Rini

not mine !!!

They thought it was a sci-fi game but they also thought the monsters were going to be zombies.

Over a period of 2 hours they then proceeded to make EVERY Aliens movie cliche "mistake" known to man. Because at the time they all made sense.

The characters in a story don't know they're in a story or what kind of story it is.

This past Saturday, an antisemitic mob hundreds strong in Russia rioted and shut down an airport. They were trying to find, catch, and murder Jews entering the country. That same day, a Jewish community centre in a different part of Russia was burned down, and "Death to Jews" was painted on the rubble. [1] [14]

On October 9th, protestors in Sydney, Australia chanted "Gas the Jews." [2]

There has been a 300% increase in antisemitic incidents in the UK, including kosher grocery stores being broken into and vandalized, and cars shouting "Kill Jews" at London Synagogues. [3]

Over the past month in Germany: Holocaust memorials have been defaced. The phrase "Jewish pigs" was spray-painted on a Green Party office after a party member spoke out about antisemitism. A teenager at a rally shouted "I want Adolf Hitler back. I’m for Hitler, for gassing the Jews." Molotov cocktails were thrown into synagogues. [3] [4]

On October 21st, Italians shouted, "Open the borders so we can kill the Jews." [5]

In Canada, a Jewish Community Center was egged by a man shouting antisemitic slurs, a Jewish business was, and a local Rabbi had a swastika drawn on his window. [11] [12]

Over the past month, synagogues have been defaced or raided in Austria, Colombia, Chile, France, Portugal and Spain. A historic synagogue was burned down in Tunisia. [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [13]

All that happened this month, this year. I'm not even touching on the past twenty years of global antisemitism. I'm not even mentioning the United States.

Genuinely not a callout post but I've seen this sentiment a few times now and I've gotta address it--

Iran. Iran benefits from this conflict, maybe more than most Western countries do. Islamic nationalists in Iran are funding Hamas, not because they want Hamas to win and establish a Palestinian state, but because they want as many Sunni Muslims and Jews dead as possible so they can more easily establish the global dominance of Iranian Shiite rule. [15]

I want to starts this off by saying this is not a personal attack towards anyone who likes TSOA. I just really want to get my thoughts out because I've been noticing that the TSOA versions of Patroclus and Achilles, specifically Patroclus, have slowly been taking over as their mainstream interpretations, when I find them to ve inaccurate and lacking the complexity of their Iliad counterparts.

One of my main reasons I have a problem with TSOA's version of Patroclus is this aspect of duality. He can be both kind AND ruthless, he can be both vulnerable AND harsh, he can be both a healer AND a fighter.

I think that leaving out that aspect of duality that Patroclus possesses completely takes away from one of the most important themes of the Iliad, being that war turns even the most gentle and patient people cruel. Patroclus might be selfless and kind in and around the camp, but that kindness does not extend to the battlefield. Has Patroclus shown any kindness to Trojan soldiers in the iliad? Not really. Why? Because first and foremost, he's a Greek soldier, and his primary directive coming to Troy was to assist Achilles and fight by his side. This man killed god who knows how many Trojans, including a son of Zeus, and tried to climb the walls several times, and you try to tell me he is only a healer or a medic?

People so often want to ignore this trait because the fact that the same Patroclus who was so kind and gentle and patient to others was the same Patroclus who brutally slaughtered dozens of men is too big of a pill to swallow for them. Patroclus, as is Achilles, by the way, is made into an easily digestable character in TSOA. He's not complicated to understand, his morality isn't challenged by anything. Patroclus is made safe and comfortable, because this makes the romance safe and comfortable. Patroclus is a medic, because according to this book, people who are nice simply could not possess the will or basic ability to kill, and if they do, it could only be by accident.

Now I could just throw all my previous points out the window and say fine, whatever. TSOA is a Y/A romance novel, not historical military fiction, BUT the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus is so intrinsically linked to war that leaving out this aspect would simply be dishonest. If you take away the element of war, of the cruelties of war, nothing remains of what makes their relationship tragic, intriguing and so utterly devastating. If you take away the element of war, the fact that, yes, these men that are so endearing to you, have willingly and knowingly committed atrocities against others, nothing remains of what makes their characters even remotely interesting. Patroclus's choice for kindness and patience means nothing when we don't see it contrasted against the violence he is capable of committing, and willingly commits.

Now, am I saying that TSOA, and all possible future Y/A novels about Achilles and Patroclus, should be centered around warcrimes? No. Am I saying that maybe, for the sake of consistency with the source material (that Miller should be very familiar with with her Masters in Classics and 15 years of teaching experience btw) and keeping the traits of these characters intact, we shouldn't ignore these things because it makes us uncomfortable so we either leave them out or change them to be more "morally correct" to make this story more safe, marketable and digestible? Maybe.

I suspect part of why TSOA takes place in the youth of Achilles and Patroclus, is because Miller simply does not want or isn't capable of dealing with the complexities of war, and how a romantic relationship would work in such a scenario over a longer timespan.

TSOA's denial to let these men be complex goes so far that even the basic dynamic and struggles of these characters are completely overhauled. These characters are not allowed to be complex, Patroclus not allowed to have feelings other than obsessive love and utmost servitude towards Achilles. In this book, Patroclus is not allowed to have differing thoughts except admiration towards Achilles, he is not allowed to question or criticize Achilles' actions or motives, so therefore the possibility of an interpersonal conflict that would make for a more complex romantic dynamic between the two is, plain and simple, just off the table.

Instead of the interpersonal drama between these characters that we see in the Iliad, that being Patroclus' persistence on moving on and doing what's right in contrast with Achilles' destructive obsession with what lies in the past and compulsive hatred towards those who wronged him, and despite deeply caring about eachother not being to fully overcome their different views resulting in Patroclus' untimely death, we get the most cliche, oldest tricks in the book, outside threats and relationship obstacles that had already reached parody levels by the time this book came out.

We get not only the extremely overdone cartoonishly evil homophobic mother trope in the form of Thetis, but not one, but TWO "girl who gets in the way of my precious gay ship" characters! Can you believe it? We're really getting spoiled today kids!

This is a really specific trait about this book that particularly irks me. In my research on Miller I've found several interviews (mostly on Circe but still) where she talks about how angry she was that women were always either portrayed as evil witches, weak slaves (or both) in Greek epics, and how she got so angry as a 13 year old girl because Circe was portrayed in a super "not girlboss" way in the Odyssey, and how she was totally going to flip this on its head in her novels. I then, find it very perculiar that she falls into the exact same pitfalls that she claimed she wanted to solve.

You can still write a compelling romance between two male characters without punching down and vilifying female characters who, in the source material, are the actual victims of mostly Achilles himself that TSOA so desperately tries to make Achilles and Patroclus too out to be.

But hey what do I know. I'm just some person on Tumblr. I'm not miss Miller with her masters in classics and 15 years of teaching experience and idk how many awards under my belt so yeah.

If there's anything to take away from this, go read the Iliad yourself, and if this monster of an epic is too daunting for readers who aren't used to/don't have the time for works of this size and complexity (which I completely understand), just read the relevant books (as in "chapters of the Iliad) that feature these characters and form your own opinion. My word isn't law. These characters and their dynamic has been interpreted and reinterpreted for hundreds and thousands of years and I don't think we'll really be getting anywhere by simply regurgitating other people's criticisms without actually taking a closer look at what it is we are critizing.

I haven't seen a gifset about this in a while, so I made my own. Now my heart is filled with love too; of course, not as big as theirs.