Trying not to link everything to ORV all the time challenge (failing miserably)

Rick Riordan try not to make every "strong" female character be snarky and mean and insult and be obsessively toxic and hurt other characters, especially male character challenge extreme.

Rick Riordan try not to make all male characters stupid or unable to function without their significant others only to raise the status of other female characters under a fake, fragile mask of feminism challenge impossible.

Rick Riordan try not to pair up every single character and/or force them into the Hunters of Artemis and make them aro/ace challenge extremely impossible.

Rick Riordan try to write a book without piss jokes, pedophilia, victim blaming, excusing rapists, grooming, child trafficking, weirdly suggestive manipulation (not in a good way), ABSOLUTELY NERF complex characters, incorrect representation of Greek, Roman, Norse and Egyptian mythology, incorrect representation of minorities and smaller ethnicities/POC/culture, fake feminism, LGBTQIA+ community challenge MISSION ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE.

Rick Riordan try not to nerf your own plot and timelines and your own characters only to create cash-grabs that appease all fans by creating something "fanon" and promoting bullying, stereotypes, stupidity and toxicity and forget why the hell you wrote the series in the first place CHALLENGE. ABSOLUTELY. EXTREMELY. IMPOSSIBLE.

क्यूँ देस बिदेस फिरे मारा क्यूँ हाल बेहाल थका हारा क्यूँ देश बिदेश फिरे मारा तू रात बिरात का बंजारा

ओ नादान परिंदे घर आजा .... काटे चाहे जितना परों से हवाओं को खुद से ना बच पायेगा तू तोड़ आसमानों को फूँक दे जहानों को खुद को छुपा ना पायेगा तू कोई भी ले रास्ता तू है तू में बस्ता अपने ही घर आएगा तू

Translation:

Why do you wander your own and foreign lands

Why, you needlessly tired (creature)

Why do you wander your own and foreign lands

You nomad of the twilight and night

O innocent (winged) creature, come home

....

No matter how much you cut the wind with your wings

You won't be safe from yourself

Break the skies

Blow worlds away

You can't hide yourself

No matter what road you take you are your own baggage

You will return to your own home

"I don't want to read this" is totally valid.

"This is disgusting to me" is totally valid.

"I don't want to read this because it is disgusting to me" is totally valid.

"I don't think anyone should be allowed to read or write this because it is disgusting to me" is authoritarian.

"I don't think anyone should be allowed to read or write this because it is disgusting to me" is authoritarian.

Bro, blocking someone and then using their tag like this is, all offence, weak as fuck. Like all you had to say was, na bro I don't promote pedo protags on this here blog, because I wholly agree with the premise of your argument given contexts (i.e., writing abusive relationships to show the evils, great; writing abusive relationships to show the romance, yikes).

This response is so, so comically shitty within the context of that tag, oh my god.

"I don't think anyone should be allowed to read or write this because it is disgusting to me" is authoritarian.

"I don't think anyone should be allowed to read or write this because it is disgusting to me" is authoritarian.

and

are both authoritarian viewpoints to hold and express, even if you don't have the power to enact them.

If you hold these viewpoints you are holding authoritarian viewpoints.

DUDE IT’S PEDO FICS EVERYBODY THINKS THEY’RE NASTY

Let me explain this to you in simple terms.

Something being nasty is not a good reason to ban fiction about it.

If we accept that "something being nasty is a good reason to bad fiction about it" then we give a foot in the door for all the people who truly, genuinely believe that queer people are nasty to ban all queer literature.

This is not about defending bad people this is about defending the freedom of good people from tyranny, you moron.

I think if you take it to its logical extreme. Say, banning people from writing stories of sexual abuse. That could then be said "well ANY talk about sexual abuse is bad."

And from that, you could ban books that talk about it irl. Or books like how to recover after being abuse. If its not something to be discussed AT ALL.

The fact that I’ve seen this post in some form on my dash like 100x and each time there’s new idiots who do not get that you can’t have *some* censorship.

Either you’re for it or you aren’t.

The moment you agree that something should never, ever exist in fiction is the moment that anything can be banned.

Remember a while back how Tumblr banned a bunch of tags, including many popular innocuous ones that even people who are for censorship used and were upset about?

When censorship happens, stuff YOU like can and will be banned. That’s how it works.

Remember how a bunch of people had their accounts terminated here only last year for writing about their own sexual abuse?

When you ban “pedo” topics, say, any talk of child sexual abuse in any form, that means people can no longer write about their own experiences. It means people cannot educate others so they can learn how to protect themselves or get help from these situations.

Censorship is authoritarian. Full stop.

Even if “everyone” agrees something is “gross” and “shouldn’t exist,” that does not fucking matter.

Do you know who generally believes queer people are gross and shouldn’t exist??

The same people who are banning books left and right solely because they have queer characters or relationships.

The same people who attack and kill queer folk for simply exisiting.

This is not just some fandom matter or a case of being chronically online.

Protecting freedom of expression is essential, and if you do not get that, I don’t know what to say to you.

And the people who keep bringing up child sex abuse as a reason for censorship are doing it very specifically because everyone feels like then they HAVE to agree with the person in favor of censorship.

It’s not that there isn’t widespread societal agreement on this. It’s that they want you backed into a rhetorical corner where you feel compelled to agree with them.

Also, like, we KNOW how this shit shakes out in fandom because it's happened before.

In 2007, Livejournal capitulated to the "pedophilia and sex crimes!" cries of (hate group) Warriors 4 Innocence, and you know what communities got shut down? Slashfic communities. Sexual assault survivor support communities. Authors who'd written non-smut m/m fic even got caught up in it. It was DEVASTATING to fandom spaces. I think pretty much everyone knew at least one person whose account was literally DELETED, or were a member of a community that was wiped off the map because they were considerate enough to include topics like "sexual assault" or "BDSM" in the profiles under the badly-named category of "interests" to indicate that posts on said blogs or communities may include discussion of things like that. Even if it was for a SUPPORT group. And it was because a group of religious bigots came to LJ and said essentially "EVERYONE thinks it's gross and that it's promoting CSA, we should ban it."

Like, strikethrough and boldthrough were a large part of what propelled AO3 out of a more unfocused conversation on one person's blog about hosting a site INTENDED for fandom content, into being an actual archive and nonprofit. And it's a large part of why you won't find AO3 banning topics that you find "gross".

Censorship is authoritarian and it will ALWAYS have more collateral damage than you can imagine.

Going to add that fiction which had sexual abuse and communities which played around with it as a writing topic are the very things that protected me from irl sexual abuse when I was a teenager. I was in a dicey situation, and realized that while my situation did not match up to any of the superficial or textbook cases mentioned in passing (if at all) through school, it matched up a LOT to what I'd learned about irl sexual abuse through works of fiction and the rhetoric of my communities. I got out of that situation and dodged what was, in retrospect, one hell of a nasty bullet. If it hadn't been for that "nasty" fiction and those "nasty" communities, I would very likely have been abused, and subject to further violence spiraling out from that abuse.

you can’t have *some* censorship.

Censorship is authoritarian.

lords please take all of octavian’s suffering and give it to thalia

i see ppl discredit bokutos work as a captain and leader cause of how goofy he is, and it makes me wanna scream. fukurodani doesn't NEED a traditional captain to keep them on the right track like karasuno, or inaraizaki. they are incredibly self sufficient all by themselves (which ukai makes clear during the training camp arc)! bokutos job as captain is to serve as the heart. without him, without his lightheartedness and positivity, fukurodani would be too much in their own heads all the time. we see this demonstrated first hand with akaashi and bokutos relationship as captain/vice captain, thats where their weakness lies, and thats how bo plays his part.

will never stop thinking about how when we finished the novel singnshong essentially looked us all in the eye and said "you. yes you. you kin kim dokja. you are a kim dokja kinnie. you may consider it cringe now that it isn't 2020 anymore. you may disagree, say you're someone else or even no one, at all. you're wrong. look into the mirror, fool. you are kim dokja"

A friend requested that I post some ORV thoughts on Tone and Themes from discord. I have edited the messages for better organization and clarity below:

There are a lot of quotes that you could argue are the culmination or distillation of ORV. You could also argue that ORV itself is not reducible to a single quote because of the sheer enormity of it, and how that size is a component of the story itself. But if I were to convey the specific melancholy of ORV-- my most fundamental read on the Feeling of ORV-- I would choose one quote to do so.

I’d fall back on, “In a world turned upside down, where monsters were rampant, we still had to clear the snow.”

Throughout the immense battles of good vs evil or gods and demons, ORV remains a story about people doing the things they have to in order to continue living.

And there is a distinct melancholy to that: the grief stricken “is it just this forever,” everyone being a regressor, and the mundane tragedies of struggling on in a world that will build a narrative around you regardless of your input or desires. However, all of these things are part and parcel to ‘surviving’ in a ruined world

It's about taking those small steps forward, regardless of cataclysmic tragedy and world-rending stakes. You still have to clear the snow. You still have to take care of the people around you. You still have to cook dinner. You still have to live.

It's the melancholy of a 'nevertheless', and that's a hopeful kind of melancholy. Reaching out and trying again and again. Leaving a mark on the wall because someone might read it. Regressing so that one day you won’t have to. Iterating and changing and trying again and again. It’s about making attempts.

It's about finding ways to survive, even if you've forgotten a few.

“they” (1 word) is shorter than “he or she” (3 words)

“they” is more inclusive than “he/she”

“themself” flows more naturally than “him or herself”

“they” is less clunky than “(s)he”

it’s time to replace the awkward “she or he”

“hey can you go ask they what does they want for dinner, and when is they coming over to watch movies with they?”

“Hey, can you go ask them what they want for dinner, and when they’re coming over to watch movies?”

Step one is learning how to talk like a human person.

Friendly reminder:

“I shouldn’t like to punish anyone, even if they’d done me wrong.” —George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss (1860)

“A person can’t help their birth.” —William Thackeray, Vanity Fair (1848)

“But to expose the former faults of any person, without knowing what their present feelings were, seemed unjustifiable.” —Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice (1813)

“Every Fool can do as they’re bid.” —Jonathan Swift, Polite Conversation (1738)

“So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.” —King James Bible, Matthew 18:35 (transl. 1611)

“God send every one their heart’s desire!” —William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing (~1600)

“Now this king did keepe a great house, that euerie body might come and take their meat freely.” —Sir Philip Sidney, the Arcadia (1580)

“If … a psalme scape any person, or a lesson, or els yt they omyt one verse or twayne…” —William Bonde, The Pylgrimage of Perfection (1526)

“And whoso fyndeth hym out of swich blame, / They wol come up and offre a Goddés name” —Geoffrey Chaucer, The Pardoner’s Tale (~1380)

“þan hastely hiȝed eche wiȝt on hors & on fote, / huntyng wiȝt houndes alle heie wodes, / til þei neyȝþed so neiȝh to nymphe þe soþe [Then hastily hied each person on horse and on foot / hunting with hounds all the high woods / ‘til they came so near, to tell the truth]” —William and the Werwolf (transl. ~1350-1375)

“Bath ware made sun and mon, / Aiþer wit þer ouen light [Both were made sun and moon / Either with their own light]” —Cursor Mundi (~1325)

We’ve been using they/them/their pronouns to indicate a person with unspecified gender for a long ass fucking time. The only reason it’s become a big issue lately is because it can be used as a semi-respectful term for trans and non-binary folks and we can’t have that can we

These fucks are literally trying to change our language to hurt trans/nb folks, and claiming that’s just the way its always been

Roses are red

Violets are blue

Singular “they” predates

Singular “you”

ursula k le guin: if confronted directly with the knowledge that society requires suffering to be maintained, would you be capable or willing to abandon the structure and safety for uncertainty, strife, deprivation?

strange and inscrutable people who claim to know how to read: i would simply solve the problem

Staff have done their best to hide this post, OP's blog has been deleted to hide it. Spread this post as much as you can (ideally through screenshots to avoid it being nuked)

Nico di Angelo sits cross-legged in chairs like the good little 1930s Italian diplomat grandson, prince of the underworld he is. It makes him feel like his mother, sitting cross-legged in her respectable black dress, waiting for her turn to sing at the opera show she was invited too. All he wants is to be like her.

Will Solace does not sit cross-legged. He's man-spreading in chairs. He has that chair on a single leg. He has an arm and leg up. He's twisting in ways you've never seen. It's grotesque, it's weird, it's gay. But thats Will Solace no one questions him. It makes him feel like Lee, one of the first positive male role-models in his life, and the loving brother he models his own 'personality' after. All he wants is to be like him.

anyways tl;dr on that last post it’s like we’ve reached a point where in popular culture the ancient Greeks are remembered for their mythology and literature (and maybe Athenian democracy) while the Romans are remembered for their patriarchal imperialism, despite the fact that both cultures did plenty of both. and the consequence is that we’ve ended up with a bizarre quasi-gender binary where Greek stuff is for people who like mythology and literature and Roman stuff is for people who like patriarchal imperialism

@finelythreadedsky hopefully ok to reblog with your comments because this is literally exactly it!!

I sometimes keep forgetting how chaotic the TOA novels are. Apollo is a simp and also being incredibly self sacrificial. Meg being claimed by Demeter and someone calling her a communist due to the symbol being a sickle. Will Solace being able to glow in the dark and Nico being friends with Troglodytes who love hats. Commodus flirting with Apollo in TDP when they met up in the stadium. Apollo being In servitude to Meg, a twelve year old. Apollo also wearing pink camo pants and peeing himself and passing out quite frequently. Apollo’s internal monologues having him loving himself then hating himself (and ain’t that a mood) and Meg just… being Meg. Dionysus calling Apollo ‘Mr A’ and absolutely loving that Apollo got turned into a mortal. Tauri Sylvestres just camping outside Rachel’s home for a few days… just because? Then most likely waiting for Apollo, Meg, Will, and Nico to arrive before they broke loose and began chasing them and Apollo telling Meg to ‘Jump The Cow’. Apollo getting woozy and kissing Nico on the forehead and smelling his hair and Apollo being healed by Mountain Dew of all thing!

There are so many other moments, but to me the absolutely most hilarious and chaotic scene to me (and also happens to be one of my favorite scenes) is when the fight Nero in his tower.

Like, plants are growing everywhere, Apollo is injured and begins muttering for Mountain Dew as Nero is frantically picking up remotes and trying to find the right one as Stayin’ Alive begins playing and TVs begin blasting and I absolutely adore the scene.

Every day I just find more things that I love about these books I swear. I love them.

Orv live action is shaping up to be like percy jackson movies

At this point, i won't be surprised that they just keep the names as is and change everything else.

Watch it become a straight romance which is highlighted and prioritized above every other kind of love.

I bet there wont be any mpreg either. (Which tbf i expected already)

Heewon probably wont murder a bunch of rapists/murders either. (If she does it will be with a gun? Like heewon deserves to slaughter them with a burning sword up close and personal)

Sooyoung and sangah with end up as love rivals or something (which ngl is also i somewhat expected already before this)

...

At this point i am just going to watch it just to see how many .. creative liberties they take