theory-lord

[theory-lord]

is it just me, or has Star Trek aged particularly badly as a franchise? I’m not talking technobabble; I’ll give most pre-1970s shows a pass for bad science, since they were really doing their best, and some of my favorite shows use the exact same bad science. I’m talking about it’s tone. I used to like it a lot, but now it just feels really smug and pretentious. “look at how MY secular values have produced a SPACE UTOPIA! All because we have abandoned SUPERSTITION for SCIENCE!”. give me a break.

it somehow manages to be both grossly ethnocentric in it’s embrace of western values while at the same time completely dismissive of the culture that those values sprung from. it is unabashed worship of modernism, a philosophy that died 2 decades ago because of how shallow and meaningless it was (only to be replaced with post-modernism which is arguably worse). with the notable exception of the inclusion of the Ferengi there seems to be no real effort to question or critique the philosophy, or even add a little nuance to it. it never makes any attempt to address the societal ills that resulted from modernism and secularism. it is the storytelling equivalent of drinking mayonnaise.

say what you will about Star Wars, but at least it took 2 REALLY BAD movies to ruin it for me (I still maintain the Force Awakens had some potential). but all it took to ruin star trek for me was getting a bachelor’s degree in the social sciences (history, leaning heavily toward anthropology) to see how full of shit it really is.

[theory-lord]

I really need help

This is really embarrassing but my family and i are financially struggling, we don’t have groceries to eat at the moment, we’re a large family of six, i’m sorry if this is annoying but i don’t know what to do, please if you could help me out with at least $1 that would mean the world to me 🥺

ko-fi / paypal

[theory-lord]

anonymously message me (3) things you want to know about me.

[theory-lord]

kinda fun, tho i think i’d also be dirt poor too

Your Tumblr username decides your profession. How is your first day at work?

[theory-lord]

[theory-lord]

Please boost

I am going back to school for my theology degree in the fall and I already could barely afford school, but now with corona, I really dont think ill be able to afford it. I already put my deposit in and signed up for classes so ill have to go for at least the first semester, but if I can get even one years worth covered, I'll be thankful and probably be able to finish my degree.

Even if you cant donate, please think about reblogging this or posting it elsewhere. Thank you guys so much.

[theory-lord]

you can create elaborate fan theories! i specialize in those. random steam-boat show up in the river of an otherwise medieval world? write a 7-page paper on it and how it actually makes sense when you take into account the expanded material!

I am literally begging people to learn how to participate in fandom through a lens other than shipping

[theory-lord]

I make theories. i fancy myself very good at it.

Guys please reply to this with what your url means or references I’m really curious

[theory-lord]

one of the good things about the middle ages was that the punnishment for pedophilia among the clergy was, roughly speaking, “beat the shithead senseless and then put him in solitary confinement for the rest of his life”. and this was the Church carrying out the punishment.

[theory-lord]

if a statement you’re making is so sloppily made that someone could replace all the proper nouns in it to make it sound like you are approving of the holocaust, maybe you should rethink the opinion the statement is based on.

[theory-lord]

@first-and-last-neocount I can help you find the books. there is a suggested reading order:

deltora quest series: the forest of silence, the lake of tears, the city of the rats, the shifting sands, dread mountain, the maze of the beast, and return to del

deltora shadowlands series: Cavern of Fear, the Isle of Illusion, The Shadowlands

dragons of deltora: dragon’s nest, shadowgate, isle of the dead, the sister of the south

the three doors trilogy (optional): the golden door, the silver door, the third door

rowan of rin (optional): Rowan of Rin, Rowan and the Travelers, Rowan and the Keeper of the Crystal, Rowan and the Zebak, Rowan of the Bukshaw

star of deltora: shadows of the master, two moons, towers of illica, the hungry isle

supplementary works: Tales of Deltora, In the Land of Dragons, Secrets of Deltora, Monsters of Deltora

Technological Disparity

I was thinking about that random, inexplicable Steam-Ship in Deltora Quest: The Maze of the Beast, and I realized something.

It’s not actually all that inexplicable.

By looking at the world of deltora as a whole (as opposed to the continent of deltora), it has suddenly become apparent to me that it’s not the steam boat that is out of place, but rather the technological deficiency of the entire continent of Deltora.

In every book Emily Rodda writes for this particular world, the main characters always start out in a socially or in some cases physically secluded area. Lief was in the city of Del, who lost contact with the outside world for approximately 50 years, maybe more, and only became more secluded during the period of time during which the Shadow Lord executed direct control. Rye of Weld lived in the walled nation-state of Weld, which had absolutely no contact with the outside world for about one or two thousand years, and further had a shockingly low metal content. Rin is a tiny village whose very existence is probably some kind of Maris national secret. All of these places, by their very nature, would have a lower technological level than the outside world, simply due to lower degrees of interaction.

Lets look at the notably more advanced technologies we have seen in the series. I will leave out the Shadow Lord’s technomagical machinations, as the comparison is hardly fair in that case.

There is, of course, the steamboat. It’s presence in the river isn’t all that strange, even considering the later use of the Star of Deltora in the series of the same name (a ship which appears to follow a late Renaissance design) as steam ships are only really effective in rivers, and would be unfeasible in the open water, at least not until modern-era ships start developing. Even so, it is canonically established that the Star of Deltora is around 40 years old by the time the series of the same name starts, and around 20 during the events of the original series. At least. This means, even if steamboats were feasible in the open water, they would still be in production, and likely not have fully phased out the wind-powered ships.

Further, we see evidence of massive technological advancement on the island of dorne, at least outside of Weld. The Fitzfee clan was shown to have developed a number of complex technological marvels, from intricate clockwork music boxes to actual flamethrowers. Many of the item’s in Tom’s shop can reasonably be assumed to have had their origin in Dorne, as Dorne is the only island known to have possessed both a large supply of working sorcerers (creators of miscellaneous magics such as the Sky Sphere) and techsmiths (clearly the Fitzfees). Thus, we can infer that perhaps some of the seemingly magical items in tom’s shop, such as the water eaters, may have actually been technological or alchemical in origin, raising the bar for the world’s average technological level even higher.

The island of the Zebak was certainly the home of an advanced, dare I say almost MODERN society, in stark contrast to the medieval-ish inhabitants of Maris. I mean, they literally live in a city made of solid sheets of metal, and have internal plumbing, as well as complex breeding techniques. Depending on how you look at it, they may even have developed hypnotism techniques. This makes sense, given that it seems to be the nature of the Maris to avoid contact with those outside their island, be suspicious of virtually everyone, and constantly wallow in tradition which was originally designed to keep them from killing each-other but has slowly been corrupted by their suspicious nature to stagnate their society. The Rin and the Travelers can hardly be at fault here, as they have neither the population nor the resources to develop technology to any reasonably extent (though the travelers evidently developed personalized gliders which work with their magical wind control, which is pretty impressive under the circumstances). In contrast, the Zebak have a large population, a strong desire to expand, and a desperation for more food resources, which is probably what fueled their rapid increase in technological development, despite the fact that I doubt anyone would ever willingly trade with them.

Even the people of Weld who I mentioned earlier are not without some impressive developments. Because their magical talents are masked by the rigid structure of their society and of their communities themselves, they have turned to other means for healing, developing a medical system which closely mirrors western medicine.

In other words, it’s not a matter of the steam-boat being to advanced for the world of deltora, but rather a matter of the continent of deltora being conspicuously underdeveloped technologically. And I think we all know the reason why that is the case. I’ll say it anyway, though: the Shadow Lord.

It would be in the Shadow Lord’s best interests to limit the level of technology his subjects had access to. After all, he can easily track powerful magic, but technological threats have a way of perpetuating themselves in a knowledgeable populace. Ultimately, he sees the nation of Deltora as a mining operation, from which he would gain food, weapons, and magical soldiers for use against the other islands. Thus his plans would not benefit from his slaves gaining high level technology. Further, his efforts to eliminate literacy in Deltora as a form of magical defense against the Belt and Adin’s heirs would have a secondary effect of limiting the spread of technology significantly. The only two places in the original series where we actually see advanced tech are in places which the Shadow Lord has limited control at best: Amethyst territory and Tom’s shop.

So that is why there is a random steam-boat in the river broad.

What do you think? @dragoninmypocket @rithmeres @deltoraquest-blog @jemthebookworm

[theory-lord]

I don’t think they’d appreciate their city being taken

[theory-lord]

ok, so I have to explain this really carefully because it makes very little sense and I don’t really understand it myself:

somehow, when they reblogged my theory, they specifically deleted the text of the theory for that reblog, and replaced it with a lewd picture and a link to what I can only assume is some virus-infested porn site. Thankfully, the original post was still intact, but that meant that there was a version of my post floating around that had the title and tags of the original, and would notify me whenever somebody reblogged.

this actually happened some five times within a span of a few months, but after that they must have fixed the bug because I have not encountered that problem since then.

In any case, whenever it did happen, I reported and subsequently blocked the account. Hopefully the false version of my post got deleted with the accounts.

wow ive made it a piece of art has been hounded by a porn blog promoting themselves and completely deleted the art itself :)))))

[theory-lord]

Your problems with the Lord of the Rings are valid. If you want to read a tolkien book with a more immediate threat, read the Children of Hurin. Morgoth is about 50000% more cruel and petty than most villains I have encountered in that book. And the book starts with the destruction of a kingdom that in the end never gets rebuilt, as the two last heirs of the kingdom commit suicide in a manner very reminiscent of a Shakespearean tragedy.

making a deltora sideblog in the Year Of Our Lord 2018 like a fuckin fool

[theory-lord]

once a porn blog deleted one of my theories and placed a link to a trash website in it’s place. the theory was massive and detailed, and it just threw it all away.

wow ive made it a piece of art has been hounded by a porn blog promoting themselves and completely deleted the art itself :)))))

[theory-lord]

I love deltora, ‘cause it’s tolkien fantasy with a hint of lovecraftian horror and served with a hefty helping of relatively subtle social commentary.

BTW, Rodda recently wrote another series, the Star of Deltora, if you haven’t heard of it.

making a deltora sideblog in the Year Of Our Lord 2018 like a fuckin fool

[theory-lord]

good bye