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#why do greek tragedies exist
pastrypuppy · 1 year
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Fic meta post! I’m going to rant a bit about characters escaping the narrative, a concept @moorishflower uses masterfully in Maybe Sprout Wings. This is one of several mini essays I’m sketching out because I just cannot contain myself.
(Fic rec time: Maybe Sprout Wings is a novel-length Sandman fan work built around layered references to western literature, including the Romantic fairy tale genre, Arthurian legend, and the Odyssey. This story works effectively as a standalone novel and can be enjoyed and understood with little or no knowledge of Sandman canon. Lots of fic spoilers to follow.)
Hob as an author figure in Maybe Sprout Wings
In this post the author mentions a critical shift in the narrative where Hob begins speaking like an author rather than speaking like a character. He’s demonstrated that potential for much of Maybe Sprout Wings, actively changing bits of the setting to suit his quest in a way most other characters cannot. At the critical shift, however, he goes from being a knight in a tragic Arthurian Romance to something else. I’m going to focus on chapters 9-11 here.
The major conflict of Maybe Sprout Wings is between Dream and Hob about what kind of story they’re in. Dream is determined that his story is a tragedy, and for a long time, he’s been the only author figure in his own life. As a creature literally made of stories and living in a dream dimension, his opinion of his own story changes the dreaming-world around him and tends to suck in the people who live there. Hob has been pretty clearly acting as a knight for much of the narrative, including wearing armor, riding a war-horse across fantasy realms and into battle with monsters, and being recognized and named as a knight by multiple other people. What happens when the knight in a tragic tale loves the king? They get separated, obviously. A knight in a tragic tale either dies with the king or attends the funeral of the king to weep and give great speeches and look really aesthetic in gilded illustrations. Remember, Dream is determined that this story is a tragedy.
During the critical shift I want to talk about, Hob is perched on his love’s castle steps in a magical sleep. At this point he is wearing armor and has been recently referred to as Sir Hob by various side characters. A knight getting stuck in magic sleep is the sort of thing that usually requires true love’s kiss or some other drama in a Romance. Instead Hob simply wakes up when Lucienne invites him into the castle. There’s no drama, no battle, no resolution of the knight’s quest. The primary conflict isn’t solved yet, but Hob wakes up and walks into the castle anyway.
I think the shift from character to author was already in progress before this because of how disrespectfully he speaks to Dream when he first arrives at the castle. He literally tells the gate guardians: “We’re all caught up in the story […u]ntil the moment we aren’t. […] You can close the book.” He had also been hesitant to put his knight’s armor back on before going to the castle in the first place, where he then gets literally stuck in a dramatic fairy tale motif. Lucienne helps move things along by offering an alternative and Hob accepts, moving farther out of his tragic knight role. Hob tells Lucienne not to call him Sir, and makes a self-deprecating comment about how he’s been too formal with Dream. He’s correctly identified the tragic-knight-narrative as part of the problem and wants no part in it. It is perhaps significant that Lucienne assists in Hob taking ownership of his author role. Perhaps she in particular is suited for this, not only because of her long relationship with Dream as his advisor, but also because a librarian might be expected to have some special appreciation for authors (Dream and Hob, in this case).
Hob, critically, with his ability to change the story, disagrees with the tragedy narrative and makes choices based on that. Instead of continuing to act like the character role placed before him, he goes to the library and looks for ideas, like an author looking for ideas about where their story can go next. Hob even discusses the narrative problems with an outside observer (Lucienne), a common way for authors to work through difficult sections. Ironically, Dream, the Prince of Stories, is so good at telling stories that he has trapped himself in his own tragedy narrative. His expectation became a self-fulfilling prophecy, dragging in everyone around him.* This is why it’s so important that Hob gradually extracts himself from Dream’s tragedy narrative and starts acting as an author instead.
A knight is stuck in his tragedy, but an author (Hob) can flip forward in the manuscript their fellow author (Dream) just handed them and be like ‘I see where this is going. Are you seriously going to kill your main character at the end? Your character who has agency? No offense but you need better logic before I'll believe the king or the knight has to die. You can do better.’ Hob’s an author figure, not just a knight, so he gets to hand back the manuscript of the story he’s in. He does this by speaking disrespectfully, by going where he is told not to go, by taking offered help that don’t match the tragedy genre. In a few more chapters he literally, physically leaves this section of the narrative by exiting the Dreaming to further change the story.
The other residents of the Dreaming are also susceptible to Hob’s role as an author: that is, to his ability to disrupt Dream’s dominant narrative. After Hob enters the castle and Dream has been missing for a while, the throne room dramatically develops visible damage because of Dream’s absence. A group of dreams at gathers to play a stock tragedy role here, consistent with Dream’s own image of himself as a tragically noble kind. The dreams see the damage, correctly conclude it’s because of Dream’s absence, and almost immediately begin to play the role of panicking and faithless courtiers, leaping to the conclusion that Dream has abandoned them. Despite his strong tendency towards drama, Dream generally acts to put his kingdom ahead of his own wants and needs, so their response is rather unfair. Hob intervenes in their panic spiral to point this out, and it works!
Dream left behind a narrative of himself as a tragically misunderstood figure but Hob shuts that right down. Considering the canon sequence of events, where the dreams’ doubt worsens and many of them abandon their posts, there is no reason to think they would have listened to just anyone. However, Hob is an author figure now, so he is able to argue with them not as a peer, but from his unique narrative role.
yeah I just. this really goes with my much longer essay about Hob as Odysseus and Greek adventure epic vs. Greek tragedy themes but I need to stop editing this before it ends up being 10k words <3
#uhhh#dreamling#metacommentary#fic meta#maybe sprout wings#* holyyyy no wonder he’s literally Scylla in that one part. dragging people down with him indeed#when in doubt go to the library and make a battle plan tbh#I wrote a draft of this last month and then intimidated myself out of editing it#Dream Death Lucienne and most of the dreaming probably: youre not supposed to be able to do that#Hob from the first chapter: hold my beer#the tree believed in him and so did the audience which if you REALLY think about fanfiction is literally exactly why this story exists#to work out differently from Sandman canon#this story being fanfiction is so astoundingly extremely thematically appropriate. literally no way to write a story like this without#referring to another complete work.#[insert Everything is Fanfiction rant here]#am I going to reread this fic? so that I can finish writing an essay about how it references greek tragedy themes and prevents a greek#tragedy by being the Odyssey instead? highly likely#I just reread the Starless Sea which I love and hate in equal measure in large part because it fails to do something this fic does better:#maybe sprout wings gives me (1) slightly fairy tale relationship logic BUT the romantic interests interact and have growth#(2) a clear narrative framework and end goal for the characters and (3) a consistent fairy-tale like writing style#to override any possible impression that one character might be going harder than expected for a romantic interest they don’t know well.#there’s fairy tale logic and then there’s giving your story a strong enough foundation that it can support payoff at the end.#these things are not mutually exclusive#if you have read starless sea you KNOW what im talking about. shaking that novel upside down waiting for the rest of the missing#character interactions to fall out#- getting tired of shaking that novel and reading maybe sprout wings again instead#see I have so many thoughts I wrote an entire additional#minor tag essay#kula speaks#arthurian legend
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non-un-topo · 2 years
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The cis male ability to mansplain a subject I myself brought up astounds me. Like I actually want to study them under a microscope. My guy, I brought it up. Why are you explaining it back to me?
#anyway went to dinner with my partner's fam. actually had a good time but their father is still their father.#the waiter did his best not to even acknowledge my existence. talked to my partner's dad exclusively even though there were five of us.#he also retold the story of agamemnon (something to do w the wine we picked) and i perked up like !!!!! yes i've read it!!!#i kept coming in like yeah that's right!! but the man did not even look at me once. he was even standing so he was turned away from me.#but to explain the mansplain thing sdfghfdss.... i mentioned i was reading the name of the rose#and FIL bulldozed anything i was going to say about it and started explaining it to me as if i'd never read it? or heard of umberto eco?#my guy i literally just brought it up.#i've been noticing this shit happening a lot more lately. got serious woman-in-her-20s syndrome.#i'm simultaneously a 15 year old girl and a ghost. whoa the tiny little woman has heard of this extremely famous greek tragedy?? noooo#oh my god and she likes to read?? and she likes history too?? no she doesn't she's wrong let me explain her own interest to her.#sometimes i sit there and i honestly want to scream. like would you like to know what i know??? for once?? because i actually know things.#anyway i know exactly why cis men do this i know all the cogs. and i have no patience for it.#in good news my partner and i managed to steal a few moments alone at a book store and i bought a few history books#whose subjects would absolutely pop my sexist FIL's mind like a grape. i'm fucking pissed off. okay. i'm good i'm done.
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Leo Valdez And His Mistreatment
Recently I have taken some time to go back to some books and reread them for the hell of it. One of these books being the Heroes of Olympus series. Now the Heroes of Olympus series has been my favorites series overall yeah I know people think its worse than the others but I just honestly prefer the multiple point of views. Of course some characters could do with some fleshing out like Jason,Piper,Frank,and Hazel. My personal favorite of all the characters was Leo Valdez mostly because I though his fire powers were cool and he was a surprisingly deep character compared to fellow new characters.
But while reading I noticed multiple facets of his character that I felt did not need to be added or needed to be expanded on and this post I will tell you them all.
His Powers
I’m starting with his powers because that was the main thing that drew me in and in my believe sort of made Leo the person he was in the books. I mean without his fire powers he wouldn’t have accidentally killed his mother therefore never being an orphan and meeting Jason and Piper. This all say nothing about his frayed mental state.
So there pretty important but while also being important they are pretty inconsistent.
What I mean is that when Leo first uses his powers he had been purposefully not using them since he was 8 years old. This gives off the impression that has major control over his fire powers to supremes them for so long. Yet when they are on the bridge to the Wind God’s palace in the sky he suddenly loses control even though he realistically should have not done that since he had already shown he has major control over his power and wouldn’t suddenly lose control just cause he got excited.
Another problem his powers have is that they are supposedly super dangerous yet the only thing he does is throw a couple fireballs towards monsters and that’s it. Well except for when he somehow learns to nuke Gaea with his fire powers.
Wait what?
He learns to nuke somebody!
You see how his powers are super inconsistent. Like how do we go from fireballs to fire nuking a primordial goddess.
This problem seems to only exist for Leo since we get see Hazel get over her tragedy and control her powers to a far more powerful degree,Piper gets to hone her charm-speak so when she makes Gaea go to sleep it makes sense,and finally Frank multiple times throughout the series get to show off his shape shifting and how strong it is. So why does Leo never get this treatment cause we never see him actually hone his power and develop new ability’s from it.
Like your telling me the guy whose dad is the god of fire never once threw Greek fire out of his hands even though he is supposed to be the special fire guy.
His Appearance
Allow me to read you this passage describing how Leo looks.
“Leo looked like a Latino Santa’s elf, with curly black hair, pointy ears, a cheerful, babyish face, and a mischievous smile that told you right away this guy should not be trusted around matches or sharp objects. His long, nimble fingers wouldn’t stop moving—drumming on the seat, sweeping his hair behind his ears, fiddling with the buttons of his army fatigue jacket. Either the kid was naturally hyper or he was hopped up on enough sugar and caffeine to give a heart attack to a water buffalo”
To put the description simply he is described as ugly and extremely hyperactive.
I don’t understand why Rick wrote him that way because why does the outsider of the seven have to be the ugly and can’t sit still.
It’s not like any of the other characters are described as ugly unless their Frank before Mars blessing. Rick has Hazel literally think that Percy is a Greek God. Piper is the daughter of the goddess of love. Annabeth is described as a princess implying prettiness. Hell it’s not even kept to just the seven, Will Solace (the character with no personality trait aside from being a doctor and loving Nico) is described as being hot by Nico.
So like why does it seem that Leo Valdez is the only character described as ugly and hyperactive. Hell it doesn’t even make sense that Leo doesn’t have a little muscle considering he’s a mechanic and mechanics have to lift heavy shit all the time like realistically Leo would have a decent amount of muscle.
Note:Expanding on his hyper-activeness, we know that demigods ADHD helps them react to monster attack better and Annabeth describes Leo as extremely ADHD so wouldn’t that just mean that Leo would have like spider-sense and dodge extremely well.
His Character Connections
Why does everybody seem to hate Leo or at the very least try to avoid speaking with him. Like for real half way through the series Jason,and Piper completely stop hanging out with him. The only interaction they have after the Lost Hero is them going to Asclepius to make the Physician’s Cure.
Rick tried to have Hazel and Leo be friends because she knew his Grandfather or something but that is so flimsy. Frank hates Leo from the jump even though he started the beef by asking Leo if he was Sammy and getting mad every time Leo looked at Hazel. Yet there the ones he confides his whole plan to beat Gaea.
Percy is yet another person who doesn’t like Leo even though they are the basically the same person in different fonts. Annabeth seems to dislike having Leo aboard the Argo with the rest of the seven because she has no problem making fun of Leo in her mind by mocking him cause of his ADHD but then again that’s a bigger problem with Annabeth’s character than their relationship.
The only thing that seems to like having Leo around is Festus the dragon who Leo rebuilt after accidentally destroying him in their first quest.
I don’t care what you say just because Calypso insults Leo a little. It doesn’t mean that she hates him because she actually care like she really fucking cares.
So to recap Leo only has two people that genuinely like being around him and seven friends who put up with him and don’t really want him around.
Compares this to the main character of the last prophecy I.E Percy. Everybody likes Percy even people who realistically shouldn’t like him like him. Like your Reyna the girl who lost a home and was put on a pirate ship thanks to Percy had a crush on him just because he was a decent fighter. Yes right I call bullcrap.
Small Problem
Leo Valdez is a character who throughout the series has a lot of problems in his character. One problem is his treatment towards or more accurately why does Rick write Leo to be incredibly disrespectful even though he himself acknowledges how it was for his mom to get a good job just cause she is a women. One scene that I think emphasizes this problem is when the trio of the Lost Hero book meets the Hunters of Artemis. Now your expecting that since Leo himself saw how hard it was for mother just cause she was women would be extremely respectful towards the Hunters especially Jason’s sister Thalia. But nope he goes right up to Thalia and just says she’s hot to her face like come on Rick your contradicting yourself. Then in Trials of Apollo Rick has Reyna teach Leo about respecting women no like come on Leo since childhood should have know to respect women. I know you might be saying that’s just the persona he uses around people but like that doesn’t change the fact he should have already knew not to do that thanks to his mother.
Conclusion
In conclusion Leo Valdez is a character who could have been treated far better by the story,author,and the people inside the story. He is a wonderful character who in universe only has two people that genuinely want him around and deserved to have his powers explored more than just fireball. But sadly he is riddled with holes that shouldn’t be there if you actually look at his character.
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00127am · 25 days
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signed with love and forever yours, mark
postage. lee mark & gn! reader, mentions of death in the context of greek mythos cost to ship. 712 words
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growing up, i never understood the tragedy of orpheus and eurydice. how, upon achieving the opportunity to bring back his beloved, orpheus squandered it all with a single look. it frustrated me, that after all that effort--every song he had written and preformed, compositions which moved all, even gods-- he abandoned all success with a single glimpse backwards. a second of a stare that only captured the whisper of eurydice's figure before she was dragged back to the depths of the underworld. i never understood why he looked back, why he had to fail when he was so close to the edge of triumph.
though i suppose that after meeting you, if i took the place of poor orpheus and you, my eurydice, i'm afraid that i would also lose you for a second time. that i would risk everything i had worked towards, everything that i had done just to see your face in that fraction of a second. to look at you, no matter the consequences. no matter what what i had sacrificed to get to you, no matter if i too would be punished for this singular stare. i would do so, even so close to escape, so close to having you in my arms again without a moment of hesitation. i, not only as orpheus but as mark--your mark--would do anything to spare even the slightest of glances in your direction. even if they would only forfeit half of a second of being captured in the reflection of your eyes and nothing more. for that half of a second, that split sliver in time, would be worth more to me than any hours of gazing upon anything else.
i find us to be more likened to paris and helen of troy. a story i've always understood, at any and all basic fundamentals of its core, though doubted. for how could anyone be so beautiful that others would begin wars over them? that their beauty would be more fair, more compelling than that of the gods? that men would be reduced to nothing more than spurned infatuation, fighting battles--killing-- for any brief moment spent within helen's gaze.
i wasn't sure that any such person could exist. but with you, i find myself to be playing the part of poor paris--destined, perhaps, to starting wars over the mere thought of you.
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about mark's love letters.
mark's handwriting is rough and scribbled. oftentimes jotted down with whatever pen he has lying around, series of swirls and scratches at the top margins of the page where he attempts to get the ink to flow. his words, in a stark difference to the somewhat chaotic state of his slanted, all-caps writing, are carefully chosen. hand-picked with the utmost care, the upmost emphasis to ensure the quickening of your heartbeat. though short, his letters are poetic and always very true to himself. you can almost picture the look on his face when he writes them, a fantasy that does nothing but conjure heat into the full of your cheeks.
he first writes these down in his notes app of all places. thumbs frantically typing with every out of the blue strike of inspiration (something that happens rather often, both for songs and for you, though mark could argue that these two things are nearly synonymous). and when he does get the time (something he seems to be always running out of) he transfers these pretty proses to the whitened canvas of card stock. a firm choice, made to last. each one of his letters are signed with less-than-perfect stars and a drawing of whichever thing has recently caught of your fancy (usually him).
mark often sends them in the mail to you but prefers to give his letters to you in person. something he often finds himself regretting when you choose to read them outloud, burying his face in his hands as he begs you to stop. you don't and mark often finds himself begrudgingly thinking that you're much too like haechan for your own good (or his). it's not all bad though, not when the reward for withstanding such utter humiliation on his part is all of your affection. and mark would take anything in the world if it met just receiving one shred of your heart.
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your mailbox
taglist. @evilsailorsenshi @222brainrot @chriscentric @trourevaille @firstdonutllamafarm @jenaisnte thank you for supporting me! ♡
🧾 © 00127am 2024
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welivetodream · 4 months
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How much do you think Richard lied about the story?
Because I think he was lying about a LOT of stuff. I do not trust words that come from this man. He is sus.
Since he is talking about the past, it could all be misunderstandings and blurry memories (he was high half of the time) Or it could be just lies.
My favourite headcanon is that Richard was writing a book about his college life. He is a bit delusional and grandiose so when he went to college, he expected to have this main character vibe going on. But his college life was as normal as any of ours and he was disappointed. So, he tried to live vicariously through a book, which he wrote as an "autobiography" (he literally starts the book with "this is a story of my follies"). Richard is telling us, the reader, "his" story. He is acknowledging it as a "real" story. But that too is a lie. Richard made it all up. All the characters were written by him.
That's why Camilla was portrayed as an angel, she is the heroine, his damsel in distress, love interest. Henry was the mythical Jay Gatsby to Richard's Nick Carraway. Henry was someone he could obsess over and idolise. Francis is the gay one, he is another 'kind of' love interest, he is always making passes at Richard, he is snarky and a bit grumpy, that's his entire character. Charles is the mean villain, he is abusing Camilla and committing incest, his existence makes all of them appear better than they are. Bunny was homophobic to a degree that didn't make any sense, he was in a fucking Greek class and was friends with all these people with major gay vibes, what did he expect? If Bunny was sympathetic, we wouldn't have accepted the murder so quickly. And Julian is Julian, he is so out of reach and ethereal; depicted as a type of teacher we would love to have, the story's John Keating.
Now when we come to the ending. The only one who gets to live a "normal" life and has any success (at least graduating college) was Richard. Yeah, Camilla turned him down and all but, he doesn't seem that mad about it (he admitted he loved Henry too, which gives major Nick Carraway vibes) He doesn't really face any consequences of what they all did (he is an accomplice to murder after all)
Camilla is traumatised, she is still in love with Henry and he fucking died in front of her. Her relationship with Charles is ruined and that would be traumatising as well.
Francis is forced to stay in the closet with no choice in the person he dates. And he almost dies of a suicide because of that. He is done with life.
Charles tried rehab but then ran away with a woman in her 30s that was married. His life is a complete mess and he has no contact with his old friends or sister.
Henry commited suicide and Bunny was murdered by his own friends.
Out of all these situations, Richard was the lucky one. He still has ties to Camilla and Francis and they still are kind of friends. He graduated and got a job. He dates one of the most popular girls at college and moves in with her for some time. He is doing something in his life.
In the end, Richard got the best of all of them. Maybe because that's just his real life. He doesn't have a crazy backstory. He doesn't have a huge personality. He doesn't have many connections to these characters. He gets the best ending. He is always the outsider. He is the narrator. He is a liar. He is a storyteller.
It's Richard's world, we are all just living in it.
(I know this theory is not at all true. Donna Tartt was not going for it to be like this. But I find the idea of Richard faking the entire book for his own entertainment and delusion, fascinating. And it's even plausible because of his personality)
Just imagine if TSH happened in the present day. The afterward would be just Richard going to his desk job with four hours of sleep and revealing he was writing an OC self-insert fanfiction about a modern Greek tragedy in AO3.
(okay, this turned out so funny. I get Richard, I want to escape from my boring life with writing too)
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At the risk of talking about things I don't know much about or don't understand yet because I haven't been keeping up with the manga:
It's not surprising to find there's a whole horrifying backstory to AFO and Youvhi origins. Horikoshi has consistently given logical explanations about why the heroes and villains are the way they are: who hurt them when they were just kids, if they have a legacy to carry or shoulder the sins of their parents/families, if it was something to do with the economics or discrimination, etc.
Characters in bnha don't exist in an empty world. The environments conditions them to change and act and they push their context to change too. It's more... realistic, the consequences of their actions feed the world around them and it establishes the background for other characters.
It doesn't mean the situation is the same for every character that shares a "hero" or "villain" title. For example, you can't compare Toga's experience to AFO when considering a sort of redemption. First because their stories are very different: the world AFO grew up in is not the same as the world Toga grew up in, their family experiences are not the same, even things like Toga being a girl or almost graduating from middle school matter. They were both perceived as monsters, but AFO's reality is way more cynical.
There's the age factor, too. Toga has committed many crimes, but at the end of the day she's still a teenager. Ochako offered her a way out, a hand to hold and Toga took it. There's a willingness to be different, to rectify, to heal, to move forward from the hurt and see the world in a new light. On the other hand, AFO is old as fuck. He's not a kid, not a teen, not even an adult. AFO's been persistent in choosing to cause harm, he has ignored every and any chances to change, that man he is now is not only a product of his infancy; he made himself, he decided that for himself. It's not logical to push the narrative that he's ignorant or naive and does not know better. He's not dumb.
That's the problem with dumping all characters in the same category and then not being able to say what the differences are. "Villain" is such a broad term. "Antagonist" even more. You cannot simply decide one future and apply them to every one of them, at least not in bnha. You could do that in Naruto, where the theme and the intention of the story allows you to throw them all into the "they were just hurt but deserved a better life" category, but again, not in bnha.
So, AFO's past is made to give depth to both the character and the narrative, it is also a tool meant to communicate the theme of the story, it's a way of explaining the character actions (not justifying them, explaining them).
He's not the good guy. He's not even the villain you should be rooting for. BUT you should feel bad for his childhood. It's a cautionary tale, it's Greek tragedy shaped, it's how the monster came to be, but don't get confused, the monster is still a monster 'cause he decided to be that, no matter the sorrows of his past.
Or at least that's what I think by the information I have gathered around about the new chapters.
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wishcamper · 1 month
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Heavy Lies the Crown: Rhysand, greatness, and the pressures of power
Or: the librarian’s daughter, former playwright, licensed counselor mashup of my nightmares dreams because I am vast, I contain multitudes.
No content warnings and no real HOFAS spoilers, I don't think, other than that he's in it but I feel like you know that by now. Spoilers for Breaking Bad (lol).
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In working on my current fic (on ao3 here!) I've been thinking a lot about Rhysand and how he really goes off the rails in ACOSF and HOFAS. It's easy to chalk it up to poor writing, but I like the challenge of trying to make it make sense. What are Rhys’ motivations, truly? What would explain the vast array of heinous shit he does the text tells us is justified?
Rhys is shown over and over to be quite Machiavellian ('ends justify the means' dude, who was maybe writing satire). It's easy to list the times he shows this. The 50 year Velaris hostage situation. The bargain UTM with Feyre. The Weaver's cottage. Stealing the Book from Tarquin. CLARE BEDDOR. Infiltrating people's minds. Torture. Assassination. Allying with Kier. Concealing his wife's medical information. Being an ass to people in general. According to Mr. Machiavelli, any action is warranted if it the goal it achieves is morally important enough.
It seems like Rhys can justify anything to himself if he believes it will serve the greatest good at the end of the day. He does so many things with the air of “it’s for your own good” or “you’ll understand why one day” but that day never.. comes? Not yet anyway, which begs the question: is he that unself-aware, or is there a longer game he’s playing that all of these minor skirmishes are leading up to? What if he knows what's coming? And what kind of cause or threat would feel so great he could justify everything he does up to this point?
Okay I'm gonna talk about Aristotelean literary structure, please don't leave me.
The idea of a tragic hero is a character whose downfall is inevitable but who fights against it anyway. Hamlet is a classic example of a tragic hero, Oedipus being the de facto first, Walter White from Breaking Bad a more modern version. We see Walt learn he’s going to die in the first episode, in the middle he does a bunch of stuff to prevent his physical death (cancer) and metaphorical death (failure/obscurity), and then both his body and reputation die in the last episode as a direct result of his attempts to avoid fate. It’s blissful Aristotelean symmetry. *chef’s kiss*
Every tragic hero has hamartia, more commonly known as a ‘fatal flaw’. In Hamlet, his fatal flaw is procrastination, and his delays create space for all kinds of the fuck shit he was trying to prevent. It’s important to note that hamartia is by design a neutral term - not so much a flaw, but a trait, motivation, or decision that sets off the chain of events the character is trying to avoid. Tragedies have occurred equally from too much love as too much hate, and doing nothing is just as much a decision as doing something. The word itself comes from the Greek for ‘to miss the mark’. To try and fail, the backbone of tragedy.
One of the most common hamartia is hubris, a modern synonym for arrogance but which more specifically means an outsized belief in one’s ability to affect and control the future. Well-known tragic heroes taken down by hubris include our boy Walter White, Tony Soprano, Viktor Frankenstein, Achilles, Jay Gatsby, Kendall from Succession. It exists in real life, too: Lance Armstrong is a perfect example of a modern tragic hero brought down by hubris. And what do all these men have in common? Power, via money, fame, strength, the state, intellect, violence etc.
I’ve been enjoying looking at Rhysand through this tragic hero lens because while it doesn’t really make him more sympathetic, it does make his actions easier to understand logically, which is its own kind of humanization. If Rhysand is aware of a prophesied or fated event sometime in the future and is pulling the cosmic strings now, it must be incredibly important, like annihilation-level important, which is so much pressure. 
So he grows to maturity with an understanding that he will one day have to face this intense evil that could completely destroy his world, and it plants in him a hubris. He believes that his immense power grants him a certain amount of influence automatically. And honestly, is he wrong?
And this is where it’s important to think about how power makes people weird. Power gives people a false sense of confidence in their actions and choices, because their status and privilege protect them from so many more consequences. In this way it’s easy to see how someone can get a big ego - no one is stopping me, so I must be doing well! Or: everything is going well for me, so I must be really killing it! I know I feel that way in the first tingles of hypomania, but hypomania is fundamentally a distortion of reality and I believe so is power.
Power not only gives people confidence but also access to make decisions for others. They begin to think they should share the success they’ve found by leading and guiding others to see how great it can be if you do what they say. Just look at one of those cringe 'billionaire morning routine' videos to see what I mean. It’s a very patronizing form of altruism, because the leader genuinely believes they have the people’s interest at heart. And I use the word patronizing intentionally - leaders have often referenced feeling paternal towards their people, Winston Churchill + FDR, 'God the Father'. Power and fatherhood have been linked for a long time. And direct from our girl Wikipedia, "paternalism is action that limits a person's or group's liberty or autonomy and is intended to promote their own good".
I was talking with a girlfriend of mine recently about how I think some men don’t have the experience of other people depending on them in a significant way until they get married and/or become fathers. Like, afab and femme people learn very early to be considerate of others, to think about how others feel, to act in ways that keep others happy, etc. This plants in us a sense of duty to perform in ways that please others, to smile, to create comfort and provide caretaking in every environment we enter. So by the time we get to marriage and motherhood, we already know how to put others’ needs before our own because we’ve been doing it from the jump.
For men, however, this can be a completely novel experience. And it seems like it's SO HEAVY FOR THEM. George ‘Father of his Country’ Washington just wanted to go back to Virginia the whole time he was President. So many men talk about the pressures of being a provider and their families depending on them in a way women don’t, and I think it’s because for the first time others truly depend on them and they don’t know how to handle it.
In response, they either shove down their emotions as patriarchy demands and have a midlife crisis, or they abdicate that responsibility and go completely absent physically and/or emotionally to continue living for themselves. (Obviously there are good men and dads out there, and bless you if you’re lucky enough to know, have, or be one.)
And this aspect of power feels relevant because from the text it seems like Rhysand is unraveling. Between Feyre, the baby, the Trove, Nesta and being threatened by her power, Koschei, Bryce, the whole High King shit - I think he’s starting to crack under the pressure. And honestly, I’m kind of surprised it didn’t happen before now.
According to Aristotle, the tragic hero must:
Be significant (virtuous/capable/powerful/important etc.)
Be flawed
Suffer a reversal of fortune.
Rhysie boy definitely ticks the first two. I wonder what it would look like to get to three? I don’t think Sarah has the balls, but it’s definitely enhanced my reading experience and given me a lot of interesting things to think about.
Okay that's all I've got. Love ya, see ya soon xx
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anonymouscatloaf · 5 months
Text
"You know, he's the yin to my yang. He completes me."
So the funny part about Dan repeatedly calling Perry the yin to Doof's yang (besides the fact that he can just freestyle some Greek tragedy level bullshit about Doof & Perry's relationship on the fly for Radio Disney or an episode commentary track) is that at face value you might also be like, okay but why is Doof the "yang" (light) and Perry the "yin" (dark)?
I didn't say good vs evil because that's not what yin and yang are about. As a concept it's one of those terms from another language that have variable meanings in English depending on who's using it and why, but its most enduring interpretation - with the disclaimer that I am not a philosopher, just someone who is far too invested in overthinking relationships in a kid's cartoon - is the idea that they are opposing but complementary forces of the energy that the universe operates on.
It's a balance. According to Lao-Tzu, "everything is embedded in yin and embraces yang; through [vital energy] it reaches [harmony]". Two sides of the same coin, sun and moon, my other half - you get the idea. It's not hard to see why Perry and Doof are complementary but opposite; one can't exist without the other: Perry all but gives up evil when Doof has that brief dalliance with Peter; Perry has exactly two POV songs in the entire show and both of them relate to Doof, one of which explicitly states "[his] life, it seems, is empty" without Doof's scheming and he "gave [Perry's] life heroic cause"; and he straight up has no idea what to do with his life and makes the saddest platypus sound ever when Doof bans thwarting as Tri-Governor in LDOS.
On the other hand, Doof is a lot easier to see - partly because he actually talks (though Perry is actually one of the most facially expressive characters in the show - by necessity - though I digress). He's overt about his affections and very clingy (a result of childhood trauma and abuse/neglect by his parents) because Perry's his only real friend. He all but begs Perry to thwart him in that whale episode, he became really upset when Perry seemed to be helping him in the episode with the Dull-and-Boring-inator but was just using him to fix the problem with Phineas and Ferb, and he can't bear to leave Perry behind in Road to Danville, just to list a few sillier examples off the top of my head. Really, the entire B plot could be used as evidence.
(There's also the fun dynamic of Perry being an animal that has human-level sentience, and Doof being a human that was raised by animals - ocelots - during some of his formative years.)
So they're irrevocably intertwined. One of the most important characters in each other's life, according to Dan from SDCC 2015. The LDOS ending song even puts Perry smack dab in the middle of the Doofenshmirtz family with Heinz, Vanessa, and Norm - two other characters deeply wrapped up with Perry as a result of Doof himself. I mean, look at them:
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Yeah, this was an excuse to make you look at one of my favorite scenes and witness Perry's hopelessly fond smile, not sorry.
Anyway, back to yin-yang. They were originally ascribed to just "day" and "night", and eventually came to also mean "movement" (because you work during the day), and "rest" (because you sleep at night). In terms of qi, they embody heaven and earth, and in the collection of essays of the Huainanzi, "yang is generated from yin and yin is generated from yang [...] sometimes there is life, sometimes there is death, that brings the myriad things to completion". Technical details of Chinese philosophy aside (which I'm sure exactly nobody is considering when they call someone the yin to their yang - it's really just the "you complete me" part), the words themselves also have various opposing definitions: positive/negative, active/passive, sun/moon, overt/covert, etc etc etc you get the idea.
In terms of their relationship, Doof has the more active role. He's one who makes the crazy inators and plots elaborate traps and monologues everyday; Perry usually just reacts to that accordingly. Doof play-acts at a lofty, larger-than-life "evil", while Perry keeps him grounded ("you are my rock" and "having you around just makes me feel, you know, safer"). Perry isn't necessarily a wholly passive character, but also, like, a lot of his plot is just Shit Happens and Perry Has to Deal With It. Doof is overt about his "evil" schemes and can't stand even white lies. Perry spends his entire life hiding aspects of himself and keeping secrets from his loved ones, and he has a whole song in CATU about being an unrecognized hero. One of these characters is living in the "dark" more than the other...
Doof is overflowing with emotions - most of them negative, but also love: so much so that his daughter feels smothered, because a lot of that love (while borne of good intentions) is misguided, and Doof fails to actually listen to her; it takes a few rocky starts (helped along by Perry himself) before they get to the point where Vanessa considers her dad a "misunderstood genius" and convinces him to give up evil. On the other hand, Perry keeps his cards close to his chest - it's not that he doesn't know how to emote (he clearly adores his boys in ATSD and he apparently is happy to hang out with Doof as a friend outside of his job enough that he has a whole wallet of photos of them just goofing off together), he doesn't because of necessity. He's better than anyone at separating his work life (fighting evil) from his pet life (pretending to be a mindless animal) from his personal life (how much he loves his family, watching his silly dramatic soaps, having a petty streak and sassing Monogram a bit, is genuine friends with Doof).
As a result, he is full of emotions he rarely gets to express - around the Flynn-Fletchers specifically, because Doof does know he's sentient, which is another reason I think they click. Doof gets the single-minded attention he never had; Perry gets the treatment as an equal he never had. They both gain a friendship, and a new sort of family. There's a part of their life imbalanced when the other isn't present.
The yin and the yang. They complete each other.
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etrevil · 5 months
Note
Do you mind if I ask your top 10 favorite characters (can be male or female) from all of the media that you loved (can be anime/manga, books, movies or tv series)? And why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before.....Thanks....
So sorry for the late answer!
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1. Athanasia de Alger Obelia (Who Made Me A Princess)
First hyperfixation, the manhwa I saw from start to finish. Art is just absolutely beautiful and I've been attached from the very start. Her character arc surrounding her father, Claude, had me clutching my pearls and sobbing my eyes out.
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2. Dazai Osamu (Bungou Stray Dogs)
Strongest hyperfixation on the series yet. There's a certain feel I get whenever I see or read content about him. Do I relate to him? Concerningly. But it's the sort of connectedness I feel when reading what Odasaku thinks of Dazai and me agreeing and being called out half of the time lol. Lastly, he's just so pretty.
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3. Chuuya Nakahara (Bungou Stray Dogs)
This man's backstory has me in a chokehold. He's gone through so much shit but, compared to other characters, he remains a "good" man. Such a complex character I can't get enough of tbh. Asagiri really paired the donut man and one of the most beautiful written characters together and I love it/pos. Lastly, also very pretty. Imagining him together with Dazai, whether platonic or romantic, is also a treat.
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4. Wilbur Soot (dsmp, qsmp, general yt)
His content just, helped me get through quarantine. Also his songs are just bangers, and Lovejoy is one of my top favorite bands next to The Neighborhood.
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5. Kim Dokja (Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint)
One of the first Korean novels I've ever read and finished. He is just such a well-done character, and ORV as a story in general should become a literary classic (in my humble opinion). The way he seeks comfort in a story and is willing to stay until its very end, I relate to that so much, and I just feel for this tragedy-surrounded man. I wish only the best for him and his company.
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6. Cale Henituse (Trash of the Count's Family)
I remember reading the novel in its early stages and waking up for school, to then eat cereal and slowly finish reading what's been published in the dim light. Haven't touched the second book yet, but the first book was just, woah. Amazing. Rollercoaster ride. Our young lord really should start looking out for his health more, everyone's so worried.
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7. Han Sooyoung (Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint)
Her story arc of being an antagonist, to the third member of their trio, and [spoiler], was an absolute blast. Her character was written with such a personality she touched my heart with her spunk and gentle care towards her friends. What she's done for KDJ is absolutely what tore my heart out. She deserves so much. They all do. Speaks even more to me since I'm a writer. Love her with all my heart <3.
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8. Achilles (Greek Mythos, the Song of Achilles)
He amuses me. His rage, his reactions, the slaughter he made across the battlefield, and the way he eventually died. The fact we have historical evidence from a vase that people back then saw him rolled up into a blanket burrito during his sulking period. That he sent out one of his "closest" men in his own armory and grew enraged (understatement) when he returned as a corpse. I just, love him. Words cannot explain how I hold him, and Patroclus, to a high regard in my heart.
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9. Tallulah (qsmp)
Best egg child to ever exist. Second is Chayanne. The admin for this character just stole us from the very start. Deserves a thousand bamboo flutes.
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10. Ayna and Ranonthean (Secret Lady)
Might be considered cheating but these two are a couple and the toxicity cannot exist without the other. The slow unfurling of how their love story that led to the actual FL and ML's current predicament (read the story it's so good) absolutely rocked my shit. Like, omfg their children. Her family. Fate itself. I wanna sock Fate in the face. They're in love, but their love cannot thrive in a place like that. At least not for long. And it shows; the chapter this image is from, side story 11, has me by the throat. Banana-nim's art just makes everything better. They're relatively good for each other, but because of the situations forced on them, shit happens. Doomed by the narrative indeed.
Special manhwa couple mentions:
Angela and Rayburn, "I Stan the Prince"
Penelope and Callisto, "Death is The Only Ending for the Villainess"
Ines and Carcel, "This Marriage was Bound to Fail Anyway"
Shuri and Nora, "Stepmother's Marchen"
Eris and Anakin, "Kill The Villainess"
Raeliana and Noah, "Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke's Manor"
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apollosgiftofprophecy · 2 months
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Warning: Rant ahead. Do not read if you wanna avoid me venting about the wider RRverse fandom & their attitude toward the TOA fans.
Seriously. This is a vent post. Stay away if you don't wanna risk getting upset. I just need a place to get it off my chest. It's been stewing in my head for long enough and I usually feel better if I write it down/type it down somewhere. Makes my chest feel less tight.
Stay safe <3
"No one is treating you guys like outcasts!"
"With your annoying POV-"
"Everyone was so OOC-"
"Meg is such a Mary Sue-"
SHUT UP
SHUT UP
SHUT UP
THIS IS WHY I STICK TO THE TOA FANDOM.
THIS IS WHY I BARELY INTERACT WITH THE LARGER PJO FANDOM.
THIS IS WHY I GET ANXIOUS ABOUT SAYING I LIKE TOA ON A DIFFERENT PLATFORM THAN TUMBLR.
BECAUSE. OF. THIS.
Recently, I have left a comment on a Youtube video. All in all, it was basically just me listing off reasons why I liked TOA and - in hindsight - naively going "idk why people don't like it".
Top Ten things said before disaster.
The next day, I got two comments.
One was along the lines of-
"Don't care."
The other was-
"Jasper broke up and Jason died - it's not canon to me!"
...
Excuse me for having an opinion, I guess.
What sucks even more is that when a fellow TOA commented to me, the second guy ALSO responded to them with "yeah but PJO and HOO are still better maybe even MCGAA to"
Like what the fuck. who does this. who has the time????
people who don't have a life, i guess.
And then. and then this same person just Keeps Going when I replied. They said "TOA's an AU" and "It relies too heavily on cameos" and then turns around and says "this would have been better if *proceeds to give a list of cameos* were with Apollo instead of Meg"
like. URGHHHHH.
They. Complain. About. Every. Single. Thing.
Even Tristan McLean going broke. And wishing "something" had been done to "fix" it.
Like fixing something of that caliber would be easy. One of TOA's things is that it deals with Reality - and I get it, some people may not like that, especially for a fantasy series - but come on. You can't expect everything to be fine and dandy 24/7 about a series of GREEK MYTHOLOGY, THE CREATOR OF TRAGEDY.
Then they went on to say they hoped that if the show gets to HOO, they "fix" its ending so TOA doesn't happen.
...BRO HOO ONLY EXISTS FOR TOA TO SHINE. RICK'S FAVORITE CHARACTER TO WRITE IS APOLLO AND THAT'S A PILL YOU NEED TO SWALLOW.
they also went on to say that TOA is "example of a story that overstayed its welcome" and i'm just. GAHHHHHHHH *screams into pillows*
"we got new characters in PJO & HOO-"
Me: *can literally name off 27 new characters from TOA from the top of my head*
Them: You need to respect other people's opinions-!
Me: SAYS THE GUY WHO INVADED MY COMMENT??? WHO LITERALLY CALLED ME ANNOYING??? WHO'S COMPLAINING ABOUT A CHILDREN'S SERIES??? AND REFUSED TO AGREE TO DISAGREE WHEN I GAVE YOU THE OPTION???
Them: There's a reason why people don't like TOA. Can you guess? Because we didn't read the book? Nope i read all 5 and the reason is it's not as good as the others-
Me: bro that's not even a solid REASON-
The condensation on that last one really pissed me off.
What was especially baffling, however, was...
Them: I am pretty sure you have hidden opinions that make you like ToA, like maybe you are LGBTQ or LGBTQ Supporter-
WHAT. DOES. MY. SEXUALITY. HAVE. TO. DO. WITH. THIS.
THAT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!
and as a matter of fact, what are they even implying here??? it just sounds like they're saying I must only like TOA because of the queer rep and I can tell you that reason is bullshit.
(I love the queer rep dw it's just not the #1 reason why i love TOA)
also here's a full list of the characters they said were 'OOC': Piper, Frank, Leo, Calypso, Hazel, & Reyna.
A few of these, I understand the confusion (but also disagree with) - but FRANK? FRANK ZHANG WAS OOC?
AT THIS POINT THEY'RE JUST LOOKING FOR SOMETHING TO COMPLAIN ABOUT.
(In another person's comment about loving TOA they also went "well there's no Percabeth in it-" OH MY GODS JUST STOP ALREADY.)
It was especially infuriating when I pointed out the hate the TOA fans in the comments experience, they replied with "Nobody's treating you like outcasts!"
TELL THAT TO EVERY TOA FAN WHO'S GOTTEN HATE!
TELL THAT TO ME WHO JUST GOT HATE FOR IT.
just. AJHGSFGH. people. some people.
I want to block them. But youtube has removed that feature (thanks a lot youtube).
I'll stick it out. I am point-blank telling them to drop it. We'll see how that goes.
just...people. Guess you still can't have an opinion, huh?
Jokes on them they merely fueled my stubborn fire. I only love TOA more now. The harder they argue, the tighter I cling.
Anyway. If you've stuck it out this far, thanks for listening. I just really needed to vent. It's been bugging me for a few days and ruining my mood every time I open up youtube.
No response is needed, btw - again, needed a place to vent.
ToA fans, you're the best <3 Love ya <3
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gemsofgreece · 7 months
Note
would love to hear from a real Greek on the subject of Katharevousa. What do you think of it? Are there some conflicting opinions between the older and younger generations on this matter? What is the general Greek opinion? is it simply viewed as an elitist ideology for purists or an inspiring dream to reinstate Ancient Greek? sincerely, a humbly curious non-Greek individual...
Hello, my friend! You bring up an interesting and very complex topic. I would say my opinion on this is less passionate, more moderate than of the average Greek and ironically this also means my opinion might seem edgy to the average Greek!
That is because a majority of Greeks loathe Katharevousa (or what they think it stands for), with older generations being more neutral whereas younger generations can express a very baffling fierce hate towards it, despite never having to study it.
The reasons for this hate are the following:
1. It is harder than Demotic and most Greeks have an allergy at whatever Greek-related presents even the slightest of additional challenge to them.
2. Its existence has been relentlessly and unfairly politicised since the early 20th century, when the historical national and then transformed into political disunity of the Greeks was channeled into many things, including painting those who were positive towards katharevousa as nationalists, fascists and extreme far rights in general.
*The second reason bleeds into the first, in some ways. Young Greeks will unironically say “why should I learn something Greek that needs a little more effort or even slightly resembles something ancient, am I a nationalist or anything?”. That is because the old Great Division of the 20s and the Civil War of the 40s were never actually fully resolved but only passed on through political tensions, and thus somewhat mollified, yet still causing significant problems in the society which are now much harder to explain and find the root cause for, so they seem to appear out of nowhere. This leads to new generations of Greeks opposed to studying properly the Greek history and Greek culture and feeling very proud of their liberal (???) choice until a conversation with a foreigner who appears to know more about them than they do embarrasses them and sometimes gives them a wake-up call. Of course, not all young Greeks are like that, but a lot are.
In any case, I am not saying I prefer Katharevousa to Demotic. I prefer Demotic for the simple reason that it is the organic evolution of the Greek language, influenced by the actual history of the Greeks rather than the history the Greeks wished they had. For this alone, it wins. What I am saying is that Katharevousa does not deserve all the fierce hate and that I would honestly not mind having it used occasionally for whatever reason, just like I wouldn’t mind using any other form of the Greek language for whatever reason. And I do not confuse various forms of the language with various political ideologies, despite others doing so. Which is very much true by the way. During the national schism, Katharevousa was accused as the symbol of royalists, nationalists and conservatives on one side whereas Demotic was accused as the symbol of communists and Venizelists from the other side. In the 20s, Greek schools would change the lingual form taught every time the power changed hands. A tragedy for the students, really.
Katharevousa was originally NOT founded on an elitist ideology but rather on a sentiment of ethnic uprising. The term for this lingual movement first appears in 1796 and thus precedes the Greek Independence from the Ottoman Empire. It was supported by many Greek scholars and influential people of the time, most of all Adamantios Korais. Katharevousa is not an attempt at reinstating Ancient Greek but an attempt of removing all the influences in the contemporary Greek language by an empire Greeks were unwilling and often rebellious subjects of. Katharevousa means exactly that, “getting purified - cleaned”, not going back. Of course, it did not only remove Turkish elements, but Latin and Slavic ones and anything else for which there was an original Greek root and was thus considered redundant. By removing the foreign loanwords from Modern Greek, you automatically bring it to a state closer to Ancient Greek without meaning that it is an actual more ancient form of the language. The Katharevousan grammar certainly tried to resist simplifications and changes taking place in Demotic Greek but it still remained an essentially Modern rather than Ancient Greek grammar. I believe the syntax was also closer to Modern. In the end, Katharevousa was like a very posh, exclusively Greek-root, old-fashioned way to speak Modern Greek.
Which is why I dislike it when the “competition” of demotic and katharevousa is often referred to as “diglossia” which means “bilingualism” or when they are even called different idioms. We are not talking about two different Greek languages here and I am quite baffled when people claim to struggle to understand katharevousa. Honestly, at this point I don’t even believe they really mean it. You see, the level of education nowadays, with all its faults, is infinitely better than what it was at the time when katharevousa was actually taught at schools. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, most kids wouldn’t even complete elementary school and then go work to some farmland so it makes total sense for them to struggle to adjust to katharevousa when they were only really communicating in basic demotic in real life. But for people nowadays claiming the same, I can’t take them seriously, I am sorry. Such things are connected. If a student of decent education by today’s standards can’t understand katharevousa, it can only mean they face really fundamental challenges in demotic as well.
Katharevousa did not intentionally marginalize lower social classes within the society itself but the unintentional challenges were inescapable due to the poor level of education I described. In the end, Katharevousa was used by the authors and poets, in the newspapers and later the TV and radio news, in written forms, such as official documents, even in personal letters. Regardless of their level of education, people tried in written form to apply as many katharevousan elements as possible, to the extent of their knowledge. In everyday speech, though, things were different. People would simply talk in the way that came most natural and effortless to them. It’s very interesting that in very old movies, if there is a narrator, you can observe that the narrator speaks in a mild more katharevousa-like form while the actors playing the roles use demotic, obviously because otherwise the ending result wouldn’t be very realistic to the people watching. However, rich Greeks and aristocrats would more often speak in katharevousa too, exactly because they could receive much better education and get the hang of it, inevitably making this a social issue without it ever intending to be one. And then of course it had also the politics of the country imposed on it secondarily, which is a very sad and unfair equation that handicaps Greek progress in all matters.
What happened with Katharevousa and Demotic is not an unprecedented occurrence in Greek at all. This is literally Greek's constant lingual history. It can be observed in Ancient Greek, as the Classical Attic you may have read was in no way identical to the everyday language Ancient Greeks spoke. Throughout all the East Roman / Byzantine Era, scholars would try desperately to retain as many archaic elements as possible, to the growing impatience of the populace. While its full achievement was always doomed to be a lost cause, let’s also acknowledge that the reason Greeks boast about how conservative Greek is for a language so old would not exist, if all those scholars throughout the centuries did not struggle to preserve older elements, and katharevousa’s case is not different. A few of its elements have actually passed to demotic, such as phrases and expressions in the dative, even though this case has been dropped in the Demotic Greek grammar otherwise.
In the seventies, after huge political changes taking place in the country which struggled to finally enjoy some peace and quiet, katharevousa was abolished along with the monarchy and the dictatorship as another sign of nationalism, conservatism, anachronism and so on. In my opinion, a lingual form on its own does not deserve to be vilified like this.
Nowadays, you will hear just about anything as an accusation to prove how evil Katharevousa was. Some say it had “mistakes” because it was an academic process of reshaping the language against its natural, organic evolution. I would consider this, had it not been for demotic also having some funny shortcomings of its own. In case you are wondering what such a shortcoming can possibly be in a language - well, as Greek keeps evolving, some things change first while others stay behind. The elements that stay behind have trouble adjusting for practical or aesthetical or other reasons. Here is one example:
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Modern Greek faces a hilarious problem with the verb εκρήγνυμαι (ekríghnime - I explode). It is a verb with a distinct archaic form which is super ugly to a violating degree if you adjust it to the modern Greek conjugation of the simple past. As a result the ancient formation of the simple past is fully retained, which is not irregular but it is hard enough that it appears irregular by modern standards (εξερράγην - exerráyin - no it’s not irregular!). As a result many people might not know it and mess it up entirely by trying to apply modern formations which will earn them mocking later if it's on TV or paper (ie εκρήχτηκα - ekríhtika - can kill you instantly if it comes from the mouth of a journalist) or you are going to see it on their face real-time that they go through the five stages of grief and seven consecutive panic attacks as they try to say “it exploded” without actually saying “it exploded”! Even more hilariously, the screenshot I added shows all the conjugations by labelling them “for scholar use” and it adds another label clarifying that only the third person of singular and plural are actually regularly used (apparently needed when speaking for bombs) and the others are avoided as much as possible. In short, we try not to use the past of a simple verb such as “explode” because we have no idea how to say it because adjusting it to modern is so monstrous that you have no solution other than keeping it entirely ancient, in a phrase otherwise entirely modern! It is actually very funny.
I said all these in order to stress how people trying to find unacceptable “flaws” in katharevousa are hypocritical because if we accept that a concept such as “flaws” is possible in a language, then it does exist in organic demotic as well. On the other hand, it also depends on the speaker. Katharevousa supporters varied in their ferocity and whereas most just kept it at the "purifying modern" object, some others tried to mix it with actual Koine or Attic Greek, undoubtedly causing lingual teratogenesis.
Some last notes: katharevousa is not entirely extinct. It is used by a newspaper, it is the language used by the Churches of Greece and Cyprus and by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, as it resembles more Koine (Biblical) Greek which is their actual sacred language. Some people show it off on internet comments but you can usually (not always) guess their political ideologies which is unfortunate. Ironically though, Modern Standard Greek, which is the common language we speak right now, is according to linguists considerably influenced by the katharevousa in its mixing with demotic. So, standard Greek, even though it derives from Demotic and it is technically Demotic Greek, is closer to Katharevousa than the Demotic of the 20th century is.
Another interesting point is made by Georgios Babiniotis, the currently most prominent Greek linguist. An unlikable guy if you ask me, but I can’t help but agree with this point. Although the polytonic stress system was abolished along with katharevousa with the reasoning that it served no point in Modern Greek, Babiniotis says that this was a mistake, as the monotonic system has surprisingly caused a deterioration of the musicality and correct articulation in Modern Greek. In fact, anyone who knows can go watch kids reciting poems in school and you will realise it is true. I am not putting myself out of this. Sometimes I read something loudly and I think to myself “heck in my mind this sounds so much better, why am I reciting it so poorly?!”. Even though I actually have a perfect articulation up to this stage in my life, my reciting is bland like of most people, while it wasn’t the case at all with the people in the near past. You can hear the difference when you hear actors of the 50s and actors in movies now. Both spoke in demotic, but actors of the 50s spoke much more beautifully on so many levels, including intonation and articulation. This agrees with a post I made recently unknowingly when on my own I realised that the grave accent is actually retained in modern Greek when spoken animatedly or carefully and correctly. I was almost scared to publish that post because I am no linguist but I was excited to see that the -always otherwise unlikable- Babiniotis said this too! Few liked that post - dunno if everyone hated it or it was just a huge post published at 5 am. Or both. Aaaaaanyways, I am linking it here in case anyone has reached so far down and is interested.
To summarise, Katharevousa was the victim of the insane political infighting that is such a trademark of the Greeks. It was founded on ethnical rather than elitist reasonings. It wasn’t trying to exclude anyone even though this might have indeed happened unintentionally. It is still Modern Greek. I don’t believe it should ever eradicate Demotic, however I value its existence and I think it could have a place of application and people should be free to use (within reasonable context) or enjoy it without being vilified or immediately have their political beliefs assumed. I personally find it beautiful but I also find Demotic beautiful, just in different ways. In some occasions I prefer one and in others the other. I enjoy prose and poetry in Katharevousa, it’s bloody beautiful. But use of rich and intricate demotic is also insanely wonderful. Both are great and I genuinely feel this way. I can get behind the reasoning that if a foreign loanword doesn't sound very aesthetically pleasing in the Greek language, it shouldn't be considered weird or eccentric to prefer the Greek-root word and give up on the loanword. I have used this example before, if the loanword is "dudúka", while two Greek-root words of the exact same meaning exist ("tilevóas" and "megháphono"), then why the heck would I want to use "duduka"?! No offense to the language that it comes from, but this word... I mean, come on. It doesn't sound good at all in Greek. Same with the grammar. If someone can use more intricate and complex grammar, why should we immediately blame them for doing what they can do? Come on, guys.
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bibibbon · 1 month
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Tsumiki fushiguro's wasted potential
I will say this once and for all but tsumiki fushiguro was done so dirty by the narrative.
Tsumiki fushiguro is a character who is basically almost non existent when we talk about the fushiguro family and the fact that we only see her from megumi's pov is just sad. Megumi and tsumiki never had a good relationship to begin with and this is further highlighted when we see their interactions as a whole.
@twenty-qs definitely has a pretty amazing analysis talking about megumi and tsumikis relationship so I suggest you check it out if you want a more depth idea of what Iam talking about 👇
Point blank is that they aren't close and you can even assume that tsumiki (overtime) may of developed a slight hatred towards megumi for her own reasons. Both of them could of been depicted as very flawed individuals with megumi shutting everyone out and acting cold towards anyone as his own way to not get hurt by anyone or abandoned again. For tsumiki she had to take on a parental role at a very young age and she also had to cook, clean, manage school, take care of herself and take care of her brother since toji left. Tsumiki was quite older than megumi (2 years I think) but that means she can probably remember what happend and how, why and when toji left which is just a whole lot more packet of built up emotions that her character could of gotten to explore (but didn't). Tsumiki probably wanted to be close with her brother but due to both of their circumstances it just wasn't possible. That isn't to say that megumi didn't care for tsumiki considering that his whole motivation was to help his sister and that's why he became a sorcerer in the first place but he didn't appreciate or value her when she was around and as we see in the manga he viewed her as a nuisance.
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We only see megumi change of attitude towards his sister when she falls I to a coma and he realises how ungrateful he was for the things he had. He promises to himself that once she wakes up again that he will try and amend their relationship but as seen in the culling games arc he continually pushes his sister away stating that she should go back to sleep and not worry at all. No offence but telling someone who has been in a coma for 1 year and 7months to go back to sleep is such a rude comment and goes against what megumi wanted which was a to fix the frail relationship he had with his sister. I think that this is one of megumi flaws and I wish it was explored a whole lot more but sadly it isn't. We are obviously shown that tsumiki is acting weird but this is something that we easily pick up on (we don't even know tsumiki that well but we still notice this detail) compared to megumi who easily dismissed this and I think this is very telling of how distant they really are and how they're not on good terms.
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To cope with tsumiki going into a coma megumi ended up looking at what his sister did to him and put her on a pedestal letting this perfect version of tsumiki become his moral compass and by doing that he limits any actual humane feelings of negativity that tsumiki may have and ends up dehumanising his own sister unintentionally. This is seen when he calls her the perfect example of a good person and when in the culling games she is the only reason why megumi doesn't kill remi because he imagines her telling him "no megumi".
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I feel like the tsumiki plot point should of been handled somewhat similarly to junpei and have the two situations parallel eachother which would add to the stories theme of history rhyming or repeating itself and to the parallels that megumi and itadori share. In this rewrite (if that's what you want to call it) I would have tsumiki gain a CT and cursed energy and have yorozu be in a completely different body. Tsumiki should meet yorozu when she wakes up from the coma and the two can get to know eachother. Tsumiki (lonely,scared and vulnerable) will tell her feelings to yorozu who slowly becomes interested in her after hearing that megumi is a sorcerer. Yorozu will become someone tsumiki can trust similar to what happend with junpei and mahito and to manipulate tsumiki yorozu will make tsumiki think about things that she wanted to avoid thinking of like the little amount of jealousy and hatred that she has of megumi that she shoved at the back of her mind. Tsumiki will probably be jealous of megumi for how he was toji's favourite, how he was going enough to forget about their early home life, for how megumi had an escape that tsumiki could never have, for how megumi never had to take care of another human being and for other things. All these feelings build up and tsumiki tries to see the good in this but she slowly loses herself to darkness and yorozus relationship without anyone realising it until it's too late.
Yorozu presents a plan to tsumiki one where tsumiki will finally stand up for herself and be acknowledged by people. This plan ,(tsumiki tells yorozu about info that megumi gave her) consists of tsumiki taking the points that will be given to her and making a new rule probably the same rule that yorozu made or something else. This is where tsumiki herself betrays her brother and yorozus enters the stage mocking megumi for his lack of observation and how badly he has treated his sister. Here we can have tsumiki confront megumi about how she felt and the slow hatred and jealousy that she has towards megumi can be revealed. Megumi tires to chase after his sister and yorozu but before he can do anything sukuna uses the binding vow.
As yorozu and tsumiki are fleeing they seem the scene that is sukuna making megumi eat his finger and this is where yorozu feels like she hit a gold mine and has a new goal of using tsumiki as bait to get sukuna to come near her. Tsumiki on the other hand is horrified she only wanted to be acknowledged and confront megumi about the things he did but now she looks at the scene below and feels like this isn't right for her. She tries to go and help megumi but yorozu grabs her and tells her not to however tsumiki insists and yorozus intentions become clear to tsumiki and how tsumiki was played and used.
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Same few chapters go the same until sukuna in megumi body confronts yorozu and asks where tsumiki is. Yorozu doesn't respond and goes on about she loves sukuna and power of love blah blah. Tsumiki on the other hand was near she watches the battle hoping that she can help her brother but she can't. Yorozu loses and ends up dying she still gives sukuna kamotuke but sukuna doesnt really care.
As sukuna was about to leave he spots tsumiki and megumis soul starts fighting to help and protect his sister in anyway he could. Tsumiki puts up a bit of a fight trying and failing to get megumi to regain control. She is killed with her last words being directed towards megumi. Megumi snaps he is now trying harder then ever to regain control and for a minute sukuna lets him (Iam trying to make it mirror the thing sukuna did with yuji in shibuya) nos megumi si confronted with his sister's dead body and he naturally reacts with anger and sadness overcoming him. Without sukuna needing to do anything megumi loses control and his soul sinks to the abyss. Megumi ends up blaming himself for not understanding tsumiki for not being able to see her pain and his whole pedestal view of her is shattered. Megumis own moral compass is shattered and so is the last person he considered family he has basically lost everything he cared for.
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Tsumiki fushiguro should of been treated with more respect by the narrative and I feel like making her situation mirror junpei would of done wonders to her arc it would of also been a very effective way to show jjks themes and a beautiful way to tackle feelings that she must of felt that we never got to see from her character. This idea would of also finally given us character development for megumi as his image of tsumiki is destroyed and he blames himself for not seeing the pain that she was going through. This would also be an interesting direction to take megumis character in and would emphasis on just how hopeless megumi feels after her death and we would be given more emotion which is something that I think this arc lacked between the two of them.
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thevampirearchive · 7 months
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There’s something I've been meaning to say but I haven't had the words till now. There is something that deeply upsets me about witnessing stories where villains, who are literal killers, fall in love and somehow become good or act outside of what is expected from them. I love love, love is beautfiul, it is powerful and it can truly change a lot. But to sit, and write a killer suddenly go "actually, this one can stay because I am in love for the first time" is such a weird concept to me. Is this happening because as a sociaty we're trying to convince ourselves that deeply disturbed people can be cured by the power of love? That if they just find the right person, they would stop the masacer? or at least no longer feel the need to kill how they were or at least let their person live? And I am not mad at the love, I do belive anyone can fall deeply in love, but my issue is with how it ends. I want to witness the unthinkable — I want to see is exactly what we expect but hoped won't happen, happening. A gut wrenching truth that stays true to who we have been witnessing, despite the "I can change them" dance. And perhaps people hate this idea because they want to belive that anyone can change if only they meet the right one, or that we can change the monsters in our lives with affection, but trust most likly is that they cannot be changed. And I can understand that to some this is then seen as an illusion. "oh then this was never true love", why can the two not exist? Do we not hurt those we love? Maybe not kill them, but someone elses hurt could feel like a small death to me, and vice versa.
Examples, so that you are not confused as to what I am reffering too;
Killing Eve; I stopped watching when Villanelle was shown shooting Eve. It felt true to her character, even if it hurt. She is a killer, we knew that and so did Eve. Regardless of her love, that was what was always going to happen so why were we given additional seaons of this fanatsy of a declawed Villanelle?
Hannibal; It should have ended with the death of Will, and possibly Hannibal consuming him. Didn't Hannibal say that the consumption of Will would somehow join them in a deeper way?Something so disturbing that only could make sense to a serial killing-cannibal. And I would have watched with wide eyes, and gone to sleep staring at the ceiling.
Interveiw With The Vampire; Louis' death in the hand of a Lestat would have made sense, and despite his dramatics, Lestat would have not committed suicide but instead burried himself in deep regret untill he was too numb to his own feelings that he could return to the world of the living. He would have never forgotten Louis, nor what he did, but he would have moved on beause Lestat is not a good person. He's deeply disturbed and Louis knew this. I don't even aknoclege that beatdown episode because Lestat may be a killer, but he's a drama queen first and formost. Louis' death would have been poetic, beautiful and grusom like a greek tragedy without an audiance.
Bonus - Twilight; I could not end without adding my own favorite, and despite this path never being teased to the audiance the same way the other's were, I would have loved the book simply ending because Edward did as he said he would - drained Bella like a Caprisun on a hot summer day. Because what is love agaisnt animalistic urgase (I understand why it is much hotter that he is simply so retsrained and devoted that he resists her, but I'd pay good money for an AU)
At the end of it all, I think want I want is for sociaty to get over the idea that a good woman, love or any form of kindness can change who some people are. Love can do many things - look at crimes of passion! And to some extend I belive that these villain's love were true, possibly not the way we imagine them - which is less so "I love you too" and more so, "wow, finally someone I can manipulate and obsess over. Someone who I can mold, someone who is alone in the world like me" only to realize that is not true.
So why do we make love into what it isnt? Even when the scene is set for us to be shown the truth, writers and the audiance always make the plot lean towards whatever fits so that we can have that "happy ending".
Honorable mentions;
God should have killed Lucifer, I know the bible and christianity is not technically fiction for all, but the idea that he is forgivin but lets the biggest meanness HE CREATED terrorize everybody is evil. Take him out or let somebody else do it homie.
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tickldpnk8 · 5 months
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Song of Orpheus Recap
Man, Song of Orpheus is hard. I started this post on July 6th. Three months ago!! It's a tragedy within a tragedy, I got emotional, and then put this book in the metaphorical freezer for a bit.
But it's also jam-packed with revelations and foreshadowing. It's a super-long issue (arc?) and I'll be covering it all in one go. So without further ado, I'll get into it.
On Orpheus’ nature
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So it kicks off with a bit of foreshadowing in the form of a prophetic dream. So prophetic dreaming isn't something that started just when he became an oracle. Orpheus also seems to have no power over his dream, but once he becomes lucid enough, he is able to see his father and then visit him in the Dreaming. It's also interesting to me that he doesn't seem to be able to interpret his dream: asking Morpheus what it all meant. (And getting the brush off from his dad in the process.) Morpheus implies that he might actually know what the dream means, but won't tell his son because he is his son. (side note: this interaction totally reminded me of friends in high school who had parents who taught at our school)
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Orpheus is also able to open a portal to the Dreaming with just his voice and lyre. I found this super interesting: combined with what we saw a few issues back in France, he seems to have some sort of power that manifests through song. Whether this is something his father grants him to get "home" easier or whether it's just how powerful of a musician he is, is not stated. I think it lends credence to Orpheus having some sort of demi-god-like musical power though in addition to prophetic dreams. Seems a perfect balance of traits to inherit from both of his parents.
On grief:
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This is a repeating refrain throughout this issue: People die, you grieve and you move on. Aristeas expresses this sentiment in the opening pages of Chapter 1.
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And Morpheus repeats the same sentiment to Orpheus in Chapter 2 after Euridice dies. As I was writing this section of this post, we were having a conversation on Grief and how it relates to Morpheus' own character. The linked thread is a slight tangent, but I do feel like this refrain just continues to echo throughout the series and between the characters.
On the Endless:
We also learn a ton about Morpheus' siblings in this issue. Especially as they are all introduced to Euridice. For example:
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Apparently, Delirium almost got married at one point. I don't see this panel talked about a lot during discussions of her character. And I have to wonder, is this why Del changed? Is it why Delight was sad as @onehundredandeleventropicalfish pointed out that subtle lettering detail from Overture? She's always pictured so young as Delight that I can't really picture her marrying at that stage...and yet...
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Meanwhile, we are finally introduced to the missing Endless: And I love that when we finally get a name, it's in Greek and his face is covered. Ha! Way to draw out the mystery a bit more. I love that he refers to Orpheus as his favorite nephew...but it begs the question how many nephews does he have??
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But also what just happened here? Did Destruction simply open a portal to his sister’s house? Or did he literally kill Orpheus to grant him the audience he sought??
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This panel never ceases to get me in the feels: how the family portrait is bisected by the gutter space right where Death should be. But this section of the story also makes me wonder how Death experiences Time...she decorates her apartment in a very modern way with things that haven't been invented yet...are they leftovers from a pre-Overture existence? Does time not pass linearly for her? Or do the Endless simply know what is coming and exist outside of time when they don't want to?
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Whatever the case may be, Orpheus isn't able to adjust. So he's a normal human on that front, and we would likewise have a hard time perceiving their realms.
On Morpheus
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Here we get that famous line that Morpheus doesn't dance. Not even with his wife and not even at his son's wedding. But also wtf is he wearing and what is that pinned to??
On Morpheus and Relationships
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Here we have a conversation between Orpheus and his mother about Morpheus. And it's a bit heartbreaking because you can see how Morpheus is too rigid in his ways/thinking to keep relationships going: Orpheus alleges that his father won't forget or forgive a slight. While Calliope states that Morpheus doesn't really share any part of himself and isn't willing or perhaps able to change. So here we have Morpheus' fatal flaws spelled out for the Reader in this flashback issue.
And the sad thing for me is that by this point of the story, we're seeing that Morpheus is already changing. But the more frustrating point in this panel is that we can see how Orpheus is a chip off the old block...Orpheus is the one who renounced his father, yet it's not apparent that he's tried to reach out and make amends. argh
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Yet after Orpheus' death, I do think Morpheus takes things too far as a parent (especially for us modern folks). I'm still hoping to write a meta on him and parenthood, but want to get through Brief Lives before I do. Orpheus asks for his help to die, but Morpheus states that Orpheus' life is his own...and his death too. Effectively upholding the disownment that Orpheus kicked off by stating he was "no longer [his] son" before seeking out his aunt. Morpheus was never going to be the first one to crack on this: he's too by the rules. And the rules state that his son has renounced him.
On Foreshadowing:
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It’s also here that we get the first hint about the Thessalian witches...and Thessaly, who will do basically what it says: mutilate a man's face and pull down the moon in the next arc.
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And then there's this... Orpheus is the one who has made the Furies cry. Orpheus is the one they will never forgive. And that comes true within this arc with his death at the hands of the Baccanae. But is it concluded? I also just can't help thinking that the son from the union they didn't approve of will give them the means to take revenge upon his father.
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cyrwrites · 5 months
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Paint It Black
“Voldemort.”
A beat.
“Vol de la mort.”
Another.
“Now, that’s proper French. Was he just an ignorant, bleeding fool when he came up with the stupid anagram?”
A figure glided across the blank sky, the bottom line being that this wasn’t a sky to begin with. There was no air or gas of any kind here. The name of this place wasn’t available in any human language, but if one had to choose one in particular, you could go with ‘The Void’.
Death made a loop in the air, whooping merrily when it completed the third one successfully without crashing to the ground.
Harry Potter, used to the being’s antics, didn’t look up. He had no desire to encourage it further.
Death was immortal, thus it had all eternity to mumble its musings to absolutely no one. One would pity the being, if it weren’t a downright prat. The lowest of the lowest; it was an itch on Harry's arse that he couldn’t shake off no matter what.
But the most annoying aspect of Death was their bipolar personality.
Sure enough, with no forewarning to speak of, Death warped silently in front of him. However, it was not a skeleton who confronted Harry, but the image of Lord Voldemort, grinning like a maniac.
This, as unsettling as it could be to others, usually meant that Death was in a playful mood.
“Tom Riddle was an absolute marvellous name- but it doesn’t really match with my renewed persona, now does it, Harry?” it hissed silkily.
The now he-being made to touch him with taunting fingers.
“No touching,” Harry reminded him.
With a curse, Death flinched out of sight.
Harry snorted.
The entity’s moody retreat proved to be more of a façade than anything, because Harry immediately sensed Death’s new position, which happened to be directly behind him.
The young wizard continued scribing in his notebook, regardless.
“Paradoxes,” Death began with its ethereal tones. It prowled around him in circles, “are one of a kind.”
The sound of a page turning.
“Oh, time does have its redundancies, of course, but it doesn’t care for them.”
When it came back into sight, it was suddenly a female and Harry froze in anger when he realized what the being was doing.
After years of stalking him, Death knew exactly which buttons to press. Hermione was one of them. The mere sound of her caused him physical pain, product of much anger and longing.
“Surely, you must have heard of the Ouroboros? In Greek mythology, this giant snake is an ancient symbol which depicts cyclicality, or re-creation itself. Applied to time, this line of philosophy always reaches a very startling conclusion, one which is only surprising by its simplistic nature. And that is: time refers to itself!" The being sighed dreamily. "Civilizations, crumbling one after the other… I so love when there's tragedy abound. Why, the Muggles did indeed chase after those of magical blood once they were aware of their existence, did they not? Only this time, they weren’t grabbing torches and spears, were they?”
It was mocking him, as always.
“Yes, the Witch Burnings… Those must have been enjoyable times for you,” Harry said, frost covering every inflection of his response. He didn’t turn for fear of what he would find there.
“Nuclear warfare is much better,” Death sounded rather wistful. But of course it did. Death was always at home midst the suffering.
The Master of Death shuddered. “Figures it would appeal to you,” Harry snapped, closing his notebook shut. The look of his eyes now would have made Voldemort think twice before engaging in battle with him.
“War is a beautiful, beautiful thing, Master… A gift from creation its-”
“Don’t you ever use her,” he hissed. “Even less if you’re going to put those filthy words in her mouth!”
“Why you must restrict me so, Harry?” Death bemoaned. They were Dumbledore now.
Harry’s fist shook with tension as he turned around. Death’s disguise was impeccable as ever, down to those thrice damned twinkly eyes.
“It comes with the job description,” Harry said dryly, “Though I’d rather not have met you, ever, if possible.”
“It was only when he had attained a great age that the youngest brother finally took off the Cloak of Invisibility and gave it to his son. And then he greeted Death as an old friend, and went with him gladly, and, equals, they departed this life,” Death proclaimed solemnly and then broke into outrageous laughter.
Harry had never looked more unimpressed.
Death had mentioned his ancestor and this tale for countless of times. There was no lingering effect now.
“I get it,” he said, “Laugh it up, see where that gets you.”
Immediately, Dumbledore’s countenance snapped back to seriousness.
“Harry Potter,” Death breathed, “Everyone must face Death once their time on Earth is over.”
“I want to die, yet still here I am,” Harry smirked.
“Ah, yes,” Death hissed with venom. It strode forward, Dumbledore’s eccentric robes trailing behind like loveable hounds. Death reached for the Gaunt Ring only to be repelled instants later.
Hissing, Death’s disguise dropped as it cradled its hand. Without a form, it was just a conglomeration of shadows, but all of them writhed furiously, like a snake den.
In the event that Death pursued the retrieval of another of his long-lost creations, the same would occur. The Cloak, Antioch’s Wand and Harry's Pebble were always out of bounds for it.
“The three objects…” Death spat, “Together, at last.”
“You were tricked by the three brothers,” Harry muttered softly, “and these are the consequences of your actions.”
Enslaved for eternity…
… to its unwilling Master.
Death seemed to bristle - impossible to tell without any appearance to speak of - before settling for a form both were intrinsically familiar with.
Himself.
“Rub it in, won’t you,” Death mocked, sticking its tongue out in an effort to appear more childish.
Harry rolled his eyes.
“It’s the sole subject that you won’t laugh at. Of course, I’ll remind you of your blunder every time I can.”
Death glared at him. Its irises were impossibly darker than his own.
“So,” Harry said, “back to the matter at hand.” He waved his notebook emphatically. “Time travel.”
“Pointless,” Death drawled immediately, “Boring. Blooming cack.”
Harry frowned. “Explain,” he ordered.
Death seemed to straighten.
“Done, attempted and thought of countless of times,” it said, kicking inexistent rocks with its boots. “I must say, what you lack in age, you don’t compensate with originality, Master.”
“Let me sweeten the pot for you then,” Harry said, thinking quickly. “If I go back in time AND I achieve my goal, I will order you to make me pass away when we are old.”
Death didn’t outwardly react, but he could feel the being’s excitement through their connection.
“You’ll be Masterless once more,” Harry concluded with finality and the words carried to The Void, echoing around them.
“The objects will be returned to me.”
“You may have them, except for the Cloak,” Harry compromised.
Death bared his teeth threateningly. “The Cloak is my own!”
“You may never touch the Cloak nor trick anyone into giving it to you,” Harry narrowed his eyes, focusing his powers as Death’s Master in that single sentence. He knew better than to allow it complete reign over the universe, because it may not survive the catastrophe the next day. “Even if someone is stupid enough to hand it over to you willingly, you will reject it. The same goes if you stumble upon it on accident or if you actively seek it on your own. No help. You may never possess it, under any circumstances.”
The embodiment of Death struggled vainly against the imposed order, trembling with outrage when it couldn’t break free.
“Understood,” Death hissed with such roughness that made Harry wonder if it had spoken in Parseltongue.
“Good,” Harry nodded.
“As per our previous agreement,” he said as continuation, “you or any of your agents may not plot against me or mine, in any existential state, whether they be blood or bound to me by other means.”
“Would never dream of it,” Death uttered silkily, showing all teeth. A brutal glint appeared in his eye, “But your enemies, Master, are to be branded forever as my toys.”
Harry, who blinked rapidly in surprise, raised his both his eyebrows in disbelief.
Death laughed wickedly, making no effort to reveal what he had in mind for the to-be-doomed.
It was best that way, Harry reasoned warily. His mind alone could be cruel sometimes, but Death was on another whole level of his own.
“So… Do we have a deal?” he asked.
Death grinned widely, striding confidently up to him and meeting him with a firm handshake. Magic started crackling up a storm as soon as their hands touched.
“Oh, Harry Potter,” the being still wearing his body like a suit spoke with eerie graveness, its lips twitching upwards as Death seemed to age backwards in front of his eyes.
Avada Kedavra green glowed with power as they stared each other down.
“Do not worry. We do have a binding accord.”
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matan4il · 1 year
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Breaking the Tragedy
Kinnporsche vs Brokeback Mountain meta
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In honor of me finding out that Apo once tweeted the above poster of Brokeback Mountain with his and Mile’s pics photoshopped in, that Mile’s favorite LGBTQ movie is BBM and that for their trip to Seoul, they dressed in coordinated outfits reminiscent of BBM’s protagonists... I have lost yet another piece of my sanity and wrote some meta about KPTS vs BBM.
Brokeback Mountain the short story: America’s Greek Tragedy
I cannot do BBM justice if I don’t start by talking about the original short story that the movie is based on. I read it and it absolutely broke my heart. You think the movie is sad? It’s practically a joyous celebration in comparison with the source material.
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Because what Annie Proulx set out to write with her short story was an American version of a Greek tragedy. Let me explain how is a Greek tragedy, as a genre, different to tragedies in general. A tragedy is a story where our protagonist experiences an incredibly sad ending. A Greek tragedy is a story where our protagonist has a choice to make, but no matter what he chooses, he will experience an incredibly sad ending. In other words, in this genre, the real tragedy isn’t just that the ending is sad, it’s that there is no way for the ending to be anything other than sad. The impossibility of avoiding a devastating fate, THAT is the true tragedy of life.
Often this means that in Greek tragedies, the protagonist will monologue about the choice that they have, explaining to the audience why, no matter what they choose, the ending would be dire for them. The classic example is Antigone. Her brothers rebelled against her city, which is ruled by her tyrant uncle, and they were killed. The uncle, as punishment for their betrayal, decrees that his nephews would not be buried (condemning their souls eternally) and that anyone giving their bodies a proper burial will be executed. Antigone is in torment. On the one hand, human laws make it impossible for her to bury her brothers. If she does, she will be killed herself. She’s young, she’s in love, she’s about to marry her beloved, she has so much in life to look forward to. On the other hand, divine laws decree that as a sister, she must bring the bodies to burial and give their souls eternal rest, it would be a sin against her family and the gods if she doesn’t. So whatever she chooses, she’s doomed.
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In her short story, Annie Proulx sets out to demonstrate the Greek tragedy that is the fate of gay people in the society she’s describing in her book of short stories, Close Range: Wyoming Stories. It’s a hyper-masculine, homophobic society in which non-heterosexual people have no right to exist. What Proulx tries to show is that queer people are damned no matter what choice they make in such a society, whether they pursue their love or stay deeply closeted. She will not have a protagonist who monologues about the impossibility of this choice, but she can have two characters, one choosing the former option, the other choosing the latter, and show the miserable ending that both meet.
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That’s who Jack and Ennis are in her short story. Jack is the guy who simply can’t remain closeted. He doesn’t come out in the modern sense of the word, but he finds he can’t stand being fully closeted, because he’s in love with Ennis. The short story makes it clear that it’s not just about attraction (an attraction not seemingly based on looks. Proulx gives a less than flattering physical description of them) and sex (though their sex is canonically damn good). What they offer each other is a mutual understanding and therefore comfort that they don’t get from anyone else in their life, not even their own families. That’s what keeps them tethered to each other, that’s what keeps them hooked even when settling with women would make everything so much easier. They do try that. But Jack is SO in love with Ennis that he’s just too damn miserable in his marriage. Jack’s wife simply can’t give him what Ennis can, and that means there is this emotional void that he can’t live with and she can’t fill. He tries to get more of Ennis, Jack has this dream that he at first keeps to himself but eventually has to share about the kind of life they might lead together, one where they wouldn’t declare who they are to anyone, but they’d live together, so they’d get to share the sorrows and joys of every single day with each other. They’d get to enjoy the warmth and love that comes with mutual understanding and comfort on a daily basis.
Ennis can’t accept this dream. He knows what happens to men who dare live like that, his father made sure his kids would see with their own eyes how a man like that was murdered. So Ennis knows how society will punish them and that they can’t lead a life that’s even semi-open about who they are to each other. He doesn’t share the dream and he chooses to settle for the few times they can get away from the heteronormative lies they’re living.
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In an attempt to resist the draw he constantly feels back to Ennis, Jack turns to sex with other men. It’s still not what he longs for, but it’s better than his marriage, because at least having sex with these men is one step closer physically to what he misses when he can’t be with Ennis. Eventually, he settles into an affair with another man who would come and live with him. Jack takes what he can get, even though it’s not what he really wants. Ennis is still the love of his life, the man whose shirt Jack keeps in his closet to the end, entangled with his own, mingled dry blood and all, Ennis is the reason why Jack wanted his ashes scattered on Brokeback Mountain. Between the two impossible choices Annie Proulx lays out, Jack chooses the closest thing he can have to his dream of living his life openly with the love of his life.
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Ennis finds out that Jack was murdered for this. And at this point, it seems like out of the two, Ennis had made the smarter choice, the one of hiding who he is as much as possible. He’s still alive, he seemingly didn’t pay the price homophobia demands. Except that’s not true. Proulx then goes on to show us the real tragedy of a society that so fully embraces this type of hatred. It’s that EVERY queer person pays a price, no matter what choice they make, even if that price is invisible to us. Ennis is alive, but upon learning that Jack has been murdered, his heart dies. He becomes a ghost. All he is from this point on is a shadow of longing for Jack, hanging their two intertwined shirts in Ennis’ trailer, waking up every morning from dreams about Jack, wanting something that can never again be. There are no happy endings, there are no good choices for queer people where homophobia prevails.
Brokeback Mountain the movie: a softer lens
The movie tones that down. For the most part it follows the original short story with only a few elaborations that IMO don’t change the meaning of the source material by much. Except for the ending. That’s when Ennis’ daughter comes to talk to him, and they have a kind of reconciliation. The movie lets us understand he’s going to be there for her despite not being there before. Ennis also puts some roots down when he installs a mailbox, signaling both finding a place he’ll be connected to again (whereas the Ennis at the end of the short story is still very much adrift, not knowing what tomorrow will bring, not even where he’ll stay) and implying he’ll once again have someone writing to him. This doesn’t exist in the short story. By the end of the story, Ennis’ oldest daughter is already married, they have no special conversation about her wedding, and the only reason why she’s mentioned is that he might have to crash with her for a while if he can’t find any other solution in between jobs. Jack was the love of Ennis’ life, he’s gone, nothing will bring him back, nothing will give them the life they should have had together. There is no comfort, there is no consolation prize in Proulx’s tale. You can’t fix a Greek tragedy. You just gotta stand it.
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So the movie is different. It’s not an inevitable tragedy that cannot be escaped and cannot be healed. The film ends instead with an offering that every life (even one in which everything that was ever important to you seems lost and unfixable) can hold some solace. Lost the love of your life? Experiencing immeasurable grief without even having the possibility to talk about it to anyone? You can still be there for your daughter’s wedding. You can still do one thing right. Does that fix it all? No. BBM the movie does recount a tragedy. It does follow a powerful love story and its destruction. But the film isn’t a Greek tragedy, either. You might have lost almost everything because of homophobia, the movie says, but you can have something.
At the same time, something both versions have in common is the title (obviously) which refers to the mountain where Jack and Ennis fell in love, the place that broke their lives and turned them into tragedies. This mountain becomes an image in their minds, a symbol of that moment in time when they were young, in love, happy and had the illusion that they always could be. Both versions tell the story of an all-encompassing love and the devastating effect of losing it due to homophobia, even if the film’s criticism is somewhat softened by the more hopeful ending.
Kinnporsche the Series: breaking the tragedy
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On the most basic level, KPTS is easily comparable to BBM because they’re both set in a tough, hyper-masculine, demanding and merciless world. One might argue that Kinn and Porsche are in an even worse version of that than Jack and Ennis, because the mafia world is also a violent one by its very nature, whereas BBM tells the story of a society that is supposed to be civilized, though in reality its violence lies under the surface. The threat of it is very real for gay people, as our protagonists both learn firsthand, but that’s because homophobia provides a small break in the surface where violence can erupt with society choosing to turn a blind eye to it.
But against expectations, Kinn and Porsche exist in a hyper-masculine world that does not fall into the pit of homophobia. It’s not that homophobia doesn’t exist in their world at all. We do know that somewhere out there, people are homophobic in the society that the characters of KPTS live in. The show doesn’t deal too much with it, because our protagonists are simply spared any encounters with this homophobia, at least on screen.
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How do we know that it does exist in their society? There are small hints, like Porsche being told in ep 108 that “Love is love” (first stated by Jom, then repeated by Yok). We all know this to be an anti-homophobia statement, and there is no need for it in this world had it been free of that kinda hate. But the matter is most explicitly brought up after Porsche discovers Kinn is gay. It turns out, Porsche is shocked not because of this revelation, but because Big sent him into Kinn’s bedroom, despite knowing about the sexy times happening there. But then Porsche realizes Big expected him to have a homophobic reaction, and so he goes off about that. This moment tells us Porsche himself isn’t homophobic, but he is aware of the existence of such attitudes.
This scene also points to the existence of homophobia in this world by hinting Porsche’s guess regarding Big is correct. After all, Porsche was bragging about having gone to the sauna together with Kinn, and that he would invite Big next time, implying there’s been a change in who is now the favorite bodyguard. Big, who is secretly in love with Kinn, was obviously jealous and wanted to do something that would destroy this newfound closeness. Big sent Porsche into that bedroom to witness Kinn’s gay sexcapades, expecting that the presumed heterosexual Porsche would react in a homophobic manner and would wanna get as far away as possible from their gay boss. In fact, Big lurks outside Kinn’s bedroom, and he’s completely unsurprised to see Porsche fleeing and shocked. Big’s confusion only starts when Porsche explains the actual source of his distress. Big’s bafflement indicates to us that homophobia was, in fact, the reaction that he was counting on.
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Last thing about this scene which tells us that homophobia does exist somewhere in the background of KPTS’ world is Kinn’s own reaction. We discover that he was close by and heard the entire exchange between Porsche and Big. If homophobia was not an issue, then Porsche revealing himself to be free of it wouldn’t have mattered to Kinn so much. But instead, we witness this big grin blooming on his face, as he stands there, happy and literally illuminated. We never hear whether Kinn himself had ever suffered homophobia. As a mafia prince, he might have been spared its repercussions. But he’s aware of it enough that he must have known there’s a chance Porsche, who had up until then been straight and assumed others around him to be as well, would be homophobic. That’s what Kinn’s smile tells us, it’s his joy and relief that this guy he’s started having feelings for does not harbor that prejudice. And that whole bit doesn’t work, that smile isn’t anywhere near as meaningful, that scene doesn’t require the metaphor of illumination, unless homophobia does exist in KPTS’ world.
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(as a side note, since I brought up Porsche’s sexuality, I’ll mention that in both stories we have guys who are presumed straight by their environment, by the narrative and even by themselves, and who discover their attraction to another man. In neither story do we get clear answers and definitions for how they identify, for example as gay or bisexual, in any modern sense. In Jack and Ennis’ case, claiming their identity by defining it would simply be too dangerous due to the homophobia around, not to mention the bits of it that they have internalized. When it comes to Porsche, there’s no need for labels, because those simply don’t matter to him. “Love is love,” he’s in love with Kinn, and that’s all Porsche needs to know the second that he accepts these feelings. He is unsure at first over never having dated a guy before, but when he talks to Yok about it in 108, he sounds more confused over not knowing how to date than about the fact that he’s looking to romance another guy)
KPTS offers us a hyper-masculine setting that co-exists with homophobia, but is mostly untouched by it. Through all the challenges KPTS’ protagonists have to face, none are about being attracted to another man. If BBM tells us how homophobia destroys people, KPTS presents a picture of how they can thrive in its absence. Because while the finale isn’t complete (as I indicated in my KPTS s2 meta), this show’s ending is still a tale of how love between two men saves the day.
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Which brings me to another point. I think the biggest resemblance between KPTS and BBM comes when we consider the tagline for the movie. “Love is a force of nature,” the film’s poster reads, as Jack and Ennis’ portraits take up most of its space, seemingly bigger than the mountain their love was born on. BBM at the end of the day might be about the tragedy of homophobia, but it also affirms the undeniable power of love, so overwhelming that nothing can truly stop it. After all, not even what he experienced as the ultimate rejection could make Jack stop loving Ennis, and death itself couldn’t make Ennis stop loving Jack.
We see something so similar with Kinn and Porsche’s story as well. When they meet, they’re both men who aren’t looking for love or happiness. They’re both settling for just sex. One had been betrayed by a former lover so badly that he doesn’t believe in love anymore, the other has never even given love a chance because he’s too dedicated to raising his kid brother, leaving himself emotionally unavailable for a relationship. But when they meet each other? That’s a whirlwind that throws their lives into disarray, opens them up to love and to the possibility of loving someone who’s different than they expected (Porsche falling for a man, Kinn falling for someone who fights back, unlike the appeasing, docile men he’s been with before), and saves them from being destroyed by hurt even as they experience betrayals of all kinds.
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And so unsurprisingly, these two epic love stories have many similarities. KPTS and BBM alike, perhaps precisely because of that hyper-masculine context they portray, give us protagonists whose first time acting on their mutual attraction involves alcohol being consumed by both men. For Kinnporsche, it’s their first kiss in 103, which follows partying up together at Yok’s bar. For Jack and Ennis, it’s the first time they have sex after they’ve drunk so much that Ennis can’t leave the camp for the night by riding away. Which inevitably leads to another similarity between these two couples, that this is a starter happening on a physical level, but it will lead both down a path of emotions realization.
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Of course, emotions are complicated, especially for men who aren’t that great at communicating (which tends to be almost all of them when we’re talking about guys who exist in hyper-masculine settings). Jack and Ennis, when they have to part ways and they don’t know how to express the pain of that, they end up throwing punches at each other on their last day on Brokeback Mountain. Similarly, Kinn and Porsche, when they care about each other so much, but the possibility of Vegas coming between them arises, they end up turning to a shove, a slap and some insults, hurting each other because they themselves are in pain. But since this is also just a symptom of how much they care about each other, then eventually, in both cases, it is the depth of their feelings for each other that helps them to overcome their trouble in communication. They return to and help heal each other.
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Then, there’s also that understanding and comfort these men offer each other. In BBM, the peak of this is represented in a moment when Ennis pulls an exhausted Jack to him and repeats words he had heard as a kid from his mom. This is the softness and care that drives them out into the wilderness several times a year, no matter what else is happening in their lives, and into each other’s arms. Despite all the hurt Ennis caused Jack on their last day together on Brokeback Mountain and on every occasion when Ennis rejects Jack’s dream of living together, in spite of all other measures Jack turns to in order to deal with the hurt, he never stops seeing Ennis, untangles their shirts or changes his will. On Ennis’ part, even when Alma tells him she knows his secret, even when he realizes his life could be in danger because he and Jack were not as invisible as he thought they were despite their precautions, Ennis doesn’t stop seeing Jack either. They are bonded together. And that’s what we see with Kinn and Porsche, too. No matter what surprises are thrown at them, no matter what betrayals, no matter how reality is twisted around them to make them doubt their own minds, they don’t stop trusting each other. They keep choosing each other throughout the show and especially during the finale. And their trust and understanding is also built on tender moments, similar to the one Jack and Ennis shared, such as when Porsche is taking care of Kinn’s hair, reminiscent of how Kinn says his mother used to do the same for him when he was a kid.
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Lastly, these great love affairs aren’t just a bond of compulsion, where they have to return to each other. They’re also a bond of choice, a commitment that they want to make, even if it’s not one that society is ready to recognize. “Jack, I swear,” says Ennis to a pair of shirts he has just hung in his trailer next to a postcard of Brokeback Mountain, two shirts that Jack joined together and Ennis would never put asunder. A symbolic wedding vow. Their own little ceremony that they end up sharing by virtue of Ennis continuing what Jack had started even after he isn’t there anymore. This symbolic commitment is one we also see with KPTS in ep 114, first when we know Kinn is the one who has put a ring on Porsche’s finger (one that matches his own and marks them as partners who lead their extended mafia family together), and second when they exchange their own vows on the boat. It’s the same one where Kinn demanded Porsche’s life as his bodyguard back in ep 101 and was refused, but this time Porsche is committing his whole life to Kinn and is being promised in return that he’d be treasured.
Kinn and Porsche broke the inevitably tragic nature of the BBM world. At the end of it all, it’s not only the relative absence of homophobia that makes the difference. That detail is crucial! Their story would have been completely different if they would have had to cope with what Jack and Ennis did. But another element that makes a difference is the trust in each other that Kinn and Porsche manage to build. I’ve talked about the importance of that in my previous Kinnporsche meta posts (about the sex scene in 107, as well as KPTS s2 meta) and how we can tell that they would have eventually beaten any adversary and all hardships thanks to that. It’s something that Jack and Ennis, as much as they loved each other, didn’t manage to get to. They never learn to trust each other enough to communicate properly. Ennis is afraid of Jack’s wrath when he has to cancel one of their planned meetings, so he keeps it a secret until the very end of their current tryst. Jack knows better than to share with Ennis what he does with other men in order to get over the emotional loneliness he experiences whenever they part. Maybe in a less homophobic society, they would get to where they stop disappointing each other and could have faith in one another.
So that trust that Kinn and Porsche put in each other? That’s actually a huge thing. Because in a sense, Kinn and Porsche’s backgrounds as they unfold at the end of KPTS unveil they easily could have ended up as a tragedy as well. Their story is that of two young men who are caught in a war started before they were even born by Kinn’s cruel grandfather who we never even see on screen. This head of the family is cold and manipulative, turning brother against his own brother and shaping both his sons into being like him. He’s also responsible for violent acts, one of which brings Porsche’s mom as a young girl into the lives of his sons, setting off a whole chain of events that will end with the bloody war between the two mafia families that we witness in the finale. This is precisely the type of background that in Greek mythology curses a whole family and dooms all of its members, even the ones born generations later. In fact, it’s those younger generations who become the very essence of Greek tragedy. They are fated to meet a terrible end no matter what they choose to do, despite them not being responsible for any of the atrocities that curse their family, and their fate is set before they were even conceived.
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Kinn and Porsche could have easily become these tragic figures as well. But KPTS breaks the cycle of tragedy through the bond its protagonists created. Where the family of Kinn and Porsche is torn apart by hate and envy, they change the course of their fate by finding love together, as well as a desire to support and make each other happy. And where Jack and Ennis failed to trust each other, Kinn and Porsche manage to build that foundation, and make it a stable one. That’s powerful enough that when the events of the past start surfacing, whether more recent (Vegas and Tawan) or less (Korn and Gun, Porsche’s parents), threatening to tear our lovers’ faith in themselves and the other one apart, they manage to hold on, trust and choose each other still. Which leads us to that last scene on the boat, the one where they commit themselves to one another, sealed by them physically holding each other, safe in the knowledge that they’re truly and completely in love, that they would die for each other, and that, thankfully, now they get to do something better. They get to do what Jack and Ennis could only dream of. They get to live the rest of their lives with each other.
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more: (pool sex mini meta) (all my KPTS meta on AO3)
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As a bonus, here’s Brokeback Mountain’s theme, and Jeff Satur’s Why Don’t You Stay. They’re not similar, but WDYS’ opening always reminded me a little of bits of the BBM theme.
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