#I feel like that was mentioned in connection to the graphic novel. like... ok but no

[shipaholic]

hmmm, book headcanon here... I don't picture Aziraphale with golden curly hair. That is Adam's hair. Adam is supposed to look cherubic because it's ironic. Aziraphale is supposed (to me) to look like a non-descript aging British man with little flashes of campness and poshness to arrest the eye. I imagine him having quite boring, non-descript hair... greyish or mousey brown, perhaps. Possibly slicked down, definitely very neat. A contrast to whatever understated flashiness Crowley has going on.

[best-underrated-anime]

Best Underrated Anime Group E Round 1: #E8 vs #E1

#E8: Lesbian vampire & human go on road trip to escape the horrors

In a bleak world where music is banned and Vampires have emerged at the top of the food chain, a girl named Momo breaks past the barrier and connects with Fine, queen of the Vampires, and the two journey to find a safe haven where their races can co-exist.

#E1: Modern people transmigrate* to ancient Chinese fantasy world (BL)

People from the modern world transmigrating into the ancient fantasy world has become a common and everyday occurrence that the royal court in the latter has decided to moderate them. If you’re a transmigrator, you must report your existence to Lou Zhu, the master of Best Tower. Once you pass his test and prove that you are indeed a modern person, you can then be assigned to work in different areas of the government and be given a high salary.

Because of this promised benefit, many impostors have showed up before Lou Zhu. And one day, Zuo Yunqi shows up for this test. Is he an impostor, or is he an actual modern person?

But some transmigrators also choose to hide their existence out of distrust in the government. Where are they? And with their knowledge of science and technology, what are they planning in the dark?

*Transmigration = similar to isekai, but the world where the characters get isekai’d to is not always a western fantasy type.

Titles, propagandas, trailers, and poll under the cut!

#E8: Vampire in the Garden

Propaganda:

This anime came out a year ago, but I literally never heard of it until earlier this summer because Netflix had it. You guys are SLEEPING on such a good series—it’s 6 episodes so it’s short, but it feels like a whole single film. The voice acting is so fun, the music slaps, the animation goes HARD during fight scenes, and it’s just so so good. The art style is pretty, and the scenery makes me lose my mind, it’s SO pretty. I need to write an essay one day about how VitG uses music to carry the story because wow that is 🛐🛐🛐 Also there’s a goofy looking dog named Connie that continuously appears and serves no purpose in the plot. Love that

Trigger Warnings: Child Abuse, Emotional Abuse, Graphic Depictions of Cruelty/Violence/Gore, Racism, Self-Harm.

Child abuse & emotional abuse for Momo’s complicated relationship with her mother. Also emotional abuse for Fine’s past traumas and current strained relationship with other vampires.

This is a vampire anime, so there’s a lot of blood and fighting. There’s also a drug introduced in ep1 that mutates a vampire horribly.

Racism is human-versus-vampire shenanigans.

Self-harm for a scene where a human attempts to feed a vampire and for drug usage as mentioned above.

#E1: Are You Ok (You Yao)

[Admin: I could not find a single trailer of season 1 w/ English subs, and its OP seems to have been taken down on YouTube since Iqiyi, its producer (?), started their own channel. As such, I’ve cut a small portion of S1E01 instead, featuring the test the transmigrators have to take.]

Propaganda:

This donghua (Chinese anime) is based on a comedy novel with the same title, and the adaptation is just stellar. Instead of showing each character’s story separately like in the novel, the donghua combined everything. Because of this, there’s more focus on the plotty and political mystery aspect—but without losing the heart of the original. The entire show is still just as hilarious.

And for an adaptation with several original characters, for once I actually don’t mind it. I usually find such additions annoying, but in this show they really serve a purpose and also add to the enjoyment.

I also like the choice of animating it in 3D, like the one in video games. It fits the “transmigrate into a fantasy world” setting well. The donghua also plays around a lot. In one episode, they had one character sing and dance like in a musical, with the beginning of the song sounding like “Do you wanna build a snowman?” from Frozen 😂

Moreover, this is a Boys Love story, and with more than one couple, too! The secondary couple (Zhou Rongqi and Li Ke) even gets a very gay ending song that’s all about them. But since this show is from China, where censorship rules are strict, don’t expect anything explicit. Just think of it as another shounen with homoerotic undertones, except the homo is actually canon.

All in all, it’s a very fun show that doesn’t lack in depth. If you’re in the mood for something light but don’t want to miss out on plot, you should definitely watch this. And if you’ve never watched a donghua before, then you’ll definitely find this fresh and intriguing.

Trigger Warnings: None.

If you’re reblogging and adding your own propaganda, please tag me @best-underrated-anime so that I’ll be sure to see it.

[cosmiciaria]

Assassin’s Creed Unity Review/honest thoughts/discussion - SPOILERS (long post)

So I decided to finally settle on a proper review – although this one is going to be more of what here in Argentina we call a "sincericidio": basically I will spit my guts out and cry in one corner, while being completely honest about my feelings. I will try to keep most spoilers at bay, like I always do, but there's just one thing I cannot not talk about which is THE spoiler so – I want you to be considered warned.

Before I start, I should state, since this is my review and reviews are quite personal actually, why this game is so important to me and why I wanted to play it so bad. There's a combination of factors, and obviously this game isn't going to strike the same chords with everyone, so bear in mind that this is strictly subjective and, right now, personal.

First factor and I think the most important one: I like writing. Wait, don't leave the review just yet. I like writing and creating characters. I have many. Lately I've been revisiting a character that had a very sad backstory and added quite long happy ending for him. I made him fall in love again. He's black haired, wears a short pony tail… his new love interest is a redhead with wavy hair… ok, you get me now, don't you? And what's worse, is that their story takes place in a fictional world that resembles quite much Europe of 1800's. So clothes and ballrooms and palaces and big, fluffy dresses are a thing in this story of mine. I think that, if you've ever created a character, to find another fictional, similar character in any medium is going to draw your attention to that product right away. It did happen to me with Cal Kestis from SW Jedi: Fallen Order, I have another redhead baby boy that needs to be protected at all costs. It's a way for us to 'see', let's say, or imagine our characters being brought to life.

Second factor: I love Paris. I visited Versailles and Paris back in late 2018, and I went there with zero expectations, only to fall in love with France. I love the Château de Versailles. I love palaces. I love the Seine. I love the Louvre. I love it. All of it. If I could, I'd live there. Sadly, I'm poor and speak little to no French at all.

Third Factor: I'm learning French! I dream with the day I can speak like five languages as well as I speak English (I studied it for ten years so… it kinda makes sense that I feel comfortable with it). I'm still struggling with French, but I will get there someday. I will. Because I love it. I love the language. Oui.

Fourth factor: I also really really, really like the French Revolution, and I've never, much to my surprise, watched or played any series, videogame, movie or anything that takes place in such a context (if you have recommendations, please drop them right away!). And I say "to my surprise" because I really like that part of History! So, to live in almost first person how the French Revolution unfolded – to hear the chansons and to see people gathered in crowds at every corner, listening to a liberty preacher wielding the French flag – that was glorious.

Fifth and yeah we're done: I love Les Misérables. I know it happens way later than the French Revolution, but since this musical (and the 2012 movie) became my 'home', I can't help but feel a stronger connection with everything I said above. I can watch that movie over and over and I will still sing Empty chairs and empty tables with tears in my eyes, despite its flaws.

I had like every reason to play this game. And it paid off.

Before plunging into it, I did read the novelization. Sadly, it was only to satisfy my soon-to-be-fulfilled obsession with the game, since I don't think the quality of the narration was, uhm, that good – it felt like you needed to have played the game before reading it. And I get it, it's a videogame adaptation, that's fine, but when you look at it as standalone book, it doesn't stand alone that good. What disappointed me, though, wasn't the narration, which was what I totally expected it to be, nor the dialogues or the ending – it was Élise. I was bit weary about this because she came across as completely different character than what I had in mind about her, and I didn't like her. At all. In the book, at least. I didn't like her because she had a few comments and took some decisions that made her look like she was stupid and/or selfish. I can understand the selfish part; I do not want to even believe that she's stupid. So that's why the book was a bit of a letdown for me. I recommend it, though, if you're a fan, because there's a book exclusive character that really gets the plot moving and he's endearing: Mr. Weatherall. Oh, what a man.

Now, regarding the game itself – it shouldn't come as a surprise that I thoroughly enjoyed it. As I've stated in another post, this game is barely an Assassin's Creed, since you delve like zero into the AC lore, and it's just an excuse for your character – Arno – to know parkour. Which in fact he knows before becoming an assassin, so it begs the question, why is this game even in this franchise? I digress. It's an AC game at the end of the day and that won't change.

But do not jump into this game expecting it be your average AC story. I firmly believe that the creators wanted to convey a different story here. For starters, Arno is no hero. Arno doesn't want to save the world. Arno doesn't care about any artifact or magic or creed. Arno only wants to discover who's the man behind De La Serre's death. That's his main driving force. And behind that, there's this undeniable and yet quite destructive feeling that pulls him forward: Élise.

Élise and Arno's relationship goes deeper into this story than it's noticeable at first glance. When you look back upon the plot, you discover that without their love 'subplot', there's no plot at all. If I may be so bold, I would even argue that Arno's story is a tragic love story. All the assassin's lore, all the betrayals, the first few assassinations, it all falls back into the background when Élise returns to the stage almost halfway through the game. And even though they only share like one kiss or two during the 40 hours of gameplay, there's still this latent, persistent motivation behind each of Arno's actions, that he wouldn't be doing what he's doing if it wasn't for Élise.

And it all comes down to that one line: What I wanted was you.

I cannot stress enough how much I loved all of the drunkard memory of Versailles. I think it embodies Arno's perfect character development. The constant rain and the bluish filter on every framerate added to the overall depressing atmosphere. I felt miserable while playing those quests, and the moment he steps out into the entrance of the Château de Versailles and reflects on his past decisions – decisions that have been stolen from him, because he could never defend himself nor change the course of actions on his own accord – that exact moment that he sits down and cries, I cried too.

Because all the game, all the memories, all the dialogues go in a crescendo only to crumble into this abyss. And this, in turn, creates a fleshed-out character, with a believable development, believable feelings, believable motivations. I can feel for Arno, I can understand him, I pity him, and I want to hug him. The whole game reaches its peak in its main character's worst moment: when he realizes that he's screwed everything up.

And not always do we get a story where the main character doesn't win. He just doesn't. Underneath its revolutionary streets, this story reeks of inexorability and fatality. You know it, you know it in the back of your head, but you push that thought apart because you want to enjoy jumping over rooftops and finding the best strategy to kill that man. There's this underlying, looming melancholy in every memory that you play in, and that's why the end doesn't surprise us.

It makes us cry, of course, but it didn't come as a surprise at all. If you're shocked about the end, then you haven't been paying enough attention to Élise's dialogues, to the tone of the story, to her letters, to where this plot was going. Because, like I said, the story is about Arno and Élise's relationship, it isn't about defeating the bad guy. And there was only one way that story could end.

*cries in French*

*Je pleure beaucoup*

I know the game has been panned by players for its performance. And being the 2020 year of our lord, I cannot say I reject those allegations, since it's been 6 years since the game was released. I hope enough patches were implemented to salvage the bugs. I only came across one bug in my entire playthrough which bothered me a little: some NPC's would sometimes pop into cutscenes and phase through the characters like nothing. At first it was funny, but then towards the end it happened two more times, in important cutscenes with our lovely couple, which kinda destroyed all immersion, if you know what I mean. The rest was fine: it never crashed on me, I didn't encounter the infamous, horrendous bug that unleashed memes in internet, never a T-pose or something that rendered the game unplayable – nothing, only that funny bug I mentioned. I did see the drop in framerates, specially in very crowded areas – but to be honest I never saw a game with so many NPC's together in the same place, like, hundreds of them, each with unique animations and varied models. I only come from playing Syndicate, and even there the number of NPC's was lower. Here is jarringly unreal, I didn't know the French Revolution was THIS jam-packed with people!

On a graphical department, this 2014 game still holds up. Very well. I think it even looks better in some scenes than some of its successors. The cutscenes were sometimes very cinematographic, with close ups, zoom outs, certain angles, with quite real lighting and shadows. I know it's not Naughty Dog and it doesn't have the whole Sony battalion behind, but damn if some of the character's expressions were really good. It didn't happen often, so when one of them had this very specific face I was like *insert surprised pikachu meme*.

I also enjoyed the music a lot. I don't know why but the one from the main menu stuck with me for a while. All of the songs have this Versailles, aristocratic tone to it which put me in the mood.

I have only one minor complaint and its entirely optional, let's say – I want to platinum this game. But I don't own PS plus, because it's, uhhh, expensive in my country (do not want to indulge in dollar exchange rates right now). And there are like two trophies only obtainable through multiplayer, which renders my trophy hunt useless. But, alas, I knew this before buying the game. I think that games shouldn't come with multiplayer trophies for the platinum. If you have to pay extra for something, it must be completely optional. And so should be the trophies related to it. It's a bit disappointing, though, because after finishing this game I want so bad to return to it, but if I can't platinum, I don't see myself coming back to it soon. Either way, I could still earn the rest of the trophies, but that would only enrage me more when the last 3% is going to be locked forever *cries again*.

All in all, my major question at the end is: why does this game receive so much hate? I guess if I came from a hardcore fan standpoint I could understand it more. If I had played all its predecessors before this one, I would also feel that the gameplay and the objectives are repetitive. That the challenges are bs. But the stealth aspect has been improved, the parkour has been redesigned and adapted, and as of now, bugs aren't a problem anymore. I want to believe that when a remaster for the PS5 comes out or, I don't know, if someone by divine grace has an epiphany in the near future regarding this game, people will change their mind on this one and will appreciate more what it wanted to be, than what they made it to be. After all, this is Arno's story. Arno's tragic love story.

Also this game is beautiful JUST LOOK AT IT LOOK AT IT!!! 

Sorry couldn’t help myself

[strangeandforlornbooks]

best books with morally ambiguous narrators!

all y’all’s problematic faves and villains! :) also included are third person narrators but in books with morally ambiguous leads/themes 

Sci-fi

Scythe by Neal Shusterman: in a future free from pain, disease, and war, people can live forever. ‘scythes’ are given the power to decide who lives and who dies to preserve the balance. sad and kinda gives of hunger games vibes, if you like that.

Neuromancer by William Gibson: basically invented the cyberpunk genre. strange and removed protagonists. (a team of computer hackers have to face off against an evil AI). you kind of dislike everyone and suddenly you’re crying over them. one of those trippy sci-fi classics.

The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut: very beautiful and very very sad (same author as slaughterhouse five). the richest man in america has to face a martian invasion. more about free will and bad people doing good things than a plot that makes any kind of sense.

The Man in the High Castle by Philip K Dick: set in an alternate universe where the germans and japanese won world war two. not really like the tv show at all- it’s not an action story, and there’s not really the hope to somehow fix the world that drives a lot of dystopia stories. instead its about how people survive and connect to one another in a hopeless society.

The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow: a supercomputer convinces the leaders of the world to keep the peace for hundreds of years by taking their children hostage and obliterating any city that disobeys. what happens to the hostage protagonists when war seems inevitable? lots of morally fraught decisions and characters slowly losing their identity. (plus a fun lesbian romance)

Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson: a brilliant mathematician and a dedicated marine fight to keep the ultra secret in world war two. fifty years later,  a tech company discovers what remains of their story. one of the most memorable sequences in the book is a japanese soldier slowly becoming disillusioned with his nation and horrified by the war even as he continues to fight.

Blade Runner by Philip K. Dick: another one of those sci-fi classics that’s not at all like the movie. there is a bounty hunter for robots, though, as well as a weird religion that probably is referencing catholicism and a decaying society with a shortage of pets. kind of a trip.

Wilder Girls by Rory Power: girls trapped in a boarding school on an isolated island must face a creeping rot that affects the animals and plants on the island as well as their own bodies. the protagonists will do anything to survive and keep each other safe. very tense (and bonus lesbian romance whoo)

The Fifth Season by N K Jemisin: three women are gifted with the ability to control the earth’s energy in a world where those who can do so are forced into hiding or slavery. some veryyyy dark choices here but lots of strong female characters.

Historical Fiction

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters: two victorian lesbians fall in love as they plot to betray each other in horrific ways. lots of plot twists, plucky thieves, gothic settings, and a great romance.

Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiwicz: a powerful roman soldier in the time of Nero plots to kidnap a young woman after he falls in love with her, only to learn more about the mysterious christian religion she follows. very melodramatic but some terrific prose. 

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr: a blind girl in France and a brilliant German boy recruited by the military struggle through the chaos of the second world war. ends with a bang (iykyk.) very sad, reads like poetry.

Boxers by Gene Luen Yang: graphic novel reveals the story of a young boy fighting in the boxer rebellion in early twentieth century china. the sequel, saints, is also excellent. beautifully and sympathetically shows the protagonist’s descent into evil- the reader really understands each step along the way.

Fantasy

Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake: three triplets separated at birth, each with their own magical powers, have to fight to the death to gain the throne. lots of fun honestly

Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo: everyone in these books is highly problematic but you love them all anyway. a ragtag game of criminals plan a heist on a magical fortress. some terrific tragic back stories, repressed feelings, and revenge schemes.

The Dark Tower series by Stephen King: idk how to describe these frankly but if you can put up with King’s appalling writing of female characters they’re pretty interesting. fantasy epic about saving the world/universe, sort of. cowboys and prophecies and overlapping dimensions and drug addicts galore.

The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud: lots of fun! a twelve year old decides to summon a demon for his cute lil revenge scheme. sarcastic demon narrator. lighthearted until s*** gets real suddenly.

Elegy and Swansong by Vale Aida: fantasy epic with machiavellian lesbians and enemies to lovers to enemies to ??? to lovers. charming and exciting and lovely characters.

The False Prince by Jennifer Nielsen: an orphan boy must compete with a few others for the chance to impersonate a dead prince. really dark but very tense and exciting and good twists.

The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu: fantasy epic. heroes overthrow an evil empire and then struggle as the revolution dissolves into warring factions. interesting world building and three dimensional characters, even if they only have a small part.

Circe by Madeline Miller: the story behind the witch who turns men into pigs in the odyssey. madeline miller really said, i just used my classics degree to write a beautiful gay love story and now im going to write a powerful feminist retelling because i can. queen. an amazing and satisfying book that kills me a lil bit because of the two lines referencing the song of achilles.

Heartless by Marissa Meyer: the tragic backstory for the queen of hearts in alice in wonderland. a little predictable but very fun with a compelling protagonist

A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) by George RR Martin: ok I know we all hate GRRM and rightfully so but admittedly these books do have some great characters and great scenes. they deserve better than GRRM though. also he will probably never finish the books anyway....

A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket: not really fantasy but not really anything else either. plucky, intelligent, and kind children fight off evil plots for thirteen books until suddenly you realize the world is not nearly as black and white as you thought. 

Classics

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier: gothic romance!! a new wife is curious about the mysterious death of her predecessor in a creepy old house in the British countryside...good twists and lovely prose.

A Separate Peace by John Knowles: not really morally ambiguous but one awful decision suddenly has awful consequences and certain people are haunted by guilt forever.... really really really beautiful and really really really sad. boys in a boarding school grow up together under the shadow of world war two.

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy: while imperial russia slowly decays a beautiful young woman begins a destructive affair. a long book. very russian. the ending is incredibly tense and well written.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding: I think you know the plot to this one. the prose is better than you remember and the last scene is always exciting.

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie: one by one, the guests on an island are slowly picked off. one of Christie’s darkest mysteries- no happy ending here! very tense and great twists.

Contemporary

The Secret History by Donna Tartt: inspired the whole dark academia aesthetic. college students get a little too into ancient greece and it does not end very well. lovely prose but I found the characters unlikable.

Honorable Mentions

The Dublin Saga by Edward Rutherford: has literally a billion protagonists, but some of them are morally ambiguous ig? follows a few families stories’ from the 400s ad to irish independence in the 20s. beautifully captures the weight and movement of irish history.

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer: how morally ambiguous can you be if you’re, like, eleven? a lot if you’re a criminal genius who wants to kidnap a fairy for your evil-ish plan apparently!

Redemption by Leon Uris: literally my favorite novel ever. the sequel to Trinity but can stand alone. various irish families struggle through the horrors of world war one. the hero isn’t really morally ambiguous, but the main theme of the novel is extremely bad people suddenly questioning their choices and eventually redeeming themselves. sweeping themes of love, screwed up families, redemption, and patriotism.

The Lymond Chronicles and House of Niccolo by Dorothy Dunnett: heroes redeem themselves/try to get rich/try to save their country in early renaissance Europe. if I actually knew what happened in these books I'm sure it would be morally ambiguous but its too confusing for me. in each book you spend at least a third convinced the protagonist is evil, though. lots of exciting sword fights, tragic romances, plot twists, and kicking english butt.

Bonus: Protagonist is less morally ambiguous and more very screwed up and sad all the time

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt: you know this one bc its quoted in all those quote compilations. basically the story of how one horrible event traumatizes a young man and how he develops a connection to a painting. really really really good.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro: hard to describe but strange... not an action novel or a dystopia really but sort of along those lines. very hopeless.

[penzyroamin]

Hi I know it’s been a bit but I’m the confused bi anon. I really really appreciated your response and it wasn’t too long. You made me feel a lot better. I was wondering if you could maybe suggest some books, tv, movies with bi female characters. Thanks soo much for the entire last response . You are absolutely incredible and so sweet. This means more to me than you could ever know❤️

of course!! i’m glad that my first response helped <3

disclaimer of course: i’m not bi! so i’m not an Authoritative Source on bi rep and what people want to see more of. i do actively seek out stuff about lgbtq+ characters, specifically girls and women, so i have some recs! however, i’ll also be adding some things that some bi folks i know have recommended because while lesbians and bi women have a lot in common, these are at the end of the day representing them, not me :)

extra-super favorites will be bolded! i’m putting this under a read more because... i read a lot of books. and recommended a lot of them.

books:

her royal highness by rachel hawkins-- this book is a pretty easy read-- don’t expect any massive revelations about life from it, and you’ll have a good time!!! essentially, a bi texan girl named millie, after having her heart broken by her friend-turned-sort-of-gf, goes to boarding school in scotland and ends up rooming with the princess, flora. if this sounds outrageous and sappy, that’s because it is! and i love it! sexuality isn’t a BIG part of this book, but it’s discussed, and it’s just a generally fun enemies-to-lovers story about a bi aspiring geologist and a no-fucks-to-give lesbian princess and them falling in love!

fried green tomatoes at the whistle stop cafe by fannie flagg-- hello this is actually my favorite book! unlike hrh it is... a LOT to read. it essentially follows 2 stories-- one about a housewife named evelyn and her friendship with an old woman named ninny threadgoode who she meets at the old folks home her mother-in-law stays at, and the other about the stories ninny tells her about her sister-in-law idgie and her partner, ruth. the book was published in 1987, and ruth and idgie’s story is set during the great depression, so they aren’t actively labeled as lesbian or bi, but it’s made obvious enough through coding and the fact that ruth has relationships with men prior to idgie while idgie spends her entire childhood pining after ruth. both storylines are fantastic-- they have a lot to say about the lives of southern women in the 30s and 80s, and about race relations at both periods. i’ll warn you that there are depictions of extreme racism and of abuse, but it handles both delicately. it’s a critical piece of southern literature, and a landmark for lgbtq+ storytelling. as a bonus, my copy has a bunch of great recipes in the back, so if you read it you might chance upon an edition with those in it. if you like poignant period pieces about wlw relationships, women losing their damn minds, and abusive men getting what they deserve, this is the book for you! you will sob. this is a fair warning.

you should see me in a crown by leah johnson-- i haven’t personally read this one, but i’ve heard great things about it from everyone i know who has! an anxious black bi girl in indiana has to win prom queen at her mostly-white school in order to get enough scholarship money to go to the college of her dreams, but ends up falling for mack, another girl running for queen. 

@landlessbud wanted me to shout out red, white, and royal blue by casey mcquinston-- you’ve almost definitely heard about it before (first son and prince of wales, enemies-to-lovers with a side dish of political drama), and it is primarily about a mlm romance, but nora is a fabulously fun bi girl side character and there’s a lot of great stuff about figuring out your sexuality in it.

leah on the offbeat by becky albertalli-- i’ve read a lot of complex thoughts on this book, and mine are... i like it! it’s flawed, sure, and i wish it had handled a few things a little better, but you know what? it’s cute as fuck! leah is a fat bi drummer, and she’s super cool! abby is a great love interest, and she goes through a whole bi realization throughout the book. all in all, it’s just a fun wlw high school romcom with a couple solid dramatic beats and a lot of goofball shenanigans. also, if you were an american girl kid??? one scene in this book will make the entire experience worth it for you.

harley quinn: breaking glass by mariko tamaki and steve pugh-- hey, we’re in graphic novel territory now! this book is RAD. a really neat look at gentrification, community solidarity, giving people what they deserve, and fantastic lgbtq+ found families. teenage harleen quinzel is taken in by a group of drag queens, and is caught between two sort-of love interests-- mysterious vigilante the joker and classmate and community activist ivy-- and the different forms of protest and resistance they represent. the art here is STUNNING, and it’s a great read!

laura dean keeps breaking up with me, by the great mariko tamaki with art by rosemary valero-o’connell-- the vast majority of the characters are lgbt, with a lesbian main character, and the supporting cast including a bi nonbinary character, a bi girl character, and two mlm characters! this is mostly a piece about modern lgbtq+ teenagers and the way toxic relationships take over our lives. it’s one of the most cathartic things i’ve read in a LONG time, and especially if you’re at a point where your sexuality feels kind of vague, this is a great read because it embraces that vagueness by not needing to clearly label the characters and celebrates whatever point of clarity the characters are at. probably some of the most gorgeous art i’ve ever seen in a book, with a beautiful black-white-and-pink color scheme and a really neat approach to visual storytelling.

movies:

i don’t watch many movies, because i get bored really quickly hskdhskhds. but the movies i DO watch are usually gay!

wowie zowie its fried green tomatoes again!-- fannie flagg came back to adapt this into a film and HOT DAMN is it just as good. the plot is primarily the same, with some stuff obviously cut or trimmed to make it a two hour movie instead of a 450 page books fhsjdhsjhds. mary-louise parker plays ruth!!! it got a GLAAD award and an oscar nomination, and god it’s good. there are a couple scenes in here that i think are going to be in my mind until the day i die. the level of pure butch energy that idgie radiates in this film is a one-hit k.o. and it KILLS me.

birds of prey-- listen. this is not a profound movie. harley’s bisexuality isn’t emphasized, and romance is basically nonexistent in this movie. there is some... quite graphic violence. that said, this movie is so fucking fun. it’s mostly just a bunch of women fucking up everyone who crosses them while margot robbie gives a gleeful performance that you can just TELL she enjoyed the fuck out of. the last 20-30 minutes of this movie are the absolute best part, with a long sequence that kind of reinvented what an action/superhero movie could be for me. again, bisexuality isn’t a massive part of this-- it’s mentioned, and then harley just continues on in her gloriously campy outfits and breaks peoples’ knees. again, i CANNOT overemphasize just how fucking good the last 20-30 minutes are. this movie knows what it is and it embraces it. also, women beating people up in costumes that don’t horrifyingly objectify them is always a plus!

imagine me & you-- i’d be remiss if i didn’t mention this one, considering it’s probably one of the most iconic wlw romcoms. a woman named rachel, while at her own wedding, meets a florist named luce, and they fall in love. it’s a very sweet look at questioning your sexuality when you were already secure in it, and rachel’s husband wins “most genuinely understanding guy in a wlw movie” award. it has a lovely happy ending, and articles have been written about the importance of rachel being a bi character who a) gets a happy ending and b) isn’t shamed for figuring out her sexuality later on or slutshamed. this is just... a sweet movie. it’s the romcom a lot of us need in our lives. also, a LOT of floral imagery.

tv shows:

ok, i’ve got a confession. i reaaaaaaally don’t watch much tv. seriously, the only shows i’ve watched a substantial amount of recently have been parks and rec, schitt’s creek, the good place, and gilmore girls. i have a really REALLY short attention span.

that said, eleanor from the good place is bisexual!! the good place is a really wild ride, it’s half afterlife comedy half philosophical musing, and it will almost certainly make you gasp, laugh, think, and also probably cry. also, eleanor is just buckets of fun and she, like many of us, is often blown away by tahani (jameela jamil) and her beauty.

ummm shows i haven’t watched entirely or at all but that have bi women in them and seem pretty good: black lightning, sex education, jane the virgin, arrow. 

if you haven’t already watched it, do not believe what people are going to tell you about watching glee. it will drag you into a pit of despair and white men rapping, and it’s quite biphobic to top it all off.

i hope you enjoy at least some of these!! i tried to include some of my own favs and some that were pointed out to me, so i hope that at least a couple connect with you and make you feel better. again, the bolded ones are my 100% favorites. i love you and i’m glad you reached out again!!! feel free to send some more asks later on <3

[mrjoelgarcia9]

Let’s Talk #RiseofTheTMNT: Premature Final Thoughts

This show was canceled too soon.

For my brief final thoughts on Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, feel free to keep reading. There will be (light) spoilers.

Since this is the first time I have actually written anything about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I should quickly mention my thoughts on the past animated series. The original 1987 series was OK, the 2003 4Kids series was good, and the 2012 series was really good. I do not consider myself a massive fan of the franchise. The only TMNT film I own (and Highly Recommend) is Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. 

With that said, let’s get to this particular series.

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, or just either Rise of the TMNT or TMNT 2018, was the fourth animated series based on the long-running comic book and second to be produced by Nickelodeon. Like the other series, changes were made which heavily divided longtime fans for better or worse.

The four turtles were now different types of turtles. Splinter went from a traditionally stoic figure to a lazy couch potato who can fight. April O’Neil was again portrayed as a teenager, like in the 2012 series, but also African American for the first time ever in the franchise. Casey Jones was now a woman named Cassandra, with the nickname Casey, who originally worked for the Foot Clan.

None of these changes were terrible, except for Splinter. They greatly helped the show stand out from the others, along with the amazing fight scenes.

Sadly, it was not as successful as its predecessor. Some blame can be put on Nickelodeon, considering this is the latest failed Nicktoon after Welcome to the Wayne. Like that show, it originally premiered alongside The Loud House, failed to match its ratings without the show as a lead-in, was dumped onto the Nicktoons premium channel, and quietly canceled after two seasons.

It comes at a time where the network appears to be dropping their shows if they are unable to immediately match the ratings success of either The Loud House or SpongeBob SquarePants. Only two Nicktoons have been able to stay on the main network within the past three years: The Casagrandes (the former’s spin-off) and miraculously It’s Pony.

There are also three other possible reasons: A lack of a theatrical film, low toy sales, or timing.

Each of the previous animated series were supported in some form by the films, despite having no direct connections to the shows. The first three came out during the 1987 series’ run, the 2007 CG film came out during the 4Kids run, and both Nickelodeon films came out during the 2012 series’ run. Except for the aforementioned crossover, which was direct-to-video and aimed at an older audience, no theatrical film was released during the show’s short-lived run.

Another likely reason for the cancellation were supposedly low toy sales, although there is currently no confirmation of that. If it is true, it would mean the show relied on an outdated concept which does not apply to other Nicktoons: being dependent on toy sales to stay on the air. In comparison, The Loud House will enter its fifth season despite most of its merchandising being books and graphic novels with almost nonexistent toys and few DVD sets.

However, the biggest reason for its failure has to be the timing.

Looking at the span of time between the end and start of each series, enough time passed to build up a new audience. Only twice has it been less than a year.

1987/Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation: Ten months.

NM/4Kids: Five Years (Coincidentally, on the same network: FOX).

4Kids/2012: Three Years.

2012/2018: Seven months.

It is always dangerous for any franchise to reboot themselves, let alone within a year. Other franchises at least wait a few years to introduce a new version. For example, Ben 10: Omniverse ended in late 2014 and the inferior reboot premiered in late 2016 (early 2017 in the United States).

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles appeared to fail mostly because Nickelodeon (or in this case, Viacom) was impatient wanting to cash in yet again on the franchise and rushed to air the show. Instead, all it led to was the show being dumped on the cable equivalent of Dimension X.

If they had just waited at least a year or two, then it might have been able to succeed, stay on the air, and be on the main network. Instead, it has become the franchise’s biggest failure since Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation.

There is, however, a bright side. While the show may be over, a film based on it will premiere on Netflix sometime within the next two years. It will come out alongside another film based on a popular Nicktoon: The Loud House Movie.

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is available to own on Digital.

Until next time, thank you for reading!

[sunshinesunsethappiness]

Ok, so I have some thoughts about the tvline insideline scoop 

Not about what I think about it  but about what might happen based on what we know etc. (real quick: In general, not a big fan of internal angst and obviously I don’t want to hear the word divorce in any kind of connection to westallen and just imo I don’t see heading for divorce in the eps we saw)   So mostly just speculation as usual! Possible filming spoilers!

Also, my speculations has been wrong a lot, so... yeah.

On to the speculation! I admit, the thoughts are forming as I write, so this is also me just trying to work out different scenarios in my mind, so it won’t be really organized and might be contradictory in places!

Now, the question is, over what will this rockiness be? I know most people probably think it’s because Barry hasn’t known all these episodes and let himself be talked out of his instinct that something was wrong .

But considering Iris’ reaction to that so far (mostly just concern and when we saw her try to connect with Barry she said ‘I’m still with you’) I don’t know. It’s not like she doesn’t already know that Barry doesn’t know mirror Iris isn’t her (even though in my mind he’s subconsciously acting on his instincts by distancing himself from mirror Iris)

I think it probably will come up, but I have a feeling that it might get resolved in the way they defeat mirror master or the way she gets out. Aka their connection is affirmed in the way things pan out, or maybe in how the speed force gets restored, or maybe even a direct scenario where both Iris and mirror Iris call out to him and he knows who Iris is rather than have it be a situation where everything is solved and then they have to deal with what happened afterwards.

Though I do think Eva is trying to softly push Iris in the direction of resenting her family and husband (those little comments she makes). I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Eva also has a husband, so I could see them trying to make some parallels there, but in these situations the same thing doesn’t happen to the main couple, they do manage to overcome the obstacles. So they overcome the big bad, by overcoming their obstacles or something. So I suppose in that sense Eric could be talking about this and in that way it is somewhat connected to Barry not knowing, but I still feel like there might be more to what he is saying.

Obviously we don’t know when this rocky month is supposed to start. But I’m  assuming (perhaps wrongly) we’ll see it in the upcoming 4 episodes till episode 19(roughly a month in flash time) before they go on hiatus.

After The Flash resumes Season 6 on April 21, “Barry and Iris are, indeed, about to experience the rockiest month of their marriage so far,” showrunner Eric Wallace warns. “Where it ends and what happens as a result? Sorry, no spoilers here!”

It would feel weird to say after the flash resumes ....rockiest month...etc. if we weren’t going to see it before the hiatus, though it could be an interpretation from the interviewer and Eric is talking about later in the season. It’s of course a possibility that we begin to see it but it won’t be resolved before the hiatus. But it’s at least noteworthy that he uses month to describe it

As far as I know, Candice was still filming in the ‘mirror outfit’ as late as episode 17, possibly 18. If I’m correct they started episode 17 on January 28. Episodes are usually filmed in about 8/9 days so that would take them to Feb 7th. On Feb 10th Candice posted snapchats of herself in the mirror outfit so it’s possible she’s still in the outfit in 18. There’s a little bit of wiggle room since feb 8 and 9 were on a Saturday and Sunday, so it could be they filmed a 10th day for episode 17 on Feb 10. But I think it was 18 since the director for 17 posted a pic of him in an airplane on Feb 8th. Obviously It’s unknown where he went, but it could be he was flying back from Vancouver after having finished filming his episode, and If he only had one more day of filming left he probably would have stayed.

So if Candice was still in that outfit by 18, than that is possibly the episode Iris gets out of the mirror. Candice said she has a fight scene in 18, so that really could be the episode Iris gets out. Even if they were still filming 17 when candice posted that snapchat it’s unlikely she’d get out at the beginning of the episode.

so real Iris is not in the real world for at least 2 possibly 3 of the 4 episodes we’re getting. So either that rocky month is just starting then, or maybe it’s partly to due with what happens with mirror Iris. Ofc, now that I’m writing this I’m thinking maybe them just being apart and angsting over the situation could account for some of the rockiness (perhaps Barry over having found out what happened, trying to find Iris, feeling guilty etc, and Iris feeling isolated and alone in the mirror world etc) though that wouldn’t seem to fit the question.

Though I want to point out that the questions the readers ask are not necessarily the questions that tvline asked the interviewee. Sometimes they already have information from an interview and then they use that to answer someones question. So we don’t know 100% what the question was that was asked, though the ‘indeed’ and the ‘Where it ends and what happens as a result? Sorry, no spoilers here!” ‘ suggest that the reader question is actually the one that was asked, though it could also have been another question about Barry and Iris and where they go from here.

I’m slowly getting to the idea that’s forming but there’s one more thing that I need to set up for that:

I think Eric likes to keep things general in his interviews and sometimes he’ll keep things vague not to spoil. For instance in an interview before 6x11 to the question about whether we would see Barry and Iris team up he answered this:

MICHAEL SLAVIN: Can we expect any more Barry and Iris team-ups in regards to going on missions and solving mysteries together? You’ve obviously mentioned quite a few times All the President’s Men and will that feature into them sort of sleuthing together?

ERIC WALLACE: Yes, you will literally see that in the very next episode. Without giving any plot stuff away. And it’s one of my favorite episodes. It’s so great getting to see Grant and Candice working together to solve a mystery, it’s one of the joys of this season. I hope the audience enjoys it as much as we do. (x)

What he didn’t give away in this case was that it wasn’t really Iris. Obviously he couldn’t give away that that wasn’t really Iris, and he kept things vague by mentioning Grant and Candice working together. And from what we could see from pictures it looked like Barry and Iris teaming up, but this wasn’t a Barry and Iris team up in ep 11, it was a Barry and mirror Iris team up.

So considering all this, I wonder if when he talks about rockiness between Barry and Iris, if he is not talking about what we’ll see with mirror Iris and Barry. At least in part, because I do think they will address Iris’ stay in the mirrorverse and the whole living with mirror Iris thing and how Barry and Iris deal with that)

In the next episode it is mirror Iris’ job to make sure Barry loses the last of his speed. I think maybe she might have something to do with Joe and Cecile being in danger, but I can also see her really pushing Barry to run and trying to push him in emotionally negative ways since that drains his speed.

In the trailer we hear Barry kind of angrily say ‘i’m barely hanging on. I can’t catch my breath. All I can think about is if I’ll be fast enough to save another live’. It’s not clear to who he is saying that, but it looks to be in the westallen loft, so it could be mirror Iris he’s talking to. If so, is it an argument?

So I could see a scenario where everything feels very rocky because of this, especially if Barry really loses his speed because mirror Iris pushes him. I’ve noted before that Barry seems to be pulling away (because in my mind he somehow feels that it’s not Iris) and this could really bring up a lot of negative feelings

Now this could lead to Barry coming back full circle to his suspicions of episode 11 and finding out in ep 16, in which case the rockiness Eric is talking about is probably not with mirror Iris, though it still could be (depending on how long real Iris is in the mirror)

Or... perhaps it goes back to ep 11 in that he starts thinking again that he and Iris are growing apart and maybe mirror Iris says something like they need space or something to really push his emotions.

Also, Eric did say at least in 2 interviews that Barry and Iris end the season closer than before, so whatever issues come up look to be resolved by the end of the season, so it doesn’t seem to be a situation where they defeat the big bad and then deal with the emotional repercussions after, though it could be that Iris gets out of the mirror and they deal with the emotional repercussions while trying to defeat the big bad and in defeating the big bad the situation is resolved. Or in resolving their issues they defeat the big bad

TVLINE | And what will Barry’s role be as Iris goes through all of this? Integral. Barry and Iris, as a result of where Iris is going to go this season, will end the season closer than ever. Without question.

(x)

Now we get to deal very specifically with what was Iris going through and how has that affected her now and where will that take the Barry and Iris relationship,” Wallace says. “Quite frankly, it takes it to some nuts places, but what’s great is that by the end of ‘Graphic Novel #2,’ I can say unequivocally that Barry and Iris will be closer than they’ve ever been before, simply because what happens is just the craziest thing ever.”

(x)

But he does specifically say that as a result of where Iris is going they end up closer than ever.

In short: Perhaps at least part of the reason Eric mentions the rockiness could be a result of what we will see with Barry and mirror Iris. That’s not to say I don’t think Barry and real Iris will not have to work through some stuff, but there might be more going on with what Eric is saying than that it seems.

Immediate counterpoint: Eric says Barry and Iris experience etc, aka both of them, not just Barry. So that speaks against this little theory.

And Obviously I don’t think mirror Iris is Iris and Barry + Mirror Iris is not westallen, but perhaps Eric could be trying to be vague. idk we’ll see, but I think Barry and Iris’ love is strong enough to overcome this

At the very least, something to think about  :)

[imuybemovoko]

So I just read an article that talked about brainwashing techniques employed in POW camps in North Korea. (It’s linked here.)

I’m inclined to take this article with a slight grain of salt, but there’s something very eerily familiar about the ten steps it lists for brainwashing. It reminds me quite a damn bit of the way your more fundamentalist churches will tell you to share the gospel. I’m going to take a quick run through them and show what I mean. For reasons I’ll explain as “about half shitty site design and about half trauma” I’m having a hell of a time finding specific examples of what I’m talking about here because it involves navigating confusingly executed ministry websites crammed with the exact shit that spent a childhood and five more recent years breaking me. For that reason I’ll make a shitty gospel tract in paint.net with a slide or two to illustrate each point. I’ll probably be annoyingly close to the real thing. Trigger warning here. If this is going to bring something up that you’re not ready to deal with, please do not read any further. 

With that in mind, what would our shitty gospel tract be without some kind of eye-catching title? I’ll take more of a Jack Chick kind of approach to formatting here; Ray Comfort has also been known to make terrible comics following a vaguely similar pattern and typically with far less diverse plots. (Hate-reading Chick tracts is honestly oddly fun sometimes because of the variety and the absolute over-the-top fearmongering about entirely innocent aspects of life and culture.) I’m shooting for a bit of parody energy, so for a title let’s go with:

God’s Blast Furnace Because that seems like the exact kind of cursed energy we should be going for here. I’ll go for a 2x1 aspect ratio here because that also seems pretty typical.

Chick tracts like... usually include people terrified by either God or the flames of hell. I chose the latter. The idea is as much fear factor as you can shove into one tiny page. If you think I’m exaggerating, prepare to be disappointed. Ray Comfort and a lot of campus ministry resources take a less... “in your face” approach to the hellfire bit, but they’ll make damn sure to mention it and how much it’s going to suck to be burned forever. But this is a parody, so if it’s somehow possible to be more over the top than Chick, that’s the goal here.

1. Assault on identity.  In most evangelism guides I remember, one of the first things you’re supposed to mention is that God created the earth and humans and wants us to worship him. Finding specific examples would be a bit of a mindfuck for me because this shit is honestly kinda triggering, but they have a strong tendency towards heavily focusing this in the beginning of their approach. A simple scroll through Chick.com’s tract inventory or, if you can find it, this kind of resource on other sites will show that this assault on identity is extremely important in their approach. Since our parody tract is going to include all of these steps (this is a common but far from universal approach; Ray Comfort tends to include them all but Chick will hyperfocus one or two in every piece of literature), let’s make the first page. The idea here is that they’re saying “you are not who you think you are”. If someone tries to tell you that you’re created by a god rather than a product of evolution, this is their true message. They’ll even mask-off this one, saying “these people think they’re accidental descendants of apes, they’re denying that they were created by God”. So for our parody, let’s do exactly that. I’ll introduce two characters, one Christian and one dreaded “other”, and I won’t bother giving them names; in the real industry, approaches vary. Chick typically gives names, Comfort typically doesn’t. They also tend to grossly caricature unbelievers, so I’ll do that too. I’m going for the “tiny graphic novel” approach here, so I’ll make a panel.

Notice how 1. the unbelievers are presented as strawmen, 2. the Christian is presented as totally normal and even wholesome, 3. he presents this like it’s a self-evident truth, and 4. the response by he unbelievers is angry denial. This is very common and based on prevailing perspectives about unbelievers. You’ll notice an approach quite like this in movies like God’s Not Dead as well, where they make a caricature of Christians that’s way tamer than they present in real life (the kid in God’s Not Dead is super vanilla and a lot of Christians are at best passive-aggressive about it) and a caricature of unbelievers, particularly atheists (they have the most problem with atheists for some reason) that’s straight up aggressive and hostile. In Chick’s tracts, sometimes they wear shirts not that different from the shittily-drawn ones I put on these two unbelievers. I also tried to give the one a mohawk, though the perspective probably isn’t that good. 

Some literature you’ll find in the wild takes a much more detailed approach to this, attacking established scientific facts such as evolution, but others simply present the creation narrative or something akin to it as self-evident and move on. I’ll take the second approach here to save space. Thus, having our unbelievers respond with “how dare you” fits even better because there’s a strong tendency for Christians to think they’re challenging the entire worldview of unbelievers (again, particularly atheists) by even presenting this “fact”. This sets us up perfectly for point 2. 

2. Guilt. In the evangelical view, and in these evangelism resources online, a combination of guilt and fear is very important. Point 2 of the ten in the article is summed up as “you are bad” in the paragraph detailing it; in these forms of Christianity, and very strongly in evangelism techniques, this should be summed up more like “not only are you bad, but the consequences for that are going to be unending and extreme when you die”. This is the strength of the hell narrative in a sentence. On someone who believes it or can be led to believe it, the impact is profoundly damaging. In every “properly-done” evangelism, it is included. Jack Chick goes fucking mental with this narrative and it features in most of his work with vivid pictures of fearful people being yeeted into the flames after pleading for their lives. Ray Comfort also hammers this point fairly hard, framing it as a natural consequence of a life not lived for Jesus and using a metaphor likening death to a long fall and his message to a parachute. In our tract let’s take a mixed approach. Our Christian will yoink Comfort’s parachute metaphor and, much later, we’ll show one of our unbelievers being Chicked. More on that later. 

I’ve started to establish a dichotomy of a type that Chick often uses here where he shows one person getting saved and one getting yeeted into hellfire. “lol sex is epic” is going to dig his heels in like the scary atheist and “there is no god” is going to have his world absolutely rocked by this news. Also, a common caricature is that unbelievers haven’t heard the hellfire bit before. "there is no god” gets this treatment while “lol sex is epic” digs in and gets mad. (It seems to me that the reader is likely meant to find this fitting because he’s the one with the mohawk.) Chick might draw shadowy demons around “lol sex is epic” here, but he doesn’t in every case. Also, note that I’ve brought our title, “God’s blast furnace”, into it here. “there is no god” is walking right into step 3 here. 

3. Self-betrayal. The trick here is to get you to agree that you’re bad. You don’t necessarily have to agree to the hellfire thing; Comfort doesn’t hit that very hard during this phase of a conversation. His approach, which I’ll more or less emulate here, is to get the person to admit that they’ve lied about anything at all, stolen anything at all, or had any lustful thought at all (and, with the latter, referencing Matthew 5:28). Most humans have done at least two of these things at least once (some don’t steal and some are asexual, and there’s most likely overlap, but I feel confident in saying literally everyone lies at least about minor things from time to time), so once he has the confession, Comfort will catastrophise it with a line like “ok so that makes you a lying thieving adulterer in heart” and then pressure the person into answering whether a “just God” will call them innocent or guilty based on this standard. Many people say “guilty” here, as desired. (He paints the ones who say “innocent” or question the standard as dishonest when he makes videos of this.) With guilt thus established, he then asks whether this means a person goes to heaven or to hell. Again, in a typical conversation, the other person answers that this means hell. Ray has triumphed in this moment, because whether he says it or not, the connection is made in the person’s mind that as one guilty of these “sins”, they are bad and deserving of hellfire. So, for our tract, let’s have “there is no god” ask some questions and learn just how “dire” this is from our Christian, a la Ray Comfort. 

“there is no god” betrays himself; “lol sex is epic” stays mad. 

In evangelism, at least in Ray Comfort’s approach, step 3 most often comes in tandem with a lite version of the compulsion to confession, step 6. I’ve condensed this process a bit to fit it into a single panel. “there is no god” now proceeds into step 4. 

4. Breaking point. “there is no god” is now in the trap. This has him questioning everything about himself, his life, and the world. I’ll change his facial expression for the next few panels to illustrate the change. In real life, it takes a lot of repetition, scare tactics and/or other abuse, application during childhood or a moment of great weakness, or a combination of more than one of these to get this done. Since these tracts are a caricature of reality, this is always shown as a fast process. The fast process is also seen as normative because of the belief that God is self-evident, but I am aware of almost no Christians who had this kind of shift because of a single conversation. To my knowledge, this is a months- to years-long process even in most cases of childhood indoctrination. In any case, the victim reaches a point where their view of the world has begun to shatter around them. Or, as the article puts it, asking “who am I, where am I, what am I supposed to do?” We’ll have “there is no god” ask this latter question and add an interjection from “lol sex is epic” to add weight to this. 

“lol sex is epic” gets mad again and says something that many Evangelicals caricature as a common saying of unbelievers, particularly atheists, and progressive Christians (who they have mad beef with for a variety of reasons. Like, I genuinely think they hate progressive Christians more than atheists sometimes). This shows that, in the evangelist’s eyes, “lol sex is epic” has missed the point. Meanwhile, “there is no god” has arrived right at that breaking point, questioning his moral character and asking desperately if there’s a solution to this problem. Our Christian is right there to provide an answer. 

5. Leniency.  Our Christian is going to give “there is no god” the out he’s looking for, declaring that God has given him a solution in the form of Jesus Christ. To show the remaining steps I’ll separate a few things out more than tracts often do. Let’s have a bit more rage from “lol sex is epic” and, for now, have him leave the scene because his use as a character is over until the “and then they both died” bit.

“lol sex is epic” is now gone. Meanwhile, our evangelist has a captive audience for the other steps of this process. 

At this point I’m going to list a couple of steps for each panel because I’m not completely sure how to parse it out the way I’ve been doing thus far. In my perception of this, I tend to view these more easily as far fewer steps. I’ll probably draw this as two or three panels, followed by one where “there is no god” is happy about the decision he’s made. (And wearing a new shirt.)

6. Compulsion to Confession.  Part of the process of salvation is a confession. The fledgling Christian must admit to their status as a sinner and their need of a savior, often in prayer but sometimes also in person to an evangelist or spiritual mentor. This is framed as a relief, a part of casting one’s burdens onto Christ or, as the article puts it, “ the target is faced with the contrast between the guilt and pain of identity assault and the sudden relief of leniency. The target may feel a desire to reciprocate the kindness offered to him, and at this point, the agent may present the possibility of confession as a means to relieving guilt and pain.” The person has been carrying a “lifetime of sin” and a “guilty conscience” and is now letting it all go for the first time. The Catholic church goes absolutely nuts with this, institutionalizing regular confessions. “there is no god” will be presented with a call to confess to Christ. 

7-8. Channeling of guilt; releasing of guilt. The groundwork for this was already laid in the beginning; I forgot to include that part in this tract, but many evangelists will touch on their beliefs about the beginning of the world and the fall of Adam. Thus, they establish the concept of an in-born nature towards sin in all humans. They can give this concept to their target in the form of framing sin as an inherited curse that they can’t avoid having, but isn’t their fault (their actions are but the curse isn’t) and thus can be considered the source of all their “evil” motivations and actions. In this process, a lifestyle of sin is what they channel their guilt into, saying, “I feel bad because I’ve been living this way and not believing in Jesus!” Then, they can use this curse of sin to say, “it’s not me, it’s my bad nature.” Thus, this sense of guilt is channeled and released. This is repentance described in a paragraph. 

9. Progress and harmony.  At this point, the target is encouraged to choose Jesus and the abuse and negativity will stop. They must now make an active and conscious choice towards belief. The fears of hell will be abated. (At least for now).

10. Final confession and rebirth. Evangelicals go full mask off with this, touting a “born again experience” as proof of someone who is truly Christian. Often, the previous several steps are confessed in what’s called the “sinner’s prayer”. I’ll paste it below for a full explanation before I draw the panels for this. At the end, the person invites Jesus into their lives and grants him lordship over their life, then thanks God for this occurrence. This is the end of this process, though the church behaves in ways that reinforce every step of this. You know, for maintenance.  The sinner’s prayer, in one of its several, similar forms: “Dear Lord, I’m a sinner. Please forgive me. Come into my life and cleans me of my unbelief. I believe in you and in salvation through the blood of Jesus. I turn from sin and trust in Jesus alone as my Savior. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.”

Here we see the Christian offering the solution and the broad outline of the sinner’s prayer. Also, “there is no god” is greatly relieved. I’ll make one panel of him doing the sinner’s prayer, then we’ll touch on the “after they both die” thing. Our Christian character is also disposable and this, in this case, is his final appearance.

Here he is getting saved. (His shirt changes alongside this.) And, of course, he ends this with a desire to go tell literally everyone about this. That’s normative in evangelical circles too.

After this, we’re back to more fearmongering, this time involving a dichotomy meant to imply hope, as I yoink a page right out of Chick’s playbook for a couple more panels. 

Here we see a (shittily-executed) great white throne with our Christianized “there is no god” and our angry unbeliever standing before it. The circumstances of their deaths are outlined (fuck you Jack Chick that’s a creepy vibe) and their condition now is clearly explained. Notice how “lol sex is epic” is still angry. But not for long...

The mask drops:

They never portray Jesus putting it exactly like this but this is the kind of energy, at least it’s how it comes across to me when I read these after deconverting. Tracts tend to give a more detailed reaction to the “but I was good” and “give me a chance” things if their damned victims say these things. They assert that deeds aren’t enough and no one is good. Convenient for brainwashing, there’s also an artificial sense of urgency in that this life is listed as your only chance to accept this message and avoid having your flesh boil away before your eyes over and over again for all of time. 

Chick is a big fan of showing the damned being dragged or frogmarched to the pit by angels. 

And here, mohawk man gets the big yeet. 

After this, particularly if they take the Chick approach and include the hell yeet scene and/or the thing at the throne of judgement, they’ll tend to have some questions like this:

Again, parody. They’re not this goddamn on the nose with it.

I could translate this entire thing in one image:

So this has been a painful little look at what goes into a gospel tract/the brainwashing inherent to the gospel message as understood by fundies/evangelicals.

I hate that I used to think this way and unironically tell people this kind of shit. It’s manipulative and stupid, and also deeply cringey. If you’ve read this far, I’m sorry/congratulations. 

Oh, and one final thought: People who don’t generally do this with tracts use verbal, often shorter, versions of the exact same process. CRU reduces it to five points in their resources (and this is a common approach): something like 1. God made the world, 2. we screwed things up and deserve the big yeet, 3. but Jesus makes a way to fix this shit, 4. He died on a cross and rose from the dead so we could be saved, 5. so believe in him and live forever in a realm that doesn’t have to be filled with fire all the fucking time. They’ll tell you to do something involving counting on your hand while explaining this shit. It’s goddamned cursed, and you’ll notice it goes through the exact process I mentioned above. It literally intends to break you down and mold a new person out of the shards and ashes this produces.

Evangelists are assholes. 

[keithxhappiness]

Voltron Season 7 In-Depth Review *SPOILERS INCLUDED*

I can't believe Pidge and Lotor made out in the Green Lion.

JK. But seriously, spoilers ahead, stay away if you haven't watched the season yet! Then, come back, and read my thoughts on it :)

1. Let's start by discussing the beautiful Keith. With his beautiful scar, and his beautiful "flippity" hair. I watched the first two episodes separately from the rest of the season, and I am so happy to see how far he's come. Certainly, season 6 was much more Keith-centric, and it seems that he's more or less completed his maturation then. This season was a chance to display his leadership skills and the product of that maturation. Although, of course, he did have lapses in his patience, where he lost control of his temper, in that space-madness episode, but what can you do? Space madness gets everyone, even Shiro probably. Anyhow, I almost shed a tear when he told his mom he loved her, and I am so so so glad that their relationship was designed to be one filled with optimism and hope, in place of resentment, guilt or regret -- which was another direction the writers could have gone. And it brings a smile to my face knowing that he was reunited with her again at the end of the season, and that their promises to each other were fulfilled. So, overall, I'm just happy that he's happy. I really only ship Keith with happiness and this season that ship became canon :) Also, can we start calling Keith "The One With the Flippity Hair"? What does flippity even mean? :') I love it.

2. Kosmo. Yorak. Whatever you guys want to call him. The space wolf. First off, I can't get over the fact that Keith thinks the wolf will tell him his name when he's ready. Keith, the wolf can't speak English! HE CAN'T SPEAK AT ALL FOR THAT MATTER, BABE. Kosmo is a bit cliche, but it's not bad. I really did like "Yorak", as given to him by the fandom. So much that I actually started referring to him as Yorak in my head. BUT, names aside, Kosmo was A BEAST this season. I was just thinking how he didn't serve much of a purpose the previous season except to give Keith a canine companion, but this season, he was fucking awesome. He saved their lives a BUNCH of times. Not to mention, the fight with that druid would have ended much sooner had it not been for Kosmo's teleportation abilities. Seriously, his teleportation was so so useful this season. Did you see how quickly Keith and Pidge got through that cruiser? Damn. Not only does the space wolf look cool, sound adorable, but he was an amazing addition this season. Keith and Kosmo does have a nice ring to it :)

3. Matt's HAIR. IS. SO. HOT. Every time they age up a character, they become a quadrillion times hotter. Who knew 3 deca-phoebs could do so much. If Keith ages up another 3 deca-phoebs by the end of the show, the universe may just implode from the heat.

4. OK, um, what's next? HMM...how about ships. I know Voltron is not too focused on romantic sub-plots. The one romance that actually took place went up in fiery flames very quickly. Personally, I like romantic subplots, whether in books, movies, tv shows. For example, I loved all the little romances in Avatar, and even though my ship never became canon (rip Zutara), I was happy to see everyone with someone. Of course, I hate it when they take up too much story space, but I think a sprinkle of romance on top of the adventure, drama, humor, and mystery can make a story more delicious. That was a weird metaphor. Anyhow, it appears to me that the show is pushing Allura and Lance as the main couple. This season showed us sure evidence that Allura reciprocates his feelings, and that his feelings are still there. You know why? Because their cheeks were animated red. When an animated character blushes around another animated character, they're basically canon. But there is still another potential ship...and no not Romelle and Hunk (although I'm into that)...

5. Acxa. What's her deal, you guys? What exactly is her connection to Keith? Is the show making her his love interest? But, how, there's no time! I mean, it only took a season to bring Lotor and Allura together, but still. I've read theories that she is related to Keith, seeing as she is also half-Galra. This is an interesting theory, and I did believe it for a while before this season. I mean, they both have pointy chins. If they are in fact related (e.g., half-siblings), they'd have to be connected through Krolia. However, Krolia and Acxa were together in the same place with Keith and Krolia showed NO indication of recognizing Acxa, or being unsettled by her presence. If Krolia was Acxa's mother, but didn't feel it was the right time to tell Keith, there'd at least be a shot of her face looking disconcerted or unsure around Acxa right? Or, some kind of awkward Krolia-Acxa interaction. I don't know, the siblings theory just doesn't hold up anymore after this season. So, that leaves the romance theory. Personally, I'm into that too. Acxa and Keith would make a good couple, connected by their Galra heritage, which conflicts with their own desire for peace. Both having to forge their own paths, Zuko-style, and both having been the leaders of their respective group. I though their fight with the other generals was really awesome (and the banter kinda cute), and I really believe Acxa's sorry for what she did. Also, we did see her at the end of the season watching Keith and Krolia. Yeah, I think a Keith-Acxa relationship is quite likely, especially now that Keith is at the peak of his maturation as an individual (evidenced by his ability to comfort Hunk in his own time of loneliness).

6. Next topic: LOTOR. I know Lotor wasn't in this season...like at all...and that still makes me sad. Keith said he was dead, and I'm wondering if we should start believing that to be true. I had hoped he could still be redeemed in some way, or at least return as a foe for the paladdins, but it seems that he's just as a gone as Zarkon. But Lotor is a million times more interesting than Sendak as a villain. I really didn't like Sendak as the villain this season. He's so cliche...with his evil laugh, and his giant weaponized arm. It's hard to take him seriously when there seems to be no actual motivation behind his actions except that he likes to be powerful by crushing other planets. Lotor had a backstory, and good intentions, despite the nefarious means he was using to achieve them. Lotor had a goal...to see Atlea restored. His goal may have been perverted, but still, we could sympathize with him, and some of us are still on his side. I really think it was mistake to throw Lotor away in favor of Sendak. But at least, Keith sliced Sendak open at the end of the season and we won't be seeing him again. The real enemy this season I think was hinted at at the end of the episode which brings me to the next point...

7. THE ALTEAN POD. WHAT. WHAT. WHAT. We knew the Altean colony had disappeared. The culprit seems pretty likely to me. Haggar. The motivation, on the other hand, eludes me. What reason would Haggar have to try to kill the paladdins? Is she mad at them for killing her son, maybe? They technically didn't kill Lotor...just left him, but as Keith said, he did choose his own path. And Honerva seems to have regained her rational mind, seems hard to believe that she has resorted to blind vengeance. No, I do hope her motivations are slightly more complex than revenge. But the ending did give us an indication of what the next season will be focused on...the Alteans...while still being a REALLY GOOD ENDING...which brings me to...

8. This ending was GREAT. For a second, I started to hyperventilate because I really thought all the paladdins had been killed off, and that the GG pilots & Veronica would be replacing them, but thankfully, the writers are NOT THAT merciless. I don't know if I could handle even one of their deaths, much less ALL OF THEM AT ONCE. OMG. I am freaking out just thinking about it! No, instead, we had beautiful reunions between all the paladdins and their families, as well as some of their former allies. Earth is safe, everyone is home, and Shiro has a new arm. Things wrapped up pretty happily this season, which I really like. It makes the wait for the final season much more bearable, and peaceful. If you believe that fictional characters continue to live on after you close a book, or turn off the screen (which I do), then I'm happy to know that they're together, and they're living in relative peace (with a little bit of unsettling mystery yet to be resolved) but no immediate threat anymore.

9. I enjoyed all the new characters this season! Veronica was a bad-ass, and I'll be really curious to see a Keith-James confrontation in the next season, I could FEEL the tension between them this season, but I'm glad they both held their tongues in order to work together.  Anyway, Voltron is back at it again with a diverse set of pilots, and there wasn't a lot of opportunity for them to shine (a problem that any show with a large cast has), they did sparkle in their own way. I'm excited to see a bit more of them. Still, I can't help but ask the question:

10. WHY ARE THERE ONLY 13 EPISODES LEFT? I understand that the show must have an end. Every good show has a solid ending, planned from the beginning. They shouldn't keep churning out episodes just because people are continuing to consume them. But I still think ending it now, in only one more season, is a mistake. There is still so much of the world that I feel needs to be explored, and that can be done more adequately with at least 3 more seasons. They can continue to age up the characters, and delve deeper into the NEW characters. 13 episodes is just NOT enough time to do that. It's not! The universe is still in shambles. Earth needs to be completely rebuilt! Of course, a graphic novel series continuation is a viable solution to this, as is being done with Avatar, but animation is just so much better. I'll be really sad to see the show end, so please, Voltron creators, take your time with its release, but at least, even if this creation is ending, those same people will continue to create new stories, and I'll be totally on-board for whatever the animators work on next. Hopefully, it's 2D animation though, cause I gotta say, I am really not into the 3D animation taking over cartoons these days. That is one technological upgrade we could do without.

Overall, awesome season, awesome characters, awesome animation and fight sequences, especially action-packed, and the one word I think I'd use to describe it: REFRESHING. The new environment, and new situations.

Also, Keith is still very hot. That is all.

PEACE OUT, FOLKS.

[katiesclassicbooks]

Review: Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Synopsis: Station Eleven was written by the Canadian author Emily St. John Mandel and published in 2014. The novel starts out when a man named Arther Leander dies onstage of a heart attack during King Lear. That same night a flu pandemic spreads like wildfire and eventually kills a huge portion of the earth’s population. The novel partly takes place in flashbacks before the flu and then 20 years after. All the characters we follow are connected to Arthur in some way including a girl named Kirsten who was in King Lear with him as a little girl. 20 years after the flu, Kirsten is part of a troupe of actors and musicians called The Traveling Symphony who are trying to keep art alive because “survival is insufficient.”

Synopsis: I very much enjoyed the story in Station Eleven. I liked the switching back and forth between the pre-flu world and the post-flu world. I feel like that gave me a well rounded picture. I was a little worried about whether I would like a post-apocalyptic novel, but I was pleasantly surprised. I felt like this wasn’t so much about the world ending as it was about life. It was about art and how important that is for humanity. It was about how art can help you get through either the end of the world as we know it or even the end of your personal world as you know it (aka divorce or something along those lines). One character named Miranda in the pre-flu world draws and writes comics/graphic novels that are called Station Eleven. These comics are about people on a space station that looks like a planet and these people had to leave earth. It’s mostly always night on their ship because of a malfunction and they miss their home. I loved how this parallels how people feel in the post-flu world. This book was also about immortality through art. Arthur and his acting is immortal through Kirsten’s remembrance and in a less flattering way through tabloids. The Traveling Symphony performs Shakespeare and Beethoven, so their contribution to art lingers on. Even Miranda writing her Station Eleven comics doesn’t realize that those will survive. The last big theme that I found in this book was about having gratitude for our lives and the ease with which we live in the modern world. We are shown that the way things are could end so quickly and yet we take so much for granted. The ease with which we communicate, find information, travel, stay warm, get/make food, get running water etc.

Setting: Station Eleven is mostly set around Toronto in Canada. I liked this setting because Toronto is not a city that I typically come across in books. The author, Emily St. John Mandel is Canadian and I believe studied dance in Toronto, so I can see why she chose this different city setting.

Characters: I liked the characters a good deal in Station Eleven. I feel like how they felt was examined in depth and I liked their connection to each other. My favorite character was Miranda. Her story took place before the flu struck and she was Arthur’s first wife and writer of the Station Eleven comics. I just really felt for her and her loneliness and yet solace through her art and world she had created. She really stuck with me for some reason.

Did I Like It?: Yes! When this first came out I wasn’t initially interested as I’m not necessarily the biggest fan of post-apocalyptic stories. Shortly after when I realized it seemed it was more about art and a troupe performing Shakespeare, I decided I wanted to pick it up. I’m so glad I have finally gotten to it! I do want to mention this doesn’t have very much Shakespeare. That was ok though because this book was about art and gratitude for life and those were two things I could totally get on board with.

Do I Recommend It?: Yes if this appeals to you! This is for those that like art, that want a book that makes them feel grateful for living and yes if you like post-apocalyptic fiction you will like this book, but you might like it even if that’s not your thing.

~Katie 

[authorsdenbyorihime-may]

ATLA Character Analysis Based on a Card Spread

(Sidenote: This was originally posted as a part of a daily card reading. Also, I was gonna do this part yesterday because it was funny and lol but then something killed my good vibes so I had to set that straight out before I made this, so I won't be spreading the mood-killer of the past. Here it is, with all the sunny shiny feels and vibes. Hope you all like it =D  )

OK, so here we have two fives: a five of hearts and a five of clubs, and a two of diamonds. Corresponding to the elements, the Hearts represent water, hence they represent waterbenders, the Clubs represent air or the airbenders, and the Diamonds represent the element of fire, thus we have the firebenders. Spades (which isn't shown here because I did a three-card pull so don't worry I have no bias against them, I love all them benders and non-benders ok? peace) correspond to the earth element and the earthbenders, and while they're not in the photo they're definitely in the deck and are important members of the ATLA-TLOK universe. (Also Badgermoles, c'mon!)

Now for the analysis (Trigger warning for Zutara fans you might wanna look away, unless you feel like you wanna keep reading yay).

The two fives here are from the heart and club suits, and based on ATLA canon, well Katara is represented by the 5 of Hearts while Aang is the 5 of Clubs. They're both fives, they have something in common at the least, and while they could choose other people or numbers, here they came together and the two fluids which seem very different but are actually quite similar (they can conform to the shape of their containers) create a wonderful emotional and healing connection when they are together. Also if you're into fluid mechanics please help me explain why both air and water are fluids, just in case someone tries to tell me off that water is the only fluid element yay thx xoxo

Meanwhile, we have a two of diamonds over here, a firebender, and let's assume that it's Zuko because I want to assume that he is, since he's the first firebender that appeared in my head when this card popped up. Also he’s pretty much a notch different from Aang and Katara in more ways than one (status, age, lineage, bending abilities lol the list can go on). Indeed, fire and air are actually friends, mates, because air can affect how large or small the flame can be, and the fire in turn can affect the air's temperature through increase or decrease. This can be seen in Aang and Zuko's friendship, first it's just one huge clash but as the two started to learn not just to be friends with the other but more importantly to learn how to make peace with their own painful pasts: Aang for leaving the Air Nomads, being unable to protect or help them and in turn he ends up being bereaved and alone; and Zuko suffering emotional damage due to various factors which caused him to end up being confused as to what he should be striving for, while causing pain and suffering for others along the way. In this way, the two were able to grow and learn how to become better through their interactions with other people who they otherwise wouldn't even have a chance to meet (like in Zuko and Katara's life-changing trip, OK also Sokka and Zuko's life-changing trip, and Aang's blossoming relationship with Katara, his friendship with the other members of the extended GAang too many to mention lol) as well as him taking their own responsibilites quite seriously, as shown in the graphic novels. It's basically pushing their comfort levels as much as possible and with the results showing up.

OK, now here's the part where some people might cringe and turn but please hear me out first, OK? If you'll also look at the spread, the heart card is separated from the diamond card by the club card, meaning that Clubs is an intermediary between water and fire, which would end up either one fizzling out or both. It's pretty much the same way with how Zuko and Katara normally interacted around Books 1 and 2. Once Aang created a rapport with both of them, they both were able to be a bit more understanding of the other, and made their lives a bit more bearable. This is alluded by the fact that Zuko and Katara had an important life-changing adventure, which is quite literal because if it wasn't, they'd still be quarrelling till TLOK lol but hey you'll never know.

Wow I guess that was some word vomit there, and to be honest this was even a lot longer than my original card reading post, oh well, this was pretty much inspired by the layout, like I spent more about making up this post than actually getting the message from the Divine Realm, like I just got the first message right away and ruminated on this one while laughing for a good 3 minutes before the lid fell on me. Anyway, I hope you guys liked this extra post, and stay cool and good my dear ATLA-TLOK fans/trash/stans well you know what I mean. Peace out, Orihime the fan-girl signing out.

[inloveandwords]

I read a total of 14 books between June 14 & June 27 and there were so many great ones!

All of the books I mention in this video can be found and purchased on my storefront here.

  Quiet Girl in a noisy world by Debbie Tung

4 stars

This is a graphic novel that is basically a series of scenarios that will be very relatable to true introverts. I am much more of an extroverted introvert, so there were some things that I didn’t fully relate to, but I totally understood. The illustrations were adorable and I read this book within an hour. I think this book would make a great gift for your introvert friends who don’t get enough love in this noisy world.

Can I Come Over by Whitney G

4 Stars

I saw that a friend of mine on bookstagram was reading a couple of Whitney G novels and this was one of them. It definitely inspired me to pick it up since it was my birthday and her novels tend to be short and sweet – like a little treat on a day of relaxation.

This book had so many great romance tropes happening in it. First of all, the heroine, not unlike Whitney G, is a successful author of short, self-published, steamy romance novels. She joins this sort of pen pal ish service that is supposed to be strictly platonic and starts talking to this guy. At first he’s a douche, but then they work things out. Turns out he is her dad’s good friend. So there is a forbidden and age gap scenario.

I have to be honest, I didn’t love this at first. I really didn’t like the way the hero was talking to our heroine at all and I worried he wouldn’t redeem himself.

He did and I ended up really enjoying this. Whitney G does what few authors can when it comes to steamy novellas: she builds chemistry quickly and crafts a believable romance in otherwise outlandish settings. Her and Katee Robert are my two very favorite short, steamy, romance writers for that reason.

When a Scot Ties the Knot by Tessa Dare

5 Stars

I finally did it! I read a Tessa Dare novel and everyone was right. I freaking loved it.

This book is about a woman who is incredibly introverted and to avoid having to do the typical coming out in society thing, she makes up a pretend boyfriend. A Scottish soldier who, it turns out, actually exists.

He has been receiving her letters and learns all about her from them, so when he shows up unexpectedly at the house she inherited because of her fake engagement to him, she’s obviously surprised.

For those who don’t normally like historical romances, I think Tessa Dare is the perfect place to ease your way into the genre. Her heroines aren’t annoyingly innocent and naive. Her books feel modern even though they are not.

This had so many elements of a great romance: fake dating, a little bit of enemies-to-lovers, and an adorable meetcute.

I can’t wait to read more Tessa Dare!

The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta

5 Stars

This is a coming-of-age memoir about a mixed-race gay teen who eventually finds himself when he discovers drag, written in verse. Obviously I can’t personally speak for the rep in this novel, but I can tell you that it was beautifully written.

I’m a big fan of modern poetry and though I connected a little more with the poetry in The Poet X a little more, I still really liked this one. While I loved the audiobook, I have seen a few pages of the book and I wish I had it as I was reading as well.

I feel like this book is so important for young people to read, to help them see outside of their boxes – or to help them find themselves on page. To help them not feel so alone.

Cherry Magic

4 stars

My very first official manga was gifted to me by my sweet friend, @genkireader, for my birthday. There was definitely a learning curve when it came to reading this. I was messaging her on Instagram with questions like, “Wait, this book is backwards, where do I start? Do I read right to left or left to right?” It was surprisingly more difficult than I expected, but I REALLY enjoyed this book. So much so that I ended up buying a few more of her favorites.

This book was quirky and cute. It’s about a guy who has developed the power to read people’s mind through touch and he thinks it is because he’s a 30yo virgin. He ends up reading the mind of a charasmatic, good-looking guy in his office and discovers that he is attracted to him. So many adorable moments ensue, a ton of over-thinking and awkwardness, but also super sweet, swoony moments, too. I feel like this will speak to any of us who overthink every little thing when we are falling for someone. Especially when it is unexpected.

Thank you, De’Siree for this gift, it was like you gifted me a piece of yourself because I know how much you love these stories. Lovelovelovelovelove.

Rafe by Rebekah Weatherspoon

3 Stars

This is a cute romance between a buff, tattooed nanny who begins working for a savant young surgeon and mother of two girls.

This book was fine, though I didn’t see anything special about it. Maybe I gave in a little to the hype surrounding it and that was the issue, but mostly the romance was just ok. I felt like it was a little rushed, I wished there was more pining and more of a forbidden aspect to this, but it seemed like they both gave in pretty quickly.

Loving Mr. Daniels by Brittany C Cherry

5 stars

This was a super angsty, emotional story about a girl and a guy who are both dealing with terrible tragedy and find solace in each other. The first night they meet is filled with unbelievable chemistry, it’s almost too good to be true.

And it turns out to be. Because it turns out he is her high school teacher.

The heroine was held back in school because of a medical condition, so she is 19 years old and a senior. He is a young teacher, in his early twenties, so the age gap isn’t really a thing, but it doesn’t make it any less forbidden.

When they realize the situation, it’s heartbreaking because of how intense their first meeting was. A series of super angsty things happen and it’s all very intense, but in the best epic love kind of way.

I was rooting for this couple the entire time, but not only that, I loved the heroine’s relationship with her step siblings even with all that drama.

All American Boys by Jason Reynolds

5 Stars

This is a super relevant fictional story that is somewhat reminiscent of The Hating Game.

This is about a boy in the ROTC in high school who is falsely accused of stealing by a racist, hateful police officer who ends up beating him until he is unconscious which stirs protests in his town that is sick of this constantly happening.

Sound familiar?

What’s interesting about this story is how it follows the perspective both of the victim and a white boy that goes to his school who is linked to the police officer.

I was completely invested in this story, while also cautious. I was super curious about how this book would end. Would it be far too optimistic or would it be realistic?

When I finally came to the end, I very much appreciated it. It was hopeful without being naive. It left questions that we still need answers to, but it didn’t feel too unresolved that it leaves you unsettled. I almost took it as… let’s let current events tell us how this story is going to end.

The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang

5 Stars

I read this sweet, heartwarming graphic novel with my girls. They adored it from the very first night we read it before bed.

This story is about a prince who likes to wear dresses and hires, in secret, a dressmaker to make him custom dresses.

I didn’t tell them what it was about, I wanted them to discover it on their own and ask questions as they came up.

Books are an essential parenting tool for me.

The girls begged me every night to keep going. They loved the characters in this book and they were excited to see what was going to happen.

This entire book, but especially the ending was so adorable. I absolutely loved it and can’t wait to read more from this author. Especially if I can share the experience with my girls.

Addicted series books 1 & 1.5 by Krista and Becca Ritchie

5 stars and 4 stars

A lot of my friends have read and loved this series, between that and the premise, I’ve been super excited to read it.

This is about a woman who is a sex addict and her best friend she’s in a fake relationship with who is an alcoholic.

This is a super angsty, dark, gritty series so far with such a strong romance. These are extremely troubled characters who are using their relationship and each other to hide their addictions.

I found this book, ironically enough, addicting to read and I can’t wait to read on in the series.

The second book did seem to drag on a bit, I feel like it could’ve been half as long as it was, but I know it was necessary.

Take a Hint Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert

5 Stars

I am absolutely LOVING these Brown sisters books! Chloe’s book was fantastic, but I think this one might be my favorite so far.⁣

⁣

Dani is a smart, independent savvy woman who is not interested in a long term relationship. Zaf is basically the complete opposite.⁣

⁣

The two of them have not had much more than a nice rapport – he’s the security guard at the school she teaches at, until Dani gets trapped in an elevator and Zaf rescues her. This wouldn’t be a big deal if the entire rescue didn’t get caught on film and go viral.⁣

⁣

The “going viral” thing seems to be really popular lately and it’s not normally something I would gravitate towed. Honestly, I tend to prefer if romance novels just pretend that social media didn’t exist. I think it’s tricky including anything involving technology in contemporary romance novels only because things change so rapidly, it’s easy to become outdated.⁣

⁣

However, I didn’t care what this book was about, I knew I was going to read it and fully expected to love it … and I was right.⁣

⁣

As always, Talia’s steamy scenes are SO on point, but more than anything, she writes sweet heroes SO well. I adored Zaf with everything I am. I can’t handle how much I love his side job and that despite being a big guy, he’s a big softie. ⁣

⁣

And, of course, I adored Dani. I love how badass and confident and independent she is, even if it does complicate her relationships.⁣

Becoming by Michelle Obama

5 Stars

I borrowed this on a whim from my library. I’ve been reading a few nonfiction books lately and have enjoyed all that I’ve picked up.⁣

⁣

I have to admit, though, I loved this one the most.⁣

⁣

I didn’t realize Michelle’s father had MS. As soon as she mentioned his symptoms, my stomach dropped and I just KNEW it. It’s always hard for me to read about people who have Multiple Sclerosis, especially nonfiction because I’m always wondering if that will be me and when.⁣⁣

⁣

As a romance reader, I adored Michelle and Obama’s romance. I officially ship them SO hard. Watching their relationship unfold was so satisfying and adorable.⁣

⁣

I’m not a big crier while reading, but I got choked up so many times. When she talked about visiting the VA, when she talked about Sandy Hook… it wasn’t overly dramatic, but it was enough to have me covering my mouth with my hand trying not to cry.⁣

⁣

I’ve always admired this woman, but even more now than I did before learning more about her. ⁣

  Recent Reads: June 14-27 I read a total of 14 books between June 14 & June 27 and there were so many great ones!

[stripdownforamoment]

WEEK 13, 14 & 15 (Part 2)_ MASCULINITY and IDENTITY: the male experience with self-image

London January 2019

                   GRAYSON PERRY exploring the male experience

Grayson Perry is an English contemporary artist. Known for his work with ceramic, tapestries and his cross-dressing passion, as well as his observations of the contemporary world and art scenes. I was first introduced to his work by our tutor Luke when trying to find some references for the topic of  THE MALE EXPERIENCE with IDENTITY and IMAGE. Although, I don't recall ever learning about him and only properly inspected his work recently, still his work has a familiar feeling to me. Maybe I have experienced his art before as a child as I would regularly go on exhibitions with my parents. An maybe this is the reason why it might be,  subconsciously, stuck in my brain.  Nonetheless, I found my self very interested in his work as I am an advocate and lover of DRAG. As with most movements related to self-expression through fashion in combination with androgeny. I am also a big fan of the '60s and '70s with all their bright colours, MOD movement and POP ART.

The artist explores themes such as Identity and Self-reflection. Most of is work is connected to some kind of introspect or reflection on modern society. Specifically the modern MAN and as a subtheme, he tackles subjects such as Masculinity and questions if this concept is outdated. He is also known to work with topics that deal with populism, the celebrity and modern Britain.

For this post, I read three different books by Grayson Perry. The first one titled The Most Popular Art Exhibition Ever!, 2016.  The book focuses on explaining and inspecting the thoughts behind the exhibition with the same name. The author goes to explain the nature of this name and how it became first than the content itself.

For many artists, the word POPULAR is "a bit of a dirty word". Most people first reacted to his exhibition with "laughter". Many think that art is not for everyone, Grayson Perry strongly disagrees. He wants to "widen the audience without dumbing it down". He goes on to explain that in the artist world POPULISM and POPULARITY is bad and tasteless. The author questions why does popularity threatens the art appeal. He writes about how Artists like exclusivity. When creating an exhibition entitled "The Most Popular Art Exhibition Ever!" people found very od to have an event bosting itself in such context (Perry, 2017).

In Perry´s words, an exhibition is "like creating a world or a club that people only get in if they GET art" (Perry, 2017) as in, one must understand it. This a very classical ideal as later contemporary artist support the idea that one must FEEL and experience art, rather than understanding it.

He goes to explain that education, especially art education, used to be for a small privileged elite. And that the relation between POPULARITY and EXCLUSIVITY “reflects something fundamental about us humans”. We are in the end animals that work in packs. We want to belong in a group. It's our nature. HOWEVER! We strive to create a strong INDIVIDUAL IDENTITY. This creates tension in our existence as a species (Perry, 2017).

“ Part of a reason we choose to consume culture is how it might reflect on our status"(Perry, 2017). This seems to be a common statement from people that are interested and study human behaviour in connection to identity. And one that seems to create disagreement and insurgency, as proven in our in-class conversation. I think some people are too afraid to admit that us humans are flawed and very much self-created. Personally, I don't see this statement as a bad thing, ultimately. It means we are able to shape our selves to be the best version possible. But, I come to understand that it represents a threat to some people that like to think of us humans as this perfect and harmonious beings.

A few days I heard this quote but I can't remember from who or where. It goes like so: " Human beings are a broken mess, in a variety of ways. That is one of the things that actually unify us all". I think is very much true. We need to admit and understand we are not perfect and that is ok instead of repressing our fluid and creative ways.

Coming back to the context of art and being a "sell out" the artist says that he disagrees with such a concept in relation to POPULARITY. However, that is sad how “ what starts as a creative revolt soon becomes corrupted as the fastest way to make money” (Perry, 2017). And that just shows the society we are inserted in with such capitalist ways.

Then in one of his ceramic pieces, Perry comments that it is a “funeral urn for outdated masculinity” (Perry, 2017). A big part of his work and a recurrent motif is masculinity and questioning it. I will add on to it later on this topic and with some other texts from this author we understand where his passion for this subject comes from. 

“My Job is to notice things that other people don´t notice”.

In the book Grayson Perry: My Pretty Little Art Career  I will be mainly analysing the artist work and style and some of his principal stylistic characteristics and themes.

First of all, I want to address the presentation of the book. Aesthetically and the way the content is presented to us. The exterior os the book show amazing design and craftsmanship. It is very appealing as it is a great representation of the art style with all its bright colours and many textures. However, it is done with great taste and its not overpowering to the reader. It also reflects a good representation of the artist work throughout the year providing a lot of images references in time and some explanation to the artwork, similar to the last book. The design pays great attention to detail as it carries interesting and intelligent use of symbolic references to symbols notorious in Perry's work - such as the golden bear.

The artist represents an interesting mixture of the Old and the NEW. The classic or even prehistorical with his works with mediums such as tapestries, vases and intricate objects that retain something similar to artefacts. However, upon further inspection, we realise it is, in fact, contemporary art. His work with ceramics and vases- ar first glance- reminds us of classical objects but the usual images from mythology are no replaced with the westernised world, technology and pop culture.

The modern and contemporary ints of POP ART and the use of elements from graphic novels in his work, alongside some references to pop culture and advertising, create this perfect parody.

His illustration work is a twist on what, at first, might look like a Victorian etching but the themes are now modern. Perhaps some of his characters and symbols, for example, THE DOLL might help to create this illusion and taking us back to the INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION.

    THE DESCENT OF MAN book review

In connection to the first book, we see that Grayson Perry has a passion to make his art accessible while keeping it meaningful and proposing a comment on society. He wants people to think about these topics and perhaps help in changing mentalities. For this reason, it is understandable and actually smart how he tries to make is work so approachable and apeling.

The main topic of the book is without dought MASCULINITY and the modern man. This book is much more personal to the author as he shares his own childhood stories and feelings.

I will be mentioning some of the titles of the different chapter for this book. I found them very catchy and personally interesting in the user accessible language and popular sayings.

“ What sort of man would make the world a better place for everyone?” (Perry 2016)

The main goal of this book is to QUESTION what is masculinity and weather is working for us as a society. The artist what to bring awareness to toxic masculinity. He says finds it VERY IMPORTANT because it's "the tool used to hurt so many minorities". It is "so destructive"  to him that he claims that "most bad things in the world can be traced back to toxic masculinity". Crimes, toxic relationships, abuse, Sex crimes, Suicide, Corruption, Racism, abuse of power, child abuse and trauma (Perry 2016).

He then claims he’s not blaming  MAN directly,  but blaming the way society shapes man. The then says “ beneath… men are naked and vulnerable- humans even" (Perry 2016). He explains that in our society many people say that examining masculinity is a luxury and that he strongly disagrees. He thinks it is very important to bring light to this topic and that by thinking its a privilege to address this issue we are holding back society.

"Masculinity is a straight jacket keeping MAN from being human and being themselves" (Perry 2016).

“I am not against man _ neither against all masculinity” (Perry 2016). Perry then talks about GENDER and SELF EXPRESSION. And says that they are NOT singular. People assume that because he is "travesty" it gives him an insight into the opposite gender. He says “that’s rubbish! How can I as a man, know anything about the experience of being a woman". Claiming that would be an insult to women.

He talks about IDENTITY as an ongoing performance. Has seen in many other texts that I have reviewed this is as a popular opinion and many artists in different rams have commented on this. Even Shakespeare himself famously said:

“All the world's a stage, and all men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts, his act being seven ages” (William Shakespeare).

This brings us to the interview with Gonçalo where he compares lives with being on stage, in his case quite literally as he is an actor. The same thing applies to all of us as we creat portrait of ourselves daily and our identity is very much forged although it might come to us very naturally.

In the introduction If it ain´t broke, don’t fix it,  he talks a lot about his upbringing. Shares stories about this childhood as well as introducing us to some main characters in is live. Also, the relationship he was with male figures in his childhood hand his relationship with his teddy bear. This specific character later transforms into a very important symbol in his work. 

In the INTRODUCTION part of the book, I question MASCULINITY a lot but also shares some experiences. He says “Men don’t know how to deal with pain so they transform it into hanger!”(Perry 2016). He mentions this when recalling an instant from his childhood. He describes this moment in the 3rd person. A passage says “ Sobbing. He is crying for help, but he is also in a boiling rage”, this particular quote reminded me a lot of little brothers behaviour. And we realise how this instant put into the world seems so sad and harsh, when in reality it happens right in front of our eyes. 

The author then comments, “I  can't help my self to say: I hope your son can afford a good psychotherapist when he grows up”.  He criticises these types of behaviours and the ways we teach young boys. Future man.

My analysis will end here as my reading, for now, is mainly focused on the introduction chapter of this book. I haven’t finished the book yet. I decided to continue my reading as I found myself truly interested and immersed in the text and Perry´s standpoints. It stood out to me how he answers questions that I didn’t know I had but felt like I was looking for. I strongly recommend this reading and I really enjoyed learning more about Grayson Perry as an artist and author.

 “The truth will set you free, But first it will piss you off” (Gloria Steinem) 

                           REFERENCES

Perry, G. (2017). The Most Popular Art Exhibition Ever! Penguin Books. Perry, G. (2016). Grayson Perry: My Pretty Little Art Career. Perry, G. (2016). The descent of man.

[nerdynformed-blog]

Logan is a superhero movie - Part II: the ‘superheroism’ in Logan

I am going to try to be more concise this time around, I promise. This is going to take more parts than I originally planned. I am currently looking at 4 parts total: Part I was about what a superhero movie is. Now in Part II I will try to show that Logan is a superhero and the movie actually concentrates on that more than we might have noticed. Part III is going to be about how the movie uses that and to what effect. Finally, Part IV will be why superhero movies matter and why we need more good ones.

Even if you have not read Part I (and why would you), what I am going to talk about here is not hard to follow. Basically, you just have to know three things:

A)     Superhero is not a movie genre. It is a subject and a kind of character that movies of any genre can and should explore to different effects.

B)      A superhero movie is therefore a movie of any genre that centers itself on a character endowed by the traits that define a superhero.

C)      The way the movie explores the subject defines the kind of movie it is.

(now that I am writing this, I see that I really could’ve been more concise in Part I - if you still whant to read it, you can click this link: https://nerdynformed.tumblr.com/post/158824439050/loganisasuperheromoviepart1).

With that in mind, le me just talk about how the superhero traits not only appear, but also are prevalent in Logan. They are in fact the main subject. The movie is a drama about the redemption of a fallen superhero: how it happens and why it is important.

So if you think that Logan is not a superhero movie, read own.

Lets talk about justice, secret identities, superpowers, uniforms and the ‘X’ factor.

 Motivation

As I said before, a superhero (like the cowboys and detectives) fights for what is right not in service of (and sometimes despite) a higher authority, but following his own moral instincts.

It is not a behavior that he has to perform since the beginning of the story – some of the best stories are about the learning of that behavior through example, empowerment or even trauma.

Now, in the beginning, Logan only agrees to help Laura in exchange of money. Many American hero (see Part I) stories actually begin like that. Towards the end of the movie, however, his motivations change to the point that he refuses to take the money. His motivation becomes helping her and her friends/family. In the final showdown, he even dies doing that.

The entire internal journey of the character in this movie is the rediscovering of this motivation – heroism. It is not the first “superhero return story” movie out there, but it might be the best one we have so far. He begins jaded, cynic and having given up, but ends up living his most super-heroic moment right before dying. He reembraces the most important part of himself.

He is not just fighting for a group, but protecting innocent children from evil doers – just look at the people he is facing. They are your typical super-villains: immoral mercenaries working with an evil scientist that creates evil clones and does experiments in children.

In the end of the day, that is what the movie is on its surface: a lone man, fighting to protect innocent people against the actions of evil agents.

Plus, the fact that this is not another “will he save the world” superhero movie is GREAT. Fewer movies should do that scenario. A superhero doesn’t have to save the world, just save someone. But I digress.

 Double identity

Logan not only has a double identity, he has a secret one.

It is just a very badly kept secret. He is flying low so people don’t recognize him as the Wolverine, as an X-Men (X-Man? Ex-X-Me? Ex-X-Man?). Not only that, but there is a clear distinction between his “human” and super personas.

One is a limousine driver down on his luck and just trying to survive and getting a way out. He has some very human worries. He doesn’t have money, he needs to keep his father figure medicated, he wants to buy a way out of it.

During the movie he alternates between fighting “the bad guys” and pretending to be just a normal person – he even dines with a family at their farm pretending to be Charles’ son and Laura’s father. In that moment, he is living a fake identity and giving excuses to cover up his superheroic quest. That is what most superheroes do.

He is not just someone pretending to be someone else. Sure, he hides his superhero side, but his “normal” persona is not even that fabricated: there are references to his past as a bad student and his relationship with Xavier is actually an honest depiction of the real thing. It is a real part of him.

His super persona is also present and important throughout the movie. “Wolverine” doesn’t just reemerges in the end, but is constantly haunting him, since before the movie even begun. He tries to keep it in the past, but it is such a big part of him that he can’t. Again, the return of this super persona in the last minute is what the movie is all about.

I have to mention something. The theme of a superhero trying to keep his identity in the past but ultimately failing to do so is reminiscent of my favorite graphic novel of all times – The Dark Knight Returns.

 Superpowers

Now let’s talk about the superpowers. One of my favorite thing is how they dealt with that in the movie. His powers are not only showed in an array of ways and functions in the movie, but they play a more than significant role in the narrative and character development.

First we see them failing: his claws jam and his healing factor is too slow. His powers are older and more tired. That does not keep him from using them time and time again – in almost every fight, honestly.

Near the end of the movie, he takes some drugs and we see him in his old powerful self – clawing, fighting and healing violently fast. Finally, right before the movie ends, his powers scale down again so we can see him face the odds without the enhancement.

The powers demonstrate how much of who and what he is he cannot avoid. Using his powers is an instinct. It is part of him. They show his innate violence, the decrease of his resilience and, ironically, how weaker he feels now.

Not only that, his powers play other roles. The adamantium in his bones (kind of a superpower if you ask me) is maybe what is killing him. His strongest and scariest antagonist has the same powers and in a much better shape. And the enemy is only defeated with his personal break-the-glass-to-commit-suicide kryptonite: the adamantium bullet.

His powers are what initially connect him to Laura – the first evidence that they are related. Laura plays a commentary in the figure of the sidekick and the powers help the movie do that.

On that note, when they fight Evilverine, they do it together. Sure, the other kids help, but is the cooperation between the two that becomes the high point of the fight.

You have three people with the same powers: a kid, a tired Old Man and an evil terminator. That kind of conflict between similar powers has appeared sometimes in movies and is a common trope in comic books – and for a good reason.

It brings more risk and raises stakes so we can be worried about a character that seemed so powerful. It inverts the feeling of security the superpowers bring when we see the hero wield them, especially when the villain is more able with them.

This scene also shows how cooperation can be the defining factor in a conflict, once Laura and Logan are weaker than the villain.

Almost every character is affected by their superpowers, some in very original way. It is why the kids were created and are being persecuted. Caliban is captured and tortured so he will use his powers and track Logan. Xavier has become an impossible to calculate liability because of the combination of his superpowers with something that is very human: mental disease.

Superpowers are not some superficial decoration: they are the most important character elements, and they all say something about the human condition. But that is for Part III.

 Uniform

Finally, the uniform. Oh, you got me there, right? Wolverine doesn’t wear a uniform. Yeah, we have the yellow uniform shown in the comics they read, but he never wears it. And we don’t even see the black uniforms from the previous movies.

Well… what if I tell you that he does use an uniform in this movie? What if I tell you, that the uniform he uses is the same he uses most of the time in his other movies? It’s not yellow nor is it black.

Think about it: what are his most famous, cosplayed and recognizable garments? Well, two things.

First of all: the beard and the hair. That is a look that should look ridiculous in any actor by any standards and the guy still pulls it off every time. Only Wolverine wears that. I most movies and even comics, that is the constant in his appearance.

And yeah, it is not a mask, but think about how many superheroes do not wear masks, even if they have secret identities. You can see this hairstyle in anyone and it will be the Wolverine hairstyle.

Ok, but it is just half of it.

The second part is of the uniform: a pair of jeans and white sleeveless shirt.

Yes, everyone remembers that look. It appears in so many important moments to the character, although not always in the best movies. Since the yellow uniform doesn’t appear in the movies, what do you think is more recognizable? The shirt and jeans or the black bodysuit?

Before you say that doesn’t count, think about it: the Punisher and America Chaves wear apparently civil clothes and no masks. However, they do that so consistently that it works like a uniform.

Now, this “uniform” doesn’t just appear in the movie, but it has a very specific function.

To understand it, look at how the movie shows the look to us. It doesn’t appear in the trailers, so we don’t expect it going in. Most of the movie, he doesn’t wear it. His hair and beard are different, just as his clothes.

It is because then he is not a hero again yet. He is hiding and, most of all, suppressing his heroic identity. So Clark Kent puts on the glasses and never takes them off again. That is a uniform not being used.

In a similar way, some superhero movies and series wait until the hero is fully realized or the final fight to show him or her in uniform. We have some movies and series in which they do that and it works for the best – the Netflix Daredevil is a good example.

It is only after his motivations change that he starts to wear both parts of his. The kids shave him and mess with his hair exactly because they know how the Wolverine should look like.

Finally, he wears this uniform only to the last and most important conflict. Then, he is juiced up and doing the same moves we recognize from previous movies, filmed in a way that reminds us of some old Wolverine action sequences.

That is when he is Wolverine again. Same hair, beard, shirt and powers. He is still wearing it when he faces Evilverine and he dies. That is his final “suit”, and it dresses him well.

 Bonus: the X marks the spot

Finally, we have one of the most impactful moments in the movie, that had many people crying and I will not tell you if I did. It was surprisingly unexpected and, against all odds, it was done in a very dramatic motion and in very good taste.

Laura picks up the improvised cross on his grave and turns it into a X.

That is the last piece, the final confirmation. Only X-Men wear that X. It is the iconic, unmistakable symbol of a superhero. And he has earned it back.

In his final rest, he will forever wear the sign that marks: here lies a superhero.

 So, I hope you liked that.

As you can see, this is not just a movie with superhero tropes tossed here and there. The superhero figure defines the narrative and permeates the emotional response the movie gets.

Part III will be about how this movie uses those traits to create drama, emotion, tell a story about redemption and all that stuff – so we can begin to understand why superheroes are a great material for that. Hope you like it. Hope someone reads it, actually…

 And remember, stay nerdly informed.

[kannagimikazukioracles]

Divine Realm's Message Today - #16

Date and Time: March 27, 2018 at 1:00PM (+8GMT)

Sky/Wind: overcast, like the sky has mist, sunny, little to no wind

Mood: Ok, I guess

Today's 3-card pull:

5♥ 5♣ 2♦ (I had been pulling the 5♥a lot lately, like 3 days in a row. Weird. I may need to do a reading for this one)

Spirit's message today is:

"By combining intentions (heart, emotions) with the Creative Source Energy (the Divine Fire) through the power of imagination (the mind), miracles and dream-like realities can be made."

This is a pretty straightforward message about setting intent, using the imagination to come up with alternate realities, putting full trust in the Source (and one's own sufficient energy to meet half-way) that this reality will indeed happen.

Extended readings:

Two 5's - two hands, within one's reach, the power of one's grasp

♥+♣= creativity, service to others, good luck

♣+♦= increased power/money, rewards from work

5♣+5♥= important opportunity at hand, dream within reach, creative hands

5♥- feminine energy, intimacy, desired opportunity, satisfy one's desires, attraction

5♣- action and change, 5 fingers of the hand, extra effort to get the job done, surprising realizations, new ideas, good luck, competition

2♦- self-sufficiency, desire for independence, the imagination, it's all in your head, small money card, the stomach, rivalry for affection, motivation to strive to do the best, writer or journalist

If you feel like this message touched your heart, gave you hope, or felt it resonate with your thoughts, feelings, or both, then please find comfort knowing that it is what you need at this moment. It doesn't need for you to receive this as soon as I post it. Rather, let it cross your path as you need it, so you'll notice it more than the usual.

Thank you for stopping by, and I'll see you soon.

Be well always, and may the Source be with you.

神凪🌟織姫

Kan-nagi Orihime M.

P.S. If this message helped you in any way, I would love to hear from you.😁Please drop a comment below!

P.S.S. - For all ATLA -Avatar the Last Airbender fans, Character analysis after the cut. 😈 

ATLA Character Analysis Based on the above Cards

(Sidenote: I was gonna do this part yesterday because it was funny and lol but then something killed my good vibes so I had to set that straight out before I made this, so I won't be spreading the mood-killer of the past. Here it is, with all the sunny shiny feels and vibes. Hope you all like it =D  )

OK, so here we have two fives: a five of hearts and a five of clubs, and a two of diamonds. Corresponding to the elements, the Hearts represent water, hence they represent waterbenders, the Clubs represent air or the airbenders, and the Diamonds represent the element of fire, thus we have the firebenders. Spades (which isn't shown here because I did a three-card pull so don't worry I have no bias against them, I love all them benders and non-benders ok? peace) correspond to the earth element and the earthbenders, and while they're not in the photo they're definitely in the deck and are important members of the ATLA-TLOK universe. (Also Badgermoles, c'mon!)

Now for the analysis (Trigger warning for Zutara fans you might wanna look away, unless you feel like you wanna keep reading yay).

The two fives here are from the heart and club suits, and based on ATLA canon, well Katara is represented by the 5 of Hearts while Aang is the 5 of Clubs. They're both fives, they have something in common at the least, and while they could choose other people or numbers, here they came together and the two fluids which seem very different but are actually quite similar (they can conform to the shape of their containers) create a wonderful emotional and healing connection when they are together. Also if you're into fluid mechanics please help me explain why both air and water are fluids, just in case someone tries to tell me off that water is the only fluid element yay thx xoxo

Meanwhile, we have a two of diamonds over here, a firebender, and let's assume that it's Zuko because I want to assume that he is, since he's the first firebender that appeared in my head when this card popped up. Also he’s pretty much a notch different from Aang and Katara in more ways than one (status, age, lineage, bending abilities lol the list can go on). Indeed, fire and air are actually friends, mates, because air can affect how large or small the flame can be, and the fire in turn can affect the air's temperature through increase or decrease. This can be seen in Aang and Zuko's friendship, first it's just one huge clash but as the two started to learn not just to be friends with the other but more importantly to learn how to make peace with their own painful pasts: Aang for leaving the Air Nomads, being unable to protect or help them and in turn he ends up being bereaved and alone; and Zuko suffering emotional damage due to various factors which caused him to end up being confused as to what he should be striving for, while causing pain and suffering for others along the way. In this way, the two were able to grow and learn how to become better through their interactions with other people who they otherwise wouldn't even have a chance to meet (like in Zuko and Katara's life-changing trip, OK also Sokka and Zuko's life-changing trip, and Aang's blossoming relationship with Katara, his friendship with the other members of the extended GAang too many to mention lol) as well as him taking their own responsibilites quite seriously, as shown in the graphic novels. It's basically pushing their comfort levels as much as possible and with the results showing up.

OK, now here's the part where some people might cringe and turn but please hear me out first, OK? If you'll also look at the spread, the heart card is separated from the diamond card by the club card, meaning that Clubs is an intermediary between water and fire, which would end up either one fizzling out or both. It's pretty much the same way with how Zuko and Katara normally interacted around Books 1 and 2. Once Aang created a rapport with both of them, they both were able to be a bit more understanding of the other, and made their lives a bit more bearable. This is alluded by the fact that Zuko and Katara had an important life-changing adventure, which is quite literal because if it wasn't, they'd still be quarrelling till TLOK lol but hey you'll never know.

Wow I guess that was some word vomit there, and to be honest this was even a lot longer than my original card reading post, oh well, this was pretty much inspired by the layout, like I spent more about making up this post than actually getting the message from the Divine Realm, like I just got the first message right away and ruminated on this one while laughing for a good 3 minutes before the lid fell on me. Anyway, I hope you guys liked this extra post, and stay cool and good my dear ATLA-TLOK fans/trash/stans well you know what I mean. Peace out, Orihime the fan-girl signing out.

[jerusalism]

Batnadiv Weinberg interviewed by Etti Calderon

EC: Where and when did you go for art school?

BW: I went to a school here in Jerusalem called the Jerusalem Studio School, which is a very traditional type school, and then from there, a few years later, I went to the New York Studio School and studied with an abstract painter. I wanted to get the missing side.

EC: How do you feel that your art and your writing connect? I see that they are sometimes combined.

BW: That is actually something that I’ve been working on for a long time, because the Jerusalem Studio School was all observational painting…for me it was a long process of trying to connect the two sides. I would be writing in one place and painting in another and I didn’t see any connection, and then when I was studying, I think in my Masters, I was starting Gerard Manley Hopkins  and I started writing his poems, writing them with ink, with a paintbrush, and that was the beginning of starting to see the graphic element of writing, and working off of that, and that became my main project when I did my MFA, starting with Gerard Manley Hopkins and then building up paintings through texts, which is what you see happening here [at her exhibit “Duo - שתיים” currently showing at Studio of Her Own]. And now I would say there are several levels of interconnection. One thing that happened is that my writing got shorter and shorter, and more visual, so I went from novels and short stories to flash fiction and poetry, which really are more connected because they are both very visual, there is just a shine of a moment, so I felt that the two connected there. And with my paining: I stopped working only from observation. I started working with these text paintings, and that is a whole series that is ongoing, and then I began a series called Bibliodraw, which is really all about connecting my writing and painting. It is studying Tanach, a chapter a day, so it begins from a text, so that is the first level of interrelationship with text, and I read it the way I would when I did comparative literature, but then the idea is then, how do you bring that in to an image? It is moving away from textual analysis, which I see as breaking things up, and bringing it together to a holistic image. And I think that is what painting is, everything in one glance. That became my project, to see what happens when you study visually. And then it got more complicated, because I would start the drawing by writing down a few words, and then what I found is that while I was drawing I often would get new words, so then once the drawing was done, halfway through the project it began turning into these poems that had to do with the chapters. That’s what I’m doing now.

EC: I like that, I feel like that’s how we experience the world, it’s not just text and not just images, it’s a combination.

BW: I got into it partially because I was teaching at an art school. The students there tend to be such visual thinkers, and yet they are still being forced to think very textually, and I thought, “what if I engaged them on their own level, what if I just tried to get to them through the right brain, through the visual brain, would it change things?” So I started teaching this project, Torah Art Integration, we study, but then they give their analysis not through a written statement but through some piece of art. Bibliodraw started first and then when I saw that it was working for me I started teaching all these workshops based on it, for visual thinkers.

EC: When you choose to write something, or to paint something, do you feel that the inspiration comes from the same place?

BW: Not always. The truth is probably yes but not in a different way. I’m very, very visual so sometimes when I’m painting, if I’m stuck, I’ll just paint what’s in front of me. But the truth is when I’m stuck with writing, I have this daily writing exercise that I got from the poet Gabrille Calvocorresi where she has you start every day with five things I noticed that nobody else noticed. I found that when I get stuck with my writing, it’s basically what I do with painting, it’s ok, what’s here, what do I see? The difference is that the painting is more immediate, and stuck to the moment. If I’m painting from observation, I’m completely there, it’s like a meditation. I don’t feel that my writing is like that in the same way. That’s more with the free-writes, but that’s a different kind of thing where that is going

EC: Where do you think that comes from?

BW: That is why I write really, really big, and it’s using a paintbrush, and the idea is that you write with your whole body and see where it takes you. Usually it will take me somewhere I will never get if I was writing with pen and paper. I didn’t start it just because I like the look of text, there was actually a new way of exploring writing and a new way of exploring painting at the same time. I’m still working on it.

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EC: Do you think there are a lot of spaces like that [Studio of Her Own] for religious women in art?

BW: No, not at all, that’s why this was made. I would say that up to five years ago there were barely any spaces for religious artists to show at all.

EC: Is this particularly women, or in general?

BW: There is a double problem. There is always a problem of women in the arts. If you look at the Guerilla Girls and all those problems, women are underrepresented, they win a lot of awards in school and once they get out of school, there’s less gallery representation, less curators, less everything. It’s all over the world, it’s not unique to Israel, it’s a general problem. The bigger problem for religious women is that they are immediately identifiable if they cover their hair or wear skirts or anything like that, and then they are immediately judged. I had that experience when I got back from New York. In New York I was going around to openings, and people would talk to me, and I went to Tel Aviv and it was like I was invisible. And even people I had studied with in Jerusalem, it was like I was the religious person, and obviously I wasn’t artsy and I had nothing to say, and then once you have a kid, forget it. If you have a child, you’re not noticed.

EC: Do you feel that your being religious affects your subject matter, in your art and your writing?

BW: I guess so in that it’s “write what you know”, so a lot my writing has to do, well my thesis had to do with my grandparents, who were both very religious… and Bibliodraw came from the fact that I was raised on those stories, they were my bedtime stories, so there is something very intimate about it. Does that mean I don’t paint anything? Of course I do, things you can’t usually show in a religious art gallery. I went to a “regular” art school. Who you are always affects what you do and what you write and what you paint   I don’t think anybody who sees my writing would immediately know, but if they saw enough of my writing, sooner or later it comes up.  And it is also your mental world. What are the archetypes you think with, what metaphors you’re going to draw on.

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EC: Which artists and writers inspire you?

BW: That's a hard one. There are so many, and it changes daily. I'm very much an artistic omnivore. Visually, I've been looking at Richard Diebenkorn, David Park, Kyle Staver, Catherine Kehoe and John Dubrow lately. I'm inspired by Rachel Zucker's work, the mix of everything in her writing. Also have a fascination with Anne Carson, and the way she plays with the physical presence of the text.

EC: What challenges do you face when writing and creating other art? How do these challenges differ?

BW: The challenges in common for all my artistic creativity is finding the time and the focus - creating that internal and external space. With painting, the external space is more challenging, add I need to have proper materials, and a place where I can work. The way I paint is very messy, and I use many different mediums, so I really need a studio space.

EC: You mentioned that you’ve been living in the Katamonim neighborhood of Jerusalem. How has living there influenced your art and perspective? How has this differed in other places you’ve lived?

BW: That’s a hard one. I'm very influenced by places, but it's usually a very pervasive and subtle influence that I only notice after the fact. One thing I love about this area is the mix of populations-- in age, background, and socio-economics. Three of my neighbors are women in their mid-to-late 80s, one from Bahrain, one from Iraq, and one from Morocco. The playground where I take my daughter always presents juxtapositions. (I've actually started a series of drawings of the playground). Another thing that draws me to the area is the do-it-yourself aesthetic. The place is a hodgepodge of different styles and materials. The gate to our garden is built out of a repurposed bed frame. Maybe it's not a coincidence that I created my first piece made entirely out of found material --the viewers, which was on exhibit in the Bible Lands Museum --after moving here.

__________________________________ This interview was conducted by Etti Calderon in preparation for the Jerusalism event, Back to Back at Studio of Her Own Gallery, Jerusalem (February 15th, 2018).