#like that is historically correct

[dragonciphering]

[thatlittleegyptologist]

I'm about to lose my fucking mind

[rocksanddeadflowers]

I already have so much trouble figuring out the correct pronunciation of words (something about "you can tell a person reads more than they hear when they say weird words wrong" I think?) that The Mechs are just. Absolutely not helping. Well they're helping a lot but also completely not. Especially with mythology names. I'll say a word or name out loud and get corrected for my pronunciation and I just have to go "oh okay that's just how British people say that one I guess"

[worstloki]

Loki surveilling the skyline of New York from the top of Stark Tower and clocking that his favorite paired set of buildings are gone. sad

[marzipanandminutiae]

Misinformation I burned to death several times as a teenager due to the long skirts I wore

sounds legit

just like how I've literally snapped in half while wearing a corset, every single time, and now my midsection is held together by a complex network of zipties

(in all seriousness, before anyone starts in with the Um Actuallys, yes your clothing can catch fire if it's too near an open flame. but I seldom see anyone talking about the 18th- or 19th-century fire risks of frock coats, tailcoats, capes, long sleeves, long scarves- I nearly caught a perfectly normal blouse sleeve on fire once while frantically trying to unplug a sparking extension cord at the museum -or indeed anything that's not a primarily feminine-coded garment)

(so...)

(also obviously Wool Smolders, You Tend To Be Better At Fire Safety If Fire Is An Unavoidable Part Of your Daily Life, Show Me The Reliable Primary Source Death Statistics; I'm Waiting, etc.)

[yandere-daydreams]

Have you watched Blue Eye Samurai yet on Netflix?! The show is so gay,,, the main character gives major gender envy,,,, I think you'd like jt !!!

i'll be so honest with you my dude, i can't even watch the depressing shows i'm already invested in. perhaps there will be more room on my plate once i manage to gnaw and thrash my way through the rest of jjk but, until then, it's strictly lesbian nonsense for the foreseeable future.

[girlcatilina]

i need a comment section on jstor some of you old white men are starting to piss me off

[katyspersonal]

To be honest, figuring out that Maria is a bifauxnen archetype (or rather, remembering about it 3 years later after too-western-leaning discussions lol) felt soft of a relief? Keeping that in mind could have saved a lot of debates, and I do think that this take should be apparent since Bloodborne is a Japanese media! Can't analyze oversees media without applying oversees tropes and culture! So, her masculine aesthetic is not up to being questioned or written as practicality!

That one elusive bit that doesn't fall so apparent is the motivation. The thing about bifauxnen trope is that it is not consistent! There is execution where the masculinity is supposed to be rather involuntary, forced by another person or circumstances, and the character, in fact, struggles to reclaim her femininity after being led "astray" by some unfortunate events (like Lady Oscar). Then there are more blatant examples that are exactly what you want and expect from the trope, where femininity IS uncomfortable (like Utena)! I also talked with my friend who is familiar with far more Japanese media than I am, and according to her, Utena actually is a subversion of the trope, whereas "this lady had her natural femininity shunned by person or circumstances" is more common + that's the reason my friend DISlikes the trope. Can't attest to that statistic unless I play/watch everything she did, just something to notice 🤔

So yeah, that's the CORRECT interpretation branch I think! I wrote a separate analysis post on Cainhurst antics but the gist of it was, for a Vileblood woman it'd be a shame to not indulge in the bloody magic and antics as that's their 'natural' streak, so with this trope there would be skewing influence. Or other examples of the trope like "wanted son" or "she takes place of sickly/absent noble brother" that could play out. ...Or none could be the reasoning besides her preference, maybe even in spite of others (again, the 'blunt' variant of the trope does exist!)

There are various factors to decide from! I don't know, I just.. having the [HUMANITY RESTORED] moment over external validation for different interpretations, even though it should be a common sense. But also that there is something UNdebatable. I don't take "historical gender roles" flex for the setting where female doctors, scholars, hunters and vicars exist in 19th century of course, but I can't argue with "Japanese developers did a Japanese trope" pointer, and it just feels better to have more clarity, you know?

[bretwalda-lamnguin]

Ptolemaic Gondor?

Tolkien named Ancient Egypt as one of the inspirations for Gondor-particularly aesthetically and in their capacity for grand architecture. The crown of Gondor also resembles the crown of Upper Egypt, tall and conical, with similar symbolism between the combining of the crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt and the combination of the Gondorian crown with the Arnorian diadem-the Elendilmir. I think there is also a deeper link between Gondor and Ancient Egypt, particularly Egypt under the Ptolemaic dynasty, the last to rule Egypt before the Romans annexed it.

Under the cut for a brief history of Ptolemaic Egypt and what that has to do with Gondor!

The Ptolemies were descended from one of Alexander the Great’s generals, called, unsurprisingly, Ptolemy. Alexander and his army were from Macedon, a northern Greek kingdom. In the chaos after Alexander’s death his generals carved up his empire, with Ptolemy rushing to Egypt and having himself proclaimed Pharaoh. The Ptolemaic dynasty ruled from Alexandria, a city founded by Alexander in the Nile delta, on the shores of the Mediterranean. Ptolemy was a Macedonian, and many other Macedonians, both soldiers of Alexander and others, followed them to Egypt. Alexandria became a great centre of Greek Hellenic culture dominated by Macedonians, who became basically a ruling class of this new Ptolemaic state. The highest offices of government were reserved for Macedonians, Macedonian Greek was the court language, the military was made up (at first at least) of Macedonians and mercenaries, with no recruitment from the Egyptian population. The traditional Egyptian religion and the role of the Pharaoh within it remained (with some Greek introductions), but in most other things Macedonians and their customs dominated. No Ptolemaic Pharaoh even knew how to speak Egyptian until Cleopatra VII (yes, that’s THE Cleopatra), the last ruler of the dynasty! Even she seems to have done little to better integrate Egyptians and Macedonians, with the Macedonians remaining firmly in charge until the Romans annexed Egypt.

Now the Ptolemies were not the only successors of Alexander, and one of their main rivals were the Seleucid empire, founded by fellow Macedonian general Seleucus. The Ptolemies often fought for control of the Levant in the Syrian wars. During the reign of Ptolemy IV the Ptolemies and Seleucids were embroiled in the fourth Syrian war. Faced with manpower shortages within the Macedonian ruling class, Ptolemy IV’s army included Egyptians trained to fight in the Macedonian style as part of the phalanx. At Raphia, Ptolemy IV won a decisive victory, with the Egyptian troops playing a key role in the battle. While this did improve the lot of Egyptians within Ptolemaic Egypt, Macedonians continued to dominate both the state and the military, and the failure to further integrate Egyptians into the army contributed to the weakening of the Ptolemaic state, which enjoyed arguably its finest hour at Raphia. A succession of poor rulers and civil war would see the state decline, eventually being annexed into the Roman empire after the death of Cleopatra VII.

Now, how does that fit with Gondor?

Gondor was founded by Númenorian exiles, with a Númenorian ruling class. Its main languages are Westron (descended from Númenorian Andunaic) and Sindarin, a common language among certain Númenorian communities. Comparisons may be made between Alexandria and cities like Pelagir and Osgiliath as centres of Númenorian dominance and culture (Pelagir especially, there is a reason Castamir liked it so much). And, like Ptolemaic Egypt, it seems like Númenorians dominated the military, with other peoples excluded. To quote Faramir:

“But the stewards were wiser and more fortunate. Wiser, for they recruited the strength of our people from the sturdy folk of the sea-coast, and from the hardy mountaineers of Ered Nimrais.”

This would seem to imply that prior to this, these peoples were excluded, and Númenorians dominated the military. But the Gondorians learned their lesson, at least to a greater degree than the Ptolemies did, and were able to slow their decline by better integrating non-Númenorians into the state. Númenorians still hold the highest positions of power (Denethor and Imrahil are the two most powerful men in the country in the late third age, both are Númenorians), but military discrimination is at least heavily reduced.

The appendices and unfinished tales do say that Northmen were recruited into the Gondorian military after the Kin-Strife, and mentions them in Eärnur’s army sent to fight Angmar. These may have been analogous to the mercenary forces used by the Ptolemies, rather than representing a widening of recruitment (though many Northmen did settle in Gondor after the Kin-Strife).

Obviously the comparisons are not 1:1, but I think early Gondor may well have resembled Ptolemaic Egypt in the structure and stratification of society. I suspect that this began heavily breaking down after the Kin-Strife. For a start, a lot of Númenorians are dead, or have been forced to renounce their ancestry by Eldacar. The Gondorians will need to look elsewhere for a supply of manpower. Númenorian supremacy may well start being seen as treasonous due to Castamir’s actions, and an active threat to the continued existence of the Gondorian state. By Denethor II’s time the Gondorian army seems far more diverse, and even many of the aristocrats may well be non-Númenorian (though again, Denethor and Imrahil occupy the most powerful positions).

[silvergifting]

i love having a younger sibling whose specific special interest is just. teotihuacán. am i currently sitting in bed trying to sleep? yes. is he also currently sitting on my floor telling me every detail about the layout of apartment complexes in period iii? (at least i think it was period iii lmao) also yes, so i guess sleep is for the weak and i'll worry about that later!

[soldier-poet-king]

I will not argue about religion online I will not argue about religion online I will not argue about religion online🤡

[insane-control-room]

tfw you see jewish characters being used for pro-palestine content via the pan-arab colors (without acknowledging their yiddishkeit): wow great job misappropriating TWO cultures at once!

[demon-of-the-ancient-world]

Had this silly sweet headcanon last night that at first Athelstan isn't sure what to call Ragnar and Lagertha. Like obviously he's none too happy about being a slave, but is also used to knowing his place and being in a position of deference so his first reaction is "I definitely should not be on a first name basis with these people."

But whatever versions of my lord/my lady etc. he might use don't really translate into Norse (or he doesn't know what words they would use) so the first time he goes automatically with what he's most familiar with - which would be forms of address for the head of a monastery or convent. So 'Mother X' or 'Father Y'. This is purely out of habit and he's got way too much else on his mind to understand why Lagertha is looking at him so weirdly -- and then a second later puts two and two together and realizes without the necessary context he basically just called her mom.

@procrastinatingsoicanreadfanfics @fuck-the-reaper

[ramshackledtrickster]

The fact historically Maria Thorpe probably spoke French more as her main language makes me feel weird

[arctic-hands]

I'm a slut for historical fiction but also i hate it because then I get interested in the person being dramatized and then I look it up and know how the story will end

Or conversely, I already know and am already interested in the person being dramatized and then I have to watch in agony as the drama gets it wrong

[royalberryriku]

I made a whole ass language, script and alphabet for my kingdom hearts fanfic just on impulse oopsie.