#poetic indeed

[scribeofmorpheus]

The wool has been removed from over my eyes; I see a new narrative symmetry...

Sometimes you really need another's opinion to help you appreciate something more. I'm kinda not so angry about Varric's role in Veilguard now.

[goldenpinof]

i wonder if dan realizes that the way he keeps describing his relationship with phil can only spark more questions in interviews etc. because imagine you're interviewing this guy you don't know much about, and he starts waxing poetic about how he and his friend are soulmates who have known each other for thousands of years and no one has what they have or whatever, like... of course the interviewer will want to know MORE because wtf?

basically

[martybaker]

Oh today’s Strands pleased me. Ashamed to say i didn’t get it from the theme prompt, or the first word, but then I was all like Hold on a fucking moment I know what you are 🧐

[beastblade69]

summer nights are so mysterious and so calm and the odour in the air is so sweet and fresh you just want to go outside and smell it and dream and enjoy every second of it until the sun rises up again burning the skies, making everything glow so bright you just want to lock yourself in your dark room and wait til it's gone to go out and enjoy the breath of cool night wind again. yet summer nights is a bitch. I would love to be able to enjoy them if they didn't make me spiral every fucking time

[louthestarspeaker]

you know i just strongly believe that darius bowman should have had some dinosaur trading cards. you cannot tell me jurassic park wasn't selling those things like hotcakes and you definitely cannot tell me that 12 year old dino nerd darius bowman would not think they are the COOLEST THING EVER and spend all his allowance collecting all his favorites where are his dinosaur trading cards? where are they i know he has them i demand to see them

[gingermintpepper]

hi, i haven't read the iliad and the odyssey but want to - do u have a specific translation you recommend? the emily wilson one has been going around bc, y'know, first female translator of the iliad and odyssey into english, but i was wondering on if you had Thoughts

Hi anon! Sorry for the somewhat late response and I'm glad you trust me with recommendations! Full, disclosure, I am somewhat of a traditionalist when it comes to translations of the source text of the Iliad + Odyssey combo wombo, which means I tend to prefer closeness in literal verbiage over interpretation of the poetic form of these epics - for that reason, my personal preferred versions of the Odyssey and Iliad both are Robert Fitzgerald's. Because both of these translations (and his Aeneid!) were done some 50+ years ago (63 for his original Odyssey tl, 50 flat for his Iliad and 40 for his Aeneid) the English itself can be a bit difficult to read and the syntax can get confusing in a lot of places, so despite my personal preferences, I wouldn't recommend it for someone who is looking to experience the Iliad + Odyssey for the very first time.

For an absolute beginner, someone who has tried to read one or both of these epics but couldn't get into it or someone who has a lot of difficulty with concentrating on poetry or long, winding bits of prose, I fully and wholeheartedly recommend Wilson's translation! See, the genius of Emily Wilson's Iliad + Odyssey isn't that she's a woman who's translated these classics, it's that she's a poet who's adapted the greek traditional poetic form of dactylic hexameter into the english traditional poetic form of iambic pentameter. That alone goes a very very long way to making these poems feel more digestible and approachable - iambic pentameter is simply extremely comfortable and natural for native english speakers' brains and the general briskness of her verbiage helps a lot in getting through a lot of the problem books that people usually drop the Iliad or Odyssey in like Book 2 of the Iliad or Book 4 of the Odyssey. I think it's a wonderful starting point that allows people to familiarise themselves with the source text before deciding if they want to dig deeper - personally, researching Wilson's translation choices alone is a massive rabbit hole that is worth getting into LOL.

The happy medium between Fitzgerald's somewhat archaic but precise syntax and Wilson's comfortable meter but occasionally less detailled account is Robert Fagles' Iliad + Odyssey. Now, full disclosure, I detest how Fagles handles epithets in both of his versions, I think they're far too subtle which is something he himself has talked at length about in his translation notes, but for everything else - I'd consider his translations the most well rounded of english adaptations of this text in recent memory. They're accurate but written in plain English, they're descriptive and detailled without sacrificing a comfortable meter and, perhaps most importantly, they're very accessible for native english speaking audiences to approach and interact with. I've annotated my Fagles' volumes of these books to heaven and back because I'm deeply interested in a lot of the translation decisions made, but I also have to specifically compliment his ability to capture nuance in the characters' of these poems in a way I don't often see. He managed to adapt the ambivalence of ancient greek morality in a way I scarcely see and that probably has a hand in why I keep coming back to his translations.

Now, I know this wasn't much of a direct recommendation but as I do not know you personally, dear anon, I can't much make a direct recommendation to a version that would best appeal to your style of reading. Ideally, I'd recommend that you read and enjoy all three! But, presuming that you are a normal person, I suggest picking which one is most applicable for you. I hope this helps! 🥰

[gregoftom]

TO ME, THAT’S CINEMA

[pencap]

Hi! I love your work, and it's wonderful to hear you might start writing poetry again. I hope it goes well, and please be kind on yourself ❤️

For the three words: silver, fall, power.

No pressure and feel free to ignore this entirely! I just wanted to tell you that it's great to see you around again.

Thank you for the kind words, love! It's wonderful to be back and be met with so much love. Please know that your support is infinitely encouraging and infinitely appreciated.

My darling, for you I wish to be silver like the full moon dancing on silent feet silver like the first sleepy snowfall of winter silver like constellations shimmering in a peaceful night. You deserve a soft-spoken silver as shining and carefree as bellchimes. But darling, all I know how to be is silver like a sniper's scope staring from the rooftop silver like spikes of hoarfrost glinting on barbed wire silver like starfall crashing down in a shattered sky. I am made to be a sharp-edged silver as powerful and deadly as bladesteel. I ache that I cannot be a lullaby singing you to sleep. I weep that I cannot be a flashlight in your darkest night. I mourn that I cannot be a diamond ring on your finger. But I will be the sentry standing guard at your doorstep. I will be the smooth tongue to lay your enemies bare. I will be the chainmail wrapped around your softest spots. And darling, perhaps if you are so very kind if the world is so very forgiving if my fate is so very lucky-- Then perhaps, my dearest darling, that can be enough.

[darabeatha]

 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐄𝐒:ㅤJason .

[plantdad-dante]

not to go completely off-topic insane about a trailer for a TV show I haven't watched in ages but you cannot just throw Gang Of Youths' Heroes cover at me like this. I click the fucking trailer and the violins come in and I'm like WAIT A MINUTE-

[transingthoseformers]

I imagine Ratchet first tries to deny that there's something wrong, but in the end, he can't deny it any longer. This is not the Optimus that he knows. Sometimes, this false Optimus looks at him, and his optics are colder than Optimus' ever was.

The other Autobots notice that there's something off as well, but try to explain it away with stress. The whole Orion Pax situation. They're unsettled, but the thought of there being something so off unsettles them even more.

But then the kids approach their guardians about Optimus acting odd, and they just can't deny it any longer.

So they confront him, but this Optimus, whoever he is because he's not Optimus, is still a Prime, and that means something. He manipulates them and soothes their fears because they want so badly for there to be nothing wrong. Ratchet isn't convinced, but he feels trapped. He needs to figure out a plan.

As for Megatron and Optimus? They've definitely figured each other out. In this scenario, I imagine they both wanted their foe but neither foe was interested. Too many bad memories, perhaps.

They totally consummate their relationship by interfacing on the site of a skirmish, covered in the energon of other mechs.

(... for extra angst have there be traces of *something* between baseline OP and Ratchet.)

Yepppppp

Ratty cares about him, they've been friends for so long, so naturally he's gonna make excuse after excuse... Even if he starts to notice said excuses are getting more and more unsound over time, as more little ooc moments occur. At some point the realization hits him like well a semi truck, whether it's after a particularly off event of seemingly out of the blue— eventually he figures out that that's not his friend, this is a mech who is a wolf in sheep's clothing.

I love how we keep emphasizing just how unsettling this situation is, I've talked before about how SG Optimus (and subsequent SG autobots) fascinate and unsettle me in such a specific way. The fact that you bring up the Orion Pax arc gives me a very fun timespan for this, and our possible opportunity for this to happen (after all, isn't Unicron one of the figures who are technically connected throughout the multiverse??)

It's amazing that it's the kids who notice this first. In the shows we see time and time again that it's the kids who are the most observant to the cybertronian shit, especially since here they've got this interesting POV like an inside/outside cat (honestly, I can see Raf making the connection first. Prove me wrong.)

Deny, deny, deny, Optimus. This version of SG Optimus sounds pretty machiavellian, and it makes this fun. I am internally giving just the best evil laugh ever. Makes sense that Ratty isn't buying it, but that he's also hit the point where he's afraid of this not-our-Optimus. This is one of those situations where he/we learn just why they use the word trapped.

Makes sense that both Megan has figured it out and that SG OP figured out that he figured it out. There's only so many times you can throw down on the battlefield before you realize your "nemesis"'s fighting style has changed and you've looked into his optics— the very windows to his soul and saw that that is not the same spark you've been dealing with for centuries. That those aren't the same blue eyes etched into your memory chip. Oh the mutually unrequited pining finally requited.

Look I didn't expect THAT to be how they finally did the do but it makes sense, both symbolically and the opportunity to do so

OWO YES. TEASED BASELINE OPIRATCH DEFINITELY DEFINITELY DEFINITELY.

[worstloki]

The most cursed thing about Loki getting with himself is the jokes I used to get over my ace/aro identity. He's accomplished ace/aro in canon but only in the abstract way you could write an ace person thinking the plant reproduction joke is comedy gold. The thought jump scared me in the middle of the night, he was green and stood like a beige tree in s1 and in s2 he's doing mitosis.

They saw how ace Loki was acting through the MCU movies and asked themselves “how can we exemplify this in the most toxic way possible” and then they did that

[chuchuscoolhat]

The the the joys of having an rp blog are sending asks with ur muses bothering someone else's

[onthepyre]

i keep seeing those posts about how friendships are not always sibling relationships but sometimes.......... they are

[decoysouled]

also to add onto the last post: while the mara would have warped his mind & likely driven him insane anyway, it is the fault of Jingliu that he has very few memories. In his character story, it references her killing him thousands of times and she asks "do you remember?" as if the aim was not necessarily to kill him, but to force him to forget everything, to replace anything good he could have clung to with memories of death & how much it hurt.

She later asks "do you remember now?", however she follows that up with the "remember this feeling of death and bring it to them", which I'm interpreting as she was asking after his memories before the deaths he experienced at her hand, as if asking if he recalls his life.

It's also nearly stated / heavily implied that he truly believes Dan Feng was an unkind person. In Blade's thoughts when looking at Dan Heng, he views him as Dan Feng and thinks of the following: that he showed no mercy to enemies, that he almost lead the Xianzhou to destruction and, most importantly, that it was Dan Feng who "single-handedly" buried the beloved, implying he blames Dan Feng for who he became / for killing Yingxing and creating Blade.

It's also pretty heavily implied that he only has fond memories of Baiheng and Jing Yuan. In his last character story, I interpret that as what he recalls of people, and he describes both Dan Feng and Jingliu in a very impersonal manner, almost as if he hardly knew them - which we know isn't true.

Specifically, Jingliu and Dan Feng are noted for their battle prowess, whereas Baiheng is mentioned to be laughing with the others and Jing Yuan is mentioned to be to have kept bickering with him. It's also implied Blade does not remember what his name used to be. Essentially I think that he has very few memories of Jingliu and Dan Feng, and that almost all of them are quite impersonal / any fond memories of friendship have been forgotten, likely as a coping mechanism to deal with the trauma of being murdered thousands of times by one and being made immortal and then (in his view) abandoned by the other.

and that is my essay i am in my blade feelings i apologise.

[unopenablebox]

ive decided to have a new autoblock criterion and it’s talking about a natural geological or biological process as though it in some way involves “an elder god”