#happy because i read book

[egophiliac]

ENG PLAYERS I BESEECH YOU

I have been informed that you guys are getting part 4 of episode 7 tomorrow, which means we are FINALLY going to get the official romanization of Revaan's name, somebody please tell me because I need to know what it is.

like, yes, it's probably just Revan/Levan, but look, I'm sitting here with my finger over the button of all these Laverne and Shirley jokes and just waiting for the opportunity to deploy them --

[airoarts]

Leader and deputy

[Image description: a digital painting of Squirrelstar and Ivypool from Warriors. Squirrelstar is a small dark red cat with green eyes, standing in front of the much taller Ivypool, a gray tabby-and-white cat with blue eyes and many battle scars. The background is dark blue. end ID]

[homoeroticgrappling]

Danhausen tweeted this after his GCW match and I couldn't help but think about his tweet when he started looking for bookings

[brother-emperors]

frequently what happens is I'll be drawing a comic and think, huh. I wonder what shoes a 14th/15th century cardinal would wear. I bet they had fancy rules about it, and the answer will be in a 500 page book about the early modern cardinal. I'll think, 'WELLLLLL since I'm already here, I'll check out this other chapter that sounds interesting,' and then I'll find out that the vatican is literally hazardous to your health, but from that point on I'll be locked in for the entire book. I'll start reading through all the citations while checking to see what else some of the contributors have written. the comic has been forgotten entirely because I need to know more about the hats.

[sneez]

some gwynplaines and deas because they are all i have been thinking about

[causeimanartist]

draw more of what you want, I had literally forgotten about my sister the vampire, you hit me in the nostalgia

Join me in the nostalgia!

[astraystayyh]

i literally was thinking about this yesterday before going to sleep.. small joys really go a long way. i learned this the hard way but, if you spend your entire life waiting for an epiphany where you'll finally experience this everlasting happiness then, odds are you'll never truly be happy..

[nightswatchdisbandmentera]

I really don’t think we should be treating morality as a linear thing in ASOIAF because what often happens is that we start to stray from the actual conversations that we need to be having regarding the depths of making a moral choice and even the circumstances involved. To try and blankly paint any one character as the “most morally good” isn’t really taking us anywhere. And it certainly isn’t helpful when people in this fandom want to try and prove that characters are “grey” but not moral (what does that even mean??) because they did one “bad” thing. If ASOIAF stans were to have their way, then:

Jon is not a morally good person because he threatened Gilly

Dany cannot be considered to be compassionate because she sanctioned torture against the wine seller’s daughters

Arya cant be good because she has killed people

and so on, and so on….

But this is such a draining, and oft times frustrating, conversation to have because you see just how shallow the above listed examples are? Readers are listing only singular instances across a narrative that spans thousand and thousands of pages, and there’s absolutely no context involved. Why did Jon threaten Gilly? Why did Dany resort to torture and at one point did she do it? Who did Arya kill and why? And why do those singular instances negate everything else in their arcs?

What usually happens when we have the 12847647282th unnecessary conversation about who is the “most good” character in ASOIAF is that we start getting blanket statements with no elaboration. And the only people ever considered are Ned, Brienne, and Davos, and sometimes the children like Shireen or Tommen. Mind you, Ned and Davos are not perfect or without their own faults either; much has been said about Ned’s abilities as a father and it’s implied that Davos was not entirely faithful to his wife. And based on her current arc, Brienne will surely have to make morally tough choices regarding oaths and knightly honor. Plus theres the irony of including literal children when they have not been put in situations where they actually have to make morally difficult choices and live with the consequences.

ASOIAF shows us that people who are capable of incredible kindness and compassion are also capable of doing unpleasant things.

Jon threatened Gilly….because he was trying to save another child whom he believed to be at risk of human sacrifice(!!) and was stuck between a rock and a hard place. But why does that singular instance negate the fact that his arc has been about him standing up for the “lesser than”? Why does that negate the fact that he stood up for Sam against a superior when there was nothing to gain for him? Why does it negate the fact that he went out of his way to equip Arya in a way that society would have deemed inappropriate? Why does it negate the fact that he dedicated the entirety of his time as Lord Commander to fight an institution that had upheld racism/xenophobia for millennia? Why should we filter out all those moments of kindness, compassion, and deep empathy that Jon has even without him thinking?

Dany sanctioned torture….but she was trying to solve the murder of an innocent victim AND this brought her no joy. But why does that negate the fact that when she gained unimaginable power, she could’ve high tailed to Westeros to use it to her benefit and become queen, but instead chose to stay in Essos where she has no personal responsibility just so she could fight the institutional evil that is slavery? Why does it negate Dany who went to personally treat plague victims at great risk to herself?

Arya has killed some….but it’s in self defense or in defense of others who are disenfranchised. But why does this negate that she is one of the few people in the series how goes out of her way to show kindness and friendship to those who are not as economically or politically advantaged as she is (e.g., Mycah)? Why does it negate that she took fellow slaves under her protection when she herself had little power to fight for her own survival at Harrenhall? Why does it negate that when she saw those caged soldiers whom she was angry with for their actions, instead of leaving them to die instead offered them the only kindness she could at the moment: a drink of water?

Trying to have arguments about morality but stripping everything down to ‘x character did y bad thing (regardless of context) and that’s why they can’t be good’ is, to be blunt, ridiculous. And it isn’t a particularly interesting way to engage with the text. Character journeys, especially well written ones, are rarely ever in a straight line. There’s amazing highs and terrible lows. GRRM gives us so many characters like Jon, Dany, Arya, Sansa, Ned, etc. who even in their lows, have gleams of compassion and exceptional kindness. It doesn’t do anyone any good to filter those moments out to make the books more digestible; and I’m being a little generous here, because so many readers have a very shallow level of engagement with the series and it shows in conversation. And we also shouldn’t pit these characters unfairly against those who have never been in similarly difficult situations that required them to make hard choices. Because when we do, we start to completely miss the point all together.

[the---hermit]

28|02|2024

Tis time for an update because in the past few days I have felt very overwhelmed. It's been an intense couple of days made of big decisions. After a very emotional session with my therapist and talking with my parents I came to the conclusion that the healtest thing to do now is to take a break from studying and try to recover from this burn out. I decided to drop out from my class, I will take the exam with more materials like people who don't follow lectures, and I will be doing that in the future. I am now going to take the next month to rest and not study, and after this pause I will plan my next moves and exams. I will have to fight my guilt response a bit but this is truly the only thing I can do to mend my health right now. Hopefully taking this month off will get me back on my feet because I am not in a great place right now. To avoid making this update too negative here are some happy things that happened in the past few days:

met the two tiny goats my uncle got, got to cuddle one and she fell asleep in my arms

had a lovely walk in the woods which felt very healing

redescovered cross stitch embroidery as an hobby and it's sparking so much joy

had a trip to the bookstore with my mom and got a couple of graphic novels

talked to the professor of the class I am dropping out of and she was extremely comprehensive and offered so much help in case I will need any

had yet another friend date that was very recharing

helped my brother with painting walls at his place

📖: Babel by R.F. Kuang, Dubliners by Joyce, Oh! Il Libro Delle Meraviglie by Leo Ortolani

[july-19th-club]

i know for a fact i have made this post before but for me it's very important that bbc merlin is a pointless tragedy. it wouldn't be good (it's frequently not good anyway but it would be a lot further away from good) if it wasn't a pointless tragedy! it's simply not arthuriana if it doesn't go past the high point of the heroic/legendary/high medieval romance stuff and end with detailed rundowns of exactly how everybody got betrayed and died like that is what makes it real arthuriana to me and not just a silly show about a wizard

[loganlostitall]

Me right now explaining every single un-narrated thought happening in Katniss’ head binging The Hunger Games with @celtic-crossbow because l've read the books and she hasn't and there's a lot of small and important details that go unmentioned in the films

I haven’t shut up for five hours

[ecoamerica]

Watch the 2024 American Climate Leadership Awards for High School Students now: https://youtu.be/5C-bb9PoRLc

The recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by student climate leaders! Join Aishah-Nyeta Brown & Jerome Foster II and be inspired by student climate leaders as we recognize the High School Student finalists. Watch now to find out which student received the $25,000 grand prize and top recognition!

[kazoo-the-demjin]

Kind of feel bad for people who head into the books after having already engaged- even passively- with the aftg fandom. like there are so many things that are meant to surprise you. the 'oh's. The looking at everything with neil's pov and only after completing the series realizing what a fucking idiot he was at times. The kisses. Those reveals. The thunderclap of "Doesn't mean I wouldn't-***". Somehow, those guys already know all this. They know at the end there's gonna be a pairing, and that kinda takes away the beauty and surprise of it. They know about a game, the deaths, the characters. It's kinda sad they're never gonna enjoy it the way we did

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

Compound Fracture

YA thriller set in rural West Virginia

follows an autistic trans boy who survives being almost killed by the Sheriff’s son after a party, and accidentally kills one of the boys who hurt him when he tries to get back at him

and is pulled head-first back into the 100 year old feud between his & the sheriff’s families, that began when his great-great grandfather was executed after inciting a miner’s rebellion, the grandfather whose ghost has started to haunt him

community & family & socialist revolution

aro-questioning MC

arc from netgalley, out september 3

[sunstainedpages]

IT'S HERE!!!! I HAVE IT!! THE NEW EMILY WILDE BOOK!!!!

I'm so fucking excited!!!

^ actually me

[jayktoralldaylong]

TRIGGER WARNING: MENTIONS OF RAPE

CAPTIVE PRINCE SPOILERS

You know what? This is.... Paces the room and slaps the wall with an open palm. No, this is definitely..... Punches a hole through the wall.

At this point, at this point, if I was Laurent, I would just let my uncle kill to be fucking honest. This is the height of things that have happened and I am losing my mind. It's not like I'm surprised, it's just the overwhelming audacity and endless betrayal.

I'm the one with unnatural feelings? ME?? YOU'RE the one who f*cking RAPED ME at the vulnerable age of THIRTEEN!!! I would lose my shit.

Not only has the Regent let this stupid believable rumour foster because everyone is well aware of how much Laurent worshipped his brother Auguste, but now he raises it as a countermeasure against Laurent ever revealing the truth. Like who the fuck are the people going to believe? Their bitchy prince or their seemingly benevolent leader with a heart of gold (he goes around fucking children!!! He's been bedding Nico since he was TEN!!! SCREAMS IN UNDILUTED RAGE!!)

I can't! I can't stand him. How?! Omg. Hoooow can people lie like they speak the truth? How can they do it without a shred of remorse? He took advantage of a young child at the time he needed him the most and he's flaunting that vulnerability, he's using it to his advantage because no one knows he likes children, because those who do know would never fathom that such a good man would do such a thing to his fucking nephew! He turned his nephew into a viper, he is the reason Laurent has no friends, no allies, betrayal and betrayal and yet another betrayal. And when the truth about Damen comes out everything is going to fall apart and I can't stand it. I can't stand any of this! I'm losing my mind. How? How has Laurent possibly put up with this for nearly ten years? I would have just given up and let the Regent take me, this is madness!!

[ecoamerica]

Watch the American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 now: https://youtu.be/bWiW4Rp8vF0?feature=shared

The American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 broadcast recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by active climate leaders. Watch to find out which finalist received the $50,000 grand prize! Hosted by Vanessa Hauc and featuring Bill McKibben and Katharine Hayhoe!