INTRODUCTION
So...here I am!
About Me
If youād like to call me something, feel free to call me Birdie. I am a cis woman, but I donāt mind which pronouns people use for me, so please donāt worry if you get them wrong.
I am Brazilian, so if you are a Lusophone and prefer to speak to me in Portuguese, Iāll understand. I generally understand Spanish, even if Iām not highly fluent, so the same applies if you are Hispanic. Although I can read English, I am not truly fluent in writing it. I often use translation tools to help me, which can lead to mistakes. If something I say seems odd, please consider the possibility that itās due to a language barrier!
Iām very chatty, and I know that can be intimidating or even annoying, but please donāt feel you have to be the same way just out of courtesy. I know that people have different ways of expressing themselves, so I donāt mind getting short answers. If my outgoing nature is too much, you can always let me know. I won't be offended, as long as you say it politely.
Iām not always serious either, so consider the possibility that Iām being intentionally frivolous or silly.
About Interactions
Iām open to pretty much any kind of interaction. You can send me asks, tag me in games, reblog my stuff, reply to my posts, or send DMs. While I do have mutuals and interact with them a lot, I donāt tend to stick to a specific social group and often interact with people who aren't my mutuals, so don't worry about that. You don't need to follow me for any of this, either. If the tag game includes something I don't want to answer or can't answer (for example, I can't answer questions about Spotify because I don't have it), I'll ignore it, but please don't take it personally.
As for DMs, Iāll ignore them if I suspect theyāre from a bot or a scam, especially vague messages like a simple "hey" from a blog that doesn't seem to share any common topic with mine. So, if you do send a DM, please consider stating what you're interested in right away to avoid any misunderstandings! I might take a while to reply, especially to DMs, but Iām not ignoring you on purpose. Iām slower to respond if I have to speak English, so please keep that in mind. If I speak Portuguese, Iāll be faster.
I won't speak Portuguese with you unless you gave me this option (for example, by commenting on my post in Portuguese or asking to speak in our native languages āāwhen in DM), so if I ever reply to you in Portuguese outside of those situations, it was likely accidental.
I prefer not to engage in discourse, so sorryā¦but if I realize you're interested in this, I'll probably ignore you or delete your comment/ask or block you. By "discourse," I don't mean simply disagreeing, and I'm talking about fandom arguments (like ship wars). I do the same if I consider your interaction frankly offensive in some way, regardless of whether it was intentional or not. By "offensive," I mean more like "your opinion on human rights sucks," not "you annoy me."
Also, I block a LOT, most of the time it's not even for a serious or personal reason and I don't even remember doing it. For example, Iāve blocked people simply because I wasnāt interested in their content, yet Tumblr kept recommending them to me. So don't stress your pretty little head about it. I'm explaining this notice because people have already asked me about thisā¦
I avoid using the word "gringo" to prevent confusion, but if you do see me use it, know that in Brazil it simply means "foreigner." We even use it for other Latinos (by the way, non-Brazilian Latinos, please don't be offended if I include you in that! Itās just that, in Brazil, that is indeed what it means). It isn't meant to be offensive.
About Asks
I usually answer asks, even those requiring long responses, so don't be shy or worry about being a bother. However, please be aware that I don't have time to respond to everything quickly, so it might take a while. It could even take months!
My askbox is open most of the time, though there are moments when I need to close it. So, if you notice the option to send asks has disappeared, thatās the reason. Occasionally, I indicate in my blog title how many asks are in the box so people can keep track of which ones Iāve answered, since most come from anons and therefore don't trigger notifications.
I allow anon asks. Sometimes the same person wants to keep up a sort of conversation with me via asks while remaining anonymous, so I also accept "identified" anonymous asks, and you can find out what that means by clicking here. Examples of this are "Lotus Anon" and "Strawberry Anon".
All asks can be found under the #Ask āātag. All anonymous asks are under the #Anon tag, including those from identified anons (with the difference that they receive two tags: one for anon and another for their anon nickname). If you sent me a non-anonymous ask, then your tag is your @.
I don't mind asks with sexual themes, as long as they aren't about me. So, if your question is about a character or sexuality in general, that's fine. If it's about my sex life, I'll feel uncomfortable and ignore it.
About My Blog
My Topics
- Greco-Roman Myths.
Most of my posts are about Greco-Roman mythology, with a specific focus on Greece rather than Rome. Although I post analyses, share informative content, and answer questions to help clarify things, I am by no means an expert (not a classicist, historian, archaeologist, or anything of the sort). I am a layperson and this is just a hobby, so please take what I say as an opinion open to debate rather than as established fact.
I often use academic analyses and try to cite them whenever possible for the sake of transparency. Sometimes I cite arguments I disagree with simply for the sake of completeness or fairness, so please do not assume that every argument presented is one I agree with. I occasionally summarize or post specific excerpts from articles, so please keep in mind that I am showing only a bit of the author's analysis rather than the whole picture, and do not assume that the cited author's opinion is limited to just that. I also cite the ancient sources, so you are aware of where I got a specific version of the story from.
If you are interested in how I conduct my research, I posted about it here. I always try to use English translations of the sources because it is the language most commonly used here, but that doesn't mean I am familiar with them, as I prefer reading in Portuguese. Therefore, I cannot confidently recommend any translations. Whenever I use an academic article in another language than English, I either summarize its general idea or, in the case of a direct quote, translate it (which is more likely if the original is in Spanish or Portuguese). However, please bear in mind that my translations are somewhat improvised.
If I spread any kind of misinformation, feel free to correct me!
I take a critical approach to ancient Greco-Roman sources, which means I speak relatively critically about themes such as abuse in general, slavery, classism, misogyny, LGBTphobia, xenophobia, and so on. I do this even with characters who are my personal favorites. It has nothing to do with hating the characters, nor am I being anachronistic. I am well aware that many things were normalized at the time, and my intention is not to "cancel" ancient authors. I am speaking to a modern audience. I want modern audiences to consider different perspectives when engaging with these works. I want them to recognize the socio-historical contexts and how these shape the construction of the narratives. Thatās it. If youāre the type who only wants to engage with these sources uncritically, thatās fine! But thatās not the case here, and I hope you donāt misunderstand me because of it.
I consider Greek and Roman sources valid and do not agree with the idea that Roman sources are fanfic, but I still make a distinction between the two types. For more details on my opinion, see here.
- Other fandoms
I occasionally post about other fandoms, such as ATLA, Dungeon Meshi, KNY, BNHA, etc, though this is more common when I receive. For most fandoms, I don't have a specific focus, but for BNHA, it's Monoma, and I generally don't post BNHA content that doesn't involve him. In most fandoms that don't involve Greco-Roman mythology, I tend not to do analyses because I prefer to avoid negative reactions, which are more common with modern media. I do it for Monoma, but thatās because his fandom is small, so itās safer. But if you want to send me a question that calls for a more analytical opinion on a modern work, Iām still open to answering it.
- Ships
Iām a multishipper. I engage with both canon and fanon ships, as well as poly ships. I generally donāt have consistent headcanons about characters' sexualities. All this means that if youāre the type of person who only cares about canon ships, hates fanon ships, is very protective of a specific ship and doesn't want to see those characters paired with anyone else, or has the"in my mind this character is [X] sexuality and I hate any other headcanon" mindset, please be aware that that isn't how I think and this might not be the blog for you.
I have NOTPs, but I don't feel the need to list them here because, in most cases, I don't mind following someone who likes them. The types of NOTPs that bother me enough to make me avoid interacting with a blog are things like victim vs. aggressor, adult vs. child, etc, scenarios so rare that I find it unlikely to apply to anyone reading this. I don't argue with people about this "fiction x reality" thing and I simply don't engage. If that applies to you, please don't engage either, because I want to avoid topics like this in my feed.
Reblogs
I reblog anything I find interesting enough. Itās mostly fanart, a considerable amount of which features works, ships, and characters I either don't know or do know but don't really have a connection to. As long as itās beautiful, creative, or intriguing, Iāll reblog it. I try to tag them with #Reblog.
In certain specific cases, I disable the reblog option for my own posts. These cases include: whenever I post a drawing (the reblog option makes me feel like I have less control, since even if I delete the post later, it remains active in reblogs, and if I edit it, the old reblogged version persists); when I post something personal or a vent; when I post something that doesn't necessarily need to reach a wider audience (usually replies to specific asks); or when I post something with a theme that tends to cause problems.
For instance, if I post something that I know tends to trigger unwanted reactions, I turn off reblogging in an attempt to prevent them. This is particularly common with posts about sexual slavery in Greek mythology, as people can still be quite combative when discussing the topic. However, disabling the reblog option doesn't mean Iām opposed to interactions about the post. If I had a problem with that, I either wouldn't post it or I'd limit the comments as well.
SFW/NSFW
The blog is primarily SFW, but there are NSFW moments, mostly involving full or partial nudity, particularly of an artistic nature. I occasionally reblog suggestive content, but they are not explicit. I am an adult, but if you are a minor or simply an adult who isn't into that sort of thing and wants to avoid it, please note that I don't usually add warning tags to reblogs, only to my own posts.
My Posts
All my posts are under the #Birdie.txt tag. The #Birdiethings tag is somewhat arbitrary, but itās mainly there to make it easier for me to find posts I need to revisit frequently. Iām not sure if itās useful to others, but feel free to explore it. #BirdieComments is for quote posts. I donāt usually post drawings, but they can be found under the #IK tag. I occasionally accept drawing requests, which are under the #Request tag. Iāve been asked to post screenpainting before, and I want to let you know that I have no problem with that. If I have the process recorded (which isn't always the case), Iāll gladly post it if you ask.
Since my posts tend to be long, I usually use the option to "shorten" them to make scrolling easier. I don't tag long posts to indicate their length, so be aware that you might encounter one when selecting the read more option. Whenever I post something in Portuguese or something I consider a rant, I shorten the entire post, except for an indicator (such as "Post in Portuguese" or "Rant"), so that those who aren't interested can easily skip them.
I try to use theme-related tags for the sake of organization, although they are mainly character tags (I don't use tags for the work itself or the fandom itself). If even after checking the tags you haven't found a specific post, send an ask asking about it and I'll try to find and link it.
Image descriptions (ID/ALT)
Unfortunately, most of what I have posted so far lacks IDs or ALT text, an oversight on my part. However, more recent posts do include ALT text for images and IDs for videos. I revisit older posts to add these whenever I have time, though most still lack them. Posts that include either are marked with #Described. If you are reading an older, undescribed post and would like to know about a specific image, please feel free to contact me, and I will edit the post.
Trigger Themes
I frequently discuss sexual abuse and slavery in Greco-Roman myths. If either of these topics is a trigger for you and you wish to block those specific posts, the tags are #TW: rape and #Myth Slavery. I don't usually use more specific tags for sexual abuse (such as incest, grooming, etc), as I generally use only that generalized tag.
The use of "Myth" in the "Myth Slavery" tag is no coincidence. My posts on the subject are specifically analyses of mythology, particularly literary works. It is akin to someone analyzing a modern work of fiction with this theme. They are not concrete, reliable analyses of actual slavery, and I recommend consulting professional sources, such as those from historians and archaeologists, for information on the topic. If you have triggers regarding specific terms used in the theme, check out this ask to see which terms I usually use.
And I can't believe I have to say this, but I will because of some asks I received: I consider marital rape, rape by decepction, institutional rape, rape of a vulnerable person, etc, to be rape. I consider it rape even in complex cases where the relationship between victim and perpetrator isn't entirely antagonistic. Don't try to correct me with things like "that isn't rape because there was no physical violence", "that isn't rape because the rapist showed affection for the victim", "that isn't rape because the victim had feelings other than just negativity toward the perpetrator", and so on. If your view of rape is limited to "a stranger dragging someone by the hair into a dark alley," thatās your problem. I don't view rape in such a narrow way. And I have no patience for people who think that way, so Iāll probably ignore your interaction if itās of that nature.
