#Wicked saints fan art

[hell-hirsch]

[teeramoonlover]

Am I the only one that everytime I read fanfic, I'll imagine the female reader to be a certain person (actress) based on my preference and pov, so here's mine.

𝐌𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 '𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥', 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐬 - based on my pov

Part 2

HANNIBAL

Hannibal Lecter

Y/n: Penelope Cruz

I feel like Hannibal can be into classic jazz ya know

OUTER BANKS (OBX)

Rafe Cameron

Y/n: Daisy Edgar-Jones

Istg Rafe and his girl gonna be one hella roller coaster emotional, toxic, whole angst couple

THE BOY (2016)

Brahms Heelshire

Y/n: Elle Fanning

JOHN WICK: Chapter 4

Marquis Vincent de Gramont

Y/n: Im Jin Ah (Nana)

[curlyhairedbibliophile]

Cover Art | Off With Their Heads by Zoe Hana Mikuta

Fans of Chloe Gong and Judy I. Lin will devour this Korean-inspired Alice in Wonderland retelling about two very wicked girls, forever bonded by blood and betrayal . . .

In a world where Saints are monsters and Wonderland is the dark forest where they lurk, it’s been five years since young witches and lovers Caro Rabbit and Iccadora Alice Sickle were both sentenced to that forest for a crime they didn’t commit—and four years since they shattered one another’s hearts, each willing to sacrifice the other for a chance at freedom. Now, Caro is a successful royal Saint-harvester, living the high life in the glittering capital and pretending not to know of the twisted monster experiments that her beloved Red Queen hides deep in the bowels of the palace. But for Icca, the memory of Caro’s betrayal has hardened her from timid girl to ruthless hunter. A hunter who will stop at nothing to exact her vengeance: On Caro. On the queen. On the throne itself. But there’s a secret about the Saints the Queen’s been guarding, and a volatile magic at play even more dangerous to Icca and Caro than they are to each other… Lush, terrifying, and uncanny, Zoe Hana Mikuta—author of Gearbreakers and Godslayers—takes a delicate knife straight through the heart of this beloved surrealist fairytale.

Artwork by Tran Nguyen

Release date | Apr 23, 2024 Storygraph

[globalworship]

Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Japan-style art)

I’m a big fan of art by Daniel Mitsui. Connecting several cultures himself, much of his artwork also brings together multicultural elements. 

Here is his homage to a famous Roman Catholic icon and title for Mother Mary - "Our Lady of Perpetual Help."His descrption of the artistic elements and symbolism, I find fascinating. They are reposted below the set of art images.

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Above is the entire image. Daniel has also provided close-ups of various elements of the entire image. They are reposted after this description given by Daniel. All text and images are from Daniel's terrific website at https://buff.ly/3T1nvdO

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, ink drawing on Japanese washi.

This is one of several drawings I have made depicting Christian religious subjects in the style of traditional Japanese art. It depicts the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Infant Jesus and contains the traditional elements of an icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help: the infant Christ, frightened by a vision of the archangels Michael and Gabriel holding the instruments of the Passion, climbs into his consoling mother’s arms, as one of his shoes falls from his foot.

I referenced several 19th century Japanese prints for this drawing, but one in particular was an especially strong influence: Chujo-hime and the Spirit of Her Wicked Stepmother by Yoshitoshi. I wanted to be sure not to use as the model for the Blessed Virgin any woman with inappropriate associations, so I searched for prints of women famous for their virtue and chastity.

Chujo-hime was a nobly-born girl who was mistreated by her stepmother The stepmother was roused to jealousy by the girl’s continuous prayers for her dead mother’s soul. Chujo-hime later became a Buddhist nun, and gained renown for her skill at embroidery. When I saw this print, I noticed many symbols that would, in a Western context, be associated with the Blessed Virgin: the underfoot snake, the vase of white flowers, the prayer beads. It seemed to me to be an especially fitting model for my own drawing of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. From Yoshitosi’s print, I also got the idea to make the haloes in the form of lotus leaves.

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floral patterns on the clothes of Mary:

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Young Jesus:

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On the left side is Saint Michael Archangel — carrying the lance and sponge of the crucifixion of Jesus.

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On the right side is Saint Gabriel Archangel carrying a cross and nails.

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A purple lotus flower on the left, and the back of Mary's garment with her long black hair:

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A sandal falls from the foot of infant Jesus:

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For information on "Our Lady of Perpetual Help" go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Perpetual_Help

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Artist Daniel Mitsui was born in Georgia, USA, in 1982, and raised in Illinois. His meticulously detailed ink drawings, made entirely by hand on paper or calfskin vellum, are held in collections worldwide. Since his baptism in 2004, most of his artwork has been religious in subject. http://www.danielmitsui.com/

An excellent interview with Daniel is at https://www.catholicgentleman.net/2016/05/art-gods-sake-interview-artist-daniel-mitsui/

In this excerpt, he talks about how his Japanese family heritage did not really impact his art style - it was something else:

By blood, I am half Japanese; however, my cultural connection to Japan is not strong. My Japanese ancestors came to the United States about a century ago. My paternal grandparents and their siblings were all born in America; my father and his siblings never learned to speak Japanese.

My interest in Japanese art did not come through my family, but through my patrons. I received a commission from a priest whose religious order had done missionary work in Japan; he asked me to draw Saint Michael in the style of an ukiyo-e woodblock print. I had never done anything like this, had never thought to do anything like this. But I accepted the commission and I liked the result; so did my other patrons, who requested more and more of these transpositions of medieval iconography into the style of Japanese art.

[docrotten]

THE VAMPIRE LOVERS (1970) – Episode 206 – Decades Of Horror 1970s

“Mircalla?” “Marcilla?” “But that girl is a guest in my house. Her name is Carmilla. And my daughter is dying!” Looks like “Anagrams ‘R’ Us” is at it again. Join your faithful Grue Crew – Doc Rotten, Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, and Jeff Mohr – as they cover the last film standing from Doc Rotten’s and The Black Saint’s favorite 70s horror films, Hammer’s The Vampire Lovers (1970)!

Decades of Horror 1970s Episode 206 – The Vampire Lovers (1970)

Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! And click the alert to get notified of new content! https://youtube.com/gruesomemagazine

Decades of Horror 1970s is partnering with the WICKED HORROR TV CHANNEL (https://wickedhorrortv.com/) which now includes video episodes of the podcast and is available on Roku, AppleTV, Amazon FireTV, AndroidTV, and its online website across all OTT platforms, as well as mobile, tablet, and desktop.

Seductive vampire Carmilla Karnstein and her family target the beautiful and the rich in a remote area of late eighteenth-century Germany.

  Directed by: Roy Ward Baker

Writing Credits: Tudor Gates (screenplay); Sheridan Le Fanu (story “Carmilla”) (as J. Sheridan Le Fanu)

Adaptation by: Harry Fine, Tudor Gates, Michael Style

Art Direction by: Scott MacGregor

Selected Cast:

Ingrid Pitt as Marcilla / Carmilla / Mircalla Karnstein

Pippa Steel as Laura (as Pippa Steele)

Madeline Smith as Emma Morton

Peter Cushing as General von Spielsdorf

George Cole as Roger Morton

Dawn Addams as The Countess

Kate O’Mara as The Governess (Mme. Perrodot)

Douglas Wilmer as Baron Joachim von Hartog

Jon Finch as Carl Ebhardt

Ferdy Mayne as Doctor

Kirsten Lindholm as First Vampire (as Kirsten Betts)

John Forbes-Robertson as Man in Black

Shelagh Wilcocks as Housekeeper

Harvey Hall as Renton

Janet Key as Gretchin

Charles Farrell as Landlord

Graham James as First Young Man

Tom Browne as Second Young Man

Joanna Shelley as Woodman’s Daughter

Olga Anthony as Village Girl (as Olga James)

Can you believe that in over 200 episodes we have yet to cover Hammer’s The Vampire Lovers (1970)? Well, now is the time! Featuring Peter Cushing and Ingrid Pitt, this Roy Ward Baker classic is likely beloved by many Monster Kids growing up with Famous Monsters of Filmland and their many coffee table monster movie books as it was featured often in those beloved tomes. The film also stars Pippa Steel, Madeline Smith, Kate O’Mara, George Cole, Jon Finch, Ferdy Mayne, Dawn Adams, Harvey Hall, and John Forbes-Robertson. Hammer not only kicks off the 1970s but also their Karnstein trilogy with fangs, blood, and ample nudity. The Grue Crew share their thoughts on the film, the cast, and the trilogy.

The Vampire Lovers is the last of the twenty films that Doc Rotten and The Black Saint chose as their ’70s favorites back in 2013, an event that led to the creation of the Decades of Horrors 1970s podcast. The two episodes were edited for video and rereleased in 2022. Below are links to those two landmark podcasts and episodes on the other two films in the Karnstgein Trilogy.

TOP 10 HORROR FILMS OF THE 1970s, Part 1 – Episode 160

TOP 10 HORROR FILMS OF THE 1970s, Part 2 – Episode 161

LUST FOR A VAMPIRE (1971) – Episode 196

TWINS OF EVIL (1971) – Episode 110

At the time of this writing, The Vampire Lovers is available to stream from Tubi, Freevee, and Flix Fling. The film is available on physical media as a Collectors Edition Blu-ray from Scream Factory.

Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1970s is part of the Decades of Horror two-week rotation with The Classic Era and the 1980s. In two weeks, the next episode, chosen by Doc, will be Scream and Scream Again (1970) from Amicus, sporting the horror trifecta of Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, and Peter Cushing. Well, they are all three in the movie.

We want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans: comment on the site or email the Decades of Horror 1970s podcast hosts at feedback@gruesomemagazine.com. 

Check out this episode!

[ashatry]

[lesyablackbird]

Nadezhda Lapteva from “Wicked Saints” by Emily A. Duncan

This is one of those books that was specialized, written just for me. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the EXPERIENCE of reading it for the first time. It also generates the darker side of my art cravings =)  

[pattinsonsupremacy]

gedogfx on ig

KEANU CHRIST I LOVE THISSS

[lilithsschildren]

“His eye was deep midnight blue, all trace of the pupil gone, flecked with stars constantly changing their constellations, but the white was crimson, as if every vein had burst. There was blood trickling out the corner of his eye.”

“The scar had blackened her hand, like she had dipped it in ink. Her fingernails were sharp—not unlike Malachiasz’s iron claws, they were unnatural in their sharpness. It trailed a little up her forearm before it disappeared and came to a halt.”

[vellumreviews]

Hi guys! I'm still alive but been REALLY busy with commissions (which I cannot share) and some personal things. It's been really hard to carve out time to do some personal work as by the time I sit down to draw for myself I am just creatively dry and exhausted. BUT a few weeks ago I finished Wicked Saints by Emily A Duncan and my hands have been itching to draw Malachiasz - there is a certain scene I would LOVE to draw but I don't want to give anything away, so I just did a portrait

[booksneedcaffeinetoo]

OH MY GOD. YOU ALL HAVE TO GO TO EMILY A DUNCAN’S WEBSITE AND LOOK AT THE FIRST FANART PIECE ON THE PAGE (DEVOUT AND DEFY) BECAUSE IT IS FUCKING PERFECTION!!!!!

[bookishbratbabe]

Book Tag

Thank you to @ayeshareads​ for tagging over a month ago. Sorry it’s taken me so long to post 😬

A character’s appearance that you misread and imagined different.

Tamlin from ACOTAR. I somehow pictured him brunette and it wasn’t until I started looking at fan art that I realized I really messed that up in my head. When I re-read it, I see all of the lines now that say he had “golden blonde hair”

A character name than you’ve been pronouncing wrong.

Malachiasz from Wicked Saints. I mean look at it! And Emily Duncan says it differently than the Pronunciation guide associated with the book indicates. 

An overused trope that is your guilty pleasure.

How could I say anything except enemies-to-lovers, except I don’t really believe in guilty pleasure. I love it and there is no shame. 

A cliche character type that you like better onscreen than reading about.

I honestly cannot think of a single character type (or anything at all) that I would rather watch onscreen over read... 

A word/phrase that you learnt because of its use in a book.

I don’t think I knew the word “carrion” until I saw it in a book but I can’t remember the first book I saw it in but I do know that SJM uses it a lot.

Have you ever not read or completed a required reading book for school?

Yes. I hated reading Pride and Prejudice in high school and relied heavily on Sparknotes to write the essays. I’ve read it since and I liked it better when I wasn’t forced to read it. 

Have you ever skipped a chapter from the POV of a character you weren’t interested in?

No, I just begrudgingly read it ad grumble in my head about it (I’m looking at you, Chaol!) 

Have you ever canceled social plans to read?

Absolutely! Sometimes I don’t want to go and would rather read, other times I’m really into my book and really just want to keep reading it. 

Tagging: @cabeswater-and-camaros, @apocrisy, @thgbookprincess, @elysiumwords, & @just-some-bibliophile if you want to... & anyone else who wants to answer. 

[hello-robin-goodfellow]

SAINT SEIYA: CHRONOLOGYS (PART ONE)

Hello, my few readers.

Thinking a little about what I watched and read online about the Saint Seiya franchise, I discovered, surprised like many, that there is a very large number of audiovisual, literary and graphic works that expand it in diverse and immense universes.

And I kept asking myself: "Like me and other casual fans, mostly introduced to Saint Seiya through the Classic Anime, can we follow all these works without getting confused about the differences between designs and chronologies? Not to mention those who are not familiar but are curious to know the franchise, despite the lack of time, money and / or patience to consume everything related to it ".

Then I came up with this idea of ​​making a series of special journals, organizing groups of chronologies from different media starring the Warrior Saints of Athena, so that, depending on the tastes and availability of each one, readers and viewers have an easier time choosing what work to accompany in the franchise, helping to keep it alive in the minds of many people, in different ways.

Before the actual chronology, a TV Tropes contribution synopsis:

"Greek legend tells of the heroic Perseus, who severed the head of the monstruous Medusa. From the spilled blood sprang Pegasus, the magnificently winged sacred horse. Pegasus then took flight into the Heavens and become a constellation...

For sure, humans witnessed and became a part of the gods' wars. However, there were times Athena had to leave the battefield, so she left it in the care of brave, young men. There men came from all over the Earth, and were the epitome of true courage and power. They didn't use normal weapons, for their own bodies were weapons. Their fists were known to rend the Heavens and their kicks to crack the earth. The ages tell that wicked times would inevitably come again, and that the saints will be the warriors of hope."

Saint Seiya began as a manga written by Masami Kurumada and soon became an anime produced by Toei Animation; it would become launcher of the "pretty boys in armor" subgenre of shonen fighting manga/anime (shows that followed it include Ronin Warriors, Legend of Heavenly Sphere Shurato, and even Mobile Suit Gundam Wing if you replace "armor" with "mecha". Senki Zesshou Symphogear is a Distaff Counterpart). It tells the story of five friends who serve the reincarnation of the goddess Athena, Saori Kido, in her quest to reclaim her place as ruler of the Saints, a group of warriors themed after the Western Zodiac and pretty much every charted constellation.

All saints receive a Cloth, a sculpture of their signature constellation that transforms into functional battle armor. There are three grades of Cloths: Bronze, Silver, and Gold with each grade being far more powerful and resilient than the last. Each armor is also an Empathic Weapon and has some amount of choice in who wears it and whether they deserve to use it, as well as at least one special property.

The five core cast members are:

Seiya The Pegasus Saint (Light and Energy): The leader who often succeeded thanks to The Power of Friendship. He is brash and loyal to a fault, although all his friends never give up. 

Shiryu The Dragon Saint (Water): The Rival to Seiya at first. He is one of the stronger fighters, not to mention the wisest one.

Hyoga The Cygnus Saint (Ice): Born, raised and trained in Russia. Hyoga is remarkable for fighting a internal conflict between the coldness and stoicism that was teached to him in his training to become a Saint, and the trauma for the death of his mother.

Shun The Andromeda Saint (Chains, Wind and Energy): He has perhaps the most destructive power of the core five, and the most restraint on using it. He doesn't snap very often, but when it does happen, SNAP he does!

Ikki The Phoenix Saint (Fire and Rebirth): The loner in the Loners Are Freaks sense, he's Shun's over-protective older brother. Most likely to use Cool and Unusual Punishment and Fate Worse than Death with his psychic attacks

Wishing to repeat their success with Sailor Moon, the series was licensed and dubbed in English as Knights of the Zodiac (which is actually the name the series has in most of the world outside Japan) by DIC Entertainment and shown on Cartoon Network, but the plot and characters didn't receive very good treatment. It wasn't very popular, and only 32 of the 40 dubbed episodes aired. ADV Films would later re-release the series on DVD with a new, much more faithful dub (note the page image), but they only had the license up to episode 60 due to it being the last episode that DiC had sub-licensed to them. In 2014, New Video Group released the complete Sanctuary arc in its subbed form, but even that flopped as well. Eventually, in October 2019, Netflix began streaming the series with a new English dub produced by Sentai Filmworks. However, there has been no announcements on whether or not the the Hades arc will receive a release.

However, outside the States it was IMMENSELY popular. In Latin America, in particular, Los Caballeros del Zodiaco/Os Cavaleiros do Zodí­aco has a raging Fandom up to this day, and the series is re-run constantly. Part of this is attributed to its phenomenal dub and respect for the source material. And in Europe it's no slouch either, especially France, Italy and Spain, where even to this day the manga sells by the crap loads.

In the fall of 2017, Netflix announced that they would collaborate with Toei Animation in producing a CG remake of the original series directed by Yoshiharu Ashino called Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac.

Now into the recomendation of the first chronology.

The first option I recommend is for those who even like to read comics, but, both due to the difficulty of accessing different works or different interpretations of the same character, as well as personal taste, prefer shorter and simpler narratives.

First, it starts with reading the Classic Manga, divided into 28 volumes with 110 chapters.

And then, you finish the story with the reading of the Zeus Chapter fanzine, divided into 02 volumes with 18 chapters written and drawn (with a narrative and art style very similar a somewhat ambiguous ending, it gives reasonably convincing answers to the questions that many considered the most important about the fate of the characters, in whom we feel a certain maturity, and does not neglect the emotional part that always caught the attention of its public.

[sagehaleyofficial]

HERE’S WHAT YOU MISSED THIS WEEK (9.18-9.24.19):

NEW MUSIC:

·         The All-American Rejects released a new music video for their song “Gen Why? (DGAF).” The song comes off of AAR’s latest EP Send Her to Heaven, which dropped earlier this summer.

·         Punk band The Menzingers released a new video for their new song “Strangers Forever,” marking the end of summer. The song comes from the band’s next album Hello Exile, out on October 4th.

·         Can’t Swim announced a new EP featuring the likes of Trash Talk’s Spencer Pollard, Taking Back Sunday’s Adam Lazzara, Frank Carter, Stray from the Path’s Drew Dijorio and more. The EP will be titled Foreign Language and is set to debut next month.

·         Fall Out Boy lead vocalist, Patrick Stump, was featured on the new single “86 Missed Calls” by Japanese band MAN WITH A MISSION. The FOB vocalist previously helped write and produce the band’s 2017 track “Dead End in Tokyo.”

·         Canadian singer Lights recruited Blink-182 drummer, Travis Barker, to collaborate on a new track titled “Long Live.” The song is an ode to the singer’s debut album, which was released a decade ago.

·         Mayday Parade surprised fans with a 7” EP as a continuation of their latest album, Sunnyland, which dropped last year. The EP includes an acoustic version of “It’s Hard to Be Religious When Certain People Are Never Incinerated by Bolts of Lightning” and a B-side titled “Turn My Back.”

·         Australian singer Alex Lahey recorded a cover of My Chemical Romance’s “Welcome to the Black Parade” for the radio station Triple J’s recurring Like a Version segment. The cover later received praise from the band’s frontman, Gerard Way, himself.

·         Bayside announced a new album titled Interrobang, as well as a video for the album’s title track, last Friday. The full-length arrives after the band dropped the song “Prayers” following the release of an acoustic version of “Mona Lisa” back in January.

·         Jimmy Eat World revealed the title of their next album, Surviving, as well as its first single “All the Way (Stay)”. Additionally, they announced a handful of tour dates in the U.S. and UK.

TOUR ANNOUNCEMENTS:

·         Tonight Alive are scheduled to play their first show since 2018 at Australia’s Unify Gathering Festival on Saturday, January 11th, 2020. The band previously announced a string of U.S. tour dates for early 2019 before cancelling the tour and taking a hiatus from touring.

·         Thrice announced a string of 15th anniversary tour dates in celebration of their fourth studio album, Vheissu. They will be joined by fellow rock acts mewithoutYou, Drug Church and Holy Fawn.

·         Green Day, YUNGBLUD, Korn, System of a Down, the Offspring, Of Mice & Men, August Burns Red many others were announced to play next year’s Rock Am Ring and Rock Im Park festivals, both in Germany. The festival will take place on the first weekend of June.

·         The Hella Mega Tour received major flack over the price and perks of its VIP packages. Some fans are not happy with the high price of a VIP ticket that doesn’t include a meet and greet with the bands.

·         Blink-182 frontman Mark Hoppus addressed the band’s cancelled gigs in Columbus, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas, on Instagram. The band was forced to cancel their El Paso date after a nearby mass shooting the day prior, where Hoppus revealed they were locked down in their hotel.

·         Simple Plan and Bowling for Soup announced a joint UK tour scheduled for the start of 2020. The Together Again! You’re Welcome Tour will feature Not Ur Girlfrenz as an opening act, and will mark the first time the bands have played together in the UK again in 16 years.

·         In light of the Cars frontman Ric Ocasek’s passing earlier last week, the Killers covered “My Best Friend’s Girl” at a show in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Prior to this, the band’s singer Brandon Flowers posted a heartfelt tribute to the late musician on Twitter.

·         Blink-182 played an intimate Spotify Encores gig in New York last Thursday, where they performed their most-streamed songs. The show took place at punk venue Saint Vitus in Brooklyn.

·         Green Day took a stab at current U.S. president Donald Trump during their set at the iHeartRadio Music Festival. They changed the lyrics to their hit song “American Idiot,” swapping “I’m not a part of a redneck agenda” for “I’m not a part of a MAGA agenda.”

·         Waterparks announced the supporting acts for the U.S. leg of their Fandom Tour, as well as some extra UK and European tour dates. Openers for their American tour include rapper Yung Pinch and rock band Kitten.

·         Carousel Kings were revealed as the opening act for the upcoming co-headlining tour of McCafferty and guardin. Other bands joining them on the tour include thebreathingbackwards.

·         For the rapper’s 37th birthday, Blink-182 gifted Lil Wayne a joint of marijuana onstage during their New York show last Friday. “I’ll take this now,” Wayne said right before he sparked it up with the help of Travis Barker and an off-stage hand.

OTHER NEWS:

·         Angels and Airwaves and former Blink-182 frontman, Tom DeLonge, filed for divorce from his wife Jennifer after 18 years of marriage. After meeting in high school and raising two children, the couple is reportedly separating due to “irreconcilable differences.”

·         Following this, DeLonge posted three videos through his organization, To the Stars Academy of Arts and Sciences, that potentially show UFOs. In response, the U.S. Navy confirmed the videos as “unidentified” phenomena in time for Storm Area 51 last Friday.

·         In response to fan rumors, DeLonge also made a statement about his time with Blink-182 and squashed rumors that there is any bad blood between him and his former bandmates. To backtrack, Mark Hoppus recently spoke about Blink-182 before Matt Skiba replaced him following his departure in 2015.

·         Former MCR frontman, Gerard Way, announced that he was already working on the fourth volume of his hit comic, The Umbrella Academy. The third volume, which was recently released in stores, is titled The Umbrella Academy Volume 3: Hotel Oblivion.

·         Panic! at the Disco earned its third platinum single from their sixth studio album, Pray for the Wicked, for the song “Hey Look Ma, I Made It.” The track follows “Say Amen (Saturday Night)” going platinum in May and “High Hopes” going 3x platinum in June.

·         Good Dye Young, the hair dye brand of Paramore frontwoman, Hayley Williams, relaunched its long out-of-stock lightening kit. In addition to doubling its size, the company revamped the formula to be vegan and gluten-free.

·         Guitar manufacturer Fender announced a new nonprofit effort in collaboration with Panic! at the Disco’s Brendon Urie, Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz and more. The Fender Play Foundation moves forward with its mission to educate, equip and inspire young players.

___

Check in next Tuesday for more “Posi Talk with Sage Haley,” only at @sagehaleyofficial!

[readwithmichelle]

Books I Read in May

For the month of May, which was my first real month back to reading books for my own pleasure and not for classes, I read 4 books. Not a lot, I know, but I’m kind of a variable reader - sometimes I devour books in a matter of days, and others it takes me a few weeks. I suppose it depends on how much a book gripped me.  Anyway, for the month of May I read Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom, both by Leigh Bardugo, as well as Among the Hollow by Roman Ankenbrandt, and American Pharoah by Joe Drape. 

Six of Crows was my first foray into Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse. I first heard of the book when I worked at a bookstore, and one of the assistant managers mentioned it as one of her very favorite books she had ever read. I frequently saw the duology when I was straightening shelves or recommending books to teenage readers. When it finally came time for me to leave the store for my next job, I ended up grabbing Six of Crows and buying it with the intention of reading it. I even managed to start it, but then I decided to go back to school, and all pleasure reading went out the window.  It would be another 2 YEARS before I picked Six of Crows back up. Initially I tried out the audiobook - which wasn’t bad but not really my cup, and then I bought it as an eBook as a bundle with it’s sequel. Once I dug in, I couldn’t stop. I devoured Six of Crows in the matter of about a week. I adored the writing - if there is one thing Leigh Bardugo is good at, it’s dialogue and the careful art of showing and not telling. It took me almost 100 pages to understand what the Grisha were and what the deal with this new fantasy world was, but despite that it very much reads as a standalone that does not need the presence of the Grisaverse trilogy behind it.  The story is mildly predictable, but the plot isn’t really what drives the story - it’s the characters. The internal motivations of Kaz, Inej, Wylan, Jesper, Nina, and Matthias are the cornerstone of this story, and they’re what make it a truly enjoyable read - not necessarily the story itself. I imagine, if you wanted a definition of a character driven story, this would be it. The characters - in particular Kaz and Inej gripped me pretty much immediately, and I was completely invested in them and what they had gone through. It also totally emotionally compromised me.  Rating: 5/5 Stars The same could be said of Crooked Kingdom, though this one felt a little bit less cohesive than Six of Crows, which had a clear goal. Crooked Kingdom has the Crows being pit against just about everyone in Kerch, and with everyone looking for a piece of them, the story felt a little all over the place for it. That said, we got more of that sweet, sweet character backstory and development, and I will not deny that I was completely incapacitated by Kaz and Inej’s moments together. I felt pleased to have continued with these characters, and it was a real page turner - I had intended to give myself a few days before starting Crooked Kingdom after finishing Six of Crows, but I HAD to know what happened next so I started it pretty much within an hour of finishing the first book.  When it comes to THAT scene, it was a bit more emotionally upsetting than I anticipated. The character involved was not one of my favorites, and I found them kind of problematic as a character. That didn’t stop me from tearing up. I feel, perhaps unlike many other fans of this book that it was a “justified” moment. I will go further into detail at another time about this specific scene with spoilers, but not in this recap.  Ultimately the story felt extremely satisfying. I was glad to see where it ended, and was so incensed about not getting to continue with certain characters that I pretty much threw my Kindle away from me in a fit of frustration. I desperately want to know where these characters end up, so if Leigh Bardugo could come out with a third book and make it a trilogy, I would be forever in her debt.  Rating: 5/5 Stars After that whirlwind I ended up deciding to read Among the Hollow by Roman Ankenbrandt. This is a debut work, and apparently didn’t really make a big splash when it was released. It has less than 50 reviews between Goodreads and Amazon where it was self-published. This one was a surprise for me. The reviews for it are exceptionally high, so I hoped that perhaps it would be a fun one - and it was. But it also was extremely refreshing. The setting is inspired by Ancient Byzantium - a setting that is exceptionally uncommon in my experience, and it features my very favorite kind of magic to use in stories - necromancy. If you know me, you know that I’m absolutely crazy about Garth Nix’s Old Kingdom Series. They’re some of my very favorite novels, so this was a no brainer for me. The interpretation of Necromancy ended up being the surprise. The magic system of how it works is very soft, but is present just enough that I do not feel as though I don’t understand it.  When it comes to the characters, our main cast is that of Sevila, and Aurel. Aurel is a spirit that contracts with Sevila to get their body back, and from there it’s a whirlwind. Perhaps one of my favorite aspects of this story is that Aurel desperately wants to do good things, but people are so scared of them as a spirit that they cannot. Sevila, who has the capability, has no desire to do good things, and the conflict between Aurel and Sevila over that is interesting. Of the two of them, however, Sevila is probably my favorite character - she is barely likable, and is a strong morally grey main character. Also, I love that she’s an unabashed lesbian who does not pretend to be something she is not. The book races towards it’s end very quickly, and my biggest gripe about the whole book is that it feels too short. At 299 pages on the eBook edition it is on the shorter end of books I have read. Perhaps I am greedy, and merely wanted to spend more time with the characters in that setting, but I strongly felt that some scenes could use some fleshing out, or new scenes could have been added between Sevila and Aurel. Ultimately, it is a very good debut book, and I hope this author publishes more in the future. At the end of the book there very much feels like there is more story to tell, more adventures to be had.  Rating: 5/5 Stars The final book I read for the month was American Pharoah by Joe Drape. This is a biography about the 2015 Triple Crown winning horse. A little background information if you will - I am an avid horse racing fan. I watch it regularly (have it set to record on Hulu!), and have watched the Triple Crown races every year since I was around 8 years old. I have had my heart broken by horse racing more times than I’ve been in relationships.  My relationship with the sport is still contentious at times. I don’t care for most of the breeding practices, and I don’t like that people with money throw it around to get essentially a commodity, not an animal. The Thoroughbred breed has suffered for it.  So when it came to reading this book, I was a little apprehensive - it claims to be an untold story. The story of American Pharoah is quite well known among horse racing fans - so what could be untold? Ultimately, it was the stories of his connections, and his early training years that were untold, I suppose.  The owners of American Pharoah, Zayat Stables - especially Ahmed Zayat don’t come out of this book looking particularly good. In fact he looks like a billionare with too much money to throw around and a “get rich quick” scheme to boot. Bob Baffert, legendary trainer as he is, is given a softer approach, but not by much. The book makes sure to mention his previous to 2015 doping scandals and the time he got scammed by a guy. This is compounded by hindsight too; Bob Baffert’s second Triple Crown Winner - Justify (2018 winner) - was revealed to have been doped (intentionally or not is irrelevant) in the race before the Kentucky Derby, and the scandal rocked the horse racing world quite heavily - it even ended up on the New York Times.  As the book says, there are very few saints in the Horse Racing industry.  On top of examining the human connections to this once in a life time horse, the book also examines the effect that the rich and elite have had on the industry - everything from purchasing habits to breeding trends - the most damning part of the book is how it details the pervading millionaire view of race horses as personal ATMs, how they don’t even know the names of the people who care for their horses, and worst perhaps of all, their desires have shaped the breed itself. Horses used to be raced upwards of 20 times in their lifetimes, and their conformation - or the way they are built - reflected their stamina and strength. Today’s Thoroughbreds barely race more than 10 times in their entire career, and much has been published examining the fragility of the breed in the wake of Eight Belles and Barbaro’s very public breakdowns on the track.  Even Seth Hancock - perhaps one of the most well known names in horse racing - has said “I don’t breed them like I used to” and that is because people want fast horses, not strong horses. This book drives that point home multiple times.  Ultimately, the book itself is a fast read, and enjoyable to boot, though it spends an uncomfortable amount of time giving the lurid details of Thoroughbred horse breeding. My biggest gripes with it is that it has a few grammatical errors and I found the passage about Bob Baffert being scammed a tad unnecessary.  Rating: 4/5 Stars For the Month of June I intend to finish a few books I started in May - The Graves are Walking by John Kelly, Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir, and Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo. I also intend to (if I can get through the depressing but enlightening account of the Irish Potato Famine) read If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio, The Vine Witch by Luanne G. Smith, The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo, and The Last Temptations of Iago Wick by Jennifer Rainey. 

[lilithsaur]

heyo! Just wanted to pop in and say that I love your wicked saints art (and every single one of your other pieces!) I read it because of you! And now I’m obsessed 👀 we love our sad villain boiz. Sending big love your way from all the heartbroken reylo fans 💜💜💜

❤😭❤😭❤😭❤