Reaction shot: Princess Principal Episode 12 (Or: IT'S RAINING ON MY FACE)

[spindizzy]

OKAY, I FINALLY GOT AROUND TO FINISHING MY PRINCESS PRINCIPAL REWATCH AND I SOMEHOW MANAGED TO REMEMBER THAT I HAD A PROBLEM WITH EVERYONE HAVING THE SAME FACE AND NOT THAT I ACTUALLY KINDA LOVED IT?! How did that happen, how is that my life.

(Masterpost for Princess Principal)

• So to recap: Angé is actually Charlotte, Charlotte is actually Angé, except that right now I think Charlotte has pulled one over on Angé and is now Charlotte is pretending to be Angé pretending to be Charlotte. Are we all clear on this? Does that sound right to everyone? GOOD, LET'S DO THIS.


• (I am very very scared of this being Charlotte pretending to be Angé pretending to be Charlotte, because I'm sure that Charlotte can do that most of the time, but in the face of trained spies and an armed revolt?


• *whispers* oh nooooooooooooooooooooooooo soldier dude you are definitely going to die and Charlotte is not going to be your figurehead!


• Wait, why is there a victory prayer, did they actually win something? *squints at previous reaction shots*


• Hang on, your grand master plan is to DROP THE CEILING on the assembled nobility and staff?! Really?! THAT'S YOUR PLAN?!


• Oh shit they got the workers on the cathedral in on it, that makes so much more sense.


• I do appreciate that Princess Principal is actively highlighting that the problems in this setting are imperialism, colonialism, classism, poverty, and the fact that the rulers of this country have imported a work force, but don't give them any rights to go with it! WHY DOES THIS SOUND FAMILIAR.


• "Princess Charlotte, I swear this revolution will succeed." Oh bless you poor handsome soldier, you are one hundred percent going to die.


• The worst part is, I don't think that Charlotte or Angé particularly disagree with the rebels? They both grew up in a weird mix of poverty and privilege, with their literal lives on the line depending on how well they conformed to the expectations of their class. But Angé wants to run away from this mess because she cares about one (1) human and will sacrifice everyone else, and Charlotte wants to actively change the system.


• "But I can't let you do it. Not a revolution." Charlotte you have been Angé for literally five minutes and Zelda's already rumbled you!


• WAIT Christ almighty I've forgotten which of the people giving orders are the bad guys and which aren't, and I think it literally comes down to "I agree with this set of people that the government needs to change but disagree with them about whether Charlotte gets to live or not," and "These people want to kill the spies, so I don't like them." Nuanced moral spectrums? I don't know her.


• THIS IS WHY YOU DON'T LET MILITARY IDIOTS BE IN CHARGE OF ANYTHING, BECAUSE THEIR BRAINS ARE MADE OF ROCKS, COME ON.


• Wait, is this cathedral built on a platform?! And somewhat suspended with tracks and pillars? ... My dudes, why are you dropping the ceiling when you could just drop the entire cathedral?!


• Those roads are RIDICULOUS btw, those are at least four-to-six car widths with no actual road markings. Wut. I know this is pseudo-victorian, but also... Wut.


• "I'm betting the odds of this revolutions success are less than one in ten." WOW Zelda, that's cold.


• Ah, I see, their plan isn't to allow the revolution to go off, it's to use the chaos of a failed revolution as a window to invade. That honestly makes more sense, even if I'm just like "Use political uncertainty as an opportunity to seize control of a different country? Why does that sound familiar.


• ... Also why is Zelda telling her this, Angé wouldn't need to know this or particularly care.


• "Does it hurt to think of your people? I'd expect nothing less of the real princess. Right?" *SCREAMS*


• I WAS JOKING ABOUT ZELDA RUMBLING YOU IN FIVE MINUTES FLAT, COME ON. COME ON.


• I like the acknowledgement of Charlotte's skills, but OH MY GOD THIS IS NOT SAFE FOR CHARLOTTE.


• Plus, Zelda's confident that Charlotte, a theoretically naive princess, could dupe trained spy Angé. That is truly respect for her right there.


• Charlotte: *rolls bluff*
  Zelda: *pulls gun*
  
• "We're going to turn this revolution into a revenge war." OH NO, THIS IS SO BAD.


• Angé noooooooooooooooooooo, she looks so sad and defeated! Noooooooooo.


• "If you were going to run away anyway, I wish you'd left me out of this from the start!" WOW, that's possibly the harshest thing Charlotte could have said to her at that moment, considering Angé's entire motivation has been "Run away and take Charlotte with me."


• "My life is not yours to play with!" NOPE, I WAS WRONG, THERE IT IS, THERE'S THE HARSHEST THING SHE COULD HAVE SAID CONSIDERING THIS ENTIRE MESS STARTED WITH ANGÉ USING CHARLOTTE'S LIFE AS A FUN GAME.


• "I've always hated that about you." *keens into the night at Angé collapsing*


• Angé hugging Charlotte's bag to her ;_____;


• CHARLOTTE KEPT THE BERET THAT ANGÉ GAVE HER1


• ANGÉ SETTING THE ROOM ON FIRE WAS A LITTLE EXTREME.


• Oh no, oh no that's the coat Charlotte was wearing. Oh nooooooooo.


• And the note she left with it says "My turtledove, Run and live as Angé!" OH NO I CAN'T THIS IS THE MOST MY TROPES, THESE TWO PRECIOUS IDIOTS.


• Can – can they just do that?! Just rock up like "Yep, we're coming to this party now"?


• If Angé can drive, why do they keep leaving Dorothy in charge. Is it because Angé is better placed for doing ridiculous floating nonsense, or is it because Dorothy enjoys reckless driving more?


• We haven't done proper spying stuff in a while! Let's go!


• "Once the people find out that the Princess was involved in the assassination of the Queen, the whole Kingdom will fall into chaos" OH GOD THERE ARE WHEELS WITHIN WHEELS OF THIS PLAN.


• Ohhhhhhh son you made a mistake mentioning that you were done with Charlotte as soon as the mission was over. That was a BAD PLAN.


• Angé: *just hangs up on Control and pulls a gun on a guy because THE TIME FOR SUBTLETY HAS ENDED*


• ANGÉ DIDN'T EVEN HESITATE, HOLY WHAT.


• DOROTHY YAAAAAY! <3


• "I was trying so hard to be discreet here!" DOROTHY I LOVE YOU THANK YOU FOR BEING THE RESPONSIBLE ADULT HERE.


• "They're playing musical chairs with the military and we got stuff in the middle." That's a fairly accurate summarry of what's going on here, actually.


• WAIT WAS THAT BEATRICE ON THE LINE THE WHOLE ENTIRE TIME, OMG.


• (Did I ever mention that my headcanon that Beatrice is trans is so strong that when I was rewatching the series I completely forgot that it wasn't canon? Because that was a thing.)


• "If you ask me for a favour to a friend, I'll do everything in my power to help you." ANGÉ HAS FRIENDS OMG OMG OMG I'M DYING.


• "We know exactly where Her Highness is, but Dorothy said we had to wait until —" Ohhhhhh boy, Beatrice just dropped Dorothy RIGHT in it.


• Dorothy: *DRIVES STRAIGHT THROUGH WROUGHT IRON GATES BECAUSE SHE DOESN'T CARE*


• Beatrice. Oh my sweet summer child. Never ask if you can make it when you're in a car with Angé and Dorothy and they can combine their powers.


• I like how it doesn't even show us Dorothy leaping eight walls and driving up flights of stairs or whatever, because by this point we just KNOW.


• They all look so happy to see her, bless her. And there are such tiny children there to look after her!


• I love how Charlotte continues to weaponise smiling politeness in the face of Zelda's ruthlessness. Of course she invites the baby soldiers to eat with her! Of course she does!


• "We're going to have to see some identification."
  "Floor it."
  I LOVE THE SWITCH FROM PRINCESS MODE TO DEADPAN ANGÉ.


• And Dorothy just blitzed the gates, because OF COURSE SHE DID.


• I didn't realise that the queen was in a steampunk wheelchair! That's pretty cool!


• Charlotte still probing for information because that is literally how she survived this long! And because she's so smiley and nice about it, everyone's just like "Ah yes, I can tell you everything!" ... Except for Zelda, who knows what she's up to.


• "I agreed to this plan for my own ambition. But I don't think it's right to be the only one whose hands stay clean." CHARLOTTE, HONEY, WHAT ARE YOU.


• "Major, I don't suppose you would let me hold onto that key?" *SCREAMING CONTINUES, INTENSIFIES*


• THE WORST PART IS THAT I DON'T KNOW IF THIS IS EVERYTHING GOING EXACTLY ACCORDING TO ZELDA'S PLAN OR NOT, BECAUSE THE GOAL IS TO IMPLICATE CHARLOTTE IN AN ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT!


• And because he's a dumbass, he puts his hand on the pocket where the key is. OF COURSE.


• I am more scared of Zelda when she smiles, not gonna lie.


• CHARLOTTE YAY CHARLOTTE GOT THE KEY! HER HISTORY AS A PICKPOCKET PAID OFF!


• SHE WAS SO CLOSE TO GETTING THE KEY OUT OF THERE AND FOILING THE PLAN! SO CLOSE! *WAILS*


• I'm so sad that Yngwie is handsome and going to die badly.


• Are they chasing that car WITH AN ARMOURED TRAIN?!


• Chise begging for permission to abandon her duty to protect the others! Waaaaaah! EVERYONE IS GOING AGAINST THEIR FUNDAMENTAL BELIEFS TODAY AND I LOVE IT.


• Angé keeping Beatrice's head down, awww.


• DON'T TELL ME THERE'S ANOTHER TRAIN.


• DID SHE JUST DRIVE THAT UP A WALL?! DOROTHY I LOVE YOU!


• OH SHIT IT'S A BLOCKADE! OH NO! NOT THE CAR, THAT CAR IS PRACTICALLY A FIFTH PROTAGONIST AT THIS POINT!


• (Seriously, I think this is the affection for an inanimate object that FFXV expected me to feel for the Regalia, but y'know, they didn't give me any context for that.)


• "Corpses are easier to deal with." WOW that's cold.


• CHISE I LOVE YOU AND YOUR PERFECT TIMING


• I just love it when cases involve everyone's skills, okay, so this show is just presenting me with everything that I could want.


• NOOOO CHARLOTTE!


• CHARLOTTE ALSO WANTS TO OVERTHROW THE SOCIAL ORDER! ;______; SHE JUST DOESN'T WANT TO DO IT THROUGH BLOODSHED!


• Zelda trying to convince the Major to ignore her! The Major being like "... Are you really sure you want to renounce your own social position?"


• Look, I for one support Charlotte's goal of being the last queen, okay.


• "I suspect my reign will end on the guillotine." NO NOT LIKE THAT.


• NO! SHE SOT CHARLOTTE! NO! Is this the point where the inevitable death of the queer-coded characters comes in?!


• "This revolution isn't just for you anymore." Oh noooo that might work. But I'm pretty sure that Major Pretty is about to get shot.


• I thin that might be the first time Charlotte's ever admitted to being an imposter out loud. .____________.


• CHARLOTTE FEELS SO GUILTY FOR DESTROYING ANGÉ'S CHANCE AT HER CHILDHOOD DREAM AND ANGÉ IS SO GUILTY ABOUT LEAVING CHARLOTTE IN THE VIPER'S NEST AND THEY'RE GOING TO MUDDLE THROUGH AND CHANGE THE WORLD ANYWAY *sobs*


• Oh no, Major Pretty! That's how you get shot in the face!


• Okay, it was the torso, I wasn't far off!


• "You're too much for me to handle," is high praise coming from a master spy but also HOLY SHIT.


• ANGÉ'S FACE WHEN SHE SEES THAT CHARLOTTE'S BEEN HURT! *CRIES*


• "If we bust up the service then their assassination plot will be ruined too, right?" I LOVE DOROTHY'S FLAWLESS LOGIC HERE.


• CHISE VOLUNTEERING TO HOLD OFF ZELDA TO PROTECT CHARLOTTE! AND ALSO SHE CAN DEFLECT BULLETS BECAUSE SHE'S A NINJA, I GUESS????


• "You... Are our true Queen." ;______________;


• Zelda has a glowy thing too!


• THEY BURST THROUGH A STAINED GLASS WINDOW AND THEY'RE HAVING A HEART-TO-HEART IN MIDAIR I LOVE THEM, AHHHHHH.


• The first time I watched this btw, I genuinely thought that this was the point where Charlotte died. Like, "Here's where it all goes wrong, tragic lesbians forever, the prophecy is fulfilled, this is their last moments together before she dies."


• MAYBE NEITHER OF YOU HAVE TO BE SORRY, MAYBE YOU'VE BOTH BEEN TRYING TO MAKE THE BEST OF BAD SITUATIONS!


• "You're always running off into danger alone, never listening to anyone else." IT'S TRUE AND SHE SHOULD SAY IT.


• The imagery of invisible/emotional walls dividing people is really going hard in this episode.


• "I'll never leave your side until the day comes that you can smile for all of us." MY HEEEEEEEEEART!


• Oh bless these beautiful queer puppies falling forever into the city.


• MAN CAN YOU IMAGINE NOT WATCHING PAST THE CREDITS AND THUS NOT KNOWING ABOUT THE BEAUTIFUL HAPPY ENDING?!


• OH! This is why this episode didn't have the opening credits! Because they're over the ending! (I WILL NEVER BE DECEIVED, I'M A GIRL THAT SEES THROUGH LIES!)


• (But seriously how high up was that cathedral, holy shit.)


• "Mistakes were made" is certainly ONE way to summarise this episode.


• OH NO THEY HAVE EVIDENCE OF THE GIRLS BEING AT THE CATHEDRAL! THAT'S NOT SAFE!


• (I like how everyone getting out of there without being caught is just a between scenes thing. They are all competent enough that we don't need to see it!)


• CONTROL ARE HERE TO OVERTHROW THE MILITARY AND I'M HERE FOR IT!


• THEY MADE IT TO CASABLANCA AFTER ALL! *cries*


• "A man with a white flower made advances towards me." Everyone else: WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT


• LOOK AT THIS, LOOK AT THE TEAM HAVING ADVENTURES AT THE BEACH AND SCHEMING ABOUT THE FUTURE! *cries forever*


• OKAY BUT SERIOUSLY THE FACT THAT CHARLOTTE ISN'T IN THE INITIAL SHOT IS WHY I HAVE TRUST ISSUES.


• "Oh is that all," Beatrice says, because this is her life now.


• "I cannot imagine Angé in a romantic affair in any case." DID WE NOT WATCH THE SAME SHOW. OR IS THIS "I CANNOT IMAGINE ANGÉ IN A ROMANTIC AFFAIR WITH ANYONE ELSE?!"


• "Watch your tongue. Believe it or not, I —" *SPITS DRINK*


• And they all SCATTER because they're a TEAM NOW!


• CHARLOTTE IS ALIVE SHE'S ALIVE AND ANGÉ IS HAPPY AND I AM FULL OF EMOTIONS, AHHHHHH!


• The series ends with them holding hands and talking about having all of their friends around them! I AM VERKLEMPT! I AM OVERCOME! IT IS RAINING ON MY FACE BECAUSE THE QUEER-CODED CHARACTERS GET TO LIVE AND BE HAPPY TOGETHER! I literally couldn't accept that this was going to happen until the series was over and they were OFFICIALLY ALIVE because I've been burned like this before! And look at this! Look at it! THEY ARE HAPPY AND ABOUT AS TEXTUALLY QUEER AS I'VE SEEN IN A SHOW THAT ISN'T SPECIFICALLY ABOUT PEOPLE BEING QUEER! I'm so happy!


• ... Now I need to write fic and I have no idea where to start, but I want it.