#and half the characters are white brits

[queereads-bracket]

Queer Historical Fiction Book Bracket: Round 2A

Book summaries and submitted endorsements below:

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

Endorsement from submitter: "significant secondary character is a trans man"

The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical. But after growing up together in a small, southern black community and running away at age sixteen, it's not just the shape of their daily lives that is different as adults, it's everything: their families, their communities, their racial identities. Many years later, one sister lives with her black daughter in the same southern town she once tried to escape. The other passes for white, and her white husband knows nothing of her past. Still, even separated by so many miles and just as many lies, the fates of the twins remain intertwined. What will happen to the next generation, when their own daughters' storylines intersect?

Weaving together multiple strands and generations of this family, from the Deep South to California, from the 1950s to the 1990s, Brit Bennett produces a story that is at once a riveting, emotional family story and a brilliant exploration of the American history of passing. Looking well beyond issues of race, The Vanishing Half considers the lasting influence of the past as it shapes a person's decisions, desires, and expectations, and explores some of the multiple reasons and realms in which people sometimes feel pulled to live as something other than their origins.

Setting: significant stretch of US, 1950–1990+

Historical fiction, literary fiction, adult

The Last of the Wine by Mary Renault

Endorsement from submitter: "Alexias and Lysis's relationship is great and also a really interesting look at ancient Greek sexual dynamics in general. Also, Alcibiades is there!"

In The Last of the Wine, two young Athenians, Alexias and Lysis, compete in the palaestra, journey to the Olympic games, fight in the wars against Sparta, and study under Socrates. As their relationship develops, Renault expertly conveys Greek culture, showing the impact of this supreme philosopher whose influence spans epochs.

Setting: Ancient Greece, 5th century BC(E)

Historical fiction, philosophical novel, politics, coming of age, Ancient Greece, adult

[aq2003]

I find the decision to write the first Doctor as sort of cartoonishly bigoted in the episode with Twelve fascinating, because it shifts the blame for the racism, sexism etc present in early Doctor Who from the writers and producers to the *character*. It wasn’t the Doctor who wrote limited character arcs for female characters in comparison to male ones, and it wasn’t the Doctor who decided to use yellow-face for the characters in some episodes - that was the writers and production team. Y’know, real people. People whose legacy the current writers and producers of the show - who have also largely been white men, just like their predecessors - owe their jobs to.

And the persistent problem with continuing to sideline and tokenise the characters of some of the female companions and characters of colour in the service of centring the doctor as the (until recently) white male protagonist - that continued for most of the modern reboot in some form. Some of the elements of that were even new innovations under the modern writers (looking at you Moffat but you are not the only offender.) I mean, we’re talking about the portrayal of One as the past’s ambassador for sexism in iirc the exact same episode where Chris Chibnall reversed the previous episode’s ending of Bill surviving with Heather and re-buried the lesbians by sending Bill directly to the ‘your soul is canonically dead’ zone.

I absolutely can’t speak for the whole of the first Doctor’s tenure because I’ve only seen about 2/3 of his surviving episodes, but from the episodes I have seen, he didn’t even talk like that. There was a very big problem with that run of the show, but it was a different problem to the one the episode with One and Twelve is describing. One was weird as hell, but he was much less overtly hostile, wished much less bodily harm on minority groups and even dipped into less microaggressions and dogwhistles than most older white British people do now. That isn’t to say One’s behaviour in Old Who was something to aim for, it’s to say that a lot of the improvement in the attitude of white people in Britain over the last half-century has been performative at best, imaginary at worst, a lot of our dogwhistles are new and especially alarming for that reason - and it comforts white people to imagine that the racism and sexism of the past was overt and vulgar and unlike theirs, and that their bigotry by comparison is lesser and better and therefore doesn’t need further work; that now people affected by it just need to learn to live with it, because you’re lucky we’re not like our grandparents.

But that excuse doesn’t really work if (tw racism, anti-blackness, Islamophobia, death) some sects of British society talk more positively about drowning immigrants in the English Channel than they did 100 years ago, does it?

That excuse doesn’t work if your grandparents were actually quite a lot like you.

I live in the UK, about half the people I know watched the special with Twelve and One, and considering that vanishingly few modern viewers have seen or remember the first Doctor or any early Old Who, there was this odd awkward relief from most of the white people I watched the episode with, like they’d been absolved from Britain’s historical and current racism by the burning of an effigy. Like that bigotry coming from One’s mouth was a reassurance that this country’s bigotry had always been as cartoonish and ineffectual and easy to see as the lines Chris Chibnall and his colleagues wrote for One; that white people living in the UK now are fundamentally different than they were; and by watching Bill and One’s (still white) successor refuse his cartoonishly awful worldview, white Brits had somehow cleansed themselves and buried the past completely.

But the vast majority of the racism, bigotry, sexism in the original run of Doctor Who and still present in various forms in the show now did not actually take the form of nice clear, simple statements of bigoted beliefs from the characters’ mouths - it was in the writing. The way characters and especially cultures were portrayed. The yellow-face in one of Two’s story arcs really stuck in my mind, but the way Old Who handled nonwhite cultures in general was often horrific. The first Doctor was often perfectly polite, but women and characters of colour were sidelined and (even in instances when it was clearly accidental) dangerously misrepresented throughout the show in ways that persist well into the post-2000 reboot, because the sexism and racism wasn’t in the character.

The sexism and racism was in the writers’ room.

I don’t have any sentimental attachment to Old Who, I was born about a decade after it ended, but deflecting the cultural problems in the BBC that persist to this day onto one of the show’s characters, by having him express an easily-digestible form of bigotry much less dangerous and insidious than the one that was actually present in the early show, feels like a dangerous form of scapegoating.

Something I think would have meant much, much more would have been an apology *outside of the show* from the BBC and the show’s current writers for the wide variety of sincerely-held bigotries that were actually present in the first run of the show, and a public acknowledgement of the pervasive, insidious forms those bigotries actually often took in the show’s writing - and also an acknowledgement of the show’s continuing shortfalls in its handling of race and gender over the last twenty years - because that would have been much more productively challenging for viewers of the show (more or less the whole of the British public at some point in their lives) to have to consider. Which I have to assume is why they went down the reassuring ‘the first Doctor has died for our sins’ route instead.

This is just my two cents, I am also white and British so please take this perspective with a grain of salt.

Mm. I don’t know. This country loves letting ourselves off too easily, and the writing of One in that episode feels the like easiest and for that reason least effective way of reckoning with the way we were in the 1900s. Don’t worry everyone, at the turn of the millennium both the show and the country of Britain were reborn without sin!

this is such a good writeup anon. i don't have a lot to add - just that im asian-american and a lot of what you said aligns with rhetoric i've also seen in the states - that being this sense that racism is just something of the past rather than a fundamental, systemic issue that the country was built on. and yeah one thing that really struck me while watching twice upon a time was how one's bigotry was always framed as a joke. bill straight up says to twelve "i hope we laugh about it for 20 years" or whatever and it just reeks of "To Our White Audience: be not afraid. you're not racist like the 1st doctor who lived far into the past. see? the one black character knows we're not racist now. please give yourselves a pat on the back". and like, it's not funny to any people of color that might be watching. it's just prioritizing the comfort of white people. and it's pretty terrible that moffat (he wrote the episode, chibnall just wrote thirteen's first lines. but also i know chibnall took nuwho into its least progressive era so...) felt like he had a right to make light of this stuff when he has committed some pretty egregious crimes in his tenure himself

[spnbabe67]

With The Taste of Your Lips, I'm On a Ride

Kinktober Day 28: Mile-High Club (S.B.)

Pairing: Soldier Boy x Original Female Character

Warnings: Smut, PiV, Oral (M. Rec), Public sex (they are on a plane, obviously, but the pilot has his headset on)

Summary: Odessa finds a way to curb Ben's boredom and fulfill an item on her bucket list while chasing a lead.

Word Count: 1448

Written for @jacklesversebingo/ Prompt: Write About A First

Authors Note: Title is a lyric from Toxic by Britney Spears. Also, I took some inspo from the songs music vid for this fic!

Odessa had always been jealous of the Supes who could fly. The ability to traverse the skies with ease, completely unburdened by the weight of gravity had always been a source of envy for her. Her own superhuman skillset lacked that particular attribute, much to her chagrin, but she didn’t dwell too much on that fact; it wasn’t like she could do a whole lot about it anyway. Odessa peered longingly out the window of the private jet, watching the white clouds pass by below her; the wispy cirrus clouds occasionally breaking to reveal the cityscape beneath. Ben sighed for what seemed to be the third time in the last ten minutes, the sound of thinly veiled exasperation pulling Odessa’s gaze from out the window to him. 

“What?” She asked him, crossing her arms over her chest.

He barely spared her a glance from where he was looking out the window himself. “Nothin.” He grumbled, fingers tapping rhythmically on his knee. 

“Mm, no.” Odessa responded. “You’ve been huffing like a freight train over there ever since we took off. What is up with you?”

“‘M bored. There’s nothing to do.” 

She rolled her eyes so hard Odessa half expected them to come out of their sockets. She was honestly surprised this hadn’t happened sooner into their 5 hour flight. They’d both burned through the reefer Ben had stashed in his carry on in the first third of the trek, Ben more so than her. They’d been chasing a lead for Butcher, the Brit having convinced both of them to fly out to L.A. since, according to him they “had connections”. Odessa supposed he wasn’t wrong, both she and Ben having people owing them favors from back in their hey-day’s. Hence why they were both completely alone, save for the pilot, on a private jet with a direct flight path from JFK to LAX. 

“The unstoppable Soldier Boy, defeated by the simple act of boredom.” Odessa snarked, huffing an amused laugh through her nose.

“Shut your mouth.” Ben retorted, though there was little heat behind his words.

“I thought you liked it open?” Odessa teased, biting her lower lip as Ben leveled a heated look in her direction.

“Why don’t you come over here and put it to good use then.” Ben taunted and Odessa knew he didn’t mean it literally, but the seed had been planted and who was she not to reap its rewards.

It was amusing to see Ben’s eyes flare wide slightly as Odessa uncurled herself from where she’d been sitting across from him, prowling over to him. Even better was the grin spreading across his lips as she lowered herself to her knees in front of him, his legs set wider to accommodate for her to nestle between them.

“God, I love the way you think, Dess.” Ben smirked down at her, running his hand over her head, fingers threading through her hair.

Odessa answered his smirk with one of her own as she slid her hands up his sweatpant-covered thighs, the warmth of his body soaking through the cloth. She wasn’t often cold, but the preternatural heat radiating off of Ben’s body made her want to curl up around him like a cat basking in the afternoon sunlight. Odessa palmed his semi-hard length through his pants, looking up at him through her eyelashes.

“Bucket list item.” She waggled her eyebrows at him. “Always wanted to be a part of the Mile High club.”

“Never really appealed to me.” Ben grunted, tipping his head back against the seat as she moved her hand over his clothed cock with more intent. “Not until now at least.”

His hips chased her touch, brushing forward against her palm, a guttural groan escaping him as Odessa slipped her hand between his pants and his feverish skin, fully grasping him. He gripped the armrests hard enough Odessa could hear the metal start to groan beneath his strength. With his help, Odessa managed to shimmy his sweats down his muscular thighs far enough for his erect length to spring free, slapping against the Giant’s jersey hanging loose on his frame. She was sure she heard the metal beneath his grasp give way as she flattened her tongue against the base of him, licking a long stripe up the underside until she swirled it around his tip. Odessa wrapped her lips around the head of him, red and weeping precum already. The mighty Soldier Boy, reduced to a groaning mess for me. 

Odessa gave an amused hum around him when, as she slowly took more and more of him into her mouth, he absolutely made dents in the seat. His hips chased her mouth as Odessa bobbed her head on his cock, hollowing out her cheeks to create a strong suction. Her hand wrapped around the very base of him, nestled amongst the neatly trimmed patch of hair, providing spit-slicked friction to whatever part of him she couldn’t take into her mouth. Even Supes have gag reflexes. 

His hand knotted in her hair, guiding her rhythm as his hips started to buck up into her mouth. Her name on his lips along with the lewd sounds of her mouth around him had a wet spot soaking into her panties. Odessa’s other hand slipped down her own pair of sweatpants, providing her clit with much needed friction, Ben’s grip tightening in her hair as he could no doubt smell and hear her touching herself. She gagged slightly around his length as he thrusted harshly up into her mouth, his rhythm becoming more and more erratic as he got closer to his climax. Ben let out a strangled moan as he errantly rolled his hips upwards, cumming down her throat. Odessa did her best to swallow his spend down, her throat working around his length. 

Ben used his grip on her hair to pull her up from off her knees, Odessa having barely enough time to pant down enough air to replenish her aching lungs before he crashed his mouth to hers. Her tongue worked against his, letting Ben taste himself on her mouth as she moaned desperately against his lips. Odessa watched him as he grabbed the wrist of the hand that had been stuffed in her pants, pulling her hand to his mouth. Odessa whimpered slightly as his hot mouth wrapped around the fingers she’d just had stuffed in her core, feeling his tongue swirl around them not unlike how her own mouth had treated his cock.

“Fucking delicous.” Ben growled as he pulled off her fingers with a loud pop, licking his lips. 

Odessa was sure her panties were completely saturated by this point as she turned around, hooking her thumbs in the waistband of her sweats, pulling them down her legs. Ben’s hands landed on her hips, guiding her down onto his cock. Odessa let her head lean back against his shoulder as Ben shifted her on his lap, propping her feet on his knees. In this position, the air was knocked out of her lungs every time Ben bottomed out in her with how deep he managed to fit inside her. One arm wrapped around to toy with her clit, the other came up to rest around her neck as Ben fucked up into her. Odessa was already halfway there with a hand down her pants while she sucked him off, so that pool of heat in her belly rapidly filled each time Ben’s hips slapped against her own. 

Odessa breathed his name, resting her head against the side of his, her hand coming up to card through his hair, his beard rough against the side of her neck. A string of curses fell from her lips as Odessa spasmed around him, her orgasm like a shock of lightning down her spine.

“Shit, so fucking tight, Dess.” Ben cursed, thrusting hard into her has he chased his own orgasm in lieu of her own. 

Odessa moaned breathlessly as Ben pounded into her until finally he came deep inside her, hand gripping her thigh harshly. They both panted raggedly as Odessa sat up off his lap, pulling her pants back on. Once they both redressed themselves, Odessa took the seat next to him, laying down with her head in his lap. Both of them passed out soon after, sleeping through the rest of the flight.

“Hope y'all had a good flight.” The pilot said in farewell to them as Odessa and Ben exited the plane. 

Odessa made the mistake of glancing over at Ben, seeing the knowing look on his face. Both of them dissolved into a fit of giggles as they departed, much to the pilots confusion,

[yellowjacketsfashion]

What would u consider as Britt's style? She doesn't have much screen time but when she does her outfits and hair are always so cute!

There isn’t a whole lot of unique outfits in season 3 (because of the cabin fire) so I’ve included the outfits from the season 1 actress as well in my analysis to have more to go off of.

Brit Style Analysis:

In season 1 she often layers her outfits with a denim jacket whereas she doesn’t typically have a lot of layers in season 3 and instead wears more sweatshirts/sweaters. Overall her clothing between seasons isn’t super consistent with the individual pieces she wears but there is definitely thoroughfare with the kinds of pieces she wears. For example, almost every outfit features a floral or striped article of clothing paired with solid colored pieces. She also wears white tennis shoes or sneakers in both seasons as well though I’m not sure if they’re the same pair.

Something else I’ve noticed is that she wears a lot of pieces from the other characters in season 3 such as Misty’s sweater or Gen’s Ralph Lauren sweatshirt. A lot of the other characters share clothing but what really struck me is just how much she wears other people’s clothing as she’s in borrowed clothing pieces for probably half the season. My guess is that this was done to show Brit having a connection with the other characters as the “extras” are usually put in Yellowjackets merch for the same reason. That or it’s supposed to emphasize how limited their resources have become.

Colors: Aqua, Pink, and Orange?

Repeatedly Worn Brands: ?

Ideas of how to dress like Brit:

* Wear a patterned top with solid color pants

* Accessorize with scarfs

* Borrow clothing from your friends

[plagues02]

Is There Room For Four?

Chapter One - Room for Two

Summary: Simon 'Ghost' Riley didn't need a soulmate. He was fine in the black and white and gray world he was stuck in. Then one by one his soulmates start crashing into his life, bringing a new color with them. Turns out Simon likes this new colorful world his soulmates have brought him into Characters: Simon 'Ghost' Riley, Gary 'Roach' Sanderson Ship: GhostRoach, End game SoapGhostRoachKönig Work Count: 2055 Note: This was written back in 2022 and was originally posted on Ao3 Chapters: One(You're Here), Two, Three, Four

Simon ‘Ghost’ Riley worked alone. He always did. It’s been like this for a while now, but it wasn’t always like this. There was a time that he was Simon when he was a freshly turned eighteen-year-old. He stayed as Simon for a good while. Until it happened.

His family was killed, and he went after Roba, killing the man that had his family killed. He remembered seeing an old mask before he started the fire. The very same mask his brother would scare him with, and he grabbed it. Simon died that day. He died in the fire, and he became Ghost.

Ghost was a cold man who cared for nothing but the job, making him the ideal guy for solo jobs. However, fate was cruel, and fate had other plans.

When Ghost was told he would be teaming up with an American, he asked to see his folder. The American’s name was Gary Sanderson. Gary? What kind of name was Gary? His eyebrow raised, even more, when he read that his nickname was Roach. He took it back. Gary was normal. What kind of name was Roach?

During the first meeting, the Brit figured out why he got this kind of name. At least part of the reason. Gary was short, almost a foot shorter. Maybe not a full foot, but close enough. He was also quiet. From his file, he learned that Roach was selectively mute, and from meeting him, he learned he used ASL. Ghost was lucky to know a few signs to understand parts of what he was saying.

On the helicopter, Ghost looked over at the mission file. Roach watched out the window before looking over at the other man when he started speaking.

“There’s one building. A decent side warehouse. We’re looking for this man-” Roach took the paper from Ghost to look at the man. “-We’re to take him alive.”

The American nodded as he handed the paper back, feeling the helicopter get closer to the ground. They were about a twenty-minute walk away from the warehouse. The walk was quiet. It seemed to be how the two of them liked it.

Roach was a follower, noted Ghost. Always a few steps behind, never beside, never ahead. He was also aware of his surroundings, looking around and having his gun at the ready.

“Two routes,” Ghost stated when they got to the warehouse and took out the front guards. “You take left. I’ll go right.”

There were a few things that Roach noticed when meeting Ghost, and even from just looking at his file. He didn’t show his face, staying hidden behind a skull mask and sunglasses. Oh, those sunglasses looked stupid with that balaclava. The headphones didn’t help.

The American also noticed that the Brit was like him. A man of few words, Gary was just a man of fewer words. Only speaking about the mission, not that Roach minded. He wasn’t one for small talk.

Finally, he noticed how Ghost didn’t like eye contact, even with the sunglasses. Roach knew this because when he tried to look at his face, the other looked around. People with trauma around soulmates often do this so Roach assumed his world was as dull and gray as his own.

Before meeting one’s soulmate, their world would be shades of gray. Color would only splash into their life when their eyes met with the other half. Roach has met many people before. He has watched pure joy over people’s faces from meeting their soulmates, but he has also seen horror spread across their faces as well. It appeared Ghost would have been one of those so he refused to look. Avoiding eyesight was the only way to not meet your soulmate. Otherwise, fate would bring you together. Roach wanted to find his soulmate one day.

Now was not the time to be thinking about soulmates. The sound of gunshots from the other side of the building altered the guards that someone else was in the building but only on one side. The American took out as many as he could before he was also noticed, taking cover around a corner as he reloaded.

Thanks for the distraction Roach thought after finishing the final few guards on his side, taking the ammo off their body. He did change guns when he realized they didn’t have the ammo he needed.

Ghost nodded at Roach when they met up in the middle. The rest of the way to the final room was a straight shot. All the guards were up front, none in the middle, and very few in the room with the man. The American barely had to raise his gun before they were all down.

“Fucking hell,” the Brit said when the door behind them slammed open. The two took cover as about fifteen more armed men came into the room.

Roach found himself taking the time to aim for headshots at those who didn’t have helmets while Ghost just shot. They made a good team, and they both noticed during this time.

Fuck Gary thought at the sound of a car engine turning on and then the car speeding away. The other man’s body language said the same.

When they were sure the fifteen men were down, the two walked to each other again. The younger man could feel the stress coming off the other’s body, knowing they had two options. They would report their mission as a failure, or the mission would take a few extra steps to complete.

“We’ll get him next time,” signed Roach when Ghost finally looked at him. “And there will be a next time.”

Before the Brit could open his mouth to respond, Roach fell into his arms at the sound of a single gunfire. Ghost didn’t hesitate to pull out his handgun and shoot the culprit, one of the fifteen guards that used his coworker’s body to survive the original shootout.

“Bloody hell,” Ghost grumbled, pulling up the other’s shirt. He reached up to click his communicator. “Ghost 0-2, target got away. Roach is shot. Immediate evac requested.”

The response took a few seconds. “Heli can be there in ten minutes. They will land in front of the warehouse.”

Ghost looked back at the younger man, who was watching him with his brown eyes. Brown? Wait wait wait,,, brown?? His eyes went back down at the wound to see red on both Roach’s paling skin and his own gloved hand. Fuck.

He looked away to see his sunglasses were on the ground beside them. They had to have fallen off during all the confusion. He turned to look back, realizing that not everything was in color. His pants were still gray, and the American flag on Roach’s chest was still black and white. 

Ghost was glad his mask covered his face. It was a mix of surprise, fear, and his face was also beet red. He finally stood up, helping Roach to his feet after putting his sunglasses back on. He threw his arm over his shoulders.

“We’ll talk about this later,” he said in a small voice, moving Roach’s hand to the wound. “Keep pressure on this.”

Roach watched him for a while before nodding. He leaned against the taller man, looking around as they walked. Where were the colors? They were supposed to be blinked by colors. This was anything put. Only a few colors and shades fill their world.

The helicopter wasn’t long after they got outside. Ghost helped push Roach into the ‘copter before jumping in himself. Instead of across from each other like they did on the way here, he said next to the younger man.

“How bad is it?” A voice came over the speaker.

Ghost moved Roach’s hand to look at the wound again. “Right above his hip,” he responded. “Bullet is still in there.”

“It’s twenty minutes until we’re back at base. There’s a medkit above you. Use it,” the voice said again before the radio went off and the helicopter started going up.

Ghost reached up to grab the med kit, kneeling on the ground. He placed the kit on his previous seat. Roach pulled his goggles up, resting them on his helmet, with his free, non-bloodied hand.

It was clear that Ghost wasn’t used to giving medical care, but he knew enough to be helpful. While the bullet was still in him, the Brit cleaned around the open wound and wrapped it up tightly. He also handed a sanitizer wipe to the American to clean his hand off.

Gary watched the man sit down by him again, staring ahead. Silence fell over them once more. It was more comfortable than their last silence, the two understanding each other a little more than before. 

"Stop moving," Ghost only spoke after the third or fourth time that Roach shifted with a groan. "You'll hurt yourself more."

Roach froze, unsure how to react to the care. He looked out at the sky, relaxing more with another pained noise. Ghost's eyes followed him behind his sunglasses. He can't sit still, he thought, silently laughing. 

They made it back to base shortly after this. The landing pad was on the other side of base than medical. Another soldier tried to take Roach from Ghost, who quickly turned that down. No one questioned him as he started heading toward the building.

It was three days later when they got a chance to sit down to speak about what happened. Ghost sat next to the American, placing a piece of paper and a pencil down on the table in front of him. Roach raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t know much sign language, not American at least,” Ghost explained. “I’m not forcing you to talk.”

Roach smiled behind his mask. They were both in casual clothing, but they also both kept their balaclavas on. Ghost wore the skull one while Roach preferred a plain black one.

“Now,,, we see colors,” Ghost started. “But not all colors. Strange, isn’t it?”

Without the sunglasses, Gary saw his eyes were gray. Were they gray? Or have they just a color they hadn’t unlocked yet. He knew his eyes were brown, same with his hair. He wondered what color Ghost’s was.

Gary leaned down to write. It’s weird. I asked the doctor about it and was told it’s possible there’s more of us.

The Brit raised an eyebrow. “More of us? Like we have more soulmates?” Gary nodded. “Fucking hell.”

Ghost rubbed his face with a sigh. He didn’t want one soulmate. He obviously didn’t want more than one. His stomach dropped when he looked back to see Roach’s response to his reaction.

Roach’s shoulders drooped down, and his eyes looked sad. When they met the other’s, he looked away. The older man frowned behind his mask. He liked the man’s eyes. They were,,,

“Beautiful.”

Gary looked back at him, squinting his eyes in confusion. He felt his face heat up when the other’s hand cupped his cheek.

“Your eyes are beautiful,” Ghost, no, Simon said.

They stared at each other for a while while Simon rubbed his thumb against his face. The hand slowly went down and stopped at the bottom of the balaclava. In response, Gary reached up and did the same thing. They stared at each other, asking a silent question. Simon nodded a little, moving his hand up again. The other copied, and they were maskless. 

Age showed on Simon around his eyes. They had very noticeable eye bags and were slightly wrinkled at the corners. Hair that curled at the ear, facial hair that wasn’t shaved. A few scars on his nose and cheeks. His skin had color, but his eyes and hair did not.

Gary still looked his age, a few years younger than Simon. His hair was shorter and looked clean-cut, like his facial hair. Beauty marks under both eyes. His face was more messed up than Simon’s. Scars on his cheek, nose, and one going from the corner of his lip to his cheekbone. There was almost a large one on his neck. His hair and eyes were colored along with his skin.

“...If they’re anything like you, I won’t mind them,” Simon said in a small voice. Gary smiled in response with a matching silent laugh.

[somewhat-daily-journal]

Eyes and Ears: Worlds Collide

⚠️⚠️ mentioned throwing up again⚠️⚠️

«•••••»

Chapter 2

“DreamXD is a Watcher.”

The words sounded like they held a very deep, terror ridden past.

Tentatively, Phil responded. “What’s a Watcher? Because all I know about DreamXD is that the guy had a singular church, and only one guy off in the desert who already was weird enough, made a huge statue to him.”

If there were any other members active at that time, they weren’t coming to investigate the strange new member. Phil was still sitting in a little mock shop made of crafting tables, surrounded by the Admin and fellow Brit , Xisuma, the tall green.. thing? Named Doc, and the strange, also British, Grian.

“Grian, calm down-“ Xisuma tried to placate the Avian but it wasn’t working, he had a mildly crazed look in his eyes.

“Xisuma stop. I need to know if they had a watcher on their server as well, because if that’s true then- then they’re just so greedy. They already had so many of us in those death games! And- and to hear they’re torturing literal children?! And to think I’m one of them- God I’m gonna be sick- “

Grian rushed over to the half wall of the spawn structure and Phil winced as the man threw up. Doc slowly rubbed circles on his back as he soothed the other. It was clear a lot of the server had familial style relationships with one another, and seeing Grian reminded him so much of Tommy, and his heart ached to see his boy again.

After they got another one of the server’s members —which they call hermits— to get a bit of water for Grian, the conversation resumed a bit.

“Phil I need you to tell me all you know about DreamXD, please.. I need to know who else I need to get rid of.”

“Alright.. sit down and get comfy.. it’s gonna be a while..” Phil said as he himself sat on the ground, he didn’t want to be standing while telling the story for fear of him falling whilst telling the story.

After a long, tear filled recap of everything that Phil knew about DreamXD, the church, the statue Foolish built, the revival book given to schlatt and then to Dream, the death revival of his two sons, and more, Phil just let his body slump against the wall.

Xisuma looked incredibly indignant over how the admin of his server treated his own members. He explained that while to Phil he might be able to see that he’s playing a character, no one else knows that, for them it went from joining to becoming their characters in the blink of an eye.

“Grian.. what do the watchers even do?” Phil asked, looking towards him and seeing, for a split second a man in white robes, two sets of white wings and many purple eyes around him, then it was gone. He jolted a bit and looked away.

“They Watch over servers. They mainly just make sure nothing gets too out of hand but the one for your server.. he’s just- he’s- he has broken every single rule that was taught to the watchers. He wasn’t supposed to give you guys that book. Phil that book.. if that book is still loose on that server, DreamXD may very well just fully incarnate himself in there, making their lives living hell.”

«•••••»

Ooo cliffhanger

Should I continue this?

[olderthannetfic]

https://www.tumblr.com/olderthannetfic/740550153935667200/httpswwwtumblrcomolderthannetfic740123102285

Yeah, there’s been a lot of wank in DS9 fandom lately about why the fandom likes Bashir so much more than Sisko that tends to blame colorism or that Sisko’s Black identity is much more a part of his character while Bashir doesn’t have strong ties to any non white culture. ….And maybe that’s PART of it, but I think the much bigger part of it is that Bashir is presented as a type of character that female fic-writing shipping fandom goes nuts for and Sisko is not. Bashir is a socially awkward overenthusiastic arrogant nerd who has a ton of homoerotic subtext with multiple other male characters and whose canon het relationships in the show are fleeting and half-assed. Sisko is older and a devoted dad and Responsible Adult who has a long-lasting, well-developed and generally well-liked canon het relationship for over half the show’s run. I think if you had the Bashir character played by a Black man who is very in touch with his Black identity and the Sisko one played by a half-English half-Arab actor who is presented as very culturally Brit, the fandom reaction would still favor the former. (In fact, TNG has something of that type of character played by a black man in the form of Geordi and the nerdy girl shipper fandom also loves him and shipping him with Data, so….)

The analysis also ignores that other kinds of fandom exist, namely the cis dude parts of it, and they tend to favor Sisko over Bashir by a wide margin; in fact Sisko is one of the most popular and Bashir one of the least popular DS9 characters in those corners. And Bashir and Alexander Siddig himself have always had a very heavily female following (to the point of being the original name for TVTropes’ page on female-dominated fandoms), even though it is obviously not just women who watch DS9. During the lockdown in 2020, Siddig was doing these Zoom meetings where he met with fans and I went to a couple of them and was briefly in the unofficial Discord for it, and it was almost entirely women + AFAB trans and non binary people. Barely any cis dudes.

It’s weird how many analyses of fandom, even very serious academic ones (like what that paper the previous ask mentioned sounds like), don’t seem to factor in the obvious factors first, the basic nature of how different kinds of fandom work, *before* concluding it must be racism or some other kind of bigotry above all else.

--

Also, to the extent that Bashir ever went near ladies, it was like... Dax in the pilot or something, and I remember watching that when it premiered and going "Ooh". Even his het options were more fanficbait-y than anything Sisko ever did.

It's not an accident those papers are like that. Cut them no slack.

[hard-times-paramore]

It was only a matter of time until I made fanart of Age of Empires 3. Decided to start by drawing the entire family tree of the game's protagonists.

Every named character - except for Phillip (he was only mentioned in the game's guide) - is playable in the game. You start with Morgan in mid-1500s and work your way generation after generation of the Black family until mid-1800s.

My favorite characters are definitely John and Chayton. John has one of the best lore and is in the Act with the best cast of characters, and Chayton is unhinged and a baddass.

Below the cut is my thought process for the drawing. Also, if anyone wants to see my Age of Empires posts, the tag on my blog is "aoeposting".

Starting with Morgan. According to the wiki and the game's guide, he had four children. Two we don't know the name of, John's father Phillip and John's uncle Stuart.

I assume, since Morgan is 200 years old by the time John is born, that neither Stuart nor Phillip were Elizabet's children. He probably had them way later, after getting married to a British woman. But since it's canon he and Lizzie had a situationship, I'm assuming those two unnamed kids are hers, and she took them and raised them as pirates.

I doubt Lizzie ever married Morgan. Though now I don't know what's funnier, them getting married or Morgan the Knight inventing friends with benefits in the 1500s and having children out of wedlock with a pirate.

Well, we don't have time to unpack all that.

So Morgan's British Wife is very posh, to explain why Stuart stands out so much when next to his woodsman nephew John. Both John's father and mother were inspired by the Settlers' design in-game.

I made John's mother be half-Mohawk, because a friend of mine pointed out John and Ká:nien are implied to have grown up together, as well as John having some beadwork in his coat.

I drew Nonahkee's new design, just gave her her old design's braids.

I made Nathaniel's wife white, blonde, and very similar to Amelia, because despite Amelia being half-Mohawk, she looks white, looks nothing like her dad, and is even asked at some point in the game if it's true her family is mixed.

For her husband, I looked up pictures of Lakota men from that time period, as well as some of the in-game Lakota exclusive units. He was particularly inspired on the Club Warrior.

And finally we get to Chayton, who is white, Mohawk and Lakota, with Brits and Scots in his family history. I did say this game was about a long string of biracial people.

He rides off into the sunset at the end of his story. We don't know if he had any children.

[1eos]

Hii Kendra! I love your reading/book tag and I wanna start reading more diverse books because my thesis is abt to end and I'll have more time to get into non-academic reading do you have any recommendations?

Also i think ur super cool in general I hope you've been doing well!

omg congrats on almost being done w your thesis! i know that extra free time is gonna feel soooooooooo good. and ofc i have recs!

the vanishing half by brit bennett - omggggg one of my most favorite books of all time currently. its almost a set of twins who run away from their hometown that's obsessed w breeding dark skin away basically and how their lives diverge with one twin passing as white and the other deciding to 'stay black'. its a romance its a family history its an homage to toni morrison. the prose is AMAZINGGGG and the characters are just so good. i love this book

this is your mind on plants by michael pollan -a very interestingly written nonfiction book on the like...contradictions of what mind altering plants are demonized/normalized. was hooked from the opening tbh

natural beauty by ling ling huang - how the toxicity of the beauty industry and societal pressures for woc to assimilate visually go hand in hand. the ending was wild but i really liked it

yellowface by r f kuang - a white woman has an inferiority complex bc shes a mid writer and instead of tackling her innate belief that she deserves recognition for being white and mid she proceeds to pretend to be asian. an infuriating but good read bc the narrator is the epitome of That Kind of white person 😭

my sister the serial killer by oyinkan braithwaite - title tells you the premise but it goes sooo much deeper than that. tackles what it means to be the 'ugly sister'/the 'sister's keeper' bc you're the eldest. devoured this book in just a day its so good

the only good indians by stephen graham jones - horror book rooted in the lives of a group of native american friends that grew up on the same reservation and the manifestation of intergenerational curses......metaphorical curses and like LITERAL curses. be warned ppl do die.......and it gets kinda crazy at some points so check does the dog die for list of warnings

a tale for the time being by ruth ozeki - this book got me into reading again. its two stories in one almost? a writer finds a lunchbox on the beach that has the journal of a japanese high school student named nao who is having a shit time in school and its this really amazing coming of age story not only for nao but for the writer who finds her story. warning. nao is casually suicidal at the beginning of the book and its not too graphic depictions of bullying towards the middle

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

reading updates: september 2023

AHOY EVERYBODY!!! the end of the month has really crept up on me and lo, I have no finished as many books as I thought I would by this point! but so it goes.

also I'm fighting for my life trying to get through all of the library books I have checked out, which is a bummer because there are a bunch of creepy books I want to start reading for Spooky Month! but time is an illusion and I've already made my peace with Spooky Month extending into November, so whatever happens happens, babey! but that's the future, right now we need to talk about what I've been reading for the past month.

A View from the Bottom: Asian American Masculinity and Sexual Representation (Nguyen Tan Hoang, 2014) - Nguyen's dissertation is a really fascinating piece of queer scholarship, which gets deep (pun somewhat intended) into forms of media often overlooked by academia - gay porn, softcore art films, gay indie documentaries - in search of a new understanding of Asian masculinity and bottomhood. I really like Nguyen's thoughtful study of bottoming, effeminacy, and sexual abjection, all of which he's pretty in favor of, balanced with analyses of the factors of race, class, nationality, and citizenship that complicate how gay Asian men are perceived. it's wide-ranging, it's meticulous, it's kind of hot? I love you, queers in academia.

"You Just Need to Lose Weight" and 19 Other Myths About Fat People (Aubrey Gordon, 2023) - god, okay, listen: this book was a little dry TO ME but ONLY BECAUSE I have already spent years listening to Aubrey Gordon discuss all 19 of these myths and a bunch of other shit on her excellent podcast, Maintenance Phase. if you don't listen to Maintenance Phase either start doing that or read this book! which is extremely well-researched and great for debunking pretty much every "justification" a person might off to try and make their fatphobia sound reasonable. frankly if I could load up copies of YJNTLW into, like, a t-shirt gun to just have on standby to fire at people, I would do that.

Sorry, Bro (Taleen Voskuni, 2023) - yeah you all already know about this book, which is the one in which a 27 year old brings the narrative to a screeching halt to assure the readers that it's okay for her to hook up with a 31 year old woman because despite the so-called age gap both of their brains are fully-cooked. that's not actually the worst part of this book; the worst part is that the prose is unpolished in the extreme and the main character is kind of a dumb asshole. cannot say I recommend it, no matter how desperate you may be for bisexual Armenian representation.

Brown and Gay in LA: The Lives of Immigrant Sons (Anthony Christian Ocampo, 2022) - I really like the way Ocampo writes his nonfiction, which is very chatty and extremely accessible (if a little prone to editorializing). I love seeing sociologists writing from the community the community they live in, and these interviews come from second generation queer Latino and Filipino men frequenting the same LA clubs and coffee shops as the gay second gen Filipino author. it kills the presumed spectator that a lot of writing on marginalized communities can fall victim to; here, it's not that brown gay men need to be explained, but rather outsiders who need to make the effort to keep up with their lives. I especially appreciated Ocampo's highlighting the disparity between Latino and Filipino men's experiences in education, where very different sets of racial stereotypes impact their ability to succeed in white-dominated school systems; if you're curious about why Latino and Filipino men are categorized together at all in this study I strongly recommend Ocampo's other book, the Latinos of Asia.

The Vanishing Half (Brit Bennett, 2020) - it's always kind of astonishing when something that was extremely hyped-up and buzzy turns out to actually be as good as all that, and the Vanishing Half really was that good. the premise of two light-skinned Black twins separating so that one can "pass over" and live her life as a white woman is compelling all on its own, but Bennett is so committed to every possible angle of this premise: what does it mean to live more than one life? what other ways are people more than one person? it shows up everywhere through this novel: in losing your twin, in transing your gender, in drag performances, in actors, in people moving to new towns where no one knows them and becoming someone else. the moment it really hit me that Bennet Got It was a completely innocuous sentence that identified a Korean restaurant owner in California as a man who had attended medical school in Korea - even this background character, who we'll hardly hear from again, has been a different person in a different life! everyone has these layers and layers and different sides of themselves and it's just beautifully executed. mwah. chef's kiss.

[idealuk]

Not to make the current viral trend all about Buddie/Dickley, but ...

... the clips in which the otherwise-platonic scenes of Alex and Henry looking at each other released in the trailer (that I’ve watched over ten times already) that are meant to reinforce the sentiment that they are, in fact, in love sure do appear to be identical to being how Eddie and Buck look at each other, and it's also not lost on me that both pairings are played by a half-Mexican 'Diaz,' with a comparably-common last name of their own, with a typically-white first name, who’s character is a son to a white mother (Alex and Eddie and not necessarily Taylor and Ryan in this case), and the other who's a Brit with dirty blond hair who’s character did not like the brunet at first only to then not be able to get enough of him.

If it looks like a queer love story, and acts like a queer love story, ...

[hummingbird-games]

Postmortem: #CrushedVN Edition

Okie doke y'all! It's been some time so I guess we're good to dissect this project!

(I almost didn't bother with writing this up, but at the end of the day I do the dev diaries and the random--game development related--posts for me to look back on and prove I'm learning. Getting better. Not regressing. So. Might as well move forward!)

Background/Inspiration

It's like if you took my late 2022 brain and threw it into a blender!! Most of these are self-explanatory (Boys Love media I adore with emphasis on early to late teen experiences.) Let me draw your attention to The Edge Of Seventeen: not sure how many times I've rewatched, but it makes me tear up every single time. Main character Nadine is awkward AF, still hasn't come to terms with the death of her father years prior, isn't on the best terms with her mom or her older brother, and even ends up on rocky terms with her best friend too!! Anyway, that feeling of being young, and a little angry and a little sad and not feeling quite right on the inside but eventually reaching a place where things fiiiiiinally start to work out...it's just a sliver of what I wanted to capture and infuse into Crushed.

Listen y'all, I just pulled and pulled and pulled from real life experiences. I was inspired by authors Julian Winters, Leah Johnson, and Jay Coles' works (all Young Adult authors LOL! Fitting since I seem to be creating things for the teens at this juncture in my life). This all provided the base for Corey and his inner world. Also, I've been wanting to create a bookworm character...no time like the present right???

As for deciding to specifically create a boys' love visual novel of all things?? First, y'all must understand that I fought the original idea and anything related to it. This was coming off the heels of me suddenly seeing (another) wave of players throwing fits about indie games forcing you to play as a femme character. First off, no one is forcing you to do anything. Secondly, we are still at a point in video games where the majority of characters you play as are male. Forgive some of us for wanting a little variety 😑Thirdly, for those looking for games where there's even more inclusivity (choosing pronouns, playing as nonbinary/trans, and etc) I really wish that players would seek out those games that ARE being made and support them so the developers don't lose steam and drop their projects. It's so disheartening to make something that's meant to be consumed and BOOM, silence.

Anyway, all of that to say that as a developer herself who's tired of watching girls' media be regulated as Less Than, made fun of, and just overall disrespected, I wasn't interested in making any games that didn't center a female character. But back to my main point!!!

I had Heartstopper, the webtoon, infecting my brain. I was so not immune to falling in love with Nick and Charlie like everybody else. But then I was hit for the 34573847th time that I was engaging with white queer media. And I knew that if Nick and Charlie were Black Brits, they wouldn't be getting half the attention they are now. Even less if the boys were girls and we had a sapphic relationship on our hands. (But that sapphic story from Hummingbird Games is still brewing, and Corey and Jacob's story was ready first.)

Also....the biphobia is real. It's insidious. I could write a whole book about how the straights and the gays need to get their shit together. I could then write a sequel about how the Black community can be some of the worst offenders when it comes to our Bi Fam and say some of the most ignorant and devastating things. But I had limited time on my hands and decided to write a short VN instead. Once I let Corey just be, exist as the person he is, everything fell into place.

Things That Went Right...

I took a very niche, very Specific To Me, very nestled in the space between my heart and my brain and wrote a script just so I could be a part of a game jam specifically highlighting and supporting the work of Black game developers.

And I submitted the bitch on time.

I'm always down for anxiety rep!!! As a fellow anxiety haver, I say the more visibility the better!!! At the same time, it's not a one size fits all, and there were some things I dealt with that I'd never seen depicted and I figured I might as well be true to my experiences. Maybe someone would take solace in Corey the way I've taken solace in other characters for reflecting my lived experiences.

I tried new things I was scared of or didn't have time for with HSD or didn't feel confident enough to sit and learn previously: partial voice acting (and holding auditions to incorporate more), a text message system (which wasn't my own but part of learning to code for me means being able to take what others have done and replicate and/or use it myself), and implementing music and sound effects with intention. I've done it with film, but games are a close cousin in a lot of ways. A LOT of ways. I should remember that.

I still didn't do too well in the marketing department but for this game, it didn't feel like a failure. I also didn't really try. Oops. I've got to do better. I went into Crushed knowing it wouldn't have half the audience HSD does, and yet the feedback I've received for Crushed has made me want to break down into tears of relief.

I launched the game around 10 something at night my time and proceeded to be sick with anxiety for about 3 days. For three whole days I legit felt like I was going to die. And then I wanted to laugh because didn't I just make a game to express a version of the human condition?

Things That Were Different...

HSD showed off my skills when it comes to intensive planning and sticking mostly to that plan. Crushed was a jam entry that became more extensive over time and found me flying off the seat of my pants.

I also had less (aha, zero???) budget this time around. Because again. Jam entry. It wasn't supposed to be a Big Affair. But now that it's over and out to you guys, I'm not mad. You could say that it all worked out.

If I Could Go Back, I Would...

For one, I would have smacked the voice in my head that said "let's add more voice acting now". I love the feature, but there's no reason why I couldn't have done auditions after release. I was impatient and restless waiting for art assets, and my idleness led me to take on more things just to not feel useless. I Have Learned My Lesson, thanks.

I Had The Pleasure of Learning...

There will always be an obstacle in the way of game development. (And sometimes your body will be your own worst enemy, yuck.)

I don't know who my audience is (yet) for HBG but I'm always a part of it. And that's not a bad thing. If I hadn't felt so strongly about Crushed or even HSD, neither project would have happened because I would have given up a long time ago.

To the Future...

Empasis on future, but the world of Crushed isn't exhausted. It lives in the bigger universe of HSD:JY but took on a life of its own. So it's no surprise that Corey and his friends became even more precious to me. Not that I know when I'll be able to work on it, but right after finishing and publishing the demo, I outlined a rough draft for a kinetic novel sequel told through Jacob's POV. In my head, Corey's story was always half of a whole, and busting out Jacob's outline so quickly confirmed that.

(What I didn't anticipate was how loved Oke and Keegan would be, or that there would be a want for their story outside of myself??? Between us and this postmortem, I hope to sort out their deal and get the satisfaction of seeing another type of love story/dynamic I can't get enough of and share it!)

Closing Thoughts

The comments I've gotten concerning Crushed and noting the appreciation for its slice-of-life/grounded-ness is reassuring! Maybe I'll branch out to other genres, but realism will be something I always come back to. Also, making Crushed wasn't too traumatic soooooo that means I'm still making games LOL! Can't get rid of me yet!

- Gemini 💛

(some links of other posts where I went on tangents concerning the creation of Crushed; these can also be found by searching the tag "crushed vn"!)

Music Inspo and Crushed

Memes Tag Game

Game Dev Commentary: Bonus Content

[claudia1829things]

"THE WOMAN IN WHITE" (1997) Review

"THE WOMAN IN WHITE" (1997) Review

I have very little familiarity with Victorian novelist, Wilkie Collins and his work. One, I have never read any of his novels. And two, I had only become aware of his works and adaptations of his work some two to three years ago. One of those adaptations happened to be the 1997 television movie, "THE WOMAN IN WHITE".

Although a longtime viewer of PBS's "MASTERPIECE THEATER", I had never seen this version of Collins' 1859-60 novel when it first aired on U.S. television, years ago. It took streaming television for me to finally stumble across this movie. Recalling how much I had enjoyed it, I did a recent re-watch. Had my feelings for this production changed? Good question.

"THE WOMAN IN WHITE" was a BBC-TV adaptation of what is regarded as an early example of a mystery novel. Half-sisters Marian and Laura Fairlie live with their hypochondriac uncle, Mr. Fairlie, at his estate called Limmeridge. He hires a young artist named Walter Hartright to serve as their art tutor. Upon his arrival in the neighborhood, Walter unexpectedly meets a young woman dressed in white, who acquires about his plans to stay at Limmeridge. When he finally meets the Fairlie sisters, Walter realizes that Laura bears a strong resemblance to the woman he had earlier encountered. Laura and Walter develop an attraction between them, but Marian nips the potential romance in the bud when she reveals Laura's engagement to a family acquaintance, a landowner named Sir Percy Glyde. When Marian receives a warning about Sir Percy, she and Walter deduces it came from the woman the latter had encountered on his first night - a local named Anne Catherick. While heading into the woods to meet with Walter and track down Anne, Marian spots a servant woman running out of the woods, with Walter close behind. She accuses him of attempted rape. Walter is dismissed by Mr. Fairlie and Laura proceeds with her marriage to Sir Percival.

I have always regarded Collins' 1859-60 novel as a personal favorite. If I must be blunt, I have always preferred it over his other famous novel, "The Moonstone". This adaptation of "The Woman in White" is the shortest I have seen, with a running time of 125 minutes. I thought Davie Pirie of adapting the novel for a television movie. He had more or less retained the main narrative of Collins' novel. Although Marian and Laura remained half-sisters, the two characters shared the same parents, instead of the same mother. And I believe he made one improvement by allowing Marian to have a bigger role in the story's third act, which featured the mystery's resolution and the villain's downfall. More importantly, the shorter running time spared me of the final aspects of Count Fosco's arc, which I believe had unnecessarily dragged Collins' novel.

However, I do have a few complaints about Pirie's changes. I thought he had unnecessarily magnified Sir Percy Glyde's villainy by making him a rapist. He had raped Anne Catherick, when she was a girl. Although I have no problems with Pirie expanding Marian's role in defeating Sir Percy in the third act, I had a big issue with making her defeat her brother-in-law by locking him in a burning church. Pirie had transformed Marian into a murderer. And this was not my idea of expanding her role into Sir Percy's defeat. And unless I had missed that moment, I do not recall the movie revealing Count Fosco's reason for helping Sir Percy achieve his goal. Worse, the movie failed to reveal his fate before the movie's last scene.

Although published between 1859 and 1860, Collins' novel was set a decade earlier, between 1849 and 1850. Yet, "THE WOMAN IN WHITE" - at least this version - seemed to be set during the early or mid 1870s. I have no problem with this. This new setting still adhered to theme of a woman's property and marriage, considering it was set before the Married Women's Property Act 1882. Odile Dicks-Mireaux's costumes had received a BAFTA (British Academy Television) Award nomination and did an excellent job in reflecting not only this period setting, but also the characters' social standing:

I do not have any issues with the performances featured in "THE WOMAN IN WHITE". The television movie featured more than competent supporting performances from the likes of Susan Vidler, John Standing, Adie Allen, Kika Markham, Ann Bell and especially Corin Redgrave and Nicholas Woodeson. This adaptation of Collins' novel featured the second time Ian Richardson portrayed the hypocondriac Mr. Fairlie. He had portrayed the same character in the 1982 miniseries. Which performance did I regard superior? I cannot answer that. I would have to watch the older version. But I cannot deny that Richardson gave a very entertaining and fascinating performance as the unreliable Mr. Fairlie. I found Simon Callow equally fascinating as Sir Percival's mysterious companion, Count Fasco. I also have to give credit to the actor for portraying a non-English character without resorting to exaggerated gestures and an accent.

Andrew Lincoln gave an excellent performance as the emotional artist Walter Hartright. It only seemed a pity that his screen appearance and later, his role, had been limited. If I had my choice for the best on-screen Sir Percival Glyde I have seen, I would choose James Wilby's interpretation. His portrayal of the story's main villain struck me as very skillful and surprisingly subtle. I say surprisingly, considering that his Glyde's villainy had been magnified in compared to the literary and other on-screen versions. Justine Waddell gave a quiet, yet competent performance as Laura Fairlie, the catalyst and target in this mystery. Ironically, the heart and soul of Collins' story was Marian Fairlie (Halcombe in the other versions). The showrunners selected the right woman for the job, namely Tara Fitzgerald. She was superb as the forthright and emotional Marian, whose determination to protect her younger sister, led her into situations she never thought she would find herself in. Fitzgerald not only did an excellent job of portraying Marian's emotional connection to her sister, but also her ruthless determination to save the latter.

Overall, "THE WOMAN IN WHITE" proved to be an excellent adaptation of Wilkie Collins' 1859-60 novel. Due to its running time suited for a movie, screenwriter Davie Pirie made changes that either had no damaging impact and improved Collins' story. But a few of the screenwriter's changes did not serve the narrative, as well. However, one of the BAFTA TV Awards nominations for "THE WOMAN IN WHITE" proved to be Best Drama Serial. Thanks to Pirie's transcript, Tim Fywell's excellent direction and a first-rate cast led by Tara Fitzgerald and Justine Waddell, I believe the miniseries deserved that nomination.

[book51ut]

Review of The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

A really captivating read. I love when stories intersect and diverge and intersect again without the characters realizing it. While anti- Black racism is discussed, we spend a lot less time discussing the meaning and impact of colorism. This book makes us stop and think about it. The premise seems far-fetched: two identical twin sisters, both with light-skin, one pretending to be white and the other living as Black. Yet, colorism is probably one of the most excused forms of racism that exists today. There has been increasing notice and backlash that the only non-white actors cast in shows or films are often relatively light-skinned. The book also encourages the readers to think about the ways in which non-white people uphold white supremacy through both anti-Blackness and anti- dark-skinned-Blackness. I recommend this book. On top of the message, it was written well and the story was quite compelling. I also wanted to note that I love that there was a trans storyline that took place in the 80s that didn't center around the character dying of AIDS. We get so much trauma porn in relation to being queer during AIDS that it is nice to hear about a normal queer love story from that time period.

[knowyourbmovieactors]

OCTOBER HORROR MOVIES 2023 #13 CANDYMAN (2021)

God bless Jordan Peele. Who would have thought that one half of the comedy duo "Key and Peele" would completely reinvent himself as the foremost auteur of Black horror movies in America? Get Out was a nigh-perfect film. Us was a flawed, but fascinating film that was also damn beautiful to watch. Nope was a a deceptively complex sci-fi drama that also took apart over a century of Hollywood's exploitation, and it's one of the few films that I plan on watching again in the future. So, when I decided to give the new Candyman movie a go, I was pleasantly surprised to see the logo for Peele's Monkeypaw Productions pop up.

The original Candyman was way better than it should have been. Loosely adapted from a Clive Barker short story by a white Brit who decided to transport the whole story into Chicago's Cabrini Green, despite never having actually been there, the result displayed more understanding of the racism and classism that produces urban decay in America than just about any history class you ever had in high school. Of course, the audience can only view that tangentially through the eyes of the white protagonist who has parachuted into the neighborhood. I haven't watched the original since the '90s, and I'm willing to bet there are some approaches to the racial dynamics that have aged like raw chicken left on a kitchen counter overnight; but, damn, you can never forget how magnetic and terrifying Tony Todd was in that film. Even a couple of increasingly mediocre sequels couldn't erase that.

So, here's a new Candyman for a new generation, produced and co-written by Jordan Peele. For the first time, it's being told from an explicitly Black perspective, which means there's no longer a safe, white protagonist to filter what's happening for us. A lot of what was subtext in the original film is now explicitly text: racism made the ghetto; the ghetto made misery; and misery made Candyman. Tony Todd is still a magnetic and terrifying presence, but we now learn that his original Candyman was merely one expression of the demon, out of many. Even as the modern city seeks to gentrify and plow under its seedy, segregated past, the legacy of pain keeps breeding new versions of Candyman to populate new urban legends. It's both a sequel to the original movie and a critical dissection of it, as well as being an enjoyably bloody and disorienting ride.

Director Nia DaCosta comes out punching way above her weight with her first major motion picture. It looks great, and the shadow puppetry sequences provided by Manual Cinema add unconventional and poetic visuals to the piece. It was just all-around good, and I'm sad that it came out at the height of the pandemic, because it got buried alongside all the other major releases during that time when no one was going to theaters. Of course, it was also released the year after George Floyd's murder, so its themes couldn't have been more viscerally relevant to the public at large. (There's a terrifying scene where the cops gun down one of the characters and then proceed to handcuff the one witness in their cruiser, bluntly insisting that she didn't see what she clearly saw and hinting that if she doesn't choose to go along with their story those cuffs might not come off.) Sadly, as we're finding out, these themes seem to be perpetually relevant in America, and it's only recently that cameras have been trained on them. And if they don't change, then there's only going to be more avatars of Candyman brought to life.

[youcantrewind]

Whole dang fancasts. 😉👍

Anyone paying attention to my posts probably recognizes Tal the easiest. He was 100% the first one picked almost right from the start, and the most blatantly referenced when I'm drawing everyone. Alex essentially decided Tal's appearance for me two years ago, which I hadn't yet defined when these babies were all in their infancy as minor side characters. I think in the discord I was just like "all I know is as a life-long soldier, and a guy whose armor gets stolen and worn by a Very Tall Boy(TM), he's gotta have a bigger build". Then when @croy-on-a-working-vacation borrowed him in her fic, she described him a little bit and it didn't really hard contradict anything that was in my head yet, so I went "sure why not" and it started to inform my imagination a liiittle bit, but that's all I'd decided so far until I suddenly pointed at my TV screen watching TRoP S1 and just went "😯 guys ...✨️HIM✨️".

Meanwhile, the others had a longer chance to form visually more in my head first as I wrote more and they appeared more and more instead of being one-off characters, and I then looked for people who gave me those vibes, so it took me a while to decide on the rest. Kandri's was probably decided last, just because as a half-theelin, the human features were less important to match than picking for overall mood and delivery, and then when it hit me with Aubrey it was like "oh duh".

Becky honestly was pretty wide open because her main defining physical appearance thing is her big poofy blonde ponytail. Is she even a natural blonde? Would she even tell? 😉 Anyway, at her original conception, she could have been played by any number of generically pretty white girl actors as the whole joke of choosing her name was going super generic North American white girl on purpose (the blue crew all using their real life Earth names amongst the super Star Wars immersion was the joke). Obviously she's had more of a personality and backstory fleshed out since then. Brit from Viva La Dirt League hadn't really been on my radar for Becky until they added her into the 'Bored' show as... well, almost literally Becky. She suddenly was playing this Type A overachiever customer service employee and my brain just flipped a switch and went "Becky from Batuu who grew up on a family ranch is... Australian. Obviously." and this made perfect sense to me and has stuck. Boom, another fancast immediately done.

And the only flaw in Patrick is that he's technically too tall for our short king Jeremy, but the rest of him and his vibe was too accurate for me to ignore. When I randomly write him as having a crooked little smirk with a lil dimple that makes Tal weak, and then I finally find a crooked little smirk with a lil dimple, it's fate is it not? 😏

Does your OC have a voice claim?