#sometimes I need to spell it out

[musical-chick-13]

OCD: We don't know what the qualifications of "being a good person" are, or at what point you stop being one, so we're just going to avoid everyone all the time so we don't hurt them :)

Me: But if. You avoid people. How can you help them. Also what about the people you already know who have a vested interest in continuing to talk to you? Wouldn't this hurt them? This doesn't make any sense.

OCD: No :) It doesn't :)

Me: But then--

OCD: Good luck :) :) :)

[pa-pa-plasma]

hey i feel like we're really sleeping on that time Danny possessed Vlad & framed him for assaulting a minor

Editing with the clip because people don't believe me. Episode is 41: Eye for an Eye.

[puppyeared]

i feel like im not making any sense but does anyone else feel like there are stories that let u run with them and ones that spell everything out for you

[prolibytherium]

I never touched it but I feel like i only ever hear positive things said about song of achilles.. in (rough strokes at least) what makes it dogshit to you?

Okay it's been a while since I actually read it so some of this might not be spot on accurate. Sorry if at any point I say 'the book never does xyz' and it actually does once or twice but I think my underlying criticisms are accurate

-Patroclus is made into like this soft gentle tender quivering little yaoi boy. In the source text, he's shown as compassionate and moved by the suffering of his own men (and apparently having some medical skill, tending to the wounded in the camp), but very much invested n combat and very, very good at it (pages worth of descriptions of the guys he's killing left and right). In this, the arguably more complex character from this 8th century BC text is flattened into Being A Healer, he doesn't want to go to war he just wants to help people, he only goes because Achilles has to but he doesn't want to fight he's a HEALER he's a gentle lover NOT A FIGHTER who just wants to help he just wants to help everyone around him he HEALS while Achilles is a doomed warrior who is so good at fighting and KILLING its a DICHOTOMY GUYS!!!LIKE THE BEAUTIFUL SUN AND MOON DOOMED LOVERS SO SAD patocluse HEALER . (I Think he's specifically characterized as being BAD at fighting but might be misremembering)

-I don't remember much about Achilles' characterization I think it just makes him less of a jackass while not adding anything of interest and levels out into being mad boring.

-Not getting into the literal millenias old debate whether the mythological characters Achilles and Patroclus were being characterized as some type of lover by the original oral sources of the Iliad or its Homeric writers. We will never know. We don't even know what (if any) culturally accepted conventions of male homosexuality existed in bronze age Greece (we know much more about their descendants). But there are some interesting elements of their characterization in this direction, with how unconventional their relationship is WITHIN the text itself- Patroclus is described as cooking for Achilles and his guests (very specifically a woman/wife's job), Achilles chides Patroclus like a father, but there's also scene where Achilles' mourning of him directly echoes a passage of Hector's wife mourning her husband, Patroclus is explicitly stated to Achilles' elder, and is overall treated as his equal or near-equal, closest confidant and most beloved friend (to the point that pederastic classical Greeks would debate over who was erastes (older authority figure lover) and who was eromenos (adolescent 'beloved')- many took it as a given that this text depicted their present-day cultural norms of homosexual behavior but it existed so Outside of these norms that it had to be debated who was who). Their relationship is non-standard both within the text and to the descendants of the civilization that wrote them.

Basically what I'm saying is this book had opportunities to like, explore the unconventionality of the relationship (being presented here as explicitly lovers), explore the dynamics of why Patroclus wants to do 'women's work' (besides being a tenderhearted softboy), the weird dynamics where they take on paternal roles to each other but also roles of wives, how they feel about being this way, and just kind of Doesn't. Which I guess isn't an intrinsic fault (because it omits much of what I just talked about to begin with). it's just like.... Lame. This book takes jsut abandons everything interesting about the source text in favor of flattening it into bland Doomed Yaoi.

-The conflict that sets off the core story of the Iliad is Achilles and Agamemnon fighting over Briseis, an enslaved Trojan woman taken by Achilles as a war-trophy, Achilles spends most of the story moping because he was dishonored by his 'trophy' being taken. Achilles and Patroclus and everyone else are raping their captives, all the women in the story are either captured Trojans (or in the case of the free women within the walls of Troy, soon to be enslaved, and are slave owners themselves). Slavery as an institution and extreme patriarchal conventions are innate to the text and reflective of the context in which it was developed. You cannot avoid it.

But obviously you can't have your soft yaoi boys doing this, so the author has them capturing women to Protect Them from the other men. Their slaves are UNDER THEIR PROTECTION and VERY SAFE (and they might even Like And Befriend Them but I might be misremembering that. Briseis does though). Our heroes have apparently absorbed none of the ideals of the culture they exist in and the author seems to think "they're gay and aren't sexually attracted to their captives" would translate to them being outright benevolent (also as if wartime sexual violence is just about attraction and not part of a wider spectrum of violent acts to dehumanize and brutalize an accepted 'enemy')

In the source text, Briseis mourns Patroclus as being the kindest to her of her captors, who tried to get her a slightly better outcome by getting her married to Achilles (which probably would be the Least Bad of all possible outcomes for a woman in that situation, becoming a legal wife instead of a slave), and wonders what will happen to her now that he's gone. This is a really really sad, horrible, and compelling dynamic which could be fleshed out in very interesting ways but is instead is tossed entirely aside in favor of them being Besties. Like brother and sister.

All of the above pisses me off so much. If you don't want to engage in the icky parts of ancient/bronze age Greece then don't write a retelling of a story taking place in bronze age Greece. I'm not gonna get mad at children's adaptations of Greek myths or silly fun stories loosely based on them for omitting the rape and slavery but it is SO fundamental to the Iliad. If you're not willing to handle it, either fully omit it or better yet set your Iliad inspired yaoi in an invented swords-and-sandals setting where you can have all your heartbreaking tragic doomed lovers plot beats and not have to clumsily write around the women they're brutalizing.

-The author didn't seem to know what to do with Thetis and she made her just like, Achilles bitch mother who spends most of the story trying to separate our Yaoi Boys (iirc her disguising Achilles as a girl and hiding him on Scyros is made to be more about getting him away from Patroclus than trying to save her son from his prophesied doom in the Trojan War) until she sees how much they loooove each other and I think helps Patroclus' spirit get to the afterlife or something in the end?

-This is more of a personal taste gripe but it has that writing style I loathe where the prose feels less like a story and more like an attempt to string together Deep Beautiful Hard Hitting Poetic Lines that will look great as excerpts on booktok (might predate booktok but same vibe). It's all very Pretty and Haunting and Deep but feels devoid of real substance.

I really like The Iliad and The Odyssey in of themselves. They're fascinating historical texts that give a window into how 8th century BC Greeks told their stories, saw their world, interpreted their ancestors, etc. And genuinely I think these texts have 'good' characters, there's a lot of complexity and humanity to it.

WRT the Iliad- all of the main Achaeans are pretty fascinating, the one singular part where Briseis Gets To Talk and laments her situation is great, Achilles fantasizing that all of the Trojans AND the Achaeans die so he and Patroclus alone can have the glory of conquering Troy (wild), Achilles asking to embrace Patroclus' shade and reaching out for him but it's immaterial (and the shade being sucked back underground with a 'squeak' (the squeak kinda gets me it's disturbing and sad)), Hecuba talking about wanting to tear out Achilles' liver and eat it in a (taboo, exceptioally pointed) expression of rage and grief for his mutilation of her son's corpse, just one tiny line where the enslaved women performing ritual wailing for their dead captors are described as using it as an outlet to 'grieve for their own troubles' is heartrending, etc. A lot of grappling with anger and grief and the inevitability of death, a lot of groundwork laid for characters that could be very interesting when expanded upon in the framework of a conventional novel.

And Song Of Achilles really doesn't do much with all that. I know a lot of my gripes here are kind of just "It's different from the Iliad", I would have thought of it as mostly mediocre and forgettable rather than infuriating if it wasn't a retelling (and I DEFINITELY have strong biases here). But I think the ways in which it is different are less just a product of a retelling (of course there's going to be omissions and differences) and more a complete and utter disinterest in vast majority of its own subject matter, to the book's detriment. I think a retelling has a point when it EXPANDS on the source, or provides a NEW ANGLE to the source. This book doesn't Really do either, it just shaves off the complexity of its source material, renders the characters into a really boring archetype of a gay relationship, and gives very little else. Its content boils down to a middling tragic romance that has been inserted into the hollowed out defleshed skeleton of the Iliad.

Bottom line: I definitely would not be as mad about it if I wasn't familiar with the source material but I think it's fair to expect a retelling to Engage with/expand on its source, and I also think it's weak purely on its own merits. This book was set up to disappoint Me specifically.

[cogcltrcorn]

gggggrrrraaaah I think it is EXTREMELY important to us, as kendall likers, to remember the dog pound and the subsequent "two dogs" metaphor. like. like. there are TWO dogs. kendall is as much of a dog as roman is. he has just learned that his place in the hierarchy is above the weaker dog but below the handler. I feel like so fucking many people writing roman forget that kendall is also a dog in the metaphor and So many people writing kendall completely disregard the fact that he HAS learned that his place in the hierarchy is ensured by his ability to enact violence. and like. this is such an important aspect of his character. offtopic but have you guys thought about how toxic masculine ideals are intrinsically linked to the capitalistic system and how the only way to ensure your status in the hierarchy is to enact violence on those below you

[supercantaloupe]

saw a post last night complaining that the sound of music film and its popularity contribute to the "universalization of the holocaust" and that by depicting an austrian catholic gentile family's opposition to the nazi regime instead of being about jews, it paints some kind of false picture of who the nazis' real targets were. and i'm sorry but that is such a narrow minded, externally motivated reading of the film/musical. and i say this as a jew who broadly agrees that holocaust universalization and the sidelining of "the jewish problem" (as it was known in that era) in film and media is a genuine and pervasive problem. the sound of music...that is really not the right target for your ire, my friend

[some-pers0n]

I flip through Moon Rising sometimes and every single time I see mentions of Kinkajou liking Winter, it makes me think if originally she was supposed to end up with him. Kinda like how Tui wanted Clay and Glory to be together when writing TDP. There's a lot of references to Kinkajou particularly finding Winter pretty and "tortured" and whatnot. Makes me think of what would've happened...

[charliespringverse]

i think it should be possible to scream without making any noise or disturbing anyone or inviting any questions . just sometimes . as a treat .

[wishchip106]

gawd damn i need me some hard liquor (apple juice) rn

life got me stressing

[laquilasse]

I cast the spell: ✨️HAVE A GOOD DAY!✨️

Within the next 7 days (the specific day is one of your own choosing) you WILL have a good day where something nice will happen and you WILL know you're amazing.

Have a nice day! :-)

needed this so bad today thank you....I'm on my last day of my contract and racing for my deadline and trying not to scream

[dallonwrites]

actually making my tags from my last post into their own post. writers who struggle with grammar, spelling, typos, errors etc i love you. writers who struggle with rereading their stuff thoroughly no matter how much they try, who don't always have access to other people to help them read i love you. whilst reading through and checking for these things is good practice i really believe that the weight of it should not be put wholly on the writer's shoulders. especially writers who are neurodivergent, disabled, have any condition that can impede their reading + comprehension, are overworked and overtired, are not writing in their native language, list goes on....because grammar mistakes/language mistakes/typos have nothing to do with your abilities as a creative. this is where editors should be uplifting writers, helping them, not scrutinising them for something they cannot always control

[camille-lachenille]

Me: So, I have these dizzy spells that take me when I am walking and I almost fall bc of them. I also have trouble standing for any period of time because of my poor balance, which is made worse by the above mentioned dizzy spells.

My doctor: have you considered sitting down when this happens?

Me: Gee, thank you Sherlock! I really never thought that sitting down could solve my problem with standing up. But did you hear the part where I told you I kind of like walking and the point is for me to still be able to go out of the house for more than 1 hour at a time?

[canisonicscrewyou]

coworker butted into a conversation one day MONTHS AGO where I was telling someone else "yeah, one of my friend groups in high school were all really mean to each other, because we were all repressed queer teens in catholic high school, we were all biting each others' heads off" <- they missed all of the actual conversation so that they could say "I never had the energy to be mean, but okay." whenever me and my other coworker were talking.

Cut to today. They are talking to me about the environment at another store. They then say out of left field "Oh, it's like that thing where you... Oh. Well. I guess you were the one who was the bully growing up, right?"

Readers. Besties.

The way I stared at them for a solid minute of confusion before finally, awkwardly saying "... I was bullied growing up for being autistic and queer...?" because like. I'm. What??? How the fuck am I supposed to respond to that??? How does one respond to that??? (Also. The fact that I needed my partner to look at me and go 'they said you were a high school bully to be mean to you Ryker'. Sometimes you cannot take the autism out of the boy even a little even if you try really hard.)

[baekuras]

Because I am lazy with reinventing stuff I have been looking at some fallen angels (mostly Watchers because there is a list) and it's so funny to me that there is/was an angel around to "Cure the stupidity of men" Like thanks I need no more

also there was one guy which bascially was a constellation myth for Orion and he and Azazel(/Lucifer/Satan/whoever pointed Eve to the apple) were punished by hanging out between Heaven and Earth...forever or a long time but that got me to think...this would mean that (insert name of whoever tempted Eve in YOUR specific texts) is also a constellation, and if it's Lucifer it'd be the Morning Star which from what I remember either refers to Venus OR the brightest Star in the Sky aka Sirius aka part of Canis Major aka the constellation right next to Orion Fallen Angel shenanigans in the Sky? it's more likely than you think

also smth smth them being turned into Constellations and humanity using Fallen Angels, aka the givers of forbidden knowledge (you know..like reading and stuff) to navigate smth smth

[balkanbitch]

You want to know what I think about almost everyday? How different Natsu and fairy tail as a show would be if Natsu was a girl

Cause like think about. The world of fairy tail (like many anime worlds) is pretty sexist and shitty towards women. Almost every man in the show is a weirdo in one way or another. The world also has high expectations for women and how they should be/look. Sexualizing them at every given moment

Now imagine this little girl coming in to this world who never had to deal with the things like gender/sex (We don't know much about dragon culture but there seems little to no distinction between male and female dragons or differences in society ranking based on gender) now having these weird expectations put on her to act a certain way.

We rarely see any women who even have a similar personality to Natsu but Natsu is cocky and constantly challenging people. Could you imagine a girl trying to that in a world like fairy tail? Like we see other women like Erza do stuff like that but the thing is she has the power to back it up. Season 1/pre show Natsu doesn't, she gets beat by her stronger guildmates all the time. The world is already cruel to the women in it so could you picture how it would be to a women who tries to challenge more powerful opponents and then keeps losing over and over. The men who'd beat in her in combat would probably draw it out just to humiliate and embarrass her and then say stuff like "weak little girl needs to know her place." Or not even acknowledge her like "I'm not fighting a girl" And she would be just so confused cause like why are these people shaming her for her gender? Why don't they respect her like they do other men they beat? Why is she being targeted for something she can't control?

I feel like this would make her much more aggressive/angry than Natsu already is. She would be really violent when she fought, putting everything in every attack just in hopes of winning and being respected like her fellow guildmates/wizard. Over the years she builds a reputation of being brutal and violent in her fights. We don't see many female characters that have a fighting style like Natsu (besides mira and a few others) so it'd be a shock. Many would tell her she needs to tone it down and that she needs to be more elegant when she fights. But she doesn't want to fight like that. She wants to fight like how she was taught. She sees how people who fight like that don't get nearly as much respect as their male counterparts. And She'd do anything for her to be respected, to be praised for someone to see her as strong and capable like Igneel did.

[micechicken]

I love how my unintentional excuse as to why Alestair and Idan never have to go to work is because they ran away and basically quit without notice.