I'm always one to defend Viv when stupid shit that's at best technically true things but taken in bad faith or worse, completely made up, starts rearing its ugly head. Not because I have her on a pedestal (hell no) or anything, but on mere principle, because so much of those stuff come from very, very misogynistic or racist places (or both)
That said, I do admit that I think Viv should defend herself better by saying a lot less, sometimes I come across her posts either on twitter or bluesky and I can't help but roll my eyes or facepalm while wishing she could get off social media and let haters get bored and stop, and sometimes it's just plain unprofessionalism, because this is where both her age and her habit of posting like she used to do as a teenager is shown, that and not realizing that whether she likes it or not she is a public figure now and would benefit if she could think before putting her foot in her mouth, it's sad and yeah unfair, but when you have such a huge following (and hatedom) it's just better to have a secret personal account to rant your heart out, instead of vagueing about the fandom and even if it wasn't the intention, sending the bullies on a witch hunt.
And this is the problem with her saying she can't wait to let everyone know what ship she hates, I don't care whether or not she was talking about charlastor, I care that she just had to post it and even acted annoyed when people took it too seriously, Viv is not a stranger to ship wars, nor is she unfamiliar with toxic fans, hell, in the past she has been a victim of it, people have taken completely normal posts of hers in the past and twist them to hell and back to make them look bad and then she acts annoyed that people are reacting so visceraly to a clearly inflammatory post?
Something that really bothered me about Corlys and Baela’s scene was the fact that Corlys ‘wanted’ to make Baela heir in the first place. Corlys has made it clear he does not value women, in the book and in the show. He was angry Rhaenys was passed over because he himself was also snubbed from that position of power. Corlys has shown no care for either of his children, he married both Laenor and Laena off with no care for their safety (you cannot tell me he didn’t have some hand in Laena marrying Daemon, at least in the show). All he truly cared about was his ambition which unfortunately is something that can be said for a lot of men in this universe. He loved Rhaenys, but Corlys definitely valued himself and his needs over everyone else in his life, all that matter was what he wanted. He only told Baela that he wanted to make her heir because that’s what Rhaenys asked of him the night of Laena’s funeral. And you know what happened? Corlys had the audacity to get mad at her for that! He felt guilty, so he decided he would honor Rhaenys and offer Baela the role of being heir. He didn’t actually want her to be so, he didn’t do it as an acknowledgement of her strength or leadership, he did it to honor Rhaenys because she died. He may not outright say it but he values men in a position of power way more than he ever would a woman. If Baela were to have accepted (which I believe she should have considering she has a better claim than Addam or Alyn) no doubt Corlys would have tried to worm his way out of it down the line. He was not a good grandfather to his granddaughters, he didn’t even know them, look at the way he spoke of Rhaena! She was Laena’s daughter and you don’t think she knew about ships or dragons? Okay deadbeat… I think Baela turning it down made sense, but I hate the reasoning she gave “I am made of blood and fire, Driftmark must pass to salt and sea,” like she is also made of ‘salt and sea’ 🥴 granted, she’s only a quarter Velaryon, but her mother was literally the only true parent she had before she died, why would she not care about carrying on that legacy? It doesn’t make sense considering Baela is all about family and loyalty. This isn’t hate on her, I love her, but I have to be honest, that line made me cringe lmao. That’s not Baela’s fault though, that’s Ryan Condal and Sara Hess’, fvck those writers! Regardless, Corlys should have offered it to Rhaena first in my opinion, she was going to be Lady of Driftmark with Lucerys, why shouldn’t she still be? Baela was going to be queen, the Lady of Driftmark would have been perfect for Rhaena if Corlys was just going to skip over Joffrey.
(Just a PSA) I’m not denying Baela and Rhaena are Targaryen, I know they are, but there’s no harm in acknowledging their Velaryon side as well. I’ve seen way too many people act like being a Velaryon is an insult and it’s very sus. As long as people aren’t being fvcking racist about it, I love when their mother’s Velaryon side is appreciated (though Laena was Targaryen as well which a lot of people somehow seem to forget considering the fact that Laena was prideful in being a Targaryen). The only reason I’d ever acknowledge them as Velaryon’s is because their mother was their main parental figure before Rhaenys, it was never about their skin color. The people who call them Velaryon’s because of their skin color, that’s when it’s racist and stupid, and unfortunately those people do exist.
It’s hard to believe people express themselves through their art. Because whenever I try, I end up with either a page whiter than the light shining right over my eyes, burning through my thoughts, or figures that could not possibly exist in our world, with all their disproportion, and their unsurety. If art is an expression of oneself, then I’m in trouble. That or I’m just incapable of expressing anything. Either way, I’m doomed to a life of explaining myself in words that mean nothing to me, through gestures that mean nothing to anyone else. I move my hands in hopes, that someone will follow the imaginary trail I create in the air, and finally see what I see in my mind. But all they see is a gibberish of language and a crime to movement. So I try to write instead, after having failed yet again to express myself with a black pen on a white page. But, oh what a twist of fate to have ended up with white words on a black screen, thinking that this would finally be the time I do something with my thoughts.
I HATE TALKING TO QUEER PEOPLE WHO DISMISS COMPLAINTS ABOUT ROCKY HORROR
I'm not saying you can't enjoy it or anything (tbh even when I was a cis queer man I didn't like it for the transphobia) but like acknowledge the kinda transphobic aspects of it please. You can enjoy media that isn't perfect. I'm not going to kill you. My favourite TV show is like fucking girls und panzer, I can't judge.
Tbh I haven't watched it since I transitioned because what I vaguely remember of the plot makes me even more uncomfortable.
Note that I really hate sharing that video (of the hostages). In the first few days of the war it was unimaginable to want to share videos from hamas’ body cameras cause no one should stain their eyes and souls with such images, especially all the children online. People were only watching the footage in order to look for their loved ones and be able to know who died/got kidnapped when so many were missing. I’m still partial about it but well it’s important to spread awareness so there it is.
Sooo, just a small comment on some of the things I loved in the finale of PJO.
There are obviously gonna be spoilers here soo...
-The fight between Percy and Ares!!! I loved the wave and now it was a subtle way of showing Poseidon was indeed beside him.
-The scenes between Percy and Luke!!! "Look, you didn't want to be a half-blood...". I loved the addition of these flashbacks of Luke teaching Percy to fight.
-Olympus! Omg, it was so pretty!!!
-Percy immediately being a total little shit with Zeus, I loved that!
-Poseidon showing up to protect Percy!
-Percy understanding only the word for "father" in Ancient Greek. He knows it because of Sally!
-"Ares is a moron."
-Overall the whole exchange between Percy and Poseidon. It really is a big step from him being all bitter and it was a bit corny but I liked it still.
-When Percy reveals Luke is the Lightning thief!
-Luke not fighting Percy at first. I have thoughts about the whole thing but I'll put them later on.
-Luke snapping for a moment and attacking Percy only after he mentions his father.
-Annabeth and her dagger!
-"Wait, your name is Percy!" And later "I don't think so", This was sooo hilarious. Especially when you think about how he initially tried to lie to him he's his dad. I'm pretty sure Dionysus knows his and everyone's name very well, he just likes being a jerk.
-"Some place called Disneyland", tbh, I feel like Annabeth won't be thrilled. I certainly wasn't and I was still am pretty childish as a kid.
-Grover's license!
-Their pact! That was so cute!
-"What did you dream of?" "Grandpa.". For a moment there I was like "What!? Are they tring to make it look like it was all a dream or that they're trying to make it as if Sally doesn't remember!?" but a moment later I was like "Nope, that's Percy Jackson, of course he'd refer to Kronos as his grandpa even tho he's his biggest enemy rn"
-Blue pancakes!
-When Percy and Sally were leaving the apartment, Percy's last narrative and the rain outside!
-The devastating moment when I thought we're not seeing Gabe turned into a statue but juuuust in case skipping the credits (call it a feeling or sth) and...
-GABE TURNING INTO A STATUE!!!! I'm honestly so happy! I'm not even mad Sally didn't do it as it was implied in the books. But she was divorcing him! I know he wasn't portrayed as bad as he was in the books in the TV show but I still believe he was emotionally abusing and he was still a jerk even tho it was toned down. Also, he was such an annoying, whiny bit-$(#..
...
That's all I can think of rn, even tho I believe there were other things too.
Now, I gotta admit I've read the book a looong time ago so I don't remember everything in great details but I noticed lots of the changes in the episode and throughout the whole season. I still enjoyed the show a lot, tho. Most of the changes made sense and like... Come on, it's an adaptation! And Rick Riordan was involved in the process so I believe he knew what he was doing with all these changes.
Tbh, I liked the first two episodes a lot, then idk, the third, maybe fourth too, were a tiiny bit meh to me but overall, I loved it and loved the last couple of episodes! I have mixed feelings for some things like them knowing about Medusa, the Lotus casino and other stuff but again, I trusted the process and it worked! It's only 8 episodes and there was a lot to happen there so I can see why these changes were needed. Figuring all out would have taken them a lot of time. Also, it was as much for new fans as it was for new ones so of course some things had to be made differently. For example, how the whole thing about who would betray Percy was done.
I've been watching lots of videos and posts of new fans who haven't read the books and I was cackling like an old hag at their assumptions how it was gonna be Grover or sth. And you just can't convince me that episode 7 and Annabeth getting caught by one of the roots wasn't with the exact purpose of making people think "Oh, they are friends now, what if it's her?" It was really well-played. And let's not forget how everyone was like "Luke! Babyboy, so precious." Can't wait to see everyone's reactions now... (Luke is still these things, even though he is "bad guy")
Speaking of Luke, again, haven't read the books in a while but I somewhat don't remember him and Percy being that close and being such good buddies. Idk, might need to read them again but even though I didn't mind that dynamic too much, I really thought this is more like how Luke and Annabeth should have been. I feel like we needed more interactions between them. Also, Luke speaks randomly about her twice, first telling Percy about her and calling her "my little sister" and then last episode giving that example with the spiders (nopee, I don't believe itt, she won't crush it, she'll scream and run unless it's a huge spider, then she'll fight it because of her bf) but she barely (if not ever) mentioned him? Yeah, she mentioned Thalia but almost nothing of Luke?? How are you gonna convince me that was her hero!? She should have been broken by his betrayal much more than Percy! Also, they kinda made Luke somewhat of a big softie, I thought it was because then his betrayal would have been more devastating but nope, there wasn't some kind of a 180° turn in his behaviour. Wonder why, to make him more relatable or? I want to see how his further actions are going to play out in this scenario...
Anywayy, all in all, I enjoyed the show a lot and I hope there is a next season. I want to see how the story will proceed on the screen (and I hope the changes we keep getting aren't anything too essential).
Okay bear with me for a second bc I am rewatching fucking Fairy Tail in the year of the Lord 2023 and it's actually pretty good???
I was 11 years when it aired and maybe like 14 when I started watching it, so a lot of the plot and detail just slipped away. But now that I am paying a little bit more attention I love how all the female characters have their own goals and personalities? Like there's obviously a very prominent problem with the oversexualization of female characters and how unnecessary those scenes are, but at the same time each character has its own arc and details that make them unique.
For example I love how Lucy writes letters to her mom, how she is one of the smartest characters in the series, how she confronts her dad and decides to live however she likes. How Erza is a super strong badass powerful mage but stills enjoys her silly little outfits and things like picnics and being with her friends, how she reacts during the tower of heaven arc. How Mirajane deals with the grief of losing her sister and becomes a kinder person.
Idk there's a lot of bad things with the series, but I kind of really love how the female characters are all unique and strong in very different ways 💜
Today at work: my two republican coworkers sounding like cartoon villians as they blame the rise in gas prices on not digging the pipelines and lament the Biden administration's shits given for the environment. Like dude you guys both like hunting and camping.... you realize that uh... those things are part of the environment right? Don't you want your kids to hunt and camp and... you know... breathe clean air and shit? What the actual fuck is wrong with you ppl?!?!?!?!
