#they were like 'wow you know a lot about this do you like the odyssey or somethinG' YOU HAV ENO IDEA. YOU HAVE NOOO CLUE OH MY GOD

[ochiody]

the 9th graders here are reading the odyssey for english right now. if i walk past an english classroom and hear someone say odysseus one more time im gonna lose it THATS OOMF I KNOW THTAT GIY

[whencartoonsruletheworld]

Hey so like many of you, I saw that article about how people are going into college having read no classic books. And believe it or not, I've been pissed about this for years. Like the article revealed, a good chunk of American Schools don't require students to actually read books, rather they just give them an excerpt and tell them how to feel about it. Which is bullshit.

So like. As a positivity post, let's use this time to recommend actually good classic books that you've actually enjoyed reading! I know that Dracula Daily and Epic the Musical have wonderfully tricked y'all into reading Dracula and The Odyssey, and I've seen a resurgence of Picture of Dorian Gray readership out of spite for N-tflix, so let's keep the ball rolling!

My absolute favorite books of all time are The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. Classic psychological horror books about unhinged women.

I adore The Bad Seed by William March. It's widely considered to be the first "creepy child" book in American literature, so reading it now you're like "wow that's kinda cliche- oh my god this is what started it. This was ground zero."

I remember the feelings of validation I got when people realized Dracula wasn't actually a love story. For further feelings of validation, please read Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. There's a lot the more popular adaptations missed out on.

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier is an absolute gem of a book. It's a slow-build psychological study so it may not be for everyone, but damn do the plot twists hit. It's a really good book to go into blind, but I will say that its handling of abuse victims is actually insanely good for the time period it was written in.

Moving on from horror, you know people who say "I loved this book so much I couldn't put it down"? That was me as a kid reading A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Picked it up while bored at the library and was glued to it until I finished it.

Peter Pan and Wendy by JM Barrie was also a childhood favorite of mine. Next time someone bitches about Woke Casting, tell them that the original 1911 Peter Pan novel had canon nonbinary fairies.

Watership Down by Richard Adams is my sister Cori's favorite book period. If you were a Warrior Cats, Guardians of Ga'Hoole or Wings of Fire kid, you owe a metric fuckton to Watership Down and its "little animals on a big adventure" setup.

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry was a play and not a book first, but damn if it isn't a good fucking read. It was also named after a Langston Hughes poem, who's also an absolutely incredible author.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is a book I absolutely adore and will defend until the day I die. It's so friggin good, y'all, I love it more than anything. You like people breaking out of fascist brainwashing? You like reading and value knowledge? You wanna see a guy basically predict the future of television back in 1953? Read Fahrenheit.

Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee are considered required reading for a reason: they're both really good books about young white children unlearning the racial biases of their time. Huck Finn specifically has the main character being told that he will go to hell if he frees a slave, and deciding eternal damnation would be worth it.

As a sidenote, another Mark Twain book I was obsessed with as a kid was A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Exactly what it says on the tin, incredibly insane read.

If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin is a heartbreaking but powerful book and a look at the racism of the time while still centering the love the two black protagonists feel for each other. Giovanni's Room by the same author is one that focuses on a MLM man struggling with his sexuality, and it's really important to see from the perspective of a queer man living in the 50s– as well as Baldwin's autobiographical novel, Go Tell it on the Mountain.

Agatha Christie mysteries are all still absolutely iconic, but Murder on the Orient Express is such a good read whether or not you know the end twist.

Maybe-controversial-maybe-not take: Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov is a good book if you have reading comprehension. No, you're not supposed to like the main character. He pretty much spells that out for you at the end ffs.

Animal Farm by George Orwell was another favorite of mine; it was written as an obvious metaphor for the rise of fascism in Russia at the time and boy does it hit even now.

And finally, please read Shakespeare plays. As soon as you get used to their way of talking, they're not as hard to understand as people will lead you to believe. My absolute favorite is Twelfth Night- crossdressing, bisexual love triangles, yellow stockings... it's all a joy.

and those are just the ones i thought of off the top of my head! What're your guys' favorite classic books? Let's make everyone a reading list!

[xan-izme]

Double life 11 (ATSV x Reader x Batfam)

Summary: You can't do this alone

Part 10, Part 12

You felt stressed. The anomalies were popping up in Gotham and in New York at the same time. Of course, Aaron and Miles are there to handle things. But you no longer want their help. You don't want them to have that responsibility anymore. None of the burden.

And with Bruce. He hasn't talked to you. You haven't seen him in a few days. You felt like you have messed up everything. That he now hated you because of what you said.

But in truth. Bruce was just sulking behind closed doors. He's raised 4 boys so far, and he likes to think he's done a great job. Well, not a great job but an okay job. But with you, he feels like he's failing with every move he makes. He knows what you said is true.

He has the papers to prove you are his daughter. But he's missed 16 years of your life. Your uncles were more like fathers to you than he will ever be. And it hurts him. More than he would expect. And what hurts the most is that was the true you. Not the act you have been putting on for a few months. What he saw was a child struggling to morn her mother.

He would know.

But it must have been harder on you. Because you only had her. And now she's gone. And now you're stuck with him.

It was another night of kicking anomalies through portals. Preventing some minor crimes and avoiding Batman.

You sighed as you sat on top of the Wayne Mannor roof. The sun should be setting soon. You used to watch the sun set back in New York before beginning your day as spider woman.

You sighed as you pull out your phone.

Jason was looking for you. He needed to speak to you about, well everything. If he was to keep your little secret. Then he needed to know what the hell was going on. What's with the portal he saw you kick that one villain in, what was in the suitcase. Why are you being so secretive. It's suspicious, and he can't trust you fully. And he needs to trust you a little bit for this to work.

Jason enters your room, but you were nowhere to be seen. He assumed you were out with Damian.

If your gone. . .

Jason smirked to himself as he got the idea to snoop around. He walked around. He was Immediately at your bookshelf. He sighed in disappointment when he only sees education books. Books about physics and geology. Technology.

"No one is this into school." He pauses for a moment before correcting himself. "Tim. Tim is."

He grumbles as he tries to see anything else he can find. He circles around to a different side of your bed. He gasped as he finds a secret stash of books.

All fantasy fiction and history books Manga too. Harry Potter, Hunger games, Art of war, Game of thrones, The Odyssey, The lightning theft- the whole damn Percey Jason series. Heros, Gods and monsters of Greek Mythology- Wow! you're really into Greek mythology.

He hums in amusement and put things back. He Looked up to your desk and picks up a little picture of you and your cousin. He takes note of how you reacted when he mentioned Miles knowing about you being Spider woman. Probably the angriest he's seen you.

Your protective.

He sets the picture down and walks into your bathroom. Nothing out of the ordinary. A lot of hair products. He opens the mirror cabinet. Painkillers. Tylenol, ibuprofen. First aid which was, empty.

He pauses for a moment. Something doesn't look right. He closes the mirror cabinet. Then opens it again. He repeats the process before finally taking a look at both sides of the mirror. He knows this manner inside and out. practically memorized the blueprints. Both old and new.

He decides to try and pry the mirror cabinet open from the wall. And there, a secret stash within the wall. He grabs the small duffle bag. He opens it up to see your suit. and a Polaroid picture of a woman. Your mother he assumes.

He lets out a small sigh and puts it back and closed the mirror cabinet tightly. He decided it was time he goes back to looking for you. Yours still in the manor he knows that much. He saw your shoes and window open. He searched the manor but could not find you. He stepped outside to see if you were at the barn.

But when he looks up. He sees a glimpse of a head. Someone was on the roof.

Jason hurries back into the manor and makes his way onto the roof.

You stare at the video playing on your phone. Sniffling a little.

"Mom, stop. I mean it!" You laughed as you try to back away to a wall

"Nope. not happening!" Your mother pointed the water gun at you and started shooting

"AH! Mama!" You tried to run but tripped and fell on your face.

"Pfft-" Your mothers laugh could be heard along with yours

You continued to solemnly watch the old video. Not noticing Jason a little far behind from you. Listening and watching you. You looked so sad it was unconfortable.

But he felt, a little guilty. Just a little bit. Because if he thinks about it you have been through a lot. Jason took a few steps closer and cleared his throat to signal his presence.

You jolt at the noise and glance back and see Jason. You quickly look away and wipe your tears.

"What do you want."

Jason stood there awkwardly before taking a seat next to you. You stare at him with your tired eyes. Jason sighed as he looked back at you. "Look, kid. I know I'm a jerk. I'll be lying if I said I didn't mean to. But can you blame me? You're not telling me anything."

You stay silent before looking away. Contemplating weather, you should tell Jason the truth.

"You can't do this alone kid. Trust me, it won't work if you do this alone."

You let Jason's words sink in. Slowly realizing. He was right. You were scared, and truly didn't want to go through this alone. And this was Jason, so it should be okay, right?

"Do you believe in the multiverse?" You finally spoke up. Your words made Jason look at you a little confused.

"The multiverse, like different universes. Timelines and stuff."

You nod. "Yeah, something like that. . . it's real. The multiverse is real. And, in every universe, there is a Spider Woman or Spider man to protect and keep balance. This universe is mine to protect. Those bad guys you see me throwing through portals. Those are anomalies."

Jason listened in closely. Half of him believes you, the other half not really. But he's all ears.

"Anomalies from different universes, brought by portals that were ripped due to mankind tempering with forces that were beyond our understanding."

You talked about everything. About the society. About Alchemex. And the whole cannon situation. A fate every spider hero had to succumb to.

It felt nice to let everything out now, like some wight was lifted off.

Jason believed you. Well, he kind of does. He only believes you because, well it's you. And he doesn't see the use of you lying about something as crazy as multiverses.

But the fact that you were hiding all of that and you were planning to carry the burden alone when still in the process of mourning the loss of your mother. It concerned him a bit.

He could tell Bruce. This could be a family effort. You're a vigilante, so are they. The whole bat family can help. But you have already expressed that you can't let anyone else know about the multiverse thing you have going on.

For safety reasons you claim.

---___---___---___---___---___---___---___---___---___---___---___---

A/n: sorry, this is a little short, but I do want to warn everyone that I will be a little late with the next few chapters because they will be longer and might be traumatizing. so, yeah. Thank you for reading

@huening-ly. @mariadvorak, @superherosdystopiafreak, @chelluv, @houseissofine, @esposadomd, @greyeyedmockingbird, @1-800-daisy, @c0c0-puffsxxx, @arthurswife, @h0rr0r-10ver-69, @josiepapen, @natashanice165, @amber-content, @mahbeanz, @azurewisteria, @seraph101, @skepvids, @lara20aral, @iwasveronica, @jackrabbitem

[violetrainbow412-blog]

Day 16: stargazing

Masterlist flufftober 🎀

Reblog if you liked it!

You let out a sigh of satisfaction when you finished preparing the back of your father's pickup truck, after several minutes and a lot of effort to stretch the blankets enough. There was a mat, a duvet, sheets, and plenty of pillows so the two of you would be comfortable on the date you had prepared for your boyfriend. Spencer had told you about a meteor shower that occurred every ten million years and that on this occasion would be visible in the region, so he believed it would be a sin not to take advantage of the night to see it together and, in the process, spend a nice time between you. You seemed very excited about the idea and had prepared food to spend the hours that you were going to wait and, of course, a thermos full of coffee to share.

“How does it look?”

“It's perfect,” he replied happily.

He had been busy reviewing some celestial maps that he carried with him, under the light of a flashlight that you had in the trunk. You were in a remote section of the countryside and without all the light pollution of the city the stars could be seen in their maximum splendor, which had you completely fascinated. You had never done an activity like this and you knew how much Spencer was excited about astronomy, so the idea that he wanted to share that with you made you feel special.

You climbed up to the space you had arranged and he immediately imitated you, where both of you sat with your back comfortably leaning on a pair of pillows. You pulled a blanket to cover your legs and those of your boyfriend, who soon intertwined them to shorten the distance.

“I assume you know the constellations, right?”

"I do! At this time of year several can be seen. Like that one over there that is shaped like a trapezoid with a tail, do you see it?” he asked, pointing to a specific point in the sky. You had to admit that you weren't the best at finding shapes in celestial bodies, but you tried with all your might, until you finally understood what he was referring to “That's the Big Dipper, it's the third largest constellation and it's visible for all year round in the northern hemisphere, in addition to being one of the best known and most important in astronomical history. It has eight stars, one of them visible only in very clear places like this and they are called Alkaid, Mizar, Alioth, Megrez, Phecda, Merak, and Dubhe”

“There is a myth in Greek mythology about it, isn't there?”

“Yes, Greek mythology considered Ursa Major to be the bear that Callisto had been turned into by Artemis after being seduced by Zeus. Homer mentions the Bear in Canto V of the Odyssey, in which Ulysses tries in vain to be guided by her to return to Ithaca, his land”

“Wow,” you sighed, as you continued to look up to admire the stars your boyfriend was telling you about.

“When I was a child, I asked for a telescope as a birthday gift and this was the first constellation I learned because if you follow a line a little higher you can find the polar star… that one over there, do you see it?”

"I see it"

“That star serves to guide you because it always points north, so no matter where you are you can find your way if you find it. That way I imagined that whenever I was lost, I could come back home” he confessed to you, with a nostalgic smile on his face.

You stopped seeing the celestial sky to focus on him and you couldn't stop yourself from kissing him when you saw the sparkle in his eyes watching you with enthusiasm. The kiss was gentle and short, just as if you wanted to reward him for his eloquence, and then you settled under his arm with your head resting on his soft chest.

“You probably know a few thousand facts about the stars, or am I wrong?”

“I have never counted them, but from the books I have read I can assure you that it is an approximate amount”

“Well, we still have a few hours until the rain starts so start spitting them all out. I want Sagan to feel threatened in the afterlife by my knowledge of the universe at dawn” you joked and the soft laugh he let out above your head was like music to your ears.

Spencer talked and talked and you listened attentively to everything he had to tell you, only interrupting him to ask questions or to ask him to eat a little or try his cup of coffee. In the same way, you were changing positions as the hours went by, sometimes lying down, sitting, other times he with his head resting on your shoulder, and you even went so far as to sit on his lap, with your back comfortably against his torso while that he spoke kindly in your ear.

"You are tired? Bored?"

“None of that, love” you smiled. Right now you were lying in front of each other, with him absentmindedly tangling a lock of your hair in his finger “It's the most interesting date I've ever had in my life.”

“And it's going to get better, because it's the scheduled time for the main show,” he murmured in a theatrical voice, while he sat down and helped you with one hand so that you were in the same position.

He hadn't lied, because after a few minutes he saw the first star crossing the sky. You gasped in surprise like a little girl would, and your shock only intensified when another star sped past. Suddenly dozens of stars imitated the first ones and your smile grew as a new one appeared.

"Look how beautiful!" you squealed, shaking your shoulder excitedly at your lover, who was smiling the same way you were. “It’s wonderful.”

Spencer felt the need to hug you from the side to enjoy the view and the company at the same time, while you continued to look at the sky with fascination.

“We are experiencing a unique event in our space-time,” he whispered, the words slightly muffled by his lips in your hair. “And… I wanted to give you something equally unique.”

Suddenly you felt his hand take yours and then a metallic object sliding down your ring finger, forcing you to stop looking at the sky to look at him, with an expression of nothing but shock.

“Spencer, what—?”

“It's not what you think,” he hastened to say. You looked at the jewel and realized that it was a delicate ring that was completely smooth and silver in color. “It is a promise ring, it is used to… well, to promise a loved one that at some point it will be replaced by one that involves a greater commitment," he explained to you, suddenly becoming a nervous wreck "I thought about giving it to you today because I love you so much and I wanted you to know that I would like to go further with you, if you accept me”

"Darling…"

"Do you like it?" he insisted and you were forced to drown his fears with a prolonged kiss on the lips.

“Of course it does. I love you so, so much and you don't know how happy this makes me, I wouldn't want to be with anyone else in the vast universe. I'm serious"

That was enough of an answer for him and then you settled down again to enjoy the rest of the astronomical phenomenon, knowing that you would only be able to forget that night when the time necessary to witness another of those meteor showers had passed.

taglist: @navs-bhat @reidwritings @tricia-shifting14 @spencerslove @vivian-555 @r-3dlips @rhiannonhippiegirl @taygrls @simp4f1 @sdddoobydoobydoo @taintedstranger

[thesweetnessofspring]

Why do you hate epic? I've recently heard it and I don't like it also, especially when I googled his story. But why do you hate it?

First, no hate to the creator. Like, I heard he's a college kid doing a creative project and a lot of people like it which is great. And concept albums get tweaked. Maybe it's something he can salvage or rework in the future, but as it is, I just don't like Epic at all.

I'd listened to what was out about....six months ago maybe? And I wasn't particularly taken with it, but then back in like July I relistened to it and I just got so tired listening to it. I think a spin on that line from The Incredibles sums up that part of it well:

If all of the music is epic, none of it will be.

Even in big megamusicals like Les Mis, there's a variety of songs. You have the love songs, the reflective songs, the "party" songs, the exposition songs, and just a variety of tone and pace. In listening to what is now the most recent release, I got weary of listening to the same old video game music set to bad lyrics (we'll get to that). There's no variety, which makes the whole album flat. Halfway through I wanted to scream GIVE ME SOMETHING ELSE FOR THE LOVE OF ZEUS!!! I don't think the idea of video game music works for musicals. They're completely different mediums and the narrative structure of video games (at least as he's presented them) also leads to a static story. If I sit down and play a video game with different bosses, then it makes sense. I complete a level and then take a break/live my life until I come back and work on the next level. There doesn't feel to be any forward momentum in the story because it's just "boss" after "boss" with a highly intense video game music soundtrack. It's static, it's flat, it's tiring. I cannot imagine sitting through a stage show of this. I'd be leaving early after intermission.

It is painfully obvious this is a TikTok musical, because the music can be good in short spurts but as a 2.5 hour stage musical? I wouldn't be able to do it. I barely did it when I broke it up over a few car rides.

Also the lyrics are mostly just bad, particularly in the rhymes. Like I said, I've listened to it I guess 1.5 times as the first time I listened they didn't have as many songs out as there are now. So I can't quote any, but it wasn't just a couple times. There were whole songs where I was internally (as I was driving) rolling my eyes at the awkward, hokey rhymes.

And look, I haven't read The Odyssey since high school, so I'm not going to pretend to be a scholar. I have read Odysseus as a character in other retellings of Greek myths, though, and he's a much more dynamic and interesting character than the boring, predictable hero of Epic. I remember when first being exposed to The Odyssey, it was my first foray into more complicated dynamics of Greek mythology instead of the more digestable/cleaned-up versions I'd heard as a younger kid, and part of that was Odysseus. He made decisions I just couldn't understand at the time. A big thing for me as a 15-year-old kid was I was so mad at all of Odysseus's affairs. Now I know that in Greece that wasn't so much a big deal for men to sleep around and was expected. Yet (at least with Circe) he's noble and fighting her off and it gives the impression that Odysseus hasn't had any sex in like 12 years. I'm sorry, but WHAT??? Odysseus loves his wife and he's a slut. C'mon. Epic Odysseus is so predictable and boring I'm not drawn into the story at all for him, either. When I finally got to the more recent releases, I was thinking, "Oh, wow what a surprise. Before he didn't want to kill people and now he's fed up and will kill people so he can get home. Ohhhh noooooo what will ever happen in the next part of the musical?? Is it possible he will learn that vengeance is bad???" To be fair this part hasn't come out yet so maybe I'll be wrong but ugh, it's not looking good.

To balance things out, I do think the opening number is good and I like the one with the winds "keep your friends close/and your enemies closer" is an earworm, and because it changed up the usual "video game epic music" thing. And like, as a student project it is impressive. But it's not a student project anymore, it's a concept album. Idk if he's planning on staging it at some point, but if he does, it has a lot of work still to do.

Anyway vote Hadestown. ✌️

[knight-of-the-graces]

I’m reading through The Odyssey properly for the first time since we read it in school, and I have… some thoughts. A lot of thoughts, actually. Here they are.

Firstly, Athena. Just… Athena. What are you up to.

The fact that she —disguised as Mentes but obviously knowing who Telemachus is— immediately comments on how tall Telemachus is after questioning if he’s really Odysseus’ son…

Odysseus really is a short man, isn’t he. Even his patron goddess is making fun of him for it. Disguised, but still. Do you think Mentes ever has to pay for the comments Athena makes while pretending to be him?

(Plus Telemachus immediately gets philosophical in his own defense, which… excellent. Excellent. Good job.)

Also Athena’s solution to all of Telemachus’ problems is literally just “Hey, why don’t you take a ship and go find your dad? He’ll murder all these guys for you, trust me, I know the guy. From, uh, childhood.” And Telemachus is like “Hm… okay, I’ll think about it.” Definitely living up to ‘goddess of war’, aren’t you?

And when she leaves, she just… turns into a bird and off she goes. Athena. What. You are in a crowded hall full of people. How is Telemachus the only one who noticed this. Divine magic and the power of alcohol, probably, but… what.

(Also why is everyone except the goddess being referred to as ‘godlike’? Like, we’ve got Nestor, then Telemachus, now Penelope. Seriously, how many of them were ‘godlike’, except for the goddess herself?)

Also Telemachus is definitely being a bit of a broody teenager. Like, come on, if a song is making your mom sad you just change the song. I get that you’re the man of the house, but still. If my brother said something like that to my mom she might actually kill him. And she’s not the formerly Spartan queen of Ithaca.

(And now the bard is godlike too. What is up with you guys, describing people as godlike. Are you trying to offend the actual Greek gods, ’cause we all know how that’ll end for you. You were literally talking about how offending the gods goes like, ten minutes ago. Why are you all like this.)

Then when he’s basically saying ‘get out of my house’ Antinous tells him “Zeus will never give you the throne” and Telemachus’ response is basically “Yes he will”. Boy… I mean kinda, but wow.

Also, Eurymachus, you do not get to call someone ‘friend’ when you’re trying to marry his mom, living in his house against his will, and basically stealing his stuff. Excuse me. What. And if you were paying enough attention to notice ‘Mentes’ how didn’t you notice the whole ‘turns into a bird and flies off’ thing?

The sheer audacity of literally everyone I’ve met so far is definitely something. I’m remembering why this book killed me to read in school now, with the sheer Audacity and Chaos so far.

And Telemachus is immediately called ‘Odysseus’ well-beloved son’ in book two— all I can think of is him introducing himself to people as ‘father of dear Telemachus’ in The Iliad—

(Also don’t try to read The Odyssey through online libraries; the formatting is so messed up it’s actually painful. Alas, I will suffer.)

[metalmonki]

The Dating Odyssey: Billy

Eddie Munson/Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington/Jim Hopper/Jonathan Byers x fem!reader

1.7k word count

fluff, idiot reader, reader who can't say no, choose your own adventure-ish

Part 1 / Steve's Ending / Eddie's Ending / Jim's Ending / Jonathan's Ending

Underneath the sapphire sky, you hesitated at the entrance to Hawkins Pool. You hadn't seen Billy since your first pool date a week ago. After a whirlwind of emotions, you decided to take a breather, avoiding him and the others to clear your thoughts. You had felt sure of your decision to pick Billy 4 days ago. You felt sure of your decision every day since. Now, standing there, you wondered if you had made the right decision to meet him again. Would it just stir up more confusion?

You had originally gone to Billys trailer hoping to run into him somewhere a bit more private. You’d stood knocking for almost 15 minutes when Eddie Munsons stepped out of the trailer across the road. He was dressed in nothing but a pair of boxers clearly not long out of bed. He pulled a cigarette from behind his ear, lighting it and smiling across at you.

“If your looking for Hargrove his at work” Eddie called across the road.

“Oh thanks Eddie I guess I’ll head there then” You smiled and tried to make a quick exit.

“Wow, hay there, what’s the rush? What do you want with Billy anyway?” Eddies smile never fell from his face.

“Well honestly Eddie I went on a date with Billy last weekend” You choose to tell him the truth. Eddie deserved that much.

“Oh wow well uh I guess it’s not like we were exclusive or anything” Eddie scratched the back of his neck.

“Sorry Eds, your super sweet and any girl would be lucky to have you but I love Billy” You were honest with him and yourself.

“If you were saying that to high school Eddie I would have told you to run that Billy is bad news but he has changed since high school so if you think he is the one for you then go for it” You could hear the sadness in Eddies voice

“Thank you Eddie, um, maybe you should go for some clothes” You motioned to his boxers.

“Oh this is nothing you should ask Billy about the day he saw my pale naked ass run past his bedroom window” Eddie chuckled.

You shook your laughing at Eddie as he waved and ran back to his trailer. You climbed back into your car and headed towards the Hawkins Community Pool. This brings you to your current predicament. You stood in the parking lot looking at the entrance. Your nerves had hit you all at once. Your thoughts were interrupted by a voice behind you.

"Hey, y/n”

You turned to see Billy, his grin as bright as the sun reflecting off the water. His presence sent a flurry of butterflies into your stomach.

"Hey, Billy," you replied, forcing a smile.

He approached you, his steps confident. "I've been trying to catch you all week. I was starting to think you were avoiding me."

Your cheeks flushed with guilt. "I...I needed some time to think."

Billy nodded understandingly. "I get it. But hey, I'm glad you're here now. Ready for round two?"

“Uh yeah actually  I thought you might like to go for another date this weekend? Maybe make us something a little more official?”

“I would love that” Billy had the brightest smile on his face making your heart skip a beat. “I actually have somewhere I would love to take you but you’d need to be ready early Saturday morning, say around 5am”

“I’ll be ready” You smiled

“Great I need to get back to work, make sure to wear something light that you don’t mind getting wet” Billy gave you a quick kiss on the cheek and jogged back into the pool.

Your stomach was doing leaps and a smile plastered it’s self on your face and you didn’t know if you would ever get it to leave. Billy, you were confident, was the only guy you believed could do that to you. Saturday, just two days to wait and you would have your next date with Billy.

Thursday and Friday flew by. You smiled through the days and Friday night you couldn’t sleep. The nervous energy kept you awake. You planned your outfit out and laid everything out ready for you to grab and put on the next morning. You went to bed at 7pm exactly knowing you need to be up at 4am to be ready on time. You tossed and turned constantly looking at the bedside clock. At some point you had fallen asleep though and you were woken by the alarm clock at 4am. You thought last night that if you didn’t get enough sleep, you would be too tired when you woke up to do anything. Instead, you were full of endless nervous energy. You jumped out of bed and raced into your bathroom. You took a quick shower and got dressed into a simple pair on denim shorts and a white tank top with a bikini underneath. You then rushed into the kitchen fearing you were going to be late, grabbed the pop tarts you had left out the night before quick access and tossed them into the toaster while also flipping on the kettle. You already had your coffee mug out with instant coffee and sugar in it ready for hot water because you were so anxious about being ready on time the night before. As you munched on your pop tarts and waited for the kettle to boil you looked at the clock on the wall. 4:25. Your eyes almost bulged out of your head. How had so little time passed? It just left you more time to panic. The kettle clicked off bringing you back to your breakfast. You poured the hot water into your mug and stirred it before getting the milk from the fridge to add to the cup. You sat at the kitchen bench and sipped at your coffee while waiting for time to pass willing it to move faster. By the time the clock struck 4:55 the coffee mug was empty and had been washed up. You bag was packed for the day ahead. You took a deep breath and made your way to the street below your apartment. You hadn’t even been on the side walk for 5 minutes when the familiar roar of a Camaro engine graced your ears. A smile broke out on your face and you bounced excitedly on your heels. Billy’s blue Camaro came to a stop in front of you and Billy was quick to jumped out and open up the passenger side for you. Once you were seated in the Camaros Billy closed the door and ran back around to the drivers side. He put the Camaro back in gears and began driving out of Hawkins.

“We have about a 3 hour trip ahead of us just so you know” Billy smiled across at you.

“I’m sure we’ll find ways to keep ourselves entertained” You laughed

Billy blasted the music and placed a hand on your knee as he drove. It was as if he had driven this same road many, many times. You took a chance to take in Eddies outfit. He was wearing a pair of black shorts and a white singlet. He had his normal necklace on and sunglasses. He had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. He seemed at peace on the road compared to how you had seen him around town. You laid back and closed your eyes allowing the sun coming in to heat your skin. You must have dozed off at some point because you were woken by Billy shaking you.

“We’re here sleepy head” He chuckled.

“The beach?” You sat up and looked around.

“Yep welcome to Chicago, it’s no California but hay it’s a beach” Billy smiled.

He laced his fingers with yours and guided you down towards the ocean. It was perfect beach weather, warm and sunny. You looked out at the water as Billy pulled you onto the beach and began to walk along the waters edge.

“So California huh? Born there or holiday spot?” You asked.

“I was born there, use to go surfing with my Mom, basically lived on the beach” Billy smiled looking out at the water.

“Then why the move to Hawkins?” You asked confused.

“My mom, she…well she left us and my Dad remarried Max’s Mom and he thought after Max tried to run away a few times that it would be best for us to move away. I don’t blame Max at all….well maybe in the beginning but not now” Billy had a look of regret on his face.

“I’m sorry that’s clearly a sore topic for you” You regretted asking.

“No, it’s fine you deserve to know, my dads dead now anyway so it’s not like it matters” Billy shrugged. “Anyway what about you, I know your not local to Hawkins either”

“New York City born and raised. Couldn’t stand city life and needed to go somewhere quite” You smiled up at him.

“Well I for one am glad you made that choice” Billy chuckled

“Me too” You nodded.

Billy quickly swept you up in his arms before running off into the water. You screamed begging him to place you down only to be met with him saying no over and over again. At just the right depth Billy tossed you in. You got to your feet and began splashing at him. Soon you were both surrounded by laughter and love. Everyone else on the beach cease to exist to the two of you. You got so wrapped up in each other to failed to see time getting away from you. Before you knew it the crowds had begun to go home for the day. You and Billy had become quiet as he swum up behind you wrapping his arms around your waist.

"I'm glad you came back," Billy said quietly, breaking the silence.

You turned to him, your heart somersaulting in your chest. "Me too."

Your eyes locked, and in that moment, you knew you had made the right decision. Sometimes, all it took was a leap of faith to find something worth holding onto.

As you emerged from the ocean, the sun sinking below the horizon painted the sky in hues of pink and gold. Hand in hand, You and Billy walked away from the beach, your hearts lighter than they had been in days, ready to face whatever the future held, together.

[semi-imaginary-place]

metaphor re fanfasio live playthrough thoughts. spoilers

oh we going post modern meta narrative. I wonder what's up with more.

one race means there's harmony and no discrimination or conflict. Wow this is a fantasy story.

why did we need to go to the capital to get recruited into the guard to get deployed to where grius was why not just go directly to grius. Also this assassination plot sounds bad it's one dude with a knife. rip grius.

Well the demo is excellent in every way but that doesn't mean the rest of the game is good. Ffxvi.... I remember

If there isn't a cat/dog boy party member i'll riot.

The big face rock is the wildest government system.

Instead of just the sanctoress for the contest why not also bring the human corpse.

Going onto the deck of a rolling ship feels stupid what are you two even doing

All the characters are great so far but I'm falling in love with fidelio. Tsundere tiny big brother. He has puppy ears.

copied smtiv's homework, joking of course post apocalyptic modern past fantasy present is a common enough story premise. Whats the list at now for what this game is a fusion of: persona 5, etrian odyssey, smtiv (arguably v too).

How literal is that "hearts the source of magla" thing and how literal are the mechanical hearts. I wouldnt put it past the devs for everyone to be a robot.

something is happening with the parapus brothers. they are springing far too many flags and i got spoiled that basilio is a party member. if fidelio dies i'm quitting he's my favorite.

Louis is wayyy to important narratively to die this early. Probably. Uh the theater audience cant see the roof well. If eupha recalls the lance they'll know someone took it but not who. If you're going to give forden the lance anyways i dont see why bother appearing on stage. didnt do that good of a job telling how evil louis was could have given a better speech. SHOULD HAVE CHECKED LOUIS WAS DEAD YOURSELVES. Also that hooded guy is so sus. Forden think they're working for him but they also reported to louis about the party's actions. Uh also you lot never confirmed louis was the curse caster like could have confronted him during the fight. Like you all just vigilante killed the wrong man. Maybe.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Well rella puppet or not, and louis both seem better rulers than forden so I'm happy about him dying. forden law route vibes.

woah hulkenburg ready to kill. we really are just killing people willy nilly on the slightest suspicions. that's 3 asassination attempts and 2 of them were the wrong person.

there are so many sus things about the mc. like why doesnt russell know him. wouldnt be surprised if he and the prince were two halves of the same person. why does the prince have no name and there was that name input at the begining of the game. something up.

oh wait that's real, i was also thinking like twinsies or something. his humansona! his self insert character! I'm laughing so hard right now. this is really good thematically but i can't stop laughing

wow he really is just griffith. he's cosplaying a clemar. and louis chose to have bigger than average horns.

Havent been commenting too much because it's too good. One thing that bothers me is the timeline and prince's assassination attempt which happened like 12? Years ago. Rella and louis were said to be unusually young and i guess this is a jrpg but having like a 16 year old general feels a bit much. And if hulkenberg was a royal knight presumably she had some accomplishments and experience already before being promoted. Fidelio was already a trusted aide of louis (presumably with military accomplishments) before the assassination attempt. Anyways it just feels like the timeline is very tight and a number of people were in rather veteran positions despite being rather young. I suppose it's plausible much of the cast is in their early 30s. Fidelio's appearence is nonindicative of his age but a lot of the cast though feel 20s like stohl feels young, first venture as an adult and all. An easier solution really would have been to make the assassination attempt not that long ago say 6 years instead.

So not only is zorba gay he's also trans. Ok. Slay king choose your form.

louis chaos hero for real. Louis rizz off the charts.

He really is just lucifer now. Louis cyphre moment. Louis chaos route vs thorden law route. Bruh his magical girl transformation was just stripping. The only thing about this fight is that the music could have gone harder

There are so many shibuyas in this game. Because its already established that the modern world in in the past and this is post apocalyptic. Then there's more's book which i initially assumed was a nod to irl (like in kingdom hearts) but then was revealed to maybe be historically based. Now he's saying the game isn't real, should have used video footage like Eva rebuild did. We're fighting against the author. Who's also our dad while our mom supporting us. Dad's oc vs son's oc. outer space fight is cool but in the middle of shibuya like the yozora fight also would have been cool.

Ah there's the 2nd phase was kinda hoping for one. I wonder why both joy and mirth are there. Crucified hanging puppets that he's eating, 1 each to represent the tribes. (Which speaking of why dont the fairies count unless their origins are in pure magla like dragons instead of being mutated ancient humans like the tribes.)

Someone pointed out that if louis hadn't nullified the king's assassin magic he would have won the popularity contest

Yeeeaaaahhh... statesmanship.... you have 0 management or large scale leadership experience. 0 policy nothing concrete all vibes I would not have voted for him. Ah and there's the porkbarelling neopotism favoritism political appointments. Also his face was on a giant rock for months how does no one know it.

excellent game. good enough that i don't have many complaints which is why this is short i always write more when i have something to complain about. I ended up really liking all the parapus characters like catherina is so good hell yeah community organizing! she's actually doing the work.

[keyrey]

To those who need to hear it.

Likes, they're good. Thank you! Reblogs, oh my goodness, you want your audience to see my work? Oh... you didn't use tags? Don't even get me started on stalking the pages of each one of your ten followers. Not that I do that of course, right? A comment! Do I respond now or later? I don't want to be seen as a psychopath. I got a kudo! 100 hits!? Oh, but my writing's not even that good... Why is it that we put so much value on a number when the real value comes from acquiring new skills and knowledge?

Idealization? Check

False perception of reality? Double check.

Yikes.

Go back and look at the words written in bold. My writing's not even good. Why would you think that after all of the hours you've poured into your work, or the endless amount of times you searched the thesaurus for synonyms to 'said' and eventually fail and chose it anyway?

The amount of times I've opened this app not even a day after I post is unreal. I got a like already? Wow! I should probably post this on Ao3 too, right? Even though I utterly hate the outdated website, the red on white background and the minuscule text that is too jarring to look at?

Y'all, the need for validation from strangers on the internet is real.

Arguably, the craziest part about the ordeal is that every feed looks the same, but there's a story behind them all. All ideas develop differently. It's the whole meaning of story tropes, to have your own take of a commonly used cliché. My feed in particular is filled with heaps of SatoSugu (I don't mind this), Nanani fanfic (I love this), the most smuttiest of smut of all time (an occasional treat before I slip into slumber), and people swearing that Deadpool and Wolverine were doing a certain something in that Honda Odyssey. (They probably were. But come on, my mom watched this film. Loved the jokes though. Keep 'em coming.)

Upon my mere two months of posting and doom scrolling, I've observed that this isn't only a 'me' thing. Most, if not all people go through some form of self-doubt. So yeah, is this just a phase? Maybe. Is it okay if this whole doubting-yourself sensation is reoccurring? It is.

Your story is special.

Lovely Tumblr poster number one, Lovely Tumblr poster number two, may your ask inbox be cleared of my wacky questions. I will leave you alone for now. Please enjoy your life while I try to get myself under control. Let's hope you know who you are. Though I really hope you don't. I mentally cringe at the things I've gotten wrong about your character.

How about a day of rest? Yeah, that would be useful. A cup of warm tea? A cozy book amidst the comfort of silence? A podcast or a playlist running as you take in the sun? Your life has more meaning than you think. Put away the phone, your laptop and take in your surroundings. Please, don't be like me! Go to bed at a reasonable hour.

The funny thing about being self-aware is knowing that I will come back within the next thirty seconds to see how this post has been doing. I've already got this site bookmarked. Peak hypocrisy, right?

Jeez, I can't believe I'm writing this. I apologize for all you lactose intolerant readers out there. This is cheesy. Not even your usual Cheddar or American cheese. No, this is some full-on cheese mozzarella pull level shit right here. I'm not responsible for your bathroom needs. Just remember to wash your hands.

If I can try, you can try.

To sum up, keep putting yourself out there and sharing your voice with the world. Even if you don't see it, others do. Even if others don't see it, fuck them. No, you try to see the worth in your work for yourself. If you're tired, let yourself feel the fatigue and take a break.

For those who care, this isn't a goodbye to Tumblr. Just a reminder that it's a website that you can remove yourself from at any time with proper accountability for your actions. It's hard to practice and it's not something that I can give advice on. My brain is only so big.

-Sending lots of love and warm hugs from the bedtime ponderer, Miss KeyRey.

I've got the temperature of my bedroom set to just below freezing. I'm bundled in my many layers of warm, fuzzy blankets. I ordered some ramen takeout for dinner and have taken a nice, long shower. I'm going to let my laptop die because I know I'll be too lazy to put it on charge. Using your weaknesses in a smarter way? Hell yeah. I think I'm ready to try this whole 'sleeping' thing once again. Or whatever you call it.

How many tags is too many?

[beardedmrbean]

[Huey Zoomer Anon]

Me a 12 year who got into foster care (good homes though) and PJO and it sequel series was basically my hold onto sanity during my trouble years: Wow I love Greek myths, oh there thus graphic novel of the Odyessy in my school library that had a good review from Rick Riordan (creator of PJO) saying it a good book! Let me try it out!

12 fucking years later as 24 year old with all the discourse surrounding Nolan Adaptation: Wait people think the Odyssey is American Literature?

What this Emily Wilson translation of the poem: AAAAAAAAAH!

So I found a Bengali friend thanks to our Star Wars fan connections. And I became interested in make Hindu and southeast Asian inspired settings especially with sci-fi because I’m brain dead tired of only seeing American or Nazis culture in western sci-fi

Hmm shouldn’t Asians cultures being the most dominant human ones in interstellar stories?

But I decided to get make sure I bought proper translations of Hindu epics so make sure I understand their type of storytelling and such.

I thought…my ways…was the standard to understand stories works….

Now my big question for so many people

Do you people think the Hero Journey begins and ends with American Superhero comics and Star Wars?

If so that would explain a lot of headaches I started to have as a teen when it comes to storytelling discussions online

12 fucking years later as 24 year old with all the discourse surrounding Nolan Adaptation: Wait people think the Odyssey is American Literature?

Ya the whole Percy Jackson thing is honestly the biggest player in my confusion about people not knowing about the Odyssey, there was a hit YA series about the various bits and pieces of Greek/Roman mythology that spawned a few movies, radio drama, and a tv series.

Which actually might be why the people that don't know Homer might think it's an American story now that I think about it, still feels like a reach to me.

What this Emily Wilson translation of the poem: AAAAAAAAAH!

Adding girl power to Homer is just weird, there's goddesses in there already and they don't need your help emily.

So I found a Bengali friend thanks to our Star Wars fan connections. And I became interested in make Hindu and southeast Asian inspired settings especially with sci-fi because I’m brain dead tired of only seeing American or Nazis culture in western sci-fi

Jedi were samurai, even if we did have one of them leading the space nazis.

Young Ben Solo would have done well to have tried to embrace the zen aspects a bit more.

Hmm shouldn’t Asians cultures being the most dominant human ones in interstellar stories?

Joss Whedon's Firefly had random Chinese tossed into the lines because when earth that was was abandoned the US and china were the remaining superpowers iirc.

That and there's tons of Asian cultured that are incredibly dominant in interstellar stories, just gotta watch the stuff that was made in Asian cultures, or wait for the sub/dub to make it here.

But I decided to get make sure I bought proper translations of Hindu epics so make sure I understand their type of storytelling and such. I thought…my ways…was the standard to understand stories works….

there's going to be stuff you miss through no fault of your own, cultural nuance and what not, oddly enough your thinking about your way being the standard is due to the previously mentioned Greeks, whole western civilization thing and all.

Now my big question for so many people Do you people think the Hero Journey begins and ends with American Superhero comics and Star Wars? If so that would explain a lot of headaches I started to have as a teen when it comes to storytelling discussions online

I hope not, there's so many different stories that can be told and plots to twist.

Even if the basic outline has been the same for 10,000 years or more

[f0xgl0v3]

Talking about Characters from the Iliad/Odyssey that I liked a lot :3

(Alternative: I just talk about people who were on the page for like. A minute and then nothing because I really just wanted to talk about characters who weren’t like. As well known as others?)

Every day I fight the urge to talk about how much I dislike Song Of Achilles-

Okay anyways I wanna talk about characters from the like Iliad-Odyssey (sadly not Aeneid because I haven’t read that yet) that I really like because they always balance out the anger I feel when thinking about the artificial divide that had to happen between Pat and Achilles over Breisis is TSOA because-

Okay, okay aaa that’s not what this is about. If anyone wants to hear my thoughts feel free to tell me because I’d gladly give my take as someone who just kinda knows the myths and vibes with them (there’s a reason the Iliad is my favorite book)

Anyways characters/probably historical figures(??) from the Iliad/trojan war era and the odyssey that I really liked beyond like. The main crew. While I ramble note that I am just someone that likes these guys. I’m not giving amazing riveting new information. I just don’t really want to write out the SoN re-imagining nor do I want to try and revisit the Machaon and Podalirius concept work I was doing (or potentially mess around with some Ulysses dies at dawn concepts because aaa-) okay- okay,

I (obviously) like Machaon and Podalirius. Like I said I have some concept sketches of them buried in my Ibis paint somewhere. I really liked seeing them mentioned in the Iliad when they were, and the two of them just feel like an interesting concept to explore if I ever do more like. Actual mythology not just Pjo stuff here on the blog. Also this is devoid of anything but they have good character to bounce off each other and they live in my brain.

Palamedes! He’s not actually in the Iliad but was a prince who was in the Trojan war. He was the dude that had to fetch Odysseus and he’s also really interesting and I like thinking of him as the ‘straight-man’ to all of Agamemnon’s stuff before Odysseus took over the roll. I also really like his story :3

Is Sarpedon one of the more well known characters? Idk. I talk about Hector on here too so really I break my own rules but I like Sarpedon as a concept (you can tell I like a lot of these characters for the ideas they give the brain.) He’s an interesting fellow. Maybe one day I’ll actually have something insightful to say about him.

Okay Hector. I really like Hector, I like seeing him in conflict with his brother. I like the ideas and how Hector acts and how he like does stuff narratively. I like him for the same reason I like Demetrius in Midsummer nights dream. They’re both kinda just guys who have to put up with everyone around them and it’s silly. He also has the whole really big stone thing during the siege(?) of the Achaeans camps that was fun.

Now are the Odyssey guys and it’s literally just two people who caught my attention in the Odyssey.

Antinous. He was really like ahfiakfbsjjs in my mind. Between getting off the high that was reading the Iliad and being like gently laid down in the Odyssey I really liked him? He sucked don’t get me wrong, but I liked that he sucked. He was a little trash guy and I liked that, hand him over.

Peisistratus. For anyone who forgot him or doesn’t know who he is this is Telemachus’s friend and traveling buddy from Pylos. He just kinda appears at some point and I really like him. He feels scruffy in my head and I think he’s a really interesting character! Also I like the friendship between Telemachus and Peisistratus.

Also shoutout to Antilochus who I didn’t put down but he was also really fun.

Okay wow! I said literally nothing this entire post. But uh. Maybe I’ll actually post things more often about stuff like the Iliad and Odyssey? I’m obviously no like classics expert but hey. I like random people that are in my stories. Also Antinous. I genuinely didn’t think I liked him that much but now that I’m thinking about him he’s really silly- haha funny scruffy man. If anyone asks he is synonymous with the like-

This cat right there. Make it have an ego and boom. Antinous deserves like everything that’s coming to him in the Odyssey and it’s really fun to just watch him rampage

Okay I’m really tired goodnight

[alatismeni-theitsa]

I got an ask with comments about a post where the OP kinda defended the situation with Lies We Sing to the Sea. I will not post the part of the ask with the link because I want to give zero attention to that post. But here is the commentary

The post in question has 1 note so please ignore it and let it remain hidden forever. But I'll comment because I love "taking the piss" as a Brit would say.

i don't trust this scorn [toward the author] to be warranted anymore. from white Greek people especially.

So.... OP excludes 99.5% of all Greeks on the planet (based on what Greeks consider a White person) from commenting on a cultural issue, where appearance plays no role... Ahaaam... Also, half the Middle Easterners and N. Africans can pass as White Greeks so... what does this gal call White and non-White exactly? Well, you know what, let's not indulge her here.

Perhaps I'll send my family over to her house and whomever she deems "ethnic"/"brown" enough, I'll instruct them to tell her her opinion is shit, so we have chances of being heard. I don't agree with bashing Brits just because they're Brits but OP reaaaally sounded like an old white posh Brit here. But even her posh dead fellow countrymen didn't check how light our ancestors were when fighting them to steal their antiquities and land, just sayin

it's not her fault she got a publishing deal and you didn't. be honest for a second, that is what you're mad about, isn't it? that she has a bigger megaphone than you right now.

Wow.. that's an assumption. Since the news broke out first in the publishing world, it's normal for some of the Greeks who called Underwood out to be writers themselves. But no Greek, including Greek writers, called her out because of jealousy. They did it because they were horrified by how little the prominently Anglophone western industry continues to care about actual Greek culture and people while profiting from it in the most inaccurate and dismissive way. Why do you think the drama blew out? Because it's not just a book, it's a treatment of Greece and Greece that's happening for damn centuries!

you lot make fun of poor brits way more than the people in power. funny British accents? working class accents. gross British food? poverty meals. it's punching down. admittedly, i have no clue what Sarah Underwood's finances were or are like, before or after she sold her book.

Her finances were good enough for her to get her hands on the Odyssey and call it things you just Don't call a foreign National Epic. Her financial situation is improved now, and I don't see her getting more culturally respectful or apologizing. And in 2023, the Odyssey with explanation and commentary is accessible to everyone. Even kids books and cartoons on national TV with simple language will give you a better understanding of the work, compared to what Underwood has.

And, how insidious of OP to use poor Brits (as she used non-White Greeks earlier) to prove a point, while in actuality she's shitting on them too! Does she really think poor Brits don't have the capacity to appreciate an Epic?? That cultural disrespect is a characteristic of poor people...??

Based on what I know about the mentality of people in the UK, if Brits with little education make these comments, they will be much more appreciative than Sarah Underwood, and they are more likely to also add "eh my education wasn't the best. I am sure it's a very important piece for the Greeks and for the whole world, since it's so ancient". The average low-income person seems to me much more grounded, and much less audacious when publicly saying negative stuff about our Epics. I think most people wouldn't even dare speak how Underwood spoke if they were aware - as they often are - their education was lacking.

You can usually tell when comments about the Greek Epics are made by people who didn't have privileges, compared to when they're made by people who had ample access to them and they just chose to be dicks. I'll take negative opinions from poor Brits on the street any time over Classics Student Pretentious Talk

[acidic--citrus]

EEEYEEEEHE EEHEHEE EHEEE THANKS SO MUCH FOR TAGGING ME AAAAGGGGGG hehe okay here we go. (seriously thanks for tagging me what a good thing to come back to tumblr to <333333) ill throw mine under a readmore so this long post doesnt get even longer :P lmao

1 - lessee....3 ships, huh? these days im very obviously into wxwood 🥺 beloved... as for the other two, these days, im very into sunny/basil from omori o(-( the game has an iron grip on my brain rn. its being squeezed like a stress ball. the two have made me cry so many many times!!!!!!! WTF./...and as for the third, probably some homestuck ship idk its constantly revolving

2 - first ship.   god.      hmm.      oh dear god i think it might have been hinata and naruto, not from shippuden? but from like. Actual, Naruto like Just Naruto 8′) LMAOOO its okay though. i fortunately realize now that the superior ship is sasunaru ✌ i was so young back then wow crazie. i didnt even know gay people were real back then...‼

3 - LMAO MY LAST SONG GOD FUCK these questions r really #exposing the kind of person i am huh. not counting the song im listening to right now, it was luka luka ☆ night fever.   yeah it was 4 am when i was listening to it.   yeah i was going on a vocaloid nostalgia trip because of kasane teto’s synthv announcement (im still not OVER THAT)

4 - LAST MOVIE LMMMAOOOO ...........         IT WAS THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 yes i came for batjokes. yes i stayed for its stunning stunning animation like hello wtf.......????????? i wish i could go thru it frame by frame 4k HD so i could fully appreciate everything :[[[[[[ alas...... (and before That movie, it was both space odyssey movies!!!! it was a while ago though...i dont watch movies or any media tbh often nowadays)

5 - currently reading.....barring fanfic of course, i guess im currently on the books of the space odyssey series :] ive paused it for now but Oug i srsly gotta get back to it its just sitting on my desk wasting away. waiting for me to pick it back up again AUG

6 - currently watching, i guess TOH!!! my other friends’ve backed me up against a corner, bullying me and saying we’re gonna watch the finale altogether soon so theres that laksdjaklja (lowkey not prepared for the heartrending emotions that are surely to come)...as well as rottmnt!!! i finished the first episode courtesy of my other friend, he egged me into watching it and im so glad i did its so great. gotta get back into that soon too. ※EDIT I FINISHED WATCHING IT AND THAT WAS SO GREAT DANA AND CREW THANK YOU FOR DELIVERING SUCH AN AMAZING SHOW....SNEEFING AND SNORFING AOUUGUG

7 - currently eating.............           ice 8′) PLEAAAASEEE

8 - craving.   YOU GUESSED IT !!!!!!     MORE ICE    though i think ill get sour lemon jelly from downstairs soon after :]

9 - people to tag, eh          ......     after thinking about it a lot, the people i wanna tag have already done this/been tagged by people up above SO  !!! i guess whoever sees this and wants to do this can just do it :33c

9 people you would like to get to know better

tysm for the tag @alexmey-does-an-arts!

1. 3 ships; bowuigi, metadede, heavy/medic(I forget the name lol)

2. first ever ship; alphyne

3. last song; Ghost Cowboys by Louie Zong

4. last movie; Midsommar. That was…something

5. currently reading; Dante and Aristotle discover the secrets of the universe. Pretty fire

6. currently watching; JCS criminal psychology

7. currently consuming; nothing

8. currently craving; Iced Cream. About to go get it. I know there’s mind chip in my freezer (:

9 people to tag; @littlegreenwyvy, @garf-official, @d1nosaurpower, @tractor-inside-joke-fucker, @junkydoodlez, @seacrown, @neldu-nak, @darkcanid19, @stormyykat

[karkatenjoyer]

what your favorite homestuck character says about you

egbert: wow… ur trans gener??? thats so cool. you have a steel-trap mental reservoir of memes and inside jokes, many of which are so niche that only you understand them. shitty movies are your greatest comfort in this world and you kind of know they’re shitty but why must a movie be “good”

dave: you kin dave. you’re kind of embarrassed about liking popular things (homestuck and dave himself included) so you pretend you like them ironically. you have adhd and struggle to do basic household chores. when you see animals you make their animal noise back at them

davesprite: same as dave but your desire to root for the underdog is stronger. you may have grown up in the shadow of an older sibling. or you understand that big-ass wings and sword through the chest is just good character design

jade: you are probably a furry. you are also probably autistic. you went through a phase in the early or mid 2010s where you only wore floral and botanical prints. you genuinely enjoy reading nonfiction reference books. you’re an optimistic sweetheart

rose: you constantly feel like you’re afflicted with divine madness. you like to take things apart to see what makes them work, metaphorically or literally. you are a lesbian. you have mommy issues but you’ve kind of forgiven your mother for causing them

jane: you read nancy drew, junie b. jones, and/or geronimo stilton as a kid. you like cooking and/or baking. you genuinely enjoy logic puzzles like sudoku, crosswords, cryptograms, etc. you’ve either been a camp counselor or would have been a great camp counselor

dirk: you’re an intj. you want to be intimidating but you’re actually extremely awkward and earnest. you read theory. you are very self-critical. you vivdly remember tumblr eras that others strive to forget

hal: same as dirk but significantly more of a rascal plus you have a deep attachment to 2001: a space odyssey (or just sentient bot characters in general)

jake: the hope aspect means a lot to you. you daydreamed throughout all of your classes as a kid (bonus points if this was a symptom of undiagnosed neurodivergence). you probably were/are an adventure time or jojo’s fan

roxy: you play dnd. you have a plethora of blorbos. spell check is turned off on your phone and it shows. there’s way too much on your plate but you would never dream of taking care of yourself before your friends (i love you but c’mon!!). 

aradia: either you want a goth gf or you are a goth gf. you have an interest in witchcraft and/or esoterica. you’ve been through periods of deep depression but you’re ultimately a cheerful and outgoing person

tavros: there is approximately a 90% you’re transmasc. you’ve always used fantasy as an escapist coping mechanism. you’re shy at first but buckwild and super fun once people get to know you

sollux: your sense of humor is very dry. you like bees. you had internet access from too young an age. you’re an extremely reluctant pseudo-babysitter to your friends. you wanna take a nap so bad

karkat: you have numerous and wildly contradictory karkat headcanons. you love to consume media, and you also love to eviscerate the media you consume. you deal with a constant sense of crushing guilt by ceaselessly trying to better your understanding of things, sometimes at the expense of self-compassion. (also you’re soooo epic…. karkat hivemind rise up)

nepeta: you are an autistic catgirl who lives in a cave or you want to be an autistic catgirl who lives in a cave. you definitely read warriors as a kid. you have a kind heart but a very strong stomach (metaphorically speaking). you say :3 and “nya.” you are the backbone of society

kanaya: you generally have excellent taste but your spotify is a fucking mess. you’re a fan of horror movies. you drank coffee in middle school because it made you feel grown up even though you didn’t like the taste. you’re almost certainly autistic (that could be true for a lot of characters tbf but space players are especially autism coded)

terezi: you’re going through a moral or existential crisis at all times but you’re probably laughing about it. as a child you were definitely either a weird girl or weird-girl adjacent. you listen to hyperpop. there’s a good chance you had a life-altering Girl Friendship with your vriska-coded crush

vriska: there’s a good chance you had a life-altering Girl Friendship with your terezi-coded crush. you feel like the villain in your own life, whether or not you actually are. you crave attention, and it troubles you that you do. you feel kinship with pathetic women (affectionate) who cause problems for fun. or, alternately, you are a close personal friend of andrew hussie’s, and you bully minors on twitter

equius: you think he’s funny. or, you started out thinking he was funny, and then became genuinely emotional about how warped his psyche was at such a young age and how much he cared for nepeta. 50/50 chance you’re passionate about some form of dirkquius

gamzee: you think clowns are neat. you remember when gamzee was a sweet little fella who just wanted to share miracles with his friends and you feel genuine (and warranted) disgust at his treatment in the latter part of canon. you might have religious trauma. you really just wanna have a fun time

eridan: you listen to mcr. you used to be a harry potter fan but now you’re non-binary. you feel a connection to the ocean because it is tempestuous and unknowable. you feel a connection with robert pattinson for the same reason

feferi: you tend to be an idealist. empress!fef fascinates you, and you probably prefer to conceptualize her as morally gray despite her good intentions. you’re into eldritch horrors and also cute little knickknacks. you probably had a steven universe phase

i might come back and do the dancestors too because you dancestors fans are very distinct!! 

[antiloreolympus]

10 Anti LO Asks

(Note: All of these asks are before episode 206 (Season 2 finale) so some may be dated.) 1. I can't even trustt this "cute" moment between zeus and artemis bc rachel is just way too anti zeus and too big of a fan of "twist" villains that I just have the feeling she's going to use this as a stepping stone to set up artemis the next villain because idk she doesnt like hades still and be like oh what BETRAYAL of persephone! now both of the twins should be punished now! or w/e.

2. It's not just that a time skip is lazy and out of place, if you're just going to flashback to explain what happened anyway, then don't do a time skip? Just show the progression as you already have done? Why skip ahead only to jump back? She's basically trying to do too many things at once and none of it is done well.

3. the wild part to me is has rachel ACTUALLY read the old texts? because they're way more progressive than her work. demeter's hymn praised her and persephone while calling out the abuse of men, women like aphrodite (who has a ton of sex with many partners) or artemis who didnt have sex were all held to high respect and never shamed for their choices, and stories like the odyssey/Iliad explicitly called out slavery, yet rachel is here in 2022 being ore conservative than men from 800 BC. like???

4. A time skip in LO isn’t a bad idea in and of itself. We’ve been complaining about RS’s slow pacing for years and she’s finally taking a different approach, which is good! The only problem is that her execution of the time skip ends up leaving out integral and interesting details about how the characters’ relationships with each other have changed in the decade since we’ve seen them. I was looking forwards to Minthe and Perse reconciliation arc but we don’t even know how they grew to that point

5. I love the her current look is a "turn off" line tho bc it's both persephone being aware hades is a gross old man who only dates under 25 years olds but doesnt seem to linger on this realization (P is legit so stupid) but also that rachel has zero self awareness that shes not a very good artist bc persephone still looks exactly the same despite being ten years older. like rachel will just say whatever lie she thinks up despite direct contradiction in comic and be like wow im such a good writer

6. Out of all things wrong with LO, I don't think I mind the switch from serious to silly in the mid-season premiere chapter? The part where Zeus gets threatened with ConSEqueNCEs for punishing Persephone is dumb as hell, but the transition to her speaking to the screen like she's talking to the audience before revealing something ridiculous is a tried and tested way of moving to a new scene, so I kinda like it. It's marred by her talk of pierced ears and green hands, but it's not bad.

7. How did you get into  Lore Olympus  in  the first place?

From OP: I found LO after seeing a lot of ads for it. I already knew of its existence but decided to try it because why not (I think I got into it around episode 70ish). I was obsessed with it, not solely because of the romance but because of the art. However, I started to question a lot of the stuff in the story and looked through youtube and tumblr to see if I was the only one feeling this way. Surprise surprise, I wasn’t and now I’m here lol.

8. I'm confused with the whole Artemis being called protector of women. You'd think she would do something to earn that title, but all she did was ask to be with Persephone in the mortal realm? It makes zero sense.

9. I know changing your physical appearance is sometimes an external sign that a change is going on internally but... did RS really have Persephone pierce her ears as the ONLY sign of her taking her life into her hands? I don't mind it as a heavy-handed metaphor but girl has done the bare minimum in ten years (a punishment she was happy with until they actually sentenced her with it) and you're telling me it's #girlboss because she pierced her ears???

10. What's so annoying about the timeskip too is it's not just lazy, it makes the last FOUR YEARS be for nothing. HxP relationship is exactly the same and their characterization is stagnant, big deals like Leto and Kronos are just swept to the side, Eros and Psyche was dropped I guess? Minthe and Daphne is resolved off scrteen, and the now the actual myth is supposed to start after FOUR YEARS of nothing happening? It's just a waste of everyone's time, but Rachel gets rich off of it at least 🤨

[weirdmarioenemies]

Name: Podoboo

Debut: Super Mario Bros.

Before I start this post, I’d like to clear something up. Podoboo? Yes, Podoboo! I’m well aware these enemies are often called Lava Bubbles and that’s the name Nintendo has been trying to make standardised these days, but you know what? You can’t make me! Podoboo is a lot cuter, plus its the name I grew up with and changes in society scare me and cause me to lash out! Maybe Lava Bubble is closer to the Japanese name of just “Bubble”, but since when has that been a factor in any of the localised names? Do you really want to refer as Lakitu as “Jugemu”, huh? I’ll have you know one of my civil rights as a citizen of Wet Dry World is to refer to Mario enemies with whichever official name I please. Like it or leave it!

So this is a post about Podoboo. Do you like Podoboo? I certainly Podo-do! They are perhaps the most generic design you could give to a Mario enemy, a visibly Dangerous Thing with two eyes, but they have always charmed me! It’s the little things, like their distinct shape and the fact their pupils are somewhat wider than most obstacles like this. They bring me comfort in dire times. No matter what happens, I know Podoboo will be there, jumping at a set height in a particular spot of lava! Without them I would be nothing! 

So simple is their design, isn’t it weird to think they started off as even simpler? The Podoboos in the first SMB game are completely blind, and with no eyes they may as well not be creatures at all! Of course, I’m very glad they are creatures, and their iconic behaviour was there from the start! They love to jump, of course! There is nothing they would rather be doing!

Awaken! As of Super Mario World, they have been gifted sight and are no longer blind to the sins of this world! Hurray! What do you think they see as they jump up and down? I’m surprised it doesn’t make them dizzy!

You’ll be glad to hear Podoboos have had an expansive career ever since, now with their new trademark eyes! After all, they are THE lava enemy! Anywhere you’ve got that tasty hot fire juice, these guys are soon to follow! Here they are in Super Mario RPG, called Sparkies here because they couldn’t make up their minds on a localized name and probably because they confused them with Li’l Sparkies. In Yoshi’s Story they even called them Spark Spooks! Geez, I’ll even take the name Lava Bubble over this! But doesn’t this render look nice and juicy?

Though any great career has its flops, and I have to say... I am usually the first to campaign for the unique designs from the first three Paper Marios, but I do not really like this Lava Bubble! This takes away from their distinct Mario-y charm and makes them look like a Fire Enemy you could find in any other game! Though in the RPGs they are able to float around without needing any lava, the ones in Super Paper Mario act just like the platformer ones, jumping around despite not looking like they should be doing that! Ok!

The Podoboo from New Super Mario Bros. DS just wasn’t trying very hard at all. Come on! They could’ve it a bit more justice than this! 

Ah, there we go! The Podoboos in New Super Mario Bros. Wii decided to finally stop messing about and go back to what everyone loved from them in Super Mario World. I encourage experimenting with your identity, of course, but it’s good to be back, and now they are more mortal than ever! A single shot from an Ice Flower is enough to instantly vaporize a Podoboo in a puff of smoke, which is a bit scary! Are they really just pure fireballs that can be put out just like that? What a frightening life to live!

And in Super Mario Galaxy 2, they... hey, wait!! You took away their eyes again! Now you are just being inconsiderate. This outraged me as a kid! One of my most vivid memories of playing this game with my brother involved chanting “Podoboo rights! They deserve eyes!” because this upset me so much. Maybe my past as an activist is why I am so passionate about Mario enemies these days... I think I was 100 percent correct in hindsight, and now you know some of my backstory, too!

What relief it gave me to find out they were back to their usual selves in 3D Land! And they have been ever since, of course getting redesigned for the modern Paper Mario games and everything. 

What’s this? Blue Podoboos! Podo-blues, even...! They show up in 3D World, in its incredibly cool-looking blue lava levels! It’s a well known fact that blue fire is objectively cooler than red fire, and it seems even the Podoboos wanted in on the action! Blue Lava is an actual phenomenon I’ve just learnt, though it’s a sulfuric fire rather than lava. Could it be that Podoboos, being made entirely of lava, adapt to their environment? I’m not sure...

As an aside, the blue Lava Bubbles aren’t to be confused with Lava Bubble (Blue), which are from Mario Galaxy and show up during King Kaliente’s fight! They hop around on the ground and have square-ish eyes, which is enough to make them different I guess!

The Podoboo’s next big appearance, in Super Mario Odyssey, was in Soup! Yes you heard me- Soup! Some delightfully pepto-bismol pink coloured soup, no less. This is why I wasn’t too sure about Podoboo’s being able to adapt to their environment earlier- the Luncheon Kingdom is a big soup volcano after all, but the fact these Lava Bubbles are able to live in it is very interesting!

There is simply no way I would talk about Odyssey here without talking about possibly its greatest achievement, the best game design decision ever made! After decades of begging from fans, they finally did the impossible- they made Podoboo playable! Now it is Podo-you! It is quite unlike the other captures in the game, since it keeps the Podoboo’s simple-looking eyes and simply adds onto it a nose and a mustache! You may very well be the world’s first Podoboo with a sense of smell! I wonder if that is a benefit or not. The constant smell of soup might be a bit overpowering. 

Not only is this delightful, but it gives us more insight into the life of the humble Podoboo. First of all is the fact that they can swim around in lava, not just jump in one spot! Do you think they do this when we aren’t looking? I really hope so! Imagine a school of Podoboos swimming through molten lava in a castle’s moat. How delightful! 

The Luncheon Kingdom is also home to a number of Lava cannons, marked with a Podoboo’s lovely face. These are cannons for only for Podoboos to launch themselves across the kingdom, from one body of lava to another! My question is whether this was technology made by Podoboos themselves or whether it was made by some generous Podoboo lovers as some lava equivalent to the Fish Tube. I think I would take either explanation! 

And last I have a Podoboo appearance that even I, the world’s biggest Podoboo fan, didn’t know about! Paper Mario Color Splash has a Big Lava Bubble boss which speaks with you through a Shy Guy translator! It is quite upset that you barged into its volcano and decided to change the temperature. Mario, of course, kills it anyway, and also the Shy Guy translator without a second thought.

Still, just take a look at this sprite sheet! How cute! A little disappointing that they thinned out the eyes, but wow! They more than make up for it with this range of expressions! An angry Podoboo! A sad Podoboo! And my personal favorite is of course the shocked Podoboo with its assymetrical dot eyes, which might be one of the best things I’ve ever seen. 

To be honest, I could talk about Podoboo forever! If you didn’t stop me, I would go on all day about their every appearance, but I kind of had to limit myself to some of the most relevant ones. I just think they’re neat! And cute! And silly! Besides, I’m Mod F Boy, so I’m basically obliged to talk about fireballs with eyes! But for now I must bid you Pod-adieu! 

...Not! What, did you really believe me? Well you clicked the Keep Reading button, so you only have yourself to blame for this. Here I am talking about more Lava Bubbles from all over, because Lava Bubble’s career has taken it BEYOND the Mario series! Wow!

Podoboo’s had quite a few appearance in the Zelda series, appearing in Link’s Awakening, both the Oracle games, and even Cadence of Hyrule! Their Zelda wiki page is still called Podoboo instead of Lava Bubble, which means those Zelda fans have it better than we do. But wow, this is a pretty angry looking Podoboo! I wouldn’t mess with them! 

Both the Oracle games even had a Podoboo Tower! Amazing! They look quite a lot like a Fire Snake, but they are simply a tower of Podoboos! Why don’t they do this more often?

Hm... The Cadence of Hyrule one doesn’t have any eyes. Come on guys! It’s 2019! Podoboos having eyes should be standard! Though they still made the conscious decision to call them “Podoboos” in 2019, so I can’t be too mad. 

And they have even spread to Minecraft! In the Mario Mash-up Pack, they replace the Magma Cube enemies, and really there was no better choice for this. And now we have a Podoboo Cube! What more could possibly be left for Podoboo?

The answer is obvious- Podoboo in real life! Thanks to a certain Lego Mario set, Podoboo is now real and can be in your home for the small price of 19,99 US dollars. Please give a Podoboo a home today! Just make sure you don’t own anything flammable.