#Strong Black Leads

[nikewrites]

Leave the World Behind

I just finished watching Leave the World Behind on Netflix. The film is an adaptation of a book by the same name, written by Rumaan Alam. I started reading the book today. I’m roughly halfway through and I feel that the book is more subtle in its observations about the environment, racism, classism and conspiracy than the film is. The book gives you room to decide how subtle or blatant any of the…

[whateverthought]

I know, for a fact, the writers put no thought into making the Velaryons black.

There was no way these writers saw how fucked over the House was in the books and could have not seen how bad it would look for all their black characters to be so second fiddle, so subservient to their main white leads. Its so obvious they only wanted to focus on Rhaenyra and Alicent and use every other character as tools, they straight up take out characters so they won't have to lose time building them up, Daeron and Maelor and Nettles and Sara Snow and Black Aly and Sabitha Frey and Jessamyne Redfort...

In the case of Daeron and Maelor, they did not intend for either to exist till they got backlash and are now implying Daeron as if he's this big reveal and Maelor this Helaena/Aemond bastard when they really just didn't want to use screentime and their own thoughts into writing them.

But in the case of House Velaryon, from the beginning the story fucks them over, from Rhaenys and her unborn child being passed over to 12 year old Laena being pushed for marriage by her parents to an old man, to Laenor being murdered by his lover or Daemon, to Laena being killed in the birthing bed and getting taken out of the story so soon, to Corlys having bastards and being a shit dad, to Rhaena and Baela being Rhaenyra Stans only. Why would you make them black? And I know the twins had waaay more personality in the books but I've already said they never intended to stray from Rhaenyra and Alicent

I wholeheartedly believe they only made them black so they could highlight the Bastardy of Rhaenyra's boys.

[blackerthings]

LAUREN LONDON Netflix (Strong Black Lead, 2022)

[hacked-wtsdz]

Sorry to all girlbosses but I hate the ‘woman is physically stronger than man’ trope. A trained woman will lose to a trained man 9 times out of 10. More so an untrained one. And trained men is who most of these strong female girlbosses are fighting in their circumstances. They wanted to portray strong female characters and chose the most direct way and the most blunt strength disparity between men and women and just started lying with it. Instead of exploring all the ways in which women irl may be as strong or stronger than men. And now I meet real untrained women who genuinely believe that they could take a man on in a fight. It takes exactly one fight, even play, with a grown guy to realise that it’s not true, and that if such a situation becomes real, you should run. I hate this trope with my whole heart because 1) it’s partly responsible for giving women dangerous delusions and 2) instead of exploring interesting power dynamics it just shows unrealistic and unfulfilling situations in which strength is taken at its most basic. Dumb and annoying.

[mariocki]

La tarantola dal ventre nero (Black Belly of the Tarantula, 1971)

"Yes, I've always told you to drop it, it's true. But now... you're not giving up. Not now. And I don't really care about the movie. If they're out to get you, it means the murderer is afraid of you. It means you know what you're doing. He's afraid of you."

[thedramagarden]

Ancient Detective (2020) | Chinese Drama

[shoujo-dump]

Heroine Hajimemashita

[volfoss]

long post sort of to explain the poll but. when i hit bj should i:

ok so. i want to get a kinda gauge on this due to how DRASTICALLY different all these orders are. heres an explanation for like... the horrors i think.

tldr: chrono is going to be very true to release order but probably not super helpful to eng only readers, kodansha keeps the formatting that ive been having, vertical is going to be easiest for eng only readers as its THE way to access the series. for more in depth thoughts i tossed that shit under the cut bc its long lol

chronological order is pretty self explanatory but it is DRASTICALLY different than any other BJ release. if i did it in chrono order, it is pretty much the only universal order, as its a VERY concrete release order compared to how releases kind of jumble it around.

for comparison heres the first 10 chapters chronologically (from my big scary spreadsheet) and how it corresponds to each release:

hopefully you can see that its a MESS with this. explaining the other two orders and why i am contemplating doing them that way.

Kodansha- so the big big big chronology that im following here is the Kodansha releases of 400 volumes of Tezuka's most noteable work. There are 22 volumes of Black Jack in the Kodansha release and they are from MT-151-> MT-168 (for the original run) and MT-366->369 (for the volumes released after the original run was concluded). The obvious issue of going for chronological order is it does NOT directly correspond with the EN/Vertical order OR the Kodansha order. If i did the Kodansha order, it would be easier to format like my other posts on this have been (ie: Princess Knight (1963-1964) being from MT-004->MT-006 in the order). But it would be a very big pain for everyone reading as I don't think anyone else WOULD be doing the order mentioned in the Kodansha volumes.

Vertical- ease of access definitely wins out here, as I'd be going by the 17 volumes here and it would be VERY easy to follow along if you also wanted to read Black Jack. it is also heavily out of order (as you can see by the snippet of the spreadsheet I included), but as the chronological volumes are only VERY recently being released in Japanese, it would be the most accessible to everyone else.

the other big difference would be in length/amt of posts. If i went by the chronological order, it would be about 11 or 22 (as there are 242 chapters per post, so I'd be dividing them up so its not just... reviews for EVERY SINGLE CHAPTER in one post. no one wants that. The Kodansha volumes have about 10 chapters on average per post BUT are missing some of the sealed/semi-sealed/otherwise just missing chapters so I would have to make prob 23? posts going over it if i divided it this way. The vertical release has about 12~ chapters per volume and also does not include the sealed chapters (which I've found some translated and some untranslated scans online and for completions sake, do want to include them in any review) so it would be probably 18 posts, with the sealed (and thus not included, as the Vertical release includes some of the semi-sealed chapters) posts making up the final post here.

[navree]

anyway this is literally the whole entirety of rhaena's entry on awoiaf when it comes to the dance she literally did fuck all take that up with grrm not me when some of y'all hop back onto your antipsychotic meds :)

[llycaons]

spinning silver has an extremely rigid and vicious fantasy hierarchy involving the suicide of 'failed' servants similar to tge but unlike tge it also has the main character go 'this is incredibly fucked up oh my GOD' and even though the entire book and the entire pov is spent with maia, it feels like miryem's relationship with power is explored with actual nuance bc it's not presupposed she's Always Good and Right before she even steps into the room. even in this small scene it's better handled! she does screw up, she does misuse her new power, she does internally AND externally interrogate that. and even though her title is just as forced on her as maia's was, and even tho she's surrounded by (from her pov) literal monsters who kidnapped her, trap her, neglect her, and force her to use her wits every single day just to stay alive, she's WAY less of a whiner than maia was. 'wahhh my attendant's don't approve of me I'm such a victim' dude you are the literal MOST powerful person in the entire kingdom if you don't shut the fuck up....

[rachel-sylvan-author]

Sci-fi Sunday!

"Noor" by Nnedi Okorafor

Thank you @mpaxauthor for the cool read! ❤️

[scripscrapstories]

Gift of Grace - Prologue

Gift of Grace #BlackLove #ChristianRomance #KingAndQueen #BookOfEster

“They’re coming! They’re coming!” The people figured as the young boy yelled out the news. They could faintly see a trail of men on top of horses coming from the horizon. Mothers hurried to fix their daughters hair and dresses while fathers, pushed their sons’ shoulders back in the form of a soldier. It was the day that King Bartholomew will select potentials as his future Queen and Royal…

[nezuscribe]

it's been three weeks since arranged!gojo, your husband, the man you're growing to care deeply for, told you he'd be back.

there was some dispute he needed to oversee with the eastern tribes, something about the land that one was fighting for, but he promised, promised, it wouldn't take over a week to settle.

now it's been nearly a month, and there has not been a single word from him.

your maids told you this was normal, but you didn't miss how they spoke in hushed tones, their brows furrowed nervously whenever the name gojo came up.

you can't sleep in his bed, the smell of him overtaking your senses and making you go insane. you go back to your old room, huffing as you turn around each night, not able to sleep. other times you'd pace the floors, picking at your nails until they bled, wondering about what could've happened, not able to shake off your last moments with him whenever you got to thinking too hard.

"i'll be back," he had murmured in your hair, cradling you close to his chest as he said his goodbyes. his strong arms caged you in, and you had no room to fight him off as you tried to nod.

"bring back some eastern sugar," you said, "i've heard it's good for pies," your words were muffled, trying to cheer up the mood. you heard him laugh, his chest rumbling a little bit, but there was a hint of anxiety laced in it.

"i'll miss you," gojo finally whispered, his men in the background shouting for the others to hurry up.

"i know," you mumbled, craning your head to look up at him, trying to crack a smile that just came out wobbly, "but i won't tell you i missed you till you come back."

he smiled, rolling his eyes as his thumb ran up and down your cheek.

"i promise i will."

well now it's four weeks later and you can't sleep at night, your past words haunting you, wondering if you should've just told him what he wanted to hear in case...

but a couple nights later, when you're sitting at your desk, looking out the window, you hear it.

the clacking of horse hoofs, their scattered neighs.

you almost think you've gone delirious from sleep deprivation, rubbing at your eyes as you stumble closer to the windowsill, squinting your eyes as you look in the dark.

but you see the distant torch, the way it's getting closer and closer to the estate.

you have no care for modesty, pulling a thin robe over your body as you run out of your door, nearly falling down the stairs as you skip every other one, your bare feet hitting the stone with such force that you nearly break it.

the maids and servants around you are bustling to get ready for their return, but you don't care, weaving your way through their bodies as you run out through the entrance. you can feel your feet getting scraped up by the rocks, the cold autumn wind biting at your barely clad skin, but you feel like you're not moving fast enough.

his horse is the first one you see, leading the group of tired and aching men. his black stallion is dark as the night itself, and you doubt he can see you.

but gojo does, and when his eyes find the shadow of your body from across the field he's abandoning formation, his feet kicking the side of the horse to make it go faster.

it's rushed, and the closer he gets the more you can see the damage on his body. the bandages around his arms, the ones that peek out from his tunic on his shoulder. his face is littered with scrapes and bruises, but his smile is blinding.

you run to meet him, watching as he mounts off of the animal, his strong arms throwing themselves around you are nearly crushing and almost makes you stumble backward if not for his support.

there's a heavy silence that follows, and you're glad that his men take the hint to go another way, knowing the dangers of leaving you two out alone on a field.

you can't breathe, your arms so tight around his neck that you're worried you might be choking him. the way he lifts you to get you closer to him would make your body heat up if not for the fact that you know he needs you to be almost one with him.

"i thought you died," you say bluntly, your words said wetly into his neck, your scattered tears wetting his skin.

"i know," gojo murmurs, feeling like he can finally breathe for the first time in a month.

he finds your lips in a messy kiss, biting at your plush skin as you moan, feeling like if he didn't have you near to him he'd probably die. he smells your lavender oil dotted on your neck, the lingering sweetness on your lips from something you probably baked to help with your stress.

his hands lift you up further by your hips, his strength, despite his injuries, still unbridled as you wrap your legs around his waist, your fingers weaving into his snow-white locks as you hear him mumble curses beneath you.

"i missed you," you say against his lips, his feverish kisses driving you to madness. the way you say it with a choked-out sob, your tears mixing with his own.

gojo whines, biting at your neck as he tries to hide his face away, the vulnerability that you bring out of him is something that even his enemies would probably gawk over.

"i promised i'd come back," his voice is nearly gone with the way he says it in between his sloppy kisses on your neck, tugging at the fabric that hides the bareness of your chest with his teeth.

you crane your head to look at him, hitting the back of his head gently with an angered look.

"three weeks late," you reprimand him, almost reveling in the stricken and kicked look he gives you with those eyes.

he goes to say something but stops, shuffling your weight onto one of his arms (he had the right to brag about his strength), and rummages around one of the pockets of his trousers, pulling out a bag as he waves it in front of your face.

you gasp, suddenly climbing off of him as you turn it around with your fingers. he pouts at the fact that you detached from him, trying to wrap his arms around your waist to haul you back up.

"is this...?" you look up at him, new tears sprouting in your eyes as you wail, almost dramatically as your head hits his chest with a thump, pulling him into another hug as you seem to sob louder from when you first saw him.

"you cry more over the sugar than me?" he mutters petulantly, his hand still cradling the back of your head as you just limply stand there.

"don't ever leave again." you bite out, pinching his back as he yelps, but still leaving a searing kiss on the side of your face.

"i won't...my lady," he whispers teasingly, and this time, his promise is undying. he'd be a stupid man if he ever willing left this again.

fuck those state affairs. gojo would rather be home with his wife, watching her bake as she scolds him for eating her batter.

[roughentumble]

YESSSS THATS SUCH A FUN IDEA

when he woke up, banner assured him "you're free now, it cant hurt you anymore," and eddie felt SICK he wanted to demand venom back, but he played it cool, tentatively said "so he's... gone," to gather information and banner replied "you've got nothing to be afraid of, i have it under lock and key. it cant possibly get to you anymore."

eddie had seen an actual ad in the paper for wade's "do-good mercy-nary services" which seemed absolutely ridiculous and he got a good laugh about it with venom, but now he's all alone and banner has venom locked away!! and there's only so much he can do with the information he'd gotten from banner about venom's location!! so as soon as he stumbles home he starts formulating a plan. he could try and do it on his own, but banner has stark tech that he's working with, and eddie's no good at hacking. a "mercy-nary" doesnt really sound like he'd be a good hacker either, but at the very least he probably knows how to slip into places unnoticed, right? and eddie doesnt have anyone he could contact about any of this. so he caves, and he gathers up all his meager savings, and he makes the call.

"i know how this sounds," he says into the receiver, "but i had an-- an alien. attached to me. and someone stole him, and now i want him back. he really matters to me, and he's been kidnapped, and i cant get him back on my own." there's silence on the other end, presumably processing this.

"well!" a cheery voice says, "why not aliens? we've already got mutants and magicians and superhumans running around. if you say he's been kidnapped, then we're happy to help! oooo, was it an eerie government facility, i love breaking into those and slaughtering everyone inside!"

eddie looks down at the phone nervously. maybe this was the wrong number to call. there's sounds of a scuffle, and the cheery voice whines something muffled and petulant, and then a much more gruff voice appears to tell him "ignore him. we'll help. bring half the payment now to discuss particulars, and half when the job's finished."

somehow the voice is even less comforting than the odd cheery one, but eddie's fairly desperate. "deal," he says. "and, uh, no, it isnt a governemnt agency. it... it's... it's bruce banner. the avenger."

silence. there's a squealing sound on the other end of the line, and a distant "ohmigod, we're gonna steal from an /avenger/! think he'll sign my boobs if i ask nicely?" the gruff voice, much closer to the phone, says "keep ignoring him. bring the money." and then the line clicks dead.

/the things you do for love/, eddie thinks despairingly

you know what we need? a fic where bruce banner tries to forcibly separate eddie and venom. after all, venom is attacking people, and he knows what it's like to be taken over by a beast that you cant control! and he cant be separated from the hulk, but he can save this human taken hostage by a space alien. clearly, he is helping.

only for eddie to wake up on a gurney after a soundwave attack and be forced to go on a super spy mission to retrieve his love, and shut down banner's sonic weapons

[shoujo-dump]

Heroine Hajimemashita

[bunnis-monsters]

NSFW

A/N: My comms are discounted for a limited time for Black Friday btw. This is a kofi request, so if you want more then send me a Kofi~ it’s a snow leopard hybrid ^^

Being abandoned by your owner in the middle of winter was already not ideal, but being caught in a record breaking blizzard was definitely worse.

You could sense it coming. Being a cat hybrid had its perks, but you almost wished you were blissfully unaware of your imminent demise.

It had been a few hours since your owner drove off, leaving you in a torn hoodie and your thin pajama pants. He hadn’t known the risks of owning a cat hybrid such as yourself, and when you went into heat and started rubbing your scent on everything and biting him to try and claim his as your mate, he abandoned you.

It really hurt. You adored your owner, thinking he was different from other humans who simply saw you as a pet.

But you were wrong. He tossed you away without a second thought, leaving you to die. Had you really meant that little to him?

Despite your sadness, you curled up under a bench, shivering as you tried to keep yourself warm. Even being in heat wasn’t helping much, the ache in your belly only adding to the discomfort and pain you were feeling.

You wanted to be warm, to nest and be properly bred by a kind male. Maybe that was too much for a house cat hybrid such as yourself to ask. Thinking you were worth something led you here after all…

As the snow only continued to fall, you tried your best to stay warm. It was only to try and find the most comfort you could while waiting for your death.

You weren’t accustomed to taking care of yourself. Ever since your birth, food had been handed to you, beautiful clothes and jewelry adorning your body when it came time for you to be presented before humans for sale.

Before this, you had never worried about warmth or sustenance, simply relying on your owner.

What else could you do?

As you thought all hope was loss, a scent other than the cold and wet smell of snow wafted through the air, a familiar yet strange one.

It an instant the bench was ripped from its foundation, a figure bending down to examine you.

Your vision was a bit blurry, but you could smell it.

This was a wild hybrid.

In the past you heard tales of such beasts, hybrids that fled to the wild to escape human subjugation, but because you were a pampered house cat hybrid, you had yet to encounter one.

“Lost, little one?”

Your tail puffed out as you let out a weak hiss, watching as the hybrid’s face got closer to yours. He smelled like blood, perhaps he had just procured a fresh kill and was looking to add to his winter stockpile.

At least if he killed you, it would be a quicker death than freezing. Perhaps this was some kind of twisted mercy…

But you never felt his fangs puncture your throat, instead your hoodie was being bitten, your body lifted and carried by his strong jaws.

He was taking you somewhere. Where? You could only guess back to his den. It would be easier to kill your there instead of risking the scent of blood being left on the snow, leading back to his home.

Although you were afraid, the big cat was warm. His breath fanned against your neck, and your body reacted against your will, producing enticing pheromones that told any hybrid nearby that you were in heat.

He was soft, and for some reason you felt something being wrapped around you… some kind of furs from one of his hunts. Why would he bother to keep you warm? Did he prefer his prey fresh and didn’t want you to freeze to death?

None of this really mattered to you. You were cold, hungry, and exhausted. If you slept now, perhaps you would be unconscious when the time came and pass on in your sleep.

So you passed out, too tired to even notice how his pheromones responded to yours.

When you awoke, you were in bed. Your owner had never allowed you to sleep with him, so this was the first time you had been in a human bed and not one for pets.

The blankets were made of the same furs you had been cloaked in before. You sat up slowly, still processing what led you to this.

Being abandoned right before a blizzard… nearly freezing to death… a wolf hybrid taking you with him…

It was a lot to think about, and even with a now well rested mind your head was still spinning. Maybe a meal would help you make sense of this…

“You’re awake…”

You stiffened at the voice, your blood running cold. When you finally found the courage to turn and look at the source of it, you nearly passed out again.

In the doorway was a snow leopard hybrid, his cat ears flicking as he stared down at you. He was nearly twice your size, and thoughts of you beating him in a fight went down the drain immediately.

“Thought you were a goner for a bit. Tougher than you look.”

He spoke slowly, his eyes on your plump form. You weren't sure what he was thinking, and before you could respond your belly rumbled.

“Hungry, huh?”

His long, thick tail swayed behind him as he approached. Although he was tall, he was thin and lean, not the same type of terrifying a lion or tiger hybrid would be, but still holding the same predatory glint in his eye.

“Kittens in heat such as yourself have to eat.”

You felt your cheeks warm. Of course he could tell you were in season, your scent was probably overwhelming at this distance.

He tilted his head. “Not wild, are you? What’s a little thing such as yourself doing all the way out here?”

Your lip wobbled. All the pain, all the anger and confusion came bubbling to the surface.

“My owner… he just… he left me all alone… a-and it was scary, I…”

The snow leopard stared at you, letting you cry before he leaned down to lick away you tears before beginning to groom you.

This calmed you significantly, a soft purr rumbling in your chest. This was a comfort you had been denied since you had been separated from your litter as a kitten, and you couldn’t help but lean in as he licked back your hair.

“It’ll be alright. You’re mine now, my property. You won’t be cold or scared anymore.”

He rubbed his cheek against yours, moving his face to your neck and giving a harsh bite to your sensitive flesh, a clear marking of his territory.

While you ate, it was clear he was holding himself back from something. His golden eyes followed your every move, his tail swaying behind him almost sending you into a trance like state.

You usually ate whatever your owner did, even if it made you sick or upset your sensitive belly, but tonight you had stew, made with cat hybrids in mind.

Once you had your fill, your body was able to recover enough to start producing more pheromones. It was well aware there was a male nearby and that you were fertile, so it made your cunt grow wet and hot, ensuring you’d be easy for the average male to penetrate.

But unfortunately your stupid body didn’t understand the male before you was twice your size. He could sense your heat, knew that your body was trying to stir him forward.

He sniffed at you. This was the scent that had interested him. It wasn’t like he was cruel, if a female such as yourself was in need he wouldn’t just abandon you in the cold, but the fact you were plump and in heat certainly made taking you in much more enticing.

You let out a startled mew when he approached, his face burying itself into your neck. His tongue lapped softly at the scent gland there, his hands moving to hold onto your hips.

From the moment he saw you, he knew that you would be his mate. The bond had been formed before you even noticed he was there, and the snow leopard was eager to confirm it.

You smelled like heaven, a mix of your natural musk and some kind of sweet perfume your owner had you wear. Tearing off your clothes was child’s play for his sharp claws, and his body vibrated with purrs once he laid eyes on your naked form.

Already he was imagining your belly heavy and swollen with his kits, his hand gently pressing against the fat of your tummy. Being fat and plump was good for surveying the harsh climate where he lived, and it was important for females to be fed fresh meat throughout the winter.

His cock hardened, it wasn’t going to be easy fitting into such a small cat hybrid. Compared to him you were like a mouse, easily positioned however he wanted.

His fingers dipped into you, making you mewl and arch your back. You had already been bucking your hips like a needy little thing, your body desperate to be mated before your heat was over.

His cock stretched you out. It was unpleasant at best, almost painful as you struggled to take in something too big for you.

Even though he was being gentle, nothing would help when you were never meant to be bred by a big cat such as himself.

Despite this, your heat ridden body made it work, beat pooling into your abdomen as your gushed around his fat cock. Your tail twitched as he slowly pulled out and pushed back in without warning, a bulge forming in your belly from the sheer size of him.

The feeling of being ravished by him was… exhilarating. You were too small, too weak to do anything besides moan and writhe underneath him, letting the snow leopard use you as a living flesh light to be filled with his seed.

Even though it felt like you were being torn apart at first, his finger slowly rubbing at your clit and his tip hitting your special spot over and over has your cunt clenching around him before you could even think.

If you hadn’t been in heat, you most likely would have died during the mating session, but while you were in season your body produced so much more lubricant and pheromones that helped you take him inside of you.

You felt so warm when he came inside, thick ropes of hot and sticky cum filling your little womb. Your heat eased a bit as you were thoroughly bred. You knew that this would ensure pregnancy, even if all you had to go off of was instinct alone.

“Little one…”

He purred into your ear, keeping his cock inside of you to make sure none of his cum leaked out. His tongue licked at your neck and hair again, grooming you out of affection now.

“My mate, my sweetheart… I’ll take care of you, alright?”

And that was enough for you. Now all you wanted was a mate and somewhere warm to sleep with three meals a day. It was clear that he could provide that.

So you slept without worry, curled up with your mate, your new provider.

————————

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