#polites is too good for this world

[sassylovermongerbear]

Polites is one of my favourite characters of Epic, even if he barely is in it, cause he is such a genuine kind soul and loyal friend. He is a free spirit that see the good in the world even after years of war and he is trying to help Odysseus to relax and enjoy life after the war. He is his best friend and he does his best to make him happy.

He is so kindhearted that even in death he's still trying to tell his best friend to see the good in the world. In the underworld saga we hear him sing open arms even if it's in a sadder way than the upbeat version in the first saga. All while the rest of his men trash him and blames him for their death when his only fault was to give his name to the Cyclops.

Meanwhile the man that actually betrayed them all, including his captain that he dare called his brother, get to go blame free ? And then keep betraying them over and over, telling Odysseus to leave them behind on Circe's island and opening the bag with the storm cause he was greedy and wanted to get his hand on the supposed treasure. He didn't believe in Odysseus, not once, only listening to him when he got them out of the shit Eurylochus put them in. Even in the cave with the Cyclops Odysseus clearly had a plan but Eurylochus kept punching to ran away when Odysseus proved many time, especially during the war, that he was smart and could get them to win.

And I think Odysseus knew that. He knew that the only person he could actually trust was Polites and he tried to honour his memory by trusting others, by revealing his name to the Cyclops and letting them live. Because that's what Polites would have done, he would have spared the Cyclops. It was his way of remembering him. He tried to go keep an open mind all along but things just never works out cause while he trust his crew, they don't trust him back.

That's why in the underworld saga seeing Polites and his mom hit the hardest cause, while his other crew members blames him for their death, wrongfully so, he is already eaten by guilt, but those 2 don't blame him at all. Sure they are sad but they don't blame him. Which make it worst for him cause he realised that those person that believed in him completely still do even in death, but they are dead and that's the only time he'll be able to see thel again befire he dies himself and he cant even stop to talk to thel properly. Plus his mom being here just show him how long it actually has been since he left which feel far more than it actually been for him in that instant. Yet she still loves him and doesn't blame him, while the 599 other men he brought in war, he lead them and didn't let a single one of them die for 10 years, blames him for their death when he always did his very best to get everyone home safely.

Out of all the 600 men under his command only one was truly loyal to him even in death. Odysseus realised that in the underworld and I think that's what pushed him to turn into a "monster" and putting himself first after this because everyone blames him for everything when he just wanted to get home with all his soldiers.

Polites is my favourite characters cause even if he doesn't stay in the story for long his impact goes far beyond. At least in my opinion, that's just my interpretation of it

[problemnyatic]

"I think this Category of human being is disposable" okay that not only sucks and is fascist but also makes getting you to deem someone to be disposable a simple matter of convincing you they're in The Category regardless of the truth. Also The Category is often misapplied to a vulnerable minority because it makes people like you agree they're disposable.

"Anyone who disagrees with me about The Category of people being disposable is a Category apologist or probably also in The Category themselves" Oh so you're just totally unconcerned with truth or justice or ethics or human rights and just are feeding your bloodlust for the sake of revenge fantasies. got it 👍

[trammellesstangent]

You see I think they really fucked up by not giving that McDonald’s employee the money. If they had just given him the reward, it would’ve been encouragement for us to turn on each other, kick others down so we might get a leg up, to struggle another day in their system. Divide and conquer. But by not giving this person the sixty grand, (pennies to them), they have proven once and for all that betraying your class will not help you. They have proven that we have to unite to get anything done. Their greed brought them to the top, their greed let this desperation and anger fester, and their greed will be their downfall. I swear, I couldn’t write this shit better.

[corvus-frugilegus]

The way my heart drops every time I visit Minrathous after saving Treviso. The sorrow in Rook's voice, the destruction, the way the resistance has been so brutally dismantled. The absolute horror in the streets of dock town presented so matter of factly by the game. They don't need to put a spotlight on it or show us a cut scene of the brutality because it's everywhere. You're immersed in the sheer scale of violence every step you take in dock and hear so much about the atrocities in the ambient dialogue. Walking the streets of Venatori controlled Minrathous feels awful.

The very obvious rise of facism that has been simmering beneath the surface in the magisterium all along. The dragon gave the magisters a chance to throw off the veneer of civility and stop acting like finding a middle ground with dissenting voices was something that mattered to them. Finally, they had concentrated power to an extent that they could inact their vision for Tevinter out in the open. (Probably if it weren't for Elgarnan taking over, reclaiming Tevinter from the Venatori would have been a monumentally difficult task).

If this isn't an Excellent social commentary and reflection of the increasing polarity in Western Politics I don't know what is. The rise of hard right leaning leaders epousing a return to traditional values when really their priority is the interest of capital and the ruling class is exactly what the Venatori represent here.

A criticism I've seen of the games writing a few times now is that the problematic elements of each faction feel either defanged or glossed over. And while I don't disagree that there are definitely some deep tensions and polarities in each of the groups Rook works with, I don't necessarily think it's poor writing to not talk about them here. It's just not the scope of the game- and I think actually underscores a very real issue we have in real world organizing and progressive spaces. If the Crows refused to work with Rook because they work with the Wardens who happen to keep terrible secrets (and so on and so forth about every faction and their tensions with one another) the gods would never have been stopped. In the case of the gods the people representing these factions and Rook's comapnions all recognize that their common cause is more important than their disagreements. Not working together because the Veil Jumpers rightly have qualms about the Lord's of Fortune pilfering elven ruins only lets the gods win. Working with someone who see's the world differently is a tension everyone in the veilguard has to hold. And it's a tension real-world progressives / the left very often struggle to hold.

Realizing that the common cause is more important than individual differences is a very real theme in Veilguard.

[yarnyarnbinks]

alritghy, looking at politics is making me scared again, so it's time to round up some good news from here and around the world:

- same sex couples in thailand will be able to legally register their marriages on thursday, 01/21/2025 !

- 15 wolves were released into colorado to help reintroduce predators into the state (and presumably help restore the natural ecology of the area). YIPPEE !!

- similarly, efforts to revitalize the deer population in alaska are underway !

- thermal drone helps a family find their dog, who had been missing for 1 week

feel free to add more ♡♡

[vee-lociraptor]

hey i tend to isolate myself during times like this so i think it’s a good time to say prioritize doing something that makes you feel happy. if you can’t do that aim for something that makes you feel less like the world is ending. call your friends. make something. go for a walk. listen to music. there is good to be found in the world. there is hope even now but you’re going to have to look for it.

[evermoredeluxe]

.

[asgardian--angels]

things I wish I could relive for the first time again:

that magical window where you finish a new piece of media, having watched/read it all by yourself with no fandom contact whatsoever, and you are just so happy about it, and full of interesting theories and takeaways, and just in love with it as a gorgeous piece of art.

because I swear to god as soon as you join the fandom for anything, you're bombarded with how you're supposed to view characters and their arcs, how you're supposed to morally and ethically judge the plot and the ways it apparently failed to present the right message, and if you don't you'll either be shunned for not sharing the popular headcanons or you'll be harassed for not criticizing the source material enough.

like how is it that the fans of a piece of media are also the ones being the most negative about it? If I like a show or a movie or a book, well, I liked it. That's kind of the point. I'm actually not here to tear it apart and talk about how it didn't live up to standards other people had! I enjoyed it for what it was, and forcing myself to find negative things to say about it doesn't actually bring me more enjoyment of it or reap any benefit to me. Fandom's a double-edged sword; you want to join a community to share your love for a piece of art, and the price you pay for a modicum of joy is a mountain of negativity. that's one main reason that I never engage with fandom until I'm completely done with a show, because if I was plugged into all of that commentary and discourse during the process, I'd be completely colored by how I'm expected to interpret everything this piece of art is presenting to me without being able to even form my own opinions.

[theboredasexual]

im sure im not the only one to comment on this but

its the fact that Polites was the voice of good and hope on the ship, and rlly he was the leash that kept Odysseus as a prideful but relatively okay man. So his death symbolizes the beginning of Ody's regression arc in both literal and figurative ways - after he's gone, Ody can justify whatever if he tries hard enough.

[krow-of-the-void]

It really hurts to see how shame-based american culture is. If anyone was wondering, I don't capitalize the a in america because I don't respect capitalism :]

[the-casbah-way]

to me the most insane thing about the thick of it fandom is the fact that everyone seems convinced that malcolm tucker is a) some kind of untouchable sherlock holmes type genius and b) an all-round sweet caring guy who only ever does bad or dubious things for purely good or logical reasons. we are not watching the same show, it would seem

[unproduciblesmackdown]

winston my quant of billions

[uncanny-tranny]

Here's the thing about politics, and ultimately, the world: you are going to be biased, and you are going to have a limited understanding of others to an extent. The key is to not deny that this exists because you will be ignorant when you are biased and limited in your worldview.

Yes, absolutely listen to multiple voices and points of view and a variety of different types of people. But know that this isn't the same as erasing all biases and "self-centered" views. Strive to do better without denying that you are fallible.

[sciderman]

I’m sorry you’ve had to deal with so much Iranian hate and drama <:[

oh anon. hate to break it to you (a lot of people make this mistake) but iran and iraq are two entirely separate nations.

and also i think reducing it to the words "hate and drama" kind of doesn't cover it, anon.

[flickeringflame216]

the desire to remain in a small tumblr community vs the desire to go completely offline forever and ever

[the-arisen]

What's Violet's relationship with Boone like? :3c

WELL. it's good at the beginning until they get married, i think.

their friendship starts distant, and there's a lot of mutual respect going on there. she's not a chatty person, and he isn't as well so that works. violet trusts him, and she doesn't trust easily. but boone never gave her a reason to not trust her. as someone who has lost a fiancé who has once a ncr soldier and fought at the first battle of hoover dam, she can understand boone better than someone who isn't experienced with the ncr does. he also lost carla, and the grief is something that she also relates to. she KNOWS so well how much it can change someone to lose the light of their life, because she herself was affected by her fiancé's death. just like boone, violet is stoic during fnv, doesn't smile or laugh much. the bullets messed that further. the thing about being shot and waking up alive, was that she was disappointed. violet did expect to die, and to join her fiancé, her father she lost, probably her mom too. just like boone, violet thought she was being punished for all she has done, both driven by a duty that made them hurt other people.

violet warms up eventually, though. veronica, arcade, lily, all of those people make her smile a bit more often. she is comfortable with boone's presence, a rare thing. the only place she feels comfortable is at home, in new reno, or alone. when they start talking and opening up more, they see how much alike they are, and it builds that bond of trust not only in a fight but personally as well. boone starts to like her, notice her more, and she does the same, but that's still friendship. they did overtime started to have some lingering looks and touches on each other, some butterflies in their bellies, smiles over simple stuff the other did, but as long as both saw it: "hey! we're such good friends"

at his personal quest, she was brutally honest with him. he could improve, learn from everything that has happened, and just move on. but he also needed to accept that war never changes, and whether he killed those people or not, doesn't change that someone else would. she also suggested that he should drop his past as part of the ncr, in which he sorta did. boone listened to her because he respected violet, plus she wasn't rude about it. he could find his happiness elsewhere.

post fnv vegas is now the ncr's and violet took over the lucky 38 and securitrons (she's actually experienced with robots and pre-war stuff). so she expanded her family business and got responsible for the vegas branch. she offered the job for boone to work as her "bodyguard" and she'd pay him, more than he could ever make in the ncr.

idk i haven't elaborated much to how their relationship starts, but violet had something with the king🕺 beforehand. she obviously drops it to be with boone the moment she realizes that she's actually in love with him, not with dear king (not like it was a romantic relationship anyway! it was mostly intimate, maybe some dates. ummm. unlabeled.)

their marriage happened in 2282 too though lmao because i know those two had such a good amount of trust and companionship that they knew it was for life, as scary as it was after everything both had been through. they had three children across the years heh. two girls, one boy.

i think all is fine but like i said, violet tends to manipulate without realizing. boone has different values than she does, so i don't think the thought of "crime family" was something he'd embrace at first, with her being an underboss and all. but love is one hell of a thing. her view of her own family is beautiful when she speaks, and he could see the loyalty they had, the idea of not being so violent (publicly) and always caring for presenting themselves as respectable fellas. but her family ISN'T fully good, which naturally extends to her. she was a charmer, had that silver tongue, could do it without an effort. and it slipped through his mind.

so eventually he actually thought her fam wasn't that bad, and while he worked for her, violet took him to more tasks. she was making him a lieutenant of the family discreetly, and no, she didn't notice much. anyway so flaws come and she's very business focused, doesn't always have time for her children (though she's a loving mother). boone starts to see that she's ruthless when she had to be, the kind of business and deals she works with, that everything she does no matter how good it may seem does has a hidden intention. not the same woman in the wasteland because business is her main domain, and that's a different beast. violet is a woman who's DEEP into family legacy, family business, making it work. and she loses herself in it often. good thing he was around her almost all the time, though. but their marriage had much problems because of all of that, maybe he was a bit unhappy at times, but he loved her and their children a lot.

don't get me wrong, violet cares and loves for him, but that's how she is. flawed, difficult. she's capable of genuine love, genuine actions, and she does it, of course. she did it for him, for many others. but her mind is "this is good for family reputation" naturally at almost everything she does since she's a child, because that's something her family LIVES FOR. an honorable member of her family is good, and they must follow that one rule: be honorable and never disgrace the family.

violet always wanted to be like her father, and she grew up as his perfect girl, even if he died when she was a kid. i could even dare to say her parents marriage and her own are similar: father and daughter who work too hard in the name of making sure your family are well taken care of, have issues with their partner, and sometimes are bad parents. all in hopes they'll be fine in life when they die, but focus so much on the future that they about the present.

aside from all of that, still a lot of companionship, comfort, a love that endures despite how hard it may seem at times. i guess i haven't elaborated much as detailed as i do anything else but yeah. that's how their relationship is like ❤️