#and was meh about the first book

[margindoodles2407]

so here's the deal guys. in the past week i reread my way through prisoner of azkaban, goblet of fire, order of the phoenix, and half-blood prince. i am currently halfway through deathly hallows. and as i was eleven the last time i seriously read harry potter. i forgot that it allows me to unlock secret shrimp emotions that humans aren't normally capable of feeling

[garrettwrites]

I am so tired of how Quotev/Wattpad level fanfiction, written by what reads as a 15 year old getting into their first fandom, gets pushed up the book ratings in the gay romance genre (m/m). Why is Red White and Royal Blue always at the top. Why is Boyfriend Material. Why must I suffer. Where are the standards. Why is a 30/40 year old recommending me, a grown adult man, stories that feel like they were written for highschoolers who don't like to read so they pick up the trashiest, most easily digestible shit in order to have the bare minimum of fun while doing their reading interpretation project for class.

This is coming from someone who had fun reading goddamn Twilight by the way. I'm not a book snob. I can enjoy objectively bad media if it's fun. My favourite book series with LGBT main characters is All For The Game, and that's a shitshow! But at least there's passion in it! There's fun!

I am going insane!!!!!

[themyscirah]

Reading shit comics kind of sucks but at least I get the satisfaction of proving my own point w this

[capinejghafa]

Reading People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry after reading a short kind of meh novella that was kind of forgettable. The bar is still pretty low because I can't go in with high expectations right now.

[transannabeth]

i think you're a fan of solving live triangles by having all three people date each other. do you think that goes for twilight as well? i think it would be perfect! jacob and edward have a special connection and bella apparently loves them both. everyone wins

hilariously when you sent this the other day, i was actually in the middle of a conversation about twilight

i'll fully admit that while i do love poly ships, this isn't always where my mind goes to. sometimes i just don't like one of the love interests much, or alternatively: i don't care for the person the two others are fighting for and think the two love interests should leave that person high and dry and date each other

in twilight i think both of them honestly stink and should stay far away from bella. i can't remember them interacting all that much where they aren't fighting (pre renesmee) but i have seen some fun edward/jacob fan content that's doing its own thing

and i mean i personally don't think edward/bella/jacob would be winning i think it would be so wildly messy and disastrous but like. i do love a messy polycule. so,

mandatory "read the truth vs twilight page from the burke museum and the quileute tribe right now" and "consider helping the quileute tribe continue their move to higher ground" note. thank you!

[duncan-rohanne]

so wait a fucking minute v.e. schwab is gay, all the main characters are bi and WE ARE STILL STUCK ON A GENERIC STRAIGHT LOVE TRIANGLE???? HOW????

[magpiesbones]

honestly pretty fun for spill zone to create a hell zone and be like ‘this is Art. it’s magic and it’s dangerous and it’s real and it changes you forever.’ And then also be like ‘ALSO it’s Radioactive and Illegal’ because like right on both counts I guess.

the other fun trick with it is that it never ACTUALLY explains anything for real. Yeah that’s the Laundry Twister it’s just like that. This is The Wolf King. This is The Guy That Eats You. These are the Flesh Husks That Scream.

like fun tension between ‘rich people will pay to view other people’s pain’ and ‘art is for Thinking about and it changes you forever’ and ‘hey what if a creepy doll’

[aroaessidhe]

2023 reads // twitter thread    

The Battle Drum

sequel to The Final Strife, a queer Ghanian/Arabian high fantasy world where people are divided by blood colour

the nightly hurricanes are getting more deadly, and Sylah travels to unknown lands to discover the truth and find help

meanwhile Anoor is trying to manage her new political position while framed for a murder she didn’t commit

[cultivating-wildflowers]

"I should have thought," said Fanny, after a pause of recollection and exertion, "that every woman must have felt the possibility of a man's not being approved, not being loved by some one of her sex, at least, let him be ever so generally agreeable. Let him have all the perfections in the world, I think it ought not to be set down as certain, that a man must be acceptable to every woman he may happen to like himself."

Jane Austen, Mansfield Park

[astramachina]

i have no problem with self-pub. in fact, given TSP's peculiar framing, i'm sure the series would greatly benefit from being self-pub'd.

the only reason i'm so fiercely pursuing trad-pud (or even indie) is because i need at least one (1) tangible book of my own making to beat the shit out of at least 3 irl people i know. (:

[jennynext]

hi! can i ask what your url is from? (i have an idea what it might be referencing but i'm still curious)

hi sorry i totally missed this so no clue when you actually asked it!!

my url is a reference to the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde, some of my favorite books-- Jenny is the protagonist Thursday's daughter, except that she doesn't actually exist. it's a whole thing.

great books, starting with The Eyre Affair-- i highly recommend them if you haven't read 'em!!

[talaraleya]

Hm. Worth the sleep deprivation but still... Hm. I need to think about it.

[separatist-apologist]

Okay your post about people hating female main characters made me think about this… but before I dive in please know that I am NOT trying to start drama, this is purely friendly debate, and please don’t feel the need to answer if you think it’s gonna start shit.

Now to my question.. what is it that you hate about Aelin, then?

I will say that I understand your hatred for Bryce. I think she and Aelin have a lot of similar characteristics, but I hate Bryce so much meanwhile Aelin is like the loml.

Reflecting on it, I think it’s because those characteristics don’t make sense for Bryce. Her being all secretive and not looping her friends in doesn’t make sense based on her backstory.

Meanwhile, while I understand that those parts of Aelin annoy people, I think they make so much sense for her. She was orphaned at a young age, groomed to become an assassin, finally let someone in to her plans (Sam) only to have him die immediately. Then she also trusted Nehemiah who also then died. I think it makes total sense that she would keep everything to herself moving forward out of fear that her loved ones could be hurt, or that she’ll let them down. Kind of like Rhys and the pregnancy plot. Was it the right choice? No probably not, but it makes sense based on what we know of that characters trauma.

Also I think a lot of people get annoyed that Aelin thinks she’s hot shit, but I’ll say personally I found it kind of nice to have a fmc who was confident and girly. I feel like so often they start out thinking they’re ugly and like no one could ever be into them. And idk I thought it was nice to see someone who knew she was hot. And also like a girl who can rough it but also enjoys the finer things in life and likes dressing up and shopping but like will also murder you, ya know?

Anyway there’s my defense of Aelin. Again, only sending this for funzies not to start fights or anything. You don’t have to agree with me! That’s the fun of fandom, we can all have different opinions and enjoy talking to eachother about this (side eyeing other people in your askbox). I come in peace!

Anyway ily hope you’re having a lovely weekend ❤️

So in the interest of this debate that you brought to me, I guess I'd start by asking where I ever said I hated Aelin and then turned around and lamented not getting a FMC who had all her same traits or stanning a MMC who had all her traits while lambasting her for all those same things? Because you can hate a FMC for not being the vibe- I never argued that people shouldn't hate women simply because they're women.

I kind of resent this ask under the assumption that I'd like Aelin if she was a man, which, again, was the whole crux of my argument assuming you're coming from the post that reads, "Its so funny to me when people will decide they don't like a character, commonly a female main character, then start giving their 'preferred' character all of that MC's traits & symbolism like babe...the call is coming from inside the house."

I would, I guess, invite you to point to where I've done that with Aelin? I don't like almost any of the TOG characters minus Chaol and occasionally Dorian pre whatever book has them on the boat. And I've certainly never assigned all Aelin's symbolism and traits to Chaol. I was really enjoying TOG until, what Queen of Shadows? When all the character development regressed backward to make room for a plot I am convinced was never the original intention of the books and cheapened everything that happened to Caelana, Dorian, and Chaol while living under Evil Dorian Sr whatever his name was.

Anyway, I'm happy to have a conversation about what I do/don't like about the entirety of the TOG series, because it's not just Aelin I don't like. I don't like the series past Queen of Storms (I think, whatever book that ends with spoiler Dorians dad dying). I've never finished it, I just skimmed the last book to see how it ends and I think reading all 800 pages of "and then this secret army we never heard about arrived!) I'd lose my mind.

[allisonreader]

Why is it so nerve wracking at times to share a piece of writing?

It's not even like the piece is new. It's an older poem at this point that I previously shared on fanfiction.net. I've even posted it on here, but still the nerves of it.

And to answer my own question it's probably because it's opening it up to a new audience and the possibility of no response or being told it's awful. Honestly as much as writing can sometimes be a pain, this is probably the worst part.

[asterdeer]

it’s my city’s pride artwalk tonight but i have no one to go with and the hassle of going downtown, finding parking, then wandering around by myself being awkward and weird and having no idea what im doing is so unappealing when i could just go sit and write at the coffee shop

[mythology-void]

okay so I was doing a Research™️ about ancient Greek etymology as one does and I found some Things that made me want to Violently Claw My Arms Off please allow me to force feed you my discoveries

So there are 2 words for "not" in ancient Greek, depending on the context: ou and mē. Having introduced himself in the Cyclops episode as " ou tis", or No-man, he then stabs Polyphemus in the eye. When Polyphemus' brothers come to check on him, they say this:

"... surely no man [mē tis] is carrying off your sheep? Surely no man [mē tis] is trying to kill you either by fraud or by force?"

Right after this, after the other cyclopes ditch Polyphemus, Odysseus's inner monologue goes something like this:

"Then they went away, and I laughed inwardly at the success of my clever strategem [metis]." (pronounced mEH-Tis)

Now, there's a difference between mē tis and metis. [mē tis] (pronounced mEH-Tis with a space between the syllables) is the literal translation for "no man". Metis is a word for extreme intelligence/cunning, which is something Odysseus is famous for.

Now, there are several examples of abuse of metis/intelligence in the Odyssey, but I think the juxtaposition between [mē tis], or the concept of anonymity, and metis, or extreme intelligence, is REALLY interesting. Odysseus's adoption of the title "No-man" was characteristic of metis--it was a really smart move that simultaneously hid him from the cyclops and avoided any future consequences. It was a highly effective strategy all wrapped up in a nest little package with a bow on it.

But when he revealed himself as Odysseus of Ithaca, effectively throwing off No-man (anonymity and [mē tis]), that was characterized as idiocy--he's essentially doxxed himself, and now he's doing to (spoiler alert) get tossed around the Mediterranean by Poseidon for the next 10 years.

This is really interesting because it lets you see the parallels/codependency between metis(intelligence) and humility. When Odysseus refused to allow himself to go unnoticed (hubris) he suffered for it. BUT when he declined instant glory/satisfaction (kleos) in order to achieve the long term goal of survival, he was rewarded with Athena's favor (pay attention. This part is important).

And this situation repeats itself MULTIPLE TIMES in the Odyssey--the EXACT SAME THING happens near the end of the book, with the suitors. When. Odysseus is dressed as a beggar and the suitors/Antinious are abusing him, he ACTIVELY CHOOSES not to react--he doesn't stand up and rip off his disguise and start hollering "TIS I, ODYSSEUS OF ITHACA! FEAR MY WRATH"

No. He sits there patiently and waits. He plans and schemes and quietly orchestrates their downfall without alerting them of it. Why? Because he learned his lesson the first time this happened. He buried his rage and adopted what was, according to Grace LA Franz, a more feminine form of metis, weaving a web of destruction for his enemies that ultimately resulted in their total annihilation (see Weaving a Way to Nostos: Odysseus and Feminine Metis in the Odyssey by Grace LaFranz). His patience allowed him to win the whole prize--no questions asked, no 10-year-long-business-trip strings attached--just the sweetness of a full victory. And he is, once again, rewarded with Athena's favor--both in the battle with the suitors and in the aftermath (cleanup/reuniting with Penelope).

This really reinforces the idea in the Odyssey that Odysseus's defining characteristic is not just his intelligence--it's his ability to learn from his mistakes. He used what he learned at the Lotus Eaters Island against Polyphemus--the Lotus Eaters drugged his men, so he drugged Polyphemus. He used what he learned from Circe and Polyphemus against the suitors--Circe used false sweetness and honeyed words to lure his men into a trap, so that's exactly what he did to the suitors. His hubris on Polyphemus' island cost his whole crew their lives, so he intentionally left well enough alone until the right time. He didn't just learn from his failures--he turned them into BATTLE STRATEGY.

i don't care what anyone says that is completely totally and objectively awesome