#with textual evidence AND two outside sources

[myboyherodotus]

BSD Chapter 113 Historical Analysis

Basically, I can put my History and Religious Studies Degree and put that shit to use and do some good for society

Essentially, I think chapter 113 left us clues for hinting at the bigger themes of Bungo Stray Dogs and possibly some insight into Fyodor's motivation for being caught by Bram. This might get long so buckle up bitch.

OH AND I THINK I FIGURED OUT THE EXACT YEAR THE DUNGEON MEMORY TAKES PLACE

Okay, so the first thing to understand is the contemporary events mentioned in Chapter 113. The guards and Bram mention King Matthias, the Sultan, and the Holy Crusaders.

The Crusades, for those of you who don't know, are a series of so-called Holy Wars whose main objective was the "reclamation" of the Holy Land. However, not all crusades had this objective. There were several crusades within Europe itself. These wars, like the Cathar Crusade, were aimed at driving out paganism or "heretical” sects of Christianity. While the main Crusades happened centuries before the Dungeon scene took place (the first official Crusade happening in 1095) there existed later Crusades that often sought to limit the authority and scope of the Ottoman Empire. Which is also mentioned in the chapter with "Sultan"

Now the Sultan mentioned is Mehemed II, often referred to as the Father of Conquest. He was in power when King Matthias (Matthias was the King of Hungary and Croatia) ruled and often fought to expand Ottoman territory into the lands Matthias ruled.

Now, you know who else was a contemporary ruler? Our boy Vlad Dracul, the inspiration behind Bram Stoker's Dracula.

Now, Vlad Dracul was the ruler of Wallachia, which is basically Romania today. Now it is my belief that Bram Stoker. like a lot of characters in BSD, is inspired by the tale of Dracula and not the actual Bram Stoker. But, I think instead of using the character of Dracula, Asagiri is using Vlad Dracul (also known as Vlad Tepes) as Bram's inspiration. This is for two reasons. 1. The castle depicted in the manga is the same castle Vlad ruled from 2. Bram states that he wants Fyodor skewed like a little shrimpy on the grill. Vlad Dracul got his bloodthirsty reputation by impaling his enemies and leaving their heads on pikes outside his castle for several months at a time. In fact, I forget the exact quote, but a visitor of the castle during Vlad's reign said you could smell the decaying rotten flesh for miles before arriving at the castle. This is why Bram Stoker wrote Dracula based on Vlad Dracul.

Now as for the specific year the memory takes place, I personally believe it takes place in the year 1462, either summer or early fall. Once again this is based on the textual evidence given in the manga... The guards are clearly nervous about the sultan, who we have established is Mehemed II. This guy is responsible for the downfall of the Byzantine (or Eastern Roman Empire) and founded the Ottoman Empire. He also has beef with Vlad since Vlad brutally killed Ottoman envoys sent to Wallachia in an attempt to make Wallachia a vassal state for the Ottomans. Moreover, 1462 was the year that Vlad was imprisoned by King Matthias till his release in 1475. During this time Wallachia was essentially conquered. Vlad died between 1476 and 1477 (the sources don't have a specific date).

Now historically speaking there is reason as to why King Matthias imprisoned Vlad. A letter, which a lot of scholars think was made up, allegedly claimed Vlad pledged his allegiance to the Ottomans to help them conquer Hungary and Croatia. Now, strictly speaking for the events of the manga, having Bram imprisoned and/or taken out of power sounds like something Fyodor would do. So it makes sense that in the manga he would have something to do with Bram being imprisoned. If Bram is imprisoned that is to say since we still don't have clear motives for that.

It should also be noted that Fyodor warns Bram that the "Gods of Warfare come from the West”. historically speaking it was the Ottoman Empire that caused Wallachia problems and not the Holy Roman Empire aka the Romans mentioned in the chapter. The only reason I can think of the guards and Bram suspecting "holy crusaders" and "Romans" is because of their differing religious beliefs. Now Wallachia followed Orthodox Christianity while Romans obviously followed Roman Catholic traditions. Protestantism wasn't a thing yet, but these two groups were already tense and there have been several major conflicts (like the Crusades I mentioned earlier) and schisms within the church.

So, this is the only thing I could think of, but I'm not sure of what Fyodor's play is at here. Maybe he's an immortal being wanting to rid the world of abilities and having Bram Stoker in chaos would help in advance that goal. Maybe he can take people's life forces away like I've seen a lot of people suggest. I don't know. And the whole "come from the West" quote is the one thing throwing me off. Overall, I would love to know if Asagiri used any sources from the period to influence this memory scene, and if so...I wanna know which one's bestie!!

Please let me know what you think! If I just rambled or if my sleep-deprived thoughts and research make any semblance of sense. I would also love to know any fun theories and/or facts you have about this chapter or BSD in general. Also, would pictures be helpful?

#bsd #bsd manga #bsd spoilers #bungo stray dogs #bsd chapter 113 #bsd bram #bsd fyodor #bsd sigma #History Analysis #I hope to god this made sense #bsd analysis

[tanadrin]

@intimate-mirror

a lot of the scholarship, like a lot of english department scholarship in general, is really bad and makes stupid assumptions @tanadrin some things I've seen are 1. criterion of embarrassment used effectively in a negative way where all claims that are not embarrassing are labeled as probably false 2. "these are written in different styles, so they have to have different authors" I'm exaggerating a bit, but only a bit.

point 2 here is a drastic oversimplification of the documentary hypothesis. it's not just that the different sources use different words for god (although that on its own is interesting), it's that you can separate these sources, and get distinct stories with their own beginnings, middles, and ends that don't have the problems of the original texts (confused details, repeated episodes, out-of-context scenes), and their own governing thematic concerns. moreover, there are pretty specific hypotheses for why the sources would have been combined in the way they are, based on the material constraints on the production of ancient scrolls.

liane feldman, for instance, has a complete translation of P ("The Consuming Fire: The Complete Priestly Source from Creation to the Promised Land") and in her interview with dan mcclellan on his podcast she talks about how it is effectively a complete text. now, obviously, there are details of the documentary hypothesis that are debated--i think the traditional four-source version is considered out of date by some scholars, who instead argue for two or three sources onto which other elements gradually accreted that were never a standalone text themselves--but the scholarship is way more sophisticated than "these passages are in a slightly different style, and therefore they must have different authors." these are theories that produce pretty specific and coherent claims, and even if they're by and large not testable in the sense we have very ancient sources we can consult directly (outside of the occasional find like the Dead Sea Scrolls), they're testable in the sense that you can marshal specific points of evidence for and against them and make reasonable judgements based on the balance of probability.

a lot of points of textual criticism do dovetail with other disciplines like archeology, comparative mythology, historical linguistics, etc. so i think it's either disingenuous or ignorant to paint textual criticism as operating in a kind of methodological vacuum and proceeding entirely on nebulous suppositions.

#then again i guess if you're a 'the curtains are blue' type #any systematic investigation of a textual artifact must seem like a strange endeavor to you #because the process of authorship is fundamentally a black box #where outputs have no reason to correlate to any particular input #but i think we can stretch our capacity for reason a *little* beyond that point #even if we cannot always arrive at uncontroversial answers for every question we pose

[slowtides]

I teach writing at a university level, and I just had a student submit something that I believe is probably AI generated because it is very broad and nondescript, with limited textual evidence, and the textual evidence it does use is completely made up (it does not exist in the original document they are analyzing). It's for a rough draft, and during the conference, I asked him point blank if he used AI to write any of it, and I explained why I was asking. He denied using AI and said he was just using outside sources. He also said that he has no idea how to use AI.

I had to make a decision about whether I call this student a liar (he is a bilingual student who has been struggling to attend class due to personal issues). I decided that at the end of the day, it didn't matter, because the essay was unacceptable whether it was AI-generated or not. So I dropped the AI conversation and instead focused on pointing out ways he could improve his essay, ways his essay did not meet the prompt requirements, etc. I also gave him an extension that I had offered to two other students who had issues with their drafts because of extensive absences.

My rationale for this is that the only thing I would gain by accusing this student of being a liar is the satisfaction of proving myself right. It would not help the student become a better writer, it would not address the root cause of the issue, and it would not foster trust between me and the student. Instead, it would turn a learning opportunity into a punishment and it would alienate the student to an extent that would keep them from succeeding in the class. And I would risk further marginalizing a multiply-marginalized student whose language practices are already contested in academic spaces. Which is probably the most important thing to me.

So instead I gave him a path forward--I gave him more opportunities for revision and feedback, and I also gave him more time. And for a student who works, who commutes to campus, and who is clearly struggling, it seems like that better addresses the situation that might have led him to use AI in the first place. To me, so long as there isn't a clear academic policy on AI writing (which there isn't a consensus about whether it is technically plagiarism so?), it's just not worth potentially harming a student. Hopefully this was a learning opportunity for him, and he has more of an idea about how to succeed in the class.

What do y'all think? If you are a teacher, would you have handled it differently? Why/why not? This is my first time encountering something like this, so I'm really open to your thoughts and ideas.

#chat gpt #AI writing #composition studies

[thatswhatsushesaid]

so I just noticed this in the notes of one of my reblogs:

could you just... back up your statements with support from the text to explain why you "honestly think" something about the principle antagonist's most important formative relationship?? because while I can easily see jgy feeling intense shame over his mother's profession--over how her sex work has left him 'tainted' in a way that will never be washed away no matter how desperately he tries to construct a pristine reputation for himself--'shame' and 'resentment' are two very different emotions, and I currently see zero support for this claim based on my own reading. but as it is, I can't even go look at the sections of the text that might even support a reading like this because you didn't include a chapter or a page number you absolute doorknob!!

why is citing the text not something that is commonly done in this fandom outside of, quite frankly, discussions between fans of jgy? I'm so confused.

if you want to change someone's mind about a character or a plot element, don't just drop your garbage thoughts down with no textual sources to back up your garbage claims and assume that your word alone is going to convince me, or anyone else, of anything. you are entitled to your opinion, obviously, but until you show your work and cite your sources, your opinion is just, like, your opinion, man.

until you show your work, I'm just going to assume you haven't done any work. and until you do the work, your reading of the text is not as defendable as a reading done by someone who can back up their interpretations with direct textual evidence.

#he did crimes??? good for him 😌 #god this shit was taught to me when I was 15 in high school #jin guangyao #fine i'll put it in the tags because i'm spicy today

[queer-starwars-bracket]

FAQ

What should I be judging characters on?

Whatever you want. How much you like the character. How good it is as representation. Some combination of the two. We just hope you take the time to read the description written for each character so that the non-movie characters have a fighting chance.

2. Why is the bracket organized the way it is?

The bracket is broken up first by continuity. First Legends characters and characters from the novel Ronin will compete amongst themselves. Once only one of them remains, they’ll be integrated into the main tournament next round. The New EU tournament is also broken up with the idea of reverse seeding, making the most popular characters compete against each other in the first round to keep them from dominating the tournament. There are two other “mini-brackets”, one consisting of all of Doctor Aphra’s exes and the other consisting of all of the non-binary bounty hunter bosses from Jedi Survivor. There are also two scripted matches: Moff Moors vs Aleskin/Pavol for being kind of problematic and Adrellia/Odellia vs Thandeka/Dima as the two generations of Eiram queens are pretty similar. Beyond that, all matches are decided randomly. If there are ever an even number of passes occurring in the entire tournament, things will be reshuffled even if it involved someone competing outside of their heat. After the first round, there may be some shuffling of the bracket to prevent passes where possible.

3. Why are some characters running as a couple?

When a couple doesn’t have many individual character traits and have really only appeared in stories together, they will be competing as a pair. This only really applies to supporting characters, as main character ships will have individually defined characters.

4. Why did you use x identity?

Specific orientation labels are difficult in Star Wars, as they do not exist in-universe. We’ve used wlw/mlm when a character has expressed same-gender attraction but there has been no textual or authorial clarification that they don’t have different gender-attraction.. Playersexual is a term when it comes to representation in video games describing characters whose only expressed attraction is to the player character in a non-gender locked romance. I elaborate on this decision here, as well as link a video on the topic by a bisexual person. If mistakes were made regarding author clarification regarding labels or instances of different gender attraction were missed, please let us know. However, only asks/DMs with sources included will be considered.

5. Why did/didn’t you include x?

Characters are only included if they have textual or word of god evidence of them being queer. Characters who have only been mentioned were decided on a case by case basis based on how much is known about them. Characters who are named and appear in a story were automatically included, regardless of how minor their role was. Characters with alternate alien gender systems were included, with such things being specified in their label.

Kallus and Zeb: While Kallus and Zeb seem like a prototypical heavily implied by not actually confirmed same gender ship, it was decided to include them without official clarification because the canon ships Flix/Orca and Chass/Yrica have the same level of textual evidence, but were meant as romantic relationships. If Kallus and Zeb were a f/m couple it would be considered obvious that they were together. This is different from something like Finnpoe, which doesn’t have quite as much textual support. Or even Chirrut/Baze, where the novelization has them think of each other as brothers.

Ahsoka Tano: The Ahsoka novel gets right up to the line of establishing that Ahsoka reciprocates Kaeden’s feelings. The author, EK Johnson, was simply limited it being awkward to fit a full romance in the story and the requirement of the story group. We weren’t quite in the era yet where a well known character could be quietly established as queer in a book.

X’ian/the male Twi'lek server in BoBF: They weren’t included in the bracket because it's unknown if the costuming details that make them seem trans are supposed to be diegetic. They will have to wait for an author to take the detail and make it canon.

List of characters in the bracket

#faq #info post #star wars #queer rep #sw #information

[pearlyanez]

Week 5: Movie post - Dune. By Pearl Yanez

TWO critical quotations:

Quote 1: "He who controls the spice controls the universe." - Princess Irulan, Dune (1984)

I find this quote interesting because it speaks to the central theme of the film, which is the power struggle over the valuable resource known as "spice." It also highlights the importance of control and the lengths that individuals will go to attain it.

Quote 2: "Fear is the mind-killer." - Paul Atreides, Dune (1984)

This quote is intriguing because it reflects the film's exploration of fear and its effects on individuals and societies. It also ties into the film's focus on mental and physical training, as characters like Paul must learn to overcome their fear in order to achieve their goals.

TWO pieces of historical evidence:

The following are two historical events that took place in the same year Dune was released.

Gandhi Assassination = https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1984/10/31/gunmen-assassinate-prime-minister-gandhi/5eba271c-85db-49a4-b605-d3b5cf89c1fc

On October 31, 1984, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two members of her own security detail. The United News of India reported that she was shot outside her residence and rushed to the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, where she later died. According to sources at the hospital, she was shot in the heart and had several bullet wounds in her abdomen. The news agency reported that the two gunmen were killed on the spot by other security guards, while an officer of the security police was injured and "overpowered." An unidentified caller later claimed responsibility and declared, "We have taken our revenge, long live the Sikh religion."

2. Widespread Famine in Ethiopia after political conflict = https://www.worldvision.org/disaster-relief-news-stories/1980s-ethiopia-famine-facts

In 1984, Ethiopia faced a devastating famine that killed many people. Aid organizations, including World Vision, responded to the crisis and provided relief to those in need. However, it was the BBC reporter Michael Buerk who brought the famine to the attention of the world with his reporting from a feeding site. This led to a massive influx of donations and support for relief efforts. As quoted from the article, "When BBC reporter Michael Buerk, traveling with World Vision, brought stories and images from a feeding site to home television sets in October 1984, masses were moved to donate to the relief efforts."

TWO PIECES OF TEXTUAL EVIDENCE:

Textual Resource 1: A clip from the movie featuring the sandworms

I find this clip appealing because it showcases one of the most iconic and memorable aspects of the Dune universe: the gigantic sandworms that inhabit the desert planet of Arrakis. The special effects used to bring these creatures to life are also impressive, especially for a film from 1984.

Textual Resource 2: A single image of the Fremen

I find this image interesting because it captures the look and feel of the Fremen, a group of desert-dwelling warriors who play a significant role in the film's plot. The image showcases their distinctive clothing, as well as the harsh, unforgiving environment in which they live.

Basic Questions:

Basic Facts and Context: "Dune" is a science-fiction film directed by David Lynch and released in 1984. The film is based on a book by the same title, written by Frank Herbert and follows the story of Paul Atreides (Kyle MacLachlan), a young nobleman who must lead his people in a struggle against the evil House Harkonnen and its allies in the intergalactic empire.

Critical Reception: "Dune" was a commercial disappointment upon its release and received mixed reviews from critics. While some praised the film's visual style and production design, others criticized its convoluted plot, uneven pacing, and lack of character development. Since the film's release, it has gained a cult following and has been reappraised by some critics as a flawed but ambitious work of science fiction.

Historical Context: "Dune" was released during a period of renewed interest in science fiction and fantasy films, following the success of "Star Wars" and "The Lord of the Rings." The film's themes of political intrigue, environmentalism, and spirituality reflect broader cultural anxieties of the era, including concerns about global warming, nuclear war, and the rise of religious fundamentalism.

Style, Look-and-Feel: "Dune" has a distinctive visual style and look-and-feel that sets it apart from other science fiction films of its era. The film features elaborate sets and costumes, as well as innovative special effects that were cutting-edge at the time of its release. The film's sound design, including its use of ambient noise and whispered inner monologues, also adds to its dreamlike and otherworldly atmosphere.

How is the movie conventional vs. unconventional?: "Dune" is a film that blends conventional and unconventional elements, particularly in its storytelling and characterization. On one hand, the film follows many of the conventions of the science fiction and fantasy genres, including the use of epic battles, mystical powers, and a hero's journey narrative. On the other hand, the film subverts some of these genre conventions by featuring a complex and often inscrutable plot that can be difficult for audiences to follow. The film's characterization is also unconventional, with many of the characters lacking clear motivations or emotional depth. Overall, "Dune" is a film that tries to push the boundaries of the science fiction genre, but ultimately falls short of its ambitions.

#Youtube

[vitaminlong]

De bene esse meaning

Jowitt's Dictionary of English Law, Volume I, page 551-552. The Wiky Legal Encyclopedia covers legislation, case law, regulations and doctrine in the United States, Europe, Asia, South America, Africa, UK, Australia and around the world, including international law and comparative law.Duhaime, Lloyd, Legal Definition of Letters Rogatory. The use of Hansard Part2 the use of hansard part2 the de bene esse approach this means what judge may take point de bene esse, which means he or she will.In those instances, the witness is normally a willing witness." REFERENCES: Thus, in A-Dec Inc., Justice Bouck used these words: "An examination de bene esse (is) an examination, out of court and before trial, of witnesses who are old, dangerously ill, or about to leave the country, on the terms that, if the witnesses continue ill or absent, their evidence be read at the trial, but if they recover or return, the evidence may be taken in the usual manner. or very infirm, the deposition of such person may be taken de bene esse, before any justice or judge of any of the courts of the United States. This meaning is found in such words as: benediction, benefactor, beneficent, beneficial, benefit. Indeed, the most usual form of de bene esse is to take a deposition or an examination of a person in circumstances outside of litigation when the examination occurs, but in anticipation thereof. bene- comes from Latin, where it has the meaning well. This is called ‘taking evidence de bene esse.’ and is looked upon as a temporary and conditional examination, to be used only in case the witness cannot afterwards be examined in the suit in the regular way. Venia, from the Latin meaning grace, indulgence or favor is frequently used in legal Spanish in at least two different contexts. The plaintiff was not bound to use it if he did not wish to do so." This evidence therefore was taken for what it was worth. "It is regarded as an additional examination to be utilized if necessary only in the event that witnesses cannot be examined later in the action in the regular way. "To do a thing de bene esse signifies allowing or accepting certain evidence for the present until more fully examined. Of well being of formal sufficiency for the time conditionally provisionally. For guidance on citing De Bene Esse (giving attribution as required by the CC BY licence), please see below our recommendation of "Cite this Entry".In The Camosun case, Justice Macdonald wrote: De bene esse synonyms, De bene esse pronunciation, De bene esse translation, English dictionary definition of De bene esse. Please note this CC BY licence applies to some textual content of De Bene Esse, and that some images and other textual or non-textual elements may be covered by special copyright arrangements. This entry about De Bene Esse has been published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 (CC BY 3.0) licence, which permits unrestricted use and reproduction, provided the author or authors of the De Bene Esse entry and the Lawi platform are in each case credited as the source of the De Bene Esse entry. The Latin term freely interpreted means conditionally or provisionally, and thus the meaning is conveyed that such an. Sample Shareholders Special Resolutions Death presumption of 63840 De bene esse, meaning 32 Deductive reasoning defined 5 Defamation actions character evidence 126 convictions relevant to 3989.Related entries in the UK Encyclopedia of Law:

#De bene esse meaning

[yazthebookish]

Let's talk about "textual evidence":

First, let's define textual evidence to have a better understanding of what it means.

Textual is something that comes from the text or the text itself.

Evidence is a body of facts or information that proves something.

So, evidence is a fact basically.

Textual evidence should be factual and accurate.

Let's use the Lightsinger Theory as an example based on textual evidence the canon provides:

“There are lightsingers: lovely, ethereal beings who will lure you, appearing as friendly faces when you are lost. Only when you’re in their arms will you see their true faces, and they aren’t fair at all. The horror of it is the last thing you see before they drown you in the bog. But they kill for sport, not food.” — ACOSF, chapter 32, pg. 445

“The Middle is full of primal magic. It has its own rules and laws. Hunt the kelpies or lightsingers without provocation and you might find yourself trapped here.” — ACOSF, chapter 32, pg. 446

So Lightsingers were mentioned in the text twice. They were only ever mentioned in chapter 32 which is 1 chapter out of 80 chapters in the book. The context of it was because they have arrived at Oorid and that's the place where Lightsingers dwell.

This, here, is textual evidence. It's a fact mentioned in the canon text. There is no other mention of Lightsingers outside of this chapter.

Now, it's important to differentiate between evidence and speculation as speculation can be passed as a fact.

Using the textual evidence available to support the argument that Gwyn is a Lightsinger should directly tie to what canon mentions about Lightsingers. As far as the canon goes, Gwyn did not showcase any Lightsinger abilities that the canon highlight about them.

Speculation about what their abilities are and how that ties to Gwyn is something else—this is what we call a speculation.

- The canon did not mention Lightsingers glow and sing, that is a speculation.

- The canon did not mention that Lightsingers can trigger images or visions, that is a speculation.

- The canon did not mention or even hint at Gwyn being malicious or luring, that is a speculation.

- Lightsingers never even showed up on text.

Speculation is a theory without strong evidence. It's an assumption that does not have enough information to pass it as a fact or clear evidence. It's considering different possibilities and outcomes but they might not come true. It's assuming that this what the author may have intended, but no one can tell what the author's intention was if the author didn't state so.

It's important to learn to differentiate between the two to avoid being an unreliable source of information or spreading misinformation.

Using the term "theory" is a better alternative. You believe this text hints at something and you base your theory on that. You speculate something that has a 50/50 chance of happening. However, using the term "textual evidence" by making assumptions or speculating "evidence" that does not tie to the actual textual evidence available is just pure speculation because it's not a fact. It can also be considered misinformation as it's an assumption based on little information or someone's own interpretation.

I hope you'll find this post useful 🥰

#acosf #acotar #gwyneth berdara #gwynriel #azriel

[littlewetbeast]

so this is coming from your tags on a post about s8 and 9. as someone who only joined the fandom after nov 5, I'm always curious about what the fandom was like when the show was airing. can you talk about that a little bit more? maybe elaborate on your tags? thanks a lot <3

i can only really tell you what it was like from my perspective back in the day, and what i can say is that there was SO. MUCH. HYPE. when season 8 was coming out. people were pointing to the source material and going, wait! that shit isn’t just a gay sex joke, that shit is like - textual romance! and that’s what made people begin to argue that this time, it wasn’t bait, but a narrative that they surely wouldn’t drop the ball on. of course, now, in hindsight, we all know spn is the baitiest of bait and supreme trashfire, but at the time it truly did seem like things were headed in a new direction - and we had the textual evidence to back us up on that. i mean, i was there watching it all live throughout season 6, 7 and 8 - most of my close friends watched it, and the destiel tumblr community was on fire by the time season 8 rolled around. i wish i could find some of the old meta posts, but essentially, season 8 truly got so many people thinking that this time, the tides were changing. charlie and kevin were now part of the main cast, and there was undoubtable intent in season 8, not just from cas' side, but from dean's as well. people went bonkers over the aaron scene. this was a time where queerbaiting was at a an all-time high amongst so many popular tv shows, but there was simply no one that went the length that supernatural did. and it wasn’t just the undoubtably gay shit - it was the introduction of kevin and charlie, that incremental effort to include more characters outside of a white, male cast, which bolstered the argument that spn was finally headed in a new direction. i mean, they’d done the same shit over and over for years, surely this was a sign that they knew they had to switch things up. i remember being so genuinely hyped, along with my other queer friends, because we started to believe that perhaps spn truly was going to follow through on this. it was literally all there, in the text! one of dean’s closest friends was a lesbian. dean was in a love triangle with two men. dean got romantically flustered when a gay guy hit on him. dean hallucinated cas and altered his memory to cope with him leaving. dean was on his knees telling cas he needed him, and it broke the connection. there was just so much. anyway. having had that experience, the unfolding of spn’s ending and cas’ confession literally felt like a ‘classic spn’ moment for so many of us. we’d already been burned before by having the naïve expectation that spn could... you know, actually be normal about queer people, and write fulfilling narratives for them. throughout season 9 through 10, a huge amount of things that season 8 set up were undone - kevin was killed, charlie was killed, cas and dean were separated and no homo-ed repeatedly. there wasn’t an outrage that i could see on my dash, but myself and all my close friends just... stopped watching. there were crickets on my dash, maybe a few gifs here and there. the interest completely plummeted. there was a silent deflation and quiet acceptance from those of us that had actually gotten our hopes up that spn really was that show. when i discovered they’d killed off both kevin and charlie, that cemented the knowledge that supernatural was never going to give us what we wanted. i can’t even fully describe how fundamentally that experience changed me, but my attitude towards media and queer representation was completely altered as a result. spn has refused to move with the times, but they had already demonstrated before that they were never going to make that leap. they were in the stranglehold of the network, and the desire to retain their conservative viewership overrode every attempt to move beyond the gun-slinging sam-and-dean bro show.  so yeah, in the end, i have such sympathy for newer fans that got burned so badly by the finale, but as an older fan, i looked at it as it was all unfolding and just went - yup, been there, done that. it’s a classic spn move. i stopped giving credit to those who were throwing out crumbs of representation, when what we actually deserve is to feast. anyway, in summary, spn has expertly burned its queer fanbase for almost a decade. in response, i reject many parts of the canon and simply enjoy the fanon content, because it’s stupid and i do what i want. 

#rosa answers #long post #sorry #know herstory i guess #funnily enough the experience with spn's baiting made watching yuri on ice an incredible experience #queerbaiting is rife in anime as well and i'd also... pretty much stopped anime as well at that point #but made an exception for yuri on ice #i was literally sat there going 'no way they're gonna follow through on this' #and then they DID #anyway. spn fundamentally alters your brain chemistry i guess

[qqueenofhades]

Thank you for your answer to my last ask! Just sort of carrying on from that, what do you think about how they should cover medieval queerness in a potential prequel? I read your post about the deep relationships between knights which was really interesting. I guess what I'm asking is what would "Period-typical Homophobia" for Nicky and Joe actually be? Thank you for educating us better than school does.

Okay, I’m gonna come in here with a Scorching Hot Take that may ruffle some feathers, but possibly... none?

If the point of including casual homophobia or homophobic references is literally just for the sake of evoking some supposed Medieval Bigotry for ~Le Atmosphere Of Dark Age, there is a) no point to it, and b) not much historical evidence either. People love to point out that we didn’t have the modern identity labels of “gay,” “lesbian,” “bisexual,” etc. in the olden days -- well, in that case, we don’t have modern homophobia either, or reactions to those behaviors in the same way. We don’t even have much textual evidence for how ordinary people (outside clerical/religious elites, who would be predisposed to disapprove, just like the religious right today) reacted to so-called “queerness” in their communities, and the circumstantial evidence we DO have suggested that it was far from any imagined universal experience of rejection and isolation. Besides, what we call “queer” due to fragile modern heteronormativty and toxic masculinity was actually intensely normal for medieval people.

One of the tiresome arguments that Straight Historians tend to use, when queer historians are arguing for a queer, romantic, or sexual relationship between two people of the same gender (usually men, because that’s who mostly appears in our sources), is that “friendship was a lot more romantic/intimate/emotional/physical in nature back then!!! They’re not gay They’re Just Pals!!” This is actually true, in that medieval men, far from this Iron Man No Homo No Emotions trope that (once again) we ourselves have come up with, were encouraged (as I wrote about in my gay knights post) to love each other almost, if not quite, beyond reason. There was so much crying, kissing, embracing, tender declarations of loyalty, etc (see: Is It Gay or Is It Feudalism?) Any of those behaviors would make the modern viewer go “lololol HOMOSEXUAL!!!”, but it’s not even always the case? The standards of physical affection, vows of devotion, and close emotional bonds even between platonic friends were just different, and while yes, there was a corresponding anxiety about this attachment turning sexual, the fact that it was considered as a worry in the first place shows you how intense these bonds could be. So while the modern viewer may see two men acting like that and go “oh no gay cooties,” this just wouldn’t raise any eyebrows at all to a medieval person, and hence they’re not going to come back with some dumb manufactured homophobic comment.

Next, in re Joe and Nicky specifically: I SORELY long for a scene in this imaginary prequel where after something romantic has happened between them for the first time, Nicky understandably freaks out a little and goes to confession. There is one other guy in front of him, and a bored priest who is not very good at his job. Guy In Front of Nicky (we’ll call him Guy) goes into the booth and kneels. Priest looks at him, doesn’t even ask. “Oh, is it sodomy again? Fine, seven days fasting bread and water, say two decades of the rosary, Ego te absolvo in nomine Patris -- ”

Waiting outside the booth, Nicky can hear this (since remember this priest is Bad at his Job and has apparently never met the concept of confessional confidentiality in his life) and sags in relief a little. Oh sodomy isn’t that bad, right, it’s a venial sin, no big --

“Father,” says Guy, “I confess that I have also consorted with a Saracen in search of a magical remedy.”

(We don’t gender the Saracen, because we don’t believe in supporting  stereotypes, and since it’s established Guy is into Kinky Stuff, you never know.)

Priest LOSES HIS SHIT.

“You WHAAAAAAAT? CONSORTING WITH A SARACEN FOR MAGIC!! THIS IS A TERRIBLE SIN!!! YOU NEED TO REPENT IMMEDIATELY!!!”

Cut back to Nicky. OH SHIT!!! Sodomy not bad, he could deal with that. Consorting with a Saracen?? OH SON YOU’RE DOOMED. SODOMY WITH A SARACEN??? OH MY GOD I’M GOING TO HELL!

Cue Nicky’s silent existential crisis Dying in the background while the priest lectures Guy to within an inch of his life. Finally, Guy decides fuck this priest (not like that, this is not Fleabag) and scuttles out. A thoroughly terrified Nicky thinks about following him, but since the priest has already seen him, he can’t flee. He goes into the booth and kneels down, Quaking.

“What have you come to confess, my son?”

Nicky.exe has stopped working.

“.....jealousy.”

You get the idea. And guess what? This would be COMPLETELY accurate, because if we were using, say, Burchard of Worms’ Decretum, an early 11th-century handbook advising priests what penalties to give to various sins, that’s basically how it’s treated. Sodomy is blown over briefly with the other venial sins as a certain amount of days fasting on bread and water, while Burchard is really, really worried about witchcraft, magic, non-Christian beliefs, and other such things. So again, really, what is “Period-Typical Homophobia?” We’ve already established that behavior between two men that would raise modern eyebrows would be absolutely nothing remarkable to a medieval person, while priests obviously don’t approve of sodomy, but they’re not that fussed by it either. (Unless you’re Peter the Chanter, who’s just a dick, but he is yet again one guy writing about one specific context, 12th-century Paris, and the fact that he’s complaining so much means that it’s obviously happening in reality.) Besides, the whole idea was that sodomy was the “unspeakable sin,” aka something people just didn’t mention or talk about, which is why it can be hard to track down reliable or unambiguous treatments of it. Obviously, queer erasure isn’t a surprise, but it doesn’t mean that these people didn’t exist; it just means that chroniclers, especially monastic chroniclers, didn’t write about it. So even if this is outright happening, i.e. Joe and Nicky’s romance and/or the number of other queer characters we will be sure to include for verisimilitude, there’s still no guarantee that anyone would even actually SAY something.

And besides: not every minute of history was filled with homophobia, just as not every minute was filled with filth, torture, misogyny, etc. There is actually no necessary reason to include it, especially in boring modern homophobia form, unless you’re trying to beat us over the head with Things Being Bad Back Then. Especially if we’re making a movie that honors and empowers queer people, who deserve a chance to escape into a lavish historically detailed gay romance with Joe and Nicky and not have to deal with bog-standard microaggression as a result. Because what I’ve laid out above is just as much (in fact more so) historically accurate, and MUCH more funny, interesting, authentic, and original.

(And thanks so much!! Another GREAT question.)

#history #medieval history #queer history #joe x nicky #persephone-rose-r #ask #the old guard meta

[midnightactual]

The Onmitsukidō and Yoruichi’s Early Career

In the Yoruichi Combat Uniform Recognition Guide, I described Mk. 0 Mod. 0 (pictured below for clarity) in the following fashion:

It’s unclear what her rank was as of this time, although she was likely Gundanchō of the Punishment Force as this isn’t a standard rank-and-file uniform and there’d be little reason for her to have wide latitude in customizing it (and we see no other Onmitsukidō members do so).

I’ve since come to realize that this probably isn’t entirely accurate. We do see this uniform elsewhere... sort of. In chapter 113, we see this guy from the Onmitsukidō’s Riteitai (裏廷隊), the Inner Court Troop or Inner Court Force:

You’ll notice in the top-left panel, at the bottom-right, under the speech bubble, you can see some lighter-colored fabric. It could be that this is incorrectly colored here, as is perhaps the fabric at the bottom of the bottom panel. The reason I suggest this is because of how the anime renders this same guy in episode 39:

Notice that here his uniform has flaps similar to Yoruichi’s. We also see members of the Inner Court Force in chapter 500, but only from the waist up, which doesn’t help clarify this discrepancy. We also see one in SOULs, here, which actually confuses the issue even more as they appear to be straps rather than a flap.

Either way, their uniform is far and away the closest thing we ever see to Yoruichi’s first Onmitsukidō uniform pictured up above. (With said uniform, as the Recognition Guide makes clear, being the basis for her future jacket which she wears up to the present day.) This leads me to two possible theories regarding her early career. However, before addressing them, it’s important to review the structure of the Onmitsukidō itself.

The Onmitsukidō

Unfortunately, as it’s routinely based on fan translations and is thus routinely wrong, the best source on the Onmitsukidō is the Bleach Wiki, as much of the information given out about it was provided in data books (such as SOULs, MASKED, and KaraBuri+). To briefly summarize, the Onmitsukidō is organized into five units of decreasing authority and prestige, which I will refer to by their more literal translations rather than the Bleach Wiki’s, and will only give the most basic description of here:

刑軍, Keigun, Punishment Force: active counterintelligence, counterterrorism, battlefield reconnaissance

警邏隊, Keiratai, Security Force: domestic intelligence gathering, undercover operations, apprehending suspects

檻理隊, Kanritai, Management Force: prisoner management

???

裏廷隊, Riteitai, Inner Court Force: Seireitei messengers

There is apparently some overlap of responsibilities: in TBTP, it seems to be the case that Punishment Force members are guarding the Management Force’s Maggots’ Nest facility, and it likewise seems to be the case that Punishment Force members were dispatched to apprehend Kisuke and Tessai rather than Security Force members, although this isn’t certain and is based exclusively on the uniforms seen.

It’s also important to know that, despite what the Bleach Wiki says on its pages for Yoruichi and the Onmitsukidō, there is no overt textual evidence that she was ever in the Management Force or the Inner Court Force. Any such suggestion based on dialogue or narration is either outright wrong, or is at best right for the wrong reasons.

With all that said, from here onward we’ll be moving from facts to speculation. A question presents itself at this point: what is the 4th Unit of the Onmitsukidō? Given its comparatively low authority within the organization, its mission almost certainly cannot be terribly special or exotic. It probably isn’t some super secret elite special forces group.

By considering the other four units, the most logical mission for the 4th Unit is to function as an Outer Court Force: a unit for delivering messages to locations outside the Seireitei, be that Rukongai, the Living World, or Hueco Mundo. Another possibility is that it’s a Remote Reconnaissance Force, tasked with monitoring those same locations. Or perhaps it’s both, or something else entirely. From here onward, I’ll be taking it for granted it that it’s both those.

Possibility 1: the Inner Court Force

The first possibility is that Yoruichi’s uniform resembles an Inner Court Force uniform because it is one. Given that it’s white, that white is often used within the Seireitei to denote command (as with the haori of Captains), and that the rest of her uniform is clearly non-standard, one fairly obvious conclusion would be that she was, at that time, the Unit Commander of the Inner Court Force.

We know that when Soifon first sees Yoruichi, the latter will eventually become the Unit Commander of the Punishment Force, but that she isn’t yet, just like she’s the “princess” of the Shihōin Clan and not yet the Clan Head.

It’s striking how long Yoruichi’s hair is here. It’s notably longer than every other time we see her in flashbacks and the past, to include when she was training with Kisuke, and looks like it’d go to at least the bottom of her shoulder blades. The implication is that she cut it sometime after this, and kept it short for the rest of her service; she might not have joined the Onmitsukidō yet at this point, or she might have and only held some lower rank. Regardless, this is probably actually the first time we see her chronologically, although she doesn’t really look younger than in that training flashback.

(It’s also striking that it’s stated she’ll be the Unit Commander of the Punishment Force, and not the Supreme Commander of the Onmitsukidō as a whole. Perhaps Soifon’s relative doesn’t care about that because their clan serves exclusively in the Punishment Force, or perhaps it’s just implied because those two offices are usually coterminal, or perhaps it indicates it wasn’t anticipated that the position of Supreme Commander would open so soon. It’s unclear which is the case. It’s still interesting.)

Anyway, think about what we know about Yoruichi: she’s independent and has something of an anti-authoritarian streak. She does things her own way. If it’s expected that she become Unit Commander of the Punishment Force, maybe she would go out of her way to do something else instead.

Consider: the heir apparent of one of the Great Noble Clans suddenly comes into your organization as an upper echelon officer. Do you immediately trust their abilities, or do you resent them for leapfrogging to the top on the basis of their blood and imagine that they’re likely unqualified? Probably the latter.

What’s a good way around that? Start from the bottom at the lowest of the five units in the Onmitsukidō. Work your way up to show what you’re worth. Or, as KaraBuri+ puts it:

If that’s the case, Yoruichi’s continued use and customization of that jacket even after transferring could be seen as a badge of honor and symbol of pride on her part: “I earned my place here. I worked my way up from the very bottom to the very top. Nobody really handed me anything.” Perhaps what we see with Kisuke is her having risen to the top of the Inner Court Force.

The mission profile of the Inner Court Force, interestingly, fits with her skillset quite well:

Possibility 2: the Outer Court Force

The second possibility is that Yoruichi’s uniform resembles an Inner Court Force uniform because the Outer Court Force wears something very similar. The logic for this possibility is essentially the same as the above, except that Yoruichi need not necessarily have been Unit Commander of the Outer Court Force to readily explain her seemingly unique uniform; she may instead have still been rank and file.

This possibility would likely expose Yoruichi to more dangerous and adverse circumstances than the former one as she’d likely be operating far from the Seireitei, possibly for extended periods of time depending on how messaging was logistically organized. (Would it be dispatch and return, or some kind of circuit?)

Subsequent Career

One downside of serving in the Inner Court Force (and to a lesser extent the Outer Court Force) would be that, while doing so would demonstrate that Yoruichi was “unpretentious”, it would ironically also be exactly the sort of position you would expect a wealthy, cowardly, and pampered noble to want to take. Dispatching messages within the Seireitei isn’t normally a hazardous or trying job. One still might be inclined to imagine that someone serving in those units was “soft”, especially if one was in a “hard” unit like the Punishment Force.

One way around this perception for Yoruichi, regardless of whether she was in the Inner or Outer Court Forces, would be to enter the Punishment Force as a rank-and-file grunt, even if she had previously been the Unit Commander of one of those other units. Officers don’t usually willingly accept demotions with transfers, and doing so would be another highly unusual move, but would effectively communicate, “I’m one of you, and I can do your job as well or better than you can.”

Given Yoruichi’s continued use of a uniform article from the lower echelons of the Onmitsukidō, this kind of enduring “I did it My Way” attitude seems most likely to me—it’s certainly how she’s lived the rest of her life afterward! So, a likely career trajectory for her:

Joined the Onmitsukidō, entering the Inner Court Force or Outer Court Force as rank-and-file

[Various promotions?]

[Promoted to Unit Commander of the Inner Court Force or Outer Court Force?]

Transferred to Punishment Force as rank-and-file

[Various promotions?]

[Promoted to Unit Commander of Punishment Force?]

Promoted to Supreme Commander of the Onmitsukidō [becoming Unit Commander of the Punishment Force if not already]

Joined the Gotei 13 as Captain of the 2nd Division, retaining dual-hatted command

Abandoned positions

Anyway, I’ll be updating my History and the Recognition Guide to account for all this fairly soon.

#Out Of Character #Long Post #Meta #Headcanons

[morwensteelsheen]

farawyn and borodred for the ship ask game thing?

thank you so much!! :)

okay i’ll start with borodred because for some unfathomable reason i actually got there first —

1. What made you ship it?

One of my favourite Types of ships is the Elder Statesmen Of War-type set-ups, where it’s less about people brought together through theatrical romantic gestures and more about the steadiness of people who are going through similar (immensely difficult) circumstances, who know that in their hearts they’re always going to put their duty to that cause first, but still seek out human comfort in other people who will understand what their priorities are and why.

I think there’s also a lot of similarities about the kind of helplessness they both face despite having this tremendous innate strength. Both of them still have to deal with family dynamics that are complex (made more complex by the war) and that can’t be fixed just by their own sheer will power; both of them die these utterly unnecessary deaths (not that death makes a ship but I think in this instance it actually points to the constant tragedy these guys face); and both of them are meant to be the principal figures of their families and people and are ultimately sidelined by the cruel mechanisations of war and the forward march of history or whatever wanky term there is for it — my apologies to ep thompson's ghost, dont haunt me bro.

Plus there’s obviously the interesting thread raised when Faramir starts bitching about Gondor and likens Gondor (and by very explicit extension, Boromir) to Rohan. That always made me go ‘Hmmmmmm, wonder what else Boromir liked about Rohan,’ lmao.

Anyways for me the ship is the equivalent of Star Wars’ Kanan and Hera or (my OTP to end all others) Luke and Wedge, just people getting by on love and duty and without big ol fancy romance.

2. What are your favorite things about the ship?

The fanon, I think, really makes it, as with so many other LOTR ships. battlefield manners, by themightypen is essentially the definitive take for me on them — these two guys who are just so fucking exhausted, man, but still overcome by defensive love for their families, even if their (foster-)siblings are naïve fools. That I just love, love, love. Plus I think they’re unique for their ability to pretty comfortable explore the relationship between Gondor & Rohan in advance of the Ring War without having to stray too far into AU, which I always appreciate.

3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

Not really, tbh, except in that I don’t think Boromir is necessarily as laddy as people like to portray him. I’m happy to play into it in, say, my modern AUs because I think that’s a fun and sweet niche for him, but I am a bit 🤪 about Boromir as this kind of reckless, drunken playboy (not least because I think that’s a much funnier niche for Faramir to fill, at least when he’s younger). Chapter Four of Swaddledog’s Hearts and Minds gets my preferred Boromir characterisation absolutely spot on, I think.

And now, sigh, the ultimate OTP, Farawyn —

1. What made you ship it?

For starters, I think I am obsessed with Éowyn in a way I’ve never quite been obsessed with any other fictional character. I came to reading LOTR at this moment in my life where I was intensely frustrated about everything — trapped inside permanently (helplessly!) because of the pandemic, just starting a new political organisation that I truly believed in but that was still making me feel like shit, facing down an untenable about of work, and, fundamentally, really, really hating being a woman and what that means. And along comes Éowyn, who is bitter, who is cold, who is ANGRY, and who doesn’t perform joy or softness or gentleness just because people expect her to. She’s this seminal Woman Of War in so many ways, I think the kind of person a lot of us wish we could be. She’s got her emotional taps cut off at the source, she holds her head high and faces down unimaginable personal and political terrors, and at the end of it all still has this abiding love for her family that, I would argue, is almost unparalleled by anyone else in the book.

After all that, she gets this incredible moment of emotional catharsis (or what we expect to be emotional catharsis): “no living man am I!” She undertakes THE greatest martial act of the Ring War, and in that moment there’s this unbelievably sophisticated dialogue happening about gender (“Éowyn it was, and Dernhelm also”), and leadership (Merry finding his courage not because of the immediate scenario of the Witch-king, but because he’s spurred into it by Éowyn’s presence), and love and care.

And then we learn that no, actually, this glorious act of violence wasn’t the emotional catharsis we thought it would be. She gets to ride to war, she gets to throw herself headlong at death, and in the end that hopeless act of individualism isn’t really what does it for her. She’s still left desolate and despairing, and actually all of her problems haven’t gone away.

And then we need to rewind a bit, because along comes Faramir, who is gentle, and is kind, and does seem to believe in joy, but not because people expect it — actually it's made abundantly clear nobody expects it — but because it’s something quite innate to how he figures the world. And he’s a huge fucking nerd too. I have a lot of thoughts on Faramir’s flaws and why I find them endearing, which I won’t put here, but almost immediately you get this sense of a guy who’s quite melodramatic, good humoured, and very much not made to live in a time of war.

But he’s also clear-headed about war and what it requires (tactically, if not strategically, though that’s a post for another day), but who is kind of cynical and weary of it in his own unique way. And it’s a unique cynicism given his personal circumstances because he’s the second son of The great family of Gondor, he’s apparently — though with some big ol’ question marks hanging about the extent — very able to command some of the elite units in the realm, and what’s more than that, he’s got all these fantastical powers (the light mind reading to start, to say nothing of this apparently magical ability to command animals too. bruh.). By all accounts he should be this brazen hot mess, but he’s not. He’s desperate to claw his way out of this war-torn cage of expectation his people have for how a man should comport himself in time of war. Is it a little naïve? Sure. A little fussy? Absolutely. But does it point to that same desperation that Éowyn has? Yes! But also the practicality, like, neither of them are really enjoying the circumstances they live under, but good fucking god are they both able to Make It Work.

So finally we get to the Houses of Healing and what is the finest and most aggressively romantic writing of LOTR. Seriously, it’s so fucking much. It’s breathtaking. It reminds me quite viscerally of this fabulous quote from Les Mis:

The power of a glance has been so much abused in love stories, that it has come to be disbelieved in. Few people dare now to say that two beings have fallen in love because they have looked at each other. Yet it is in this way that love begins, and in this way only.

At some point I will devote more time to talking about the two reasons line, and the blissful Queen of Gondor speech, but I think to me that big, important line is: “And then her heart changed, or at least she understood it; and the winter passed, and the sun shone upon her.”

It’s not about Éowyn changing herself entirely (though, I think, it really does bear mentioning that she does change, and that’s every bit as important to understanding that scene as it is romantic), it’s about Éowyn coming to terms with how to live with herself as herself, and how to live in communion with someone else. She can’t just cut people out anymore, and she can’t just treat them as objects of infatuation as she did with Aragorn, she has to reckon with people as they are. And that’s sort of the moment where I knew I was about to plunge fully off the deep end with these two and never know a moments’ peace again, lmao.

2. What are your favorite things about the ship?

Someone on here once called Farawyn a love letter to women and, by god, yes, exactly that. I love the capacity for emotional intimacy, that is beautiful in ways I can’t express. To me, though, my favourite thing is the promise of life they speak of. Not as in oh they shag loads and have babies (though not opposed to that, obviously), but in the sense that unlike Aragorn and Arwen, who are always going to be buried under/burdened with the crushing weight of history and tradition, Éowyn and Faramir are going out yonder those hills and they’re going to do some real cottagecore farming shit. Obviously with all the trappings of rank and nobility and whatnot, but they, unique to anybody else in the books, get to sow this new idea of what life should be. They are, outside of Aragorn, the single most powerful people in Gondor. Éowyn’s got the ear of a king, a steward (which is essentially a prime-ministerial deal here), and functionally her own prince (if the hobbits are to be believed when they refer to it as essentially hers). I suspect that, in life, there were remarkably few arguments she wasn’t winning, and that Ithilien probably trended towards the jumped up noble hippie camp Tolkien so desperately wanted Oxford to be (or, in other words — Cambridge, lol).

3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

Yeah, man, everybody stop treating Faramir like he’s a big fucking crybaby and Éowyn like she’s some kind of shrieking 2010-era tumblr girl.

One of the single most important lines defining Faramir’s character is when Denethor roasts his ass for always trying to appear noble and lordly, if you ignore every other piece of textual evidence we have about him, what part of that line makes you think Faramir’s some simpering daisy? And why would you want to link tremendous emotional intelligence and care with being too limp-wristed to function, lol??? Like I struggle loads with writing Faramir, because I have never once in my life tried to be noble or self-restrained, so find it hard to get into that mindset, but better, I think, to imagine him too closed off than to do this wilting flower song and dance lmao.

And stop making Éowyn out to be this over-emotional angst machine. She’s got problems, yes, and she’s sure as shit got a lot of angst, but at almost every point in the book where we’re overtly dealing with her emotions, she’s sublimating them into something else. One of the most serious times we see her cry is when she’s fighting with Aragorn about riding out, and after that moment she literally tries to kill herself. Those tears aren’t standard, man, that’s a real watershed (lol) moment for her. You have to read around what the text is saying to get a better feel why everybody’s constantly calling her cold and distant.

#god this is probably obnoxiously long because i can't do cuts on my phone #but refuse to open the tumblr website on my laptop lmao #faramir #éowyn #boromir #théodred #farawyn #borodred #god sorry for these fucking tags man im just trying to make my blog slightly more organised #i just have a lot of thoughts #i should really write more metas it would probably help my writing out quite a bit #asks #meta

[monotonous-minutia]

It’s here! The ridiculously long (about 9 pages on Word) and totally unnecessary literary analysis of the absolute gayness of one of my favorite operas!

you guessed it: Les contes d’Hoffmann. I spent way too many hours over the past months writing this thing.

I just think of all of this altogether too much so I decided to just write it all down in one place like the lit crit nerd I am.

As I’ve mentioned before, there is a LOT of evidence in Les contes d’Hoffmann that the two main characters (the titular Hoffmann and his friend Nicklausse, aka the Muse) are absolutely an item. To the point where I honestly can’t understand how a director can look at this opera and think “oh that’s not gay” and proceed to stage it as if it’s not. It is SO GAY. I can only imagine that directors who stage this differently are deliberately trying to specifically remove the gay content (e.g., taking out the Violin Aria, messing with edits, doing weird things with the productions that I won’t get into lest I fall into a rant and forget what I’m here to talk about).

For some, the only way to acknowledge that Nicklausse and Hoffmann are an item is it ignore the Nicklausse part and have the Muse be a girl for the entire opera. Because, well, we can maybe admit to the romance, but at least it’s not gay, right?

Well, no.

Often, we get a strange dynamic where productions can’t seem to decide how to mitigate the gayness. Is Nicklausse a girl so there’s no gay with Hoffmann? But what about when he’s flirting with Giulietta (and come on, it’s really hard to stage the Barcarolle, which is basically a love song, without Nicklausse at least vaguely flirting with Giulietta and vice versa, because they’re singing it together). How is that not gay if you insist Nicklausse is a girl? There’s no way to get around it.

No matter how you spin it, it’s gonna be gay. And like I said, if a production tries to insist otherwise, it’s specifically to push back against The Gay. That usually fails miserably for two reasons. One, those productions are garbage, I don’t care who the director is and how fabulous the rest of their work might be. And two, by trying their hardest to get rid of the gay, they are flat-out admitting that it is there. If it wasn’t so blatantly obviously gay, people wouldn’t try so hard to prove that it isn’t.

On another note, it’s pretty obvious that the character of Nicklausse/the Muse is genderfluid. The Muse introduces herself in feminine terms in the Prologue (and Muses are typically associated with femininity), but navigates the majority of the opera identifying as Nicklausse, who’s a man. Ironically productions that try to lessen The Gay get stuck on this because if Nicklausse is definitively a feminine Muse, she’s gonna be gay with Giulietta, in which case the only way to avoid that is to say that isn’t gay because Nicklausse is a man, and, well, whoops, you just admitted the character is genderfluid.

Like I said, there’s no way around it.

I feel like even this super-vague analysis should be enough to convince people. But, because it’s not lit crit if we don’t get all in-depth and nerdy, and because it’s really fun, I’m going to plumb the depths of my research and analysis and share with you this 4,000-word essay proving that yes, indeed, Nicklausse is genderfluid; and yes, indeed, he and Hoffmann are a couple, and a very gay one at that.

Let’s begin.

(Note: the following contains a lot of references to outside sources and I’m just too lazy to properly cite them especially because I just spent the last three years of my life doing that for all my research papers and it sucks. But if anyone is curious and wants to know where specific pieces of information come from, let me know.)

Nicklausse is genderfluid.

This honestly seems like a no-brainer. The dictionary definition of genderfluid is “of, relating to, or being a person whose gender identity is not fixed,” so the fact that the character spends part of the opera in a feminine form (the Muse) and part of the opera in a masculine form (Nicklausse) is pretty much the definition of gender-fluid since the character’s gender identity is not fixed. Yeah, maybe the Muse is just in drag for the night, but either way, they’re obviously extremely comfortable in the masculine form so it seems more than likely it’s something they’ve done many times before and are not only okay with but very used to. There’s debate as to how much time, exactly, the Muse spends with Hoffmann as Nicklausse, or even whether Nicklausse is a real person or has been the Muse all along. The solution to this could affect the way the character is or is not defined as genderfluid, but the fact that there is no way to tell what the answer is—because the authors deliberately left that ambiguous—renders it a moot point. We could argue back and forth about that all day and never come to a conclusion because there isn’t one. At the end of the day all we can agree on is that the Muse is acting as Nicklausse the night Hoffmann tells the stories, and likely has done so before.

There is other, non-textual evidence that backs up the concept of Nicklausse as genderfluid. The biggest one is that Barbier and Carré were not strangers to the idea of gender fluidity in their work. About 14 years before Hoffmann premiered, another work from these two hit the stage: Ambroise Thomas’s opera Mignon. The titular character is, for all intents and purposes, genderfluid, presenting as both male and female throughout the course of the opera and seeming comfortable in both roles. Even earlier than that, the two of them translated da Ponte’s libretto for Le nozze di Figaro into French for the Paris Théâtre Lyrique. Anyone who knows this opera knows the multiple levels of gender-bending that occur here and the extremely meta exploration of gender primarily through the portrayal of Cherubino, a boy, who is played by a woman and frequently dresses up as a girl. You can hardly talk about Nozze without acknowledging the genderfluidity it contains. So, before writing the libretto for Hoffmann, Barbier and Carré had worked with at least two other stories dealing with canonical genderfluidity. It’s not much of a stretch, then, to say that they were deliberate in their portrayal of the Muse/Nicklausse as a genderfluid being.

That being settled, on to the next point:

Hoffmann and Nicklausse are a couple.

You wouldn’t think so watching the way most Hoffmanns treat Nicklausse onstage, but there’s a lot of textual evidence that supports this claim. There are multiple facets of Hoffmann and Nicklausse’s relationship that indicate they are, at least in some sense, an item, even if Hoffmann doesn’t always acknowledge it.

We still don’t know if the Nicklausse we see in the tavern has been Nicklausse all along, or if he’s taking on the position of someone who’s actually been hanging out with Hoffmann all this time. That doesn’t necessarily mess up the analysis, though, because: if the Muse has been Nicklausse all along, then all of the evidence in Hoffmann’s stories is true (as “true” as they can be, being a result of Hoffmann’s drunken storytelling) of the person who is sitting next to him in the tavern right now. If, however, the real Nicklausse is absent, Hoffmann is still admitting the extent of the relationship to the Muse/Nicklausse who’s in the tavern tonight. We know this because Hoffmann is presumably making these stories up since it’s revealed at the end all these “loves” are manifestations of the real-life Stella. In which case, it is Hoffmann who is describing all of these things about Nicklausse that indicate they are in a relationship, consciously or unconsciously admitting that they are an item. Since the Nicklausse who is sitting with him during the storytelling is also the Muse, it’s not really a stretch to assume Hoffmann is talking about them during the telling, even if there is a “real” Nicklausse who’s absent tonight, because Hoffmann is taking details from things in the immediate vicinity to tell these stories tonight.

Now on to some more specific details:

They are a packaged deal. Before Hoffmann enters the tavern, Luther announces his arrival, adding that Nicklausse is with him (“Messieurs, il ouvre la porte,/Et Niklausse est avec lui!”). No one questions this or asks who Nicklausse is. They are all used to the idea of Nicklausse coming along with Hoffmann, so it clearly happens on a regular basis.

It’s also clear that Hoffmann is much closer to Nicklausse than he is to anyone else in the tavern. And that’s probably saying something, as it’s clear the friends at the tavern know a lot about him: they are familiar with his many different stories; they look forward to seeing him and hearing his tales; they know he enjoys singing, and convince him to do so to cheer him up; they tease him; they ask him personal questions; and they know his schedule well enough to notice when he’s late coming to the tavern. So, Hoffmann clearly has a lot of people here who know and care about him—but none nearly to the extent that Nicklausse does, as we will see. That indicates his relationship with Nicklausse is much more intimate.

Here are some examples:

When Hoffmann and Lindorf are facing off in their insult duet, before they can get too far, Nicklausse intervenes with a metaphor about shepherds and their girlfriends, distracting them before they come to blows. The others in the tavern join in, but no one else was motivated to stop the fight. Nicklausse was the only one who cared enough to break it up.

When describing his role in the stories that are to come, Hoffmann says Nicklausse takes the prize for common sense; he thinks highly of Nicklausse’s perceptions and opinions, even if he doesn’t always show it.

HOFFMANN Tu m'auras sans doute compris, O toi qui dans ce drame où mon cœur se consume Du bon sens emportas le prix!

At the beginning of Act I (Olympia), Nicklausse makes several statements that indicate he knows Hoffmann extremely well. Upon his entry, he exclaims “J'étais bien sûr de te trouver ici!” (“I knew I would find you here!”) He is familiar with Hoffmann’s usual haunts and knows exactly where to look for him. Further, he already knows about Olympia; when Hoffmann shushes him after his entrance, Nicklausse asks, “C'est là que respire la belle Olympia?” (“Is there where the beautiful Olympia is?”) He teases Hoffmann about being in love with her, so Hoffmann has obviously told Nicklausse all about her. Given no one else in the tavern knew anything about Hoffmann’s love life, we can assume he only talks about things like this to people he’s particularly close to.

Further, when Nicklausse is trying to get Hoffmann to reach out to Olympia before proclaiming his undying love, we have this exchange:

NICKLAUSSE Alors, chante, morbleu! pour sortir d'un tel pas! (Then sing to her, for heaven’s sake, if there is no alternative!) HOFFMANN Monsieur Spalanzani n'aime pas la musique. (Mr. Spalanzani doesn’t like music.) NICKLAUSSE Oui, je sais! Tout pour la physique! ... (Yes, I know! Science is everything!)

So not only had Hoffmann told Nicklausse about Olympia, he has also told him about Spalanzani’s obsession with science and aversion to music. Which means Hoffmann very likely talks to Nicklausse a lot about his studies and his intention to pursue a science education.

Out of all the names and titles Hoffmann is given in the tavern—poet, writer, artist, drunk—no one mentions the fact that he is a student. It might be because the group consists almost entirely of students, so it’s a given; but it might also be that, in addition to not discussing his love life with his friends, he also does not talk to them about his studies. Once again, this indicates that he is much closer to Nicklausse than anyone else in the tavern.

Nicklausse also knows the best ways to interact with Hoffmann. After Nicklausse sings his song and Hoffmann brushes him off, Coppélius enters and tries to get Hoffmann’s attention. However, Hoffmann does not respond, to which Nicklausse replies “Voilà le seul moyen d'être entendu!” (“There is only one way to be heard/get his attention”). Then we get the stage direction “il frappe doucement, puis plus fort sur l'épaule d'Hoffmann” (“he hits softly, then harder on Hoffmann's shoulder”). It works; Hoffmann turns and asks him what he needs. This is a very particular way to get someone’s attention. The fact that Nicklausse knows it means he gets Hoffmann’s attention a lot, and knows him well enough to understand the ways in which Hoffmann needs people to interact with him. This once again indicates a more intimate relationship, as no one else in the opera expresses having this kind of knowledge.

In less specific examples, Nicklausse spends a great deal of this act teasing Hoffmann about his love for Olympia. However, Hoffmann doesn’t seem annoyed or put off by his behavior. He goes to Nicklausse repeatedly to make sure he stays involved in the action. He’s used to Nicklausse’s banter, but it doesn’t annoy him enough to keep him away. He’s too attached to him to let the teasing get to his head.

Though Nicklausse does leave with the other guests so Hoffmann can be alone with Olympia, he returns much sooner than any of the others, looking for Hoffmann and asking “Veux-tu qu'on se grise sans toi?” (“Do you want us to get drunk without you?”) Apparently the party isn’t nearly as fun as it would be if Hoffmann were there with him. He misses Hoffmann and wants him to come join him. Then, he tries to warn Hoffmann that Olympia isn’t what she seems, and that he should be careful. When Hoffmann doesn’t respond to that, Nicklausse suggests he come to the ball and dance with Olympia—anything to get him to come to the party.

When Hoffmann does begin to dance with Olympia, she goes out of control. Nicklausse intervenes, afraid for Hoffmann’s life; in the process he gets knocked over himself, but continues to focus on Hoffmann’s well-being (while no one bothers to check in with Nicklausse). (This is rarely staged but it’s in every version of the libretto I’ve read.)

Finally, when everyone else is laughing at Hoffmann for falling in love with a robot, Nicklausse goes to him and tries to comfort him among the madness.

In Act II (Antonia), we obviously get the Violin Aria, which I wrote a really long thing about earlier. In short, it is clearly a love song, and since he’s singing it to Hoffmann, what’s really left to be said? That alone should be enough to convince folks that there are romantic implications (to say the least) between Nicklausse and Hoffmann. I’m at a loss as to how anyone could come up with any other reason Nicklausse would sing that song. “Love victorious”? “Poet, give your heart”? What else could he possibly be talking about?

Unlike almost every other number in the opera, the Violin Aria has no precedent in the play. It’s only here now because we have the Muse doubling as Nicklausse, singing a love song to Hoffmann. Though he spends a great deal of the opera discouraging Hoffmann from pursuing the objects of his affections, he’s not against the idea of Hoffmann being in love. He’s against the idea of Hoffmann being in love with anyone who isn’t him.

Of course, this song is sometimes (often) cut. There’s more evidence that it’s supposed to be there than evidence against, though (according to a bunch of people’s research), so edits that exclude it are probably trying to lessen The Gay as much as they can. I don’t see any other reason for taking it out.

In addition to that, though, in the dialogue version of the libretto, Nicklausse gets a paragraph or so describing just how long (six months) and hard they have been looking for Antonia. You’d have to be pretty devoted to someone to follow them around for six months helping them look for the supposed love of their life. And on Hoffmann’s end, you’d have to like someone quite a bit to have them around you nonstop for six months, and feel extremely close to them to be able to expect that kind of devotion from them.

In addition, Nicklausse once again risks his own safety in order to save Hoffmann (though this is also rarely staged). When Crespel goes after Hoffmann with a knife at the end of this act, Nicklausse literally throws himself between Hoffmann and the knife. Y’all, if that’s not devotion, I don’t know what is.

Act III (Giulietta) is much more complicated because there are just so many versions of it. Of course there’s Kaye’s edit which is heralded by many is definitive and I’ll admit his research seems pretty sound so I’ll allow that to stand (because obviously I have the authority to have any kind of say in the matter). However there are several things from previous edits that Kaye takes out that also contribute to this discussion, so I’ll be referring to them as well.

First off, we get this line here which I’ve seen exactly once out of (n) productions:

GIULIETTA (se tournant vers Nicklausse) Et son ami! Pardon, Pylade or Pollux?

Giulietta is introducing Hoffmann to her company, and of course wherever Hoffmann goes, Nicklausse is as well, and since they’re a packaged deal, Giulietta introduces him as well, immediately after. And not only that, it’s precisely what she calls him that really drives the point home.

“Forgive me, was it Pylades or Pollux?”

I wrote a thing about this too. Here I’ll say:

Pollux refers to Castor and Pollux, who are typically used as a symbol of platonic affection between men, since they’re half-brothers. However, Pylades and Orestes are a different story. As I mentioned in the other post, if you’re familiar with Greek mythology discourse, you’ll know that most people agree there’s more to the relationship between Orestes and Pylades than a little bromance. So Giulietta is clearly suggesting something here when she refers to Nicklausse in these terms. It’s almost like she’s asking the question: “Are you two bros or are you romantically involved?” The fact that neither Hoffmann nor Nicklausse attempt to address that point seems significant to me. Nicklausse simply introduces himself, neither confirming nor denying the implications Giulietta is making about his relationship with Hoffmann. Nor does Hoffmann make a comment. If they didn’t want people thinking of them as a couple, one of them would have probably spoken up, but neither do.

In some Oeser-based edits we get an extended gambling scene, during which Giulietta serenades the guests, Hoffmann is distracted by her, Dapertutto gets some side dialogue, Schlémil acts shady, Pitichinaccio has some fun, the chorus gets philosophical, and Nicklausse tries to convince Hoffmann not to gamble away all their money. (Even if the extended scene isn’t included, Nicklausse gets a line to this effect in many versions of the libretto.)

Their money. Throughout, Nicklausse isn’t just worried about Hoffmann throwing away his own life savings. He’s worried because, despite the fact that he himself is not involved in the game (until Hoffmann makes him take his cards so he can go be with Giulietta), Nicklausse’s funds are at stake here too. I don’t know all the historical intricacies of finance at the time, but it sounds to me like the equivalent of these two having a joint bank account. You don’t share a joint bank account with just anyone. If Nicklausse and Hoffmann’s funds are collective to the point that Hoffmann losing money means Nicklausse is losing money too, the two of them are clearly financially dependent on each other, and if that doesn’t scream domesticity, I don’t know what does. I almost feel like the entire argument could ride on this alone.

The rest of the act is all over the place in terms of the order of events and even if some or others happen at all. The one most of us are probably used to honestly doesn’t have much Nicklausse material after the Barcarolle and his spat with Hoffmann, but others have more—like the conversation with Giulietta and the gambling scene described above. One of the most significant, which is based on a similar scene from the original play, concerns Nicklausse trying to get Hoffmann to leave with him, begging him to leave Giulietta behind, telling him this place is sketchy AF and they should leave before someone tries to steal their souls (which, incidentally, is pretty much exactly what happens). Eventually he gives up and goes to find a means of transportation (usually horses) and someone to help him physically remove Hoffmann so they can finally get out of there. After that, we only see him when he returns after Hoffmann gets his reflection taken; sometimes he doesn’t say much, sometimes he laments their fate, sometimes he finally does get around to dragging Hoffmann away once Hoffmann finally gives up, rescuing him yet again as they escape just before the police come looking for Schlémil’s murderer.

An interesting side note: In one performance I saw, Nicklausse tries to go after Hoffmann when Hoffmann goes with Giulietta, but is held back by Pitichinaccio (who then attempts to give him a poisoned drink, similar to an event in the original play). I also found a libretto and an album where a similar event occurs, except it’s Dapertutto who pulls Nicklausse away and makes him go back to the room where everyone else is still playing cards. In both cases he was able to return to Hoffmann right after Giulietta steals Hoffmann’s reflection. This bit isn’t included in any of the critical editions as far as I can tell, but it’s an interesting event, Nicklausse trying to go after Hoffmann to protect him (yet again) but being prevented by one of the villains. And, because Nicklausse isn’t there to help him, Hoffmann does get hurt this time (Giulietta steals his reflection). The one time Nicklausse is prevented from helping Hoffmann, Hoffmann winds up in a whole lot of trouble.

The epilogue is pretty self-explanatory, I feel.  Nicklausse doesn’t get too many lines, but his altercation with Hoffmann is pretty significant. Nicklausse makes the connection between the three ladies in his stories and the real-life Stella, joking that they should make a toast to the lady. Hoffmann yells at him, basically telling him “shut up or I’ll slap you” (and in some productions I’ve seen, he actually does get slapped). Nicklausse is definitely offended by this.

NICKLAUSSE se levant Ah! je comprends! trois drames dans un drame Olympia ... Antonia ... Giulietta ... Ne sont qu'une même femme: La Stella! LE CHŒUR La Stella! NICKLAUSSE Buvons à cette honnête dame! HOFFMANN furieux, brisant son verre Un mot de plus et sur mon âme Je te brise comme ceci! ...

NICKLAUSSE Moi, ton mentor? Merci! ...

This isn’t the kind of fight you have with an acquaintance. Banter like this, that borders on threats and insults, typically happen between people who are very close and have a lot of history. Nicklausse is trying to draw attention to Hoffmann’s failed loves, comparing them to Stella, to point out how futile it is for him to continue to pursue this siren. It’s about time Hoffmann notices him. Hoffmann, on the other hand, is furious at Nicklausse for revealing the fallacy in his tales. Saying “I’ll break you” is a pretty savage way to respond; Hoffmann feels betrayed by Nicklausse. He’s also pretty drunk. Either way, it’s clear his reaction stems from the closeness he feels with Nicklausse; upset that his “mentor” and confidante would reveal him like that.

After this, Nicklausse usually ducks away, though some edits give him the line “Il faut se décider!” (“You need to decide!”) as Stella enters. He’s giving Hoffmann the final choice, the one he delineated in the Prologue:

Il faut en cette heure fatale qu'il choisisse entre nos amours, qu'il appartienne à ma rivale ou qu'il soit à moi pour toujours!

(In this fatal hour he must choose between our loves; he will belong to my rival or be mine forever!)

Hoffmann is too drunk to recognize Stella, and she leaves him to go with Lindorf. The students leave as well, and Hoffmann is alone—until Nicklausse returns (or maybe he never left, depending on how it’s staged), revealing their identity as the Muse. Again, it’s unclear if they were Nicklausse all along, or just borrowing the identity for the night. Either way, the character that we’ve spent the last two and a half hours with (or longer depending on the edit)—the one who, as the last six pages will attest, is almost definitely Hoffmann’s boyfriend—is here declaring their love for Hoffmann. In some versions they literally say “I love you!”

Je t'aime, Hoffmann: confie-toi à moi! fie-toi à moi!

(Interestingly, when this line is included, it is spoken under the name “Nicklausse,” before their transformation back into the Muse. To me, that’s a decent indicator that Nicklausse has been the Muse all along, even before the events of tonight.)

We don’t know exactly what’s going to happen next, and what precisely we assume will happen once again depends on the Muse’s status as the actual Nicklausse in Hoffmann’s life or imagining. I haven’t seen any two productions (save revivals of the same production) that stage the ending in the exact same way. There’s a lot of ways to interpret it.

But after all this, I’d venture it’s pretty safe to say the ones where Hoffmann and the Muse get together at the end are accurate.

#aaaaaan there you have it #have i reached peak nerd level yet? #Les contes d'Hoffmann #The Tales of Hoffmann #literary criticism #literature analyisis #character analysis #opera #opera analysis #opera tag #also none of these translations are mine i got them all from libretti and subtitles #i may have this opera memorized but that doesn't mean i can translate haha

[dwellordream]

“…Militarism is closely associated with the social legitimization of hegemonic masculinity —a dominant form of masculinity that many individuals strive toward but only a few attain. While hegemonic masculinity nominally places men in a social position superior to women, it also serves to create socially exclusive hierarchies among men through the marginalization and subordination of both femininity and nonconformist forms of masculinity (Connell 2000, 2005; Connell and Messerschmidt 2005; Hooper 2001). Hegemonic masculinity, by its nature, forces all other men to position themselves in relation to the form of masculinity that is being promoted or honored at any given time.

Traditional traits of hegemonic masculinity might include risk-taking, the enforcement of command structures and disciplinary hierarchies, physicality, aggression, violence, and overt expressions of heterosexuality (Hinojosa 2010). Lower-status men who conform to this status quo can receive benefits from those men who occupy the top of social hierarchies, thereby legitimizing and reinforcing the hegemonic status of the latter (Connell and Messerschmidt 2005). Today, hierarchies of hegemonic masculinity can be easily identified in numerous contexts, such as militaries, militia organizations, and professional sports teams (Bickerton 2015; Connell and Messerschmidt 2005; Higate and Hopton 2005; Hinojosa 2010; Hooper 2001).

There is good evidence for a culture of hegemonic masculinity among Viking Age societies. While perceptions of masculinity were undoubtedly imbued with their own shades of nuance across space and time, cultural similarities in the material record speak to broadly homogenous attitudes toward masculinity and its associations with militarism (Hadley 2016:262). Political power lay in the hands of war leaders and their retainers, who were most able to exploit and perpetuate hierarchies of masculinity to reinforce their influence. Expressions of masculinity may also have been closely associated with religious ideologies that reflected the sacral power and status of the elite. It has been suggested, for example, that the mediating role that Germanic kings held between the gods and populations before the Christianization process was expressed sexually through demonstrations of masculinity and virility (Clunies Ross 1985).

…When considered within a wider context, the perpetuation of hegemonic models of masculinity may have legitimized and fueled expressions of power and competitive behavior (Connell 2000), with significant implications for sociopolitical hierarchies and perceptions of gendered power. There has been some debate as to how gender was conceptualized and expressed among Scandinavian societies (Back Danielsson 2007; Clover 1993; Norrman 2000). Carol Clover (1993) has argued that Viking Age societies possessed a “one sex” perspective of gender that, instead of polarizing femininity and masculinity, equated masculinity with power. As a result, expressions of masculinity were celebrated and emphasized. Clover’s hypothesis is borne out in saga narratives that contrast the Old Norse term hvatr (vigorous or manly), used most often in reference to men, with the term blauðr (weak or cowardly), which often refers to women.

This implies that an individual’s status could have been positively or negatively influenced by words or actions considered hvatr or blauðr (see Clover 1993 and discussion below). This portrayal of gendered power aligns well with the concept of hegemonic masculinity because the competitive nature of masculine hierarchies would have encouraged individuals to constantly seek to enhance their status by discrediting others. The intense rivalries that could emerge as a result can be seen in the culture of insult, hypermasculinity, and feuding that abounded among Scandinavian societies. Eddic poems and the sagas are replete with examples of male antagonists exchanging insults (Old Norse flyting), which usually involved boasts of masculinity and the humiliation of one’s opponent, as in Örvar-Odds saga, Hárbarðsljóð, and Helgakviða Hundingsbana I (Orchard 2011; Pálsson and Edwards 1985). Some insults, such as nið, which was associated with accusations of breaking taboos, cowardice, and/or sexual deviance, were so powerful that their use was mitigated by law (Almqvist 1965, 1974; Clover 1993; Meulengracht Sørensen 1980).

The influence of hegemonic masculinity is further illustrated when we consider gendered norms among Scandinavian societies. The roles of men and women were nominally well defined by legal codes and social conventions (Jochens 1995), and acting in a way deemed inappropriate to one’s sex resulted in significant social disapproval (although in certain cases this may have imbued some individuals with a strange type of power; see Price [2002] on men who practiced sorcery). In a society that promoted hegemonic cultures of masculinity, it should not be surprising to find evidence for the nominal regulation of gender roles or the subordination of both women and marginalized men who failed to live up to masculine ideals (Connell 2005). For men, acting in a way that was considered blauðr brought shame and disgrace. In Kormáks saga (chap. 13; Hollander 1949), for example, Bersi’s wife is able to legitimately divorce him after he receives a wound to the buttocks during combat. Other incidents in the sagas indicate that the charge of “unmanliness” and the threat of divorce were frequently used by women to incite men to undertake acts of violence (Anderson and Swenson 2002; Clover 1993; Jochens 1995).

In Grænlendinga saga (chap. 7), Freydís threatens her husband with divorce if he does not avenge a fictitious assault against her (Kunz 2000a), while in Laxdæla saga (chap. 53), Þorgerðr tells her sons that they would have been better born as daughters in order to shame them into avenging the killing of their brother (Kunz 2000b). The fear of judgment for failing to act in an appropriately masculine manner can even be seen among Guðrún’s adolescent sons in Laxdæla saga (chap. 60; Kunz 2000b). Having been shamed by their mother for indulging too long in children’s pursuits, the youths acknowledge that they are at an age where they will be judged if they were to fail to avenge their father’s death. This suggests that children and adolescents were aware of the need to cultivate and preserve one’s status within hegemonic hierarchies of masculinity from an early age.

For women, acting outside of nominal gendered roles also carried social and legal repercussions. The Icelandic Grágás laws, for example, prescribed that a woman who wore a man’s clothes, cut her hair short, or carried weapons should be sentenced to outlawry (Dennis, Foote, and Perkins 2000:219). Hegemonic hierarchies, however, are not static or monolithic (Connell 2005), and the perpetuation of a “one sex” model of gendered power might have cultivated a peculiar form of social fluidity that allowed some individuals to traverse gender boundaries (Back Danielsson 2007; Clover 1993; Norrman 2000). Just as it was possible for men to increase or lose their status through their words and actions, so too might some women have attempted to achieve social ascendancy by behaving in a way considered hvatr.

The sagas indicate that some women who openly defied social conventions by wearing men’s clothing and carrying weapons, such as “Breeches Auðr” in Laxdæla saga (Kunz 2000b), were not only tolerated but also admired (Bagerius 2001). Other textual sources indicate that women participated in warfare as combatants, and in one case a woman is noted as commanding a viking fleet in Ireland (Bekker 1838–1839; Todd 1867). While such women might well have been a minority within Scandinavian society, these depictions are now potentially supported by a recent study of the human remains from grave 581 at Birka, Sweden. This burial, containing an individual accompanied by a sword, an axe, two spears, archery equipment, a knife, two shields, and two sacrificed horses, was long considered to be an archetypal burial of a male viking warrior. Recently, however, genomic analysis by Hedenstierna-Jonson et al. (2017a) has found that the individual interred within the grave was in fact female.

Until now, the only archaeological evidence for armed women was a corpus of so-called Valkyrie brooches and pendants, known from across the viking world, and these findings therefore provide new impetus for the targeted reanalysis of other purported burials of women accompanied by weapons (see Gardeła 2013b; Pedersen 2014). These include two individuals, both of whom have been osteologically sexed as females, who were buried with weapons and other martial equipment in Hedmark and Nord-Trøndelag, Norway (Hedenstierna-Jonson et al. 2017b). While these burials must be interpreted cautiously, the obvious corollary of these findings is that some women were active participants in the martial cultures of the Viking Age. At present, we can only speculate as to whether these individuals were perceived as “women” or as “men” or whether they perhaps occupied (either permanently or temporarily) some kind of third gender (see Back Danielsson 2007; Norrman 2000), but they nonetheless indicate that gendered boundaries were permeable. While we should not suppose that participation in martial society ubiquitously demanded active involvement in combat, these burials remind us that at least some girls may have been conditioned to adopt the persona or roles of the warrior.”

- Ben Raffield, “Playing Vikings: Militarism, Hegemonic Masculinities, and Childhood Enculturation in Viking Age Scandinavia.”

#vikings #gender #history #medieval #ben raffield

[creativitycache]

It still seems like the Eye is if not THE most powerful, then at least sharing that position with the Web in different manifestation of power. And Jon has been able to easily overpower the other Avatars and, except Daisy and Annabelle, they haven't been able to exert any power over him (i.e. Not-Sasha and Jude). Do you think that has more to do with the fact that Jon brought the Entities through rather than the Eye being top dog?

Buckle up, this is going to be a long one. TL;DR: I suspect that both Jon and Elias gained an upgrade from the effects of a Ritual, rather than being inherent to Eye Avatars.

Ritual effects we’ve seen:

1. Jonah: failed ritual for the Eye. Result: Power Boost for Jonah, death for everyone surrounding him, destruction of the Millbank Prison. No interference from outsiders.

2. Agnes: failed 2 part ritual for the Desolation. Part 1 Result: Power Boost for Agnes, death for her mother, destruction of the forest, cultists survive. Part 2 Result: inconclusive, as we don’t know what blocked her ascension for round 1, nor why she suddenly knew she had to kill herself years later. Interference from a Web-bound Eye.

3. Unnamed: failed ritual for the Vast. Result: all hands lost to the depths. Interference from the Hunt.

4. Unnamed: failed ritual for the Slaughter. Result: all hands lost due to a missile, except non-slaughter aligned survivor. Interference unclear, but presumed Web.

5. Peter: failed ritual for the Lonely. Result: The ritual was abandoned before it even was truly launched. Peter seems to think this counts and that he’d have to try again decades later. No power transfer, no death. Interference from a Web-bound Eye.

6. Unnamed: failed ritual for the Buried. Result: Death to all who attempted, and the surrounding innocent people. Interference from a Web-bound Eye.

7. John: failed ritual for the Corruption. Result: Death to John via concrete- unknown fate of Adelard Dekker but presumed death. Death to the surrounding victims. Interference from a presumed unaffiliated.

8. Jane: failed ritual for the Corruption: Result: It is unclear if Jane’s attack on the Institute was part of her ritual. Certainly all the worms forming the living tunnel of writhing insects to usher in the Corruption into our world all died. Interference from a Web-bound Eye.

9. Cult: failed ritual for the Corruption: Result: all those bound together were still alive when the police came, but were unable to absorb all the cult members.  No word on surviving cultists. It is unclear if this was a ritual attempt, but considering the religious themes surrounding it + their Herald, I’m counting it. Interference from a presumed unaffiliated.

10. Nikola: failed ritual for the Stranger: Result: death of all circus members. Death of all witnesses. Interference from the Web-bound Eye.

11. The Mechanical Turk: failed ritual for the Stranger: Result: Unknown if the Slaughter Avatars killed all performers, witnesses survived. Interference from the Slaughter.

12. ExplorerDad: failed ritual for the Hunt. Result: continued unending life for all Avatars who join, but they will periodically turn on previous crewmates and view them as others. Man who pretended to be of the Hunt until he could get away survived. Interference from a presumed unaffiliated.

13. Unnamed: failed ritual for the Flesh. Result: death of all participants except unaffiliated statement-giver. Interference from the Web-bound Eye.

14. Gabriel: failed ritual for the Spiral. Result: many servants of the Spiral dead, Gabriel presumed dead, the Distortion fused with Michael Shelly. Michael Distortion has no noticeable significant power boost different from the Distortion, but he was specifically chosen because of his unsuitability towards fusing with the Spiral. Helen calls Michael “rubbish” and seemed to level up/lose her humanity at a faster rate than Jon after being absorbed by the Distortion. It is unclear if this power acquisition has anything to do with the Distortion’s history of being the nexus of a failed ritual. Interference from the Web-bound Eye.

15. Manuela & Haley: failed ritual for the Dark: Result: nictophobe sacrifices dead, the Beast dead, all other cult members died. Manuela survives with no noticeable powers aside from being able to behold the Dark Star. Haley survives with no mentioned power differences, and is later killed trying to transfer over to a new body. No interference from outsiders.

Phew, that’s all done off the top of my head so I may have missed something. That’s 12 out of 14 Entities, with the Web and the End both missing due to no noted ritual attempts. (See my earlier post for my theory that the Eyepocalypse was a Web ritual, which Anon is referencing).

But! Laying it all out like this proves my ultimate theory.

1. The Rituals most often result in death, and the most likely potential survivors are those who were unaffiliated.

2. Twice the Rituals have been noted to give power upgrades- the Eye and the Desolation. Potentially three times with the Spiral and Micheal, but that is subtextual and VERY tenuous. Agnes’s mother was the one who chose to be the nexus of the ritual and she burned. Agnes was the outcome of the ritual, and debatably the focal point.

3. The Spiral and the Dark both had no textually noted upgrades. The Dark had no human focal point. The Spiral had no human focal point until Michael was unwittingly merged.

4. The most likely sources that prevent a ritual are: the Web manipulating an Eye avatar (7), a presumed unaffiliated (3), collapsing naturally (2), the Slaughter (1), the Hunt (1). Gertrude and Jon definitely skewed the numbers heavily, but there’s evidence to suggest that the avatars are all easily manipulated into prevent the “other side from winning”.

5. When a Ritual is left on it’s own to collapse AND has a person as a focal point, that person gains a power upgrade. In ALL OTHER scenarios, there is no power exchange and death is the most likely result.

Therefore:

Jonah Magnus and Jon Sims are the only people left on Earth who have been successfully granted a power boost due to a ritual.

Jon was the nexus of the ONLY successful Ritual in history, but Jonah already had the boost from one Ritual and may have gained some power due to his hand in the second ritual. The two combined may put him on the same level as Jon, but Jon may be stronger.

Therefore:

It is ENTIRELY plausible that the reason Jon is so strong and that Jonah’s tower can exert its presence over all the other realms is because they were the nexuses of Rituals- NOT because the Eye won.

Therefore:

Jon’s power boost does not mean the Web did not win.

#tma #the magnus archives #jonathan sims #jon sims #jonah magnus #elias bouchard #the web #the eye #beholding #the mother of puppets #spoilers #Asks&Answers

[the-river-person]

Worldbuilding Tangent Part 2

First bit here. Now I wanna talk about the Forest and Snowdin Town. Obviously the name is a pun based on Snowed in. But why is there snow there? They’re underground. It shouldn’t work like that. This one is gonna be a bit long because I’m prone to rambling, but I had fun... so yeah. (Also, a reminder that these are my own observations and analysis of the Game’s text and that despite my obsessive researching of caves and such, as well as my attention to textual evidence, it is still only my interpretation of how this area MIGHT work if we attempt to apply real world systems to a video game world that was almost certainly not made with reality in mind. It’s also possible that I misunderstood or don’t know enough about the trees or natural systems described and that things couldn’t work that way without some kind of magic, whether that of the Monsters or some natural source of it.) I’ve heard some theories about snow falling through openings in the mountain above them, and while I do think such openings exist, they aren’t likely to be the direct cause of the snow. This is because snow falling through them would need to be in single spots or piles directly beneath the hole and not evenly spread out like a winter wonderland. A second bit of evidence for this is that when we go to fight Papyrus, or in fact pass through that exact spot even later in the game, we are subjected to a fade out screen with a snowy pattern, which is implied to be a snowstorm of some kind. So some kind of weather exists here Underground. This lets us know that the specific cave Snowdin sits in is big enough to have its own weather system which gives everything a fairly even level of snow, freezes ponds into patches of ice, and coats the pines of the forest with a dusty white. When you first exit the ruins and have the purple stone wall behind you, there appears to be a thick forest of trees on on both sides, the right side appearing to be a drop off until you pass trees that go between screen and controllable character, indicating that this side has the same trees as the opposite side of the path. The trees of this part of the forest have no hint of green leaves or needles on them, which might suggest that they be high up on the tree itself. After some research on trees that could survive very cold temperatures and were fairly hardy but still seemed to match the image I see on screen, I’m guessing that these are either a fictional species of conifer, or they are White Spruce Trees which have lost their lower branches as their upper branches grew thicker to catch any sunlight streaming from holes and openings in cave ceiling. It is possible that these trees might be petrified and very old, but its unlikely as we see ordinary pines growing elsewhere in the Forest. There has to be natural openings for light enter into the Underground which are not enough for someone to see stars through, yet are big enough or plentiful enough that light for the forest to survive is possible. Due to the river we see in this part of the forest there is plenty of water for the trees to survive. Since there is no tree in the world that can survive a permanent winter, and no new trees can grow without some kind of melting of snow and ice, we are left with a few options. Either the trees are very old, which is possible since the average age of White Spruce is 250-350 years but trees up to 1,000 years have been found, or Snowdin Forest area has some kind of seasonal cycle with a very short warm season and a long cold season. However there are some problems with the idea of a cycling season. We know in the books of Snowdin Library this passage is found, “Fearing the humans no longer, we moved out of our old city, HOME. We braved harsh cold, damp swampland, and searing heat... Until we reached what we now call our capital. “NEW HOME.”” By which we know that the different biomes of the Underground existed before the Monsters lived there and are not a result of their magic. And though none of the Monsters we’ve seen actually require a permanent cold environment to survive, there is no mention at all of a warm season. Even the name of the area and the town is Snowdin, indicating that the snow is probably perpetual. So our cave must be big enough to have a weather system yet cold enough to maintain snow and ice for a long time even with openings in the roof for a Taiga Biome forest to survive. Ice Caves are naturally occurring cave systems that reach cold enough temperatures to form Ice and Permafrost. Several factors can cause or contribute to the formation of Ice caves. Two relevant types of these are Evaporative Cooling and a Cold Trap. Because the trees we see had to have had a period without snow and ice in order to spread their seeds and begin to grow before the eternal Winter of Snowdin, we can probably guess that at one point this cave was quite warm. It had a significant amount of water, though it was unlikely to be as wet as Waterfall. It was also home to mountainous areas and vast lowland areas as well as mostly limited sunlight. The Cavern was big enough to contain a weather system of its own, allowing for rain and humidity. Since we know that to reach the entrance to Snowdin Forest in the game we have to go down the stairs in Toriel’s home, this puts the First section of the forest at the same level as the ruined city we saw a glimpse of earlier in the game. But this part of the forest is actually situated on what might be some sort of cliff or mountainous area. The game’s path leads across the flat peaks of the area, but allows you to see brief glimpses of vast valleys with forests made from a more Christmas Tree like tree than the ones we see immediately outside the door to the Ruins. We also see the river briefly at the very beginning, but not during the long period where we are traversing the peaks. When it reappears immediately behind Snowdin, which is indicated to be at the other end of the cave with the rock wall immediately on the other side of the river, its becomes likely that the river followed the wall of the cave all the way around and that the player went the opposite direction across the highlands. The valleys themselves are far lower than the peaks you traverse, which would put them lower than even the City of Home in the Ruins. If Frisk climbed the mountain and fell to the Ruins, and the level below those is Home and the Snowdin Highlands, then the Snowdin Valleys are probably well below the normal ground level of the Surface world outside the mountain. Some have suggested that like the bridge into Snowdin Town, the background of valleys might also be painted murals done by Papyrus or some other monster. Due to the moving sprites of the tiny house and its occupant as seen from the cliff next to the Mysterious Door, as well as the fact that the landscape moves differently than the rest of the setting as the player walks, it’s absolutely certain that it is a real landscape and not a painting. Returning to the Ice Cave idea we have sufficient moisture to begin Evaporative Cooling, which involves water being warm enough for evaporation and causing warm moist air to flow out exits of the cave and cold dry air of Winter to enter the cave. Its possible that some of the entrances are high on the mountain, only allowing cold air to enter, but since the cave is so vast there would need to be multiple sunlight allowing entrances in the ceiling, and they can’t all be in the highest snowy peaks but in various places on the mountain and in the foothills. Our water would have been warmed by the same processes that keep Waterfall from freezing over from Snowdin’s cold in the present day, the thermal forces of Ebbot’s Volcanic core. That and sunlight would have caused Evaporative Cooling to kick into gear. Normally Ice Caves caused by Evaporative Cooling have yearly cycles where the flow of air reverses and warm air is sucked into the cave instead of cool air. Which at one point was probably how the cave worked, allowing for the growth of trees that would flourish in the Taiga like conditions that would have begun to form. The larger trees of White Spruce and the smaller trees, which are probably Douglas Firs because some varieties are estimated to live at least to 500 years and well beyond 1,000 at most, would have been able to grow from seeds fallen into this area and possibly enough to seed more. But then something happened which stopped the process. The area grew just cold enough to form a Cold Trap. This operates on a lot of the same principles, with convection drawing cold winter air into the cave while any warm air is sucked outward. The difference is that due to the cold air in the cave being significantly colder than the air outside during all points of the year, the process doesn’t reverse but remains static during the Summer and continues drawing in cold air during Winter. But how did the cave get cold enough to start that process? It was likely that the volcanic activity of the Mountain was greater at that point and then as time went on the Magma either cooled or receded further from the area, letting the evaporation stop during the coldest part of the cycle, kicking off the Cold Trap. So by the time the Monsters arrived it was growing cold and most plant life in this part of the Underground was dead or hidden in smaller warmer caves. The river flowed too fast to be frozen solid, and the trees were able to survive but not put out new seeds because no new warm season ever came. It’s possible that the Snowdin Cavern will grow colder and colder as time goes on, or it might maintain its temperature. I’m not sure exactly as far as that goes. But I do know that unless something changes the perpetual winter in the area all the trees will eventually die and the Forest will probably just be a lot of dead frozen trees, or they’ll rot with a bit of moisture and come crashing down. There are areas here and there as you make your way through Snowdin Forest where we see only the tall trees with mostly barren lower trunks within the screen’s view and only blackness beyond them. Both before and after these sections we catch glimpses of the vast valleys and hills of the cave, which means that these patches are not cave wall, but areas of mountain top forest so thick that the light is being obscured. One theory might suggest that the trees are attempting to grow towards the openings in the cave ceiling to get as much light as possible, or that only the huge trees in the areas directly beneath the openings were able to survive, leaving the smaller Firs to take over the lower valleys and hills, which makes sense since that species needs much less light than the White Spruce trees. Now that I’ve established some plausible explanations (Hopefully) for how this cave might work, let’s take a quick look at how much space is being used. We know that the Town itself is on a cliff at the edge of the large cave. In fact its partially inside the cave that leads to Waterfall.We know this because the River, which joins up with us again behind the town, has a natural rock wall behind it, suggesting that the town is actually more enclosed than most of Snowdin’s peaks, even if it is connected to them by a bridge. Our peaks are probably gigantic groups of stalagmites formed who knows how long ago and flattened or broken at the tops somehow, allowing for forests to take seed on accumulating soil. (It is possible that they are Hornitos or some other type of volcanic formations from Ebbot’s volcanic activity, especially since areas of the Underground were almost certainly initially carved out by flowing magma and then altered as water and weather took their toll over time. But most volcanic based Speleothems are significantly more fragile than limestone and water based ones, so its possible, but not likely. Aside from the town and the single house we get to see in the valley, we see no signs that this area is being put to significant use. It’s not a matter of not enough Monsters, because we know that hundreds of them dwell in the Underground and that more and more are crowding to the city, mostly in hope that they’ll be free to escape to the surface soon. There are some monsters and animals living in the forests themselves, but for all the sheer size of Snowdin Caverns, it seems mostly empty. There could be instances out of sight where Monsters have made their homes. Small caves dug into the side of cliffs and plateaus could be made into perfect little houses, and groups of houses, factories, or even greenhouse farms could be set up in areas the player can’t see in game. But it would all be conjecture as there is no in game evidence that this is so for the Snowdin Cavern.

#wow #this was very long #but it was fun #undertale #textual analysis #snowdin forest #snowdin woods #snowdin town #speleothems #mt ebbot #caves #caverns #winter trees #cold trap #ice cave #undertale theory #game theories #this isn't very organized cause i didn't have a plan #sorry if it doesn't make much sense