#fb meta

Now, think of the Qilin’s walk. Gellert can only be chosen by the dead/corrupt Qilin but he craves to be chosen by the real one. He believes in the righteousness of his cause and he always sees himself and Albus as equals. When the real Qilin chooses Albus he’s not even angry because he does not oppose that choice. He understands it. Yet he genuinely believes that he’s the best of the other candidates.

When the Qilin chose Santos, Gellert didn’t just snap because he lost the election. There was something very specific in the wording of Albus’ plea for a second choice: “Just as two of you were born that night, there’s another here, equally worthy.” Gellert always sees himself and Albus as binary stars and he cannot stand how the Qilin as an ‘impartial judge’ disrupts this idea because he feels that it’s one of the last threads that his connection to Albus is hanging from. 

So I think it's easy to see why people leave the show and/or the manga with this image of Shigure as a ruthless and inherently selfish, interested person, because this is the supposed core that was ultimately revealed of his character.

Yet, if all the other character writing and understanding could be read as linear, whose development espouses the progressive revelations made about their past, I think Shigure's might be best thought of as cyclical. He is one of the characters that is the most suited to a re-read or re-watch in order to get the grasp of.

Watching again the earlier episodes is quite an experience. I spend so much time pondering on his ruthlessness and his all-consuming passion for Akito, that I tend to forget his humour, light-heartedness, all the little ways he helped and sheltered his cousins, how he listens to and is present for them, how kind he is to Kisa, Momiji, Tohru, small gestures like how he stopped Kyo from shaking Hiro for instance, and imparts wisdom and advice left and right, etc.

And it'd be easy to say this is all a mask hiding his true self, a nice little bow and colourful paper wrapping up his dark desires and his real objectives, but the best lies have a seed of truth. And in Shigure's case, I think it is more than a seed. Paradoxically, I think the mask ends up being his real face, and the supposedly core ruthlessness, something he ends up discarding. His curse is to be unable to realise it on his own.

Because that is the form that the Curse took for him. He believes himself incapable of kindness, as focused on his goal as he is, as determined to make his dream come true as he is. But Shigure's implacable side and manipulative tendencies are something that he learned out of necessity as a way to deal with the Sohma family and the controlling nature of the Curse. To lie and dissimulate allow him to regain a parcel of autonomy and preserve himself while giving him the capacity to plan and strategize with a cold head. This is why he cannot be "kind" except as an "afterthought", why there are always layers of self-interest to his character peeking through, but those are always, tellingly, kept on the radar of his self-awareness.

What happens when his goal is reached, the curse broken and he is finally free? When he doesn't need to pretend anymore? My interpretration is a lighter variation of "I become the mask" trope.

I believe he is finally able to realize that the pretense isn't really one. The kind, generous, light-hearted, silly persona isn't so much a mask than one of his faces, one of many, but one no less real, and perhaps more real, than the merciless side and the bitterness he can let finally to rest when the Curse is gone. It parallels the kindness he is finally free to show Akito when he is certain that the tenderness and love are his, not the Bond's, and will be received as such.

Lots of screenshots from the manga so i’m putting it under a read more

Beware: This is a super long post.

Look, I may be a Momiji stan at heart but I can’t deny that these dudes are awesome. Do note that I am not speaking against those who have their own biases, I’m referring to the people who keep comparing these two in a really negative way to the extent of antagonizing the other party or worse; comparing who’s got more trauma. I saw the latter part on that one facebook post and I was all “wtf?!” 

Now we all know Yuki was criticized for his so-called “surface” character especially back in the 2001 anime where they really botched their chances of developing Yuki’s storyline with his brother, backstory, and president arc; and since the first half of the manga centered on the true form arc, a lot of Kyo stans emerged and at times, shoved yuki in the mud as if he’s not that important to the whole series (which infuriated me and I’m pointing my finger at the 2001 anime for this). The reboot is finally shining Yuki and the fandom, new viewers/old fans begin to love this Yuki more than the old version because this is the Yuki that was portrayed in the manga that we all love. It also helps that there are a lot who posted their metas about him and people have matured enough to understand his situation.

Now moving on to Kyo. Since the second half of season 2 will finally focus on the storyline that Yuki didn’t get during the 2001 anime, this is the part where I’m very intrigued of. Gathering some opinions from manga readers, this is the arc wherein there might be an emergence of Kyo hate opinions. I predicted this for a number of reasons and connected it to what season 2 will show, like Yuki’s backstory wherein we found out that Yuki actually wanted to befriend Kyo; using yuki as a scapegoat; the cinderella arc where Kyo lashes out on Yuki again. Not to mention, Kyo doesn’t really appear that much or get that much spotlight during the second half (except Kagura’s confession and Kyoko’s backstory albeit it’s more focused on kyoko’s) because his spotlight and development will come at season 3.

This is something that really pissed me off. The Yuki hate was based on his treatment towards Kyo and acting like he’s better than him (ex: is when a lot complained during the ore-sama dialogue that he’s acting all superior to Kyo or some shit). If anything, Yuki has the right to call out on Kyo which I’ll explain below. The Kyo hate on the other hand was based on his treatment to Yuki back when they’re younger till now (it rages me when there are fans who blamed Kyo for ALL of Yuki’s trauma. He’s partly at fault, for sure but the fact that they are really blaming ALL this on Kyo was absurd. blame akito or the curse dammit). 

Kyo’s actions are unjustifiable, sure, especially when he’s channeling his hatred to someone he doesn’t fully know but it’s one of his main conflicts in this series. Even as a kid, he still technically started that feud between their relationship even when Yuki just wanted to be friends w/ him but because of the rat/cat hierarchy implanted on him since he was born, it was natural for him to lash out on Yuki, which, resulted on damaging Yuki’s trauma more. It didn’t help that Yuki was used as his scapegoat because not only projecting your hatred also cause to damage to the other person which come of as insensitive, but it also developed Kyo’s unhealthy way of coping esp since he explicitly said that he used Yuki because he wouldn’t be able to take it any longer (it really was the only thing keeping him together which was a super fucked up situation). It’s a lose-lose battle on him

I’m not going to pretend that Yuki is an angel as well. He, too have struggled immensely and his envious thoughts and jealously towards Kyo sprouted his hatred towards him which in any case, is not Kyo’s fault. His internal struggles of not being able to be himself was not entirely Kyo’s responsibility, which developed an unhealthy coping mechanism wherein he puts up this princely facade and also lashes on/ beats Kyo due to his jealousy. I also think a lot are forgetting that while Kyo used him as a scapegoat, deep inside, Yuki looked down on Kyo as well. Based on what Shigure told Tohru that the cat is needed for them to make themselves feel a little better. Which was amplified during Momiji’s grown up chapter (the scene where they are making curry) the zodiacs finally acknowledged the effect of being in the cat’s unfortunate position.

I cannot fully blame Yuki for looking down on Kyo and used his jealousy to beat him up because he reminds him of anything he’s not. At the same time, I cannot fully blame Kyo for lashing out on him when they were kids and used the rat to have a purpose of his hatred. Their feelings manifested from the curse, it just so happened that these two were driven with different coping mechanisms.

In addition, I really don’t understand the point of antagonizing/villanizing person a to person b’s backstory and vice versa when it’s clearly not the case. A lot are forgetting that it’s the bond/curse and akito that made them this way. You can’t fully blame the other party because both of them are victims of terrifying positions (Yuki’s closest to god so he really suffered from akito’s abuse while Kyo’s position as the cat made him mocked and looked down by the sohmas and eventually imprisoned for life for something he was born with). It’s also interesting despite their different childhood experiences, both experienced some kind of isolation (yuki was isolated from the other zodiacs and kept in the dark room while kyo was an outcast and not included in any event because the mere presence as a cat is something they need for the banquet to keep going).

This is the reason why my blood was boiling when they get compared at who’s got the worst trauma or some shit from the two. It’s downgrading the other’s problems and experiences and fucking petty. BOTH, I repeat, both have been traumatized and suffered a lot and it defeats the purpose on portraying different traumas and their journey of fighting their demons. In other words, the two do not deserve to be compared. It’s not a battle between traumas.

If they want to blame something, blame the fucking curse (and Akito). It clearly destroyed the cursed Sohma’s mental health. No need to pit these two into an experience that haunted them both.

I’m saying this because while I was glad and relieved that the yuki hate is slowly dissolving, I noticed that this season might involve some Kyo hate and I just have to fucking slap my desk and be like “Not this again!”

Anon, you are wonderful. Thank you so much. Your messages made my day!! Ahh yay, I’m so glad Hatori and Mayu are other people’s faves!

Oh no, you aren’t thick headed at all—haha I read the manga like eight (or more) times before I picked up on the infectious snow thing xDDD

When Johnny Depp was cast as Grindelwald, I thought he’d be wonderful in the role. However, around the time of filming his cameo in the first movie, stories had appeared in the press that deeply concerned me and everyone most closely involved in the franchise.

Harry Potter fans had legitimate questions and concerns about our choice to continue with Johnny Depp in the role. As David Yates, long-time Potter director, has already said, we naturally considered the possibility of recasting. I understand why some have been confused and angry about why that didn’t happen.

The huge, mutually supportive community that has grown up around Harry Potter is one of the greatest joys of my life. For me personally, the inability to speak openly to fans about this issue has been difficult, frustrating and at times painful. However, the agreements that have been put in place to protect the privacy of two people, both of whom have expressed a desire to get on with their lives, must be respected.  Based on our understanding of the circumstances, the filmmakers and I are not only comfortable sticking with our original casting, but genuinely happy to have Johnny playing a major character in the movies.

I’ve loved writing the first two screenplays and I can’t wait for fans to see ‘The Crimes of Grindelwald’. I accept that there will be those who are not satisfied with our choice of actor in the title role. However, conscience isn’t governable by committee. Within the fictional world and outside it, we all have to do what we believe to be the right thing.