Understanding 18th Century
There's a prevailing problem I've noticed in interpreting frev: people not really understanding that this was 18th century. Oh, they understand it on an intellectual level, but they still apply today's worldview to it. And you can't do that if you wish to understand wtf was going on.
(This is not about anyone here nor a shade at anyone in particular. Just a trend I've noticed, especially in bad takes).
All historical periods have this problem where people interpret things from the point of view of our own time. So that's hardly special about frev and 18c. But a tricky part is that 18c saw the development of things that we still use today (constitutions, voting system, etc.) that it may seem like it's more similar to our world than it actually was.
For example. The voting system. They had it and so do we. Except they were assholes who didn't allow women to vote. (Which is fair criticism, but people often forget that not all men had the right to vote either - so any criticism of exclusion should take that into account. Was it really about women per se, or about their ideas on who can and cannot make a free and rational vote? What is that they saw wrong about women and certain men voting? - Their attitude sure sucks, but if we ask these questions we understand better what was going on vs just going "sexist men", which only explains part of the issue). Or: journalism. They had political slander and so do we. But uuugh, their slander was so openly personal and often ridiculed someone's looks/sexual practices in supposedly serious political attacks - wtf was that? Or: trials. Of course we all know how trials are supposed to be done and what kind of arguments/evidence they should include. The fact they focused so much on character slander is incorrect and ridiculous, and...
Stop. Instead of assuming that they "did it incorrectly", think about: 1) how we do these things today is a product of decades/centuries of development; they didn't have that. They were only inventing it for the first time. 2) They did stuff according to their cultural beliefs. If they focused so much on character assassination as an argument, it means it was significant for their worldview.
You might not like it (and fair enough) but it's not possible to understand what was going on unless we understand how they thought and what they knew and what their worldview was. Which is not easy. It's not simply about knowing the state of scientific thought or what they believed about the world. Understanding how this affected the way they thought and how they interpreted things, or how they build meaning and conclusions - none of that is easy. But we have to question our assumptions, even if we're unable to see things from their pov. Because that's the only way not to arrive at wrong conclusions.
Similarly, many terms what they used had a different meaning to how they are used today (or, at least, they were understood in ways dissimilar to how we use them). Concepts such as despotism, tyranny, dictator, terror; also some seemingly easy to understand terms like "being a moderate" or even "patriotism". If we assume 18th century people used them in the same way that we do, we won't be able to understand wtf they are talking about.
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yeah, done with human interaction, better for everyone including me. good thing schizophrenia get u totally isolated. no it's not its just horrible.
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no i haven't done my nano words for today but i have started learning french
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I read To Kill a Mockingbird and Go Set a Watchman back to back within 3 days and my god, Harper Lee's original work is such a masterpiece of literature and the sequel released 55 years later is one of the worst books I've read all year.
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I just got to the Iron Throne on my Durge run tonight...
and while it didn't make a ton of roleplaying sense, I was very curious what would happen if I could get there before the long rest where Mizora offers to renew the pact. So basically, I jogged from Gortash's inauguration, to speaking with Mizora, to a quick pass through the newspaper to run a story about kittens, to the Steel Foundry, to the Iron Throne.
And what happens is.....! (drumroll.....)
Duke Ravengard is just already dead in his cell for some inexplicable reason. Um. Uh. I feel like this is more of a metagame punishment for players who try to beat Mizora to the punch than it makes actual in-universe sense. Mmmmm?
So if he's dead, is Wyll just gonna automatically be the new duke at the end, meaning he can't be with Karlach kicking ass in hell?
Errr? Uh oh.
I guess I might see this through to at least see if Mizora has anything to say for herself :S
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my partner doesn’t use pet names nearly as much as i do, which is very funny because i will crack my gay little knuckles and say some shit like “good morning my sun and moon, my loveliest boy, my baby my sweetheart my darling dearest” and he will reply “hello adrian”
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60k mentally unwell jay ferin. i want her
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I know this is a tiny part of the wider problems born of diet culture, fatphobia, classism, and racism but like god the idea that "healthy" food must inherently taste bad has completely ruined us as a society.
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