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kim-lexie · 2 years

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summer 2022.

well fam...has it been a minute or what? i realized i was getting more anxious to upload, because it seemed all too daunting. i have accepted that this will inevitably be a subpar rewind just because oh so much happened. and after this year i hope to get back to more frequent posts. any waayyy...

music.

‘world’ by seventeen. AKA SONG OF THE SUMMER. AKA OWNER OF MY HEART. AKA THE BESTEST TRACK EVER. it literally is full of sunshine and rainbows. it cures any ailment. i freaking love this, fills me for breakfast, lunch and dinner. it is the absolute best track. and it fills my heart. 10 out of 10 recommend.

seventeen. literally their whole discography. i had the immense pleasure to see them live during their north american tour. all i can say is that it was such a unique experience. listening to their music since debut, watching their survival show, and seeing them grow. it was wild to just see them, because when i first got into k-pop i never thought i would be able to experience a live show without going to korea. then to see the first group that got me into k-pop, host an arena tour…i was so emotional seeing them in real life. like we are talking ugly crying level.

‘slam the door’ by ciipher. a complete an utter bop. thank you to ‘yoshified’ on youtube, because dang this person really recommends the best tracks. and i would never have had a complete summer playlist without this.

‘scared’ by p1harmony. let me start by saying this was noisy but it an absurdly good way. like oh my goodness they just came for me like that.

nayeon. our queen. ‘pop’ and ‘no problem’ on repeat. we stan. (p.s. ready for jihyo’s solo)

monsta x. ‘whispers in the dark’ and ‘if with u’ also on repeat. all the time.

onlyoneof. the single tracks that they’ve released. i am in love with ‘be free’ by KB, and ‘begin’ by yu jung. and the music videos and the intertwining storylines, like yes please and thank you.

newjeans. ‘you got me looking for AATTTTEEENNTTTIOOOOON’ catch me screaming their lyrics at the top of my lungs. the way they dropped their singles, like woah hold up. ‘hype boy’ definitely a favorite track. and ‘cookie’ is never played it makes me immensely uncomfy. i hope they stick to chill appropriate concepts, because come on hybe…

blackpink. the queens have returned and this album…controversial opinion….the title tracks were not it, but the B-sides. fammmmm these slayed it. catch me crying in the bathroom, i love them.

‘after like’ by ive. how can they always release bops, and the b-side ‘satisfaction’ like come on stunning.

’24/7’ by DKB. this track. i love that it comes in with the chorus. i freaking love it.

‘my type’ by brb. this is a new group i discovered and love them. technically not k-pop, it’s in english, they are from singapore but i couldn’t not include because the vibes are there. and it sounds heavily influenced by k-r&b and i am here for it.

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‘excuses’ by twlv. another chill bop. like this dude has an incredible voice, and he could sing my grocery list and i would love it.

‘sexy nukim’ feat. RM by balming tiger. FAM. when this song dropped i was like WOOOAHHHHH. these artists’ style and groove, i can’t get over it. thank you namjoon for collaborating with them and putting them on my radar, because they pass the vibe check.

‘us’ by moon jong up. randomly stumbled upon this gem, and i am so sad that there is not more content from this stunning human.

‘mascara’ by XG. it’s a bop, i scream it. ‘baby girl don’t you ever be wasting your good energy’ like amen honey!

‘talk that talk’ by twice. it’s twice you know its gonna be a bop. the dance addicting.

dramas & movies *spoilers ahead*

my mister. i would give this drama a 9 out of 10. we follow dong-hun who is really going through it, like bad. like his wife is having an affair with his boss, and his family is a mess. his brothers live with his mother, and they are kind of subpar not doing the most. he meets ji-an a young girl in a difficult situation, she is being harassed by loan sharks. things get shady when she comes to find out about the affair, and uses it to blackmail the vice president and she has to get dong-hun to leave the company. she obviously doesn’t go through with it, but fates get tangled, and i would be lying if i said i was upset that our main actors didn’t get up together. but i understand why, they learned a lot from each other. it was tragic, raw, and everything you want in a melodramatic drama.

tomorrow. fam i started this drama for rowoon, but i finished it for soohyuk because dang….we follow jun-woong who is struggling to get a job after school but ends up in a coma and meets grim reapers. they come up with a plan to get him back to the world of the living by helping the crisis management team. this team’s goal is to save suicidal people. i loved the dynamics between the team, and i loved the ending of this drama. i would give this drama a 9 out of 10. i loved the style of it, each episode being a new situation and issue to solve. this was a difficult drama to watch at times, it obviously covers the trigger topics of suicide, domestic violence, and depression. the concept was unique and i loved how they offered reasonable ways to overcome and get necessary help. i loved the relationship that was unpacked between koo ryeon and joong-gil because it went so far back, and his choice to completely forget it because the situation pained him so much. but she remembered it all. i recall my heart breaking into a million pieces as their story unfolded towards the end. like there were not enough tissues to rescue all the tears.

like literally look at the way he looks at her. let me weep.

sh**ting stars. this drama was a 10 out of 10 cute fun summer drama. we are in the entertainment world with our girl han-byeol (lee sung kyung) as our leader of the PR team, and she actively manages gong tae-sung (king young-dae). he is the top actor, and their relationship is everything. she starts the drama unable to tolerate him, because she has known him since college. we come to find that he has always had feelings for her, and little misunderstandings had driven them apart. but my goodness you know that by the end of the drama they were together, and sooooo stinking cute. i loved their interactions. i also freaking loved how everyone ended up happy! like our second male lead was no second male lead, he got his own happy ending. and i loved the coworkers that ended up together in this drama too. like yes we stan character development all around! it was great!

sound of magic. i don’t know what i expected, but dang it was a musical and outright wild at times. i gave it a 9 out of 10. yoon a-yi is a high school student working hard to support her sister. she doesn’t have a supportive father because loan sharks drove him out of the home. na il-deung (hwang inyeop) competes with her to be top of the class. he likes her (obviously). our girl stumbles upon an amusement park and meets a magician there. he encourages her to believe in magic, and a quite odd relationship ensues. definitely not going to lie it was on my radar because my hwang inyeop is in it, and literally anything and everything he touches is gold to me. but it was incredible, and i loved all that they did in this drama, though it was short lived, i hope they will continue this story.

yumi’s cells 2. i was hyped fam. really hyped about it. like yes ba-bi (jinyoung), he is our man. we stan, we love. men fail. he failed us, and i’m not going to lie did that bump my rating down to a 7…yes. yess it did. once again we follow our girl yumi, in her life through work, pursuing her dream of writing. achieving her goals. and seeing ba-bi be absolute trash. so yeah. i hate ba-bi and if anyone asks i never liked him. i am ready for season 3 to come through and give us a happy ending. i am deserving of this after surviving this long, only to be betrayed by ba-bi.

dear m. FINALLY i got to see this gem after waiting forever (only) to see it. so sad about the delayed release because it would surely have taken over everything if it was a live drama. i loved the concept of always trying to figure out who ‘M’ was, and it looking like it was anyone and everyone. we follow joo-a who has been besties with min-ho (jaehyun) for forever, and they are at university together. we follow their university struggles as they get through the semester, and we meet their roomates, who are all great. and i loved that we got to see all their personalities develop and grow. there was also immense growth from joo-a, which we love to see. i loved all the characters we got to meet. and seeing jaehyun freaking slay, i stan. i would rate this an 8.5 out of 10.

weathering with you. this was an anime that i watched and it was stunning. i loved the concept. a high schooler runs away from home to tokyo. he befriends a girl who has the power to control the weather. it wrecked me emotionally and i loved it. i would give it a 7

studio ghibli: my neighbor totoro, ponyo, howl’s moving castle, spirited away. not me rewatching these studio ghibli titles. they are always a 10 out of 10 recommend.

why her. once again hwang inyeop. my man coming through with the dramas that will make me cry. in this drama, we follow oh soo-jae a freaking boss lawyer. like the youngest partner at the best law firm in korea. she is driven out and gets demoted to be a professor at a law school. gong chan is a student there and it turns out they had met in the past. he was wrongly accused of murder and she was his public defendant, she was the only one who believed in him. but it turns out that she didn’t give the case her all as the defendant. but he knows her true intentions, and how she was blackmailed by the political moves happening. they all work together along with other students in their law clinic to uncover the truth. it was really frustrating/infuriating at times, because the head of the law firm is absolute utter garbage and the things he did were AWFUL. but overall i loved this drama. a 9 out of 10 recommend.

the uncanny counter. i loved this one. we follow so mun who gets possessed by a spirit that rescues people on the verge of death, to hunt down evil spirits. these fellow counters operate out of a noodle shop. and we meet our crew of unlikely heroes here. i loved how they were a found family, and they all come together in various situations. there were so many hilarious laugh out loud moments imbedded in this quite sad theme. se-jeong is the best and i picked this one for her. i would rate it an 8.5 out of 10.

extraordinary attorney woo. if there was ever a green light drama this would be the one. a 10 out of 10 recommend. it was so precious, and i loved all the characters that we met. we follow woo young-woo an incredible bright individual who happens to be on the autism spectrum. she starts working at a law firm, and this brings about the best and worst in others. each episode was a new case, and we got to see her unique perspective on conquering each case. we also saw her relationships with others in the hanbada office. freaking fell in love with lee jun-ho, and her bestie from university yoon-kyung. they were always looking out. and we loved the character development that happened with their coworker joo jong-hyuk. this one shall get it’s own recap. because i have so many feelings and favorite moments.

alchemy of souls. when i say i didn’t know what to do with my life when this gem of a drama ended, i literally did not know what to do. it was a top tier drama for me. like the characters, the set design, the world building. it has it all. it shall too have its own recap, because dang, too much happened and i am not emotionally ready for december. i would 10 out of 10 recommend. we follow jang-uk from a noble family, rejected by the skilled teachers. he stumbles upon mu-deok, who happens to be naksu an elite warrior/assassian trapped in mu-deok’s physically weak body. she decides to be his master and teach him fighting skills. a lot of crazy nonsense goes down, and so many plot twists happen. and i freaking loved it. i loved the character development especially from out naksu and wanting to put others around her first. like yes queen.

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werewolftism · 1 year

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controversial opinion maybe i like the smell of weed like i get if its super super strong it might be annoying to some but idk i like walking into a room and being like woah somebody is fucked up in here

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daisylikesmedia · 1 year

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Series 8 Episode 7: Kill the Moon

Ok, this one’s going to be a toughie. Hi everyone and welcome back to my Doctor Who reviews, and today we’re tackling one of the most controversial episodes of the show, Kill the Moon. Let’s go.

Also a quick content warning - I’m going to be talking a lot about the pro-life movement and abortion in this review. If that’s uncomfortable for you, don’t feel pressured to read the full review. I’ve left the TL:DR/Overview free of any talk about the specifics, so if you just want to read that and wear I’ve placed it on the tier list, go ahead 🙂.

So, unlike a lot of episodes in Doctor Who, this is an episode that I feel is flawed in concept more than execution. Often an ambitious concept can be squandered by the low budget or a badly written character, but we don’t usually see an episode that by and large is well executed, but conceptually just seems a bit yikes. This is where I’m at with Kill the Moon. A big inspiration for this review is Sarah Z’s video essay on the subject, which is linked at the end of the review, so shoutouts to her for being a girlboss who makes great video essays, but her video focuses on the fact that this episode can easily be seen as a metaphor supporting the pro-life/anti-abortion movement.

Now woah woah woah that is a bold claim about a Doctor Who episode. AND, it’s a claim both the writer and other internet goers disagree with, so what gives? Here’s how it goes. The Moon has started to break apart, and we learn during the episode that there is a living being inside of the moon ready to be born. The decision the episode asks of us, is whether we should keep it alive or kill it. Keeping it alive means we get to protect an innocent life, but it also endangers so much life on Earth. Not only does the Moon control our tides, but also the “eggshell” from the Moon would fall to Earth, creating a possible extinction event depending on how thick the pieces are. The choice is, do we save one life but endanger many others, or do we kill this one life so that others can live their lives in peace.

The story revolves around the clash between Clara, who wants to save the baby, and Lundvik, who wants to kill it, and it’s clear who the writers want us to support. Lundvik is portrayed as ruthless and cold, with her calls for wanting to murder the creature and her lack of a child played against her. Clara, on the other hand, is very much displayed as the western idea of a “pure woman” in this story, with her caring for the creature below and wanting to take the risk, alongside her wanting of a family and child being played as her filling the correct role as a woman in our society. Lundvik’s genuine worries for the future of the ENTIRE HUMAN RACE are dismissed in this scene, as the episode pushes on and wants us to be willing to take the risk and save the baby, despite what consequences may occur.

Even after the human race votes democratically (well, half of the planet gets to), Clara decides to step in and change the course of history, possibly dooming us all. The Doctor ships them back to Earth, and they watch as the baby flies off, no bad things happen, and a new moon is put in its place. Lundvik is then chastised again and forced to apologise to Clara, despite her, at least in my opinion, being very much the one in the right in this story.

Problematic doesn’t even begin to cover it. Abortion rights are at the forefront of western politics right now, with women’s bodily autonomy consistently being under attack from the ruling class (rich white men). Doctor Who is a show that prides itself on being progressive, not only through its structure but also through the contents of its episodes, and to see it make THIS much of a misstep is jarring to say the least. As a woman, we are owed the right to make the choices we need to about our bodies and our futures, and I don’t believe that shunning the risks of having a child is a very responsible thing to be teaching the children and teenagers that watch the show.

Now, I could just leave it at that and dunk it into D tier, but remember what I said at the start of the review. Conceptually, awful. You just saw me tear it to shreds for a page. But execution wise? It’s still Series 8 character writing of course there’s good stuff in here. Clara’s final scene with the Doctor where she confronts him about ditching her at such a crucial moment is absolutely phenomenal. Jenna acts her heart out, and it really feels like the breaking point between her two lives. She knew she was going to have to choose eventually, and this episode breaks her. I also really appreciate the next time trailer not even showing Clara in the story, implying this could’ve been her LAST story with the Doctor. God imagine that timeline…

TL:DR/Overview: Kill the Moon is a Doctor Who story that is bold, but not in a good way. Using the characters at its disposal, it gives us a glaring metaphor for a current political issue, and places itself firmly on the side of cruelty. That should be the justification I need to just throw this episode in the trash, but thanks to some amazing character writing during Clara and the Doctor’s confrontation at the end of the episode, it’s able to squeeze it’s way out of D tier and into the bottom of C tier. This is very much an example of an individual story being saved by the quality of its series, and I think if they tried to pull this off in any other series it would be an easy D tier. Well played Jenna Coleman, you’re an amazing actress and you saved this story.

Sarah’s lovely video on the topic that goes into a lot more detail than I did:

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#daisy reviews media #doctor who #12th doctor #kill the moon #cw: abortion #Youtube

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vitaminwaterreviews · 3 months

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Wendy - Wish You Hell

Hmmmmm. I don’t really know what to think. The title track did one thing and then the B-sides all did not do that thing. That’s not necessarily a bad thing though. I enjoyed every song, even the slow jam, and actually in hindsight I think it’s wrong to classify it as a slow jam. It was more of … I dunno, a contemporary ballad or something like that? Like … I dunno. But I will say, this album contained things that I did not expect, and I heard things that I haven’t heard before, and that’s always a good thing.

I kinda want to listen to her first mini now to compare. Not tonight, I don’t have the time. But maybe tomorrow I’ll do that. Average score of 7.8, maybe a tad low, but close enough. Good album, definitely recommend.

- Wish You Hell

Oh okay we’re going full artsy here

Mmmmm the colors though in this intro scene

Haha okay, pop rock moment? Nice

Ohhhh no, “I wish you hell / I don’t wish you well” that’s an awful rhyme oml

I like her voice

Maybe that’s not the most controversial opinion lol

Those sure are some glittery trash bags

Thunder?

I’m confused by that scene but okay

Oh my god she spelled out “H E L L” I’m sobbing

I really don’t know what to rate this

8/10 for the MV I guess

His Car Isn’t Yours

What instrument is this?

It feels electric piano but it’s very … plucky

Oh it’s all English

It’s so interesting how hearing English singing totally changes my perception of their voice

This feels so Taylor Swift like wow

Wait I wasn’t listening to the lyrics, let me go find the lyrics

Oh okay, this is actually like, kinda sad, very simple but very pretty

8/10, but a high 8, kinda to balance out the previous one let’s say

Best Ever

Boop boop boop boop

Woah her voice is so high and cute like wtf

Nice, nice, funky

I love this post-chorus

Here’s this song: a great post-chorus, and then a bunch of exposition in between

Kinda like Unnatural and its pre-chorus lol

Mmmmm the bridge tho

Lol this is actually so fucking cute

9/10

Better Judgment

Two wildly different styles of guitar here

The b-sides all feel Newjeans effect but honestly I don’t care bc it’s Wendy and she’s just so good

7/10, good but didn’t do anything really special to me

Queen of the Party

…Everglow - Make Me Feel vibes??

Yeah oh my god I thought it was just the pre-chorus but the chorus too

I like what they’ve set up but I want this song to go somewhere

Like if it just sits here the whole time then idk

This bridge feels lowkey generic

Awwww the last chorus does Not deliver

Wait … I mean maybe a bit, but I want more

7/10

Vermillion

Okay now I’m expecting a ballad, let’s get it

Mkay, this could be ballady

Yep here’s the slow jam drums

This bass is Thicc

I don’t get this

I think I like this?

I like the bridge with that sample

Yeah okay, I buy it

8/10

#album #kpop #Wendy #Red Velvet

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molusca · 8 months

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1 & 5 for the marine biology ask meme!

hehe hiiiii bestie

What's your favourite aquatic animal?

that's an incredible hard question and it makes me want to say at least five but. to be fair. if i have to choose one absolutely just one the favorite. probably turtles, i just think they are nice. having a shell is like top evolution characteristic, they can just, get inside. woah portable house

5. What's your controversial marine biology take?

hmm not sure what take i have besides most aquarists should die but. maybe. this might not be so controversial but i dont think species like the green turtle not being considered in danger anymore is that bad actually, bc yes those type of species act as an aumbrella and end up protecting other species who arent safe yet, however the funds that go to that one visible species could now also go to other causes yknow. the problem isnt "we are losing conservation money by saying those visible species arent in danger anymore" but "we arent being able to actually shift to where this money is going, even if its to another visible species". im thinking mostly about brazil since its the situation im more aware of lol but like. ppl here dont even know we have coral reef. i think we can totally manipulate the publics opinions on whats the cute species of the moment that they will care enough to want to be protected

#might have lost the point in 5 sry kjasgdkjsagd #istnienia

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bitter-sweet-coffee · 2 years

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Woah I never knew you felt neutral towards IDW! We have opposite opinions on the comics… I felt Archie was rather boring and bland (when too many things go on at once I just no longer care about the story) and none of the characters clicked with me for that reason. It’s also so long, with so many side comics. I do love the Shadow stories in Sonic Universe though!

IDW is just lots of fun! Characters are introduced well I feel and none of them were put in just to be love fodder. Also no romance. That’s a huge selling point for me. I thought Eggman was quite competent, but he always has to be foiled because he is the bad guy. Starline I bet was introduced to mix things up and also a nod to Eggman fuckers, really.

No argument here! I completely respect your opinion. I like conversing with others.

i mean i think eggman is brilliant when you look at stuff like the adventure games or some of the darker lore like underground, but the whole "eggman incompetent" thing is just a blindsight that sonic fans are bound to have because of our bias (history is told by the victors, we play as sonic etc... which is why sa2 was as groundbreaking as it was for its time because we got to play an eggman campaign opposite of but complimentary to the hero story. had we not played the dark story a crucial half of sa2 would be missing, therefore representing the impact eggman and his actions/intelligence have on the sonic canon and why he's such a significant and admirable foe). when you compare archie's depth to the cowering and frequent missteps of eggman just so starline can take over,,, eh. i don't agree with you on the whole "idw characters are introduced well" thing they're quite forced imo and rely on a hyperactive positive fanbase who will take any concept of a character and run with it, so the value of the character is primarily generated by fan hype and content.

i think another problem with comics is that the hype around them... is relevant to their release. if you weren't there for archie, you probably won't care as much. idw is also as successful as it is because it's current, but if it were to end and be looked at in bulk by a future fan they'd also write it off as bland or unnecessarily complicated regardless of quality because let's face it, the sum of a comic is always going to feel confusing since it was meant to be read upon release!!! imagine if you weren't there for metal virus arc and were only now getting into idw, you'd probably feel similar to how newer fans feel about archie (but obviously not to that degree since archie is the longest running video game comic lmao)

i used to like idw a lot more but my hope for the series died out when it peaked with metal virus arc where i was willing to ignore most of its flaws. for the record though, i'm 100% happy with shadow being nerfed out of the comics during that arc because it's all people would have focused on, so with shadow disposed and sonic compromised you had room for silver, espio, amy, whisper, the babylon rogues, cream, etc... to be the heroes

as you know though bestie, no hard feelings! you raise some fair points for your opinion i just think the size and controversies of archie discourage newer fans from diving in, but they'd be surprised by how much fantastic stuff there is.

i'd recommend for people who are intimidated by archie to look up characters instead of going right for the comics. the fanon wikis are a GREAT start to introducing the lore to people, and if you fall in love with a character based on the wiki content, you can easily track which spin-offs or issues to read from there. normally this is seen as a bad thing when consuming media for a sole character or arc but with archie there's basically no other way to do it unless you're insane

#bsc words #sonic idw #sonic archie #archie sonic #anti idw sonic #neutral idw sonic #that's probably a better tag for me tbh i'm neutral af albeit quite critical #but i feel like the anti idw squad need some emotional support they get attacked a LOT #so i'm gonna keep tagging as anti just to keep em company hehe

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delanyb · 3 years

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Obligatory woah look at how much fnaf has changed post

But I’m gonna be real for a second, honestly this is incredible. Before the gameplay trailer from a few weeks ago, I wasn’t that excited for Security Breach. I mean of course I’m gonna pay attention to it whenever new news come out from it but considering the “drama” and just overall negativity coming from the vocal parts of the fandom after events like the RTX presentation or on Fnaf’s 6th anniversary. I was to the point of not caring at all for this game.

But Steel Wool have completely blown me away and honestly I think we don’t need any more teasers or trailers anymore. All we need a release date on the steam page and that’s it.

As for the complaint “wtf how is this fnaf, it isn’t even scary anymore just bright colours”. We literally haven’t played the game yet. We shouldn’t be too quick to judge plus fear is subjective. I mean look at Pizzera Simulator, if it wasn’t for the Scrap Baby teaser in the Freddy Files, you could use the same argument there with the typhoon aspect of the game.

Also I don’t know if this is a controversial take here, but I never found fnaf as a whole that scary. Fnaf 1 and maybe Help Wanted has the best sense of legitimate horror. But Fnaf was never piss your pants scary and that’s a good thing, it’s what makes fnaf, fnaf.

So yeah main thing to take away is just to hold opinions until the game comes out. Don’t judge the book by its cover and learn to enjoy something once in a while instead of nitpicking constantly.

#fnaf #fnafsb #fnaf security breach #fnaf 1

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lucidpantone · 3 years

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what does that mean.....?🤔

Do they feel like people will just pour hate into the comments on every character. Or maybe the character will cause trouble and they just know the fans are "too sensitive and critical"

similar anon: maybe not all new characters will have instas because some will be villains/dislikeable characters and they don't want them to get hate

I think so but its also like you do realize why people were mad at kato right? Like we have had villains before like Viktor and Britt I think its more so some people have the opinion that the fandom bullied Romi. I don't think asking her to explain a controversial post was bullying her. I am pretty sure its holding her accountable but I guess some people could see that as bullying.I already said I don't condone people make memes of her and flooding her personal account with hate but the post to me wasnt hate. wtFOCK may just not want to deal with it this year so the opted out of a social presence but its also like woah thats pretty cowardly......whatever just give me yasmina.

#lucidpantone anons

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raat-jaaga-paakhi · 4 years

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(D)Evolution of Rukmini-Harana

This I wrote while brainstorming in the beginning of this month to centre my brain on what we know of Rukmini, so I could write her with (dis)regard to the texts. And what I found out in my Ruk-foray, was simultaneously intriguing and repelling. Tagging my Mahabharata people, if you want to go on Rukmini’s journey through the scriptures and the later kavyas (ancient fanfiction, guys) and don’t mind my snarky commentary in between as I try to be as analytical as possible (Warning: Strong Opinions and Wtf Moments!) – @avani008 @parlegee @incurablescribbler @shaonharryandpannisim @ambitiousandcunning @glyphenthusiast @mayavanavihariniharini @allegoriesinmediasres @walburgablack @jigyask @heyifinallyhaveablog @1nsaankahanhai-bkr from the top of my head. Under the cut, for this is detailed.

Mahabharata

Rukmini-Haran legend is outlined in several places: that Sabha scene we all seem to love unanimously, Krishna-Draupadi in exile, Arjuna describing Krishna’s feats, and in Udyoga parva when Rukmi comes to help in the war. Other times, she is mentioned as mother of Pradyumna (in fact, Pradyumna’s name is mostly replaced by “son of Rukmini”). Only details being: Rukmini was meant to be Shishupala’s, Krishna came, abducted her, fought off Rukmi who had taken an oath to not return without killing him, Rukmi builds Bhojakata due to his defeat. Rukmi is mentioned a few times to have learned battlecraft from a kimpurusha Druma (whose name is often written as Drona, eliciting confusion between Dronacharya of Hastinapur), from whom he gets Indra’s bow which is said to be equal to Gandiva and Sharnga.

- BORI CE Mbh, Translated by B. Debroy.

He comes with an akshauini to Pandavas’ camp where he is welcomed warmly enough, until he opens his big mouth and says, “Dudes, if you all are afraid of the Kauravas, I can help!” Insert big, smug smile. Krishna is present, but silent. Arjuna speaks, reminding Rukmi that he sought no help from anyone at multiple times (he goes harcore here *grins*), and wouldn’t need the same now, esp. from one like him. Disappointed Rukmi goes to Duryodhana’s camp where he’s rejected for, er, being the Pandavas’ reject and for his big mouth. Yeah. He, like Balarama, remains neutral. (Interesting that it’s Balarama who kills him, later.)

- BORI CE Mbh, Trans. By B. Debroy

There is no letter, no mention of a swayamvara, no love, nothing, sticking to Mahabharata’s rather dry style, which if stripped of its mystical elements would be a cold, clean historical narrative.

Apology: I am not giving any more screenshots (except for Bhaagavat, because it has some rather nice parts), for this would become…far too long to handle for even me. I promise you can take my word for it.

Harivamsa

Considered an “appendix” (khila) to Mahabharata, it contains the legend of Rukmini in the greatest of details. @parlegee would love to hear that her fic kalyanakirti, where Rukmini and Krishna have an early meeting before the letter and all, does have some solid basis. The legend in narrated in two separate parts: swayamvara and harana. Sadly, the first part doesn’t get into the BORI CE Harivamsa, but that is made understandable by Dr. Bibek Debroy, who comments the Harivamsa editing is indiscriminate and lacking in quality w.r.t. cutting down events, as compared to the precise and thoughtful editing of Mahabharata proper, at the very beginning of his translation. Thus, the omission, I guess. I am giving a rundown for this is what we will refer back to as we compare the later versions. (For reference, go to Mahabharata Resources online.)

Swayamvara part –

Rukmi arranges for Rukmini’s swayamvara, calling his boys and excluding Krishna (ofc), of which Krishna gets wind and arrives in class with Garuda. He is welcomed—notedly not by the king, as opposed to rules of hospitality—by his relative/father Kaisika, outside of the capital of Vidarbh in Kaisika’s own city.

Quite strangely, Kaisika and his brother Kratha offer Krishna their city; there is even some messenger fanfare with Indra.

Comment: This seems like something of an interpolation to me (it’s politically and intellectually stupid okay – why would krishna need to abduct rukmini with such pains if a part of vidarbha was already his. he could have been more politically subtle and all. it’s just horrible statesmanship), and part of the avatar-vaad or “make Krishna a god so that we can cloak his philosophies and ideas with the veil of god’s incomprehensible lilas so that no one can hope to emulate him and his decidedly non-brahmanical approach, and so they wait for his next appearance while the world burns” propaganda. Shut up, Medha, you’re going to be killed for this. Nah, brain, I will speak my truth.

Meanwhile, Jarasandha and his cronies come to know of Krishna’s arrival, get “afraid” and there is this huge-ass, strange, contradictory conversation. Jarasandha and Sunitha (read: shishupala. yeah, boi had this other, nicer name) are primarily of the view that Krishna is gonna fight them, while Dantavakra (hm, isn’t he another of krishna’s cousins?) opposes that. Shalva and the others also expressed their ideas. The exact point of this conversation is highly inscrutable because, (not) strangely, the conversation is shrouded by them praising and glorifying their arch-enemy as the “lord of the universe” and what-not. (wut? why do you all constantly fight him if you know “who he truly is” and so on? are you masochists, guys – i am seriously concerned. your opponent is apparently vishnu yet you go on fighting him knowing you’re gonna be defeated. what’s the point? medha, stfu) I mean, a professional, grudging admiration for a fellow warrior is fine, good even, but what’s this BS?

The next part is even more laughable, which I didn’t think was possible. They hear of Krishna’s “coronation” and except Rukmi, everyone attends it, even Jarasandha. Huh? Jarasandha who laughed in Krishna’s face in Mbh, called him a coward cowherd (love alliteration) outright so many times in both Mbh and HV . . . I don’t understand any of this. Is it fear for the one person you cannot seem to properly defeat? Are you trying to keep peace, because that’s ridiculous when you have gone on offence so many times. Is it that you are “honoured” to be part of such an important moment in your arch-enemy, who also happens to be “Vishnu’s poorna avatar”?

Then comes a truly interesting part – Bhishmaka and Krishna have a talk. Bhishmaka thinks it’s better to offer Rukmini to Krishna outright and that swayamvara is a stupid thing – whether it is this particular one Rukmi has arranged, or swayamvaras in general, is kinda unclear. For the sake of Bhishmaka, I will go with the first. He apologises to Krishna for not inviting him to the swaymvara for he is helpless against his ignorant son (I guess the ignorance relates to “the true form of Lord Krishna” here) and…hm, this is both exciting and…controversial? Krishna rebukes Bhishmaka quite strongly about letting Rukmi treat him as a doormat and what-not and I would be heart-eyes for he’s technically defending Rukmini in some weird, chauvinistic manner, but . . . is he? His tone is rather peculiar, if you read it. He ends his little tirade with saying that Rukmini is Lakshmi reborn and as such, meant only for him, and technically demands to dismiss the swayamvara. And then, he just…leaves with Garuda. Form your headcanons, guys. This is just too weird.

Bhishmaka is sweet-and-obedient little devotee now and does as he is told. Interestingly, this is before the formation of Dwaraka, for it is here, after the Rukmini’s swayamvara is postponed that Jarasandh and his cronies hatch the plot to use the foreigner Kalyavana to kill Krishna. (just now you attended the boy’s coronation ceremony, usually attended by allies and friends, and praised him as lord of all…make up your minds, guys)

Also, it is here that Rukmini makes up her mind to marry Krishna. Hm, a little meeting, particularly the one you wrote, Maya Di, is extremely likely!

Harana part –

After Kalyavana’s death, Jarasandha’s failure and Dwaraka’s formation, Jarasandha decides to have Rukmini married to Shishupala, just like that. Here is also said that Rukmi had gained celestial weaponry and the Brahmastra (woah!) from Druma and Parasurama respectively. Hm, looks like he was quite the excellent warrior. It isn’t specified if Parashurama only gave him the celestial weapons or taught him as well like he did with Karna – both are different things. But hey, why do people keep going to Parasurama specifically for Brahmastra? I feel bad for the big guy. [Also, here comes this strange issue, Parasurama is, by Karna’s words as well as popular perception, supposed to not hold any sort of guru-ness towards Kshatriyas, which is why the latter had to lie in order to learn from him, considering Suta is an inferior division of the main Kshatriya varna. But that’s topic for another day, Medha.]

Okay, so it is mentioned that Rukmini and Krishna both longed for Krishna, and though there’s no dialogue, it appears that Rukmi knew of this, for the text goes on to say why Rukmi won’t accept this marriage – his enmity with Krishna due to the latter killing his friend Kamsa who also happened to be son-in-law of beloved Jarasandha etc. The text says that with Jarasandha and Shishupala, also came the allied kings Dantavakra, Paundraka, and the kings of Anga and Vanga. [This…is markedly curious. Surely by this time in the epic, Karna was crowned Angaraja? For it not to be so, Krishna would have to be much, much older than the Pandavas, chronologically speaking, which is the headcanon of a popular modern writer Ashok K. Banker. But Yudhisthir and Bhima are considered Krishna’s elders many times in Mbh. There is also this strange friend/frenemy-ship between Karna and Jarasandha as they have a kind of stalemate in a fight and Jarasandha, pleased, offers Karna a city in Anga, Malinipuri, if I remember right. Does it mean that not all of Anga was under Hastinapur’s influence? Again, Medha, to dissect another day.]

Now, “to please their aunt” (Shishupala’s mother Shrutashrava), Krishna comes with Balarama and other Vrishni heroes, all welcomed by Kaisika and Kratha. Upon seeing Rukmini in her journey to pay obeisances to Goddess Indrani, Krishna, er, cannot control himself and decides to abduct her, in consultation with Balarama and others. To note that (i) even though the text expresses both their desires to be with each other, it seems like an impromptu decision to abduct Rukmini, almost as if in lust (at least, that’s what the text makes it sound like); (ii) there’s none of that “coming alone in a hurry after getting her letter” event, as per Harivamsa. He comes quite prepared, and even consults with the other Kshatriyas before going for it.

You know the drill now: Krishna abducts Rukmini as she finishes her prayers and Balarama defeats all the guards. Krishna then puts the responsibility of the war on Yadava heroes like Balarama, Satyaki, Kritavarma, Gada, Prasena (is this that same Prasena of Syamantaka incident?) etc. and sets out for Dwaraka with Rukmini. At all this, Jarasandha and his cronies Shishupala, Dantavaktra, Paundraka, kings of Anga (again!), Vanga, Kalinga and others decide to kill Krishna in a joint attack. There are small descriptions of these following duels – Satyaki vs Jarasandha, Akrura vs Dantavakra, Viprthu vs Shishupala. Shishupala, after being attacked by Atidanta, Gavesana and Brhaddurga (who are these people, gosh) kills Virpthu’s horses and beheads Brhaddurga. Balarama kills the king of Vanga and then attacks Jarasandha. All this results in the defeat of Jarasandha and his cronies.

Hearing this, Rukmi vows before Bhishmaka and if he can’t kill Krishna and bring Rukmini back, he won’t return to the capital Kundina. Note that the next part of his vow, bringing Rukmini back, isn’t mentioned in Mbh proper. He leaves, accompanied by Kratha (that devoted guy?), Amsuman, Srutarva, Venudari and Bhishmaka’s other unnamed sons.

Rukmi sees Krishna-Rukmini standing on the banks of Narmada (aw, what are these two love-birds doing on a riverbank, that’s so romantic… Medha, stop). [Also, as I argued with someone on Quora, had it been a forcible abduction, without Rukmini’s consent in any way whatsoever, considering the letter is not in HV, they wouldn’t be standing there on a riverbank, resting and doing hell-knows-what. It’s a logical fallacy, sorry.]

Seeing them together, he gets even more pissed and wants to kill Krishna in a dwairatha (dual chariot) fight. Cool stuff. Both archers fight. Krishna kills his charioteer and cuts off his chariot-banner. [What’s the thing with this? Why even bother? If you are making a statement then stop, we know who’s gonna win. Even if you didn’t win the fight, the texts would still claim you the winner. Medha, stop, you are supposed to love the man. Yes, the man, not the god men have created as a horrible substitute for the real thing. Why am I saying this now? This is a very normal archery feat if we see Mahabharata’s war parvas.] He defeats all the Vidarbhan warriors and kills many. Rukmi is not a doormat. He retaliates, cutting off Krishna’s banner as well (the garuda one! wow, boi), hurts both Krishna and his charioteer with his arrows. [Aw, and people say Arjuna only won his duels because of Krishna being his charioteer. Dude, look at this. I mean, these people straight out claim him to be God Incarnate and yet, they can’t completely smoothly modify a fight scene to suit their purposes – how sweet. Stfu, Medha.] Krishna then cuts Rukmi’s bow. [The Vijaya one? Surely Rukmi is not fighting such a serious fight without it. If so, wow. You just cut Indra’s prized bow – you really have a strong issue with the guy, don’t ya? Yeah, I feel you.]

Rukmi picks up another (here’s to perseverance), which Krishna again cuts off and crushes Rukmi’s chariot. Now Rukmi rushes at Krishna with a sword (gotta give, guy’s relentless) which Krishna cuts off and uses a sharp weapon called naracha on him which hurts him enough to render him senseless. The remaining soldiers run away. Rukmini’s pity aroused, she pleads for Krishna to spare her brother. Krishna lifts her up and reasures her (awww *waves shipping flag, completely ignoring the falling at his feet part*), then assures poor Rukmi of his safety (who seems to have woken up from his swoon by now, poor boy must have been so tired…why am I feeling so bad for Rukmi? I hate the guy! Btw, I can so imagine Krishna being cheeky here). He returns to Dwaraka with Rukmini, accompanied by Balarama and other Yadavas and his wedding his celebrated there.

There are no later versions of the legend in other texts that tally with the first part (swayamvara) seen in Harivamsa. There’s no love letter, no shaving hair-and-moustache. Let me tell you guys here only, for I don’t want to repeat this, there is no Madhavpur Ghed in the texts I have encountered (and they’re quite a bunch, as you’ll see).

Note: The evolution or composition of Mahabharata and Harivamsa are considered by old and modern scholars alike to have gone parallely, so the insertions of Rukmi’s details, his guru Druma, his bow Vijaya, etc. which seem to exactly match Harivamsa, may have been addded after that part of Harivamsa was written.

Vishnu Purana (about 300 BC-450 CE)

Rukmini-harana is narrated very shortly here, whereas in Harivamsa, it takes up a few chapters, being one of the most prominent parts of the text, as compared to Krishna’s marriage to his other wives. The entire swayamvara part, from Krishna’s “coronation” to the postponement of the swayamvara is missing here. From the harana part as well, Rukmi and his celestial weaponry, worship of Indrani, consultation with Balarama and other Yadavas before abduction, seeing Rukmini-Krishna along Narmada, details of the fights, aren’t present. Again, no love letter (though, even this extremely short version of a few mere verses speaks of Krishna and Rukmini’s mutual love), no shaving. However, it doesn’t deviate from the “original” in Harivamsa as well; it only clips away the details as if deeming them unnecesary in the larger context.

Matsya Purana (about 200-500 CE) mentions her among the Ashtabharya, here listed as – Rukmini, Satyabhama, Satya, Nagnajiti, Gandhari, Subhima, Shaivya, Lakshmana. [argh, we’ll talk about this later. just know for one that this is clearly not a very…right list, and not only in popular perception. jambavati isn’t mentioned; satya, nagnajiti, gandhari and lakshmana are having an identity crisis amongst themselves. basically, the text(s) is (are) only sure about rukmini and satyabhama. pardonable, for they happen to be krishna’s most famous wives. i feel so bad.]

Bhaagavat Purana (about 500-1000 CE)

Oh, yeah, this one is interesting. Unlike Vishnu Purana, Bhaagavat is all about the details. (reminds me of amitabh sir in badla every time i say this word.) There are omissions as well, for Rukmi and his celestial weaponry, Bhishmaka’s lineage, etc. are not mentioned. Let me go by points of difference only, since the main story has been explained in Harivamsa.

We get to hear the names of Rukmi’s younger brothers, only mentioned in HV – Rukmaratha, Rukmavahu, Rukmakesa, Rukmamali. We come to know Rukmini heard of Krishna from bards and decided he would be her perfect match. (Despite Bhaagavat’s devotional fervour that distracts from the main events, I love its version so much better in so many places.) Similarly, hearing of Rukmini’s knowledge and beauty, our boy pines for her. The relatives shipped Rukmini/Krishna as well, but only Rukmi seems to be against it, who arranges her marriage to Shishu. Learning of this, Rukmini sends a faithful old brahmin to Dwaraka with her message, who is received respectfully by Krishna. In her message, she…well, makes me fangirl. Interspersed between what seems to be fanatically devotional love for her “lord”, Rukmini calmly devises a straight and firm plan for him to follow, from the going to the temple of Girija (not Indrani, here) and the Rakshasa vivaha, telling him “not to worry” and all, and also adds a little…threat, in the end, that if he doesn’t do so, she will give up her life by fasting. Neat.

- Srimad Bhaagavat Purana

Krishna, “in love and excitement”, says that he too has been spending sleepless nights pining for Rukmini. Aw.

- Srimad Bhaagavat Purana

Added this to say, here’s the implicit metaphor of Jarasandha and his cronies being the kindling and Rukmini the diew generated by churning them. (Why am I thinking of Samudra-manthan?)

Here, Krishna doesn’t bring Balarama or any other Yadava hero with him, straight going to Kundina on his chariot with his charioteer Daruka and the brahmin, and apparently reaches within one night (which is realistically impossible, except if he had something like Pushpaka, which is not so here). There’s lot of description of pre-wedding things, where the only thing striking me is the phrase “Rukmini with fine teeth”. (I can just imagine her baring her teeth at Rukmi’s back, uff.) As Shishu sets out from Chedi with Jarasandha and his cronies who have developed a “stratagem” to kill Krishna, Balarama comes to know of the plot and sets out after Krishna with the Yadava heroes, moved by his affection for his bro. Exasperated elder brother, here he is.

A despairing Rukmini is informed by the brahmin of Krishna’s arrival in Kundina, she thanks him. Bhishmaka comes to know of Krishna and Balarama’s arrival, whereas in Harivamsa, it was Kaisika who welcomed them. There’s also this huge gathering of Vidarbhans to see Krishna and they decide that only he is fit for their princess. That’s so sweet. After worshipping Goddes Ambika/Girija, asking for Krishna to be her husband, Rukmini returns very slowly from the temple, her beauty so bewitching that a few kings “fall down from their horses, elephants, chariots”. Omfg! Lol. Krishna abducts her in presence of all those kings, who rebuke themselves and shower arrows upon Krishna, seeing which Rukmini laments in fear. Krishna consoles her, the Yadavas march against the kings; Jarasandha, Shishu and their friends have to flee to save their lives. No details are given, as compared to HV. Here, is a very interesting segment, where Shishu laments about having “lost” Rukmini and Jarasandha consoles him in a strangely fatalistic manner:

- Srimad Bhaagavat Purana

Comment: Jara actually doesn’t sound insane or just fatalistic here, imo. He sounds...manipulative af. Don’t think that was the intent of the writers (more likely it was just to forwards the idea of fate and futility as opposed to true action), but that’s what it sounds like to me. Worthy opponent for Krishna, if you ask me.

Now, there’s that drill with Rukmi and his vow, except here, he’s said to have taken an akshauhini of men. When he sees Krishna-Rukmini (no Narmada river here), he verbally insults Krishna unlike prev. versions and then attacks him.

- Srimad Bhaagavat Purana

(Even the abuse here is mild, compared to Mahabharata. I mean, think of the dice game, the Shishupala-vadha parva and so on! But still, Bhaagavat retains class, even as it propounds avatar-vaad, fatalism and fervent devotion.)

The description of battle here is more intense and long-drawn (compared to the main Yadava battle fought against Jarasandha and his cronies), with Krishna cutting down Rukmi’s banner, and then breaking three of his bows. Rukmi uses various kinds of weapons on Krishna – Parigha, Pattisa, Tomara, Camra, Shula, Asi, Shakti, etc. but Krishna remains steadfast in his defence. Rukmi then picks up a sword and rushes at Krishna; there’s no mention of Krishna having killed his charioteer and crushed his chariot. Krishna descends to thebsword-fight and brandishing his own, breaks Rukmi’s sword too. Now you know the drill, falling at his feet and all, our Rukmini. (Don’t roll your eyes, Medha.) Now...it’s in Bhaagavat we see the disfiguring first, Krishna deciding to give him some sort of light punishment, shaving off his moustache, beard and hair unevenly.

There’s another alteration here, that Balarama comes to see this and rebukes Krishna for humiliating a relative. Rukmini is apparently inconsolable and he offers Rukmini a patronising (if sensible philosophically in many places) discourse, starting with a more political note of “the conduct of Kshatriyas is hard and merciless where brother kills brother” and continuing with a lengthy philosophical lecture of the body and the soul, as in in tune with Mahabharata’s Gita, to a marginal extent. Rukmini attempts to calm down, and they return to Dwaraka. The marriage is well-described, with the addition of kings with intimate relations invited – from Kuru, Srinjaya, Kekeya, Kunti races and Vidarbh as well! Hm. Interesting. As is the inconsolable Rukmini, described earlier, which finds no mention in earlier (or a few later versions). Is it so hard to imagine a “difficult woman”, in Nikita Gill’s terms? Does she have to be a wilting flower, even though it breaks off from her prev. characterisation? I mean, she can sure be miffed at it, but for her to be so disconsolate that Balarama out of all people has to offer a huge-ass philosophical advice. Sigh. Basically, Bhaagavat more or less presents it attractively by way of supplying more materials to the story (the greatest and most landmark being Rukmini’s letter), even while it ignores some other details (like Narmada).

Brahmanda Purana (about 400-600 CE) doesn’t delineate the main legend, but Rukmini, the princess of Vidarbha, is mentioned as Krishna’s principal wife, along with the names of their sons and daughter.

Padma Purana (about 400-1600 CE)

Points of difference:

Brothers’ names apart from Rukmi not mentioned.

To fulfil her desire to marry her “lord”, Rukmini worships the gods from childhood itself and keeps sacred vows. Hm, yeah, go ahead.

Here, her brahmin is called the son of a purohita who is received by both Krishna and Balarama. Rukmini’s words in her message are not there anymore (a format which will be followed by every later version except the kavyas) as opposed to the beautiful plan in Bhaagavat and, they both set out for Kundina. No army of Yadava heroes accompany them.

Rukmini goes to the temple by her chariot rather than by foot, at evening, none of which is mentioned in prev. versions. After the abduction, it is Balarama who singlehandedly routs all the kings headed by Jarasandha, using his plough (Langala) and Musala (…the same weapon they use in the fratricidal war of Mausala parva, incidently; so it has some other source than that “curse” where Samva delivers this “new weapon” called musala).

There’s no mention of Rukmi’s vow.

When Rukmi attacks Krishna, he laughs and defends himself with his bow Saranga, a bow presented by Indra. Keeping with both HV and Bhaagavat, dear Krishna obligingly cuts of Rukmi’s bow, his banner, his charioteer’s head and crushes the chariot. There’s Rukmi with his sword, and Krishna with a sharp knife.

Interestingly, there’s no objection or plea or falling at his feet from Rukmini, but Krishna still doesn’t kill him, letting him go by his own free will. That doesn’t stop him from laughing and shaving the hair on his head, though. The beard and moustache are forgiven.

Despite not having taken the vow, apparently the humiliation is enough for Rukmi to built Bhojkata in Vidarbh outside of Kundina, keeping with all prev. versions.

No Madhavpur again. What’s interesting here, is that Nanda and Yashoda and other cowherds are present in the wedding in Dwaraka, unlike popular perception which says Krishna never met his adoptive parents after having left Vrindavana.

Skanda Purana (about 600-1200 CE)

It is narrated to Yudhisthir by Markandeya about the significance of some Rukmini teertha. Points of difference:

Rukmini’s mother is mentioned to be “Mahadevi”. This could also be a title, since queens were also addressed thus. Rukmini is said to be her second child, younger to Rukmi and elder to the other brothers, whose names aren’t mentioned.

At her birth, there is this prophecy about her marriage to this four-armed divine person by a bodiless voice, kinda like Kamsa’s akashvani. Sure, go on. Marry her to Krishna right as she’s born, why don’t you? It’s destiny after all. Can I add that the previous love affair between Rukmini and Krishna is also not mentioned.

Damaghosha, king of Chedi and Shishupala’s father goes to Bhishmaka with a marriage proposal, more in accordance with a marriage as we see it now as compared to the prev. versions (where Jarasandha and Rukmi are instrumental), as also the prevalent nature of marriage of those days w.r.t. Mahabharata.

These two develop attraction to each other just prior to the abduction, in the vein of Harivamsa, but Harivamsa does speak of mutual pining long before the abduction.

The brahmin messenger, the role or even the name of Jarasandha, Rukmi’s fierce vow – nothing finds mention.

Unlike prev. versions, Krishna and Balarama are invited by Bhishmaka to Rukmini’s marriage. No other Yadava hero is mentioned to have accompanied, similar to Padma Purana.

It brings back the river Narmada, where Rukmini and Krishna were resting and Rukmi stumbled upon them, which is only found farther back in Harivamsa.

Now, the battle with Rukmi gets interesting here. There is no archery or even swordfight; rather, Krishna takes his chakra to battle. Fearful, Rukmini asks Krishna to bless her brother with the “divine eye”. Krishna obeys, “pleased” by Rukmini. Rukmi’s ignorance taken away, he offers auspicious prayers to Krishna, who, pleased at the brother this time, blesses him and speaks “blissful words”. Rukmi happily goes back to Kundina. No Bhojkata, no insult, no killing or fighting.

Even the marriage isn’t celebrated in Dwaraka, but on the very banks of Narmada, in the presence of pious sages and other brahmins.

A long explanation of the significance of Rukmini tirtha is given in details, which we don’t find in prev. versions and which I have no energy to go over, for it isn’t significant to either the topic, or even Rukmini in general.

In a nutshell, Skanda Purana takes a decided and marked departure from the martial, the political and the more realistic, to the more mystical realms that have surrounded Krishna and his actions. Do we see a pattern here?

Brahmavaivarta Purana (about 700-1500 CE)

God, I hate this one so much. In a nutshell, guys, it goes several steps ahead of Skanda Purana and goes for a classic social marriage, as is prevalent nowadays. There’s no abduction, no Shishupala, no love, no resistance from Rukmi, no agency from either the bride or the groom. Nothing.

[Instead of Rukmini-harana, or even Rukmini-swayamvara, the headings become “Rukmini Udvaah Prastaav varnan” (description of proposal of Rukmini’s marriage) and then, “Rukmini Vivaahe Yuddham” (fight in Rukmini’s marriage). Credit where credit’s due, I learnt from an online friend about the Sanskrit titles.]

No message is sent by Rukmini, but a brahmin messenger does go with a proposal of marriage. He is sent by Bhishmaka instead of Rukmini. What’s more, the letter was addressed to Ugrasena, and it’s not Krishna, or even Balarama, who receives the proposal. It is Ugrasena, stepping into the limelight where before he had no role to play except that of a figurehead and a tortured father as per the texts.

In Kundina (described in detail for the first time, with the classic mahajanapada-style ditch around it), Krishna and Rukmini have a nice social marriage, presided over by all the elders and kings, with Bhishma, Drona, Duryodhana etc. and the Pandavas in attendance. Again, no mention of Jarasandha, but there’s a fight between Balarama and Shishupala, Dantavakra, Rukmi and Shalva, ending in a sorta mysterious, inconclusive defeat.

How interesting is it, that Brahmavaivarta is a text dedicated to, er, Radha-Krishna, an idea that didn’t exist until the Bhakti movement. So they just decide that no, such a daredevil mariage between lovers won’t do. It has to be society forcing these two together (rather than apart, as we see in Mahabharata et al), because it is Radha and Krishna whose relationship is against society, the rebellion of rebellions in the name of true love nd devotion, blah-blah. Forgive my tone, please, but I am pissed off, ‘kay?

The concerted effort to make everything in Krishna’s life, except Radha (oh, because they are the Supreme in Goloka, which is even above Kailasa and Vaikuntha, and nothing can separate them and all), socially acceptable because he’s their “God” who can do no wrong except if in “true love for Radha” (when the dude clearly rebelled against society any chance he got) is ridiculous. Esp. this! Damn, don’t make my girl into this insignificant little thing. Harivamsa and Vishnu Purana were silent about Rukmini’s letter too, but at least both mentioned clear attraction and interest between Krishna-Rukmini.

Digressing: Also, why is Krishna such a sap here, suddenly? Or why does the Radha-Krishna pairing (which originally symbolises the Jeevatma-Paramatma or devotee-god relationship,) need Krishna to chase her ceaselessly and for all his actions to lead up to her, despite him advocating being a man of action in the real world? I am sorry for being so vocal; it’s probably just my pent-up frustration from that horrible Radha-Krishna serial where this Krishna (gosh, I can’t even call him that!) finds a reason to cry every single time. I would have forgiven it had they cut off the Vishnu’s avatar perspective and kept only the lover boy part, but they keep it and they still make him a crybaby. What’s worse…at the times he should actually feel bad, he’s “calm” af, looking as if he has transcended every human emotion, and just patronises people. Such hypocrisy. Look, I have nothing against men who cry; in fact, it’s heartening to have men strong enough to embrace their emotions, esp. publicly; similarly, there is nothing wrong with suppressing them (apart from the mental health issues it generates, but we are no one to judge). But people, when you are making an omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient character…keep the BS consistent at least?! (Sorry, civility.)

Agni Purana (about 800-1100 CE) only mentions Rukmini as one of the eight principal wives.

[Devi-Bhaagavata Purana gives a brief outline sticking to what’s known. It says that in Rukmini’s swayamvara, Shishupala is specifically invited (this is the popular notion, and what I personally believed too, and still find myself going for). Krishna, with Ugrasena’s permission (not mentioned in prev. versions; as opposed to consulting with his fellow warriors in HV), takes Rukmini in Rakshasa vivaha. It also mentions that he later married Jambavati, Satya, Mitravinda, Kalindi, Nagnajiti, Bhadra, Lakshmana. (Satyabhama is not present. She seems to have been confused with Satya, whose other name is Nagnajiti, princess of Kosala.)

Kalki Purana goes for this elaborate Rukmini vrata which grants desired husband to a lady as a fruit of the vrata, where Rukmini is accorded deity status alongside Krishna, seemingly for the first time (not considering the temples dedicated to both). A woman named Sharmistha (strangely similar to Sharmistha of Yayati, Puru’s mother, who too hankered after Yayati) offers oblations to Rukmini-Krishna, saying a prayer: “O Lord, offerer of boons, accept the camphor, molasses and sandalwood with your beloved Rukmini, princess of Vidarbha. O lotus-eyed one, possesor of pitambara and four arms, supreme of gods. Please be satisfied with me and protect me with Rukmini.” It’s far longer, but this is the gist. Is this still Krishna we are speaking of? Huh, all these rituals and Krishna don’t sit well.]

I have only been able to catch hold of so many texts, and of the others, Markandeya Purana (about 250-700 CE) and Shiva Purana (about 1000-1400 CE) do not even mention Rukmini. Mudgala Purana only says Lord Krishna had 16,008 beautiful wives and washes its hands off.

Note: Mathematician and Vedic shastra writer Baudhayana cites Rukmini/Krishna as an example of Rakshasa vivaha.

Sanskrit Literature

So after the Puranas kinda close off the (d)evolution with turning such interesting stuff to the dry social marriage w.r.t. to the parallel evolution of Radha-Krishna, where the concept of Krishna shifted completely from a socio-political persona with mild godlike touch to become a complete love god (as also the lord of the universe)… Rukmini rises again in later literature, of what, by modern standards, would be ancient fanfiction. Lol. There are loads of poetic descriptions (think Kalidasa) that embellishes the narrative – for example, the beauty of sunrise described for paragraphs onto paragraphs. (Yeah, I skimmed those. I was too interested in some Rukmini action. Will appreciate the poetry later.)

References are made to the Rukmini-haran incident in Shishupala-vadham by Magha in around 600 CE, in the 2nd canto, where Balarama, Krishna and Uddhava are in conversation, planning to kill Shishupala. (I hate this.) The entire canto is full of controversial speeches. Balarama refers to Krishna abducting Rukmini from her swayamvara and defeating Shishupala as being the latter’s prime reason for animosity, saying things like “women are the root of all enmity”.

It is referred to in Bhavabhuti’s Malati-Madhav as well, a love story between Malati and Madhav (son of a Vidarbhan minister), where in a convo between friends, a lady says something like “Purushottama Krishna accepted Rukmini, the mother of Kandarpa (Pradyumna being considered Kama’s rebirth), at her self-choice (swayamvara) ceremony”.

There is Bhagavata-Champu (don’t laugh) by Ananta Bhatta before 1500 AD and Sri-Gopala-Champu by Jiva Goswami. Both show their retellings to be derived from Bhaagavata purana (I’m so glad). In fact, in some places, like Rukmini’s letter and Balarama’s consolatory speech after Rukmi’s humiliation, the lines (as per the translated hardcopy in my home) seem to have been picked up directly from Bhaagavata. So it must be that the original Sanskrit lines were as well. The only thing that differs in Sri-Gopala-Champu is the premise of the story. Two messengers from Krishna tell the story to Nanda, Rukmini’s attributes coming up in the conversation. Radha and her fellow Gopis are mentioned as being present and eulogised. (Can no one let my girl have a moment?) But I love these few lines from the convo. The listeners speak thus (not the exact translation, but I don’t have the book rn):

“Although a girl, she is very intelligent and brave.”

“Is she a girl?” (Omfg, I laughed so much at this)

“No, never. She is a tense female elephant.” (The comparison is aimed to be praising of the confident, slow gait of an elephant in Sanskrit poetry, not in the modern way a woman might be called en elephant. Warriors and great women hav often been compared to elephants. There also seems to be an oxymoron as she is described as being tense or edgy, perhaps an allusion to being cautious…Hm, the spy headcanon, @avani008 and @allegoriesinmediasres? *grins excitedly* Oh, we’ll take anything, won’t we?)

“She is fearless, because she is a princess.”

Intelligent, brave, fearless, cautious…oh yeah, all my personal headcanons too.

Other Sanskrit works are as follows, to the best of my knowledge, some gathered from my grandparents and some from friends. I don’t know if their online versions are available, will have to see.

Bhaismi-Parinaya-Champu by prolific poet Ratnakheta Srinivasa Dikshita (South India) around late 16th century. also based on the Bhaagavata version. His son, renowned scholar Rajachuramani Dikshita wrote the Rukmini-Kalyana-Mahakavya (flourished in late 16th and early 17th centuries), possibly one of the most important Sanskrit works on the incident. This one, I unfortunately haven’t read, but have heard about from my late eldest grandfather. Two whole cantos take up Krishna’s mental affliction and pining in a pleasure garden of Dwaraka at the thought of his beloved Rukmini. Aw. Basically, Sanskrit poetry used to be all about elaborate descriptions and comparisons which would veer far, far away from the context, which in these times would be considered redundant and unnecessary. I agree, sort of. I would rather read about political machinations, rather than devotional poetry that distracts us from the issue at hand, thank you very much. Stfu, Medha.

We have Parvati-Rukminiya by astrologer poet Vidya Madhav in late 17th century, which narrates two marriages at a time – Shiva/Parvati and Krishna/Rukmini. Rukmini-Parinaya was written by Ram Varman of Trivancore in the middle 18th century.

Rukmini-Haranam-Mahakavyam, by Kashinatha Sharma Dvivedi, was published first in 1966 AD. (This one, my eldest grandmother straight up read to me, Bengal-ising it while she read. It was arduous, but I was old enough to bear the long hours.) Here, we find a few deviations from Bhaagavat – We find a long description of Rukmini straight up from birth to youth (yikes, that’s what I was attempting to do in my Yugantaram fic). It’s not a lot of characterisation, though – mainly dramatisation, if I remember correctly. (Unfortunately, I don’t know if we have that book any more.) The second canto has a description of Narada, who comes to Bhishmaka’s court bearing Krishna’s tales, which we don’t find in prev. versions, and who appears in the first canto of Magha’s Shishupala-vadham as well. In the third canto, Rukmini, hearing all this, falls in love and is treated by the royal physicians and offered consolation by her friends. (Here’s to one of my best-beloved lines of Hema’s Meerabai, ‘Is love an affliction, that you can cure?’) The next four cantos dramatise and stretch this love-struck Rukmini – with lovely descriptions of the moon, the seasons, the royal garden, etc. The next three cantos describe Rukmini’s marriage being fixed to Shishu by Rukmi, her sending the brahmin messenger to Krishna, a vivid description of Krishna’s beauty (as a young gal, I fell in love with that, yeah, I know, sorry) and an equally beautiful description of the dawn (which may be compared to the description of dawn in Shishupala-vadham by Magha… people are really fond of poeticising political and social issues to hide their significance behind glamour. Medha, stop). In the next canto, Krishna begins his journey to Vidarbha with obeisance to Lord Shiva, which isn’t present anywhere else. It is worth mentioning that the poet also starts his epic poem with salutations to Shiva as well, and states that he composed the entire poem with the grace of Lord Shiva. There’s a lot more descriptions, along with the deviation of Rukmini being guarded on orders of Shishupala rather than those of Rukmi, but the skeleton is all Bhaagavat. Sharma Dvivedi has been inspired heavily by Magha. It stands that his Rukmini-Haranam-Mahakavyam is the most successful rendering of the legend.

It has come to my knowledge that there are other Sanskrit literary works on these two as well but…I just don’t have the energy, sorry. There is a time and place for poetry and devotional fervour. Let me just say, with absolute relish on my side, that it is the Bhaagavat version that is preferred by our predecessors unanimously and all the Sanskrit literature is based on that. Personally, my go-to is Harivamsa and Bhaagavat as well, especially since they have the oldest layers of puranic text. I mean, just imagine, if all later retellings had been based on Brahmavaivarta rather than Bhaagavat. There would be no Rukmini-lovers at all! I mean, the first love does start from the most popular version, after all. It never fails to intrigue me, how legends undergo these modifications, and none of it is a coincidence.

Much love,

Medha

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yyxgin · 3 years

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ITAEWON CLASS IS ON MY WATCH LIST AHHHH!!! I’ve heard amazing things but I haven’t had the time to sit down and watch it ://

I was actually in love with the Love Alarm concept and drama during first season, but second season...I’m procrastinating :,) what didn’t you like about it? If I may ask of course!

Tbh I dunno how to feel about JLO in general?? I’ve heard there’s been controversy surrounding her, but honestly I haven’t cared enough to actually do some research about it 😬

In regards to my dreams...totally not spicy at all. I swear it’s just weird Disney channel type of clubs that I imagined while growing up and then the setting just stuck for some reason lmao. All my older teenager dreams that are romcom-ish involve this stupid club and fake laughing tracks 🙂

I wish you luck in your exams if you do have them!! I bet you’re gonna do amazing 🥳

Also ff, I realised I say ff a lot even if it’s not a ff lmfao, I did a terrible hw for a uni class that I have and honestly I couldn’t give two sh*ts bc I’m dropping out 😎 I hate my current career oof

Felix 🤝 Renjun

Top quality hair styles

Also about my name, I usually go by Fa, but I can also go by Tina or Chris! :D

I also forgot to add that’s it’s not awkward at all!! It’s alright mate :D ♥️

ITAEWON CLASS IS SO GOOD i usually dont have the attention span to watch long eps but it was so interesting ?? and i study business and it actually helped be understand some things as well so that's a plus. i also fell in love with kim donghee bc of it and now i cant stop so😔

I actually only watched the first ep of love alarm and it was,,,,so questionable. like why did they kiss. it had some major stalker vibes. it was just so weird in my opinion, but i guess it just wasnt for me hh, im glad you liked it tho !!

I've never heard abt the JLo controversy ?? 😳 i might have to look into it lmaoo

YOU GOT LAUGHING TRACKS IN YOUR DREAMS ??? THATS FUCKING AMAZING I WISH I HAD THAT 😭😭😭💔 i literally just always wake up like "what the fuck did i just saw" bc my dreams never make any sense

also thank u 🥺

YAY YOU GO !! DROP OUT !! if youre unhappy its the best thing to do, college literally means nothing in this world anymore anyways

also all of your names are so pretty woah 😳💗 my name's barbora but i go by bar on here 😎

#💌ask #fa💫#can i call you fa #i wanna have a tag for u bc i have one for all of my friends and you are now my legal friend #feel free to tell me if u dont like it tho

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youraveragegoat · 4 years

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Im so sorry i don't know how to make a read more cut on mobile.

Every time we're debating/having a charged conversation and I state i agree with my dad, he says "Im so glad we agree on something" like sir! We actually agree on a lot! Just because I expand on the point you made doesn't mean I disagree with you about it! Smh.

(this in particular was about school vouchers and the controversies around that and after listening him tell me about it I thought for a moment and said "the whole system needs to be reworked" which made him say "im so glad we agree on something" but like. The entire time he was telling me about it, he didn't state an opinion lmao. Were we agreeing that the system needed to be reworked? Idk the last time was about how gay people are portrayed in media so 🤷‍♂️)

Anyway I've been talking with my dad until literally right now (4hrs past bedtime) and my mom (was working so she didn't participate too much) said my relationship with my dad is a lot better (in part bc I dont live here anymore) because he actually sees me as an adult now 🙃 yikes but fair im only 22

I printed out and forced my dad to read the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and he stopped at article 25 (everyone has the right to an adequate standard of living) and was like Woah that sounds like socialism? and he was like Who's Gonna Provide This? The Government? and I had to explain that nooo(👀) its about opportunity. Do we have the right to freedom of speech? Its constitutional, of course we do. But we didnt always have that right. We fought for it. People died for it.

We (our white, Christian family) have the opportunity to live in places where the standard of living is good and we have access to good healthcare and clean drinking water and etcetera. BUT! Tons of people don't have access and thats why we have to fight for this right, to change the system, just like the people before us fought to change the system for our freedom of speech.

Idk man. It seemed like he got it, I know my mom did, she's kinda always been our mediator, but a lot of my dad's Knowledge comes from, like, conservative talk shows and church speakers. It's hard to figure out how much he's internalized.

This felt like how I had to explain We Can't Say The N Word by using queer as a substitute. I can call myself queer but someone saying 'youre one of them queers' isn't cool. Like it's not equated at all but it got the point across to him at least.

When we were watching tonights sermon, the guy was answering a question about another believer not supporting BLM and the like and he said something along the lines of: I would encourage them to study American history. And I nodded like fuck yeah dude and my mom was nodding too!! That's cool of her.

Still. I find it hard to... figure out how to SHOW them the implication of their vote. What it means.

The guy giving the sermon got a question that said I Feel Like Im Torn Between Supporting Black People and Being Anti Abortion.

And the guy. Did something he shouldn't have done and I hope if they post the sermon elsewhere that they cut it out, but he said "PERSONALLY I THINK IM SINNING IF I VOTE FOR SOMEONE WHO SUPPORTS KILLING BABIES. PERSONALLY" like. 😒 you knew exactly what that means, you motherfucker.

I dont remember why I asked but we were talking about "radical Islamic groups" quote unquote and my dad was explaining that he'd attended a talk at an old church (and said some things that really demonized Muslims as a whole) and I had to stop him and say I So Want To Believe That Person (👀) but neither of us have read their holy book so we don't know if they're telling the truth and i know for a fact there are Christians going around talking to churches and calling for my death, just because I'm queer. So yeah I want to trust you but for me and the experiences of the community im in, I hold skepticism. And both he and my mom agreed with me and the conversation moved on.

I was going to make a point about religious freedom being one of the original tenants of America and we shouldn't force our religion on people who don't want it, but i kept getting distracted and only ended up getting them to agree with me that America should hold our stance on religious freedom (Even though voting for whoever is anti abortion bc thats the hill you want to die on, directly opposes that belief. 🤷‍♂️ I'll get em tomorrow)

ANYWAY

IM MAKING A KAHOOT ABT FASCISM bc my mom didnt know what the word meant (dangerous) when I started going off about how we should all be antifa! :3c and im getting a haircut tomorrow! And!! In order to access a certain essay for said Kahoot, I have to either be enrolled in a school or go thru a library so I gotta go get a library card XP. Which I wanted to do anyways but now I have a reason besides audio books.

#im staying at my parents house bc i was house sitting for them but i slept so much better on the guest room mattress than on my own #and i wasnt willing to leave just to have another night of bad sleep. so hopefully after rent ill have enough saved up to #buy a new mattress #fingers crossed.#i slept better last night than i have in months.#long post #sorry i dont know how to make read more cuts on mobile.#my post #OH I FORGOT #When sending in my question to the preacher tonight i used Jeremiah and my dad said the name was beautiful!!#And they (jokingly) called me Jeremiah and it was so COOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLL

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tyviac · 4 years

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@fruit6at

me: i dont care for hummus :^/

all seven of my irl friends at once: WOAH WOAH HOLD ON-- WAIT A FUCK-- HUMMUS??! HOW CA-- IM NOT SAYING YOURE WRONG BUT YOURE WRONG-- HUMMUS!!!-- I CANT BELI--

its like my one controversial opinion its so polarising for some reason 😂😂😂 it just doesnt do anything for me!! im more a tzatziki / herbed oil kinda gal

#tyvialk #beetroot feta also.....#but i try hummus all the time hoping ill start liking it #but yucky :^(

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janiedean · 4 years

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serious talk but i’m honestly stumped as to why jcs are the ones sending hate. i’m not saying anyone should send or receive hate but in every other fandom i’ve been in the ‘problematic’ shippers are generally chill and stay in their lanes, while being the ones getting sent hate. i’m not saying jcs never get hate but i’ve never seen taboo shippers be the ones doing the harassing before.

*shrug*

I had an anon addressing that at length in june so if you want that entire discussion it’s here https://janiedean.tumblr.com/post/185642667908/hello-im-sorry-for-disturbing-you-but-im-quite

that said I’ve been considering it for years bc honest I never was in the situation where I argued with **problematic shippers and like you can ask anyone in the theon corner who’s also in th/ramsay fandom that I’ve defended them countless times regardless of the OMG YOU’RE SICK people coming from (sadly) my side because they got trashed to hell and back, and like… I have it on record that even if I’m not into badwrong stuff I will defend people who ship it bc everyone should ship what they want. and everywhere even within this fandom **problematic shippers usually stay in their lane - I mean ffs I don’t think I’ve ever ran into anyone shipping idk th/ramsay or sansa/lf or whichever other badwrong ship being like that. and jcs get way less hate than any of them and half of that is jb people telling them to can it after they crosstag hate on purpose and then pearl clutch that ohmygod we’re so hateful, but if you want my two cents, under the cut bc it’s long and is2g if someone shows up telling me this is me accusing jc shippers as a whole of whatever I’m blocking on sight:

that part of jc fandom has done that since I remember being in this fandom, and with that part I mean that there’s a bunch of jc people who either multiship or are like sane people who aren’t partaking in fandom or left bc they didn’t want to be associated with that attitude

that part of jc fandom has spun a narrative since 2011 that if you didn’t like c. or thought j. was a better person than she was (or tyrion too) you were a closeted misogynist and like… a lot of those people were bnfs back in the day so basically criticizing c. and/or saying that jaime isn’t a bad person now automatically means that you’re problematic/a misogynist/hate women and no one countered it bc apparently saying that grrm is not necessarily misogynist for writing c. as a villain is a controversial opinion which means that if they coat their analysis in performative feminism they have the upper hand *shrug*

in this context c. being the abuser/bad person is downplayed/turned over on its head and no one recognizes that jc is indeed an abusive rship where j. is the abused/wronged part and you can see that because 90% of the meta published in this fandom villainizes j. in nonsensical ways just so it’s an argument that he’s as bad as c. if not worse and jc is seen as codependent toxic but not as abusive with power imbalance which means that it’s not seen as necessarily *problematic* or badwrong which means they don’t get the shit that everyone else shipping badwrong gets which… good for them bc no one should get shit for shipping what they want but basically they never were on the side of receiving anon hate all day long and they actually were on the side of sending it all day long

and like sorry but that’s factual, some people in that side of fandom were making burned ground around jb before S2 and the moment jb became popular they were on us/the ship like woah because obviously if people shipped jb they should buy the narrative where j. is redeemable/not a terrible person, and the moment people buy that narrative then theirs is automatically put in question, and so they started painting us as the problematic straight women who are homophobic bc they don’t think brienne is lgbt and want her with j. bc we want to fuck him and we’re projecting, which at the same time makes us sound like we’re making shit up and have no textual analysis to base stuff on when in fact we do, but again in this climate where saying c. is terrible = you’re a misogynist you’re automatically discredited the moment you say that and that j. isn’t as horrible as she is

also, since the people enabling that shit in jc fandom were bnfs (like there’s… one bnf in jc fandom who’s an a+ person and didn’t engage in shitting over us at least but everyone else enabling it was a bnf) it meant that the ‘let’s shit on jb shippers’ behavior was always condoned/let slide, so basically if anyone wanted to get popularity points being asses to us was the best way to go at it, and that’s why 90% of what’s remained of them rn is more interested in sending anon hate to jb shippers than producing content, and every single time it’s turning things over on their head making it sound as if we started it or anything of the kind. too bad that I’ve been here since before jb was a show thing and I can 100% remember the times people asked me privately questions aimed into guilttripping me from having jb as a sideship in t/hrobb fic and I was terrified of what would happen when I put it as a sideship in sfbd which is btw one of the reasons I dropped it for a year the first time round *shrug* (yeah it’s been long enough that I think I can say that *shrug*)

basically: I think that those specific jc shippers have…. issues in the sense that they’re caught in some very unhealthy internet presence thing in which they’ve been doing this thing since like 2013 if not earlier and now they can’t stop and the new ones who fall in that crowd follow suit and no one ever told them to can it or that it wasn’t okay or whatever, and now it’s too late to do anything except waiting for grrm to publish wow, have c. die somewhere j. is not and have the entire ‘they’ll die together’ discourse die and maybe they’ll stop. but like… again: i made the blog private for three months, I put it back to public, before I could even make the post saying it like three minutes after I went public again I got a jc anon. within the first week I had twenty. and they showed up the moment I put it back to public. just that is a level of unhealthy that should be enough to state whoever’s doing this needs help like very much because it’s like basically stalking, but hey, it’s all my fault because I said jc is an abusive rship and he’s not the abuser. *shrug* like: at this point I’m legit worried for them because this isn’t healthy and I really hope they get help because there’s no reason why they should come at me like that when I’m in my lane all the damned time except for the single occasions pointed out in the first linked post. the only explanation is that they can’t handle the fact that I’m existing and expressing an opinion they disagree with when I don’t even know them so if it’s the problem………. I really hope they get a grip. because it’s not healthy. period.

#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #Anonymous #ask post #only slightly less toxic than chernobyl's ruins #anti-cersei lannister #anti-cersei #anti-lannincest #anti-jaime x cersei #jb wank #is2g this is JUST FOR THOSE SPECIFIC JC SHIPPERS #I DON'T MEAN JC SHIPPERS AS A WHOLE #I DON'T MEAN C. FANS AS A WHOLE #I ONLY MEAN THAT ONE GROUP THAT'S BOTH HERE AND ON TWITTER BEING TERRIBLE #hopefully it was clear

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kohakuriver · 5 years

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A complete Frozen 2 trailer analysis and breakdown + my own theory

I will be covering both trailers in this post so it will get long as well as bringing up many things I haven’t seen other people say, particularly on youtube. Another thing I will be bringing up is leaks that the general public does not know so if you don’t want spoilers please do not keep reading. Though the spoilers are quite light and only reference small points of the plot that will most likely be revealed in the coming months. There are one or two screencaps I won’t bring up because they’re irrelevant and only showed up in the trailer for show.

EDIT: After annecy new information has dropped. This will be edited to include those spoilers.

One thing I’d like to clear up is that these are both teaser trailers and not full ones. I believe Disney will be releasing a full one that will be less vague in September. These Frozen trailers are an anomaly that I personally think were only done this way because of the Aladdin controversy. Disney never release teaser trailers that early. The one released in June was cut up and released in February to move attention away from the controversy which is why it's short and vague.

In the first seconds of the first trailer we see Elsa running towards the ocean. Determined to cross it.

What is she trying to do? Get to Anna because she was shipwrecked? But there's no wreckage around her. And if she wrecked in the middle of the ocean she would have used her magic to try and turn back. Without the context of the second teaser trailer we had no idea what she was doing. Now we know Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, Sven and Olaf all went on the trip together. So we know it's not Elsa trying to get back home to Anna and Arendelle. She wouldn’t be leaving by herself. During the ocean scene in the second trailer we see her with The Nokk.

A mythological water spirit that Disney describes as a protector of the forest and its secrets. In order to get past the Nokk someone must prove their worth. I believe this is what Elsa is trying to do. Get to the Nokk and let her pass into the forest. Or perhaps she needs its help to defeat something? Another theory is that it’s part of a trial she must face in order to gain knowledge. It certainly does not want to harm her. In fact it looks curiously at her and in the illustration they are shown seemingly working together.

If it wanted to harm her it would have done so when she was vulnerable. I heard a rumor that Elsa will form a tight bond with the Nokk and it will be an integral part of the movie but I’m not sure I entirely believe that. I personally believe it’s just a protector and another obstacle that Elsa must go through.

Edit: At Annecy we learned that Elsa and the Nokk do in fact have a battle. I still personally believe she is doing this to prove herself to the Nokk.

The next scene shows Anna, looking at the crystals that we now know Elsa created. I will bring up this scene later since it gains more context in the second trailer and is out of place in this trailer.

Now the next scene with Kristoff- there isn’t much to say other than this has to be when they are in the enchanted forest. The setting looks the same and we know they all get separated at some point. I believe he’s trying to get back to the rest of the group with the help of Sven and some new friends that Sven made. It’s definitely dramatic so Kristoff probably thinks his family is in extreme danger.

Next we see Anna alone in a cave. This cave must be the one we see Anna and Olaf fall into in the second trailer. They must have been separated after falling off the waterfall and Anna is shown trying to find Olaf. I’d also like to mention that Anna and Olaf are looking up at what seems to be an Earth Giant (the one shown in the last seconds of the second trailer) before they get to the waterfall.

If you look at the screencaps the rock looks different and oddly shaped, perhaps it’s a foot. The reason it doesn’t attack is because it’s sleeping. Another thing to mention is their ice boat is obviously made by Elsa. This leads me to believe they separated on purpose.

The next scene we see Olaf and Elsa surrounded by purple fire in the shape of a heart. Elsa is trying to get rid of the fire using her magic. This scene gets more context in the second trailer. We are shown Anna, Sami (from the way they dress they look like Sami, an indigenous group in norway and sweden) and guards possibly from Arendelle fleeing from the fire.

We are also shown Kristoff swooping in and taking Anna as Elsa is on the ground (most likely with Olaf behind her) in the same scene. Perhaps Elsa told them to flee so she could face the person putting them in danger with her magic. Other than that there’s not much we can take from this scene besides the possibility that someone is probably trying to keep the forest safe from intruders.

After the scene with purple fire we are shown two new characters that I have a whole theory on. Their analysis will be saved for last. The only thing I'd like to say before moving on is that these two could not possibly be Iduna and Agnarr. You don’t just turn ginger if you’re blonde and the girl seems to have tanner skin than Iduna, yes it could be the lighting messing with my eyes or something but the girl also has brown eyes whereas Iduna has light blue. The girl also has a lighter hair color and a different eyebrow shape. And the boy has an upturned nose where Agnarr has a hooked nose. I know there's some “confirmation” from someone who apparently works at disney but I really don’t believe that. They really look nothing at all alike when you start to analyze their features.

Next the crew is looking at the enchanted forest. This scene most likely takes place after Elsa goes through the fog while revealing the four runes we know to be symbolizing Earth, Water, Air and Fire.

But how can she move the fog? Her powers are of Ice and snow- not Air. Although I guess you could argue her power is water and clouds/fog is a form of water. It's worth mentioning she did make clouds in the first movie as well. But I have another theory as to why she was able to move the fog which I will get into later.

In the last seconds of the first trailer Anna grabs kristoff’s sword and attacks someone. In the raw audio file we hear a “woah!” Coming from a deep voice. Many believe this is Hans. Considering they went north not south I find this hard to believe. I’m not sure why Hans would be all the way up in the north or why he would make a comeback but on some sites it does show that his voice actor returns so there is a possibility.

Now onto parts of the second trailer I didn’t discuss yet. The events are extremely out of order so instead I will be analyzing it in chronological order.

We are shown a flashback with Elsa and Queen Iduna looking up at aurora borealis. This must be the night that Elsa hurt Anna. If you look at the wallpaper it’s different from Elsa’s single room and looks the same as the one in Anna and Elsa’s room. Iduna must be explaining something about her past to her as that is what Grandpappie talks about in the background.

Next Elsa is shown chasing magic that is constantly changing form and shape. She is definitely singing in this scene so we know it is extremely important. I have seen people say this is a dream because she’s in a nightgown and it’s black all around her but I disagree. Considering the fact that she’s shown chasing the magic off a cliff outside and at her feet is grass.

And the very next thing she does is use her magic to summon the crystals with runes.

EDIT: From the spoilers dropped at the Annecy festival we have learned that this scene takes place after the main group just finished playing charades and went to bed. Throughout this time Elsa hears a voice and begins to look for it. This leads her outside where she begins to use her magic along with the magic message she is chasing.

Anna notices this and runs to the balcony in the first trailer. I believe these crystals showed up around the entire kingdom which made the trolls take notice. Which is why they come to Elsa, Anna and Kristoff in front of regular townsfolk who went outside to see what was happening.

The trolls have come of course, to tell Elsa she must travel north. There she will learn of her past and an ancient evil our heroes must face.

Back to the scene with Elsa chasing around magic- this is where I start to get into my theory. I theorize that Elsa is chasing a message sent to her. It shows the Nokk and the Earth Golem’s that she later faces and then turns into autumn leaves that we know references the enchanted forest. This message is telling her to come to the enchanted forest and showing her what she must face in order to figure out her past.

Edit: I still believe that she is chasing a message. After all, the magic she chases suddenly disappears and it doesn’t look like ice/snow magic in my opinion.

I would like to bring up this leak:

In it it says “along the journey she will discover the life she was meant to live”.

This might seem far fetched but- remember those kids we saw in the first trailer?They are in the enchanted forest and someone we don’t see uses wind magic. I believe these three kids are guardians of the forest that Elsa was supposed to grow up with and the scene we see is a flashback. The girl possibly has fire powers, the boy being blown into the air has earth magic and obviously the character we don’t see has wind magic. Elsa is the one that symbolizes water. Remember how I talked about the fog that covered the entrance to the forest before? The reason I believe she was able to move it is because she is of the four children of the elements meant to go through it. A normal person who is not worthy can’t pass unless one of the elemental sorcerers was with them.

One thing that could debunk this is their clothes. The boy seems to be a noble considering the colors and style while the girl a commoner. If they’re supposed to be growing up together it wouldn’t make sense they’d dress so differently but maybe i’m looking to deep into it.

Edit: Part of this could have been debunked as it is rumored/implied the boy we see is in fact Elsa and Anna’s father. Do I really believe that? I’m not sure. Like I said before they don’t really look alike to me so I’m still skeptical. Though parts of my theory still stands. It just means the kids we see in the flashback will be much older if we see them in the present.

I heard a theory that perhaps Grandpappie was asked to remove parts of Elsa’s memory long ago. Which is why he said “the past is not what it seems”. Perhaps Iduna took Elsa away from these group of sorcerers to be raised as a princess instead. We know that Iduna will be an important character and this might be a stretch but when I went to see the frozen musical on Broadway Iduna had a closer relationship to “the hidden folk”. So maybe she had asked grandpappie for help to remove Elsa’s memories. Why? I am not at all sure. There’s not enough context or leaks for motive. The obvious motive is something dangerous but we don’t know what the danger is.

In the same illustration it says that an ancient magic awakens. This is something we still have no knowledge of so I can’t really guess what it is.

Next I’d like to bring up this leak:

Judging from this I think Anna will most likely be on the back burner in this movie. In the trailers she doesn’t smile once but Elsa is constantly excited and is shown smiling many times. Elsa and Anna seemed to have completely flipped from the first movie. This movie will be showing everyone separated many times and will bring many new characters to the table. We know there's going to be three new important character’s- at least important enough to get funko pops.

There are more leaks out but I don’t think they’re relevant so I won’t be sharing. I’m too lazy to go and look for sources but I might link them later. If you really wanna see them just look on the tumblr or twitter search honestly they’re everywhere but no influential people are doing coverage on it.

All in all those are my thoughts and analysis on the frozen 2 teaser trailers. I am so excited for this movie. Let me know what your theories are in the comments or if you have any additions to what i’ve said just let me know!

#Frozen 2 #Frozen #Disney #Frozen theory #Frozen 2 theory #Frozen 2 anaylsis #Frozen 2 trailer #anna frozen #queen elsa #kristoff #prince hans #olaf #Sven #Disney theory #Disney animation

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