#my youngest sister and one of my nephews are part of the haters

[sheakastilllovesjungjihoon]

Y’all know I have to share my happy with you all and I just gotta say MY BOSTON CELTICS ARE NBA CHAMPIONS!!!!

Y’all. Listen. The whole NBA been down talking my team all season long. Andddd it was worst during the whole playoff run!!😤😤 NBA plays 82 games in a season right?? My Celtics won 64 and lost 18. We won 64 out of 82 games and haters were saying stupid shit like we weren’t battle tested. All 30 teams play the same amount of games!!! We just won more then the rest of them!! Then the so called experts and analysts picked against them in every round they played y’all

Seriously??!! They had the best record all season long and even clinched their playoff spot 17 days before the rest of the teams😂😂 now the excuses were coming because we lost 3 whole games out of the whole run so of course it was only cuz the other teams had injured players and blah blah blah 🙄🙄 injuries are part of the game and we had injuries too we just won. And kept winning and they hated us for it but that’s ok. Cuz again MY BOSTON CELTICS ARE NBA CHAMPIONS!!!! I’m gonna keep bragging about it cuz fuck ‘em

Anywho sorry for the long post I just had to get this off my chest and share my happy with y’all. The rest of this year is gonna be awesome I know it❤️💚❤️💚 please enjoy your day all I love ya!!

[neverlearnedtoread]

Circe

⭐⭐⭐; aka the whirlwind tour of circe banging famous greek figures left and right. it’s that sort of go-getter, pussy out energy that we admire around here

Oh?? 👌😉😏

i like retellings from a marginalized POV - it gives the stories new layers, allows writers and readers to explore new depths to a well-known storyline and our relationship with the original text. this book was very well-researched, and the author put a lot of love into it

well-researched myths! clearly drew from the original texts, and the original time period - i felt completely immersed in the setting, and i got to learn that the Greeks believed in a stingray monster/god that lived at the bottom of the ocean. my kind of mythos!!

the writing style is so fluid and graceful and really lent itself to the narration. it was a voice i could imagine came from an ancient god. im excited to pick up the Song of Achilles because the author’s writing style would do that sort of story justice

No.. ❌🤢🤮

tw sexual assault - it was well handled, in my opinion, and definitely didn’t feel romanticized or included for shock value - but be warned that it is there

for a supposedly ‘feminist’ retelling, i didn’t feel that the story offered much apart from the base opinion that women can be the protagonists of their own stories, and not a sidenote or a hussy in male protagonists’ lives. i would have loved to see the author add more ‘original content’ by adding extra scenes between the famous myths circe appears in - give her female friendships, her own story arc! sure, she can be written to have a more important place in her existing stories, but give her a storyline that’s all hers too. add in all the layers of characterization. we need them

Summary: Born to Helios, Titan of the Sun, and a calculatingly beautiful sea nymph, Circe is something of a disappointment to the title of ‘godhood’ - until her youngest brother reveals that they are a new sort of being altogether - pharmakeia, or witch. Since her first (accidental) act of witchcraft was, naturally, to turn a lesser goddess she was jealous of into a terrifying sea monster, Zeus sends her into permanent exile on a random island in the middle of the ocean. This imprisonment, of course, doesn’t stop Circe from being present at the birth of the Minotaur (her nephew), turning a bunch of horrible sailors into animals, and banging every notable Greek hero who crosses her path. It’s a busy island - what happens in Aiaia, stays in Aiaia (most likely in the form of a pig).

Concept: 💭💭💭💭

I love retellings. I especially love Greek retellings. The first major YA book series (and fandom) I ever loved was Percy Jackson and the Olympians. The recent trend of modern adaptations and retellings of classic stories, especially to include more representation or a different perspective on the source material, is a trend that I’ve really enjoyed seeing. Circe isn’t my favourite Greek heroine, but how can you go wrong with a pantheon of arrogant, callous, inhuman gods, plus witchcraft? I’m always here for more metaphorical deconstructing the pitfalls of immortality.

Some spoilers under the cut!

Execution: 💥💥💥

When Circe came out, it was lauded as something of a ‘feminist’ retelling. I didn’t think too much of it at the time, since pretty much any piece of media with a female lead can be considered “”feminist”” if you’re sexist enough. (Listen - can you hear the rumble of enraged Captain Marvel haters coming over that horizon?) Still, it was a pity to find myself proven right for not expecting anything too revolutionary. The story definitely adds more nuance to Circe’s character beyond what she’s represented as in the original myths - which is a helpful info dump about the next set of monsters with boobs, so the bar was pretty low. I did really like the author’s take on Circe’s childhood, and the pantheon of Titans she lived with under her father Helios’ rule. Seeing the Greek pantheon from the sidelines, with only glimpses of the twelve main Olympians as shadowy figures to be avoided at all costs, was a compelling perspective to read from.

Personal Enjoyment: ❤❤❤

I liked how Circe was very behind-the-scenes for the well-known Greek myths we were expected to recognise - it gave her a unique in-between perspective of ‘powerful enough to have been present at the big events, but sympathetic enough to mortals to realise her godly relatives were being vapid and petty’. However, the author could have pushed way harder on the ‘Circe has her own story to live, removed from the Greek myths we already know’ part of the story. I wanted some female friendships, or barring that, any female relationships at all. The few interactions Circe had with her unhinged sister Pasiphaë do not count - Circe spent most of the time avoiding her. (Neither does Penelope, because Circe actually spent more time hanging out with Penelope’s son. Like, rude?) For all that she said she mistrusted the gods and pitied the nymphs for their place at the bottom of the godhood ladder, Circe hated and scorned them just as much as the higher gods. She hated most mortals she met, too, even while she was banging the more famous ones. The author didn’t put in nearly enough effort to convince me that she would choose mortality at the end - like what had she seen of mortals that was all that great? Some good dick and one decent guy? What a shining portrayal of humanity.

Favourite Moment: When Circe walked to the depths of the ocean to fight a stingray monster - god? Creature? in order to take its tail to use as a deadly weapon for her son. The absolute Big Dick Energy of that move astounded me. Everything about that scene was great - the imagery of Circe walking, literally, into the ocean, not needing to see or to breathe because she was a god - I love the ocean, and the love reading about inhuman characters that are slightly to the left of downright creepy.

Favourite Character: The trygon - one of the few Greek creatures mentioned in this book I didn’t know! I don’t have any more reason for this other than the fact that it turned out to be a stingray god, and that’s so baller I can’t even stand it.

[aegor-bamfsteel]

Yo man, I hear that the Blackfyres and their supporters were Conservative, sexist, brutish usurpers who couldn't stand to see a feminist king on the throne but here you are, an honest to God bra burning, women's lit thumping feminist unironically supporting the Black Dragon. In this entire fandom you're the only person I've found openly supporting them. If you don't mind me asking, why do you like them so much?

Hey dude, you’re asking me to talk about sexism, fandom hypocrisy, and my Blackfyre love in an inflammatory way that could result in getting me in trouble with the fandom? I probably shouldn’t be answering this, but ok. This has been sitting in my inbox for a week, and let no one say that I leave any ask unanswered. Wankery found under the cut:

Eyy dude, what if I told you that the perception of Blackfyres as sexist, brutish usurpers in fandom is largely due to some prominent people’s intellectual elitism and projection of neoliberal political views? Aspects of GRRM’s writing like the unreliable narrator, villains-are-heroes-from-another-side, and history is written by the “victors” are given no credibility in favor of condemning the Blackfyre supporters as racist, sexist, and ableist (?) in fandom. I’m extremely annoyed that no one seems to be asking the sort of questions or making the sort of connections that I have due to this blanket ban on Blackfyre sympathy. I’ve answered your broader question on why I supported the Blackfyres in an earlier ask (they were more honorable, less absolutist and cruel than the Targaryens, even demonstrated some meritocracy, and most died horrifically) so I will try to answer based on the sexism angle: How come I like the Blackfyres so much and support woman’s liberation at the same time?

First of all, you come into my askbox and tell me that Daeron II was a feminist king? Nah bro. A real male feminist ally in a position of power would’ve passed laws to ensure his father’s predatory behavior would be banned. He would’ve been trying to apologize for the way he and his father treated the Bracken sisters and actively sought to make amends instead of making the situation worse. He could’ve given widows a pension or granted certain protections to mothers with illegitimate children. He could’ve opened up exit shelters for prostituted women wanting to learn a trade, as Empress Theodora did back in sixth century AD Byzantium. Why does fandom think he is so Feminist™ when he did so little for women? Are they referring to him having Princess Elaena as an unofficial advisor while her husband Ronnel Penrose was Master of Coin, a man who could barely string two numbers together? (Which really undermines the claim that Daeron was a reformer who chose wise men as councilors, since he selected an incompetent based on his own family status) Might I remind everyone that Daeron arranged Elaena’s second marriage in the first place, a woman 3 years his elder who had been locked in prison for 11 years by her brother, bore illegitimate twins by her cousin, forced to wed an old man by her uncle/Aegon, and may have been forced into sleeping with the horrific Aegon IV? You’d think after enduring so much at the hands of her male relatives, the Kind™ Daeron would’ve backed off, but she has to pay for his son Aerys’ failed marriage by sacrificing her hard-won independence. How feminist. But I guess it’s OK, because after Ronnel died Daeron generously gave his blessing when she wed someone she truly loved! I can’t imagine she felt much affection for this entitled shit. But maybe the Great Fandom Minds™ are referring to how Daeron treated his wife Myriah, who is a blank slate in terms of personality and political actions? I can’t even think of any other names of women Daeron might’ve canonically “empowered”, so how exactly is he a feminist? And why does thinking he was a self-serving politician who treated all of his family members except his sons like expendable trash make me sexist? Do tell, Fandom Minds who know so much more than I.

By contrast, how does liking Daemon Blackfyre and thinking he’d be a better king than Daeron make one sexist? Eustace Osgrey said that he hung out with warriors rather than septons and women, but GRRM himself said that Daemon did have female followers (some we know even participated in the Second Blackfyre Rebellion, like Ladies Vyrwell and Smallwood. Not to mention the cause owes its continued strength after Redgrass to Queen Rohanne) who were “drawn to him.” There’s the rumors that Daemon thought that he could marry Princess Daenerys and Rohanne of Tyrosh, but even the biased Maester Yandel said that claim only developed long after the wedding from a few Blackfyre supporters, which is a few steps removed from the original source. I believe that version of the story was an attempt by the Westerosi Blackfyre supporters to acknowledge Rohanne of Tyrosh’s invaluable contributions to the cause of the exiles while still maintaining the romanticism of a Daemon/Daenerys forbidden romance. It absolutely blows my mind that Daemon gets more flak for what he might have said at fourteen than Daeron does for helping a teenaged girl and her two-week-old son get banished for something her father said. Because Daeron is called “the Good” and thus incapable of doing wrong, obviously.

But outrageously, the fandom has to headcanon abusive behavior on Daemon to make him look like a villain. Seriously, I’ve heard people claim he was an abusive father to Daemon II, cheated on or never loved Rohanne, would have killed his nephews, and tried to rape Princess Daenerys based on no canonical evidence (in fact, the evidence goes against the honorable father of at least nine presented in canon). Even a Daemon-hater like Yandel had to concede that Daemon’s love was for the mother of his children to whom he was married for 12 years. Daemon died protecting his son Aegon from the Raven’s Teeth arrows; he’d never hurt his children. As for the children of others, his faction during the First Blackfyre did not kill children (in fact, Quentyn Ball spared Lady Penrose’s youngest son, some say on Daemon’s orders), especially not those too young to fight. The fandom’s portrayal of Daemon as a vicious monster really serves to emphasize how little evidence they have that Daeron II was a truly good person; the man with grudges against two of his father’s underaged rape victims isn’t a hero, so they have to make his rival an even bigger villain despite it being complete nonsense in canon? Can I have at least a balanced depiction of a Daemon who loved his wife and kids, even if they do think he was an ambitious reactionary?

An especially infuriating piece of fandom hypocrisy is that to make Daemon sexist, they have to demonize or erase all of the female influence in his life. Example one is that for his first 12 years, he was raised as the son of Daena the Defiant, who GRRM said in an SSM raised him alone in the Red Keep. Some people in fandom claim she was an ambitious woman who wanted a son so she could be Aegon’s Queen over Naerys, which is a claim so insulting in its wrongness (Daena could’ve been Queen in her own right, having an illegitimate son actually hurt her chances of queenship and a stable future, she referred to Daemon as hers alone so she never wanted to acknowledge his father, she never agreed to wed a man after Baelor, etc) I’m shocked the people who make it can call themselves feminists with a straight face. Others are kinder toward the Daena-Daemon relationship, saying that Daena must’ve died before Daemon was four so she couldn’t pass on her ideals of honor and self-sacrifice for one’s children; this completely ignores what GRRM said about Daena “raising” Daemon alone, meaning he knew her well enough to remember her. Both these ideas about Daena either demonize one of the most beautiful mother-son pairs in Targaryen history (she loved that kid so much she put him ahead of her own reputation and chance at being Queen. I cry.) or they take away her influence in order to claim that Daemon had no female role models growing up. A mother like Daena, strong-willed, independent, a sportswoman, would’ve doubtless have shaped Daemon’s opinions on women, and especially on mothers of bastards. He may have grown up knowing a woman didn’t necessarily need a husband to be happy, that she could shoot and ride as well as a man, and that a princess could with smallfolk and minor nobles on her own. She was far away from a submissive woman and was Daemon’s sole parent until he was 12, and you mean to tell me her son was a raging misogynist? Nope, I don’t buy it.

Fandom also erases Daemon’s other important female figure: Rohanne of Tyrosh. Elite Tyroshi women are most similar to elite Dornishwomen out of all the ladies of Westeros; I say this because the Archon’s daughter was to serve as a cupbearer for Prince Doran without having been betrothed to Quentyn, indicating that they are valued as political actors for their families outside of marriage alliances. Tyrosh is a mercantile society where the elites don’t like to fight, which traditionally equalizes roles between the sexes. Rohanne was the reason the Blackfyre cause survived for so long; she didn’t need help from Bittersteel escaping to her own fucking country, rather the landless Blackfyre supporters needed her protection after they lost everything at Redgrass. Without her giving them a stable base of operations (and certainly using her dowry to pay for their accommodations), they wouldn’t have been cohesive enough for Aegor to create the Golden Company. I realize that Rohanne has very little canonical characterization, but neither do Princess Daenerys and Myriah Martell, and that doesn’t stop Fandom from writing fanfics and meta on these two while ignoring Rohanne. On a similar note, prominent meta writers claim that the Blackfyre cause is obviously based on the Jacobites (no, Daemon Blackfyre was based in part on James Scott the Duke of Monmouth, who was staunchly anti-Jacobite. Just because these writers don’t know about British history in depth doesn’t mean that they can make spurious claims), and use this comparison to make headcanons for how the Blackfyre court in exile operated. For some Unfathomable reason, these headcanons never include the invaluable contributions that the female Stuarts made to the cause; Queen Mary and Princess Louisa were much more popular than the charmless James II and the drunken womanizer Charles III, having great relations with the French court and funding the education of the daughters of Jacobite exiles (it was said that even Queen Anne wept when Princess Louisa died, for she had hoped to wed her son to him). For a fandom who loves to make headcanons about minor female asoiaf characters, and loves to show off its (rather one-dimensional) knowledge of history, I see no such fics and metas for the female Blackfyres. I guess Feminism™ can’t be wasted on the wives and daughters of “traitors.” Just ask Sansa Stark.

To conclude, Daeron II was not a feminist king who raised the status of women in Westeros; in fact, he used his power as prince and king to banish Barba Bracken and wed Princess Elaena off to an ally. Daemon Blackfyre was raised by a strong single mother and was successfully married to an older foreign woman, and enjoyed female support for his cause, so calling him a misogynist seems like a leap to me. I’d make the argument that it’s Fandom with the misogyny problem, as they ignore the suffering, contributions, and characterization of female characters they don’t like in order to prop up a “sexism” narrative that contradicts canon. Just because other people bleat about how sexist, racist, and ableist Blackfyre supporters like me are, it doesn’t mean it’s true.