#the knowledge we have in the books)

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

putting my prediction on record now that the coming decade is going to see the rise of viral-marketed fancy at-home water filtration systems, driving and driven by a drastic reduction in the quality of U.S. tap water (given that we are in a 'replacement era' where our current infrastructure is reaching the end of its lifespan--but isn't being replaced). also guessing that by the 2030s access to drinkable tap water will be a mainstream class issue, with low-income & unstably housed people increasingly forced to rely on expensive bottled water when they can't afford the up-front cost of at-home filtration--and with this being portrayed in media as a "moral failing" and short-sighted "choice," rather than a basic failure of our political & economic systems. really hope i'm just being alarmist, but plenty of this already happens in other countries, and the U.S. is in a state of decline, so. here's praying this post ages into irrelevance. timestamped April 2023

#apollo don't fucking touch this one #serious post #not a shitpost #hope i forget about this post and have no reason to ever look back on it one day #fyi i'm aware that access to potable water is already a major issue in parts of the U.S. yes i know flint michigan exists #i'm saying that this issue is going to GROW unless local & federal governments work together to fix it. #so it's a matter of if we trust them to fix it. And well--do you? #what are the chances the government just denies there's a problem until the water actually turns brown #at which point it's already been common knowledge for years and people have just become resigned and that's our new normal #i'm mean come on. how many of us already believe that we're being exposed to dangerous pollutants we don't know about and can't avoid #like that's pretty much just part of being a modern consumer. accepting that companies will happily endanger your life for a few pennies #and the most you'll get is like a $50 gift card as part of a class action rebate 20 years down the line #probably the history books will look back on Flint as a warning and a harbinger that went ignored #luxury condos will advertise their built-in top-of-the-line filtration systems--live here and you can drink water straight from your tap! #watch the elite professional class putting $700 dyson water filtration systems on their wedding registry #while the rest of us figure out how to fit water delivery into our grocery budget while putting 90% of our paycheck towards rent #also eggs are $15

[embershroud108]

The one thing they didn’t use from Vi’s LoL lore for her character in Arcane that I wish they had is the fact that she’s also a tech wiz. Or at least a highly competent tinkerer. Like, her gauntlets were originally something that she scavenged and retrofitted herself from a mining machine (which honestly makes more sense than Jayce designing them as mining devices).

But in Arcane we get no sense that Vi is a skilled mechanic. They probably dropped it because they were leaning hard into the trope of “brawny older sibling, brainy younger sibling,” but honestly, I would like it better if both sisters were smart engineers.

Maybe in season 2, since Jinx with the shimmer enhancement is now physically stronger than Vi, Vi will become more “brainy,” learning how to operate and enhance her gauntlets with engineering skill rather than just brute force.

#arcane #season 2 #speculation #vi #we got maybe a little bit of foreshadowing of this when vi immediately when to jayce’s books during the break in #like she seems to have an interest in knowledge #maybe this will be a part of every character becoming opposite of who they were in season 1

[stuckinapril]

my GOD I love science. i love chemistry. i love medicine. i love my life

#so happy to have made the choices I have #even if somehow something changes I never want this love for science & learning beaten out of me #no matter what I always want to treasure everything I’ve learned #one day I will be 70 at the library hunched over a book w lip gloss on bc the pursuit of knowledge never ends #and we are so fortunate for that #p

[alectothinker]

#tlt polls #tlt #atn #the locked tomb #alecto the ninth #another fun atn predictions poll bc i am sick rn and bored as fuck at home #<3 #honestly i have minimal meme knowledge bc i have a shit memory lol #spam me in the comments w possible memes #i might make a bingo sheet so we can all play when the book's out #hehehe #mine

[raepritewrites]

Me, realizing there are new fans who've never read the books now watching tv!pjo and have no clue what's in store: I could tell them everything

Also me: I can't ruin it for them!

Also, also me: ...unless?

#disney #percy jackson #pjo #percy jackon and the olympians #pjo tv series #i could spoil so much without even trying #i have four book series worth of knowledge about percy just sitting in my brain clawing to get out #you have no idea how hard this predicament is #must not tell #but we wants to tell #arghhhh

[lumeha]

New reason unlocked for being pissed that Jeralt decided to just burn stuff down instead of, idk, talking to Rhea (ok I know why he didn't do that) or realising his kid was similar to his wife (??? there's NO way Sitri had a heartbeat she is literally Powered By A Crest Stone ??? Jeralt ???)

or

idk

leave in the middle of the night WITHOUT burning shit down actually

#barks.txt #:((( my dude BOOKS and CHRONICLES and ARCHIVES are important #like sure it's funny that Rhea is all “ooh we lost this knowledge (that I still have bc I was there)” #but at the same time #if those documents were chronicling things written by the Apostles for example #it IS a MASSIVE LOSS #she doesn't KNOW what went into their head directly #idk #jeralt #why #why did you do that

[urwendii]

Little reminder that, when it comes to Galadriel, Tolkien wrote:

"Galadriel was born in the bliss of Valinor, but it was not long, in the reckoning of the Blessed Realm, before that was dimmed; and thereafter she had no peace within. [...]

She was proud, strong, and selfwilled, as were all the descendants of Finwë save Finarfin; and like her brother Finrod, of all her kin the nearest to her heart, she had dreams of far lands and dominions that might be her own to order as she would without tutelage.

[...] and once she had set foot upon that road of exile, she would not relent. [...] Her pride was unwilling to return, a defeated suppliant for pardon; but now she burned with desire to follow Fëanor with her anger to whatever lands he might come, and to thwart him in all the ways that she could.

Pride still moved her when [...] after the final overthrow of Morgoth, she refused the pardon of the Valar [...] and remained in Middle Earth.

[...]

She looked upon the Dwarves also with the eye of a commander, seeing in them the finest warriors to pit against the Orcs. "

— Unfinished Tales, Concerning Galadriel and Celeborn

#i rest my case #listen people are entitled their opinions but please at least open the books beforehand #and stop using PJ's trilogy as your only source material knowledge this is so embarrassing 🤦 #anyway young Artanis had no chill #when people complain about Trop!Galadriel being ooc..... do we have the same UT edition? #bc the way i interpret all that sticks prettyyyy close from her show version #trop #galadriel #tolkien

[sharlsainz]

everyone that says 'percy is not stupid he just thinks he is' is actually so right, that's like borderline self-sabotage and sometimes adhd-ers does that. it's just that this time the show isn't fully from percy's pov. the boy can think when he wants and needs too, he's just slow sometimes.

#this is coming from someone with adhd and that's pretty much how i feel #i pulled 3.66/4 gpa last semester i dont even know where that came from considering last year was the busiest ive been #we read the book from his pov where he's 'transitioning' from his normal life to demigod life where he THOUGHT he knows nothing about #but he's wrong bc his mom has been teaching him all sort of things about the greek mythology where he sees it only as 'stories' at first #but then slowly he started to use that to his advantages for utilizing his powers and stuff #for me the shows change things that they should already know anyway (their knowledge about the casino) #they havee annabeth and grover to tell percy stuff he doesn't already know and we know annabeth knows all sort of things #percy jackon and the olympians #adhd #percy jackson #annabeth chase #grover underwood

[mrsdulac]

really do not agree with some of these takes from the vc fandom concerning the show only fanbase

#at this point y’all #some of it just seems mean spirited #like whyyyy does it matter SO MUCH to some of y’all that newcomers are show only? #why can you not just…be happy the fanbase is growing?? #and this is not directed at anyone in particular #I’m just… #i’m over the comments about the show only crowd. i really am. #why do you think they’re unable to grasp the complexity of what they’re watching #and yeah i have legit seen some blogs say this #even critizing them for reading the fanfics but not the books like…can we relax? #is iwtv a college level course with required reading now? lol like??? #the show is not the same as the books and it’s perfectly fine for people to engage with one and not the other… #having a different perspective bc you have read the books is absolutely fine but like #having knowledge from the books doesn’t mean that your interpretations and opinions concerning the show are more valid or superior #i have had three more anons in my inbox talking about this and it’s starting to drain me #let! people! enjoy! the show! without requiring some in depth meta knowledge from the book #okay…tag rant over <3 #iwtv #vampire chronicles

[eremin0109]

The more I read about Patroclus' actual characterization in the Iliad, the more my distaste for Madeline Miller's version of him grows.

Like lady, how do you take this MAN who was a formidable, seasoned warrior with a body count that was CANONICALLY greater than that of Achilles', a briliant strategist and an army medic, charming as all hell, bisexual as fuck AND rips apart Zeus' goddamn son with his bare fucking hands and turn him into whatever the fuck TSOA Patroclus was???!?

With all due respect, Patrochilles aren't your run of the mill yaoi couple and the only reason I can see for her to "feminize" Patroclus was to make two WARRIORS who canonically had a balanced dynamic between them to forcefully fit into the done and dusted, absolutely fetishizing seme/uke (erastes and eromenos, if you will) trope. And this is just sad because had she been true to the original characterizations, it would've made for a vastly more interesting retelling and not a book that basically glorifies and justifies Achilles' horrible deeds and makes Patroclus a dumb simp who can't see anything wrong with his boyfriend's actions.

#I didn't mind the characters when I first read the book because I had like negative knowledge about the actual source material #But now that I'm a little wiser than before I fucking hate this aspect of the book with all my fucking heart #She did Patroclus so fucking dirty like you don't have to diminish one HERO to elevate the other FFS #they were both masc warriors who were also toxic and misogynist (like most Greek men around that time) what's so fucking hard to understand #Ugh #we could've gotten battle boyfriends but instead we got a pseudo-hetereosexual romance with Madeline's male OC #fuck this shit I'm so mad about it #the song of achilles #madeline miller #anti tsoa #tsoa critical #patrochilles #Achilles #Patroclus

[masked-alien-lesbian]

I don't care if it's been a whole year, the LIs better be still looking for mc. They better be searching all corners of the Light realm for a way to find us

#I want them to be haunted by our memory #I want Imtura to be searching the seas #Nia talking to all the Light mages and reading all #Their books on the shadow realms #Mal to search all the caves and ruins for any artifacts #And Tyril to be searching the ancient elves knowledge #In Undermount #If they're close to moving on #And we have to spend all 2nd book trying to #Rekindle the flame #I'm screaming #Imtura better not gotten anyone pregnant #While I'm gone lol #bolas #choices #pixelberry #playchoices #bolas 2 #blades #blades of light and shadow #blades 2 #Blades of light and shadow 2

[the-busy-ghost]

Alright uninformed rant time. It kind of bugs me that, when studying the Middle Ages, specifically in western Europe, it doesn’t seem to be a pre-requisite that you have to take some kind of “Basics of Mediaeval Catholic Doctrine in Everyday Practise” class. 

Obviously you can’t cover everything- we don’t necessarily need to understand the ins and outs of obscure theological arguments (just as your average mediaeval churchgoer probably didn’t need to), or the inner workings of the Great Schism(s), nor how apparently simple theological disputes could be influenced by political and social factors, and of course the Official Line From The Vatican has changed over the centuries (which is why I’ve seen even modern Catholics getting mixed up about something that happened eight centuries ago). And naturally there are going to be misconceptions no matter how much you try to clarify things for people, and regional/class/temporal variations on how people’s actual everyday beliefs were influenced by the church’s rules. 

But it would help if historians studying the Middle Ages, especially western Christendom, were all given a broadly similar training in a) what the official doctrine was at various points on certain important issues and b) how this might translate to what the average layman believed. Because it feels like you’re supposed to pick that up as you go along and even where there are books on the subject they’re not always entirely reliable either (for example, people citing books about how things worked specifically in England to apply to the whole of Europe) and you can’t ask a book a question if you’re confused about any particular point. 

I mean I don’t expect to be spoonfed but somehow I don’t think that I’m supposed to accumulate a half-assed religious education from, say, a 15th century nobleman who was probably more interested in translating chivalric romances and rebelling against the Crown than religion; an angry 16th century Protestant; a 12th century nun from some forgotten valley in the Alps; some footnotes spread out over half a dozen modern political histories of Scotland; and an episode of ‘In Our Time’ from 2009. 

But equally if you’re not a specialist in church history or theology, I’m not sure that it’s necessary to probe the murky depths of every minor theological point ever, and once you’ve started where does it end? 

Anyway this entirely uninformed rant brought to you by my encounter with a sixteenth century bishop who was supposedly writing a completely orthodox book to re-evangelise his flock and tempt them away from Protestantism, but who described the baptismal rite in a way that sounds decidedly sketchy, if not heretical. And rather than being able to engage with the text properly and get what I needed from it, I was instead left sitting there like:

And frankly I didn’t have the time to go down the rabbit hole that would inevitably open up if I tried to find out

#This is a problem which is magnified in Britain I think as we also have to deal with the Hangover from Protestantism #As seen even in some folk who were raised Catholic but still imbibed certain ideas about the Middle Ages from culturally Protestant schools #And it isn't helped when we're hit with all these popular history tv documentaries #If I have to see one more person whose speciality is writing sensational paperbacks about Henry VIII's court #Being asked to explain for the British public What The Pope Thought I shall scream #Which is not even getting into some of England's super special common law get out clauses #Though having recently listened to some stuff in French I'm beginning to think misconceptions are not limited to Great Britain #Anyway I did take some realy interesting classes at uni on things like marriage and religious orders and so on #But it was definitely patchy and I definitely do not have a good handle on how it all basically hung together #As evidenced by the fact that I've probably made a tonne of mistakes in this post #Books aren't entirely helpful though because you can't ask them questions and sometimes the author is just plain wrong #I mean I will take book recommendations but they are not entirely helpful; and we also haven't all read the same stuff #So one person's idea of what the basics of being baptised involved are going to radically differ from another's based on what they read #Which if you are primarily a political historian interested in the Hundred Years' War doesn't seem important eonugh to quibble over #But it would help if everyone was given some kind of similar introductory training and then they could probe further if needed/wanted #So that one historian's elementary mistake about baptism doesn't affect generations of specialists in the Hundred Years' War #Because they have enough basic knowledge to know that they can just discount that tiny irrelevant bit #This is why seminars are important folks you get to ASK QUESTIONS AND FIGURE OUT BITS YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND #And as I say there is a bit of a habit in this country of producing books about say religion in mediaeval England #And then you're expected to work out for yourself which bits you can extrapolate and assume were true outwith England #Or France or Scotland or wherever it may be though the English and the French are particularly bad for assuming #that whatever was true for them was obviously true for everyone else so why should they specify that they're only talking about France #Alright rant over #Beginning to come to the conclusion that nobody knows how Christianity works but would like certain historians to stop pretending they do #Edit: I sort of made up the examples of the historical people who gave me my religious education above #But I'm now enamoured with the idea of who actually did give me my weird ideas about mediaeval Catholicism #Who were my historical godparents so to speak #Do I have an idea of mediaeval religion that was jointly shaped by some professor from the 1970s and a 6th century saint? #Does Cardinal Campeggio know he's responsible for some much later human being's catechism? #Fake examples again but I'm going to be thinking about that today

[redysetdare]

Y'all listen just because you learned something in school doesn't mean everyone else did. idk how y'all got this idea in ur heads that we all learned the same shit when literal book bans are happening in schools across the united states and certain subjects are being banned from ever being talked about. (do not even get me started on the fact different countries have different curriculum too) Like you cannot say "You guys obviously just didn't pay attention in school and are stupid because we all learned this" like you are ignoring like 50 other options as to why people may not have learned this ranging from poorly funded school to disabled kid getting shoved into special ed classes which are often notorious for mistreating their disabled students. I'm begging you all to understand the nuance of why certain skills and abilities aren't as widely spread as you assume they should be.

#text #some of you are creeping a bit to close to ablism and it's getting real ucomfortable #'everyone learned media literacy in school' except in the schools where they just told you what to think. #except in the schools where they didn't want you to learn critical thinking so that they could push an agenda without you questioning it #except in schools where books or subjects that would require this skill got banned and thus it was never learned #unless the school was underfunded and couldn't afford the proper materials to teach it #unless your teacher was bad and didn't bother to properly teach you #unless your teacher and school was ablist and refused to teach you #unless your schooling was disrupted by a sudden pandemic that may of forced you into an environment that made it more difficult to learn #unless literally anything else besides 'you didn't listen and are thus stupid' because i can assure you we were listening #maybe instead of blaming a huge portion of the population of suddenly becoming stupid or not paying attention in class #maybe you could realize that this is a failure on the American school system as a whole #at some point you can't keep blaming the students for failing when it's this many students #at some point you gotta realize it's the system and blaming the individual does nothing #btw i didn't talk about other country curriculum because I'm not knowledgeable enough to know how good other school systems are #but i know more about american school systems and how much they suck and so many of these ppl complaining mean american schools anyways #but i am aware of other countries having wide variety of curriculum and how weird ppl get about that especially with usa centrism online #i just dont feel like i can give a good enough commentary on that that other non-usa ppl haven't already given 10x better than i ever could

[stuckinapril]

Maybe I’m biased bc I’m a pre-med w a biochemistry degree but I really do recommend Richard Harris’s Rigor Mortis to anyone who’s even remotely interested in biomedical research / the progress in that field

#niche? maybe idk but ur taxpayer dollars ARE funding biomedical research #and we do have to question why it’s been moving way slower than it should #plus the book is an easier read that’s on the shorter end and only requires hs level science knowledge #I reread that book every now and then so that I’m like ohhh ok this needs to be worked on this needs to be changed #books

[blaqueswanzaghouliishiilikeda]

iwtv ep 7 rewatch thoughts

Killing with extravagance is back in the De Lioncourt household. Lestat swirls blood in a glass chalice like a finely aged merlot. a meal provided to the family by Lestat’s very own slow drain exsanguination tap.

He’s making a very pointed statement/reminder to Louis here. In ep 6 he proposed the two-legged meals for all rule bc the structure of the household at the time made him feel inferior. it was framed at the time as a way to create a sense of familial unity and acceptance with Claudia voicing her own feelings about Louis superior approach adding legitimacy to the claim and need for change, but really it was for this—what we see in ep 7. It’s not that no one should be made to feel inferior amongst them, it’s that if anyone is superior between them its the provider of the household— the patriarch Lestat.

Ep 7 reveals the fine print of the proposed two-legged meal rule terms Lestat’s preferred flavor of extravagance and humiliation. The way he likes to do it. The way he enjoys it. Only now Louis will also be humiliated along with the victim. Just like forcing the tenor to sit through all the ways he displeased Lestat by not hitting the correct notes during an opera he loved, Lestat forces Louis to sit through all the ways he displeased him by choosing to retreat in books rather than fulfill his role as Lestat wife and immortal companion. He’s saying you think you’re learning from books when they are insufficient “relics before they even make it to the print shop.” He emphasizes the unspoken reminder of the real hierarchy. Lestat is the head of house. He is the provider of the meals, the keeper of knowledge and the rule maker, and he is the real protector of the household as well (Claudia is back in the coffin room under his supervision).

All this echos of:

“Well, I don't say that you have to enjoy it!!!”

“Embrace what you are!”

Only now don’t only just embrace the nature of their vampirism, but also of his companionship and marriage contract for Louis and for Claudia the nature of being Lestat’s fledgling and child, whether they like it or not. Lestat is truly Father.

All this and Claudia is scheeeming. She really is defiant youngest child avenger little sister. i live.

Deliciously, all this is paralleled with the scene showing Louis does eventually embrace the extravagance of bloodletting only to the his own preferred flavor of his moral code/lack there of. He consumes his blood in a glass bowl with a silver spoon, the meal being provided to him like fine dining at a 5 star restaurant. In his own extravagance it’s served to him by Rashmand, prepared by staff (a thread to his human experience at the du lac estate) and sourced by his very own blood farm (plantation parallel? i think so, but lmk). He’s not killing and outright humiliating victims, but he’s still exploiting and over-consuming and he has distanced himself from it enough that it does not challenge his defined moral code with all of its blindspots (similar to Florence at the table in ep 1 not paying mind to the business of Storyville but enjoying the spoils of it). He really is Mother.

#iwtv ep 7 rewatch #louis de pointe du lac #lestat de lioncourt #claudia du pointe du lac de lioncourt #we drinking blood in style #louis as the keeper of knowledge having a book written in his parallel 👩🏾‍🍳

[aroaceleovaldez]

okay so upon further inspection it seems i did not receive the version of Chalice of the Gods i actually ordered so i will need to fight the bookstore about that. still have not actually read it yet since i am filled with despair every time i look at it. Ever since like mid-TOA i've felt like i'm being force-fed fanfiction. Like if this was actual fanfiction it'd be fine, because then it'd be optional, but no, I am bound by coming-up-on 8 years of askblog so i'm basically legally obligated to read this to know what happens so I can then ignore it.

Anyways I suppose I will have to speed-read my copy whenever I get around to it but like. As delicately as possible in case it needs to be returned for a replacement.

#honestly at this rate and how recent books have been going do you think i can just. apply to be one of Rick's editors #let me be a sensitivity reader or something man. i'll write a series bible for ya. i'll continuity-check the books. #but the way things are now we can keep doing this Rick #the list of things i have to question your knowledge of keeps growing and we are very close to adding ''your own series'' as a bullet point #seriously what is his editor doing these days other than questionable bits on-stage during book tours #delete later