#I used Socrates as inspiration

[marz-artswede]

Process video for Season One Dani from Rolling With Difficulty. I know I saved the actual art around here SOMEWHERE, but I can’t find it anymore. I really like starting from the grayscale and then adding color for digital painting.

[stormofdefiance]

True knowledge exists in knowing you know nothing || Dr. Ratio & Socrates

Okay, I legitimately laughed out loud writing that title, but listen. LISTEN.

Ratio's inspirations derive from many sources; from referencing Archimedes's brain-blast in the tub, to being doomed to have his head bonked by Newton's apple ad infinitum in his idle animation, to his ultimate line ('esse est percipi' / 'to be is to be perceived') a direct quote from Berkeley on Idealism - it's apparent that his design nods towards scholars across time periods rather than being a direct parallel to a singular academic.

Nevertheless, just for fun, I've been rotating Ratio and ancient greek philosophers around in my head and have had a great time chewing over how parallels Socrates in particular. I am in no way saying that Hoyo even thought about Socrates while they were designing Ratio, but I thought I'd share my thoughts. I think there are some worthwhile parallels to be drawn that touch on all aspects of Ratio's own philosophy regarding ignorance, the value of knowledge, and his deep appreciation of life. So, let's get into it.

Ratio is interested in humanity and curing 'ill minds with knowledge', that 'to turn a blind eye to the folly of others is not an etiquette, but a wicked worldly practice.' Ignorance is a disease - this is a concept that can be viewed through a Socratic lens. Socrates believed that that virtue and knowledge were impossible to separate from one another, and that virtue could be developed through acquiring knowledge and insight. If knowledge is virtue, then ignorance is vice. In Socrates's mind, no one would rationally choose to do something bad. People might choose to do bad things, but this is rooted in their own perception of the world - as in, someone would only choose to do something bad (for the world, or for themselves) because they believed (erroneously) that it was the right or good thing to do. To Socrates, the cure to this was knowledge: 'There are two kinds of disease of the soul, vice and ignorance.' & 'What does most harm in the world is not sinfulness but ignorance'.

To Ratio, 'If ignorance is an ailment, it is the duty of the scholars to weed it out and heal the universe'. He views his own ignorance as 'filth' that must be cleansed through methods such as reading. He also views knowledge as a method for humans to overcome their problems - 'Another day has passed. If your problem still hasn't been solved, is it possible the problem is you?' & 'You look distressed. Is something troubling you? if so, you can figure it out for yourself.' These statements sound harsh, but they also clue us into Ratio's philosophy - that through self-examination and improvement, one can overcome one's ailments.

Socrates was also known for being a trouble-maker, he was abrupt and tactless and did not care for someone's social standing nor decorum. He was also known for using what is now called the Socratic method, asking a series of questions that ultimately seek to show contradictions in the beliefs of those who posed them, and to move systematically towards a hypothesis free from contradiction. Socrates rarely made assertions himself - after all, he had no wisdom of his own. But he could interrogate others in order to expose their own foibles, much to the embarrassment and annoyance of those around him. He was once described as a 'gnat' chewing on the 'lazy horse of Athens', causing it to wake up and spring to life due to his persistent gnawing and prodding. Ratio also employs the Socratic method - 'I'm asking questions' - and also adopts sophist tactics such as playing devil's advocate and taking opposing sides (with both himself as seen a story quest, and with others as we see with his texts urging us to take up a side so he might debate us). Through questioning and interrogation, upsetting what we consider social convention and norms, we can dispel contradictions and thereby come closer to some form of truth.

To add to this - as highlighted in the replies below - Ratio’s skill ‘intellectual midwifery’ is a reference to the Socratic method. The idea being that Socrates helped those around him give birth to the knowledge that was already within them, rather than treating his students minds as empty vessels for him to fill with his own answers. Again this is beautifully echoed in Ratio - he doesn’t want to tell you how to live your life, he wants you to work out for yourself what it is you need, thus empowering oneself through self-examination and questioning.

Socrates did not believe in writing anything down. He believed that face-to-face communication was a far more effective way of communicating knowledge - which means, unfortunately, what we know of Socrates is primarily derived from secondary sources. Much of what we know about him today comes from Plato's dialogues, and Plato was known for liberally exercising artistic license.

Although Ratio is not dead, I find it interesting that his character story is told exclusively through secondary sources. To quote - '…There are no less than eight documentaries detailing his legendary exploits, and over a dozen memoirs about him. However, despite the plethora of commentaries, none of them seems to provide a compelling perspective.' It's as though there are no surviving fragments penned by Ratio's hand and all we have to go on is through the lenses of other people. This challenges us, perhaps, to try to think about our own interpretation of Ratio since secondary sources cannot be taken as a wholly unbiased account - and once again employing the Socratic method and empowering the reader to come to their own interpretation.

While Socrates left no writing behind, he was interested in spreading knowledge. Socrates spent most of his life in Athens, a city that was, during his lifetime (~470-399 BC), a hotpot of scholars, wisemen and philosophers. Athena, the Greek god of wisdom, was named after the city - her symbol the owl that is also appropriately perched on Ratio’s shoulder. Also in Athens at this time where the sophists. The sophists were a class of intellectuals who were known to teach courses in various subjects - but often for a high fee, and generally centred around the idea that persuasion and the use of knowledge as a tool was more important than wisdom or truth itself. There's some debate about whether Socrates could be characterised as a sophist himself, but, crucially, he is characterised as refusing to take payment for his teachings. He was born a plebeian (perhaps you might describe it as a mundane background.) He was known to dress in rags and go barefoot, speaking to and (often antagonising) people from all walks of life, preferring the marketplace as a center of debate than palaces or courtrooms. I can't help but think of the sophists as similar to the genius society (or at least Ratio's depiction of them in contrast to himself), cooped up in ivory towers and gatekeeping knowledge to the most privileged. He doubts if Herta's talent is always helpful to others, he compares Screwllum to a 'monarch'. Then again, the sophists may in fact be a bit of a parallel to the Intelligentsia Guild - from Ratio, 'when someone is willing to listen to knowledge that is being disseminated and circulated, a price is created'.

Socrates (or at least the Platonic depiction of Socrates) was at one time declared the wisest man in Athens by the Oracle of Delphi. Socrates balks at this assertion - how can he possibly be the wisest man in Athens when he in fact knows nothing at all? This was not a claim made of modesty - he truly believed that he had no wisdom, that he was unsure what 'wisdom' itself even was. Ultimately, Socrates concludes that the only way that the Oracle could be correct is that by actually acknowledging that he knows nothing he paradoxically is the wisest man in Athens. All wisdom, therefore, is rooted in wondering, with wondering only possible if one is open to admitting one's own ignorance.

What I love about all of this in relation to Ratio is that Ratio styles himself as a mundanite. The Intelligensia Guild advocates that 'all knowledge must be circulated like currency' and accepts 'all beings… who seek to learn'. Ratio has no time for the satisfied self-styling of intellectualism, he himself states that 'to speak knowledge, we must first make people realise their own folly.' No one is above criticism in this regard, even himself - again, to quote 'Whenever someone agrees with me, I feel like I must be wrong.' Again, I feel as though he would resonate with Socrates here: 'Smart people learn from everything and everyone, average people from their experiences, and stupid people already have all the answers'. With Aventurine, he is quick to mock his appearance as over-the-top and vapid - once again making it clear his distate for vanity and hollow displays of showiness (albeit he may have been acting for Sunday's sake here. Also, no comment about this coming from a man who runs around in a toga, lmao) Equally, with Aventurine, it is clear that Ratio is willing to learn from him - he apologises when he offends, he abhors his methodology and yet he still relies upon it and trusts in Aventurine's plan, he is drawn to him in some ways precisely because he is so different to himself. Aventurine (at least styles himself) as impulsive to Ratio's slow and steady methodology, Aventurine whose learning has been entirely self-made vs Ratio who has spent his life in classrooms, Ratio who scoffs at Aventurine's favourite games of chance yet adds slot machines to his simulated universe. And to Socrates, the experience of aporia – in all of its discomfort and disruption – is the very catalyst of wonder, and that wonder was not just the root of wisdom but also the way to live a good and happy life. There is something beautiful in this to me, and this extends to Ratio. Ratio fundamentally cares about life. For all his brashness, his lashing out against 'idiots', his harsh demeanour - he wants people to live good lives, he wants to contribute to the good of humanity - all people, even those he is annoyed by, he cares so profoundly and absolutely about life. The entire reason why he is obsessed with wisdom and learning is not to exalt or elevate himself, not as some kind of ritualistic expression of piety towards a deity, but it is instead an expression of devotion towards life itself. Ratio has a strict work out routine not so that he can show off his body, but because living healthily is living well and working out is a component of that. Even the way he fusses and worries about Aventurine, someone he is pointedly irritated by, reveals how deeply his care runs. So so much of his character is centered on caring for life, even if it is not immediately obvious.

Finally, I'd like to highlight some ways in which Ratio is not like Socrates. First of all, Socrates was repeatedly described as 'ugly' by fellow philosophers Plato and Xenophon - this is contrast to Ratio being repeatedly described as 'handsome'. This is an interesting subversion to me (albeit likely an indulgent one) as in both cases both men attempt to distance their physical appearance from the weight of their words. Ratio wears the bust for many reasons, but way to view it is that he is attempting to stop his appearance from bearing any influence in the subject of debate.

Socrates was also said to be blessed by a divine touch, and as we know, this is something that agonises Ratio as Nous has not yet turned THEIR gaze towards him.

Lastly, Ratio has - thankfully - not yet been ordered by the state to drink hemlock for all his trouble-making and blustering. Though perhaps he may someday be put on trial by the IPC if the theories that he is working alongside Aventurine to undermine the corporation are true - we will just have to wait and see.

Thanks for reading my little ramble. I'd be super interested in anyone's thoughts if they'd like to share, but regardless, I'll leave off on some of my favourite wee quotes from the Rat man:

'Even a life marked by failure is a life worth living - it is only in moments of solitude and despair, when help is absent, that fools grasp how to pick themselves up.'

'Do stay alive. I wish you the best of luck.'

[hannie-dul-set]

HOME FOR THE BITCHLESS [6].

SYNOPSIS. wherein your friend offers a room for you to crash in while your dorm is being renovated, but fails to mention that your new housemates don’t know how to talk to women (oh, and they also have an ongoing bet about you, too).

PAIRINGS. choi soobin, choi beomgyu, lee heeseung, park jongseong, sim jaeyun, park sunghoon x female! reader. GENRE. housemates! au, rom-com, sitcom, reverse harem time baby. WARNINGS. almost drowning, a nauseating amount of stupidity, swearing, sex jokes, bribery, the boys are shirtless for most of the chapter. WORD COUNT. 5.2k.

TAGLIST. @cerealdreamwriter @tyongff-ff @dinonuguaegi @certifiedmoa @blueberrgyuu0 @primantha @blu3bell4 @nunugget @hoshi-is-ult-bbg @captivq @tocupid @seosalad @ddazed-lhs @gyuszie @mifuyuyo @error-cant-function @twocupsofsuga @flowerbe0m @dangerousconnoisseurbanana @laviesm @keikeu @elavin @chaemmie @rikisly @satsuri3su @gyugyubin @junhuicosmo @skzenhalove @luvkpopp @yansbolobao @emer-syn @eggomi @drunkinjake @soobiverse @deobitifull @haechanspudu @yawnzzn27 @7myoi @toothfa-1-ry @imsiriuslyreal @maimoirs @whippedforbeomgyu

NOTE. this is my favorite chapter so far i think i peaked here. the ppt scene was inspired by anthpo, my professors' tendency to use the socratic method to instill trauma in their students, and hoshi from seventeen's tiger agenda. also, most of this was written before i found out odi has passed 😔 fly high little guy.

MASTERLIST | NEXT >

CHAPTER 6 — the obligatory pool episode.

THERE’S A HEATWAVE IN TOWN. When you wake up, it feels like you got transported into Satan’s rectum. It’s sweaty and disgusting under your covers, and kicking them off does nothing to appease the hellish humidity inside your room. But when you roll over to grab the remote for the air conditioning, blindly press on the button, nothing happens.

You try again.

It’s not working.

You jolt up from your bed, hair a mess, and armpits too sweaty for comfort. A power outage. Of course, there’d be no power on the hottest day of the year.

“Fucking shit, I’m so hot,” you announce as you make your arrival downstairs. It’s only Sunghoon and Jay in the living room. They turn away from their game of jenga upon your arrival.

“Yeah, you’re super hot,” says Jay. “I mean, damn global warming sure sucks, huh?”

The wooden tower collapses. You stifle out a grunt of agreement. “Apparently some feeders in the neighborhood broke down,” Sunghoon informs you. “They’re still fixing it. The generator also wasn’t working when Heeseung hyung went down the basement to turn it on. I think we need to get that fixed too.”

Well, shit. That’s not good news. You give Sunghoon a pat on the head for speaking thirty-six words to you today before walking over to the kitchen. Last time you checked, there was a stash of popsicles in there. You’re pretty sure they haven’t been completely water-fied by the blackout yet.

For some reason, upon nearing the kitchen island, the fridge door is hanging open. You understand why when you step on something— er, someone— on the way towards your frozen delight. “Ow!” Beomgyu hisses from the floor. There’s remnants of cold wind filtering out from the refrigerator. Beomgyu has claimed it as his territory, and he’s glaring up at you from his spot. “Watch where you’re going.”

“‘Scuse me.”

You walk over him, hiking one leg across his torso before infringing upon his fridge monopoly to grab a half-melted melon bar. This isn’t exactly how Beomgyu imagined how it’d be like to be in between your legs. “I’m not sure if you’re dense or if you just don’t give a fuck,” he says, propping himself up by the elbows as you dig through a plastic bag.

“I really just don’t don’t give a fuck.” You snap a bite out of the pale green popsicle. “Want one?”

“Give.”

“Go get one yourself.”

“Fuck you.”

“I’m sure you’d love to.” You close the fridge door shut and make sure to kick his side with your foot when you cross over him again. He lets out a cry of pain. You turn back, satisfied with your cold exploits, but there is no wall separating the living room and the kitchen, so Sunghoon and Jay were witnesses to that entire conversation. “Do you also want a bite?” you ask. Their ears burn a couple degrees brighter before declining.

Was that an intentional insinuation? Yes. Do you enjoy destroying their composure on purpose? Also yes. It’s a new hobby you picked up since staying here, and it’s definitely one you’ll miss once your dorms get fixed and you’d have to move out. Jay and Jake are both particularly difficult to get through, but sometimes you can manage to fluster the former, just like now. Jake has been impossible so far. You’ll get him one day. He can’t be left unscathed.

This may seem terrible, and sometimes you do get a teensy bit conscientious when one of them starts crying or becomes temporarily incapacitated— until you remember they have this whole secret bet going on that definitely involves you, so you should be allowed to fuck around this much, right?

“Hey! Why don’t we have a pool party?”

The genius idea comes from Jake. You immediately run up back to your room upon hearing the suggestion to change into a bathing suit, pausing right before your door because you don’t want anyone waving the PD&J at your face for indecent attire again. So you throw on a beach kimono for the safety of your wallet. They emptied the jar out yesterday to buy some meat for a barbecue party that’s supposed to be scheduled this weekend, but looks like you’re gonna be having that sweet, sweet pork belly tonight right by the chlorine scent of the pool. 

You hurry downstairs, so fucking ready to be submerged in cool, refreshing water. But when you get to the courtyard— all the boys already loitering in and around the pool— you realize something. 

Something a little dangerous.

“You’re finally here!”

Oh no. They’re hot.

“We’re playing chicken fight, come jo—”

A rather scantily clad Sunghoon pushes an equally scantily clad Jake off Soobin’s unclothed shoulders and into the splash of the water. They are all bare-skinned, glistening wet, and although it’s not a bad sight to behold at all, it’s a discovery that you wish had remained undiscovered until you finally leave this damned house.

Listen. It’s not like you’ve never seen any of them shirtless or almost naked before. Jay was literally in his highlighter underwear when you first met him. But you were never put in a situation where you’re able to look at them closely because all those times have been meshed with something stupid.

It’s very easy to overlook their general attractiveness when they all act like third-graders, bitchless losers, scandalized Victorian men, or all of the above at the same time, in the same sequence. It’s really easy to forget that.

But Heeseung has his soaked tank top sticking to his skin and Beomgyu is pushing his wet hair back with a wide grin. Your housemates might actually be a tad bit more attractive than your prolonged, initial impression of them. This can cause a little internal trouble.

“Why aren’t you getting in the water?”

Soobin is the one that’s asking, having already left the water fight in the middle and is now looking up at you, chest deep near the pool’s edge. You look down. You’re not sure if he’s looking directly at you because you’re a little focused on his toned arms resting above the ledge, but if he is, then good on him for keeping up with his eye-contact practice hours.

“Hey,” you call out, crouching down and hugging your knees. “Do you work out?”

Silence. Pink scatters across Soobin’s cheeks. He coughs out an unintelligible response and disappears back under the water, quietly swimming away. Yes. This is how it should be.

Feeling a lot more at ease after confirming you still have the upper hand, you finally dip your legs into the pool and stretch out your back with a satisfied groan. Fuck, this is perfect. You’re honestly unsure how you’re supposed to transition back into life at the dorms when this house has a perfectly refreshing pool at your disposal. You don’t remember what life was like before this. You’d live here for the rest of your life if you could. But you have enough pride in your system to prevent you from extending your verbal contract with Jake. Two months. It’s a few days past the halfway point now. All you could do is enjoy this life of comfort as much as you can.

Until it gets ripped away from you in the form of Jake yanking your ankle and dragging you under the water with a horrifying splash. 

Before you know it, you’re gasping for air and grabbing the nearest thing your arms could reach out for so you don’t fucking drown— but when you finally manage to rise back to the surface, a loud inhale of air into your lungs, the person you managed to hold onto just happens to be Heeseung.

Heeseung, who’s looking down at you with wide, alarmed eyes while you’re wrapped around his waist. Heeseung, who shoves you back into the water out of panic and shock and whatever the fuck his problem is.

Jake rushes to pull you back up. Heeseung is dead to you.

“I’m sorry.”

He failed to kill you so he’s now down on his knees, timid palms on his lap, and head lowered in guilt.

“I am very sorry,” Heeseung repeats. “I am deeply reflecting on my actions.”

You’re sitting on the half log shaped chairs on the courtyard, still wet, arms and legs both crossed in petulance as Sunghoon quietly dries your hair with a towel from behind (no, you didn’t scare him into doing this). 

“Stand up.” He flinches at the tone of your voice. “Go get yourself dried up so we can finally start the barbecue.”

He’s awfully obedient. You watch as his slumped figure trudges back into the house. “Was that too much?” The back of your head hits Sunghoon’s bare stomach when you try to look at him. He’s holding your head in his hands with the damp towel in between.

“You’re always a little much,” he mumbles.

“Is that a bad or good thing?”

Sunghoon ponders for a moment, staring at your upside down face. “More is always better than less?”

You smile, snatching the towel from his hands and jumping off from your seat. “Good answer.” Two gentle pats of praise on his cheek set his skin on fire. Speaking of fire, you can already smell the scent of smoke and deliciously cooking meat wafting in the air, so you run over to Jay who’s on grilling duty, hoping to get an early bite.

“Can you pass me a plate?” he asks, flipping the cut up pieces of meat on the barbecue grill. “Thanks.”

“Gimme one.” You open your mouth, chasing after the slice of pork belly on his tongs until he brings it closer to your mouth for you to bite. “Holy shit,” you muffle out, hot air escaping from your lips.

“Good?” he asks.

“Very good.” You swallow the piece. “One more?”

He lets you snack on a bunch of well-done beef before they could reach the plate and at some point he mentions, as you’re tearing open a few packs of ramyeon to cook, that you look a lot like the curled up pieces of shrimp he’s currently grilling. You narrow your eyes at him, hand dangerously hovering above boiling water with a square of raw noodles. “Are you trying to say I look charred and have a terrible posture?”

“No.” Jay raises a piece of shrimp in the air, showing it off to you. “Doesn’t it look cute?”

Now that you’re looking at it a little closer, it does look kind of cute. Huh. “Would you eat me if I was a grilled shrimp?”

Jay thinks about it. He keeps thinking until you start smelling something burning. “I’d keep you safe in my pantry,” he finally answers. 

“So you’ll just let me spoil over and die?”

His expression drops. “Fuck.” The shrimp is unsalvageable. “I guess I’d have to eat you.”

The rest of dinner goes on as you expect. Jay and Beomgyu take turns over the grill until Jake thought he’d be naturally gifted over the fire and ended up making charcoal with the last pack of galbi (“It’s fine!” he said. “I’ll take care of it!”) and today’s heatwave suddenly becomes a whole lot hotter with the rising flame on the fucking grill right when Soobin brings out the marshmallows for dessert. It gets quickly defused by a fire-hydrant bearing Heeseung. Now your charcoal galbi has toxic frosting on them. This is the sign to move on to the next part of the program.

The set of log-themed chairs on the courtyard has a bonfire set-up at the center. Of course this unreasonably nice house has that. It’s already getting dark, ink seeping into the orange tintent sky. Jake decides to redeem himself after watching Heeseung fail to set up the chunks of wood for the nth time. “You don’t know how to start a fire? Dude, that’s so lame.” 

“You burnt all our remaining meat with those fire starting skills of yours,” Heeseung huffs, stepping aside for the self-proclaimed camping expert.

“You still ate them.” You’re pretty sure that isn’t healthy.

“Because you would’ve felt sad if I didn’t.”

“You’re both equally lame,” Beomgyu chides, plopping down beside you with a bag of chips that you unceremoniously dig your hand into. “You two haven’t even had your solo chapters yet.”

A flame erupts on the bonfire. Both of them turn to look at Beomgyu. “What?”

“What are we arguing about?” Jay joins in, looking a little too excited for the squabble.

“About the fact that I’m cooler than both Heeseung and Jake.”

Heeseung’s expression falls flat. “You dropped out to become a streamer.”

“Leave of absence! I took a leave of absence and I’m coming back next year!”

Sunghoon and Soobin are both just ignoring the mess, roasting their skewered marshmallows on the bonfire and you aspire to be that level of unbothered. “Let’s consult a professional’s opinion,” Jay suggests, and all their eyes immediately fall on you. “Who do you think is the coolest?” Apparently that professional is you.

“This is like asking which dwarf is the tallest midget,” you wrinkle your nose. “But alright. Why don’t we settle this like real men?”

“Arm wrestling?” Sunghoon jumps in.

“Cooking contest?” Heeseung pitches.

“Do you want us to beat the shit out of each other right now?” Jake’s eyes fly wide open, alarmed. “I don’t think that’s a healthy way of settling arguments.”

“The fuck? No,” you spit out. “Thirty minutes. Prepare a powerpoint presentation explaining why you’re the coolest loser. Convince me. Ten slides max. Good luck.”

Something about almost naked men scattered around your home premises, aggressively typing on their keyboards with so much concentration and determination is so funny. You’re enjoying the raw bag of marshmallows by yourself beside the fire, watching as Heeseung starts panicking when you yell out “Five minutes left!” and starts typing even more aggressively. It’s pretty entertaining. Why haven’t you done this before?

At some point Jake brings out a projector and a projector screen to the courtyard. Seems like the power is back on, and your classroom of death has been set in place.

“Okay. Who wants to go first?”

You’ve produced a clipboard while they were working very hard on the PPTs earlier, legs crossed, fire crackling in front of you, and you click the butt of your pen in intermittent seconds as you scroll your eyes from left to right across the six boys standing in front of you. Heeseung looks confident. Jay and Beomgyu, too. There’s sweat dripping down Sunghoon’s forehead and Jake is furiously flipping through his notepad like he’s cramming for a final exam. But the poor, unfortunate soul that just had to look away from your gaze is none other than—

“Choi Soobin.” He flinches, nearly letting go of the laptop he has clutched against his chest. “Give it a go. The rest of you sit down.”

He looks rattled. “I’m not— I’m not really good at presentations,” Soobin chokes out, and the rest disappear from his side.

You let your chin rest on your knuckles, leaning forward. “Are you forfeiting? Is this a forfeit I’m hearing?” He doesn’t respond. You sigh. “Choi Soobin, are you settling with a D? A tiny, miniscule, measly D?” Beomgyu lets out a snort. You shoot him a sharp stare. “The other Choi, please shut the fuck up unless you want me docking points from you. Choi number one, please start your presentation.

Beomgyu straightens in his seat and Soobin hesitantly clears his throat, turning towards the blank, white projector screen as he holds the clicker with a visibly shaky hand. “Good— good evening,” he starts. “My name is Choi Soobin, and today I was tasked to explain why I am the coolest housemate out of the six. The answer is I am not. I’m not very cool. But—”

When he clicks to the next slide, your clipboard clatters on the ground.

“But I do have a hedgehog, and that’s kinda cool?”

“Holy shit,” you exhale a breathy squeak, the picture of the rodent’s cute little snout occupying half of the large screen. Soobin cycles through a bunch of photos of his hedgehog and the various screams of delight you’re eliciting after each photo makes him smile a little bit more. “Look at that little guy! Oh my god. What’s his name? Where is he? Can I meet him? Please let me meet him, Soobin I am begging you, I will get on my knees for you.”

“His name is Odi and he’s currently living at my parents’ house,” he explains. “I’ll invite you sometime.”

“That’s cheating! This isn’t part of the guidelines!” Jake interrupts, pointing an accusatory finger at the photo of Soobin holding Odi in his hands. Your coos are unceasing.

Heeseung nods along. “Professor, I believe this is completely unrelated to our topic at hand.”

Soobin looks visibly offended. You straighten your expression and click your tongue. “Ahem,” you start. “As much as I believe that Odi is the darn cutest little shit to ever exist and I will die for him given the chance, Heeseung is right. Mr. Choi, I’m afraid I’d have to give you a C.”

He presses the clicker. The slide is back to the video of Odi running down a slide.

“Okay. B minus.”

Now it’s the one where he’s laying stomach-up on the floor.

“Fuck. God dammit. B plus and that’s it. Soobin, sit down. Heeseung, you’re up next.”

Soobin seems satisfied with the grade, dimples popping out with a smile as he takes Heeseung’s seat in the audience when the latter readies himself for his turn. He stifles out a cough-laugh, one corner of his mouth crookedly twitching upward, confidently sauntering up to the front with his iPad, and it’s mildly unsettling because he’s usually Nervous Boy #2. But it’s almost cheating how pretty his teeth are when he’s smiling. 

And apparently he’s aware of that fact. Because after projecting his title slide (LEE HEESEUNG 101: the anatomy of a Cool Guy™), the next thing that appears is actually a photo of his very charming smile, coupled with Chip Skylark’s “My Shiny Teeth and Me” as the background music for his scientifically-grounded explanation. The next slide is a zoom in of his eyes next to a photo of Bambi. He has a venn diagram. This is actually pretty compelling.

Heeseung is a good speaker. He’s really good. The rest of his presentation goes smoothly, finishing it up with a list of references in APA format. Jake and Jay give him a round of applause.  “If you have any questions, I’ll be more than happy to answer them,” he smiles.

“That was a fantastic presentation, Mr. Lee. I particularly liked the part when you demonstrated your ability to make very impressive, but also very alarming sounds with your fingers.” You flip through your very blank clipboard, nodding and throwing out hums at the times you deem appropriate. “I’d give you an A plus, but...I have one question for you.”

He nods. “Yes?”

“Heeseung, can you hug me?”

It evidently catches him off-guard, just as you predicted— persona of confidence crashing down like a waterfall as he stutters out, “Wh—what?”

You clear your throat. “Only cool people are able to hug me. I need to confirm that you’re cool.”

“I can hug you!” Jake declares right next to you.

You blindly reach out your arm to give him a head pat. “See. Jake says he can hug me so he must be pretty cool. Heeseung, you can do the same, can’t you?

There it is. He’s back to being nervous and you feel like your job here is done. “O–of course,” he stifles out, following it with a strained laugh of weak incredulity. “Why wouldn’t I be able to hug you?”

“Then prove it.” You stretch out your arms, ready to squeeze and be squeezed. “Give me a big ‘ol squeeze, pretty boy.”

You stay like that for ten seconds as Heeseung remains glued to his spot in front, eyes shaking and nipping at the dead skin on his lips. You let your arms fall back to your sides. “Okay. C minus. Next.” His expression quickly transforms into offense.

“I feel like this grading system is a scam.”

“No hug, no opinion. Sit your ass down,” you click your tongue, smacking him with the clipboard when he weakly trudges back and squeezes next to Beomgyu on the crowded seat to your left with the box of snacks occupying most of the fake log, even though there’s clearly enough space next to you because Jay already started walking to the front even without your instruction.

Jay does not give an introduction, only a rough clear of his throat and he opens his presentation with just a slide occupied with his face. Slide two is another picture of his face, only slightly zoomed out. The next one has the hashtag JWU. Then there’s a full body mirror selfie.

The rest of the presentation proceeds in the same manner— a wordless slideshow of what is possibly his Instagram feed and before you know it, it’s already over. “Okay,” you exhale, pressing your palms together in front of your lips. “I understand that you are indeed a very handsome individual, Mr. Park, but what does that have to do with the assigned topic?”

“The question is why I am the coolest one here,” he says. “I’m cool because I’m Jay Park.”

It falls quiet.

You finally break the silence.

“Shit, that’s a pretty compelling argument.”

“This is bullshit!” Sunghoon argues. “He didn’t even say anything! There was no discussion! He should be disqualified.”

Jay remains unfazed. He defends with irrefutable wisdom, “Sometimes pictures speak louder than words.”

“Damn.” You let your clipboard fall to your lap. “I’m giving you an A.”

“Fuck yeah.”

Your decision elicits outrage from some of your students. “How is he getting a higher grade than me?!” one of them raises.

“He’s getting a higher grade because he doesn’t think I have cooties, Heeseung.” 

Heeseung throws his arms in the air in defeated frustration as Jay takes his snug seat right next to you again, a victorious smile gracing his face. You run your eyes through your scratch paper once more, pen tapping at the edge of the board. “Beomgyu, do you want to go next?” you ask, which is a mistake on your part because he starts acting just as obnoxious as Heeseung, which— if anything— just triggers your desire to make him crumble to his knees.

He even pulls out a lecture stick, testing it out by snapping it at full length on his palm. Is the fucker trying to go after your role as professor? Where the fuck did his glasses suddenly come from?

“Alright,” Beomgyu begins, the first slide displaying the words Why Choi Beomgyu is the coolest Housemate. “First thing’s first, does anyone in the audience know what my name is?”

“Oh, me!” Jake raises his hand. “Choi Beomgyu!”

“Correct!” The next slide appears when he hits the screen with the stick, revealing his name in a large, bold font with large spaces in between each syllable. “Choi. Beom. Gyu. Choi Beomgyu. Now, I’d like to direct your attention to this specific syllable right here—” he draws a circle around ‘Beom,’ “—what does Beom mean?”

“Offense,” Sunghoon answers. Beomgyu’s face scrunches up.

“What? Fuck, no. Another meaning— oh! Yes, Soobin hyung?”

“Tiger?”

His eyes brighten. “Exactly!” 

The next slide is a photo of a tiger on a field of green grass, grooming its fur as Beomgyu passionately rattles on with fun facts about the animal. You have no idea where this is going. “Tigers are some of the most amazing creatures on the planet, they are the largest members of the cat family and are renowned for their power and strength. As the largest member of the cat family, Tigers are strong, powerful and one of nature's most feared predators—”

“Did you get that from a website?” Jay interrupts.

Beomgyu dismisses him. “Yes, I did, but that’s not the point. The point is—”

Next slide. A hit from his lecture stick. It’s more text. Beom = Tiger. Beom = Choi Beomgyu’s cute nickname. Tiger = Beomgyu. 

“We have discussed that tigers are the coolest animals in the world. My name has tiger in it. Therefore I am the coolest person here. End of presentation. Thank you.”

He drops the stick to the ground and is about to walk away with Jake’s applause, but your penetrating stare stops him right before he reaches the crackling bonfire. You scribble on the clipboard before letting it settle face-down on your lap. You look up at him. “Beomgyu, are you a furry?”

Beomgyu freezes. He lets your question settle in his system before voicing out a very loud, very crunchy, “What the fuck?”

“Is this your way of telling us that you’re a furry?” 

“No! What are you talking about?” he hisses. “I’m just saying that since tigers are cool, that means I’m also cool and—”

“So, you’re identifying with a tiger?” you cut him off.

He presses his lips together, cautious. “Yes…”

“Because you have the word tiger in your name?”

“Yes.”

“And because they’re cool?”

“Yes. We’ve established that alr—”

“Okay, so you’re a furry?”

“Ye— no!” he yells out. “I’m not a fucking furry!”

“Understood. You’re a furry in denial.” You write something down on the clipboard. Beomgyu’s shoulders slacken in defeat. “I’m giving you a B plus. Take a seat, Tigerboy.” Though he grumbles in distaste, he listens to you anyway, trudging deflatedly back to his seat next to the equally grumbly Heeseung.

There are two people left to be victimized. Jake looks excited, so you don’t want to indulge his positive emotions. “Sunghoon,” you call out with a pleasant smile. He squeezes his eyes shut and mutters something under his breath before forcing himself up the log without you having to tell him. “Good boy. Go set up your thing.”

Unlike the rest, Sunghoon doesn’t have a laptop or phone or flash drive with him when he awkwardly takes the presenter spot in front. He’s standing on the balls of his feet, arms tucked behind his back and lips tightly pressed together nervously. “Mr Park,” you pull down your clipboard. “You’re free to project your slides.”

“Well,” he coughs out. “The thing is.”

“Yes?”

He exhales loudly. “I don’t have any slides.” You raise a brow. “I don’t know how to use powerpoint.”

You look at him. “I see.”

“I don’t know how to use this projector, either.”

You pause.

“Okay. I understand.” He breathes out a sigh of relief. “Alright, next present—”

“Wait!” Sunghoon stops you. “I can still give my presentation, I don’t need any dumb slides! I’m just as cool, if not cooler than the rest of them, so you can’t just skip over me.”

“Mr. Park,” you start. “Unfortunately, one of the criteria for this presentation is the quality and organization of your slides. I do not see any slides being presented, Mr. Park. You may present next time once you’re fully prepared.”

“What about Jay?” he tries to reason. “He just showed you a preview of his camera roll!”

The man in question has his mouth hanging open, pausing in the middle of stuffing a nicely toasted marshmallow into his mouth. You let out a sigh. “He had philosophy, Mr. Park. Philosophy,” you explain. “Do you have philosophy? Are you confident that you can convince me with your words alone? Without the help of cute animals and pictures of your pretty face?”

At the mention of his face, his knitted brows of frustration quickly melt into faint pink hues dusting his cheeks. You sniffle a little, rubbing a finger under your nose as you flip through the next page of the clipboard that’s resting on your lap. “Meet me in my office after class,” you tell him. Sunghoon grunts and stomps back to his seat in defeat.

“This sucks balls.”

“You have quite a few options to pick and choose from here,” you hum. “Jake, you’re the last one up. Please tell me you have a presentation prepared.”

“I do, and it’s gonna blow your mind,” he grins.

“Looking forward to it.” You watch blankly as Jake runs up to the front to connect his laptop to the projector, an excited bounce in his every movement and you start wondering how you can shatter this one’s hopes and dreams.

He asks if he can start. You give him a nod. At the click of a button, something boomerangs into the blank screen with 2007 Windows graphics and animation. The atrocious mismatch of fonts say Jake Sim is the coolest one here and here’s why.

“Reason number one—” Jake starts his presentation, turning over to the next slide and your vision is attacked with more outdated graphics, more jarring transitions and animations. “—I’m super funny. Allow me to demonstrate.” He begins by clearing his throat. “What did the Italian chef get sent to jail for?”

“What?” you go along.

“Too much assault.”

An assault is also a very proper descriptor for his PPT aesthetic. An assault to your eyes. It’s like watching a car crash that you can’t look away from even if you try. Reason number two is that he has a great smile (he does). Reason number three is because he has a dog (he also does). Reason number four doesn’t exist because he miscounted and skipped over to Reason number five.

“And lastly, Reason number ten—”

He takes something out of his pockets. It’s a couple dozen bills being thrown into the air.

“I have a lot of money.”

The rest of the boys are quiet. Jake grows quiet too, chest rising and falling after that very enthusiastic presentation and his wide grin slowly melts into that muddled with nervousness and unease because you aren’t saying anything yet— just looking at him with stern eyes and a sharp gaze. “W-well?” he rasps. “How did I do…?”

“How much?” you ask. He cocks his head in confusion. “How much money do you have?”

“Oh.” Jake blinks, now understanding. “I don’t know but it’s a lot.”

Your eyes sparkle, posture straightening. “Will you give me some of that money?” The unease has left Jake and has now transferred to the other five boys around you. Oh boy. Oh no, their eyes all seem to be saying.

“Sure, why not.”

You clap your hands together. “Jake wins. Class dismissed. Good night.”

It doesn’t take long for chaos to break out.

Heeseung and Jay are demanding for a recount (there is nothing to count except the sweet, sweet cash you’ll be receiving) and Beomgyu accuses you of being a slave to capitalism (that should’ve been evident from how you tried to scam money out of them with nudity and a jar on your first week here). Soobin starts clearing up the projector set-up and Sunghoon is on his knees begging for another chance to do his presentation as you watch the digits on your phone screen bump up in real-time when Jake wires you a decent chunk from his bank account.

Another successful day at the residence. This heatwave is better than you thought.

HOME FOR THE BITCHLESS. © hannie-dul-set, 2023.

[kujousaramybeloved]

something i found out about this morning that i thought was kinda interesting, regarding alhaitham’s constellation being vultur volans and kaveh’s ascension regional specialty being the mourning flower

so obviously the main inspiration behind the mourning flower is the kaiser’s crown aka fritillaria imperialis, bearing a striking resemblance both in its appearance and its meaning in iranian culture.

i want to put a pin in that. we know that vultur volans is the roman empire’s name for aquila, and that aquila is made up of both the eagle and antinous. (side note: antinous became a symbol of male homosexuality, so this can also go on the extensive list of kaveh and alhaitham’s queercoding in canon)

i was reading about the deification of antinous after his accidental death which was possibly a drowning, and also came across a quote from kaveh’s hangout, which i thought was really interesting in light of alhaitham’s constellation’s connection with antinous.

that’s kind of besides the point but i thought it was interesting regardless—this theme of losing a lover to drowning, whether that be physical or metaphorical. anyways what i also found to be super interesting was the other main thing emperor hadrian named after antinous—a rosy lotus.

now i’m totally willing to accept the kaiser’s crown as the only inspiration behind the mourning flower, but i *do* find it interesting that the kaiser’s crown’s main habitat is foothills/mountainous areas, whereas the mourning flower pretty much exclusively appears on the banks of rivers/bodies of water in the girdle of the sands region, which sounds a lot more like the habitat of the flower of antinous.

i would think i’m reaching if it wasn’t for the fact that genshin can (and does) get this detailed, even with the whole plato and socrates school of athens painting parallel that kaveh and alhaitham *also* have going on.

so yeah, this connection of alhaitham to antinous and antinous to this flower kinda lead me to believe that this was another aspect of the design/meaning of the mourning flower, especially its reason for being the material used to ascend kaveh. what do you guys think??

[rightwheretheyleftme]

Hello! Do you have any interesting facts about the goddess Hera?

anon you’re my hero for asking this question 🙏🏻

I have too many facts that I love about the goddess of women, so I’ve narrowed it down to five:

1. In one version of the story, Medea (granddaughter of Helios, heroine in greek myths) leaves her children at Hera’s altar so she can turn them immortal. Medea is also said to have established Hera’s cult at Corinth

2. Hera may have been the first deity to whom the Greeks dedicated an enclosed roofed temple sanctuary, at Samos about 800 BC.

3. Swearing something ‘By Zeus’ was a common oath in ancient texts. However, Socrates repeatedly uses the more unique oath ‘By Hera’, saying sentences such as: ‘I swear it by Hera’

4. Hera and her daughter Eileithyia’s names were found in Linear B tablets, meaning that they were already worshipped in 1400-1200 B.C

5. And finally, I want to share my favorite description of Hera from the book “Ancient Greek Cults” by Jennifer Larson:

“But in her most famous cults (Argos and Samos) Hera is a powerful city goddess who fosters economic and military success. In these cases her relationship to Zeus is not a crucial factor, and the literary portrait of a jealous, scheming wife seems far removed from the cultic experience of an awe-inspiring deity who brings success in battle, multiplies the herds of cattle, frees the enslaved, and protects the young for her chosen people.”

[dearorpheus]

We all have a shadow. Or does our shadow have us? Carl Jung turned this question into a riddle when he asked: "How do you find a lion that has swallowed you?"

— Connie Zweig and Jeremiah Abrams, Meeting the Shadow

Three years ago I was giving a workshop in the Rockies. A student came in bearing a quote from what she said was the pre-Socratic philosopher Meno. It read, "How will you go about finding that thing the nature of which is totally unknown to you?" I copied it down and it has stayed with me ever since. [...] The things we want are transformative, and we don't know or only think we know what is on the other side of that transformation. Love, wisdom, grace, inspiration—how do you go about finding these things that are in some ways about extending the boundaries of the self into unknown territory, about becoming someone else?

— Rebecca Solnit, A Field Guide to Getting Lost

[whoiwanttoday]

I don't plan my posts in advance. It sort of defeats the spirit of this whole thing but I do often have some idea of who I am going to post because I know myself well enough. I am not entirely sure I was what Socrate was imagining but here I am, down the path towards true wisdom. So I knew I would most likely post Emma Watson today because I saw her Vogue Photoshoot and I knew nothing would possibly beat that. Not in the sense of me pitting people against each other when I say win but only so much can hold my attention. There are nights where I will see a photoshoot and think that person is likely for the next day but then the next morning there is more new stuff and it either gets drowned out or my attention is drawn elsewhere or just my mood changes. Emma Watson's Vogue stuff was never going to be that because I was having a very tough time conceptualizing what could top it. It just felt unbeatable because she looks so good in them. Anyway, all of this is documented here in my friend Kat's post which to summarize she is only posting Emma Watson to impress me and be more likely. This is often her motive as there are wide swathes of women she told me she was not into, I can't remember the reason but it was probably because they have lady parts and so she doesn't even know how that would work, and I have had to convince Kat these women are attractive. Emma Watson was basically one of those once cause Kat thought she was pretty but in no way sexy or like sexually attractive. I told her I disagreed and because Kat wants to be like me she decided she would become attracted to Emma Watson as well. Anyway, you can see in her post her eagerness to be so like me she'd post Emma first. Which is fine, I'm not making some sort of poster, my photoshop is MS Paint and it's never that good. I am happy to just post Emma and mention that I think we're all lucky she seems so deeply decent and good. She sort of shouldn't be. A child star in a series with anti-Semitic tropes and written by a TERF is already a tough start but also sexualized at a young age and forever being associated with something for children that adults care deeply about is just a really toxic mixture designed to destroy young women but she made it out fine from what I can tell. No, better than fine because again she's a deeply decent person. I do think everyone of a certain age should be so thankful that their childhood heroes rose to the occasion in a way that is so rare. I could go on a deeply navel gazing thing about perhaps there is some value in your hero's feet being revealed to be clay but I also think there is importance in having people to inspire without cynicism. Which brings us about to how Kat looks up to me and how important it was for her to beat me to posting Emma today. Go congratulate her, it clearly means so much to her. Today I want to fuck Emma Watson

[thegodcyclecomic]

Hello again! Thank you for your post that covered my question on what sources of inspiration you used for Athena. It was super enlightening!

I know this is a tall order because the myths are broad, but could you discuss what aspects of characterization and dimensions you feel are often ignored about Athena? This is me practically begging for a meta post, but I genuinely love hearing your thoughts on her because I agree with your assessment that roughly most media tend to lean to simplistic aspects of Athena. I like hearing from your inspiration notes that you thought of Athena’s childhood with Pallas and how she is more of a pragmatic character that has agency.

I have a lot of thoughts on this so this post won't be as comprehensive as I originally intended, I will be briefly covering the points I want to list out. I try my best to base my writing of Athena on the canon source material, but there will be aspects that veer into my own interpretation/headcanon territory. All Iliad passages here are from the Robert Fitzgerald translation.

Anyway, here are the aspects of characterization I think are normally ignored when authors write Athena.

Her calculating nature / intelligence

This one sounds weird because it's paradoxically the first thing that comes to mind when writing Athena. The issue with this is the same issue when amateur authors try to write characters who are smarter than them: They resort to cheap shortcuts and stereotypes to show a character is "smart".

Examples of this would be the overusage of chess imagery. It's a game that wouldn't exist in Ancient Greece anyway, and it's a measure of spatial memorization rather than strategy. In real warfare, everything is variable to change. Chess pieces don't have motivations or biases that could influence their actions. Opening moves in chess have their counters, but real-life tactics allow you more freedom on how to engage with it.

The next writing shortcut people resort to re: Athena's intelligence is how they use her reading books to show she is "smart" but don't really elaborate on what kind of books she reads of what topics she specializes in which is already in the mythos that can give you lots of ideas.

I mentioned this before but when I started TGC I had a hard time characterizing Athena at first because I didn't understand her domains too well. So you know what I did? I picked up books about military history, Ancient Greek laws, political theory, philosophy, and similar. Learning about these things gave me a perspective of "how would the personification of the state act if they were a person?". Ancient Greece was big on the Social Contract, as exemplified in Socrates's speech in Plato's Apology.

There's a lot more to it, I'm not doing it justice at all in this post. But that's the idea. In the Oresteia, Athena created the practice of cross-examination for murder trials, and then immediately proceeded to undermine the entire justice process by attempting to bribe the prosecution (the Furies). In the Iliad Book 4, she disguises herself as a Trojan soldier to trick Laodokos to shoot Menelaus to break the ceasefire-- essentially enacting what we in modern day would call a False Flag Operation. It's so quintessentially Politician(tm) of her to do.

Athena's intelligence comes from how she seeks to improve and make efficient current systems, like her strategy to Ares's warfare. Or her various inventions in mythos. Another one would be her ability to manipulate people and situations to push for the outcomes she wants. You can see this in her various dialogues in the Epic Cycle:

Athena grifting in the Odyssey in a speech she makes to Zeus about why she should be allowed to assist Odysseus.

520: Athena kept the pace behind them, bearing her shield of storm, immortal and august, whose hundred golden-plaited tassles, worth a hekatomb each one, floated in air. So down the ranks that dazzling goddess went to stir the attack, and each man in his heart grew strong to fight and never quit the melee, for at her passage war itself became lovelier than return, lovelier than sailing in the decked ships to their own native land -Iliad Book 4

and this

100: “Son of Lykaon, I have in mind an exploit that may tempt you, tempt a fighting heart. Have you the gall to send an arrow like a fork of lightning home against Menelaus? Every Trojan heart would rise, and every man would praise you, especially Paris, the prince— you would be sure to come by glittering gifts if he could see the warrior, Menelaus, the son of Atreus, brought down by your bow, then bedded on a dolorous pyre! Come now, brace yourself for a shot at Menelaus. engage to pay Apollo, the bright archer, a perfect hekatomb of firstling lambs when you go home to your old town, Zeleia.” That was Athena’s way, leading him on, the foolish man, to folly. -Iliad Book 4

from what I can understand, Athena's domain of wisdom is not just limited to giving insight to people-- but also in obscuring the truth and leading others to their ruin. Which is in line with one of Athena's epithets which is Απατουρια (Apaturia) "Deciever".

Often times in other adaptations, they relegate Athena's intelligence to spouting random facts or a "nerdy" personality. Or they nerf it so that she doesn't solve these braindead plots in 2 seconds. Take Athena from Lore Olympus for example, the Athena of canon would've never allowed any of this shit with Persephone and Apollo undermining Zeus to happen TT_TT if you have to make your characters stupid for the story to work, then it is a bad story hands down.

2. Interpretations regarding Athena's relationship with heroes

This is something I see a lot where Athena is written to have a personal investment in her heroes like they are "her blorbos" (actual words I've seen people on this hellsite use for this). I'd like to direct your attention to this passage from of Athena speaking in Iliad book 8.

My father, now, is full of a black madness, evil and perverse. All that I strive for he brings to nothing: He will not remember how many times I intervened to save his son, worn out in trials set by Eurystheus. How Heracles would cry to heaven! And Zeus Would send me out of heaven to be his shield. Had I forseen this day that time he went down, bidden by Eurystheus, between Death’s narrow gates to bring from Erebos the watchdog of the Lord of Undergloom, he never would have left the gorge of Styx!

The way I understand this passage is that Athena does a lot of "NPC questgiver" tasks for Zeus in an attempt to curry favor from him. It's a calculated choice on her part and not something she does out of the kindness of her heart. A similar situation occurs when Orestes asks Athena for aid, she helps him on the insistence of Apollo.

Regarding Odysseus, I'm sure there is some fondness she has for him-- but that doesn't stop her from allowing him to be struck by storm (as collateral damage for the crimes of Ajax the lesser for raping Cassandra in Athena's temple). Or from her setting up the suitor problem so she could convince him to murder them all.

If you've noticed, all of Athena's champions are some kind of high-ranking warriors. A king or general or prince. You would think that the goddess of wisdom would favor the philosophers more, or would choose more often to avoid violence. But Athena is very quick to choose violence, it's who she is. And she needs a tool that she can use as a blade.

(these are my interpretations, if you disagree thats fine) 3. Athena as a "peaceful" goddess

This one makes me laugh and also drives me insane.

There are two Homeric hymns that directly and clearly contradict this idea.

(HOMERIC HYMNS 5 - 33, TRANSLATED BY H. G. EVELYN-WHITE) a. The Homeric Hymn to Athena

Of Pallas Athene, guardian of the city, I begin to sing. Dread is she, and with Ares she loves deeds of war, the sack of cities and the shouting and the battle. It is she who saves the people as they go out to war and come back. Hail, goddess, and give us good fortune with happiness!

b. The Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite

...Yet there are three hearts that she cannot bend nor yet ensnare. First is the daughter of Zeus who holds the aegis, bright-eyed Athene; for she has no pleasure in the deeds of golden Aphrodite, but delights in wars and in the work of Ares, in strifes and battles and in preparing famous crafts. 

What I find insightful about the second one is that it gives a specific reason for why Athena cannot be moved by romantic love. It's because war occupies the space in her heart that love would normally be. Both hymns specifically name drop Ares, so the idea that Athena finds Ares's violence to be repulsive is just blatantly untrue. If anything, she adores it. The time it would become an issue for her is when his rampages act against her greater interests, which is the source of all their duels in canon.

Other proof for Athena being generally violent can be inferred from her characterization in the Iliad, the instances of which are too numerous to list here.

4. Athena's personality defined by her lack of childhood.

I mentioned this in another post, but Athena was born from Zeus as an adult (though in TGC I changed this to being born as a pre-teen. This is intentional and serves a purpose). What we know about psychology today is that for normal social and emotional development, young children need to form an attachment with at least one primary caregiver. Athena being born as an adult means that she would've missed out on important development milestones that other gods would've gone through.

I will preemptively say that before you bring up the "theyre Gods they're not like humans" that as far as mythos is concerned, the way that gods behave and think is almost exactly identical to that of humans. They experience the same range of emotions humans do, as well as grief and trauma. So I will consider that their psychology is also the same with the difference being that they might experience mental degradation not typically seen in humans because of cumulative negative experiences over a long period.

Back to Athena, the only framework she would have to start from literally being born yesterday would be the fragments of memories she gleaned from being inside of Zeus's head. I think this would be confusing for her, as these are from the first-person perspective of Zeus, so using his memories but lacking context for those experiences might lead to an early identity crisis. Athena would then have to play catchup in learning extremely fast everything to fill those blanks.

This is why I think Athena has a hard time forming personal connections. She doesn't have a true equal. Athena's relationships are defined by power imbalances and transactions, and that is how she understands relationships in general to work.

5. Athena's humanity.

I think what bothers me the most about Athena in adaptations is the lack of humanity given to her character. I know I just went over why she's a manipulative machiavellian character, but what I see is that Athena often gets relegated to the Unfun Stick in the Mud character. She exists to ruin the fun of the Fun Chaotic Dudes Dionysus, Hermes, and Apollo. She doesn't have anything going to her except being a snitch and a daddy's girl, or worse, she exists to be "put in her place" by other male gods. This is why I really dislike Fedini's and "incorrect greek gods" take on Athena. I think there's this underlying biases that an ace-coded goddess can't have anything interesting about her, because all media on tumblr and fandom these days are broken down to fucking shipping instead of seriously engaging with the source material. I've seen people call her a Mary Sue or act like she is an annoying bitch for exhibiting personality traits that would be praised in a male character (the traits of a Byronic Hero).

Portrayals of Athena go one extreme or another, either she is a wholly Good goddess or she is a Villain/mere annoyance. It's a real shame to see, because I hope I can show you now that she is a wonderfully complex and morally grey character. I want to see Athena's curiosity and how she tries to understand the world from her own perspective. I want to explore her relationships with Zeus and her siblings like Ares and Apollo outside of the Meme'fication of Greek mythology.

Anyway, that's all I can think of for now, I hope this answers your question. If you have any point you'd like me to explain more, I'd be glad to make another post in greater detail.

[rhaenerystargaryen]

modern hotd headcanons

inspired by @sansaorgana pls check out her modern hotd au work!!

pairing: hotd characters (aegon, aemond, helaena, alicent, rhaenyra, daemon) x modern!au

synopsis: what the hotd characters would be like if they lived in 2022.

warnings: mentions of sexting & cornhub

wc: 367

aegon:

aegon is def a fuckboy

sleeps w half of the school

only wear hoodies, slides, basketball shorts

never heard of a vegetable

jizz tastes like battery acid

addicted to gaming, cornhub, sexting, vaping

in a fraternity (if he even goes to uni)

aemond:

takes archery and fencing lessons

when it comes socratic seminars or class debates, he goes off

refuses to be seen out in public with aegon

tries very hard to impress his mother, but alicent is hyper fixated on aegon

has a sick looking car but isn’t a car guy

bullies his bullies back or just ignores them

history or philosophy major

helaena:

gets her outfit inspo from pinterest

very soft, pastel clothing

is the type to have pet spiders or i can see her having a bearded dragon

vegan causes she 100% an animal enthusiast

is a psych major or zoology major, i can see her being very interested in working with animals or helping people

her and aemond’s style are polar opposites

alicent:

drinks her days away

probably is in a book club (her arch nemesis is still rhaenyra)

milf milf milf

husband is never home…but his multiple credit cards are

is afraid of helaena’s pets

terrible at driving

is having an affair with her kids old tutor, criston cole

only drinks diet sodas

rhaenyra:

bakes the best cookies

smells really good, like a warm hug

is also in a book club (w/ alicent)

the fun aunt who will let you have a sip of her wine

men fear her, women want her

probably an english teacher (the one that everyone gets along with)

daemon:

hot history teacher that everyone wants to bang

rhaenyra and him work at the same school

always dresses so formally

dilf dilf dilf

thinks that tiktok is a waste of time

house has a huge library

doesn’t understand memes or how to use them

pulls out his reading glasses whenever his kids show him something on their phone

[wildflowerteas]

hella has officially joined the tsp book club! part 2 of our reactions pending lmao those were some very intense hours

if this was an irl socratic circle i would pay to be a fly on the wall. I FUCKED UP BY ADDING TWO MARGARETS THATS MY BAD. they'll be distinguished in upcoming dialogue. Brown goes by 'Maggie' n_n. Precinct 1 breakroom has seen some things. Also, yes! The DA prosecutes for the state! In a civil dispute, it's person to person going before a judge. But in criminal cases, the government is trying to put you away, not receive money/fair compensation for damages, so the DA does that work.

Your flabbers will be gasted 😭 might need to start using that.

BEAST tag is there for a reason! I only tagged it 'beast skk' so that people wouldn't expect the same dynamics or roles for the other characters ( like akutagawa sibling dynamic ), but of course, if skk is beast-au inspired it would naturally affect a few of the characters closest to them as well. Also, Skk is slowly but surely devolving into the aesthetic of their BEAST counterparts. Dazai hasn't been written in that brown coat for a good while now. The white suit at the New Year's party was also a deliberate choice.

never seen or read All my Sons all the way through, but i've encounted this quote in the wild:

“...he'll come back. We all come back, Kate. These private little revolutions always die. The compromise is always made. In a peculiar way. Frank is right-- every man does have a star. The star of one's honesty. And you spend your life groping for it, but once it's out it never lights again. I don't think he went very far. He probably just wanted to be alone to watch his star go out.”

---and i absolutely loved it and have been influenced by it.

i would be sat for that essay honestly.

. . . yes. it's the same diner. implied only, but i do have art in the drafts of skk on a case-date of milkshakes and files with skk in the same seats to parallel it.

Kouyou's assimilation!!!!! I can't believe Rori noticed that!! yes, she's almost always mentioned in a kimono, tying an obi, or wearing her haori, and even needed Chuuya to translate for her during their first years together. but she's changing. super excited to introduce the Kouyou of the present ( yes, she's alive ).

Agatha Christie was. self indulgent.

Yep! Jouno! 😭 The hunting dogs have been in my notes-app plot web since the very beginning when I decided to write tachihara into this. Since I'm translating the insane post-war politics of canon BSD into this au, they were naturally going to find themselves written into it.

TV girl .. . save me TV girl.... taking what's not yours is tsp skk i will be adding this to my on-loop writing roster.

THE JOUNO/DAZAI DIALOGUE HELLA 😭 I ACTUALLY CHOKED.

Unlike canon, TSP fyodor would, in fact die if you shot him. Not that I'm planning on writing that . . .

Jouno and Chuuya was lovely to write. They will be interacting again, unfortunately, so expect some introductions to the other members of the hunting dogs as well.

Dazai in the spotlight for once! Now he knows what it's like to be under the stagelight with Chuuya in the audience.

Kousano! Yeah that ship is preparing to set sail. Whether it's still afloat is the question. A question that hasn't been answered by Miss Medical Examiner's presence in the 1978 timeline. Yet.

[robin374]

I'm sorry but-

Dare I ask for a part three?? :)

Last one I promise-

Also you don't have to if you don’t want to!! :)

RED Medic x Reader x BLU Medic (Part 3)

Don't worry, I'm inspired after all :)

Warnings: None, just fluff

(Unedited)

----------------------------

It was a peaceful night: Sniper sleeping after doing night watch for three days in a row, Heavy snoring, Josef's doves silent… It would be peaceful for you if it wasn't because you were sneaking Fritz into the base. You knew Spy was on night watch and if he caught you, maybe you'd have a good talk with the Administrator. Fritz's hand didn't let go of yours at any time, you knew he was having a good time by the giggles he let out from time to time. On the other hand, you weren't having a particularly good time, anxiety was controlling your mind, creating different scenarios where it never ended well, but if Fritz was happy, so were you. You were in the corridor that led to the Med-Bay, where Josef was waiting for you. He was not very willing to help you infiltrate Fritz in the RED Team base, but he couldn't resist saying no to you. It was clear to you that he would not help you to go to the BLU Team base and even less to help Fritz. They still had that little pique between the two of them, which you thought was cute, it showed that they both cared about you and loved you. Today you planned to introduce Josef's pigeons to Fritz, it could go one of two ways: either they would take it well and love him like a father or they would charge towards him like an avalanche of snow.

Just before you opened the door to the lab, Fritz spun you around and kissed you as a gesture of thanks.

"Josef, it's us, open up!" you let out a small laugh as you noticed Fritz's arms wrapped around your waist. Josef reluctantly opened the door, drawing Archimedes' attention. You both entered amidst laughter and stumbling, until Josef ordered you two to be quiet since you were making too much noise. "You're going to get us caught!" Fritz released you and let you go pet the doves who were resting happily. You caught the attention of both men to come to your side, Archimedes was leaning on Socrates forming a little heart of feathers with their little heads. You stroked both birds gently so as not to wake them and then turned to look at your two lovers.

"Liebe, it's very late. You should be sleeping, tomorrow will be a very hard battle." Josef took off his red plastic gloves and led you to his room connected to his lab, being followed by Fritz, who awkwardly walked behind you not wanting to break something from Josef's lab. The RED Team's Medic laid you down on his bed and kissed you on the forehead. He went back to his lab, probably to finish some work. With your arms you signaled Fritz to lie next to you on the bed, he without hesitation jumped on the bed and hugged you around the waist, hiding his face between your neck and collarbone while leaving little kisses. "I love you so much, dear. You make my days brighter when I see you on the battlefield."

The door opened revealing Josef with a tired expression, his glasses a little crooked and his hair messy. Without a word he lay down on your other side and hugged you, Fritz lovingly stroked his arm and you kissed Josef's cheek. The three of you knew perfectly well that he worked a lot, even too much. The silence that flooded the room was interrupted by Fritz's giggles, "I know you're enjoying this, Josef."

Josef hid his face in your chest and snorted; "Oh, shut up."

[whatifwekilledgodandwebothgirls]

!!Platos alcibiades 1 final reviews!! Enjoy my incoherent rambling

It was fine i GEUSS . not particularly life altering, like the symposium was , the symposium fucked me up , but it was nice . I tend to judge things based on either how many completely new concepts i hadnt considered before the intoduced me with or based on if it inspired me to think of something new . Alcibiades 1 did not offer a whole lot of new information , the stuff about souls cute and all , but the stuff about politics seemed very very( well not basic but ) base level knowlage. It was a nice introduction to the political opinions of philosophers , thats for sure , and it was a lovely introduction to socratic dialoge , like actuall dialoge and not the speeches, since the only plato ive read to completion has been the symposium which did not follow that formating and the rest ive studied do not include the lines of dialoge but exclusively the blocks of text . Reading this book very much reminded me of greek theater , where they woukd have this long monologes and then the little stihourgia( basically when the characters talk to eachother one sentence each ) thrown in there

The translation i got also was not the best , it did not include much analysis of the text , though to be fair its a fairly easy text and didnt need much explaining. One other thing that i particularly enjoyed very much because i notice it in my own translations, but know is stereotypically frowned upon is that the translator took some very spesific words whose meaning is obvious to anyone who speaks modern greek but have wierd endings or that dont conform with modern greeks grammativ rules , words that normally would take an entire sentence of modern greek to be translated , and just refused to translate them , instead keeping them intact in the modern greek text .i dont know if it makes sence but he would take the words καλλιστος γενόμενος which tranlates to " at the moment when you will become the best version of yourself " and just refused to do that tranlation because it is long .

Alright now on to the important stuff

(Trans : alc :you are doing good, socrates, not leaving

Soc: Show great vigor at being as pretty as you can be

Al : I will )

These are the words exchanged after the very infamous" i am the only lover youve ever taken that loves your soul and not your body" converation , but im talking about them first because i want to focus on the linguistic part of it all not the actual context .

The translation given doesnt do the text justice . First i cant to speak about how he says ευ ποιεις which litterally translates to "you are doing good " but it hold much more meaning that than . He is praising socrates actions , dubbing them morally good , with the use of ευ . He is admiting that socrates being his lover is a good thing

Now the second part could be interpreted as alcibiades saying that socrates is doing good by not leaving , but it coukd also be interpreted as " youre doing good . And dont leave " . Either way , to express that dont leave part acibiades uses opatic (in greek its called ευκτικη , eutici im taking googles word on the greek to english translation) which we can tell by the οι at the end of απελθοις . That particular type of the verb gives away the fact that this is alcibiades wishing , not ordering , since its mostly used for wishes or geusses for the future . He does not use imerative . He could have used imperative , the sound and the flow of the sentence would have been the same switched the meaning from " i wish you will stay " to " stay " with a ordering meaning . He could have done that , but he chose to wish that socrates doesnt leave , not order him not to leave , which drive me insane , this man , who had the world in his arms , still shyly refused to order socrates to remain .

The translation is also a bit lackluster with the whole προθυμου part . The actuall translation should be " you shoukd be willing for this , to be the prettiest " now what socrates ment by that beats me , it could have been ironical , it could have been something else entirely that escapes me honestly , im just gonna say that the word προθυμου is really awsome and it shows willingless and as much as vigor and hard work . It is what we used to say in the scouts , that we should always be πρόθυμοι always ready and always willing to give our 100%

( trans : if , then , someone becomes a lover of the body of alcibiades, he wouldnt be loving alcibiades, but one of his possesions. Al : that is true

Soc: whoever is a lover of your soul?

Al: according to the converstation, it must be true

Sic: he who loves your body , when its youth passes , gets up and leaves ?

Al: obviously

Soc: whoever though , loves your soul doesn't leave when it is heading towards improvement, ist it so ?

Alc: very good

Soc: i am then tge ine who doesnt leave but stays shen youve passed your lifes prime while the others have left )

Now to me , this is the very core of the text , and the very key to undertanding a great part of not only socratic dialoges in general , but alcibiades personality and athens politics

It is very important that socrates says he isnt going to leave alcibiades. Its important that he says it , that he makes it clear , we as readers undertand very very clearly that alcibiades is a man deeply loved by socrates , which is insane , since by the time the text was written alcibiades was a nutorius criminal and traitor. Alcibiades was at the time the text was written , a very very hated person , and a very problematic one , yet here we have , the father of philosophy, the poster boy for goodness , a person who is used often by plato to be an example of reason and of morality, saying he loves a man who will later become increadebly moraly corrupted

This testimony of socrates love is the ultimate example of matirial objects versus the world of ideas ( btw once youve had the plato cave alegory explained to you its very easy to understand plato , it almost always is relevant to a point its starting to annoy me ) . He loves alcibiades, the real alcibiades, the alcibiades that exists in the world of ideas , and he rejects alcibiades body , the matirial possesion . This is the back bone of any platonic text , it all boils down to this , objects vs ideas , and in the world of ideas , alcibiades, even alcibiades, even a man who the audience knew as corrupt and a cause of great harm for the city , is in his idealistic state. His soul is good because it exists in the idealistic world , that is the point of that little exchange , and he will be loved by socrates and at a moral hight ground as long as his soul stays intact , and on the other hand , his soul will stay intact as long as he is socrates lover . These two go hand in hand , its a knife that cuts both ways , he will be loved if he reached peak morality and he will reach peak morality if he is loved

Its also important philosophically that socrates rejects alcibiades body , and rejects objects in such a way . He is essentially saying that while alcibiades body will worsen with age , without anything anyone can do about it to stop it , unlike his body , alcibiades mind is totally in his own control , and he can chose to worsen or better his moral grounds . He can choose to take socrates as a lover , he is presented with the chance to be loved by socrates and it is a choice , unlike matirial corruption which is a result of time or forces beyond their control , moral corruption is based only in alcibiades choice not to be loved by socrates

Theres also a lot to be said about how alcibiades as a person not as a literary means would react to this , and what it would mean to him as a person , and how it changed his choices after that, but i will talk about it later .

( trans : so , my beloved alcibiades, the soul , if it means to know itself must look into a soul , and for the most part , the part of it where the souls virtiue is created , the wizdom , and wherever else it happens to bare resemblece with that? )

This again , shows the distinction between phisicality and philosophy , this time more centered around the twos relationship . Its also i think a great way to explain the whole socratic method .

Socrates is explaining here his distaste for physical contact , in his mind , spiritual enlightenmen is the true goal, which can only be found through dialoge , and through conversing with someone else . He is talking about finding knowlage through dialoge not to gain knowlage for the sake of it but so you can better understand your own self , saying this , espesially to a lover , especially to a lover who , through the simposium we know socrates had rejected physical multiple times , is not only in my opinion peak romanticism, but abselout concrete proof of socrates love for alcibiades . He is willing to walk alcibiades through it , to teach him , to help him grow , and in order to do that he will use the socratic method , which before we had seen portrayed as something very sterile but now it is being described as a bearing of the soul , as complete honesty and complete knowledge, he speaks about how we must use others as our mirrors , he wants to converse with alcibiades not to give him knowlage for the sake of it but as an expression of their love and a bonding of their souls . This , combined with the facts we know from the simposium and the general idial that in ancient greece most student teacher relationships were also romantic , solidifies the fact that to socrates , and to plato , and to philosophers in general , philosophy is a means to express their love for the world

I think its also important to say that there is a reason this very very intoductory text that basically hits all the major philosophical points is a discussion between lovers , and not between socrates and anyone else , it further proves the point that philosophy at its core is centered around curiosity yes , but also a love for the world , and a love for betterment .

( trans: i woukd like for you to continiue . I fear though , not out of lack of trust in your nature , but becayse i observe the citys power , that it will best both you and me )

Now if this was written maybe three or four decades later than it was , i would write those final words off as just some random way to close the text . HOWEVER . This was written long after alcibiades had his political peak. Long after the numerous war crimes . And i kept looking back at it . I kept questiong why plato would end it like that , why would he make socrates mention alcibiades has his complete trust , socrates is supposed to be super smart and super moral and all that stuff. Why would he put his trust in alcibiades?

Again , this ties in perfectly with the other part of the conversation where they talked about alcibiades body and what not . Again , alcibiades is portrayed as not being morally bad but as someone who has the potential to prosper , only if he makes the choice of staying with socrates . With those words a new lover is introduced, socrates competition in a way . Alcibiades will only prospect if he stays with socrates and his morality will crumble if he chooses the side of the people of athens .

This to me is the ultimate apologist behavior. Alcibiades is practically forgiven for the atrocious things hes done , and its all placed on the curroption of the people , its fhe peoples fault , its not alcibiades. Athens is portrayed as a corruptive lover, capable of seducing the boy and making him the power hungry war lord he turned out to be , this is the writers way to short of give socrates an exuse for loving alcibiades so much and also to prove that athens and the people in it trully have a tremendous power and trully are in their core , rotten and immoral.

For the texts final conclusion it is explained to us Alcibiades turned to be the way he is not out of inate lack of morality, but because his own powers , and socrates attempts, where bested by the worlds ability to ruin morality and ethics .

[dominapirevita]

My 2024 fig tree

Happy new year! I wish everyone the best of luck in completing their goals.

I drew a moodboard in the form of a fig tree, based on Plath's fig tree analogy. The idea is that I pick as many figs as I can in 2024. Some of my goals aren't meant as careers and are just basic things to improve my health or well-being.

My figs are:

Continue using Habitica to track my progress and get inspiration for new challenges

Read 24 books (around 7 books for school, 2 books about science, 3 French books that are not for school, 1 audiobook, 2 poetry collections and 9 other books of choice)

Get better sleep by going earlier to bed, waking up earlier, avoiding my phone in the early morning and late evening, having a morning and night routine and by logging how much I slept, used my phone and how much I read.

Clean my room daily

Use sundays to prepare for the week (outfits + weekly reflection)

Practise the piano daily, experiment with making my own music and discover new music

Watch at least one film each month, reflect on it and experiment with writing my own script

Read at least 2 books about science

Learn every week a new bit of ancient Greek (grammer or a new text) and review daily

Write an outline for a novel and write 6 poems.

Post more on this blog (I am thinking about using it as a girlblog and posting every two weeks)

Make nice memories with new people and record it in a diary

Finish my homework a few days before the deadline and review new material beforehand.

Exercise a little bit every morning and begin learning ballet online

Image from the film 'Black Swan' (found on Pinterest)

“I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig-tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with queer names and off-beat professions, and another fig was an Olympic lady crew champion, and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn't quite make out. I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig-tree, starving to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.”

― Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar

[air-of-the-waterfall]

Arc of a Scythe characters as Princess Bride quotes

Citra:

 “Move? You’re alive. If you want, I can fly.”

 “I wasn’t nervous. Maybe I was a little bit concerned, but that’s not the same thing.”

Rowan:

“Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.”

 “You use different moves when you’re fighting half a dozen people.”

Greyson:

“The name was the important thing for inspiring the necessary fear. You see, no one would surrender to the Dread Pirate Wesley.”

“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

Jeri:

“I inherited the ship from the previous Dread Pirate Roberts, just as you will inherit it from me. The man I inherited it from was not the real Dread Pirate Roberts either. The real Roberts has been retired fifteen years and living like a king in Patagonia.”

Thunderhead:

“As you wish.”

“Unless I am wrong, and I am never wrong.”

“It won’t be easy, sir.” “Try ruling the world sometime.”

“There’s a big difference between mostly dead and all dead.”

Cirrus:

“Have you ever heard of Plato? Aristotle? Socrates? Morons.”

“Yes, you’re very smart. Shut up.”

Faraday:

“You seem a decent fellow. I hate to kill you.”

“I’m not saying I’d like to build a summer home here, but the trees are actually quite lovely.”

Curie:

“Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a while.”

“I did that on purpose. I didn’t have to miss.”

Goddard: 

“I’ve hired you to help me start a war. It’s a prestigious line of work with a long and glorious tradition.”

“I’ve got my country’s 500th anniversary to plan, my wedding to arrange, my wife to murder, and Gildar to frame for it. I’m swamped!”

“Do you hear that, Highness? Those are the shrieking eels. They always grow louder when they’re about to feed on human flesh.”

Rand:

“Good night, Wesley. Good work. Sleep well. I’ll most likely kill you in the morning.”

Astrid:

“No more rhyming, now I mean it!” “Anybody wanna peanut?”

Munira:

“In studying, you must have learned that man is mortal.”

Loriana: 

“Unemployed in Greenland?!”

Morrison:

“Oh, you mean this gate key!”

Constantine:

“She’s alive. Or was an hour ago. If she is otherwise when I find her, I shall be very put out.”

“He can track a falcon on a cloudy day; he can find you.”

Mendoza:

“Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.”

Tyger:

“I wonder if he’s using the same wind we are using.”

[blindrapture]

july 30 and 31.

so, let's talk about the seventh cipher.

in earlier drafts, this was The Easy Final Level of the Realm King, a much simpler trek through a snowy environment. there were 8 challenges, ranging from "eat a pot noodle" to "play this song on the clarinet," a silly variety of challenges that fit more in line with cipher 6. and there were 5 mini-fights, mainly being the four bikers. a lot of that log was just Having To Walk Big Distances, and so it stretched across two logs. the final boss, on July 31, was just... The Realm King, a big blue guy who sat on a throne and was defended by waves of golden knights. again, more in keeping with cipher 6.

it was like this because I was still not in the right place to write Rapture. I had just returned home to England, in December 2011, returned back to my parents after trying to run away, after that blew up in my face. I came to Rapture because it kept me busy. and while this was at least more creative than the original San Francisco, it was absolutely anticlimactic. and I did at least turn that into a strength: I played on this being an easy final level, a real type of video game trope that usually is not intentional. I played on the strangeness of this for the protagonists, and I turned it into characterisation for this big mythical "Rapture" itself: Rapture gave us an easy final level because Rapture wants these ciphers done. admittedly I am not unhappy with that idea. (it's in keeping with MOTHER 3, in fact. a lot of the interesting ways Rapture plays with video game expectations pretty much comes from MOTHER 3-- when it doesn't come from secretcity. seriously, oh my god play MOTHER 3. it is so worth it. one of the greatest video games ever made.)

but this isn't 2011 anymore. this is 2024. this is Rapture's eighth draft. this is a new Act 2, this is DJay writing at age 29, showing what he-- I-- can do. since early in the rewrite process, a theme has been emerging: "I have to do it right this time, I have to put the work in and make a long story much denser." while I had forgotten about just how empty San Francisco was, I was very conscious of the seventh cipher and the opportunity it presented. to write a new cipher log... god, I've been dreaming of that all throughout my most unproductive years.

so.

I did the work. I put the work in. I took a few days to write this. I think I did two days per log? my first day was pure planning. my first day was this:

I planned out the level, making a map. had to stretch it across two sets of pages, but here I've arranged it so it lines up.

in the July 30th log, we start at the very top-right. we see the destination across the sea of lava, and have to travel our way around the bay and round up to the castle. the july 31st log takes place entirely in the castle on the top page.

a lot of this came rather naturally, as I was inspired by the map design of Elden Ring, how progression feels so driven by the arc of the coastline even when you're exploring these landmasses atop massive cliffs. and I was especially inspired by the layout of Castle Stormveil, which is incredibly imposing on the outside but quite based on a realistic castle inside. all I really had to do was draw a coastline and find the best place to put a defendable castle; the rest came from that.

then I just had to write it.

I was keeping the 8 challenges and the 5 fights. I was keeping the general snow-kingdom aesthetic. making the challenges and fights more cohesive was a matter of finding a unifying Scheme, and for that I chose to base them on Buddhist concepts. the 8 challenges loosely represent the Noble Eightfold Path, and the 5 fights are based on the Five Hindrances. the hardest part here was writing Jordan and Donnie's little Socratic reasonings for the eightfold riddles, though once they enter the castle the riddles are replaced with direct and immediate challenges of staying mindful in an atmosphere of extreme horror, repulsion, and despair.

I quite enjoyed fleshing out the lore here, giving the kingdom its own implied backstory, the tale of a world that could not defend against the Rapture. but of course, the Rapture is different for every world, so we can't even use this world to predict what our Rapture will be.

one of the most important steps in all of this planning turned out to be the simplest. I didn't want this guy to be called "the Realm King" this time. I was prepared to spend a while coming up with a whole new name, but naturally my first instinct was to flip the name around. King Realm? ....King Real? it's a simple name. almost feels trite, something out of a fairy tale. but something about it cut right through my core and spoke to something I wanted to bring out of Rapture this time around. I don't see it as a fairy tale name. I see it as intimidating and holy. this story has something to do with the many different "realities," the relativity of "real." a King gets to enforce a reality on his kingdom. a King enforces it because a King believes in it, that is an important part of how power works on those within the system. this King Real is not a bad guy. in fact, we end up feeling a lot of sympathy for him and his people. but Rapture is not a story where the good guys are named The Good Guys and the bad guys are named The Bad Guys. Rapture is a moral tale, maybe even moralist, but it's excruciatingly modern. it's maybe the "tale" part that's most modern. Rapture is a modern kind of tale. or, really it's ancient. it's an epic. but it's an epic translated into modern techniques. a post-Ulysses epic that is not waiting for readers to catch up with what that means. so. he's called King Real because he was named by a tradition that is not our tradition. if it sounds like a fairy tale name to us, we're still struggling to understand the implications of relativity. ....it's hard to put all this into words right now. but I felt it all in me when I saw the name "King Real."

I wrote the July 31st log while listening to music from the DOOM 2016 soundtrack on repeat. that also feels important. Doom is embedded in my subconscious by now. the original Doom, and the existence of the franchise. this is.. admittedly a really rich subject, ripe for rambles that directly connect to Rapture. just, we absolutely would not have Rapture without Doom. I think even the naming conventions are relevant here. my story's full name is OGTRIB, but I refer to it colloquially as "Rapture." there's even a section of story, currently nebulous, called "Final Rapture," which is absolutely a reference to Final Doom. Rapture and Doom. it's no accident. or, at most, it's a happy accident. why? what similarities do they have? what is it I got out of the Doom games? other than a love affair with midi rock music and the sensibilities of open source communities. a comfort in first-person video games, a love of mazes. firm confirmation that one must face injustice with the stubbornness of a shotgun. I dunno. that's something that'll take a lifetime of interpretation to work out.

/////////////////////

then there's the "other half" of this log, really more like the last fifth of it. I will say a lot less about this section, because this is the beginning of something Rapture will take a long time exploring.

the A-plot has moved out of the ciphers and into what comes next.

Guitar Hero is involved now.

and we finally meet Bones... as well as Fentzy and Danny? in earlier drafts, we actually met Fentzy and Danny way earlier. we met Danny on July 4th, the end of Act 1, and we met Fentzy on July 5th, the start of Act 2. the decision to move their introduction here, towards the very end of Act 2, was significant. it changed many things about Act 2 and basically facillitated the heavy rewrite to begin with. we needed more time with just Jordan and Donnie. that was worth it. but now we have the full party.

who is Fentzy? who is Danny? who is Bones? how will the kids all get along now? these are important questions!

you'll have to wait and see. :3

see you tomorrow.

[coraniaid]

People in the ancient world absolutely knew why there were phases of the moon.

This was something that basically all the pre-Socratic Greek philosophers took for granted as common knowledge; they didn't all get the Moon's exact shape right (but I think most of them thought it was a sphere, which is close enough), but everyone from Pythagoras to Anaxagoras had worked out that the Moon orbited the Earth and reflected the light of the Sun (or, perhaps more likely, somebody else well before them had worked it out and they'd heard that explaination and believed it). By more modern (but still ancient) times, Aristotle was writing about this as something almost anybody could figure out if they paid attention and had a moment of brief inspiration. It wasn't seen as being in any way controversial or theoretical or difficult. People in the ancient world weren't stupid and most of them had much more opportunity to really look at the Moon and the heavens than many of us do.