Rhetoric and Logic

Statue of Tyche, A.D. 2nd century, Istanbul, Archaeological Museum

Helmet-Shaped Headdress (Northern Black Sea Region, 4th Century BC)

Type: Helmet-shaped headdress

Origin: Ak-Burun Kurgan, vicinity of Kerch, Crimea, Northern Black Sea Region

L’industrie du divertissement adapte volontiers les romans de fantasy, comme en témoignent les réussites de Game of Thrones ou du Seigneur des Anneaux. Pourtant, de nombreux projets prometteurs s’enlisent dans l’enfer du développement. C’est le cas d’un des chefs-d’œuvre les plus acclamés du genre : Les Mensonges de Locke Lamora, de Scott Lynch. Depuis vingt ans, ce roman faustien sur une bande…

The Captain is a leader of a smallish group in a bounded environment; spaceship captain is the canonical version to me, here. The Captain has authority, she is undeniably the authority figure in this space and she expects her commands to be obeyed, but that authority is a contract. It comes with the knowledge that she uses that authority for the good of her crew.

The Captain is dutiful: her duty is to her mission second, and her crew first. Everything else, including her own personal feelings and desires, comes third. The Captain takes her duty as commander seriously and has a strong sense of responsibility. She is responsible for what happens to each one of her crew, responsible for their lives and safety, responsible for their failures and deaths. And she takes the weight of that responsibility seriously too.

The Captain is fair: her expectations may be high but she isn’t capricious. She does not ask her crew to do anything she wouldn’t do herself, and in the case of a crisis The Captain is ready to go down with her ship, making sure that everyone else gets out first.

Two people do not decide that they are "courting". One person decides to "court" someone else. It's an action, not a stage in the relationship. A man decides to court a woman because he wants to encourage her to have romantic interest in him. He's trying to win her favor. It's not an exclusive relationship--a woman could be courted by multiple men at once. She'll spend time getting to know the guy who's interested in her, but they won't officially define their relationship as one where they only show romantic interest in each other. If they reach a point where they want it to be exclusive, that's when you propose.

bizarrely, America has in many ways gotten more conservative about dating since World War II.

The Jacket

I finally gave my blonde warlock loser an actual illustration I challenged myself a little, stepping out of the more ornamental and decorative illustrations I have been into.