Because history has variable standards of "useful"
Ok, so like, I've been thinking about King Arthur (not consistently or anything, just sort of as a topic that occurs to me every now and then), and in this case I was also thinking more particularly about the joke that you occasionally see in pop culture about Arthur's return: that if X historical tragedy didn't lead to the return of King Arthur, and Y current events aren't going to cause the return of King Arthur, then uh... wtf is the greatest need he'll be returning for? Like– how much worse can it get?
And like, yeah, alright, that's a funny thought, but I got to wondering... what would actually be a circumstance that would cause the return of King Arthur? Or, more particularly, when would it be useful to get King Arthur?
Because, like, modern Britain would not have a lot of use for King Arthur. Can you imagine? Random man appears, even if somehow undeniably through magic, seems to think he can be "in charge" because of a birthright that we do not acknowledge, yeah, good luck with pulling that off without getting some serious ramifications headed your way. (Also no one would believe the magic wasn't a trick somehow, but that aside)
And, yes, okay, that's why a lot of Arthurian adaptations involve a version of Arthur who is born as a person in contemporary society and "realizes who he/she was" (Putting a pin in the proliferation of female reincarnations for some other rant), but– the legend isn't "He will be born again" but rather "He will rise from Albion," right? (If I'm wrong, eh, fair enough, there's some source for any point and its contradiction in Arthurian myth because the myths don't really have a single canon, but that is also a very long tangent)
So the question then becomes– what skillset does Arthur have, and–to reiterate–when will those be useful?
Step one is get the castle building, chainmail wearing, feudal system controlling, vaguely medieval King out of your head, that's a much later invention. Ok- well, sort of. Historically speaking if Arthur is based on a real figure he would have been in 6th century Briton which is technically the middle ages, but not like that. The Middle Ages span a millennium and unless you happen to be a historian (or someone otherwise interested in the time period) you've probably got a very broad picture of what that was and a lot of that probably comes from the latter part. Castles as we now think of them, for example, probably began (according to a cursory google) in 9th century France.
And, to touch on that variable canon, a lot of Arthurian myths are set way later than any historical figure (the character may have originally been based on) would have actually lived (if he did).
Meaning that original!Arthur is, at his most useful, a warlord. A man skilled at leading a nomadic tribe of people, meaning he would need to be good at things like basic strategy and conflict management, survival skills and physical combat, but not someone with a lot of skills applicable to 21st century life.
I mean, no wonder he wouldn't have awoken for the bubonic plague or the world wars, what the hell could he have done in the face of either? So what could he do something about?
When would the people of Britain Albion need a warlord with those skills? Maybe in a post apocalyptic collapse of society when a warlord who is skilled at getting people to follow him (and hopefully also capable of the kind of diplomacy you'd need to bring about a golden age by uniting feuding tribes of people) would actually have applicable skills? I mean, after all, it's not when Albion most needs divine intervention, it's when Albion most needs Arthur.
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Scenes/Things in Supernatural that genuinely don't make sense to me if Dean was straight:
The confession booth scene.
Sam just rolling with the fact that Dean's siren is a guy while still thinking sirens infect people through sex.
Dean being flustered by several men: Gunner Lawless, Aaron, Doctor Sexy, etc.
All the parallels between Destiel and other couples. (A big one being "last night on Earth" bc how do you do that accidentally.)
Having all the gay jokes be on Dean instead of Sam.
Paralleling Sam meeting his childhood celebrity crush with Dean meeting Gunner Lawless.
The boner Dean got when Cas cleaned up.
Dean gulping after Cas does an impression from a Western movie.
Charlie, a lesbian, calling Castiel "dreamy."
The way Mary looks at Dean and Cas when they hug.
Dean wondering why everyone assumes he's gay, while Sam not caring.
The logic that Charlie can't flirt with guys because she's only attracted to women, but then having Dean flirt with the guy for her.
Dean seeming disappointed when learning that Aaron's flirting was fake.
The amount of time Dean and Cas spend staring at each other.
Dean canonically having an orgy with Crowley.
A woman saying that she knows when someone's pining for someone else to Dean, just for us to learn that Dean was never in love with Amara.
The set design and script choices that lead to a cross in the background while Dean said "I do." to Cas after he came back to life.
Edit: To the people who say I can't use the siren as an example because the siren is supposed to be his brother, and therefore his siren being a man doesn't work. If you reread that bullet point, then you will realize that I didn't put it down as just simply Dean's siren being a man. I recognize that the siren is supposed to be his brother. It's the fact that Sam still thinks the siren infects people through sex, not knowing that it's actually through saliva when he realizes who the siren is. So when he sees that Dean's siren is a guy, he had to assume they had sex, and he does not seem surprised by this at all.
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It has been 14 hours since I found out that, according to Kubo, Byakuya calls Renji by his given name "because Rukia does" and I am obsessed with this information.
This is both the best and worst possible answer to this question. I feel like if you asked Byakuya, this is exactly the reason he would give. However, if Rukia were present, she would lose her damn mind. While I do think Rukia's assertion that Byakuya didn't look at her even once in 40 years is hyperbole, over that time I can imagine Renji's name coming up in conversation once, maybe twice tops.
Like, two weeks before she goes on her fateful mission to the Living World, B's been shortlisting Vice-Captain candidates, and over dinner, real casual:
B: Rukia. You know your friend?
Rukia: My who now?
B: That friend of yours who shouts too much. The boorishly tall one. With the red hair. Is he in Squad Eleven now?
Rukia (wracking her brain frantically for people Byakuya would consider 'her friend'): You mean Renji?
B: Yes, him.
Rukia: What about him?
B: Is he in Squad Eleven? The Sixth Seat?
Rukia: ...maybe? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The next day, Byakuya's office, Renji shows up for his job interview.
B: You must be Renji.
Renji: uhhhhhhhh sure why not?
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I love the dichotomy we get between jinshi and the emperor that shows off how the traits that make jinshi a great prince, boss, friend (husband 👀👀👀👀) are the very same traits that will make him a terrible emperor.
His hard working streak that lets him handle his weird assignments with grace and manage the clashing egos of the inner palace is what will get him killed by overwork as emperor since he has no real head for delegation. It took 11 volumes and the intervention of most of his immediate family just to get jinshi to hire a secretary. The emperor always being free to host parties, sleep with the consorts, and bust jinshis balls in-between it all is, much like lakan always being free to annoy maomao, actually a sign of him being god-like at delegation and organizational management.
His lack of ego and willingness to look the fool if it gets the job done is great for avoiding political snafus and getting to the truth of things. It's genuinely the thing that makes all his expeditions to the western capital so wildly successful: he really doesn't gaf about how he's seen by the public, so long as the job gets done and his friends aren't in immediate danger. It's also the exact opposite of what you need from a head of state who's legitimacy is not-insignificantly based on the public perceiving you as an instrument of the will of heaven. The emperor being willing to kill people and their families over slights jinshi (and most sane human beings) would be willing to let slide is cruel and inhuman, but it's also what keeps the populace at large from being able to organize against him and challenge the imperial power.
Jinshis compassionate streak, his urge to save as many people he can and find the best solution for everyone possible, makes him great to work for. He'll give you assignments that match your hyper fixation, work around your crippling social anxiety, give you a post that just-so-happens to involve you staying with the love of your life for a few months. More over, he isn't gonna risk his life and your position over petty ego or greed when he can find a peaceful solution instead. But the hesitation he feels at using people like tools, and his unwillingness to act if it means throwing people under the bus, is what will lead to death and destruction if he's the emperor. Especially in a time of war. The current emperor is willing to ruin lives and crush nations if it reaches a goal, advances an agenda.
Finally, jinshis loyalty, I'd say even more than his looks, is what draws people to him. He loves his toys, can't stand to give them up. It makes him a great romantic figure. But when you're the emperor, and you need to be willing and able to marry someone for political ends, produce as many heirs as possible regardless of who with, and set aside the feelings of those women for your own sake, that loyalty is poison.
Idk, so often in stories with these systems they sorta follow the logic of "if he's a good person he'll be a good leader." I think it's cool to have a series talk about how being a leader involves being EXTREMELY comfortable with being an asshole, for a myriad of reasons, and how someone being pleasant to work for wouldn't make them an effect monarch.
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OH. okay so normally i dont touch discourse with a 20 ft pole, but this has been niggling at my brain tonight and i finally realized why
the people who are mad at qbbh for the memory loss and “dodging consequences” dont understand that he doesnt want to dodge consequences. Like they cant know that, they werent focused on him when he was literally feeding himself to the soul vultures and planning his eventual imprisonment and also. The Many Many Many hints he made towards suicide/sacrifice/Just Fucking Dying.
ccbbh is a subtle roleplayer, he’s been building this shit up for two whole months- it was day FIVE of the eggs going missing that he resolved to do whatever it took (hurting his friends) to get the eggs back. It was day three that he followed in dapper’s footsteps and started feeding himself to the soul vultures (and gaining a Massive headwound beneath his hood in the process- you can only see it if you go on namemc and remove the layers). He’s got impaired judgement. Even the memory issues arent a new thing- i cant remember exactly when they started, but one of the first big moments i remmeber was september 30th where he spent an hour falling into a delusional frenzy searching his base for cameras that he forgot he asked aypierre to plant.
The super murder of purgatory and the memory loss afterwards probably all feels very sudden for people who havent been following his story, but as someone who has been- all of this has been true to character. The only cheap swings he’s made have been combat-based in purgatory, and even the motive for those was built up in rp.
People are calling for consequences, but he has alrwady been experiencing self-inflicted consequences for months. The blue on his usual outfit is blood. This recent memory loss isnt a restart to get away with the atrocities - it is yet another consequence of his egg-protecting complexes and the ways he punishes himself for failing them.
he is NOT a moral character. he’s a demon hiding in plain site. he has eaten people. he has killed people. he understands the cruelty of his actions, and the consequences of them for the loved ones of his victims. but it matters when that harm is being done to his loved ones. he’ll still do it, because he will do anything for the eggs, but it matters, and that means that he has already started the process of self-inflicting those much-demanded consequences
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Something that always breaks my heart is how during the House of Hades Nico is described as smiling and grinning actually pretty often, but later on in his pov he mentions that it's hard for him to do that, or really emote as a general.
Which means my poor most specialest little boy in the whole world Nico di Angelo was constantly going out of his way to mask and smile at the rest of The Seven even though he didn't know them basically at all.
And he had also just gone through literal hell while everybody except his sister was super rude to him the entire time.
And the whole time they are all just thinking about how he looks creepy when frowning but that they prefer that because his smile is even creepier.
They are all so mean to him whyyyyy
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