game changer always has a good game to play but i dont know if ive ever had one be elevated THAT much by the story of its set and costumes. game where everybody implicitly knows an understands a set of absurd and nonsensical rules except you and so you have to desperately try to follow along so no one knows that youre a fraud. in victorian aesthetics and with the context of a masquerade ball, a formal social gathering where social norms will be most emphasized. "masking," if you will.
yes yes yes but the aesthetics are not at all Victorian (Queen Victoria famously didn’t wear wigs)! The big wigs are more in line with the Rococo era, which ended about fifty years before Victoria ascended to the British throne
i have to let you know (in good fun) that i did literally open two different google tabs to search up victorian era dress and masquerade balls to try and check that i wasnt about to say anything insanely wrong but i ended up giving up and deciding that someone out there will simply have to correct me XD its delightful to see that prophecy come true!
Disclaimer: I’m not arguing for historical accuracy or attacking OP. I just love sharing information about history!
There is actually an argument to be made that the episode is historically accurate to the late Victorian period, if we interpret it through the lens of a costume ball. Victorians loved dressing up as historical figures and abstract concepts. They also loved literally whitewashing Greek antiques to fit with their ideas of purity and perfection* (like the white marble columns and podium on set).
However, there are a few flaws in this theory:
Victorians would have abhorred the matching wigs, since it was a huge deal to have your own custom-made costume. Take Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt’s Electric Light dress from 1883– it was designed and made for her from the House of Worth (a preeminent Parisian fashion house), and it featured battery-powered electric lights in the skirt. This was a big deal in a time when electricity was still rare— the USA’s presidential residence, the White House, didn’t get electric lighting until 1891.
Costume balls and masquerade balls were fairly distinct in Victorian times. Symbolism was a big deal to the 19th century western world (see floriography), so your costume usually would’ve indicated something deeper about yourself. The masks that the players have would’ve obscured their identities, which is contrary to the point of wearing costumes. They were less about a disguise and more about an excuse to look fancy and compare yourself to a historical figure. At the 1866 Bal du Ministre de la Marine in Paris, Napoleon III and his Empress wore black dominoes (which might not have included masks), but they stood out from the more elaborately-costumed guests. That event was also a bit too early to properly compare to late Victorian costume balls.
This one’s minor, but the late Victorian formal pattern of speech in the UK and America is very distinct. There was a specific diction used to make sure that everyone in a crowded room could hear your voice before microphones existed— a big emphasis on enunciation and projection, not the soft, vaguely modern upper class British accent that the players adopted.
Historical photos under the cut!
*yes, this is a white supremacy thing. I won’t get into it, but consider that our cultural conception of totally white Greek architecture is intrinsically connected to the (incorrect) Victorian ideas that white people are superior and that “white” is the highest form of perfection and purity.
Off-topic fun fact: the Victorians thought that the people of the Regency-era (think Bridgerton) western world were horribly immodest, so you’ll rarely see costumes that resemble Austen-esque characters.
Above: 'Daisy' Greville, Frances Evelyn Maynard, Countess of Warwick, as Marie Antoinette at the Devonshire House Ball (1897).
Above: three guests from the Vanderbilt costume ball of 1883, dressed as Rococo/Georgian characters. Interestingly, Earwig could’ve been Georgian themed, since that period loved both Greek (neoclassical) architecture and large wigs. The colors of the wigs and the game itself are more in line with the Rococo movement, which was more extravagant/colorful than the more refined/conservative Georgian aesthetic.
Below: some other fun costumes from the 1883 ball— Cleopatra and a witch!
i do so sincerely love that the second you take an improv comedian and put a giant ridiculous marie antoinette style wig on them they immediately become possessed by the spirit of a deranged 18th century fop without needing to be asked
This came as a discussion point between me and my neurodivergent friends (I'm also neurodivergent but I like to think I have people skills).
The rule of thumb is that you can call everyone a friend unless otherwise corrected. Think of this declaration of friendship not as a definite marker of where your relationship is (because one doesn't exist), but a way of communicating that you would like to keep being on amicable terms with this person.
There aren't guidelines for what makes one a friend so it's as much guesswork on the other person's part as it is yours. More likely than not (if they either want to be friends with you or already think they are friends with you), they will not correct you if you call them a friend. People usually don't feel weirded out by it, if they're not particularly pedantic, because it's just a word. As long as it's not accompanied by a drastic change of behaviour to solidify this new friendship status, you're good. (Like, you can probably drop "my friend, (barista)" or "my friend, (owner of corner store)" in casual conversation and they probably won't think you're ready to watch a movie with them.)
On the flip side if someone calls you a friend, and you think you aren't there yet BUT you will like to keep being on good terms with this person, don't correct them. Their declaration of friendship is their olive branch and even if you're not ready to take it, don't snip it away. Just smile and nod or something.
The only people I hear dissecting the levels of friendship are my fellow autistics. And usually the only people who correct "no, you're not my friend," are people that are very clear they do not want to be said friend anyways (and possibly also autistic, or like, your boss).
nausicaa is such an underrated character. procrastinates doing her laundry. the goddess athena appears to her to tell her to do her laundry. she plays sports. she is the only one to not be afraid of a terrifying desperate naked man approaching her and her friends. tells her friends off for being scared of him. gives him her home address and invites him to her house. thinks he’s hot. has no idea who he is. watches him destroy everyone at discus. finds out he’s a celebrity that people sing about in her court. finds out also that he’s married with a wife and son and is like ohhhh okay let’s do everything possible to help you get home! doesn’t think twice. moves on instantly. unbothered. loving life. she’s everything 2 me
ohhhhh my name is paul baker and after passing out from a marathon i wake up to a beautiful woman on me like an angel and she gives me water and takes me back to her place and we make out on the couch for a bit and then i fall asleep only to wake up to a beautiful man on me who is in the middle of pulling off an insanely elaborate lie to his coworkers. and im sexually fluid. boy fuck you
if you ever feel bad about your laundry situation you can reflect on book six of the odyssey where princess nausicaa has been putting off her laundry for so long that the GODDESS ATHENA notices and COMES TO HER HOUSE using a lecture on laundry procrastination to get her to meet odysseus
The new Odyssey adaptation has inevitably gotten people talking about a Muppet version of it, and they’re frequently suggesting Kermit as Odysseus, Miss Piggy as Penelope.
I’m sorry but that’s thinking way too small, hear me out:
We need to have Miss Piggy as Odysseus, and Kermit as Penelope.
Think about it… who’s the more fickle, prideful, warlike one in that relationship? Who is absolutely ready to go ham, at a moment’s notice?
TL:DR for my much longer xenia post is that the idea the Trojan Horse would've offended the gods is...nonsense.
Xenia was a compact between travelers and hosts. It wasn't the fucking Golden Rule, it was a specific-ass policy about how you treat someone who is a guest in your home, or how you act when you are a guest in someone else's home. Its purpose was to promote peaceful travel between Greek city-states, but someone showing up at your door armed to the teeth and intent on murdering you, raping your wives and daughters, and plundering your wealth would not be entitled to the same rights as a peaceful traveler. That's an enemy soldier, and to be treated as such.
An invader trying to break down your gates isn’t a guest; they’re not entitled to xenia. Neither the “guests” — the Greeks — or the “hosts” — the Trojans — were expected not to harm one another. They had in fact been killing each other for a decade by the time Odysseus thought up the trick with the Horse. Entering the gates of Troy through a tricky trap would not have elicited feelings of shame among the Greeks, and certainly wouldn’t have invited a divine curse from the gods.
Odysseus invites a divine curse, yes, but not at war — it's while he's coming home from it. It's when he shouts his name at Polyphemus in a moment of stunning hubris, because it's not enough for him to win the day with tricks and lies; Odysseus feels the constant need to brag about it. That was the act of arrogance that got him in trouble, and Nolan cut it.
Also, Athena (or what Odysseus thinks is her but is really his guilt-fueled hallucination of a priestess) haunting Odysseus to shame him for it? Wildly out of character. The Trojan Horse trick is how you know Odysseus is Athena's favorite mortal — because he's being strategic and clever and tricky and deceitful and winning the war she's been championing in the process. Athena and Hera were the biggest members of team "BURN TROY TO THE GROUND FUCK THIS CITY" throughout the Iliad — multiple times Athena pops onto the battlefield to either interfere directly or manipulate a mortal into keeping the battles bloody and the Greeks winning.
Like, it's made more offensive to me because Nolan is trying to pretend he's applying an ancient value and moral in this situation. But xenia, Zeus's Law, whatever you call it, is not the same thing as Golden Rule (or the Geneva Conventions), and cannot be treated like it is.
If Nolan could just admit he's sanctioning Odysseus for something ancient folks wouldn't have blinked at, it might've worked. He could've had Odysseus be in denial about the fact that going to Troy and helping burn it was wrong, and let that be a slow realization before he grasps that the Trojan Horse was just the final atrocity he committed among many at war. But Odysseus clearly knew even before he left that he was doing something heinous, which raises the question of why he did it at all. And moreover, it ignores what morals people from that time and culture actually had.
it never stops being funny that BBC Sherlock blew so much of its astronomical budget on overproduced filmmaking gimmicks and meanwhile Leverage managed to look easily 10x more interesting and dynamic with a budget of $7 and one steadicam operator named Gary
I love when Leverage stops in the middle of an episode to explain a corrupt system or law or whatever so they're sure the audience knows exactly what's bad about it before they execute a cathartic revenge upon someone exploiting it. They're like hang on let me take a minute to explain the private prison industry and why it's so fucked up. Okay now back to the jailbreak and fucking over the rich private prisons guy
dont store a knife with the point facing down, it damages the blade. no, dont do that either. when you store it with the point facing up you might accidentally hurt yourself when you try to grab it. dont store a knife at all actually. your blade must never leave your hand, always ready, ruthless and waiting. you know deep down that ever since you learned the stench of blood you will never be able to cast it aside. or just get a sheath for it i guess.
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