the moment I really latched onto him was when he basically dropped everything and tried to dive into the forest to go save his kids. bro wasn’t actually a selfish idiot like he kept making himself look like. bro was an emotionally constipated loving loser (affectionate) and loveable. he would risk the wrath of styx to save these kids. positively skrunkly

oh and his power! look guys the former protagonists always had some power to back them up, some good strength. this guy? first not demigod protagonist and he goes from straight up zero to launching a guy to the clouds with his bare hands. and tfw he uses his voiceTM. BEGONE SNAKE! and he acts so pathetic lol and if you look through whatever sunglasses he’s wearing and you look at the things from 3rd person pov dude what is he doing. he just flew off a road driving a car, and puts himself in front of the gremlin child to face one of those creepy zombie things that scream FOOD!!. bro straight up stabbed himself. bro sings the most heart wrenching song that even giant ants that don’t even understand what he’s saying get the point to the extent that they go catatonic with depression.

and holy cheez-its what kind of pain tolerance does this guy have?? dude??? you fell from the literal sky above the Empire State Building which like literal greek heaven (ouch) straight into a dumpster and then gets beat into unconsciousness by a pair of thugs under Nero like??? and with broken ribs, injured nose, hurt shoulder, etc. he walks up the stairs, runs through the woods insane. dude is literally insane. he gets flayed alive, forgets his other half, trapped in place by molten chains all at once and still trying trying to walk wth like this guy’s pain tolerance is beyond ouranos. idk how he does it I can’t even tolerate a hot summer day.

bro gives advice to a lost gremlin child who betrayed him anyway, helps her defeat her abuser the way he never could. and he grew, like everyone around him, to something better, something hopeful. “you’ve changed” heck yeah!! we love to see it

and humor?? like random mentions of things no one else in pjo would give you like playing the zither at 2am, godly toilet seat, ares roundhouse kick, waking up in Argentina. I love that they’re so offhand but they’re so funny and random

the haiku. they’re hilarious, works of art.

the characters. Chiron. Chiara. Damien. Austin. Kayla. Cecil. will. nico. Rachel. Lavinia. emmie. Josephine. heck even Commodus. lityerses. Abelard. Diana. frank. Jason. piper. the trogs. lu. reyna omg. meg. aaaaaaaaAAAAAAAA I love them so much! just how they fit in with his own journey of self and how they grow with him, like a garden, like an orchestra building its crescendo together, in unity. little things like reading frank’s admiration of apollo first in hoo, and now we get apollo’s side of it, and he’s so cute. Reyna’s whole journey of “finding the one who will heal her heart”. (gods I loved that thank you rick.) and will’s “dad!” and making apollo literally weep and meg: “the beast is dead. I killed it.” and taps her head and I'm just so proud of them.

“YOU ARE NO GOD!” he isn’t the same god who fell to earth in the winter. he likely won’t be ever the same ever again. ‘cause he’s gonna work to being better. he’s saving the world, but he’s also having a journey of his own self, rediscovering himself, building onto himself like everyone else, they’re all gonna be a better version of themselves.

Hellooooooo local populace of tumblr. If you’re looking for something toa-related unfortunately this is not the post you are probably looking for, but alas! I write it anyway. Now to find out if the series has anything on tumblr…

This is about tmf (the music freaks) a series by rosyclozy on youtube (which is honestly the superior gacha series compared to every other series i’ve ever seen, imo), so please check it out! The editing is truly *chefs kiss* and it’s voice acted and so good omg.

Onto the thing!

In my experience, people seem to really underplay peer pressure – it really isn’t as simple as they say. “Just say no and leave if they offer you drugs” and whatnot. It’s not always illegal drugs or crimes or something (even though you should avoid that anyway); sometimes, the people you hang out with affect what you do, change how you act, who you are, your other relationships. And that’s where I introduce the skrunkly guy called Jake, the protagonist!!

Poor guy has been bullied for his passion. When he gets taken in by a popular guy and his friends, he is given protection from his bullies – but as time goes on, he becomes a bully himself. (villain arc??) you became the one thing you swore to destroy- why? Because he wanted to fit in, to keep his friends. In this world, it’s yeet or be yeeted, and it’s not different in tmf either, apparently.

The desire to fit into a community is a basic part of us. That’s why peer pressure is so strong – we want to be “doing it right”, “fitting in”, and being accepted by others around us in the community.

Or who knows! Maybe my perspective is skewed because I'm more of a doormat than others. But this isn’t considered in those lessons I've been taught.

Passion – passion and motivation probably power the world. It’s probably how we even got this far as a species. Ao3, for example, is notorious for having some extremely hardworking authors delivering amazing content for free… and I suppose the series I'm talking about right now is also a great example. Peer pressure vs. passion? Oh boy, that poor guy. Something that drives you, that gives you happiness, vs. something that changes you, affects your “character”, gives you a degree of satisfaction? That’s an internal war.

I don’t think anyone thinks this decision between 2 groups is anything remotely easy for Jake, but just in case, I'm gonna say it because I want to: it really isn’t easy in the slightest. There will always be people who clash and don’t get along. Being torn between 2 friends (perpetually, not just 2 friends who had a fight), is horrible. (again, experience). Out of fear of losing one or the other side’s liking of you made that… incredibly awkward tbh lol. All you wanted was to be friends with both with no conflict but here we are! C’est la vie, or something. Society is a work of art. Our poor, poor resident simp.

In the upcoming (hopefully soon 🙏🙏) episode 10, Jake will probably continue to be given the cold shoulder by the music club, but on the other side? He might realize that they framed him and made this happen, so HE might give the POPULAR ONES some ire too. (or not. Pesky society things.)

(and if that happens, he’ll be really alone. Alone like he was in middle school. Back to square 1.)

heyyyyy it’s me ya boy!

let’s start with a myth.

in the first coup of Olympus, things went badly. Athena got herself off the hook, apollo and Poseidon were sentenced to work under service as mortals, and Hera was dangled over chaos. (percy Jackson’s greek gods and I believe the myths will back me up on this one.)

now let’s look at toa.

clearly right from the start, apollo is facing his original punishment from that coup. he’s turned mortal, and forced to work under service. in the near end of ton, he falls down down down until he is right above chaos. he dangles helplessly above the swirling mass of primordial soup that will claim his existence if he loses his grip and falls. when he reascends, in the meeting room, zeus states “I am satisfied.” and that’s the end of his trials. he’s free now.

but if you look... he’s done all the punishments handed out to the rebels in the rebellion of Olympus. he was turned mortal and forced to do service, he hung over chaos, and was then let off the hook and at his former physical status again. he’s done all of them, and he’s come back. by himself, without permission from his father, the king. and the tyrant doesn’t know how. as keyseeker/flightfoot once said, he’s afraid of that same old cycle that happened to the generations before him happen to him, and fears apollo, because he was always his biggest mistake.

not to mention he did even harder tasks! he defeated 3 evil roman emperor/gods, freed a whole bunch of oracles, fought his old nemesis python which he had a hard time doing as a god, as a fleshy, flabby Lester Papadopoulos. and he came back using what he had -- which wasn’t the smart-talk Athena used to lay herself off after that time, but she stayed a “free-to-move-around-on-olympus” god, and he restored himself back to that.

and guess what? he succeeded! he basically said and proved, “you can do those things to punish me, but I have more power than you, for I have overcome them all with even less than last time, and have still come back.”

“I am stronger than you.”

lol didn’t expect the other one to be noticed by so many people so here’s a more formal one

In the Riordanverse, the god Apollo is an imperfect being, like such are the other gods. They were made to reflect humanity, and were made out of expectations and beliefs. However, they are imperfect, and the form Lester is the perfect representation of that. He’s flawed, he has a lack of physical perfection such as 8-pack abs and acne, and human. He’s the symbol of Apollo’s character development through his trials, he steadily becomes more Apollo than Apollo from before Trials of Apollo has been in likely thousands of years. Lester is sixteen turning seventeen. Apollo is a forever young boy in truth, protector of young. These are three reasons why Lester is the perfect representation of Apollo.

From early on in The Hidden Oracle, Apollo wails constantly about his new meatsack prison’s imperfections, such as referring to the absence of eight-pack abs as “flab” and the horrific sights of acne. A fact that he is a little less happy to admit is his own imperfection as a god. This entire series as a whole—even including other pantheons’ deities—have been imperfect, acting human; even if they don’t like admitting to it. Apollo says himself that the other gods have definitely done not-so-perfect things in The Hidden Oracle. The gods are much like humans, for that’s what they were built on. Humanity. And Apollo is the protector of the young.

Perhaps his role as protector of the young makes him quite like a young boy. He may be 4612 years old as he claims, but in truth, he is still a young man. In his mortal form Lester, he is just that—a young man starting to emerge to adulthood. He is an intensely emotional teenager (perhaps due to the hormones, or just him himself, regarding the scene when everyone in Camp Half-Blood comes to embrace him and welcomes him and he does “ugly weeping”. He cries at kindness he would have never expected to get or give before his trials. He breaks down those lies of his own creation to be truly him.

Before the start of the Trials of Apollo, he acts with the facade of a spoiled, egoistical god, and not much different to the others who have been assimilated into Olympus. As he goes through these trials, he finds and frees more than the oracles he was tasked to free—he also steadily freed himself from the shell that was in fact just a net of his own lies. He refinds himself past his protective costume. The Apollo before his trials would have easily put himself in the form of the most gorgeous, attractive form ever. The Apollo after his trials however chose Lester, because it was like home. It was like him. As Lester and after, he had been more “Apollo” than he was as godly Apollo pre-ToA. He had cried and cared and loved more than he had openly done in the previous books. He has always been a caring character, shown in The Titan’s Curse when giving a ride to the questing demigods going to save his twin sister, but it appears that he hasn’t really made any real new relationships that he really felt a part of or really deserving of. However, as Lester? He made and found his new home.

The “all women are beautiful and magical” rhetoric that goes around Tumblr bothers the stink out of me. I get where this attitude is coming from, as a reaction to media that claims otherwise (explicitly or implicitly), or as a reaction to men who have caused them harm. I get that. I have been around so many toxic men and could tell so many stories about them, and some days I get so frustrated with some of their attitudes. But I’m not blind to the fact that men are complex, and they can be any combination and permutation of good/bad/everywhere in between. I also don’t think that the women expressing these views mean any harm because hey, some women are pretty damn amazing (and cute!!)

But here’s the thing:

Women shit. Women fight. Women can have some of the strongest friendships ever. Women kill each other. Women get sick and vomit everywhere. Women love. We are doctors, we are artists, we are sex kittens, we are abusive spouses, we are role models, we are winners, we are remarkably average, we are junkies, we are lawyers, we are straight, we are gay, we are everywhere in between, we live, and then we die (hopefully after living one hell of a life).

We are people, not sparkly magical unicorns. Humans.

And to claim that we are perfect, unlike disgusting men, is an insult to feminism everywhere. Men do bad things. Women do bad things. Humans are complex creatures, and to deny this complexity is dehumanizing. It is objectifying. And isn’t that the root of misogyny?

Love women. Women are beyond worthy of your love. But love (or hate us) us for all that we are, and not some idealized view. Be critical, and don’t be blinded by adoration. 

   I honestly, do not understand what peoples' problems are. I know the Pledge has been up for controversy for many years, so why is it that now I am suddenly being bombarded with things related to this? 

   Yes, I know that not all countries have a Pledge. But guess what? The United States is not the only country who has one. The Philippines has one as well so stop saying we are the only ones. 

   Now, some people have a problem with young children in school saying the Pledge. In 1942 there was a court case called West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette that concerned this. Barnette believed that the Pledge would create people who idolize the flag in a perverted manner, the Board thought differently. The case ended with 6 votes for Barnette and 3 against. After the case, Justice Jackson said,

"[i]f there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein." 

To me, this translates as: No on can be forced to say the Pledge but saying it will do nothing. In a later case the 11th Circuit of Appeals said that a student has the right not to participate or stand. I disagree with the outcome of that case for I believe that children should stand. Not because its the right thing to do, but out of respect for those of us who do say it, and say it proudly. I could care less if they said it or not. If they do not mean it, I rather them not say it at all. Standing out of respect harsh for you? Why is that? We all stand for the Anthem even if we do not all say it. We give moments of silence to those who ask even if we do not agree with their intentions or the reason for the moment. Why are those any different from a simple pledge?

   Another big reason as to why people dislike the Pledge is because of one simple statement: "Under god". This was added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954. What was going on during 1954? Oh yeah, the Cold War. The infamous War of Words. Why is this setting important? Well because many Americans were scared. They did not know if bombs were going to be dropped that day, if an actually war would break loose, if the men where going to be drafted again, basically, they lived in fear. I can see that as reasoning enough to put 'under god' in the Pledge. To reassure people they had nothing to fear. Despite us having no written religion, most Americans were Christian of some sort back then. It was also a way to separate us from the communists. While not the reasons I agree that 'under god' should stay, these are some reasons. My reason, comes from Geoffry Nunberg, a linguist. He disagreed with the addition of 'under god', but his reason was simple. People of the time thought "under god" was just a quote from President Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address". The entire quote is like this:

"...That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

Nunberg states that the addition of 'under god' is wrong not for its meaning, but because it is grammatically incorrect. 'Under god' means 'god willing'. If you think about it, 'god willing' makes more sense. Let us look at this quote sing synonyms of 'under':

"...That this nation, placed below God, shall have a new birth..." , "...That this nation, lying below God, shall have a new birth..." , "...That this nation, subordinate of God, shall have a new birth..."

Yes, these sound good but think of the time period as to when this speech was given. The Civil War, after the Battle of Gettysburg, in 1863. In the 1800s, guess what? Words were different back then and people still tended to rely on religion. Its with this context that Nunberg believes that the phrase 'under god' had nothing to do with the nation but with the next sentence 'Shall have a new birth...'. Given the time Lincoln was in, the words 'under god' actually meant 'with God's help' or 'God willing' and that in fact, our current translation of 'one nation, under God..." (which to us translates as 'One nation beneath God') is actually a communication error.

   Now, my big thing, that also comes from Nunberg, is that the Pledge is a hapax legomenon; a word with a special meaning used for a special occasion. It only becomes real in schools but yet, there is a lesson. That placing a special feeling onto something is unique and requires words unlike any other to itself and only itself.

   Overall, I love my Pledge. Nothing will make me stop saying it. No hate, violence, or law will make me stop. And as long as I can find reasons to defend it, I will. Yet, I will not force people to say it if they do not want to. It is your right, I just ask you respect my right to say it. But, I will not tolerate those who disrespect it and have no courtesy for the Pledge in the first place (I know who the people in my class are who do this and you also know who you are) come to me and tell me that what I do is wrong. I am also a strong believer that those who don't participate or show respect in the first place, have no right trying to change it. It would be like me, who knows close to nothing about Muslims, going up to one and saying "Hey, I've never done this before and have no respect for it, nor understand it, but your prayers offend me so you have to stop." I mean...really? Would I have a right to do that? No. 

   I am sorry for this essay-like post, but I had to get it out of my system and had no one to talk to in person. This was the next best thing. I realize my points are not loop-hole free and can be used against me, but it does not make for much of a debate if they were now would it?

This thought came to me and I basically wrote an essay.

If there is one thing I have learned over the last year, it is that every piece of clothing can be analysed. The way we dress ourselves communicates so much- class, financial situation, occupation, hobbies, religious background, attitude, music preferences, cliques, what time you got up in the morning, the weather forecast, insecurities, political alliance, and a whole myriad of other random things. It stands to reason, then, that a designer would use their knowledge of the language of clothing to convey messages to an audience, often without them noticing. We automatically react to what we are shown on screen and draw conclusions about characters from the moment we see their costumes.  

It's all about association. We see someone standing on a roof with a black cape and we automatically think “Oh, hello there Batman.” If we saw the same person wearing a bright green furry jacket standing on the roof we'd think “this chap is going to get himself killed.”

This happens most prominently with Sherlock himself. I'll go into specifics in later posts but for now I want to talk about his overall looks, and how the audience unconsciously associates him with historical figures, who are, you guessed it, famously homosexual.