#or enslaving them??

[somepinkthing]

"Hector was a good man" "diomedes was an honorable man" BZZZT WRONG. Diomedes was there to steal, burn, and wage war same as the next person. In fact, he was pretty adamant about it. Hector had no issue with the greek's actions, merely that they were directed at him—I mean look at what he wanted to do with patroclus's body, only to then cite respect for funeral rites when it was his own turn to die. Hector also owned slaves within his own city walls—people that he likely took from their homes during troy's own conquests. All that seperated him and the greek warriors was which side they were on.

The Iliad isn't a story about morally upstanding men. Sure, it has men who have honor and perform honorable acts, but these are not good samaritans. It's is a story about war and grief and the real victims of fights between so-called-honorable men and gods. The urge to find a "good guy" in this story is wasted. Hector doesn't have to be morally good just because achilles isn't. Troy didn't lose because they were more or less evil than the greeks. It all just. Is. Because of fate? Because the gods said so? Because people will always make disastrous mistakes and it will always end up biting not only them, but everyone else around them? Who knows? In the end though, doesn't it all feel so pointless in the face of the endless amounts of grief and destruction that war leaves behind? Maybe that's the whole point

[a-dauntless-daffodil]

vaggie getting to watch her girl give a rousing public speech for the first time like

also a dream come true for one (1) ex-exorcist

[throwawayasoiafaccount]

btw what theon went through is what thousands upon thousands upon thousands of slaves still go through in essos. so, do you still feel pity for the slavers that were crucified? do you still pity the slavers killed when daenerys freed the unsullied?

i ask these questions, and yet i know that there are still many people who believe that the violence against the slavers wasn’t justified, or believe that it was simply “too much” or “not fair.” truly… what an insane hill to die on.

maybe these people should spare more empathy for the formerly enslaved instead of wasting time making up excuses (that are not supported by the text) for why the slave masters' deaths were somehow not justified 🫶

[transmairon]

There are two times Tolkien mentions Sauron possibly considering repentance or being good, once in the beginning of the second age and another during the beginning of his stay in Eregion, and it lives rent free in my head. Silvergifting really has so much potential heartbreak.

And I've always wondered if Tolkien saying that Sauron's intentions in Eregion weren't evil yet ties in with the Dwarven Rings not being fully corrupt. That maybe his plan to heal middle earth with the help of Celebrimbor had not yet descended into lust for total dominion.

At what point did his plans turn fully malicious I'll always wonder. Did his time spent among Celebrimbor and the Eregion elves inspire the idea for the One Ring? At what point did he want more than to just guide the elves but also bind them to him? We'll never know.

[archdevilsupreme]

It is, by far, way too funny to me how I've been confused about Karlach's inventory for god knows how long before realising what's wrong. I was convinced it was the game being bugged since she can carry like 250kg.

Then I realised... she's been carrying around Cazador's corpse all this time. This shit is so funny to me because can you imagine a group of 4 people walking around Baldur's Gate, just casually dragging the corpse of a vampire lord along with them as a sign of dominance (and forgetfulness of said vampire corpse).

Update - beware! There will be fun and fire!

[batcavescolony]

Me: I hate all superhero movies/shows that boil down to 'it's Superman but an Asshole' they al-

Megamind 2010: all?

Me: oh no not you, you're perfect.

[hamletshoeratio]

"A strong queen is just what this country needs!"

The Irish who know the queen in question as the famine queen:

[pippalovestunabrick]

No but this is so important and not just because Nureyev is finally waking up to something outside his Slip tunnel vision. But because Nureyev has never been in the position to plan for a life. His entire focus has been on survival and obligation and anonymity since he was (the equivalent of) a high schooler. He has never had the opportunity to be like "what do I want to do with my life?" because that agency was taken from him by the GAS, by Mag, by being a fugitive, by Dokana and he has actually never been at liberty to just, choose.

This aspect of Nureyev makes me that much more feral about his offer to run away with Juno way back in season 1, because being able to run away and live a life he wants is not something he allowed himself to even imagine until he met Juno goddamn Steel and that meeting like jumpstarted his heart. The life of thrills and decadence across the galaxy might not even be what he truly wants, but even being able to envision the fantasy of it was HUGE for him. Which makes Juno’s rejection of it (in Murderous Mask, but moreso in Final Resting Place after everything they went through together with Miasma, and realizing that there was the potential for genuine love, trust, compatibility between them) all the more devastating. It wasn't just a rejection of Nureyev, but effectively crushed that first real hope for the future that he had allowed himself since Saraswati.

[mylittleversaille]

Every day I see more and more pop myth takes that make me want to pull my eyelashes out. No, Ares was not a protector of women. No, Aphrodite was not a war goddess (and you know what, being the goddess of sex and lust and beaut is okay!). No, Hera is not an irredeemable villain. No, Zeus is not evil incarnate. No Achilles isn’t without fault or some ‘gay softboi’ icon (he’s literally presented in the Iliad as someone who is proud to a fault. You’re supposed to recognize that he’s selfish and arrogant). No, Demeter was not an overbearing mother nor was Hades some sort of misunderstood, brooding knight in shining armour. Medea is allowed to commit heinous crimes and still be a sympathetic character. Jason… deserves all the hate he gets, respectfully.

Off the top of my head, I think Helen is one of the few people who gets complex, interesting characterization in modern retellings and discourse, ironically enough. She’s allowed to be vain and aware of her own beauty while also often having a great deal of agency. At the same time, she is frequently depicted as both victim and as offender. She’s allowed to want to be in Troy, but also to miss her husband and daughter.

Some days I feel like I could write essays about pop mythology and the way people reduce mythological figures to one dimensional caricatures. And how these retellings are never as progressive as people think, fixing some issues but exacerbating others. I do think retellings end up being an excellent resource for identifying what social issues bother us and how we would like to address them.

For example, we see a lot of feminist retellings that want to show women as capable of the same things as men, and in so doing they reject or deride their own femininity. But a retelling that is ultimately saying that masculinity is more interesting or valuable than femininity isn’t a truly feminist retelling, but it does show us that our society struggles to find femininity compatible with strength or courage.

[ramlightly]

Meet Zinnia (they/them)

Normally a demon of great and terrible, they have been trapped in this measly form when forced into servitude by an archdemon. They are icily polite and diligent in their duties while quietly scheming for their freedom.

This was a character created over on twitter, as part of a "create a demon oc" game.

[elswing]

GOD i know it's not going to happen but i would kill for celeborn to be trapped in rhûn. it looks like the masked people pursuing the stranger + co are trapped in service to the dark wizard or at least being blackmailed into it (one said something about needing to be healed, maybe an injury from the war??) so there is a strong chance they're not JUST evil minions but people being coerced into service because they need something

also if the stranger rescues him and we get a gandalf/celeborn For I Would Much Like To Speak With Him buddy backstory that'd be really cool

[stairset]

I know certain parts of Star Wars fandom are determined to see literally everything about the Jedi in the most bad faith way possible but one of the most baffling examples to me is when people act like they look down on all other force religions and don't take the time to understand them because they see their own way as superior when there is quite literally nothing to suggest that. Like the only other force users they have any actual beef with on principle are the Sith, which I'd say is justified considering the Sith are a bunch of fascist pricks who constantly try to take over the galaxy. Literally all the others are either allies of the Jedi or the Jedi just leave them alone to do their thing.

[gwandas]

I don’t think you deserve to have your SJM takes taken seriously if you wanna act like any human character’s dislike of fae characters is unwarranted

[spigosaur]

I'm currently rewatching nightmare time and right now I'm watching Daddy and- I had totally forgotten that Ted is in that episode and that we do see him die in the nmt2 timeline. And it happens on the day of the honey festival. You know what that means? Pete says he's gonna miss the honey festival because of abstinence camp. Pete is going through everything happening at abstinence camp just to come back and be told that his brother was murdered while he was gone. That scene in abstinence camp where Ted is taking Pete to idontwannabang? That's the last time nmt2!Pete ever sees his brother.

[pinnithin]

enver gortash fascinates me from the perspective of his relationship with the dark urge because like, as far as i know his alliance with them is one of the very few he didn’t actively despise. the guy was sold into slavery by his own parents (who tried to justify it by saying their child was a hateful monster and anyone would have done the same) and spent his formative years employed by a devil who gets off on gratuitous levels of suffering and manipulation. and then once he's escaped that and built himself up so he can never be used and enslaved again he meets this bhaalspawn who also had to adapt and survive a violent and manipulative environment for years by becoming the monsters who raised them.

gortash sees how the dark urge has risen to command armies and slaughter hundreds in the same way he outfoxed raphael and ruthlessly controls the people in his employ, and after earning and owning his reputation as a tyrant heres another person who might actually have like, a shared lived experience. not exactly a friend, because people like them can't afford to have friends, but someone who at least understands. and he willingly works with them on this plan to enslave the sword coast and agrees to share power with them.

and then orin lobotomizes them, puts a tadpole in their head, and leaves them for dead at moonrise.

like, can you imagine. youre working with the first person you see eye to eye with and prooooobably arent plotting to actively sabotage (or, at least would hesitate to do so) and the rug just gets yanked out from under them by their own sister, and now you're stuck with her because the plan still has to move along. and as the days go by a group of adventurers start to screw up your plot right when baldur's gate is within your grasp, and you learn that among them is your old almost-friend who you actually liked and respected - and they have no memory of you whatsoever. oh, and on top of that they're rolling with people you've actively fucked over and want to kick your ass.

did it hurt for him to learn this? did he ever think about how things could have been different? did he think, you were supposed to be my ally, my friend, someone who actually understands that becoming a monster is the only way to keep yourself safe and in control. we were going to rule together. and now you're ride or die with this squad of people you've only known for a few weeks at best, and you want me dead. you don't even remember me. you don't even remember yourself.

[quietwingsinthesky]

no one ever fucking talk to me about the leviathan dlc and its implications. even thinking about it made me mad again. how do you create a story about artificial intelligence that is a direct consequence of its creator’s hubris (thinking that they, unlike more “primitive” species, could create robots to fix their problems that WOULDN’T rebel and kill them. only for the robots to rebel and kill them.) and also a reflection of their beliefs uninterrogated: that there is no possibility for peace between artificial and organic life, that it must all be extinguished for the sake of “peace”. how do you have a story where one of the main (paywalled. dlc.) squad members is the remnants of an empire that conquered and controlled other species in the same way the leviathans did, and met the exact same fate because their imperial power was an illusion created by the reapers to make them weaker, to make them easier to exterminate. how do you make a story about these cycles, about how the council IS repeating these cycles, they just do it in a “kinder” way, a way with a veneer of democracy while still holding the same kind of power the protheans did over their empire, taking the same corrupted seat and continuing to rule their even after they find out, in mass effect 1, that it was a time bomb of extinction. how do you write all of that. how do you write the geth/quarian conflict and give us an ending that proves that peace and reconciliation is not only possible, but the best option. and then. star child. and you can’t even fucking argue with him that his ideology is bullshit.