Waking thoughts from sleepy days.

A lot of random dribble resides here. Enjoy

[mirisia]

Why are there so many Greek mythology reinterpretations that depict Menelaus as a bad, abusive husband?

I'm not even a Menelaus fan. I've never really cared about or been interested in him. And even I think depicting him as an abusive husband is unfair. Of course he isn't an angel, he's done his share of terrible things, I don't think he and Helen were in some ideal heavenly love (not saying they didn't love each other, I do think they were in love when they married, just not in the everlasting, match-made-in-heaven type of love that only exists in romance novels and instead the kind of love with ups and downs, the kind that people fall in and out and back in) or he started the war purely out of his love for Helen (he did it also to get his right as Helen's husband back, to save his face after being a cuckolded husband and to gain the wealth of Troy, which is realistic, I would have despised him if he decided to start a war entirely based on his emotions). But that doesn't directly mean he is an evil and cruel abuser. There are many forms of relationships else than the ideal heavenly love and the outright abuse.

Plus I also doubt that Agamemnon would have been physically violent to Clytemnestra during their marriage. I'm not saying this because I'm fond of him, I'm absolutely not, I fucking hate him and he deserved to be butchered by his wife's axe. But still. I don't think he was a wife beater. He is a man who can actually be decent when needed. Of course I don't think he was a good husband either. I do think their relationship must have been problematic or toxic beneath the surface. He did start their 'relationship' by murdering her husband and baby and then raping her. He does disrespect her openly in the Iliad by saying that he prefers Chryseis to his wife for the girl is superior to his wife in many aspects. A husband who doesn't see it problematic to insult his wife in front of everyone is never a good husband. But it doesn't always mean there is physical violence. Not all toxic relationships include beating in it.

Anyways I want more subtle dynamics in Greek mythology retellings and other media. Not the black-and-white toned relationship dynamics that only have the 'heavenly love' and the 'outright wife beating'.

[naomisramblings]

what really gets me about the Passion narrative is how you can really feel the Hand of God in all of the events. the energy is haunting, fateful. everything calls back to Scripture, everyone is prophesying, even the people condemning Jesus to death. some of the examples that stood out to me:

- Pilate’s wife telling him to have nothing to do with that righteous man, because of her dream

- the high priest saying it is better for one man to die for the people, than the whole nation to perish

- Barabbas meaning ‘son of the father’ being exchanged for the Son of the Father.

- my favourite: Pilate saying he is innocent of Jesus’ blood and the crowds should look to it themselves. and they reply: "His blood be upon us and upon our children." the double meaning here though they don’t realise it

- Jesus refusing to drink the wine because He told his disciples He would not drink it until He drinks it with them in heaven

- Pilate writing “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews” and refusing to change it

- "You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, if you are the Son of God, and come down from the cross!"

- Jesus’ criticism of the Pharisees becoming clear when they refuse to put Judas’ silver coins in the temple treasury because it is blood money, but are fine with letting an innocent man be put to death

[queerevelations]

been thinking a lot recently about how Christianity took crucifixion, a symbol of complete humiliation and defeat at the hands of the Roman Empire, and turned it into a symbol of God’s infinite and incomprehensible love for all of creation

[idylls-of-the-divine-romance]

*grabs you by the shoulders* Hey. You. Yeah, you. With the eyes. You're going to die. You're going to die, life is crazy and low key unknowable, it's unfair, everyone is going to forget you even existed, the sun is going to go out and you're going to die. Life is nothing but smoke smoke and more smoke. Did i mention you will die?

Now go drink some water. Call your mom. Take a walk with your best friend. Enjoy the sunset. Pray (and don't be a try hard! Just talk to God). Read a good book. Read a fun book. Watch a comedy. Watch a tragedy. Try your hardest at work/school today. Don't stress if you do poorly, just try to do better next time even if only by 2%. Eat some good food. Some fruits, vegetables, some cake. Enjoy your life because it - the good and the bad - is a gift from God. One day the smoke will be cleared but that's not any time soon. Until then, eat and drink and read and laugh and cry and die at peace with the universe.

[inadvertently-biblical]

The Night Shift <3 And sleepy Trinity

[hearmerawr13]

Abbot leading a little night shift pep talk was not on my bingo card but I love it.

[timothyolyphant]

THE PITT S02E15

[belladonnabedlam]

This scene broke my heart.

[merlepsblog]

Whitaker either should start charging the hospital for his chaplain's services, or they need to give him a little service animal vest

[puppiegracie]

actually i will start crying again if I think about the fact that it really didn't take robby all that much to open up. that it really took just the slightest tap and he was breaking. duke really seeing him, fully acknowledging the severity of his shit, talking quiet, extending empathy, extending friendship and connection.

and it didn't take that fucking much. he didn't have to torture it out of Robby. he was just firm and kind. not beating around the bush like jack has done and not harsh like dana and not vague like cassie.

saying I see what you're doing. I know what you're thinking. are you sure?

and that's all it took to get a little more out of Robby. a moment of actual genuine vulnerability. a verbal admittance of how bad it's starting to get. how much he needs this hospital but how much it's killing him.

and it is partially because Robby is so tired, and it gets so hard. he's keeping up all his anger to mask the hurt but that's exhausting. and it's harder and harder to keep it back. so the second a listening ear is extended by someone who's been safe for him he's laying it out. oh Robby they could never make me hate you. what a deeply human character.

[river-of-wine]

Weapons (2025) has a hauntingly real portrayal of child abuse, and one of the simplest yet most effective elements of that is, of course, Aunt Gladys. Specifically, the way she speaks, how she speaks, and who to. The first time we encounter her in Marcus’ office, she is bright, both visually and in the demeanour she presents, and she is personable. She seems, if a bit strange and eccentric, as though she is well intentioned to an onlooker without the context of the knowledge that she exists within a horror film. Even in Marcus’ house, before any blood is shed, though her eccentricity and strangeness is dialed up, she speaks brightly, she smiles, she is not overtly threatening. But with Alex, behind closed doors, that’s all gone. Gladys is not bright or personable or charismatic with Alex. She demonstrates her powers to hurt him, to hurt the people he loves, how easily she can do so. She forces him to be complicit, turning a young boy into a caretaker for his own parents and dragging him into the depths of the missing children. She forces Alex to stay silent as they sit with the police, knowing he is next to the woman responsible for his missing classmates, with his father, another victim of hers, right beside him as well. He is kept silent and complicit through fear and threats, and only he has seen what Gladys is truly capable of, the kind of person she is behind the makeup and the bright colours and the smile. One of the clearest scenes when it comes to the angle of child abuse is how Gladys, after they have made sure the house shall raise no suspicion when CPS call, regains that bright and charismatic persona, only to immediately drop it when she knows only Alex is watching her.

I would also say Gladys’ styling is very reflective of this. In public, she is dressed extremely strikingly, the most colourful person in any room. Her hair is immediately recognisable, her makeup is messy, heavy and brightly coloured against her pale skin, her outfits are always bright and eye catching. Her clothing, of course, serves to set her apart from the attire of the modern day, hinting to us from the moment we have a full look at her that something about Gladys is off, just like the consumption line. But additionally, Gladys’ colour palette behind closed doors is notably different. While still striking, her face is bare of makeup, her wig is mostly absent, and her clothing is significantly less bright in colour. Her clothing is just as much of a disguise as her demeanour in public, hiding the sinister reality of what lurks beneath that only Alex truly sees.

[ghidragon]

Weapons (2025) was an absolute blast. Not gonna get into spoilers, but I found it to be thematically rich and a lot of fun. The ways in which we have systems and social niceties but no community. How all of these "safety measures" like the cops, the Ring cameras, and the school rules on professionalism all failed, barely contributed, or actively got in the way of solving things. The idea of the children and their safety being weaponized to form a mob. How people can manipulate the social expectations of family, professionalism, and even our empathy to abuse us. How children are an oppressed class.

It was also subtle, funny, tense, and all of the acting was top notch. Amazingly done by the guy who jerked off a ghost in WKUK

[kingofthepitt]

my only take from Weapons - the commentary on how community doesn't exist in america unless tragedy knocks at their doorstep. hard. even then what people form - it's not a community, more like a mob. and no one wants to work together (that mom who didn't want to share cctv footage). no one listens (911 operator didn't inform the police right away about the call from the drug addict; no matter how ridiculous that call sounded, they had to check it out bc it's been a month! and they had no leads! and yet...). no one talks (that teacher who saw Alex at the parking lot waiting alone). the system affects us all. it doesn't differentiate between big cities and small towns. it doesn't care and it will never care.

[justanapparatus]

sometimes a horror film is a very clear metaphor for the way the white suburban nuclear family facilitates violence. sometimes a horror film is an excuse to watch children tear someone limb from limb. sometimes it's both.

[tv-opinion]

that part of weapons where alex is simultaneously keeping himself, his classmates, and his parents alive while slowly becoming desensitized to the horrors surrounding him and suffering in silence as the adults around him are too focused on treating justine as a scapegoat to see what’s lurking right under their noses like THIS POOR BABY

[garashir]

[freeshavacado]

you can only reblog this today

[wisflight]

I can’t stop thinking about Dennis spending as little time at home as he can because he wants to be as unobtrusive as possible and give Trinity space and Trinity being incredibly lonely and Dennis never being home making it worse

[divorcedfranklangdon]

just a reminder that it's fuck ICE forever