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narcassePerpetual peace has always struck me as being like one of those perpetual motion desktop toys; eventually it stops. But one toasted bagel with herb & garlic crème cheese and pancetta later; while words like ‘Teeplantage’ and ‘türkische Haremsdame’ are still making me boggle I’ve decided to address an entirely different topic instead.
There’s a thread way off upon the seven internets on the topic of which Trinity Blood character caught people's eye first, which having had a think about, really makes me wonder. Because the first character that caught my eye, that I really paid attention to the doings of, was Noélle Bor. Not enough to learn her name granted but I did actually pay attention to what she did… for all of two episodes. After that the next character to catch my attention was probably the Empress though I did have a passing flirtation with paying attention to whatever it was that Caterina was up to. But I don’t actually write about any of them or at least I’ve never written anything focused on any of them aside from deconstructing the Echidna myth,or the Shub-Niggurath one if you like, and then deconstructing her children as well. Though Caterina does appear as more of a mirror image for comparison rather than anything else.
It’s quite interesting, at least to me, when I think about it because I do this with other series too. Charlene Hartvich and Isthar Vermillion of the first Meine Liebe series interested me enough that I wrote one Charlene piece and Isthar got several analyses of what she was doing wrong as far as advancing her political career went and so on with various other series. And funnily enough it’s not that a variety of female characters don’t possess flaws like their male counterparts or that they have greater resources to offset those but somehow, to me anyway, they nearly always strike me as more ‘complete’ in a sense. The picture of them always seems whole in a way that their counterparts aren’t and it’s that incompleteness that is what I like to think I’m attempting to explore in fiction. That’s also probably the best explanation I can come up with as to why I’ve stopped writing Arslan Senki or Matrix fiction too because for those storylines I’ve run out of things to plausibly do with the appropriate characters or in the latter case, they’ve run their story to it’s logical conclusion, therefore as far as I’m concerned, I’ve finished experimenting with all the scenarios that I was interested in exploring and everything else can just be left alone.
But coming back to my original point as far as Trinity Blood is concerned; that the three characters that I write most about aren’t the first three that I took a liking to. In fact, my first response to the whole Dietrich situation was first pondering what he was doing dating a Catholic nun, followed by the occasional muttering of “Why aren’t you dead yet?” though that rapidly progressed towards a more “Enh?” response before my finally being annoyed at his seemingly arbitrary death in the anime and settling on the idea that since he was a code-monkey everything else could be forgiven. My first response to Isaak was really pretty much “Enh?” for quite some time, though I did appreciate his hair and the fact that he appeared to be quite the militant smoker. That progressed on to noting that the Silent Noise system wasn’t really silent, now, was it? To a point where I realised that those bends at the front of his hair made it look like he didn’t have straight hair at all and in fact used straightners which may or may not be responsible for the Stoli-drinking, ever so slightly flamboyant, Russian bitch image that I have of him now. Which lastly leaves Radu whom I disliked for the longest time. I don’t think I really noticed him the first time round and the second it was only worth a “Shut up; nobody cares.” But somehow, somewhere along the way he went from pathetic loser to Bateman going mad because everyone else around him was too damn stupid, because the system was corrupt and he was the only honest man left, really quite slyly too when I think about it. I’m half expecting Arioch to turn up and offer him Stormbringer with which to right the balance of the world at some point.
Of course if Radu did get a hold of Stormbringer then Dietrich would be pretty much obliged to start working on perfecting his reanimation solution and Isaak would probably turn into Maleficent with the requisite drag queen eyeshadow and paraphernalia, so maybe that would fit after all. Because really, what villain has ever managed to top that classic line of: “Now you will face me and all the powers of Hell!”
There’s a thread way off upon the seven internets on the topic of which Trinity Blood character caught people's eye first, which having had a think about, really makes me wonder. Because the first character that caught my eye, that I really paid attention to the doings of, was Noélle Bor. Not enough to learn her name granted but I did actually pay attention to what she did… for all of two episodes. After that the next character to catch my attention was probably the Empress though I did have a passing flirtation with paying attention to whatever it was that Caterina was up to. But I don’t actually write about any of them or at least I’ve never written anything focused on any of them aside from deconstructing the Echidna myth,or the Shub-Niggurath one if you like, and then deconstructing her children as well. Though Caterina does appear as more of a mirror image for comparison rather than anything else.
It’s quite interesting, at least to me, when I think about it because I do this with other series too. Charlene Hartvich and Isthar Vermillion of the first Meine Liebe series interested me enough that I wrote one Charlene piece and Isthar got several analyses of what she was doing wrong as far as advancing her political career went and so on with various other series. And funnily enough it’s not that a variety of female characters don’t possess flaws like their male counterparts or that they have greater resources to offset those but somehow, to me anyway, they nearly always strike me as more ‘complete’ in a sense. The picture of them always seems whole in a way that their counterparts aren’t and it’s that incompleteness that is what I like to think I’m attempting to explore in fiction. That’s also probably the best explanation I can come up with as to why I’ve stopped writing Arslan Senki or Matrix fiction too because for those storylines I’ve run out of things to plausibly do with the appropriate characters or in the latter case, they’ve run their story to it’s logical conclusion, therefore as far as I’m concerned, I’ve finished experimenting with all the scenarios that I was interested in exploring and everything else can just be left alone.
But coming back to my original point as far as Trinity Blood is concerned; that the three characters that I write most about aren’t the first three that I took a liking to. In fact, my first response to the whole Dietrich situation was first pondering what he was doing dating a Catholic nun, followed by the occasional muttering of “Why aren’t you dead yet?” though that rapidly progressed towards a more “Enh?” response before my finally being annoyed at his seemingly arbitrary death in the anime and settling on the idea that since he was a code-monkey everything else could be forgiven. My first response to Isaak was really pretty much “Enh?” for quite some time, though I did appreciate his hair and the fact that he appeared to be quite the militant smoker. That progressed on to noting that the Silent Noise system wasn’t really silent, now, was it? To a point where I realised that those bends at the front of his hair made it look like he didn’t have straight hair at all and in fact used straightners which may or may not be responsible for the Stoli-drinking, ever so slightly flamboyant, Russian bitch image that I have of him now. Which lastly leaves Radu whom I disliked for the longest time. I don’t think I really noticed him the first time round and the second it was only worth a “Shut up; nobody cares.” But somehow, somewhere along the way he went from pathetic loser to Bateman going mad because everyone else around him was too damn stupid, because the system was corrupt and he was the only honest man left, really quite slyly too when I think about it. I’m half expecting Arioch to turn up and offer him Stormbringer with which to right the balance of the world at some point.
Of course if Radu did get a hold of Stormbringer then Dietrich would be pretty much obliged to start working on perfecting his reanimation solution and Isaak would probably turn into Maleficent with the requisite drag queen eyeshadow and paraphernalia, so maybe that would fit after all. Because really, what villain has ever managed to top that classic line of: “Now you will face me and all the powers of Hell!”
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(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-27 03:10 pm (UTC)That's not by any chance about something that might interest me? (And if you need translation help, please tell me. I already admire you for your language skills.)
As for the character catching one's attention first, I think I've said it in the thread already; I even liked Tres first, of the main characters, for no other reason than that he had nice guns and something called "genocide mode".
The one catching my attention even earlier, but sadly not surviving the first episode, would be Alfred, the Count of Mainz, for various reasons but mainly for looking like Michael Myers from behind. Which if, yes I do realize that, the most superficial view one can have on a character.Now of the characters I like now, I think Paula was the only one I liked from the first second. Cain maybe, but I cannot remember that, really. I used to be entirely oblivious of Dietrich, who's now one of my true psychology love affairs, and later even annoyed - before it just made click and I was in love, in the course of just a few days. Isaak caught my attention briefly, but after a short, stunned "Wow, this is the most beautiful man ever" thought, it faded into nothingness as he just lacks something that'd make him interesting for me. Now Radu was not much different from Dietrich; I didn't even remember his name first, and I think the only thought I wasted on him was "nice clothes". I was convinced he was a replacable servant and'd die a random death to show somebody's injustice or "badness". The betrayal-plot did not change much for this view, really, but his simple statement of explaining so short and correctly what terrorism was about - that got me. All of a sudden, he actually gained character. And then when meeting Dietrich - and later the tank attacks - convinced me to like this irrational bastard.Now enough of the character ranting, and on with the points.
it’s not that a variety of female characters don’t possess flaws like their male counterparts or that they have greater resources to offset those but somehow, to me anyway, they nearly always strike me as more ‘complete’ in a sense. The picture of them always seems whole in a way that their counterparts aren’t
So very, very true. Which is exactly the reason for me to dislike the standard "perfect" characters who have, of course, tons of flaws in truth - but only nicely dramatic ones. Thinking of Caterina again, of course. Apart from that, what you say is true, too. I cannot seem to find a way to express it right - or even partially as well as you did. But this phrase of them being more "complete" is exactly the right one. And in that, sadly, they cease being interesting for the most part.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-02 10:18 pm (UTC)And now you’re making me think of the RPing adage that when you give your character flaws you need them to be actual flaws and not just dramatic points of interest that don’t really constitute flaws at all e.g. miscellaneous collagen diseases. It’s not even that the female Trinity Blood characters don’t have flaws since Esther seems fairly delusional and Noelle does have issues with Abel being a Krusnik as far as I’ve heard but the anime just doesn’t seem to allow those flaws to cause too much of a problem, though I suppose it could be argued that Noelle’s death deals with her lesser problem at least. Mary Spencer at least sounds like she should be interesting if she does make a bid for the throne later on as I’m sure I’ve read somewhere but she’s almost crossing into, if not already in, bifauxnen territory anyway which puts her into a category of her own. It probably doesn’t help that the more I think about it, the more I’m starting to wonder if the US dub purposely makes Seth sound more sinister than she might be, with her casual dismissal of what’s been done in the past, though she’s very much benevolent dictator material in the first place. …and I’m rambling again now without very much of a point which means that I should just go and have another cup of tea and a think, after which I may even come up with a slightly more sympathetic view of Süleyman for a change.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-09 03:07 pm (UTC)I'm definitely curious to get to know Mary, too. Her or, even more, Vanessa Walsh. Not only for being pure British hot, but Vanessa especially since I always thought she'd make a good girlfriend for Francesco, if only she wasn't a vampire.
Seth's US dub was horrible, really. x_x That was pure rape against my ears. But all in all, I think we share an opinion on the female characters in Anime. Not like the male ones (sorry, for a second I judged Ion as a male again) have kept much of their flaws or depth. I like Dietrich going berserk at being "ordered around", as that's a real canon reaction, though.
A sympathic view on Süleyman? Now that's a change, really. I'm curious.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-09 11:58 pm (UTC)It’s really quite sad that there’s always so much depth in plenty of cases that gets sacrificed for the sake of… not much really. I’m thinking of the Cardcaptor Sakura manga in comparison to the anime and then the edited US version now though that makes me wonder if American TV simply doesn’t know how to handle child, or at least childlike in appearance, characters.
Ah, you may have to tolerate my less than sympathetic view of him for a wee bit longer if I do get something written but after that I may be done with the idea of Süleyman the ruthless monster.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-10 08:45 pm (UTC)For the sake of summing the story up and still inserting most characters, maybe? But yes, it's sad. And I still don't know if Mirka was REALLY supposed to look like an adult or if she was supposed to look like a child. All I know is she's shorter and thinner than Ion.
Oh, that's perfectly fine, too. I can't wait to read that. Süleyman as a ruthless monster sounds nice and anti-emo for a change. (The guy IS too emo.)
(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-11 12:50 pm (UTC)I’m still wondering what happened to Ion’s parents actually, though now the absence of just about anyone’s family makes me think of a YuGiOh spoof where Yugi’s grandfather is going off on an expedition and Yugi responds be pointing out that he has no on-screen parents.
Though I won’t give in to fabrication and give Radu an elder brother named Mircea who holds some sort of diplomatic position in Timişoara.I have been wonder about the possibility that if there really is no information on the matter then perhaps it’s possible that Mirka really is Ion’s mother and not his grandmother at all, though the only reason for that being the case that I can come up with right now would be to protect Ion from exactly what he’s exposed to as her grandson anyway. Insane and half-caffeinated theory two being that Radu is her illegitimate son which would really be daft though.(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-12 08:54 am (UTC)Same here. At least we knew that Francesco's, Caterina's, and Alessandro's father had existed. And that the Crusnik have no real parents. And well, that Eris/Elise and Dietrich killed theirs, and that Esther's are apparently dead, too. But those apart, even the younger characters (which are gladly not that many, with the age of the main characters going up in the 40's) don't seem to have families at all. Slightly off-topic, I was also surprised how easy it was apparently for Ion to just leave everything at home behind and join Abel in searching Europe for Contra Mundi. Sure, being betrayed by your brother/childhood-friend/-crush is kind of frustrating, but I'd have thought he had some other things but Radu that bound him to his home. Not only talking about the security there, but also about ... well... people? Like his grandma, maybe existing parents, servants, friends? Or his faith towards Augusta, which should at least leave him thinking for a bit if he really can just run away to search a group of terrorists, while probably even just making things harder for Abel and not really being of any help. Eh... I really derailed now, didn't I?
Well, all timelines and impossibilities aside, I still think Radu's Alucard's brother. What.... you know what you just did with your theory, didn't you? I searched for the father. Candidate no.1: Isaak (black hair. Candidate no.2: Süleyman (tan skin). And then it hit me. Candidate no.3: Baybars. Black hair AND dark skin. A bit too dark, but... Mirka's, on the other hand, is really really white. I think I need a drink now. Or two.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-13 02:20 am (UTC)Throw a reincarnation or two in there and I’m sure it all works out. Alucard’s just been waiting for Radu to be reborn though maybe he’ll have a thing or two to say to Ion considering what’s happened. …I read too many Ravenloft novels.(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-13 06:39 pm (UTC)Dear God, not Kant again. Can't the man shut up for once?
I am really not sure if Ion would like to hear the whole story, about... "Well, I conspired with some Turks and betrayed my brother, then drove him out of the country and seized the power for myself, because he was too diplomatic and not clear enough with his course, for my taste."