#reinterpretation

[yaraef]

I was painting some LOTR fanart of Éowyn and the Witch-King of Angmar for fun when my brain drifted off and my pen slipped... Yes, that's a little Mouth of Sauron being shushed by Sauron on the steps over there, and yes, the Witch-King is chilling with Théoden and Denethor now. Additional notes and the different versions of Gríma's hair that I was considering under the cut!

Note #1: Something called to me to title this A Court of Towers and Rings although I haven’t actually read ACOTAR (yet?!) nor know much beyond “romantasy,” “fae” and “Tamlin” (but I’m curious to learn more, I think!? My TBR is bit of a mess tbh!) so I apologize if this is sacrilegious in some way… (⸝⸝> ω <⸝⸝)

Note #2: I went through several iterations of Gríma’s hair. At first, I aimed for a shorter hairstyle (Version #1) but it felt too different from the movie version (although I’m going for a blend between that, the book descriptions and my own chaotic energy for these, hence black-haired Faramir with a flower ornament!) In the end, I picked the more ‘slick’ option (see above). It felt more oily and 'snake-like.’ However, I kind of like the curlier option too (Version #3)… Let’s say it’s how it ‘naturally’ looks before he works his magic...?

Note #3: The book Faramir is holding is a parody of “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck called “Of Knights and Businessmen” that I was going to use as the title of a future issue of Court Comicals… but idk if I’ll ever continue that comic of mine at this point so I thought it would be fitting to use here! (You can probably tell parodying book titles is kind of a thing around here!)

[coretgis]

“Barbie: Las Meninas” - Barbie Rapunzel

After almost 50 hours, I finished my reinterpretation of Diego Velázquez's painting “Las Meninas” with characters from the Barbie fantasy film franchise.

This idea came from the third image, just as a joke. In the end, the joke turned into a personal challenge, and then into MANY hours of work. I am very happy with the result, but above all, with everything I have learned during the process.

Who is your favorite character in the reinterpretation? Personally, I love Bibble, but I adore how Rapunzel looks.

[miamaimania]

An homage to freedom, the Statue of Liberty stands tall in 1986, reinterpreted by Chermayeff & Geismar Associates. A beacon on New York's skyline.

[birchtreeguy]

I'm not one to draw a lot of dog, man. Cats are my stuff, man.

[jayaevoli]

Hat Yoink

Harlequin pushing poor Pierrot buttons again, this can't end good. 😂

Got this idea from @hellamorte post!

[rozalinafromdreams]

What’s wrong with the portrayal of Patroclus in modern retellings? And I’m not talking about The Song of Achilles specifically (or rather, not only about it).

I wanted to read The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker because this book is also often recommended as a retelling from Briseis’ point of view. And everything was fine until I came across this quote from Patroclus, after which I honestly lost my desire to read the book:

[“Because I know what it’s like to lose everything and be handed to Achilles as a toy.”

His honesty winded me. But at the same time I was thinking: How can you know? You, with all your privileges, all your power, how could you possibly know what it’s like to be me?]

And I was surprised together with Briseis. Excuse me...? Patroclus was handed over as Achilles’ toy? What exactly was supposed to imply that?

Listen, I'm not insisting on perfect accuracy to the original sources or on every little detail. I understand that a retelling can take liberties. But these liberties often end up giving a character a meaning that was never there in the first place.

I know this choice was made to justify Patroclus' connection with Briseis and to explain why, in the Iliad, Briseis later calls Patroclus the only man who was kind to her. BUT NOT LIKE THIS!!!

In The Song of Achilles, Patroclus is some frail, weak, timid person who looks like anyone could break him with a finger. Here, he feels as though he was made into "Achilles' toy," simply handed over to him. Can we, just once, stop making Patroclus poor and miserable?! Can we show him the way he was actually meant to be: Achilles' companion, his friend and lover, his comrade, his closest person, someone who does not feel pathetic, who does not feel like he is "Achilles' toy," and who does not have to be poor and miserable in order to have a relatively good relationship with Briseis (relatively, because he still remains Achilles' closest companion and therefore her master, while Briseis is a slave and cannot even be compared to him in terms of status, and Patroclus should understand that difference).

What the hell is supposed to suggest that Patroclus was handed over as "Achilles' toy"? MENOETIUS NEVER HANDED PATROCLUS OVER AS ACHILLES' TOY!!! He brought Patroclus specifically to Peleus' court because Patroclus had been polluted by miasma, and Peleus purified him. That was a completely normal practice. Peleus himself went through the same ritual — twice. In fact, Peleus originally came to Phthia for exactly the same reason: he had to be purified after killing his own brother! Bringing your son to another king's court in order to be purified was a perfectly normal practice! Patroclus was NOT Achilles' toy from the beginning. He was a guest, and he was raised alongside Achilles. Moreover, judging by the Iliad, he continued to see Menoetius, and it was Menoetius himself who instructed his son to advise and guide Achilles. That is not the same thing as being Achilles' toy.

I'll say it again: a retelling does not have to be accurate. In fact, I've already talked about this in one of my previous posts.

Post by @rozalinafromdreams

💬 4  🔁 0  ❤️ 9 · I Don't Understand Why The Song of Achilles Is Called an Accurate Retelling · Disclaimer: This is not an anti post! I'm not

But among popular modern retellings, I have never once seen Patroclus portrayed as Achilles' equal, even though theirs was precisely a partnership between equals (well, unless we're talking about versions where one of them is the erastes and the other the eromenos, but even those relationships do not make the eromenos the erastes' toy, or vice versa).

The only place where I have seen something closer to this equal portrayal of Achilles and Patroclus is Hades II. I haven’t played the game myself, but it has become popular enough that I have seen a lot of discussions about it. Usually, it’s only the fans who portray Achilles and Patroclus as equals. Why? Honestly, I don’t understand.

Maybe I’m wrong, and this quote was never actually in the book, and someone just made it up or misled me. I need to know.

[vertigoartgore]

Web of Spider-man #1 cover reinterpretation by Anand Radhakrishnan. Source

[ameeraljinn]

Djinnieverse: Ra's al Ghul

My version of Ra’s al Ghul reimagines him as a Bedouin man from an Adnanite tribe living in 17th century Ottoman Empire. Before becoming Ra’s, he was Khalid, a physician serving within the Basha of Damascus’s household.

A major part of his backstory is that he leaves his tribe to pursue medicine in the city. In a collectivist tribal context, decision like that is complicated. It was viewed by some including his uncle as abandoning communal obligations in favor of personal aspiration.

Part of that tension also comes from the fact that Khalid carries tribal knowledge outside the tribe and uses it to serve the powerful.

His understanding of medicine wasn't only academic or courtly; some of it came from tribal medicine, oral knowledge, survival practices and forms of care developed within tribal context. By entering the Basha's household, he uses knowledge rooted in a collectivist community to serve the elites. This fracture with his tribe is deeply important long before he becomes Ra's al Ghul.

He starts out as someone driven by genuine care and responsibility but also as someone negotiating complicated ideas of duty, sacrifice, belonging and control.

He exists between worlds: between tribal obligation and authority, between communal care and centralized power, and between accepting human limitations and attempting to overcome them.