#so interesting so clever

[achillesisnotcomingdown]

Do you think that Diomedes (who lost his father when he was 4yo, and went to war to avenge him when he was 14yo) loves to listen to Odysseus talking about Telemachus?

Do you think that after Odysseus talks about the things that happened with Telemachus (that he refused to sleep unless his dad walked him by the beach. The time he almost choked on fishbones. That game they played where Ody pretended to be a tickle monster), Diomedes secretly imagines/pretends that Tydeus once did the same things with him?

(He knows it is very unlikely. Tydeus left when Diomedes was younger than Telemachus. And Dio doubts he was as much of a family man as Ody. But it feels good to pretend.)

And when they were saying goodbyes after the war ended, maybe he told Odysseus to get home quickly bc "Telemachus needs you", and Odysseus immediately knew no one knew the truth of this statement more than Diomedes.

[tsukasalover]

it’s kinda stupid to call rui “sassy” or say he was acting “mean” for simply doing what any person would do realistically after tsukasa humiliated nene in the main story. i swear this fandom has gone over this a thousand times and yet for some reason it’s still so hard for people to accept that tsukasa was being a self centered asshole. that’s not even exaggerating anything that’s just the truth.

btw (if im wrong correct me) but rui has never gotten angry at someone unreasonably he’s actually quite mature and doesn’t just?? explode over things so i dont know why him refusing to work with tsukasa even after nene forgave him is seen as a “mean” thing… let’s not forget he still believed tsukasa hadnt changed at all and only wanted to be in shows for selfish purposes. it’s not bad to admit that tsukasa is egotistical and has acted much more mean in unacceptable ways than rui + has had to own up to this and work hard to grow as a person over time

[willowbirds]

The immediate switch when Laudna tells Imogen that she loves her.

She falls back into herself, Delilah stops mimicking her, and her form of dread fades. She tells Imogen she loves her over and over and each time they get more desperate.

She did this for her, to keep her beloved safe, all she can do is give herself up, but the look of sadness and disappointment on Imogen’s face makes her panic.

The way Imogen hesitates sadly when responding to Laudna saying she’s more fun than scary. Laudna being scared and repeating her question with more desperation, praying that Imogen isn’t afraid of her.

“Do you still love me?”

“I’ll always love you. I just don’t know what to do with it.”

Laudna buried herself into Imogen’s hair, the pain and sadness Delilah put her through in that moment making her question if she is even worth Imogen’s love.

But she stays. Imogen stays and she holds her so tight. Never wanting to let her go.

[lorephobic]

literally nobody asked for it, but here's my list of saltburn essays that i've slowly been drafting over the course of the last week which WILL be required reading for anybody trying to engage with me about this movie. my very personal saltburn 101 syllabus just dropped

A Wolf in Deer's Clothing: Saltburn's Attempt at Innocence

an examination of party costumes and our character's last attempts to masquerade as something they're not: felix—an angel, all-forgiving and all-knowing, something to be worshiped; and oliver—a prey animal, prey to class-divide, prey to saltburn, prey to felix.

thoughts about oliver specifically are loosely organized in my #bambi tag

A Midsummer Night's Mare: Farleigh Start as the Ultimate Victim of Saltburn

a farleigh character study, about the ways he was mistreated and manipulated at saltburn, about fighting to stay alive and the scars left behind by knowing when to give in

alternatively titled "QuickStart", may be adapted into a conclusive essay specifically focusing on oliver and farleigh's relationship

The Eye of the Beholder: On Saltburn's Voyeurism & Violence [working title]

how wealth and class pushes the catton's toward the volatile reality of being able to look, but not touch. on desire and the lack thereof, and portraying yourself as an object to be desired

may end up as two separate essays on wealth and aestheticism but i'm pushing toward a conclusive essay about the intersection of the two, which i feel is at the heart of saltburn

alternatively titled "Poor Man's Pudding: A Melvillian Approach to Saltburn's Class", again, may be adapted into it's own essay

Gender-Fluid: A Study in Sexuality and Saltburn's Desire to be Dry

a deep dive into the bodily fluids of saltburn and how oliver upsets the standard of men who are just so lovely and dry. on the creative choice to lean into the messy wetness of sex and desire and the audience's instinct toward repulsion

a celebration of the grotesque and an examination of why we would label it as such

least developed of the four, heavily inspired by @charnelpit's lovely post about the fluids in saltburn

if anybody is actually interested in any of these, i can work toward something closer to a finished piece instead of just bullet points and quotes in a google doc, but mostly this is so i can share my very brief takes on a multitude of themes in saltburn that have been haunting me

edit for people seeing this in the future: all posts about my essays are being organized into my #saltburn 101 tag if you’re interested in following these through to development!

[iwantofall]

Rather than behaving like a robot trying to be human, can't you just master being a robot?

[hollowed-theory-hall]

I just finished going through Tales of Beedle the Bard and I have a few notes

First: There's a weird timeline discrepancy with the Tale of the Three Brothers as a whole and it bothers me

In Dumbledore's notes, he traces the first historical reference of the Elder Wand to Emeric the Evil:

The first well-documented mention of a wand made of elder that had particularly strong and dangerous powers was owned by Emeric, commonly called “the Evil”, a short-lived but exceptionally aggressive wizard who terrorised the South of England in the early Middle Ages

(Tales of Beedle the Bard, Dumbledore's notes on the Tale of the Three Brothers)

Now the period referred to as the "early Middle Ages" is between the 5th and 10th centuries. Way before Beedle wrote down the story (15th century).

We also know (thanks to irl history) that the name Peverell is one that arrived with the Normans to England, meaning the story of the three brothers could only have taken place after the Norman conquest in 1066, which usually isn't referred to as "early Middle Ages" and it's kind of odd to do so. So, someone has to be wrong here because Emeric couldn't have had the Elder Wand before it was made.

It's possible Dumbledore is referring to the 11th century as "early Middle Ages", which would make the timeline make more sense if we assume Emeric is the wizard mentioned to slit the oldest brother's throat to steal his wand in the story (possible, but doesn't sound like Dumbledore, so I consider this unlikely). It's also possible Emeric didn't have the Elder Wand at all, but a different powerful wand (also unlikely). Or that the Peverell brothers weren't the brothers in the story (even less likely). Or that the Peverell brothers arrived in South England before the conquest (possible, maybe, not super likely either).

I don't really have an answer for this discrepancy so I'd be happy if someone has an idea how this could make sense... (looking for a Watsonian explanation, not a Doylist one)

Second: Why are we all saying the Gaunts are descendants of Cadmus Peverell?

I mean, Marvolo says this:

but then realized that he was showing Ogden the ugly, black-stoned ring he was wearing on his middle finger, waving it before Ogden’s eyes. “See this? See this? Know what it is? Know where it came from? Centuries it’s been in our family, that’s how far back we go, and pure-blood all the way! Know how much I’ve been offered for this, with the Peverell coat of arms engraved on the stone?”

(HBP, Ch10)

From this we know two things:

The Deathly Hallows symbol was known as the Peverell Coat of Arms at one point in time, at least among UK purebloods. Which, makes sense with the same symbol being carved on Ignotus' grave.

The ring was in the Gaunt family for centuries, but that's hardly a clear timeline, neither does it indicate dependency, even though, it's what Marvolo is implying.

Now, why do I doubt the Gaunts are actually related to the Peverells? Well, I'm not. They might be distantly related since all purebloods are, but I think they might not be the descendants of the second brother. Why is that?

Simple, it's implied he died without children.

The tale of the three brothers literally says he asked for the stone to summon the girl he wished to marry who died before they married:

To his amazement and his delight, the figure of the girl he had once hoped to marry before her untimely death appeared at once before him.

(Tales of Beedle the Bard, the Tale of the Three Brothers)

Unless he fathered some child outside of marriage before (which I don't think is the case), then Cadmus died before he had any kids.

Now, the tale as we see it has some inaccuracies (such as Death being a character) for the sake of embellishment or due to time. After all, Beedle wrote the tale down in the 15th century and the story of the Peverells happened in the 1070s-ish or earlier. By the time Beedle wrote down the story it's been long enough that the story could've gotten corrupted. Also, Beedle seems to take some creative liberties in his stories even if there is likely some truth to all of them (like in Babbity Rabbity). But I feel like the creative liberties had more to do with Death giving them the items and less to do with the fate of each brother, considering he was correct about the cloak and how it passed from father to son and the violent transfer of the Elder Wand. Like, why would he be wrong just about the second brother?

I mean, all we know is that the Gaunts had the stone for a few centuries and were clearly unaware of its actual power and purpose and we have the implication from the tale that Cadmus had no children. So, why are we assuming Marvolo is correct about being a descendant of the Peverells from a millennia ago?

It's possible a Gaunt received the ring from Cadmus, or that they are descendants of an unnamed Peverell sister, but I don't think they really do descend from Cadmus himself. Like, the tale mentions him killing himself to be with the girl he wanted to marry, idk, to me, this implies he didn't have kids, so I feel this assumption (which was confirmed by JKR) is kinda weird.

Anyone else was bothered by this or is it just me overthinking things?

[takaraphoenix]

Just rewatched 02x08 Raving and it is truly so unhinged of the writers to set up magic!Stiles and not pull through with it.

I mean, they really did set that up, that's not something delusional fans fully made up themselves, they had the damn druid be extra cryptic and make it sound like only Stiles could do this and use such weirdly phrased advise that really makes your alarm bells ring and then they have Stiles run out of mountain ash with a significant way to go and give himself a pep talk about belief and imagination and he confidently strides along while producing mountain ash out of thin air.

He had no mountain ash anymore. It's not even that he still had some left but not enough and he believed that it would last and the container just never ran out - that would somehow still feel different.

No, the writers chose to have him fully run out of mountain ash and magically produce it in his hands, not even in the bag that had carried the original mountain ash. He just magically makes mountain ash appear.

And when he has to break the circle to let Derek in to save Scott it is a near magical gust of wind that breaks the circle, like again Stiles willed it to break.

None of this is random. None of this is just easily explained with something rooted in the plot. The only explanation the writers leave you with is magic.

And then they never bring it up again and never let Stiles perform magic again and how do you do that. How do you introduce something so tantalizing in such an obvious manner and then just forget that you set that up and never pull through with it.

[lemongogo]

ok yeah u were right i really like mithrun

[tanasha-not-yet]

Idk if you like making ocs but you should definitely make mermaid ocs with your favourite fish/aquatic critters >:]

been thinking about this ask for a while now. damn i fucking should

and then i remembered that i actually tried it in november but i randomly started hating them so i never made more ToT

theyre all weirdly crooked but i really love them

especially him holy fuck i was cooking

famili <3

[ranchstoryblog]

Beyond the Farm: A Dramatic Martial Arts Detective Life Sim?

Long, long ago; in the year 1999, the term "life sim" wasn't used as often or understood as well as it is today. Boku no Natsuyasumi wouldn't release for another year, Animal Crossing was two years away, and reviewers were struggling to determine what a game like Harvest Moon 64 was. Often, instead of putting it alongside simulation games, choosing to place it among RPGs instead.

At this time, one of the biggest game developers in the industry had everything to prove for their next generation console. One of their most legendary creators was putting together something that could influence the entire gaming landscape, building systems modern games would take for granted from scratch. A game that sought to simulate real life as closely as possible.

Positing itself as an epic kung fu saga, most of Shenmue's promotional material focuses on action and adventure that happened to have an impressive world to explore. Upon release, players would quickly find it was almost the exact opposite. A world to live in, one day at a time, with a kung fu adventure somewhere in the backdrop. So, 25 years later, let's look at it through the lens of a life sim.

Living in Shenmue

Though the game opens with a dramatic set-up, your father murdered before your eyes by a mysterious man belonging to a foreign crime organization for reasons unknown, the first gameplay element introduced to you isn't how to throw a punch or a kick. Instead, upon exiting your home for the first time, you encounter a little girl taking care of an orphan kitten, and being pretty ill-prepared for it.

If the player chooses to visit this kitten every single day, using their small 500 yen daily allowance on cat food instead of toys, video games, or candy, they can watch the kitten recover over the next few weeks. Starting from barely being able to stand or eat, shivering in a cardboard box, to eventually exploring freely and climbing to the top of the nearby shrine, triumphant over its adversity.

This entirely optional side-quest is more or less an introduction to one of the main ways to play the game. While following your trail of clues to find your father's killer is one thing, establishing a daily routine that helps work towards tangible goals or experience new things is just as important. Some of these activities improve the protagonist's skills, like practicing martial arts in an empty lot to level-up and evolve moves, while others will challenge the player's skill, like getting good at motorcycle racing game "Hang On" so that a later challenge where you're driving a real motorcycle is a bit easier.

Contemporary games in the simulation genre tended to saddle you with a routine-focused task from the outset, such as a business to run or a field to plow, so it was certainly novel to simply be a jobless teenager trying to find a way to fill your days as seemingly every new step in your main goal required you to wait for someone else before moving forward.

Shenmue's Inhabitants

Of course, it's not just the player involving themselves with a daily routine. Hundreds of NPCs populate the world, each one with distinct personalities, backstories, and full voice-over. If you want, you can follow someone leaving their home in the morning, watch them open their store, walk in, examine every little thing on their shelves, and then pester them all day with questions about if any local gangsters with tattoos have stopped by their antique china shop lately.

On the rare occasions where you don't have any leads to follow, you can actually get to hear more about what they're thinking about. Some of them are familiar with the protagonist and ask how he's doing, or even visit him at home if they're worried, and others will just let you in on their personal life, like relationship troubles. Maybe try to teach you some Italian. If you forget to say hi while exploring town, maybe pick up the phone and call them in the evening.

Unfortunately, it's somewhat rare to get much insight in-game. Perhaps due to the technological hurdles of having everyone voiced and simply not having enough room for that many unique sound files, but the initial release of the game did also come with an online enabled companion disc called "Shenmue Passport." In it, every character in the game, including the dogs and cats, has a bio that includes a paragraph or two about their lives and various stats like birth dates and blood type. Though the feature has gone offline since then, fans have recreated it with a mobile app called "Suka Pass."

The Nature of Shenmue

While most of Shenmue's gameplay occurs in urban environments, plenty of attention was given to the nature the player experiences as well. When it rains, mud and puddles form; when it snows, you can hear it crunching beneath your feet, and tire tracks line the streets. Though you can easily complete the game before the end of December, ignoring the story until as far as April lets you experience the world turning greener, cherry blossoms blooming, and dandelions sprouting up. For some extra verisimilitude, you can even use the real life weather data from 1986/1987 Yokosuka to have the in-game weather match. Pretty impressive stuff for 1999.

However, one of the most memorable moments in the series comes from the end of Shenmue 2. On the fourth disc of the game, where one might normally expect there to be grand spectacle, action, or conquest, there's something else entirely: A chance encounter where you meet someone who's going the same way you're going, followed by a two-day walk and talk where you get to know one another. There are no wolves chasing you, dangerous decisions to make, or villains with chainsaws. There are, however, some colza blossoms that just bloomed. You have to take a detour to see them, but doesn't it sound nice? Why not, since we're here.

More than any action scene, sprawling city street, or technological advancement for the medium, this is the moment that defines what Shenmue is. A mundane world that exists all around you, and feels like it could go on forever if you suspend your disbelief for just a moment. If there's one thing I think any life sim should try to replicate from Shenmue, it's this. The grandeur of this slow walk through the woods where you get to ask a stranger dozens of questions, and answer dozens in return. The more common "two minute event where you can pick the good choice or the bad choice" can't compare.

Only 3.6% of you asked for more posts about life sims that aren't Story of Seasons, but I didn't want to leave those of you who wanted it out to dry. I might still do another one at some point, something more "typical" like Fields of Mistria, but I hope this was interesting for you. While it wasn't one of the more popular requests, and it requires a lot more work than a meme, or just more of the same, it's worth doing so long as someone enjoys it.

[aulostheremin]

I lost my mind when I saw they included the scene wukong after killing six eared macaque. they even showed the giant golden alms bowl the Buddha used to trap macaque.

[jaronofthebored]

I've seen a lot of people don't like "franmaya sets up narumitsu" so I raise you

franmaya sets up faraskye, then faraskye sets up narumitsu

or alternatively, for maximum chaos, WHILE. But then the head chef at the fancy restaurant gets murdered and they have to investigate together while not giving away the plan. "It was all a set-up!" gets said twice in very different contexts

[yuseirra]

These gods basically feel like the beauty and the beast of Japanese mythology. Today, I even read a translated excerpt from Kojiki that mentions the two. Here's another summary of that lore as well

Sarutahiko is the god of Michihiraki, which literally means "Opening a path." He's supposed to lead everything in the best direction. Interesting, huh? But apparently, he has a very intimidating exterior, so only his to-be-wife, Ame-no-Uzume, was fearless enough to approach him at first. She seems to have found a liking for him immediately and charmed him into marrying her.

We have descriptions like: "Ame no Uzume, the deity of performing arts, charms Sarutahiko with her bright smiles into opening his heart."

it's very cute.

[sunnysideaeggs]

If Rhaenyra married Daemon while Laenor was still alive and gave birth to Aegon and viserys, wouldn’t they be bastards too?

And if they are then Daenerys’ line shouldn’t technically inherit the throne. The next legitimate heir would have been Rhaena’s or Baela’s children but nobody knew

exactly anon, the show wanted to avoid the ‘bury your gays’ trope, but accidentally made bastards of all of rhaenyra’s children. or they could be legitimate: my personal pet theory is that the little rowboat that laenor escaped in was unfortunately ambushed by a mercenary ship, courtesy of daemon.

daenerys shouldn’t inherit the throne because the kingdom was rightfully conquered by robert, so she doesn’t have a claim to the IT by succession anymore. the targaryen line was replaced by the baratheon line. if we go by ‘lawful’ inheritance the rightful king is stannis and his heir is shireen, but again, the throne was (kinda) conquered by the lannisters, so now the baratheon line was replaced by the lannister line.

daenerys can win the 7K by conquest, and the ‘rightful heir’ thingy will only be a way to make her reign be accepted more easily. one big thing in asoiaf is that no one has an inherent right to the throne, and often the kingdom is gained by bigger army diplomacy. robert admitted it: he came and won the war, now he’s king. maesters brought up his grandmother rhaelle as a way to give him more legitimacy, but what could they do really? try and get him out of the throne and start another war?

if daenerys wins her conquest war the lords will make many excuses about her being ‘the rightful queen’ because she’s the last targaryen, but the truth is that no one can keep her from taking the throne even if she wasn’t. until another dude pops up and takes the throne from her and arguments about this new person being the rightful heir if we go by this tradition or blah blah come up again.

[skitskatdacat63]

His bullfighting days aren't over quite yet.

+

[thesaintofnevergettingitright]

Sometimes you just gotta shamelessly project on your parasocial best friends, ya know?