#passing is problematic

[retellingthehobbit]

(Link here) Picture me with a conspiracy stringboard, a copy of the Unfinished Tales, and several essays about how LOTR/The Hobbit are meant to be flawed translations of ancient texts written by biased authors, and gesturing wildly as I explain how we can reinterpret The Hobbit as a funky little gay metaphor actually. we can do it. I believe

[my-name-is-apollo]

I know Ares being Zeus' least favorite child is a popular interpretation, but I think it's interesting that Callimachus' hymn says otherwise:

And thou didst not tremble before the anger of Hera, who murmured terribly against all child-bearing women that bare children to Zeus, but especially against Leto, for that she only was to bear to Zeus a son dearer even than Ares.

– Callimachus, Hymn to Delos (trans. A.W Mair)

Only Leto would bear a son who would be dearer to Zeus than Ares is. Which means that the sons that other women bore were not as dear to Zeus as Ares is, if I'm interpreting this correctly. It's honestly kinda fascinating.

[cybertron-smash-or-pass]

Cyberverse Perceptor

[blvvdk3ep]

I don't know if this is just a Twitter phenomenon, but I am sick of some IWTV fans acting like those who identify Lestat as being abusive are being dramatic or misreading the show. Lestat's villainy intersects racial and supernatural lines; every power he has over Louis, physically or societally, he subtly uses to lure him in and to control him. He's a fantastic character precisely because he's charismatic, beautifully polished, thoughtful, and passionate, but also cruel, hiding a profound ugliness, so deranged about love it turns around into something monstrous, capable of unthinkable violence towards those he loves. And the first set of traits (are used by him to) disguise the second set. He's obviously purposefully written like that and dismissing that is doing the writers a disservice. They wrote an amazing fucking character, and he's selfish, manipulative, and yes, abusive to Louis and Claudia, and he's so cleverly written that even at his most cruel when he gets what he deserves, you can't help but feel just a little bit sorry for him. Ignoring that brilliance just to unironically uwu softboy he never did anything wrong babygirlify him is soooo lame sorry

[hzdtrees]

on the road

[nerevar-quote-and-star]

I see people ship their characters with Daedric Princes, or at least simp and/or thirst very hard for them coughNocturnalcough but like what about the Aedra? The Divines? Yeah, no one wants to ship their character with Talos. I understand. But there are other options! Dibella-shaped options! And Stendarr, okay? I like Stendarr. And Arkay. And I know you all love Kyne/Kynareth, don't lie!

[writeitinsharpie]

gdi why did the queer video essayist i liked turn out to be a plagerizer

[linkahavocz99]

Acab includes judy hopps but it doesn’t include akane tsunemori. In between these ends of the spectrum lies jen from power rangers.

[irrevocablecondition]

every single month i forget to keep up with my fic recap list but it's now READY ! and every single month i wonder how that 3.3 million word month happened because i've done nothing but read in november and i have not surpassed it.

[luetta]

[do-you-know-this-queer-character]

For reference if you're a non Warcraft fan or haven't been keeping up with WoW, Warcraft has blatantly racially coded fantasy races like the trolls have jamaican accents, wear tiki masks and grass skirts, and practice voodoo in Jungles, whilst the tauren (Minotaurs) have feather headdress, smoke peace pipes, have totem poles and tepees, ETC.

Warcraft's so called new "woke" writers have doubled down on the "PoC coded monsters are evil" stuff with the very few good characters from those races being depicted as the "good ones" because they reject the savage ways of their people and side with white humans.

They've also whitewashed any bad actions from white characters.

Around the same time, Mathias Shaw was confirmed as gay, we got 2021's Shadowlands where:

There was a story with the pure and good white colonizers vs the completely evil savage natives that deserved to be wiped out because they didn't want to share.

Confirmation that the gods that the white races worshipped were real, whilst the gods of the tauren and other PoC coded races were fake.

An afterlife where all spirits are converted to bodies resembling caucasian humans.

A POC coded character (Zul'jin) that fought against the white colonizers that stole his land and treat his people as vermin to be exterminated, being one of the only characters being sent to Hell, whilst white characters whom did far worse weren't.

Real world revered voodoo loa Dambala being depicted as a God of evil that players are sent to kill.

So I think more people should've voted negatively on Mathias Shaw because whilst the character himself isn't racist, he's closely associated with horrible racist writing that thought throwing a white gay character in to their broke ass script script would somehow make it "woke".

I encourage people to interpret the poll options in whatever way they want, whether that's the character's writing, the strength of the representation, or their overall feelings on the media. I've talked about this before, but at the end of the day I am not trying to be an arbiter of what media is good and what's not, because I am simply not qualified to be. I sincerely appreciate when people send in asks like this detailing the issues with a piece of media so that other people can be more aware in the future. All posts like this are tagged with "media critical"!

[hayatiayad]

Yk this shit actually gets serious when I'm liking some man with LESS TO NO feeling of lust over him. Which for me is crazy, considering I'm one with hypersexuality (it's a twisted way of self-mechanism 💔)

Told blobfish and he said I might be in love. Like fr this time.

For the past few experiences, I've only went through either small crushes, mutual crushes, or 'I feel like I'm js babysitting him' phase...

But actual love...?

...

😀😧

[fictionturnedherbrain]

Don't know why I thought about this, but I'd love to know which fictional fave of mine people take issue with, if any!

[sugarsnappeases]

hi karaaaaaa talk to me about any rare pair you feel like yapping about <3

aaaaaa hiii this made me so happy <333 i’ve decided it’s Time for us to have a proper chat about tomlily….. @quillkiller and i’s second-born child

the first thing you need to know is that they’re both sociopaths (sociopath lily oh how i looove youuu)..... i made this post before about the quote 'beautiful monsters composed of every individual perfection' and how it relates to lily, but i think it's interesting to consider in terms of her being a sociopath (this is actually how our first tomlily convo began, way back whenever it was). her making sure that every part of herself is viewed as perfect, carefully curating her public image - she's the miracle muggleborn! so smart, so kind, so helpful and friendly and every single good characteristic! a shoe-in for head girl, the perfect prefect, responsible and hard-working and everything that anyone could possibly want from her! and she's good at it too. everyone sees her exactly as she wants them too..... not unlike our good friend tom marvolo riddle when he was at hogwarts...........

i think one of the central parts of their relationship is the concept of immortality. they’re both kind of made up of the same sort of thing. they’re the same at their cores. both of them showed up at hogwarts as muggleborns thrust into a completely new world and they’re both so determined to succeed and be more than what they came from and to have absolutely everything, to have their cake and eat it too!!!!! for lily, this comes in the form of being revered, putting herself on a pedestal, she’s going to Leave Her Mark and be remembered and she doesn’t care what she has to do to get there (btw i really recommend this fic about sociopath lily, it’s so so interesting and i think nearly entirely encapsulates my vision of her……). the idea that if she can’t be immortalised in her deeds while she’s alive, she’s going to become immortal in her death, martyring herself. she’s a saint, she’s a puppet master, she’s as close to a god as a girl can get.

without. of course. resorting to actual immortality. which is the path tommy boy chooses. obviously. i think there are such parallels here. he’s a presumed-muggleborn, in slytherin, the house of the ambitious and the pureblood supremacists, he’s got the biggest god complex known to man and he grew up in an orphanage in london in the middle of the blitz!!!! all factors that contribute to his fear of death and his desperation to be More Than That. more than just another orphan killed by a bomb. more than just another nameless muggleborn lost in the pureblood-centric society. more than anything that anyone has ever seen before. he’s going to make a name for himself, and he’s going to make sure that nobody ever forgets it, and he’s going to be immortal. he’s going to be more god than man (even if it makes him a monster).

anyway. taking them together, as you can see, they’re cut from the same cloth (although side note!! i think lily’s lack of fear of death gives her the potential to be even more dangerous than tom is….) and bc of this, they’re the only ones who can see under each other’s carefully curated masks (although!! another side note… i think they each have another person who can - dumbledore for tom, and petunia for lily, but that’s not entirely relevant rn).

they understand each other and they want to cut each other open and burrow their way into each other’s rib cages. they kill people together - lily is much more messy w it, all blood under her nails and on her teeth. tom prefers the cleanliness of an avada kedavra but the blood gets all over his clothes anyway from when he touches lily. also cannibalism and intricate blood rituals that bind them together forever and intertwining themselves so thoroughly that nothing could ever separate them (although! another side note! jen and i don’t think they’re at all interested in sex. the other things they do (murder etc) are far more intimate and romantic and exciting to them!!!!).

and in the end, they’ll kill each other, pull each other apart and devour each other entirely. the only person who could possibly kill tom is lily, and vice versa, they’re the only ones that would have the right to, or the power to, or deserve to etc etc. at the end it’s always them, a ticking time-bomb. them and a knife or a gun or a curse or a fire and their teeth sinking into each other and their blood flowing through each other’s veins and over each other's dying bodies. bc tom is the only one that Sees lily and lily is the only one that Sees tom, and they recognise themselves in each other and it’s soul-deep and dangerous and nasty and hungry and knowing and self-destructive and so so so sooooo interesting to me

consider: two people w the most Pristine public reputations. they’re politicians or something w bright white smiles and absolutely No skeletons in the closet. it’s a Win for non-purebloods worldwide to see them succeeding, they’re exemplary students and people and Public Figures. EXCEPT!!!! as it turns out!!!! they’re fucking serial killers!!!!! i imagine them falling asleep in each other’s arms covered in blood from their latest victim, having their morning shower together, washing the blood out of each other’s hair and then going into the office….. they get caught. eventually. obviously. and it’s probs lily’s fault lol. but GOD guysss just imagine the scandal. the headlines. the shock and intrigue and horror at these two Perfect People having done such horrific things. they go on the run and/or commit a little bit of murder-suicide before they get caught btw. like i said nobody kills them but each other…. anyway enough from me!!!! thank you for letting me ramble <333

[finnleyfishy]

I’ve started a new book to listen too (the actual book is to expensive) while I do my work. I am going in blind. Is this a good idea from what I know about Captive Prince? Absolutely not. Am I going to do it regardless of the fact that it’s not a good idea? Yeah, obviously.

I will keep you all updated and when something alarming or crazy happens, I will let you all know 👍👍👍

Spoiler warning going forward (if I actually remember to do this, of course)

[musclesandhammering]

You can’t argue that lokius isn’t mlm because Loki’s genderfluid and then turn around and call sylki a m/f ship btw.