willing to rein him in, and the handling of Marida is one of the areas I cited. The anime reined him in— but in this case, I find myself wishing they left more of the original. Ah, well.

I don't think there's a perfect solution here. I'm not sure there's even a more correct decision. All I can do is explain my own feelings about each work.

I wish Banshee pilot Marida was scarier.

Novel Marida sees significantly more extensive— and effective— use as Martha and Alberto's weapon. While her kills are all minor players in the narrative, at least one of them is a named perspective character with an important role in Neo Zeon's offensive.

Unfortunately, moving Torrington unavoidably defanged her a little as a threat. Since she didn't fight in the battle, she never had the chance to engage with anyone other than Banagher and Riddhe, and they both came out of it alive and physically sound.

They also cut the moment during her rampage where Marida causes the gruesome (accidental?) death of novel-only character Bentner, the head Cyber-Newtype researcher from Augusta. As someone who directly contributed to Marida's suffering, his death is poetic, even if it wasn't a choice she made with intention.

I'm a fan of this claw weapon. It gives the Banshee something that makes it more than just a visual Unicorn redesign, and it's appropriate for the lion theming. It's new for the anime, so I appreciate the addition.

I'm glad they kept the detail of the robots "screaming," and I dig the Banshee's new unique loadout, but the fight on the Garuda left me really underwhelmed. It was so cool in the book, man. There has to be more they could have done.

If you're specifically invoking the Axis Shock, I want it to look crazy. A colour overlay on the robots absolutely does not cut it. Have the surface of the Garuda that they're standing on start peeling! Get some real psychic miasma going! Make it so I can't even tell the sky is blue when the camera pulls in close. Something.

Am I being unreasonable here? Is this an unfair expectation?

I'm aware of the difference between drawing an illustration and doing the same thing in animation, but maybe this gives you an idea of the kind of imagery I had in my head going in:

LOOK HOW SICK THIS IS.

Another thing about the novel's Banshee-Unicorn fight is that Zinnerman boards the Garuda while it's happening. He's literally an exposed human figure dangling on a wire while these metal giants are stomping around and swinging superheated beams at each other. Then the wire snaps, so Banagher has to catch him and cradle him to the Unicorn's chest while the Banshee attacks!

Zinnerman shoots the Banshee with a rocket launcher at one point. I swear to god, so much shit happens.

Marida tearing into the Delta Plus had more of the aggressive vibe I wanted, and it was definitely my favourite visual in the whole fight. The scene they placed it in, unfortunately, is still significantly less dramatic than the original scene that inspired it.

The anime version of the Garuda's hangar bay is essentially a big, empty arena for the mobile suits to fight in. In the novel, there's a ton of shit in there, and people are still present. Several small work vehicles explode, so the whole deck gets set on fire. There's human gore, because Marida unintentionally crushes Bentner with the Banshee's hand. It's a nightmarish scene, especially for someone like Zinnerman who isn't in a mobile suit.

Excerpt, for comparison:

The entire hatch was blown off, and [the air inside the plane was sucked out through a huge gash where the deck caved in]. The [wind roared in Zinnerman's ears] as he heard the frantic voices of the crew, “Retreat to the deck!” “We might have to evacuate everyone here. Get everyone to the escape pods!” He [could barely] distinguish the yells ...

[...]

He turned his [head sharply] and saw the black “Unicorn” with the thruster lights on its back, followed by the white frame of the “Unicorn Gundam” closing in on it. Both “Gundams” proceeded back and forth within the deck, [knocking down the hangar and releasing hot air from their verniers]. Zinnerman saw the black [“Unicorn's” hand fall, crushing an] old man in [a white coat.] Blood and flesh was splattered everywhere immediately, but [it was drowned out by] the impact and [sound] of ... these several ton machines [colliding, followed by] a hot wind [that blocked all vision] as it blew above his head. The workcar got knocked into the air, crashing right into the compressed gas cylinders, creating an explosion of flames. The energy of the explosion created a quake, causing Zinnerman, who was sprawled on the floor to feel a rumbling, and he lifted his head only when the heat wave passed by. Alberto had disappeared, and the two “Gundams” were in front of him, stepping on the floor and trying to get up. The black “Gundam” was lit by the flames, [making the likness of] the “Unicorn Gundam” it [opposed] in this mirage, and the [golden glow of the] Psycoframe [flickered] like it was breathing. [The heat of the beam saber erupting from the machine's sleeve made] the [catwalk railings] melt and bend like malt candy. “MARIDA!” Zinnerman covered his face as his skin was being burnt, but the black “Unicorn Gundam” did not care about what was below it as it continued to backtrack and knock over the work vehicles.

Like. Holy shit.

Sexual violence, gender, and "the light"

(Content warnings for this section: rape, csa, pregnancy and pregnancy loss, forced medical procedures, incest. I'm not getting graphic about it, but this is the primary subject of this section.)

I had a fairly negative opinion of how the sexual violence was handled in book 7 the first time around. It has the disadvantage of coming directly on the heels of book 6, which is the one that really pissed me off, so I wasn't feeling particularly charitable.

My feelings are more positive this time, now that I'm rereading with the context of the whole work. Paying more deliberate attention to Alberto and Martha has also paid off in that regard.

The screenshot I chose at the top of Marida's section has a very particular bit of dialogue in the subtitle:

"This is the light that will save me. I won't let anyone steal it from me!"

While it still makes sense with the overall imagery used in Unicorn— it calls back to the church scene, where Marida talks about how people need a light to keep living— they otherwise removed all references to "the light" from this episode.

"The light" refers to a lot of different ideas, but the way it's invoked by Marida in this arc specifically represents both a general desire to erase the violence that was done to her, and a more specific longing for a child.

I am instinctively predisposed to roll my eyes at "infertile female character with a strong secret driving motivation centred around the ability to become pregnant," especially when it's written by a cis male author, double especially when the story also involves a child conceived by rape.

While Marida is fixating on her past, Martha is constantly talking about wombs. We also just had Loni in book 6, who told us she wants to have ten kids. If you're already reading with a pessimistic outlook, it's easy to start feeling like every major female character except Mineva has suddenly had their characterization re-centred around how they relate to motherhood.

I'm sure that Fukui probably has different opinions about gender than I do, but I've ultimately warmed up a lot to these elements of Marida's story. It's more thoughtful than I was originally willing to trust it to be.

It helps that the repetition is very much not unique to female characters and motherhood. Marida strongly mirrors Banagher, Alberto, Angelo, and Full Frontal. When the paralellism is so consistent across the board, it becomes clear that the similarities between female characters are more than just the narrative assuming all women have the same basic neuroses and drives.

Marida is also brainwashed, obviously. Her priorities have been artificially altered, even if they contain traces of her genuine thoughts and emotions.

Moreover, her reconditioning was explicitly based on Martha. The similarity isn't just intentional on a meta level as a storytelling device, it was intentionally cultivated in-universe.

"Light" as a theme for Marida first appears during the church scene in volume 4. It's usage is roughly analagous to Banagher's "Inner God." It comes up again in that same book, during Marida's backstory flashback.

Light is a repeated visual element that connects every scene we see from her past. It's very much not presented as something with purely positive associations. In these brief moments, light is frequently something sinister.

Light is the first thing Marida sees when she wakes up for the first time, shining behind the silhouette of Glemy. Light is the explosive deaths of her sisters. Light is the neon signs of the red light district, and light is the surgical lamp of the abortionist. Light is her baby, already gone by the time she understands what it was.

Light is the open doorway when Zinnerman comes to take her away. Light is a reason to live. Light is the desire for purification by death, and the glow of a beam rifle shot that never comes.

However, the girl could recognize this warmth. A long time ago, a hand reached out to her from the water surface. The warmth of the human hand she touched when she was pulled out from the capsule was about the same as [this hand.] The girl focused all her consciousness on the thick and hard hand of the man. Warmth flowed out from there, and as she felt the cells within her shaking, the girl looked up at the man’s eyes. The [damp eyes] reflected her black and dirty face. Who are you? The girl tried to ask. I’m me. The her present in the eyes answered. You’re not the 12th sister, but a one and only existence granted the name of Marida Cruz. You have a real master, so you must live for master. Don’t live on because you’re created this way, but give your all to serve your master. This warmth is the real ‘light’, the one and only ‘light’ that reached into this darkness. Don’t let go of this ‘light’. Go do what master hopes for you to do, fight master’s enemies until this body of yours get burned one day, and all your sins and guilt return to nothingness— Marida’s thoughts were calling out within Zinnerman’s eyes. That’s just a curse on yourself! Banagher’s thoughts interrupted at this point. That’s just a curse you set on yourself. The Captain doesn’t want you to do that in the first place. I know. You’re right. But I said it before, didn’t I? Righteousness might not be the only thing that can save humanity… Marida’s retorting thoughts merged into the light, surrounding the girl that was standing blankly in the underground room. The white light covered the entire room [...] and Banagher saw the light transform into heat as it evaporated the tears. Light. A purifying light that burned all sins and guilt—

[...]

Since where is there this kind of redemption? Banagher yelled in his thoughts with all he hand as he tried to make the rioting machine stop. I understand you, whether dream-wise or illusion-wise. When our thoughts overlapped and resonance in that sensation, I saw your existence. Humans can understand each other—and that is the real ‘light’. What you want to redeem you is to reveal the possibility that’s dormant and release the inner god within you. However, you only looked at your past—

Basically, "the light" is introduced as the thread that connects all of Marida's suffering and hopes, and connects her to others. The way it's used while she's brainwashed is a departure, redefining it to represent only a small part of her past.

Consider that two extremely important associations that Marida had with light— Zinnerman and Banagher— have been deliberately removed from her memories. The shift in meaning makes sense.

But the thread is still there. The belief that "the Gundam stole my light" doesn't really make sense if we're only talking about her baby, does it? It only makes sense when we see the totality of her suffering: the loss of her child is the same as the sexual abuse that created it in the first place, which is the same as the death of her sisters.

Marida has never belonged to herself, but now the few things that made the world make sense have been taken away. Something is missing, and she wants it back.

(…The “Gundam”, is the enemy.) The armor on the machine expanded, and the huddled black shadow expanded. “Miss Marida…!?” The “Banshee” did not respond to Banagher’s call as it lifted its head that was looking down, and the exposed Psycoframe started to radiate a golden glow. (You’re the enemy that killed us. You’re the enemy that robbed the “light” from within me. You, you’re the “Gundam”…!)

Character parallels: sexual violence, non-consensual medical procedures, and textual comparisons thereof

I could write an entire essay just on this theme in Unicorn. Maybe I will, eventually.

I'm going to try to avoid getting too in depth for now, since there's a ton of relevant information that only comes up in later books. Still, I want to at least go over some general points.

There are many places in the text where the comparison is drawn, both implicitly and explicitly, between sexual abuse and other non-sexual violations of the body and mind— particularly in medical or experimental contexts. Marida is the point where this comparison is made at its clearest, because she has experienced both.

The sexual abuse, the forced abortion, the reconditioning, even her original creation as a Cyber-Newtype clone— these are all framed as similar kinds of violations.

Not every character has the framework to understand how these experiences are related, but Marida makes the connection instinctively, sometimes even collapsing them together in her thoughts as if they were a singular continuous event.

Is she wrong? They're even related on a causal level: the abortion happened as a direct result of the sexual abuse, and it was performed to allow it to continue. The reconditioning deliberately drew on memories of sexual abuse to alter her behaviour, and the woman who ordered it was herself a sexual abuser of children.

Martha is another obvious demonstration of the comparison: she's the point of overlap between both categories of perpetrator. Her sexual abuse of Alberto and her brainwashing of Marida function similarly, and both serve the same purpose of controlling the victim.

It's unclear exactly how much Alberto knows about Marida's past, but it's not a huge leap to assume he sees himself in her. If he isn't consciously recognizing her as another csa victim— or realizing the similarity between that experience and Cyber-Newtype conditioning— he at least understands that they are both Martha's puppets. The tragedy is his inability to admit that as long as he continues acting as Marida's "Master" he is actively complicit in harming her, not merely a witness.

I want to talk about Angelo and Frontal here so badly, but it's probably best that I hold off until at least the next episode. For now, I'll just say that Angelo is the most blatant Marida paralell in the whole series, and he has his own symbolic fixation akin to Marida's "light."

Gundam is the enemy

In the original work, the moment where Marida processes that the Banshee is a Gundam and concludes that she is herself "the enemy" does not involve Riddhe. She already shot him down earlier, so he isn't even on the Garuda at all anymore. Instead, the realization happens when she mistakes the Banshee's shadow on the wall for the Unicorn.

I guess they swapped the shadow for Riddhe because... there just isn't fire in the hangar to cast a strong shadow. But why? Why not put a fire in the hangar? Many inexplicable choices in this one.

Marida isn't just breaking the logic of her brainwashing by realizing a fact about the robot. When she makes this connection, she's also forced to acknowledge feelings of self-blame and guilt that she had been repressing. That's the sentiment that ultimately causes her to collapse: I failed to protect my master. I broke formation rather than dying with my sisters. I was too weak to protect myself, and too weak to protect my child. The person I want to punish and destroy is me.

She let go of the control sticks and touched her face with her hands. The flames lit the “Banshee” and the shadow of the “Gundam” was reflected on the wall. This means that I’m on a “Gundam” too? I’m inside the enemy, and the enemy’s inside me? The enemy that killed my sisters, robbed me of my ‘light’, and continues to remain in it no matter how I tried to chase it or catch it? I’m my own, enemy— A snake was wriggling inside her mind, causing the seeds of pain to erupt. Her body and mind were breaking apart. [The] ideals that were once connected to her heart were severed [and] the flesh and blood [flowing through] the machine [gradually converged into the helpless] body. I’m my own enemy. The one I hated [and] wanted to kill is [myself, the person] who can’t protect my own ‘light’.

(Mineva actually calls this very early. In one of her scenes with Martha, she thinks to herself that Marida is not actually being animated by revenge on others like Martha believes.)

Here's how the encounter concludes:

Marida falls out of the cockpit. Notably, she is still conscious. Her inner monologue immediately identifies Zinnerman as her father when he reaches out to her; it's very sweet.

Alberto is still in the hangar. He panics, and tries to tell Marida to get back in the cockpit again. She doesn't recognize his voice.

One of the Anksha mobile suits from the battle outside flies into the hangar through the open hatch. It takes aim at the Unicorn, and Marida immediately realizes Zinnerman is in danger and will not be able to get out of the way. She calls out to the Banshee and wills it to move, and it does— it raises its Beam Magnum and fires.

The Anksha is hit by the Beam Magnum and explodes. The shot it fires goes wide, hitting the side of the Banshee. Marida is thrown by the force of the blast, and burnt by the wave of heat.

Banagher gets out of the Unicorn and helps Zinnerman and Marida into the cockpit. They're both a mess. Zinnerman is covered in ash, furious and crying with bloodshot eyes. He tells Banagher not to waste time— "I won't forgive you if your blunder ends up killing her."

When they're about to leave, Alberto stumbles over to the Unicorn in a daze. Banagher is shocked, having assumed that he had already left on the shuttle. He re-opens the cockpit and tells Alberto to get in.

Shaken from his daze, Alberto is infuriated by this offer. He pulls out his gun and fires at Banagher until he is forced to close the cockpit and leave.

Alberto goes down with the ship.

The Fate of the Garuda: Who Goes Where?

In the OVA, we see Martha and Alberto leave on a little aircraft shuttle together, directly from the Garuda.

The Banshee is still on the Garuda, where it is found by Riddhe after he regains consciousness. Mineva, Zinnerman, and Marida all make it back to the Garancieres, which is successfully picked up by the Argama.

The General Revil shows up at the end, as well as Full Frontal and Angelo. Banagher is still in the Unicorn.

In the novel, Alberto and Martha are separated. Martha boards the shuttle, but Alberto stays, because he's worried about Marida.

Banagher offers Alberto a ride in the Unicorn, but this enrages him, and he shoots at Banagher with his handgun until he retreats into the cockpit and leaves.

The Garuda crashes, with the Banshee and Alberto still on it.

Riddhe was shot out of the sky by Marida, after which he fell unconscious. When he wakes up, he retrieves the Banshee and Alberto from the wreck of the Garuda.

Zinnerman and Marida are not able to be brought back to the Garancieres in time, so they are still in the cockpit of the Unicorn when Banagher connects the tether.

The Garancieres and the Nahel Argama escape successfully and are not immediately pursued. Angelo and Frontal show up several days later, at the start of the eighth book.

So, there are quite a few differences, but I think Alberto's scenes are the most obviously significant that I haven't already discussed. I've mentioned this a few times in previous sections, but Alberto is a different type of character in the novels than he is in the anime. The novel takes him significantly more seriously and gives him a larger role, while the anime has kept him within the realm of comic relief.

I'm going to include a bunch of excerpts here, sorry. I think they're more illustrative than just me summarizing or listing character traits. I've tried to shorten them and fix the worst of the grammar.

Alberto with Zinnerman, refusing to leave on the shuttle:

“She’s no long a member of Neo Zeon. Give up and leave this place. The “Garuda” won’t last for long.” This person is Marida’s current master. Is his name Alberto? the blood surged up Zinnerman’s head as he growled, “What nonsense are you [spouting?]” ... “You’re the one who should scram. I’ll take Marida back. She’s not the tool you people think she is.” The gun held in both hands trembled even more. This [guy] isn’t used to [this kind of] situation. Zinnerman understood that it was not wise to agitate the other man, but he still finished his words. [However, he was taken aback by Alberto's agitated reply—] “I KNOW THAT!” “SHE’S NOT A TOOL! SHE’S…” Alberto was at a loss of words. [His lips twisted, and a bitter expression appeared] on his face. What’s going on? Zinnerman frowned for a moment, [then heard a yell—] “Master Alberto! Hurry! The shuttle’s leaving!” [— as an old man in white clothing] appeared from the side, [completely covered] in ash. “Oi, someone’s calling you.” Zinnerman pointed his chin, and Alberto glared back at him as he exerted more strength into his hands holding the handgun. ...

Alberto witnessing the Unicorn vs. Banshee fight and finding Bentner's horrible crushed corpse. Again he refuses to abandon Marida, even when Martha directly contacts him and tells him they're leaving:

... [The] flying high-heat particles [were] scattered [and rained down] as [a] powder of light. [They] landed between Alberto’s [thighs] and [made a sound as they melted into the floor], [and he scrambled] back [in fear]. As [his hand reached behind him, it] touched another person’s arm, and he gasped as he turned around. The [arm, wrapped in the sleeve of a torn labcoat, clearly] belonged to Bentner, but [there was no proof.] [Just like the white coat,] there was no body beyond the [severed] shoulder, [only a pool of blood like splattered red paint] ... The scattered particles of the beams dropped into the [pool], and [white steam rose from the mixture of blood and solid matter]. The smell of cooked meat entered his nose, and [all Alberto could do was] remain seated, [unable to feel anything]. [...] (What are you doing, Alberto!?) It was only [upon hearing Martha's hysterical yell] that he finally thought of bringing the wireless communicator to his ears. (We’re leaving. Forget about [the] specimen. We just need to find a replacement, whether it’s the machine or the pilot.) Alberto’s numb senses were jolted awake by this voice, and he looked down at the communicator in his hands. She doesn’t understand. Aunt [Martha] doesn’t understand, and she has no intention of understanding—no, maybe to her, everyone else is just something that can be replaced ... (There’s no time. Hurry—) Alberto ignored Martha’s call as he switched the frequency of the communicator. “Ple Twelve, it’s me, your Master. Do you hear me?” [...] “There’s no need to reclaim the machine ... Wreck the “Unicorn”. Hurry up and beat that guy and escape me with. You and I are the only ones left here.”

Alberto thinking about Cardeas, Banagher, and his childhood. Very brief / vague mention of incest:

“If it’s you, you’ll definitely be able to beat the “Unicorn”. This guy’s the cause of everything. As long as you destroy it, the path leading to the “Box” will remain sealed, and aunt will only give up. Even my father…” Can only give up, right? Alberto could not help but ask himself, and shut his mouth as he answered himself. Wrong, that man will never stop. [In this kind of situation,] Cardeas Vist [would simply take a proactive approach and plan his next move]. [Using his own strength as the standard], [he determined] that [the weak] were simply [lazy]. That willful foolish man ignored his own son and left the “Unicorn” to the [child of his mistress]. Why did things end up like this? Who let the gears spin out of control first? [...] He recalled the expression his father had when he died, that look of despair and pity ... [and] the [sudden rush of] emotions [dampened] his vision. No, I’m not the one at fault here. It’s his fault. ... Banagher Links took [my] dad away, and even took the machine he built, [without] even [realizing] that he [had stolen anything] at all. That guy [is the reason everything was] thrown [into chaos]. Just looking at [him] makes me anxious. [...] I feel inferior, like I’m being taunted for being useless. It [would be] good if he [had never been born]. If I could be as strong as him, I [wouldn't] have [had] a complete breakdown in relation with dad, I [wouldn't have ended up in] an abnormal relationship with [my] aunt, and I [couldn't have] possibly [harmed] dad— Tears swelled in his eyes and slid down his cheeks; he wiped them away and brought the communicator to his mouth.

...

I won’t let you take anything else away from me. Marida will beat you. This [unique] life that’s strong-willed [and] gentle, [who feels ephemeral and fragile like my mother,] [she'll] defeat you and settle all our debts. I don’t need aunt [Martha], and I don’t need dad. I’ll just wait here, until ... the “Banshee” [slices] you apart and [chases] away the [inescapable darkness.]

Mother comparison. Of course.

I'll skip Alberto rejecting Banagher's offer of help, since I already described it.

That brings us to the final scene of the novel, where Alberto wakes up in the cockpit of the Delta Plus with Riddhe. Interesting that it can still fly despite falling out of the sky earlier— maybe the shot Marida fired knocked him unconscious immediately, or it can only stay airborne in waverider mode?

This ending makes me lose my fucking mind every time I read it. Riddhe saves Alberto's life and then they literally fly off into the sunset while Alberto thinks about how much they have in common.

Alberto opened his eyes. The light in reality was too sharp, and he closed his eyes before opening them slowly again. What he saw first was the sea surface from the sky. [...] Is this some mobile suit cockpit? he touched the curved monitor panel at his feet and intended to look up at the linear seat beside him, but at this moment, a shadow appeared in a corner of the all-view monitor, and his heart jolted, beating his chest. There was a mobile suit riding on the “Anksha,” ... gliding diagonally below ... He realized that it was the “Banshee”, ... Alberto looked down at the machine lit by the [light reflecting off] the sea, and [he] thought of the name Marida, [when a voice rang out from just beside him.] “We can’t seem to find the pilot.” ... [Alberto] lifted his [gaze] and looked [back] at the linear seat to find Riddhe [Marcenas] there. Riddhe looked at him for a moment, before turning his somewhat forsaken expression forward as he activated the display board. He opened the expanded window to show the “Banshee” [up close] as it laid down on the disc, but Alberto’s face remained unmoved. How did things end up like this? Why is this guy—no, where is this place? Alberto could not clear the doubts rising [in] his heart [as] he [stared at Riddhe's face]. ... Riddhe turned around in an annoyed manner [and] removed his helmet, [running his hand through his blond hair.] “Since you’re awake, pull out the assistance chair yourself,” [he said curtly.] “I’m already out of breath [just from pulling] your unconscious [body] on board. You’re an Anaheim employee, so you should know the [layout] of a mobile suit, right?” ... Alberto looked around the inner wall of the cockpit again. Since he could see the sea surface, it meant that this mobile suit was not on a Base Jabber, which meant that it could fly in atmosphere on its own. This means that I’m on Riddhe’s machine, the transformable “Delta Plus” in its wave rider form? Upon realizing this, Alberto calmed down slightly as he exhaled. He searched his tattered clothes, [confirmed] that he had no [real] injuries, and turned towards Riddhe again. “Why did you save me?” he asked... [Riddhe didn't even make eye contact.] “That’s [just] how things are going now,” He answered with a sigh. “I [passed out] after I was shot down by the “Banshee”. By the time I woke up and got back to the sinking “Garuda”, you and the empty “Banshee” were the only ones [left.]” Riddhe looked over at the “Banshee”, lifeless like a puppet as it laid on the “Anksha”, and narrowed his eyes. “The “Unicorn” has vanished.” And Mineva too… some heartfelt words could be heard right after this mutter, and Alberto did not intend to ask further [...] His love affair may have ended, this understanding landed upon the cavity in Alberto’s chest and created ripples in his hollow body. Both of them were descendants of those cursed by [“Laplace's Box”,] and both [had] lost their fleeting love—[with skepticism, a sense of loss, and a touch of empathy,] the “Delta Plus” [flew] through the [twilight] sky. [Unsure of] where they were going or where they should go, [Alberto] looked [out] at the [amber-coloured] sky and sea. The “Anksha”, ferrying the unmanned “Banshee”, turned with the sea surface behind it as it pivoted its way through the crimson sky, [leaving behind] an empty trail of jet cloud.

Alberto/Riddhe real...?

The Escape: RGB Gamer Mode

The original text description of this phenomenon is a little more blatantly rainbow and less dominated by green, but these visuals are still very pretty.

The ghosts of Daguza and Gilboa do not appear during this scene in the novel. I think they're a sensible addition. It foreshadows exposition about "lingering thoughts" that we should be getting next time.

The biggest change here is that in the novel, Marida and Zinnerman are still in the cockpit with Banagher. There was no time for them to be transferred to the Garancieres while shaking off their pursuers. The trigger for Banagher's renewed determination, the Unicorn's strange glow, and the resulting miracle is Marida regaining consciousness for a moment and taking his hand.

I would have really liked to keep that... I think it's a strong way to end a conflict that had Marida as such a central figure, and the imagery ties directly into her fixation on "the light". Marida does have an inner light, and none of the terrible things that were done to her can ever take it away.

The General Revil: What????

They introduced the General Revil this episode, when Bright talked to Beltorchika. I was still incredibly taken aback when it showed up at the end. Especially since it immediately engaged in combat? This was very much not what happened in the original.

Bemused as I've been about it, it's easy enough to figure out why this was done. Again, they're cutting things for time, by making the path between locations and plot points more direct. I just really wasn't expecting it!

In the novel, the crew of the Garancieres and the Nahel Argama get away successfully, and it takes some time before anyone catches on to where they actually went. I'll probably get more into the details of all that next time, since it's the start of book 8.

I will say that the Federation ship that Angelo and Frontal attack like this in the novel gets destroyed. Surely they're not going to sink the General Revil... ???

Speaking of which,

THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN

Do you have any idea how happy I am to have an excuse to put pictures of Frontal and Angelo in one of these again? Do you?

The Rozen Zulu is one of my favourite mobile suits. Stiletto heels, big metal claws, INCOMs, and character-focused visual theming? She has it all.

This is exactly the problem: this part was the coolest robot stuff in the whole thing to me. An exciting hook is never a bad thing, but I think the coolest robot moments should always try to be the ones at the emotional core of the episode.

Yes, I know I get excited every time Angelo and Frontal show up. I can distinguish that from this. Did you see those ReZELs get melted? Did you see Frontal's totally unnecessary bazooka twirl? So good.

I'm glad he's having fun. :)

So that's the end. It looks like we have quite an exciting setup for next time— which may or may not be a bit of a fakeout, depending on whether they're keeping or skipping certain scenes.

I'm not even going to try to make predictions at this point.

Haro, play Broken Mirror by Boom Boom Satellites.

#remibloggue #gundam #gundam unicorn

[gffa]

In Star Wars, are the parts of the script that were cut out from the movie still canon?

I guess it depends on your definition of canon or source material. I would personally say no, in the sense that they didn't make it into the movie and, had Lucas really wanted them there, he would have kept them in. But I think they can often times be used to show authorial intent for the narrative and, in that sense, they can sometimes be "canon" if you take authorial intensions as part of what "canon" is. Ask a dozen different people what "canon" is as a concept, you'll probably get a dozen different answers, so I can't definitively answer this for you. All I can say is, in the most foundational sense of "canon", no, I don't think they are, but if we're talking about authorial intent and it's not something that Lucas just straight up changed his mind on (which he didn't do as often as people like to accuse him of, but he did sometimes change things), then I think it can be considered to be part of the "source material". But it's a fairly common definition (including the one on Wikipedia) is also, "the body of works taking place in a particular fictional world that are widely considered to be official or authoritative; [especially] those created by the original author or developer of the world", which you could make a case for cut lines from the script would qualify for. (And I do sometimes feel free to use this definition, if I feel it's something that suits the subject of discussion!) tl;dr: Yes and no, pick whichever one works better for whatever argument you're having, just know that there's no hard and fast rule that everyone's going to agree with! 😂

#lumi.txt #star wars

[violetsoju]

"Help me."

You peer over your shoulder to the source of the voice, raising an eyebrow.

“Pretty please?”

“Well, ‘pretty’ meaning as in you. Pretty. Beautiful. Stunning. Gorgeous. Amazing. Jaw-dropping.”

Kuroo knows he has charmed his way with his silly request with your soft chuckles.

“You’re telling me,” You point your makeup brush at him, “As someone who wears a tie to work every day in a suit, you don’t know how to tie a tie?”

“Well, it’s a Saturday.” He reasons, taking small steps across the room towards you. “Ties are for working days. Today is a non-working day. So I’m afraid,” He presents the dark maroon tie before you with both hands as if on a silver platter. “It is out of my ability to tie a tie today.”

You stare at the tie in his hands for a few seconds, analysing his words while giving him a sceptical look.

The air is tense with unspoken words and judgement weighing down one another. Neither party backing down from the intense showdown.

“Fine.” You grab the tie from him. “I guess that’s a valid reason.”

It’s a mini celebration for Kuroo as he mutters a small “Yes” under his breath along with a small fist pump. “Thanks, dear. Love you-”

Unfortunately, his celebration is cut short when he sees that the piece of cloth handed over has now turned into a perfect tie.

He doesn’t even have time to recover from his shock when he finds it back in his hands, along with you stepping away from his line of sight.

“There you go, Mr. Out-of-Business-Hours,” You pat his shoulder as you turn back to your vanity table to continue with your makeup. “And why are you hunched like an old man? I know you’re 80 at heart but not physically yet. Posture is important.”

It’s complete silence after a minute. No fabric rustling sounds, no usual happy off-tune humming, no lame dad jokes. Nothing. You slowly put down your blush and turn around carefully.

A hunched stone statue stands behind you. You can’t decide if it’s a pleading look or a betrayed look. You blink, he blinks. You look at the tie, he looks at the tie. You look back up at him, he looks back up at you.

“What are you waiting for? Put it on.” You gesture with your hands to put the tie over your neck at him. “We don’t have much time left. Chop chop!”

That’s the last blow for Kuroo to turn into an absolute deflated balloon.

It’s only when you grab your bag, ready to head out the door when you realise him sitting at the edge of the bed. The maroon tie hangs a little loosely on his neck.

“What’s wrong?” You ask, bending over to fix his tie neatly.

The big pouty baby doesn’t look up to you and continues to stare at the corner of the room. “I thought you would help me tie my tie.”

“I did!”

“You didn’t.”

Kuroo heaves a heavy sigh at your quizzed look. He straightens his back, the little pout still on his lips, and clears his throat. “It should be like this.” He explains. “You,” He gestures to you, “Should drap the tie around my neck and tie it for me while I,” He gestures to himself, “Lower myself down for you to do so.”

“Like how they do it in dramas?” You deduce.

“Like how they do it in dramas!” He exclaims.

“No wonder you were hunched over like an old man just now.”

“Shut up.”

You sigh fondly at the man in front of you. “Aren’t you afraid that I’ll take the opportunity to take revenge for all the fart bombs you dropped on me by pulling the tie a little too tight?” You ask, faux innocence dripping from your sweet smile as you stroke the silky material on his neck.

His growing pout that’s about to fall off his lips tells you that’s enough teasing for the night.

“We’ll do that next time, okay? Come on, we’re running late for our reservation.” It takes all the might in you to wrap a long coat around the big grown man and drag him out of the house, his groans and nags flying out the door.

“Speaking of dramas, don’t guys tower over girls from behind to show them how to do something in order to get closer to them? Like, teaching them how to play a sport, making coffee, or whatever.” You ask as the both of you wait for the lift to arrive.

A small inaudible murmured “Yeah” floats in the cool Autumn air.

“Wait,” You turn him around to face you directly.

“Did you want a back hug instead?”

The sparkle in his eyes answers you, shrunken ears on the top of his head flipped back up like a switch immediately.

“If you want one, you should say so next time.” You hum knowingly, giving him a coy look.

“I want a back hug.” He affirms, his eyes gazing deep into yours with his decision written in it, never firm than ever.

“Right now?”

“Right now.”

Kuroo feels as if the world is all warm and beautiful again when he feels your body on his from behind, as if time has stopped and he has all the time in the world with you. His hands wrap over your arms as he rubs small circles on your skin with his thumb affectionately.

Two warm bodies sway from left to right gently along to the floor numbers flashing on the LED display. “And if you use the magic word,” You tiptoe to rest your chin on his shoulders, whispering in his ears. “There’s an additional bonus.”

“A back hug, pretty please.”

If there’s something that can’t be wiped off Kuroo’s face for the entire night ahead, it’s his dopey yet proud lovestruck grin, and the red lipstick stain on the side of his cheek that blossoms like the colour of his tie.

#kuroo tetsurou #kuroo tetsurou x reader #kuroo tetsurou x you #kuroo tetsurou x y/n #kuroo #kuroo x reader #kuroo x y/n #kuroo x you #kuroo drabble #kuroo fluff #hq writing #hq drabble #i love this dork

[dois-funnyzone]

Smash Tier List, Ordered By Which Characters Have Canon Last Names

i decided one fateful friday evening to make this tier list cuz i was bored. shoutout to the smash prose server for helping me iron out any kinks and retrieve some obscure information to help make this tier list reach its fullest potential (discord link for the server on my blog if youre on desktop or in my pinned post on my art account always b pluggin)

below the cut is some extra details on the tiers and character placements.

THIS IS ROUGH AS HELL!!!!! and the research and sources aren't very cut and dry throughout ;w; a tier list i wanted to make for the sillies that ended up going deeper than expected but not all the way, so it's sorta in a weird gray area of reliability. apologies for not-so-clear info in advanced 😔

Official Surname

what it says on the tin. i'd put detailed explanations of where all of them were "confirmed" but i don't know the nitty gritty of a lot of the characters and just know em from official bios. will provide detail if i see fit cuz its my post.

Byleth: "Eisner"

Joker: Civilian name is "Ren Amamiya", from the anime. Akira Kurusu is another civilian name he goes by, coming from the manga, however Amamiya is more common in official media (and kind of canonized in the PC release of Persona 5 Royal, where changing the language to English from something else will default his name to Ren Amamiya)

Kazuya: "Mishima"

Samus (And Zero Suit Samus): "Aran"

Fox: "McCloud"

Falco: "Lombardi"

Wolf: "O'Donnell"

Terry: "Bogard"

Cloud: "Strife"

SImon and Richter: "Belmont"

Donkey and Diddy Kong: So we all pretty much agreed that "Kong" is a family name :P it could be moved to the yellow canon-ish tier but idk

Peach: "Toadstool", which she signs off as in Mario 64 (So that's pretty canon right)

Generally accepted fanon surname (or exists in obscure non-canon media)

these are kinda? surnames. theyre not official like the ones above or acknowledged in the main source material, but they draw from some sort of source that fans run with. usually, it's common for multiple fanworks to use them as last names when dishing them out :P there could be multiple of these for each character. this is where a lot of handy guidance from the prose server came in, thank you very much once again!!

Mario, Dr. Mario, and Luigi: "Mario", from the live action Super Mario Bros. movie (also, "Mario Mario" is the funniest shit ever to me). Also the joke of "hey if theyre the 'mario bros', then is their last name mario?!"

Yoshi: Alright apparently in the 1993 manual for Super Mario World, Yoshi's full name is "T. Yoshisaur Munchakoopas". Alright then?? I was going to put Yoshi in the "species" category, but this bit surprised me :P not sure if it's like, a scientific name or something, but I guess this Yoshi is a special case.

Ganondorf: I think in a manual or something like that (Forgive my vague language, this was just something I recalled that the people I worked with agreed with), he is given the last name "Dragmire".

Marth, Chrom, and Lucina: "Lowell" was a last name given to Marth in the Fire Emblem anime. With Chrom and Lucina being direct descendants of him, they also inherit this last name.

Zelda: "Hyrule" is generally assumed to be her last name. I'm pretty sure Zelda's father in BotW is given the official last name, though I know there's some different reincarnation shenanigans going on. Still, no one stopped me 😎 it's a common theme for a lot of "royalty" characters to be assigned a fanon last name named after their respective kingdom (though I may have overlooked some, we'll get to those later).

Ike: "Greil", named after his father. I thought it was kinda dumb for his last name to be ripped from his dad's first name but idk maybe everyone is on a last-name basis for him (I haven't progressed far in Path of Radiance to know).

Sonic: This one surprised me. Apparently in the Archie comics, his full name "Ogolvie Maurice Hedgehog". So his last name is "Hedgehog"? I suppose this means Sonic's full name could also be Sonic The Hedgehog, with "The" being a middle name :P

Captain Falcon: I was going to include this in "canon", but given that it's technically from a manual and other surnames in this tier come from a similar source, so might as well be consistent. In one of the F-Zero manuals, he's given the name "Douglas J. Falcon" (baller ass name tbh). In the anime, he's also given the civilian name "Bart Lemming".

Sephiroth: According to the Prose pals, it could be "Hojo" or "Crescent" depending on who you ask (idk I'll take their word for it. Yeah sorry this isn't a very thorough list in terms of research and sources).

Ryu: Another Prose pal said that one of the movies gave him the last name "Hoshi".

Bowser and Bowser Jr.: Heard "Koopa" tossed around, given Bowser is the king of Koopas and Jr. is his son.

Mega Man: "Light", after his creator Dr. Light.

Roy: "Pherae", after him being the son of Marquess Pherae.

King K. Rool: I think I assumed "Rool" could be his last name, and the K. is an initialized first name. Heavily based on my own guess tho.

No Canon Surname

Yeah. Though some are Weird and probably misassigned.

Snake I could have sworn had some kind of fanon surname, but I drew up a blank when consulting with the Prose server :P any hardcore Metal Gear fans can swoop in and correct me though.

Corrin and Daisy are kinda... weird to me cuz I assumed they would operate on similar logic to Zelda, being named after their respective kingdoms ("Valla" and "Sarasaland"). But I've never seen those used in practice so it's probably negligible. They bounced between tiers a lot while I made this.

I suppose Dragon Quest 11 Hero could fall in the "kingdom last name" category but idk I'm still internally debating with Corrin and Daisy. Didn't do any research on the other Heroes and no one seemed to stop me. So sorry!! 😭

The only other thing I have to say about this tier is that I'm surprised Bayonetta, Shulk, Olimar, Alph, and Sora didn't have any note-worthy last names to speak of. Unless something slipped through the cracks!

Idk if Sheik would adopt Zelda's assumed last name which is why they are in this tier.

Title, no canon name

Pretty much a title given to the character, be it related to their occupation or status.

This was originally a "no canon first name lmao" tier, but I changed it to be more broad at the request of the Discord buddies to include weird edge cases like Dark Samus (who isn't really a species, but not really a person?) and Duck Hunt (who accounts for three separate entities in one lol so that kind of confused me, but a tier like this worked for him).

Species????

Pretty much a character that comes from a species of many, meaning they don't really have an actual name to begin with (Inklings technically count, since it's not like "Inkling" refers to status or occupation). Yes, I included R.O.B. there due to Subspace Emissary's lore :) one could argue that's not canon, but be fr does R.O.B. have any existing lore to work with? Brawl essentially made him its own OC for the story campaign and that's amazing. Anyway, unnecessary rant aside, R.O.B. is a species in my book, and he's the last of his kind (another detail originating from Smash).

Last two tiers are kind of joke tiers I came up with as the idea for this list cooked up in my brain. One could argue "Mr. Game and Watch" is a title, but I thought his own dedicated tier was funnier so I kept it intact :P

~~~

Thus concludes this dumbass tier list. Feel free to roast me in the notes for inaccuracies cuz there's probably a lot (Or don't I'm sensitive as hell)

#mayor talk #super smash bros #smash ultimate #ssbu #smash tier list #i'm probably gonna regret posting this but whatever #long post

[applecrumbledore]

Hey so regarding your recent post about past tense vs present tense: I would love to hear thoughts about why you prefer one over the other, if you feel like sharing?

I love your writing style, you have such a good sense of dialogue as well as making the settings feel very like... viscerally real, and your characterisation is always spot on, so I'd love to hear your thoughts on writing and how you approach it in general. I remember you mentioning once that you pay a lot of attention to smells, are there any other things you're like consciously trying to do when you write?

(this is so long sorry) hello! I love talking about writing, thank you!!

tense is very personal, but for me: my goal with writing is to be as economical with my language as possible, while still doing all the things good writing should do. I always think, every sentence should have a job. Move the plot along, share something new, convey something. that's what I like to write and read, personally.

and for me, past tense lets me do that much more easily. I feel like present tense has a very alluring way of making everything sound poetic and immediate and sexy, almost like spoken word, but for me it's always felt like a crutch, and at direct odds with the goals I mentioned above. tldr I think it's got a way of injecting false gravity, I guess. past feels like the opposite. I think it slows me down and encourages me to choose words more carefully, focus on good verbs and think about what everyone is actually doing and what I'm trying to say.

with that being said: that's 100% a matter of style and what you're trying to do as a writer!! I recently wrote a fic in present tense for the first time in a VERY long time because it felt like it suited the story, which itself was different than my usual style. the POV flowed back and forth between two characters and it was for true detective s1, so I was trying to evoke a very grimy greasy sexy violent type of thing, and I thought that present tense suited it.

BUT! right now I'm working on a fic for the show The Bear, which I also want to be grimy greasy sexy violent, and I thought present would suit it, but about halfway through I just kept reading over what I'd written and thinking, this doesn't work, this doesn't feel good, it feels like stumbling downhill. so I changed the tense (painstaking) and now it's going much better. it's funny how much it makes a difference, I think

for other things I think about-- I love that you remember my thing about smells, lol. smells are very important to me, especially bad smells. sweat, morning breath, lube and latexy condom, dirty clothes, unwashed hair, unwashed dick. I like gross stuff, I think it evokes a v unique kind of discomfort around sex/romance. getting fingered by someone who hasn't washed their hands, blood and shit on a condom after anal, snowballing. for setting a scene, I like to think about 1-2 things I can mention about an environment that would pack the biggest punch instead of describing everything. does it matter if there's a bookshelf against the back wall if there are heaps of dirty clothes on the floor? etc.

I don't know what I can share about dialogue but I love writing it more than any other part of a story. I love how people talk. I watch a lot of movies (good movies, I think) and I think it's so great to dissect HOW a character says something and figure out what else they would say.

for fic specifically, I try not to get too far from the source material. I have to be actively watching/reading something to write fic for it, and the farther I get from that, the worse the voices come out. you can see this bigtime in my spn fic. my watching slowed down around snooping and breaking things, and I don't like much of what I wrote after that. even pine sweat has weak characterization, compared to like, human hands or yesterday minnesota. a xerox of a xerox.

hope any of that was helpful. for some more general writing advice, this post has some thoughts and resources that I still stand by!

#ronWIPs #ronanswers

[giuliettacapuleti]

An obnoxiously long summary of Frank Wildhorn’s Carmen absolutely no one asked for:

The musical was originally put on in the Czech Republic in 2008, and actually became so popular it broke box office records for the theater. Despite this, I’d never heard of it until I read that the Budapesti Operettszínház is putting it on soon. It’s been put on in Japan, Korea, and Austria, and seems to have been popular in Korea but not Austria (not sure about Japan). There’s an English demo but I can only find 2 songs from it.

If you are familiar with Frank Wildhorn’s work you’ll know he likes to play fast and loose with accuracy regarding the source material. The plot is a huge departure from the opera, which is fine with me but probably not so much if you like it.

The musical is allegedly actually an adaptation of the novella that the opera is based on, but it doesn’t really resemble that either. The musical partly takes place in a circus and this makes Carmen’s posse a group of performers instead of smugglers which to me is neat but again, not for everyone.

Overall the plot is. Well. Something. It’s got some trademark Wildhorn-ness going on that if you’re familiar with Dracula and Jekyll and Hyde you will likely be annoyed with but not surprised by.

I am not 100% sure on the time period in which the musical takes place, it appears to be the 50s but there are a few hints that it’s more current than that, so I’m not sure. It’s possible it’s deliberately meant to be vague.

On to the Summary (FULL DISCLOSURE IT’S 100% NOT SERIOUS AND REALLY LONG SORRY)

The musical starts off with a flamenco dance off between a random woman and the sexy and confident Carmen, who more or less steals the random woman’s dancing partner. The random woman isn’t having it. Suddenly a bunch of random people with torches burst in and start fighting with soldiers (???). Then they stop fighting and just chill because I guess the dance-off is more important. Carmen and Random Woman continue their dance-off, which culminates in Carmen either waving a knife at or actually slashing Random Woman across the face.

A woman (possibly fate itself) sings about fate. It wouldn’t be a European musical without someone singing about fate.

Meanwhile, the citizens of a picturesque town in Spain (?) are celebrating the engagement of police officer José Rivera and Caterina, the mayor’s daughter. The mayor gives a speech about how moral and Totally Not Secretly Corrupt the town is. Two seconds later, the mayor and José’s superior, Captain Zuniga, laugh about how the currently moral José will soon become as corrupt as they are (side note: I think they are meant to be Spanish but the officers’ uniforms are giving Carabinieri). We immediately know the mayor is shady because he wears sunglasses and a white suit, has a pinky ring and smokes a cigar. That and the fact he sings about how corrupt and greedy he is.

José and Caterina sing a sweet little duet about how much they love each other despite only knowing each other for a few months. We all know love duets mean impending disaster in European musicals so stay frosty.

Caterina leaves and Carmen and her friends appear in the mist, talking about how they want something fun to do in the boring, vanilla town. Carmen notices José standing there and kisses him after giving him a rose. José has no object permanence I guess, and forgets Caterina, immediately running after Carmen. Prime bf material right there.

The next day, the circus performers are hanging out at the Carnival. Carmen sings a song about how desirable she is, which would sound vain except for the fact that literally everyone wants her, so she’s just telling us how it is. José appears with the rose Carmen gave him. José’s bff and fellow officer Inmar, aka the only sane person in this entire musical, appears and tells José to fucking chill. Zuniga, AKA Officer Creep, suggests they arrest Carmen for no reason so they can take her in for “questioning”. A bunch of men try to assault Carmen, so she pulls a knife on one of them. Zuniga uses this as an excuse to have her arrested, and orders José to take her to the station. Carmen sings a song about how no one owns her (yas queen), and José tells her he has morals and is totally not weak and definitely won’t cheat on his fiancée no really he’s cereal. José is Madonna-Whore Complexing on main and calls her a devil, comparing her to the angelic Caterina. His crisis of conscience lasts LITERALLY two seconds, and he and Carmen start making out, only to be interrupted by Zuniga, who tells José off and gives Carmen the ultimatum of sleeping with him or being put in jail. Carmen rejects him and runs off, while he calls her a whore and chases after her (peak rejected guy on bumble behavior).

Meanwhile, Caterina is in her room worried about José. Her aunt calms her down by singing her a song about how she should totally have sex with José and recounts her own romantic exploits. Caterina is reluctant because she wants to honor her mother’s memory and not disappoint her dad (ew). Later, José comes through her window and basically tries to pressure her into sex because Carmen made him horny (what a guy!). Caterina sings about her conflicting feelings and almost has sex with him, but they are interrupted by Caterina’s sketchy dad knocking on the door. He exhibits creepy behavior and then leaves.

The next day, girls from the town are at a beach, talking shit about Carmen and her crew. Enter Carmen and her crew. The townsgirls make fun of them, but Carmen is unbothered. One of the non-hostile girls asks Carmen to teach them how to be sexy, and we get a song about that. Admittedly, the song starts out about how to be sexy to men, but it turns into a nice bonding moment and ultimately is about being confident so I’ll allow it. Unfortunately, Inmar and José ruin everything and tell Carmen and her posse return to their camp. One of Carmen’s friends says what everyone’s thinking and wonders wtf Carmen sees in José. Carmen and José start grinding right in front of Inmar’s salad, and Inmar is understandably pissed at him for remaining with her. José reminds Carmen he Totally Won’t Cheat on Caterina No Really. Carmen hints that she is unavailable too and is dating (?) a really scary guy who apparently even scares police (more on this later). Then it’s Real Sadgirl Hours for her and she sings about how everyone is ultimately alone and she really wants José for reasons that are still a mystery to literally everyone.

Back at the police station, Inmar calls José out and berates him for wanting to cheat on Caterina. José doesn’t listen and is all ‘it’s so hard being me uwu’. Despite his friend being a fucking idiot, Inmar is a real one and warns him about Zuniga anyway. They sing a song about how José should/should not sleep with Carmen. Listening to José talking about how it’s soooo hard to not cheat on Caterina is like. That’s so sad world’s smallest violin Alexa play despacito etc. Then the mayor and Zuniga join in and sing about how they also want Carmen. Lana Del Rey was right the boys the girls they all want Carmen.

That night, the circus puts on a free show for the town. Everyone goes, including the now Carmen-ified townswomen. Inmar gets a cute moment with one of the girls (fuck everyone else I respect YOU).

Carmen and her girlies appear and perform a very catchy song about living in the moment and having no regrets. The townspeople are vibing but the party is crashed by Carmen’s Very Scary bf (?) Garcia, who owns the circus but has been off somewhere (it’s never explained where but whatever). We know he’s Bad News because he wears a black leather coat, a chain necklace + black boots, has an eye scar, an excessive amount of black eyeliner, a chest AND neck AND arm tattoo, and throws knives around.

Ok, on one hand, the interesting thing about the opera (though not the novella) is that José starts out being a good person but descends into evil and this guy being obviously Bad from the beginning removes that theme, but on the other more important hand, I eat this stuff right up and I’m not mad about it. Dolhai Attila and Homonnay Zsolt are playing him in the upcoming Hungarian version but you know who would have been PERFECT?? Szabó P. Szilveszter that man would make this dude PATHETIC.

Anywhoo, Garcia is pissed that Carmen put on a show for free and apparently he’s another guy who thinks he owns her. Obviously he missed the multiple ‘I only belong to myself’ songs she sang whilst he was off doing fuck all. Where is Elisabeth singing Ich Guhör Nur Mir when you need her? José arrests Carmen again to protect her from both Zuniga and Garcia, who apparently gets a pass for throwing knives at people in front of the entire police force but whatever he’s a knife thrower so maybe they figure that’s just what he does.

Caterina is upset that José is taking Carmen in, but he explains that she’s not safe with the increasingly thirsty Zuniga. Which, ok, is true, but we all know damn well that’s not the main reason.

Carmen and José are about to have sex but are interrupted by Zuniga AGAIN. He pulls a gun on Carmen (or José I literally cannot tell) and demands Carmen have sex with him. But here comes Garcia with a steel chair Garcia has ALSO been following them and attacks Zuniga. Carmen and José run away while Garcia fights Zuniga. I NEED to mention that Garcia is wearing a vest under his jacket but is otherwise shirtless. What does the vest even DO. What is the point of a vest if you are shirtless under it like ugufhddhgddhdh

There’s a neat little fight scene until Garcia remembers he’s a knife thrower and literally has knives in his pants, and stabs Zuniga before shooting him with his own gun. He then frames José for the murder.

Act I ends with the entire town singing about fate and fateful decisions (did you notice they are themes??) while Carmen and José are finally about to have sex without Zuniga interrupting them (RIP asshole).

The police force is not only corrupt, but corrupt and stupid, so they don’t dust for fingerprints on the gun used to kill Zuniga or anything and go straight to assuming José killed him. The mayor is Big Mad, not because José killed Zuniga (lol) but because he cheated on his daughter, who is worried about losing José (girl why, just let the trash take itself out). Garcia is Big Mad and jealous, and gets a line about how he is ‘the fear they can’t outrun’ just in case you weren’t already 100% certain this is the Big Bad. Like. Just in case. In case you didn’t get it.

Now we have a nifty circus scene full of circus performers (I just KNOW Opi will have a field day). Hopefully later productions do without the zoo animals :(

Carmen confronts Garcia over framing José for murder, and he responds by accusing her of having real feelings for José before singing a song about how he owns her and she can never escape him (tbh just typical boss/employee behavior). Despite the (obviously) disturbing lyrics it’s kind of a bop. I do think it’s dependent on the singer - the Czech actor has a rough and unpolished voice that’s perfect for the song, but I can see it sounding weird when sung by guys with a different vocal type. You know whose voice would be perfect for his songs?? Szabó P. Szilv*gunshot*

Despite the fact he spends the entire song flinging her around the stage, the thing that really upsets her is him saying José will never go for her when he has Caterina. I understand the bar for men is in the Grand Canyon but THAT is what upsets her??? The thought of losing the most Mid man on the planet?? Not the increasingly possessive and violent guy following her around ??? Side note: there is a giant circus poster on stage of Garcia looking sinister while holding knives just in case you somehow still didn’t get that he’s bad news by this point. If you didn’t - no worries! You will be reminded many more times before the musical is over.

Garcia warns Carmen that if the police don’t find José he will kill him and everything he loves.

Meanwhile, the police have been given orders to arrest José or kill him. I’m not all that familiar with police procedure but it seems weird they would kill someone outright just because the mayor tells them to. Why is the mayor even giving orders to the police force ?? I understand he is corrupt but ?? ???? ?????

Inmar, who again, is the only Real One, warns his bff and tells him to get out of town. José actually takes some accountability for his actions but immediately ruins it by forcing poor Inmar to sit through a song about how he is stupid and is not going to leave Carmen. Inmar, for reasons I cannot possibly fathom, still cares about José, and promises he will watch for Garcia at the circus. He leaves but José is not done with his song and forces us to listen to his whining for a few more minutes.

Carmen urges José to run away with her, but he refuses because he wants to clear his name. This man is so stupid !!! He is SO stupid !!! He cannot get worse at this point !!!

Carmen warns him about Garcia wanting to hurt everyone José cared about. It takes José a few seconds, but he eventually realizes that means Caterina.

Apparently he can get worse at this point, and urges Carmen to warn Caterina. THIS IS MAYBE ONE OF THE DUMBEST PLOT POINTS IN ANY SHOW EVER ASIDE FROM WHATEVER WAS HAPPENING IN LOVE NEVER DIES. Alas, it is needed because Carmen and Cat need a showdown.

And showdown they do have - in a church no less! They start off antagonistic (and Caterina finally has a Bad Bitch moment!!) but then bond over how stupid they are for falling in love. They are soo right I could not agree with this song more. Girlies you are stupid. They have a cute little moment where they hold hands and you start to hope they will run away together and leave José behind but NOPE. Caterina has the potential to be such an interesting character but noooooo we had to go the ‘personality amounts to loving a man’ route. We had hints Caterina could be an interesting character !!! She mentions feeling desire but feeling guilty about it because of religion and feeling like she is disappointing her family !! More of that !!! More deconstruction of the Good Girl trope instead of playing it straight !!! They could have went with her realizing she didn’t really love José and just was doing what was expected of her but spoiler alert this does not happen !!!

Caterina, who now realizes Carmen actually loves José, suggests to her that they work together to protect José and expose Garcia as the murderer. WHY ARE YOU PUTTING YOUR LIVES IN DANGER TO PROTECT THIS SKRUNKLY ASS MAN MAMMA MIA HE IS NOT WORTH IT. Carmen believes it’s too dangerous for her, but Caterina says she is tired of playing it safe. Caterina’s aunt pops out of nowhere and tells them it’s totally a good plan. They decide to draw out Garcia at the circus (HE OWNS THE CIRCUS AND IS A KNIFE THROWER WHERE TF ELSE WOULD HE BE WHY DO YOU NEED TO DRAW HIM OUT OH MY GODDD).

The circus is about to put on a show (presumably for money this time), and the townspeople are congregating to watch. Jeff Bezos I mean the mayor arrives wearing his sunglasses at night, causing that song to be stuck in my head along with the admittedly catchy songs from this musical. We get more circus performances featuring a lot of fire (I cannot WAIT to see the Does My Health Insurance Pay For This amount of fire the Hungarian version is going to go with).

You came to see a musical but SURPRISE! You’re getting a circus performance too. Does this make up for the wonky plot points? You decide.

Garcia arrives on the scene to sing about how the circus and everyone in it belongs to him and that everyone should be totally scared of him because he has knives in his pants and can kill people. Inexplicably they are scared, even the fucking whole ass police force that showed up. I understand he can throw knives but I don’t think that would be any match for, say, seven guns. CALL ME CRAZY. I also don’t think he has actual jurisdiction over anything just because he has a circus. Call me crazy again.

Anyway, the song is banger but is alas, too short. Why do the bad guys always get the bangers and bops ??? I’m not complaining but it’s a valid question. You know who would play this part perfectly - ?? * gets dragged away *.

Garcia grabs Caterina and makes her part of his knife throwing act. For some reason the mayor allows it. Whatever, I’ve given up trying to understand. Before he can throw the knife, Carmen appears and offers herself as the target. While it’s a badass moment and cool of Carmen to save Caterina, it makes no sense. But whatever! It’s dramatic!

Anyway, Carmen offers to have knives thrown at her by an extremely violent guy who explicitly says he wants to kill her. He tells her that he would definitely kill her in front of everyone because he is not afraid to die. First off, I don’t think the audience (of the circus) was meant to hear him saying that but I wonder about how much they heard considering they look freaked out when he violently grabs Carmen by the neck. Second, you gotta appreciate a villain who talks the talk and walks the walk. So many bad guys are all *surprised pikachu face* when they actually die, so shoutout to this asshole who is actually committed to his cause.

Garcia, being the professional performer that he is, tells the audience they are going to see something they’ve never seen before (presumably Carmen’s death). Before he can throw the knife, José jumps in front of her. Garcia very loudly and explicitly tells the audience that he is going to kill someone, but the police straight up do not care. José accuses him of killing Zuniga, but his dramatic moment is ruined by Garcia straight up admitting it in front of everyone. He waves his knife around and continues telling everyone how he is going to kill someone. Again, the police just casually watch. Go girl give us nothing.

Garcia throws his knife at José (tbh at this point I was rooting for it) but nooo Carmen jumps in front of him and gets stabbed instead. Inmar (who again is the only bitch I ever respected) fatally shoots Garcia but it is too late. Carmen dies in José’s arms before she can tell him she loves him. To reiterate, this bad bitch died for the most skrunkly ass dude on the planet we HATE to see it.

Caterina walks away from both her sketchy dad and José (yas queen) to follow the procession leading Carmen’s body away.

The personification of Fate, who has apparently also been a fortuneteller at the circus this whole time, tells us the story’s over. Carmen, presumably now in Heaven, sings about how she wouldn’t change anything about her life if given the chance. WELL I WOULD, CARMEN. I WOULD.

….AND YET ??? Barring the plot and some character personality choices I ??? Liked it ??? It has a ton of potential if they just change some things about the plot and characters (I’m serious). The songs have been stuck in my head for days and I like the fact they gave Carmen some depth beyond the standard Femme Fatale archetype. Unfortunately, the wonky plot points and José exist.

#carmen #carmen frank wildhorn #carmen the musical #shoutout to the one person who will read this i am smooching you on the cheek

[fabrickind]

Someone at a con suggested I use something they called inner facing on my costume what does that mean?

Hello there!

I assume, since this was presumably spoken aloud, that the person meant "interfacing" -- the T can often be silent when spoken -- and not "inner facing," which is....I guess a thing? But no one talks about it like that.

(Also hopefully this was consensual feedback!)

Interfacing is a material used to add structure to other fabrics. It comes in various types and weights, and is a useful tool to have in your sewing arsenal.

These comes in a few types: woven/knit/non-woven, and fusible/non-fusible (sew in). Think of these like a D&D alignment chart, with the first grouping on one axis and the second grouping on the other axis. You can have woven fusible, knit fusible, woven non-fusible, etc. These each have different properties and uses.

Woven interfacing keeps the properties of a woven fabric, such as a grain line, for when that is needed in your project for extra stabilization on grain. You probably aren't going to use this type much. Same with knit interfacing, which has stretch to it. This one is also uncommon, but is useful for stabilizing necklines, armholes, cutouts, and other areas on stretch garments when you want to retain stretch. Non-woven is going to be the cheapest and most common option. It is made from basically compressed fibers, and doesn't have a grain line, so it doesn't matter which way you cut it (you can save money by fitting some oddly placed pieces on there!). If you use a woven or knit, be sure to prewash it to shrink it ahead of time. (Some say to do so with non-woven as well, but I've never had an issue.)

Non-fusible interfacing (sometimes called sew-in interfacing) is just that -- you sew it to the garment as a separate layer. This leaves the original hand of the fabric intact and doesn't risk extra wrinkling or glue seepage that can be caused from fusible, and can be used on fabrics that cannot be ironed. Fusible interfacing has a heat-activated glue on one side that you iron to the wrong side of your fabric. This increases the stiffness and body of the fabric itself, since the interfacing and the main fabric act as one. This is useful when you are using a fabric that is more slippery or without as much stiffness or strength as you need in the finished product. Be sure that when you iron it on, you use a pressing cloth to protect your iron, don't move the iron, just leave it in place until the glue melts, and most fusibles require steam.

Here is a quick and dirty chart I whipped up with the types:

(Graphic design is NOT my passion haha)

All types of interfacing are also on a sliding scale of weight or body, from lightweight to heavyweight. Interfacing can be as light as a whisper, just to add a small amount of body or to stabilize a fabric prone to stretching without adding much weight, or as heavy as fusible foams and other materials that will make your fabric rock solid (sometimes as stiff as cardboard). Use the weight suited to your project: lighter weights tend to work well for simply stabilizing an area that tends to stretch or backing a very drapey fabric you want to be less drapey, mid weights are good for things like waistbands and button plackets where you need more structure but not too much added stiffness, and heavy weights tend to be used for specialty applications.

See also: this helpful chart from Wawak that shows the types of interfacing they sell and what they are good for. Even if you don't buy from Wawak (though they're a great source of sewing supplies for cheap!), it can give you ideas on what to use for what and to help you know what you are looking at when you go into a fabric store and touch the interfacings. Honestly, touching fabrics is the best way to learn about them!

As for where you use interfacing, anywhere you need stabilization, really. Look inside the button plackets of your button up shirts and the waistbands of your pants and skirts if you can -- see that extra bit of material in there? That's interfacing! It creates a stiffer and more stable material for things like button plackets, waistbands, collars, and anywhere else you need a bit....more from your fabric. I'm assuming the feedback you got was on something where it's obvious, such as a waistband, where the fabric can easily bend out of shape due to the pressure and heat of the body, or a cutout, where the bias of the fabric can cause it to stretch out in one direction and become wavy or misshappen, or a collar, where the lack of stiffness compared to the rest of the garment would create a limp rather than crisp effect.

Here is a good general guide to interfacing that might have more information than I have here (idk I only skimmed it but it looks good).

If they did mean "inner facing" they are probably talking about a facing. This is basically a partial lining that is used to finish an edge, or in some cases, add body or stabilize an edge. This is a piece that is shaped to match the edge it is being sewn to, often slightly smaller so it rolls to the inside, and sewn to the edge and then flipped to the inside. Think: a piece of fabric shaped to fit a neckline and sewn/flipped to the inside to finish the edge without doing a full lining. (These are also common as part of a lining in garments like suit jackets.) Facings are useful for finishing edges that have odd shapes (such as necklines or armscyces), need to be stabilized (like knit openings or cutouts on a bias), areas that need a bit of extra body (such as the top yoke of a suit jacket), or areas where an edge has extra small bits of fabric sewn into it that are hard to finish otherwise (such as sailor collars). Perhaps coincidentally, facings are often interfaced.

I hope that helps! :]

#sewing #interfacing #cosplay help #cosplay tips #fabrickind gives solicited advice #i give an entire panel on structure in cosplay lmao this is my wheelhouse

[mable-stitchpunk]

Do you reckon there’s still a way for Steel Wool to make Mimic an interesting villain? Much as I also dislike his book lore (and the books in general), i will say imo his presentation in Ruin especially the ending reveal and chase was legit cool. Had to do my best to ignore the books in the back of my mind, but it made him more creepy and I’m glad SW didnt try to give his backstory - woulda been a super awkward exposition dump most likely.

I ask, because it seems likely the books are going to remain the source material you need in order to know where Mimic came from, and maybe this is a good thing? Not for the storytelling of FNaF as a whole, that’ll never not be a problem. but for SW and their games specifically, could this approach maybe give them the creative liberty to really *do* something with this villain? Or am i just grasping at straws here for a character that doesn’t deserve it?

The ending reveal was, admittedly, waaaay better than I was expecting. Because it didn't involve an info dump- save the little one Gregory had at the end- and it worked into the plot of Ruin. It felt a bit hasty and probably would've worked better as its own game- like as Security Breach proper- but it actually worked relatively well.

But I'm not entirely sure... The problem with the Mimic is that it's just sort of not that intimidating. In the books it's portrayed as an endoskeleton that blindly runs around and kills with an empty head, just vibes mentality. That could make an okay villain for one game, but... but if it's just going to turn into a constant guessing game of, "Oh, is this suspicious animatronic actually Mimic?" then it's going to get tired fast.

It's sort of the same issue I had with Eleanor. Save that at the very least, Mimic is more tangible. He climbs into suits and acts like various characters while Eleanor straight-up broke reality by just looking like whoever or whatever she wanted. Therefor inserting herself into scenarios where there was no indication she had ever been planned to be there.

Plus, after the Vanny situation, I don't exactly have faith that Mimic won't abruptly get abandoned for a completely different other villain. Switching villains isn't exactly a bad thing, but building up a character for games and then dumping them for the next idea is extremely anticlimactic.

At least Mimic's design doesn't allow for him to become as much of a merch magnet. That might actually do him well.

#The Mimic #Eleanor #Security Breach #Ruin #Vanny #Fnaf

[beevean]

This isn’t a video game example but i think a lot of video game adaptations are like the aquaman movies in that regardless of their quality as stories they are awful adaptations because the writers think no one will take the source material seriously? And thus they choose to throw the fans under the bus to attract new ones

Pretty much.

They don't care about the source material. They only want to appeal to mass popularity, so they choose a popular work but then they change it to suit more general tastes, because I guess "cringe" doesn't sell.