#nine worthies

[tarisbackyard]

The Nine Worthies are the Superwholock of the Middle ages.

[geopolicraticus]

ADDENDUM ON NAPOLEON

Historical Exemplarism in Short-Lived Empires and Long-Lived Influence   

Following up on my episode on Napoleon, in which I mentioned Johan Huizinga on historical ideals, I revisit these historical ideals and consider them in the light of moral exemplarism. Why have historical exemplars been drawn from the long-lived influence of short-lived empires and the singular men who presided over them? Let us re-imagine figures like Alexander the Great, Charlemagne, and Napoleon as historical exemplars who give focus to the role of virtue ethics in history.

Quora:              https://philosophyofhistory.quora.com/ 

Discord:           https://discord.gg/r3dudQvGxD

Links:               https://jnnielsen.carrd.co/

Newsletter:     http://eepurl.com/dMh0_-/

Text post:        https://geopolicraticus.substack.com/p/historical-exemplarism-of-short-lived

Video:              https://youtu.be/1cbOi3WEvvY    

Podcast:          https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/KgqKdMJ2QMb

[promptuarium]

JOSHUA, second leader of the Hebrew people, led the children of Israel across the Jordan to the promised land, according to the Lord’s command, in the 2493rd year of the world and the 1469th before Christ was born. He crossed the River Jordan as Moses crossed the Red Sea, without any danger, trusting in the word of the Lord.

He took the city of Jericho by siege, and burned it; but he saved Rahab and her household, for he was not ungrateful; she had hid his spies when she received them. Joshua also burned the city of Ai, and hanged its king. While he was at war with the Gibeonites, the sun stood still, and the day was prolonged; their five kings were hanged. In total he conquered 31 kings, and the land of the Canaanites was divided among his people.

Pious and upstanding in war and peace, he ruled the people for 28 years. He died on his 110th birthday. After him the elders ruled the people for 17 years, and Othniel succeeded them. See the Book of Joshua, from the start to the end, also Josephus Antiquities book 5 ch. 1, 2, 3, 4.

[myiliterallyhavenolifegoals]

I think if they ever reboot ds9 (🤢) whoever plays Julian needs to be brought to Andy Robinson like a peasant before a king for him to deliver a verdict on if this new guy is hot enough.

[gawrkin]

You're not alone. I also tend to think of Arthur as a Warlord fundamentally rather the Idealized Ruler figure hyped in Modern retellings. His real titles from the stories are "Dux Bellorum (War Duke)" "Red Ravager" "Ameraudur (Emperor/Imperator, a military title originally)" and "King of Adventure". Doesn't really paint a picture of a person who ruled peacefully and stably.

It helps that there are elements of his medieval characterization that do not jive with Modern sensibilities. For example, "The Conquest of Europe" - his invasions of Norway, Gaul, Denmark, etc. - in the Chronicle Tradition, as well as his Sexual escapades in the Romances.

It's also pointed out by Guinevere's Mom in Awntyrs off Arthure in Tarn Weddling that his primary failing is his covetousness.

In Le Morte D'Arthur, Malory justifies - and dismisses as "mischief" - Mordred's Revolt as a result of the Common people fed up with Arthur's rule as having been nothing but constant war and only found peace during Mordred's tenure. Which, ironically, perfectly describes the Arthur of the original non-romance narratives

When it comes down to it, King Arthur is really more alike his fellow "Nine Worthies" - Alexander, Julius Caesar, David and Charlemagne - than not.

EDIT: On the flip-side, Geoffrey of Monmouth does say in his Chronicle that there was 20 year period of relative peace inbetween the Battle of Badon Hill and the beginning of Arthur's Conquest. So there's that.

EDIT2: I HAD JUST REMEMBERED: There is a moment in Vulgate Cycle (at the beginning of Lancelot pt. II) where, during the War with Galehaut, a random hermit comes along to scold Arthur for his misfortunes and teach him how to be a christian good king to get back in God's good graces. lol

I believe whole heartedly that Arthur was not a good king, he was brought up to be a soldier, a knight, a second son. He probably would not have had a high quality education in administration, unlike Kay the firstborn, and so when he becomes King of Britain he would have been horribly unprepared. Was Arthur a great soldier? Yes. Was he a great king? Probably not.

[wickedcriminal]

Last Unicorn quote stuck out to me so I gave it to Spider-Fox

(the only person willing to be your friend and he didn't show up until long after you already lost all trust in other people)

[wonryllis]

𝜗𝜚ㅤBABY YOU ARE MORE THAN JUST A DREAM! ( love at first sight with idol!reader )

────𝖺𝗅𝗍𝖾𝗋𝗇𝖺𝗍𝗂𝗏𝖾𝗅𝗒, 𝗐𝗁𝖾𝗋𝖾 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗉𝗎𝗍 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗆 𝗎𝗇𝖽𝖾𝗋 𝖺 𝗌𝗉𝖾𝗅𝗅!

﹙NOTES.﹚ non!idol enha falling for you. 𖥔 ݁ fluff. reqtd. fem!r. 2569wc. LIB?

𝐋𝐄𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐄𝐒𝐄𝐔𝐍𝐆

the one who gets attracted to your light in the struggles of his life. a broke college student working multiple part time jobs to pay for his student loans. an avid listener of kpop who does not have much idea about groups, especially girl groups simply because of his busy life. it's one fateful afternoon when he's on his shift in everland dressed in his heavy bear mascot, barbequing inside drenched in sweat trying to hand out flyers and taking pictures with kids.

too tired he sits on a bench, taking off the head and brushing his wet hair when you appear with a camera seeming to be filming a self vlog. "do you need help?" you ask and heeseung falls into the rabbit hole that very instant. you're so pretty and you're also so sweet and kind, standing with him, helping him out even when you're not obligated to. smiling so beautifully and warmly at him each time he turns to look at you every other minute.

he's lost in his own world trying to make sense how he got such an amazing person to notice him and how everyone seems so interested in the flyers from the moment you step in. you offer him tissues to wipe off his sweat and appraise him for working so hard struggling but still not giving up, heeseung questions if this is real, if you are real.

he does not hesitate to ask for your name surprised when it sounds so familiar and going into a cardiac arrest upon realising you're the same idol he listens to everyday on break, your soothing voice helping him through his day.

you invite him to join you on your vlog and show you around the theme park after he's done working, at this point heeseung is soulless he has no idea how he's functioning but he is. he fumbles around to change as quick as he can after he's off, putting on as much deodrant as he can afraid of smelling sweaty around you. "thank you so much for hanging out with me!" you give him a hug at the end, "no thank you so much for helping me out," he'll never be able to get over this.

𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐊 𝐉𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐒𝐄𝐎𝐍𝐆

the one who keeps crossing paths with you like destiny, a thin line between reality and falling so hard for a celebrity. you start as his airport crush, one on whom once he lays his eyes they follow everywhere. he takes in every little detail about you from across the room watching you sit in the waiting area wondering if you're on the same flight. he feels like he's seen you somewhere but he can't bring himself to remember.

it is when he spots the various people you're surrounded with, he realises you're an idol, not understanding how he seems to have seen you before but not having clear memory of it, like how can he forget someone like that.

nevertheless he's hooked, anyone can see with the way he keeps glancing in your direction time and again. some of the crew members notice him immediately, trying to gesture to you subtly. and it works when you lock eyes the next time he looks, he turns away at the speed of light face heating up and the tip of ears getting red, he definitely gave himself away. but what to do he's so bad at pretending.

visibly upset when he sees you boarding a different flight. but fate appears to be on his side when two days later he spots you again on the streets of athens filming some group content. he's a little hesitant to do anything. he leaves to look the surrounding shops only to come back again and again to watch you.

you're on break the fourth time he does it and you lock eyes again, jay literally freezes in his spot he doesn't know what to do, feeling like his heart would jump right out onto his palms as he watches you get up and walk towards him. "hey," you speak waving to him as you stop a freaking few inches away from him. "yeah," jay mumbles, voice so cold he regrets it in a second with your face turning confused at his bleak response,"i mean hey, i'm just really nervous right now," oh my god he can't believe he also said that like jay?? "mhm," you smile,"that's cute," jay stopped working.

𝐒𝐈𝐌 𝐉𝐀𝐄𝐘𝐔𝐍

the one who falls at a chance encounter, one look and he's mesmerized. a die hard baseball fan, attending one of the matches where your group is set to perform a song. he had no clue about it but who is he to complain cause the moment he spots you, he can't take his eyes off of you, you dance so prettily, the way you move your body he's beyond hypnotized.

and your voice don't get him started at that it's like a siren calling for him, luring him into a trap he can't ever escape from. a little disappointed when the performance is over, keeps trying to find you in the crowd, looking for your pretty face amidst the others.

once he finds your seat, he's staring continuously, if not that then every two seconds. the game is long forgotten he doesn't give a shit who's winning and losing. for him the win here lies on watching you do everything. the way you smile at your members so softly, how your laugh seems to be so addicting even of he can barely hear it, when you're munching on snacks, cheering on the players from time to time. nothing's ever been this interesting to watch, nothing can beat this not even a match of his favourite teams.

had he known about you earlier he would have done everything in his power to attend every fansign, grabbing every opportunity to meet you, to be able to see you up close and talk to you, listen to your pretty voice telling him literally anything and everything.

he tries finding ways to meet you, looking closely to see if he can encounter a situation where he supposedly comes across you accidentally and compliment your performance, talking about how well you did. and lucky for him he does get that chance when he least expects it.

sad and dejected at the end of the performance, just leaving the venue when you bump into him all alone. his entire world shakes so excited he might burst any second. "your performance was so good i couldn't take my eyes off of you," he blurts out, "thanks, i noticed you looking, a lot actually," someone bury him right now.

𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐊 𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐆𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐍

the one who has no interest in kpop, he's literally got no clue about any idol and he doesn't even give a fuck about it. he's super career oriented person who supposedly has no time for all this bullshit he says. but the moment he lays eyes on you, the pretty barista on the other side of the counter of his favourite cafe he cannot help rethinking about his ways of life.

he swears he's never seen someone so beautiful ever, there's just something about you that somehow seems to keep drawing him towards you. he wonders if you're new or has he always been this blind.

the way you smile when he enters through the door, welcoming him so sweetly, the light from outside falling on your face so gorgeously he stutters for the first time in forever. boy cannot form the proper words, he fumbles on his regular order, forgets to tell his name and keeps staring and gawking so awkwardly at you, he's convinced you think of him as a creep.

almost leaves the cafe literally a step out the door before he decides he cannot let this chance go and rushes like a loser over to the front, waiting as you attend to another customer. chewing on his bottom lip and hands fiddling all sweaty with nervousness.

"yes? how can i help you?" oh my god you're still so sweet, his heart skips several beats, "uhm i- well number- pretty- no i wondering- your pretty number- i meant can i-" he's never hated himself as much he does right this moment, the most important moment of his life. "my number?" you giggle and he literally melts for real,"yeah," smiling like an idiot in love. is shocked to find out you're an idol shooting a variety show, scolding himself internally for having no idea and feeling so embarrassed.

boy thinks he has lost it now, there's no way- until "did you check your cup?" if park sunghoon could put into words what he feels now he'd write an entire essay, he's so fallen, he can't get up anymore, breaking his own rules.

𝐊𝐈𝐌 𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐖𝐎𝐎

the one who goes to support his friend and ends up getting attracted unexpectedly and unintentionally. boy has a lot of friends and friends of friends and so many girl friends and he's never ever felt the way he felt it immediately in a microsecond for you. it's like you stepped on stage just to capture his heart. he's been friends with her since middle school and the biggest supporter of her idol career. it's her first concert and he's booked frontline seat, having always watched only her famcams he's never really paid attention or noticed her members.

so the first time he sees you is live on stage right in front his eyes, so lost in watching you he can barely remember why he came initially.

your outfits compliment you so good, the way you seem so passionate and happy about what you're doing is so contagious to him. he so immersed in watching you, he doesn't realize how quickly it gets over, it's somehow good through because kept thinking about meeting you backstage with the special entry he would get for his friend.

he waits impatiently in the dressing room, legs bouncing in nervousness and excitement. he smiles and goes for a hug with his friend first, his eyes subtly trained on you, beaming with happiness when his friend introduces you to him.

repeating your name in his mind again and again,"your name is as pretty as you," he says smiling so so cutely at you trying to work his charms. everyone in the room can see it just how interested he is in you, leaving you both to talk and busying themselves in other things. it's struck by love at once for him but probably not for you, he understands that and knows it's best to be friends even though he wishes for may something more than that.

he tries not to overwhelm you while still complimenting you for every little thing. "you're so talented you had me mesmerized the entire concert," sunoo that's not subtle.

𝐘𝐀𝐍𝐆 𝐉𝐔𝐍𝐆𝐖𝐎𝐍

the one who has been silently watching from afar for so long, cherishing every glimpse. a cat cafe owner who waits for every sunday just so he can watch you playing with the cats and kittens from his corner in the shop too afraid to ever talk to you.

the first time he saw you was during new years eve, about to close the cafe in the evening when in came the last customer, his about to be favourite customer. you vibes were so soft and warm, treating the little babies so tenderly and the way you seemed so relaxed jungwon fell for that aura around you, the comfort and genuineness you emanated.

he fell so hard, he couldn't even bother to tell you to leave even when it was way past his closing time and there were numerous missed calls from his friends for their new year party. leaves for a split second to stick a happy new year note on your shoes because baby can't bring himself to say it to your face, it doesn't help that you're super pretty and that he's shy as fuck.

he's super disappointed in himself for letting you leave like that, that day. cursing himself for being an introvert every day that goes by and he doesn't see you again.

when you visit again the next weekend he's so elated he can't describe it in words, he offers you an on the house drink, something he wouldn't have ever done for anyone, you just happen to be a special someone he's fallen for at first sight and every other glance. he's whipped and he's down bad but he's a loser and he can't approach you especially after coming across a video of you performing at an award show and realising you're an idol.

though not fully satisfied he's content to see a sight of you others don't know about, including moments of you napping surrounded by cats you love. he can see you go there for your alone time so he chooses not to disturb you "i hope we can be friends someday," his note says, the one he leaves on your table the day he gathers enough courage.

𝐍𝐈𝐒𝐇��𝐌𝐔𝐑𝐀 𝐑𝐈𝐊𝐈

the one who happens to be right across the door, bumping into you just at the right time all the damn time. there's been a lot of times riki is running late for things. once again he's late opening. his door in a hurry so does someone else right on the other side both bumping into each other. you look up for a split second before rushing back inside and closing the door on his face. he's flabbergasted but he's also so captivated. was such a pretty girl always living next door to him? or did the moving trucks he saw yesterday were yours?

the door opens again as you peek out slightly closing it shut again when you see him still standing there, are you shy? he wonders just then the door opens again and this time there's another girl stepping out with you trailing behind with your head down, a cap and mask on.

he recognises the other girl, saw her appear on one of the variety show he watches regularly and then realizes you must be an idol, "it suits her," he thinks out loud slapping a hand on his mouth when you turn to look back with eyes. shit. the next day he bumps into you again and then again the next day and also the day after. and with each time you seem to scurry away faster than before.

normally he wouldn't care at all but he's honestly been so bewitched by you since the moment he saw you he can't stop thinking about you, searching up your videos and watching you constantly.

"wait!" he tries to stop you once but you look at him weird and run off so quick he's baffled, worried he scares you too much. he didn't even do anything though?

"hey, just wanted to let you know i don't mean any harm, just wanted to introduce myself and maybe be friends? i know you're an idol but it doesn't matter to me, i won't snitch or anything if that's what you're scared about. xoxo, your next door neighbour, riki." he waits behind his door and slips the note from under after noticing you walk out of yours from the peephole. "hey," he steps out when you smile reading it.

TAGLIST ( open. ) @kangseulgithegreat @s00buwu @luvyev @pockyyasii @nctislifue @ashtxrie

[whenthewallfell]

~ and if I can dissolve I do ~

(hanahaki au below the cut)

AU where Peeta develops the hanahaki disease during Catching Fire and the only people that understand the significance of it are Mrs Everdeen and Haymitch, both of which he swears to secrecy since he's going to die in the arena anyway. Snow also recognises the symptoms (rumour has it he underwent surgery shortly after his time in D12) when Peeta is unable to hide it from the cameras during the Quell. The flowers are removed as part of the hijacking process, but whether it was successful or not is uncertain - dandelions are a stubborn weed after all, and their roots grow deep.

[izzymalec]

Shadowhunters 1x12 Malec

[camellcat]

we spent our darkest days howling at the moon close enough to see our low condition and did you wish that we were one?

close-ups! I'm not very good at cohesion if you couldn't tell, so here's how they're supposed to look

[aq2003]

archive dive #4: love's labour's lost (2008)

love's labour's lost my favorite little disaster of a play that nobody likes but me. this was one of my most anticipated of the recordings i'd booked to watch in stratford firstly because it was my pestering emails that helped it along the "restore it to be accessible to the public again" process but also more importantly because this is one of the few prominent productions of this play to not whitewash rosaline. obviously it isn't the first production to do this, shoutout to the 1984 rsc production (josette simon was the first Black woman to play a leading role for the rsc!), but still it's pretty disappointing how few and far between these are, even if the play is pretty unpopular. the lines about rosaline's "blackness" are pretty unambiguous and imo the story loses an amount of its thematic edge without them... (dishonorable mention to the 2015 rsc production w/ a blonde, white rosaline that cut those lines entirely). anyway this was a really fun watch; the whole vibe of it here was kinda "yeah we have taken great lengths to intimately understand this work and we came away with the conclusion that it's extremely fucking silly". which like. hell yeah, honestly. anyway nina sosanya rosaline your hand in marriage PLEASE

prev / archive dive tag / next

this is something you can kind of tell more in the official photos of this production rather than the recording but the tree is so fucking good. the colorful shapes on the trees just scratches my brain in all the right ways. whoever designed that tree you have my love and my life

i'm not sure how common the "have an actor in character doing something on stage before the show begins" thing is in rsc productions but every time i've seen it it's so much fun. in the twelfth night production i watched feste is up on a ladder layering paint on the walls and here we have berowne, longaville, and dumaine having a little picnic! (berowne is having a nap and is covering his face with his straw hat)

ferdinand YANKED that pillow from berowne. let my man LIVE ferdinand

berowne successfully threw the hat onto the tree branch <33 good for him <33

also: his hat feels so out of place when he actually wears it. it feels like it's an anachronism even though i'm sure straw hats existed in the 16th-17th centuries

haha yeah shakespeare wrote a bunch of characters 400 years ago for dt to play but he is actually Such a good fit for berowne... he has such a natural talent for comedic timing and berowne's whole thing is that he's quick-witted and smart but makes a joke out of everything and can't take things seriously. also i was somewhat expecting him to be way more self-indulgent and overdramatic (a little bit like his romeo) bc that's somewhat how berowne came across in my head when reading LLL but i think dt's berowne is like. more of a lovable flirtatious dork. charming and romantic and more sincere than he thinks. it helps sell a more genuine connection between him and rosaline, for one!

i do think tho compared to dt's benedick his berowne is more serious and grounded and less of a silly clown man. if him and nina had went on to do ""love's labour's won"" (much ado about nothing) together it def would've been VERY different from the dt/ct version

i love this ferdinand so much. there's this kind of straightforwardness and evenness to how edward bennett says his lines like you can REALLY buy that this man would be insane enough to get his three friends to swear to be cooped up with him for 3 years without the touch of a woman and only having 1 meal a day 6 days a week etc

whoever decided to make moth's whole vibe "armado but small and endlessly sassy" your mind is so huge. they're like a "don't talk to me or my son ever again" deal

the portrayal of armado is biblically accurate. which is to say. this man is down horrendously bad and is so annoying and dramatic about it. applause

nina's rosaline is EXACTLY what i had pictured her sounding when i first read the play. i cannot describe it in words other than "she is so perfect for this role and i'm insane"

the ladies all gasp when boyet tells them that ferdinand is gonna make them stay outside on the grass LMAO

sorry for this commentary being text only but i must point out the cunty little cape that berowne is wearing in this scene. ok thank you

i WISHHHHH i could see berowne and rosaline's expressions when they're having their back-and-forths cuz based off of the line delivery and the pixels i think berowne is grinning like a lovesick lunatic at her and i Need it. I Need To See It. Give It To Me

armado dramatically playing the guitar vs moth unenthusiastically shaking a maraca. Yeah

completely my hypothesis also but i think the part where berowne talks about rosaline to costard is where This DT Image comes from. like the way his head is totally in the clouds just saying her name

[berowne voice] The Boy (derogatory)

several things that dt does during the german clock soliloquy that are so much fun. a) when he says "lord of folded arms" he points to someone in the audience with their arms crossed, b) when he says "king of codpieces" he sort of leans over to look Downwards at (presumably) a man in the audience, and c) when he picks out a woman in the audience to compare to the german clock, he makes a big show of winking at her afterwards. i may be screaming. berowne disaster bisexual!

i realize now that a) i have completely forgotten what the hell holofernes' latin phrases mean and b) the regular person in the audience does not know what holofernes' latin phrases mean either. but that's fine because oliver ford davies delivers these lines like something you'd say "okay grandpa let's get you to bed" to

sick and twisted about the bit where everybody reads out berowne's letter to rosaline aloud because IIIIII think what he wrote was very nice, sweet even, but holofernes is like "what is this fucking garbage smh my head"

hard to tell through the recording but i think berowne straight up chucks his draft of a letter at the beginning of 4.3 into the audience when he sees ferdinand coming

WET BEAST EDWARD BENNETT. HE SHOULD PLAY WET BEASTS FOREVER.

also ferdinand pauses in the middle of crying to take out his love letter again bc he forgot the next line he wrote. Amazing

the chemistry between the four guys is incredible. the most "me and the boys" energy of all time. especially when they sing together

"I, THAT AM HONEST" SUREEEEEE BEROWNE. SUREEEEEEEEEEEE

Chomp

and i mean of course david tennant's berowne would try to eat his love letter to destroy the evidence. i hope this makes sense to anyone who is a big fan of david tennant

i have no clue how the other lords are able to make out his handwriting though. i feel like he kinda did a pretty good job of destroying it

the way david delivers the "your mistresses dare never come in rain / for fear their colors should be washed away" line is so good. A+ no notes. also i'm mentioning this so late but i love the costuming of the production being a nod to this line what w/ berowne and rosaline being the only ones in their respective groups not wearing all white

ok so when i was reading the chapter on love's labour's lost in greg doran's book he mentions having discussions about how they would address the other lords' racism towards rosaline, how much would they keep in, how they would frame it, etc. but he never actually elaborates on what approach they actually took so i was curious to see how they did it. and the best way i can describe it is they attempt to keep in tone with the scene being mostly goofy funny but they keep those lines and have berowne fight back against his friends (longaville and dumaine especially). like for example longaville holds up his foot when he compares rosaline's face to his shoe and berowne grabs him by the leg and drags him around when saying (essentially) that rosaline is too good for him, and the audience laughs at longaville (also bc he looks ridiculous hopping around on one foot). i feel like the execution of it is inherently flawed in that it somewhat reads more as "berowne's friends messing with/getting back at him for lying" more than "berowne's friends are terrible people for saying this" (and that's partially just by virtue of how the scene was written, ig at some point it's impossible to reconcile this w/ the emotional beats and tone of the play). but it is keeping with the characterizations and it's made pretty clear who's in the wrong (dumaine/longaville are basically made into the butt of the joke, and letting berowne retaliate and take control of the argument plays a key role in that). however this is why i'd like to see more productions where rosaline is a black/brown woman, i feel like there are more possible interpretations of this bit that can potentially strike a better balance between sensitivity and tone

(tangentially related: in the most recent production of love's labour's lost by the rsc they set it in the modern day and cast an east asian woman as rosaline and, like, as an east asian person i feel like even though she's a woc that's still inaccurate casting. bc dark hair and eye color aren't traits that ppl look down on us for having, meanwhile rosaline's features are subject to ridicule by multiple characters in the play. also there are plenty of lines alluding to rosaline specifically having a darker skin color ("red paints itself black to imitate her brow" "to look like her are chimney sweepers black" "ethiopes of their sweet complexion crack" etc) and i find it weird that no one cottoned onto that, in 2024?)

this production cuts berowne's "she is born to make black fair" line but they keep in "her favor turns the fashion of the days"; i like the tact in that, like it's giving less of the vibe that berowne thinks rosaline is the first woc to ever be pretty and more "he thinks she's so beautiful she'll change all of society's standards"

yes they cut to intermission on david saying "allons! allons!" while they all run off the stage. haha very funny

there's a moment where holofernes thinks for one hot second that armado is making a pass at him and i can tell from this blurry pixelly recording that holofernes looks like he almost has a stroke at this. like the way that he staggers back and tries to process it. okay grandpa gay people are real but armado is very very cishet don't worry let's get you back to bed

text-wise at the beginning of 5.2 katherine and rosaline have a back-and-forth with a lot of wordplay about "light" and "dark" that plays off of their contrasting appearances (katherine is described as having rosy skin and blonde hair). in this production though they cut a few of katherine's meaner lines in that exchange (she's also played by an actress of color so they cut the lines talking abt her appearance) and frame it as more of a friendly banter. tbh understandable given that showing a camaraderie and friendship between the ladies really helps the humor in the later parts of 5.2

the .........the russian disguises 😭 omfghfgdfdsfhfwfwmfwmfwfdw

also is it bad that i think their russian outfits are so much nicer looking than their normal outfits. minus the comically ridiculous fake beards and eyebrows of course

also x2 i'm imagining the lords trying to practice this dance number together and my eyes start to water. whose idea was this.

BEROWNE WHY DID YOU KICK THAT POOR CHILD OUT OF THE DANCE LINEUP. HE WAS DOING HIS BEST

berowne's fake russian accent is the stupidest thing ive ever heard and i love it so much. he is mangling all his vowels into something vaguely russian sounding but you can hear the scottish fighting to be free and the end result is something you can barely understand. it's so glorious. what the fuck is he saying. also imagine trying to rizz your girl up in the worst most stupid fake accent known to man. you deserve to be single forever. sorry

the boyet hater monologue is so DELIGHTFULLY bitchy. chef's kiss (also this monologue is probably one of my personal favorite shakespeare passages to read to myself. it's just so funny)

the nine worthies bit is very funny but this is another case where i wish the quality of the recording was better because in one of the entries on this blog (by that crazy person that went to see hamlet 27 times and LLL 14 times) they mention how fun it is to watch berowne's expressions/reactions ;___; oh well. i will just have to imagine them in my mind

i really like how berowne and rosaline going off together is juuuuust implied…like they start off following their respective groups off opposite ends of the stage, and then the last image you're left with is how they stop and turn back and look at each other. i don't think they get together in that time (imo the ending of LLL is subversive and interesting bc none of the romantic pursuits are successful despite the men trying so hard. way too hard even. but life goes on anyway) but i do think that rosaline joins berowne in visiting the sick for a year and they begin to form a deeper relationship. (also i'd love to know more of david and nina's thoughts on this and where they imagined the characters would end up)

[feralportalmaster]

WDYM I CAN’T LISTEN TO THE CUTE GAY BEES SONG ON SPOTIFY ANYMORE??

[outlying-hyppocrate]

hello beautiful world!! who is proud of me on this fine day!!

[a-wholelotta-love]

Rang's self worth issues just break my heart this season. I don't know how this boy does not see how much he gives back to people. How he only sees himself as someone who is incapable of being loved, someone who is a failure and can't protect anyone.

On the other hand, he would gladly see the best of people despite being hurt by them.

While i can understand his sentiments when it comes to Yeo hee, though even with her, once he decided to accept his feelings, he was completely willing to lay his life down for her and fought for her with his life.

But when it comes to Yeon, he has given back more than enough even when he has not received the same kindness back. I know that this Rang is not my 2020 Rang yet. But even 1938 Rang has been willing to die protecting his brother and we all saw that. Also, I don't understand why this Rang never seems to bring about the fact that he was very mercilessly cut down by said brother. Maybe because the writers want us to forget that Yeon was ever mean to him. Well, I refuse to forget that.

My boy never sees the good that he does but ends up holding everyone he loves at this pedestal. Show him the bare minimum love and affection and he would just gladly die protecting you. And i am not just winging it, he almost died protecting Shin ju in the well this season despite being all mad over him.

All these years of trauma and being abandoned by the people that he loved the most has just built my boy in a way that he believes he is just a stain, a burden, someone who has nothing to offer. And I need someone to tell him otherwise. Tell him how he has such a big heart and how he gives back so much more than he has ever received. 🥺

But the entire season, they ended up focusing on clearing Yeon's conscience. I believe all that matters to the writers is showing us just how much Yeon loves his brother. But the best way to do that would have been if they had acknowledged the pain that he had caused and apologised for it. Made Rang see his worth rather than pretending and believing that he never did anything wrong.

Ah, I might just keep on ranting if I don't stop but someone please help my boy see how precious he is. And he does not need to die for his life to be of some value. 🥺

[rellasnowheenim]

appreciation post for nine forton (1/3)

[arolesbianism]

I’ve been having a rough few days, but I’ve been feeling a bit better so I decided to make some lil thingies for some spiraling upwards kitties :3