#But Beyonce was the worlds greatest hero of all time

[hero-of-villains]

What if. Izuku's dad didn't come back at the end of mha...to save Izuku from Beyonce

[synergysilhouette]

Plotting out "Rainstar" (Disney movie)

Make sure to check out the post summarizing my various posts from the fanmade Disney Reinvention Era here (and I'll probably edit it to fit my fleshed-out posts).

Background: Despite somewhat fatigue of superhero films, several projects are brought to Disney's attention, though they are quick to shoot down any comic adaptations, preferring to do original ideas in contrast to "Big Hero 6." Eventually they settle on a pitch for a superhero film with a female lead that takes inspiration from the many 90s superhero shows. Disney is interested by this, particularly since "The Incredibles" is inspired by mid 20-century comics and most superhero films (live-action and animated) are usually placed in present-day. The setting is unique enough while still being accessible and engaging for many of their audience members. That said, despite the "retro" setting, many influences during production were taken from 21st century comics and comic-inspired materials. Interestingly, the pitch comes with an addendum: possibly making it a musical. The idea of a superhero musical is almost immediately dismissed, as the styles are too different from each other, but an alternate suggestion is made instead of a traditional music format: crafting a soundtrack that's played during the film, similar to "Black Panther" and "Suicide Squad." This is also something Disney did with "Tarzan." It's an iffy idea, particularly because the film is relatively modern, and the radio-friendly sound the soundtrack would have is likely seen as a cash-grab move. While they consider using Moss and Marlow again after "Midnight Masquerade," they eventually they agree to the proposed option instead (partially due to it being mentioned how Disney already enlisted the help of Beyonce and Kendrick Lamar for "Khoeli, which ended up being a big success), but another problem comes to mind: who should be part of the team, including the music. The thought of Brad Bird directing is quickly dropped, and they come to the conclusion to choose a female director--especially since this era hasn't had any yet--with Jennifer Lee writing the script (and significant contributions from Joss Whedon), and several artists being reached out to to help craft a soundtrack. The film goes over many, many, many changes in story, tone, and characters, until eventually becoming "Rainstar." One of them is the decision to take inspiration from the "Arkham" Batman video games and make the events of the film occur all in one night instead of over the course of several weeks.

(Note: I didn't decide on a director because there's a bit of a shortage of female directors for animated films, and I wasn't sure which one would fit the bill, live-action or otherwise, though I had an idea or two.)

Plot

In the early 90s, the city of Phoenix Crown took to the world stage as a lively, bustling town of ingenuity and culture. More than that, it became notorious for an unprecedented uptick in crime, and an unusual one at that. Superheroes and supervillains are no longer just whispers on the street; they live and embody the chaos of the city, and the future of what could become the greatest city in the United States rests on the shoulders of who can restore the peace.

Characters

Rainstar--A young woman who grew up in a somewhat selfish family (inspired by sitcoms such as "Married With Children" and Seth MacFarlane cartoons, albeit not quite as self-destructive), the woman who would become Rainstar was selfish and vapid, not particularly interested in anything other than herself. However, following some, ahem, complications after moving to the city of Phoenix Crown, she became endowed with impeccable strength, athlete-level speed, combustion, and durability that's made her something of an extemophile. While she originally planned to find a way to financially benefit from these newfound abilities, saving the lives of people one day gained her instant fame, which she adored. With time, this adoration turned to duty, and she became a fixture in the major city as crime experienced a surge in the coming years. With a sense of humor, a positive attitude, and a strong will, she's a credit to the city--even if not everyone agrees.

Her personality is highly derived from Marvel superhero She-Hulk, as well as several iconic female characters from various comic books, video games, and anime. For her stylized design, her appearance is heavily derived from distinct pop stars.

Sundial--A young scientist who is fascinated with superpowers. After wrongly being terminated by a corrupt superior, he took the situation in stride and built his own laboratory with loyal personnel. He eventually discovered that some individuals have a "superhero gene," and while his contemporaries had expected him to monetize it, he decides to bring out the gene in himself, and succeeding. While not an overwhelming power, his healing factor is something highly useful, and one he keeps secret. With time, he becomes equally philosophical and insane, questioning the purpose of humanity and seeing himself as "the great scientist" who is to discover the secrets of life. As such, he occasionally puts on his own costume to kidnap unsuspecting victims, with his acrobatic ability making it quite easy to evade unwanted attention and capture his prey as he sees fit. Rainstar isn't a killer and she believes that Sundial is as a danger to himself, and that he could really make a difference in the medical field if he wasn't...unwell. This may be fueled by the fact that despite his cruelty, he's often kind and polite, and his interest in human nature has a somewhat childlike sense of wonder.

Despite the clandestine business, his costume is neon, like the lights of the city at night. Ironically, him matching the scene makes his otherwise loud appearance blend in.

Glasseye--An aspiring psychologist, the young man who would become Glasseye was born and raised in Phoenix Crown, and was heavily inspired by Rainstar. He had no intentions on becoming a hero of course, preferring the more domestic way of helping people via her future profession. However, he is one of the few people whose supernatural ability manifested itself naturally in the form of telekinesis and telepathy that occasionally manifests itself in cognitive inducement (at which point his eyes take a glassy shine to them). Eventually, he accidentally probes Rainstar's mind and discovers her identity, and she suggests an infrequent collaboration, to which he reluctantly agrees due to wanting to help others and her connections to higher-ups. He's typically seen as her "nerdy" counterpart, but he's got a big brain and is cautious where she's bold. They make a great team, but they make even better friends.

Dangerprone--Another "villain" (as most of Phoenix Crown would call it) of Phoenix Crown, she has the ability to teleport, though she's also a skilled martial artist, so...watch out for that. She's alluring but upfront, and is in a temporary partnership with Sundial. She's a wild card to his more methodical way of doing things, but she has morals and standards. In a way, she's essentially what Rainstar would've become if she hadn't become a hero. She wants to run the city that's a focal point of technology and power, as she's very aware that she who conquers that City of Dreams conquers the world.

Songs

(For once I didn't make a song list since not all of them would be tied to the story and would mainly just work for the worldbuilding/overall narrative. Maybe I'll come back and add some, though).

Lemme know what you think! I DESPERATELY want Disney to make a superhero musical, so this was an idea I had for a while. Only three more films left for the "Reinvention" era!

[hellyeahheroes]

Robin(2021) #1 Review

Opening this comic with an assessment of a character that I have no choice but to agree with is a cheap way to score points with me.

Anyways, we caught heat for being unfair to this story since it was announced because all of us wanted it to be a Cass story since forever. And it became yet another thing Damian absorbs. I mostly ignored it because I’ve always been open about my disdain for the character and his fandom for nearly a decade. I never liked Damian because put these characteristics on a non-white passing character, they’d be dead inside of year. Then again I hate almost all of Grant Morrison monstrosities.

Regardless, new story who dis is in full effect here. We open this bad boy up with Damian gone missing and the Batfamily searching for him. Nightwing tried asking Damian’s old Teen Titans team and they obviously don’t know and probably hope Damian is dead. Tim checked Arkham Ruins(???) and Damian wasn’t there. I honestly don’t think Tim was trying to find Damian. Steph and Cass checked Damian’s farm and Steph concluded Damian has been there at least because while Damian may be a little shit, he loves his dog and pet bat dragon. Barbara checked facial recognition pings and his transactions and dude is an IRS nightmare.

Damian is missing. Bruce is worried that maybe making a violent murderous preteen Robin raised in a cabal of killers to be chief murderer was a bad idea and is worried. Barbara ensures him that they will find his son and we cut to Damian fighting Snake guy in some musty ass fight put somewhere. Because of course it’s a musty ass fight pit because while the story is well drawn, it never claimed to be not cliche.

Damian hands the scrub his ass and it turns out Damian is trying to earn a marker to participate in some tournament. I liked this panel.

Not because of the artist flex of changing the art style, but it establishes Damian with a relatable hobby, reading manga. And not just a Shounen as you expect him to read but a slice of life manga which kind of puts his life in perspective. Also the lesson in the manga is reflective of what happens in the comic. Damian’s mastery is reflective of how he sees Hana. Hana decides to go beyond what her masters taught her. She decides to innovate and make her art her own. And that’s indicative of another flaw of Damian: Damian leans of the prestige of his teachers. He is the student that replicates the style 1:1. He wants to inherit Batman’s mantle, but doesn’t want to shed his teachings that he is proud of. And it comes down to this idea that Damian refuses to innovate and adapt because he is hiding behind his masters.

This panel saved the story so good job.

And after a talk with dead Alfred, it’s revealed that Damian is on this journey as a way to mirror Bruce’s journey into becoming Batman. It’s his way to iron his resolve without a catalyst to find a need to. It highlights his naïveté. He thinks that he can just simply copy the steps and get the same results.

Regardless what happens next simultaneously undermines the story or the impact of it.

Okay, when you think of Martial artists in DC, you immediately think Batman, Shiva, Deathstroke, Black Canary, Bronze Tiger, Richard Dragon, and Shiva. Why I said Shiva twice? Because Shiva is the pinnacle.

So to reveal that three premier martial artists in the universe are not only not participating but they were paid off to not participate, cheated out, or were subbed in as an entry replacement, it undermines the promotion. It’s like going to a Beyonce Concert only to find out that between the words in small print Beyonce and Concert was ‘s Sister’s and now you are watching Grammy award winning Solange. Sure, it’s an unique experience but it ain’t Beyonce.

And also, there is no amount in the world that would keep Shiva away from this tournament if it’s as prestigious as it’s led to be. Let’s be real. If anything, it’s far more likely that she saw the roster of scrubs and decided to make some scratch.

There are two characters that I recognize: Connor Hawke and Rose Wilson. I am not familiar with Connor so I am not sure if he is out of place. Rose is fine but y’know, scrub. I’m sorry Rose Wilson got her ass handed to her by Cass in the previous universe. There is no universe where I take her seriously in a fighting tournament to crown greatest fighter because the ass stomp was so thorough that Cass was beating Slade’s ego by proxy.

Back to the comic, Damian interrupts the host and basically is the fighting tournament trope of overly confident disrespectful guy with too many accolades which he will proudly tell you about them. What I like about this is the nice nod to the previous manga panel. Damian is not a great fighter. There I said it. Damian’s ability hinges on the idea that he was trained by the greatest killers and Batman but the issue is that name prestige doesn’t make great fighters. Too many times, comic books overly rely on this idea of fighting being a what you know and not being a game of not getting hit and getting hits in. It does not matter if Damian is trained by the League and Batman and it’s questionable as to how much Batman taught him in the first place. Hence why we see Damian with a sword or staff to compliment his lack of range. Damian can’t read muscle twitches like a Cass or Shiva so he has a normal reactive response and comics never highlighted his ability. The most impressive thing I’ve seen Damian do is catch a Batarang which is something I’ve seen Tim do. Damian overly relies on the idea that his teachers taught him to be the best when they simply taught him to survive in a fight.

“But why does Cass get away with it?,” you ask. Cass has this broken hax that is reading muscle twitch and immediately knowing the instant of what you are going to do before you do it or decide to do. Cass doesn’t need range because to her, you are screaming your intentions. She doesn’t need to block an attack when she can just parry. She doesn’t need to step back when she can just step forward while slipping all attacks. She is an autistic savant at fighting with an absolute defense. Damian is just another badass teen in a world of badass adults.

And the humbling of Damian begins...again.

Pros:

-Damian’s new costume. I like that he is branching out and starting to own his own colors. It’s nice.

-Using a character flaw to make it a theme. I like Chekhov’s gun via teachable moment. In tournament arcs, what separates the good ones and the bad ones is the idea that the hero simply must overcome their opponents and not their own self. This is why Yuyu Hakusho is awesome.

- Great art and nice continuity. It’s nice that Damian’s past wasn’t ignored for once and they didn’t just throw his Teen Titans characterization down the tubes. Say what you want, but it was arguably Damian’s longest run in spite of his fans hating it. And contrary to what they believe, it was very much in character for him. My fear going into this that Damian would not face any fallout and lo and behold he ran away.

- it’s a good start for a Damian story. Say what you want, but it’s unique in that the little shit gets his comeuppance immediately. And not that just by losing, but by dying. Damian has killed before and readily justifies it because he never realizes the weight of taking someone’s life. He’s been killed before but those were painted in a way that he is valiant. Here, this is death caused by his own arrogance. He mocks a fighter for talking shit and gets murked while talking shit. He spouts names of his own teachers and expects people to care or be weary as if Rose Wilson and Connor aren’t there. It’s a tournament sponsored by the League of Assassins, Damian. They have been taught by the league too.

Cons:

-Look I get promotion. No promoter is going to undermine their product but the fact that this tournament reeks like ABA is killing my interest to give a shit. It’s a convenient caveat to say that, “Well, a character won this so they can have the title but the title doesn’t mean anything.” I know of regardless of whom wins this, they aren’t the best. Go ham or don’t at all.

-not enough emphasis of the importance of this arc. Why even have this tournament? What’s the prize? What’s even the point?

-While the art is nice, the action is framed poorly. I like physical action like this to be nearly choreographed in a way I can see and piece movement in my head. The two fight scenes we get are somewhat disjointed in that it’s just poses. For example, Flatline’s first kick makes no sense at all and I don’t get her follow up. Trying to picture the movement hurts my head and in an action concept like this, it’s best to frame action scenes as more than doing poses. Here is a good example:

This only emphasizes the action and gets the reader to acknowledge that this a tournament of great fighters or at least a great fighting story.

All in all, do I think this story is off to a good start? Yes. Is it going to change my opinion on Damian? Hell no. My reaction to Damian getting his ass handed to him was this.

The issue is that it never sticks. Damian can learn and be a better person but the development never sticks. It becomes a cyclical series of events because whoever writes him next will just keep writing him as this shitty entitled murder rich kid who never learns anything and gets validated somehow. It’s been over a decade and I’m tired of the same excuses of his shitty behavior. I am tired of writers validating it or excusing it.

Damian losing isn’t an outcome I care for because it’s wasted on him. Honestly I am more interested in Connor and Rose being there. I have no faith that it will stick nor does it undo the shitty idea of the character. I have never wanted to see Damian fight. It’s never been fun to read about nor has the impetus of his character emphasized the ability or style. Placing Damian in an Enter the Dragon style tournament lacks the pizzazz of Cass doing the same thing. For example, let’s try Marvel.

Let’s say someone pitches an idea of a tournament arc styled after Game of Death. Immediately you think Martial Artists non-powered. Danny Rand, Daredevil, Elektra, Shang-Chi, Pei and Colleen Wing. Okay, instead of giving those characters the honor, you give the story to Black Cat. Honestly, I’d read it because Felicia could sell me a documentary on grass and I’d buy it but the point stands, why does Damian have this Bruce Lee inspired Martial Arts story versus the actual Chinese or East Asian Martial Arts focused member of the Batfamily, Cassandra Cain?

But this has nothing to do with what could have been. It’s a fun beginning of a possibly fun arc. In that regard, it delivers but what’s the point?

Like I said, fun story.

@ubernegro

[passivenovember]

Tagged by: the lovely and talented @cherrydreamer​

Tell me which 5 TV shows make you feel better, then tag 10 other blogs.

Im dyslexic and I got the numbers mixed up so it’s 10 shows now whoops

(Through this I’ve realized how much I absolutely guzzle American content. I need recs from other countries so plz HIT A GIRL UP)! This is going to be long as fuck because I’m so passionate about storytelling. Hope you can find something comforting to watch <3

1. How I Met Your Mother: I love everything about this show. From the overarching plotline of “something better is always coming,” and “Nothing in life is legendary unless your friends are there to see it,” to the technical design (The mother is a Yellow Umbrella, Robin is the Blue French Horn) to the intricacy of how this story is told, How I Met Your Mother is integral to my happiness. So much so that whenever I have a panic attack my partner turns on HIMYM. I love it.

2. What We Do In The Shadows: This show is fucking hilarious. Just a bunch of pure of heart, dumb of ass bisexual vampires making a documentary about their lives. Nadja, my favorite character, is autistic and so is one of my best friends. To see her face light up at that kind of representation: unparalleled. There are only 20 episodes and I’ve seen each one four times. It’s hilarious. Colin Robinson the Energy Vampire is one of the most hilarious characters in television history.

3. King of the Hill: My uncle introduced me to a lot of the shows from the 90s that I love. He used to babysit me and show my inappropriate stuff and this was one that always stuck with me. While being genuinely funny I think it does a fantastic job of showing that conservatives can also be kind and understanding people. Hank Hill is one of the greatest cartoon dads; he loves his son, he loves his wife, and any time he is wrong he takes the criticism graciously. Fantastically funny. Also includes the late great Britani Murphy.

4. Daria: she’s one of the characters that I relate to the most. Misunderstood in her time, a fantastic portrayal of what it feels like to be the smart girl--the outsider. She eventually grows to understand that people care about her and what she has to say, that maybe her classmates and family members aren’t terrible. Incredible growth exhibited in someone so young. ALSO: the animation is so badass. Dry humor is the best humor.

5. Pen15: Shows us that we all were so awkward in our youth and that, in many ways, we never really left middle school. At its core it’s a story about friendship--how important it is not to take yourself so seriously. Has a staggering amount of heart, as well. Love.

6. Bobs Burgers: Loving the people around you BECAUSE of their eccentricities, not in spite of them. Loving fully and completely until it consumes you. Loving without fear. Fantastic, i’ve been watching since 2011 and I’m so proud of how far this show has come.

7. Sex and the City: First off, I’m a Miranda. While some of the concepts of this one are a little outdated, the heart of the show remains the same: friendship, good shoes, and good sex are the most important things in life. Carrie Bradshaw and her friends taught me that it’s okay to be unapologetically smart. And Sexy.  And sweet. That being a woman isn’t one-toned, it’s multivocal. That there’s not wrong way to be feminine. Love. Not to mention every person in America knew if they were a Carrie, Samantha, Charolette, or Miranda (let me know which one is you).

8. Grace and Frankie: You really don’t want to get me started with this one. Two women in their 70s must start fresh in life when their husbands leave them to marry each other. This show says so much about womanhood, how we are thrown away once we reach a certain age. It teaches us that it’s never too late to start over and live your best life. Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda? Powerhouses. Icons. Heroes to young women for decades. This show has so many fans of so many different ages and I could talk about this show for HOURS if you’d let me.

9. Gravity Falls: Spooky and funny and SO MUCH LORE! My gothy nerd heart sings every time I watch this. Such a beautiful message about growing up, too, which is one that always makes me cry. The buildup to the final moments of Weirdmegeddon 2 is incredible...I have a tattoo of Bill Cipher. And I’m a simp for outstanding animation. I could watch this show a trillion times and never grow tired of it.

10. The Proud Family: I’m black, so. And I was in elementary school around the time this originally aired so it taught me a lot of really important things about race and personality and sticking together as a family. Also: Beyonce and Solange did the theme song. What else could you ASK FOR!

Honorable mentions: Blackish, Moesha, Sister Sister, A Different World, 30 Rock, Arrested Development, and New Girl.

I nominate: Anyone who feels so inclined! (I also don’t have 10 mutuals that I interact with regularly oops)

[abitnotgoodiebag]

Blur

Title: Blur

Square Filled: I1 - Did they or didn’t they?

Warnings: drunkenness and terrible mental gymnastics

Word Count: 2,881

Summary: Sam thinks he needs an aspirin, better yet, he needs to get up outta here.

Link to AO3

Blur

Sam groans as he swims back into consciousness.  Both his brain and his tongue are unpleasantly fuzzy and he wants nothing more than a cool washcloth, a cold glass of water and complete darkness and silence for the next decade.  He is too old to be drinking himself into terrible hangovers.  He knows the importance of staying hydrated and yet, here he is again, wishing for death to claim him. Sam can certainly say that he has never been the best at making good decisions.

As Sam debates the pros and cons of moving from his comfortable cocoon, he becomes aware of the sounds of soft snores uncomfortably close to him.  He feels the body heat of someone else underneath the sheets of his (is it his?) bed. He also realizes very suddenly that he doesn’t have a single stitch of clothing on.

Shit.

Sam tries to think of who could possibly be behind him snuffling softly in slumber.  The fact that he’s naked probably means that they are too and Sam could slap himself for the second time in as many minutes.  The pounding in his head doesn’t help at all with his mood and Sam may have finally found the reason to quit drinking altogether.  Waking up with strangers in bed is definitely something that is part of his twenties, not to be done when he’s staring at the front steps of forty.

Sam curses the fact that he is the first one to wake up and debates whether or not moving will wake his bedmate.  His memories of the night before are patchy at best and the more he tries to piece together his time at the hotel, the more alarmed he becomes.

-------------------------------------

It was the one year anniversary of the battle against Thanos and Sam would rather have been anywhere else.  The country was not as accepting of Sam as they had been of Steve. Sam didn’t want to think too closely about why exactly that was (because it was way too easy to get angry and what would that solve?), but there were days that he just wished his detractors would say what they really meant, and not use their carefully-coded acrimonious checklists on why Sam would never be Steven Grant Rogers.  Every single decision Sam made was examined under a microscope in the media. /r/notmycap can’t go a week without some viral thread castigating him and slightly less often, Bucky (It’s always the ‘Winter Soldier’ or ‘The Asset’ though, they seem determined to remind the world that Bucky had a violent and unsavoury past).

If the bad press wasn’t enough, the list of full time Avengers was embarrassingly short.  The Defenders did their own thing, as did Reed’s little group. It almost wasn’t worth anyone’s time trying to talk to Charles Xavier unless the subject was mutant rights (not that there was a problem with that, Sam definitely knew how stupid people could be around anything they perceived as 'different').  No one wanted to work with the reformed psychopathic (his words, Sam wasn’t convinced) mercenary, well, Peter was trying to tell everyone that he wasn’t so bad but Sam wasn’t touching that with a ten foot pole.  Sam, Bucky, Rhodes, and Wanda were all that was left of the Avengers Initiative.  Sure they had emergency and consulting members, but the fact was, Sam was barely captain of anyone.

Sam’s cheerless thoughts had him spending his time at the bar, after quickly making the initial rounds to greet everyone.  He had to admit, Pepper knew how to throw a party.  While there weren’t a lot of full-time Avengers, Thanos had united the entire world against him, and so the rented ballroom (in the most fashionable of hotels) was full-to-bursting.  He scanned his eyes across the room taking in the small groups that didn’t quite mesh together. Thor and his new traveling companions, the Guardians of the Galaxy stood in a loose circle laughing entirely too loudly.  Thor finally found a group who also lacked inside voices, Sam was happy for him. He looked better than he did that day.  That too-long day that Sam went to battle in the fields Wakanda and ended the fight on the remains of their battered home in New York five years and mere seconds later.  

Sam was glad he wasn’t around to see Thor's slow slide into misery.  He had heard Steve (over the phone, Sam still can't quite look at his wrinkled face) tell him the stories of Thor’s grief at losing his father, brother, best friend, and planet within a week only to lose half of existence the very next day.  Sam couldn’t imagine that pain.

Sam dealt with a different sort of grief.  He had missed five years. Five years of his mother's life, five years of his niece’s life.  Unfortunately so had her mother, his sister.  Sam would never understand how his mother dealt with losing both of her children for five years, believing them gone for good.  His house and belongings were all long gone, leaving him and Bucky to scramble to find an apartment together in the aftermath on the ‘Unsnappening’ (fucking twitter called it that and unfortunately it seemed to be stuck).  He refused to put any more stress on his mom by moving back in when Kayla had to get used to her mother being back.  Besides, it was just easier to live with Barnes. He didn’t have any memories of those five years, as far as he could tell no one did, but he couldn’t help but feel it in his bones that he had spent the time with Bucky.

Shaking his head to dispel that line of thought, Sam looked for his best friend.  They had arrived together, as usual, but Bucky was quickly called over by Yo-Yo and Shaw, both of them eager to hang out with the soldier (he’d taken to being a SHIELD operative surprisingly well, all things considered, he even had work friends, Sam was proud of him).

Turning back to the bartender, Sam ordered an old fashioned.  He had recently discovered that between the two of them somehow Sam was the hipster, even though Bucky had refused to give up his ridiculous (fucking beautiful, if Sam was being honest) man bun.  Sam refused to listen to modern music (unless it was Beyonce, but really, it’s Beyonce it goes without saying) and read his paper at the table instead of staring at his phone all the time.  Sam couldn’t help it, he was an old soul and he had endured Bucky’s teasing goodnaturedly.  He absolutely drew the line at handlebar moustaches and penny-farthings though.

“Birdman number two!”  Clint said in what he probably thought was an acceptable volume, clapping Sam on the back.

Sam startled and grinned as he saw his fellow bird-themed hero.  “Barton! How is life treating you?”

“Can’t complain.”  He said with a cheeky smile as he leaned toward Sam and said in a conspiratorial whisper, “If I do, Laura will give me the old boot.  But I’d deserve it because she is the world’s greatest wife.”

“Damn right I am.”  Said Laura as she appeared next to her husband.

Sam sipped his drink and watched them bicker gently.  He loved that in a couple. Sure the schmoopy ones were cute and all, but life is always better with laughter and it was clear the Barton’s were full of laughter.  They excused themselves after two rounds, Laura saying that she was tired and Sam was once again left to his thoughts.

Before he could sink into them too deeply, his eyes landed on Bucky standing next to a scowling Valkyrie and taking a swig out of Thor’s comically enormous flask (Just because he was doing better didn’t mean that he wasn’t still struggling).  Sam smiled slowly at the blush that spread across Bucky’s face after his second long pull. Seems like Thor brought the good stuff.

Sam, armed with his bourbon and a liquid loss of inhibitions, (after the second old-fashioned, Sam wondered why he was even pretending to do anything other than get hammered and stopped bothering with anything more complicated) pushed away from the bar and headed in Bucky’s direction.  

“Hey there my good people.”  Sam smiled lightly as he reached Bucky, Thor, and Valkyrie.  “Is this the 5000 proof section?”

Bucky rolled his eyes fondly after his last pull and passed the flask to Val, Thor letting out a brief sad noise in his throat, knowing he wasn’t going to get another swig any time soon.  “Sure is, pigeon. This is the cool kids table and you can’t sit with us!”

“Ten points to Hufflepuff for correct use of Gretchen Wieners.”  Sam said as Bucky looked confused. Belatedly, Sam realized that they hadn’t gotten to the Harry Potter series yet, Bucky picking both Star Wars and Star Trek (every single iteration, Bucky was obsessed) instead.

“Friend Falcon-Captain!  It feels good to have a night of revelry with all of my shield-broth-”  Thor stopped, his smile faltering slightly. “My shield-mates! Let us toast!”

Sam tossed back the last few drops of his bourbon while Thor waited for Valkyrie to pass him the flask.  Bucky just snorted at Thor’s naivete and headed towards the bar to grab a less alien drink. He reappeared a minute later with three glasses and handed two to Sam and Thor respectively.  They clinked their glasses and drained half of their short tumblers as Valkyrie finally drained the flask.

Bucky and Valkyrie let out loud (and surprisingly deep) twin belches sending Thor and Sam into a fit of giggles.  Bucky joined in their laughter while Val just rolled her eyes and walked off in the direction of the bar, no doubt in search of a bottle or two to occupy her hands.

“What’s so funny?”  Shaw asked, coming up behind Sam and throwing his arm around Sam’s shoulder and resting his chin on the other one.  Yo-Yo circled around to bump robotic shoulders with Bucky causing Sam an immediate sharp flare of jealousy in his gut. Yo-Yo and Bucky shared too many similarities for Sam to not see her as a potential threat for Bucky’s time and affection.  

“Bucky was just showing us how to play the tummy pipes.”  Sam said, his words slightly slurred.  His laughter stopped abruptly.

Sam’s smile fell away and Bucky noticed immediately.  He glanced briefly to Shaw draped over Sam before he was somber as well, leaving Thor confused as to what exactly was happening.

“Oh-kaaaay.” Shaw drawled as he picked his head off of Sam’s shoulder, leaving his arm curled around Sam's neck.  Sam was confused, Shaw was Bucky’s friend, they’d met maybe 4 times total, but if Sam were to guess, he’d bet he was less intimidating to use as a prop than the once-king of Asgard or a super soldier.

Yo-Yo raised an eyebrow.  “It seems like we need to catch up with you guys.  I could smell you from a foot away.”

Shaw hummed in agreement even though he was clearly ahead of Yo-Yo too if his inability to stand up straight was any indication.  “Valkyrie went off for more, but I fear that she does not intend to share anything she finds.” Thor said, sounding vaguely disappointed.  “So I must go and fetch us another round!” He looked very proud of himself for thinking of that as he turned and strode away.

“He is amazing.”  Shaw sighed, “What’s his deal anyway?  Why doesn’t he stay here full-time?”

Bucky glared at Shaw and Sam watched on in confusion.  So now it’s not just Yo-Yo he has to worry about, now Bucky has a thing for Thor?  Sam (not for the first time) thinks sadly, that he’s just a man.  He’s no Inhuman, he has no enhancements, he’s from plain old Harlem, not some mythical planet, and he can’t call lightning with a thought.  He’s just Sam and maybe all he would do is slow Bucky down. So zoned out, Sam jerked when Shaw and Bucky laughed, making the room wobble unpleasantly. His obvious distraction just caused them to laugh harder while Yo-Yo’s lips curled into a small smile.

Sam, who realized he was the butt of some joke, flipped them off, making Shaw start all over again, finally taking his arm off Sam’s shoulder to cradle his midsection as he bent forward, cackling madly.

Thor returned with a tray full of shot glasses.  “Let us drink!”

“Damn big guy, you do not mess around, do you?”  Shaw sounded awestruck as he straightened up and Sam was not at all bitter about everyone’s obsessions with Thor.

Yo-Yo and Bucky grabbed two apiece, taking them in rapid succession just a hint of redness on their cheeks indicating that they were drinking anything other than water.

Shaw grabbed two shots, holding one out to Sam smiling wide, “Us normies gotta stick to our singles.  I can’t believe we’re more meat and no tech and still manage to be the lightweights.”

Sam laughed at Shaw’s dig, even as he seethed inside at Bucky leaning down to murmur something to Yo-Yo, eyes on Sam the whole time.  Thor ignored all of them in favor of knocking two shots back one-handed, looking disappointed at their flavor.

Sam, now unable to remember exactly how much he had already had, felt that being upright was overrated and sat down, hard.  Bucky glanced at him in concern, opening his mouth to ask if Sam was alright, but Sam glared back insolently and Bucky’s jaw snapped shut and he turned back to Yo-Yo who had been watching them in amusement.

Shaw grabbed two of the last four shots and again passed one down to Sam, shrugging.  “To bad choices!”  

Sam quickly echoed the toast and gulped the offered drink before clumsily getting off the floor, not finding it comfortable craning his neck up at everyone.  Yo-Yo ambled away, tray in hand, clearly off to refill it. Sam saw Bucky moving out of his peripheral vision, but by the time he turned his head to get a proper look, Bucky was nowhere to be seen.

---------------------------------------

Sam squeezes his eyes shut as he realizes that the last person he can remember talking to was that irksome weirdo, Deke Shaw.  Bucky had left him at the party alone with Shaw, clearly chasing after Yo-Yo. Sam is gripped by a combination of self-loathing and envy that almost chokes the air from him. He will never forgive himself if he has tumbled into bed with that asshole.  This whole situation is entirely backwards. He’s pining after a grumpy, nerdy, absolutely gorgeous white boy from the past, not a strange, trouble-magnet from god-knows-when in the weird-ass future.  

Sam knows who he wishes it was behind him.  Every day he tries his hardest to be the best friend (who is he kidding, he’s doing a great boyfriend audition and has been for months) to Bucky.  After living together for almost a year, they have a certain bond, but not quite the type Sam wants.  He thinks Bucky wants it too, most of the time, but Sam knows better than to try and rush something before its’ time.  Sam’s father always told him that anything worth having was worth waiting for if necessary and James Barnes was definitely worth having.

The person behind him snores loudly once, before Sam feels a hand reach around his middle, drawing him back into a firm torso.  Sam freezes immediately, afraid to look down and finally solve the mystery. The body he's trapped against is mostly warm. Mostly, because Sam can definitely feel the not-quite-cool smoothness of what Sam will bet everything he owns is vibranium against his shoulder blade.

Sam relaxes and very slowly, smiles.  All of the hatred at himself for possibly ending up with anyone else leaves him as almost quickly as it came.  He can't wait for Bucky to tell him everything.  Or Thor.  Or even Yo-Yo, even though Sam will make Bucky do all the talking if that's the route they have to go.  Sam is willing to bet he has some interesting message on his phone if he bothered to check it (If it was even still on at this point, who knows how late in the day it is).  Knowing that he’s lying here with Bucky surrounding him makes the not remembering much easier. He has no regrets other than not committing every single detail of the previous night to memory to constantly replay over and over and over again.

Satisfied that it is indeed Bucky he’s woken up with (Sam breathes in deep and could slap himself, how did he not smell the traces of his own body wash?  Bucky is always stealing it instead of using his boring bar of soap and smelling himself on Bucky drives Sam crazy) makes it easy to let his eyes fall shut and let the hangover pass. His best friend (and maybe, hopefully, probably, finally more) is curled around him keeping out the noise and light of the world and Sam needs to sleep this hangover off.  He smiles to himself as he focuses on the soft snores and drifts into a peaceful sleep. Sam knows that everything is going to be just dandy.

[chess-blackmyre]

Jade Mantis Playlist--The Good Old Days

(This is something that I thought would be cool. I made a series of playlists with music that I thought really fit various points in my Vigilante Inko AU. I also made actual playlists but I can’t figure out how to share them on Spotify)

Good Old Days (feat Kesha)—Macklemore A bit self-explanatory.

Believer—Imagine Dragons Pain and determination mix together, this is a song that I’ve always associated with Inko Midoriya as the Jade Mantis. The song is about someone who demands to be heard, someone tired of the status quo and refuses to change themselves.

(more under the cut)

Can’t Hold Us feat Ray Dalton—Macklemore This just gives the vibe of the raw chaotic energy and confidence of the Number One Vigilante.

Roar—Katy Perry Cliché, I know, but c’mon doesn’t it fit? Inko went from keeping herself small, unseen, to making the entire hero system flinch away before her.

I Lived—One Republic Who wants to die with regrets? One thing you can say about the Jade Mantis is that she didn’t do things by halves, put herself out there for a, frankly, ridiculous idea. Of course this was before she had two kids to take care of…

The Bullpen—Dessa “China doll in the bullpen” is the Jade Mantis. No one else is stepping up to the plate, so it might as well be her. The kind of cocksure attitude that the Top Vigilante needs to survive out there.

Troublemaker feat Flo Rida—Olly Murs She’s the number one vigilante. Duh.

Bohemian Rhapsody—Queen Like I wouldn’t give my girl arguably one of the greatest rock hits of all time. But seriously, the idea of “is this really my life?” (as her life has gotten pretty weird by the end of her vigilante run) as well as the idea of violence in her daily life.

One Foot—Walk the Moon You’re a vigilante, and a single mother. Both of those things are going to take an incredible amount of time, dedication, and patience. Put one foot in front of the other dear.

House of Memories—Panic! At the Disco “When your fantasies become your legacies, promise me a place in your house of memories” He’s the Symbol of Peace, she’s literally a criminal. He’s going to save the world and she’ll be a footnote (or so she thinks). Inko is surprisingly okay with that.

Fight Song—Rachel Platten I know, another clichéd one, but I still think it really fits her.

Crazy = Genius—Panic! At the Disco (They’re one of my favorite bands so sue me) This is something that that I imagine playing in the background of Jade Mantis’ fight scenes. “There’s no residue of a torturer inside of your eyes” she’ll bring the beat down if the situation calls for it, but she’s not a sadist.

Run the World (Girls)—Beyonce She could do it, you know

Flash, Single Version—Queen “Flash! Ah-a! He’ll save every one of us!” It just fits All Might so well, with the cheeseball dialogue and the over the top dramatics

The Last of the Real Ones—Fall Out Boy All Might may be one of the few good ones left, and he’s certainly the only one that the Jade Mantis respects.

Dirty Little Secret—The All-American Rejects “Who has to know” that the Number One Hero and Number One Vigilante work together? It’s not like they have feelings for each other or anything…

Thnks fr th Mmrs—Fall Out Boy “He tasted like you only sweeter” That one night stand with Hisashi

[yourfandomfriend]

Context is Everything

One of the things that lit a fire under me to start this blog was my crippling inability to unpause youtube videos in my watch later when I had a meta on the brain, this one about how much context changes old characters but why Donald Duck is somehow still the star of The Three Caballeros.

Random right? Get used to it.

**SPOILERS** For The Three Caballeros and Legend of the Three Caballeros **SPOILERS**

So let's go back to the 1940s. By the time America finally got dragged into WWII, the Axis Powers had been taking it over like an evil Beyonce. Understandably terrified that our southern border would go the way of Kelly and Michelle, the United States government decided to start trying to actually, you know, make friends with Mexico, Central, and South America.

Those were the days, right? And all it took was one little Hitler.

So Walt Disney grabbed a planeload of his best artists and went to South America, coming back with all the inspiration they needed and then some to make a movie to help friend our cousins down south. But instead of it being a forced, pandering, culturally insulting attempt to kiss Brazillian ass, it was one of Disney's greatest successes, in no small part due to its popular new character, José Carioca, a Brazilian green parrot whose popularity in other countries outlived our short American attention spans.

But of course, Donald Duck was ultimately the star.

And while Disney had a policy of no sequels, ("You can't top pigs with pigs.") Amigos was so popular that Walt tried again with The Three Caballeros, this time going to Mexico and introducing another amazing, popular character, Panchito Pistoles, a Mexican rooster who made the duo a trio. Somehow, this movie was everything Amigos was and more.

And still, as fun, interesting, and likable as José and Panchito were, Donald was still the obvious star.

Now let's skip ahead to a darker time for Disney: since the early 1980s, Michael Eisner had been saving the company from financial ruin with his business acumen, but unfortunately, the future chairman of the Walt Disney company didn't have a creative bone in his body. 

And I can't help myself. I have a theory, that Eisner deeply resented artists, especially Uncle Walt. He completely restructured the hierarchy in the company to put businessmen at the top while creative became expendable. He kicked the animators out of their own building so he could have fancy offices for himself and his corporate cronies --

-- and eventually shut down feature animation altogether. He drove off Jeffrey Katzenberg, which is why we have this --

-- And did you know Eisner tried to get rid of Mickey Mouse? Yeah, not hyperbole, he tried to replace him as the company's mascot with Winnie the Pooh on the logic that Mickey was too old-fashioned, which is why Disney in the late 90s and early oughts had so much Pooh just flung around like we all demanded “More Pooh!” and they were just obliging.

As a result of Eisner's influence, hand-drawn animated offerings (when available at all) had become script-driven rather than creator-driven, which is why I was so stunned all these years later when Gravity Falls came out. 

Not only was it a beautifully animated show, but it was creator-driven and coincidentally, turned out to be a giant success for Disney. But I'm guessing the part where Alex Hirsch (the show's creator) got to decide big things (like when and how the show would end) bothered them, and meant Disney was looking to make lightning strike with some properties they already owned outright.

And so the rebooted Ducktales last year, and it was (and is) a huge success due to the talent, hard work, and imagination of the team reviving it. But could Disney pull off the hattrick?

One of their latest attempts (one they don't *seem* to feel confident enough with to release in the US yet) is a fun, nostalgic little series called Legend of The Three Caballeros, a very different AU adventure comedy with a mystery element, where Donald, José, and Panchito are the no-account, flat-busted descendants of the original Caballeros, who were hero adventurers.

This time around, they modified the characters a bit for a modern audience and a series format, but they basically stayed the same. 

Meanwhile, Disney's sensibilities, sense of humor, and priorities have completely changed around them.

So why is Donald still the star? It's not because he's the more famous character, though he is that. And it's not because he's so popular, though he's that, too. So what's up? What have I been driving at for paragraphs and paragraphs?

Well, let's look at the original. The number one priority of Disney and his artists during the studio’s golden age -- more than patriotism or technical advancement -- was artistic achievement, and basically, Donald was the funniest guy they had, and the most fun to animate. He was the butt of every joke, the one with the shortest fuse, the one who acted on every impulse, no matter how extreme.

Meanwhile, José and Panchito, fun as they might've been, were created to represent their native countries and to a certain extent, they were way more chill than Donald, who was prone to going off the rails on a whim.

But the values of the company would go corporate. The belief Eisner fostered was that earnest, happy, carefree characters were no longer relatable in a post-Seinfeld world. So it's no surprise Donald is the main protagonist now -- his sulky, surly, cynical, anxious, perpetually unlucky character suits current tastes far more than his super-friendly, endlessly optimistic pals.

So while José and Panchito began as the far more grounded and realistic characters in the 1940s, in the new millennium, sullen Donald is the straight man and his happy, lighthearted friends are taken as empty-headed goofs for not having the good sense to be as miserable as the rest of us.

Context is everything, even when it ends up coming full-circle. It's weird how that one worked out.

[i-am-very-very-tired]

BRIDGETOWN - As Barbados became the world's newest republic, its prime minister's first act was to officially declare the island's most famous citizen, Rihanna, a national hero.

Barbados had already conferred the title of ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary on the billionaire multiple Grammy-winning singer and businesswoman in 2018 and tasked her with encouraging education and tourism.

The Umbrella singer commanded "the imagination of the world through the pursuit of excellence with her creativity, her discipline, and above all else, her extraordinary commitment to the land of her birth," Prime Minister Mia Mottley told the assembled dignitaries at the "Pride of Nationhood" celebrations on Tuesday.

"On behalf of a grateful nation, but an even prouder people, we therefore present to you the designee for national hero of Barbados, Ambassador Robyn Rihanna Fenty," Mottley said, inviting the singer up to stand alongside her.

"May you continue to shine like a diamond and bring honor to your nation by your words, by your actions, and to do credit, wherever you shall go," she said, with a nod to the singer's hit "Diamonds."

Mottley paid tribute to the humble origins of Rihanna, who was born in Saint Michael and raised in the capital Bridgetown.

Rihanna, 33, grew up in a troubled home in Barbados and was propelled to fame after American producer Evan Rogers recognised her talents.

The star parlayed her musical success into a make-up and fashion empire, with earnings that now dwarf those of other megastars such as Madonna and Beyonce.

Forbes in August estimated she was worth $1.7 billion, around $1.4 billion of which comes from the value of her cosmetics company Fenty Beauty, a partnership with French fashion giant LVMH.

Mottley said the government chose to honor Rihanna as the first national hero designated by the new republic as a "signal to the world."

Rihanna joins a select group of 10 other Barbadians including Garfield Sobers, regarded as one of the greatest cricketers of all time and the only other living national hero.

Sobers was also at the ceremony and hugged Rihanna.

The title would be conferred on her Wednesday morning, the prime minister said.

Rihanna was among many nominations for national hero submitted by the people of Barbados and Mottley said others would be named by National Heroes Day next year.

The independence ceremony was closed to the general public amid a pandemic curfew, which was relaxed to allow Barbadians to enjoy festivities including fireworks displays.

The guest of honor was Britain's Prince Charles, who acknowledged the "appalling atrocity of slavery" the island suffered under colonial rule.

[werealljustwinginit]

The 20s and the 30s

For the “These are actually nice, you fucking nerd” ask:

20. what is your favourite song at the moment? Oh lord, I have a great deal of fave songs…I’ve never been able to pick when it comes to music. I guess some recent jams I find to be total bops are One Foot by Walk the Moon, American Girl by Tom Petty, and the entirety of The Greatest Showman Soundtrack.

21. age and birthday?This is a creepy ask to publish online…so I’ll give you I’m 23!

22. description of crush.Fictional characters and heroes.

23. fear(s)Spiders…that’s all I can think of? There has to be something else…but I can’t think of a single thing besides spiders.

24. heightTall my dude.

25. role modelHmm, my Dad, my two professors, and my favorite fictional characters.

26. idol(s)Tony Stark? Idk, I’m such a nerd…any celebs in shows and movies that I blog about on here. Beyonce, RDJ, Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Daisy Riddley, Zendaya, Obama, Julie Andrews, Tom Hanks…the list goes on.

27. things i hateSpiders, bad drivers, people, eating things from the ocean, waking up early in the morning or by alarm, cats, allergies, Donald Trump and most of the republican party…the list goes on. Why was this the easiest thing to answer so far.

28. i’ll love you if…You’re kind, you’re passionate about what you do, you are good with kids, you love shoes, are athletic, are tall, or are a nerd. Lol. You at least need to be prepared to listen to me talk about film and television.

29. favourite film(s)I LOVE THESE TYPES OF QUESTIONS. LET”S DISCUSS FILM. (Sort of in order:)Forrest Gump, La La Land, Les Miserables, The Lion King, Hook, HP, Marvel, and Walter Mitty.

30. favourite tv show(s)(In no particular order:) The Nanny, Parks & Rec, Boy Meets World, Steven Universe, The Office, Black Mirror, Bob’s Burgers, and Classic Spongebob.

31. 3 random factsI’m deaf, I can snowboard, anddddd did you know you breath mainly  through one nostril at a time? You can breath out of both but there is a stronger air flow to one nostril at a time; it changes every half hour or so. This is why when you are sick sometimes your nose just clears and you’re like “WHAT IS AIR???” …because it’s changing nostrils. I’m currently on my right nostril.

32. are your friends mainly girls or guys?Girls

33. something you want to learnIt’s on my bucket list to learn ASL and calligraphy. 

34. most embarrassing momentOf life? Recently? I’m gunna just share the most recent embarrassment of mine…Back in March I had shoulder surgery and was in a sling, unable to move my arm for 8 weeks. (and even after that but at least the sling was gone). A few days after my surgery, my parents had gone out to this local bar and tavern and invited me out for the first time since my surgery. They called and asked me to meet them there and while I didn’t feel well enough to stay and hang, they were gunna buy me some food to bring home and eat later. But mind you I only have the use of my left arm and this was all new to me…so I couldn’t shower yet, couldn’t brush my hair or put it up and out of my face on my own, couldn’t really dress myself yet, def couldn’t put a bra on, couldn’t tie shoes, etc. It was a mess. 

But I end up getting myself there in the rain. So I 134% look like a huge mess–not even a hot mess. Just literally looking like garbage, and I’m still in my sling, and it’s raining. But I at least wanted my mom to put my hair up for me to look somewhat decent in public and in a place where I know a ton of regulars. So I’m outside in the rain, calling my mom’s phone asking her to meet me by the back door to put my hair up, but to be discrete about it. She drunkenly interprets that as “go and bang on the bathroom door in the pool room as loudly as possible and start screaming for me to open the door (because I’m deaf so I might not hear the knock).” So the back door is cracked and I can see her doing this in front of all of these VERY handsome, fit, young men playing pool. The bathroom door is locked because some poor soul is in there, and I am trying to whisper through the crack in the door for her to get her stupid ass outside. Literally like a minute and a half goes by of this fucking scene and she finally notices me. But again, fuck everything, she just opens the back door wide, exposing me to all of these beautiful men, while the lady who was in the bathroom starts yelling at us. And then she says she isn’t going outside because it’s raining so she pulls my garbage looking ass into the pool room. Now all of these hot guys are staring at me, wondering why any of this is happening, and my mother then proceeds to start bushing my hair and putting it up for me in front of all of them. As if I was five. These men literally are just staring and trying not to laugh. And then I notice I know one of the guys and they are all his friends hanging out…so once she is done I (mortified) try and flee the room immediately, but she then calls out and says I need to turn around and come say hello to Brad (the guy I know). So not only was I horrified, but she made me walk back into hell to say hello to this handsome lad and his friends.UGHHHH. SO EMBARRASSING.

35. favourite subjectEnglish! Art History!

36. 3 dreams you want to fulfill?Get married, have kids, and meet a really cool celebrity. 

37. favourite actor/actressTom Hanks, RDJ, Julie Andrews, Hugh Laurie, Hugh Jackman

38. favourite comedian(s)Amy Poehler, Christine Sydelko, Jimmy Fallon, idk.

39. favourite sport(s)Track and Field, Snowboarding, Soccer.

THANK YOU FOR ASKING!

[khiryworrell]

This project is a photo-series that explores the concept of masculinity in hopes of rebuilding and redefining it. Recently, I sat down with classically-trained, professional dancer and choreographer Ibn Snell of BlocNYC to examine masculinity, from his point-of-view.

I captured Mr. Snell in his element, the stage, where he demonstrated his definition of masculinity: “strength + confidence.” Prior to the portrait session, our conversation ranged from questions about his dance background to more in-depth inquiries that dealt with racial & social issues, as it relates to masculinity.

Read more of our exchange*, here:

Where are you from? And, how has your hometown influenced your artistry? Please be specific.

My name is Ibn Snell, and I’m a dancer and choreographer from South Philadelphia, PA. My hometown has influenced my artistry in many ways, but mainly because [this city] is a town of many entertainers, many dancers and singers. Being in that environment [in addition to] growing up with a family of dancers, you’re eventually going to be shaped and molded within the arts realm.

Growing up as an African-American male, did you ever have any reservations about pursuing dance, specifically pursuing ballet/modern, as a profession?

Well, I first began tap class at the age of four, so I didn’t really have any reservations.

But as I got older, I do remember a specific incident. When I was in the seventh grade, I was scheduled to perform at a dance competition in Las Vegas so my mom came to the school to let the principal know. Then… the principal informed my entire class, and the entire school!

I didn’t want that to happen, and didn’t want my friends to know that I tap danced because I wanted to be perceived as “cool.” I distinctly, however, recall my friend Unique approaching me to congratulate me on that Las Vegas dance competition. It made me feel happy that I was doing something I should be proud of, and I asked myself “What are you hiding?” I’ll always remember her coming up to me to express those kind words because it made me accept the fact that I’ve been doing this since I was four years of age, and I am damn good at it! At that time I was 11 or 12, so I had a good eight-year run. In retrospect, I should have been a little more open to have an outlet where I could explore and express myself.

In your own words, explain what it means to be masculine? And, how do you express masculinity/masculine energy through your art, and within your profession?

I try not to put so many generalizations on things, but I would say strength and confidence, that sums up masculinity for me.

When you're in an industry that’s predominated by one sex, there's a stigma that follows the opposite sex as “gay.” It happens in the dance, modeling and bodybuilding industries a lot.  Mainstream media is quick to portray different types of sports as masculine but not ballet. Many people would be surprised, though, that the elements of traditional athletes (endurance, strength, flexibility, precision, and spacing, etc.) also applies to dancers.

Have there been any impediments or roadblocks in your dance journey, thus far? Have there been people -- family, friends, associates, colleagues -- you may have disconnected from because you chose to pursue dance as a profession? If so, please be specific.

Not at all, humbly speaking. I love my craft. I’m very sensitive about what I do and I believe I am very good at it, and when people see that you good at something, they’re going to stick around and try to see where your talents takes you. I believe if I wasn’t as passionate and as committed to dance as I am now, or as good, then yes I might have listened to those people, and the naysayers saying that I shouldn’t do that. My parents were very supportive, my extended family were too, and all of my friends went to Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA) High School, here in Philly, so they understood the arts and most of them they danced as well.

When was the moment you fell in love with dance? At what age did you attend your first ballet/modern class? Did your parents/guardians have any reservations about you attending because you're male?

I’m not totally sure when I fell in love with dance, I will say when I got serious with my formal training I was around the age of 12. I’d be locked in my room watching dance tapes, learning routines, and trying to be the best dancer I could be. The repetition of me always going to dance school, remembering the dance routines + combinations, then watching them is what made me fall in love with dance. At that age, I said to myself “Ibn, this is what you need to do!”

My mom and dad never had any reservations about it, and were very supportive, but, you know when you’re young, you aren’t naïve, I heard the whispers.

For example, all of my male cousins tap danced, and I was the only one that furthered my career and took other classes like  modern, jazz, and ballet. I love my family to death but you know when you’re young you hear the whispers from your extended family like “The other boys are playing sports, Ibn isn’t playing sports…” That always was stuck in my head, and in a way propelled me to want to be the best at my craft.

How has the overall perception of black male dancers changed since you were younger? Have you seen progress, in society, or is there more work to be done?

I believe it’s changed because technique is always evolving, and art is always evolving. I think that mainstream TV is also highlighting dance and showing it in a positive light through shows like “Dancing with the Stars,” and “So You Think You Can Dance,”so you see a lot more young black males and males of color wanting to get into hip-hop dance, and the dance realm, overall. Since I was young, the perception [of black male dancers] has changed in a really good way. For me, I know I’ve inspired other young black males to take their first dance classes, whether it be at CAPA, Eleone or at my home studio.

Another example of progression I saw was a photograph that showed seventeen black boys in the ballet studio, and the overall message was: “This is Community,” and it showed collectivism over individualism. The fact that young men can be in a dance studio/class wearing tights and ballet shoes, and it’s not a problem? That’s where the comfortability should be permanent! You should be comfortable in whatever it is you’re doing; you’re learning, you’re bettering yourself, and that should be something to celebrate within itself.

I’ve seen a growth in many summer intensives offering full or partial scholarships to males interested in investing in their dance career.  During the summers of 2010 + 2011, I attended The Ailey School on scholarship in New York City, founded by the late Alvin Ailey. I met many black male dancers who traveled from all over the world to experience the legacy the Ailey School has to offer. I am still so thankful for being able to dance at one of the world's most illustrious dance institutions.

The opportunities available to black males may have grown a bit since my training days but there is still work to be done.

Speak on any major accolades or recognition you have received for your artistry. Explain a moment when you were most proud to call yourself a professional dancer.

In November 2012, I went to Rwanda to dance at a “Conflicts of History” performance that depicted the 1994 genocide. I was there for fourteen days, and had the opportunity to teach dance to orphans who did not have a home. It made me feel good to give back to the community. For me, this experience solidified that [dance] is my calling; this is what I’m supposed to be doing.

Name some of your male dance heroes (specifically dancers of color).

My dance heroes include Shawn-Lamere Williams, artistic director of Eleone Dance Theatre, as well as Anthony Purnell, a choreographer for Parkwood Entertainment, Beyonce’s main record label, and William St. David, rehearsal director for Eleone Connection. Purnell has worked with her since 2003, the debut of her first mainstream solo album. Shawn-Lamere has been very influential In the Philadelphia tri-state area as far as dance and giving young people an opportunity to get off the streets and better themselves. During my second year of high school, I got into the second company [Eleone Connection], and William took me under his wing ever since I’ve met him; I can call him for anything!

What advice would you give to young African-American males interested in pursuing ballet/modern dance?

The advice I would give to them is to never listen to any outside noise! Always know that you can do it, if you put your mind to it.

If I were to listen to all the people saying “Why are you tapping?” “You should be playing sports.” etc., I would not have been the confident guy that I am today. Be you and if you really want it, go after it because no one can stop you but you.

How would you like to be remembered, as a professional dancer? What is your legacy?

I want to be remembered for instilling confidence in my peers when they couldn’t complete a dance step. To be remembered for my tenacity, my fierceness, my energy, my fiery speed, my breakneck dance speed, that’s what I would want to remembered for.

The legacy I wish to leave behind is being a good dancer but a better teacher and mentor. I truly believe youth are our future and I have been blessed with the greatest training, teachers and mentors. The experiences they handed me, not only made me a better dancer but a better person through each life lesson that came with the discipline. Teaching will always be a passion of mine, so I hope to continue to do the right thing by educating the youth and giving back.

For more info on Ibn Snell, check him out on Instagram: @ibbsnibbbb

*Edited for readability and flow

[zainapbaraketcaryl]

‘The Walking Dead’: The Importance of Caryl As a Romantic Ship

The Walking Dead’s Caryl may not seem as progressive as some other ships, but it’s still important!

It’s no secret that I am a huge shipper. It’s even less of a secret that Caryl is easily my OTP (okay fine, one of many but if we’re playing favorites Caryl is tops). And after “New Best Friends” (S7E10) I am 100% quality Caryl shipping trash. I won’t apologize, this has been a long time coming! With high expectations for a Caryl reunion on my mind, I found myself considering what is so important to me about these two fictional people getting together?

In an early draft of this piece, it was just a list of reasons I ship Caryl. The intent was just to list all the obvious ways (and there are many) to be to emotionally involved with Carol (Melissa McBride) and Daryl (Norman Reedus). But this ship is so much more than something like “101 Reasons to Ship Caryl” (but seriously don’t threaten me with a good time, that list would be epic!). It goes so much deeper than just stuff and thangs that making shipping fun.

And shipping is fun. It’s exciting to imagine the possibilities and varying dynamics that two characters bring to each other. But there’s something special when a ship really earns it. And Daryl and Carol have most assuredly earned it! They have always deserved happiness and they have never expressed being happier than when they are with each other.

Thinking about my not-so-short-list of reasons that Caryl is worth shipping I landed on one idea in particular. Caryl is important. It just is. Obviously, I have my reasons and it’s not enough to just say that. But it’s there’s a pureness in that sentiment. And it’s not important just because Daryl is so much more than just a “redneck” or that Carol – as an individual is completely fully fleshed out – is easily one of the best characters to ever grace our televisions. That honestly, goes without saying and for all The Walking Dead‘s meandering sometimes, I will always be thankful the showrunners kept her alive.

However, The Walking Dead doesn’t exactly have a history of being the most progressive show on TV. Thankfully, the show corrected a lot of its issues with the women, though not in enough time not to ensure that Lori (Sara Wayne Callies) and Andrea (Laurie Holden) wouldn’t be vilified forever. And let’s not forget they still felt the need to include Negan’s wives.

Up until very recently, it was like some kind of in-show joke that characters of color would be killed off to make way for the next one. Luckily, it appears the showrunners have done their best to stop that particular pattern. Except then there’s the antiquated but oft-employed “bury your gays” trope. I mean poor Tara (Alanna Masterson) has had to endure the deaths of multiple partners. And there’s plenty more problematic weeds we could pull out but we’d be here forever (but seriously why did Glenn (Steven Yeun) never get a bottle episode and did Michonne (Danai Gurira) ever have a last name because even Beyonce and Madonna have them, they just don’t need to use them?) and I have so many much more fun points to make!

But speaking directly to some of the lack of progressiveness is why a canon ship like Richonne is important. Please don’t mistake my bringing up Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne’s love as some kind of competition. I don’t want to have a ship measuring contest. And I’m not saying Caryl is any more important that Richonne. They are on equal footing for different reasons. But Richonne’s place in one of the most popular TV shows currently on air is noteworthy.

Representation matters! And it goes beyond putting a woman of color in the forefront of a show like The Walking Dead. Rick Grimes is the epitome of a TV show hero and I have seven seasons of annoying man-pain to prove it. And to have him create an organic romantic relationship with the show’s leading woman of color is so much more than visibility. It normalizes it. And it’s absolutely something that should be “normal” at this point (but sadly isn’t). And this fact is hardly the most important part of the Richonne bond (that would arguably be that Carl (Chandler Riggs) and Michonne totally adopted each other first and Rick was a bonus in all of that). But it’s still a major aspect of the ship and I hope the show continues to improve in similar directions.

Which brings me to Caryl. Because at this point you’re probably wondering what any of this has to do with them and why I wouldn’t think something like Carol and Morgan (Lennie James) or Carol and Ezekiel (Khary Payton) would be better. And I have those answers: 1) No! Morgan assaulted Carol and even though he saved her that will never be okay and 2) No! Carol has repeatedly told Ezekiel to leave her alone and he can’t seem to listen and it’s not okay.

The real question shouldn’t be why I would ship anything but Caryl. The real question is why you don’t ship it? Okay fine that’s not it either. The real real question is how is Caryl progressive?

The simplistic answer is that it isn’t. And on some level it’s just your basic vanilla heterosexual relationship. But for the record, typing that sentence physically hurt me because that’s just the bare minimum. The truth is Caryl is progressive. And the evidence is in every reason those who aren’t on board with the ship like to give for why Daryl and Carol don’t belong together.

As far as I’m concerned Daryl and Carol went canon when he ran to her in the season five premiere but some need more, though I struggle to imagine that anyone is in any doubt that there’s any other woman for Daryl Dixon after “New Best Friends” (S7Ep10). These two broken characters need each other. And Daryl physically cannot exist in a world where she doesn’t. It’s why he threatens Richard (Karl Makinen) and then chooses not to tell Carol about those they lost.

The Caryl bond came about through a shared understanding and similar experiences. As a domestic abuse survivor, The Walking Dead has made Carol a beacon of hope to all kinds of survivors. She has turned her struggles into strengths. Yes, even now, while she’s isolating herself and refusing to fight. Her love and her fear of loss are keeping her away and she is entitled to work through that. Here’s a little secret: PTSD doesn’t just go away. You learn to live with it. And while everyone in the group is coping in their own unique way they are all looking for something to hold onto to balance out all the devastation. Showing that both Daryl and Carol aren’t just surviving but thriving. It’s a narrative that is worth exploring because no other characters have been shown to be tortured as frequently and hurting as often as Daryl and Carol.

And if the survival aspect isn’t enough there’s even more significant visibility in Caryl being a romantic bond. I like to tell stories about all the times I’ve had conversations in real life about The Walking Dead. It’s pure water-cooler talk and it’s exciting when people you don’t expect mention being fans of the show. Following Glenn’s death, there were few places you could go where the show wasn’t being discussed. Among a group of acquaintances, it was the perfect conversation topic. During a lull, I quietly mentioned that Daryl loves Carol (okay it wasn’t so quietly because I have no chill). I didn’t expect anyone to agree with me. That’s what Tumblr is for! But what surprised me more was the very real, “Eww no, she’s a mom” reaction.

Now, I don’t have children, but I’m friends with plenty of people who do. We’re all around the same age and last I checked being a mom doesn’t all of a sudden render you unable to be seen as someone sexual. What in the world does Carol being a mom have to do with being a loving relationship with a man who clearly loves her back? Having children, caring for children and just being maternal in general doesn’t mean that that person is no longer physically attractive or that someone can’t be physically attracted to a mom.

Yes, Carol has been established a mom. But let’s look at those qualities: She’s older than a lot of women in the group. She likes to cook and she has taken on the actual title of “mom,” a title that has earned her utter heartbreak. Carol loves. She can’t help it. But moms still deserve romance!

Carol is also a badass and super cool and really really funny but she loves her family so much that she’s afraid to see them hurt. She so much can’t take it that she told Morgan to tell them she’s gone if he ever runs into Team Family again (and he did just that and Daryl looked soon sad and then was even more broken when he was finally able to ask her why she left!). But if she can be all those things then she can also be sexy. Furthermore, she can and is loved by Daryl – who is easily the show’s biggest female draw (that’s definitely a blanket statement but it is true for many just look at the merchandise, chances are Daryl is on it). This is important because there’s a ridiculous assumption that Daryl is a lot younger than Carol, which is also weird and inaccurate.

Back to that normalization thing I mentioned above, when did it become normal to use the fact that someone is a mom as a negative? Doesn’t that make Carol and Daryl that much more suited for each other? She’s not mothering him. In fact if anything Daryl is the more nurturing one when it’s the two of them than Carol is. He has a voice that he uses only for her! It’s just reached a point where it’s hard to argue that Carol and Daryl is nothing more than just a bond. It’s love. Never forget, Carol shut the door on Ezekiel and opened her door to Daryl.

The Walking Dead has a platform. It doesn’t always use it to its greatest effect but in a slow burn like Caryl, the intention isn’t subtle as all. And that makes this particular ship not just important but necessary.

https://hiddenremote.com/2017/02/19/walking-dead-importance-of-caryl-romantic-ship/

[forthegothicheroine]

Dear Yuletide Author

I’m robberbaroness on Archive of Our Own, and I would just like to say how lovely to have you in my corner!  The inescapable onslaught of Christmas becomes more bearable knowing I have some great fic waiting for me!  Seriously, thank you for picking one of my weird-ass requests.  I’ve bubbled over with ideas for these, so please don’t feel obligated to include *everything* I’ve suggested or put in my general likes.  I really just want to see what you come up with!

General likes: Worldbuilding, hard-won happy endings, F/M, maledom (dubcon or noncon are okay, as long as they are acknowledged as such), historical AUs, fairy tale motifs, female-centric stories, gen friendship stories.

General dislikes: ABO, snuff fic, scat, mundane AUs, character bashing, female characters pushed aside.

Georgia Coffee “Twin Peaks” Commercials (characters: Dale Cooper, Ken, Asami)

The only Twin Peaks canon with a happy ending!  I got a really cute treat for this last year, and now I’m anxious for more.

If you haven’t seen these delightful commercials (which have a whole story and everything!) you can watch them here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3acm7j9k_1w .  Agent Cooper and a Japanese detective investigate the disappearance of a beautiful woman from the Great Northern, take plenty of breaks for Georgia Coffee, and actually rescue her from the Black Lodge!  No surprise downer twist!  I really need this right now.

You can take this in either a comic or a serious direction, and set it anywhere in the series.  (It seems like it would fit best either during the original run or after the Return.)  Bring in more Twin Peaks characters if you like (Donna and Albert are always appreciated!) but don’t feel that you have to.  I just want to know about how these events played out.  Another idea- maybe Cooper reconnects with Ken and Asami in the new timeline at the end of Return and they help him set things right?  But really, do whatever you want here as long as it has a happy ending.

Hard Candy (character: Hayley Stark)

Hayley is something between a hero and a monster, and I want to read about her.  You can expand on the events in canon if you like (did she really know Donna?  Will she kill again?) or give me an AU.  Pre-revolutionary French Hayley, taking a dagger to libertines!  Renaissance Italian Hayley, enacting her very own revenge tragedy!  Film noir girl detective Hayley, with methods that are a bit more ruthless than those of Nancy Drew!  Or go with the suggestion offered by Kim Newman in his book Nightmare Movies, and have her actually be a supernatural entity; a ghost, a goddess, an avenging angel, whatever you’d like.

The only things I don’t want are Hayley as an opportunistic sadist (she clearly cares about these events, even if she’s just a sociopath personally disgusted by child predators) or Hayley/Jeff.  But you knew that last one, right?

I’m cool with Crueltide fic for this canon.  Preferably no porn here, though.

Hope: The Other Side of Adventure

I keep asking for this every year, and one day I will get it.  If you came here for another fandom, consider checking this out as well- it’s a free iphone game (yes, free, despite the fakeout about adding a quarter towards the end) which you check on once a day for five or so days for a couple of minutes of pure heartache.  It’s basically about what Princess Peach or Zelda might be thinking while she waits for her videogame hero to rescue her, and it’ll make you think very differently about any damsel in distress games you play in the future.

I’ll take pretty much any kind of fic for this, but if you want some prompts, consider: what happens after she’s rescued?  Was the hero dicking around collecting stars while she waited in dread or was he really trying his best to save her, getting irritated when nobody else in the world of the game seemed to take the quest seriously?  Or give me some creepy stuff with the Duke as he threatens his captive- how does she respond?  If you just want to write more of the Princess’ inner monologue as per the game, I’ll happily take that!

The only thing I specifically don’t want is victim blaming.  Oddly enough, the article that first alerted me to this game described it as being about a wimpy princess who desperately needed to listen to some Beyonce and get empowered.  Listen, you try breaking out of a castle locked and guarded by a warlord, then you get to criticize the Princess.

Horror of Dracula (character: Van Helsing)

Peter Cushing is one of my all time favorite actors, and his Van Helsing one of my all time greatest movie crushes.  He’s a good guy in the truest sense of the word, that rare hero who does what he does because he’s actually kind and caring and wants to help people as opposed to just testing his strength against his foes.  He’s a nerd and a swashbuckler, the perfect combination.

So, give me a story about him!  He could do further battle with Dracula or any other monsters in the Hammer Horror lineup (bonus points for mistaken identity hijinks if it’s Frankenstein.)  I would especially like to see him in a romance- with Mina, Lucy, Dracula’s bride, Marianne from Brides of Dracula, or an OC.  But if you aren’t feeling shippy fic, then just give me some exciting, funny, angsty or otherwise interesting escapades.

Darkest Dungeon (character: Graverobber)

My beautiful, snarky noblewoman!  There’s so much to play with here, be it in backstory, midgame or epilogue.  Her backstory comic (http://www.darkestdungeon.com/darkest-dungeon-presents-the-grave-robber/ ) hints at a lot, but there’s still plenty to be elaborated upon.  Was the man in the picture her father or her husband, and what was life like with him?  Did she get into any amusing shenanigans robbing her own ancestral tombs?  (Of course she did.)  I would LOVE to see her interacting with members of the Crimson Court, almost her kind of people but oh so wrong.  If you want to ship her with anyone feel free (my preference is the Houndmaster- ex-cop and ex-thief!- but pretty much anyone would lead to an interesting story.)  And what about how her personality changes in the game with acquired strengths and weaknesses?  If you just have a funny story from one of your playthroughs where she gets an odd quirk, I’d love to read it!

I’m cool with Crueltide fic here, too.

Kushiel’s Legacy

Unlike some of my other requests, I know exactly what I want here: Night Court worldbuilding!  There are so many interesting houses that are either mysterious (what exactly does an adept of Orchis or Briony do?) or touched upon without elaboration (how far do adepts of Mandrake or Valerian who don’t have Phaedre’s super-masochism go?)  Whether it’s smutty, romantic or behind the scenes and businesslike, featuring the characters we know and love or OCs of your own, I would really like some descriptive Night Court adventures.

[blogwritetheworld]

October Spotlight – Reading People: The Art of Interviews

by Lisa Hiton

Reading is key to becoming an excellent writer. The practice of reading teaches us many skills about writing—sentence structure, inventing vivid images and character development. The attention we pay to reading words can also be given to reading people. It is the writer’s job, after all, to bring people—invented and real—to life on the page. It’s why the reading (or observing) of people is perhaps the writer’s greatest tool. Whether you’re writing a biographical piece about a loved one, an athlete, or a teacher, or inventing someone in a story, the reader needs to find elements of true people in your pages.

There is no better test of one’s ability to read people than by conducting interviews. Interviews require research, preparation, and most importantly, a capacity to listen to your subject. It is in the listening that a great interviewer can begin to open up their subject and allow for spontaneity where a conversation may organically go, if only we prompt our subjects with deft care.

Reading People

There are many keys to conducting successful interviews: researching your subject, staying current on topics you may talk about with your subject, preparing great questions, and so on. What is harder to plan for is the attitude or mood of your subject. Let’s say you’re interviewing an athlete and you want to talk about overcoming a recent injury, but they’re reluctant to discuss their health with you. What might you do? Do you change the subject entirely? Do you ask more follow-up questions? A lot of this will have to do with reading your subject in the moment of the interview.

At the beginning of the interview, for instance, you may find yourself speaking more than your interviewee. As the interview becomes more comfortable for both of you, allow your interviewee to do more of  the talking.The more interviews you conduct, the more comfortable it can be to let the subjects speak for themselves. We can learn these nuances and practice them. Especially by following along with a few masters who have written books about the art of interviews.

The Art of the Interview: Lessons from a Master of the Craft by Lawrence Grobel: Lawrence Grobel has conducted interviews with some of the world’s most beloved celebrities. His experience interviewing stars for the likes of Rolling Stone, The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, and others has informed his book The Art of the Interview. This craft book begins by drawing differentiations in interviews for different media outlets. From print, to radio, to television, Grobel draws the landscape of interviewing for beginners. He then delves into the nitty-gritty: researching, planning good questions, dealing with publicists, and dealing with reluctant subjects. The latter chapters of the book cover getting subjects to open up to you, editing your interview, and the overall structure of interviews.

Ask More: The Power of Questions to Open Doors Uncover Solutions, and Spark Change by Frank Sesno: The central skill of interviewing people is asking questions. Frank Sesno’s book, Ask More, is entirely about questions themselves. Sesno’s organized the book by categorizing kinds of questions: diagnostic questions, strategic questions, empathy questions, bridging questions, confrontational questions, creativity questions, mission questions, scientific questions, interview questions, entertaining questions. As an Emmy-award winning journalist for CNN and director of GWU’s school of Media and Public Affairs, Sesno has mastered not only the art of interviewing, but of asking questions—both of his subjects and of the world entire.

The book ends with a question guide. After studying Sesno’s eleven categories of questions, this guide offers us step-by-step instructions toward asking more powerful questions of ourselves and our subjects—be they people or fields of study. Each of these mini-guides goes through different skills and ways to frame each category of questions, as well as including a question-writing prompt.

Mastering the Study of Interviews

A master of interviews and conducting conversations is Oprah Winfrey. We often think of journalism at the forefront of interviewing. And while Oprah was and is a journalist, her approach to understanding people through their own stories has changed the scope of interviews, oral histories, and the rigor of talk shows.

As she said in her commencement address at Harvard University in 2013, Oprah realized she wanted to be a journalist spontaneously, at a young age: “My television career began unexpectedly. I was in a Miss Fire Prevention contest. That was when I was 16 years old in Nashville, Tennessee[...] During the question and answer period the question came, ‘Why, young lady, what would you like to be when you grow up?’ And by the time they got to me all of the good answers were gone. I had seen Barbara Walters on The Today Show earlier, so I responded ‘I would like to be a journalist. I would like to tell other people’s stories in a way that makes a difference in their lives and the world.’ And as those words were coming out of my mouth I went, ‘Whoa, this is pretty good. I would like to make a difference. I would like to be a journalist.’” And so, it’s not just that Oprah realized what she wanted to do, but something essential about the core of it—that engaging with people also meant to engage with their stories. And that by simply coaxing stories out of people, a larger sense of the world could be accessed by the masses.

As a lifetime fangirl of Oprah Winfrey, the most I’ve ever been moved by her was hearing her commencement speech as I graduated from Harvard in 2013. As she talked about success, failure, and changing the world, here was the passage I found most striking:

The single most important lesson I learned in 25 years of talking every single day to people was that there is a common denominator in our human experience. Most of us, I tell you, we don’t want to be divided, what we want--the common denominator that I’ve found in every single interview—is that we want to be validated. We want to be understood. I’ve done over 35,000 interviews in my career. And as soon as that camera shuts off, everyone always turns to me, and inevitably, in their own way, asks this question: (whispers) Was that okay? I heard it from President Bush. I heard it from President Obama. I’ve heard it from heroes and from housewives. I’ve heard it from victims and perpetrators of crimes. I even heard it from Beyonce in all of her Beyonce-ness. She finishes performing, hands me the microphone, and says, ‘Was that okay?’. Friends and family, enemies, strangers—in every argument, in every encounter, in every exchange, I will tell you, they all want to know one thing: Was that okay? Did you hear me? Do you see me? Did what I say mean anything to you? [...] My hope is that you will go out and try to have more face to face conversations with people you disagree with. That you’ll have the courage to look them in the eye and hear their point of view. To help make sure that the speed and distance and anonymity of our world doesn’t cause us to lose our ability to stand in someone else’s shoes, and recognize all that we share as a people.

No matter who you encounter, no matter how much you may share or disagree, if we keep those vulnerable truths at heart, we can answer those questions by listening with soul and empathy so that we may answer with a truthful yes.

First Lady Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey: The Next Generation of Women: Held during the United State of Women Summit in 2016, this conversation between these two inspiring women addresses many issues women continue to face in our modern world. As you watch the interview or read the transcript, here are some prompts that may help you prepare for your own interviews:

How would you describe the arc of this conversation?

Who is responsible for guiding the conversation?

Break the conversation into movements. Title each movement.

Within each movement, who speaks more? What is the role of the listener?

How does each speaker frame their questions? How does this help the listener/reader?

Annotate the questions raised in the conversation. Label each based on the eleven distinctions from Frank Sesno’s Ask More.

Treasure Troves of (and for) Writers

While we’ve gone through a few of our favorite specific interviews, we’d be remiss not to include a short resource of our favorite homes for literary interviews. Here are three places on the web where you can read and hear conversations with some of your favorite literary figures from all over the world.

The Paris Review Interviews Archive: A longstanding tradition—since the 1950’s!—The Paris Review is home to interviews with the world’s most beloved literary figures. Toni Morrison, Kazuo Ishiguro, James Baldwin, Gabriel García Marquez, Elie Wiesel, Maya Angelou, John Steinbeck, Harold Pinter, T.S. Eliot, Truman Capote, Vladmir Nabokov, Joan Didion, Jean Rhys, Kurt Vonnegat, Cynthia Ozick, Tom Stoppard, Chinua Achebe, Margaret Atwood, Jeannette Winterson, Ray Bradbury, Lydia Davis, Claudia Rankine, Ha Jin, Orhan Pamuk, Hunter S Thompson. Browse through these interviews and many more on The Paris Review’s archives or check out the publication’s Interview anthologies.

Divedapper: Divedapper is a web project devoted entirely to hosting interviews with voices in contemporary poetry. Interviews are posted every other Monday between founder, Kaveh Akbar, and contemporary poets. The poets featured are at different places in their careers, so you can find poets with excellent debut books as well as more established poets in the archives. Claudia Rankine, Danez Smith, Richie Hofmann, Morgan Parker, Franny Choi, Kazim Ali, Monica Youn, Oliver Bendorf, Solmaz Sharif, Ocean Vuong, Fanny Howe. They’re all there and more are coming each month!

Bookworm: Bookworm is a podcast hosted by Michael Silverblatt that boasts “intellectual, accessible, and provocative literary conversations”. Silverblatt has recorded conversational interviews with the likes of just about every living writer you could imagine: Jacqueline Woodson, George Saunders, Jeanette Winterson, Morgan Parker, Kate Tempest. So when you’re looking to practice listening, Bookworm might just be the next binge-worthy literary podcast for you.

So, dear writers, as you think about who you might interview for this month’s competition, take these lessons in listening and asking great questions with you. May those who ask questions and those who answer them in these resources be a source of inspiration to you as you begin your own adventure in reading these books and the people you’ll soon be questioning.

About Lisa

Lisa Hiton is an editorial associate at Write the World. She writes two series on our blog: The Write Place where she comments on life as a writer, and Reading like a Writer where she recommends books about writing in different genres. She’s also the interviews editor of Cosmonauts Avenue and the poetry editor of the Adroit Journal.

[nyebevans]

Rules: Answer the questions then come up with one of your own and tag the number of people that there are questions.

i was tagged by @theflanderspigeonmurderer (thank you!)

Coke or Pepsi: coke, but i can drink either

Disney or Dreamworks: oh, dreamworks, definitely! prince of egypt is one of my all-time favourite films, and i genuinely love the shrek movies, MADAGASCAR, over the hedge, megamind... so good. i like disney too, though!

Coffee or tea: tea, always. i very rarely drink coffee

Books or movies: books - i like movies well enough, but i’m not really a film buff, i can do without.

Windows or Mac: windows. it might be crap, but i genuinely cannot wrap my head around how to use mac, it’s so counter-intuitive to me

DC or Marvel: ugh, marvel. though i’m not really a massive fan of either

Xbox or Playstation: neither, i’ve never been one for games. i’ve used a playstation, though, so i guess i’d choose that if i had to.

Dragon Age or Mass Effect: again, not really a gamer. the fanart i see on my dash for dragon age is gorgeous, though

Night owl or early riser: morning is disgusting, i am such a night owl

Cards or Chess: chess, i don’t really know many card games. if it’s cards against humanity, though...

Chocolate or vanilla: i hate chocolate ice cream, but chocolate itself is the greatest

Vans or Converse: converse, though i’ve only ever had a knock-off pair

Star Wars or Star Trek: star wars

One episode per week or binge watching: binge watching - i always say i’m going to watch a show slowly to savour it, but i always end up watching twelve eps in three days.

Heroes or Villains: depends on whether they’re well-written or interesting to me

John Williams or Hans Zimmer: i don’t really listen to instrumental music or notice film soundtracks, so idk

Disneyland/Disney World or Six Flags: disneyland. i’ve been to disneyland paris once, with school, and it wasn’t the best day out ever, but it was cool. and i don’t really know anything about six flags, so. i’d choose alton towers over either of them, despite the queues.

Forest or sea: BOTH. how can i choose???

Flying or reading minds: flying! reading minds would be creepy and invasive, and probably disturbing too. listening to my own thoughts is bad enough, lmao

Twin Peaks or Northern Exposure: i’ve never seen either, so idk

Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings: harry potter all the way

Cake or pie: cake!!!!!!!

Beyoncé or Lady Gaga: beyonce

Rain or sunshine: sunshine! rain is just inconvenient

Steven Universe or Gravity Falls: neither

Blue or green: i don’t really have a preference, but probably blue

Vanilla or cinnamon: i HATE cinnamon, so vanilla

Foreign films, subbed or dubbed: subs, of course! dubs are always horrible

Rain coats or umbrellas: if i try to use an umbrella it invariably turns inside out in the wind, so despite the fact that it gets me approx 80% more drenched, rain coat it has to be

Spring or fall: i like spring when it FINALLY starts getting a bit warmer

Sunbathing or exploring rockpools: sunbathing, i love lying around doing nothing

The Thick Of It/Veep or The West Wing? the thick of it! one of my all-time favourite shows

i’ll add:

2048 or Angry Birds?

i’m not going to tag that many people, but i’ll tag @moralwounds, @gayjesstestor, @irmgardbaty, @soleil-moon-bye, @jedlelands, and @scandalin. no obligation to do it if you don’t want to, though!

[think2hard-blog]

On the Subject of Self-Love

Picture this: a montage. An array of teens ready themselves for the first day of school. First, a devilishly lovely teenage girl approaches the mirror. She gives herself a saucy wink, and applies a fresh coat of lip gloss. Cut to a second teenage girl. She is equally lovely, but dressed in dowdy (but still flattering) clothing that seems to hint at the very unique and kindly moral fiber of her being. She looks in the mirror, forlorn. “Well” she says, “guess that’s the best i’m gonna get.” Both girls turn away and head out into the world. Sound familiar? Perhaps it’s because this is the plot of any and all teen movies. But, here’s the thing. That first girl doesn’t get rewarded for her confidence. Her story line is not healthy relationships, success in school, and a positive inner monologue. And that second girl does not go on to self-harm, starve herself, and generally hate life. In fact, the second girl is our hero. The person we identify with, and root for. Her lack of self-confidence is endearing, and in fact will win her a mate. Someone who appreciates how she “loves to eat like a truck driver” and “cares so deeply about poetry in English class.” And that first girl? Well we despise her. Her story is one of narcissism. Her arc will end with getting pushed in a pool, or perhaps getting kicked out of prom. The conclusion we must draw then, is that confidence will get you dumped and wet, and a lack thereof will get you happiness and a hot football player/bad boy/rock star.

Except...not.

More and more teenagers suffer from anxiety, depression, and self-hatred. Out of young men and young women, one demographic is hit overwhelmingly harder. The National Institute on Media and the Family, states that at age thirteen, 53% of American girls are "unhappy with their bodies." This number grows to 78% by the time girls reach seventeen.

“But!” you cry, “what about Dove? What about Oprah? What about Beyonce? They tell us to love ourselves.” Yes, excellent point. There are some voices in the media, an increasing number, that tell us to have confidence, and to love ourselves. This is an achievement that deserves respect. However, there are underhanded influences that counter those voices, that are much stronger than we can control.

Why is it, as women, we are told the only way we can find “true love” is to be weak, and to see ourselves as unworthy? That the most attractive thing about us is how we “don’t know we’re beautiful.” Perhaps the most damaging ideal we hold ourselves to is not the perfect body, but rather the perfect body, the perfect mind, and the inability to recognize we possess either. We are encouraged to constantly tear ourselves down, so as to not seem arrogant. It is encouraged for us to love and compliment our peers, but when the face we are looking at is in the mirror, the opposite rules apply. I remember talking to a male friend of mine about showering. “Man,” he said “I love when I get out of the shower, look in the mirror, and just flex. I feel like such a beast.” This sounded alien to me. I asked him if he actually liked looking in the mirror. “Hell yeah!” He said, “I look awesome.” A few of my other male friends agreed. I was flabbergasted. I have never met a single girl who thinks of the mirror as her friend. At best, the mirror is a tool. At worst, it is a cruel funhouse contraption, designed to broadcast our greatest flaws with glaring accuracy. I did not understand. And I couldn’t understand. Until I considered exactly what it means to be a woman in our society. Then, all of a sudden, it became painfully clear.

Who are the role models young boys are encouraged to look up to? James Bond, Tony Stark, Indiana Jones, the list goes on. These men swagger through life with the confidence of a peacock. Sure they may get into scrapes, and they may even be disliked at times, but they are the heroes. They get it all, and they get it with style. Looking at these role models it’s easy to see why my buddy got off on shirtless flexing in the mirror. The problem, however, arises when we begin to look at the role models young girls are encouraged to admire. The obvious problem is the Disney Princesses, damsels in distress who do nothing to affect their own destiny. But the problem doesn’t end there. We look at the movies for young teenagers. Camp Rock, High School Musical, etc. These movies all feature female protagonists sure, but these women are not confident. In fact, they are endearing for their shyness, and their “humility.” The trend continues with movies geared towards adult women: Dirty Dancing, 50 First Dates, Bridget Jones’s Diary. These woman are beloved because they are unsure. The men in the movies adore them for being hapless bunnies who must be taught to see their own inner beauty. By the men. See the problem? And the women in media who are portrayed as confident, (see The Proposal, The Bounty Hunter, every Katharine Heigl movie,) are probably also total bitches, who “just need to cut loose.” No wonder we all hate ourselves, it’s impossible to find love and affection for partners or peers if we don’t!

These tropes are not just in movies. Check your favorite novel. Check the news. You love Jennifer Lawrence because of her goofy and personable facade. She is self-deprecating, but still gorgeous. The perfect woman! Who cares about Angelina Jolie unless she is getting married or depressed. Who cares about Emma Stone unless she is being quirky and endearing. Nobody. That’s the thing. We are told, over and over again, that the only way we will ever get attention or love is by a. being perfect, or b. being a mess (but looking good while doing it.) Why, I often ask myself, is it a trend for teenage girls to brag about their unhealthy eating habits. Well, look at every teen movie. The girl who eats salad is a vapid diet-obsessed airhead, while the heroine who is chowing down on pizza is down to earth and likeable . But she’s still skinny of course. If she were fat it’d be gross!

So there it is. The eternal conundrum. How can we ever do it? How can we ever love ourselves if the only influences truly swaying us are the ones that tell us to hate how we look, hate who we are, but remain perfect throughout all our internal struggles.

I say, fuck it.

There’s no magical knight who sweep you onto his horse, and bless you with the magic of confidence. If you are looking to everyone but yourself to see your own beauty, you will never be satisfied. I know it seems like thing to do to put yourself down, and focus on everything negative in your life. But flip that on its head. Putting yourself down constantly is not the only way for people to like you. Self-deprecation is funny in small doses, but the more you say things the more you start to believe them. So start saying nice things. Be your own best friend instead of your own worst enemy. Look in the mirror and focus on the things you like about yourself. I know it’s hard, but if we all do it then maybe the world we live in will change. Maybe that sad girl in the montage will go to a therapist, and learn that she is everything whether she has a man or not. And maybe that saucy girl who looks in the mirror and loves herself will find success and happiness. And maybe she will inspire all of us.

[umusicians]

UM Hometown Hero : : Luke Austin

Luke Austin is a musician and producer based in Houston, TX. He’s toured the world and recorded with countless celebrity artists and acts. His live performance resume included Destiny’s Child, Mary J Blige and his studio catalogue is just as extensive. Austin has been in the industry since the early 00’s and has no plans of exiting anytime soon. 

Brittany Geertgens sat down with Luke Austin to talk about is accomplishments and challenges working in the music industry, artists he’s worked with and more!

Brittany Geertgens: Where are you from? Luke Austin: I’m originally from Chicago, Illinois and currently live in Houston, TX. BG: How would you describe the music industry in your hometown? LA: The Houston music scene is great..it’s very talented and thriving. Well known for its gospel and R&B artists who have made a name for themselves. BG: How did you get started in your line of work? Was it a particular person that inspired you? LA: I started taking music lessons from my dad. I was raised with a classical background. My dad was a gospel organist, one of the greatest, and wanted to pass on the gift to me. BG: What have been some of the biggest accomplishments so far in your career? LA: *Traveling all over the world numerous times with various artists *Being featured in a video with Blackstreet shot in Liverpool, England *Being on Roland cover with Beyonce are a few of my favorite career highlights. BG: What has been some of the buggiest challenges you’ve faced during your career? LA: Going to Dubai for the first time. I had to really get used to their culture and food. Playing for Mary for the first time... I was scared she wasn't gonna like me. BG: Who are a few of your favorite artists/bands that you’ve had the opportunity to work with? LA: Mary J Blige, R. Kelly, SWV, Blackstreet, Beyonce, Destiny Child BG: If you could give your younger self advice now what would it be? LA: Don’t be so happy and hyped to be out on the road that you start to wild out too much. And always listen to the OG's. BG: Besides music, what are other ways you like to bring joy and happiness to people? LA: Gosh. I really like to draw. If that can get out and spread some happiness, then so be it BG: If you could work with any artist dead or alive who would it be and why? LA: Donnie Hathaway because he was a beast on keys and vocals. JDilla because he was like a mentor. BG: What are your plans for your career once this world pandemic is over? LA: I’m going to work like crazy to put these records out. Make it to the Oscars. BG: How would you describe your artistry? How would you say it sticks/stands out from others? LA: I’m very versatile and am not boxed in a one genre/sound box. I work to accommodate every client with my creative ability.  Whatever style they want, I deliver it. BG: What are some goals you have on your list that you’d like to accomplish within the next two years? LA: I’d like to have more than two Grammys on hand. Been featured on multiple movie scorings, thus resulting in the Oscars. BG: Are you active in your community? If so, what are some things you do to help your community and spread positivity? LA: Not like I should. I help the homeless community when I can. BG: Do you have a hometown hero? If so, who and why are they your hometown hero? LA: His name is Kevin Bond (Producer, musician). He was the first guy I started really listening to and studying once I started playing by ear. I wanted to be like him.

Connect with Luke Austin on the following websites: https://instagram.com/lukerativesounds