#but no not even that

[aho-dapa]

Worldbuilding Illyria + a sort of rant on sjm’s writing, again

I’m sorry but quick idea, yknow what would have been cool, (while the Illyrians were an actual collection of people in history from what I gather--groups of people that likely didn’t call themselves Illyrians at all), is some Sparta parallels with Illyria. Would have been cool is all I’m saying. Not only very warrior oriented but also treated women differently. Very matrilineal and all that and women were likely still expected to be athletic. 

But also would have been cool to highlight how even though women had some more freedoms than their other ‘greek’ counterparts, they still had their own disadvantages like not being able to be involved in politics and stuff. Would have been great actually to show how women with power can still be oppressed, would have been stellar and an actual conversation starter but eh. 

BUT YOU KNOW WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER???

actually using the history of the people you named your people after. 

Or even parallels with Rome and the whole bar bar thing where the word barbarian comes from. 

Its giving: 

Velaris = Rome 

Hewn City = could represent the places Rome conquered / vassal type thing

Illyria = literally every unclassified tribe altogether known as barbarians 

Would have been great to actually show the different tribes of Illyria and their different customs like mini greek states or actual Illyrian tribes / poleis things or even mention that’s why they are so hard to control because of how different they are

this idea isn’t that thought out so a lot of stuff here might be wrong but I think its a cool thing to think about 

Also, kinda bothers me how the Illyrians are never given empathy in sjm’s narrative, they’re always brutes who hate women, where’s the nuance, where’s the tradition and the culture, what even about religions?? They're not even a people at this point, they're just a weak feminist narrative that doesn’t even try to tackle why this society is structured the way it is, and if you don’t understand the structure of something, how can even even begin to try to change it or even make judgements on it? You’ll end up sounding holier than thou, especially to the people your ‘trying’ to help

i’m just now realizing just how greek/rome everything is in sjm’s book, they don’t even get into anything truly celtic or irish even though a lot of the series’s lore is based on those cultures??? Don’t even get me started on the summer court, I have no idea what that’s supposed to be? Greek? Italy? African?? I don’t understand if Tarquin is supposed to be black or not (tbh it feels like just general POC rep but its very hard for me to understand what POC are in sjm world) some people see him as black but also brown?? (I also hate using those descriptors as if they mean more than just slapping melanin on a character and calling it a day) Idk, gods, helion??? Idk, idk, maybe I just don’t know enough to even make a sound judgement 

Not to mention so many of the names are so greek sounding

Like Helion, likely related to Helios, Greek god of the sun

We full stop got someone named Lord Thanatos running around in Hewn City

Does this mean Mor has Irish connotations?? Like my main frustration comes from that there’s very little identifiers for me (and maybe this is just me not knowing about Irish mythology) and if there are, it only feels like a cameo??

The fact the only thing I know about the ‘chinese’ land sjm wrote about is only the name of it, Xian. And Nuan, where only her appearance is mentioned to look like Amren’s. Which idk, tbh, it leaves a lot of room for irl interpretation. Asian, after all, is not just chinese. (And tbh if you didn’t know that Xian and Nuan are chinese sounding names, would they even understand that it’s chinese coded??)

The fact that Thesan also has ancestry to Xian means literally nothing to me, I don’t get to see that culture so it makes no bearing on that lineage, yknow??

I can’t believe I was so excited to think that sjm was going to actually do something with Xian, maybe even see some traditional outfits that would look different than the kinda europe medieval vibes we had going on... listen acotar was my first sjm book, I still had hope back then 

(gods, don’t get me started on Nehemia and Eyllwe, I haven’t even read crown of midnight yet and I’m still pissed off)

Again, idk, I would love to have a conversation about this especially since I’m very much speaking from a spanish/mexican perspective that grew up with a mixed family, so having culture behind the skin tone always makes it better to me when reading fantasy books, even if it’s made up, because people can have a skin tone that doesn’t match with that specific perception of a culture yknow 

Like what if someone grew up in japan and did all the culture things, but looks like a typical white lady, what then? 

I wouldn't even mind if sjm mixed some cultures around to make something new so that it wasn’t so one to one, but idk anyways 

what even is sjm’s calanmai

[unprofessionalclownery]

being f2p is awkward when ppl try to communicate w you and you have literally no way to communicate back 😭

it was me and one other guy on helltower n they wanted to complete contract stuff, y'know? n they tried talking to me n asked if i wanted help completing stuff and there was nothing i could do except an attempt at nodding akskdkdkdjfj

[hualianisms]

verified ways to donate to gaza directly

[this post is outdated. up-to-date version here.]

Donate to a Palestinian family directly:

gazafunds.com - Donate directly to a Palestinian family in urgent need of evacuation, medical treatment, daily necessities or more. Site run by Palestinians, all GFMs verified (full list here). Spotlights 1 stagnant GFM at a time. (*If you can't decide who/where to donate, just go to gazafunds.com & donate to the 1 GFM they show you!)

masterlist of 200+ verified Palestinian families' GFMs: Operation Olive Branch

Help provide tents:

The Sameer Project: Currently providing tents & transport for families in Rafah who urgently need to evacuate to Deir Al Balah. Has a team on the ground in Gaza who have supplied tents to 1% of the displaced population in Rafah. Run by Palestinians. (paypal) (gfm)

@helpgazachildren: Currently helping Palestinians in a refugee camp in Rafah flee the Rafah invasion to Khan Younis. Funds go directly to Hussam, a Palestinian in Rafah who hosts a refugee camp. Funds will cover the cost of tents & transport fuel. Managed by a Palestinian @.fairuzfan. (gfm)

Food:

Care for Gaza: Palestinian charity on the ground in Gaza distributing food, cash, medicine & other essentials to displaced families. Proof of their work found on their Twitter. (paypal) (gfm)

We Feed Gaza: Team of Palestinian volunteers in the heart of Gaza distributing food & water to 344+ families. More details & proof in their gfm. Vetted & promoted by LetsTalkPalestine on IG. (gfm)

Direct Aid for Gaza: A Palestinian activist on the ground in Gaza distributing food, cash & other essential supplies to displaced families. Proof of their work found on their twitter. (paypal) (gfm)

Water (*urgent and crucial!)

Gaza Municipality: The official Municipality of Gaza is doing vital, life-saving work to rebuild the water pipes in Gaza City to restore access to clean water & waste management services for the people of Gaza.

eSIMs (*very urgent):

guide to buy & send esims to gaza

Crips for eSims for Gaza: donate any amount to this team of volunteers who pool funds to buy & maintain gaza esims regularly (see their financial accountability document).

Medical Aid:

Gaza Wound Care: Palestinian doctors in central Gaza treating injured/sick children & mothers in neglected displacement camps far from hospitals. Facing a severe shortage of medicines, equipment, and medical supplies. Currently raising funds to support their efforts to battle infectious diseases in refugee camps. (gfm) (paypal) (gogetfunding)

international charities: Palestine Red Crescent Society, Palestine Children's Relief Fund, Medical Aid for Palestinians

How to help if you can't donate:

Share & amplify Palestinian fundraisers in your irl & online circles

Organize or help to run an online/irl event to raise funds for Palestine

Boycott

Get involved with a protest/strike/direct action in your area

Contact your reps

Educate yourself & others both irl & online

Daily clicks on Arab.org

(you can even adopt 1 fundraiser campaign to regularly boost it & make materials promoting it online, or print posters/flyers about Palestinian fundraisers to encourage others to donate. (poster/graphic about gazafunds.com: here, flyers about esims: here, flyers about gazafamilyfunds: here)

(longer masterpost of all ways you can help)

(*all these links and more now in this rentry page. will no longer be updating this post, instead refer to the rentry page)

Last updated 3/6/2024 with Gaza Wound Care & We Feed Gaza. Wanted to focus on Palestinian-run grassroots initiatives that will actually reach Gazans on the ground, so all of these except eSIMs, PCRF, MAP are by Palestinians. Donating to international orgs is not ideal rn as aid is still being stopped at the border. Please focus on Palestinian-run initiatives on the ground in Gaza.

Remember, small donations really do add up. Any amount counts, even $1!

[chiisana-lion]

[tododeku-or-bust]

Shout out to all the Black ppl that can no longer participate directly in the fandom they love because of the stresses of racism 👍🏾 you contain multitudes of value and I'm sorry that the color of your skin and the power of your voice makes people not want to acknowledge that.

[slutdge]

could you imagine trying to navigate this bar drunk, this is the 9th circle of hell

[faeriekit]

"This fic was ai generated—" Cool, so lemme block you real quick

[copepods]

crazy how 4 hours of work will literally take up my entire 15+ hour day. who allowed this

[inkskinned]

please i love you i'm begging you bring back suspension of disbelief bring back trusting the audience like. i cannot handle any more dialogue that sounds like a legal document. "hello, i am here to talk to you about the incident from a few minutes ago, because i feel you might be unwell, and i am invested in your personal wellbeing." "thank you, i am unwell because the incident was hurtful to me due to my childhood, which was bad." I CANT!!!!

do you know how many people are mad that authors use "growled" as a word for "said"? it's just poetics! they do not literally mean "growled," it's just a common replacement for "said with force but in a low tone." it's normal! do you hear me!! help me i love you please let me out of here!!!

[everythingwasnormalhere]

pls rb if you think cuddling doesn't have to be s3xual

im tryna prove a point to my bf's mother help me out

[emilnikos]

love it when my friends say "you would do numbers on Tumblr" buddy I am on Tumblr. and the number is 3

[fangs-4-fags]

remembering the time i drunkenly told a stranger i was a trans man and he started going off about alpha sigma and beta males and how each one was equally important no matter what anyone says and that i shouldn't feel pressured to be a strong alpha male because emotionally intelligent beta males were just as important

[werewolf-transgenderism]

just watched a video of a wildlife rehabber tube-feeding the teeny tiniest orphaned baby opossum and the comments are fucking KILLING me

baby opossum (too teeny, hasn’t finished cooking in the marsupial pouch like it ought to have done, doesn’t even look like it should exist):

the comments:

[rottenfleshnbones]

i care btw. i care abt the song ur listening to or the bug u saw or how u just got outta the shower or how ur happily hanging out w ur friends or how ur kinda sad or how good was the meal u just had or ur fav character from an indie game nobody knows or if u chugged down some water. i always will

[sisterdragonwithfeathers]

this is your random reminder to CHECK IF YOU'RE STILL HAVING FUN

are you enjoying scrolling tumblr? watching youtube? reading that book? playing that game? drawing that art? doing that activity? if not,

YOU CAN STOP AND DO SOMETHING ELSE

you don't have to stick to something that you are doing for fun if it isn't fun for you anymore. You can come back! If you've loved it before you are likely to love it again! but you can stop!

Don't get stuck in a loop of doing something that you think should be fun when it isn't! You can put it down for a bit! Maybe that's the very thing that will make it fun again later!

[longsightmyth]

People are so stupid about snakes. If there's a little black racer chilling outside just leave it alone, you don't have to kill it, it's probably dealing with all your pests for you, jesus christ