obsessed with yang chow fried rice.

Athrun/Cagalli: Duty and the death of love vs. Love and the death of duty in Gundam

about two years ago, i had an in-depth discussion on Reddit on the relationship between Athrun and Cagalli and how much it mirrors Tristan and Isolde (or Game Of Thrones' Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen if you'd like but i was never too pleased with the execution of the eventual conclusion of that show). in fact a lot of themes appear to be lifted off Richard Wagner's works specifically the names of some weapons or items in SEED/CE but what seems to be the most apparent is the uncanny similarity of the predicament that the Red Knight of ZAFT and the Orb Princess find themselves in (you could argue Athrun is a kind of Prince being the son of former Chairman Zala) like Wagner's tragic lovers fated to be kept apart.

Cagalli needed to reject Athrun (and the free spirited galivanting with her rebellious TSA friends) so she could focus on the grown-up role as head of state of Orb. at the same time she probably did not want to give Athrun a reason to fall behind, allowing him room to grow into his own person and tie up whatever loose ends he needed in ZAFT/PLANTs. this is pretty admirable in an adult sense, they're both being very mature by not being too clingy or needy of each other, allowing personal growth and some degree of independence but hopefully not too much as Athrun has willingly showed that after he finished what he needed to do, he went back to Orb and potentially be by Cagalli's side.

Cagalli tried to not be too reliant on Athrun herself attempting to take on the external and internal issues within Orb and the Seirans all by herself, but as soon as Athrun left she was the most vulnerable (hence the photo for this post) from still feeling the reigns all by herself. good thing she still had her twin brother and his friends around to catch her fall and by the time she acquired Akatsuki and established a determined resolve on leading her nation, she knew how to stand on her own two feet. whether Athrun still has a place to be beside her remains to be seen, we'll have to see how much he can contribute as a commander/general (i'm really hazy with the ranks in Orb especially when the lore is a little inconsistent) of Orb along with the Freedom movie's revelation that he has been reassigned (or was it his decision?) to Terminal, a third party branch of the Orb Army out of a sense of duty for Orb or Cagalli.

ultimately Tristan and Isolde had a depressing ending (both lovers cannot get out of their social and moral structures, Tristan gave up romantic love for his love of duty to his king, Isolde likewise felt obligated to stay with her king for her family and country to keep people from dying, then he later died tragically before he could be reunited with Isolde) but hopefully Fukuda will stop with the association before it gets to that. some wonder who Cagalli will go for in a political marriage next, will she marry for love or duty? and could Athrun come into his own (be powerful and influential enough) just in time to fulfill both? besides the moral of Tristan and Isolde has been to pursue a love that preserves rather than destroys, celebrates rather than abolishes individuality and seeks life rather than death--themes that Cagalli were desperate to uphold, at one time saving Athrun's life with it. if we are really sure we love who we want to love, we have to get out of the structure and go and fight for that love.

Sue Bird 「 Team USA 」Diana Taurasi

Could this be the last we see of famed and celebrated multi-awarded coach at the helm of #Nadeshiko Japan? When the JFA hired her after Norio Sasaki used up all his World Cup magic, they envisioned a 6-year plan with the ultimate goal of garnering perhaps a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. During those times, Asako Takakura banked on the potential of the youth where she saw so much success as the prolific coach of various youth national teams. She seemed to do away with much of the experienced veterans who are succeeding in domestic leagues overseas (Ogimi, Kawasumi, etc) favoring younger players closer to home. The decisions i personally found most puzzling were when she even disregarded young but internationally seasoned players who may have matured (Naomoto, Yokoyama, Masuya, Norimatsu, etc) favoring much greener players instead. I always contended that the post-OG (batch of 2011 World Cup champions) sorely lacked experience especially mental fortitude and drive. But even with years of preparation, she experimented for a working combination of a system that worked for her at the youth level but unfortunately it did not translate to the senior level, and as if at a loss for what else to do or maybe running out of ideas even (Women's World Cup in France one of the most unfortunate of exits for the team), it seemed like she kept experimenting to this very day, at the expense of the ultimate goal for this one big time event where so much seemed to be riding on it--a significant result, a podium finish from the Olympics at home that will surely have kickstarted a boom for Japanese women's football.

Post-match interview question: "What went wrong?"

Takakura: "I don't know."

𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨'𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘯 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝙄 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙩𝙤𝙤 𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘐'𝘮 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶