[theriu]

It has just occurred to me that of all the characters in Winnie the Pooh, the only ones that lack both fingerless stuffing hands and faint seam lines (the indications that someone is a stuffed animal) are Rabbit and Owl. Which carries the possible implication that Rabbit and Owl are just a normal rabbit and owl living with a bunch of sentient stuffed animals.

And somehow this makes Rabbit’s constant consternation with all of his neighbors even funnier to me.

[theriu]

Theyre also the only ones with bushy eyebrows and chest and chin floof, and I dont know if thats relevant but it FEELS relevant! Also someone mentioned Gopher too and OF COURSE, there is absolutely no argument that this whistling little man isn’t just an average (talking) gopher.

The more I examine this the more it feels just so OBVIOUS

[shorthistorian]

You are exactly right! Most of the characters in the stories are based on the real Christopher Robin Milne’s stuffed toys except for Rabbit and Owl who were added for the books and Gopher who is exclusive to the Disney adaptations.

Here are the real Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, Kanga, and Eeyore. They currently live at the New York Public Library.

[mooncustafer]

It’s fairly clear in the book illustrations too:

[thecottageinthedark]

‘Owl,’ said Rabbit shortly, ‘you and I have brains. The others have fluff. If there is any thinking to be done in this Forest – and when I say thinking I mean thinking – you and I must do it.’

Milne, A. A.; E. H. Shepard. The House at Pooh Corner (pp. 78-79). Egmont UK Ltd. Kindle Edition.

[theriu]

This post has been getting a surge of attention and let me tell you that 1) I am really pleased at how kind most of the people who KNEW all this have been in explaining it, and 2) I feel a lot better seeing just how many other people didn’t have any more clue of this than I did XD It’s kinda nice being part of a post thats spreading some fun knowledge in a nice way!

Also thank you to the gracious @roofermadness in the tags for complimenting my astuteness on figuring this out from the animation character designs, you are so nice to say so and I appreciate you 🥰

[florestrellas]

"Women are the natural leaders of the species. Ancient Egypt had it right." THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER (2023)

[nervouspearl]

Moiraine in 1.07 || Anvaere in 2.07

[dancingunderagatheringstorm]

I watched The Fall of the House of Usher in one go while recovering from my COVID booster, so I was a little confused by why Madeline chose this phrase rather than something more resonant to her conversations with/about her murder victim. But now that I'm no longer semi-delirious with fever, I fucking love what this choice reveals about her. It shows that, despite the fact that Madeline's mask absolutely didn't crack at the time, Annabel's final line absolutely got under her skin. Annabel struck on a deep, unspoken fear: that Madeline is and will stay small, that she isn't special, and she won't change the world. And the reason that's so important is because, despite everything, Madeline is small. Not in ambition, but in focus and in spirit.

Madeline says her goal is to change the world, but that's not quite right. She also wants not to have to submit to men and wants not to be ignored, but that's more what she doesn't want than what she wants. Her real, deepest desire always comes last in those conversations: she wants to live forever. She never even frames it in the pseudo-altruistic language her brother uses. It's not about helping humanity to reach a new stage of consciousness; it's not about helping people not having to lose the ones they love. It's about her. Her, specifically, not dying. Such a small, selfish passion. Her narrow focus drives her selfish pettiness throughout (that final monologue!).

She'd probably deny that this insult stuck with her if anyone asked, and God knows she's a skilled enough liar that it'd seem genuine. But here, to a man that she knows can never tell anyone, she tries to pass on the most devastating judgement anyone has passed on her: you are so small. She tried to bury the truth of that statement in the basement of Fortunato Pharmaceuticals, to deliver it on to someone else. I like to think, though, that Annabel's proclamation continued to echo in Madeline's shriveled heart until the day The House of Usher collapsed upon her.

[jo-constantine]

“He’s rich.” When people asked how you took them, how you convinced them away from me. “He’s rich,” I’d say. “He’s rich.” And you don’t understand what the word means. They were young. They only knew appetite, and “Here,” you said, “Come with me. Gorge yourselves.” How could I compete with that? You didn’t feed them though, did you? You starved them. Less and less of them came back each time, until one day they were empty. They were syphoned. You started filling them up with… What did you fill them up with, Roderick? What did you have to fill them with? Because you weren’t rich, were you?

THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER | 1.08 “The Raven”

[ruegarding]

one thing abt thalia and percy's dynamic that is often overlooked is that percy was punished for the same things thalia was rewarded for. there's a prophecy abt one of the big three kids? percy is treated like a liar and thief and ppl refuse to talk to him. thalia? everyone respects her (including gods!) and assumes she'll do a great job saving the world. thalia is accepted immediately at camp and threatens the place percy spent two years proving he deserves. percy wants to go on a quest to save his friend? he's an attention seeker and glory stealer. thalia? well, she's the obvious choice. thalia comes up w a plan to win capture the flag that's basically "leave everything to me" and percy comes up with a plan that's basically "if you see a good opportunity, go for it," but percy is viewed as the control freak.

what i'm saying is percy had every reason to resent thalia and he didn't. he chose not to. and thalia had every reason to look down on percy and didn't.

even when they were fighting, i never saw it as a power struggle. they were being pit against each other, and instead of doing what everyone expected them to (kronos was fully expecting thalia to kill percy), they chose to love and respect each other. because they're not their parents. they're just two kids who started cracking under the pressure but refused to break.

[ruegarding]

#imo one of the most underrated aspects of the original pjo books#is that they're fundamentally about a Bad Kid.#Percy never hands in homework and talks back in class and gets into fights#he blows holes in national monuments#he follows exactly zero of the rules#in ANY other context percy would be the bully or something similar#but he's not#he's got anger issues and daddy issues and impulse control issues#he's been expelled from every school he's ever attended#and he's the fucking HERO.#and his whole story is about this stereotypical Problem Child finding a space that loves him and lets him be himself#and it's about this kid saying that HE isn't the one who needs to change. it's the adults in charge who need to do better.

#and i think in that vein#thalia and percy are very much your stereotypical “good” neurodivergent and “bad” neurodivergent kids#thalia is the one who everyone loves for her “unique perspective” and her “success despite the odds”#she's the “pleasure to have in class” kind of neurodivergent#but in the end?#she and percy have more in common than either of them EVER will have with the gods who are trying to toy with their lives#just like the “twice exceptional” students and the “disruptive” students have way more in common with each other#than they do w the teachers who try to force them into these narratives

tags via therainingkiwi

[asha-mage]

I feel like I am going to be having random WoT Finale thoughts for the next six months, but one I especially want to hit up now:

The actual logistics of the Whitecloak attack on Falme, from the military tactics to the geo politics of it all are so perfectly on point that it's like something Jordan would have written himself.

In the books the Whitecloaks are on Tomon Head for unrelated reasons to the Seanchan (ones that would be hard to establish properly in a tv format where we don't have the time to follow Bornhold Sr for six odd scenes), so the show runners shifted it so that they are explicitly answering a call for aid from a foreign throne. The Whitecloaks are a autonomous military body beholden to no nation that operates with pseudo-legality in most places that are not under their influence, and the idea of expanding that influence is far tempting to resist, especially when no other power is answering the call of Falme for aid, including the White Tower, who are the Whitecloak's primary rival. On principles it seems like they are stepping up to help a victimized nation that the 'witches' have abandoned, or else orchestrated the fall of. And then on a practical level, the actual tactics they employ are fiendishly clever. Using incense burners to create a fog to hide their approach and blunt the effectiveness of the enemy channelers (who need to be able to see something to target their weaves) and makes sense on a world buidling level- the Whitecloaks probably have a dozen tactics in their back pockets to deal with an outright war against the Aes Sedai if it ever breaks out. Once their close up to the walls, they send in their cavalry first, to overwhelm enemy defenses before they can get the gates shut, then send in the infantry to secrue and pacifiy the remaining resistance not taken about the shadows. By this point the Seanchan have to refocus their fighting to the streets of Falme, and the best way to do that is to gather their enemies on the nearby tower and reign down artillery fire in an attempt to break the Whitecloaks into retreat- brutal strategy likely to result in the deaths of their own troops and civilians, but necessary if they are going to hold the city at this point.

And then is where things get INSANE. See, conventional medieval military wisdom dictates that in a situation where the gates are breached already siege engines have no use. Their to clumsy, taking to much time to aim and fire to be much use in a melee like this. Siege engines are useful for breaking fortifications, toppling walls, etc. Siege engines if used offensively almost always come out first. So no one is expecting them to roll out of that fog and hurl stones at the damane's position. In one strike Bornhold Senior decapitates the enemy's primary advantage over him and tilts the battle in his favor. (And even if the damane had managed to counter the strike, they would be weakened significantly, having to focus on blocking further attacks and counter attacking the siege engines- not easy with the fog- instead of keeping the fighting in the streets under control).

This might be one of those things that only I care about, but good employment of medieval military tactics combined with magical fantasy elements alwayws makes me go

[asha-mage]

(tags from @amemoryofwot)

YEAH THIS TOO. The Whitecloaks know almost NOTHING about the Seanchan, but a universal cultural taboo? The killing of children.

On the off chance a Seanchan patrol stumbles on the incense carriers, their choice is brutal: Slay young children who are carrying no weapons dispelling the fog but costing them their humanity or do they not cut down the children and instead try to flee and likely end up cut down themselves by soldiers?

It's so so smart, and an example of something done more then a few times in military history in the real world: weaponizing a taboo in order to win an advantage against an enemy (see: the Umyadds advancing with the Quran attached to their spears so their also-Muslim enemies wouldn't dare attack them.)

[tatltaelfairies]

#nono youre so right #i know absolutely nothing about war tactics but when the catapults came out of the fog i hollered #i havent read the books but in general its just so brilliant for them to be there #like it absolutely makes sense too bc they are literally the only military power trained to fight channelers specifically #thats literally their entire thing #so when the Evil Channelers rock up they are ready to fucking go #of course theyd hear 'evil foreigners who use channelers to oppress people have conquered a city' and mount up (via iamanoccasionaldoodler)

[markantonys]

Perrin Aybara & Dain Bornhald in THE WHEEL OF TIME Season 2

[anthonysperkins]

[sarahmgellar]

THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER 2023 — dir. Mike Flanagan

[a-little-bit-oddish]

isn't the world amazing. full of wonder. there's bisexuals

[and-make-it-double]

Percy Jackson, 12 years old and the subject of a nation-wide manhunt: Sometimes, it's just nice to be wanted

Grover, stress eating a tin can: Not by the fucking law it's not

[buffysummers]

Johanna Mason in The Hunger Games (2012-2015)

[buffysummers]

Finnick Odair in The Hunger Games (2012-2015)

[doyouwanttoseeabug]

oh OOOOOOH their deaths mirror each other. Tamerlane and Leo are both driven to what looks like suicide chasing hallucinations around an apartment that architecturally represents their psyche (as they destroy it), shortly after leaving/planning to leave their loving partner. (Both of them invite her in, at first. Both of them want her there. But now she's in the mirrors. She's in the walls.)

Vic and Camille are both killed/driven to death by Vic's experiments, their rivalry leading to both their deaths (Camille to prove it doesn't work, Vic to prove it does), immediately after they get left by people they are using in professional/personal ways - Camille hires Toby and Tina to sleep with them, Vic dates Ali to get her to work with her on the heart mesh.

Perry and Frederick both die in the same warehouse, looking at the ceiling, waiting for death to come to them - Perry with a look of ecstasy, Frederick in terror. Both of them are in that warehouse because they've been humiliated by Roderick and are now determined to prove themselves. Both get led here by drugs. Both involve the mutilation of an innocent, Morrie. Both of them see Verna not as another character, but something like her true self. And there's the parallel between all the mercy that Verna offers Perry - the most she offers any of them, other than Lenore - and her glee in explaining to Roderick exactly why he deserves to die like this.

And then you get the final pairing/quartet of deaths - Eliza Usher + William Longfellow vs Madeline and Roderick which is obvious but oh my god. oh my god you guys. Eliza's wall of crucifixes and clinging to Christian faith and the sanctity of pain as a way of hoping for reward after death vs Roderick putting Madeline through the agony of vivisection to 'honour' her + grant her Egyptian immortality. Both William and Roderick eat their young. Fuck.

[mahiwantstowrite]

the way rick just swinged this out of nowhere

[1liv]

THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER 1x08 "The Raven"