#reading comprehension guys

[marzipanandminutiae]

just saw fanart of a female character whose fashion sense is described in canon as "Pre-Raphaelite" (this gets explored in depth because having clothing that makes her feel comfortable is against her parents' wishes)...wearing jeans and a motorcycle jacket

not to be all "let women be feminine!!!!" but this really seems sort of Girl Can Only Be Badass In Pants, to a ridiculous degree

[myrandomstuff-101]

"Neil Gaiman wrote sexually predatory descriptions of underage girls multiple times, we should have known he was abusive!" - fair enough, valid, on-topic

"Aziraphale pestered Crowley for the Bentley so we should have known Neil Gaiman was abusive!" - weird, off-topic, you just hate Aziraphale

[bacchuschucklefuck]

soon it'll be dawn again

transcript under the cut ⏬

page 01

Fig: no way? - you're still up?

Riz: Wh– yes?

Riz: Why'd I not be.

page 02

Fig: I me~~ean - that took.

Fig: whole day.

Riz: Yeah?

Fig: 'm beat.

Riz: you should sleep.

page 03

Fig: nah. my guy's still up

Fig: I wanna hang out.

page 04

Riz: That's really nice.

Fig: Hah! - Nobody ever expects an Archdevil rockstar to be nice.

Riz: … yeah. - 's just budget work tho. (the stuff I'm working on) - I've heard it's boring.

page 05

Fig: yeah, but you do it…

Riz: It keeps things going, right? - Nothing happens if nobody sits down and - does the thing.

Fig: That's right… - though. Yeah.

page 06

Fig: sometimes it's someone else who - doesn't want the same thing to happen.

Riz: … - mm.

page 07

Riz (off screen): …It took me a long time to get that not everyone likes doing what I do. - 's probably because you guys are so nice– - or. - kind.

Riz (off screen): to anyone too, not just. - the people you /love/.

page 08

Riz: that's not how it is elsewhere. - The world's– not. hostile. - but 's not like it's kind.

Riz: So I'm doing as much as I can now… 

page 09

Fig: Hey.

Riz: ?

Fig: Go dig some dirt with me.

page 10

Riz: [blank speech bubble] - oh you meant like - actual dirt. (not incriminating information)

Fig: o yea.

Fig: there's clay in the backyard soil. - sometimes when I'm sun deficient or something I go touch dirt for a bit.

page 11

Fig: here u go

page 12

Riz: uh

Fig: now we make a thing! - 'm pretty good at freehanding a bowl.

Fig: I'll show u

page 13

Fig: just– yep, flatten that out as evenly as u can, then–! - actually ur nails'd be so good at cutting out the strip. [larger than usual space] wait. - wait. wait u can carve patterns with them! we HAVE to try

Riz: uh - What. do I carve?

Fig: anything!!!

page 14

Fig: and– yep just seal the inside uh. seam?

Fig: yep that works - okay time's up! all contestant hands up

Riz: [blank speech bubble] - okay - wh. what's next?

Fig: haha - watch this.

(sound effect text): FWOO—MP

page 15

Riz: WH– DON'T JUST DO THAT???

Fig: Now it's fired!

Riz: THAT WAS NOT SAFE

Fig: (actually it's just dry. if u add water rn it'll dissolve)

Fig: ok catch!

Riz: [blank speech bubble] - careful!!

Fig: dw no need haha

page 16

Riz (thought bubble): oh - it's warm…

Fig: now I want you to throw this.

page 17

Fig: u gotta do it - c'mon

page 18

Riz: wh– - It's like 3AM right now

Fig: oh it's not /fired/ fired it's not gonna make a loud noise

Riz: And then just? leave a pile out here?

Fig: pour water over it & it'll be gone I told u

Riz: but

page 19

Fig (off screen): RIz.

page 20

Fig: I've done all this before.

Fig: Can you trust that at least?

page 21

Riz: no, I– - I do. - I trust you.

page 23

Riz: okay what happens now

(sound effect text): glob

page 24

Fig: we do it again!

page 25

Riz: wh. [larger than usual space] What do you mean. (this clay's too wet also)

Fig: see! you're already learning

Fig: [blank speech bubble] - there are flows that are futile to fight. - The world changes.

Fig: Things change.

page 26

Fig: I've learned my lessons with "forevers". - But - as an artist

Fig: I can give you one thing: - You can always do it again.

page 27

Fig: most of everything depends on the rest of the world, - but this. - making new. - that's yours as long as you want it.

page 28

Fig: So?

page 29

Riz: Yeah. - Yeah! - let's make another one.

[lilithofpenandbook]

People don't like Snape because he's the most realistic person in the book. There, I said it.

Specifically, people who don't like Snape and think he deserved his bullying and claim that he's a completely evil man.

They don't like the fact that their worst behaviour is mirrored at them. That this is actually how they would be if they went through this sort of bullshit.

Humans aren't as good as we think we are. We all think we'd be the sassy, funny, ultimately good Harry Potter. We think 'Oh, I'd never be like Snape, I'm better than that'.

But truly? Humans can be serious assholes.

Hurt people hurt people. Even without trying.

Snape's not evil. He's a broken human, and if you don't understand that, then you probably don't understand humans

[somecunttookmyurl]

me: hey, when im logged in the prices on this hotel are 18% higher than when im logged out. i have a video of it. whats up with that booking.com: sorry we need you to call us for security reasons me: there are no security concerns there's no personal data because there is no booking. why is your site showing different prices when logged out. gonna need you to acknowledge and answer that one in writing, not over the phone. booking.com: can you send screenshots of the different prices me: well here is the VIDEO of the process i said i had, yeah. where you can see the price, see me log out, and then see the price magically drop by 18% booking.com: okay what's the confirmation number and pin code of your booking so we can further assist me: ...................................................there is no booking.

[nartml]

"The audience not dumb. Shape the stories how you want, hey Drake, they're not slow"

And this is why, at his core, Kendrick is the better artist.

It's a reoccurring theme in his music.

He refuses to treat us as if we're stupid. He refuses to cater to the crowd. He refuses to baby anyone.

So he lets himself be as tricky with his sound as he wants. He trusts that if we want, we can catch all his clever references and all the double, triple, quadruple entendres.

Now, as an avid reader, this is a huge rule in writing in general.

Don't treat your readers as if they're stupid. Don't spell everything out to them because you don't want them to miss your metaphors, the messages you're trying to convey.

If you treat them as if their brains are smoother than Kendrick's delivery, you're going to attract an audience who wants, not to think, but to mindlessly consume.

If you treat your audience as if they're sharper than Kendrick's insults, you'll attract an audience fit to properly digest everything you put out.

He doesn't have a damn Pulitzer prize for nothing.

And he's not one of the greatest artists out there for nothing, either.

[aroacewxs]

how old is rui in this card actually. who's giving the baby a power drill and pliers

do you think papashiro sat his son down and taught him how to use a power drill at the ripe age of 5 that's why it comes with his bright toybox and he can use it with no parental supervision

[losersolace]

i originally didn’t want to get involved with drama on this acc. i just wanted to drop my hcs and dip. but the way some of you guys constantly try to erase nico’s sexuality is so fucking weird… it’s just blatant homophobia at this point. if you think nico having a romantic relationship is “sexualising him” you need to touch some grass. if you only see being queer as something sexual you’re the problem and also fucking stupid

and like… no one is forcing you to like solangelo. you CAN be critical of the writing, but you also need to READ and be up to date with the books to criticise. also let’s be real for a second, yes he can be gay without being in a relationship. many people do it everyday in the real world. but if rick had said “oh yeah and he’s gay” and then left it at that it would’ve been SHIT representation.

nico struggling with internalized homophobia and slowly getting over it and getting a boyfriend (who treats him WELL btw) is great representation, relatable, and a happy UNAMBIGUOUS ending opposed to all the “bury your gays” or “make your gays ambiguous enough so they could be interpreted as really good friends (and we don’t lose any money)” we are very used to. nico being unapologetically gay is an ESSENTIAL part of his character.

[naggingatlas]

'thats not his role in the story!' hm i wonder what the point of it is then. hm i wonder what the dead pixel scene means. hm i wonder what wrong organ are trying to say with the context of 'awesome male friendship' and 'corporate hell where the only woman onboard is constantly under ridicule, abused or forcibly forgotten yet is the catalyst' if not this. hm i wonder how curly's physical agony being a direct parallel to anya's mental agony, stripped of voice, agency, just like her, and being forced to watch what happens while not doing jack shit, just like he used to, plays a part in this. i wonder what the moral of him being the final girl says about living with the consequences of your inaction, because of sentimentality, because of status, career and social. hm i wonder whatever the fuck this game was trying to say. hm i wonder what else is on this person's blog Oh Lord there's yaoi penice.

[separatist-apologist]

Feyre: Rhysand is my mate and I'm telling you this to your face.

Also Feyre: If you try and break my mating bond, I'm going to ruin your life.

Also Feyre: If you drag me back to Spring against my will, I'll destroy everything you love.

Tamlin: Break her mating bond so I can drag her back to Spring and we can start over.

Also Tamlin: I can't believe you destroyed everything I love and ruined my life!

[buried-in-stardust]

I swiped across an SVSSS edit that went viral and just had to share some of the comments under it lmao:

*Mo Dao = MDZS, Tian Guan = TGCF, Zha Fan = SVSSS

*yuandan (原耽) refers to original danmei, danmei being BL (boy's love)

(The novel names MDZS and SVSSS also sound very much like stereotypical novels aimed at men)

[eng by me]

[somewhereincairparavel]

I honestly hate hate hate it when people measure Jason's power/combat skills based on his death.

Like in power rankings they put him so low by saying "nah hes basically powerless cuz he got killed with a silly spear" like NO. you literally missed the whole point of his death then. Jason would've died regardless of how strong he is. Because the fates had already sealed his destiny. You can never escape a prophecy, and the burning maze prophecy said that either Jason or Piper would die.

So Jason had CHOSEN to die instead of Piper. Jason told apollo and Piper to escape without him because he knew he would die and he didn't want either of them to stay there and watch in danger. That's why there's a line that apollo said right before jason was killed. "Jason's expression told me his plan with perfect clarity"

Jason 👏 died 👏 willingly👏 that's 👏 why 👏 it's such 👏 a tragedy 👏 bc 👏 a 👏 powerful 👏 son 👏 of 👏 Jupiter 👏 died 👏 so 👏 it 👏 was 👏 unexpected 👏 and 👏 sad 👏

So y'all shading him for being "weak" is just peak tone deafness when the boy basically committed suicide via planned murder simply to save lives apart from his own. Istg if I see one more jason slander in 2024 I'm gonna-

[lynn-tged-posting]

so i've been working through the tged webnovel (really, really slowly) (but im getting there!) (it's been REALLY fun i love their banter so so much i wish there was more of it in the webtoon)

and i keep thinking back to chapter 43, where lloyd is surveying the wetlands and arcos comes with him

i don't really have much new insight, i just think about their interaction in this chapter a lot, especially since it's one that doesn't show up in the webtoon adaptation

arcos going out of his way to spend time with his son, and making him a lunch that he knows his son loved, all as an unspoken apology

because "how could he", right? how could a father hate his son and only start to love him again when success has been found? that's so haunting to realize; that someone you loved so much, someone you raised and nurtured, someone you knew the favorite foods of and why, could become someone you hate. and then, the son you once raised, the son who became a stranger, went and grew up without you.

did i give up too soon? did i abandon my own son? ... what kind of father does that? ... right?

and so he does what he can to offer repentance. he takes time out of his day to engage with what his son is doing. he shows that he still remembers his son, the boy who would rather eat boiled eggs and tomatoes over any other dish. he offers it all in a basket, carrying the love he feels he should've given to lloyd a long, long time ago.

... and it's not even the original lloyd frontera who receives it.

we don't get to know what suho is thinking in this moment, but i think his silence speaks volumes.

... because "how could he", right? how could this fraud in another man's body accept this silent apology that isn't truly owed to him? this man, this baron, this father, is asking for forgiveness when he had every right to be angry with the original owner of this body. and he doesn't even realize, because how would he possibly know his original fate? only you do.

this wasn't meant for me ... right?

but suho doesn't reject him, either. he doesn't interrupt arcos, he doesn't leave. they sit together and eat boiled eggs with honeyed tomatoes in silence.

it makes me wonder what suho is thinking about, what he's feeling, what he's remembering...

because (and call me crazy, call me speculative) heaven knows the love language of an asian parent.

here's some cut fruit. here's your favorite snack. here's dinner. i've brought it here to you.

you're working so, so hard. i'll support you, i'll be here. don't worry about anything else, just keep growing.

i love you, i love you, i love you, attached to every plate.

"this was your favorite food when you were young. ... i should have given you as many boiled eggs and tomatoes as you wanted."

and again, it's a little bit of speculation from me, but i think that's why suho doesn't say no, why he lets arcos make this apology. it's a piece of what he misses most.

and so they both leave a little bit healed. "the basket was lighter on the way home. and albeit very slightly, their steps became lighter as well." it might not have been between the right souls, but it's a weight lifted nonetheless.

... all this to say that i am absolutely MOURNING that this didn't make it into the adaptation!!!

i understand that with comic adaptations, there are going to be some cuts to ensure pacing and workload stays reasonable, but this would've been absolutely devastatingly emotional (/pos) to witness visually,

because what would lloyd's (suho's) face look like? what expression would he make, can we visually see how he feels? and arcos, what does he see when he looks at his son? fatherly love and solemn regret, painted all over his face, what does that look like to the adapter? to the artist? to us?

and in general too, we lost the characterization and relationship of arcos to suho; i really, really wish it made it in :(

end post

[incorrect-koh-posts]

Masterlist of KoH-related Novels

Below you'll find a list of every novel I know of that is set in the same period as Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven (2005), covers at least some of the same events and features some or all of the historical figures that also appear in the film. The list will be updated occasionally as I work my way through. Enjoy!

✷ English-language novels & novels available in translation

1879: Lady Sibyl's Choice (Emily Sarah Holt) -> thoughts

1937: The Leper King (Zofia Kossak, originally published in Polish) -> thoughts

1954: Knight Crusader (Ronald Welch)

1965: The Wandering Unicorn (Manuel Mujica Lainez, originally published in Spanish) -> thoughts

1969: The Knights of Dark Renown (Graham Shelby) -> thoughts

1989: Alamut (Judith Tarr)

1991: The Dagger and the Cross (Judith Tarr)

1992: Pagan's Crusade (Catherine Jinks)

1996: Jerusalem (Cecelia Holland) -> thoughts

1998: The Book of Saladin (Tariq Ali)

1998 - 2000: Arn the Knight Templar series (Jan Guillou, originally published in Swedish)

The Road to Jerusalem (1998)

The Knight Templar (1999)

The Kingdom at the End of the Road (2000)

2004: Crusader King (Susan Peek)

2006: Sand Daughter (Sarah Bryant)

2007: The Leper Crown (George Morgan)

2009 - 2021: The Magdalen Cycle series (Scott R. Rezer)

#1: The Leper King (2009)

#2: The Pawns of Sion (2015)

#3: The Gambit Queen (2021)

2011: The King's Witch (Cecelia Holland)

2011 - 2013: Saladin trilogy (Jack Hight)

Eagle (2011)

Kingdom (2012)

Holy War (2013)

2011 - 2023: The Last King of Legends series (Serafia Cross)

#1: The Kingmakers (2011)

#2: In the Face of Trials (2012)

#3: The Sovereign Gambit (2015)

#4: The King's Last Deeds (2023)

2012 - 2017: Outremer Chronicles series (Peter Tolladay)

#1: The Templar's Apprentice (2012)

#2: The Harsh Mistress (2014)

#3: The Thorn in the Crown (2016)

2014 - 2016: Balian d'Ibelin series (Helena P. Schrader) -> thoughts

#1: Knight of Jerusalem (2014)

#2: Defender of Jerusalem (2015)

#3: Envoy of Jerusalem (2016)

2018: Templar Silks (Elizabeth Chadwick)

2018 - 2020: The Brotherhood series (K. M. Ashman)

#1: Templar Steel (2018)

#2: Templar Stone (2019)

#3: Templar Blood (2020)

2018 - 2023: Watchers of Outremer series (Suzannah Rowntree)

#2: The Lady of Kingdoms (2019)

#5: The House of Mourning (2023)

2020: The Leper King (Peter Busby)

2020: The Land Beyond the Sea (Sharon Kay Penman) -> thoughts

✷ Non-English novels not available in translation:

1959: L'Étoile de Pourpre (Serge Dalens & Pierre Joubert, French comic)

1999 - 2017: Die Templerin series (Wolfgang & Rebecca Hohlbein, German)

#3: Die Rückkehr der Templerin (2004)

#4: Das Wasser des Lebens (2008)

#5: Das Testament Gottes (2011)

#6: Das Band des Schicksals (2017)

2002: Thibaut ou la Croix Perdue (Juliette Benzoni, French)

2007: Las Lanzas de Jerusalén (Georges Bordonove, Spanish)

2019: Die Assassinin (Alexandra Cavelius, German)

✷ Tangentially related:

1946: mentions of KoH characters in The World is not Enough (Zoé Oldenbourg)

1997: Queen of Swords (Judith Tarr), about Baldwin's grandmother Melisende

[threestargirls]

people who hate sejanus will never not just astound me. you ask them why and their reasons are sooo incredibly weak.

“his plans weren’t well thought out” “he was too naive and trusting” “he was sheltered” “he was impulsive”

and there’s a REASON for all of those things!! all of those are completely justifiable!! and if you really think about it, none of those things were his fault!

the whole point of Sejanus’s character is that he tried to do the right thing, no matter the circumstances or consequences. the whole point of Sejanus’s character was that he represented the good in Coriolanus’s life, and that Coriolanus killing him was him leaving behind almost all the good he had left in him.

yes, sejanus was flawed. and no character is pure good or pure evil. but sejanus did the wrong things for the right reasons… sometimes the wrong thing wasn’t even really that wrong!!

[theetwinkleboy]

and another member of the lov gets what they thought they wanted but at what cost. spinners has been the most interesting to me so far because it parallels so neatly with izuku’s. both of them feeling powerless and accepting a quirk because that’s what they thought they would need to be powerful and change things. both of them sitting across the table from each other, scarred and broken by the quirks that they accepted. spinner realizing too late that it wasn’t a quirk he needed to save his friend—it was just him. and maybe not accepting those quirks in the first place would have put him in a better position to save shigaraki (but all for one didn’t want him to save shigaraki, so). shigaraki’s murderer and his best friend. hm.

but also, to have it come back now, to have spinner say this now TO izuku, in the same chapter that izuku is like ‘how can we stop this from happening again (how can we stop the next person lashing out before they get past the point of no return)’ and tsukauchi is like ‘we can’t without more heroes’ like NO! that’s not the answer! spinner told him the answer. it’s not in a quirk or in more heroes. it’s being willing to reach out and see someone for who they are.