#cobbledstories

A peek of the St. Stephen's Basilica in Budapest on a warm evening.

Huh, that’s an interesting bit of trivia, and does make sense out of that shot in the OP... but I’m really glad they did it the way they did, so that Anthy’s escape is all the more clearly on her own power, her own will. If she’d been rocketed out of the school and Utena was the one who set out to find her, it would have been more of a repeat of their preexisting dynamic-- Anthy suffers, and Utena goes after her-- and the reversal was wonderful. It really felt like Anthy got to take control of her life in an immensely satisfying way.

As to the end of that confrontation, Anthy plummeting-- I’m sorry if I didn’t say much during the liveblog itself, aha, I was reeling. I’m still trying to parse it, tbh. My best understanding of it at the moment is as a rejection of the Prince ideal entirely,  to make it all the clearer that it’s Utena’s love and support that allowed Anthy to save herself, rather than Utena pulling her up out of the darkness alone. As to the sword storm turning its attention to Utena,  that reminds me of Anthy’s earlier comment that ‘all girls are like the Rose Bride, in the end’, and how Utena’s desperation to save Anthy can be compared to Anthy’s original desperation to save her brother.

I guess it’s not as much that others have reached resolution, but that they’ve touched on the same arcs repeatedly? Juri’s history with Shiori has been present in both her focus episodes; Nanami’s self-destructive obsession with her brother is always in play. Because Miki’s relationship with his sister is the main focus of his character, but she was so rarely present in the first arc, while we also got all these hints of other directions for his character to go? I guess it makes him feel a little scattered to me. I don’t dislike him or anything, I just feel a bit disconnected.

Oh, that’s such a relief, I’d forgotten! Thank you. Nonetheless, that kind of thing sticks in a kid’s mind....

I FORGOT ABOUT THE NUMBERLESS HP BARS

ah im sorry, i wasn't like, reblogging that AT you. sorry for sounding aggressive i'm just generally panicking in no particular direction

 Hello!! Thank you for your interest! I’m always excited to talk about d’Eon! :’D

My thesis as it stands right now is about the relationship between history and historical fiction, and how they influence each other! D’Eon is a really neat case study for this because of the sheer amount of fiction about her, and also the messy relationship even the most accurate histories about her have with the truth! I’m really just starting and still in the theoretical and source-gathering phase, but I like to think I have a decent collection! It’s actually grown since I posted those pics, and I’ve got a few more in the mail. I tend to buy the fiction, but borrow the nonfiction from my uni library - they have a decent number of books (two), and I have access to a decent number of articles. I don’t actually own any of d’Eon’s (endless - good lord, lady) writing, because all of the ones I’ve found are either super expensive, or were made with that scanning technology that makes everything illegible. 

Recommendations are a little tricky because there’s a) so much, and b) so much of it is bad. My favourite work about d’Eon is the YA series L’agent secret du roi by Anne-Sophie Silvestre, but it’s in French and four volumes long. The Le Chevalier d’Eon anime and manga are two different but related acid trips. There are apparently two different French bande dessinee, and I’m desperately hoping the new one isn’t an erotic because the currently available one is, and it’s a nightmare! There’s a play by Renny Krupinsky on Amazon that looks decent, but also might even have a trans d’Eon (shockgasp!) - I haven’t begun reading it yet, though. If you want to make a drinking game, M. C. Hobbs’ Chevalier is a good excuse to get drunk!

Hmmm... I’m not sure if I’m the best person to answer this, but I will try to answer it to the best of my ability!

From what I understand, David got Goliath’s sword during the time when he was on the run from Saul? Which would mean it was a time where he was aware that he was to become king. So I think he would be considerably different than the Archer David we have now, who appears as the young Shepherd but is closer to his kingly self in his mental age and memories. Saber David would actually be younger, not fully aware of the future that awaits him, and perhaps a bit uncertain, but ready to walk toward it and having faith that the Lord will guide and protect him on his path. Perhaps a newly crowned David even, still a bit uncertain, saddened by the deaths of Saul and Jonathan, but accepting of his role. 

I think the major differences would be he’s a bit more serious, and is making an active effort not to think too much about his days as a shepherd, since he knows they’re behind him and daydreaming about simpler times won’t do him any good. As you bond with him more, perhaps he reveals he’s still a bit uncertain about all of this, and misses home a bit, but still has a firm resolve.

The Shielder part I feel even less qualified to answer... The shield is more a symbolic one than a literal shield I believe?? Please someone correct me if I am wrong. I feel like a Shielder David would be somewhat similar to a Ruler David, so he’d be more of a fully realized king, at his peak. I feel like because the shield a symbol, it might mean he is more of a symbol as well, so maybe a bit more idealized in some ways? But I’m not sure how I really feel about that. He’d definitely be older though, more wisened, perhaps starting to suffer from the strain of being king, but still holding strong, mostly firm in his acceptance of his role. And obvs if he’s a Shielder there’d be an emphasis on being a protector.

I feel like a Shielder David would have more of a connection to Solomon. Cuz hear me out. I don’t remember exactly where, but I know I’ve read a few times that some legends say Galahad was a descendant of Solomon, and that he had Solomon’s sword, so there’s an attachment between Solomon and Mashu. So if David and Mashu are both Shielders, I would imagine that connection would definitely be brought up, and this David would probably be more open about his feelings about being a father, contrasting him from Archer David who lumps those feelings with his time as a king and distances himself from them. He’d show a bit more concern for Solomon, maybe act paternal toward Mashu and take an interest in her training as a demiservant. A true Dadvid.