Honk Honk

P.F. | He/It

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Follow-Up drawing to this

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Balloon Sword AU

Further thoughts under the cut

So a good while ago I got a balloon sword and thought wouldn't it be funny If the duels were fought with balloon swords then I got serious about it

So besides the swords being balloons, the roses are too

The first idea in regards to this was the duelists using what is essentially a toy in battle, a childish imitation of a sword fight

The second had to do with empty desires, what motivates them to fight. They have swords, but they're filled with nothing but air, merely a shell to hold almost nothing at all

Coming to the roses I thought Anthys blowing up the balloons is in a way the inflation of the duelists desire and them then being molded into motivation to battle, folding the balloon into the form of a rose

It'd also make a very nice sound when the balloon is popped, literally exploding on their chests

I had imagined that around the black rose arc we could possibly switch over to real swords

Visually I Imagine the sword pulls of the arc as a balloon floating out of their chests on a string to then be exploded by the sword inside piercing the balloon

From then on out real swords would be used, the roses remain balloons

Not entirely sure what to do with the Sword of Dios, it could either be replaced by a real one once Utena gets hers pulled out of her chest, it stays a balloon sword forever or it only turns into a real sword in the very last episodes

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One thing that stood out to me during Episode 39 of Utena is that Utena and Akio seemingly tried to open the Rose Gate in different directions.

Akio as he is slashing and stabbing at the Rose Gate is obviously trying to open it by applying force towards it, he is treating the door as a push door and in comparison to Utena is as well using a tool or well a weapon in an attempt to get it open.

Utena, and of this Im admittedly not completly certain, seems to be based on her posture trying to pull the door open.

The first noteworthy difference between push and pull doors is the amount of difcficulty one has opening them, push doors being much easier to open due to the applied force following the objects motion while the force applied during pulling goes into the opposite direction.

Now while there are no actual regulations for what direction a door should open to when, but generally speaking a door is pushed open when a room or house is being entered from the outside and pulled open when leaving a room or a house.

So Akio is not only using the method which costs less effort, he is trying to enter into something, the space where he believes his princehood lies to continue a fairytale in which he is the knight in shining armor, a restricted room waiting for him to get inside, to leave what he views as the outside, the reality he is complacend in and does sees as such, his general space of being and Utena is in comparison trying to leave a confined space around her to reach the outside with a method more strenous, of course behind the Gate lies Anthy.

And as we then see Utena opening Anthys coffin, it is arguably a sliding door. Now, sliding doors generally have the effect of seperating one singular space into two seperate ones, in this case seperating Anthy from a world, a space she is part of, then the floor breaks, we see the space well and truly seperate itself from the platform.

When Anthy then leaves we are faced with two new sliding doors, the elevator door in Akios office, closing behind Anthy as the space of the elevator seperates itself, not simply by closing but by moving itself downward which I do find to be reminiscent of Anthys fall, leaving the tower, leaving a point high up above, surrounded by nothing but the sky to get to the ground upon which to walk on and then Ohtoris gate, seperating the place from the rest of the World in the end Ohtori is part of the world, but not the whole of it, much more of it isn't, the gate does not close, there are many more who can leave or enter, Anthy could very well turn around and get back inside, but she chooses to walk way.

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Considering it seems to be a common type of bread mold, also often found in caves, I think the specific type of mold Charlotte had was Penicillium

Plus it looks similar enough

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I feel like if tweaked a little the story of "Prince Lindwurm" could work well with rgu

Like I think there would be room for the use of imagery or something or other

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During Saionjis and Tougas sparring matches Saionji always has his hair up in a ponytail which I imagine is proper for the sport while Touga has his tied up in a way that probably doesn't come to be incredibly effective

This could possibly be explained by Saionji trying in a way to appeal to Touga

At the end of the day, his desire to beat Touga comes from no other than his desire for him to be acknowledged by him, his self worth is tied to him in such a way that longing to measure up and longing for Tougas companionship become one and the same, he at that puts in an effort to do so properly

During their match in Episode 9, he yells, he emotes quite vividly, putting in something along the lines of passion into the act of competing with Touga

Touga in turn remains stone faced and quiet

In Episode 35 it is again Saionji driving the conversation, talking the most out of the two

Touga doesn't put in quite as much effort as Saionji does, we rarely see him practice and him having a match with Saionji garnering as much attention as it did the first time around, at least implies that if it is not the case that he doesn't engage regularly in the sport it is at least the case that he doesn't do so with Saionji

Him sparring with Saionji is an interest that they bonded over in childhood years is something seemingly monumental

It doesn't matter that how ineffectively his hair is tied up, the entire thing is bound together with a neat little bow like a present

This does also remind me of the fact that Saionji as a child used to wear his hair tied in much the same way as Tougas is now while Touga has not changed much about the way he ties his, also putting into mind that he does not view Saionji as being something he has to put an effort into more so than he did back then

Saionji dialed up the force he puts into competing, Touga has not

Here I see perhaps a reflection of Saionjis feeling that he and Touga are unequal not being truly present yet, they approach the match with the same amount of effort

However I find it notable that Saionji in comparison to Touga does not untie his hair afterwards

Potentially implying that he not only focuses on Touga as competitor, but also on Touga in terms of their relationship

Should we see the tied hair and the little bow as a projection of the past on the part of Saionji, another possible interpretation, it could also be notable that the lack of change in hairstyle correlates with his attachment to Touga on the basis of his memory of him, no matter how much he has changed time binds them together considering the experiences made with him are still very much linked to Touga as he is now since he remains the same person as they were made with back then wether he has changed or not

To add to this the bow to me also resembles the cloth Touga bandaged Saionjis hand in

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Done some thinking, here is my conclusion

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people will be like ‘yeah it’s really relevant that utena is an orphan haha’ and then not even recognise how utena being a character without living blood relatives is hugely significant in a show where almost all of the most atrocious relationships are ones that have been spurred on by the notion of familial/blood obligation. and utena herself clings so tightly to what is essentially a romantic ideal of ‘the family’, ‘the blood relative’, telling anthy she’s jealous of her relationship with akio, insisting to nanami that she should persevere with her relationship with touga because you’re still siblings. in ohtori, family is something you can only be born into. in ohtori, family is the way you gain power. i mean for the love of god it’s right there, revolutionary girl utena is a family abolitionist masterpiece and it makes me claw at the walls!!!!!!!!! read the palace perspective!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! engage more with these aspects of the show!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! kill any and all people who go ‘why are there so many weird sibling dynamics i only came for the lesbians’ her NAME is kiryuu nanami and she does both!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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I feel like the obligation in familial bonds also plays into eternity because most everyone is born with family, it is there from the very start for people

In this system Quantity beats Quality of Time playing right back into the way Ohtori prevents change

Nanami and Anthy are both the younger sister, in comparison to their older brothers they've never been only children, they have no memories of ever being without their brother, both Akio and Touga do and I think you can also see this in the Karou twins, they're the same age but because of being a boy Miki takes the title of the older sibling yet in comparison to the aforementioned two both have fond childhood memories of the other

I don't believe there's ever been a flashback of a fond memory of their sisters from Akios or Tougas perspective, they certainly depend on them, but in a way that's so incredibly different, so devoid of the sentimentality and devotion their sisters display for them

The Twins both clammer to each other in very different ways and while Miki very much tries to assert what he thinks Kozue should do, it's firstly much less effective and secondly much more laden with direct emotion

This logic also extends to childhood friends, people who've known each other for a very long time and played a role in each others upbringing and development who have however also known each other for as long as the other has

This comes to fruition in both romance and competition

We have Juri and Shiori, Saionji and Touga, Wakaba and Tatsuya, maybe also Mitsuru and Mari

Are there romantic feelings between the first two pairs? Absolutely, but at least from one side of these there are feelings of inferiority, there is cruelty and there is exploitation

They've known each other from some of their earliest years, they've spend a lot of time together and undoubtedly had an impact on the other, they're trapped in the relationship by virtue of said relationship having been present in their lives for most of its duration

Notably both members of each pairs are grouped into the same categories of gender which instead of making them lovers makes them competitors, something to compare themselves to despite the very same connection holding them together, despite the very real feelings of love, the implementation of an incredibly similar roles here is not viewed as desirable, the princess role is replaced with the role of the 'loser' and the role of the prince with that of the 'victor'

Tatsuya and Wakaba, they're set up to be lovers, to be a couple because of their history

This has started right in their childhood, Wakaba declares him her prince, Tatsuya is embarrassed by her and throughout the entire episode of knowing him, he also seems to be trying to make her do what he thinks is right to an extent, getting continously annoyed at her mannerisms and expression which is somewhat reminiscent of the twins

Mitsuru and Mari too have a romantic set up, Nanami asked Mitsuru if they were together after their talk in the theater if I recall correctly, on a side note enforcing a correct kind of romance before romance is even a completely developed idea in a persons mind and seperating girls and boys into the two hierarchical lover roles instead of a competitive friendship that admits to the possibility of equal footing, Mitsurus relationship with Nanami as her "Big Brother" of course takes precedence over his friendship with Mari

However I'm not quite sure how long Mitsuru and Mari have known each other but they seem to be well acquainted to say the least, it's noteworthy that they do not quite pass as childhood friends since they are still in their childhood, as well as Wakaba and Tatsuya having long ago broken off contact, both she and Mari have seemingly fewer hesitation to just walk out on the other, once again separating friendship and romance where walking out of a fight might indicate something like surrender, but is made normal by being done by a girl who is supposed to take the role of the one who surrenders, who doesn't fight on in the face of a boy who continues enforcing himself no matter what

It all comes back to a relationship having been present for so long that it becomes a very part of you

The word familiar derived from family means to know something well after all

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ok yea so like, for the nanami egg episode, obviously the egg itself can be interpreted a few ways. the two most obvious being homosexuality/bisexuality and puberty (can even make an argument for teen pregnancy). which, i think both are intended interpretations knowing the show, considering juris conversation with nanami, and also tougas conversation with nanami. but with both of these interpretations in mind, what is kyouichis conversation with nanami supposed to symbolize? obviously its first intentioned to be comedic more than anything, but we all know better than to brush off comedic episodes/scenes as non-symbolic, again remembering the shows track record.

so is it supposed to be like, him completely killing/denying his bisexuality (considering his schtick with touga)? is it him burning through girls/admirers at school like it means nothing? is it him completely not playing into the game (and nanamis meanings of the "egg")? is it joking about the fact that, at that point, he had been the only one to "break the worlds shell" by reaching self awareness and realization of what was happening at the school and with the duels, and the pointlessness of it all (and then inevitably willingly went back anyway lmao)

really wanna hear more thoughts/opinions, maybe ive just completely missed the obvious read on this scene already

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In the context of sexuality and awareness he has "cracked the egg" but we at least never saw him eating it, the egg gets burnt at the end of the conversation and is at that point probably considered to be unpleasant to eat even if it just seems to be around the edges, he has an entire bowl of these things so repetition of the process is implied

The conclusion this leads me to is that he keeps coming to the same realization over and over but refuses to so to speak "swallow the truth" yet he keeps going hoping to find an outcome that appeals to his taste

I feel it important to mention that all this is happening in the woods, a private setting that normally no one would go into, in fairytales a place that represents being lost, exploration and potential danger as well as mystery and 'other worldliness'

Continuing the realization train of thought, he offers to make Nanami some and in a somewhat roundabout way tells her that eggs aren't something to freak out about, this coupled with it being intended as 'brotherly advice' might be a reassurance that 'everyone has these thoughts, you just have to choke it down somehow'

With the apron and cooking as a whole being considered feminine things one could come believe that he was in privacy living out what the strict gender roles of Ohtori will not allow him to do which shocks Nanami without ever truly having to leave them and the ways in which they benefit him behind, the student council uniform still right beneath

One could even argue the apron draws a parallel between them, the yellow coloring mirroring Nanamis color of self and the red hearts showing these two as Tougas main relations, both of them display a considerable awareness of the dueling game before most others as well as possibly linking back to their attitudes towards their own sexuality and self expression