I have been avoiding anything about witch from mercury for the longest time but I checked once again. I shouldn't have. Lol.
The reason I have been avoiding is because of ship pandering and not making anything official and deal with things once and for all. Everything can be up to interpretation and this corp is profiting off of that chaos created.
So I will not be buying any official merch. I will if only sulemio is endgame. END GAME.
*I have this irrational fear that if they make sulemio canon, they will make shami canon as well. Like, sulemio marriage is only until suletta dies then when she dies, Miorine will pursue this shadq who sacrificed his life for humanity blah blah etc in post epilogue whatever story. This does not seat well with me. So I will never buy anything witch from mercury until I see SHADQ DEAD LOL.
SULEMIO IN LOVE, MARRIED, AND ENDGAME is what I want but is that the official's stance?
I'm still keeping tabs on witch from mercury but not that often.
We all enjoy the headcannon of Miorine being a clingy wife, but I'd like to take it a step further and say that it's in part because because she grew up incredibly isolated and distrustful of others, making her very touch-starved. But Suletta is the one person she trusts completely, and so instinctively makes up for lost time by wanting to remain in physical contact as much as possible, even if its something so simple as holding her arm, having a hand on her shoulder, but also lots and lots of cuddling. And given that Suletta is a great big cuddlebug, it works out just fine.
However, there's a more tragic aspect to it as well. Miorine never really forgave herself for "betraying" Suletta in order to "save" her from Lady Prospera, and having Suletta nearly die in her arms so soon afterward has made her terrified of losing Suletta again. So whenever their together, she has to keep subconsciously reminding herself that Suletta is alive and with her, because a part of her feels that if she ever lets her go again, it will be for the last time. Needless to say, she gets really grumpy at work.
As for Suletta, she's just happy to have such an affectionate wife.
It may be years, if ever, before we hear anything definitive about what went on behind the scenes on The Witch From Mercury. The fact that production was troubled and episodes were barely getting finished isn't a secret, but comments like this definitely make me fully believe this production was held back.
It's obvious by now that Bandai limited the staff in how it depicted Sulemio. I know some people are mad that there wasn't a kiss or a wedding but the staff definitely wasn’t allowed to show those things. They got away with what they could and it still ended with them explicity married within the show, no outside confirmation required. That's pretty rare even in yuri, but basically unheard of in a mainstream anime that focused on a sapphic couple.
And this is just my personal opinion, but comments like these definitely make me believe someone involved pushed the staff to focus more on the Jeturk Family and the Dawn of Fold in order to include more "traditional" Gundam elements for older fans, at the cost the pacing for the main story. All because Bandai didn't have faith G-Witch would succeed.
The dream Miorine wanted to see with Suletta is a world without gundams, gund-format used only in medical purposes, and peaceful days woven with blessings.
What if Miorine snaps at Suletta about being best friends is because not only that's downgrading their status but also because Shaddiq actually takes that spot and Miorine really is serious about Suletta as groom and love interest?
*While they might have had a fall out, Miorine still considers Shaddiq her "precious friend" like Nika is to Suletta.
Given bandai tipping their hand and basically confirming that they were holding back the yuri im just gonna go ahead and consider most of the more aggressively gay positing about sulemio that me and plenty of other people had as true and that there was a lot of stuff off screend.
So things like them fucking before the final battle. That they were basically a couple in all but name after episode 7 and spent a lot of time together and there was a lot more physical touch between them than we saw in that time and so on and so on.
I saw the GEM figures and came to various scenarios based on their positioning to each other. And of course my main focus is none other than Miorine, Suletta, and Shaddiq lol. Because of course ROMANCE and nothing else. Guel and El5n isn't even to be considered imo, even to be interpreted. The story in my head is about romance and their role seem shallow unlike those three.
Scenario #1
Suletta curiously looking at Miorine who is lazying on her bed busy on her phone while Suletta sat on the floor admiring Miorine's beauty. Miorine notices Suletta prompting her to smile gently upon seeing her beloved Suletta looking at her in such manner (curiously and also as if wanting to kiss her lol--I interpret that they kiss afterwards)
Scenario #2
Jealous Suletta looking at Miorine admiring Shaddiq who is in deep thought of his "keikaku" lol (which includes Miorine and by extension Suletta's role). For Suletta, it seems that they are looking at each other and thinking Miorine is emotionally cheating on her. Suletta thinks they like each other romantically when actually both are admiring qualities they have that the other don't. For Shaddiq, it's Miorine's resolve to come up to a decision, stand up for herself and what she thinks is right. For Miorine, it's Shaddiq's noble cause and the ability to sacrifice himself for the greater good because unlike him, Miorine cannot sacrifice her happiness for the greater good because her top priority is Suletta's happiness and her happiness is Suletta's happiness.
Scenario #3
Shaddiq watching over SuleMio from a distance because he knows Miorine, his childhood friend, basically like a cousin, business competition, and almost business partner is in love with Suletta. He wants to protect them from afar. Wants to protect them, their happiness which is for him is Miorine's happiness.
*extra scenario in my head and which I think is believable:
Gosanke are seperate from Suletta, Miorine, Nika, and Chuchu! Why? Gosanke have shoes while the girls don't.
I believe the girls are having GUNDARM girl's night and Nika and Chuchu notices the atmosphere between Suletta and Miorine becoming a bit romantic lol. While the gosanke in my mind, Guel is sitting beside El5n who is teasing Shaddiq who is in deep thought thinking about his "keikaku" lol
Can you expand on how they are implied to be closer offscreen than what is shown?
It's mostly in background details in a couple episodes!
First, episode 4: Miorine invites Suletta to stay in her room overnight to help her with her upcoming test (In the novel it's stated that Suletta doesn't yet have a dorm and has been staying at an on-campus hotel). We get a good look at her room (it's actually pretty small) during these few scenes, but looking around, it becomes clear that there is only one bed in the room, and during their conversation that night, when the camera angles back towards the living space, there isn't a 2nd mattress set out.
So they almost certainly shared Miorine's bed that night.
Episode 8: After the founding of GUND-Arm Inc, Miorine starts researching the GUND Format and the history of GUND technology. We see her lying in bed, looking at her phone, with TWO tablets on the bed around her. One is hers, but the other? It could only be Suletta's. And by this point Suletta is living at the Earth House dorms, so she's still coming by to spend nights in Miorine's room even while having her own place to sleep. We don't see the room itself or where Suletta is in this scene, but they may still be sharing Miorine's bed.
Episode 19: In the aftermath of the last two episodes, Suletta is shown lying in bed, burying her face in a pillow. But she's lying the wrong way, with her feet at the top of the bed with another pillow, presumably the one she normally sleeps with. The other pillow? Probably Miorine's, and Suletta is burying her face in it because she finds Miorine's scent comforting.
The girl's dorms at Earth House show 6 bunks, with one pillow each. Suletta, Nika, Chuchu, Lilique and Aliya account for 5 occupants, leaving one spare bed (and pillow). Miorine is almost definitely doing most of her GUND-Arm Inc. work out of Earth House, and she probably spent nights there, sleeping in the spare bunk. Suletta, hurt and seeking any sort of comfort, steals Miorine's pillow from her bunk to take into bed with her.
Most of the investigative work from this I got from these two tweets.
There's nothing wrong with wanting to take Suletta & Miorine's relationship the way it's presented in the show, and the pace at which it develops, at face value. But in light of Bandai's statement regarding their relationship, and some of the rumors (like the kiss scene), I feel like it's safe to say that Bandai suppressed the way the staff was allowed to depict their relationship.
Showing Suletta & Miorine sharing a bed, even in a completely chaste manner, was probably a no go. They definitely weren't allowed to show them kissing, saying "I love you" to each other and obviously the word marriage and the actual wedding were off limits.
So instead we get little background details like this showing they're closer off-screen than we're allowed to see. We get scenes in episode 11, 17 and 22 that are clearly supposed to be a confession, proposal and kiss, but the wording had to be changed and the kiss had to be changed to a more subtle intimate interaction. They couldn't show a wedding, have anyone say the two were married or have them call each other wife, so the staff added the "Sister-in-Law" line to make their marriage explicit without drawing Bandai's ire.
Personally, I think the staff wanted to have them kiss AND show the wedding on screen, but were stopped by Bandai. There's clearly some foreshadowing to a kiss in S1, especially with El5n almost kissing Suletta, and I wonder if they were originally going to kiss in episode 11. Their marriage and wedding is built up throughout the show, starting from the very first episode, and in episode 17 Suletta clearly talks about how she wants to have a ceremony with pretty dresses and matching rings. And just look at some of the artwork some members of the staff drew in the "unofficial" staff artbook showing Suletta & Miorine married or being intimately close once they were off Bandai's leash.
And then there's the song "The Way We Wanna Go", an absolutely beautiful song with a title befitting a couple moving forward together. It's got vocals by Clara Sorace just like The Witch From Mercury, Aerial Rebuild, Quiet Zero and Liberation From The Curse, all major themes for major moments in the show, but The Way We Wanna Go wasn't included in the show. I personally believe it was going to play during their wedding at the end of the show, but the wedding was replaced by the epilogue and the song was replaced by Houseki no Hibi in the process.
Inspired by a post from another user, I've decided to update and add to my Sulemio headcanons to make them more "aggressively gay" as they put it, in light of it becoming obvious Bandai suppressed the depiction of Sulemio. I said in my earlier headcanons that I was undecided on when they first kissed because I was torn between "how the show presents their relationship at face value vs. how the show provides evidence that they're much closer in private and off screen." This is headcanons going all in on the latter.
Disclaimer: for my headcanons I see Suletta as trans and a lesbian, and Miorine as a lesbian. I have no issues with cis Suletta or bi readings of either girl. It's all up to interpretation after all. 🤷♀️
- Miorine starts sharing her bed with Suletta in episode 4. This continues throughout season 1.
- Miorine is definitely the sex crazed one, at least early on. While Suletta's thoughts about sharing a bed are mostly chaste early on, Miorine lets her thoughs run wild with ideas and she often has to take care of herself to calm down.
- At first, Suletta only vists the greenhouse when she knows Miorine is there, but eventually they start going and leaving together, until finally Suletta starts showing up to the greenhouse on her own.
- Suletta starts finding herself visibly aroused by Miorine, and struggles to hide it from her. Miorine's statement that it's normal for two women to be together starts taking root and Suletta realizes she's never felt this way towards anyone else, especially guys.
- Suletta stays overnight at Miorine's room 2-3 times a week, usually on weekends. Other students take notice and rumors start spreading that they're sleeping together and maybe Miorine is serious about Suletta.
- When Suletta brings up the rumors to Miorine, she tells Suletta not to take them seriously, but secretly she's happy that others think they're that close.
- Miorine often steals Suletta's Holder uniform before she wakes up in the morning. Some days she wraps herself in it, enjoys Suletta's scent and masturbates while Suletta is still sleeping. Suletta thinks Miorine is very attractive wearing the oversized uniform and doesn't mind her lingering scent on her uniform.
- One night Miorine joins Suletta in the Aerial's cockpit and sits directly on her lap. This provokes an immediate and unsurprising reaction from Suletta (and her body). Multiple alarms start going off inside the Aerial's cockpit shortly afterwards, completely distracting them both. Eri apologizes to the utterly embarrassed couple years later.
- After episode 8, they start holding hands while walking around campus together.
- Miorine gives Suletta a kiss on the cheek before the duel against Grassley House, "for good luck." (Chuchu gets one from Nika too.)
- Suletta starts spending more nights at Miorine's room. And the nights she doesn't are the ones Miorine stays late working at Earth House. Miorine starts wearing Suletta's uniform around the Earth House dorms in the morning.
- They're inseparable at this point and most everyone assumes they're for real. Some doubters remain, thinking they're trying to sell it as hard as possible.
- They start cuddling in bed together. Most nights Suletta holds Miorine close to her in a spooning position. Suletta often gently kisses the back of Miorine's shoulders and neck in this position.
- Some nights Suletta gets aroused and will gently hump Miorine's legs or back, hoping she won't be disturbed. If this wakes Miorine or Miorine is awake when Suletta starts, she'll touch herself in response. They both know, but neither acknowledges it.
- Their first "proper" kiss is after Suletta promises to stay by Miorine's side in episode 11. Suletta tells Miorine how much she loves her while giving her the keychains. Miorine promises Suletta they'll kiss more when they get back to school, and maybe do more than that.
- Suletta keeps her promise to message Miorine 3 times a day while they're separated. Mostly she sends updates on the greenhouse or their classes, but sometimes she sends ideas for their wedding and pictures of locations, dresses, rings, etc. When Miorine gets her phone back, she saves every single message and image Suletta sent her.
- After Miorine returns to Asticassia, she purposely avoids sharing her bed together with Suletta in the days before her birthday. She knows if they get any closer or sleep together her determination will break and she won't be able to go through with her plan.
- Even after the divorce, neither of them deletes the various messages, images and videos they'd sent each other in the months prior. It gave them a measure of strength to keep moving forward, and that small sliver of hope that maybe they'd find their way to be together again in a better world.
- Suletta would've gone to see Miorine regardless of the outcome of her duel with Guel. But the fact that he tried to stand between her and Miorine have Suletta extra motivation to defeat him decisively in one last duel.
- Suletta pulls Miorine into a hug and a long kiss after Mio takes her hand. They quickly move into Miorine's room to continue and have sex for the first time.
- Afterwards, Miorine holds Suletta tightly as Suletta breaks down and confides to Miorine that she fears dying in the Calibarn and they'll never get to be together like this again. Miorine comforts her and helps give her the confidence to continue moving forward once again.
- They make a promise to go to Earth together afterwards, and grow more tomatoes together. Though neither makes a formal proposal, they both understand that they want to spend the rest of their lives together, no matter what.
- After Quiet Zero, Miorine formally proposes to Suletta the first day she regains consciousness. Still full of grief over what she did to Suletta on her birthday and after having almost lost her for good, she makes sure Suletta knows right away she loves and cares for her more than anything, duels or Holder title be damned, and she wants to soend her whole life with Suletta for love, not any obligation. Suletta accepts, and even through the pain says it's the happiest she's ever been in her life. Miorine proposes with her mother's ring.
- Yes, Suletta's nails were trimmed, and yes, Miorine is very much enjoying her wife's improving dexterity, thank you very much. Eri has learned to stop accessing electronics in their room during certain times of the night and morning.
Whenever I hear "There was nothing romantic between Suletta & Miorine" one of the very first scenes that comes to mind is:
Like...y'all holding your friend's hands like this? For real? Because I consider tracing your fingers across someone's palm and fingers like this to be incredibly intimate: the only person whose hand I hold like this is my wife's. I'd never consider holding a friend's hand like this.
Yeah it's not a kiss, but that's an incredibly intimate form of physical contact you wouldn't normally see outside of a romantic relationship.
It's not really like me to bring Twitter "drama" to another platform, but I just really wanted to voice my frustration in regards to this comment made by Tsutomu Ohno, the Chief Animation Director on GWitch. Ah yes, the Chief Animation Director, famously involved in creative decisions regarding storyboarding, direction, and -most importantly - script writing.
It really hurts to see, because this is a person on the production that's been spurred on not just by Bandai's hand stirring the pot and changing things up, but the response to that alteration. This is someone that put in effort on the series alongside the people that fought and found a way to get a concrete same-sex marriage (not just relationship) into Gundam. While I can't speak for the staff members, as a fan of the series it feels like a massive betrayal of trust. To work so hard on a project that countless people have loved and enjoyed, only to turn around and attempt to change a narrative that they never had any say over in the first place. It's just painful.
At the end of the day, make no mistake. Ohno isn't just "speaking up" about their "interpretation" and "understanding" of GWitch, this is them doing the same on the scale of same-sex marriage and relationships at large.
Anyways, Suletta and Miorine are happily married and enjoying their lives rent-free in the heads of countless people that can't seem to fathom two people loving each other. To celebrate this "irreplaceable partnership", how about some memes I grabbed from Twitter? (I really wish I had names for some of the artists/originators of the memes, but I saved most of them a good while ago).
areudirty
2087
theartofmadeline
yousharknotpass
izzy806
prguitarman
amandla
