#dura lex sed lex

[alicentsgf]

okay but what if we were childhood companions/almost lovers/one half of each others soul but the world stole me from you and you from me and forced us to turn on each other but i kept a piece of us locked away and treasured it until the day i hoped it would bring you home to me when for so many reasons i know that it won't because we dont have a choice our tragedy was written by other people's hands but i still love you and i needed you to know even it was never going to be enough to save us. what then?

[adriano-ferreira]

Dura Lex, Sed Lex

Dura Lex, Sed Lex

“Dura lex, sed lex” é um princípio que remonta ao Direito Romano, enfatizando a imparcialidade e a obrigação incondicional de seguir a lei. Ele serve como um lembrete de que o cumprimento das leis não é opcional, mas uma exigência para a manutenção da ordem e da justiça na sociedade. Situações de Aplicabilidade Este brocardo é frequentemente invocado em situações onde a aplicação da lei parece…

[epuiseeparmedia]

Apparently the goals in the Arab Cup don’t count because it’s not a fifa-sanctioned competition

Let me correct: who scored 47 goals in 2023 and Antony/Rashford/Martial didn’t 😅

« Ronaldo needs to prove to me he can score »

Guess who scored the most goals in a calendar year at 38, in 2023 ?

Haters would say the last two are penalties, that the game wasn’t great but I don’t care, I and all the weirdos who will remain until he retired have seen all the goals that weren’t penalties and that French media like Le Parisien never reported on 😏

Now Al Nassr are on a break for the Asian Cup 🥸. My tension and my cholesterol will immensely decreased 😅

[tracing-rivers]

I'm gonna need France to corrupt a judge real quick cause what do you MEAN her 10 is invalidated the chrono ran out WHILE THE ARROW WAS FLYING

[mossmx]

I went to hear a self-publishing panel and what I got is: I am illegally doing a lot of stuff and I will probably live in illegality my whole life

[threewaywithdelusion]

Alec Lightwood Not Giving a Single Fuck About the Law

(Spoilers! So many spoilers! For everything except Secrets of Blackthorn Hall, because I haven't read it yet)

I'm not too clear on what the Accords say about Shadowhunters policing Downworlders/what Downworlders are not allowed to do. But I'm pretty sure all of these must be illegal (or at least frowned upon):

Not reporting that Magnus started a joke cult that turned in a real cult that was killing people and worshiping a Greater Demon

Letting the person actually running said evil cult go free after they had captured her because he knew the Clave would execute her and even though Shinyun was literally responsible for several murders, he thought she deserved a second chance (and Magnus related to her, and Alec wanted to spare Magnus pain)

Never reporting Elliott of the New York Vampire Clan for literally everything he has done, including biting several Downworlders at a party, having multiple incidents with faerie fruit, "accidentally" biting 17 mundanes while under the influence (including at least one time where Lily had to stop him from killing the mundane in question), and cheating on two Selkies who then caused property damage in a fight with each other

relatedly, not reporting Mordecai, the faerie fruit dealer

(I just love this entire exchange: "As the current head of the New York Institute," Maryse said, with an attempt at firmness, "if there is illegal Downworlder activity happening, it should be reported to me." "I do not talk to Nephilim about Downworlder business," Lily said severely. The Lightwood parents stared at her, and then swung their heads in sync to stare at their son. Lily waved a dismissed hand in their direction. "Except for Alec, he's a special case.")

Watching Juliette, Werewolf Queen of the Buenos Aires Shadow Market, kill a Shadowhunter and just lightly suggest she try to take the Shadowhunters alive (and then not punish her in any way for killing that one guy)

Not reporting that Ragnor Fell had found a realm for the Greater Demon Sammael and also worked for him for a period of time (I don't think the Clave would care that Ragnor didn't had a choice because of the sventhorn)

Suggested in the final battle in Queen of Air and Darkness that an effective way to render opposing Shadowhunters unconscious would be to have vampires bite them and drink enough of their blood that they passed out

Protecting Marcy, the werewolf who transformed at a club during a full moon, and never reporting her for almost revealing the shadow world to Mundanes and injuring several of them

Breaking the Cold Peace several times by visiting several Shadow Markets, interacting with faeries, and pretending not to know about multiple illegal Shadowhunter-faerie relationships (Tian/Jinfeng and Mark/Kieran/Cristina)

Not illegal but probably seen as outrageous by other Shadowhunters:

marrying Magnus in Shadowhunter gold

traipsing into a hell dimension to save Downworlders

letting a vampire (Simon) drink his blood

offering his blood to a different vampire (Lily)

raising a Downworlder child as his own (and also training that child like a Shadowhunter)

raising a Shadowhunter child that has a Downworlder parent

Basically, Alec Lightwood is a badass and the fact that he went from the type of guy who said "sed lex, dura lex" to the man who did all of this is the reason he is one of my favorite characters ever

[ballata]

Leggo con interesse il principio di Reciprocità nel libro di Giovanni Sartori dedicato al multiculturalismo e predicato anche dal Cardinale Biffi. È un principio teoricamente ineccepibile, si è tolleranti nella stessa misura in cui si è tollerati. Si rispettano le altrui tradizioni nella stessa misura in cui vengono rispettate in casa dell'ospitante. Al rovescio, altrimenti, nessuna tolleranza verso gli intolleranti, nessuno rispetto verso gli irrispettosi. Si erigono ad esempio Moschee nelle nostre città solo se è possibile erigere cattedrali nel loro. Si chiama bilateralità o più semplicemente rispetto.

Ma può mi chiedo uno stato far scontare al singolo cittadino immigrato l'assimetria tra i propri principi e quelli orrendi del proprio paese d'origine?

Si dico ma per questo è necessaria la certezza e la durezza della pena per i migranti che delinquono orribilmente, in modo che quei ahimè pochi che vivono moralmente non paghino le conseguenze e le antipatie dei loro fratelli criminali.

Dura lex sed Lex.

Se non siamo multiculturali noi...voi che siete?

Pensiero Greco, Diritto Romano, e Civiltà Cristiana....spicciatece casa grazie...

[bananacakepie]

So I have this theory about how Shadowhunter family names can tell you about the age of the family.

So when Shadowhunters started out, maybe they all took that as their last name, because they figured that it wouldn’t pass down through blood, so they were all “creations” of the cup, and therefore, shadowhunters. This “one-last-name policy” meant that there weren’t any family mottos yet.

But as time went on, Shadowhunters realized it did spread through blood, so they started developing unique family names, emblems and mottos. At this point in time, people’s family mottos were typically used to display some aspect of the Nephlihem as a whole that they wished to embrace or embody. We see this in the Lightwood’s motto, “Decimus bene” or, “we mean well,” which shows the creed of Shadowhunters: a species who wanted to protect the world, and whose founder’s integrity had been recognized by an angel.

Later on however, after the peak (13th century; 1200s) of the promotion of the race of the Nephilim, families that sprung up began using their family mottos as a way to show their individuality, and even what they didn’t like about the Clave’s current existence. Case in point, the Blackthorn’s motto is, “Lex Malla, Lex Nulla,” or “a bad law is no law.” This is a direct reference to the Covenant motto, "Sed lex, dura lex,” or “the law is hard, but it is the law.”

If this were true, which categories would the mottos for our other favorite nephilim families fall into?

[complicitsacrilege]

Aaand a little something darker for Day 4 of the @deromanuscoven Halloween Event by @herbeloved82 and me!

Dura lex, sed lex

[lahija-del-molinero]

Dura Lex Sed Lex - Jean Paul Gervais, 1905.

[alicentsgf]

the Bastard Conundrum™

"but laenor claimed them"

yes but since everyone can see they're not laenors blood they cant get away with that unfortunately. if they did somehow look like laenor (or at least rhaenyra) things might have been different.

"why does that matter if it doesnt matter to laenor?"

because westerosi inheritance relies on marriage contracts and legitimate succession for stability; when a marriage between two houses is decided upon its with the expectation the union will produce children that are representative of a kinship and this works to keep peace and order. a major contract with house velaryon was broken by house targaryen whether laenor cares about that or not.

"but corlys and rhaenys are okay with it"

vaemond wasnt. rhaenys barely is. in the book multiple velaryons werent. its not just about family pride its about the instability caused. kinslaying is such a big deal because blood ties are all but sacred - theres a social contract - this idea you owe something to those with your blood and that those ties (usually) ensure you are safe with and supported by your kin. any velaryon not wanting a boy who isn't bound to them by blood on the driftwood throne is perfectly understandable because they have no reason to believe he feels any true loyalty to them. and regardless, we need to consider the precedent it sets for the realm as a whole if a child were allowed to inherit through a man it was known they werent the legitimate offspring of.

"but didnt viserys legitimise them?"

no. legitimisation is a formal process and viserys would have had to admit they were bastards and then legitimise them as strongs or targaryens. they could never be legitimised as trueborn velaryons because thats what they're already masquerading as.

"but he was the king. his word is law. he said they're velaryons."

viserys wasnt all powerful, he couldnt make anything true just by saying it. he had the power to change laws as king, but his contract with his lords was reciprocal - he had to keep to the agreed upon laws of the realm himself (this is why the doctrine of exceptionalism needed to exist for the targaryens to continue practicing incest). viserys would have had to actively change the law in order for his grandson to somehow legally inherit driftmark as the adopted son of laenor, but of course he couldnt do that so he just doubled-down on the lie surrounding their birth.

"these laws are archaic. laenor saw those boys as his sons"

yes. this is feudal world. their way of life is archaic in many ways. and yes this is apparent in how this society and their laws only recognises parentage through a blood tie. dura lex sed lex; the law is the law even if we dont like it, and breaking it has consequences regardless. as primitive as these laws seem they keep this particular world stable, and this situation threatens that stability. change and progress is all well and good, but placing a bastard on the throne by calling him trueborn would not be progress because it would do nothing to encourage recognition of the rights of other bastards (honestly it'd probably just get a lot of bastards killed by their trueborn siblings, now fearful of them posing a genuine threat to their inheritance).

"i dont like it"

thats fine but its still the lore of this world. sorry.

[arabellasleopardcoat]

im so dissapointed you used to be so neutral and now are hard team black

Am not! I am not on anyone's team. The Blacks have had a much more compelling writing this season, because whoever is writing the show has a thing for them. It's pretty obvious. My comment of the episode last night responds to that, because the Blacks had so much screen time it was impossible to say anything about the Greens.

The only "great change" in stance I had is regarding Alicent. Her writing has proven inconsistent, and she wallows in self pity a bit much. Pretty human of her, but not my thing. As always, I refuse to call any character OOC, because the writers of the show make canon, not me, but in this case I have a hard time reconciling season 1 Alicent with season 2 Alicent.

I am never against cunty women. I am in favor, actually (God knows I loved Cersei) but she rubs me the wrong way and can't explain it. Probably because of the highs and lows of the Criston thing. At first it was strange, having so many sex scenes of them. Then, I was invested and then he got sent away. The lady of the lake scene and the camping trip did nothing for me. Did we really had to use two scenes to see her moping outside the city? They served no purpose on moving the story forward or making her interesting as a character. Neither do some of the Black scenes, but this was higlighted for me because that was they decided to show us of the Greens in a Black-centric episode.

My personal like of dislike of a character doesn't mean I am on their team. I am in constitutional monarchy team. The more I think about the issue, I think you can pull precedents for both teams and that complicates things, which makes me want to scream they need an organized law system. Why? Well, during the Middle Ages, since the nomotetic power was not concetrated in a single clear organ (Like now in the parlament, or the parlament and the president in some countries), there were so many laws contradicting each other that it was impossible to make a sense of things. Most countries when exiting the Middle Ages notice this and the codification movement (Let's write all our laws down as easy to understand as posible) starts after a brief trial run of benevolent absolutism. In England, since they consider the judge as a guarantee against the King's power, it doesn't, but they still organize things.

What I mean with all this is that my gut instinct tells me Viserys' word as an absolute monarch should prevail (Because the King's word is law) but I am unsure of the role Jaehaerys' Great Council plays on this. Since I am familiar with modern constitutional theory and not, you know, canon and feudal law beyond a brief overview, I am unsure of how good a rallying point it is for the Greens. It's not an end-all argument, but I am trying to figure out if it is a weak or strong one. And I still sustain Viserys' word should have been law. We have to understand, even if it is a strong argument, that since he is an organ that produces law, he is modifying it by making Rhaenyra his heir. A new law beats the former, but not if the former is of higher rank. I still think Viserys is above every other law because he is an absolute monarch. They are only nitpicking because they don't like the change he made, sed lex dura lex and all. The team issue for me comes down to legal claim, and not aptitude to rule, thanks to my modern democracy values. If I were to make a choice based only on morality, I would abolish monarchy. If I were to make it based on legalese, I would tell you my (And any law student's) favorite phrase: It depends. You can always find an argument for both.

[brainysmurfofficial]

Evolution of Brainy Smurf, Part 5: Quotations of Brainy Smurf

Years covered: 1983-1985.

(Don’t forget to check out my previous posts on this blog if you haven’t!)

Our look into the Brainy of the 80s cartoon series continues! But first, let’s return to the world of the comics for a moment.

In the story Easter Smurfs (from what I can surmise, publication date would be 1983!), we can see Brainy’s egoistic streak rears its head: he contemplates giving Papa Smurf a portrait of himself as a gift for Easter. We also see that scheming, manipulative side usually shown by cartoon Brainy, but in the comics this time: he steals Baker Smurf’s personally-made gift for Papa Smurf to pass it off as his own.

We also see the interior of his home, where we can note books lining the wall, as well as a smurfified version of the phrase “Dura lex, sed lex” (“The law is harsh but it is the law” – yeah, definitely on-theme for comics Brainy!)

Brainy’s characterisation in this comic definitely feels a little different from what it had been before in the comics – a bit more aligned with that of his cartoon counterpart. Seeing as the cartoon show was already well underway by this point, could it be possible that his depiction here was influenced somewhat by his characterisation in the cartoon? An interesting possibility to consider.

But let’s finally get back into the show then, shall we? I’d like to proceed and have a bit of a look at seasons 3-5.

By this point, the basis of Brainy’s distinct 80s cartoon personality is more than established as the know-nothing know-it-all - a bluffing egotist desperate to project an illusion of knowledge who is also prone to indulging in melodrama. He is someone who loves to boss around others, to criticise and critique, to needlessly complicate and bureaucratise… He loves rules, he loves procedures, and he loves enforcing such structures. Continuing these trends, seasons 3-5 are abundant with demonstrations of all of these facets, and more.

In Love Those Smurfs, it’s no coincidence that it’s Vanity, Snappy and Brainy who are the only smurfs not affected by the spell of self-love – naturally, in plots like that, the writers tend to have the unaffected smurfs be the ones who already exhibit given trait(s) that a spell would invoke.

We’re told that Brainy’s very first word was gobbledegook, a perfect encapsulation of… Well. One only has to look at the false diagnoses he loves to throw around:

Brainy: My diagnosis concludes that Baby Smurf has a severe case of grumpirumpititus, aggravated by rumpus moisitosis, aggravated by- Papa: Brainy! There’s no such thing. Brainy: Oh. [Laughs sheepishly]

Of course, it’s not all bad. Episodes like Papa’s Family Album and The Dark-Ness Monster certainly show Brainy’s capacity for greater depths.

That said, in these seasons, Brainy really does not hesitate to show off how exceedingly overconfident he is – considering himself a “smurf of all trades”, such as in The Gingerbread Smurfs, assuming himself to have sufficient standing to posit himself as a better baker than Greedy Smurf despite an obvious lack of expertise, to say the least.

Funnily enough, there was one episode that made me go “Huh, Brainy’s characterisation here reminds me a lot more of his comics version, and isn’t (usually) what I’d strictly expect of him in the show…” and what do you know, I then noticed that Peyo himself indeed worked on that episode! I refer to Smurf the Other Cheek and Brainy’s lecture on “the virtue of cleanliness”.

Of course, bossiness and lectures and what have you are nothing new for Brainy, but it’s really the subject matter that made it rather reminiscent of comics Brainy for me. It’s a lecture on virtue, which comics Brainy has really based himself around – cartoon Brainy will lecture others on anything and everything (including virtues, as this very episode demonstrates), however, the “anything and everything” lack of focus makes the sudden lecture on virtue all the more noticeable when it’s coming from cartoon Brainy. And while cartoon Brainy has shown a love of bureaucracy, order, procedure, etc. – all of that is still different from something like cleanliness. A concept like order certainly has its overlaps with cleanliness, but I would argue that you cannot deny they are still two separate, different things. He hasn’t really shown any strong focus on the theme of cleanliness on its own specifically prior to this point. But espousing virtues of all kinds – the theme of virtue – is a very comics Brainy thing.

All this to say: I felt that Peyo’s influence really showed through there! Both comics version and cartoon version already have their subtle influences on one another, perhaps.

One point of clarification: although cartoon Brainy does have a sort of lecturing-on-virtues theme when he, say, chastises Lazy for laziness, Greedy for gluttony, etc – but I would argue that the point of those interactions always seems to be more focused on a theme of bossiness and telling others what to do as opposed to promoting traditional virtues when 80s cartoon Brainy is the one carrying it out. He will just as readily tell Handy how he should build things, how Painter should paint, how Tailor should make clothes – and none of those things have anything to do with virtue.

The virtue/morality/prig theming is, basically, a lot more prominent with comics Brainy.

Another episode I’d like to take a look at is the one in which the smurflings were introduced. In their introductory episode, they burst onto the scene in a challenge of tradition and convention- they buck traditional smurf attire for their own preferences and also challenge other areas of smurf life with novel and unique approaches.

What they bring to the table is fresh and new. They are a force of change.

Of course, this analysis doesn’t have the smurflings as its focus – rather, what the smurfings bring about, what they represent, has been elaborated on here in order to contrast it with our dear, hapless Brainy. More specifically, I would like to highlight how the episode itself contrasts the smurflings’ arrival and their ways with Brainy. He is cast as the traditionalist, all about structure, rules, all about enforcement of the orthodox and of conventional procedures, “old-timey”. Someone who will freely declare “smurflings should be seen and not heard”.

If the smurflings are a force of change, then Brainy, as an opposing force, is one aspiring to an enforcement of a perceived or constructed status quo. Indeed, he gets outright referred to as “old-fashioned” within the episode.

Though smurfs like Tailor balked at the smurflings turning their backs on traditional smurfwear, everyone seems caught up in the thrill of the moment when the smurflings begin performing onstage – that is, everyone except Brainy. The look on everyone’s faces is akin to surprised delight, meanwhile Brainy is more baffled and disapproving. The new musical style confuses him, and he simply can’t abide by it.

Brainy: Papa Smurf, what kind of music is that?? Papa: Er, I don’t think there is a name for it, Brainy. Clumsy: Oh, gosh, it’s so new, it doesn’t even have a name!

Brainy: I’ll give it a name, it’s phooey. Papa: Now, now, Brainy, the uh smurflings are merely – aheh – expressing themselves.

And on that cue –

A wave of gasps goes up amongst the crowd that sounds somewhere caught between pleasant surprise (as one can see the smiles remaining on the smurfs in the back of the image) but almost bordering on scandalised as well, as Brainy and Papa’s expressions both turn to shock – Papa himself is momentarily stunned. Yes, as it’s then shown, the smurflings are expressing themselves – in this moment, not just through their music, but also through dance.

Brainy: Papa Smurf, that is not the dance of the hundred smurfs we’ve all grown to know and love!

Brainy sounds truly affronted – upset. He finds this new style of dancing an insult to what he knows. He is entrenched in the Old Ways, inflexible and not ready to adapt. In contrast, Papa is more welcoming of the change the smurflings bring and represent – speculating that he may be a smurf “ahead of his time”, which is a ready contrast and indication that Brainy is someone rigid and steeped in the past, seeing as Papa has only just been speaking to Brainy who had reiterated his distaste for the smurflings’ music at the episode’s end. He really doesn’t “get” it – it being the new style.

It's testament to the fact that Brainy is truly the resident naysayer, ready to (try and) shoot things down that no smurf else seems to have a problem with, to enforce norms and standards and, in this case, presents a push to “stick to what is known”. This is not to say he always presents with the latter viewpoint – but rather, that this is his role within this episode, and can indicate much about his positioning within the show, and tell us something about his character overall.

Quotations From Brainy Smurf

Finally, I would like to address another point of interest which this post’s title draws upon directly: Brainy’s authoring of his own works. I would also like to comment that the overall title of this post (“Quotations of Brainy Smurf”) is actually something of a misnomer when it comes to a consideration of how these works are actually referred to in-canon; the title of this section (“Quotations from Brainy Smurf”) is actually used with far greater frequency.

As mentioned previously, Brainy writing his own books is a phenomenon that is nowhere to be found within the first two seasons. The third season marks the beginning of references made to “the complete works of Brainy Smurf” (Episode: The Smurfs’ Time Capsule), his memoirs (Episode: Greedy and the Porridge Pot) and, of course, Quotations from Brainy Smurf (Episode: The Golden Smurf Award). (We also get a reference to “Quotations of Brainy Smurf” in A Chip Off The Old Smurf). And for the whole of season 3… that seems to be about it!

Season 4 is more abundant with references to this aspect of Brainy, now that the concept has been introduced by the writing team in the previous season – they pick it up and really run with it! Of course, within the canon of the show itself, we are lead to believe that Brainy has been writing books of his own for most of his life, and that it’s simply an aspect of his character that had not been made salient previously (nor would it have really been present in the minds of the writers prior to its introduction).

It’s not until season 5 that we’re shown Brainy actually branching out into different realms of subject matter beyond mere quotations and journal-ing and memoir-writing. It’s not enough for him to merely write about himself, or to impose his “wit and wisdom” and his quotations onto others: Brainy Smurf will write a book on just about anything, as he is under the unassailable assumption that he is an expert on all things and thus all things are under his purview to be written about. Whether it’s Brainy Smurf’s Secrets to a Successful Future or Games According to Brainy Smurf, he’ll have just the book you’re looking for! Or at least… that’s what he’ll claim, anyway.

Brainy: Mrs Porcupine, when it comes to babies, I wrote the book!

Designated Naysayer

To return to the earlier mentions of naysaying –

Fundamentally, Brainy Smurf fulfilling the role of the naysayer is done alongside being a prolific complainer. He is someone who loves to complain and will typically be written to oppose whatever thing he can be presented as being the most annoying or foolish for opposing in a given scenario. Because that’s the other thing – he is almost always supposed to be the smurf who is In The Wrong – whether that’s playing the role of the fool who falsely believes obvious untruths or the overly skeptical and oblivious fool who can’t notice the obvious, just as an example. It matters not whether he seemingly contradicts himself with his stances at different times (readily and eagerly believing in supernatural phenomena in episodes operating within a framework that suggests such a thing is ridiculous, then refusing to believe in the supernatural in episodes where it makes the most sense to do so) because the only thing of paramount importance (from a writing perspective) in these cases is that he’s usually being an antagonistic against something, whatever that something is.

(And of course, the writers frequently “have their cake and eat it too” by throwing in a nice layer of hypocrisy – when he tries to act like the staunch skeptic, he will often be the first to become afraid by something seemingly supernatural. When he does believe something that turns out to be false, he will claim he knew the truth from the beginning!)

He will support something when it’s counterproductive to do so and oppose something when it is the best solution, because Brainy is someone who is always readily available to act as an antagonistic force on the whim of the writers.

From a diegetic perspective, one can also argue that this is one realm where Brainy’s hypocrisy shines through and that even beyond a Doylist framework, the explanation from a Watsonian point of view is that he is a smurf that likes to be antagonistic “for the sake of it” and enjoys fulfilling this role.

Next time, we will return and see how his character continues to be represented in further seasons of the cartoon show. Thank you so much for reading!!

[hopestrope]

So I got the results of all my hunger games polls! And these 3 pairs were the ones that got the most votes. Also, I disqualified the duos like Alec and Jace, Alec and Magnus because that's against the rules (two males together). +Malec would be too powerful. Sorry.

Sed lex dura lex.

[barabansetbabets]

You kiss your niblings with this mouth?

Failure Brothers, day 2

Also on AO3

"Motherfucker!"

"Swear Jar!"

"What? The kids are not around, it's fine!"

"Absolutely not in my house! And Mabel feels it if we swore, I swear it."

"That’s MY shack, thank you."

"That’s so not the point. Put a damn coin in the jar."

"Ah! So do you!"

"What? No! It’s your fault, distracting me!"

"Dura Lex Sed Lex, my brother! What are you even doing with this money anyway?"

"None of your business, you latinized pretentious fucker!"

"I have the right to know where my swear coins go! Hey, come back there! You’re not supposed to embezzle your nibling’s money!"

[catos-wound]

his actual dura lex sed lex swag