#this is also their historical age difference btw

[notso-daily-six-writing]

Future au

Mary (16): *trying to annoy Anne* hey Anne, how old is your girlfriend?

Anne (26) : like, 42. Why?

Mary: Damn. She’s so old she could be my mom.

Anne:*drags Lina out* that’s because she is your mom.

Mary: MOM?!

(For legal reasons, they have only been dating for a year. For my safety purposes, this is a joke. Please don’t kill me)

[enlitment]

i am curious about robespierre and camille and “doomed by the narrative”, if you are free i would love to learn some more about them since i only have basic frev knowledge!

- @iron--and--blood

Thank you so much for the ask! ✨

The short version is that they started off as school friends and got separated for a couple of years after finishing their studies. Then the revolution started in 1789 and brought them together again by uniting them in their shared goal, only to completely tear them apart in 1794. And by ‘completely tear them apart’, I mean that Robespierre was one of the people who signed the decree for Camille’s arrest which led to his execution in 1794. Talk about star-crossed…

The answer would not have been possible without this great article by @anothehumaninthisworld btw! Definitely go read it if you haven’t already and are craving more information.

Both Camille Desmoulins and Maximilien Robespierre studied at Lous-le-Grand, the former Jesuit school, in Paris. Camille was 2 years younger than Maximilien, but they definitely knew each other, and there is a strong suggestion that they were friends back then. Later, Robespierre calls Camille his ‘study companion’, ‘college comrade’ and (and this will be important later, so just put a pin in that) ‘a talented young man without mature judgement’. Their favourite topic to discuss with each other was apparently the Roman Republic - because of course it was. I also like to imagine they bonded over their enthusiasm for classical authors!

Although two years is not that much of an age difference, a lot of people (including Przybyszewska, who takes it to the max) picked up on the fact that their dynamic was kind of like this:

picture by @did-slid-skid (hope it’s okay to share it, if not then I’ll take it down. Give it a like here!)

…and it sort of continued to be like that until the bitter end, but let’s not get ahead too much.

Once the revolution kicked off and Camille started publishing his first newspaper, he seems to have tried to capitalise on the fact that he knew Robespierre,whose political career at that time was already gaining significant traction (in a bit of ‘I’m so proud of my famous talented friend! Just look at Robespierre! And have I mentioned he is *my* friend?!’ kind of way). At this point, Camille might have had an incentive to exaggerate their closeness a bit to help his own journalistic career.

But I think it’s fair to say their relationship became closer once again sometime during 1790 since Robespierre was not only a witness at Camille’s wedding to Lucile, but he also became a godfather to Camille’s and Lucile’s son Horace, according to some sources. And if not a godfather, then definitely at least an occasional babysitter.

Also not super relevant from a historical perspective but the wedding scene in La Revolution Francaise is very cute, despite the film's many issues:

Then, around late 1793 and the first half of 1794, things got really messy. I mean, they were always really complex of course, it was the revolution and fractions kept forming and falling in quite a rapid succession. I mean messy specifically in regards to Camille. To put something really complicated as simply as possible, Camille started to be associated with the Indudgents/Dantonists - a name coined for the political fraction which included figures like Georges Danton and Fabre d'Églantine, who was involved in a massive corruption scandal.

Around that time, Camille also started publishing a newspaper – La Vieux Cordellier – which criticised the actions of the Committees and as such, came to be seen as something that was actively undermining the authority and the efforts of the revolutionary government.

There was quite a heated public exchange between Camille and Robespierre in January 1794 at the Jacobin Club. It also marks one of the greatest instances of what I like to call ‘using Rousseau as a weapon”.

Basically, Robespierre ordered Camille to destroy the copies of his journal, to which Camille replied by quoting Rousseau and saying "to burn is not to answer." It's important to know that Rousseau was *the* hero of Robespierre - a fact of which Camille was fully aware - so this was meant to cut deep. It must have stung!

Robespierre then replied “Learn, Camille, that if you were not Camille, one could not have so much indulgence for you”. This to me really illustrates the nature of their relationship at this point in time.

I am not sure how much of this is actually historically accurate and how much is my view based on the interpretations of their relationship in the media, but the sense I get is that Robespierre was quite protective of Camille until he felt like he had no choice but to move against him.

Despite the small age difference, there seemed to have been kind of an older, wiser person in a protective role/younger man led astray (or, if you want to go the Przybyszewka's route, acting like a brat) dynamic. Robespierre is quoted referring to Camille as a ‘spoilt child’. I mean, Camille might have been one of the first people to be called enfant terrible (I swear I saw it somewhere and did not hallucinate it, right?), despite being a man in his 30s.

Camille's whole vibe is somehow 30+ going on 14. Like that's pretty much a historical canon.

But then, in one way or another, the situation reached a point where for Robespierre, the importance of preserving the revolutionary cause outweighed the importance of friendship with Camille - his old college comrade. (DOOMED BY THE NARRATIVE!)

In March 1794, Robespierre, as a member of the Committee of Public Safety, was among the people who signed Camille’s arrest warrant and thus, with a stroke of a pen, sealed his fate.

blood and ink parallel etc etc you get it ~

According to Robespierre’s sister, Charlotte, Maximilien tried to visit his friend in prison. I'm including a longer version of the quote because it is fascinating! Przybyszewska includes this supposed event in her play, The Danton case. It is also something which I may or may not have capitalised on in my own writing. Ahem.

"all I know is that my brother had much love for Camille Desmoulins, with whom he had studied, and that when he learned of his arrest and his incarceration in the Luxembourg he went to that prison in the intention of imploring Camille to return to the true revolutionary principles he had abandoned to ally himself with the aristocrats. Camille did not want to see him; and my brother, who would probably have defended and perhaps saved him, abandoned him to the terrible justice of the Revolutionary Tribunal."

An important question though is whether we can trust Charlotte as a source here… (most likely no?) If it were true though, it just screams doomed by the narrative (and own hubris?) to me.

Lucile Desmoulins, Camille’s wife, meanwhile tried to plea for Camille’s release by writing to Robespierre and trying to remind him of his and Camille’s friendship:

Have you forgotten these ties which Camille can never remember without tenderness? You who prayed for out union, who took our hands into yours, you who have smiled at my son and whom his infantile hands have caressed so many times (…) Even if he (…) hadn’t been as attached to the republic, I figure his attachment to you would have functioned as a substitute for patriotism, and you think that for this we deserve death?

(I’m not crying you’re crying)

Lucile’s letter, however, did not help to change Robespierre’s mind and overturn the decision. On 16 Germinal Year II (5th of April 1794), Camille Desmoulins was executed, along with other Dantonists.

Just one more line that always makes me sad, to really rub it in as a special treat – from Camille’s letter to his wife from prison:

“I have dreamed of a Republic such as all the world would have adored. I could never have believed that men could be so ferocious and so unjust.”

Or, as @anotherhumaninthisworld aptly puts it in the tags, Camille and Maximilien’s relationship essentially boils down to this:

(Really funny, but ouch.)

Their relationship also features prominently in the works by S. Przybyszewska, an early 20th century Polish playwright who very much picks up on the potentially queer vibes of Camile's and Maximilien's dynamic and just runs with it. She's much loved by the French Revolution Tumblr fandom for writing what is essentially a beautiful extremely angsty historical RPF in the 1920s.

[thepunkmuppet]

thinking about an alternate season 7 wherein instead of every potential slayer being hunted and then activated, every past slayer gets brought back to life. I don’t really like post-chosen content anyway, but when I do read / look at it the whole slayer academy, everyone’s a slayer thing is really stupid to me ngl 💀

previous slayers, though… nikki wood and xin rong interacting with spike, actually finding out about the slayer before buffy, slayers with different backgrounds and situations and personalities, KENDRA?! I just love it so much.

you’d be able to focus on a relatively small cast of slayers, much like the potentials, throughout the season. this would include buffy, faith, kendra, nikki, and some other american slayers from varying time periods with a couple interesting international characters too (maybe a slayer from ancient greece / rome / egypt, or an anglo-saxon one or something). these are all experienced slayers, so no need to focus on training - it would be more about lore, history and their personal character journeys, assimilating them into society (creating some fun bottle episodes, maybe a day out on the town with dawn and a historical slayer) and trying to figure out why they were all brought back. also, if you want to keep the first as the main villain, then it can look like any one of them because they’re all technically dead, which means you can still have that episode with the dead potential revealing herself as the first and all the mistrust that’s threaded throughout the season.

plus with nikki back, there would be no need for the stupid sleeper agent thing with spike or the ridiculous fight between him and robin. all the same ideas (and the flashbacks to spike’s mum) could still be explored, and in a way better way imo.

I reckon the reason they were brought back would probably be the powers that be (tying nicely into angel ofc) trying to defeat the first. and of course the ending would be this huge battle, as all the slayers from around the world come to sunnydale, and maybe to add some drama they would all disappear and die again when the battle’s done as they have fulfilled their purpose (a classic finale knife to the heart that would have everyone sobbing, especially over nikki and kendra).

there’s also the added thing of like,, I appreciate the show was leaning towards a theme of “hope for the future” with the potentials angle, but literally every other aspect of the season is about harkening back to the past. faith, robin, the first taking the form of previous characters, the high school, the slayer origins, etc etc. so I just think this idea would work so much better with the themes of the season, and tie in really nicely.

and the most obvious perk of this concept is kendra! she was forgotten about so quickly, and this season would really give the writers a chance to redeem themselves for the terrible way poc characters have been treated throughout the show (ignoring what they did to robin. FUCK that but that’s another conversation). I think the show really downplayed how much kendra’s death would have affected buffy, and seeing the two of them interact after buffy has changed so much and kendra’s still the same would be amazing. there’s also the interesting concept that, having been brought back from the dead, kendra still be 17, and therefore closer in age to dawn than to buffy, which could make for some really nice interactions between the two of them. also of course the biggest most exciting thing is having buffy, faith and kendra all interact. they all represent places on a spectrum in terms of personality, and I would LOVE to see kendra and faith interact and how much of a unit they would likely become as a trio.

there’s also the theme of buffy feeling (and being) alone in this season that would hopefully go away, as she would now have dozens of people who truly understand her, giving her a proper support system which I would love to see (season 7 scoobies can actually eat shit btw <3)

so. was this born out of my hatred for insufferable kennedy and the annoying potentials? yes absolutely. do I now want them to rewrite and re-film the entire last season 20 years later? yes absolutely I’m so glad you understand

side note wouldn’t it be sick if in the final battle there’s just this one slo-mo shot where buffy stakes a vamp and through the dust she sees the first slayer looking at her from across the battlefield before she disappears amongst the fight. WHAT it would literally be awesome hello?!

also also other side note sorry but Mother(TM) nikki wood would NEVER kick buffy out of her own house. fuck them kids fr

[myredrainbow]

Alastor with a Alice Angel S/O

I couldn’t help myself with this idea!! It’s just aaaaa- ok I’m only doing the Alice Angel based off her as in the cartoons not the actual game & also based off Betty Boop too. Btw this is taking place in the Cannibal Colony since that’s there time period in their town is based off !!!!

This idea came from @screaminhysteria so ty!!!!! Ahhhh-

One more thing - this works perfectly time period 1920’s-1940’s. Ah yes the golden age of animation & the roaring 20’s!!

Let the historical accuracy begin!!!

~~~

~As Alastor’s S/o you too tend to be seen in speakeasy’s or jazz clubs! Your voice beautiful & he’s radio host skills- plus so piano playing on the side.. most would say-“Golly! What a duo!”

~The first time you too met it was during one of your performances at a speakeasy, fine jazz playing and swing jamming. Walking into the room was an incredible atmosphere for him, since he loved the thrill of others.

~Singing in the center was you, others dancing at your voice. Others singing along as you sang, you were at your happiest moment ever.

~Alastor watching from his seat, staring at you. Your smile, your charm, the way you sway softly to the beat the music.

~Curiously, Alastor decided to take a shot and ask you to dance a swing with him. Breathing in sharply he made his way to the floor and towards the stage. You were about to continue singing but heard a soft-

~ “Hello! My dear, care for a dance?” You took his hand and joined him.. the rest was history!

~ As a S/o of Alastor, you are well protected from others. Especially when it comes to rowdy patrons in the speakeasy’s & Clubs, he will be secretly be scouting that Parton and “chatting” with him in a nearby dark ally ….

~ You on the other hand are very kind and giddy towards Alastor but in front of others, you make sure to let everyone know that your taken by someone special. Making sure to swat away hands from touching you while you’re singing..

~When you enter at speakeasy your always dress to perfection, the finest black attire. Sometimes you sometimes wear a beautiful deer fur scarf around the back of your arms, of course the fur from Alastor.

~Alastor loves your dressing attire, but he dose have to fend off unwanted attention from you when it comes to wearing more “flashy” attire. Most those that show a lot more skin than usual, but he tends so see you in awe starring at him when he “deals” with those who don’t understand the concept of “personal space”.

~At his radio show broadcast, he will always praise you on the radio and telling his listeners about your singing skills are beautiful. Sometimes you will receive letters from your mail of people asking you to perform at their business. With pay of course..

~Although he adores telling others of you but he dose tell his listeners that he must warn them that you are in a loving relationship and he will not tolerate those who want to interfere with your love life..

~What a gentleman!~

~ Sometimes you two will stay up late and slow dance to the radio, ( like a nice song will be “All the things you are by Dizzy Gillespie). You will be holding his hand while you have a hand on his shoulder, his grin- well unchanged but sweet. He hand on your hips & his head close to yours..

~ As an Half Angel, you do tend to view things differently from Alastor but you’d learned to be fine with it.. like for example, cannibalism. Yes you live in the Cannibal Colony but you aren’t a cannibal yourself, your just very good friends with the head of the colony, Rosie.

~She doesn’t mind the fact your aren’t cannibal but she just adores you as much as Alastor . As a friend of course!

~ Alastor is happy that you and Rosie are great friends, sometimes you too will go on outings around the town. Alastor trusts Rosie around you, even though you are half angel.

~ Alastor and you go on so many dates, at least three times a week. He’s always a gentleman, holding the door for you, pushing your chair in, complimenting you, insisting on paying for the both of you. What a man..

~ You know Husker & Niffty,- of course!. You & Niffty tend to go shopping for clothing together since you both have certain tastes in clothing, which makes the trip more enjoyable! She would give you her opinions on what outfits to wear for your performances!

~And you will tell her what shade of pink will suite her the best and occasionally have to calm her down when she see a male walking around.

~Husker has to push his manners button for you, because you are Alastor’s one & only so he doesn’t want to get hurt by him. He dose know what types of drinks you like.

~But you don’t necessarily drink a lot so he has fruity alternatives like, an strawberry lemonade, sparkling cider or a sherry temple - with extra cherries please!

~He dose like your company too, you will tell him about the bars that have a lot of gambling there and sometimes will tell him to go have fun while Alastor is in a good mood.

~You do tend to visit Alastor at his little pet project- The Hazbin Hotel, of course! You don’t want to redeem yourself but you’re supporting your love, no matter what.

~But when you meet the princess of hell, Charlie. You both question each other, another half angel half demon?. Do you know each other? But Alastor just just hummed sweetly to you, not to “worry about what you are! It will ruin your sweet charms”.

~ You would leave him lunch, usually containing deer meat and sweet honey beignets. The beignets homemade of course, since he’s from New Orleans.

~ When it comes to, killing other demons or demons selling their souls to Alastor your not bothered by it. You would most of the time just stare at the demon/sinner in quietness. But if they rubbed Alastor the wrong way, well you won’t show mercy to them either. “Please! Make him stop! I’m begging you! Sweet Angel!”

~Walking up to them, gently lifting their head up as their body- mangled.. you would smile sweetly, “ Sweet, demon.. how I pity you as an Angel. But for disturbing my Alastor.. I’m afraid you must die now..”

~And with a snap of his fingers, the demon is no more as you grin. Placing a soft peck on his cheek, his grin growing larger.

~ “ Now my dear, how bout a dance?” He cheers as he wrapped his hand around your waist, “I’d love too!”

~~~~~~

Aaaaaaa-! That’s the end!!! I hope you like it!! I personally love it I think it’s very cute!! Part 2 of Lucifer vs Alastor will be done by tomorrow!! And I can not wait for the last two episodes of Hazbin Hotel!!!!

~myredrainbow

[fairfoxie]

Do I think that Faekin are capable of committing cultural appropriation? Yes.

Have I seen examples of Faekin committing cultural appropriation? Yes.

Do I think Faekin as a concept is inherently culturally appropriative? No.

Faery once meant a very particular thing to a very particular group of people. So did werewolves. So did vampires. And so on. Just across national borders there were slightly different, sometimes contradicting, versions of what Faery meant, told through stories and cultural practices.

Over time, stories were spread from nation to nation. They were adapted, edited, adulterated, and yes, appropriated. People, naturally, are influenced by stories, and they contribute a verse to the narrative. History has always been word-of-mouth; there have been thousands of years before internet or even literacy where stories were told, learned, and adapted by people. We would have had to be there to fully understand. We now only have the word-of-mouth of whoever wrote down what they heard from others. Even then, some stories fail to be fully translated.

In the hundred-or-so years we have had computers, storytelling has continued. We can now adapt stories so much faster than ever before. And with access to so many versions of the same stories, the definition of any one entity gets wider. Faery/Fae now holds many meanings to many different people. It includes the historically accurate depictions, beliefs, and practices of its origins. But it also encompasses archetypes, art movements, radical political movements and counterculture, works of fiction (which still count as cultural stories btw), and it also influences the way people see themselves and others. To fully understand what I mean, I seriously encourage you to read Hannah Lafleur's thesis paper: THE SOUNDS OF FAIRY CULTURE: MUSIC, FANTASY LIFESTYLES, AND ACTIVISM IN THE DIGITAL AGE. She pretty much does all the work for me in laying out how people both historically and contemporarily connect with the cultural narrative of the Fae.

As for Faekin, I simply do not think it is at all problematic to have a multifaceted understanding of what Fae means, nor to have an understanding that includes one's self. I do think that to truly understand the anthropology of Fae you have to examine both the past and the present. Of course I don't want Otherkin taking uninformed stances about other people's cultures, nor do I want people who don't fully understand Otherkin to decide how we should see ourselves. Both are unfair.

All this being said, you are still free to disagree with me, to have grievances with our community, to avoid people like me who take a rather freedom-of-expression or live-and-let-live stance. I will simply continue to be a safe space for myself and others, and I will continue not to condone shaming others for the way they express themselves. I understand that everyone is in a neverending process of learning.

And that is ultimately what I do, and what I encourage others to do. Keep learning. Think critically, form an opinion, express it. Just keep learning.

[olderthannetfic]

https://www.tumblr.com/olderthannetfic/763020843916918784/should-incest-be-made-a-major-warning-on-ao3?source=share

tbh, I think it's annoying when people even tag "incest" if it's obvious from even a basic understanding of canon and it's not relevant to the particular story. the same as when people do that with "age difference" where it's like, anyone who has seen even an episode of this show knows these characters are 15 years apart. come on. it just feels very performative to me, like "look, antis, I acknowledge that it's wrong!" and I'm sure some people are just trying to cover their bases but I have seen a lot of individual people where based on what else they say, that does seem to be what's going on. btw, I didn't say just don't tag if it's canon at all - for instance, I'm in a song of ice and fire fandom and so i tend to tag incest for canonically incestuous ships if it's like one of the "historical" lore character relationships where people who are only into the core books or the game of thrones show might know that just because they have the same last name (since that's often also done for non-incestuous married couples). but like if it's cersei/jaime and it's in the background or something and their incest isn't mentioned, i don't see what the point is? "background cersei/jaime" IS the trigger warning!

--

[nic0-r0bs]

I am writing my 7DS fanfiction about the other Arthurian knights and legends.

But since I have to tie it up with NNT, I am re-writing some of the canon scenes. And since it got me thinking, I've decided to change a thing or two:

CHARACTERS

- Meliodas won't be groping Elizabeth every other second because SHE IS A MINOR AND HE'S KNOWN HER SINCE SHE WAS A CHILD, I DON'T CARE IF THEY'VE MET IN A HUNDRED LIVES, IT'S GROSS. I will have him respectfully keep distance, looking at her with love more than lust, partly because he doesn't want Elizabeth to get her memories back so soon by falling in love with him. When she will get her memories back, he'll be touchy as he wants (which is, a lot).

- He'll look a bit older too. I understand that he was supposed to represent the usual shonen teenage protagonist, but I don't see the issue, actually. He'll still be a short king, of course, because we need short kings.

- Diane won't be portrayed as a 15-year-old girl mentally. Just… no. She's 1500 Years and a mercenary, I refuse to have her behave like a child (and then having seven children). Her crush on Meliodas will be more mature, too.

- Elaine will look a bit older. I mean, like Meliodas, short people who look younger exist and are totally valid, but she's p3do bait and just… no.

- Mael will be central because I find that his character arc had SO MUCH MORE potential but they kinda just... forgot him? But it would have been so interesting to see him dealing with PTSD and paranoia, not knowing if what he sees and experiences is real or not, and all the moral dilemma lf finding out that he's been raised to be a weapon but everything he believed in was a lie. Also he never truly wanted to fight and k1ll, but then he committed atrocities while being Estarossa and... I don't know, I think it would have been great seeing him having a proper development and healing. Because I fell in love with 7DS because everyone there is a sinner, everyone is evil somehow, everyone committed something terrible (with the only exception of Howzer), but we learn to love and root for those characters because they're complex... Or at least used to be.

- Also it would be nice to explore Gowther gender identity and expression and make it more complex, wouldn't it?

WORLDBUILDING

- Since all my OCs are described wearing things that would be common in the VI century (around Arthurian period, "historically" speaking) (btw, I've had fun seeing what Celts were wearing during that time… Women were fighters and would also wear trousers), or, at least, in a fantasy setting, the original characters clothes will be a bit different, too. The Boar Hat uniform will be different, because I refuse to let Meliodas lewd on an innocent and clueless sixteen-year-old Elizabeth.

- Regarding the lore… I had a bit of fun. In my fanfiction, the Sacred Tree will be a "spawn" of Yggdrasil. I imagine Chaos creating the Universe with different worlds and the Yggdrasil connecting them. It just happens that one of its roots developed its own tree in Britannia, opening portarls to other realms: the Demon realm (in Cornwall, since in Arthurian era there were the Dumnonii, whose name resemble the word "Demon"); the Sky realm (both of Goddess clan and of the Celestials); the Fairy realm (the Tree being a portal) and the Giants realm (Megadoza stone being a portal).

- Also, there are the Ragnarok chapters in the mobile game, so that's the perfect excuse to put them there as well.

- Since there's different "parallel universes" I've also thought that time will pass differently in different realms. Faster in Britannia and slower anywhere else (since also in Purgatory time flows differently). This is mainly because this Whole "I'm three thousand Years old dating a literal child in my eyes" gives me the ick. I'm talking about Meliodas, King and Elaine especially. I also find that in some cases the math doesn't add, if you look at some character's official age (I'm looking at you, Estarossa/Mael, you're even 20cm taller when you're a Demon).

- And yeah, since I like history and mythology a bit too much I may include a bit of geopolitics of the British isles in the IV century and Celtic culture as well.

Anyway, this project has been fun until now, but since I'm not writing it in a linear way, it's time to work into the canon to tie everything together.

I may write a part 2 about my OCs, in the meantime let me know if you have some headcanons which you want to share!

Also hopefully I'll post some new drawings

[hanzajesthanza]

I saw a take that was like “Lady of the Lake” is a complete mess and barely even a Witcher book because by then Sapkowski just wanted to write Arthurian legend fanfiction and write and essay about meta text into the book

are you me?! lol, because i was on r/fantasy a couple of days ago and saw witcher catching stray bullets there too 😭

anytime i do hear this take, i want to say: “… and what’s wrong with that 😅🥲 and what’s wrong with that?!”

because, to be honest, i also didn’t really care about any of the arthurian stuff… but then i actually went and read his opinions on why it’s important; which turned out to be just as interesting as the book, so i see it as like… own author analysis of his characters and world… like this is the kind of thing you typically beg authors to explain about their series and he just did it 🤷🏻‍♂️

the problem with my take is that i didn’t read it when it came out in 1999 (probably due to not being born yet) so i have no abilityto judge it as it was “in the moment”. i also didn’t even read the series chronologically, and played witcher 3 before i read the books, so i suppose the ending had a reduced effect on me…

however; i was a mess at the ending… so i don’t want to know how i would have reacted had i read it free of spoilers… i probably would have been like the ‘99 fans and been pissed all the same. i get the frustration: “our heroes are dead and you’re prattling on about some old legend…”

but i feel like lady of the lake is a fine wine for how it ages well. well, maybe not the… library bit, or forest gramps bit. but it ages well if you reread it and do so with patience.

the nice thing about writing and reading is that it’s asynchronous. you have all the time as a reader to pause. if you don’t understand the references, use your time to look them up. you don’t need to understand it perfectly, you don’t need to be like sapkowski and become an arthurian fanboy.

you just have to understand what he was getting at: that in his view, the arthurian myth is the genesis of all the modern fantasy genre, and by not only intentionally writing parallels to it in his work, but writing his character into that world, he is humbly (hehe) submitting his work into the fantasy canon and sending it off after it's been completed; like ciri with her parents. if you understand it this way, it becomes very beautiful indeed. it’s not just “arthurian fanfiction” because in his view, ALL fantasy writing is “arthurian fanfiction.”

(and this is even more interesting from a cultural perspective btw to me because… well it’s better explained by paulina drewniak in her thesis, but arthurian legend (in welsh and anglo-saxon forms) is “western european”, same with the modern fantasy genre being english-dominate. and witcher is… well, poland is in central europe (look at a map), but characterized as “eastern” for socio-political, historical reasons. so witcher is absolutely insane genius because sapkowski took this western format and myth and mixed it with some polish history and sensibilities of the ‘90s audiences, as well as influences from polish romanticism, making something that ends up being intriguing to many more cultures than just the one. the internationality of the witcher began way before witcher 3 snagged game of the year 2015! hehe, also geralt as a character taking from american genre fiction—hardboiled crime, western genres. and at the same time he became a polish hero. (bold claim maybe, but i mean it like… well, i’m working on the essay for that now, so you’ll see i suppose 😅)

witcher is just so damn unique for this reason. i think many works try to stay monocultural, but witcher is like this big soup that sapkowski throws a bunch of different ingredients into—and skillfully, not randomly. anyways this paragraph is really off topic but i think this was really cool :) i’ll write more on this later, at some other time. but to connect it back to topic: what i mean is, the arthurian legend makes witcher all the more richer. and then for me as a “western” reader reading it, it’s like this big full circle (even though idk crap about arthurian legend before i read the witcher :’D ))

i think that lady of the lake made me a better reader because i realized that fantasy and genre fiction, aka what i understand as "entertainment" and "reading for pleasure" is much, much more similar to "high literature" and "serious reading" than i had initially received it to be. sapkowski said it something like: “all writing is literature, everytthing except the tv guide and A to Z nutria breeding.”

the way i separated them in my mind was that entertainment books were to just entertain, and serious books were to hold an author’s message, so you should work at what they’re getting at. the witcher showed me that “entertainment books” ALSO hold the author’s message and you should work at what they’re getting at;

in other words, it’s not just about you, the reader, your pleasure; this is a two-way street. this is a game, for the enjoyment of both parties. it’s a bit like charades, or pictionary. the author is saying something, thinking something, it’s your side of the game to figure it out. and i found that figuring that out is much more fun when you also at the same time are receiving a story that you’ve become emotionally attached to and makes you giddy. but it’s not JUST about that story, the joy is not limited to just this world and these characters.

i adored english classes for this kind of game, but because we read stand-alone novels, the characters always felt a bit flat—and of course because most of the time they’re just vessels intended to carry the story. but with the witcher, with this saga, you get the benefit of a “low” work: the stakes which feel personal and intimate, the long standing development of the characters, the fandom excitement and buzz, and also the benfit of a “high” work: the allusions and intertextuality, the hidden meanings, the cleverness and play. it’s really the best of both worlds.

and the hussite trilogy takes this farther because it’s a historical fantasy so sapkowski could include as many historical and literary references as he desired… if they existed by the mid-15th century and were known in central europe. but that’s a LOT of sources to draw from already, pretty much an unimaginable well of context. and did i understand everything, no. i didn’t understand much. but i was pleasantly surprised because i understood more than i expected, and when i didn’t understand i could figure the intended meaning out through context clues. i mean, this proved to me that these references to other works are all just extra sauce anyways, to make the dish a bit richer and fuller…

it’s just nice metaphor, and a lot can be done with this. if you compare geralt to arthur or reynevan to lancelot (well… as HE believes himself to be…) … that makes the meaning sooo much deeper. i like this with “electra” most of all. i think we should all adopt classical or mythological psuedonyms that we feel represent us; these are shorthand for what we stand for and what we believe in, who we are. if you know a bit about just a few myths, you can extrapolate so much from just one name. this is also the case with fictional characters from the modern fantasy genre, so i see what sapkowski was getting at when he draws lines connecting the two.

the only reason i DON’T like it when he does this is because… i do feel a bit like: i went into a library to return a book, but instead of taking my book back, the portly old librarian wordlessly shoved two NEW stacks of books into my arms, then pushed me out the door back onto the street. because andrzej sapkowski is basically the offline version of a guy on forums who recommends you twenty new books every time you mention you enjoyed one. i cannot keep up! so now i have a reading list ten miles long. i think his recommendations and what he intertwined into the witcher will literally keep me occupied into my 30s. but that’s ok, i know what to bring now if i ever get abandoned on a deserted island.

for this reason, i think witcher is both the worst and the best introduction back into reading i could have asked for. if you dig for two seconds are basically handed a road map to not only the entire genre, but the wide open world of european literature, both western and eastern. and american literature too, which i think i’ll be giving a second go…

[visenyaism]

Top 5 asoiaf historical characters or top 5 povs to read from ?

my favorite chapter of all time still goes to the tyrion boat school chapter in adwd but in terms of favorite POVs to read?

6. joncon- giving myself a bonus one to talk about how reading his chapters made me feel like i was dissolving like a powerpoint transition. there’s just so much grief and love and bitterness and doom packed into there it is unreal.

5. sam- gender. he is just so special i’ve never read a fantasy protag quite like samwell tarly and his quest to realize his compassion, empathy, and courage are his greatest strengths despite being discouraged by hypermasculine violent feudal society. he is the real protagonist of asoiaf to me.

4. jonsnow- i liked his pov’s in all the books, but ADWD where he is just trying as hard as possible not to be the protagonist after going though like 4 different genres (can u BELIEVE he started off as a boarding school protagonist) even though he literally has super strengthis so beloved to me. His ongoing crisis where he has to realize that despite everything everyone tries to impose on him he has only ever been just himself is so so real (just as real as him being king beyond the wall. btw) though getting immediately killed for it has to be a downer. MY son was turncloak of the month at castle black👍

3. Jaime- he’s funny. he’s cringe. he stares a lot for someone who can’t fight. he’s delusional. he can’t fit a whole knight in his head. he hasn’t emotionally matured past the age of seventeen. everything he says is insane and also heartbreaking. i love jaime POVs so much y’all don’t get it.

2. Cersei- reading cersei i for the first time last year rewired my brain and i was loud about it. Unlike cersei i was not raised by a fascist nightmare but as a nonbinary girltwin i can say that getting raised alongside a direct example of what your life would’ve been like without misogyny can be very hard, especially when you hit puberty and the “your brother is a person and you are the girl one” starts to get even louder. I was fucking alarmed how personally compelling her weird gender thoughts were given EVERYTHING else the Lannister twins have going on that is NOT personally relevant to me. Don’t know how george rr martin old cishet man that he is knew about any of that.

She’s completely delusional, and at times her mental gymnastics are so so fucking funny, but the like roiling layer of unspeakable (literally unspeakable she refuses to speak or acknowledge it) pain and fear underneath is what got me really. Watching her scheme out of arrogance and mortal terror really just to gain respect and bodily autonomy (though in the Tywin way where freedom from abuse and the “right” to abuse others are the same thing) and then just losing everything incredibly fucking hard was really compelling. i hope you win.

1. Melisandre- wait i said another chapter was my favorite of all time in this post? no i didn’t not when melisandre i is in the room. i have talked about this one extensively and probably will do so again. Finding out that r’hllor is literally her enslaved and her entire black and white apocalyptic worldview is her attempt to feel safe within that truth because she is still just a scared little girl at heart who needs what she’s saying to be true because if it’s not none of her suffering was worth it was the revelation of all time. That and the revelation that she actually does have a human attachment to Davos to the point that she’s watching over his son to spare him the grief. We WILL get melisandre ii in this lifetime and it will break my heart all over again because she is going to outlive stannis and have to survive the worldview shattering.

[indiaalphawhiskey]

i was just wondering do you think there really is a chance that harry might be less popular when he comes back (whenever that will be) and not be at his career peak anymore? i find it really hard to imagine him not playing stadiums/ being extremely popular etc anymore tbh for me it obvs won‘t make any difference i will always love him just the same (and wouldnt mind annyoing tiktok stans and fans who only like him bc hes „trendy“ to leave lol) i just wanted your thoughts on that :)

Okay, so I’m not a music industry buff. What I know, and what I’m about to say is based entirely on my general knowledge of pop culture (that’s heavily influenced by American pop culture, btw) so if I make any leaps, or if there’s an alternative view from a non-America-centric perspective, please forgive me.

But, for all intents and purposes, if you look at Harry’s profile as an artist and compare it to other artists of a similar profile (super popular boyband member + teen heartthrob turned solo pop star), historically you don’t really have many examples of successful solo careers, and even less of career longevity.

If you compare it to The Beatles, for example, they weren’t a traditional boyband (and arguably, neither was One Direction after TMH, but still), and if I’m not mistaken, though John Lennon and Paul McCartney both went solo, (and Paul obviously has the longevity down), their individual work still wasn’t comparable in popularity to their work while they were in The Beatles.

More modern examples, like George Michael, Robbie Williams, and Justin Timberlake, have a similar story in that while they were all able to launch solo careers, they all had a relatively short shelf life because pop music (and their fan bases) are very synonymous with youth, and they all eventually “aged out” of that marketing bracket.

So, really, the only example I can think of, of someone who was more popular solo than he ever was in a band and still managed to hold such a wide and devoted fanbase over multiple career eras, is Michael Jackson. And that’s like, music legend level.

I think Harry has already currently surprised people on many counts by being able to equal and arguably surpass his success and popularity in One Direction as a solo artist, especially without having to drastically rebrand or pivot his genre of music. He’s managed not only to hold on to what people thought was a very age-specific fanbase, but also broaden it massively. That’s beyond rare in pop music, and if you add that to the fact that a lot of people still attribute a big part of his success to his looks, the music industry is expecting him to age out soon, and therefore, for the steep decline in his popularity to start. That’s why people think it’s crazy that he’s taking a break because the industry is constantly pumping out new young artists and so, there’s always going to be a ticking clock.

Personally, I think Harry is a once in a generation performer, and has everything it takes to get to that legend level. But it’s something that is so rare and impossible to predict or orchestrate because so many factors have to go into making that happen, and the pressure of setting that as the ultimate goal of creating music could very, very easily break a person. I think he’s much more content to take a break, cultivate his connection to music, and just let those dice fall where they may.

[sassypainterangel]

About me!

my etiquette ig? i don’t mind if you scroll through my blog like it’s your fy page. It makes me happy. Also if you like this post, assume i WILL do the same to ur blog. If you are one of my moots, i will reblog lots from you. I don’t like interacting with creeps, but i am also dirty minded so… shrug.

BASIC STUFF

names: Finn

pronouns: he/him

age: First two years of high school

country: USA

languages: english, four years of Mandarin, some Swedish, some ASL

Time zone: eastern time (new york time)

Relationship status: taken

^ that’s me btw ^

WRITING STUFF

goal: finish my poetry book

posting about: a whole bunch of random shit that I like!

I really like poetry. My favorite poet rn is Emily Dickinson because 1. gay 2. nature 3. yes

Also I have a writing side blog that I’m using rn to experiment with different perspectives on the same event! it’s called @perspective-play

READING STUFF

genres I like to read: ya, fantasy, romance, historical fiction

favourite books: six of crows, the swiss family robinson, the city of ember, calvin & hobbes, speak the graphic novel

fandoms: SoC & CK, Moomins, AtLA & LoK, Nimona, Initial D, Hilda, Studio Ghibli movies

OTHER STUFF

favourite colour: light turquoise

favourite artists: chvrches, billie eilish, alec benjamin, halsey, angels & airwaves, delilah bon, vial, evanescence

favourite song: young london by angels & airwaves

as of September 25, i’m 25 days self-harm clean

Tags:

(blinkies and moots under the cut)

moots: @vandalizingyourschool @mx-melancholic @irenepowder @youmightevenknowme @unadulteratedwizardgentlemen @mothmanthebreadwizard @orionsnightmares @wordweary @quietintellectualginger @razz-is-queer @nyrhtak04 @tough-n-dumb @infinitesimal-spoon @ever-wish-things-were-simple @personnamedpercy @lilodendron @itswhatwestayalivefor @magnuspeccatori @thexie-and-stars @colorsoftheriver @solarmagickstar @casper-nottheghost @half-eaten-baguetteee @brokenheartedartichokes @dandelions-arent-weeds @thebutterflypoetess @blossompoet @remembertheplunge @ketchuplover6969 @is-it-funny-because-its-true @everynoahistrans

[ryin-silverfish]

Another FSYY question. Wuji and Huang Feihu are both OCs that make it into legends about the fall of the Shang Dynasty around the time of the Yuan Dynasty. In their original incarnations, they both survive the war, along with the historical general Nangong Kuo. When and why was Huang Feihu eventually identified with the god of Mt. Taishan? And why did Wuji never receive the same treatment? He neither dies nor returns to his sage studies after the war is over, leaving him the only OC still mortal and alive into the Zhou Dynasty in the novel.

I feel like that probably has sth to do with the different "focus" of deification between Wuwang Fazhou Pinghua and FSYY novel.

Specifically, for the characters who did get a "btw, this guy is/will be a god" in the Pinghua, almost all of them are Shensha——imaginary star gods that govern fortune and misfortune, used in divination.

Come FSYY novel, however, the pantheon-building resulted in the inclusion of a lot more folk gods, including the Thunder Bureau, the Five Mounts, Wealth Gods, etc, while the Shensha became just gods working for one of these "departments", the Dipper Mansion.

For the authors of FSYY, who probably looked to the Pinghua to some extent, they either need to make up a name for this new folk god-inspired character, or put the divine title and roles onto an existing character in the story cycle.

(A process that's likely informed by their personal preferences too: in the Pinghua version, Yin Jiao is arguably the protagonist, and as the Taisui God incarnate, the Shensha are clustered around him divination-wise.)

(However, the novel has most of them working under the popular deity Doumu instead, which suggests a liking for a different sort of stellar god organization.)

I think that Huang Feihu might be a case of the latter——they found a somewhat prominent character in the original story cycle, went "won't it be neat if he's the God of East Mount?", and the new name and backstory became so popularized by the novel, it went on to influence folk worship of East Mount too.

(His courtly title also got changed from 南燕王 to 武成王, the latter which was a historical official title given to Jiang Ziya since Tang dynasty, so there might be some spilling over of Jiang Ziya's role too.)

As for Wuji...I don't really have a good answer other than "He's one of the OCs the authors can't find, or bother to base on a deity", kinda like Huang Feihu's aging dad and his only surviving kid, Huang Tianjue.

[rrcraft-and-lore]

Tapati, who is she, and why is she significant?

Well, first, she is a river goddess, but daughter of the sun god, Surya. However, her name means the hot one, the burning one. Interestingly enough, her name is tied to the river she's said to rule over - HOWEVER, language time.

Agni, a vedic fire god, has a scythian counterpart similar in name (and the scythian's are the older culture that broke off to form the vedic, indo iranian/iranian, and levant people as well as others - mixing, breeding, invading).

Back to Tapati.

Her name is cognate with the Scythian supreme fire goddess, Tabiti. Very interesting.

Tabiti is the supreme goddess of all things in the Scythian culture, primordial, the first flame, and much like Ianna (from Summerian mythology I talked about later) went on to inspire entire god/goddess roles, and had mantles inverted as interestingly enough, there's evidence some first/supreme deities were feminine, later flipped to male as cultures evolved - their places/roles attributes assigned to male gods and their places changed - made wives, daughters, so on a similar sort of flipping happens out of the Scythian culture/ proto Indo Europeans (that I've talked about) where the root word for a divine (doesn't mean good just divinely powered) being evolved along languages the ahura, asura, and asir (Norse) come from an older proto Indo-European/Scythian word.

In the Vedic stories, the daevas are good, the asura evil. In the Avestan and Iranian texts...the ahura/asura are good, and the daevas are evil.

We know the Norse asir and vanir warred also very interesting. And interesting how gods/goddesses are changed, subsumed, adopted and more, no? Tabiti was never represented in/by art, btw. Her representation was always an actual fireplace -- a flame. That's what you used.

There's historical written evidence in places of Agni's animal form being both referred to as a bull, AND a cow in places - different genders. And his flame being referred to as female in places.

In the Hindu bronze age, Agni had way more of a prominent role as fire did before later dwindling...as fire does (ooooo symbolic - okay that's just cuz of time and shifting priorities), but there are more similarities of these things in Baltic cultures -- but oh why?

(Why am I hopping around? Cuz gods/goddesses, archetypes, beats, stories all do too - all connected you muppets).

Well, did you know the closest cognate to Sanskrit is Lithuanian? It's kept so much of its proto Indo European roots.

Wait, a South Asian language and Baltic European language are cognates? YUH. WEIRD.

Almost like they both derived out of an older culture, language, their practices, beliefs and more.

And most of human history is just migrating, fucking, invading, and settling in new places and staying long enough until your features continue to change due to bow chicka wow wowing and environment.

Funny how that works.

Here's some Scythian clothing (oh btw, women were warriors/could be too - congrats you learned that).

Does this style look familiar? Yeah, you can see the evolution/adaptation from this to later styles (bearing similarities) in Iran, India, Mongolia, the Baltics.

Cuz....y'know, that's where the proto Indo Europeans went about their biz and got jiggy with it and settled. Wow-wow-wee-wah! Okay now I'm done. Circular ish convo to get there but started with a fire goddess, it's relevant, but it all comes back to this.

Btw, this is also an important lesson for fantasy authors.

Because of all these connections and how old a bad ass fire goddess is, many of the oldest cultures are regarded as fire worshippers (like the Zoroastrians) did you know some keep an eternal burning flame? -- one is in Udvada Gujarat in India.

This flame has been said to have been kept burning for 1,500 years.

FIFTEEN HUNDRED.

And again, while most of the surviving Indo Iranic sun gods are male, there is evidence the ORIGINAL sun deity (including in/from the German, Baltic, and Slavic religions) was FEMALE.

[manderleyfire]

hey! may i ask an expert! do you know any tv couples with a proper age gap? but like in a realistic non-vampire-robot-zombie-bullshit way? there's lots of cinema examles that i love A Perfect Murder, Autumn in New York, In the Line of Fire and many many old hollywood ones but i struggle to find a HEALTHY tv age gap representation!

hi to you, too!

i thought to start with ‘succession’ but you capslocked ‘healthy’, lol (mad men’s joan x roger is also out for the same reason, i guess)

the most realistic example that comes to my mind is anna and bates from bates motel from ‘downton abbey’? but from what I remember, they are as boring as beans. (i try to recollect some other costume tv dramas for reasons (for like some obvious historical esp premodern europe historical reasons) but im failing at doing so, lol. only ‘detective anna’ is there in my corner! it’s a silly supernatural mystery drama about a bright rich young girl, who’s using her power as a medium to help a sophisticated world-weary sassy detective solve crimes! it’s utterly soap-y but wonderful, tbh)

the only proper ship that has it all — the chemistry, the right pace, the development, the ups and downs of having a romantic relationship with a big difference in age — is mark and lexie from ‘greys anatomy’; hands down the best plot twist-y couple who organically became one of the lead ships of the show.

but unfortunately an age gap ship rarely happens to be a main couple? and even if they are, it’s 99% temporarily just to help to prop up the lead pair/love interest? (richard x monica from ‘friends’ for example (btw they ARE one the ‘healthiest’ age gap tv representation, if you ask me); or deb x special agent what’s his name from ‘dexter’). the B plot couples sometimes are superior to the A plot couples for sure, but i can’t recall a fitting example in our case.

however the ao3 exists for a reason & that’s why i can’t pass by skye x coulson from ‘agents of shield’ (even if they are considered as ‘canon divergence’ by the main audience not me tho); if abc wasn’t a bunch of chickens we would’ve had not only a masterfully written zombie x alien super spies crazy in love dynamic but also the most remarkable age gap representation that’s ever graced television. but but but 🥲

[avelera]

Hi! Sorry for a long ask, but my head has been filled with Hob thoughts lately and I had to vent it somewhere

One of the reasons our fandom treats Hob as "just some guy" is because the rest of the characters in the series include: personifications of fundamental concepts governing a good chunk of the universe making sure the reality as we now it stays intact, the literal Satan, several angels, demons, gods and goddesses from different cultures and religions and many other ridiculously overpowered beings. After all that immortal being who has been alive for six centuries and who has lived through one of the biggest wars in humanities history pales in comparison.

Do you think Hob finds it refreshing to be the "normal one" in a relationship for once? Before Dream whenever he got on with someone he always had to be careful to keep his immortality a secret. He had to remember the details of his fake past, had to make sure he always talked age-appropriate or didnt mention some kind of historic fact no one else could now, keep his Intensity in check, stuff like that. But now he's dating Dream of the Endless and suddenly he's no longer the strangest person in the room. Do you think that after being with Dream for a very long time he forgets to put on his Absolutely-Normal-and-Ordinary Humansona and his mortal friends go "wtf, were you always this fucked up?"

(Absolutely adore your fics btw)

Thank you! And thank you for this ask!

One of my first bits of Hob meta was talking about how Hob is only "Just a Guy" when compared to the Endless. By any other measure, in any other story, he'd be the most powerful individual you'd ever encounter. True immortality that isn't a prison because you can die when you choose? I've said it before, but if Hob ever went full persistence hunter, he'd be one of the most unstoppably powerful forces in the world.

Now, to your question, I think the answer could be complex?

- I think on some level it could be strange in not a good way to be the normal one in the relationship for Hob. I only say this from a pride perspective. I do think that for the most part, Hob's reaction would be positive, but I want to first carve out a nod to how it might also be a bit... humbling or even irritating, for example if Dream or others discounted him as beneath notice because of it. 600 years is still a lot, Hob is by most standards the most supernatural thing anyone would ever meet. I could see him thinking he's chill with being the less interesting one in the relationship but having moments of like, "Whoa, hey, wait a minute, just because I'm only an indestructible human who has lived over 600 years doesn't mean I'm boring for fuck's sake."

- I think it would be a much bigger deal for Hob-with-Dream to not need to lie anymore all of the time. With each lifetime Hob lives, he has to remember to cut away or gloss over or alter more of his life and achievements. It must be second nature but still painful at times to have to switch over from, "I achieved this," to, "My "father" achieved this and I just inherited it."

- Suddenly with Dream, he doesn't have to do that all the time. He can just casually mention things like the late 1300s in the first person, or his marriage to Lady Eleanor, or the fact that Robyn died when he was 20 (most likely as someone who looks mid-30s, Hob can only talk about Robyn or his death by making it sound like he died as a child, given how young Hob looks, especially in modern times, he'd get odd looks appearing 35-ish and saying he had a son die at age 20). Not needing to filter his personal experiences through historical anecdotes he'd "read" or altering the details to fit would be I think, strange, refreshing, perhaps deeply emotional, and very rare for him. Not because he'd never been able to be candid with others (like other immortals, or perhaps people he was close to that he opened up with) but Dream was actually there. He actually walked the streets of Tudor England, he actually knew Hob in 1389. I think it would be an aspect of being with Dream Hob would, y'know, "know" would be an aspect he looked forward to, only to be truly blown away by the reality of being able to openly, without thinking, talk about himself in a way he hasn't been able to do... possibly ever, with anyone.

[mare-sanguis]

Notes on "Ambidextrous Angle" here

Notes on the flowers in ep.8 here

Notes on the colors in ep.10 here

Notes on the numbers on the car plae of No.3 and KMC here

Is justice really blind?

In the drama we have been introduced to the "Lady Justice" several times by now and she in fact takes a very important role in it, even if only in the background.

And throughout the drama, there are a handful of scenes where the characters question "why is she blind(folded)" and we also see pictures of her in KSJ book which depicts her blind version. We can see this very clear by one of the last scenes in ep.8 where KMC picks up the book from his table and flicks through the pages followed by a flashback of KSJ saying "This always bothered me. Lady Justic wears a blindfold because she's afraid of bias in decisions"

But is this really historically and mythologically accurate? Was "Lady Justic" (who btw goes by so many more names) really blindfolded? And if so why?

This post while explain:

The location and date of build of the Lady Justice depicted in KSJ book

Why the location/date is important

Depictions of Justitia

What did she really look like? What are her origins?

The meanings of her three (Actually 5) distinct features

How does it relate to the drama?

First of all, lets adress the Lady Justice' depicted in KSJ book. On of them- the one circled- is a statue of her located in the Old Town of Frankfurt am Main, Hessen, Germany. Below, there is a better photo of her exact location.

The Justitia statue fountain is a fountain called the "Gerechrigkeitsbrunnen" sculpted by Friedrich Schierholz in 1887. Its a replica of a fountain sculpted in 1611 (which again, was also a replica of a fontain built in 1543). The 4 virtues depicted below Justitia are:

Iustitia (Justice)- with sword of judgment and balance.

Temperantia (Control)- Moderation, distributing a liquid between two pitchers.

Spes (Hope) with a dove on her arm.

Charitas (Charity) with two children, one of whom she is breastfeeding.

Why is the exact location or more date when she was built important to the question of "Is she really blind(folded)?"

Because, when the fountain was build, only then the whole myth of "Justice being blind" started.

It actually dates back to the mid 15th century where it first started as her being one eyed, then suddenly she was blindfolded. And the first known representation of her being blind is Hans Gieng's statue on the Gerechtigkeitsbrunnen in Bern, Switzerland built in 1543.

Different depictions of Justitia throughout the years/centuries.

There exist several renditions of her and they all changed over time. One source tells about a mortuary temple in egypt, honoring Pharao Ramses the Great. And it is said that in this temple there is a scene depicting judgment wher the associate judges had no hands and the presiding judge had closed his eyes. And from this, another depiction of Lady Justice developed in the middle ages: Justice, depicted as a woman, blindfolded and without hands. The sources then say "she has her right eye closed so that she doesn't recognize neither friends or rich people. And she has her left eye closed so that she doesn't recognize the poor and enemies (of the judge). With it, she doesn't judge by personal bias. And she doesn't have any hands either so she cannot accept bribes."

Which means, two versions - Justitia without hands and blindfolded, and Justitia with hands and blindfolded- coexisted then at the time.

In the late middle ages, both depictions started to merge. But this bears the question: If no hands, how can she hold the scale and the sword? In one of the older depictions of the "Combined Justitia" in the Lawbook of the City Eisenach, Thuringia, Germany- there she is with only one arm, holding the sword, while the scale is placed on the stump of her arm. At the same time, one of her eye is covered while the other isnt.

This later resulted in Lady Justice being blindfolded on both eyes.

But why was Justitia suddenly blindfolded? There is no exact answer to this question, only theories. One says "it seems to have been added to indicate the tolerance, or ignorance to, abuse of the law by the judicial system."

But how did roman/greek Justitia originally look like? What are her general origins?

"Lady Justice" was originall not blindfolded (and also not blind), and because of her "maidenly form" is supposed to guarantee her impartiality which renders the blindfold completely redunant.

In original iconographies of the ancient roman times Justitia was never blindfoded. She only held a sword and as scale, wore something akin to a crown and her Toga (more on these things down below)

Her origins date back to the ancient roman time (or greek, if we follow her greek counterpart Dike) and roman mythology where she was introduced by the emperor (Caesar) Augustus- and thus not a very old deity of the roman pantheon.

Justice was one of the virtues celebrated by Augustus in his "Clipeus Virtuis" (lat.: Shield of Bravery)- a temple of Iustitia was then established by in Rome by emperor Tiberius on January the 8th, 13 BC.

In roman mythology she only plays a role in one part which is the myth of the "Golden age" (based on the greek myth by Hesiod in his poem "Works and Days"). Here Justitia, identifying as Astraea, is the last of the celestials, leaving a "crime-filled earth" of the iron age to return to her supernatural homeland. Other sources say, she gets transported to the sky as the constellation of the Virgin.

She finds mention in the greek term "Dikaiosyne"- There she is counted by some priests as the one of the cardinal virtues.

What does the scale, sword, crown, toga and blindfold represent?

The scale: represent weighing facts and evidence to decide a verdict. It also shows her duty to restore balance to society

The sword: represented authority in ancient times, and conveys the idea that justice can be swift and final.

The crown: its represent authority and strength

The toga: a Greco-Roman garment which symbolizes the status of the philosophical attitude that embodies justice.

The blindfold: Is intended to show Justice as blind to the injustice carried on before her, but it has been reinterpreted over time and is now understood to represent impartiality, the ideal that justice should be applied without regard to wealth, power, or other status.

So, how does it relate to the drama?

Its really nice to see a drama actually diving deeper into the meaning of her, especially questioning her role in the whole judicial system and why she looks the way she looks (also, the dramas focus on her in general is really nice- shes basically omnipresent all the time): Just like the drama, she is a rather ambiguous figure. Her appearance changes for who ever looks at her, her symbolism changes for who ever looks at her. For some, she is justice, for some she is nothing more than a chess figure.

(fun fact: i was able to figure out where the fountain is located not by the statue but by the small bit of the rooftops we see in the photo. umm... a german doing what we can do best: recognize german architecture haha)

Also, who ever has not yet looked at @onomatopagu-et-cie threads on this drama should definitely check them all out ♡