#they found their way back into my brain

[greenrow]

The song of Achilles rant by a sleep deprived person!

-----------Spoiler warning for the content of The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Please correct if i say something incorrectly here. It's 4 am and my brain won't shut up about this and I'm saying all of this at the top of my head.

Please remember that this is just my opinion. I promise im not actually mad about this /srs

As much as i love tsoa it's not a perfect book. It has its fair share of flaws

I have a major issue about how some characters are portrayed in the book and i think out of the entire cast Patroclus gets it the worst.

I do not like the "uwu shy boy" vibes Patroclus gives throughout the book. This is not a "oh no, somone looked slightly bad at me, im going to cry over here now since it hurt my feelings" sort of guy. He is a "i could kill you if i wanted to, but you're really worthy of that much effort" sort of guy. My man was a badass.

Patroclus was a warrior and a doctor.

He killed another child when he was but a kid over a game of dice.

He killed twelve men alone (one of them being a son of ZEUS) when he was pretending to be Achilles.

He almost infiltrated troy ALONE but Apollo stopped him from doing so.

Hector was able to kill him since he was already weakened by Apollo's interference.

A actual GOD had to get directly involved to stop patroclus from getting into Troy's walls.

And he was trained by Chiron, he was a terrific medic.

When Achilles refused to fight any longer for a Agamemnon's battle that was made worse because of his pride, Patroclus took apon himself to take care of his fellow comrades. If it weren't for his help and medical knowledge it's most likely the Greeks would of had to deal with way more casualties.

I feel the need to emphasize this:

Patroclus was not a damsel in distress. He was not in need of Achilles's contant protection as Miller portrays him as.

Patroclus was Achilles's partner both in love and in battle for a reason.

I would say this is my biggest beef with tsoa to be honest. But like i said i love this book. It's one of my favourites. And i can excuse all that i mentioned before and have an actual good time reading this books because of a couple of reasons.

For starters miller's way of describing things and telling a story is really nice to me. Like i could feel Patroclus's emotions as if they were my own. I could feel, touch, taste his love for Achilles.

And besides tsoa is a retelling of an epic written by a poet who was writing about a story of a war (based on a historical event that may or may not have happen). All of this, Achilles and Patroclus's relationship, the war over helen, Odysseus, might not even have happen. So why be upset over a piece of fiction.

If you wanted an accurate depiction of the trojan war and of Achilles and Patroclus you would read the source material. The Iliad. (Which you should totally do if you haven't already, it's a classic for a reason).

At the end of the day it's still a story. A retelling of a relationship detailed in the original source.

A good tragic love story about two men who loved each other so much that they would know eachother even in death.

To the point where they were made of memories.

[lemongogo]

life of regret

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Normal boy spotted.

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[bacchuschucklefuck]

[radbunctious]

What a nice looking young man, surely he wouldn't spread any sort of propaganda!

[ickypuppi3]

be mine.

billy sighs. rests his forehead against the cool metal of his locker. tries to ignore the hum of people talking around him. holding hands. cuddling. it’s a shitty day. it’s a shitty day and billy knew it was going to be a shitty day before it even started.

he knew because he had been the one to say it. yesterday. to tell steve that they’re not- that billy doesn’t need to be treated like a fucking girl. that they’re just screwing around. that he doesn’t give a shit if steve wants to fuck someone else today.

that steve might as well go crawling back to wheeler because billy sure as shit can’t hold his hand or call him sweetheart in the hallways. that he gets enough heat at home without the whole of hawkins high knowing how much of a queer billy hargrove is.

and then billy had walked off. slammed the door behind him and gone home. had picked a fight with neil just to top it off.

all because he was scared.

is scared. scared of steve harrington with his preppy fuckin’ polos and dumb hair. his pretty eyes and pretty smile and ability to tilt billy’s world on its axis just by looking at him. scared that steve will get bored of him. that he’ll realise billy isn’t worth the effort.

scared.

billy sighs again. shuffles back slightly and glares down as he twists the lock. the door swings open and billy is halfway to grabbing the book he needs when something falls out. a scrap of paper. no bigger than the palm of his hand. a note.

it lands on billy’s boot.

he looks around. wonders who had felt brave enough- dumb enough to shove a note through billy’s locker on a day like today. he bends down. picks it up. reads the words in front of him.

quarry, 9.

there’s a little heart scribbled on the top right hand corner. billy traces the familiar writing with a thumb. feels that all too familiar feeling in his chest. he clenches his fist. hears the crinkle of paper as he does.

then he looks up again. into his locker. really looks, this time.

a pack of marlboro reds lay on top of his books. unopened. new.

next to those, something smaller. candy, billy realises. a sweetheart, specifically. the words kiss me etched in pink.

billy smiles. can’t help it, really. it’s restrained. barely there. just a small twitch of his lips but a smile nonetheless. his first smile of the day. credit to steve fuckin’ harrington and his inability to leave well alone.

billy smooths the note out. places it next to the reds. next to the heart. tries to tamp down on the butterflies swarming in his chest. he takes a deep breath before stuffing the cigarettes and note into his pocket.

his hand hovers over the sweetheart.

“hey.”

billy pulls his hand back. fast. as if he’d been burned. he looks to his left. locks eyes with the boy now standing next to him. feels his heart stutter. “hey.”

steve gives him a knowing smile. “good day?”

“no.” billy frowns. you already knew that. “pretty shitty actually.”

steve leans. folds his arms. “that bad, huh?”

better now that you’re here. billy swallows. turns away from steve. back to his locker. “did you want something, harrington?”

“nah, just..” steve smirks. reaches out. billy feels his breath hitch. steve’s smile gets wider. he flicks billy’s earring. once. before turning on his heel with a see you around thrown billy’s way.

a promise. something deeper to them but. casual. friendly to anyone watching.

billy watches him leave. wonders if steve might be okay with them having to do things differently. wonders if this might be enough for steve. for them. wonders if he could be enough for steve. hopes-

billy jumps when the bell rings.

-

they meet up later. at the quarry like steve had said. neil under the assumption that billy’s seeing some girl. steve’s parents likely thinking the same.

billy feels as though a weight has been lifted as soon him and steve tumble into the back of the beemer. all cold hands and fumbling with belts. awkward limbs and steamed up windows. and billy lets it happen. lets himself be held. lets steve be sweet to him.

billy lets it happen. finds himself thinking that today might not be all bad. and that he might be more than a little bit in love with steve harrington. he pushes the second thought down. focuses on winding a hand into steve’s hair and sucking a mark into the soft skin just below his jaw, instead.

not all bad.

-

later finds them huddled under a blanket in the back of steve's beemer. sharing a cigarette. marlboro. red. steve nudges billy after a few minutes. doesn't say anything just. nudges him. billy tilts his head to the side. gives steve a look. steve just looks down as his hand finds billy's under the blanket.

then he presses something small into the palm of billy’s hand.

billy raises an eyebrow in question but steve’s already looking away. staring out into the night. cigarette glowing in the dark. billy rolls his eyes. wiggles his arm free and holds the object up to the window to get a better look.

be mine.

he laughs. loudly. tries to hide the racing of his heart. calls steve a fuckin' cheese. and a sweetheart. waits until steve turns to face him again before pressing the candy to steve's lips and pulling him in to exchange kisses that are almost too soft. too sweet for whatever this is. whatever they agreed for this to be.

steve pulls back first. whispers against billy’s lips “hey, baby?”

“yeah?”

“happy valentine’s day.”

“…yeah.”

almost.

steve grins and reaches out to play with one of billy’s curls. billy laces their fingers together under the blanket.

or maybe it’s just right.

[jelliebeanbitch]

i will go to my first ever gay date with courage! i will not overthink it! i will not get bi imposter syndrome! i will not tell myself im meant to only ever be with a man! i will just follow my heart and my pussy and live my life! a gender is just a gender! a date with two girls is still a date! i am allowed to date girls! i will not get brainworms!

[elliebell77]

sorry i havent been posting i think im burnt out rn

[buggbuzz]

my gender is like meat leaf i think. boy materials in the structure of girl. like im a girl made out of boy things but not in a transman way like i like being female im just. a girl-leaning boygirl. maybe??

[puppyeared]

if escape rooms as team building exercises became popular im not sure if id be more excited or terrified

[scrawlingskribbles]

not me blearily waking up at 5:30am almost in tears bc I had a dream that Ian had apparently been making more little OK KO shorts on the side and the utter joy I was feeling as dream!me was scrambling to find & watch them only to wake up before I could........ :((((

[crossbackpoke-check]

Dysprosium, Mary Soon Lee

dysprosium, AN 66, is a silvery-white rare earth metal. its name is derived from the greek dysprositos, meaning “hard to get at”, owing to the difficulty in separating and isolating this rare earth element. dysprosium is used to measure neutron flux, to fuel reactors, and to activate phosphors. terfenol-d is a magnetorestrictive alloy, meaning that it changes shape when a magnetic field is applied, and is used to manufacture underwater acoustic systems.

jason “robo” robertson, dallas stars #21 for @simmyfrobby’s nhl periodic table poems <3

[skeletalheartattack]

so for like, a decade plus, i've been searching for a youtube video i remember seeing back in 2007, and i've finally managed to make some headway:

good news: i've found it

bad news: it's lost media

[thedrotter]

redrew a few old expressions from february!!! one never notices how much their art style changes in some months till you compare side by side www

(the old ones for comparison ↓)

[cuteniaarts]

Small drawing collection of my latest creation Emran as a teenager/freshly minted Air Acolyte, for my dear partner in unhinged OC shenanigans @katkastrofa, as promised <3

[plusultraetc]

if I can find a way to squeeze 'Aizawa and Vlad King semi antagonistic work friends' into a fic I will