Ophelia gave Lawless a name and then proceeded to call him Romeo instead of that. Girl tricked the system and made sure that Lawless would possess a name from her he would never forget
It doesn’t matter what his contract name was. That was never important. For all we know his name WAS Romeo and her using it as an archetypal noun instead of a proper name during those scenes is what allowed him to recognize it. The official Servamp timeline (you can look at it yourself here!) confirms that Romeo and Juliet would have been a published and well known play at the time of Ophelia’s life. It’s not known exactly when it premiered, but we know it was before 1597, and the timeline states that Ophelia was alive somewhere around 300 years prior to canon, so this would have been after the English Restoration period when the play was revived. Since Servamp started serialization in 2011, that would place Ophelia and her kingdom in the 1700s, or the 18th century, which is notable due to the fact that during this period, Bohemian composer George Benda crafted an operatic adaptation of Romeo and Juliet (Romeo und Julie) which gives the tragic couple a happy ending. I’ll detail more about that and how this connects to Licht in another post.
Anyway, regardless of what Ophelia actually named Lawless as part of their contract, the end result is the same. He remembers that “Romeo” is “the name she called me”
i am bigger than this mansion | i need the world to be small
this is mostly inspired by a line in my new favorite fanfic of all time, "clocks don't count where no one knows you", but those who know me know that it has been in the works for a while. Many thoughts.
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What I want to talk about today is the contrast between Misono and Licht. They are not an obvious match like the servamp/eve pairs or some other characters, but there is one aspect which makes it very fun to compare them! And that's what I will do here.
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Misono grew up sheltered. He had hobbies, he went to school and he had people he talked to - although he wouldn't go as far as to call them friends. The Alicein manor has always been a safe haven to return to after a long day, and with his own vivid fantasy and the help of books, he was never truly bored. No, the manor and the garden surrounding it never felt like a prison, at least not at first.
It's only when he grows up, when he learns things about himself, when he learns things about his family, that he starts to wonder for how long this house can still hold him. It's a large mansion but he wishes for more. There are so many things he wants to learn, wants to see, wants to touch. The older the gets, the more claustrophobic he feels. He wants out.
This is how Misono sees the world: A vast sea of knowledge that he can't wait to get lost in.
This is how he sees the mansion: An impossibly large growth of vines, threatening to strangle him at every wrong turn.
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Licht grew up with multiple languages, multiple countries, multiple citizenships, although the last thing only ever matters when he's at airports and gets to skip queues, really. He was introduced to the vastness of the world from an early age on, and he took it as well as he could. He really did.
He doesn't notice he spends most of his days overwhelmed because he finds easy ways out. He finds ways to get lost inside his own head, he finds ways to make all the noise and the people around him quiet down for a bit. He's always liked music because music was an easy thing to focus on, because music didn't require a language, because music could be done and listened to anywhere.
The older he gets, the more he notices that he wishes his world were a little smaller. He wishes he could turn into something smaller. As grateful he is for the opportunities at his fingertips, what he really longs for is a home.
This is how Licht sees the world: A large sea of noise that he wishes he could escape.
This is how he sees his piano: A safe haven that allows him to block out everything else.
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Misono wants nothing more than for his world to become bigger so he can see it all. Licht wants nothing more than for his world to become smaller so he can properly appreciate it.
I’ve decided to do an analysis of the tarot cards in Servamp. Many of the meanings are taken straight from the books they were found in because I feel they explain the meaning of the trumps better than my own words could. I’m looking not only at the official tarot cards assigned to characters, but also headcanon unofficial cards that may have been quietly assigned by the author.
First up is Kamiya Tsurugi. The official card assigned to him in canon is The Hanged Man. In this analysis I will also share headcanons of how he has been unofficially assigned the cards of: Justice and Death.
The Hanged Man #12
Number: XII
Alternative Name: The Traitor
Numerology Link: III, The Empress
Astrological Sign: Neptune
Element: Water
Hebrew Letter: Mem
Symbol: Water and the Oceans
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The Hanged Man XII
The Hanged Man Key Meanings:
Transition
Waiting
Sacrifice
Enlightenment
Upright Meaning:
“Events are not moving with speed, but all you can do is wait patiently in the knowledge that the universe has its own plan. The card can also indicate that you may have made sacrifices just now and are eager to see rewards. Unfortunately, you cannot force an outcome that fits with your timetable. There are many other factors about which you can have no knowledge or influence. Therefore, you may also expect delays to travel plans and projects… On a creative level this card appears frequently when a person is feeling frustration with their progress… Another message from the Hanged Man is to try to see things from a new angle.” (Dean).
“In readings the Hanged Man bears the message of independence. Like the Fool, which signified doing what you sensed was best, even if other people thought it foolish, the Hanged Man indicates being who you are, even if others think you have everything backwards. It symbolizes the feeling of being deeply connected to life and can mean a peace that comes after some difficult trial.” (Pollack.).
Feeling trapped
Confined
Self-limiting
Uncertainty
Lack of Direction
Needing Release
Letting Go
Reversed Meaning:
“The Hanged Man reversed can be a sign of rigid thinking and martyrdom. You may need to revise your expectations; what you think you want may not be possible. In this position, the card asks you if you are hanging on to a fantasy that may make you a victim rather than a victor. Take another view and liberate yourself from a contract or other obligation that cannot offer you what you want.” (Dean).
“The trump reversed indicates an inability to get free of social pressure. Rather than listen to our inner selves we do what others expect or demand of us. Our awareness of life always remains second-hand, never a direct experience but only a series of stereotypes, like the person who models his or her behavior on the orders of parents and the actions of movie stars. The card reversed can also mean fighting your inner self in some way. It can mean the person who tries to deny some basic part of himself or simply the person who cannot accept reality and who in some way or other is constantly battling life.” (Pollack.).
Discontentment
Apathy
Disinterest
Stagnation
Impulsiveness
Negative Patterns
Detachment
The Hanged Man understands that his position is a sacrifice he needed to make in order to progress forward. The time he spends dangling from the tree will not be wasted on his journey. The hanging is not death, but life in stillness. It could be a repentance for past wrongdoings or even a calculated step back to rethink the path he will take once he continues on with his journey. If an approach isn’t working then look at things from a different angle to gain a new perspective. This card is one that tells its reader that waiting and suspension are sometimes what you need to do in order to achieve success. Sometimes action is not needed, and one needs to wait patiently for the proper opportunity.
The Message of the Hanged Man:
Use your time wisely.
The Hanged Man & Numerology:
“TAROT SYMBOLISM: Key 12 The Hanged Man. The keyword for the Hanged Man is reversal. The corresponding symbol means oasis, sea, or water. According to the alchemists, water was the basis of all life, the fluid substance that solidified into physical forms… Water was the first mirror in which the reflection always appears upside down. The significance of this card is that things are not as they appear on the surface. You must look beneath the surface for true understanding. The man is suspended by his foot, like a pendulum at rest. His crossed legs form a figure 4, indicative of key 4 Reason. His elbows and head form a triangle with the point down which is an ancient symbol for water. The Hanged Man represents a person who is poised in consciousness and under perfect control… He sees trouble in the world--people unhappy in marriage, in trouble financially and lost because they have no goals--and he knows it is because they all see things upside down. Yet they look at him and think that he is the one who is crazy. The Hanged Man’s philosophy sets him apart from the crowd and, at the same time, brings him peace of mind and perfect contentment.” (Javane and Bunker.) [Emphasis mine.]
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Looking at these meanings and ideas I find that Tsurugi very strongly if not perfectly embodies the Hanged Man.
I speculate that for a majority of the C3 arc Tsurugi is in the position of the reversed Hanged Man. The lines that really stood out to me while researching this were, “Rather than listen to our inner selves we do what others expect or demand of us.” and “In this position, the card asks you if you are hanging on to a fantasy that may make you a victim rather than a victor.” because they seem to fit Tsurugi so well. Tsurugi clings to Touma and the idea of family he idealized Touma as being. Tsurugi also does what others expect of him, and before his breaking away from Touma just did what others wanted him to do. Even in the TAROT SYMBOLISM section that I highlighted the line about things not appearing as they seem on the surface resonated with me about Tsurugi because despite Tsurugi’s smiles on the surface inwardly he has a lot of trauma.
The symbolism the Hanged Man has with the connections to water, the oceans, and the planet Neptune also tie into together with Tsurugi. Water as an element is related to the Cups suit. Cups/Water has the meaning of “I feel”; the suit focuses on emotions and relationships. The planet Neptune, the Roman name for Poseidon the Greek god of the seas, holds the symbolic meanings of: dreams, intuition, and imagination. Which negatively connects to Tsurugi and his inability to metaphorically grow up, dreams and imagination being viewed as childish, but also to his magic Neverland. In the series we’ve seen Tsurugi be visually connected to water rather directly. Both in his drowning before being saved by The Mother/Freya in Ch. 56 “A Windowless Room”/Ch. 57 “Born” and also in the bonus chapter Ch. 57.5 “The Person Searching for the Key” where Tsurugi is underwater behind his locked door. Tsurugi is also an incredibly emotional person, and has worked on coming to terms with his emotions and what he really feels instead of just doing as other people tell him too.
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Tsurugi’s/The Hanged Man’s Dilemma:
A great showing of Tsurugi and his dilemma of choosing between the upright and the reversed meaning of The Hanged Man is in Ch. 52 where Tsurugi is caught between Touma and Junichiro in making his decision to follow Touma’s orders or to heed to Junichiro’s words.
In Ch. 52 we have the scene where Junichirou and Touma are asking Tsurugi to come to a decision. Tsurugi is physically in the position of the Hanged Man, but he’s divided down the middle into a black side and a white side. On the black side where Touma asks him, “Are you going to ignore what I say again?” Tsurugi’s hair follows the course of gravity as if he were standing up, his long length of ribbon does as well, and his hood lays flat against his shoulder. Compare this to the white side, Junichiro’s side: the background is white and Tsurugi’s hair, hood, and ribbon follow the path of gravity that they naturally would if Tsurugi were hanging upside down. This choosing of Touma, and of the reversed meaning of the Hanged Man, allows readers to see that Tsurugi is not following the upright meaning of the Hanged Man, and that his trump has yet to be flipped to the upright position.
In the side by side comparison Tsurugi’s collar is black on Junichiro’s side and white on Touma’s, but when Tsurugi chooses Touma the collar is black. The collar represents both control and Tsurugi allowing others to make decisions for him. The removal of the collar in Ch. 74 represents Tsurugi taking control of his personal agency and decision making.
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Headcanon Tarot Analysis:
Tsurugi is directly portrayed as the Hanged Man in Ch. 50 “The Hanged Man”. The closest version visually of the Hanged Man as it is as a trump card is on the cover page of the chapter. Then we have another section in this chapter later on which portrays Tsurugi as both hero and criminal. Right before this Mahiru has just asked Tsurugi if he has been fighting to protect people all this time. Tsurugi denies this and instead tells Mahiru that to humans he is viewed as a hero, but to vampires he is viewed as a genocider.
What is fascinating is that visually he’s portrayed as physically being in the position of the hanged man, only as both lauded hero and condemned criminal. As the hero of humanity he’s in a upright Hanged Man position. As the criminal he is in a reversed Hanged Man position with a noose. Looking at the two side comparisons I feel that they both represent #11 Justice & #13 Death more so than the Hanged Man, “In the major arcana sequence, the Hanged Man falls after XI, Justice, and before XIII, Death. We had our values on trial in Justice, and now we must hold on until Death, when we can figuratively let go. Death brings transformation, while the Hanged Man prepares to make the sacrifice Death needs so he can move on.” (Dean)
Justice XI
Justice Key Meanings:
Fairness
Balance
Perception
Objectivity
With Tsurugi wearing a cape and a sword I feel it represents a reversed #11 Justice. Tsurugi’s hero is in the upright position for the Hanged Man, but in the reversed position for Justice. Trump XI portrays the personification of upright Justice on a throne with scales and a sword. Important to see is that the Justice trump is not blindfolded, her vision is clear. The scales held in her left hand represent favoring the deserving with the scales of mercy, and the upright sword in her right hand represents seeking retribution for past wrongs with the sword of retribution. The scales also symbolize the thought process put into making a judgement, and weighing both sides of a story. The sword symbolizes the action that results from judgement. The sword, when it is held upright, symbolizes success.
Tsurugi as a reversed Justice fits in many ways. Tsurugi, as an instrument for furthering Touma’s and C3’s plans, is furthering the goals of those that use him via corrupt justice. Vampires are captured we've seen, but are they given legal trials and do they have protected rights? From what we’ve seen of C3 I highly doubt it. Hence why he is in the position of reversed Justice. Tsurugi has often been connected to a sword, and his name can even mean “sword”, look at the sword of hero-Tsurugi. It is covered in blood, but Tsurugi’s arms are held behind his back. The blood on the sword is not boldly in your face, and is even a bit hidden behind Tsurugi and a speech bubble. Tsurugi does not hold the sword in his hand showing that he himself does not actively choose to to make any decisions with the sword, and instead I feel it represents Tsurugi's passivity and his following what others want and will of him. Later on we also see that when Touma manipulates Tsurugi with his spell power Tsurugi becomes blindfolded, and this is perhaps a symbolism of justice being both blind (traditionally) and blinded (corruption hiding the truth).
#11 Justice Reversed
“Reversed, the card indicates dishonesty with yourself and others. It shows an unwillingness to see the meaning of events and shows especially that you are missing some opportunity for a greater understanding of yourself and your life. In outer life it indicates dishonesty and unfair actions or decisions. Sometimes it is others who are unfair to us. The reversed meaning can refer also to unjust legal decisions or to bad treatment from someone. On the other hand we must not allow the suggestion of unfairness to act as an excuse for denying our own responsibility for what happens to us… ‘Nothing can save you but yourself.’” (Pollack.).
“Life goes out of balance as work, relationships, and money issues spiral out of control. A decision may go against you, so there may be dishonesty or a miscarriage of justice. You are treated unfairly, which is compounded by bad advice from a trusted individual. You are not able to speak your truth and feel overruled by those who don’t understand your predicament. It is important to find your voice and stay strong to your values- if you are in the right.” (Dean).
Death XIII
Death Key Meanings:
Decline
Rebirth
Transformations
Change
As the condemned criminal Tsurugi is in the reversed position of the Hanged Man, but he’s also in the upright position for Death. With Tsurugi wearing traditional black and white striped prisoner clothing and have a noose around his neck I feel this gives weight to the idea of connecting him to #13 Death. Tsurugi in this side comparison is on a scaffold. He wears the clothes of a criminal and he seems to be a minute away from hanging. Yet, the noose around his neck is loose. As the Hanged Man trump has told us, the Hanged Man is not going to die. Instead he is merely hanging around waiting. The trump card Death arrives after the Hanged Man as death follows a hanging. Only in the case of the Hanged Man this is a spiritual death and rebirth after a time of contemplation. The black and white colors Tsurugi wears are associated with Death in the thirteen trump. In the trump Death wears black armor and sits astride a white horse while holding a black and white flag in his left hand. The thirteen trump is associated with change, an extreme change in your life to be exact. When I read this page I see Tsurugi’s Reversed Justice representing who he is right now, and that his Upright Death represents that he needs to and will undergo a great change. Especially since the manga is written in Japanese and we read the pages from right to left.
#13 Death Upright
“In diviniatory readings Death signifies a time of change. Often, it indicates a fear of change. In its most positive aspect it shows a clearing away of old habits and rigidness to allow a new life to emerge. In its most negative aspect it indicates a crippling fear of physical death.” (Pollack.).
“Death brings ending and beginnings-sometimes all at once. This is a time of fast and deep transformation and an opportunity to let go of whatever you no longer need. Unlike card XX, Judgement, which signals a process of self-examination, Death’s impact is sudden and may be shocking. You have little control over external events when Death looms, but in time you will be able to see this sharp change in circumstances as a blessing. A break with the past-from relationships and friendships to work that is no longer satisfying-is the only way forward. In this sense, Death can be a release and a relief. Death, after all, is the ultimate reality check, and he leaves you with the bare bones, the truth.” (Dean).
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These are the views I have on Tsurugi and his tarot cards. I also thought about him perhaps having reference to the Ace of Swords, him being C3′s Ace and his name relating to a sword, but just decided to focus on the major arcana for now. Maybe I’ll do another post about that at a later date. I had fun writing this. I hope to make more posts like this in the future, but if I do they will likely be very, very sporadic.
References:
Dean, Liz. The Ultimate Guide to Tarot: A Beginner's Guide to the Cards, Spreads, and Revealing the Mystery of the Tarot. Fair Winds Press, 2015.
Javane, Faith, and Dusty Bunker. Numerology and the Divine Triangle. Whitford Press, 1997.
Pollack, Rachel. Seventy Eight Degrees of Wisdom A Book of Tarot Part 1: The Major Arcana. Aquarian Press, 1980.
Back from vacation! First of all, what the hell happened to the dashboard. this is so ugly, what the fuck
second, I come bearing a gift!
Specifically about this little word right here, and how clever its use actually for this transformation actually is
The Wiedergänger, as hello-kitty-vampire noted in her translation notes, shares many similarities with the strigoi and is your prototypical "vampire" creature you'll find in many places (kind of makes you wonder why so many different cultures have different versions of the same creature in their legends and where it originated from). The Wiedergänger itself it more of a "ghost," in some regards, arising from a corpse who has unfinished business, typically one where they seek to right some injustice done to them in life, such as Adam being murdered for an action he didn't commit, along with his body being defiled by germaine after he was buried. Germaine is guilty of very, very many accounts of abuse of a corpse.
Ahem.
the real meat of this, for me, is of course the overlap between the wiedergänger and the norse draugr (as if i ever talk about anything else). Unlike your strigoi, wiedergänger, jiangshi, or the mananaangal, just to name a few, the draugr isn't defined by life force sucking, but by their ability to inflict their own state of being, of undead-ness, upon others like a disease. they're also noted for being, well, corpse colored lol, ie, being black or deep blue, the signature colors of our boys up there. Their abilities include shapeshifting, dream walking (and will sometimes leave a physical gift as proof of their presence), and notably will o wisp will mark the boundary between the world of the living and their territory. Why is this notable? Because the "will o wisp" we hear of is the very same foxfire you'll also find in japanese folk tales, an eerie blue fire who leads travelers astray... Much like the blue fire Inner Sloth uses in battle!
One last thing. In the Hrómundar saga Gripssonar, the berserker of the tale transforms himself into a troll which blew fire and possessed long, black claws, leading to the hero to describe the draugr as a sort of cat like entity.
PS: rip mahiru, another legend about these ugly critters is that they would transform into a cat which would grow heavier and heavier as it sat upon its sleeping victim's chest until they suffocated. Cats... Really haven't changed ever, have they?
So I bought a compilation of Lewis Carroll's works recently, of which both stories about Alice were included inside, and Bread and BUTTERfly’s title being a reference to one of the insects found in the novel reminded me of something I read YEARS ago about Misono being the Alice from Adventures in Wonderland, and Mikuni being the Alice from Through the Looking Glass, and I wanted to talk about that a little bit? As a jumping off point for another bit of detailing about the brothers.
It made me wonder if Abel, and therefore eventually Misono, are supposed to represent the White Queen in some way, since Misono is the “true” Alice.
Or if Mikuni might be taking up his mother’s mantle as Red Queen, challenging “Alice” to become a Queen himself by crossing the board and taking the crown.
(We can also assume that Lily is the sleeping Red King as per current canon events, but, interestingly, and even more lovely than I had first thought, Lily represents both the Red King and a character with the same name! The Lily from Through The Looking Glass is the daughter of the White Queen and White King, and the piece Alice takes the place of during the game because Lily is too young to play. As of right now, our Lily is just a little baby, forcing Misono to makes moves in his place, much like Alice had to play for little Lily in the book)
Chess and playing cards feature heavily in both brothers’ character symbolism, and I find it interesting and very telling that while chess is similarly important to each of them, both in the story and from a symbolic standpoint, playing cards feature much more heavily for Mikuni in a positive and major context, especially since while chess is a game of strategic wit, cards relies far more on being able to successfully school your expression and read your opponent, both things Mikuni excels at, while Misono fails at the former, and can easily be flustered into being unable to do the latter
Extra material, like ParaSummer, shows Mikuni playing cards with Shuuhei, and being quite good at it, but more importantly, the mini game in Nod where you can play Blackjack against him for coins is one of the main reasons to go into Nod and interact with him. Other characters won’t play with you. There's also his birthday event, Through The Mirror and a Day, where one of the puzzles you have to solve involves hunting for cards hidden around the mirrored Land of Nod.
(A fun fact about this event, by the way, is that one of the cards is found sandwiched inside the pages of volume 9, the volume with Misono on the cover. The card you find there is the Ace of Hearts, which is not only Misono's signature card, but the meaning of it is... Well. I'll let you read for yourself.
"The Ace of Hearts stands for emotions, desire for affection. It is a first step out in the creation of the universe. We are creative in love, and according to the plan, love supposes to be our fundamental motivation. Love is about giving, sharing and accepting."
In my opinion, there is no better card for Misono, nor for expressing the feelings Mikuni shares towards his brother.)
Meanwhile, Misono’s been depicted with cards more often as a background motif, but it’s always in the context of him losing at them
Even this clearfile (again, please ignore the image inside jfghjd, I was too lazy to take it down and remove the paper I'm keeping safe in it) reinforces that he’s a terrible match for cards, because Mikuni, the wise player, hides his hand, while Misono boldly shows it
But it also shows what makes them so different as people, because Mikuni hides his heart, while Misono… Allows others to see him.
Once again, going to be allowing myself to indulge since this is primarily visual, and also maybe kinda dumb? But I like it and it’s fun lol.
This time, it’s about the design of Inner Sloth’s chair! :D
Color coded for your convenience and my sanity, let’s jump right into it!
Blue: This isn’t part of the chair itself, but it’s the starting point for a lot of the components of the chair, and also the object, the symbol, that we’ve all come to associate most strongly with Sloth here. The reason why this is significant is not only because it was the flower Sloth was sealed inside of, and not only because of the fairytale imagery of the famous rose from Beauty and the Beast, but also because of Tsubaki.
Tsubaki’s name means Camellia. Red Camellias in particular are associated most strongly with the feeling of being in love, or, more tragically (and also romantically!) the idea of a noble death, since the flower drops from the branches with all its petals intact, as a whole, complete being. For Tsubaki himself, this idea of a beautiful tragedy is very poignant to his character, but it goes deeper than that.
The camellia is sometimes referred to as the “winter rose” or the “Japanese rose” and is a very popular traditional flower motif, the same way roses are in the west. This is yet another way Kuro and Tsubaki symbolically resemble yet oppose each other!
Pink: This little doohickey on the back of the chair is what’s called a “fleur di lis.” It’s a symbol associated most strongly with the French heraldry, especially under their monarchy, although multiple different European nations have used it for that purpose during history. … And one United States American football team, heralding (ha) from my home city of New Orleans. The reason I wanted to point it out is not because of the flower it represents (which is the lily!), but because of its historical connection with nobility, and the fact that it is one of the most recognizable symbols of France.
Why is this important? Because the most recognizable version of the classic fairytale Beauty and the Beast, originates from France! La Belle et la Bête was written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins (The Young American and Marine Tales) and was later abridged, rewritten, and republished for a children’s audience in 1756, which became the version which was most commonly retold.
Interestingly, one of the inspirations behind this beloved classic is the even more classical tale of Cupid and Psyche, and I’m wondering if maybe we won’t see some allusions to this with Sloth Pair thanks to all the Greek stuff that’s been popping up lately~? … Doubtful! But one can hope lol
Red: Sloth’s horns. Simple, right? |D
Green: Rose thorns! Yet again, simple.
Purple: It’s a sword! Not only does it look similar to the ones C3 wields, but it also resembles the sword found on the door in my previous post
Orange: Now you might have noticed I suddenly skipped around, and this is because despite its simplicity, I actually find this point the most eye-catching! This crossed area acting as a chair backing not only resembles the design on the coffin shaped patch on Kuro’s coat from early chapters (and which all Servamps were originally going to have as part of their design, appropriately numbered)
But it also resembles the… Logo? On C3’s jackets
which we now know to have been formed by Saint Germaine’s disciples, those three students of his who survived consuming his blood, gained power, and went on to create Magician society as the Servamp universe knows it.
Not only that, but… That symbol, that character, which is part of the uniform for C3… Also appears in Mahiru’s name! The 田 in 城田!
so I've talked a little bit about how Envy pair represent Judas and St. Peter, the two apostles most famous for betraying Christ (one blatantly, the other more subtly) in this post here, but I have ✨more info✨ to add on to their symbolism!
For St. Peter's relation to Jeje, he was the disciple who came the closest to walking on water, which is Relevant because of a little critter named the basilisk lizard which is known to run over water as its primary method of hunting. The mythological basilisk which shares the name is most often portrayed as a serpent, and it turns creatures to stone with its gaze... Much like the infamous Greek monster Medusa, who had snakes for hair (perhaps this is related to Jeje covering his face around seemingly everyone but Mikuni?)
For Judas and Mikuni, I found a rather interesting tidbit. Called a Judas goat, the term has multiple meanings, but relevant to Mikuni and Envy pair as a whole is this one.
In stockyards, a Judas goat will be trained to associate with sheep or cattle. The sheep is the important part here, as it's been revealed that Kuro was previously a shepherd when he was human, along with the lion and the lamb imagery I discuss in the above linked post. Anyway, the role of the Judas goat was to lead animals to the slaughter house, and its own life would be spared.
Second is the Judas goat as an animal used to find feral goats so that hunters could eradicate them, much like Envy pair hunt down what you could argue to be "feral" subclass that had turned their fangs against humans and exterminate them.
Anyway, there's no point to this post. I just thought all of this was interesting ww
I wonder if Guil ever understood what it was that triggered Lawless to murder his Eves.
It wasn't about the relevance, it was never about the fame.
It was about the passion
Lawless chose celebrities because it was the easiest way to find people with that fire inside of them, the same lofty, impossible ambitions she had.
Relevant or not, so long as they kept that drive, always striving for more, more, do better, they aren't done yet-!
... He would continue to do everything he could to support them
It wasn't that the critics were harsh that killed Iris
It was that she stopped caring
She was still at the height of her popularity, but Lawless had seen enough
She had peaked
Not because she had nothing more to offer, but because, in her eyes, she didn't need to work anymore
~Talent~ was enough. And talent is that one little word Licht hates.
The irony of this is that Lawless's Eves are doomed either way
Every fire runs out of fuel eventually. You have to keep tending to it. You have to keep feeding it.
Attention will only carry you so far
They say every artist's greatest wish is for their work to become them. For it to eclipse who they are as a human being, until they are no longer human in the eyes of the masses
Licht thinks that's fucking stupid.
Wasn't it being an individual that made your work what it is in the first place?
And yet, even as he thinks this, even as he says it during an interview (while Krantz cringes at his coarse language and Lawless is smitten), Licht doesn’t realize that his own fire is oh so finite. Burn out is very real! And Lawless, Guil, and Krantz take measures to protect him from that.
Because they love him.
And for Ophelia, who was made into an Idol by Lawless, to whom Lawless gave living sacrifices to in worship, the best way to honor her, the best way to make her happy, is to love Licht. To cherish him as an individual.
Which is what Lawless is now doing by refusing to let Licht go, whether his flame dies or not.
