philomaela

[philomaela]

I’ve finally finished with aegon’s reign (the king is dead) and so I’m able to formulate some very lukewarm thoughts on the first part of fire and blood. It’s funny bc it was all very whelming, yet I still have a lot of… well they’re not strong enough to be opinions, but at least I have some musings.

#a FABulous time

[philomaela]

IDK the weirdest thing about Fire and Blood is just trying to glean what seems like bias and what doesn't. Because like... okay yeah this woman who doesn't conform to specific gender rules is a dark sorceress whatever fine mr stereotypical misogynistic "medieval" historian. But then also... it IS a magic fantasyland presumably dark sorceresses like... exist.

#text #a FABulous time #how weirdly OTT and yet understated it is #maybe the idea is just to go with the vibes #or maybe I'll come to a conclusion later on

[philomaela]

Okay I'm all of 1 chapter into Fire and Blood and tbh I have no real reaction thus far... it's interesting how the the book describes Rhaenys as "no true warrior" I guess because she's not trained with a sword (or anything equivalent) like her siblings. But I mean... she's very much partaking in war, like her dragon is her weapon no? IDK, its interesting because maybe the book will get into it more but thus far, all of the three have been using the dragons as their main weapons. Like IDT the book described any of them as fighting on foot thus far, so it's funny to go "the sword makes the warrior" in that context. But maybe that's what happens when you bring a dragon to a knife fight.

#a FABulous time #IDK I feel weird reading this because obviously I see posts about this book all the time on tumblr #so now I'm like oh so that's what harrenhal is #well it's interesting to get context #but I still have no thoughts of my own on it #head empty just reading #I think I need to get a bit further in before I start having OPINIONS

[philomaela]

I'm gonna tag it as "a FABulous time" because I like puns but I couldn't actually think of a good one. Feel free to block, because I'm probably gonna get really stupid with it.

Considering using my fake history PhD to read fire and blood, a fake history book.

#a FABulous time

[philomaela]

Finally caved and got it, can't wait to spread my uninformed opinions everywhere considering I have not read Game of Thrones.

Considering using my fake history PhD to read fire and blood, a fake history book.

#text #tbh I am mainly doing this #because I found out I could annoy my cousin with it #my cousin has very informed opinions about game of thrones

[philomaela]

#personally and I may sound insane #but I feel like sometimes it’s just like fetish content #do you know what I mean like when all that weird food stuff and recipes out of toilets and things were popular #like I feel like some people are watching with outrage and some with a fetish and some genuinely believe #and maybe there’s some overlap there #idk it doesn’t make it better or worse obviously #but idk gives very white women buying wonder bread art vibes #and that’s something I can’t get out of my head

[philomaela]

Leftist goyim misunderstanding (often purposefully) the concept of Jews as a "chosen people" in order to further perpetuate their antisemitism is making me want to bang my head against a wall.

#I remember reading a book that definitely floated this idea #and it was written by pearl s buck who was from a missionary family #just got reminded when I saw this #not my place to speak on this obviously

[philomaela]

Just wanted to share one of my favorite artists. Bashar Murad has been integral to my creative process for years now - I am incapable of putting together a single writing playlist without his songs. I cannot recommend his music (and videos) enough.

#his song for Eurovision really works when you watch the live #I say as a person who barely watched Eurovision and probably won’t this year

[philomaela]

Not feminist as in "women should be included in the draft" but feminist as in "being drafted is a violation of bodily autonomy for any gender".

The draft should not exist. Drafting people into the military is a violation of human rights. You should not be able to force someone to risk their life. If you can't find enough people who care about a conflict to keep it going then it simply shouldn't keep going. You can't even force someone to donate a kidney using government power, why the fuck can you force them to donate their whole body and life to a cause they don't agree with or don't care about?

#this is definitely true #but also I assumed the whole women and the draft thing was an anti feminist talking point? #I only ever saw like those publicly anti feminist social media grifters talking about it #as in if feminism then why no draft for women

[philomaela]

3, 8, and 25 for the choose violence ask game!

3. screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr

I mean obviously there are a lot of Vikings ones that I disagree with... that's boring (also I fought those fights in real time and now I'm over it lol). I'm gonna commit to choosing violence and pick the last jedi.

The take on Rose as being someone who abused Finn and was a terrible person the film was trying to "pretend" was a good person. It was essentially this long post about how Rose's initial introduction marked her as a terrible person who abused Finn and the end of the film was terrible for shipping Finn with his abuser. It's one I hated very much and its one I dislike all the more because I do agree with some of the points made even as I really disagree with the conclusion (and one glaring implication that we will get to).

Because here's the thing, even as a TLJ fan I agree with a lot of the criticism TLJ gets, including and actually especially about Finn's arc within that film. I like the overall idea and some beats, but I think that there was a lot that the film missed out on by having Rose operate as "teacher" rather than having them both share their experiences and allowing Finn to come to his realizations a little differently. And I would go further because I could choose violence on this subject too but actually let me get back to the topic at hand...

Back to the terrible Rose takes, I think the reason it galled me so much is because while people were very correctly discussing the issues surrounding Disney's racism and the films treatment of Finn (and John Boyega).... at the same time their arguments about Rose often had... implications that I found very uncomfortable.

Because the thing is... Rose's intro... that people found abusive... it's a parallel to Rey's first meeting with Finn. This woman sees him, makes an incorrect (but reasonable) assumption based on the info she has on hand that this guy needs to be taken down, and takes him down. Then, after he explains, she realizes what is actually going on, helps him, and then they work together. Rey is violent towards Finn in her first meeting with him too. But with her it's a cute rom-com right, with her it's a sign of how much she's fiery? Like I think people fully had a blindspot to the disparity of their treatment of Rey vs Rose.

And part of the reason I think it's so bad is because it didn't have to be like this! I think you absolutely can critique the films and Rey and Rose as characters... you can very easily criticize the decision to treat Finn like this. So it's disappointing to me I guess, that people chose to, at the same time, kind of join in on the racist pile-on that Rose (and KMT) was getting. Like she was getting it from all corners of the internet... but what else is new for actors of color I guess.

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

Switching gears and moving to a fandom nobody but me cares about: Psych. I cannot believe Shawn x Gus (Shus) is not more popular than Shawn x Lassiter. I mean, I can believe it because people are often wrong. But come on! Shawn and Gus would DIE for each other, Gus claims Shawn on his taxes, Shawn and Gus practically have a secret language! They literally joined a dating show for a case and the girl revealed that she couldn't really separate them because they were so close. I mean, keep in mind they are Holmes and Watson... and yet people basically ignored them.

25. common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

I'm gonna be honest, my thing here... it's pretty much for fandoms that I am not a part of.... Basically when like hugely popular tv shows are popular on tumblr and people are complaining about fandom trends (everybody likes X, Y is so prevalent, everyone ignores this ship). I want to be clear, I think you should always criticize things like racism, homophobia, misogyny, ableism... those things will run rampant in a lot of fandoms, because they run rampant in society at large, those aren't trends, they're not what I'm talking about. But like if your fandom is big enough that you can create an entire subculture around character B even though character A is more popular in the "main stream", I think you shouldn't take that for granted. Your sub culture has sub cultures, that's not nothing, a lot of fandoms aren't that big and can't sustain that. Lol, this might be me being upset and petty, I feel like none of my fandoms are big enough to even get to that point. No sub-sub culture for me!

#games ask #I think I didn't do the first one that well #but oh well

[philomaela]

🔥 choose violence ask game 🔥

the character everyone gets wrong

a compelling argument for why your fave would never top or bottom

screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr

what was the last straw that made you finally block that annoying person?

worst discord server and why

which ship fans are the most annoying?

what character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how how the fandom acts about them?

common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

worst part of canon

worst part of fanon

number of fandom-related words you've filtered

the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

worst blorboficiation

that one thing you see in fics all the time

that one thing you see in fanart all the time

you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

there should be more of this type of fic/art

it's absolutely criminal that the fandom has been sleeping on...

you're mad/ashamed/horrified you actually kind of like...

part of canon you found tedious or boring

part of canon you think is overhyped

your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

ship you've unwillingly come around to

topic that brings up the most rancid discourse

common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

#games games games #idk man

[philomaela]

If I Must Die by Refaat Alareer

Palestinian poet, writer, literature professor, and activist Dr. Refaat Alareer was killed on December 7th, 2023, in a targeted Israeli airstrike that also killed his brother, his sister, and four of her children.

Dr. Alareer was a beloved professor of literature and creative writing at the Islamic University of Gaza, where he taught since 2007.

This poem has been pinned to his twitter profile since November 1st, 2023.

[philomaela]

Considering using my fake history PhD to read fire and blood, a fake history book.

#text #I don’t really watch tv anymore I’m probably not gonna watch the show #not anytime soon anyway #but a fake history book is appealing to me

[philomaela]

oh damn okay

[philomaela]

it goes against so much of what i stand for to share "palestinians are humans, they have hobbies, they have pets, they laugh and cry" kind of posts because i've spent so much of my life and career completely rejecting the notion that we should humanize ourselves, that we should ever be defensive, that we should entertain this racism at all

but it breaks my heart when i have to share them from people in gaza, who are using their five minutes of internet connection, their 25% of battery charge collected from a macguyvered car battery, emotionally exhausted, thirsty and hungry, sleeping in schools that have turned into refugee shelters and still making the time to say "please, i am human too, i am still alive, please fight for me" in english to appeal to the only people who have the power to help

i shared a tweet from a jjk artist in gaza i follow about a bts photocard being found in the middle of the rubble. even the love of anime and kpop and sports is no longer just a hobby, but an appeal to humanity. what was once a source of joy is now proof of life.

the worst part is that you won't find this content in arabic. palestinians don't post like this in arabic. but when they translate themselves, they recognize that they must humanize themselves first. it's an unspoken understanding of dehumanization, one that has dictated a whole region's understanding of the value of human life. in arabic they speak with dignity, with anger, with sorrow. in english, they appeal for their existence.

i share these posts not just because we have to reach everyone we can, because im being asked to and i will not refuse. but i also share them because they're evidence of how deep the racism has run. at what dehumanization leads to. of war crime after war crime. this too i will not forget.

[philomaela]

I say this as someone who works at a nonprofit: the attitude “someone who has nothing will be grateful for anything” is harmful and dehumanizing when it’s used to justify donating something ripped, stained, or expired to someone less fortunate.

Homeless people deserve clothing with good structural integrity. Victims of house fires deserve linens that are free of stains. No one should have to eat expired food. It’s disrespectful to give people scraps when they’re already hurting.

Please, out of respect for your fellow humans, check the dates on your food donations before you drop them off.

[philomaela]

Oh god