The Kyou Kara Maou essay thing
Dec. 13th, 2006 07:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
petroniaT and I agree on pretty much everything with regard to KKM. It's not something that happens often but that's the sort of series it is. If it were a person it'd be Celi the ditzy blond(e) who's not actually dumb, s/he's just figured out that blond ditzes have more fun at parties. One of the things we find hilarious is how often Conrad stays on this side of smug. He approaches the edge but he never crosses it. He's sincere and moral and thoughtful and good at dealing with people, and he has a nice smile, old ladies must love him, it's clear he cares genuinely about Yuuri, did I mention he's sincere. He splits the difference between Kircheis and Naoe. So I'm twitchy and paranoid but the premonitions of doom get untenable, one just wants to stare and staaaaaare and figure out what the catch is and when the hatchet is going to fall.
Add to this the fact that the socio-politics of the series are a) pastede on lulz and b) oddly convincing. I'm told it sprouts a real plot as it approaches its second season, which I well believe. After all Lord Wossface the uncle is right about the Brothers Three setting forth to gain the affection and confidence of the new and politically innocent Maou in order to take over the reins of the realm; notwithstanding that they're enlightened, progressive noblemen who want the best for their country et patati, Celi's children and company are a political faction trying (with a good deal of success) to get Yuuri to sign the papers they put on his desk and not just, like, his random buddies and tutors. Which strains my disbelief much less than if the series tried to tell me anyone in their position would refuse to play the game. XD Of the three Gwendal has the realpolitik covered, and Wolfram is *cough* the fiancé, which leaves Conrad who does... stuff... in the army, and protects Yuuri with his bright keen sword, and... plays catchball with him. THIS LAST IS IMPORTANT TO THE KING'S WELLBEING.
The Mary Renault thing - it doesn't have much to do with KKM beyond the vagaries of my thought process, nor can I find the original discussion thread, so Sai will have to forgive me if what I remember is not at all what she actually said ^^; - at one point Sai was talking about the Alexander books on her LJ and we agreed that pretty much everything rang right except her portrayal of Hephaistion, which was a bit off. (Whether in the historical sense or in the 'moe' sense - I'd venture it corresponds, in this case.) I couldn't really define to myself why it seemed off. Sai said she thought Hephaistion must have been very charming and talented/ambitious in his own right, and - what was it? - very socially astute. Not a follower, not a political idealist or merely blindly adoring on a personal basis, but not the type to chafe at not being number one either. Someone who sees and supports the big picture, with a good sense of what his special position entails and what it enables him to accomplish.
It stuck in my mind because it's pretty easy to describe intellectually but not at all easy to make the words add up to the sense of a person, let alone of the ensuing relationship dynamic. Or I found, anyway. *g* My takeaway was that it's probably easier to write an Alexander than a Hephaistion, all told. But then I was watching KKM and I thought, hey, like that. God only knows Yuuri is no Alexander the Great but someone like Conrad, who knows exactly what he is to everyone else in the game, who's as caring on a me-'n'-you level as Kircheis but not nearly as uhmm unspoilt. If you did something that went against country and king as Conrad saw it he wouldn't hesitate to fuck you over. He wouldn't regret his methods, either. He'd be very... sincere, about it.
Then I came up with the other character I was writing just like this: Bruno Buccellati, in yet another AU I don't have the gumption to describe.
It's not very conclusive, I have to run. XD;
Add to this the fact that the socio-politics of the series are a) pastede on lulz and b) oddly convincing. I'm told it sprouts a real plot as it approaches its second season, which I well believe. After all Lord Wossface the uncle is right about the Brothers Three setting forth to gain the affection and confidence of the new and politically innocent Maou in order to take over the reins of the realm; notwithstanding that they're enlightened, progressive noblemen who want the best for their country et patati, Celi's children and company are a political faction trying (with a good deal of success) to get Yuuri to sign the papers they put on his desk and not just, like, his random buddies and tutors. Which strains my disbelief much less than if the series tried to tell me anyone in their position would refuse to play the game. XD Of the three Gwendal has the realpolitik covered, and Wolfram is *cough* the fiancé, which leaves Conrad who does... stuff... in the army, and protects Yuuri with his bright keen sword, and... plays catchball with him. THIS LAST IS IMPORTANT TO THE KING'S WELLBEING.
The Mary Renault thing - it doesn't have much to do with KKM beyond the vagaries of my thought process, nor can I find the original discussion thread, so Sai will have to forgive me if what I remember is not at all what she actually said ^^; - at one point Sai was talking about the Alexander books on her LJ and we agreed that pretty much everything rang right except her portrayal of Hephaistion, which was a bit off. (Whether in the historical sense or in the 'moe' sense - I'd venture it corresponds, in this case.) I couldn't really define to myself why it seemed off. Sai said she thought Hephaistion must have been very charming and talented/ambitious in his own right, and - what was it? - very socially astute. Not a follower, not a political idealist or merely blindly adoring on a personal basis, but not the type to chafe at not being number one either. Someone who sees and supports the big picture, with a good sense of what his special position entails and what it enables him to accomplish.
It stuck in my mind because it's pretty easy to describe intellectually but not at all easy to make the words add up to the sense of a person, let alone of the ensuing relationship dynamic. Or I found, anyway. *g* My takeaway was that it's probably easier to write an Alexander than a Hephaistion, all told. But then I was watching KKM and I thought, hey, like that. God only knows Yuuri is no Alexander the Great but someone like Conrad, who knows exactly what he is to everyone else in the game, who's as caring on a me-'n'-you level as Kircheis but not nearly as uhmm unspoilt. If you did something that went against country and king as Conrad saw it he wouldn't hesitate to fuck you over. He wouldn't regret his methods, either. He'd be very... sincere, about it.
Then I came up with the other character I was writing just like this: Bruno Buccellati, in yet another AU I don't have the gumption to describe.
It's not very conclusive, I have to run. XD;
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no subject
Date: 2006-12-14 01:27 am (UTC)But how you've described how he fucks people over, that's pretty accurate. "I'm truly sorry I have to do it, but here I am, doing it."
What I also find sort of interesting is how Wolfram starts off as this whiny little brat in a pink negligee - and he still is that way sometimes - but as the series progresses you get a much clearer sense that he is in fact *80 years old* and is a soldier who has been through wars and actually does know what he's talking about every so often. Disconcerting, in a way, but you realize that he's sometimes trying to stop Yuri from doing something that normally would be retarded but Conrad is too soft-hearted to stop him from doing.
And Gwendal, well, Gwendal...hee!
no subject
Date: 2006-12-14 08:50 am (UTC)It's... so... true...
no subject
Date: 2006-12-14 11:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-14 02:56 am (UTC)I adored Conrad, but I also liked Wulfram. Mainly because he was very pretty and sparkly whenever he came on screen.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-14 11:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-14 04:02 am (UTC)Though, some KKM fanfics (why are there so many mpreg for this fandom??) tried to make some sense of succession rules, which just sent me into fits of giggles, because -- uh, Shinou selects the new king? You don't need succession rules.
It's one of those things that inject fresh crack in my days. ♥
no subject
Date: 2006-12-14 11:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-14 04:04 am (UTC)I am totally with you on Conrad though one just wants to stare and staaaaaare and figure out what the catch is and when the hatchet is going to fall.
He's slightly creepy in that I have trouble trying to figure out his motive/feelings and what he's upto.
XD Though I was laughing right along side him, when Yuuri was being used as an interrogation tool; Good cop - talk talk talk talk, bad cop - this is my sword.
*grins* I love the description of
Celithe series if it was a person.no subject
Date: 2006-12-14 04:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-14 04:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-14 05:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-14 02:36 pm (UTC)I like your interpretation of Hephaistion (& by extension COnrad) here, especially him being a more spoiled version of Kircheis (you've watched LoGH? did not know that!), and not hesitating to fuck you over & being very sincere about it. That's such a great way to put it.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-14 04:50 pm (UTC)It wasn't even a conversation with me. That's okay. I WAS THERE.
And now people are telling me in comments that Conrad has carefully hidden repressed rage or something, which I totally believe because srsly? Too good to be true, otherwise. XD
I've watched (and read) LoGH, just... not nearly all of it. XD;