#I haven't posted nor done any aesthetic in a while...

[wizardessfleur]

My Aesthetics (nº66): Cinderella Phenomenon - Rod Benedikt Widdensov

[scribe-of-stories]

Author Ask Tag

Once more I get to talk about my work due to fellow Scribe @covenscribe (Scribe unity). Read their post here. I'll be answering these questions focusing on my WIP Fleshtown.

what is the main Lesson of your story? And why did you choose it?

Fleshtown has several: cities can turn into abusive hellscape where an individual human doesn't matter, just their flesh and the work one can squeeze out of it. Those that sit at the top of societies like this are parasites (very literally in this story). Kindness is a powerful thing against those affected by it, but eventually violence becomes the only song society can hear.

What did you use as inspiration for your worldbuilding?

General lexical inspirations that affect nearly everything I write in it are: KSBD, SCP, Worm/Otherverse, and inescapably Homestuck.

Though for Fleshtown itself I think I was exposed to a game called Fear and Hunger (very heavy content warning) and the aesthetic of it stuck with me for a while. Then eventually a thought spawned in my head “I haven't written a romance story yet. I should try that in the flesh walls of this awful city I've imagined”.

What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, help readers grow as a person?

Poet arrived at The City on accident and is really just trying to get out. Virus/Prince is trying to get back to the Court of Parasites so to behead the stagnant king. I, meanwhile, am trying to get them to realize that they don't have a home to go to if they did escape; and the eternal torment of this city can only be stopped by those living in it.

As for a lesson taught: violence is the only tool we have to fight tyranny, but by that very same tool we forge the shackles of the next generation uhhh? Healing a community is a worthy and fulfilling thing? idk Fleshtown has a lot of scattered ideas right now.

How many chapters is your story going to have?

Don't know, hopefully more than 1 and less then 100 but we'll see. It's planned to be a Novella right now, but its rough draft isn't done.

Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?

Original content, and not sure. I imagine I'll post a non-insignificant amount of it on Tumblr/send it to whatever mutual wants to read it. Maybe classicaly publish it, maybe do web serial stuff with it. Really I haven't had any major thoughts/decisions about that nor intend to till it's more finished.

When and why did you start writing?

Way back in intermediate/middle school me and my friends were nerds playing games like runescape. One of my friend made the mistake of showing me the RS roleplaying forum. From there I went on to roleplay from site to site for a while. I only started “writing” in a conventional sense recently. As for why? Because it's fun and I find fullfillment in it.

Do you have any words of engagement for fellow writers of writeblr? What other writers of tumblr do you follow?

Hey! You, yes you. Write whatever you want. Forget that things like rules exist, forget that stories need a flow or need to follow some set chart. Make something without the limits of what is conventionally “good”.

Have to shout out the first Writeblrs that I really interacted with on here @sunset-a-story and @vicstmichael, who's attention and encouragement kept me working on this platform. Also to @squarebracket-trick @iced-ginger-tea for sending me so many asks over the last while. Y'alls small acts really do mean something to me, and always make my days better.

As for tags: Whoever is reading this. Open tag, you're all getting hit with the talking stick.

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Dead City Ep 2 - Analysis

 Morning Everyone! I have so much to post! I'm really behind on posting about Dead City as well as our speculation about the sneak peek of the Daryl spinoff. I'm going to try and get caught up over the next few days. I've just been very busy at work and haven't had tons of time to finish the posts. Bear with me. This is mostly stuff about Dead City, episode 2. I'll get to more stuff from ep 3 tomorrow!

@galadrieljones:

Hey guys so I’m really loving catching up on all your thoughts. After watching the first two episodes of DC, beyond being just super stoked by the writing/acting/everything about it (it really feels like a very gritty, adult show, i love it), I have some stuff to add to your thoughts and tbh I still have some digging I want to do pertaining to certain of my observations, pertaining to DC and to the DD spin-off

@galadrieljones:

First, I want to directly just address my thoughts on a couple of the notes above. First, the question about where New Hill Top is. I have zero proof, but there are aesthetic and architectural qualities of New Hill Top that remind me of Meridian. I wonder if they migrated there? It would make a lot of sense, and also, Meridian, which is near Bethesda, MD and north of DC, is not as from from NYC as the original Hill Top, which is in like, Western Virginia.

@galadrieljones:

This is New Hill Top

Here are some screen shots of Meridian:

Like I said I have no proof, this is just my current speculation

I also observed Maggie's new fear of heights as something that I think they'll explore further. Surprisingly, Maggie has turned out to be a most mysterious character. The writers have done a great job of capitalizing on her mysterious hiatus and disappearance from TF

It's a rich opportunity to fill in the blanks with really interesting information that, I think, will tie together some of the seemingly disparate lore between the flagship, Fear, and World Beyond, as well as the current spin-offs.

I am also very interested in Hershel's coldness toward Maggie. I see it as a continuation of his brief but telling characterization in season 11, like when he tells the other kids about how he's eating weird animals before, like horse, to stay alive.

I think that Maggie left with Hershel thinking it's what was best for him, but really, it's what was best for her. She instilled in her a kind of PADRE-esque numbness and disposition toward family, friends, and living. He is aloof toward his training and seems to be rebelling against the idea that "living" is possible in this world. This is probably because of the really bad things he was exposed to while on the road with Maggie.

He is artistic, which seems to reflect some sensibility related to Beth, who writes songs and writes in her journal and likes aesthetic beauty.

Only he hides it because even as it is an instinct that lives deep inside of his DNA, he is ashamed, because it communicates that he is human with any sort of emotional vulnerability, which is something he has learned, via Maggie, to suppress at all costs.

I will say I am saddened by Maggie's disposition and how she still seems not to have settled up with Glenn's death. She still has trauma dreams about what happened the night he died. It's been what, like 11-12 years? I really can't tell how old Hershel is supposed to be or how long the time jump is. He seems to be about 12 years old.

This communicates to me though that the writers are acknowledging how one single moment can change a person's entire personality, their entire life and outlook and even their DNA. It's what happened to Daryl after Beth, without a question.

In terms of the scene with Marshal Armstrong in the apartment, I also felt WHAWGO throwbacks. The picture of the two men especially triggered that for me, and how he finds the body. I figured they were brothers, and that the Marshal had been meaning to check on him for a long time but had not had the courage nor the opportunity to do it before.

When he went looking for the gun, I thought it wasn't so much about the gun, but about what the absence of the gun would signal. This was before he found his brother's body. A missing gun would entail that his brother either escaped alive, or that he turned it on himself.

Mostly this scene communicated to me that Marshal is not a villain. They want us to sympathize with him in some way. I think he is doing things he doesn't want to do but thinks he has to in order to maintain order and survive. I think he will come around and help Maggie and Negan at some point, because he will learn what true cruelty is in the Croat.

(or else he'll fall pray to hubris and die in an unfortunate way, a la Wes in Fear, when he aligns with Strand)

I did see the spoon(s), @wdway, and they reminded me of Negan's pointed reference to "Lady Liberty" in the first episode. He talks about how his dad brought him back a souvenir, and that made me think of the D.C. spoon that Beth finds in Still, which is also a souvenir. Also I'm sure we've discussed how "Lady Liberty" is herself a symbol of France.

I also see coffee and pancake mix.

Pancakes are a return ultimately to Lori and the idea of living vs. survival, re: Rick's story about her in Indifference. They're also a callback to Grady. There also seems to be a crack vial on the stove here.

Something i want to point out that I am not sure whether or not it means something is the weird inverse references to fire. Remember in "No Other Way," during Maggie's fight with Carver, Negan rings that fire bell and throws sand in his face?

In the first episode, I noticed, in the hotel room where Negan is staying, the smoke detector is ripped off the wall. Then, in the second episode, when they're in the city, they pass by a cabinet with a missing fire extinguisher.

This is interesting to me, though I really don't know why. It seems to be some sort of reference to Consumed. This whole premise feels like a riff on Consumed, in which two people with a complicated history track and go searching for a missing loved one in a big, apocalyptic metropolis.

Only in Dead City, it's not fire. It's insects, it's guts, it's wetness. It seems like everything is dank and soaked with blood and like it's just moldy and rotten. The lighting is dark and it's perpetually night. In Atlanta, meanwhile, the episode mainly takes place during the day in the hot Georgia sun, beating down on them, and they're all sweaty, on the concrete, everything dry and dusty and there is fire.

The cockroaches felt like the fire in this episode. It's weird, too, because there are so many references to being "unclean." There's a protracted scene in a laundromat right after they're swarmed by roaches. Felt Biblical, then like this modern day reference to cleanliness, but ofc it's all corrupted.

The cockroaches also reminded me o 6.8 "Start to Finish," in which we see the ants marching in the window and swarming the cookie. It's a metaphor for walkers, but also just this idea of hidden dangers, and back to Morgan's instruction about how the dead aren't too dangerous one at a time, but when they all get together, they become very hard to escape.

The pigeon woman was interesting as pigeons are like corrupted doves. She is speaking Hebrew, which is very odd. Was she a Hasidic Jew? Her name is Esther, which is a common Hebrew name. She could also simply be Israeli. Either way, she was Jewish. I don't know that we have any other Jewish characters aside from the Rabbi in Fear named Jacob, who has mysteriously just disappeared.

(I mean, i don't think there's anything to the rabbi disappearing, like he just wasn't very interesting and they just left him in the dust which is fine lol)

But the rabbi shows up with his name, Jacob, and shows Charlie the Ner Tamid, then in the following season, Rachel shows up and has Mo. Within the context of TWDU of shows, Rachel dies right around the same time that Leah is introduced. I think that Rachel's appearance especially is formative of Leah's and meant to highlight the Jacob/Leah reference in TWD as being actually Biblical.

References to Hebrew and Judaism should be looked at closely because Gimple is a practicing Jew and he uses the Old Testament in meaningful ways. Basically I'm saying like, the Jewish references are important, especially when we think about Daryl's story, because clearly the Jacob/Leah/Rachel thing is in play for him. I really can't see any doubt to that at this point.

So I don't really know the point of Esther. She is a little bit like a good luck charm. She leads them to allies, and then she dies. Sort of like the man in the red poncho at the end of season 5.

I do not know what kind of animal is shown around the traps in NYC. It looks like some sort of wolf or fox, but its head reminds me of a Beaver or Otter

Ginny is a lot like Enid, right? Enid also didn't talk for a long time after arriving at ASZ.

We learn Enid's story in JSS, the episode in which the Wolves attack Alexandria. She eats a turtle. She uses the egg timer. There are a million ways in which Enid's story pans out to influence the world of TWD.

I wondered if maybe the story about Oceanside was a lie, though. Like, they just needed something to tell the Hilltop people that didn't sound so mysterious and suspicious.

I am super intrigued by who she might be.

I am also obviously wondering wtf happened to Annie and the baby. I wonder if they're dead or were taken by PADRE people.

I get the feeling we'll learn what happened to them at the end of this first season. It will open into season 2, in which Maggie "owes" Negan and the two go in search of Annie together.

They wouldn't astroturf his relationship with Annie and her pregnancy in season 11 if they didn't have a long term plan.

If it's been a couple of years, and Annie was taken when the baby was small or even when she was still pregnant, that would line up with the PADRE timeline; however, we know now that PADRE has been dismantled, so Annie and her kid might be separated or lost. We may meet them as a function of Madison's storyline or whatever comes after Fear.

Something I also plan to ruminate on a bit is the "Peter Lombardi" poster in the Marshal's brother's apartment. Peter Lombardi isn't a real basketball player. That's an invention. So like, wtf does that reference, i have no idea.

the tagline at the bottom of the poster seems to say "Once a player, always a player." He's #24.

The last name Lombardi is very recognizable as the same last name of the famous football coach Vince Lombardi. Like I said, I'm looking into it lol.

This was another "dead fire" reference, ie: the discarded mini blow torch on the table. I would assume it was used for smoking crack.

(re: the crack pipe on the stove)

@wdway:

I'm really enjoying reading your reviews of DC. There are a couple of comments that I want to make. On the stove in the apartment I noticed the spoon and the coffee can, but totally missed the pancake mix. Great catch. I want to add another pancake reference to the other two that you mentioned.

In Knotts Untie,, when everyone was in the RV headed back to Alexandra after their first visit to Hilltop Abraham made a comment to Glenn about, I can't remember if it was about Bisquick mixing or making the pancakes, same thing though. It was a typical strange comment from Abraham about Glenn impregnating Maggie. It was also where the sonogram picture of baby Herschel was passed around the group for everyone to see.

Daryl's reaction to the sonogram was so bittersweet. Happiness for Glenn and Maggie and heartbreak at how Beth had wanted Maggie and Glenn to have a child.

The other thing I want to say is that I also totally missed the missing fire extinguisher. Wow! I can't believe I didn't notice that. Fire extinguishersand and fire hydrants has always been a Beth symbol. We see them around her especially and also Daryl in Still. Beth is the one who lit the match and started the fire at the Still shack. She also used a mirror at the beginning of that episode to create fire, she is fire and water. The way I interpret the missing fire extinguisher is an obvious nod to Beth being missing.

@galadrieljones:

Good call on the Bisquick! I think he says something like, “When you poured the batter, were you hoping to make pancakes?” or something like that.

Yeah, and the fact they are searching for the source of the smoke. It’s like, the whole thing is this absence of light, absence of fire.

Negan lights the match at one point and the pigeon lady blows it out.

In “Consumed,” I also remember that it begins with Carol seeing the pillar of smoke, which leads her to the girls and Tyreese.

I have a couple other screenshots I want to share as well.

Here's the missing fire extinguisher

A "Dawn" reference. It says "Dawn Lincoln C Come Kill With Us."

Also a Lincoln reference in the same exact sentence

You can see "Macon, GA" clearly in this directory. A reference back to season 4 and Terminus.

It's on p. 270. Does that number ring a bell to anyone?

This shot is extremely dark, so sorry about that. It's the first shot we see of a mannequin at the laundromat. We will see several more after this. Maggie seems to run into mannequins a lot.

Maggie and Negan scale an elevator shaft. Always a fun callback.

One More reference

These are all from the credits.

In the first one, I find it ironic that the city looks like it's on fire, despite what it feels like in the show.

The second one features red gas canisters, and some sort of shopping cart reference.

There's then a rooftop garden, and a small plane.

I found a couple hidden things in the last two, I Spy style

If you look closely you can see that in the circled section it says, "Say Yes." ?

Here in the barb wire at first I just noticed the "A"; however, it could also be a clearly "USA"

These deer interested me

The credits sequence was awesome. I think there's probably more hidden stuff.

@twdmusicboxmystery:

I’m really loving this discussion! Just got all caught up. The idea that DC is just one big replay of Consumed (sort of) is really striking a cord for me. I loved everything you’ve said, and it’s got me thinking in a bunch of directions. It makes me wonder how this will turn out where Hershel is concerned.

As you said, it’s the opposite of Consumed in details—dark, wet vs dry, etc—so does that mean they WON’T find Hershel, because they actually did find Beth? Or will they find him, and he’ll remain alive and make it out in the audience’s minds, where Beth didn’t? I don’t know. But that smoking building is really intriguing when seen through the lens of Carol following various columns of smoke.

And I’ll have to think about this more because this is something they made a point about clear back in S4. Not only did Carol follow it to Tyreese and the girls (which suggests following the smoke leads to finding the people you’re looking for) but they did that whole thing where Mica taught Carol that black smoke meant it was still burning and white/gray smoke meant the fire was out.

And of course Daryl and Beth set that fire in S4, so Bethyl is ground zero for the pillar of smoke. Does that mean Maggie will literally find Beth in the smoking building? Or is Hershel just a stand-in/proxy for her? I also loved the insight that the cockroaches were like the ants on the cookie, representing walkers that will swarm them in the city. I hadn’t thought of that, though I should have.

I had to laugh at how Negan was just like, “Nope.” And they both noped right outta there. (Not that I wouldn’t have done the same. ;D) Anyway, great details about the Daryl clip as well. Great catch on the windows. I totally agree that this might not even be a chronological set of scenes. These may be taken from different parts and patched together. Nothing says a sneak peek has to be chronological. The other option is that they used different buildings for the interior and exterior shots, and they just don’t line up super well. Guess we’ll have to wait and see. Really great finds and insights, though. Loving it!

@wdway:

In reading your comments about the smoke, it reminded me of something I wanted to say earlier today and forgot. Talking of smoke, in Home Sweet Home, when Maggie, Daryl and company were initially going out to look for Maggie's group that had Herschel with them they saw smoke from the burning building going up into the sky through the trees. It immediately reminded me of Carol and the girls in, The Grove, seeing the smoke from the Still shack still burning. By the way Gimple verify that the smoke that Carol and the girls saw was from the Still shack. It was to show how very close all the survivors really were to each other and didn't know it.

Just read this and thought it was a bit of a coincidence since you were just talking about this earlier today. The location of hilltop.

@galadrieljones:

This is pretty interesting. They speculate it’s somewhere in NY or New Jersey. The thing is we know that territories can be huge, and just because they touch a territory adjacent to NYC (New Babylon), that doesn’t mean it has to be right next to it. That said, Bethesda/DC (Meridian) is quite far from Manhattan, over 200 miles.

It’s not a lot considering how far the CW was from like, Alexandria, but idk, again that’s just speculation. Philadelphia IS squarely in the middle between DC and NYC. Maggie is really not far from Rick. But, the time jump is a bit confusing. Idk where Rick might be at this point. And idk what Philadelphia has to do with this. Lots of ppl have speculated the CR is in Philly but I’m not so sure I believe that yet.

Maggie is pretty distracted but you’d think if Rick were back, she’d mention it, or Negan would have maybe heard. They still seem really in the dark about the CRM. Maggie is also separate from the CW and ASZ. And yet, I also have to wonder why Maggie is alone. Why isn’t she with Daryl? Or Carol? Or both? I know Daryl doesn’t like Negan but he’d do anything to help Maggie find Hershel, and so would Carol. She knows this too.

I could see her in seasons past calling on them to help her with something like this. If she has the time to track down Negan then she has the time to call them on the radio and they’d be there in two seconds. That said, are Carol and Daryl in France in this moment? Are they missing? Will we get some mention of them and wtf is going on?

[writingseaslugs]

Aight, I'm about to start doing the updates to the aesthetics and new masterlist postings, so be prepared. Masterlist might look wonky and without any links for a little while as I get everything posted and transferred!

Also note it's going to take me just a little while before I can begin doing Obey Me Requests because I haven't done their normal character banners yet, nor have I done any template-making for them in docs. So heads up, it'll still be a bit before I start writing that content.

[punkenglishnerd]

Hey so in some of your previous asks, you've mentioned that there's some major discourse going on in the da community but i haven't found much in the "dark academia tag". I mean I have a general idea that it has something to do with elitism and like some racism but I haven't seen any of that around, at least on tumblr (maybe cuz i'm new). Could you explain what the whole discourse is about?

I just wrote out a whole response but then I wanted to fix a word so I tried to highlight it and backspace but I accidentally highlighted the whole post instead of just the one word so when I backspaced I deleted my entire response. I really am a dumb bitch lol :) Okay, let’s try this again! My response will be pretty long, so fair warning! Here are the main sources of discourse within the dark academia community:

1) Racism: In my opinion, there are two main issues of racism within the DA community. One is that DA subject matter such as books, films, and shows severely lack in diversity. It’s not hard to notice that most characters in DA books/films/shows are white. However, it is not necessarily the community’s fault that the creators of these books/films/shows typically only write white characters. What is an issue of racism within the community is that in DA aesthetic photos or blogs, you typically only see thin white people. While I have seen a bit more poc representation in DA aesthetic photos recently, it’s really quite clear that those photos don’t get as much traction within the community, are are few and far between compared to the inundation of DA aesthetic photos of white people.

2) Elitism: Elitism, in my opinion, is even more pervasive within the DA community than racism is. Within DA books/films/shows, elitism is a common theme which isn’t a problem in and of itself because those are works of fiction. The problem, then, stems from people in the DA community glorifying or romanticizing that elitism. While elitism in terms of wealth doesn’t seem as common within the DA community as it does in DA books/films/shows, intellectual elitism runs rampant within the DA community. It seems that many people in the community take cues from their favorite DA characters and act accordingly. Of course it is okay to want to emulate your favorite characters, but it is also important to recognize that those characters are works of fiction, and their negative traits should not be admired nor emulated. While we can appreciate the flaws of those characters within fiction, we as humans in the real world should be kind and loving towards one another instead of acting like our favorite elitist, snobbish fictional characters. I’ve seen multiple members of the DA community act elitist because they feel they’re intellectually superior to others, just like their favorite DA characters. It’s quite sad actually, and that brings me to my next point.

3) Gate-keeping: The intellectual elitism often leads to gate-keeping within the community. Those in the DA community who feel like they’re intellectually superior to others tend to gate-keep and feel like they have the right to say who can and can’t be a part of the DA community. It’s sad when you see that kind of thing turned onto newcomers who are interested in what dark academia is all about, but are turned off or turned away because of the negativity shown towards them. I’ve seen high schoolers, community college students, people who aren’t in school, and those who don’t have the best grades or study habits get talked down to because of this. While many people in the DA community are accepting of everyone, certain “bad apples” spoil the whole bunch by, for lack of a better word, bullying those certain people who they view as “unworthy.” 

4) Other academia subcultures: Many people have become fed up with the racism, elitism, gate-keeping, negativity, and discourse within the DA community (I don’t blame them). Because of this, some people have branched off into their own academia subcultures, such as light academia and grey academia. While those communities are valid, it has rubbed some people the wrong way, including me. From what I understand, light academia has a lighter aesthetic and is more focused on positive aspects of academia instead of the “dark” themes of DA, and grey academia was created as a branch off of DA that’s pretty similar except it tries to avoid negative imagery, subjects, and influences as well. It’s perfectly fine that light academia created its own space for a differing aesthetic and positive outlook, and it’s perfectly fine that grey academia created its own safe space for members to avoid harmful or possibly triggering content. However, I have seen multiple people express that the reason they moved over to light academia or grey academia was because they wanted to get away from the racism, elitism, gate-keeping, etc. That is the part that rubs me the wrong way. I’m sure you’ve heard of the quote “Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.” By leaving the DA community and creating/joining the light academia or grey academia community, the problems within the DA community aren’t being addressed. I feel like those issues are bound to repeat themselves within the new communities if we don’t take the time to address the issues. Avoiding talking about it and just writing it off as in the past as they move onto a new community doesn’t help anyone. We have to put in the work to make this community a better, kinder, more accepting place for everyone if we want to see a change.

I hope this helped a bit! I’m sorry my response is so long. And I’m sure there are other sources of discourse that I didn’t cover, so if anyone wants to add something, please feel free to do so! I also accept differing opinions, but I only ask that everyone, no matter if you agree with me or not, be kind and civil towards each other in the replies. Let’s make this a positive space to start a conversation about dark academia and what we can do to make this community a better place.

(PS: I saw a grey academia post asking to have racism and elitism tagged if those subjects are talked about on a post tagged as grey academia, so I have done so.)

[duanecbrooks]

Media Impact     It's time to once again let you in on what is My All-Time Favorite. And to remind you once again that I am not nor have I ever been a high-culture maven nor an aesthete nor even a real and true intellectual but am and all during my adult life have been a geek of the Meghan McCain stripe.       Got all that? You do? OK, so My All-Time Favorite Media is...Heart and Soul magazine's 2003 cover story on my girl Robin Givens.               Literally everything about said article shines. The cover of this particular Heart and Soul issue features Robin sporting an especially dazzling smile and is emblazoned with a particularly ingratiating headline: "Robin Givens: On Mike [Tyson], Money, and Being Misunderstood." Open up the magazine and flip through a few pages and there's Robin again, again wearing a notably uplifting smile and bent over rightward in a quite fetching manner, with the words "Robin Redux" on the bottom of the page. Flip through a few more pages and on the "Contributors' Page" there's a pic of the (as shall be demonstrated, very talented) writer of the Robin piece, Janice R. Littlejohn, who is shown to be a not-bad-looking woman, probably (then) in her early-to-middle-40s, herself equipped with a highly beguiling smile. In her space she engagingly compares meeting Robin to "[c]oming face-to-face with the most popular girl in high school. 'It was like meeting up with the girl who you thought you knew everything about, but [then] realizing how much you have in common.'" We're then let in on the fact that Littlejohn is "[a] freelance television, entertainment, and lifestyle writer in California" and she appealingly reveals that she's attempting to make her life more pleasurable with "food, travel and trying to find the perfect couch for my new house."             Now to the Robin piece.               Let it be said first off that my lady looks positively stunning throughout, first giving yet another stunning smile while lying upon her stomach with her legs up in the air and outfitted in Maroon pinstripe pants, a beaded Chaiken tank top, and metal Mare olive heels. Turn the page and there's Robin again, this time wearing a L'impasse white floral gown and a Elisabetta bracelet. Turn the page once again and there's my woman once again, this time decked out in an Anja Flint olive jersey dress, a Stephen & Co. gypsy-like necklace, and a Barry Cord cocktail ring. And in all--all--of the photos Robin has an enticingly cheerful expression.           Here's where we come to the actual Robin article.             The aforementioned piece begins with a rather appealing quote from the subject herself ("I feel okay now. I know what I want instead of what you think you're supposed to have. I know what makes me happy"). Then Littlejohn paints a sensitive picture of the two of them agreeing to eat at this one restaurant on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and her expectation that "[s]ince the media has been less than flattering to Givens [that's a considerable understatement]...I expected her to be guarded." (As it turns out, she was all the while "relaxed and friendly"). Eventually Littlejohn deftly captures, as the two of them walk along, "fans [of Robin] beginning [sic] to take notice--gawking, waving and doing random drive-bys, yelling, 'You look good, girl!'" From there Littlejohn skillfully depicts where Robin was at that point in her life ("At 38, Robin Givens is a woman reborn, clearly revelling in a new sense of self outside the Hollywood spotlight--a nascent inner tranquility that comes from embracing life's simpler things. She divides her time between Maryland, Kentucky and New York...fancies herself a connoisseur of fine Italian and French food, frequents American diners and loves chitlins and pig's feet"). Littlejohn proceeds to stylishly sketch where Robin was professionally (the latter "is no longer defined by the trappings of a box-office-driven career. Acting is simply what she does") and offers up some insightful words from Robin's Boomerang/Head of State co-star Chris Rock ("I'm clicking through channels and see Boomerang and think, 'Hey, what's Robin Givens doing? Haven't seen her in a while.' When I met her for lunch, I said, 'You should get back out there.' It was kind of a pep talk. 'Get out there. You can act'").               Littlejohn's article continues. She elicits from Robin some admirably searching words from her subject concerning how it was like for her growing up without a Dad ("[Y]ou just feel this sort of unworthiness, and the pattern begins there...If you're not good enough for the first man in your life to stay, then why should any of them stay?"), incisively delineates what was Robin's public image pre-Tyson ("Givens has long been known for her love life, beginning with a romance with a Saturday Night Live comic named Eddie Murphy. She's had public romances with Brad Pitt and tennis pros Murphy Jensen and Svetozar Marinkovic, whom she married and quickly separated from") and draws from Robin some telling observations regarding Tyson's words during that infamous 20/20 interview they did by Barbara Walters, which was responsible for Robin's 20-year reign--especially, sad to say, as crowned by blacks--as The Most Despised Woman In America ([Tyson told Walters] "'The best punch I ever gave, she went from that wall to that wall...and she was out.' I thought. 'This is definitely not going to be acceptable.'"). Following are some intensely perceptive words from Robin's good buddy Tiffany McLinn, one of the Lifetime network's Intimate Portrait executive producers ("[Tyson] was really popular, and people were completely on his side...[A]t the time he was married to Robin, and so people really vilified her...She didn't have any rep before [hooking up with Tyson]--it's just because of that marriage [emphasis mine]"). From there there is a deftly-done sketch of my lady's professional standing during that period ("She starred in TV projects such as The Women of Brewster Place and The Penthouse, and she was on her way to box-office stardom with critically applauded roles as Imabelle in 1991's A Rage in Harlem and the next year as Jacqueline Broyer in Boomerang").           Going forth: Our portraitist gets Robin to present some genuinely moving recollections concerning her then-emotional/psychological life ("I had gone through hurt, and I mean it really hurt, and it hurt me and it hurt everybody close to me and it was serious for me, the pain that I felt. So it was interesting to have agents going, 'Yeah, but you're on the cover'"). After pointing out--and this is a fiercely individualistic statement, considering the fact that it's being made by a black writer about a black celebrity/entertainment figure in a black-oriented magazine--that Robin realized "that she was just another cog in the Hollywood machine," Littlejohn's probing gets Robin to freely acknowledge: "At that point I realized I wanted to be a healthy, happy human being, not just have a successful career. That's what I realized was the most important thing to me." Littlejohn, to her great credit, also gets Robin to own up to the fact that "I'm not looking for vindication. I'm not looking for people to go, 'Aha!'"                 And there's more. Littlejohn, with laudable journalistic professionalism, paints a picture of Robin as an absolutely hands-on mother, quoting her as asserting: "Nothing makes me happier," then quoting McLinn as contending that Robin and her sons are "like the Three Musketeers...[Being a single mother is not without] its challenges. But [Robin] is first and foremost a mom, not an actor." Robin then movingly tells of her renewed spirituality ("[Y]ou can call it anything. I mean, I now have a relationship with God") and in time laughing and "carefree," (Littlejohn's description) claims: "I have no ambition for a career." (To this Littlejohn adds: "At least not a career outlined by Hollywood's terms," going on to delineate the sporadic work Robin had done around that time [periodic television series like Courthouse, periodic independent pictures like Book of Love, her then-current work producing the Uninvited series for the Heritage Networks]). Following is a quite sprightly portrait of Robin doing a photo shoot, wherein she's "wearing jeans, flip-flops and a white tank top under a black salon cape" and "[h]er hair is in spiral pin curls, and she's wearing no make up." Littlejohn effortlessly captures Robin's admirable good humor during this shoot ("I think we shoot me just like this, whaddaya think?").                 And the conclusion to the article is honestly uplifting. Littlejohn makes the exceedingly perceptive observation that "while Robin Givens may not have always been in fashion, she has always been popular. Now with age and life experience, she has an outlook that matches her newfound confidence." (Robin afterward shares said outlook: "I know that if you hang in there, He'll work it out for you"). And the absolute end of the piece is outright heart-melting. Here Robin "smilingly" says: "I've been through enough to know some stuff, but [I] still have a lot of living to do. You know when little stuff would bother you? Now it's like, 'This is me. Take it. Leave it.' It's feeling comfortable in your own skin. As a woman."             In sum, Littlejohn's Robin profile certainly, definitely proves the aptness of the title this one IMDb-message-board-post writer bestowed upon Robin: "The sexiest black woman in entertainment" (actually, she shares that title with Paula Patton)--and proves that she's a highly articulate, intelligent, thoughtful person to boot.               Heart and Soul magazine has long, long, long since stopped doing cover-making celebrity interviews. Too bad. Janice R. Littlejohn's Robin Givens article should have won the aforementioned publication a National Magazine Award. Hands down.