Borban Rambles

I have no fucking idea what I'm doing

[borbanrambles]

Hi! I got peer pressured into downloading Tumblr like three months ago and still barely know what I'm doing!

I write genshin fanfiction here and have an unnecessarily complicated mha!genshin au here, please check them out!

I'm also going through all of the Honkai Impact 3rd content and live blogging my reactions to it, tagged as borban's hi3 adventure

- Borban <3

[cerusee]

Okay. For my money, the entire thesis of Chris Nolan’s 2026 film The Odyssey is that society chokes and sputters and dies when we abuse, ignore, or violate social norms like the laws of hospitality. That is not really what The Odyssey (the book/poem) is about, but I can clearly see why in the horror that is the 2020s, someone could read The Odyssey and go oh my god that’s a lot of bad dropping in. That’s a lot of bad visits. That’s a clear vision of how the loss of social norms and cohesion fucks you up and how war, literal, brutal war, is a terrible wound that destroys your humanity and your understanding of what civilization and society is. I don’t know that the iteration of Greek society that ultimately birthed the poem would agree with Nolan’s take, but I think this movie is quite ideologically coherent, that Nolan knew exactly what he was trying to say with each and every adaptational change, and I think he wasn’t nuts for using one of the most famous classical western civilization works as a way to make that argument.

[chokedqwerty]

okay the odyssey has been out for a day im readyto start discourse

[batneko]

Shout-out to characters who don't plan to survive their stories! Heroes who think they can only atone for their failures through sacrifice, villains who don't think they deserve to live in the world they're trying to create. Gimme that passive suicidality baby, mm-mm, delicious.

[hylialeia]

listen it's not that I think epic the musical is a perfect adaption of the odyssey but it was an impressive passion project that knew what it wanted to be and knew what people gravitated to in the original work and it put significant effort into conveying this through its unique medium and tone to the point that hundreds of other people felt compelled to put effort into their own artistic interpretations of that version of the story. and that's really cool! and yes I would be more critical if it was a 100 million dollar project made by a professional because what the fuck do you mean you're a world-famous director and you cut the my name is nobody scene are you goddamn serious

[lemning00n]

@pigeons-and-pebbles @borbanrambles

[storynerd121]

so I just watched the odyssey movie....

and I made this within 5 minutes of returning. so I think that sums up my thoughts on it. (though im willing to rant more if ppl want it. cause I have COMPLAINTS)

[pigeons-and-pebbles]

@borbanrambles @lemning00n

[segamascott]

[pigeons-and-pebbles]

@sleepy-khonsu

[sleepy-khonsu]

:[

[lemning00n]

Accurate tho

[lionfang-knight]

Jean is so boring and no fun.

That's why in 6.4 she commissioned Alice to create a virtual reality game for people to experience the 1.0 events.

That's why she enjoyed taking part in it herself.

That's why her fav book is Vera's Melancholy.

That's why she takes winning in TCG so seriously.

That's why she suggested to Klee to go fishblasting together during the 1.6 GAA event because she knew (and explicitly expressed) it didn't cause any harm here.

That's why when Noelle yeeted a sword in the ceiling of Jean's office, Jean wasn't mad. Instead she made a joke to cheer Noelle up and helped her train.

That's why she accompanied Diona who wanted to play in Dragon Spine out of all places.

That's why she appreciated Kaeya's entertainment during the 6.4 event.

That's why it's so important to her that the events she plans for her people (Weinlesefest, return of the expedition) are fun and exciting (including significant amounts of alcohol).

That's why she turned it into a little Kaeya-style tease when she surprised Klee she'd take her to lunch at Good Hunter (no really, it felt like she channeled her inner Kaeya there lol).

Seriously, what a stuck-up loser, man.

-

Jean's only crime is that she doesn't like it when people blow up Mondstadt for fun or put it and its people in danger.

She accepts Klee's bombs when she knows they won't be a danger to others.

But no, this is clearly proof that she is an unreasonable, neurotic killjoy.

Shame on her. Who needs wildlife or functioning city walls anyway.

-

Hoyo will constantly slander and often down-right mischaracterise her by making false meta claims about how she "lacks a fun side" and so forth, so that they can uplift other characters at her expense.

But if you look at her actual behaviour you get a completely different picture. A completely different character.

[muttb0yy]

before varka came out i predicted that his constellation would match razor's lupus minor, making it be lupus major. i was right! SO jean's constellation is leo minor, right? what if frederica is going to be leo major to match with her

(unless they give her a tree or something cuz haha alder knight)

[lionfang-knight]

I hope it's ok to add my perspective but tbh I don't think it would fit. (And if Hoyo gave Frederica that constellation, which is certainly possible, I'd be disappointed if I'm being honest.)

In my opinion, the lion constellation is a reflection of Jean's lion title and her link to Venessa.

So I'd argue the best candidate for Leo Major would be Venessa herself. (I doubt she'll ever become playable though.)

Frederica on the other hand doesn't have sufficient connections to the lion title or "lionhood" to warrant the constellation Leo Major in my eyes.

According to Venti, Jean resembles Venessa in many ways. Considering Jean looks up to Venessa as a figure of guidance specifically when it comes to her role as the dandelion/lionfang knight it would be much more thematically consistent (and also really beautiful) if they were "spiritually linked" via their constellations/their fate.

It would also be a parallel to Varka and Razor in the sense that he's not his actual father but still serves as his mentor.

Even though Venessa is long dead, Jean does project (not in a negative way) mentorship onto Venessa. She serves as her inspiration and motivation.

And there is also Mona's voiceline about Jean that confirms Leo Minor directly embodies Jean's fate of being burdened too early. This refers to her receiving the dandelion title at 15. Jean's corresponding character story mirrors her being "wholly unprepared" when she was appointed dandelion knight.

So, since the lion part in her constellation is tied to the dandelion/lionfang title Frederica would need the title as well in order to have a lion-related constellation. But she doesn't and I don't think she ever held it (more on that below).

On top of that, if she was Leo Major she would need to have even greater achievements/an even greater lion-related fate throughout the course of her life than Jean could ever accumulate in her life (since constellation summarise the fate of a person's entire life span) in order to be the "major" lion. But already Jean has probably achieved more as a "lion" for Mondstadt than Frederica (defeating Eroch and his allies, rebuilding the KoF after his betrayal, Stormterror which was Mondstadt's biggest crisis since 500 years, Paralogism).

In my eyes, it makes no sense that Frederica should be deemed superior to all this, and that she'd forever be the major lion while Jean would forever be the minor lion only by virtue of being her older than Jean.

And if I'm being frank, Jean finally needs to be allowed to be a separate person from Frederica.

Frederica has already tried to mold her so much in her own image. And I don't appreciate how Hoyo tries to postulate the idea that Jean is basically a "mini Frederica", up to wearing the same clothes and everything, even though I'd argue this is not actually true at all if you look at their distinct personalities. (But this is a different discussion that I'm not gonna dive into now. This post is long enough (sorry). I do have written a separate analysis on this topic though because I'm a bit unhappy that this is such a widespread sentiment because I feel like it does Jean a disservice.) Hoyo almost writes them as seemingly "conjoined entities" while trying to spin it as something "endearing" or a "close familiar bond" of two "similar people perfectly in sync". But in actuality, this is not good for Jean. I'd argue her relationship with her mother is incredibly unhealthy. Her individuality has been suffocated throughout her entire childhood and Frederica is the major reason for that. Jean was never allowed to embrace her own individuality (which again I'd posit is very different from Frederica's) - at least not without feeling tremendous guilt over it and this has an incredibly strong impact on her and her self-image even today.

If they even share constellations - if they share fate itself - then this feels like Hoyo treating Jean like almost nothing more than an extension of Frederica. Not like a person with an own path.

But I'd argue that her constellation as the lion does set her apart from Frederica because it actually places Jean in the "line of succession" of Mondstadt's "battle maiden leaders": Gunnhildr and Venessa.

In Mondstadt's cyclical history, those two women stood at the top of their respective clans/people at pivotal moments in the state's history to overcome some of Mondstadt's biggest threats to their freedom. At the same time they were not copies or clones of each other. They had similar roles while being individuals.

And I think this is exactly what Jean needs. A role with meaning that doesn't interfere with her individuality, and that she is allowed to shape according to her own unique personality.

Her "succession" of Frederica doesn't allow her to do that. Gunnhildr and Venessa feel like "her people", similar women who inspire her without demanding Jean becomes somebody else to fill out their roles. (Jean doesn't seem to see this yet, because she still tries to be very much like Venessa, precisely because she was never taught she is allowed to be herself. The idea that she doesn't actually have to be like somebody else "above" her because she is enough must seem absurd to her after the upbringing she had to endure. But it's nothing the lion title nor Venessa's position in Mondstadt's cyclical history actually call for.) I have no faith whatsoever in Hoyo when it comes to writing Jean anymore but in theory, Jean is (or at least was in 1.0) positioned/primed/implied to be the next woman in line to lead Mondstadt against fundamental attacks on their freedom in another rendition of Mondstadt's cycle of history. (I had hoped it would be related to Mondstadt's endgame/Khaenri'ah/Celestia yadda yadda, but "at worst" Stormterror - which WAS Mondstadt's biggest crisis since 500 years - was "her moment". Oh well. I guess, Hoyo seemed to have lots of fun undermining that in their latest updates.)

To my knowledge there is no indication Frederica was ever in such a singular leading position, let alone the head of Mondstadt's government, that could even remotely reflect Venessa or Gunnhildr (in fact my theory is that this might have been her wish but she couldn't fulfill it, so she started to project it onto Jean, with all the negative consequences this entails).

There is also no confirmation she ever held the lion title. But as you point out, she has the title Alder Knight.

If she held the lion title, she'd have to be grand master instead of Varka as inheriting the lion title is a consequence of becoming grand master as several sources in different languages confirm.

So if she never was "the lion", I don't think Leo Major would suit her because I would argue she misses the defining thing that should connect her to a lion constellation/make a lion constellation a logical choice for her.

After all Varka has a wolf constellation because of his title and Razor has it because due to his biography he is inseparably linked to wolves and he was teased to be at least a potential heir to the wolf title.

Jean inherited the title when she was 15. As a minor she was most likely not eligible to become grand master but if you cross-reference several languages it actually turns out she became second in command/deputy leader when she received the title.

At 15.

It seems as if she was basically prematurely chosen as Mondstadt's next leader thanks to her extraordinary achievements that saved the KoF after Eroch's betrayal (yes, this did happen when she was 15... orz).

(I have already written so much in this reply but I plan to make a post where I retrace the lore of Jean's age. But tldr, it turns out Jean was a lot younger at the start of the game than most assumed. She was actually 19 lol and yes, this IS actually supported by the lore (but I think many people, incl. myself, overlooked it because it just seemed so absurd). This was also confirmed by data-mined info.)

There are also various lore implications that the wolf title on the other hand was not actually meant to be a grand master title (I disagree with the theory that the wolf title and the lion title alternate - in my opinion the lore insinuates the opposite). Varka becoming grand master seems to be an exception because apparently there was no one in his generation that was worthy to inherit the lion title from Valentin, the previous grand master. Otherwise we should have heard their name.

This is also in line with Varka appearing so desperate to get rid of the grand master title and passing it on to Jean as soon as possible. The wolf was always meant to roam freely and not be like the stately lion.

So with all this in mind, I really hope Frederica, should she ever become playable, will not have the Leo Major constellation because I don't think this would benefit Jean's character in the grand scheme of things.

[rosie-dear-rosie]

I love you speculative biology. I love you worldbuilding projects. I love you creature design. I love you fantasy biology. I love you speculative evolution. I love you science fiction.

[bff0f7]

so can we start hunting down white liberals now or what

[adamtheredbeard]

The full picture is even more heart breaking after you open the uncropped version. Just a heads-up, it's rough

“The Roman Catholic Parish in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan was just grafitted.”

[afronerdism]

Nah let’s post it. Let’s feel it. Don’t look away.

[doobiebenson]

[butch-bakugo]

I notice alot of my followers on here skipping these posts just to mess with my lgbt ones, suspiciously the white popular ones.

Heres a not so friendly reminder, as an lgbt metis person, i dont give a single fuck what your blog is themed or if this is too painful for you to look at. Reblog this post. Reblog this post with the sources of the 751 children who were found.

Your compliance and silence as well as the compliance and silence of your ancestors is what allowed these schools to open and kill first nations children. The children of MY people.

Dont follow me if you cant reblog this post or the one with sources to your political blog or your most popular blog. Add trigger warnings if you must but if your political blog is only focused on the harms you personally face like being lgbt then you need to see some bigger pictures and stop being afraid of angering your racist mutural or actually saying some shit about racism. If you can reblog some antifa graphics or add blm to your bio to be a surface level ally, you can reblog some sources on the genocide first nations people faced and still face today.

They were CHILDREN.

They were murdered in cold blood.

[churchoftheconfusedchicken]

I’d like to add this photo I took last night in Victoria of the statue of Captain Cook. Though I myself am not indigenous, I 100% agree that these murderers, kidnappers and rapists shouldn’t have huge statues and plaques that decorate them and say how “great” they were.

Here’s another photo of the legislative assembly from yesterday. Later on there were more items, candles and signs at the memorial, as well as a big poster with 1505 painted on it but I didn’t get a picture

People need to see this. Not just quickly glance at the photos and keep on scrolling. They need to see this.

Reblog this or just stop following me

[ifiknewiwouldtellyou]

I had seen the first picture of the church, but not the second.

I went to a “Cancel Canada Day” event and burst into tears - not because I was surprised to learn of the unmarked graves (survivors told us they were there. Our government pushed it aside, and we let them), but because seeing all the people gathered in mourning drove it home: They. Were. Children.

This is my country’s legacy - and it’s not history. The last schools closed during my lifetime. My Father went to school with students who lived at the local residential school, after it was changed to a boarding house (read: holding centre) for indigenous youth who went to local schools.

They were all children, injured, abused, and killed in my country’s attempt to erase them. I want the world to see this and hold the state accountable to *active* reconciliation> I mean we could at least truly adopt UNDRIP in action instead of words for god’s sake.

[gayvampyr]

here you can read an article about a survivor of the church and some of the things he experienced to help put into perspective how awful and just how recent it was

[nothingweirdhere]

this is the memorial at the vancouver art gallery. 215+ pairs of children’s shoes (as well as stuffed toys and flowers) cover the steps…

[duhaeriss]

her loyal guard

[peachfromcmbyn]

People on Tumblr love sharing information about themselves no matter how asinine it is. And I'm the same way. Everybody tell me what the last thing you drank was.

[the-shysopod]

quick wip since her reveal

i think shes pretty neat

[cadillacjohnf1]

and YOU get a penalty for speeding in the pits and YOU get a penalty for speeding in the pits and

[sunderwight]

The concept of Lan Qiren being so aro/ace that he just completely skipped out on his family's Obsessive Love Fixation thing is just hilarious to me.

Man's just watching everyone else in his family spiral over some seemingly random person they've lost their minds about and he simply cannot relate. He definitely thinks it's some kind of curse and that he's personally managed to escape it through like, mindfulness or something? Keeps telling his nephews to meditate and be rational and follow the rules because he thinks attraction is some fake thing that poets invented.

[bannock-and-biopolitics-deactiv]

A lot of adulthood is shouting “AUGH MY LAUNDRY” hours after you put it in the washer/dryer and running to go fetch it

[curlicuecal]

oh shit my laundry

[mishafletcher]

reblog to save someone’s laundry