it all goes back and back

so much potential for mulling over odyssey-ramayana parallels, especially wrt the parallels between penelope-odysseus and rama-sita. the titular hero of their respective poems who are taken away from their wives by circumstances and must return to them. but while odysseus is returning from a war, rama is going towards it, amassing an army in order to rescue sita. sita plays the role that helen of troy played in the iliad, abducted and far away from home. the heroes face tribulations while their wives reject advances from suitors. and the moment of reuniting is at once joyful--the culmination of the plays--and yet fraught with the tensions of what a marriage in a patriarchal marriage looks like. the tension for penelope and for sita is the hidden question--have you been faithful? are you still mine? they are questioned with these in a way that the heroes never are--and in odysseus's case, it is quite easy to argue that he has not been faithful, though as a man he is not expected to be. so many things going on here

just saw a youtube video saying you should look for a wife like penelope and not someone who "cheats on you while you're fighting for your nation" like clytemnestra. Dont. Piss me off. how about you dont sacrifice your daughter for fair winds.

so far i have #influenced two friends into reading asoiaf, one moot and a few irls into tadc, and a moot into cien años and book of the new sun. now i need to #agendapost about the foundation trilogy until i get someone. patience is the virtue of the dodent

the rhaegar in my head is dangerously underweight when he starts training as a warrior, and basically has to be hand fed by his master-at-arms, willem darry, until he starts eating by himself. every few years (especially around the anniversary of summerhall) he starts avoiding food again, and someone has to pull him aside and tell him that a good warrior must always be well fed. that usually gets him to start eating again. he has never been reported to enjoy a meal, though he's ever mindful of his duties as a prince, and always gives his regards to the cook

everyone on r/asoiaf is so miserable. do they know they're not chained to the wall