#A+ source of imperial gossip

[richo1915]

Still in the Primary Sources. From Republican Historian Polybius to Imperial Librarian Suetonius.

[thethirdromana]

Van Helsing's misinformation

I took a look at some of the claims Van Helsing makes in his "immortal parrots" speech on the 26th of September.

Why was it that Methuselah lived nine hundred years, and 'Old Parr' one hundred and sixty-nine...

The oldest authenticated age that anyone has ever reached is 122 years (Jeanne Louise Calment, 1875-1997). Thomas Parr ('Old Parr') allegedly lived from 1483 to 1635 (which is 152 years, not 169) but the 1895 Dictionary of National Biography, which has an entry for Parr, is very sceptical about his claim, noting that his exact age was "attested by village gossip alone."

Here's Old Parr, painted by an unknown artist:

Do you know the altogether of comparative anatomy and can say wherefore the qualities of brutes are in some men, and not in others?

Comparative anatomy is a perfectly reasonable field, but coupled with "the qualities of brutes" and it being the 1890s, I strongly suspect this is some racist physiognomy bullshit (see p550 here for an example of how this looked in contemporary writing, if you must).

Can you tell me why, when other spiders die small and soon, that one great spider lived for centuries in the tower of the old Spanish church and grew and grew, till, on descending, he could drink the oil of all the church lamps?

This one is delightfully weird. It seems to be a telephone-game version of this story, printed in a variety of magazines and miscellanies (e.g.) since 1821:

The sexton of the church of St Eustace, at Paris, amazed to find frequently a particular lamp extinct early, and yet the oil consumed oil, sat up several nights to perceive the cause. At length he discovered that a spider of surprising size came down the cord to drink the oil. A still more extraordinary instance of the same kind occurred during the year 1751, in the Cathedral of Milan. A vast spider was observed there, which fed on the oil of the lamps... It weighed four pounds, and was sent to the Emperor of Austria, and is now in the Imperial Museum at Vienna.

Here's a photo of St Eustache:

In 1894 the story was reprinted in Notes and Queries, with the question: "Are the statements therein pure fiction? If not, can any one tell me how much we may safely believe? A spider weighing four pounds [1.8kg] is indeed a heavy tax on the reader's credulity."

In reality, the largest spider in the world is the Goliath birdeater, which weighs 175g.

Can you tell me why in the Pampas, ay and elsewhere, there are bats that come at night and open the veins of cattle and horses and suck dry their veins...

Vampire bats are real, and live in parts of South and Central America. The prey of the common vampire bat can include cattle (source). The quantity of blood that they drink is small - in the region of 100g, or about a fifth of a typical blood donation. Vampire bat predation can result in the death of much larger animals, but from infection, not draining them dry.

Here's a common vampire bat:

... how in some islands of the Western seas there are bats which hang on the trees all day, and those who have seen describe as like giant nuts or pods, and that when the sailors sleep on the deck, because that it is hot, flit down on them, and then—and then in the morning are found dead men, white as even Miss Lucy was?

From Wikipedia:

West Sea or Western Sea may refer to:

Atlantic Ocean

Pacific Ocean

Indian Ocean

Mediterranean Sea...

So that's not the most helpful starting point. I don't know which bats these are supposed to be, though hanging in trees like giant nuts makes them sound like fruit bats. In Van Helsing's defence, bats do carry a lot of viruses.

Can you tell me why the tortoise lives more long than generations of men...

Lovely to reach something that's just straight-up true. The current oldest living land animal is Jonathan, a 190+-year-old Seychelles giant tortoise.

... why the elephant goes on and on till he have seen dynasties...

Asian elephants live to be 50 or so; African elephants, 60-70 years. Weirdly, it seems to have been widely believed in the 1890s that elephants lived for a century; e.g. that's cited as fact in the 1894 Encyclopaedia Britannica. Either way, "dynasties" feels like an exaggeration.

... why the parrot never die only of bite of cat or dog or other complaint?

I've tried but I can't find where Bram Stoker got this one from. Maybe he made it up. The English Illustrated Magazine, 1897, contains an article complaining about how easily grey parrots die after being imported and sold as pets.

Can you tell me why men believe in all ages and places that there are some few who live on always if they be permit; that there are men and women who cannot die?

I've also got no idea what's going on with this one. I can't figure out how to look into it without coming up with lots of 1890s Christian literature on the immortal soul, which is not what Van Helsing is getting at.

We all know—because science has vouched for the fact—that there have been toads shut up in rocks for thousands of years, shut in one so small hole that only hold him since the youth of the world.

This was a wildly popular myth in Victorian times (see this article for more details). An article in The Gentleman's Magazine, 1877, entitled 'Some Facts and Fictions of Zoology' (reprinted in several other places) went into the question in more detail, and concluded:

These tales are, in short, as devoid of actual foundation as are the modern beliefs in the venomous properties of the toad, or the ancient beliefs in the occult and mystic powers of various parts of its frame when used in incantations.

Here's a toad:

Can you tell me how the Indian fakir can make himself to die and have been buried, and his grave sealed and corn sowed on it, and the corn reaped and be cut and sown and reaped and cut again, and then men come and take away the unbroken seal and that there lie the Indian fakir, not dead, but that rise up and walk amongst them as before?

This seems to have been widely believed in the late 19th century - e.g. this 1897 book references "two undoubted cases... one of whom had remained alive under the ground for six weeks, the other for ten days". This 1880 magazine says that it "will appear incredible" but relays the story of a fakir "buried alive for forty days, then disentombed and resuscitated" as fact.

The longest verified case of someone surviving without drinking water is Andreas Mihavecz, an 18-year-old bricklayer who was mistakenly locked up by police for 18 days. Even then, he drank condensed water from the walls, and was very close to death when he was found.

So in summary:

Old Parr: false

Physiognomy: false

Enormous oil-drinking spider: false

Vampire bats: partially true

Bats killing sailors: partially true

Long-lived tortoises: TRUE

Long-lived elephants: false

Immortal parrots: false

Belief in immortality: ???

Imprisoned toads: false

Buried fakirs: false

I guess there are some disadvantages to having an "absolutely open mind."

[depressedgarbages-stuff]

All posts of the situation of 🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸 I saw today (Wed, Apr 24.):

https://www.tumblr.com/radicalgraff/748203339992481792/graffiti-spotted-in-quebec-city?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/the-lady-maddy/746583699892666368?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/radicalgraff/747854223816966145/the-destruction-of-gaza-by-usa-weapons?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/radicalgraff/748204492863995904/if-you-dont-like-graffiti-look-away-like-you-do?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/depressedgarbages-stuff/748588586030497792/all-posts-of-the-situation-of-i?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/i-am-aprl/746168816210444288/this-is-the-last-memory-she-will-have-of-them-we?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/radicalgraff/748622707350011904/free-palestine-death-2-us-imperialism-seen-in?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/tamarrud/747842227970228224/the-fact-there-are-mass-graves-being-discovered-at?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/the-bastard-king/745992305559879680/so-even-if-you-think-it-isnt-enough-remember?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/good-old-gossip/747202677764669440/at-the-same-time-allegations-involving?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/thekeypa/748713116812066816/you-can-not-bomb-your-way-to-peace-and-peace-is?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/deadespeon/748713054089445376/i-want-to-do-a-donation-i-dont-know-how-much-i?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/fuzzythememe/748712806889717760/donate-to-help-ali-and-his-family-to-get-out-of?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/soon-palestine/748712321894006784/us-refuses-to-back-un-calls-for-probe-into?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/zarathelonewolf/748711797359575040/today-is-an-important-day-today-79-years-ago?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/soon-palestine/748712183432658944?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/thebusylilbee/748711317948497920/oh-my-fucking-god-im-listening-to-a-jewish-lawyer?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/furrysinthematrix/748711115101487104/moroccan-drug-dealers-refuse-to-sell-to-israeli?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/fuckyeah-bears/748711306410000384/is-it-really-any-wonder-that-people-who-support?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/slavacocaine/748711113378660352/this-is-why-they-really-want-to-ban-tiktok?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/slavacocaine/748711038961205248?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/ryuu-from-the-grave/748710814961270784/liar-liar-pants-on-fire-hope-hes-found-hanging?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/slavacocaine/748710214339035136/united-states-israel-would-call-this-kid-a?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/slavacocaine/748710141885579264?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/sevenoctober7/748709757321347072/the-us-is-turning-into-a-mini-israel-idf-usually?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/the-secret-garden1/748709618656722944/palestine-update-day-200-of-the-genocide-this?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/slavacocaine/748709629501046784/ex-israeli-pilot-our-army-is-a-terrorist?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/lunarr-stuff/748709101297696768/the-bulldozer-kept-coming-a-girl-stares-down?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/slavacocaine/748709536464093184/the-head-of-the-hamas-politburo-ismail-haniyeh?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/wearemerelyplayers/748709462800498688/hello-there-my-family-needs-to-leave-gaza-out-of?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/forthesakeofthefuture/748709005657014272/certain-people-tell-you-to-not-believe-terrorists?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/redvelvetwishtree/748708913758814208/hello-there-im-sorry-if-i-am-bothering-you-but-i?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/twst-charity/748708895247171584/some-updates-about-the-protests-and-subsequent?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/fullmetal-angelgrace/748708414729945088/cal-poly-humboldt-april-24th-2024?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/noctomania/748708545812463616/fuck-yes?source=share

[scotianostra]

April 27th 1794 saw the death of James Bruce, the explorer at Larbert.

At six feet four inches in height, James Bruce was an impressive figure. An explorer, archaeologist and brilliant linguist, he travelled across North Africa, Crete, Syria, Egypt and Ethiopia He is best known for his exploration of the sources of the Nile, reaching the headstream of the Blue Nile in 1770.

Some historians believe that Bruce, while being recognised for finding the source of the Nile, he was actually in Africa on a secret personal mission to Ethiopia to locate a sacred religious relic, the Ark of the Covenant.

The explorer apparently charmed and gifted his way through a land usually hostile to foreigners. On his black horse Mizra, Persian for ‘scholar’, he trekked across treacherous terrain and Ethiopia’s flat-topped mountains. He brought a telescope so large it required six men to carry it.

Bruce arrived at Ethiopia’s imperial capital Gondar during a smallpox epidemic. His knowledge of medicine gained him entry to the court – where he would remain for almost a year.

James Bruce had relationships with many women in Ethiopia, including the Princess Esther. He later described this period as “one of the happiest moments of my life”.

At court, Bruce boasted of his own lineage, declaring:

“My ancestors were the kings of the country in which I was born, and to be ranked among the greatest and most glorious that ever bore the title of king.”

This was not just him boasting, his family were indeed descendants to King Robert.

On returning to London Bruce’s tales of Ethiopia, recounted at dinner parties and gossiped about in letters, were met with disbelief. He became a figure of ridicule, mocked by contemporaries such as Samuel Johnson and James Boswell. Ultimately, he would be laughed out of London.

There were, perhaps, ulterior motives for Bruce’s rejection by ‘polite’ society. In her book Plotting To Stop the British Slave Trade: James Bruce and His Secret Mission to Africa, Jane Aptekar Reeve reveals that Bruce belonged to a secret network of British slave trade abolitionists.

The Scottish cartoonist Issac Cruikshank made James Bruce a caricature, depicting his story of the “Abyssinian Breakfast”, in disbelief of Bruce’s claims that Ethiopians took live cuts of meat from cattle. This was later proven to be true, as indeed were his other stories that saw him ridiculed.

For a man who must have been in grave dangers during his adventures in Africa, he had an inglorious death, he fell down some stairs in 1793 and died at his home in Kinnaird, and is buried in a graveyard I visit now and them at Larbert Old churchyard near Falkirk.

Pics are of the cartoon I mentioned, and his rather unusual memorial at Larbert, which I read last year id due to be restored soon, hopefully.

Much more on the man here https://www.historic-uk.com/.../HistoryofSco.../James-Bruce/

[alovelywaytospendanevening]

Homosexuality and the First Fifteen Roman Emperors

English historian Edward Gibbon (1737–1794) famously declared that "of the first fifteen emperors, Claudius was the only one whose taste in love was entirely correct" [i.e. strictly heterosexual]... but how true is that statement?

I did a little research and, while in no way offering a definitive answer over the matter, found evidence of homosexual activities for thirteen out of fifteen names. Besides the already mentioned Claudius, I didn't find any allegations about Vespasian and Antoninus Pius, who also seemed to be strictly attracted to women.

With the exception of the ones about Nerva and Hadrian, all following quotes were taken from Craig A. Williams' Roman Homosexuality.

(Warning: most quotes include mentions of some kind of non-consensual relationship, including with minors)

AUGUSTUS

Augustus himself acquired the reputation of an avid womanizer, but he also was said to have kept male slaves as his deliciae or “darlings,” one of whom, named Sarmentus, is mentioned in passing by Plutarch.

Augustus, one late source gossips, used to sleep in the midst of twelve catamiti and as many girls.

TIBERIUS

Funerary inscriptions from the imperial household under Augustus and Tiberius reveal that among the different positions filled by slaves in the palace were those of glaber ab cyatho (a smooth boy who served wine), glabrorum ornator (a male slave who served as beautician for the smooth boys), and puerorum ornatrix (a female beautician for boys).

Suetonius’ allusion to Galba’s tastes for mature males is far removed in tone from his explicitly moralizing condemnation of Tiberius’ shocking sexual use of very young boys (what he did “cannot be mentioned or heard, let alone believed”).

CALIGULA

Suetonius uses the coded phrase “pudicitiae neque suae neque alienae pepercit” (“he spared neither his own nor others’ pudicitia,” signifying that he played the receptive and insertive roles in penetrative acts respectively), and then reports some examples in rapid succession: two relationships with men that seem to have involved an exchange of role; an affair with a young nobleman named Valerius Catullus in which Caligula played the receptive role (Valerius claimed to have been worn out by his exertions).

CLAUDIUS

Suetonius has this to say of the emperor Claudius: “He was possessed of an extravagant desire for women, having no experience with males whatsoever."

NERO

Suetonius, Tacitus, Dio Cassius, and Aurelius Victor tell us that the emperor Nero publicly celebrated at least two wedding ceremonies with males, one in which he was the groom and one or perhaps two in which he was the bride, and they provide stunning details: dowry was given, a bridal veil worn.

GALBA

Suetonius records that the emperor Galba was particularly fond of men who were “very hard and grown up,” and it is worth noting that Galba’s fondness for mature men seems to have caused no eyebrows to rise, presumably because he was observing the two basic protocols of masculine sexual comportment: maintaining the appearance of an appropriately dominant stance with his partners and keeping himself to his own slaves and to prostitutes.

OTHO

Dio notes that Galba’s successor Otho alienated many people by having relations with Sporos and generally associating with Nero’s followers.

VITELLIUS

Vitellius began his brief reign as emperor in A.D. 69 by publicly honoring a freedman of his named Asiaticus, with whom he had had a stormy affair when Asiaticus was a young slave of his.

VESPASIAN

[No reports of homosexual activities.]

TITUS

Dio also mentions Domitian’s affair with Earinos, adding that the emperor’s brother and predecessor Titus had shared his tastes for eunuchs.

DOMITIAN

Statius imagines Venus proclaiming that Domitian’s beloved eunuch, Earinos, will surpass in his beauty some legendarily gorgeous young men: Endymion, Attis, Narcissus, and Hylas—the first two of whom were loved by goddesses.

NERVA

It is often insisted that Domitian was sexually abused by his eventual successor, the Emperor Nerva.

TRAJAN

Trajan kept delicati, and this detail is dropped in such a way as to suggest that this was a standard feature of the imperial household.

HADRIAN

Hadrian appears to have preferred the company of men and homosexual relations. The great love of his life, Antinous, was a young man from Bithynia.

ANTONINUS PIUS

[No reports of homosexual activities.]

[jiubilant]

completely baffled by the fact that ulfric spent approximately twenty years after the great war doing almost nothing and then deciding to kill the high king. i also thought the civil war lasted longer but no, it all began in the same year the dragons showed up. (the game's canon timeline is weird.)

that's why i've written ulfric as up to seditious things before the events of 201...i was certain that he hadn't been sitting quietly in his hold all that while and wanted to explore some of the subtler ways that he might have pushed back against the empire as a younger man before declaring all-out war (testing his leeway with the east empire company being one of those ways)

i've definitely heard it claimed that the civil war started in 201—and i think the fact that people around skyrim still gossip about ulfric murdering the high king implies that said murder happened relatively recently—but i don't think the game ever gives us a solid date? and the game itself is what i prioritize over out-of-game sources. i think it's also likely that the fighting began a long while before anyone declared it a "war" and that the moot was the jarls' way of trying to settle rising border tensions between the holds with the traditional solution rather than resorting to calling for imperial aid

[hawkepockets]

Can we hear about prem and Rama or is that still being developed 👉👈😶 prem has a personality that makes him so funny in romance with people like Rama or canach it's entertaining to read

ok sorrysorrysorry i have been sitting on this ask. i have so much to say about these two but didn’t wanna drop it as an unbroken word wall without any new doodle comics … PRAMA NATION LETS GO !!

prama nation lets pause to note prem & canach have been broken up since mid icebrood saga. F. but prama nation, thats another story. LETS GO !!!!!!!!!!

prem met rama in seitung while the commander was still unconscious in jail. since he’s visibly canthan & zephyrite, prem could walk freely around the province, getting the lay of the land and passing as more or less local. obviously people knew he wasn’t from seitung, but they figured he was from some close-ish island. the mystery of who he was, how he’d been scarred, whether more zephyrites would be coming soon with goods to trade, was local gossip but not something that tripped any minsec alarms. lacking gold, provisions, and information, prem spent a week or so sweet-talking local merchants and fishermen into telling him about the area and giving him free food.

he also batted his eyes at rama, bc a cop is a juicy source of intel, and bc rama’s handsome! their conversation turned into a really long, really nice skiff riding date, rama bought prem crab rangoons, ran his mouth a little more than he should’ve about working for minsec, and went back to his office blushing to the ears like

but of course prem wasn’t from a close-ish island. he was an outlander who’d been here under minsec’s nose. he’d let rama think he was canthan-born and only casually interested in minsec, lying big time by omission, and he’d used rama to find out where they were keeping gorrik and the comm. all of this was a sucker punch to rama when he found out, and he naturally assumed prem had faked his interest in rama and the whole date was a trick.

he was hurt, pissed off, betrayed, humiliated… but didn’t want any of that to come across, so settled on acting just kind of disgruntled and sticklery about government rules.

(the whole date wasn’t a trick. prem honestly liked him.)

when rama warned dragon’s watch that their unsecured comm channel was basically a public radio show, prem took it as encouragement instead of the “shut the hell up” rama intended. like what better way to win over ordinary canthans while kas handled the imperial court !

he started actually treating it like a podcast, taking canthan commoners’ questions live, talking about the guild’s exploits, and airing extended jokes and bits with his friends, and he’s funny, he’s fun to listen to, so every time he tuned in on his radio, rama would be taking torment damage trying to decide whether or not he likes prem despite it all, like

and the more prem talked on the comm about things he’d done like wrestling a mordrem axemaster in the shell of a wrecked pact airship, following a dead dragon’s memories to find the lost city of kesho, seducing a mummy on istan to break out of a mordant crescent prison, using glamours to infiltrate the moon palace of gandara, out-talking jormag… the smaller rama felt by comparison to prem’s stories, and the smaller prem’s betrayal of him seemed, and his temper cooled but it also sort of felt like shit.

in person, though, it’s different. when they’re out on the skiff in new kaineng’s canals, prem is interested in everything rama says, leaning forward, eyes meeting his squarely, laughing at his jokes, asking about how he ended up at minsec, making him feel large and deep and attractive again, like he’s one of the most important people prem’s met in all that traveling.

in person prem also feels so much less daunting. kinda washed up. rama hasn’t seen him fight, since the monastery is dedicated to dwayna and prem swore he’d never enter one of her places of worship again, so he wasn't at training. looking at him out of combat it’s easy to believe he exaggerated his past adventures, or at least that his grace has faded now.

so rama opens up about being kurzick, his childhood in the slums that drove him to become a cop. and prem surprises him again by really getting it! because he grew up zephyrite in kryta, he joined the shining blade in part to bring gold and honor to his mothers in the soon-to-collapse canthan district, he bought into the copaganda too ! and as they’re passing the grub lanes prem’s looking at the reflection of the buildings in the water, saying how much rama’s neighborhood looks like where prem grew up, and rama stops short and asks if he wants to get out of the boat and explore the place, but prem says no. he’d rather just look at the reflection. because the canthan district is gone forever and he doesn’t want his memory of it to get confused with new, similar streets.

and rama is possessed to tell him about the love tunnel.

when things get real, though, is after minister li comes out as a purist and gets his ass kicked. prem & rama see each other in action for the first time, and the only surprise that could follow up rama activating his gunsword is prem becoming a dash of colorful light as he uses zephyrite aspect crystals to navigate the rooftop battlefield and take apart li’s task force armed only with his hands, feet, and a single war fan. there’s no longer any doubt in rama’s mind that this dude is still one of tyria’s best martial artists, but whether or not prem’s out of his league is not really a concern as he reckons with finding out his mentor/second father figure is a career racist who always held rama’s background against him, and that the ministry he’s been working himself to death for at the cost of every other relationship is corrupted to the top. of course gorrik and the comm feel bad, but they’re too focused on ankka and soo-won to slow down and take care of him.

so prem does that, staying behind on the rooftop after min takes li away, to offer rama a distraction.

he catches a crab and makes it into a (small, and honestly just mid) dinner for the two of them at rama’s apartment. then they break into the soju. a tipsy prem lets a progressively drunker rama talk about li and pretends not to notice as he cries it out. and then,

prem finally talks about why he left the shining blade—the corruption, the bad orders, the impossible expectations, finding out anise was messing with his memories—and about dueling his own mentor for his freedom. he doesn’t like talking about it, but he wants rama to feel less alone. at this point rama hypothesizes—not correctly, but close enough—that anise gave prem his scars as punishment. out of it and overwhelmed, rama starts making out with him…

aaand cuts it short in a second as he’s SEIZED by paranoia that purists will find his apartment and kill him for what he knows about li and they shouldn’t have been drinking bc at any fucking minute the assassins could break in !!

prem reminds him that the fight happened on public rooftops, and there’s nothing rama knows about li that min, minsec, the pact commander, and half of new kaineng don't also know already. rama feels foolish, and freshly devastated bc he thought he did know li better than anyone else in cantha, and that’s been taken away from him and the memory ruined. he calls himself stupid. prem says he's not. rama says fine, he's confused, and he's calling it a night. he asks if prem needs money for a raptor cab. prem declines, and rama crashes into bed. dead asleep before prem can stand to go.

at 4 am rama wakes up needing to take a leak, and when he opens his bedroom door prem is asleep on the floor right outside it, stretched out across the doorway like a guard dog, hand loosely over his war fan. just in case.

rama doesn't forget that casual act of devotion, or how nice the kiss was before he freaked himself out, and after soo-won's death, min's promotion to security minister, and prem's decision to stay in cantha with the "friends' detective agency" until rama's ready to travel, there's a growing feeling between them of like, "you're half stuck on canach. i'm half waiting for min. in the meantime can't a couple of messed-up ex-cops enjoy each other's company?" they start flirting and sizing each other up and testing out how much they can joke about a relationship before it becomes real.

this is long enough so i'll leave off there at the end of core EoD, with the final thought that i think prem works with serious characters romantically because he doesn't always take them seriously, he thinks a straight face is funny and a sharp tongue is cute, and having their stoicism laughed at and their moments of silliness and vulnerability rewarded gives them a chance to act more rounded. the same way his insistence on treating people like braham very seriously when everyone else is laughing off their expertise as a joke lets them feel more whole.

and who's not into that?

[yamayuandadu]

What’s Masafusa relationship with Minamoto no Yoshiie and how did he become Yoshiie’s teacher for the art of war?

Apparently while they were contemporaries, this is just a legend (source; source 2 - check p. 364). Wikipedia presents it as a historical fact… but the source cited in Masafusa’s article (the claim is unsourced in Yoshiie’s) does not. It just summarizes an episode from Kokon Chomonjū according to which after the Zenkunen War Yoshiie arrived in the imperial court to report on his deeds. Masafusa was not impressed with him because he lacked theoretical knowledge about warfare despite his accomplishments. One of Yoshiie’s soldiers overheard this and shared this information with him; Yoshiie surprisingly agreed with Masafusa’s evaluation, and approached him to become his disciple. Later on the knowledge he acquired from him let him discover disguised enemy soldiers during the Later Three Years War.

A fairly similar legend is also recorded in the Ōshū Gosannen Ki (“Chronicle of the Later Three Years War in the Mutsu Province”; completed in 1347, but based on an older illustrated scroll created less than a century after the war). Here the same deed is presented as the result of reading a military treatise authorted by Masafusa (no title is provided), which taught him that “when soldiers conceal themselves in the grasses of plains, they disturb flocks of geese”. Note that the same work also credits him with returning soldiers who have frozen to death to life, so its reliability is dubious at best.

There is one more problem: Paul Varley, who covered this legend in Warriors of Japan as Portrayed in the War Tales, mentions that he failed to locate any work of Masafusa that would fit, and points out that the passage instead finds a close parallels in a quote attributed to Sun Tzu (see here). While I’m not familiar with Masafusa’s entire body of work, it indeed doesn’t really fit his main interests, like Chinese literature, classical poetry, governance, or anecdotes about immortality, rebirth in the pure land or repentant sinners. 

Yet another version of the legend is preserved in Tandai Shōshin Roku (see here), written in the early nineteenth century by Ueda Akinari. It’s basically an abridged edition of the above: Yoshiie met Masafusa while he was reporting his victories in the imperial court. Masafusa was not impressed with him because despite his military deeds he was not familiar with the study of the art of war. Yoshiie took this criticism to his heart and asked him if he can become his disciple and learn strategy and tactics from him. The translators of the annotated English edition stress that this account does not reflect historical events; Ueda actually just brings it up to illustrate a point he’s making about people in the past being often well versed in both poetry and warfare, in contrast with his contemporaries. For what it’s worth, I do think this sort of petty commentary is in line with Masafusa’s historical penchant for gossiping, so if you are asking because you’d like to write something about them, despite the incident not being genuine history I do think relying on it for characterization is fair game.  Something that can be considered a further particularly divergent variant of the legend shows up in the preface of the Heihō Hijutsu Ikkansho (“The Single Scroll of Secret Martial Technique”). This text is a fourteenth century compilation of military esoterica. Supposedly it was originally written by Zhang Liang (a famed ancient Chinese strategist), arrived in Japan during the reign of the  legendary emperor Kaika, got lost until the reign of Jingu (and then again, this time for good, when her son Ōjin became the emperor), got reimported from China by Ōe no Koretoki at the request of emperor Daigo, with Masafusa being responsible for editing it later. Yoshiie was then granted the right to use it before the war by the imperial court. In reality, no copy of Heihō Hijutsu Ikkansho predates the early 1300s, and while part of the text does reflect Chinese - specifically Tang dynasty Daoist - sources, for the most part it is a fairly standard work of medieval Japanese esoterica. You can learn more about it in R. Keller Kimbrough’s article Casting Spells: Combat Charms and Secret Scrolls in the Warrior Fiction of Late Medieval Japan.

[scorbleeo]

Drama Gossip: Douluo Continent (斗罗大陆)

Source: Google Images

Having lost his mother at a very young age, Tang San grew up relying on his father just as much as his father relied upon him. Meticulous and mature for his age, with extraordinary talent and wit, he was sent to Nuoding Academy at the age of sixteen to begin pursuing his dream of becoming a great soul master. There, under the tutelage of Yu Xiao Gang, he befriends an orphan by the name of Xiao Wu, and together they begin the long and difficult journey of cultivation. As time passes, the two friends draw ever closer, eventually swearing to look out for each other as siblings for life.

As their power and connection grow, Yu Xiao Gang realizes they need more guidance than he can provide. Sending the pair to the Shrek Academy, Tang San and Xiao Wu join five other prodigies from various academies in their journey of cultivation. Strong in their power, the seven students become known throughout the land as the “Shrek Seven Devils”. With their fame ever-growing, the talents of the Seven are eventually noticed by a few very prominent nobles who invite them to continue their cultivation at the esteemed Tian Dou Royal Academy.

Not long after accepting the invitation, the Seven Devils find themselves caught up in an imperial struggle for power between the first and fourth princes. At the same time, Tang San uncovers a long-hidden secret about his mother’s death. Suddenly facing battles on many fronts, Tang San finds himself forced to fight, not only to protect those he loves but to bring honor to his sect, save his country, and complete his quest to become the greatest soul master of all time.

Source: MyDramaList (2021)

It's Just So Good, Ya'know?

In spite of being a Xiao Zhan fan, I don't love a lot of his dramas. Douluo Continent though, that is one of the few I truly enjoy. This is a rewatch and the parts that irritated me, I still don't like but the parts that I like, I still enjoy.

The biggest problem with this drama is the pacing. This is me being nice but oh boy, the pacing is all over the place with Douluo Continent. Also, I am just not a big fan of the romance in this show. Don't get me wrong, I love Zhu Zhu Qing and Dai Mu Bai's relationship, I had hoped to get more from them. The other two couples among the Seven Devils are quite cute but sometimes really redundant. Especially the many scenes of Xiao Wu and Tang San. I get it, but I did not watch this show for their romance, it's average at best.

That being said, lets talk about the show itself. Fantastical wuxia dramas without long melodramatic or constant betrayal scenes are my favourite. The storyline, the world, the characters, the action, Douluo Continent really is entertaining to watch. A downside? For a show focusing on people's powers and abilities to fight, there is a severe lack of action scenes. Sometimes, I just want the fight scene to drag on or show me more action rather than slow motion scenes of anyone being attacked and falling backwards.

Every time I watch Douluo Continent, I get the urge to watch the animation as well. Unfortunately, the animation is not it for me. So until the second instalment comes out, I really don't think I will consume any content of Douluo Continent except for this drama. A pity, really.

Rating: ★★★★☆

[tathrin]

Hey what are you doing ith Legolas and GImli in your sw au?

Oh no why are you asking me about this again I was going to be productive today I am a liar thank you for being interested in my absolute nonsensical osik. Okay, here are my notes, a little fleshed-out for clarity because I short-handed a lot while I was trying to get this out of my head so I could go to sleep:

Legolas is one of the Rangers of Toprawa, which was bombed into "savagery" by the Empire generations ago, shortly after the Jedi were wiped-out in the Purge; unlike most planets that have suffered this sort of treatment by the Empire they are not forgotten by the wider galaxy, however, but have passed into a sort of boogyman-story status, because every now and then someone will run across a Ranger who got off Toprawa and said Rangers are fucking weird in that just-bizarre-enough-to-be-almost-plausible way that stories and rumors really love talking about (and exaggerating). It's all "spacer's tales" that aren't really believed, but...well. Spacers are a superstitious lot, aren't they? So: the Rangers of Toprawa. Some people don't even believe they exist ("surely the Empire has wiped them out by now!") but regardless of whether they're believed to be real or not, they are considered "less wise" than people from civilized planets, and also "more dangerous." The state of their homeworld contributes to this, too.

For the Empire has long kept a dark base on Toprawa, a place for twisted experiments and torture: Dol Guldur Base. (Perhaps Admiral Khamûl will be the officer in charge; perhaps it will be Admiral Daala, or Derricote?) Its noxious emissions leave a constant pall upon their once-lush forest world, and the Empire has not fire-bombed the planet to kill the surviving Rangers only because they A: do not know how many of them there actually are (or they might be more worried), and they B: like having them as potential subjects to capture for their experiments, and as training for their troopers to hunt in the woods…but the Rangers hunt back. (This is also a source of the stories, because stormtroopers gossip too. And when you make it back from a deployment on the Scary Weird Forest World Where The Terrible Imperial Experiments That You Don't Have Clearance To Know The Details Of Aren't The Scariest Things Out There, you talk about it. To your fellow stormtroopers, if no one else; but stories leak, stories spread. And the Rangers are creepy enough to be fun to talk about, even if you don't really believe they're real.)

There was intermarrying between the Rangers and the Jedi they worked alongside for centuries, and the Rangers all have varying degrees of low-level Force Sensitivity now. Many of them (again, see: intermarrying; they're a mixed group) are a near-human species called Silvans, or at least have a lot of Silvan ancestry (it is in fact more than likely that the "Silvan species" known today is a result of generational mixing between humans and some other species, or more than one; due to being confined on Toprawa for the last four hundred years, and thus subjected to a comparatively small reproductive pool—not enough for inbreeding dangers, thankfully, not until the Empire decides to kill a lot more of them—they've become a largely homogenized species or sub-species of their own.) Silvans are tall and slender and agile, at least compared to bog-standard humans, with pointed ears and sharp teeth and heightened senses (some of which is due to their species and some to their connection to the Force).

They favor ranged weapons and ambush attacks, but are adept at hand-to-hand and melee fighting as well. They prefer their home-built bowcasters over normal blasters (they've become adept at scavenging Imperial technology, because that's all they've got), because they are more accustomed to them; they require greater strength and accuracy to wield properly than plain blasters do (which they consider crude in comparison) but are capable of longer range accuracy and tighter shots with less charge (because they can only scavenge power packs from Imperial weapons so they have to be prudent with their ammo). They also cannot be set for stun—more dangerous, remember!

Legolas's parents are insurgency leaders on Toprawa. Haven't decided how/why he gets off-world yet; perhaps we'll give him a sort of Force Vision al la Faramir and Boromir's dream? Or perhaps Aragorn comes to Toprawa seeking something, and picks him up there. Regardless, he's not been off-world long when he ends up pledging loyalty to Aragorn (Rangers help the Jedi, remember! He'll be very excited to find the Jedi still exist, but not surprised; some on Toprawa have given up hope, but he's young and optimistic and always believed there had to be Jedi still out there somewhere) so we get to have the fun of him Reacting To Commonplace Things With Confusion And Shock because he grew up on the feral forest-world.

Gimli is a Mandalorian, of the Dwarrow species. Shorter, sturdier, stouter, and more heavily-muscled than human standard, they have a knack for mechanics and weaponry and are very clan/family oriented, which makes them a people who would be naturally inclined towards Mandalorian culture even before the Old Wars that saw their homeworld sacked and almost wiped-out and the survivors scattered, homeless, across the galaxy. Gimli knows some of the techniques for working with beskar, but he's not a master armorer; he might follow that path someday, but for now he's young and eager to explore the galaxy and it's been a while since he went home to the family forge and farm, although he talks about his large family a lot. He keeps his hair and short beard braided tight against his skin beneath his helmet. He's a member of the True Mandalorian faction from the moon of Erebor, the Lonely Mountain clan.

The Mandalorians and the Rangers of Toprawa do not get along and never ever have, because the Mandalorians used to fight the Jedi a lot which meant they fought the Rangers too; some Mandalorians even helped the Empire assault Toprawa in the Purge, although that was Death Watch of Nogrod, not the True Mandalorians of Erebor. (As Gimli will repeatedly point-out, because no one hates Death Watch more than other Mando'ade, no matter what certain pointy-eared woodland chakaare might claim. This will be a source of contention initially, but eventually one of bonding, once Legolas realizes that Gimli actually means it when he growls about lopping the head off every Death Watch member he can get his hands on with his beskar-and-cortosis axe, and Gimli admits that maybe Legolas isn't being dismissive of his hate for Death Watch just because Legolas's people also hate the folks who, you know, helped slaughter them.) They will be immediately suspicious of one another's intentions and will assume THE WORST in pretty much every interaction for the first several months.

They will both end up following Aragorn, in Legolas's case because "Rangers of Toprawa have always aided the Jedi; I cannot do less than my ancestors. Your cause is mine, Aragorn!" and in Gimli's case, because he initially got hired to help with a specific part of the mission and then quickly decided that yes, he was all-in on this insane quest, this is great, he's having the best time of his life, and "a Mandalorian does not go back on a job; our word is our honor, and I'll see this through if it kills me. Besides, to fight alongside a true Jedi? What more glorious cause than that! Our greatest defeat came at the hands of the Jedi Warrior Revan. If you mean to get between me and my chance to fight with a legend like that, Silvan, you'd better be prepared to meet me in battle for the right to stand at his side, because faithless is he that says farewell before the battle has been won—!" and arguing about which one of them "deserves" to be there and which one should OBVIOUSLY LEAVE and Aragorn will be like "omg can you PLEASE just shut-up and work together for ten minutes so we can overthrow the Empire and kill the Sith and no I didn't mean start kissing wtf is wrong with both of you kriff I hate this prophecy why is this my life…"

I realize I talked more about Legolas than Gimli, but that's because I had to invent a whole backstory for blending Toprawa and Mirkwood, while "Gimli's a Mandalorian" pretty much contains all the background detail I need to know for him, because I know exactly what that means in my head without elaborating further, but I tried to put a few more of those details in here before I posted it, so hopefully there's enough for folks to follow-along. But if not and you've still got questions, let me know. I am both horrified and delighted to talk about this more, thank you and curse you all (affectionate).

Also I'm keeping links to all the posts I make on this ridiculous au collected here, if you want to see any more rambling about it.

[ask-sad-ghost-piett]

📘Tiaan Jerjerrod

Send me 📘 + a Name and my muse will write a diary entry about that person! Repeats are fine! (Meme Source)

(OOC: This is currently the first of the Jerjerrod entries for this meme. I will be writing and posting another one soon! Tiaan is a popular man.)

Lieutenant's Log - Val Denn Imperial Naval Base - 12 Years after the Formation of His Majesty's Galactic Empire

I do not know what to make of this Tiaan Jerjerrod fellow. I had better hurry up and decide given that he seems to have decided we are great friends. I have not corrected him as the jury is still out. However, I do not use the term "friend" lightly.

I am not quite sure how Jerjerrod came to this conclusion about our relationship. He seems to have made up the jump rather suddenly. We have been acquaintances for some time given that our schedules align nicely for some casual chats during caf breaks. I will admit he has some very interesting information about our fellow Imperials. I'm not much of a gossip, of course, but I find it beneficial to know more about my fellow crew. I don't know where he learns these things, but Jerjerrod seems to have expert knowledge about people's personal lives. He's also privy to a number of scandalous rumors, and while I am certainly not a gossip, I find these very intriguing.

At any rate, Jerjerrod seems to have taken these conversations as evidence of our grand companionship. Coincidentally, our Star Destroyer has docked on his home planet, and he's insisted on showing me around. And by showing me around, I mean dragging me around the entire bloody planet. He claims he needs to show me how to "enjoy shore leave" and said it wouldn't hurt because I "have no plans".

I did have plans. My plan was to sleep for the next two cycles and catch up on my sleep deprivation. Instead, now I have sore feet and a sunburn.

He has invited me out again tomorrow evening to see a show of some kind. Apparently, he will be bringing his new boyfriend. I am therefore already dreading being the third wheel. As if that weren't bad enough, he failed to specify what kind of show we would be seeing but implied it wasn't safe for discussion while on duty.

I fear the worse. If it's any kind of sexual cabaret, my mother will skin me alive. She'll find out somehow. She always finds out.

-Lieutenant Piett

[officalroyalsofpierreland]

Happy Birthday Crown Prince Louis

Across the Empire, fans of the Imperial family have been able to get their hands on a special edition of Simogue featuring the heir to the throne in the Uniform of the Youth Cadets. The magazine features a small spread of photos and small pieces of an interview with the Crown Prince, who mainly speaks about his favorite subjects, friends and his desire to take up some more public duties.

(Prince Charming: HIH the Crown Prince posing in the Palais in his uniform for St. Francis Academy)

It seems that tabloid magazines are taking some of these pictures and already creating other headlines.

Popular tabloid magazine, Insider, is making claims that the Crown Prince is a heart breaking party animal with very few anonymus sources and one picture of the Crown Prince going to a Teen Night in Windensen with a mystery smattering of hickies on his neck. Insider is also the only magazine in Pierreland reporting on HIH Princess Maria Aisha's behaviour in Saliceau with other news outlets in the Empire being silent. The Imperial Family has yet to respond to any of the claims with a inside source stating that the Emperor "is not worried" about the claims of one gossip rag.

The Palais has released a photo taken by the Empress of the Emperor, Crown Prince, and HIH Prince Henri in their private apartments where they seemingly confirm that the Crown Prince has temporarily dyed his hair which the family is taking in stride with the statement, "Happy Birthday Louis! Hope this year is full of good choices and less embarassing pictures."

[fideidefenswhore]

As the main source of information regarding [the Imperial Lady], Chapuys displays both shrewdness and credulity, knowing that when it came to personal matters, lovers' quarrels should not always be taken seriously, but also being a little too willing to accept gossip, later acknowledging a few occasions when he had been misled. Other evidence suggests that all was well between King and Queen, and that any arguments were mere ripples compared to the grander schemes of Henry's intentions. Whilst Chapuys paints a picture of volatility, Henry was, in fact, pursuing legislation to further secure his marriage and command obedience to Anne from her subjects.

Anne Boleyn: Adultery, Heresy, Desire (Licence, Amy)

[soiasan]

Open Starter !

(post-Trespasser)

Your character discovers someone is impersonating Fen’Harel and performing “miracles” in Jader, Orlais. They find themselves in a theater, ready to investigate, when an Orlesian man (wonder who that is?) offers to help.

Read the full start under the cut!

All over Thedas there have been reported sightings of Fen’harel. The Dread Wolf of Dalish legend. From the Anderfels to Ferelden, from Orlais to Nevarra. Whispers were loud and stories were varied.

He only travels at night, along the Imperial Highway.

He's stealing children.

He's freeing slaves.

He's breaking hearts.

He owes me fifty gold!

How was the Dread Wolf everywhere and all at once? The answer is simple: he wasn’t.

Yes, he had access to the eluvian network and that helped him get around quickly. But there were not enough eluvian to grant him access to every home, so he could steal every dog and burn every copy of the Chant of Light, as far too many people believed.

Solas recognized these rumors were getting out of hand and threatened to impede the actual work he was doing. He always went about his business quietly. Few were those who lived to recollect a verified encounter with him. The People Solas kept close to chest, those working with him, knew better than to lend their energy to idle gossip. And the “people” who deserved no mercy from Solas, slavers and other morally bankrupt individuals, knew better than to spread word about their interactions. Lest Solas find them and finish the job.

So very certain in his carefulness was he, Solas knew his own actions had not been the source of these rumors. This chatter sung the virtues of someone else entirely. One particular rumor, increasing in frequency and curious in content, perked Solas’ pointed ears.

Fen’harel cured me.

Of what? It varied. Heartache, blindness, paralysis, wasting, the Blight. The list went on and on and on. While the other rumors were symptomatic of liars and those afraid of monsters hiding under their beds, these rumors all held an unnerving weight to them. They were filling people with so much hope it was bringing them to the city Solas found himself in now.

Along the coast of the Waking Sea, above the dwarven empire of Orzammar. Jader was the Orlesian city closest to Ferelden. It held many things, like the large, historical Chantry Solas was in now and the highly contested claim to being the birthplace of Andraste, which Solas heard brandished as fact as he passed a clergyman. Not to mention the vast, secret underground theatre, just down the steps Solas walked on.

It had been a forgotten thaig. Now it was a sprawling theater, with staggered rows of plush red cotton seats and a large performing stage made with what appeared to be ironbark. Solas could barely make out dwarven carvings on the walls. Veilfire crackled around the stage, lighting up the center. A voice that was impossible to source called out--

“Places, places. The show is about to start!”

Solas took his seat. Earlier, he had to give a secret password and a ticket to gain entry, but it seemed to be open seating besides that. He wore an Orlesian dragon mask with blonde curls covering the rest of his head. He took a seat in the back, where he was sure he’d have the best view. Then he saw someone strikingly familiar sit down in front of him.

Solas could have ignored this person or dismissed their presence as the lack of light playing tricks on him. He did neither. Instead, he opted to push his heel into the back of their seat. “Désolé.” He spoke Orlesian easily, his natural accent faded into the role. “I thought you were someone else.”

He kept his foot where it was, on the back of the seat. “Have you heard about this Dread Wolf?” He asked. “Are you here to ask him to heal you?”

[seajellyx]

FANON DORM: ABOUT VYOLETBAYOU

Vyoletbayou “A dorm built on the Lord of Shadow’s spirit of insightfulness" [Twisted from Princess and The Frog] Colors: Imperial Purple and Vibrant Green

Kleje Arcadia - Vyoletbayou's famous arcade

From pool to zombie hunters, poker to air hockey, the Arcadia has almost every game imaginable.

It's a very popular after school spot for students.

The games may be challenging, but aren't unwinnable, Vyoletbayou prides itself on its unrigged arcade games.

The arcade works on a system of tokens, called Talis.

Many prizes can be purchased with these tokens, ranging from simple toys to jewelry and electronics.

They also serve food and drink! Their specialty is African street food and sweet, uniquely flavored sodas.

The most popular games, however, are the fortune teller booths, scattered across the arcade, and manned by various Vyoletbayou students.

Including: Crystal ball reading, tarot, oracle, and playing cards, bone casting, palm reading, dice, and astrology

Owner: Unknown, it's a source of speculation and gossip.

Members:

Faustin Samedi

Etienne Baptiste

Mashaka Abara

Gallery

[sexcromancy]

oh actually on the subject of creating things wholesale that make absolutely no sense to anyone else. I've been trying to crack a gossip girl au for tlt and I had sort of decided they just don't fit and I finally realized last night that the correct source is actually the oc. sad disaffected little guy from shitty family (Harrowhark/Nona ?) gets adopted by overbearing and loving family (pyrrha g1deon and gideon) who welcome her completely into their family. harrow and gideon have fun wacky adventures with the insane tridentarii (here standing in for summer+marissa), like going to concerts, getting addicted to drugs (aka eating your bestie), trying to get into college, and watching people die. meanwhile the adults have their own dramas including arguing with your dad (John), and other parents (Mercymorn), negotiating what it means to be a real estate lawyer (martial participant in imperialism) in the richest neighborhood in the us (an imperialist state) and getting addicted to drugs (eating your bestie).