#the odyssey book 11 is where this is i believe

[nyxinastris]

frequently thinking about agamemnon being so pissed about his wife clytemnestra killing him that he tells odysseus in the underworld that that event made him misogynistic

[lyculuscaelus]

So, for all who’re interested in Teiresias’s prophecy concerning Odysseus’s death, here’re some interpretations based on the meanings of certain words:

(Odyssey, book 11, line 134–137) … θάνατος δέ τοι ἐξ ἁλὸς αὐτῷ ἀβληχρὸς μάλα τοῖος ἐλεύσεται, ὅς κέ σε πέφνῃ γήραι ὕπο λιπαρῷ ἀρημένον: ἀμφὶ δὲ λαοὶ ὄλβιοι ἔσσονται …

First, let’s talk about “ἐξ ἁλός”.

The most direct meaning of the phrase is the physical motion to come “out of/from the sea”. It’s also logical to assume that the ἐξ ἁλός” here is the same as the one in “ἔνδιος δ᾽ ὁ γέρων ἦλθ᾽ ἐξ ἁλός” (from the Odyssey, book 4, line 450: “at midday that old man came out from the sea”, which is describing how Proteus emerged from the sea) so we’d have “θάνατος δέ τοι ἐξ ἁλὸς αὐτῷ … ἐλεύσεται” translated as “death will come to you out from the sea”. As for how it can be depicted—man, we’re now in AU territory.

Sometimes ἐκ (ἐξ) means “far from” as in distance. In this case the line could be translated as “death will come to you, far from the sea”. Maybe this indicates that Odysseus would die in a land far from Ithaca—or, hear me out: he died where the people he should seek on his oar quest lived (although unlikely during the first time he got there). If they knew nothing of the sea and salt, it’s only natural to suspect that they were themselves far from it. Which could be poetic to think abt—“you have found yourself a place to die, and when you’ve finished your life’s journey, when old age devours your health and your family, you shall head for that land again, to find your peace at last”.

ἅλς (ἁλός being its genitive singular) does not only mean “sea”—as a feminine noun, sure; but as a masculine noun it means “salt”. Meanwhile, there is another meaning of ἐκ (ἐξ), “because of” as in reason. Combining these two, we shall have: “death will come to you because of salt”, which is pretty funny to think about: what if he ate too much salt in a banquet and died of overconsumption? OR it could be…✨hypernatremia✨, since there’s a high chance that all these shipwrecks of his might result in the high concentration of salt in his blood. And this is quite angsty to think abt

Now, for “ἀβληχρός”.

People tend to separate the meaning of this word into two sets: “gentle, easy” (in contrast with a violent death) and then “feeble, weak” (as in description of Aphrodite’s hand). Personally, I’d use “tender” to translate the word since it sorta combined both meanings, being as vague as Homer himself cuz why not.

Specifically, “gentle”? What death could be so gentle, non-violent? Well, diseases, or organ failure, for one (bringing back the hypernatremia), which rather fits his old age as well.

As for “feeble”—I do believe this is a word too strong for this meaning as you’ll see why. “Weak, vulnerable” is fine imo, as long as it’s describing the potential of getting wounded, instead of the condition of being puny. But what’s a “weak death” anyway? I do think it makes more sense if the text goes like “a death will come to you when you’re weak/vulnerable” instead (say, using ἀβληχρῷ…but that doesn’t fit in the hexameter).

Now, here’s an idea I just think of, which is not necessarily the case, but the connection is still interesting. First of all let’s look at the description of Aphrodite’s hand: “ἔνθ᾽ ἐπορεξάμενος μεγαθύμου Τυδέος υἱὸς/ἄκρην οὔτασε χεῖρα μετάλμενος ὀξέϊ δουρὶ/ἀβληχρήν: …”, from the Iliad, book 5, line 337: “thereupon the great-hearted son of Tydeus, reaching forward and leaping upon her, wounded her tender hand on the surface with his sharp spear…”). Now connect this feature of Aphrodite’s hand to the nature of the death Teiresias was prophesying—“the tenderness of your death, just like the palm of love, shall touch you when your heart is old”. But furthermore—could it be that this is how it ends? Could it be that the hand which wrought his death was actually from Aphrodite herself? I’m getting a bit derailed but anyways

The translation of “ὅς κέ σε πέφνῃ/γήραι ὕπο λιπαρῷ ἀρημένον” is quite commonly agreed—“which shall strike you in your old age, ripe and worn out”. Although I’d like to point out that the word “ἀρημένον” (distressed, worn out) here is actually modifying the pronoun σε (you) since they’re both in accusative form, meaning “when you’re worn out”.

The word “ἀμφί” without case here is just an adverb, “around”. The case of λαοί here is interesting, since it’s not followed by any pronoun, which means it doesn’t necessarily refer to “your people”.

What kind of people then? Well, with “ὄλβιος” it often comes with material happiness, and divine blessings on good fortune. “Happy, blest, fortunate, prosperous” might be the closest meaning to the word. Could they be those people in Elysium though…🤔

So there’re three possibilities:

λαοί refers to “your people” indeed: in this case it’s talking about the Ithacans being prosperous and rich for all time.

λαοί refers to “a people”, a random one: this is for those who interpret Odysseus to be “not in Ithaca when he died”, say, when he went “far from the sea”.

It’s just “people will be around you and they’re happy”: he wasn’t alone when he died. Good to know :,)

So…yeah. I suppose this entire prophecy thing is for you to decide which version you like best? There isn’t really a fixed translation of this and you can either 1) ask Odysseus himself; 2) wait till Homer updates his fanfic which is pretty unlikely at this point :(

[themoonplantwrites]

So I have many things I love about Epic the Musical, one of which is how it is in conversation with the text that it is adapting, The Odyssey.

Now, if you were a high school student in America (and maybe other places, but I can’t speak for them), you were probably taught that The Odyssey starts in medias res, or in the middle. When The Odyssey starts, most of the adventuring and monsters and stuff that most people remember from The Odyssey has already happened, and Odysseus recounts it in books 8-11. The rest of The Odyssey is mostly what is Telemachus doing, what does Odysseus do once he returns to Ithaca, and books 5-7 are just Odysseus among the Phaeacians.

My point in all of this being, the first four books of The Odyssey, how this text starts, those are the events that the Wisdom Saga in Epic the Musical adapts. And it’s such a good adaptation that personally, I believe that you could listen to the Wisdom Saga first, and then go back to the beginning of Epic and listen to the rest of the Sagas in order, and it would still work as a story. Just structurally, it would work in a similar way to how The Odyssey works.

But Epic, unlike The Odyssey, does not start in medias res. The Wisdom Saga is the seventh saga in the musical. And yet, Epic does pay a kind of homage to The Odyssey’s story structure through the song Love in Paradise. Here, in this song, we have Athena looking back on the last time she saw Odysseus, and at everything that has happened to him since then. This is similar to Odysseus recounting his story to the Phaeacians in books 8-11 of The Odyssey.

But, personally, what I find to be a much more interesting part of this adaptation is that the part of Love in Paradise where Odysseus is being haunted by his past feels a lot like the part of The Odyssey where Odysseus breaks down crying at the stories the Phaeacian rhapsode sings of the heroes of the Trojan War. Jorge did not have to include Odysseus grieving the people he’s lost since leaving Ithaca; most adaptations of The Odyssey don’t. But he did, and I think that makes Epic all the better, not just as a story, but specifically as an adaptation of The Odyssey.

[miguel-manbemel]

Sanders Sides photocomics of the year 2024 (April-June)

April

Remus Is Upset (April 1, 2024)

Spite and Ambition (April 2, 2024)

Stress Outlets (April 3, 2024)

A New Baby's Coming (April 4, 2024)

For the Rest of my Life (April 5, 2024)

Hero Senses (April 6, 2024)

Is That a Telescope (April 7, 2024)

Giving Flowers (April 8, 2024)

Hippity, Hoppity (April 9, 2024)

The Paradox (April 10, 2024)

They're Hiding Something (April 11, 2024)

The Two Gatekeepers (April 12, 2024)

Face Down (April 13, 2024)

Think Positively (April 14, 2024)

Pigeons (April 14, 2024)

Why Sleep (April 16, 2024)

If Patton Was the Imposter (April 17, 2024)

Patton's New Book (April 18, 2024)

No More Humble Opinion (April 19, 2024)

Dis Dis (April 20, 2024)

I Never Brag (April 21, 2024)

Is This an Incorrect Quote? (April 22, 2024)

Logan Trying Slang (April 23, 2024)

Next Plan (April 24, 2024)

Virgil In His Sleep (April 25, 2024)

The Snake of Love (April 26, 2024)

Fairytale Wedding (April 27, 2024)

Here Comes a Janus Thought (April 28, 2024)

20 Questions (April 29, 2024)

Virgil Sent Home (April 30, 2024)

May

Put Them in a Boat (May 1, 2024)

Is This Going to Be Dangerous? (May 2, 2024)

Can I Be Frank? (May 3, 2024)

Get Accepted, They Said (May 4, 2024)

Nothing to Eat (May 5, 2024)

I Can Never Tell (May 6, 2024)

Emotional Jumper Cables (May 7, 2024)

We Must Teach Them How to Cook (May 8, 2024)

I Can't Believe It! (May 9, 2024)

The Calculator (May 10, 2024)

I'm Immortal (May 11, 2024)

Koalas (May 12, 2024)

Virgil's Honest Truth (May 13, 2024)

I'm Not Drunk (May 14, 2024)

It's More Romantic (May 15, 2024)

The Taste of Lava (May 16, 2024)

The Doubt (May 17, 2024)

Dunno If He'll Notice (May 18, 2024)

69 (May 19, 2024)

Getting Life In Order (May 20, 2024)

What Is Sleep (May 21, 2024)

Could I Borrow Him Forever? (May 22, 2024)

The Greatest Lovers in History (May 23, 2024)

What Happened Upstairs? (May 24, 2024)

I'm Cold (May 25, 2024)

Where's my Mace? (May 26, 2024)

A Million Things to Do (May 27, 2024)

That's My Opinion (May 28, 2024)

10 Things I Hate (May 29, 2024)

Good Morning (May 30, 2024)

My Heart Beats Loudly (May 31, 2024)

June

Don't Toy With Me (June 1, 2024)

Where Is Patton? (June 2, 2024)

The Fridge (June 3, 2024)

When I'm Around Roman (June 4, 2024)

Odyssey (June 5, 2024)

Alphabetical Plans (June 6, 2024)

Don't Tell Anyone (June 7, 2024)

The Letter Puzzle (June 8, 2024)

Knowing Protocol (June 9, 2024)

Something Weird (June 10, 2024)

You're Too Flirty (June 11, 2024)

Siblings (June 12, 2024)

Love Is Pointless (June 13, 2024)

My Favorite Kind of Science (June 14, 2024)

The Gaslighter Joke (June 15, 2024)

Sun Is Up (June 16, 2024)

Please, Don't, Patton (June 17, 2024)

Aphrodite or not Aphrodite (June 18, 2024)

Trust Me (June 19, 2024)

We Had Fun (June 20, 2024)

The Calendar (June 21, 2024)

Virgil Chose Dare (June 22, 2024)

If I Said It (June 23, 2024)

Breaking Logan Bad (June 24, 2024)

The Toy in the Cereal (June 25, 2024)

Reverse Psychology (June 27, 2024)

A Thing With Spiders (June 27, 2024)

While I'm Gone (June 28, 2024)

Dolphins (June 29, 2024)

Don't Wait for Me (June 30, 2024)

RETURN TO MASTER POST

[bystreetlight]

1. What did you do in 2024 that you hadn’t done before? Had botox, got stung by a bee (in an unrelated incident lol), went to the ballet...can't really think of anything else?

2. Did anyone close to you give birth? I don't think so.

3. Did anyone close to you die? Thankfully no.

4. Did you travel? Where did you go? Best holiday memory? Yes! Went overseas for the first time in 5 years - 3 weeks in France 🇫🇷 (Nice, Marseille, Paris) and a few days in London. The highlight was seeing Rafa at Roland Garros, even though he lost to human skidmark Zverev :( I also went to Port Macquarie for my Dad's 70th, however that whole weekend was hard work so it doesn't really count 😂

5. Best thing you bought? Mini Djungelskog. And the Big Croissant 🥐

6. Where did most of your money go? The overseas holiday cost a bit but it was worth every cent!!! Otherwise, same as usual, savings and mortgage repayments waaaaaaaah.

7. What do you wish you had done more of? I genuinely can't think of anything?

8. What do you wish you had done less of? Doomscrolling and feeling pessimistic 😪

9. What kept you sane? Wednesday Reset Days™️. It's unbelievable how much a working from home day where you can catch up on all the life admin helped with my mental health this year.

10. What drove you mad? Every time people tried to be optimistic about the US election. And when it wouldn't stop raining in Paris and I lost my will to live a little bit 😭

11. What made you celebrate? When NSW won the State of Origin series!! And when Taylor Fritz made the US Open final, even though he didn't win, Also thoroughly enjoyed the Olympics, unsurprisingly.

12. What made you sad? When Liam Payne died. I still can't quite believe it. And Rafael Nadal retiring. Even typing those words hurts me.

13. How was your birthday this year and how old did you turn? It was a Friday and I think I just worked from home? We got Domino's for dinner? It was the most lowkey birthday in years. I turned *gasp* 40.

14. What political issue stirred you the most this year? Politics and everything going on in the world at the moment just filled me with despair this year.

15. What was the best meal you ate in 2024? Our belated birthday lunch at Le Doyenné - the setting, the restaurant, the food, the service...

16. What would you like to have in 2025 that you didn’t have this year? Serenity, but I already feel like that's asking too much 😂

17. What date(s) from 2024 will be etched in your memory and why? 16 May - the start of our amazing holiday!!

18. What song will remind you of 2024? Sabrina Carpenter - Espresso.

19. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? My resolution last year was to take more photos or do something creative on the regular. I don't think I really achieved it but that's OK! Next year…I don't know…

20. Did you suffer illness or injury? I got stung by a bee, does that count?

21. Compared to this time last year, are you: i. happier or sadder? A bit sadder maybe. Everything just seems so hard for everyone. ii. thinner or fatter? Maybe a bit fatter? But also I'm middle aged so whatever!! iii. richer or poorer? Richer? Marginally?

22. How will you be spending Christmas? Currently in the first few days of 2 weeks off - just got back from seeing my family in Mildura, Christmas Day at the in-laws, cricket on the 28th, and getting through my enormous 'to read' pile.

23. What was your favourite movie? KNEECAP! Can't believe I missed it at MIFF and could have discovered it months earlier than I did!!

24. What was your favourite TV program? Shetland, Shogun, Acolyte until it got cancelled because Star Wars fans are sad racist misogynists, Celebrity Gogglebox UK, Doctor Odyssey…and I also really got into Antiques Roadshow for some reason?!?!?

25. What was the best book you read? Shōgun by James Clavell, even though it took me half a year to read because it is SO FUCKING LONG

26. What was your greatest musical discovery? KNEECAP!!!

27. What did you want and get? An overseas holiday! To see Rafa at Roland Garros!

28. What did you want and not get? For certain people to die.

29. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2024? I don't know, coping with being middle aged?

30. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Pat Carrigan probably lol.

31. Biggest achievement this year? Making it to the end? God how depressing.

32. Biggest disappointment this year? Season 3 of the Bear. Only made it through 3(?) episodes and then couldn't be bothered watching the rest because it was so awful.

33. What is the one thing that would have made you more satisfied? If the threesome on Doctor Odyssey had been gayer.

34. Best new person you met this year? Abbey from work!

35. A valuable life lesson you learnt this year? Stealing from the major supermarkets is a great way to keep your grocery bills down. I didn't just learn that this year but I feel like it's still a great life lesson for us all.

[theshampyon]

I've seen people on other sites acting like it's disrespectful to spit these facts about Pat Tillman. I think it's slightly less likely here, but just in case: This is what we know of how he would feel about the ad that uses him to glorify the military and war. Not only was he disgusted by the war, Tillman was fully aware of how they used individual soldiers as propaganda - and becoming one was one of his greatest fears. Full text after the cut, for those who don't want to read the link.

Pat Tillman Feared PR Blitz BY DANA CHIVVIS

SEPTEMBER 11, 2009 / 11:52 AM / CBS

Jon Krakauer's newest book reveals how the Bush administration turned the friendly fire death of Pat Tillman in Afghanistan into a propaganda victory. "Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman" follows the story of Tillman's life through his death at the hands of his platoon to the smoke and mirrors orchestrated by the Pentagon and White House, reports ABC News and the LA Times.

Krakauer includes passages from Tillman's diary that show a keen awareness of the propaganda that would follow his death. While on his first mission as an Army Ranger, Tillman was sent to rescue Pvt. Jessica Lynch, a soldier who had been captured by militants in Iraq. Lynch was falsely characterized by the Pentagon as a military hero who had gone down with guns blazing. She later testified that she had not fired a single bullet.

"This mission will be a P.O.W. rescue, a woman named Jessica Lynch," Tillman wrote. "As awful as I feel for the fear she must face, and admire the courage I'm sure she's showing, I do believe this to be a big Public Relations stunt. Do not mistake me, I wish everyone in trouble to be rescued, but sending this many folks for a single low ranking soldier screams of media blitz."

A year later, Tillman was the center of another public relations stunt when the Bush administration said he died fighting the Taliban, rewrote eyewitness testimony, awarded him a Silver Star, and broke its own law by announcing his death within 24 hours of his family learning of it.

Tillman seemed to predict that the government would turn him into a false hero. Spc. Jade Lane, a friend of Tillman's, told Krakauer that during their first night as Army Rangers in Iraq, Tillman had told him he was worried that if anything happened to him, the government would create a media blitz around him.

"One night he said that he was afraid that if something happened to him, they would parade him through the streets," Lane said. "And those were his exact words: 'I don't want them to parade me through the streets.' It just burned into my brain, him saying that."

oh so the military propaganda in the beginning of the super bowl about the player who joined up after 9/11 and was killed “in the line of duty” is actually so much worse than I thought because he was killed by FRIENDLY fire after he criticized the war/called invading iraq “fucking illegal” and the army tried covering up his death

[back-and-totheleft]

An artist of stark dualities and excesses

William Oliver “Ollie” Stone, child of Eastern privilege who eschewed at least some of that advantage to go through hard knocks on his own, a Vietnam Vet who enlisted and fought as an infantryman, later a pacifist and outspoken critic of American foreign policy and values, shock impact screenwriter and artful, sometimes poetic director — they’re all present in the 70something filmmaker’s rise-to-glory memoir, “Chasing the Light.”

I’ve been a fan pretty much since “Salvador.” My first reporting assignment at my first newspaper, where I was a freelance critic had me take five Vietnam War veterans to a showing of “Platoon” and buy them coffee at a local diner afterwards. Their harrowing stories, and tears at seeing their experience reflected so “accurately,” stick with me.

Stone remains a fascinating study in contradictions, champion of the underdog and occasionally an on-set bully, macho yet lefty, generous to every collaborator and teacher who helped him “make it,” learn his craft and get better at it, but almost always hitting them with a backhanded compliment or two. Or three.

From the beginning he has been an artist of stark dualities and excesses. He sees himself as Odysseus or a pirate, a rogue operator outside “The System.”

He comes off in print the way he’s always come off in interviews — passionate, thoughtful and somewhat dogmatic. I’ve interviewed him several times over the years, about his “Vietnamese POV” Vietnam film, “Heaven and Earth” (the third in his “trilogy” about his war — after “Platoon” and “Born on the Fourth of July”), about “World Trade Center,” his post-9/11 tribute to first responders and most “pro-American” work, and that Latin American politics doc he did a few years back. He’s long had that confidence of his opinions, certitude that he’s “right” in a historical sense, quick to analyze a performance, a colleague’s film or judge his own — sometimes harshly.

There’s a lot of psychoanalyzing of himself, his parents, their failed marriage, his own failures and insecurities in “Chasing the Light.” He talks about his drug abuse, hits a few romantic relationships, and consults his decades of diaries to remember everything from his father’s death to his first brushes with triumph.

I didn’t recall that his first trip to Vietnam was before the “escalation,” as an English teacher. I had no idea he was in LRRPs in Vietnam (Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol). That’s infantry on steroids.

I knew he had boarding school and Yale acceptance (he didn’t stick it out long) in his pedigree.

I didn’t realize he’d studied under wunderkind alumnus Martin Scorsese at NYU.

He understudied/worked for/was critiqued by the great screenwriter Robert Bolt (“Lawrence of Arabia,” “Doctor Zhivago”) in his 20s.

For this book about his long, long road to fame — “Seizure” (nobody saw it) to “The Hand” (a few more saw it) to “Salvador” (ditto) and then “Platoon” — Stone traces everything, from his scripts to his own saga, back to “The Odyssey.”

Stone’s lasting obsessions aren’t just Vietnam and America’s misguided way of throwing its weight around the world. It’s The Doors and Jim Morrison, as he quotes The Doors often, sees himself (and occasionally others) in Lizard King terms at several points in his memoir.

He details the ordeals involved in each early directing effort, and in his many screenwriting challenges — “Midnight Express,” “Year of the Dragon” and “Scarface” among them. Those are some of the most fascinating chapters in the book. He says Brian DePalma’s “operatic” take on his “Scarface” script has grown on him. Some.

Of Billy Hayes, the “hero” of “Midnight Express,” passed off in the media and the movie as just “a kid who made a mistake” — “stunned” that Hayes, contrary to the way he told his story, was caught on his “fourth” hash smuggling run out of Turkey, that Hayes led people to believe he was heterosexual, heightening (if that’s possible) the horror of prison sexual assaults and encounters.

“How do you live with yourself? I have no problem believing he can.”

Stone opens the book with an introduction to his love/hate relationship with the mercurial, motor-mouthed blowhard James Woods, telling tales out of school of Woods’ tantrums and fear-filled experiences filming “Salvador” on the fly in Mexico in the ’80s, fleeing a cavalry charge shot too early, exaggerating the danger and “Stone didn’t know what he was doing…but I did” way Woods described the experience.

Having interviewed Woods myself, a bantam rooster who can’t wait to work his (alleged) IQ into any introductory conversation, Stone seems on the mark in picking at the man being “the most insecure” movie star of them all. They worked together several times after their near-brawling “Salvador” experience.

The compliments mixed with slaps extends from Alan Parker, director of “Midnight Express,” who took his script and never invited him to the set, to Dale Dye, the formidable Vietnam vet and military consultant on many a war movie, who developed his “boot camp” for the cast of “Platoon,” and repeated that in other war films he worked on. Dye made “Platoon’s” cast a unit, with the right look and jumpy reflexes Stone remembered from his service. But keep politics out of the conversation, and Dye’s racial tolerance — filming in the Philippines — wasn’t the most enlightened.

Then again, he wasn’t the guy who kicked a Filipino production manager in the ass, on set, in front of the entire crew. That was Stone, who airs lots of his dirty laundry, even if he takes his shot at “explaining” or spinning that behavior. He also quotes freely from interviews conducted by a biographer who talked to many of those he worked for.

Stone is wise to limit this volume to his early years. His career has been winding down, although he has a small scale film, “White Lies,” in pre-production, “Snowden” didn’t set the world on fire and the Castro, Hugo Chavez and Vladimir Putin interview docs he’s made in the last haven’t done much for his reputation.

He turned 74 in mid September, and probably needed a better book editor to fact check his memories. He confuses the F4 Phantoms used in Vietnam with F16s — repeatedly (They didn’t come into service until ten years after his 1968 battles “in country”), gets a major plot detail wrong in “Gone With the Wind” just to make an analogy to his French mother taking up with his WWII American command staff officer father work. He thinks one-time producer-nemesis Dino DeLaurentis opened a movie studio in the middle of their ’80s kerfuffle in “Wilmington, Delaware” (Wilmington, NC sport).

But it’s a fair self-portrait, with enough colorful detail of research trips, filming ordeals and failing and failing and failing before finally succeeding, fine fodder for a film biography of one of the cinema’s grand mavericks.

-Roger Moore at Roger's Movie Nation blog, Sept 20 2020

[ta-ether]

Something I’ve been thinking about lately is Achilles and Patroclus’ relationship. Not in how it’s presented in any particular property – this isn’t an analysis of how they appear in The Song of Achilles, or Hades – but more how their relationship is in the Iliad.

I guess the thing that’s been in the back of my mind ever since I read the Iliad (god, was it the summer before junior year of high school?) seven or so years ago, is that while Achilles and Patroclus are held up as this wonderfully romantic couple, this often comes at people glossing over certain aspects of their relationship that are complex or ask questions that have hard answers. Namely, the one that’s been niggling at me is the question that if Achilles is supposed to have loved Patroclus so much, why did he let him go out to fight?

The wonderful thing about Homer, the thing I so desperately love about Homer, is that there is such ambiguity to things. Homer seems to deliberately sidestep giving us concrete answers. The Iliad is a poem that thrives on nuance, and that extends to the exact nature of the relationship between these characters.

While Achilles swears early in the Iliad he won’t fight until his dignity is restored, Patroclus has a much softer heart (in addition to not having been wronged by Agamemnon). Patroclus’ arc from Book 1 to the beginning of 16 is watching the effect Achilles’ absence has on the rest of the Acheans. Achilles himself retreats into his ship and sends Patroclus out for news of how the battles are going, meaning it is Patroclus who is privy to the pain being wrought, and it is also Patroclus who Nestor eventually asks to intercede on the Argives’ behalf.

After the Trojans start seizing the Achean’s ships in Book 15, Patroclus finally goes and asks Achilles if he’ll return to the battle, or failing that, if he can go in his place and armor. He runs up and Achilles asks him why he’s crying like a little girl. Patroclus starts by saying “don’t be angry with me,” but then quickly himself becomes angry at Achilles after explaining how all of their friends and allies are wounded and suffering on the battlefield:

“But it’s impossible to deal with you, Achilles. I hope anger like this rage you’re nursing never seizes me. It’s disastrous! How will you be of use to anyone in later generations, if you won’t keep shameful ruin from the Argives? You’re pitiless. Perhaps horseman Peleus was not your father, nor Thetis your mother— the grey sea delivered you, some tall cliff, for you’ve an unyielding heart.”

He finishes by putting forth Nestor’s suggestion that if Achilles won’t rejoin the fight, he should. “I could be a saving light for the Danaans,” he says. Achilles responds that since the Trojans have come to the ships, he will allow Patroclus to go out in his armor. Now, this is where, famously, Achilles tells him not to go press past the ships:

“Now, pay attention to what I tell you about the goal I have in mind for you, so you’ll win me great honour and rewards, so all Danaans will send back to me that lovely girl and give fine gifts as well. Once you push Trojans from the ships, come back. If Zeus, Hera’s mate, who loves his thunder, gives you the glory, don’t keep on battling those war-loving Trojans with me absent. You would decrease my honours.”

While Achilles is undoubtedly worried about Patroclus’ safety, he mentions his desire for the honor and rewards that his “returning” to battle would bring him. He also brings up (before he says Apollo might make an attempt on Patroclus’ life) that the reason he wants Patroclus to retreat is that it would decrease his own honors. You can chalk this focus on the honor he may or may not receive to many different things, the most charitable of which is that Achilles isn’t taking this very seriously, and perhaps neither is Patroclus. This is backed up by Patroclus’ flippant approach on the battlefield:

“Well now, there’s an agile man! What a graceful diver! […] I suppose these Trojans must have acrobats as well.”

The point still remains that for all the love that Achilles has for Patroclus, his first instinct – like it has been for the entirety of the Iliad to this point – is concern about his own pride and honor, not the safety of his closest friend or fellow Argives. War takes, but Achilles was more focused on what it gives, and then it took his closest companion.

While Patroclus has more of an idea of the horrors of what the Achaeans have been going through in recent books – specifically Book 11 – he still hasn’t been on the field of battle since before the Iliad started. Patroclus pushes on beyond the ships because of his desire to fight and his own refusal to stop, and it is for this reason he is killed by Hector and Apollo. The narrative remarks:

“How blind he was, poor fool! If he’d done what the son of Peleus had told him, he’d have missed his evil fate, his own dark death.”

We learn later from Patroclus’ ghost in Book 23 that one of his flaws, perhaps his greatest and deadliest, is that he can become blinded by passion and lose reason.

“I killed Amphidamas’ son, in my foolishness. I didn’t mean to, but I was enraged over some game of dice.”

The narrative and Patroclus himself admits that if he’d taken a moment to consider, to think rationally, he wouldn’t have felt the need to continue fighting the Trojans, or to kill Amphidames’ son. The thrill of war and perhaps his own desire for honors hid this from him, and this in effect kills him.

As I alluded to earlier, this isn’t something I think many people touch on when thinking about Achilles and Patroclus’ relationship: the idea that ultimately, it was perhaps Achilles who killed Patroclus – or at the very least, lead to his death. The Iliad does start like this, after all:

“Sing, Goddess, sing the rage of Achilles, son of Peleus— that murderous anger which condemned Achaeans to countless agonies and threw many warrior souls deep into Hades, leaving their dead bodies carrion food for dogs and birds— all in fulfilment of the will of Zeus.”

One of those souls sent to Hades was Patroclus. Achilles even acknowledges this in Book 18.

“Then let me die, since I could not prevent the death of my companion. He’s fallen far from his homeland. He needed me there to protect him from destruction.”

Patroclus’ death isn’t tragic merely because he died, but because the man who loved him could’ve protected him but didn’t, and he knows it. I don’t want to downplay Patroclus’ own hubris’ role in his death or place all the blame on Achilles – merely point out that for all the love Achilles had for Patroclus, he still didn’t go out to fight when asked: first by his friends and allies, and then by his closest companion. He instead lets Patroclus go out in his place. Achilles’ love ultimately wasn’t stronger than his own pride.

This isn’t to say there’s not a deep, meaningful relationship between these two characters. There clearly, textually is. These two people love each other, however that love is interpreted. But they are also deeply flawed people. And, for all his faults, Patroclus knows that about Achilles. He knew that Achilles might put his own pride over the lives of all the Argives, including him, and so he asked if he could go instead. Even Hector knows this, as before he kills him he says:

“You poor wretch, even Achilles, for all his courage, was no use to you. Though he stayed behind, he must have given you strict orders as you left.”

And, for what it’s worth, Patroclus doesn’t say that he blames Achilles, either here in front of Hector, or when he comes to Achilles as a shade in Book 23 (and characters in the Iliad are decently prone to blaming people for their deaths). Ultimately, he seems to accept Achilles, flaws and all, and desires for them to be reunited in death, as does Achilles.

Their relationship isn’t simple and it’s not straightforward, because these characters aren’t simple or straightforward. Achilles both loves Patroclus more than any other Argive including himself, and also loves his own honor and pride over Patroclus. The incapability of these loves directly leads to Patroclus’ death. Patroclus is also more measured and rational than Achilles, and also is clouded to reason, and this incompatibility leads to his death. If the point of the Odyssey is (in part) that the Trojan War caused unnecessary death, then perhaps Patroclus’ death is that in microcosm.

Still, I can’t help but read Achilles and Patroclus’ relationship as one that – to be blunt – failed. They couldn’t make it work, in life at least. If you read it as a sexual-romantic relationship, maybe that’s its own tragedy. I don’t say this to make people angry or even because I necessarily wholly believe it, but more because their relationship is imperfect and should be recognized as such. Personally, I think this relationship, broken but full of love and affection and flaws, is much more compelling than a perfect or unexamined one.

It goes back to why I love the Iliad in the first place: the characters are messy and rather than this detracting from their ability to impact the reader, it only heightens their ability to speak to us. Homer doesn’t provide concrete answers for things, but he doesn’t have to. Everything we need is on the page. Every time you return to the book, the characters show you something new. I noticed a ton of new things about Achilles and Patroclus while writing this, which really only strengthened my belief in the points I made here. The tragedy of Patroclus’ death is, in part, one of how pride hurts those you love the most. The idea that Achilles caused Patroclus’ death is one that shouldn’t go unexamined because it’s perhaps unsavory, because it is in examining it that the true depths of their relationship are brought to light.

There are so many more things I could’ve mentioned: Achilles and Patrolcus’ status as equals, the role the idea of “fate” plays in Patroclus’ death, how the role the gods play in Patroclus’ death effects all this – but I felt that I would let those be for perhaps another time. As it stands now, I feel as though I have (at least personally) answered my initial question. It’s not a simple answer, but it wasn’t a simple question about simple characters in a simple work. And that is both fine and also, in its own way, beautiful.

[theoreticalli]

hm. I've been rolling the Atlantic article that I'm guessing this is referring to (based on the Percy Jackson reference) over in my head for a few days as I do with every Atlantic article that I find to be mostly ridiculous but a bit insightful and I... would like to add some further thoughts about this (under a cut because it's gonna get long)

I'm going to step back from using stupidity as the framework at all because I think the primary flaw with the article was that it was only just beginning to be able to imagine stepping away from seeing the issue of literacy as individual failings of entire groups of students, rather than what such an apparently wide-reaching phenomenon would have to be, which is systemic. it simply does not make sense to believe that all or even most American children would have become "lazier", more incurious, or worse behaved within the past few generations as a result of broad "culture" or "parenting" shifts that just are not all that consistent across the country, and I am deeply critical of any commentary on education that entertains that idea.

the article also had the fatal Atlantic contributor flaw of dropping in a "phones are ruining our attention spans 😱😱😱" scare right at the top of its explanation and then... not going into nearly as much depth on that as it should have. and I think in an era where the prevailing trend on YouTube is 5+ hour video essays and weekly or daily hour-long podcast episodes, Instagram and tiktok have had to repeatedly extend their video and post lengths to accommodate the forms creators want to use, and I am reading a goddamn Atlantic article on my phone... it gets kinda hard to say without elaboration that "the internet" is a leading cause of poor literacy and short attention spans when that damn iCarly essay has like 11 million views and the hbomb plagiarism one has like 8 mil (regardless of how well people are understanding either or the nuances of the points they're trying to make, they are engaging with a long-form piece of analysis and taking it out into the broader culture).

and on the topic of Percy Jackson... I find it deeply goofy that someone who has been teaching literature for 25 years would not consider that 25 years ago, The Lightning Thief hadn't been fucking published yet. the YA renaissance had barely started. teens were only just starting to have books that were targeted to them, and many of the earlier books that take teen life seriously are actually taught in middle and high school English classes, ie Catcher in the Rye or The Outsiders. the author at least brings up the classical context of Percy Jackson, which I appreciate. reading the series early in life set me up for a lifelong fascination with mythology that DID lead me to read a lot of Greek tragedies, if not the full Iliad and Odyssey, as the professors in the article would hope. the books were written by an English teacher as an introduction for his dyslexic, ADHD child to Greek myth, after all. other YA series like the Hunger Games are excellent modern options for English classes too, offering possible connections to other texts on war that may be more difficult for high school students to get through at first but that could later be easier with that touchstone.

which brings us, generally, to the topic of public school curriculum. No Child Left Behind, Common Core, standardized testing, and their focus on excerpts and informational texts are eventually identified as likely the primary culprit of students being unprepared to suddenly be expected to read full books in unfamiliarly older language. frankly, it is wild to bury the lede at all on this point, because mentioning tiktok before the sweeping federal education reform that affected the specific generation being discussed does a disservice to these students and their educators. if students aren't being asked to read Wuthering Heights for school (I never was), it's extremely unlikely that they're going to show up to their first day of English Lit 101 calling it their favorite.

speaking of English Lit 101, if your aim is deep reading, asking students to read 14 books in a semester feels... directly counterproductive to that goal. in a full course load of elite college classes, it's just not humanly possible that the average 18 year old in ANY time period was fully reading and digesting The Iliad in a two week period. granted, that's what the course is for! you do a baseline reading, come into class, and work together to achieve a deeper understanding. but I have a hard time seeing a reduction in material to allow time to dive further into each text as a loss? isn't that the point, to increase attention span, spend longer with the text? you want your students to spend 9 hours per each class on reading and other work, plus potentially work a part or full time job if they don't happen to be privileged enough not to have to, plus have a social life because these are TEENAGERS, and you're shocked they're overwhelmed and would rather doomscroll tiktok lol

the article also partially blames having to integrate newer authors or just. authors outside of the Western Canon™ which. oh god forbid I not have to read Siddhartha. I truly think this is just reason for even intro/summary classes to be built around a coherent thesis of how you're linking the texts you've chosen, not just arguing that we're reading Great Expectations because everyone has to read Great Expectations if they want to be a real Harvard student. there are so many published texts that can be used in a literature course to illustrate all kinds of points, and if you aren't teaching a seminar with a specific focus on a specific author, movement, country, or era, there's just... no reason to bemoan the loss of Crime and Punishment if it's been replaced with, God Forbid, Native Son or another novel that touches on similar themes but won't be daunting for the sheer sake of it (no shade to the complicated Russian novel genre. but if you thought every one of your gen ed students were reading all of a Dostoevsky in their first semester of college in 2004, they were just better at fooling you <3)

okay. all that bullshit from the article aside. the "isn't that problematic?" puriteen critical of my interests crowd is big enough that it, too, cannot just be a function of individual character flaws! if this many people are engaging with thematic complications in text only on the level of "does this contain words that are on the unallowed list" then surely there is, again, a cause beyond "you're fundamentally unserious, incurious, and stupid."

as noted in the Atlantic article, there will always be students that, by virtue of familial circumstances, natural aptitude, extracurricular support, or other factors, will "read insightfully and easily and write beautifully." I was one of these students, and I do not say this to set myself apart or celebrate myself - I say it because, as I developed analytical skills at a relatively linear pace through grade school and undergrad, I was able to witness the classes I was in start over at basics again and again with the expectation that incoming students would have no baseline from which to start. how true this was I don't know, but it meant that the task of deciphering a thesis statement in any text we were writing or reading, a "main idea," was reiterated to the point of losing its second, arguably more important factor: finding the position where one stands in relation to that idea, and arguing it.

this seems to me the main issue for the argument-neutral, content-averse censorship argument. locating the presence of a topic in a text is a red flag, because there was rarely enough time or resources in education to devote to properly picking apart the position of the author relevant to any given topic. on particularly blatant, binary positions, sure, but any position of authorial vs narrative perspective, unreliable narration, outdated framing or language, or complicated, contradictory positions enter the picture and a specific subset will get caught up in the surface narrative - much like the Tyler Durden admirers among us.

and to some extent, high school can only get anyone so far in that literacy! it is the PURPOSE of a college literature or language course to take the next step into dissecting the context, themes, motifs, etc of texts with more going on in them than Percy Jackson. and some people won't go to college, or will struggle with the already underfunded and pedagogically undermined public grade school classes, or will go to Harvard on trust fund money and coast by and still not quite get it and go on to claim they're the first YA novelist to write a feminist Cinderella retelling or something like that. sure, maybe they're responsible for being a little too loud on a subject they really don't have that much area knowledge on, but we're all immersed in so much storytelling media all the time that it's hard not to see why people want to talk about it!

so... that's my very long, unsourced essay on why that particular Atlantic article belied a few broader cultural obsessions that truly make so little sense to focus on at the end of the day, as well as thoughts on how all this thematic illiteracy shit (at least within the US) is in no small part because we have always and recently even more acutely struggled to teach every student how to analyze texts for arguments and multiple meanings. thank you

idk my stance on the whole thing is i don’t think there is an inherent stupidity or lack of worth or danger in the adult who only reads, on the one end of the spectrum, middle grade fantasy novels or, on the other end, Seduced By My Enemies To Lovers Billionaire Daddy Hockey Player booktok smut fare. i think developing a diverse palate of reading tastes, challenging yourself, etc is important but at the end of the day some people just want to, or for whatever reason, are only able to read more simplistic and digestible fare. plus reading fiction is only one way of (shudders) “Consuming Media™️” or exercising your brain more generally, and many of these people are quite probably perfectly intelligent and functioning adults who have just happened to put their “intellectual engagement with the world” stats in a different column. but on the other hand while i don’t think you can make a snap judgement about someone’s intelligence based on what they do or don’t read i DO think you can start to make those judgements based on how they react when this discourse comes up 😳

[onestowatch]

Been Stellar Release Larry Clark Inspired Single "Kids 1995"

Indie rock band Been Stellar continue to keep the DIY spirit alive with their catchy, grainy guitar riffs and an exultant celebration of youth in their latest single, "Kids 1995." The song, named after Larry Clark's seminal film, evokes imagery of a late-night spree through city streets and reflects on the ruleless odyssey portrayed in the movie, traversing a scorching ‘90s New York summer, contemplating innocence lost and the acceptance of life as it is.

"Kids 1995" reeks of NYC rock nostalgia while remaining incredibly authentic to the band's sound and showcasing their creative development. "It's definitely getting at more of what we have in our heads, as far as what Been Stellar sounds like," shares the band. "A lot of that is thanks to Aron Kobayashi Ritch, who produced the track. We were more meticulous in the studio with this one than we have been in the past."

The single quickly builds from a winding, melodic plea from lead singer Sam Slocum, imploring above driving guitars. He sings, "And even if I was solipsistic / Or even if I am solipsistic / Would it really make any difference? / Because as much as I tell myself it's all real / It's just as real as it really isn't." This existentialism then transports listeners to a place of ecstasy before it falls right back into its euphoric, pop-edged chorus. "For me, the whole bit on solipsism always feels very raw, which I like," shares Slocum. "At the time, I was really into the movie The Big Chill, and they used the Joe Cocker song ‘Feelin Alright,’ so that's why I quoted that lyric — ‘you feeling alright? I'm not feeling too good myself.’”

The accompanying music video is a beautiful blend of interlaid visuals that further ignite the track's nostalgia. Grainy black and white portraits of the band's members pan from one television screen to the next, collaged with crisp clips of a live studio session, shots along the water, and multi-channel vignettes. "We worked on the concept with our good friends Gabe [Jace Long] and Razzi [Schlosser]," says Slocum. "We wanted to capture intimate moments of us as a band and as individuals. The Todd Haynes Velvets documentary has some Warhol footage that we found super intriguing. Gabe brought on his creative partner Justin [Wall], and we shot it in two days. I believe the CCTV idea came initially as leaning into the fact that the song's named after a film." The video gives way to an explosion of quick cuts as the song reaches its cathartic climax.

Alongside preparing for their tour supporting The Goa Express, see dates below, the band shared what's in store for listeners regarding their upcoming releases. "In the future, listeners can expect a lot more specific lyrics and a lot more noise. A lot of the upcoming tunes were very influenced by living in pandemic NYC. That's not to say that we're by any means abandoning the sound we've worked on up until now, but we're at the point where we'd like to venture into some uncharted waters for us."

Been Stellar Live:

May 13 - The Great Escape - Brighton, UK May 14 - Rough Trade - Bristol, UK* May 17 - The Sesh - Hull, UK May 18 - Hyde Park Book Club - Leeds, UK* May 19 - Lexington - London, UK* May 21 - The White Hotel - Manchester, UK* May 26 - The Social - London, UK June 9 - Mercury Lounge - New York, NY+ June 11 - Philamoca - Philadelphia, PA+ June 12 - Songbyrd - Washington DC+ June 14 - Mr. Roboto Project - Pittsburgh, PA+ June 15 - Hahalls - Cleveland, OH+ June 16 - Subterranean - Chicago, IL June 17 - 7th St Entry - Minneapolis, MN+ June 18 - Colectivo Coffee - Milwaukee, WI+ June 20 - Larimer Lounge - Denver, CO+ June 21 - Kilby Court - Salt Lake City, UT+ June 23 - Holland Project - Reno, NV+ June 24 - Moroccan Lounge - Los Angeles, CA+ June 25 - The Chapel - San Francisco+

+supporting Ultra Q *supporting THE GOA EXPRESS

[lilypixels]

...............all of them.....?

It took me an hr to do this....🥲💀

1. coffee mugs, teacups, wine glasses, water bottles, or soda cans?

Teacupsss

2. chocolate bars or lollipops?

Lollipops

3. bubblegum or cotton candy?

Uhhh cotton candy

4. how did your elementary school teachers describe you?

Probably quiet and smart lol I did my school work and was friendly with everyone so I was a favorite and heard all the nice things 🙈

5. do you prefer to drink soda from soda cans, soda bottles, plastic cups or glass cups?

I kinda like bottles more but like the glass ones with the caps that could slice your fingers-

6. pastel, boho, tomboy, preppy, goth, grunge, formal or sportswear?

I’m for all but sports lol

7. earbuds or headphones?

Earbuds

8. movies or tv shows?

Shows cause I’m the type to watch an hr long episode vs hr long movie idk why but I’m rarely in mood for them

12. name of your favorite playlist?

Drop the beat (ie songs that are upbeat and I like most)

13. lanyard or key ring?

Hmm...I guess lanyard?

14. favorite non-chocolate candy?

Skittles or twizzlers

15. favorite book you read as a school assignment?

I had lots I had to read in school but only ever finished a handful lol my favorite I think was maybe Macbeth? I would say Odyssey but I don’t think we read the full thing cause I remember being disappointed about something like that...

16. most comfortable position to sit in?

Sitting with my legs bent up in seat with me in some way

17. most frequently worn pair of shoes?

Converse and some nice but cheap sneakers from Walmart

18. ideal weather?

Not too hot, not too cold, mild like before/after a rain (most the time), idc if it’s raining or sunny but as long as temp is comfortable I’m fine

19. sleeping position?

On my side most often

20. preferred place to write (i.e., in a note book, on your laptop, sketchpad, post-it notes, etc.)?

Phone and notebook

21. obsession from childhood?

Oh gosh uhhh I guess my like of dolls maybe? Or obsession with anything ✨unexplained✨ like ghosts, aliens, cryptids, etc

22. role model?

Kim Namjoon lol just kidding (sorta)

23. strange habits?

Ok I know I have some and my friends would be more than happy to point them all out but hm let me think...idk if these count as habits but I’ll never place a mirror facing a bed (this is more superstitious I guess than habit,,,) I can’t stand my food touching, if I have a tray like in cafeteria I have a certain spot for everything and uh my mind just went blank-

24. favorite crystal?

Moonstone, lapis lazuli, and I feel obligated to say garnet cause it’s my birthstone

25. first song you remember hearing?

Circle of Life maybe who knows xD

26. favorite activity to do in warm weather?

Walk or clean,,I’m more active and about with warm/nice weather

27. favorite activity to do in cold weather?

...stay inside where it’s warm

28. five songs to describe you?

Not this again😭 uhhh idk you tell me ajdbd

29. best way to bond with you?

Indulge me when I go off about things I like or learn 😔✊ I know I’ll talk your ear off and I’m sorry but know I don’t often talk about these things with people so once I start it’s hard to stop,,and it makes me really happy when people do listen to me about these things and send me related items every so often or even look into it themselves to learn more 🥺

30. places that you find sacred?

For some reason this feels like a trick question...um cemeteries and anything with ages of history I guess

31. what outfit do you wear to kick ass and take names?

Oof do I really have a true outfit?? I have shoes for this which are just black platform sneakers I call stomping shoes

32. top five favorite vines?

I never,,,watched these,,,

33. most used phrase in your phone?

“Yes”...?

34. advertisements you have stuck in your head?

State Farm and McDonald’s, always

35. average time you fall asleep?

10-11...usually...

36. what is the first meme you remember ever seeing?

Uhhh that one with the ginger dude (I think it was someone’s yearbook photo??) I don’t remember much else about the meme but it was on ifunny, or whatever the app was, a lot

37. suitcase or duffel bag?

Suitcase

38. lemonade or tea?

Easy, tea

39. lemon cake or lemon meringue pie?

...neither

40. weirdest thing to ever happen at your school?

Dude these questions really testing my brain power here- for senior prank someone put cereal in some bathroom sinks I think

41. last person you texted?

My mom

42. jacket pockets or pants pockets?

I’m gonna say jacket since I wear those often

43. hoodie, leather jacket, cardigan, jean jacket or bomber jacket?

Hoodie or cardigan

45. which genre: sci-fi, fantasy or superhero?

Fantasy

46. most comfortable outfit to sleep in?

Usually whatever shirt I’m wearing that day and some pj/lounge pants 🤷

47. favorite type of cheese?

Mozzarella

48. if you were a fruit, what kind would you be?

I-what kind of question is this? How does one even answer this?

49. what saying or quote do you live by?

What comes around goes around lol (yes I’m a heavy believer of karma)

50. what made you laugh the hardest you ever have?

Lol who knows, probably something dumb me and my siblings were doing or something we watched cause there’s been plenty times of that xD

51. current stresses?

Homework vs free time e-e

52. favorite font?

I like the gothic looking ones but it’s usually not practical to use so idk

53. what is the current state of your hands?

My hands...? They’re fine ??

54. what did you learn from your first job?

How to care for babies and little kids, how to put on a diaper lol

56. favorite tradition?

I can’t remember a particular one off hand but I’m trying to start few new ones like decorating cookies for Halloween uwu

57. the three biggest struggles you’ve overcome?

Uhhhhh like personally or...? Cause we’ve overcome homelessness before, um finishing assignments idk😭 oh maybe bullying?? That’s all I can think of since I still struggle with a lot,,

58. four talents you’re proud of having?

Alright let’s do thisss: creativity (mostly in writing sense), I can bake/cook, I have amazing organization skills and many work places have used that lol (bonus is I don’t mind, I actually really enjoy it, very peaceful), surprisingly good balance all things considered, I’m a quick learner

59. if you were a video game character, what would your catchphrase be?

“I’m too tired for this.”

60. if you were a character in an anime, what kind of anime would you want it to be?

Good question good question🤔 I don’t think I’d last in any of them/have a terrible side character role so 💀

61. favorite line you heard from a book/movie/tv show/etc.?

“Life’s too short to hold grudges.”

62. seven characters you relate to?

Dude this is gonna get embarrassing I can feel it🤠

Itaru, Iori, Sogo, Belle, Simeon (obey me), Nozaki (he’s clueless about romance irl and doesn’t know when someone has a crush on him yet can write romance well enough and yeah it’s me lol), and uhh Swindler/Ordinary Person in Akudama Drive (still can’t believe no one really has names in that anime but the way she gets wrapped in everything felt like something that’d happen to me lol)

63. five songs that would play in your club?

Like nightclub...? I’m skipping this ajdbd

64. favorite website from your childhood?

Probably the Barbie site, me and my sister played all the dress up games almost daily istg

65. any permanent scars?

Appendectomy scars and then looks like I have one on a toe but it’s possible it still might heal...

66. favorite flower(s)?

Nightshade, foxglove, baby’s breath, bellflowers, roses

67. good luck charms?

I don’t think I have any...

68. worst flavor of any food or drink you’ve ever tried?

Lemon

69. a fun fact that you don’t know how you learned?

Let me think...I read something once about flowers having ears(?) but like not ear ears just something about having a part that picks up sound waves

70. left or right handed?

Right

71. least favorite pattern?

Lolll animal print I think

72. worst subject?

Physics...the worst science

74. at what pain level out of ten (1 through 10) do you have to be at before you take an advil or ibuprofen?

6...?

75. when did you lose your first tooth?

I don’t remember, it probably happened when i was 6. I do remember losing one of my front teeth during my birthday one year and I was happy since the tooth had been loose for some time xD

76. what’s your favorite potato food (i.e. tater tots, baked potatoes, fries, chips, etc.)?

Chips I guess or just like fried in skillet

77. best plant to grow on a windowsill?

A succulent probably

78. coffee from a gas station or sushi from a grocery store?

Neither ew

79. which looks better, your school id photo or your driver’s license photo?

They are both about equally terrible

80. earth tones or jewel tones?

Earth

81. fireflies or lightning bugs?

Fireflies

82. pc or console?

I am on pc side now

83. writing or drawing?

Writing

84. podcasts or talk radio?

Podcasts I guess

84. barbie or polly pocket?

Barbie

85. fairy tales or mythology?

Mythology, it’s too fun and chaotic lol

86. cookies or cupcakes?

Hm...cupcakes

87. your greatest fear?

Uh,,,I don’t have many fears but I guess one would be falling from a great height? So I would get scared of crossing a bridge and it collapsing or riding a plane and it falling easily

88. your greatest wish?

World peace🥲

89. who would you put before everyone else?

My mom maybe...?

90. luckiest mistake?

I honestly don’t remember but something I do remember is I out semicolon instead of period and turned out to be correct grammar lol

91. boxes or bags?

Boxes

92. lamps, overhead lights, sunlight or fairy lights?

Sunlight or fairy lights, I don’t require much either way and prefer more natural lighting

93. nicknames?

Lassie, twinkle toes, Ash, poody butt (by 3 yr old I sometimes watch and play with lol he means it affectionately; I call him monkey butt and it’s catching on slowly instead)

94. favorite season?

Starting to be fall just a little more but I like transition times most

95. favorite app on your phone?

Let’s go with twitter

96. desktop background?

It is a moriarty and gang pic

97. how many phone numbers do you have memorized?

2: mine and my moms

98. favorite historical era?

Ooo tough one but I’ll say renaissance as some of the coolest things came from that time

[halfelven]

4, 11 (if yes, what is playing rn?), 20, 29, 42 and 53? 😺

thank you, dear! 💙💙💙

4. what are you looking forward to?

spending winter break visiting my friends! I'm going to see my friend from early childhood whom I haven't seen in 3 years! (our mothers were friends through homeschool group, and she's 5 years older than me and thought I was an adorable baby so she played with me all the time and we're basically like cousins)

11. are you listening to music right now?

listening to Pink: Please Don't Leave Me because I was listening to songs I listened to on repeat in 2011 because they reminded me of silm characters (this was a Beleg/Túrin song)

20. what is your favourite song at the moment?

Big Thief: Not

It's not the energy reeling / Nor the lines in your face / Nor the clouds on the ceiling / Nor the clouds in space

It's not the formless being / Nor the cry in the air / Nor the boy I'm seeing / With her long black hair

It's not the open weaving / Nor the furnace glow/ Nor the blood of you bleeding/ As you try to let go

Nor the bed that is haunted / With the blanket of thirst / It's not the hunger revealing / Nor the ricochet in the cave/ Nor the hand that is healing / Nor the nameless grave

see with those lyrics this is one of those songs that I would put on the playlist of my life, like the one to get to know who I am. It's also an Elrond song. Those songs often overlap

29. favourite film(s)

this is where you know I'm a.) pretentious and b.) problematic. in no particular order:

The Sound of Music, The Lord of the Rings, Citizen Kane, Singin' in the Rain, North by Northwest, Rear Window, His Girl Friday, The Red Shoes, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Princess Diaries, The Princess Bride, The Devil Wears Prada, Vertigo, West Side Story, Blade Runner, Moonlight, Gone Girl, The Handmaiden, Anna Karenina (1935), Some Like It Hot, The Philadelphia Story, Brokeback Mountain, The Wolf of Wall Street, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Chariots of Fire, Moulin Rouge!

no animated movies here because they go into a different category in my mind that I can't explain

42. favourite book(s)

I don't know how to read. I cannot believe I'm getting a master's in literature

okayyyyy I have a hard time with this because it's like can I put books I probably only want to read once? I don't think so. So books I've read multiple times or want to read again:

The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, The Silmarillion (I'm putting HOME, Unfinished Tales, etc. here too), Crime and Punishment, War and Peace, Jane Eyre, The Odyssey, The Iliad, The Aeneid, Beowulf, Dante’s Inferno, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

I prefer poetry to most prose, and I'm bad with titles so I can't remember most of the books I liked when I was a child, but I can't really think of one I really want to read again

53. 5 things that make me happy

the sea, stars, singing, wrestling/fighting, & really, really, really dark grapes (I eat them now)

[maellor]

Thanks so much for the tag, @curiouselleth!!

Are you named after anyone?

Yes, both my grandmothers.

Do you have kids?

No XDD

Do you use sarcasm a lot?

Not really. Only with a couple of people, but not often.

When was the last time you cried?

I have no more tears left to cry. I very often want to, but there are no tears left, so my eyes are just burning. Last time i did actually manage to shed tears was about a month ago, because my dog almost died.

What's the first thing you notice about people?

Their hair, then the eyes. But hair means a lot to me.

Eye colour?

Hazel-ish.

What sports do you/have played?

Right now (and for a few years) nothing, as I'm concentrating on my studies. When i was 5 until 7 i used to dance (ballet and latin), when i was 8-11 i did swimming, 9-10 i did Tae Kwon Do and 11-14 i did Kung Fu. Then from 13 to 16 i did archery, which i absolutely loved, but i had to stop at that age to concentrate on the exams to get into uni. I really want to start archery again, but that teacher retired and the new teacher is awful.

Of course I've tried many mainstream sports at school, but I didn't like them enough to do them outside of school.

After all these I came to the conclusion that sports aren't really my thing, save archery.

Oh I also intend to try horse riding this year, but we'll see how that'll go.

Any special talent?

I'm not sure what's considered special?...

I can pick up languages relatively easily, but I don't think that's uncommon.

Uhm.. I have excellent memory, when i want to. But when i want to forget something, i can completely erase it from my memory to the point where, say, if someone refers to that event/dialogue/whatever i cannot recollect at all that it happened and that i was present.

(Then there are some more weird abilities that i have, which i don't think most of you would believe... But if you want, and you're very open-minded, dm about it! I'd be thrilled to be able to talk about those to someone.)

Where were you born?

Greece.

Scary movies or happy endings?

Neither? I don't like scary movies at all, but i also think happy endings are so rare in real life that it seems fake to me, when a movie or a book has a happy ending. How can anyone live "happily ever after" after enduring so much pain, after going through so many challenges?Even if he lives, he'll never be the same.

Like the end of lotr, for example. Yes, they win. Yes, they live. But are they happy? I don't think so. And that's a far more optimistic ending than in the Silm.

I went to see the new Indiana Jones film with my uncles and little cousins, a couple of months ago. The ending was a happy ending. And it seemed to me so damn wrong. The good guys had this big adventure, they went through so much challenges, and they just lived happily ever ever?? Like, how?? I don't get it.

That said, if i were in a group of people and we had to choose a film, I'd vote happy ending just because i dislike scary movies more.

Do you have any pets?

Yes, a dog! Before him i used to have a cat.

How tall are you?

Barely 1.59 cm.

What are your hobbies?

Reading, writing (but hesitating to post it), painting, traveling, trying to translate rock operas. Probably more that I can't think of rn.

Favourite subject in school?

It really depends on the school year.

In primary school it was music and art class.

In middle school it was the ancient greek classics (Odyssey in first grade, Iliad in second grade, Helen by Euripides in third grade).

In high school... in first grade we had a theater class, wish was interesting. In second and third grade we were just preparing for the Panhellenic exams, to pass to university. I was studying language, history, ancient greek and sociology. I didn't like any of those, but sociology was by far the easiest, so i preferred it.

In uni, the best i had so far was British poetry, just because i managed to convince my teacher to let me write a paper on Finrod's part in the Lay of Leithian

Dream job?

Ummm... Realistically speaking? If it weren't for my inability to talk to a group of grown ups, maybe an academic. I don't really want to be a teacher in a school, because I don't have the mental ability right now to pretend that everything is okay, put on a smile and teach kids... Although that's probably what I'll end up doing.

I also really want to be a writer, i have thought of a few original stories... But I don't think that being a full time writer is enough to live comfortably. So that'll have to be a side job...

Unrealistically speaking, i would love to be an astronomer or an astronaut, but I can't math. I tried following that career path, but I'm just so bad at math i had to change to literature.

Also unrealistically speaking I'd love to be a singer/actor in musicals and rock operas, but my voice is truly awful

But it's not like I'm dying about having any of these jobs. And that's because they are all real jobs, in the real world. I don't want to be in the real world. I want to be in Middle Earth. Gosh I'd die to live in the First Age... What would my job there be? I don't know, I'd probably follow Maglor and do whatever he wants which might include kinslaying but that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make. Then I'd probably die fighting, but that's fine by me.

I'm bored to search who has done this already and who hasn't, so if any of you I'll tag have done it pls let me know!

No-pressure tagging:

@caenith, @general-illyrin, @totally-not-one-of-the-fae, @bloodandsteelwolf, @spiced-wine-fic, @quixoticanarchy, @samarqqand, @solarcola

and anyone else who wants to!!

Fifteen Questions for Fifteen Mutuals

With apologies for answering this so late - thank you for tagging me, @general-illyrin!!

Are you named after anyone? Not my first name - my middle name is named after a character in a very obscure fantasy novel though

Do you have kids? No.

Do you use sarcasm a lot? Yes, nearly constantly, I'm a snarky bitch

When was the last time you cried? Like...last week? Life is hard rn ok

What's the first thing you notice about other people? Honestly? Probably their hair. I like hair :)

Eye colour? Blue

What sports do you/have played? I used to run a lot if that counts, lately my health has been very borked so not so much anymore. I played soccer in middle school I guess? look im a nerd, what did you expect

Any special talent? ummmm. I play violin. I used to teach an elementary school orchestra so I guess I'm pretty good at wrangling 2nd graders? I'm also fairly good at wrangling Karens, I used to be a retail manager and it shows haha. oh I'm also very good at getting along with unfriendly cats.

Where were you born? USA

Scary movies or happy endings? Happy endings, i hate scary movies

Do you have any pets? Yes! A cat named Momo (yes, he is named after the lemur from ATLA)

How tall are you? 5' 10.5", or 179 cm

What are your hobbies? Writing fanfic, reading fanfic, running (when I'm less sick), playing chess, playing Mario Party, uhhh does getting boba count as a hobby because i do a lot of it

Favorite subject in school? English/literature by a wide margin. Despite this I am now a chemical engineer

Dream job? Scientist who has the breakthrough that saves the planet and stops global warming. im doing my best ok

No-pressure tagging @eilinelsghost, @curuwen, @arrivisting, @leucisticpuffin, @redbootsindoriath, @mersilisk, @sakasakiii, @skull-bearer, @sesamenom, @aotearoa20, @solmarillion, @welcomingdisaster, @cycas, @idrilsscribe, and @melestasflight! You all are amazing <3

[lilatreus]

im new to the ac fandom and i didnt know there were any books should i be reading them?? or are there certain ones that i absolutely need to read or would i be okay if i skip them?

Yeah it’s okay to skip them if you want! They’re mostly there to give some more insight on some of the characters. If you want to read them but you don’t have to money to buy the books, you can read them here. I actually have all the books already on paper copy so I would definitely recommend buying them if you really enjoy them.

There’s also some comics and graphic novels about them too which I have included in on the master list. They actually follow the modern storyline of you want to read up on that. If you want to read them just do readcomicsonline. They have them all, only watch out for ads.

Anyway here’s the master list, it’s pretty long won’t lie:

The books, in order of strictly historical events:

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey by Gordon Doherty (2018)

Basically this books gives the canonical story to assassin’s creed odyssey following Kassandra around Greece. If you had the “best” or good ending from the story then you’re probably going to be upset with the book. I actually liked it and if you were ever confused about the game then this is definitely for you to read.

Assassin’s Creed Origins: Desert Oath by Oliver Bowden (2017)

This book takes place years before Origins. It follows Bayek who a teenager at the time. We learn how Bayek and Aya start their relationship and it kind of explains some of the side missions that talk about Bayek’s past. If you love Bayek and Aya’s relationship you will love this book.

[ insert for whenever an ac valhalla book is written ]

Assassin’s Creed: The Secret Crusade by Oliver Bowden (2011)

This book is the one I’m currently rereading, so it takes place with the father of Marco Polo talking about Altaïr’s life. It talks about his—Altaïr’s—dad within the first few chapters, events that happened in the game, and then what happens after. It gives more insight on what happened between the events of ac one and the little bits of scenes we see in ac revelations of Altaïr in game. If you want to know how Maria and Altaïr got together you’ll like this book it’s very sweet and I love how smitten Altaïr was. If you love Atlmal (Altaïr and Malik) you’ll also like this book but it will crush you.

Assassin’s Creed: Renaissance by Oliver Bowden (2009)

This follows Ezio through assassin’s creed two. Literally just the book version of the game. Does talk about how Ezio and Cristina got together and a few of the memories you get to play in Brotherhood are in this book. I like it. It pretty much follows the game exactly so if you want to skip it, you can but still a really good book that I recommend reading.

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood by Oliver Bowden (2010)

Follows the plot of the game. It’s pretty similar to it as opposed to a few differences. While I like this book, I will always say the game is better than this book entirely. Still, it’s pretty good and explains a lot of plot.

Assassin’s Creed: Revelations by Oliver Bowden (2011)

It explains why Ezio is doing what he does in the game. Why he’s there and what is reasoning is. You get a little small bit about Claudia but that’s it. Ezio does, in book, visit Leonardo on the last few days before the artist dies :( that’s pretty much it. Only some minor differences to the game. If you’re looking for something about Desmond, you won’t find it in this book.

Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag by Oliver Bowden (2013)

I’ll be honest I only read this book once so my memory is pretty poor on it but from what I can remember it’s about Edward and Caroline and how they got together. And then there’s something about Anne Boney and Edward towards the end I believe. Kind of explains his backstory from the little scenes we’re shown in the game I think? (Correct me if I’m wrong on this one but I’m certain that’s the gist of it).

Assassin’s Creed: Forsaken by Oliver Bowden (2012)

This one was the first assassin’s creed book I read. Now fair warning: if you do not like Haytham Kenway, I strongly advise you to not read this book. It is all about Haytham until the final few chapters and then Connor takes over the book once you’ve killed him in game. This book explains how he (Haytham) came to be apart of the Templars and how Edward dies. It talks about his relationship with Ziio and how he built the Templar order up during the seven years war. I’ll be honest it was okay when I first read it because I was like 11 and the only other thing I had read was like just percy jackson. Looking back on this book though, it’s not that great. I do not like Haytham at all so I, personally, would not recommend this book. I went in reading it expecting for it to be about Connor and I was very disappointed and upset that it wasn’t. So you can skip this book if you like because the only thing it does is give insight to a lot of what Haytham does.

Assassin’s Creed: Unity by Oliver Bowden (2014)

This is my favorite book. This is about Arno reading Elise’s diary after she passed. There’s little bits where Arno writes in here and there throughout the novel. It’s pretty sad I won’t lie. Explains how Elise grew up, what she did during the parts where we didn’t see her in game, and talks about how she felt during the parts where we did see her in game. Basically at the end of the book it’s Elise asking Arno to please help seek unity and stop the war between the Templars and Assassins.

Assassin’s Creed: Underworld by Oliver Bowden (2015)

This book follows Jayadeep Mir, also known to us as Henry Green. There’s two parts to this book. The first part takes place six years before the events of syndicate and you get to really learn about the twin’s father and then the second part takes place during the events of the game. It talks about Evie and Henry’s relationship during the second part and it’s pretty good!

There are no books about assassin’s creed chronicles (ac China, India, and Russia) if you’re wondering why they’re missing :(

The comics:

*most of these take place during the modern storyline I’ll try my best to explain when they come in and how it adds up to the new our modern storyline at the end

Assassin’s Creed the Fall

There’s three issues with this it’s just a graphic novel honestly. Takes place with the main character from AC Chronicles: Russia

Assassin’s Creed the Chain

Graphic Novel sequel to the Fall

Assassin’s Creed Brahman

Written by the same people who wrote The Fall and The Chain, however this focuses on Arbaaz Mir who is the main character from Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India.

Now from what I’ve seen, correct me if I’m wrong, but the templar and assassin comics pretty much take place around the same time.

Assassin’s Creed: Trial by Fire

Assassin’s Creed issue #1, #2, #3, #4, #5

Assassin’s Creed Templars: Black Cross

Assassin’s Creed Templars issue #1, #2, #3, #4, #5

Assassin’s Creed: Setting Sun

Assassin’s Creed issue #6, #7, #8, #9, #10

Assassin’s Creed Templars: Cross of War

Assassin’s Creed Templars issue issue #6, #7, #8, #9

Assassin’s Creed: Homecoming

Assassin’s Creed issue #11, #12, #13, #14

Assassin’s Creed: Uprising

Common Ground Vol 1: issue #1, #2, #3, #4

Infection Point Vol 2: issue #5, #6, #7, #8

Finale vol 3: #9, #10, #11, #12

Assassin’s Creed Reflections (pretty much a stand alone I would say, focuses entirely on past assassins but canon to the templar comics).

Reflections 1: modern story focuses on Otso Berg historical story focuses on Ezio where we learn Ezio is implied to have hooked up with the woman who in the Mona Lisa painting.

Reflections 2: same thing for modern story but now Otso is looking into Altaïr’s story. We get to see Maria, Altaïr, and their son Darim.

Reflections 3: Otso is now looking into Edward Kenway.

Reflections 4: Otso looks into Connor and we see him with his daughter. It’s super cute this issue is my favorite.

Last Descendants

The Last Descendants (Novel)

Locus: issues 1 - 4

The Last Descendants: Tomb of the Khan (novel)

The Last Descendants: Fate of the Gods (novel)

Assassin’s Creed: the French Books (these have all been translated into english and theyre all graphic novels).

These books I would say to skip. If you want to read it you can, however the modern storyline has been said to no longer be canon anymore. The historical storyline however is still canon but not actually necessary to the plot of anything.

Cycle 1

Assassin’s Creed 1: Desmond

Assassin's Creed 2: Aquilus

Assassin's Creed 3: Accipiter

Assassin's Creed 4: Hawk

Assassin's Creed 5: El Cakr

Assassin's Creed 6: Leila

Cycle 2

Assassin’s Creed: Conspiracies

This takes place during WW2

Vol 1: Die Glocke

Vol 2: Project Rainbow

Cycle 3

Assassin’s Creed: Bloodstone

This takes place during the Vietnam War. A follow up on Conspiracies.

Vol 1: book one

Vol 2: book two

The last two I have listed (Conspiracies and Bloodstone) are canon to the comics’ modern storyline as well as the historical. Cycle one is not. They’re both graphic novels. Also I want to say that I have not read these two yet so idk if I’ll be allowed to recommend them but they’re there. I have no idea where they’re placed in terms of modern storyline bc these two are very confusing seeing as they originally were canon then told they weren’t and now they are again.

Other comics that I really have no idea where to place but they do exist if you want to read them:

Assassin’s Creed: Origins (mini series)

Four issues for this comic takes place following Aya and her journey. You get to see what happens with Cleopatra. I personally really like this comic you get some lore on the Brotherhood and Aya so it’s good. Read this after the video game. (Pretty positive it takes place after the game events but before the DLC: hidden ones)

Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla: Song of Glory (mini series)

There are three issues in this. Haven’t read this one yet, however it focuses on Eivor. Read this alongside the video game.

Okay so for canon timeline purposes here is the exact order of everything I’ve listed and where they fall in for strictly the modern storyline:

1 The Fall and the Chain (also called subject four which is just the two of the books into one)

2 Desmond’s story

3 Brahman

4 Assassin’s Creed: Trial by Fire 1 - 5

5 Assassin’s Creed Templars: Black Cross 1 - 5

6 Assassin’s Creed: Setting Sun 6 - 10

6 Assassin’s Creed Templars: Cross of War 6 - 9

7 Assassin’s Creed: Homecoming 11 - 14

Assassin’s Creed Reflections (stand alone don’t have to read if you don’t want to but if you do, read along side the templar stories.)

8 Assassin’s Creed Syndicate modern storyline takes place here

9 Assassin’s Creed: Uprising

10 Origins modern storyline starts here and continues for assassin’s creed odyssey and valhalla*

*If you’re confused as to why Juno isn’t in the game plot anymore the comics explains it. Ubisoft has completely moved her story to the comics entirely and in doing so completely finished the story.

[oberlincollegelibraries]

Weekend Edition: Latinx Memoirs

This weekend we’re taking a look at memoirs by Latinx authors. There are many titles to choose from right here at OCL, but don’t forget that you can also check out books through OhioLINK and SearchOhio for even more options.

Butterfly Boy: Memories of a Chicano Mariposa by Rigoberto González Heartbreaking, poetic, and intensely personal, this is a unique coming-out and coming-of-age story of a first-generation Chicano who trades one life for another, only to discover that history and memory are not exchangeable or forgettable. Growing up among poor migrant Mexican farmworkers, Gonzaĺez also faces the pressure of coming-of-age as a gay man in a culture that prizes machismo. Losing his mother when he is twelve, Gonzaĺez must then confront his father's abandonment and an abiding sense of cultural estrangement. His only sense of connection gets forged in a violent relationship with an older man. By finding his calling as a writer, and by revisiting the relationship with his father during a trip to Mexico, Gonzaĺez finally claims his identity at the intersection of race, class, and sexuality. The result is a leap of faith that every reader who ever felt like an outsider will immediately recognize.--From publisher description

The Motorcycle Diaries by Ernesto Che Guevara The diaries written by Che Guevara during his riotous motorcycle odyssey around South America at the age of twenty-three.

American Chica: Two Worlds, One Childhood by Maria Arana From her father's genteel Peruvian family, Marie Arana was taught to be a proper lady, yet from her mother's American family she learned to shoot a gun, break a horse, and snap a chicken's neck for dinner. Arana shuttled easily between these deeply separate cultures for years. But only when she immigrated with her family to the United States did she come to understand that she was a hybrid American, an individual whose cultural identity was split in half. Coming to terms with this split is at the heart of this graceful, beautifully realized portrait of a child who "was a north-south collision, a New World fusion. An Americanchica." Through Arana's eyes the reader will discover not only the diverse, earthquake-prone terrain of Peru, charged with ghosts of history and mythology, but also the vast prairie lands of Wyoming, "grave-slab flat," and hemmed by mountains. In these landscapes resides a fierce and colorful cast of family members who bring herhistoriavividly to life, among them Arana's proud paternal grandfather, Victor Manuel Arana Sobrevilla, who one day simply stopped coming down the stairs; her dazzling maternal grandmother, Rosa Cisneros y Cisneros, "clicking through the house as if she were making her way onstage"; Grandpa Doc, her maternal grandfather, who, by example, taught her about the constancy of love. But most important are Arana's parents, Jorge and Marie. He a brilliant engineer, she a talented musician. For more than half a century these two passionate, strong-willed people struggled to overcome the bicultural tensions in their marriage and, finally, to prevail.

My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor The first Hispanic and third woman appointed to the United States Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor has become an instant American icon. Now, with a candor and intimacy never undertaken by a sitting Justice, she recounts her life from a Bronx housing project to the federal bench, a journey that offers an inspiring testament to her own extraordinary determination and the power of believing in oneself. Here is the story of a precarious childhood, with an alcoholic father (who would die when she was nine) and a devoted but overburdened mother, and of the refuge a little girl took from the turmoil at home with her passionately spirited paternal grandmother. But it was when she was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes that the precocious Sonia recognized she must ultimately depend on herself. She would learn to give herself the insulin shots she needed to survive and soon imagined a path to a different life. With only television characters for her professional role models, and little understanding of what was involved, she determined to become a lawyer, a dream that would sustain her on an unlikely course, from valedictorian of her high school class to the highest honors at Princeton, Yale Law School, the New York County District Attorney's office, private practice, and appointment to the Federal District Court before the age of forty. Along the way we see how she was shaped by her invaluable mentors, a failed marriage, and the modern version of extended family she has created from cherished friends and their children. Through her still-astonished eyes, America's infinite possibilities are envisioned anew in this warm and honest book, destined to become a classic of self-invention and self-discovery.

La Distancia Entre Nosotros by Reyna Grande "Cuando el padre de Reyna Grande deja a su esposa y sus tres hijos atrás en un pueblo de México para hacer el peligroso viaje a través de la frontera a los Estados Unidos, promete que pronto regresará; con el dinero suficiente para construir la casa de sus sueños. Sus promesas se vuelven más difíciles de creer cuando los meses de espera se convierten en años. Cuando se lleva a su esposa para reunirse con él, Reyna y sus hermanos son depositados en el hogar ya sobrecargado de su abuela paterna, Evila, una mujer endurecida por la vida. Los tres hermanos se ven obligados a cuidar de sí mismos. En los juegos infantiles encuentran una manera de olvidar el dolor del abandono y a resolver problemas de adultos. Cuando su madre regresa, la reunión sienta las bases para un capítulo nuevo y dramático en la vida de Reyna: su propio viaje a El otro lado para vivir con el hombre que ha poseído su imaginación durante años-- su padre ausente."--Book cover

In the Country We Love: My Family Divided by Diane Guerrero ; with  Michelle Burford  “ Diane Guerrero, the television actress from the megahit Orange is the New Black and Jane the Virgin, was just fourteen years old on the day her parents and brother were arrested and deported to Colombia while she was at school. Born in the U.S., Guerrero was able to remain in the country and continue her education, depending on the kindness of family friends who took her in and helped her build a life and a successful acting career for herself, without the support system of her family. In the Country We Love is a moving, heartbreaking story of one woman's extraordinary resilience in the face of the nightmarish struggles of undocumented residents in this country. There are over 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the US, many of whom have citizen children, whose lives here are just as precarious, and whose stories haven't been told. Written with Michelle Burford, this memoir is a tale of personal triumph that also casts a much-needed light on the fears that haunt the daily existence of families likes the author's and on a system that fails them over and over"-- Provided by publisher

When I Was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago [The author's] story begins in rural Puerto Rico, where her warring parents and seven siblings led a life of uproar, but one full of love and tenderness as well. Growing up, Esmeralda learned the proper way to eat a guava, the sound of the tree frogs in the mango groves at night, the taste of the delectable sausage called morcilla, and the formula for ushering a dead baby's soul to heaven. But just when Esmeralda seemed to have learned everything, she was taken to New York City, where the rules - and the language - were bewilderingly different. How Esmeralda overcame adversity, won acceptance to New York City's High School of Performing Arts, and then went on to Harvard, where she graduated with highest honors, is a record of a tremendous journey by a truly remarkable woman.-BooksInPrint.

[aion-rsa]

The Walking Dead Season 11: Who Lives and Who Dies

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

This Walking Dead article contains major spoilers.

Many of us thought this day would never come, but as all of The Walking Dead‘s characters know very well, everything that has a beginning has an end. Season 11 of AMC’s flagship zombie drama will be the show’s final run of episodes, but fortunately it’s an expanded season. Fans will get 24 more episodes, broken up into three parts, before the show — and a few of its characters — meets its end.

And it wouldn’t be a season of The Walking Dead without a few big deaths along the way. As we have in past seasons, we’ve made some predictions regarding who will bite the bullet in season 11. For the final time, here are the characters we think are on the chopping block and the ones we believe will live on to remember them after the credits roll on the series finale.

Keep track of all The Walking Dead season 11 deaths below:

DEAD

Roy (C. Thomas Howell)

Prediction: Dies

Result: Dead

Roy took an arrow to the face during a Reaper ambush.

Gage (Jackson Pace)

Prediction: Dies

Result: Dead

Gage stabbed himself in the chest twice, attempting to kill himself before being devoured by walkers in a train car. Zombie Gage was then put down with a shot to the head by Gabriel.

ALIVE

Pope (Ritchie Coster)

Prediction: Dies

I’ve never seen a guy more likely to die in the first half of a Walking Dead season than Pope, the leader of the show’s newest villains, the Reapers, who themselves strike me as filler villains for Maggie and Daryl while the real story at the Commonwealth develops. I assume the Reapers will be out of the picture by the time Alexandria needs to turn its attention to the much larger settlement in the second part of season 11.

Pamela Milton (Laila Robins)

Prediction: Dies

The Governor of the Commonwealth is poised to be the final season’s big bad. A bureaucrat hellbent on preserving the way things were before the zombie outbreak, Milton even established a caste system within her settlement to propagate class inequality. She represents everything that was wrong with the world before the fall of society and the complete anti-thesis of how the Alexandrians do things.

If you’ve read the comics, you know how Pamela’s story ends in Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard’s story, but the TV series is known for taking sharp left turns when you least expect it. One thing we know for sure is that the Alexandrians will have to reckon with Pamela’s rule before the series finale.

Lance Hornsby (Josh Hamilton)

Prediction: Dies

A Commonwealth acolyte and bookkeeper of the community, Lance is one of Milton’s chief personnel, helping her run the settlement’s government. He’s also seems like cannon fodder to me as things heat up between the Commonwealth and Alexandria, an early death that could spark a conflict between the two factions.

Mercer (Michael James Shaw)

Prediction: Lives

Mercer is loyal to the Commonwealth but there are more sides to him than his distinct orange military armor lets on. He’s one of the most interesting characters of the comic’s final storyline, and it would be a shame to lose him before we can see his story through.

Elijah (Okea Eme-Akwari)

Prediction: Lives

Elijah made his debut in one of the most WTF moments of season 10 when he rescued Aaron and Alden from the Whisperers. For weeks after his reveal, people wondered who the man in the steal mask could be. When he returned in the final six episodes of season 10, the show just kind of moved on without fleshing him out, which is unfortunate since he looks so cool! I’m going to assume that the series is saving a big Elijah-focused episode for later in the season and that he’s too awesome to kill off. You don’t just introduce a blade expert in a steel mask for no reason!

Virgil (Kevin Carroll)

Prediction: Dies

Virgil has a lot to atone for after kidnapping and drugging Michonne in season 10. At the end of the season, we learn that he’s found a disoriented Connie in the woods. His redemption arc will likely include helping Connie survive on the walker-infested road back to Alexandria. Will that eventually involve a final sacrifice to save her?

Connie (Lauren Ridloff)

Prediction: Lives

Connie’s been through a hell of a lot in the past season. After surviving an explosion, a cave-in, and an entire walker horde, Connie’s made it out of Whisperer territory but is still a ways from home. Expect part of season 11’s story to be about Connie’s odyssey and ultimate reunion with her sister and Daryl.

Lydia (Cassady McClincy)

Prediction: Lives

Lydia was at the center of Alexandria’s conflict with the Whisperers for a season and a half. With Alpha and Beta defeated, and their faction all but obliterated, I have to wonder what Lydia has left to do on the show. That said, the writers have continued to find interesting ways to explore this character, and someone has to live on to lead the next generation of Alexandrians. I think Lydia is in it for the long haul.

Magna (Nadia Hilker)

Prediction: Dies

Magna was sidelined pretty quickly after her introduction. While a reunion with Yumiko seems like the logical direction for her story, The Walking Dead universe is a cruel one. She could be headed toward tragedy.

Yumiko (Eleanor Matsuura)

Prediction: Lives

In season 11, Yumiko is inheriting a major storyline from the comics that likely means she’ll survive the final 24 episodes of the series. Of course, the TV show could always alter that storyline to bring a tragic end to Yumiko’s story.

Luke (Dan Fogler)

Prediction: Dies

It’s pretty wild that Luke has survived as long as he has. A man of the arts hardly has a place in the cruel world of this show, but he has clumsily persevered thus far. But if the writers are planning an especially bloody final season, I’d put Luke on the short list.

Kelly (Angel Theory)

Prediction: Lives

Kelly has been one of the best late additions to the show. It would suck for her to finally reunite with her sister only to meet an unexpected end.

Alden (Callan McAuliffe)

Prediction: Dies

Another candidate for the chopping block. I’m surprised he’s even made it this long.

King Ezekiel (Khary Payton)

Prediction: Lives

Yes, Ezekiel has thyroid cancer, and were he in Alexandria, that would mean his inevitable death. But the Commonwealth is a different ballgame, an advanced settlement in the comics that will likely have the doctors and surgical resources needed to save him. That is, if Ezekiel isn’t caught up in Milton’s caste system.

Jerry (Cooper Andrews)

Prediction: Dies

I love Jerry and don’t want to see the tank with a heart of gold go. But if the season needs an early death that pulls at the heart strings, Jerry is a prime candidate for a midseason casualty.

Father Gabriel Stokes (Seth Gilliam)

Prediction: Lives

Gabriel has evolved so much since his debut in season 5, becoming one of Alexandria’s key leaders. He’s come so far and even survived longer than his comic book counterpart. I’d hate to see him go so close to the end. So I’m just going to say he lives.

Aaron (Ross Marquand)

Prediction: Lives

Aaron seemed destined to die seasons ago, too kind and trusting to survive this long. But here he is, still fighting and surviving. He’s lost the man he loves, his arm, and many friends — and it’s all hardened him into a war machine. It’d be a shame for him to die now.

Rosita Espinosa (Christian Serratos)

Prediction: Lives

In the comics, Rosita’s head ended up on a pike during the Whisperer war, but her TV counterpart has persevered. It’s difficult to predict where her story goes at this point, but since she survived her comic book death, I assume the show’s writers have something in mind for her in season 11.

Eugene Porter (Josh McDermitt)

Prediction: Lives

Eugene has become an unlikely protagonist going into season 11. From a mulleted coward hiding behind his intelligence so that others protect him to the Alexandrian leading his people to the Commonwealth, Eugene is central to the plot of the final season, and I think that means he’s safe. Plus, Eugene is hilarious, and The Walking Dead can always use a little comedic relief.

Judith Grimes (Cailey Fleming)

Prediction: Lives

Result: Lived

NO.

Rick Grimes Jr. (Antony Azor)

Prediction: Lives

Nah.

Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan)

Prediction: Lives

I think The Walking Dead is going to end with one last big death, one last sacrifice before the credits roll on the massive zombie drama. Like Rick in the comics, one of the major characters of the TV series will likely become the martyr who inspires change inside the Commonwealth’s walls. Negan would probably be on the short list for this big moment from the comics, a villain finally choosing to do the right thing for a cause bigger than himself, a fitting conclusion to his seasons-long redemption arc. But Jeffrey Dean Morgan recently teased that he was already having discussions with AMC about a potential Negan spinoff after The Walking Dead has concluded, which means the former Savior leader is safe…unless the Negan show is a prequel.

Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride)

Prediction: Lives

This one’s an easy one: Melissa McBride is getting her own spinoff that will follow her character after The Walking Dead series finale. That means she’s safe.

Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus)

Prediction: Lives

Norman Reedus is joining McBride for that spinoff, so he’s safe, too. The actor even told us what the Daryl and Carol show will be about.

Maggie Rhee (Lauren Cohan)

Prediction: Dies

That leaves The Walking Dead with one logical choice to pick up Rick’s final storyline from the comic. It’s Maggie. It also makes a bit of sense from a logistical standpoint. Lauren Cohan has already left The Walking Dead universe once before to pursue other small and big screen projects. She’s back for the final 24 episodes of the series as a welcome legacy character but that doesn’t mean Cohan wants to stick around for longer than that. I assume Cohan’s returned to bring closure to her character, not to prepare for a spinoff.

Let us know your predictions for The Walking Dead season 11 in the comments!

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