[mads]

grieving the person you used to be

in middle school during my Intense Greek Mythology Phase, Artemis was, as you can likely guess, my best girl. Iphigenia was my OTHER best girl. Yes at the same time.

The story of Iphigenia always gets to me when it's not presented as a story of Artemis being capricious and having arbitrary rules about where you can and can't hunt, but instead, making a point about war.

Artemis was, among other things--patron of hunting, wild places, the moon, singlehood--the protector of young girls. That's a really important aspect she was worshipped as: she protected girls and young women. But she was the one who demanded Agamemnon sacrifice his daughter in order for his fleet to be able to sail on for Troy.

There's no contradiction, though, when it's framed as, Artemis making Agamemnon face what he’s doing to the women and children of Troy. His children are not in danger. His son will not be thrown off the ramparts, his daughters will not be taken captive as sex slaves and dragged off to foreign lands, his wife will not have to watch her husband and brothers and children killed. Yet this is what he’s sailing off to Troy to inevitably do. That’s what happens in war. He’s going to go kill other people’s daughters; can he stand to do that to his own? As long as the answer is no—he can kill other people’s children, but not his own—he can’t sail off to war.

Which casts Artemis is a fascinating light, compared to the other gods of the Trojan War. The Trojan War is really a squabble of pride and insults within the Olympian family; Eris decided to cause problems on purpose, leaving Aphrodite smug and Hera and Athena snubbed, and all of this was kinda Zeus’s fault in the first place for not being able to keep it in his pants. And out of this fight mortal men were their game pieces and mortal cities their prizes in restoring their pride. And if hundreds of people die and hundred more lives are ruined, well, that’s what happens when gods fight. Mortals pay the price for gods’ whims and the gods move on in time and the mortals don’t and that’s how it is.

And women especially—Zeus wanted Leda, so he took her. Paris wanted Helen, so he took her. There’s a reason “the Trojan women” even since ancient times were the emblems of victims of a war they never wanted, never asked for, and never had a say in choosing, but was brought down on their heads anyway.

Artemis, in the way of gods, is still acting through human proxies. But it seems notable to me to cast her as the one god to look at the destruction the war is about to wreak on people, and challenge Agamemnon: are you ready to kill innocents? Kill children? Destroy families, leave grieving wives and mothers? Are you? Prove it.

It reminds me of that idea about nuclear codes, the concept of implanting the key in the heart of one of the Oval Office staffers who holds the briefcase, so the president would have to stab a man with a knife to get the key to launch the nukes. “That’s horrible!,” it’s said the response was. “If he had to do that, he might never press the button!” And it’s interesting to see Artemis offering Agamemnon the same choice. You want to burn Troy? Kill your own daughter first. Show me you understand what it means that you’re about to do.

i’m SO impressed by george russell’s ability to gaslight. he really had christian horner sticking out his arm to check if it was raining. mans had EVERYONE confused. he’s probably striking fear in the paddock when they see him walk in

I honestly don’t think I’ll ever be able to shut up about Gojo “Who the FUCK are YOU?” Satoru

When James Gunn said once more with feeling. He actually meant every single emotion in the spectrum. EVERY SINGLE ONE.

if TBOSAS doesn't end with Donald Sutherland as Snow in his office perhaps having flashbacks of that day in the woods while watching the 74th Hunger Games then all of the sudden he hears the Willow song and he just stares eyes wide mouth quivering in utter shock and disbelief at the literal personification of his karma and imminent demise then what's the point?

Disney vs. DeSantis is so funny because it's like. Neither side even wanted to get into this. Here's how it's supposed to go: Politician does something stupid. Corporation disavows politician after public pressure. Politician disavows the disavowing. Nothing changes for either party.

But then the Florida governor got stars in his eyes. He saw an opportunity to bolster his standing before the presidential primary. He wanted to be the one who took on The Mouse and won. So in retaliation he decides he's going to tear down the decades-old agreement Disney has to govern Disney World's district.

And just like that, Disney's batshit insane legal department turns towards Florida like the Eye of Sauron spotting the ring at Mount Doom. They smell potential lost profit. They smell blood.

Disney will use any and every strategy they've accumulated over the last century of lobbying congress and DeSantis can't back down lest he admit Mickey Mouse kicked his ass. He lost control of Disney World's district even more than he already had. Now he's getting sued.

This all started because Disney was pressured into backtracking their political contributions to Florida and disavowing the Don't Say Gay law. Now they're fighting for something they actually care about: their profit margin. Disney is not an ally to queer people and they're an enemy to progressives, but damn am I rooting for them to keep humiliating the greater evil for the time being. This is high comedy.

wait wait wait wait

“where a dead man called out”

when snow tried to cover he said he killed his old self

“they say he murdered three”

snow and the arlo both killed three people

also

he abandoned her while she was searching for katniss

alsoooo

“its not over till the mockingjay sings”

and ALSOOOO

she wrote the hanging tree, she sang deep in the meadow as maude ivory fell asleep the same way katniss sang to rue

in mockingjay katniss sang at that same lake near that same little house where she and snow had both found refuge once, and then broadcasted it to all of panem

i can just see how snow saw katniss, her “loverboy” scheme with peeta in the games, taken it as a cruel coincidence or worse, a mockery for the love he once shared with lucy gray, and wanted her dead for it

all the overlaps, all the strange coincidences between the girl he loved, the girl he betrayed, and katniss everdeen, the mockingjay, the girl who would bring an end to his show…

god i am going to cry, lucy gray baird and katniss everdeen i love y’all so so much

i fear im going to have another hunger games phase

(i don’t fear at all actually bc I love the hunger games and could go on about it for hours)

has it really been three whole years? has it only been three years?

or: how to miss something that never really leaves and how to know when something is dead or dying or sleeping. happy three year anniversary dream smp, i hope it was worth it.

he doesn't remember your name.

jaws snap shut around empty syllables, searching for something memory can't conjure. looking. hungry for the missing piece. but he doesn't know.

he remembers your face, hot and puffy with youth and indignation when he poked fun at you, and burning with life left to live. he remembers your voice and how it sounded when you called for him, or chided him. he remembers your mannerisms, the way your fingers thrummed against your desk, the way your fighting was flighty as if you were barely bound to this plane of existence. he remembers the smell of your blood and how it lingered long after you were gone. he remembers the way you looked at him.

most people observe him with reverence. unabashed, clear reverence. like he’s some god because to them, he very well may be. to them, gojo satoru is the highlight of their lives, the silver lining.

you, however, did none of that. when you'd first arrived on the campus of tokyo's very own jujutsu high, you'd looked.. unimpressed.

chapter 91 sealed chapter 221 unsealed

he came back more beautiful than ever.

1184 days.

I hope Barbie is so good and successful it makes every executive that’s turned everything bright and fun made for young girls into edgy boring teen dramas for the last ten years spontaneously combust into flames

😭 isnt even an emoji anymore its like a brother to me

someone on twitter said what if fernando alonso and taylor swift quietly broke up with their significant others because they started seeing each other. and as ridiculous and baseless as that theory is, i’m not not listening

N O

seb finally hard launching hanna on instagram (they’ve been together for 17 years married for 4 and have 3 kids)

People at Tampa eras show please give it your all! Do all the chants, shout love yous, etc. Make Taylor feel all of the fandoms love and support!