#and the discussions thereof

[etoilesombre]

Hey, do you guys want to hear a story? Let me tell you about the romance between Lancelot and Guinevere, as recounted in Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur.

So, I thought I knew the basics. I grew up reading modern versions of Arthurian legend that focused on other aspects, but had a general knowledge of the Arthur-Guinever-Lancelot love triangle. It didn't show up too much, but I assumed it was subtext in some other versions. What I picked up was that it was sort of pure, almost an ot3, and not the cause of a lot of problems. 

My friends. In this version it is NOT SUBTEXT, it DEFINITELY CAUSED PROBLEMS, and it is WILD. It is a true will-they-won't-they drama fest soap opera romance, and I need to share. So please, come on this journey with me.

[I’m looking at you, Black Sails fandom people. I need you to know that Flint canonically would have read this. He would almost certainly have also grown up hearing these stories. I’m not saying he’s Lancelot coded, but I am saying it's interesting that he would have been aware that was something it was possible to be.]

A couple notes, before we dive in. I am very much just summarizing what happened in the book. The thing is, the book is a million pages long and also in Middle English, and this is just one of many plots, which I think is why it's not more widely known. I will show some excerpts so you can get a feel for the text, but you don’t need to read them to understand the story. I'm referring to a version that is as close to the manuscript as I can find, though with spelling regularized. For real fun, see what the original looked like. Malory purports to be translating part of the French Vulgate cycle, which likely is where the character of Lancelot originates, but in fact he is doing much more than translating, and compiles other stories as well. Point being, when he says “so the French book sayeth” etc, that is the “book” to which he is referring. Because of my lack of knowledge about the language and cultural context, this lecture series from Mythgard Academy was absolutely invaluable to my understanding. I cannot recommend it highly enough. Inevitably, some of the opinions of the prof are reflected here. I do not have it in me to compare the scholarship of various medievalists right now, I just want to tell you about this DRAMA. 

Let’s start with a prophecy. When Arthur decides he wishes to marry Guinevere, Merlin advises him to take someone else, because if he takes her, she will betray him with Lancelot and it will destroy his kingdom. All of this is foretold, not only to us, but to Arthur himself. Of course he takes her anyway, and all is doomed from the start.

As we begin the main arc of this story (several books after the prophecy), Lancelot is widely acknowledged to be the best and most renowned knight of Arthur’s court. He is plainly and hopelessly in love with Guinevere, and she loves him in return. Arthur doesn’t have a problem with this - who wouldn’t love Guinevere? This sort of love is socially acceptable, so long as they do not sleep together, which would be treason. Arthur in fact seems to support their love, because it means that Lancelot will be Guinevere’s champion should she need one. This is a role Arthur himself legally cannot fill because he is the king, and so would have to be the judge. Lancelot is indeed a good champion for her, and fights for her when she is wrongly accused of murder. 

Lancelot is deeply chivalrous, in a way that seems sincere. This is a great place for a first excerpt, a conversation with a Random Damsel Lancelot has been helping:

‘Now, damosel,’ said Sir Lancelot, ‘will ye any more service of me?’ ‘Nay, sir,’ she said, ‘at this time, but almighty Jesu preserve you wheresoever ye ride or go, for the most courteous knight thou art and meekest unto all ladies and gentlewomen that now liveth. But one thing, sir knight, me thinks ye lack, ye that are a knight wifeless, that ye will not love some maiden or gentlewoman. For I could never hear say that ever ye loved any of no manner of degree, and that is great pity. But it is noised that ye love Queen Guenivere, and that she hath ordained by enchantment that ye shall never love no other but her, nor no other damosel nor lady shall rejoice you; wherefore there be many in this land of high estate and low that make great sorrow.’ ‘Fair damosel,’ said Sir Lancelot, ‘I may not warn* people to speak of me what it pleaseth them; but for to be a wedded man, I think it not; for then I must couch with her, and leave arms and tournaments, battles and adventures. And as for to say to take my pleasance with paramours, that will I refuse, in principal for dread of God. For knights that be adventurous should not be adulterers nor lecherous, for then they be not happy nor fortunate unto the wars; for either they shall be overcome with a simpler knight than they be themselves, or else they shall slay by unhap and their cursedness better men than they be themselves. And so who that useth paramours shall be unhappy, and all thing unhappy that is about them.’ 

So after doing his Knightly Deeds for this damsel, Lancelot asks if she needs anything else. She says no, but you are lacking one thing, which is the love of a woman. It is rumored that is because Guinevere has through sorcery made you love only her, and that causes all of the women great sorrow. In reply Lancelot makes this speech about how he cannot have a wife or paramour and be a good knight, but everyone thinks it is at least in part because his love is reserved for Guinevere.

Now, throughout the book his chastity DOES notably cause all of the women great sorrow. Everyone wants to sleep with Lancelot. Literally he is kidnapped by the four most beautiful queens other than Guinevere, and they say he has to choose one of them as a lover (not even a wife, a lover) or else die. He says he would rather die, though in the end he escapes. This is just an example, truly it is a recurring problem for him. He is, at one point, tricked into sleeping with a woman with whom he conceives his son Galahad (as was prophesied, it's a long story and the romance is only part of it. It is worth mentioning that something similar happens to Arthur, which is how Mordred is sired.) When Guinevere learns that Lancelot has been with someone else, she is angry and banishes him from the court. They still love each other and eventually reconcile. 

So, Lancelot goes on the quest for the holy grail. But he fails, specifically because while he is outwardly dedicated to God, in his private heart he is still dedicated to Guinevere. And so he makes a vow to renounce his love for her, acknowledging that it is beyond measure (beyond what is right, even if they have not technically done anything wrong.) However when he returns to Camelot, he cannot keep this vow, as we see. 

Then, as the book saith, Sir Lancelot began to resort unto Queen Guenivere again, and forgot the promise and the perfection that he made in the quest. For, as the book saith, had not Sir Lancelot been in his privy thoughts and in his mind so set inwardly to the Queen as he was in seeming outward to God, there had no knight passed him in the quest of the Sangrail, but ever his thoughts were privily on the Queen. And so they loved together more hotter than they did beforehand, and had many such privy draughts together that many in the court spoke of it, and in especial Sir Agravain, Sir Gawain’s brother, for he was ever open-mouthed. So it befell that Sir Lancelot had many resorts of ladies and damosels that daily resorted unto him to be their champion: in all such matters of right Sir Lancelot applied him daily to do for the pleasure of Our Lord Jesu Christ. And ever as much as he might he withdrew him from the company of Queen Guenivere for to eschew the slander and noise, wherefore the Queen waxed wroth with Sir Lancelot.

He and Guinevere start spending a lot of time alone together, and so there are rumors circulating about them in court. In order to put a stop to the rumors, Lancelot starts paying other women attention and doing more good knightly deeds for them. Guinevere is terribly jealous, but he tells her it's for their own good, and also tells her about the vow he made, and his concern that their love is beyond what is appropriate. She is devastated, and weeping banishes him from the court (again). 

Lancelot then rides in a tournament, disguised. (Why? Because this is simply a thing knights do.) To make it an effective disguise he takes the token of a woman, the sleeve of the fair maid of Astolat to wear on his helm. When she discovers that he was only using it for the disguise, and he does not indeed love her, she is so heartbroken that she says if he will not marry her or be her lover, she will die. He refuses, on the grounds that love must not be constrained and should arise from the heart, and offers her a thousand pounds a year instead if she marries anyone else. Properly insulted by this, she does indeed die. She has her body sent in a boat to Camelot, with a letter in her hand, saying that she died of her love for him, that he would not return. 

Seeing this, Guinevere reconciles with Lancelot, presumably reassured by the fact that he would let this very beautiful much younger woman die of her love rather than being with her. She insists that from now on he will not fight in disguise, and will openly bear her token. 

Then Queen Guenivere sent for Sir Lancelot, and said thus: ‘I warn you that ye ride no more in no jousts nor tournaments but that your kinsmen may know you; and at these jousts that shall be ye shall have of me a sleeve of gold. And I pray you for my sake to force* yourself there, that men may speak you worship. But I charge you as ye will have my love, that ye warn your kinsmen that ye will bear that day the sleeve of gold upon your helmet.’ ‘Madam,’ said Sir Lancelot, ‘it shall be done.’ And either made great joy of other.

It is important to keep in mind that, to this point, there is no textual evidence that they were sleeping together, and a great deal of evidence that it was important to Lancelot that they not cross that line. There is much less evidence that this is important to Guinevere.

So then one fateful day in May, Guinevere goes picnicing with an entourage of knights. They are captured by someone else who is in love with Guinevere, and taken back to his castle, but she manages to send a message to Lancelot. At the castle, she insists that her knights sleep in her bedchamber on the grounds that they were wounded in the battle when she was captured and need tending, but truly she wants them there to keep her captor from raping her. 

Lancelot arrives to rescue her, and the person who kidnapped her agrees to give her back in the morning. She tells Lancelot to visit her room in the night. He climbs up to her window, which is barred. They have a heartfelt reunion and she says she wishes he could come in to her. He acquiesces and breaks the bars to get into her room, cutting his hand to the bone to do so. Despite the profusely bleeding wound and the ten other men sleeping in the room, they at last do sleep together, in this passionate blood covered consummation. He sneaks back out and replaces the bars.

In the morning, the man who kidnapped Guinevere comes in and sees blood all over the bed. He accuses her of being unfaithful to the king, saying she lay with one of the knights who had been sleeping in her room. She denies it, but it is very clear that she did sleep with someone who was bleeding. 

Lancelot says he will fight to defend her from this accusation, which is right and proper because he is her champion. In this story people take trial by combat and oaths before God very seriously, especially Lancelot. He really does try. So he swears an oath that he will prove with his life that Guinevere did not sleep with one of the wounded knights who lay in her room. This of course is TRUE, but only on a technicality. Lancelot, having slept with her himself the night before, is also the one who defends her honor after. I love this story so much. 

Instead of fighting him, the kidnapper takes Lancelot captive. In captivity he encounters ANOTHER damsel who insists that sleep with her in order for her to help him. He refuses, still faithful in his heart to Guinevere. Eventually she settles for him holding and kissing her, which is not across the line of appropriateness apparently, giving us some idea of where that line is drawn. Anyway, Lancelot gets out, fights for Guinevere and wins. There are indications that he feels like he barely dodged a devine bullet. 

Guinevere and Lancelot return to Camelot. Finally the rumors about them are true, the deed has been done, but of course nothing appears particularly different as there were already rumors about them. Two knights, Mordred and Agravaine, who have been intriguing against Arthur already, go and tell Arthur that Guinevere is being untrue to him. Here is his response: 

‘If it be so,’ said the King, ‘wit you well, he is none other; but I would be loath to begin such a thing but I might have proofs of it. For Sir Lancelot is a hardy knight, and all ye know that he is the best knight among us all; and but if he be taken with the deed he will fight with him that bringeth up the noise, and I know no knight that is able to match him. Therefore, and it be sooth as ye say, I would that he were taken with the deed.’ For as the French book saith, the King was full loath that such a noise should be upon Sir Lancelot and his queen. For the King had a deeming of it; but he would not hear thereof, for Sir Lancelot had done so much for him and for the Queen so many times that, wit you well, the King loved him passingly well.

Arthur says he will not hear of this without proof, because if Lancelot is accused and allowed to fight he would beat anyone. And, it is said that Arthur had some idea of the affair, but would not credit it because Lancelot had done so much for him and Guinevere, and he loved Lancelot greatly. 

So, one night when the king is away hunting, the two accusers contrive to catch them in the act, with a group of twelve armed knights. They do find Lancelot in Guinevere’s chamber, but the text is notably, pointedly vague about whether they are actually in bed. In any case, Lancelot asks for a trial. The knights say no, they have caught him and so may kill him. He is Lancelot, so he kills all of them instead, save one (Mordred) whom he leaves wounded. Lancelot flees, intending to return to rescue Guinevere and take her to his own castle to protect her from Arthur’s wrath. He maintains her innocence, and still intends that they will all reconcile.

Guinevere is to be burned at the stake (normal in this situation). Lancelot rescues her from the burning at the last moment, killing a number of knights of the round table. Arthur seems to blame the accusers more than Guinevere and Lancelot (for good reason; keep in mind that the romance is a subplot, there is a great deal of political intrigue going on.) Now a war will begin, whether anyone wants it or not, because of the people Lancelot killed. Lancelot takes Guinevere to his own castle. Battle lines are drawn, and Lancelot and Arthur confront each other in the fighting:

And ever was King Arthur about Sir Lancelot to have slain him, and ever Sir Lancelot suffered him and would not strike again. So Sir Bors encountered with King Arthur; and Sir Bors smote him, and so he alit and drew his sword and said to Sir Lancelot, ‘Sir, shall I make an end of this war?’—for he meant to have slain him. ‘Not so hardy,’ said Sir Lancelot, ‘upon pain of thy head, that thou touch him no more! For I will never see that most noble king that made me knight neither slain nor shamed.’ And therewith Sir Lancelot alit off his horse and took up the King and horsed him again, and said thus: ‘My lord the king, for God’s love, stint this strife, for ye get here no worship and I would do my utterance. But always I forbear you, and ye nor none of yours forbear not me. And therefore, my lord, I pray you remember what I have done in many places, and now am I evil rewarded.’ So when King Arthur was on horseback he looked on Sir Lancelot; then the tears burst out of his eyes, thinking of the great courtesy that was in Sir Lancelot more than in any other man. And therewith the King rode his way and might no longer behold him, saying to himself, ‘Alas, alas, that yet this war began!’

So Arthur tries to slay Lancelot, but Lancelot, the better fighter, refuses to slay him and indeed when Arthur is unhorsed Lancelot forbids that he be slain, and gives him his own horse. Arthur weeps for the honor that is in Lancelot, and laments that the war began. 

The pope intervenes and tries to negotiate an end. Lancelot confirms that he is willing to return Guinevere to Arthur, and says he has always been willing to do this and will still defend her honor, but that he does not feel he can do so because Arthur has listened to liars and been misled, and he had more reason to take her away than the accusation of adultery - he does not trust she can be safe in that court, with things as they are. 

Eventually they do make a deal, with some assurances, and he surrenders Guinevere to the king. He kisses her openly, says that he will leave, but should she be in danger or ever again accused of being untrue, he will fight for her as he always has. He departs the court forever, to much great sorrow, and returns to his own lands. 

The war continues - eventually Mordred seizes the throne, Arthur kills him in battle but is mortally wounded himself and passes to Avalon. Following the king’s death, although her love would no longer be adulterous, Guinevere retires to a convent rather than reuniting with Lancelot. He seeks her out, and this is her reaction: 

Sir Lancelot was brought before her; then the Queen said to all those ladies, ‘Through this same man and me hath all this war been wrought, and the death of the most noblest knights of the world; for through our love that we have loved together is my most noble lord slain. Therefore, Sir Lancelot, wit thou well I am set in such a plight to get my soul health; and yet I trust through God’s grace and through His Passion of His wounds wide, that after my death I may have a sight of the blessed face of Christ Jesu, and at Doomsday to sit on His right side;* for as sinful as ever I was, now are saints in heaven. And therefore, Sir Lancelot, I require thee and beseech thee heartily, for all the love that ever was betwixt us, that thou never see me no more in the visage. And I command thee, on God’s behalf, that thou forsake my company; and to thy kingdom look thou turn again, and keep well thy realm from war and wrack. For as well as I have loved thee heretofore, my heart will not serve now to see thee, for through thee and me is the flower of kings and knights destroyed. And therefore go thou to thy realm, and there take ye a wife and live with her with joy and bliss. And I pray thee heartily to pray for me to the everlasting Lord that I may amend my misliving.’ ‘Now, my sweet madam,’ said Sir Lancelot, ‘would ye that I should turn again unto my country, and there to wed a lady? Nay, madam, wit you well, that shall I never do, for I shall never be so false unto you of that I have promised. But the self* destiny that ye have taken you to, I will take me to, for the pleasure of Jesu; and ever for you I cast me specially to pray.

Rather than rejoicing in Lancelot’s presence, Guinevere laments that their love brought about the downfall of the Arthurian court, and the deaths of the knights of the round table and King Arthur. She calls upon Lancelot, by all the love that was ever between them to leave her presence, telling him to marry someone else if he wishes and see her no more. Lancelot replies that he wants no one else, and that he will respect her wishes, but will also renounce the world and join a religious order. He asks Guinevere for a final parting kiss, which she denies him. 

When Guinevere lies dying of illness, Lancelot sets out to go to her, having had a vision. She knows of his coming, and prays to die before she sees him, because she cannot bear it. She dies a half hour before he arrives, leaving instruction that he is to tend to her body, and then lay it to rest beside that of her lord King Arthur. Lancelot does this with great sorrow, and after ceases to eat or drink, and within weeks is dead himself. 

And there you have it, the love affair that doomed Camelot.

HUGE DISCLAIMER: Any and all mistakes or misinterpretations are my own. This is what I gathered, but I am not a medievalist. I am barely an interested layperson. I’m just a random fic writer who got obsessed with research for a story, and had to share this tragic mess. 

#i have a million thoughts about this #and there is a great deal of context that would be helpful #but i this doesnt need to be more than 4k words long so #i may do a followup post if there is interest #but black sails folks #i'm writing a lot of flintmadi convos right now #and vaguely planned to have them talk about this book #as a way to discuss their own situation and values #but i had not actually read it #and it is WAY MORE than i expected #anyway they are going to refer back to it #so i figured i should write it down so i can point at it if readers want to know wtf they are talking about #is there an #arthurian legend #tag? #i purposefully haven't looked i don't go here if there is a here to go #but fuck it that was a lot of work might as well see #anyway there are so many things to dig into here #arthur's role or lack thereof #(the rest of the book has a lot more to do with him) #the treatment of fate and prophesy #the courtly love tradition #how this fits into the arthurian tradition as a whole #and the clear french influence #vs the old celtic stories #also so many fun things about language in general #did you know that paramour is derived basically the same way as paramilitary? #'para' as 'beyond that which is regular' #also in middle english negatives are additive rather than canceling each out out! #fun facts

[thegoodthegrandandtheugly]

#fate series #fate grand order #fgo #not character specific #sfw #Apologies anon but we had a lot of fun thinking up goofy prompts to figure out a picture that would fit this confession. #We would also appreciate keeping the discourse surrounding AI art to a minimum here. #General complaining and/or praise is fine but discussing the merits or lack thereof is not fit for a confession blog of this nature.

[essektheylyss]

I feel like a major factor in understanding the gods in Exandria is that trying to apply some kind of mortally relative moral framework to them is a fool's errand, because they are only and always representative of their domains.

The gods of Exandria are not individuals, and they have entirely different perspectives. You can see that in the discussion this week of the differences between the Raven Queen as a mortal mage ascending, and the Raven Queen as an ascended god—her motives and concerns have changed. In fact, those attempting to follow her are actively ignorant of that difference, to their peril.

The Raven Queen realized upon ascension that she had already caused some destabilization within the pantheon, and how disastrous another occurrence of that would be, even though she herself believed in the legitimacy of her own ascension—Purvan spoke about the death of the god of death as something almost fated, cementing the Matron's domain. However, for all future circumstances, her followers attempt to dissuade such attempts at her behest, and she with the pantheon hopes to keep the knowledge of that ritual unknown.

The mages of the Age of Arcanum, however, continue to attempt these ascensions, because they are mortals, and they do not have that kind of perspective.

But while they are operating within the bounds of moral framework, relative to what that means in their time and society, the pantheon is operating under a broader framework, one that is essentially amoral—which is very different from moral greyness. In fact, it's a framework that is outside of moral relativity at all. As such, I would argue that if we assume that morality is relative to the society that spawns it, the gods cannot fundamentally be said to be moral beings, because they owe no worldview or allegiance to any one society of Exandria.

So Asmodeus can lie and manipulate, and this is not inherently something that draws moral judgment—because this is his domain. It's in his nature to do so, because subversion and manipulation exist, both passively and actively in the world. A mortal following in his footsteps is subject to ethical and moral questioning, because mortals are moral beings. There is a longer interlude here on free will, but for simplicity's sake, what this essentially means is that the gods act within certain bounds, while mortals have more freedom. The trade-off between them for this restriction or freedom is power. When the Raven Queen ascended, she gave up some manner of her mortal nature for a divine one, and in doing so took power with, for lack of a less loaded term, free will as payment.

(I have to wonder if the mages who seek to follow her understand this. I doubt it.)

This isn't to say that the gods cannot err—they are well aware of their own failings, which is the entire reason that they are, in modern Exandria, cut off behind the Divine Gate, an exile they willingly chose and created—and there are, to an extent, some outcomes that are so universally Bad as to transcend that relativity as well, for instance the inevitable destruction of all life on the planet, which spurred their exile. But beyond those few universals, the gods act in alignment with their domains, and by extension their natures, because they are less changeable, and more cognizant of the longer arc of time.

#exu spoilers #cr meta #also for the record this is operating under a relativist framework but imo Exandria as a setting also operates under a relativist framework #so like. don't @ me. I'm not writing a thesis so I'm not fucking delineating that argument sorry #like it really feels sometimes like people approach everything as 'is x character Good or Evil and if evil how soon do we kill them' #and like. y'all should not be doing that with characters but ESPECIALLY not with gods. it's literally a different category altogether. #they're forces not people #anyway also don't @ me about playing fast and loose with the term free will I'm not getting into that discussion. #I've thought about it a Lot and if you try to approach me with simple answers about its existence or lack thereof I will not engage. #long post #exu calamity

[futurewife]

my dad tried telling me that very few guys are actually into gentle femdom and it was unlikely I'd find a partner so free from societal conditioning that would be that enamoured with me/embrace me loving on him like that or embrace being cute and pretty. BZZZT!!!!! wrong.... if i exist there must be a counterbalance (hopeful)

#plus r/gentlefemdom says other wise there are men who want a sweet affectionate assertive domme SO badly #btw this wasn't a weird convo we have the great luck of being extremely close and best friends so #he does get a brunt of the relationship (or lack thereof lol) discussions

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

usually I read the ESV Bible because when I was a kid and plagued with insomnia and psychosomatic sensations that was the one version I had downloaded to my Kindle (the original kind, with the clicky panels on the side to turn the page) and so I got strangely and perhaps sentimentally attached to the phrasing and the vague idea of it as "my Bible translation".

my mom, on the other hand, prefers the Holman's translation, and has often suggested I switch even though we both agree that either version is just as God-breathed and useful [insert 2 Timothy 3:16 here]. I've remained sentimentally adamant that the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, is my favorite.

HOWEVER.

Matthew 20, verses 29-34, in the ESV read

And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” And stopping, Jesus called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.

I read this just now, unable to sleep and so scrolling through my favorite Bible translation in the app on my phone, and something struck me. unlike ten year old sleepless little me, I have something I like to call ✨perspective✨. I also have a decade more education and a good portion of that is in, as we all know because I never hecking shut up about it, Biblical Greek.

see, the thing that tripped me up tonight is that I don't particularly care for the word "pity". maybe that's a very Western way to react, the same way we tend to react poorly to the word "meek". but it's the reaction I had and my instinct, in a very silly nerdy way, was to immediately go look up the original Greek of this verse.

so I pulled up another app on my phone that I keep around just for moments such as this and I typed in the passage I wanted to look at and I had my answer:

Having been moved with compassion then — Jesus touched the eyes of them and immediately they received sight and they followed Him.

I'm not a Bible scholar. except, of course, when I'm a nerdy little Greek scholar and am looking for an opportunity to apply that. I don't have a ton to say about this except that it's incredibly interesting to me how this was translated. from compassion to pity, which carry WILDLY different connotations, at least to most of today's audience. pity is the sense of being looked down on. compassion is more of being cared for. and from receiving sight, to recovering it... different connotations there, as well, if I were more clearheaded to dig into that. something about perspective, maybe, about personal action versus knowing you're provided for and simply receiving. it's almost like in translation, the POV shifts — from how the blind men may have perceived it, to how it really is and should be.

and my mom's favorite translation?

Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes. Immediately they could see, and they followed Him.

(Matthew 20:34 HCSB)

far closer to the phrasing and perspective of the original Greek. there's something to be said for comparing and contrasting, I think.

#sorry ladies I'm too tired for a real hermeneutic here but someone smack me about it in the morning #and I'll write up all my thoughts about how this holds up along the 5 steps. #bc like. what original audiences were reading and hearing about was compassion. there's over 2000 years #of time and translation to cover. #much like the common example of prooftexting Jeremiah 29:11 this passage is about a very specific circumstance #HOWEVER the application is. I think. (it is 3am). compassion and reception thereof. #if I can ill expand on it tomorrow. possible after I discuss this with my mom bc I know she'll want to hear all about it sjdkfhskfnsj #Lu rambles #Christianity #Bible verses

[bravadoting]

I wonder who ruined things so badly that Kanon closed recruitment to the Variabeauties.

Was it a disaster she witnessed in another team or something she experienced personally? How do you deal with someone acting as a deadweight in a life-or-death situation?

It’s gotten to the point where she would say, “Thanks but no thanks” to the Legendary Player himself — seemingly one of her best options of escape — because of her trust issues.

Bonus:

#TWEWY #NEO TWEWY #NEO: The World Ends With You #Kanon Tachibana #Variabeauties #bravadoting #this is me musing more than anything but I’ve hardly seen anyone highlight how closed off Kanon can be #It could be the subject of a larger discussion how trust (and lack thereof) is a motif in her character arc #Also while she does acknowledge Nagi would make a good Variabeauty on W1D4 #Kanon simultaneously recognizes Nagi as an asset to the Twisters and a threat to her team #In Week 1 most of her suspicion is directed towards Nagi #Thought that was worth noting

[obstinaterixatrix]

ok I was following someone for keeping up to date with publishing and indie author stuff but I can't stand their ai opinions I'm pulling the plug. farewell.

#my ramblings #any discussion on ai imaging etc needs to take into account ethical (or lack thereof) training sets #as well as ethical (or lackthereof) presentation #if you purely treat it as an accessibility/disability thing you're throwing a lot of people under the bus

[mamaaaauwu]

@tytocrane

okay but how do you propose to squeeze the brain without squeezing the skull?

i'd assume it involves intracranial pressure but...

#tw gore #discussions thereof i guess???

[silvery-bluish]

Tag game - 9 people you wanna get to know better

ack thanks for the tag @euelios

last song - Eat Your Young by Hozier, as of the time of typing. I will not apologize for Unreal Unearth consuming me wholly when it comes out.

currently watching - Absently rewatching Batman: The Brave And The Bold for the fun superhero background noise. Currently watching Ted Lasso with my qpp, and Abbott Elementary with the entire House Team, annnd Person of Interest with a smaller subset of the House Team. The perils of watching different shows with different people mean that progress is Very Slow on most of those, but I would recommend all of them. and Will speak further if anyone asks.

currently reading - Intermittently Fallen Hero, but on the non-IF front I don’t have any books I’m Actively reading. Contemplating returning to my October Daye reread, I was on An Artificial Night, and I need to pick up Nona the Ninth at some point. Might reread the Murderbot series, but I’d have to reclaim my copy of All Systems Red from the person I loaned it to. Book Reading Brain has mostly left for now, unfortunately.

current obsession - legally obligated to say Fallen Hero, i have not shut up about it since Retribution came out in February.

I will... not be tagging a full 9 people lol. but if you want to, no pressure, @jj-wildheart, @scrawlsonblankpaper, @fallen-angel161, @honor-among-thieves, @dogueteeth !

#person of interest is very much a show from the 2010s #but has some genuinely interesting discussions about gov surveillance and AI and the ethics thereof #especially in relation to post-9/11 America #and also they get a dog in season 2 and then the dog shows up in almost every episode afterwards which is always delightful

[bone-evidence]

-slams fist on table non-threateningly- 15 and 28 for the ask game. 🩷🩷🩷

Aw, hello aggressively gentle anon :D Gonna put my answers under a cut, just in case discussion of death methods isn't someone's cup of tea.

Ranking the methods of death, hm? Well, if I were to be executed for my many crimes, and had the choice between burning, freezing and drowning, I would take freezing first. While it would take the longest, I also would have a chance of false euphoria and/or hallucinating through it, and paradoxical undressing is just a fascinating response to hypothermia. Next, probably burning to death? I work in a kitchen so I'm no stranger to little burns, just kick that up to 11 and it's only agony city until my nerves get crispy, right? Dead last (pun intended) is drowning. No thank you, I'm good, I love swimming and being near bodies of water but I have a very healthy respect for them. The process of drowning and the panic involved does in fact seem worse than burning to death to me! So there ya go!

As for my last meal on earth, hm... for sure I would want a nice big slice of pumpkin pie with whipped cream for dessert, and I think the main course would have to be a nice, medium-rare steak, potato wedges and maybe a vegetable if I'm feeling funky.

#thanks for the ask <3!! #tw: death #just the discussion thereof #i did have an interesting time researching the methods of death though so thanks anon!

[ervona]

also I like Quenthel/Tsabrak after Companions Codex... she already projects on him, being the weirdo she is (re: their mind flayer experiences) and I think she'd want to play around. she rocks up to Sorcere, because she just wants to annoy Gromph... but forgot he isn't there because he's been there her whole life! on Tsabrak's part it's a bit of a rebellion, something just for himself, and his weird mixed self impression... this was bound to happen, as they're my two faves left alive now

#basically interacting with him again and thinks yeah why not. i like other people's things (that's a person) and he's more than fine with it #it works for me okay it works. not as mind expanding as either of them with tos'un but that's because very few people can be tos'un armgo #tw from hereon in the tags i'm discussing consent and lack thereof and his relationship with his aunt #i think any f/m pairing in menzoberranzan you could take the route of 'it doesn't matter what he thinks' but i don't find that appealing #that's horror! it's terrible! like that's the angle i took with tsabrak and zeerith because it genuinely doesn't matter what he thinks #she's his aunt and his matron and it's not something that's normal in their society but who is he going to turn to. she takes what she want #and because she doesn't do that through force but manipulation it's hard for him to even see himself as victimised unless he really ponders #i don't want to just keep repeating that like he's bound to be victimised always. even though quenthel WOULD stoop so low #realms tag

[standupcomedyhistorian]

Good morning! 🌞

Although it is Kate Berlant month, I have still been interviewing people who've created some of the BEST Bo Burnham content online.

Case in point, today's post is one that I have been trying to set up for over a year now—Zachary Marsh, the incredible editor who assembled one of my favorite Bo videos: the HCA Virtuoso Award montage! 👀

This is a truly stunning creation by an editor at the top of his game, and we discuss how Zach became a fan of Bo's works, what led to his editing decisions, and what the HCA thought of Bo's acceptance "speech" (the only one he EVER gave for Inside lol).

I hope you enjoy reading this interview, and stay tuned for more comedy fun!

Oh, and a little bird told me my other Top 5 video winners will be talking to me about their creations soon! ✌🏼🐔

#zachary marsh #hcas #hollywood critics association #montage #virtuoso award #bo burnham #bo burnham inside #inside bo burnham #ravenhpltc24 #standupcomedyhistorian #such interview #best bo burnham videos #three down two more to go! #and yes we discuss Bo's bizarre speech or lack thereof #eighth grade #elsie fisher #director bo burnham #writer bo burnham #Youtube

[thepotentialof2007]

Race car drivers die because of lethal injuries caused by 6 different mechanisms which are examined here in detail. Much has been done, but much more must be done as most of racer deaths in the past few years are preventable with changes to track design.

Has the time come for a universal driver's group to come forward to provide a louder and unified voice advocating change in the name of safety?

CW for frank medical discussion of racing driver deaths and injuries by name, including at least one that happened due to off track activities. Earliest incidents discussed are from the 1960s. Article was last updated in 2014.

#racing drivers #safety standards #lack thereof #jim norman #author is speaking as #a doctor and a driver #cw death #traumatic brain injury #cw injury #cw crash #f1 #wec #nascar #indycar #not tagging all the drivers discussed #don't think that would be helpful

[al-n-cartoons]

I was talking with my younger sibling last night and it made me think about something regarding the Nimona movie. First off, we both loved it, but my sibling made me realize (via demonstration rather than contemplation) the brash disregard that some people, namely socially maladjusted or young people, are likely to be with regard to this movie.

Brash disregard is something this movie exhibits, after all, but such people aren’t going to keep in mind the nuances. Whereas the movie features a character (Nimona) aggressively brushing off interrogations of her identity and history, the critically undiscerning might, as a completely random example, decide that chatting about the suicide attempt scene and themes in the movie are perfectly fine at the dinner table with three people with tendencies toward suicidality (and one person with several attempts) being directly present. Had my sibling ventured to that topic accidentally or agreed to talk about it with me more privately then it would have been fine but she decided that she was comfortable doing it and got annoyed when I told her that I, her conversational partner, was not. It was really weird to see the misplaced and misunderstood application of Nimona's attitude.

I do want to talk about how I feel about the lopsided representation in this movie sometime, but I have stuff to do and this felt more important.

TLDR: Remember common courtesy and tact, please.

#Nimona #Wakerrife rambles #CW: suicide mention #TW: suicidality #discussions thereof but still

[onewomancitadel]

I used Tumblr search and it gave me four pages of results and I found the post I was looking for. Thought it was noteworthy.

#it was a post discussing romance but it wasn't tagged knightfall because it was theorising about how to rewrite the Bad Romances #or lack thereof #and whether that is altogether possible #so I knew it was going to be a pain in the arse to find lol

[chryzure-archive]

feeling particularly fond of how much jacks loves chrysi helplessly. go pathetic boy go!!!!! you’ll never one-up her soulmate, and also that other french whore, but at least you’re better than the father of her child! (lie)

#let us not discuss jacks vs mordred. he doesn’t stand a chance #memorie.txt #i think it’s so important that jacks loves chrysi w his whole heart but also he’s not even in the top five of her love interests #he’s jst there to be a footrest i think. #s.chrysijacks #or lack thereof i suppose