#WHY AM I STILL THINKING ABOUT IT THATS NOT WHAT HAPPENS

[cugzarui]

future self here: read the article it's pretty good. anyway down heres my take before i finished the article

---------------

ok imma make the post while reading the article

this reads more like something thats meant to make you outraged than something that makes a genuine attempt to analyze the lightning thief. ragemongering if you will.

Now why the hell would the Greek gods ever live in America? Great question. Here’s where it starts to get real ugly real quick.

is it though? is it really? cuz im pretty sure the real world reason is to have an excuse to make the series happen in America (the home of the target audience) as opposed to greece (not the home of the target audience). and the in-story reason is just whatever lets you justify this in-universe.

Chiron who had been previously disguised as a Latin teacher in a wheelchair—presumably to better hide his… horse parts? I’m not sure

yes? it has admittedly been a while since i read those books but im pretty sure that is the cannon in universe reason why he uses a wheelchair. did you read the book?

ok reading further they start bringing up actually relevant points that do support their claim. im not gonna copy all of that but i will respond with: it is still a book about the greek gods and is based on greek legends. idk if you forgot but greeks are white europeans. legends about demigods tend to have exceptionalism as part of their main themes. often explicitly. yea unless you're writing some really sanitized story, basing it on greek legends will probably make it at least a little problematic.

i didnt know that bit about western civilization being a new concept. that is a good point:

This emphasis on the power of western civilization — a concept that didn’t emerge until the 19th century and was bound up in “imperialism and colonialism, white supremacism, classism and exceptionalism” — absolutely pervades The Lightning Thief,

lets keep reading -

It is perhaps tempting to write this off as a common — albeit indelicate — narrative technique. Riordan is writing for Americans, so he crafted a narrative focused on Americans.

oh i was anticipated.

the promotion of a (falsely) white ancient Greece and Rome is not limited to The Lightning Thief. White people love narratives wherein Greeks, Romans, and their gods are white

ok yea ancient greece wasnt just white people. still they were definitely europeans. actually let me just google this real quick -

What races lived in ancient Greece?

Hellenes

Central and Eastern Greek tribes (Aeolians, Achaeans and Ionians) ...

Western Greek tribes (Dorians and Macedonians) ...

Macedonians-Magnetes.

https://en.wikipedia.org

List of ancient Greek tribes - Wikipedia

that doesnt help much. a bunch of ancient greek tribes i don't recognize. hmmm maybe if i go into the article and nope nope just more words and graphs i dont understand. ok since im a little stupid lets go with this. ancient greece definitely had non-white people in it too, but i dont think its that controversial to say it was mainly white europeans. if not, then you have to explain how the current inhabitants are mostly white europeans. which...idk you can probably explain it pretty easily but i am not smart and the simplest explanation is just that the ethnicities of the current inhabitants roughly matches that of the ancient inhabitants.

i still dont think its so unreasonable to assume that rick decided to move the gods to america as a way to appeal to his audience, rather than as some kind of white supremacist move. though tbf it could be both. he doesn't even have to be aware hes doing it for it to be the case. but just because it could be the case doesnt mean it is.

the way he phrases it in-story does kinda seem supremacist now that i think about it but again, this is a story about demigods and is based on ancient myths and literal legends. giving these things some epic framing with exceptionalism is hardly surprising.

and...thats about all the notes i have about the article. it goes on to make a lot of good points and best of all, it doesn't actually pile up on rick and his stories that much. just brings attention to the fact that there is some genuine white supremacy stuff in there and that you should be aware of that. it doesn't even tell you not to read them and it makes note of the fact rick has gotten much better at not doing white supremacy.

in a way i was right about this article being rage mongering. just that it only rage mongers at the beginning as a way to draw you in to read it. call that a hook call it clickbait but the article is genuinely good and insightful and i recommend reading it.

you thought you can just read my addition instead of the article didnt you? think again buster you are merely a fool.

so like. everyone in the pjo fandom has read this article right? ok cool

[doomedclockworkdotmp3]

heeyyy gaaanggg

the pose and the background of the album version (left) are based on oingo boingos only a lad album art. not cause i think he has anything to do with it but just cause ive been wantin to draw that pose for like. weeks and i didnt know who to put there. so why not my latest bug man.

[vani-ash]

I'm just trying to make a timeline of Paradise Of Thorns for myself feel free to correct me if it sounds wrong. (Spoilers for the movie)

According to google it takes approximately 3-5 months to grow durian to ripe from when they first bloom, So the movie takes place roughly over 5 months if we go for the longest time.

Thongkam is a monk for about a month (again i just googled how long temple duties take and it said a month).

At the start when asked how long until the durians are ready to sell Thongkam says 4 months, so its been 1 month by himself before they move in.

And then I think when he gets back from being a monk, that's probably close to 4 months being done (he goes to do it 4 months in? based off 1 month by himself, 3 hospital visits )

Mae Saengs hospital visits are once a month, we only see 2, once at the start, and once when Thongkam buys her the wheelchair, but there is a third we don't see where Thongkam goes to sell the produce and tells them they have to take a taxi.

I think Jingna shows up around halfway through the second month.

The time between Sek and Thongkam finding their first durian bloom, getting married, Sek dying, and Seks funeral is unclear to me. I did think they got married, paid off the debt and Sek dying happened in a day but i think it'd make more sense to be like a week. (I thought a day cause Sek asks to marry and its like sunrise, then it cuts to them going to pay the debt, which i assume was already mostly paid off if they could do it this quickly, so like i assume Thongkam insisted on paying it that day instead of whenever he was scheduled to pay it, Sek leaves to do things, then comes back that night. But after trying to time line it i think a week or two sounds more realistic?)

So sometime within the first month all that happens, and then I've just been using the hospital visits to try and count how long each section takes.

-1 month alone/with sek -3 months with Mae Saeng, Mo and Jingna -1 month away at temple -1 month with Jingna (the durians arent fully done when he gets back so I'm adding 1 more month even though thats over 5)

I think Mo's wedding, and the rest of the ending all takes place on the same day/night. Also Sek / Thongkam been together 5+ years

Mo / Sek been together 20 years (?)

(Mo wanted to leave to work in bangkok 10 years ago but Sek convinced her to stay, so Thongkam/ Sek could be together more than 5 years as thats only how long hes been paying the debt?)

[lesbiansanemi]

Currently trying not to vomit over the fact that I essentially just lost almost a thousand dollars brb

[memingursa]

heh heh……. I guess it is true what they say about liberals….. hand them sources based on solid polling…..

You telll them “Hey, you know you’re supposed to court voters right..? that’s how democracy works…” They call you an idealistic leftist… They say “hey this genocide is wrong…” and they call you an idealistic leftist, most of the country starts to say “hey this genocide is wrong…..” and they still call you an idealistic leftist…/ that you somehow brainwashed millions of voters with your sub 6k tumblr blog account……..

They Say…. “Oh, what do you mean Kamala Harris should have stopped supporting genocide… you one issue voter…. like there isn’t a FUCK TON OF MORE ISSUES THAN THAT……..” Like having your own morals… and empathy for the marginalized in our own country doesn’t matter… Like how there’s so much other polling on how kamala fucked up…. she didn’t even run on medicare for all….

You hand them poll after poll… PEOPLE DO HAVE MORALS….. THEY DON’T WANT GENOCIDE…. THEY WANT RADICAL SOLUTIONS TO THEIR PROBLEMS AND TO HELP PEOPLE……They ignore it… call you an idiot for even using physical evidence….. Most people start adjusting their strategy after an obvious fucking messaging issue. But they didn’t… Biden was doing a Genocide for a year and liberals didn’t care…, Biden increased deportations and gave trump this infrastructure and liberals didn’t care…,,, Only when they realized that that support of genocide might actually affect them with electoral consequences…. they say… “Why not just get in line?

“WHY NOT…? AFTER ALL I BENEFIT FROM THIS SYSTEM… YOU MIGHT EVENTUALLY GET A CEASEFIRE. I DON’T CARE IF TENS OF THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT PEOPLE ARE DEAD. I DON’T CARE ABOUT GENOCIDE. WHY DO YOU WANT TO AFFECT ME?”

LIKE YOUR COMFORT IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE HARM THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY CAUSED…: You ASSUME YOUR LIFE MATTERS MORE THAN PALESTINIANS. YOU ARE JUST SOMEBODY BORN ON A COUNTRY BORN IN IMPERIAL SUCCESS. JUSTICE MUST HAPPEN FOR ALL. FOR A HEALTHY WORLD TO CONTINUE THIS SHIT MUST END. THIS SYSTEM CANT EVEN ABIDE BASIC REFORM….. BY YOUR DEMOCRATIC PARTY… WAS IN FULL FUCKING CONTROL OF IT BUT DIDNT WANT TO DO ANYTHING… “ONE ISSUE VOTERS…. Radical climate protestors…..” ALL OF IT WAS SAID. LIKE POLITICS IS JUST ABOUT CONVIENCE. ITS NOT. YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO PEOPLE, YOU HAVE TO EARN THEIR VOTE WITH GOOD POLICIES THAT HELP PROPLE.

EVEN WHEN IT’S INCONVENIENT FOR YOU. YOU HAVE TO SAY “I AGREE WITH THESE GENOCIDE PROTESTORS…. WHICH IS MOST OF THE FUCKING COUNTRY BY THE WAY.” BECAUSE PEOPLE HAVE MORALS. EVEN IF THEY ARE “ ONE ISSUE VOTERS” YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO THEM!!!!! THATS BASIC FUCKING POLITICS!!!!!!! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU THINKING “ONE ISSUE VOTERS *AGAIN PEOPLE AGAINST GENOCIDE” DONT DESERVE TO SPEAK UP???? THEN THEY WONT WANT TO VOTE FOR YOU.” THIS IS OBVIOUS TO EVERYONE… EXCEPT THIS DUMBASS.:…

Your immoral dumbass won’t even see me in the next life.

Heh… I guess I do need to name this technique… How about…:

SPECIAL BLOCK CANON

…..

Donate if you can

Nader’s fundraiser had to be re-done https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-nader-alanqar-and-his-family-overcome-this-war-in-gaza

“Caring about gaza is unpopular with americans.” Kamala literally lost every swing state because of her genocide. There was fucking polling done. What the fuck do you do with these god damn idealistically racist liberals who refuse to look at political reality. Don’t you fucking dare let these racist motherfuckers rewrite history blaming the left still when Kamala was backing genocide for a fucking year.

You’re the unpopular out of touch people!!!!! What is wrong with democrat defenders. Kamala Harris was in power and refused to court voters by even lying about ending genocide, that’s how fucking elections work!!!!!!

[orcelito]

Super sexy me is so sexy I accidentally set off the fire alarm while baking pie shells for my pumpkin pie. And now I don't know if I should've even baked them in the first place. But well. Too late now 👍

[hauntingblue]

ARCANE EPISODE 7!!!!

MY GOD I WASNT READY FOR ANY OF THIS!!! WHAT WAS THAT!!!

Also ekko wallpaper I got with my fries lmao

[avirael]

The City of Stone & Ice

Ishgard - At first Rael thought it a cold and uninviting city, artificial and made out of nothing but dead, grey stones, populated by equally cold and uninviting people. They had never been in a place further away and more different from their home.

Coerthas had already felt very disconnected to Rael, but there they had at least still sensed the ghosts of all the lifes that the calamity had buried under a thick suffocating blanket of ice and snow. They had still felt the echoes of what this land had once been and could easily imagine the green flowery meadows, the wide golden farmlands and sweetly smelling orchards that this landscape had once harboured.

But now Coerthas was only pines and snow and stone as far as the eye could see. The fauna too must have been very different before. Only a few resilient peaceful species had managed to adapt to the new climate, while vast areas were mostly populated by more hostile creatures nowadays. It remained yet to be seen what the sudden changes of the environment had done to the people living in this frozen land.

When Haurchefant had told them the news - that they were to be welcomed in Ishgard as guests of his father, the first outsiders since the calamity - Rael had thoroughly evaluated this development with a mixture of scepticism and worry.

Neither did they think that a secluded city-state like Ishgard would be much help in their current situation, which still meant clearing their names from regicide and finding their friends - or what remained of them -, nor was Rael naive enough to believe that such an invitation would be offered out of sheer kindness alone, without a second thought or some favor expected in return.

But mostly Rael wasn’t sure what another sudden change of scenery would to do A'viloh.

Many weeks had passed since that night he almost died out there in the merciless cold landscape of Coerthas and although he seemed to feel much better now, Rael still feared that whatever change their visit to Ishgard would bring might destabilise him yet again. Some days, when the Viera saw him struggle, they thought that maybe the two of them weren’t so different. Destined for a calm life in some secluded small village. But while Rael had decidedly thrown their whole being against this fate, A'viloh had been pulled into all of this against his own will and now simply had missed the right point to opt out. Rael knew it was a cruel thought but occasionally they thought that, given the chance, A'viloh wouldn’t hesitate a second to just go back to the boring, peaceful life he was used to.

And on other days, seeing how much he tried and tried and tried despite everything, they wanted to kick themself for ever thinking so.

In fact A'viloh had grown accustomed to life at Camp Dragonhead quite quickly after his recovery. Of course he often whined about the cold weather or the lack of comfort but he also tried his best to repay the hospitality they were granted by making himself useful. While Rael had practiced magic mit Alphinaud, A'viloh had started training again too. At first with a young ishgardian noblewoman, who belonged to Ishgard‘s infamous dragoons, and later, as Yuguri reappeared, also with her. He was an eager student, always willing to learn, always aiming to impress his teachers with his result, but mostly trying to prove himself, to grow stronger. It was almost impossible to miss the glint in his eyes when something he thought beyond his capabilities finally worked and even more so when his efforts actually helped someone, as tiny as that help might be.

Some days he even laughed in a way that did not just seem like out of politeness. Then he smiled and laughed with all his heart, not just at the stories Haurchefant told them over warm drinks in the flicker of a fire place but also about small things. At the sun when it was a particularly nice day and at the small sparrow on his windowsill for which he had developed a habit of stealing grains from the kitchen.

A'viloh had found his place here at Camp Dragonhead and while Rael knew that all of this was only a temporary solution they feared that whatever might come next, whatever they might find, in war-torn Ishgard as well as in their research regarding the happenings in Ul’dah, would only upset him again.

As they arrived now in this icy town such a fear seemed to be entirely unnecessary though. Venturing beyond the area known to them, past the Gates of Judgement and along the Steps of Faith, the giant bridge spanning across the Holy Sea, had been exciting without doubt. A journey into a territory not many people were allowed to visit these days. Even though the wind had picked up and made him shiver A'viloh’s eyes had been turned upwards, sparkling brightly with curiosity and fixed on the city with all its towers and spires.

It was an impressive view of course, Rael had to admit that, and certainly there were a lot of things to see and learn here which they had only read about in books so far. But still there was also an ominous feeling in the pit of their stomach, like a distant foreign whisper warning them to be careful.

The city itself with all it’s tall buildings and grand plazas crafted by extraordinary stonemasons was nothing either of them had seen before. But while Rael had not missed the glimpses that followed them wherever they went and the way they were carefully ushered away from the parts of town that looked rather desolate, A'viloh as well as Tataru and Alphinaud seemed entirely transfixed by the beautiful strangeness of this place - even despite the cold.

A lot warmer had been their welcome with House Fortemps. Haurchefant already awaited them in front of the grand family manor and he seemed all too excited about showing them the city and introducing them to his family. The last months Rael had started to believe that Haurchefant was a kind and loyal man but sometimes he was too eager in his excitement, too rash to speak or act out of an impulse. Certainly Rael would not forget that it was him who had granted them refuge and risked his life to save A'viloh - both were decision a more pensive man may have handled differently. He also had been a great help in cheering the Miqo'te up again and motivating him to not loose hope yet but Rael wasn’t sure if so much optimism was truly adequate now or if they only were headed for a great disappointment. No such dark thought seemed to have ever crossed the mind of cheerful and openly affectionate Haurchefant though.

Lord Edmont however seemed a lot more cautious than his son, still very kind but a lot less impulsive. With a very controlled but cordial voice that perfectly matched his elegant appearance he greeted them. It didn’t take Rael long to realise that this man knew how to choose the right words according to the situation. Despite the fact that they were wanted fugitives Lord Fortemps easily made it seem like his kindness and hospitality were the least he could offer, considering all the good they had already done for Ishgard by exposing the fake inquisitor and supporting them in their fight against Vishap. Almost Rael would have believed that all of this was done out of pure kindness and gratitude. However then Lord Fortemps also spoke of allies and rivalling houses. Maybe he wants something after all, Rael thought, already wondering what it could be.

Then Edmont Fortemps suggested that it would be best to get to know the city before inviting them to a welcoming dinner later this evening. While both his other sons stood there silently with varying degrees of friendliness and curiosity - or the lack thereof - written on their faces, it was of course Haurchefant who immediately jumped to action. Eagerly he offered to accompany them on their tour through the city and offered multiple possible destinations. It would certainly be clever to get to know this city a little better as soon as possible. It was a pragmatic approach which Tataru also seemed to share, while A'viloh and Alphinaud seemed to be all to excited about the possibilities of seeing magnificent churches, grand statues and Ishgard's famous Chocobos.

Rael hadn’t found these any less interesting but it seemed wrong to just go on a merry sightseeing tour while forgetting about the tragic circumstances that had led to their visit here.

Well, for Alphinaud and A'viloh it maybe wasn’t such a bad idea, both of them still reacted rather poorly every time the banquet in Ul'dah and their missing friends were mentioned. Should the boys have fun instead, while Tataru and Rael would try to clear up this conspiracy as fast and quiet as possible. With Yugiri’s help maybe that was truly possible... There definitely was no reason to upset the Miqo'te and the young Elezen neither with worry nor with misplaced hope before Rael could tell with certainty what had happened exactly and what needed to be done next.

It would probably take a while but Rael would see it through.

[faaun]

ok let's catch up quickly

[scattered-winter]

sometimes i see a post and its like. hm. you actually care very little about the story or characters or plot at all bc all you want is for the token male twinks to kiss.

[evilcartoonghosts]

There is blood on the snow, and it is not yours. There is blood on your hands, and it is not yours. There is blood in your mouth, and it is not yours. It drips down into your eyes, red film like tears when you blink. It is not yours. You can hear a heartbeat. It quickens. It slows. It halts. It is still not yours. What have you done? What have you done? What have you done?

[aria0fgold]

Thinkin bout my isat au now, I don't have much of an idea on it cuz tbf I barely changed anything other than well-- Odile is in pain now. Just thinking more bout scenarios that'd differ during the uhh... new loop+?????? How'd I even go about calling that new set of loops now?

Just that the most visible change would be on Odile who's now waaay more tired looking and a lil more slower than usual. So in a way her battle style becomes a lil bit like a glass cannon in that she hits HARD but takes time for her to get a hit in now. And as the loops go on, she becomes weaker on the defense department so she truly be a glass cannon. Odile also doesn't "level up" in this au too since she had already maxed her experience out, it's just that she's also slowly dying so to be fair-- Her exp is fine but her hp isn't and her lvl is being treated like a timer of her slowly approaching doom. So even if her levels lower, it won't really affect her experience and the spells she had already unlocked. To the Universe, she's still as experienced as a lvl 99 person, it's just that now she's becoming as fragile as someone lower leveled.

She retains her more powerful spells but using those spells would backfire on her and result in a recoil that ALSO hurts her, not as much as she damages the enemies, but a significant of her hp gets taken away still.

[risingshards]

Pet peeve: when someone doesn't like something and starts inventing like production fanfic on why it's actually bad. I saw someone say a show I like isn't good anymore because they think it's not a labor of love anymore and just like...if I made something and poured my heart and soul into it and just got like "oh it's different now, they must not care like they did in the good old days, bad show now i guess" I'd be so sad...like they have no basis for it it was just about something in the credits being different.....

I'd almost respect it more if people were just saying they didn't like it without having that production fanfic sounding like they're trying to justify their opinion and make it like canon that it's bad because of these things they just like...made up that they think happened with it. but everything just feels like console war bullshit in fandom where there are cool Good ones and lame Bad ones and it wears me out cuz i'm a big sensitive baby when mine are in the lame Bad ones camp. i guess it's prolly always been that way but it just feels so draining lately.

[lecliss]

Sakura gets a second point for being the first to complete the tree climbing at being better at chakra control, but at the same time it just feels like she was made good at it so no extra training segment time would have to be put into her getting good at it and it can be all about Sauce and Nart. Idk that feels too pessimistic but also could totally be true.

[liquidstar]

I'm glad the "Satire requires a clarity of purpose and target lest it be mistaken for and contribute to that which it intends to criticize" meme is getting critiqued in its usage because... While the sentiment itself is absolutely true... I feel like sometimes, perhaps, it's not a work of fiction's fault that you're personally bad at picking up on satire

[hauntingblue]

Jaya time

I love these moments of nearly cosmic horror when they encounter inexplicable things (at first) they are so intriguing

Is strawhat here?! *Megan thee stallion saying AAH 😜*

This cover just goes hard... Get it chopper