(drums, heavily pounding) ...also sprache...

A Post for All and None

spinning off from the shadow thread in dosbox development, as offtopicking there, maybe not that much stricto sensu though, since it's still about development... of human beings' weltanschauung.

I thought it was high time to pay special honour to Paul Gardiner and Dege for retrieving the lost shadow in Tomb Raider and hence reassuring the very existence of all our Universe.
It's understood chances are neither of them may ever get to read this, but it wouldn't undermine in the least the significance of my message in a forum, even if it should remain wholly unbekwns... unbenkwo... unbewkonts... unnoticed to them.
Suffice it to declare here the point has been unveiled.

WTF am I talking about, you say. Well, abide with me one minute and let me show you WTF this is about.

Suppose just for a moment that we are real, and we're not just a part of a minor Philip K. Dick novel.
Suppose this world is all true.

Shadow matters and how.
Now in mythology what's wrong if you don't cast any shadow ? All is terribly wrong, unheimlich, or uncanny if you prefer, that's what it is.

Either you're a supernatural entity yourself which I doubt in this case, or you're a fake, a simple arrogant human being without a shadow and then there's a terrible menace to the structure of the universe and everything is at stake. Pretty soon some deity up there is going to teach you/us a thing or two about tampering with the world of nature's laws.

Did I hear you mumbling, this is madness, I don't believe you're sane.
Well, I know, you're civilized now, you're grown up, evolved, no gods anymore, you don't need make any sacrifice to anything before devoting yourself to a new feat.

No more offerings by slaying of a hundred bulls, or performing outdoors open chest heart surgery on your prisoners, or burying two score youth alive to please the gods of the underworld.
You wouldn't slaughter the daughter of the Commander in Chief before going at war would you (Agamemnon's daughter Iphigeneia before sailing to Troy, that's a scene they left out from the Troy flick script). Need more ?

Come on, you're close. Think of it : Tomb Raider itself at its onset has its own human sacrifice, remember ? No ? Strange remotion, let me refresh your memory: death by wolf, at tomb entrance. Starting to realize now ?
The guide is gone. Lara tried to help him out with the wolves, but sounded hardly convinced and convincing to me. She knew it had to be him or her. Someone just was to die there. Better him than her.
And now she gets in there, with no shadow ? That's outlandish, that's irresponsible provoking. The Gods just won't stand it.

That's not all, Calderon de la Barca wrote : life is a dream, but Pindarus, much earlier and so much the wiser stated : man is a shadow's dream (a dream dreamt by a shadow), and that's all there will be to say about it forever.
Now if you rip me my shadow off of my feet, what's left ? A dream dreamt by a nothing ?
A naught's dream ! Hey, not bad, not at all, smells like one of those zen little riddle gems, like, a one hand clap.

All is well that ends well: Dege & Paul restored the TR shadow (almost) immediately so there was no time the universe could have been destroyed or swerved from its course.
It's good to enjoy our old universe.
Lara Croft could soon be candidate for President of the US, while the nimble shape of our beloved videogame hero Luciano Pavarotti still keeps on deftly voulting from this ledge here to that steep slope over there. Too bad he has little voice so he's always silent.

Gotta leave now.
Cheshire's waiting for me. See my whiskers hang around for some time.

Stay tuned. Get ready for the Empire issued a special message for you.

Don't miss what Lord Chandos has to tell you either.

1bool areYouStillWithMe(); 
2bool feedback =0; 
3
4if (feedback = areYouStillWithMe()) 
5  ShowWindow("La condition humaine");

http://www.abcgallery.com/M/magritte/magritte16.html