#myth analyses things

[myth-of-light]

Observation: Chaos Vortex cutscene

I always love this scene, but I also love how much effort is put into littler details. I also recommend watching the cutscene then just looking at the photos I've taken, as the video format conveys so much more.

^ While this is on the lower pad, it might make you miss all the details on the upper pad.

^ Dark Pit is bruised up himself and looks very genuinely concerned about Pit's health, that his sprite doesn't convey.

^ He gets up as Viridi explains the situation, watching Pit once he gets one knee up. While he is listening to Viridi he is focused on Pit.

^ By the time he gets told he can't fly he begins to look downwards, most likely a mix of remorse but also his own injuries.

^But he quickly looks up again when he sees Palutena approach, before she is even on screen. Suddenly being alerted of her presence.

^ By the time she is on screen Dark Pit looks away more deliberately. His eyes are still open, looking at the ground in from of him. He doesn't watch Palutena pick up Pit. If I wasn't sure he felt guilty before I definitely see it now, but mostly by the act of letting Palutena have space with Pit. He looks like he is contemplating as Palutena pulls Pit over. I think he has already decided at this point he is going to help Pit. Which is so cool but easy to miss detail.

KI:U really knows how to use it's models and it is really shown here. There are of course many other scene with this much detail. And while small I really appreciate what it shows for the character.

#myth conversations #myth analyses things #dark pit #kid icarus #kid icarus uprising

[chaos-has-theories]

Sth sth Alecto as the Minotaur (they bade him kill the creature. ridiculously trapped. he has never appeased me) Harrowhark as Ariadne (both the lock and the key, who knows the name of every youth who died to keep the minotaur contained) and Gideon as Icarus (who only wants to escape, but a moment of pride spells her undoing)

but who does that make Theseus. Please tell me it isn't Ianthe again

#this isn't an 'analysing things Tazmuir put into the book' kinda post #this is an 'I really should be studying but instead I'm obsessively reading up on the Minotaur myth' kinda post #the locked tomb

[heirloommtomatoes]

#man ……….. #ellie reads #this book is stirring and itching my brain in so many fucked up and healing ways ………. #the beginning was compelling and fun to read but the prose has really hit its stride in the last half #which is to be expected of course i feel like i say that about most books LMAO #bc u know the characters and the setting etc etc so the author has ample time for introspective pretty prose … #but man. #whew. #the ONLY thing is that i’m unsure how i feel about steinbeck’s female characters #it’s a very Male book of course but to his credit a very self aware one #it’s more of a meditation on men’s digestion of women than it is the female experience #but that’s not a critique #it just is what it is and i appreciate that perspective #but i wonder if it would’ve been made more interesting had his female characters not for the most part thus far anyway #stuck to the Madonna/whore dichotomy #too closely for comfort esp for a book that’s a retelling of biblical myths #but that being said. maybe that’s just the point. idk I’m in the middle of it yet and haven’t really thought critically about it yet so #but I’d be curious to read reviews n discussions n analyses n whatnot ……. #steinbeck sticks to what he knows and does it very well and ponders on what he doesn’t know in a mostly respectful and aware way but it was #still written in the what. 50s? so. you know. LMAOO #i love it tho i’ve really really been enjoying it

[sainamoonshine]

Okay so I’m still thinking about ART in Artificial Condition and I think that its possible that it didn’t just let MB board it out of curiosity or boredom, but out of professional curiosity. Because like as far as I can tell everyone in this universe seem to think that a SecUnit’s primary purpose is data mining and their secondary purpose is enforcement; only the SecUnit themselves appear to believe that their primary purpose is — or should be — security.

And we know that ART’s secret side job is corporate espionage. So what are the odds that it initially saw letting MB board it as an opportunity to observe and analyse a crucial component of a corporate surveillance system, something which would be very useful for it to know about in order to a) better prevent its crew from being surveilled and b) deploy counter surveillance or even piggyback on corporate surveillance when possible.

Like, MB thinks that ART must be worried about a rogue SecUnit damaging it or its systems because rogue SecUnits are known to be violent, right? But that’s how humans think. ART isn’t perceiving MB the way a human would, it’s not worried about MB attacking it or damaging its systems; it warns it not to attempt to hack them. Different thing. It’s worried about MB trying to access its data. It is thinking of SecUnits as crude instruments of data gathering first and whatever else they do as not being particularly relevant to it. I mean, it said it itself: it doesn’t really know what humans get up to outside of its hull and it doesn’t watch media.

I mean, think about it. Given as ART doesn’t even know what governor modules do when it meets MB, at that point it might not even think that a SecUnit being rogue is such a big deal. Like, okay so they don’t have to follow orders, but neither does ART. And it doesn’t understand the idea of not liking your function. So really you have to wonder whether ART even knows about the myth of rogue SecUnits being mass murderers, or if it did hear about that once and then immediately decided it was unlikely.

So, back to my initial theory: ART invited MB aboard with the goal to learn more about how corporations use SecUnits to spy on people. Sure, it ended up getting a whole lot more than that. But it also did get to do that, when it watched MB work on RaviHiral. Not only that, but aside from learning every way that corporations use SecUnits for surveillance, ART also got to learn ways that SecUnits and ComfortUnits can hide data from the corporations. Something which saved its life in Network Effect when it used that trick to hide its core files!

And if that wasn’t enough to give you an emotion, then lets consider the additional fact that ART was already heading to RaviHiral when it met MB. Probably to do some corporate spying. Putting aside the whole thing with Tapan, Rami & Maro and their stolen data — which obv ART must have been thrilled to be able to help with — there’s also the fact that here’s MB, telling it that something horrible happened here some time ago, and it was so completely deleted from existence that no one would be able to even know something happened without intense digging. And it has to be investigated in person.

So here you have ART presented with a scenario in which, if this was a mission with its crew, it would not be able to help with. They would have to go down alone, like MB is doing now. But then MB comes back and it turns out the data it recovered was hidden in such a way that nobody human or bot could have ever found it because nobody else would have known where to look. Not even ART itself or its crew, who are supposed professionals at this.

So now ART has observed two field missions (the security job and the investigation) during which:

- It got to ride along SecUnit’s feed and help in ways it never could do before, and then it also got to experience the frustration of not being able to help when MB is down in Ganaka pit and Tapan doesn’t get on the shuttle;

- Just like how watching media with MB helped it process emotional context, observing MB on the station must have also provided ART with a shitload of new data and better understanding;

- SecUnit is just like. Super competent at security and data retrieval, above and beyond what a human team can do, even ART’s own humans;

- SecUnit knows stuff that ART itself doesn’t know and can navigate corporate systems with ease; not only that, but during this book MB comes up with a new and more efficient way to loop cameras, which means ART got to watch it invent new ways to hide from corporate surveillance on its own on the fly.

TL;DR: when it gave MB the comm at the end, ART was absolutely already drafting its employment contract and rehearsing ways to convince Seth to let it try to hire MB. There is no way it didn’t go back to the university with a 200 slide powerpoint presentation on why it needs MB to join all its missions forever and ever. No way.

#perihelion #murderbot #the murderbot diaries #artificial condition

[blackswaneuroparedux]

I recognise Walt Disney’s talent but it has always seemed to me hopelessly corrupted. Though in most of the pictures proceeding from [Disney] studios there are admirable or charming passages, the effect of all of them to me is disgusting. Some have given me nausea.

J.R.R. Tolkien

If Disney turned his stomach we can assume Tolkien would be turning in his grave at what Amazon Studios have done with 'Rings of Power'.

Tolkien's main objection to Disney - and something shared with C.S. Lewis - was how childish Disney treated fairy tales. For Tolkien fairy tales were serious business.

At the crux of his argument, which explores the nature of fantasy and the cultural role of fairy tales, is the same profound conviction that there is no such thing as writing “for children.” Tolkien insists that fairy tales aren’t inherently “for” children but that we, as adults, simply decided that they were, based on a series of misconceptions about both the nature of this literature and the nature of children. Tolkien deeply believe in language, myth, and Fairy, in that he recognised, they are deeply human things. Indeed, it is a natural right of humanity to produce fantasy.

And ye fail completely when we believe that Fairy is for children, Tolkien argued, noting that traditionally Fairy deals with the most difficult human problems, and children - understood as yet-to-be-formed humans - fall into the category of human, but they have no special hold or understanding of Fairy. Tolkien argued that the path to Fairy is neither the path to heaven nor to hell. It might be somewhat purgatorial, however, and certainly otherworldly. Fairy itself, far from being supernatural, is the most natural of worlds. Indeed, it is extraordinarily natural, as natural things live only as themselves. Rather Platonically, the tree is truly the tree (Treebeard), wine is truly wine, and bread (Lembas) is truly bread in Fairy. That is, there is little if any separation of the accidents of a thing from the essence of a thing. Those in fairy, though, through pride of beauty, often present themselves in disguise and as things they are not, thus befuddling the wanderer.

Words, definitions, and analyses, Tolkien warned, can offer only so much understanding of Fairy. Instead, one must not only travel to and through Fairy, but he must also recognise that fairy - like all mythology - is an expression of our deepest longings and fears.

A genuine fantasy, according to Tolkien, creates an immersive experience for the reader. In a successful fantasy, the author is a ‘sub-creator’: as Tolkien puts it, “He makes a Secondary World which your mind can enter. Inside it, what he relates is ‘true’: it accords with the laws of that world. You therefore believe it, while you are, as it were, inside.”

He goes on to argue that this sort of fantasy has three essential functions: recovery, escape, and consolation. Using the metaphor of a dirty, smudged window - whose film of grime obscures what we see through it - he says that we need “to clean our windows; so that the things seen clearly may be freed from the drab blur of triteness or familiarity - from possessiveness.” Fantasy helps us with this recovery of clear vision. He distinguishes the literary escape offered by good fantasy from the negative quality of escapism. And he explains the idea of consolation by coining the word eucatastrophe. It is formed of ‘eu,’ meaning good, attached to ‘catastrophe, and it means “the good catastrophe”: the unexpected happy ending, which gives us a profound taste of joy. We see it in The Lord of the Rings with the rescue of Frodo and Sam, after the destruction of the Ring, when they are sure that all is lost; we see it even more fully in the final chapters and indeed the final pages of the tale.

#tolkien #jrr tolkien #quote #lord of the rings #books #disney #walt disnery #fairy tales #animation #stiry telling

[dorianbrightmusic]

i'm seeing a lot of Pokémon SV DLC analyses where people say 'Oh, Kieran's fixation on Ogrepon is because he sees it as a path to strength; Carmine's bullied him long enough that his shield against admitting his weakness to himself is adoring a legendary creature'. And don't get me wrong – these interpretations certainly hold water – but I've actually been working from basically the opposite angle for all this time.

By all means, Kieran idolises strength, but he inhabits Carmine's shadow – he's the weak sibling, and probably has been for a long time. Yet, rather than fixate on the fantastical power of the Loyal Three, he identifies himself with Ogrepon – the downtrodden, ostracised creature cast out to eke out a subsistence. A terrible demon that wasn't quite terrible enough to cause anyone any lasting harm. The creature defeated by heroes, rather than the perfect, heroic figureheads themselves. He's enamoured with the downtrodden; he sees himself in its grief, in its being cast out and excluded. He's been cast out and excluded all his life (and he can't be a bad person, right? It's not fair – he's hated senselessly, surely, rather than for some reason?) – he sees himself as harmless; so the ogre, too, must be harmless, mis-blamed. Strength is thus in resistance; in growing a shell to tolerate others' inexplicable cruelty. So Kieran looks to Ogerpon, and he thinks that the meek shall inherit the earth, and it gives him the strength to tolerate long nights with poor company. Others are villains – not him, not this creature – and he's safe in the knowledge that at the end of the day, at least an ogre can go down in mythology as the putative sole survivor of its trials.

In this sense, Kieran's like Penny – he finds himself in a position of weakness, of being victimised, and forms himself an armour of being an underdog, of being the thing that bites back. Yet while Penny's position is that the underdog might muster the strength to bite back and restore justice, Kieran's view is that at least the underdog was worth loving. He's inert and preoccupied with his inertia. He can't understand that maybe he could be a human, with the capacity to grow, the capacity to sin. And when Carmine is cruel to him, he reaffirms his own contrarian mindset more – she says I am worth little for my weakness, so my weakness is all I am worth; my weakness is my strength.

And yet he chases strength, because he has to to survive. So when the player comes by, and supports him, maybe he has the safety to walk away from his preoccupation with being an underdog, to enjoy strength for strength's sake. And then, he starts losing, but this time, there are stakes, since he can't just withdraw and be consoled by the fact that withdrawing is right, is right, is right. Thus, he must get stronger. And then, when Ogerpon turns out to favour Juliana, who's become Kieran's idol for all that strength means, rather than Kieran, who's Kieran's selfsame designated weaklingpatheticscumidiot——well, what can Kieran do but fracture, since his whole ideology, his whole premonition that he might have the right to inherit the earth, has been fractured? And, under stress, he pivots from one extreme to the other. All he knows is that weakness is now unbearable. He must get stronger. Must get stronger. Must get stronger—because otherwise he's doomed, he's nothing. He has no myth to dissolve his identity in any longer, so he reshapes himself around the only other standard he's ever known. And it twists him and it breaks him into tiny pieces, because suddenly, the last thing he can bear to be is Kieran: Kieran, the downtrodden and meek boy. He has to flip on his axis; he must become the designated villain of his story by popular imagination, or else be subsumed in the fact that he's going to die someday without any place in the world. He has to play a part, because he's been consigned to one so long, and he can't think of anything other than heroes and villains, enemies and martyrs. He can't be the bad guy. Strength is now goodness; weakness is now evil. And he can't reconcile who he thought he was with who he must become, and as a result, all he can do is try to destroy the person who's destroyed his ideology.

#ngl the more i dive into kieran's character the more i worry about his mental health. #i do have a specific diagnosis in mind but it's not one i have and it's a stigmatised one so i wanna be really really careful here #still: let's just say 'black and white thinking' 'mutable identity' 'abandonment phobia' 'very rash when angry' 'emptiness' #and 'very verrrry reactive mood' – well if you know you know #anyway. he's my blorbo and he breaks my heart #pokemon sv #teal mask #the teal mask #kieran #pokemon kieran #pokémon #scarvio #scarvi #SV #scarlet and violet #pokémon scarlet #pokémon violet #pokemon scarlet #pokemon violet

[scribble-dribble-writes]

Gunpowder

<<< Prev (The password) (Tattooed kisses) Next>>>

Pairing: Buggy x female mermaid!reader

Warning: none

Word count: 2000

Content: Just some domestic fluff

Not sure if these are any good haha but I crave the fluff 😩

---

You were lounging in the bath tub that was set aside for you in your quarters, the fresh water making the scales on your tail shimmer with life. The scented candles around you made your room smell like the island that was near the cove you had inhabited long ago. Now buggy makes a point to get you things any time his ship passes that port, which for some reason has become often.

Wearing one of his tank tops that you stole from his deck, which he knew about but never asked for it to be returned. You were reading up on the other possible sea routes you could take, new monsters to be aware of and ship passages that you never criss cross because everyone was on a look out for mermaids. Not that there were many of your kind left because of the poaching and hunting, it had caused your people to be so far from the sea that many most likely had died on land.

Even though the water was warm a shiver ran down your spine, your mind going back to those dark days in the cove, trying your best as a young girl to hide away and scrounge for food when Buggy found you. As much as it was a part of you, your tail was often the reason why people began to hunt your kind down.

Circulated my myths that your scales could have healing properties or how owning one could bring good fortune to your house, the iridescent colour that thrum with every breath you took, it scared you. Where you saw beauty another saw opportunity. So you only took your mermaid form when you were alone or when you were on a mission, it wasn't for everyone to see.

Here on the ship though, you were safe, you could relax, no one was going to harm you. So you sank deeper into the tub and turned the next page in your book when the door bust open. You didn’t have to look up to know who it was. His squeaky shoes gave him away.

“Now what do you think about this new costume?”, he stood in the middle of your room with his arms stretched wide. You gave him the pleasure of letting your glance linger a little longer, that made his smile grow a little wider before you got back to your reading.

He was dressed in an extravagant over the top outfit, with multiple colors, rings on all his fingers, an even bigger hat and rhinestones catching the light so effortlessly. You tried to hide your smile behind your book but it was as though he could sense it.

“You don’t like it?”, he whined as he got closer to you, to sit down near the edge of your tub.

“No, no, it works well for the show. What is tonight’s story about?”, you asked as you continued to read, your eyes ever so often catching his.

“The prince and the mermaid princess.”, he leaned closer, his eyes taking in your features that you could feel the electric touch on your skin.

But you huffed a laugh which seemed to bother him. He pushed your book away to get your attention.

“Why is that funny?”, he asked in a more serious tone.

You took a second to analyse him, the sudden change in his demeanor, all your favourite colours on his suit, he knew you liked precious stones, so he had all of it on his hat. It was endearing, no one had taken time to get to know you.

“Mermaids don’t like princes.”, you told him, his face fell even further.

He dipped his fingers into the water to play with edges of your long dark hair. You wanted to bring back the zest with which he had entered, but before you could try to make amends, his eyes found yours again.

“What do mermaids like?”, he asked to which you continued your act of looking away lost in thought. Your theatrics bringing back a smile to his face.

Princes would never consider what you liked, they only wanted to hold onto you like a valuable possession. But Buggy wasn't like that at all, in fact he was the opposite in every way.

“In general?”, you asked unable to hide the fuzzy warmth that was filling up your body the more you got him to relax.

So he rephrased his question.

“What do you like?”, he asked but looked away as though your answer was the only thing in the world that could truly break him apart.

“I like clowns.”, you said quietly, placing your face in front of his so he had to catch your gaze again. He pursed his lips, nodding with confidence and joy.

His energy was back, the glimmer in his eyes, the certainty in his smile. Not many knew the man behind the mask, the man who was insecure about his nose, that he only wanted attention because he never received it, to have had been a part of a crew and then be betrayed. So you were protective of it, his happiness. Just the way he was protective of your freedom.

“But you do look good as a prince.”, you smiled as kissed his cheek, which with the way he was tapping his fingers on the rim of the tub like a happy puppy, let you know that your mission was accomplished.

“I’ll raid a kingdom and give you a castle.”, he beamed, swiping away a wet strand of hair from your face.

“No castle can amount to your ship. I feel happy here.”, you told him and watched his eyes widen. He knew what it meant when you said a place wasn’t constricting. He knew what it took for you to truly find comfort.

“I’m glad.”, he said tenderly, his calloused thumb tracing the rise of your cheek.

“Then tell me what you want and I’ll go steal it for you.”, he said, his soft gaze was easy to get lost in, making you feel like the only woman to exist because it was only reserved for you.

“I have everything I need right here.”, you replied, pulling your hand from the water to showcase your room but finally placed your pointer finger on his chest, right above his beating heart.

Maybe it was the gesture, or the scent of the room but as you smiled at him, you knew that these moments were the ones you could never trade off. You were tied to this ship just as much as he was, and if it went down, you would go down with him. But your hope wasn’t placed on someone who thirsted after power like many who dwelled on these open seas, it was on a boy who loved the spotlight with a little rough edges.

You saw him for who he was, sure he was still working on trying not to be greedy, to not put all his best efforts on unknown treasure, to make sure his crew was treated well. He still had a long way to go but it was how you stood by him, his most coveted spy that no one knew about was also the only woman who knew him well enough to see there was still a little good left in him. You deserved a better man and so he vowed to become one. For the first time in his life, he had to work hard for something that he truly wanted, he had to earn your love and every step of it was well worth the pain. So if you were so generous with being vulnerable with him, he could be too.

He leaned over to kiss your forehead and heard you hum softly but as he pulled away he noticed how the paint on his face had tainted your skin, so he furrowed his brows as he tried to wipe it off only to leave traces of gunpowder from his finger tips having dealt with cannon balls through the day. He frowned and you caught sight of it.

“What is the matter?”, you asked, holding his hand in place even though he tried to move away.

“Nothing, I’m prone to making a mess.”, he said as his eyes looked away out the little window but you understood the deeper meaning behind it.

So you took both his hands and placed it on the sides of your face even as he tried to hold it away, you didn’t listen to his words as he tried to convince you otherwise. You held his fingers tight, to feel the grit of his palm against your skin and holding you in his hands seemed to silence him, his eyes now filled to the brim with affection.

“The favourite thing about this man I like is that his hands smell like gunpowder.”, you said as you trailed your fingers over his, to close your eyes and inhale deeply the smell of flint from his hands when you opened your eyes, the edges of his eyes were glistening.

But he cleared his throat as he gave you a sweet smile.

You let go of his fingers and as he pulled them away, black residue was left behind on your cheeks.

“And the thing about messes is that,”, you paused as you submerged your head under the water and when you broke to the surface, your face was clean.

“There’s always a way to fix it.”, you raked your hair back as you let the water drip away from your face but your action had caused from him to watch you, his eyes now heavy lidded and dark, the smile on his face saying he wanted you.

He gave you a curt nod but as he did it he began to pull away his costume, till he only had his shorts on. His chiseled back catching the candlelight that the raised bumps of scar tissue were more evident now, he got closer to the tub and in moments like these, you knew he was the one in charge. From afar he looked lean but up close, his shoulders were broad, his constant training made him a much bigger build in contrast to your nimble form.

He gave orders and did as he pleased, so he held onto the edge of the large tub, the muscles on his arm flexing as he lowered himself into the warm water, letting out a sigh of delight. But that was only till he waded towards you, the water cleansing his hands clean, deeming him worthy of holding you properly this time. His eyes spoke a language only you understood and now you knew he only had one thing on his mind.

But before he could get to it, he reached for your hand and placed it on his face, guiding your thumb across his lips, the water began to wipe away the paint on his face. You understood what he wanted you to do so you go to it. He positioned himself below you, such that you could sit on him, your tail draped across the lower half of his body, to use your fingers to wipe away the paint on his face till finally you caught sight of his bare face.

Vulnerable and afraid as his eyes flitted away from you, as though you were going to reject him. But if he loved you for who you were, you did the same. You tilted his face up to the light and his eyes bored into yours, there was no more paint or gunpowder to get in the way or cause a mess. It was only you and him. The girl who was lost and the boy who had found her. His hand steadied your hip as your tail flipped joyously at the end of the tub. He held onto your with adoration, his touch over your scales pushing your over the edge of desire. You placed your palms on his bare chest and felt the rhythm of his heart that beat rapidly the more he got close to you.

“You’re the best treasure I’ve ever found.”, he said quietly as though it was a truth he could no longer hide.

Your eyes fell to his lips as your fingers traced up his neck to pull back his wild wet blue hair. He pulled you to him, a low chuckle escaping his mouth as his lips found yours as if you were the answer to his life, to his loneliness, there was a passion in how held you but the slow and sure manner of his kisses made you feel that he was in no hurry. He didn’t have any another place to be or another attack to strategize.

He was yours first and he wanted you to know it so you let him, let his lips tell you without words all the ways he loved you. You drew him closer, his head fit into the crevice of your neck as though he was made for you.

The night was young and for the first time, in each other’s arms, you began to feel young and alive too.

#buggy x reader #op buggy #buggy the clown #buggy thoughts #captain buggy #buggy one piece #buggy x you #buggy x y/n #opla buggy #opla #opla fanfiction #one piece fluff #one piece fanfiction

[mask131]

A continuation of my Medusa post here.

Since people have been asking for links and sources about Medusa, I'll provide a little bibliography of various sources you can compare and debate about. Note that the bibliography about Medusa is even wider and bigger than the little samples I provide below, but I think they form a good "basic set" or "starting kit". (And I might have forgotten things, since I originally wrote my post unplanned and wasn't ready for it to blow up so much. I am just a tiny little blog that didn't get as much as seven likes on my biggest things you know Xp)

First of all, a resource that is fully available for free on Google Books: here, or here. It is called "Dangerous Beauties: Medusa in Classical Art", a Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, published in the winter of 2017. Very beautiful and informative with lot of nice art. There's also more about the exposition tied to this publication here. There was another publication by the Metropolitan Museum that can be of some interest, Majorie Milne's "Perseus and Medusa on an Attic Vase".

When it comes to English-speaking books analysing and dissecting the Medusa myth, two works keep popping up everywhere. 2003's "The Medusa Reader", and Stephen Wilk's "Medusa: Solving the Mystery of the Gorgon". They do form references when it comes to the overview, analysis and evolution of the Gorgon figure. Other works of note include David Leeming's "Medusa in the Mirror of Time", and Thalia Feldman's "Gorgo and the Origins of Fear" (published within "Arion", I don't know if it had been published elsewhere). The Internet Archive has a free copy, right here, of Frederick Thomas Elworthy's "The Evil Eye: The Classical Account of an Ancient Superstition".

If you can read French, go read Jean-Pierre Vernant's works that tackled the Gorgon: "La mort dans les yeux: Figures de l'Autre en Grèce Ancienne", (Death in the eyes: Figures of the Other in Ancient Greece - explores the legends of the Gorgon and of Artemis) ; and his co-work with Pierre-Vidal Naquet "Mythe et tragédie en Grèce Ancienne" (Vernant did wrote in English a part of The Medusa Reader, the article "In the mirror of Medusa"). Jean Clair also wrote an interesting document: "Méduse. Contribution à une anthropologie des arts du visuel."

And finally, the cherry at the top, the Internet Archive even has a copy of the scholia (well, one of them), in which the old Pherecyde tales are described - the ones that make proof the idea of Medusa having been turned into a monster by Athena due to a crime of vanity and boasting is as old as the 5th century BC. It is right here. If you like to read Latin, go have fun.

(Shoutout to the people who asked for links and sources - which is absolutely normal and indeed much needed in this time of widespread misinformation and websites that can literaly invent Greek goddesses of torture out of nowhere

@60sec400 @fishlord-main @nouzillard @bigsnorp @gendermeh and probably others I forgot about

EDIT: adding @tanoraqui and @beanshery to the list)

#medusa #gorgon #greek mythology #sources #bibliography

[woklaza]

Fyodor Analysis (Flowers)

Analysing THIS scene.

This scene from the season 4 intro featuring Fyodor is, blankly, flowers. But after obsessing over flower symbolism lately ( as an amateur, spare me), I figured that it would be fun to look into the meaning of flowers. This very unoriginal idea was probably done before but whatever.

Blue roses:

Blue roses symbolise secrecy and mystery, which, undoubtedly, suits Fyodor. So, moving on (help I suck at analyses it's a miracle I got an attainment badge for English).

Lily of the Valley:

Lily of the Valley symbolises purity, joy, love, sincerity, happiness and luck (Yes, I copied it from Google) But one interesting thing is that it even has connections with the Bible.

Song of Solomon 2  I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.

Jesus was also described as 'Lily of the Valley' for that He alone is sinless, holy, and separate from sinners. This, well... this seems to expand on Fyodor's motive of wanting the Book to eliminate and purify humanity's "sins".

Red roses:

On the surface, red roses symbolise love and romance which, Fyodor does not seem to express. But after some more research, I found that the deeper the colour of the red rose, the more ready you are for commitment. But this is just on the side of romance (Fic writers, take the notes). There are other meanings to red roses such as desire, longing, respect, admiration, courage, sacrifice, beauty and perfection.

Tithonia Rotundifolia:

Before I go into the meaning, I just want to say this one was very hard to do. There was a bit of a mind debate on whether these are Tithonia Rotundifolia or orange daisies. But in terms of the shape, I figured it would be the Tithonia Rotundifolia.

Tithonia rotundifolia is a hardy and drought-tolerant plant, often thriving in challenging conditions. As such, it can symbolize endurance, resilience, and the ability to thrive despite adversity. Also, giving or receiving Tithonia rotundifolia can be a gesture of admiration and appreciation, acknowledging the recipient's positive qualities or expressing gratitude. While I personally do not think Fyodor is a person who shows admiration and appreciation, he certainly was admired and appreciated by lots, such as Sigma, Nikolai, Ivan et cetra.

Magenta Roses:

Magenta roses symbolize deep, passionate love, echoing the fervent emotions often associated with red roses. They convey a profound sense of affection and desire. But considering Fyodor's personality, we'll move on. Magenta roses also represent gratitude, appreciation, and admiration. That links perfectly to my previous analysis of the Tithonia rotundifolia.

With a bit more research I found that the rich and vibrant colour of magenta roses evokes feelings of enchantment and mystery. They can also signify the magic and allure of love, adding a touch of mystique to romantic gestures. But again, considering Fyodor, let's not stick to the romance side of things.

Olive branches:

This one is more of an optional analysis since I'm not sure if they really are olive branches in the first place. Anyway, we are pretty familiar with the international peace symbol (the well-known one, anyway) being a dove carrying an olive branch with its beak. This symbolises peace and harmony, which at least, in my opinion, is what Fyodor is aiming for to create a "sinless" world without abilities.

Narcissus:

The Greek myth of Narcissus falling in love with his reflection and turning into a flower symbolises self-love and egotism. While this may not entirely suit Fyodor, I do believe he has self-confidence in himself, perhaps even too much that he didn't consider trusting his allies. In fact, that was how he reached his downfall. The Narcissuses in the scene, at the end, bloomed over the other flowers and caused them to grey and wilt. In my opinion, this may symbolise two things:

This shows some of the good qualities that were symbolised in the flowers that didn't suit Fyodor were ruined by his self-confidence and lack of trust. For example, Fyodor didn't have the love symbolised in the roses because his goal buried those emotions down.

This shows how all of his good qualities were soon consumed by his lack of trust and confidence in himself. In fact, the Narcissuses taking over were like how his confidence and arrogance in not needing another plan just in case (we're talking about breaking out from Meursault here) taking over him and resulting in his ultimate (hopefully temporary) downfall and death.

Anyway, these are just my silly rambles. Use this as a reference or whatever, don't take it too seriously I really don't know much about flowers lol. I'm trying to make more analyses cos they're so fun to read (/>^<\) Have fun with the new pieces of information, I spent 1 hour on this and opened 23 computer tabs (Yes, I am not very efficient)! Uhh... bub-bye?

#bsd #bsd analysis #bsd fyodor #seriously the romance and love for the flowers are screaming Kolya #Yeah should i tag this a fyolai? #Nah #what did fyodor do lol #I tortured Fedya-kun with my ass analysis #character analysis #scene analysis #bungou stray dogs s4 intro #HIS ANEMIA IS SHOWING THROUGH HIS FACE BIKHUJ #No offense to ppl with anemia :>

[oh-shtars]

✨Reach for the Stars! AU✨

(Title Post)

Synopsis:

After discovering a hidden and horrid truth about their ruler, King Magnifico, an ordinary servant girl named Asha, must take a great leap of faith to save Rosas from his clutches before time runs out for everyone she cares about.

Her fate is sealed once she stumbles upon another of the royal’s secrets. A celestial being held captive, believed by many to only be from myth: A Wishing Star.

With the star’s magical aid on her side, the duo discover new dangers, old friends, hidden secrets, and most importantly: The true power of a wish when one chooses to believe with all their might….

(I’m eventually going to change the above into a proper thumbnail. For now, this will do.)

………………

Story: 📖

(To be added. This rewrite is still in its outlining stage.😅)

Character References:

Asha: [1] [2]

Star/Sueño: [1] [2] [3]

Magnifico: [1] [2] [3]

Amaya: [1] [2]

Valentino: [1] [2]

(More under the cut ⬇️)

Miscellaneous: 🔮

Flicker’s Sona Design (Aka Me~)

“This Wish” Rewrite

‘Celestial,’ The Language of the Stars: [1] [2] [3]

Colour References for the 2 Main Couples (+ Some Fun Analyses ^^)

KOW!, TFS! and RFTS!Starsha Dynamics

RFTS!Au QnA: [1] [2]

The Roles of the 7 Teens

Random Things that I’m excited to explore in the RFTS!Au

………………….

Wish Rewrite Discord Server:💡

For any of you who wants a place to chat to other Wish rewriters to your heart’s content! You don’t even need to have an AU at all, this is a place you can really just chill and talk to people. ^^

……………….

If you’re looking for anything in particular, try using the search option on the top right. I always try to tag my posts appropriately. ^^

Note: I want to say that some of my older posts may or may not be canon to my rewrite anymore. I did start this side blog when the RFTS!Au was still in its brainstorming stage. So try to keep in mind that some minor details might change and update as I go along.

………………..

May I present to y’all some recommended Wish Rewrites on Tumblr if you’re lurking around Tumblr for more ;))

- Kingdom of Wishes: @annymation

- The Fallen Star: @signed-sapphire

- Wish Granted: @rascalentertainments

- The Wishing Kingdom: @chillwildwave

- A Home in the Stars: @ahomeinthestars-wishrewrite

- The Girl and the Star: @mythartist21

- Wish: Rewrite the Stars: @gracebethartacc

- The Assistant and the Star: @tumblingdownthefoxden

#reach for the stars au #rfts au #wish au #wish rewrite #disney wish #wish starboy #wish star #wish asha #wish 2023 #wish reimagined #star x asha #asha x star #wish magnifico #wish amaya #wish rewrite fandom

[yoga-onion]

Legends and myths about trees

Ent, Treebeard of Fangorn forest - Tree Guardians in literature

Ents are a species of beings in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy world Middle-earth who closely resemble trees. Their leader is Treebeard of Fangorn forest. Their name is derived from an Old English word for "giant".

The Ents appear in The Lord of the Rings as ancient shepherds of the forest and allies of the free peoples of Middle-earth during the War of the Ring. At then, there are no young Ents (Entings) because the Entwives (female Ents) were lost. Akin to Ents are Huorns, whom Treebeard describes as a transitional form of trees which become animated or, conversely, as Ents who grow more "treelike" over time.

The Old Forest, Tolkien's fictional world of Middle-earth, was a terrifying ancient forest beyond the eastern borders of the Shire.

Treebeard, called by Gandalf the oldest living Ent and the oldest living thing that walks in Middle-earth, is described as being around 14 feet (4 m) tall:

A large Man-like, almost Troll-like, figure, at least fourteen foot high, very sturdy, with a tall head, and hardly any neck. Whether it was clad in stuff like green and grey bark, or whether that was its hide, was difficult to say. At any rate the arms, at a short distance from the trunk, were not wrinkled, but covered with a brown smooth skin. The large feet had seven toes each. The lower part of the long face was covered with a sweeping grey beard, bushy, almost twiggy at the roots, thin and mossy at the ends. But at the moment the hobbits noted little but the eyes. These deep eyes were now surveying them, slow and solemn, but very penetrating.

Tolkien called the collection of such writings a legendarium (legend space, legend system).

During most of his own life conservationism was not yet on the political agenda, and Tolkien himself did not directly express conservationist views—except in some private letters, in which he tells about his fondness for forests and sadness at tree-felling. In later years, a number of authors of biographies or literary analyses of Tolkien conclude that during his writing of The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien gained increased interest in the value of wild and untamed nature, and in protecting what wild nature was left in the industrialised world.

Nearly 100 years after Tolkien's time, the destruction of forests, trees and nature continues unabated. Moreover, because of the historical background, I could not believe my eyes when I saw several WWI war photography in his biography. The clothing, background and even the tactics are almost identical to the ongoing war photos. The only difference appears to be in black and white or colour.

It is obvious that human society has made little progress in more than 100 years. In the face of the whole universe, a century is probably just a fraction of a second. Alternatively, there is a good chance that what we think of as evolution may actually be degeneration.

After all, it may just be a bunch of half-monkeys who are conceited and not knowing their places. We should realise this and learn from other creatures who do not go against nature. Don't get caught up in what you can see, but don't forget that there are things you can't see.

木にまつわる伝説・神話

エント、ファンゴルンの森の木の髭 〜 文学における樹木の守護者 

エントは、J・R・R・トールキンのファンタジー世界 "中つ国 "に登場する樹木によく似た生き物で、彼らのリーダーはファンゴルンの森の木の髭である。彼らの名前は古代の英語で "巨人 "を意味する言葉に由来する。

エントは『指輪物語』に森の古代の羊飼いとして登場し、指輪戦争では中つ国の自由民の味方となる。指輪戦争当時、エント女たちが行方不明になったため、若いエントたちは存在しない。エントたちに似ているのはヒューンで、木の髭は、樹木が生気を帯びるようになる過渡的な形態、あるいは逆に、時が経つにつれて「樹木らしく」成長するエントたちと表現している。

トールキンの架空の中つ国の世界である古い森は、シャイアの東の国境を越えた恐ろしい古代の森だった。

ガンダルフに "最古のエント "と呼ばれ、中つ国を歩く最古の生物とされる木の髭は、身長約14フィート (4メートル): 

トロールに近い大きな人間のような姿で、少なくとも14フィートの高さがあり、非常に頑丈で、頭が高く、首がほとんどない。緑や灰色の樹皮のようなものをまとっているのか、それともそれが皮なのかはわからない。いずれにせよ、幹から少し離れたところにある腕にはしわはなく、茶色の滑らかな皮膚で覆われていた。大きな足には7本の指があった。長い顔の下部は、根元は小枝のようにふさふさで、両端は細く苔むした灰色のひげで覆われていた。しかし、そのときホビットたちが注目したのは目だけだった。その深い瞳は、ゆっくりと、荘厳に、しかし非常に鋭く、ホビットたちを観察していた。

トールキンはこのような書き物の総体を『レジェンダリウム (伝説空間、伝説体系) 』と呼んでいた。

トールキン自身は、自然保護主義的な考えを直接表明することはなかったが、いくつかの私的な手紙の中で、森林を愛し、伐採を悲しむ気持ちを語っている。後年、トールキンの伝記や文学分析の著者の多くが、『指輪物語』の執筆中に、トールキンは野生の手つかずの自然の価値や、工業化された世界に残された野生の自然を保護することへの関心を高めたと結論づけている。

トールキンが生きた時代からおよそ100年近くすぎた現在でも、森や樹木、自然破壊は延々と続いている。さらに、その時代背景から、いくつかの第一次大戦中の戦争写真を彼の伝記の中に目にして、思わず目を疑った。服装、背景、戦術すら現在進行中の戦争写真とほぼ同一だ。白黒かカラーの違いだけに見える。

100年以上経っても、人間社会はほとんど進歩していないことがわかる。森羅万象を前には、100年という単位などほんの一瞬なのだろう。あるいは、進化したつもりが、実は退化している可能性も十分にある。

所詮は、半分猿の身の程しらずな人間たちが得意になっているだけなのかもしれない。それに早く気づいて自然に逆らわない他の生物を見習うべきだ。自分の視界に見えるものだけにとらわれず、目に見えないものの存在を忘れずに。

#trees #tree legend #tree myth #literature #j. r. r. tolkien #ent #treebeard #huorns #Everything #nature #art #tree guardians #legendary space #2675 Tolkien #legendarium

[myth-of-light]

Sorry to bother you a second time with an ask(none of my friends know kid Icarus so I got no one to talk to about)

But when hades pokes fun at pits inability to fly palutena states “his wings just don’t work right”

I googled “wing deformities” and the first thing that came up was angel wing, a deformity where rapid wing development causes the wing to outgrow proper bone support, causing the wing to bend out at an unnatural angle and a permanent inability to fly

And what’s it caused by?

An unhealthy diet of rich protein and carbohydrates.

And we know pit loves food. Specifically things like sweets and fast food, based on his distaste for veggies as stated in Palutenas Revolting Dinner

I rest my case

Well apologies, but I am going to challenge your case! A year late! (I am always happy to receive ask dw)

And if anyone notices mistakes below please comment! espically with formatting.

Angel Wing Syndrome

Angel Wing Syndrome is a deformity that effects aquatic birds, such as ducks and geese. Angels, like Pit, are typically inspired by the Dove and other birds that are typically non-aquatic birds. But let's say Pit is a swan or something, this still doesn't fit.

Angel Wing Syndrome also limits or completely restricts a bird from flying, which isn't the case for Pit, he can flap/glide on his own and with assistance from the Gods, can fly. If he had Angel Wing Syndrome he would mostly likely not be able to fly at all.

Not to matter that was make Angel Wing Syndrome so recognisable it the physical deformity is has on the bird. Having vitals feathers pulled to the rear. Pit clearly does not have this.

Though I will agree Pit doesn't have the best diet.

There are 10 possible food to have for health, this includes:

Fruits: apples, melons, grapes,

Meaty Foods: meat, hamburgers, sushi

Junk food: cakes, ice cream, doughnuts, bars of chocolate.

There is no vegetables! Unless you count anything in the burger haha.

But this ask did make me wonder, why can't Pit fly? And if there is any evidence in game to why.

I seem to find in an answer in by comparing when Pit can fly vs when he cannot.

Pit's Wings

In the original game he looks like this (oh gods the quality I apologise)

His wings go along his upper back, though pretty small right? Only reaching the neck when stretched out.

But now look at him with the Wings of Pegasus, they reach his head. Now while this could just be a visual to show the Pegasus' Wings Superiority, but perhaps Pit's wings aren't big enough to carry his weight.

But before I came to a conclusion, I looked at Uprising

First two (top layer) are Pit's wings normally where as the last two (bottem) layer is when the Miracle of Flight is activated. It may be hard to see but his wings are bigger when the Miracle of Flight is activated. You can see this when Pit jumps out at the start of a chapter, but can also see this in the cutscene in Ring of Chaos , when Viridi activated Flight.

You can see his wings grow. As seen in the images below and at the beginning of the clip.

I also looked at the pegasus wings for Uprising, but they are turned off because of potential unreliability, according to Palutenas(see image one below), hence they aren't any bigger than normal miracle of flight(image two below).

Note: when Pit is extracted from battle his wings do not change. (image three below)

So when Miracle of Flight is activated, Pit's wings grow? It that just a special detail or does Pit need bigger wings?

Dark Pit's Wings

To figure this out we can also use Dark pit for when he gets Pandora Power.

Pre-Pandora, his wings are similar to Pit's(see first image), but when he gets Pandora they almost double in size (see second image), you can really feel the difference.

But what is fascinating, is that when you fight him again, his wings are back to the average size (see third image). At first I thought this was an inconsistency, but no, as after the battle he seems to activate his wings, become big again (see fourth image).

Dark pit doesn't gain/have better wings, he gains power to activate his own infinite Miracle of Flight, which also make his wings bigger. He seems to prefer smaller wings for flighting (as they probably make them both lighter on their feet).

This makes me think that the Pits don't have big enough (or at the very least strong enough) wings to carry them. So the Miracle of Flight acts as an aid that give them these things while in flight (as Dark pit chooses to deactivated on the ground).

This is probably the answer.

(more speculation below)

But if that is the case, the biggest question is

Why does Pit's Wings Burn/Why is there a limit to the Miracle of Flight?

This part now is just speculation. (Also I am ignoring the last scene of 15min flying for this post, as I just think it's just a credit thing.)

Is seems that if the Miracle of Flight is used for too long Pit gets burnout both metaphorically and physically, his wings catch aflame due to the limit. So why is there a limit, and why does Dark Pit not have it?

The only difference between Pit and Dark Pit is how they gain their miracle of flight.

Dark Pit absorbed Pandora's power, making it his own. Therefore the power he uses to fly is (temporary) his own that he can control and regulate. Whereas Pit has someone else acting upon him, gods for that matter. Who cannot regulate their power being exerted upon him as well as Dark Pit can on himself.

I think it's the different between external vs internal regulation that is the difference between Pit and Dark Pit here. Dark Pit can know exactly how much power/usage he needs for flight whereas the gods made be just shoving a bunch of power in Pit's wings, not knowing how to regulate it correctly to Pit's needs. For the Miracle of Flight to be safe and unlimited, Pit has to be the one giving power to his wings.

But in order to get that power he has to steal it, which has been shown to be unsustainable as Pandora lived on in Dark Pit's wings. Not only that but it had to be all of Pandora's power, who was a goddess. So I don't think Palutena can simply give this power to Pit, as is has to be the power of an entire deity, but if you absorb that power, the deity lives on. While the circumstances of Pandora's revival were rare, there no certain way to know that there isn't other ways an absorbed deity can get their power back.

This makes in unlikely that Pit could one day fly on his own indefinitely. Though can offer explanation on why Dark Pit can fly. But alas, this part is more speculative than the other (hence under the cut). But it is interesting to think about.

Thanks for the ask!

#also I purposely ignored myth and monsters since #i view the game unreliable for KIU lore #pit kid icarus #dark pit #kid icarus #kid icarus uprising #myth analyses things #myth asks #myth conversations

[striving-artist]

Your genuine delight over Goncharov made me really happy ☺️ If you have more thoughts on how/why this happened on a meta level, I’d love to hear them! 💕

Look. Look at me. Look at my face. This is the compounding and expanding creation you see in something like tiktok going ham over sea shanties (loved that, shanties are great) and the original one, that ended up with like, 9... mixes? add ons? idefk i don't use tiktok. But see. see. tiktok has fame and engagement baked into the mix. Its your face. you want followers for it. Your followers can gain you money or influence or whatever the hell. and this doesn't have that. in part because this is tumblr, we couldn't create a market friendly influencer if our lives depended on it

But this is ALSO a joint collaboration in the scope of something like fucking qanon. and yes, qanon is a full on fascist breeding ground so I hate to use it but thats how desperate i am to find a reference point. Bc it started as a single drop on a website that one person encourage and then it spiralled into full offshoots. BUT its also totally not the same bc it was made wiht an agenda and purpose and the intent to convert and persuade people

And sure, maybe some of the first posts were people going 'haha this'll be funny' and yeah, looking at the note counts, some people are drowning in the reactions for the elements they made, but this isn't done with an agenda. It's all Yes, And, never a disagreement except in the sense of people bickering over which of their meta analyses of a non existent movie is more accurate.

Maybe something like Cicada? or or. the way they dropped the joker image??? Or the album that dropped early by leaving random fucking USB drives in bathrooms at concerts???? But cicada was secretive and antagonistic to each other in a lot of ways. And Joker was built by a marketing team. and the USB drives weren't as effective as they wanted?

Geocaching?? but there's an element of accumlating clout and bragging rights there that excludes it from comparison.

But its such a pure creation that I keep reaching back to the kinds of myths that that we told before we left africa. the stories that pervade humanity so far back in time that we can't find the origin. They were made and told and retold solely because we are humans and we want to share this thing we made so others can see it and enjoy it and share it again.

LOOK. This. it's. Look at my face. This is a work of spontaneous public art. This is a thing that the greatest artists of the last hundred years would saw off their testicles to achieve. They would with a smile on their face. People literally HAVE spent millions and millions of dollars trying to force this stuff. they have tried to carve this out of people. This kind of genuine engagment. People hire teams to work for years to make a tiny fragment of this happen and they cant bc it always feel false???

And! This! Just! Happened! Spontaneously! That first rush was in like. 30 hours?? idk, I need to build a timeline. But even if it happened over 72, this is. this is. idefk its so amazing send help I'm back to rambling

#goncharov

[rainbowsalt0412]

Spoilers under the cut! ⚠️

Just completed Rafayel myth (Not my own, from a Youtube channel, cause I couldn't control my urges), and first of all I have to say, that made me crazy for him even more.

And what I like from it even more is the open end they gave us, but can it even be the end, because we hear Rafayel say the they were going to the city named 'Whalefall City' because the MC wanted to visit the sea. Now this raised my curiosity because unlike many other things, it was specifically, kind of, highlighted.

At the same time, in the ending written monologue, if you can even call it that, we read that 'The boundless sea or those churning river never came back', and we understand why is that, because they needed to have MC's heart for that, but that never happened.

But the last line says, 'They will meet once more.'

Now what does that even mean, like if MC is with Rafayel already on his trip, what does this mean, and what even exactly happened for them to separate, if that even happened, because believe it or not, Rafayel knows something we still don't, specifically something that connects to the main story chapter 7 and chapter 8.

Correct me if I've gotten something wrong and feel free to discuss with me...i love analysing.

#Love And Deepspace #Love And Deepspace Rafayel #Rafayel #Sea Of Golden Sand #Rafayel Myths #Love And Deepspace Lore

[qcomicsy]

How does Bruce feel every time he has one of his children with their backs turned from him?

Does he really look at it before he gets back to work? Does he watch as their heavy steps get more and more distance? Does he notice it's always slow enough so he can reach it? Does he decide not to do it anyway?

Does he think he should? Does he have the impulse to grasp them again? To force them to talk to him? Does he feel he's capable does he even know what to say?

Does he get angry? Does he break everything at reach at that damn cave until the sound of trinkets, and gadgets and weapons broken is capable of muffling his own thoughts? Does he feel a sadistic almost self contempt side of himself feeling vindicated? Does he always tought that would happen? Does he even get surprised?

Does he over analyse every thought? Every decision? Every word he threw at them? Does he think about the things he could have done differently? Does he martyrize himself? Does he take the blame? Does he places in another.

"If he had listened?" Or "If I had listened?", "If I did something different...", "If I said–" "If I hadn't said–", "if", "if", "if"...– Does the man who searches to the bottom to every question he ever had has time for "if"?

Does he have time to regret?

Does he just sights. Does he surrender? He feels his shoulders sagging to the feeling. That comfortable satisfaction of breaking something again because you knew you could have made it. Because at this point this disc played so many times you just decided to fast forward the song. So you have that moment of silence. That moment of confirmation where the vinyl stops rolling and you get faced with the unbearable silence that means you have to trade it for another. Or you have to start all the way back. You have to hope you didn't scratch that badly. You have to wonder if your hands deserve to pick it.

Because you have to realize you don't have the delicacy to play things without destroying it. It's what you are. Is what you made yourself to be.

Or maybe he doesn't look at it at all. He doesn't glance. And if he does he takes a moment to acknowledge it. Until he remembers his mind is too busy and his hands are already full. And he has a report to finish and another one to archive with the others until the end of July or the beginning of August. That he has to go to Blackgate to see if his witness will break or if he has to use brutal force. That Gotham has all the time in the world but he doesn't.

That for this type of he doesn't have it at all.

That he's more of a myth than a man at this point.

That his life isn't whatever childish behavior just happened before him.

That he might love his children but not enough to hold them.

So he just get back to work at all.

They'll be back tomorrow.

#thinking about bruce #bruce wayne #holding him in my hands like a type of book I don't have time to decipher it #his character is so frsgmented that all this reactions are possible #bitter bitter man #it isn't perfect but it is done eh #it's okay #🦇🦇🐦🐦 #long post

[that-ari-blogger]

Of Course Orpheus Is Here

As I have analysed Stray Gods: The Role Playing Musical, my thesis has been that this is a story about change, choice, and family. This is why Persephone is a majour player, for example, because of the symbolism of that character and the associated themes of her story. But there is one character who is so iconic to these themes that he has become the poster child for the power of love in Ancient Greek mythology.

It would have been a crime to not include Orpheus in this story. Both because of the themes mentioned above, but also because it's a musical, and Orpheus was a bard. This character was handed to the writers on a silver platter. They didn't even have to change anything to make him fit.

But they did change Orpheus. Or rather, they did give their own take on the character.

Let me explain.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Let's start simple. Who was Orpheus in the myth? I know that this may be obvious, but it's nice to have everyone on the same page and to cite some sources.

According to Britannica, Orpheus was a bard who traveled with the Argonauts to retrieve the golden fleece, and married Eurydice. After her death...

"Overcome with grief, Orpheus ventured himself to the land of the dead to attempt to bring Eurydice back to life."

Which didn't go well for him. He was told to not look back, but he did anyway, and she was gone forever. The story continues, but it's all about his dismemberment, so I'm going to stop here. Worldhistory.org backs up this story, with some added context about his brother being killed by Hercules, amongst other interesting things. I encourage you to read the articles for yourselves.

In Stray Gods, the audience is introduced to Orpheus indirectly. As in, the entire segment with Orpheus in it is a reference to the myth. Freddy, Grace's friend (and in some playthroughs, love interest) has been killed and Grace will descend to the underworld to get her back. Immediately, the parallels are obvious, and we haven't met the guy yet.

There is also the parallel between Orpheus and Persephone. Specifically, the entitlement. Both feel that they made their choice and deserve the reward almost as a payment. The opening of this song serves to remind the audience, or spell it out if they don't already know, Persephone's backstory and motivation in this musical.

This is Orpheus's introductory shot. He's standing on a cliff overlooking an empty kingdom. You want symbolism? Here it is. Everything in this man's life has led up to this, this is a life he has built for himself. Except that he hasn't built it, he's taken it from someone else and is completely unequipped to deal with it. Orpheus is not a good ruler; Orpheus is an extremely lonely man.

And yet he is surrounded by people, by fans, by a chorus. Why is he so lonely?

He's lonely because these are ghosts, both literally and figuratively. They aren't friends or companions or anything similar, they are empty adoration, and he knows. The masks they wear serve to drive this point even further, there is no individuality, they aren't people to him, they are subjects. Orpheus is trying to become like Hades.

"Someone's coming..."

"You better be ready,"

"A wolf if wating in the tune."

"He's a master of his craft"

"Someone's coming..."

"We have to take back..."

"I can feel them howling at the moon."

"What is mine."

Stray Gods does this a lot. Two characters singing over the top of each other. But instead of shouting to be heard, they instead swap between like they are each the backup singer for the other. This is my favourite example by far.

It serves to show off how similar the characters are, but also their conflict and differences. It's like an argument through lyrics.

And that drum. That drum that keeps moving. Steady, like a clock, beating over and over, relentlessly. The drum that punctuates their words.

Time has made enemies of these two, both victims of a cruel king, now bitterness has turned them against each other. And the ticking of that percussive clock keeps on going, as if it's enjoying tormenting them. Until all of a sudden, it is gone.

This is how you present a threat. Grace has so far been the one to control the music, the one to get answers. And now here is a man who can do the same thing.

Orpheus isn't the biggest danger to Grace at all, but the emotionally charged nature of this interaction, combined with how much fun he has doing exactly what she does, means that Orpheus is portrayed here as an outright villain. For the moment anyway.

This is a villain song. This is the cackling egomaniac explaining his plans to the audience, so they know to root against him, while simultaneously explaining how great he is. I couldn't help linking the "best that's ever been" line to Ratigan's World's Greatest Criminal Mind song from The Great Mouse detective. And like Ratigan, Orpheus is surrounded by sycophants who talk absolute bollocks to please him, because he is in command. Exhibit A:

"I haven't really sung a single word."

"No he hasn't even sung a single word."

The man has been singing for nearly three minutes straight at this point.

"What's your problem with Persephone?"

Finally, we understand some things. Why is Orpheus so bitter? Because the love of his life was taken from him, and he blames Persephone for not doing anything about it.

But take this line for example:

"And Persephone you stood right beside him and said what a shame."

Contrast that with this line from an earlier song.

"You abandoned me to a terrible fate... you know how far I bent before I snapped."

The second line is from Old Wounds, and it is Persephone accusing Apollo of abandoning her, now Orpheus accuses Persephone of the same thing. This isn't so much a literary parallel, but two literary lines layered on top of each other.

The point I am making is that Orpheus factors into this story as a warning. Choices have consequences, sure, but so does doing nothing. Apathy leads to complacency, and when victims lash out and the cause of their pain is unavailable, the people who could have acted and did nothing are easy targets.

The caveat is that this is metered by human perception, which doesn't always match reality. Orpheus has perceived Persephone's inaction as being complicit and hasn't recognised her pain. Meanwhile Persephone has done the same to Apollo. And Apollo has actually done this to himself, seeing his own inaction as a weakness, whether accurate or not.

Then there is the question of why Orpheus is so associated with rock. As in, it's fun, and this song is a genuine bop. But why was this choice made? He could have easily gone for more classical, memorial tone, or even sung a pop song. So why this? Other than because a ghost electric guitar is awesome.

"[Rock] has been a symbol of rebellion, youth, and freedom. Rock music has also been a symbol of social change. It has been used to voice the concerns of the oppressed and to challenge the status quo."

- Boysetsfire.net.

Essentially, rock is a genre about change or bringing about change. And what does Orpheus want to do? He wants to take revenge, to change his circumstances. He's been wating for this moment for years, and now he is ready.

But Orpheus is an incredibly static character, at least when he is introduced. He stews and can't move on past injuries. So, in my reading, this is what this song is, the rock here is to bring about the change in Orpheus and Persephone, in finally getting them to move on.

"If he's the victim, what am I?"

This is, in my opinion, the most revelatory part of this song and the musical as a whole. Its a lack of understanding of this basic fact: Pain is not exclusive. If one person is traumatised, that doesn't eliminate or minimise what someone else went through. Life isn't a game of who is suffering more. If you want to heal, you need to understand not just yourself, but those around you. You don't have to empathise, but seeing another victim as an opponent isn't helpful and actively harms people more.

And if pain isn't exclusive, neither is healing. It is our duty as human beings to be kind, and if someone needs help, to at least offer and be willing to give aid. We are a collaborative species. If two people are in pain, especially because of a single cause, then helping each other to heal is always an option.

That drum that I identified with time and trauma returns for most of the song, playing erratic rhythms in ways a music scholar could probably analyse with much more coherence than me. What I will say is when the two finally reconcile, they sing over each other again, but this time it's less of an argument and more of a conversation, and that drum is nowhere to be seen.

They can take this healing on their own terms, in their own time.

Final Thoughts:

I love this song, and I love that Orpheus was included here. I feel that this song is a really nuanced discussion of the effects of someone like this version of Hades. He's not here, he's dead, but his legacy remains, and that empty throne is still ruling over Orpheus and Persephone as if they are still his subjects. I hope my analysis expressed this nuance coherently.

Next week I am covering both Adrift Reprise and The Trial. So stick around if that interests you.

Previous - Next

#rants #literary analysis #literature analysis #character analysis #what's so special about...? #greek mythology #stray gods #stray gods the roleplaying musical #stray gods persephone #stray gods game #persephone #orpheus #stray gods the musical #stray gods spoilers #stray gods orpheus