#asian dramas really are a completely different beast

[chibigrimmreaper]

damn the last episode really is one plotwist after the other huh? can't say i mind

[the-navistar-carol]

Intervention

Good God help me I’m back on my Garmari again. AGAIN. Class salt, but not Alya, Alix is neutral (so minor Alix salt?). Chloé redemption, but it’s not mentioned. Also, members of the new team at the end are PV Félix and his Gucci Gang

~~~

Marinette never thought she’d thank Chloé Bourgeois, of all people, for her boyfriend.

Backtrack.

A year and a half ago, their end-of-year class trip was the best one they had had or ever would. Funding, from Chloé’s father, went to a weeklong trip to San Francisco. They toured Alcatraz, the different neighborhoods, the Ghirardelli factory, and walked the Golden Gate Bridge.

None of those events even came close to the Teen Titans’ tower in San Francisco Bay. They didn’t go inside, obviously, but almost every day, in their allotted free time, she found herself at a harborside café, sketching the tower and designs that came to her from it and its team.

It was those quiet times that, incidentally, got her into contact with the team shapeshifter, Beast Boy.

Marinette had been sitting on a dock for a change, doodling idly as her legs swung from a bench — she was still too short for her feet to touch the ground at fifteen. Tikki dozed in her purse, stuffed full of chocolate.

As the sun began to make its way toward the horizon, she got up and placed the sketchbook in her backpack. Then, like the sun, she began to head home.

That journey would quickly be delayed. A man, hood up and all in dark clothes, snatched her purse and took off like a shot.

Tikki!

The Parisian girl sprinted after him, shouting for help. If she had been transformed, perhaps she would have taken him down faster.

But perhaps it was for the better. A green blur shot out of an alley and knocked into the would-be thief with a forceful missile kick, quickly apprehending the man. Marinette skidded to a halt to avoid running him over, and was caught in a pair of dark brown eyes.

Oh, hello there.

He grinned toothily, and held up her clutch purse. “Does this happen to be yours?”

“Oui!” Marinette’s hands flew to her mouth, and she couldn’t help but flush in embarrassment. “Oh! I am sorry, yes, it is.” Despite years of learning English, she couldn’t help but stammer with her accent.

The green boy fished out a pair of cuffs and locked them around the thief’s wrists, and kept a hold on them with his left hand as he held out his right. “I’m Beast Boy. Nice to meet you, though it would’ve been better under different circumstances.”

She shook his hand, and couldn’t help a sheepish smile. “Well, um, if you would like to try again,” Marinette suggested, already flushing, “I will be close to Hyde Street Pier, on the waterfront, close to three o’clock tomorrow.”

His grin only widened. “Can’t wait!” Beast Boy hauled the man to his feet, and glanced back at her. “Oh, hey, by the way — what’s your name?”

“I’m Marinette!”

“See you tomorrow, Marinette!”

That fateful encounter sparked a close friendship, which blossomed into an even closer relationship.

Marinette was grateful that the stars had aligned that day. She wouldn’t be where she was in life without him, if she was being completely honest.

She and Gar were open about their identities to each other, and when he came over on his bimonthly visit via Zeta tubes, they spent their days inside cuddling, watching movies, and playing video games.

The only thing that irked both of them was the fact that their relationship was one-hundred-percent secret from the press, as neither wanted that publicity.

Ergo, they couldn’t be seen in public together.

Therefore, they couldn’t go on dates, no matter how much they wanted to.

At least they had reached a compromise. Until Hawkmoth was defeated, on her own terms, they couldn’t be seen together. Even if her own terms, which would take more time, involved no outside help.

When Lila Rossi entered Françoise Dupont for the first time, Marinette didn’t have to be Ladybug to see through her lies. She claimed extravagant tales of meeting American superheroes on her mother’s travels — of the Teen Titans in New York City, of the Batfamily in Gotham, and of some group she had completely made up — the Gems of Justice, of all names.

Yeah, no. She didn’t have to be a superheroine to spot the bullcrap a mile away.

She tried to keep the whole situation quiet, though, she really did. Marinette didn’t want to burden Gar with class drama. After all, she was well aware that they only had so much time together.

But just like how she had tried to keep being Ladybug from him, that plan fell through in a matter of hours.

He held her when she sniffled over Lila’s threat, and let her slump back into him as she described how her classmates (sans Alya, bless her heart) were riveted by this Italian liar nobody who somehow held their attention.

She held onto the hope that they would all see reason, sometime.

That hope shattered when Alya moved away. Her parents wanted out from the living nightmare of Akumatown, as all four of their daughters had been akumatized at least once apiece.

Marinette sobbed, for the first time alone in the city of love.

It was midnight when she called him on her first night without her bestie, bawling into the phone line.

It was twenty minutes past when he showed up on her balcony, and she almost tackled them both over the railing. She let her emotions pour out onto his shoulder and he held her tight; and when she ran out of tears to cry, he held her until she fell asleep in her bed.

In the morning, he let her sleep in a little bit, and made her pancakes (with green food coloring, of course, because how else would he?). She cried again upon seeing the food, but there were thankful tears mixed among the sad ones.

Marinette left her house with her head held high.

Without her rock Alya at her side, Lila’s digs and jibes became worse. She took the mental hits, took the comments. Snide words turned into sneering faces turned into trips in the hallways, turned into destroyed work.

She resigned from the class presidency, choking down tears.

How could she have let it get this bad?

She should have stood up to it, so it could have stopped before it all began!

Oh, Alya…

Trips in the hallways turned to shoving at the steps, turned into stolen things.

Garfield, in the Titan Tower, had had a slow week. He’d only gone to visit Marinette a few days ago, but when Raven flicked his shoulder and told him he was moping, he headed off to the tubes to pay his girlfriend a surprise visit.

He emerged in Paris and immediately morphed into a bird, flying high above the city. He didn’t want the attention that came with his ability, not today.

As her school wasn’t out yet, Gar soared around Paris, taking in the sights. No matter how many times he came to the city, the views still left him amazed.

And Marinette with him, when they could go to those places, would leave him breathless.

As the hour wound closer, he headed over to Collège François Dupont, and took a perch on one of the flagpoles, content to wait for the time being.

The bell rang to let the classes out, and he shifted on his seat, eager to catch a glimpse of his girlfriend.

There!

She was one of the first out, and he readied his wings to swoop down to her and sweep Marinette off her feet. He was almost in flight when he stopped dead, dread washing over him like a tidal wave.

A tall Asian boy with an undercut and bleached hair hurried after her, his sneakered feet hitting the cement with a self-righteous purpose.

And a pack was following him.

Her classmates — a pale girl with long black hair, a dark-skinned boy with close-cropped hair, a short blonde girl, a tall blonde boy, and more — were in close pursuit.

And behind them strode a brunette, her wedged heels clicking with her own purpose. Green eyes watched all as her lips curled into a deadly, sickly smirk.

All attention was on Marinette, who hurried to go home, shoulders hunched.

He had left her alone like this.

“Hey!” the Asian boy called, and a robot whizzed in front of his girlfriend, bringing her up short.

She froze, and slowly turned to face him. Marinette was dwarfed by his massive frame, and she was terrified of what might happen next.

His hands came to rest on his hips, and he cocked his head in a leer. “Don’t think you’ve gotten away with what you’ve done.”

“Huh?” Her tone was shrill, it was panicked. “Kim, I didn’t do anything!”

An ugly frown twisted his face. “Then maybe you’ll remember!”

Faster than she could react, his hand raised and descended.

But Garfield reacted faster.

In a blink, he took off like a shot and dove down at the Asian boy, then shifted back to human form midair to launch himself at the boy feet-first like a missile. His boots hit the boy in the back of the neck, and man, was he satisfied to see him fall.

“G- Beast Boy?!” Marinette’s panicked whisper told him she was only a hair away from a complete breakdown.

The classmates hurriedly backpedaled, clearing a ring for him in the crowd that was quickly forming.

Gar hauled the boy — Kim — up by his hoodie collar. Despite his scrawny figure, he was lean, and packed a punch.

“I don’t like bullies,” he hissed as his eyes narrowed to slits. Kim quaked in his grasp, catching a good look at his fangs. “And if I catch you even looking at her wrong, you’ll wish you had never met her.”

Someone in the crowd was foolish enough to step forward and speak up. It was the dark-skinned boy with glasses, and his robot had flown back to be at his side. “My calculations prove that there is a ninety-percent chance that Marinette is the one at fault.”

He felt his girlfriend shrink beside him. It was tempting to shift into a tiger and intimidate the lot of them.

But instead his lips twitched into a smile, instead he grinned. The hook in his mouth had never been so cold.

“Then I suggest you check your calculations, buddy boy.” The class flinched back from his tone alone — it flashed knives, razor-sharp and ready to cut.

“All of you better watch your backs, ‘cause I’ll be waiting for an opening.” His voice spilled from his throat in an angry growl. If he had been a tiger, his tail would have lashed.

“I’m giving you one warning. Scram.”

The class took off and scattered, one of them even darting into the street.

Gar didn’t spare them a second glance before turning back to Marinette and hugging her tight. “I’m so sorry,” he murmured, closing his eyes and inhaling the scent of her perfume. “I should be there for you, not an ocean away.”

Her arms snaked around his sides and clutched him tight. Her entire body was shaking like a leaf, so he gently rubbed her back.

“Hey, hey. Marinette, let’s get back to your room, okay?” Any trace of the snarl he had bared at her classmates was gone; his voice was gentle now, it was soothing.

She sniffled, and hiccuped once as she tried to get her breathing under control. “Okay.” Her voice was quiet, subdued. There was no trace of the sassy girl he had met who loved life fiercely with all her heart.

Anger built inside him but he dispelled it, thanking Raven for forcing him to learn meditation.

After he picked up her bag, Gar wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close. “It’s not that far. You can make it.”

Another subdued “okay” was all the response he got.

He led her across the street, ignoring the looks passers-by threw him and even the phone cameras.

Once she was inside the bakery, a shocked gasp let him know Sabine Cheng had seen them. She rushed out from behind the counter to hug her daughter tight, then led the two of them to their living room upstairs.

After he had set down her bag and the three of them were seated on the couch, Sabine with her arm around Marinette and Garfield holding her hand, his girlfriend finally broke down, sobbing into her mother’s shoulder.

“Do you want me to make tea?” he offered, knowing Sabine didn’t want to leave her daughter’s side.

The older woman nodded. “Please. Peony.”

He gave Marinette’s hand a squeeze and got up, finding the kettle and mugs easily. While he waited for the water to heat up, he sat back down next to her.

Sabine looked to him, gray eyes piercing. “What happened, Garfield?”

He told her everything. How he had watched her come out of the school and saw Kim go straight for Marinette on an offense she hadn’t committed.

“It’s Lila,” his girlfriend muttered, her voice muffled by her mother’s shirt. “She’s influenced them all except Alix.”

That didn’t help matters.

“But Alix didn’t defend you,” Gar told her gently. “They all, one way or another, abandoned you.”

Marinette hiccuped, finally looking up at him. A bolt of pain shot through his heart at the face looking him in the eyes — red-rimmed eyes, tear-stained cheeks, and a running nose.

“They abandoned me,” she repeated, her voice hollow. “I have nobody.”

“You’ve got me,” Garfield reminded her, taking her hands and squeezing them tight. “You’ve got two parents who love you more than anything in the world. And, if I called them now, you have the Teen Titans. All of them would stand for you. Every last one of them.”

The kettle whistled, and he got up to steep the tea. He heard Sabine murmur to her daughter in Cantonese, things he didn’t understand but knew the intent. He returned to the couch with three mugs balanced carefully on a tray, and set it down on the table.

“Mrs. Cheng, I don’t know if you’ve considered it, but have you thought of moving schools?”

She nodded, and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “I have. And I think that it would be best.”

Marinette didn’t even flinch, just numbly nodded. His heart broke to see her so lifeless, and he pulled her into a tight hug. He almost had to blink back tears of his own, and rested his chin on the top of her head.

“Let me help with this, Mrs. Cheng. Please.”

Sabine nodded. “I will. How long are you going to stay in Paris?”

“As long as I’m needed.”

And he did. He stayed.

Garfield was the one to march into Françoise Dupont to deliver the paperwork to Damocles, his chin up and shoulders back. Even if he was at average height — and shorter than a good half of the school — they cleared a path for him, the school yard silent enough to drop a pin.

He didn’t spare them a parting glance.

Gar was the one to walk her to her new school, where she was mobbed by Kagami, Luka, and Chloé. They thanked him, each thank-you heartfelt, and he grinned, knowing his girlfriend was in good hands.

He was there for her first week, and went back to the Tower knowing she had friends to support her there.

And when Hawkmoth was finally defeated months later, with a new team and a new Chat Noir, he pulled Marinette into a searing kiss as the rain began to wash Paris clean.

[army-of-mai-lovers]

Why Amon Should Have Been An Android

(spoilers for LoK and Young Justice season 1) 

If you followed my LoK liveblog at all you may have noticed that I theorized at one point or another that all four major villains of LoK (Amon, Unalaq, Zaheer, and Kuvira) were secretly robots/androids (the term I used was robot, but the more accurate term would have been android.) Now, with Unalaq it was definitely just because I found him boring, with Zaheer it was to make fun of the fact that he was an Airbending prodigy with zero training, and with Kuvira it was because it was a thing at that point for me to predict that an LoK villain was a robot (and I was kind of right that time!!) 

But with Amon? I was completely serious. We never see his face, his cause is stupid (and the perfect way for his programmers to start some trouble in Republic City), and he was able to resist bloodbending, which, if you’ll recall, requires that the victim have blood for it to work. You know who doesn’t have blood? That’s right, androids/robots. 

But there’s another reason that I sincerely thought Amon was going to be a robot (android), and it’s the reason I’m writing this. There was something naggingly familiar about LoK to me, and no, it wasn’t that it was a sequel series to ATLA. To me, LoK doesn’t really feel a lot like ATLA (barring, of course, the very poorly shoehorned in fanservice cameos of Iroh, three times, like he’s a recurring character or something.) I struggled to pinpoint exactly what it was, but in my own observations and the observations of other people that I was talking to while liveblogging, a couple key differences became clear: 

[ID: an image of Korra from the back looking out towards Republic City, which is shown to have large white skyscrapers, a bay, and numerous smaller buildings. Much of it is obscured by fog and clouds. The city is built in the middle of a sprawling bay. /End ID]

1. the setting of LoK is incredibly Americanized and Eurocentric. While ATLA displays a lot of cultural insensitivity towards the cultures it borrows from in choosing how to depict them, LoK...doesn’t really depict other cultures. Republic City to me felt very similar to how 1920s New York is typically depicted in media, and no setting in the Earth Kingdom or Water Tribe was explored enough to really explore the unique cultures of those settings. While you can tell in ATLA that bryke was somewhat interested in (a vague, exoticized, unrealistic vision of) East Asian culture, LoK is very clearly inspired by America and Europe, with very little else influencing how the setting was depicted. 

2. there are no “unimportant” people in LoK. Everybody is related to somebody we know from ATLA (or somebody from ATLA), a powerful business mogul, military, somebody high up in the government, a celebrity, and/or the Avatar. The only character I can really think of that’s an exception to this is Kai, who really does not have much of a role. (I guess you could argue that Mako is an exception but y’know...he was a famous pro-bender for a while there) You don’t just get to meet a regular person living in a village anymore. Every character in LoK has political, social, or cultural power. 

These points, put together with the technological prowess of the world of LoK (which is different season to season and sometimes even episode to episode depending on how the writers are feeling that day), made the show feel very distant from ATLA, but very, very close to another show that I have watched and loved. And that show is Young Justice. 

[ID: an image, from left to right, of Batgirl, Blue Beetle, Bumblebee, Beast Boy, Miss Martian, Nightwing, Superboy, Wondergirl, Robin, and Red Arrow in the foreground, posing together. Above them and in the background are the adult heroes, obscured in shadow. From left to right, Red Tornado, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Batman, Superman, the Flash, Green Arrow, and Wonder Woman. They are all against a gradient blue background. /End ID]

For those not in the know, Young Justice is a DC animated cartoon focusing on the teen sidekicks, proteges, and relatives of superheroes like Batman, Superman the Flash, Green Arrow, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, and others banding together to form their own superhero team. YJ is set in America, vaguely, with characters residing in cities with names like Gotham City, Star City, and Central City (a naming convention that Republic City fits right into). And as is apparent from the premise, most of the characters you’ll meet in YJ are superheroes, related to superheroes, or otherwise important business moguls, celebrities, or political figures. And while the world of YJ is of course significantly more technologically advanced than that of LoK, there’s more overlap than you’d think. Besides spaceships, teleportation, smartphones, and genetic engineering, there’s really not a lot of tech that YJ seasons 1 and 2 have that LoK doesn’t. 

So you may be thinking, “ok Arthur, we get it, you’re a fucking nerd, what does this have to do with robots?” I’m glad you asked! One of the storylines of YJ focuses on the war between rival tech moguls Tio Morro and Professor Ivo, in which they build increasingly sophisticated androids. Ivo’s are pretty much just designed to kill supers, but Morro’s are expressly designed to mirror the human psyche, and desire to be a part of human society. Amon very clearly also desires a community, and does much of what he does to integrate himself into a community of nonbenders where he really doesn’t belong. Further, Morro’s androids are immune to threats that humans are not immune to because they are not made up of organic matter. For example, in season 1, episode 3, Miss Martian attempts to read Red Tornado’s mind, to no avail, because she can only read the minds of organic beings. In a similar vein, Amon was able to resist bloodbending, and while unfortunately that was not because he was an android, it would have made sense given the conventions of the cartoon android genre. I didn’t realize it at the time, but my previous YJ knowledge very much influenced the way I read that scene. The way Amon’s body was animated very much mirrored the animation of Morro’s androids trying to resist their evil creator’s programming. 

So, I’ve taken you through the what, the how, but I promised that I’d say why Amon being an android would have been better, and I plan to deliver. First, it needs be remarked that while Amon being an android wouldn’t have made much sense, it would have only made slightly less sense than the canon explanation of Amon being Tarrlok’s secret brother. In fact, I’d argue that, if handled correctly, Amon being an android could make more sense and be more impactful. Here’s how I envision it: android! Amon would be pretty similar to Red Tornado, in that he would know that he was an android and be programmed to help people. He was of course, built by Hiroshi Sato (that man designed and likely built all the Equalists’ weapons he has the range), who sees himself as a sort of father to Amon. Hiroshi tells Amon about the systemic disenfranchisement of nonbenders and how a Firebender killed his wife, and Amon, being programmed to want to help people and to desire participation in human society, decides he wants to lead a revolution against benders. However, an android can’t very well openly lead a revolution (you could add a bit in the backstory episodes about how humans don’t trust androids or something), so Hiroshi and Amon come up with the story that Firebenders burned his face and hands, which is what prompted him to lead the revolution. Thus, his whole body, including his face, is covered, and his followers assume that it’s because the burns are so bad, and they follow him. In the latter half of the season, the krew would uncover Hiroshi’s involvement with the Equalists, but Asami would be the one to realize that Amon is an android that Hiroshi built. Amon being Hiroshi’s “son” of sorts would be another element of Asami coming to terms with the evils of her family, as Amon in this case would be a machine programmed to be easily manipulated to follow Hiroshi’s cause and would consider himself her brother, and she would have to reckon what to do with both of them. The nonbenders’ cause would still be legitimate after Amon was exposed as an android (unlike it is when the literal figurehead of their movement is also antithetical to their movement) and the heroes would have to reckon with the realities of bender supremacy and the hurt it caused. Amon could even get a redemption arc and work with world leaders to make a better society for nonbenders and androids like himself (I’m sure there’s some parallel you can draw between nonbender oppression and android oppression, though I can’t think of one atm) As an added bonus, Amon wouldn’t be able to bend, so he couldn’t bloodbend Korra, which would be one less time that an LoK villain took away Korra’s bodily autonomy. Amon could even be a recurring character in the later books, because really, wouldn’t LoK have been more fun with a newly-redeemed android sidekick still learning about what the world is outside of his creator’s narrow worldview? Plus, that would give Asami more to do in books 2 and 3 than meet Varrick and participate in love triangle drama (Amon is of course replacing Varrick’s presence on the show), and getting to know and bond with Amon could be the catalyst for her visiting her father in prison in book 4. 

Remember, I didn’t claim that this would be good, I claimed that it would be better, and since the bar was on the ground with that secret brothers twist that wasn’t too hard to accomplish. tl;dr bryke are cowards, take the plunge and make him an android. 

[stickykeys633]

Changing thing up a bit @capricornsicle, that other post was becoming unwieldy.

You think you’re on a crusade to expose fandom racism and bias in Teen Wolf, but in doing so, because TW is such a specific beast, you make assumptions and add unnecessary hyperbole to your arguments. 

You’ve assumed and ran with the idea that I’m white (many do, which is strange since my icon is a black woman) and you’ve treated me a certain way because of it. But then in the same breath you’ll say there’s inherent bias against Scott McCall, a character that many people saw as white played by an actor who is white passing. 

There’s also this underlying statement that any majority of people see Scott as Latinx and automatically make it a negative thing which again, isn’t true, specifically not in Teen Wolf. 

I’ve found the antis like to take black racism experiences and try to fit Scott into that category, but even a small thing like colorism makes it so it’s not equitable. 

that’s a general statement about fans and critics alike holding characters of color up to a higher standard than white characters. It’s not everyone, it’s certainly not an attack on anyone, but it happens a lot, across various fandoms. White characters are much more often forgiven for the things they do than characters of color who do the same things.

This doesn’t happen with the frequency you think and in the Teen Wolf fandom when it does happen it is rarely if ever in regards to Scott. Other, more evident characters of color yes.. And the wild examples that the antis present are never equitable. Even when presented with context, they often have to padd it and stretch it to make it seem like some infraction has been done. What it does is seek to absolve Scott of ANY wrong doing, when really there is fault laid at both parties. 

I’ll provide a couple of examples in the moment, but the bottom like is that Stiles/Derek/Peter stans acknowledge their faults and many times love them because of it. On the show Scott was never given the chance to acknowledge his faults, the show refused to admit that he needed to grow and be redeemed of anything. This was a misstep because he became unpalatable, not as a perfect icon, but as someone whose actions didn’t hold relevant consequences. 

The Donovan Incident

Now, I disagree with some key points, but overall I think this is the most important part:

They fought, like teenagers do, especially teenagers who have gone through that kind of trauma, and then, in 5x13, they’re talking outside a gas station, and they talk and get over it,

If everyone could agree that this happened, this would be a much better place. But antis will not chalk up the experience for the contrived nonsense it was and become so enraged when people blame Scott that they can’t let it be and suddenly we’re all racists. 

Which, using racism as a tool to sooth butthurt is not okay and we see it time and time again. They take every seedling and think, “how can I add racism to this so I get my way?” which is pathetic, but also sullies the impact of real racism on the show. 

During this time Tracey was murdered, Mason was non-existent, they killed Noah and Lucas sent Kira to the desert and left her there. But being mad at Scott for intentionally misunderstanding Stiles is what’s racist? This is why antis and SDP Stans constantly bump heads. Everyone has been in a friend group where some new interloper comes in and riles things up. Usually trying to steal someone’s man, but you know there are certain things you do when that happens and Scott made ALL the wrong moves. He knew Stiles didn’t trust Theo and openly disliked him, it should have been an immediate red flag when Theo started in with Stiles violently killing someone in cold blood. Additionally, I would have LOVED if the show made the connection to Scott still being traumatized by Nogi, but again, the show made it seem like Scott was JUST FINE! and again, a disservice was made to his character. 

The point is that a not insignificant number of fans label Scott as a constant bad friend, as someone who’s always a bad influence on Stiles, and that’s really not the case.

People who label him as a constant bad friend use this as ONE example of it. I actually questioned their friendship after Motel California. I remember there were a couple of beats that made it clear they weren’t sandbox buddies, and probably met in the community little league (was it little league or soccer that they met Theo? I forget?). There have been several instances of them not being as close as they claimed. 

If Stiles can be forgiven for throwing lacrosse balls at Scott (which really fucking hurt, speaking from experience) and keying some random loner kids’ car to get him beat up because Lydia kissed him

Just a side note, Stiles was havign his fun, yes, but Scott was completely complicit in these scenes and knew 100% what was going on. Stiles was helping Scott by testing his tolerance and helping him control his heartbeat and yes they did it in bonehead teenage boy ways, but there was nothing malicious or racially motivated about it. Talk about holding characters to different levels. You’ve all made the white characters irredeemable supremacists when nothing in the canon alludes to this. 

a few antis forgive Stiles but condemn Scott. And that’s because of racial bias that makes those particular antis hold Scott to much higher standards than his white friends, which is a nice way of saying it’s racism.

Which again, is wrong in that you have absolutely no way of quantifying this for every viewer. There’s no such thing as special Scott centric racism. If someone is racist, they’re going to show it against anyone not white on the show, and that’s simply a) not the case and b) impossible to determine from the asks of one anon and some misinterpreted fic. 

Liking Scott isn’t pro-POC, no, but it is tied to racial issues in Hollywood, popular media, and fandom. Scott being Latinx (despite the fact it never comes up, he’s played by a Latinx actor and is undoubtedly TV’s favorite “ambiguously brown”) makes him connected to racial issues.

But it doesn’t, because Teen Wolf was specifically created as a world without color so coding Scott as race-neutral meant that audiences had the choice to view him that way and many did. I mean, look at the show, he has two white Italian actors playing his parents, his last name is McCall and his mother’s maiden name was Delgado which could mean anything. Jeff had a habit of casting white women with Latinx last names they got from a gracious step-father, it’s not a leap to say this was true of Melissa. This is why I refuse to give the show any representation points. Diversity sure, they’re there, but they’re not well represented and again, this neither starts nor ends with Scott McCall. 

Liking Scott is something that a lot of viewers of color end up doing

Again, not entirely true. Liking Boyd? Yes. Deaton, Morrell, Kira? Yes. Scott? Sure... the response to Scott from Latinx fans was varied in interesting ways. Some went up hard for him and while I don’t acknowledge the show’s version of Scott, I write him as half Mexican in every fic. There are some who, like you, were so excited to see someone like themselves and that’s beautiful and awesome. There were also some that started excited but then were like “oh, he’s playing a white boy” which people like to forget was VERY much a thing. There was no reason to think Scott was white and in fact when Jeff received the Alma award, it was for casting Posey and not necessarily having a Latinx character. In the beginning of Teen Wolf he was actually asked if Scott was white (the phrase they used was “All American” which...), And there were still others who hated Scott instantly and thought he was wack and did NOT see themselves in him.

So even within the Latinx community alone there were several opinions. Now spread that out to hundreds of thousands and then millions of viewers. So when you say “Liking Scott is something a lot of VOC end up doing” you’re creating a value based judgement on the idea of liking YOUR version of Scott McCall. 

Which isn’t fair and isn’t correct. 

YOU ended up liking Scott because YOU appreciated the interpretation. No one can take that away from you. But when you cast this net of racism, you’re gonna end up with a lot of things that don’t fit the term and a lot of people mad that they’re caught in your web of racial bias. 

if it’s the burden of POC to fight for representation tooth and nail, then that’s the fight I’ll be fighting.

Part of it is that sometimes I worry that if I don’t post about them, if I don’t post gifs of them and talk about them and make them be part of the teen wolf tag on this site, no one else is going to.

We talked about this with your first post. Generally I’m sympathetic, but I do take issue with your methods. Yes, I’ve seen those gif tax posts and I love the concept, but... tax is something you pay in the exchange for something that you want. I don’t see POC characters as tax and I get it’s just a clever way to name what you’re doing, but I think it makes it so negative when celebrating the POC characters should be an enjoyable and inclusive thing. 

If you feel alone, it’s because you haven’t reached out to anyone. I know a lot of creators who make content for characters of color, The problem is that when you accuse people of focusing on white characters in a show FULL of white characters and cover them with a blanket of systemic bias, you’re alienating a lot of people who don’t want the drama. 

Someone just released some ao3 stats of POC characters in Sterek fics verses TW fics as a whole and Kira was sadly underrepresented, showing up in just under 45% of fics. My answer to that isn’t to scream at Stereks about how racist they are against Asians. Instead, I wanna have a Kira appreciation event, but until I can, I make sure to write Kira into my fics because I love her. I repost gifsets with her in them, I comment and seek out people who create for her and support them and if you approach some creators, the’re happy to be amenable. I’ve left comments on fics asking for a certain character and sometimes they rightfully say no, but sometimes it’s not a problem and the change is awesome. 

I feel like the bulk of antis have an idea in their mind and don’t give anyone else a freaking chance. And then, when anything negative is said about Scott, they go awf like SEE!!?!> RACISM!!!!!! when it’s honestly not the case. The anon doesn’t represent even the minority of the majority of stereks. Tumblr doesn’t, ao3 doesn’t, twitter doesn’t. That’s why it’s so much less stressful to find out ways to insert diversity and representation rather than browbeating others to do it out of shame.  

There’s this perceived bias that worms it’s way in that simply doesn’t exist at the levels you think it does. Because not only are you assuming that people dislike the characters of color because of their color, but also that they harbor negative feelings.

But, as we’ve learned from K-pop fans, it seems white people are much more willing to enjoy and put out East Asian representation than representation of people darker than them

Kira was undoubtedly brought in to bring a more Asian audience, but again, racism isn’t a pick and choose kind of thing. People who hated Kira and love Scott do not see Scott as Latinx. And Kira has more posts by a small margin mostly because she was there and she had a family and large ties to the plot. Not because kids loves k-pop (which wasn’t even that big during her run). 

And THIS:

Boyd is stereotyped as the big, buff Black guy who’s aggressive and athletic (but almost never seen as the brains of the group, despite his intelligence,xxx and comes from a poor background and answers to an assertive white man without question

Boyd was specifically not stereotypes as aggressive and athletic, and in all fanfic is usually the one who reasons and is most level headed. He came from a poor background, but so did Isaac, and he questioned Derek and Scott. This is what I mean, while I agree that it’s your interpretation, you can’t say it’s a universal interpretation and then judge others because of it. 

The only time I care is when people specifically dislike Scott because of perceived affronts to Stiles and/or Derek, and I say “perceived” because I refer specifically to ones those specific anons and antis take completely out of context, blow out of proportion, or just make up.

Lol, again, your perception, because I can give you several canon based reasons to be upset with Scott, but of course you’ll find a way, no matter how tangential to twist it, because he’s your fave and canon is a mess. This is the freaking point. Let people have their stories. It’s not hurting you if you also add in yours. 

I do not believe it is possible for a 16-year-old to consent to a romantic and/or sexual relationship with a 24/25-year-old, but this post isn’t about that

Please don’t believe that you’re the first person to try this argument because you’re not and also Derek was at most 23 when Stiles was 17 (and to make it more interesting he was 19 in the original unaired pilot, but they aged him up so Kate wouldn’t be full on statutory rape, good times!)

https://stickylovessterek.tumblr.com/post/151831687742/sterek-is-not-pedophilia

Now you might not like it, and that’s totally fine and valid. But age has no basis in their relationship. I’m more interested in power dynamics, which is why I didn’t like Aria/Fitz on PLL or Marrish (which I could have been on board for, but this show is trash). 

with perhaps me as Stiles, you as Scott, and the anon playing Theo during his villain phase circa season 5, trying to turn two people against each other over a larger ethics debate

Well, no, clearly I’m the Stiles since I’m right (i kid, I kid), but honestly, you’re the one putting the anon in this. I’ve been ignoring their hyperbole and we’ve been telling the antis to pick and choose and be discerning with their posts. That has nothing to do with me. If we’re Scott and Stiles then it’s one of us talking and the other not listening and doing theings they’re own way and the fact that both of us have different ideas as to which is which is really part of the fun. 

But it’s not racism. 

[koreanling]

Korean Media with Cultural Impact

I had the thought of what korean shows and movies are really important in korea; things like the simpsons, star wars, friends, etc. where its important culturally and influnced korean society. Getting two birds with one stone of practicing korean and getting some cultural information as well. 

This is quite a big list and I dont want to bog down anyones feed so it will be under the cut

note the english and korean might not match up, I’m just putting the english title and the korean title so not all are direct translations

VARIETY

Running Man - 런닝맨 easily the most popular variety tv show, popular internationally as well. great to learn about popular celebs PLOT MCs and guests complete missions to win the race. The show has since shifted to more focused on games

Master in the House - 집사부일체 recently becoming very popular variety show. great to learn about celebs important in korea but outside of the popular hallyu wave PLOT The cast spends 2 days 1 night together with ‘masters’ of various fields in hopes of gaining knowledge and wisdom

Infinite Challenge - 무한도전 predating running man its been called "the nation's variety show" and "Korea's real first variety" PLOT similar to a challenge-based reality television programs but the challenges are often absurd or impossible, so the program takes on a more satirical comedy aspect

I Live Alone - 나 혼자 산다 PLOT showing celebs daily lives living alone

The Return of Superman - 슈퍼맨이 돌아왔다 PLOT celeb fathers have to take care of their young children without the mothers help while she takes a much needed break

DRAMAS

Boys Over Flowers - 꽃보다 남자 started hallyu wave in 2009 within asian countries, probably the most popular kdrama PLOT a normal girl attends a rich prestigious private school after saving a student's life. She stands up the popular rich well loved bullies and ends up developing a relaionship with them

Sky Castle - SKY 캐슬 highest rated kdrama in history PLOT wealthy housewives try to make their husbands more successful and to raise their children like princes and princesses

Reply 1988 - 응답하라 1988 second highest rated kdrama, the rest of the reply series are well recieved as well and showcase different eras in modern korean history (1997 and 1994) PLOT Set in 1988, it revolves around five friends and their families living in the same neighborhood

My Love From the Star - 별에서 온 그대 another hugely successful kdrama PLOT An alien who has been stranded on Earth for more than 400 years is almost able to return home, but finds himself developing feelings for a famous actress

Descendants of the Sun - 태양의 후예 so popular it caused resoration projects for filming locations from the show PLOT love story between the captain of the korean special forces, and a surgeon in a war-torn country

Guardian: The Lonely and Great God - 쓸쓸하고 찬란하神 - 도깨비 or just Goblin - 도깨비 first cable kdrama to surpass 20% ratings. It was also popular to parody it on various social media sites PLOT Kim Shin, a goblin and protector of souls, wants to end his immortal life but the only way he can do that is find a human bride

CHILDRENS TV SHOWS

good for beginner practice because of the easy to follow plots and simple dialouge and story

Pororo the Little Penguin - 뽀롱뽀롱 뽀로로 most popular recent childrens tv show

Dooly the Little Dinosaur - 아기공룡 둘리 late 80s to 90s kids tv show, also dooly is an official south korean citizen

Anpanman - 안판만 popular childrens show about a bread super hero, its japanese but still big in korea, also referenced in a BTS song

OTHER TV SHOWS

That's what I want to know - 그것이 알고싶다 popular journalistic program, goes really indepth and shows facts, not swayed by corruption PLOT analyzes corruption, society, religion, and unresolved cases in Korea

TV Animal Farm - TV 동물농장 koreas most popular animal show PLOT talks about animal rights and promotes connections between animals and humans

Please Take Care of My Refrigerator - 냉장고를 부탁해 PLOT chefs compete to create impromptu dishes that feature ingredients found inside the guest stars' personal refrigerators

MOVIES

The Admiral: Roaring Currents - 명량 - 鳴梁 the most watched film in South Korea PLOT based on the historical Battle of Myeongnyang, where Joseon admiral Yi Sun-sin's led the only 12 ships remaining in his command to a heroic victory against an invading Japanese fleet numbering 333 vessels

Old Boy - 올���보이 most praised korean film internationally (please dont watch the american remake its terrible..) PLOT On his daughters fourth birthday Oh Dae-su is suddenly imprisoned in a hotel room for 15 years without knowing anything about the reason why. When he is finally released he dedicates his time to finding his captor

Extreme Job - 극한직업 highest grossing Korean comedy film of all time PLOT undercover detectives start a chicken restaurant for a drug-bust operation, but end up busier than ever when their food becomes famous

Ode to My Father - 국제시장 korean history! also fourth highest-grossing film in korean cinema PLOT depicts modern Korean history from the 1950s to the present day through the life of an ordinary man

A Werewolf Boy - 늑대소년 the most successful Korean melodrama of all time PLOT a teenage girl is sent to a country house for her health, where she befriends and attempts to civilize a feral boy but the beast inside him is constantly waiting to burst out

A Tale of Two Sisters - 장화, 홍련 highest-grossing Korean horror film with american remake ‘The Uninvited’ PLOT inspired by a Joseon Dynasty era folktale “장화홍련전” The plot focuses on a recently released patient from a mental institution who returns home with her sister, only to face disturbing events between her stepmother and the ghosts haunting their house

My Sassy Girl - 엽기적인 그녀 popular within korean and asia, inspired japanese, english, chinese, nepali, and indian remakes PLOT A college student becomes involved with a self-centered young woman who humiliates him at every turn.

A Taxi Driver 택시운전사 more korean history! based on a true story, shows the gwangju uprising which really set off democracy in korea PLOT widowed father working as a taxi driver gets a german customer who is looking to report on the political unrest in Gwangju, they end up getting caught up in the gwangju uprising

Since this list is under a read more cut I can add more anytime so if you guys know of any influencial korean media just tell me and I can add it! Likewise if something here isnt actually that influencial within korea I can remove it, especially because of the hallyu wave its possible something could be well known internationally but actual koreans couldnt care less about it

[kpopotd2]

July Wrap Up

Hello everyone!

We are now coming to the end of summer (but not quite, there’s about a month left thankfully!). We are also about to hit 500 posts! A few things we wanted to talk to you all about-- KPopupdated is now @kpopsunbae! We went through a little rebranding, but you’ll see more of that in a little bit. Also don’t forget, we have a Discord Server: https://discord.gg/3gx6u5R (this link shouldn’t expire)! 

We also wanted to know if you guys had any type of content you would like to see from us-- let us know on any of our social media accounts (Instagram or Twitter!). Constructive criticism is always welcome too! One last thing, what time zones are you guys in? Let us know so we can modify our scheduling if need be. 

Lastly, an exciting project will start coming to fruition in the coming months so you can look forward that official announcement! As always, thanks for following us!

--JR, Min, Onyx

NEWS:

July 7, 2009: – South Korea suffers a cyber attack, just after the US was hit as well.   July 31, 2009: The 동의보감 (Dongui Bogamhave) is officially registered as a part of UNESCO’s Memory of the World Programme. July 1, 2010: The three neighboring cities, Masan, Changwon and Jinhae unified to create Unified Changwon City, which has a population of over 1 million people.

July 29, 2010: Chung Un-chan decides to resign from the position of Prime Minister. July 6, 2011: The International Olympic Committee awards the 2018 Winter Olympics to Pyeongchang. July 8-13, 2011: 2011 Asian Fencing Championship, Korea wins 9 gold medals. July 24, 2011: 2011 World Aquatics Championships, Park Tae Hwan receives gold in the 400 meter freestyle.

July 25–28, 2011: Floods and landslides hit Seoul.  July 28, 2011: Asiana Airlines Flight 991 crashes into the sea close to Jeju Island after a fire broke out on the main deck.  July 18, 2012: Tropical Storm Khanun makes landfall over Jeju Island and the South Jeolla Province.

July 17, 2014: A helicopter searching for missing people from the sinking of the Sewol sinking in April crashes into the city of Gwangju, killing the five people aboard.

Public Holidays - July 17 - Constitution Day (제헌절(制憲節) Jeheonjeol) - The day celebrates the promulgation of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea in 1948.

DRAMAS

July 2009: Dream (This drama was singer Son Dam-bi’s acting debut. SHINee and Bobby Kim contributed to the OSTs.) 

July 2011: Myung-wol the Spy (Eric Mun of Shinhwa is one of the main male leads. The show’s ratings averaged at around 7%. Ryeowook of Super Junior contributed to the OSTs along with BEG’s Narsha, Bobby Kim, and Lena Park.) July 2011: The Princess’s Man (The drama did very well ratings wise-- slowly climbing till it ended with over 20% ratings. It also won various awards at multiple awards show.) July 2011: The Scent of a Woman (Stars Kim Sun Ah and Lee Dong Wook. Junsu of JYJ made a cameo. The show did really well in ratings and won many awards.)

July 2012: Golden Time (Hwang Jung Eum is the main female lead. The show did really well with ratings and won four awards at different award shows. The OSTs features a lot of known singers including Every Single Day, 10cm, Byul, Zico, and Melody Day.) July 2012: Reply 1997 (Full of star power including Apink’s Jung Eun Ji (this was her acting debut), Seo In-Geuk, former INFINITE member Hoya, SECHSKIES Eun Ji Won, and many other incredible cameos. Because it is set in the 90s, there is no usual soundtrack like other dramas, but the leads did release a special song for fans. It eventually achieved really great ratings (through word of mouth) and won many awards.)  July 2013: Who Are You? (Ok Taecyeon of 2PM is one of the main male leads of this drama.) 

July 2014: Hi! School: Love On (The show stars INFINITE’s Woohyun and Sungyeol. It was later broadcasted in five other Asian countries.) July 2014: Fated To Love You/You Are My Destiny (The show stars Jang Hyuk and Jang Nara. It reached up to 12% ratings and won a few awards. It boasts a few great OST’s from Baek A Yeon, Jeff Bernat, VIXX’s Ken, Ailee, and Melody Day.)  July 2014: It’s Okay, That’s Love (EXO’s D.O has a small but important role in this show. It got an average of 10% ratings, and won multiple awards.) July 2014: Marriage, Not Dating (This show stars 2AM’s Jinwoon, Han Groo, and Han Sun Hwa.) 

July 2015: Assembly (The drama starred Ok Taecyeon of 2PM. It peaked at 6% ratings.) July 2015: Scholar Who Walks the Night (This drama stars Lee Joon Gi, TVXQ!’s Changmin. Jang Jae In, Yook Sung Jae from Beast(now Highlight), and G.NA participated in the OSTs. It also won a few awards.) 

FILMS:

July 15, 2009: Chaw (This movie was made to emulate a B-rated Hollywood style horror film about an animal going mad and killing humans. Partially shot in the States with a variety of special effects.)  July 23, 2009: Tidal Wave/ Haeundae (Singer Uhm Jung Hwa is one of the characters. The film received over 11 million admissions and won ten awards at various award shows.)  July 29, 2009: Take Off (This film was made to introduce the Korean people to ski jumping. It ended up winning a few awards.)

July 20, 2011: The Front Line (This movie won multiple awards at various award shows.) July 27, 2011: Leafie, A Hen into the Wild (This critically acclaimed movie made records, as over 2 million movie goers viewed. It was considered a “home grown animated” film. What made this so special is that animations tend to do poorly in Korea. Yoo Seung Ho is one of the lead voice actors.)

July 12, 2012: Dangerously Excited/I’m a Civil Servant (This dramedy stars Yoon Je Moon and Sung Joon.)  July 25, 2012: The Thieves (This is the 8th highest grossing film in Korean film history, winning multiple technical and acting awards.) 

July 11, 2013: Pluto (This movie won an award at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival. It stars Lee David, Sung Joon, and Kim Kkot Bi.)  17, 2013: Mr. Go (This was the first Korean film to be completely shot in 3D.  This joint production between China and South Korea was based on the comic The 7th Team.)

July 3, 2014: Mourning Grave (This horror film, starring Kang Ha Neul and Kim So Eun,   had over 200,000 ticket sales. MBLAQ participated in the main OST.)  July 23, 2014: Kundo: Age of Rampant (This movie broke the record for highest opening day box office.)  July 30, 2014: The Admiral: Roaring Currents (Just eight days later, this movie broke Kundo: Age of Rampant’s record for highest opening day box office.)

July 22, 2015: Assassination (This movie won multiple awards.)  

HAPPY STUFF:

July 2012: PSY shoots to stardom with his mega-hit Gangnam Style! Later, during the same year, the music video became the first video to hit 1 billion views on YouTube (and on the internet). As of writing this post, the video has over 3 billion views!

SAD STUFF:

July 12, 2009: Ko Mi Young, a climber, passes away after making a false step. July 2009: JYJ leaves TVXQ and SM. Soon after, they filed a lawsuit citing an overly long contract (thirteen years) and unfair profit distributions.  

July 2015: Twin duo, Tasty, departs from Woollim Entertainment.

TOP POST OF THE MONTH:

PSY - Gangnam Style!

THIS IS ALSO OUR 500th POST!

[sleepykitykat]

Starting to share this story of our Exalted RPG Campaign

My name is Helena Pierce and all I ever wanted was to be free.  I never asked for responsibility. I never wanted any of this but I guess there isn’t anything I can do about it now…

    I was born to a wealthy family on the Upper East Side.   All of my life I knew privilege and luxury. As I grew my life became nothing but a reflection of my mother’s wishes, prestigious schools and debutante balls in conservative WASP society.  Ironically enough The Brearley School was everything a young closeted lesbian could hope for complete with the school girl uniforms. Unfortunately for me, none of the girls I dated there were interested in keeping up with it after the thrill of pissing off their rich daddies went away.  Despite those very many distractions I managed to graduate high in my class and convince my father that because of the many rumors of my sexuality that permeated our insular upper crust world that I should be allowed to go to a non-ivy league school and stay in a normal dorm, heaven forbid.  The day my acceptance letter to NYU arrived was the day I saw hope. For years I’d felt alone and lost but at least relatively out from my parent’s watchful eyes I might find some freedom, some release of myself. I write this now to indicate that that day was different from every other small ray of sunshine because it was at NYU that I found my first real friend.  You hear a lot about high society in movies or on TV being fickle and filled with false friendships but I lived that for years. One day you would have steadfast friends and the next they would be gone, booted by the very people who once loved them. I know this because I principally did the booting. I think it was my mechanism for defense, creating pariahs of others.  If people are talking about another scandal they cannot be bothered by something I did at a party or who I was seen with after cotillion. I digress, that letter from NYU was a gateway to my very first real friend.

    Cheryl Rose-Cross, born first daughter in a family of five was the first of her family to go to college.  Her father, Miguel Rose, was once part of a successful modern dance company that fell on hard times after a car wreck gutted the team.  Miguel, like the mythic phoenix sprang from the ashes and now runs a successful dance studio in Brooklyn. His wife, the incomparable Sylvia Cross, is a feisty woman who works all day and night sweating her ass off in a little corner bodega café which outputs a staggering amount of delicious tamales.  Working to afford an apartment in New York took all it could from their family time and as a result Cheryl raised her other sisters and little brother and held down a part time job all the way through high school to afford her art obsession. She is a saint. After graduating high school she applied to NYU partly to prove she could do it to doubters and partly in the hopes that she too could escape her role as den mother of her four younger siblings.  Her dreams were crushed, however, the moment she met me. In that moment, she tells me to this day, she knew I would need her mother hen treatment far more than any of her siblings.

    Truthfully it would have been better for Cheryl to never have met me but then I would have never been me and never been a danger to her so we shan’t know.  You read in places where people say that things and people changed them and up to that moment I never believed them but Cheryl changed me. For years I had fought my baser nature, fought my feelings for other women, and used my own doubts to crush my dreams but with Cher by my side I felt I could conquer the world, money or not and with her urging I came out to my parents.  It was a swift blow struck at them in anger across the Easter dinner table sophomore year in college. This is not to say that there hadn’t been rumors before hushed away for me or little glances and careful controlling of my associations up till then so they definitely should have known. This coming out was the ugly glaring truth staring them in the face across the table surrounded by aunts and uncles just as excited to see the ensuing drama as if it were the main event in a boxing arena.  Amid the fighting and witty banter my Grandmother, the family patron, stood up for me. It was one of those moments that you swear never happen except in the movies where someone says the exact right thing at the exact right time and it shuts down all other conversation in the room. Even now, some three years after my grandmother’s death, some of my aunts giggle at my mother behind their concerned expressions as they talk about me, or so I hear. As a result of the, now too obvious and public to hide, scandal my parents were booted by their wealthy friends like so many before them and moved to upstate New York to live among the normal classes.  I sometimes think of the life I could have had as an unhappily married WASP woman and laugh. There would be no room for rainbow hair and my retro punk studded leather slouch boots in that life and I would be miserable. Because of my Grandmother’s generosity I was able to stay on at NYU and pursue my dreams to become a researcher in medieval literature landing a job at the prestigious Cloisters and that’s where all the trouble begins.

    It was a normal shift.  I was piecing something in Latin together that was badly written in an illumination in the margin of some tome gifted to us from a museum in Italy.  It was really a hopeless attempt to find something important because I had been doing drudge work for weeks when all of a sudden I heard a loud clatter in the stacks.  It was never very dark there for security reasons but the shadows were foreboding enough for me to be cautious when I investigated. What I found was a giant beast hovering over the bodies of some security guards.  Don’t ask me to describe it because I couldn’t except it made me run. I ran and ran holding desperately on to the book I had but the beast caught me just as I entered a small reading room. It slung me to and fro finally letting me fly into a wall.  There crumpled on the floor I struggled to get up, dying, but I didn’t want to die. I wanted to live, survival was what I was good at mentally, physicality should not hinder that and that thing wasn't going to stop me from living my life. Then as I staggered to my feet dropping the book onto a table within reach a white light came upon me and something else.  It felt like purpose but suddenly I was knocked out and remember nothing else until the hospital.

    After that night I had changed again.  I was not mortal, that I knew. I had always known that I was a bit cooler than everyone else being damn mysterious and gifted with impeccable taste and style but now I really was singular.  I had been chosen for something amazing or horrible… or perhaps both. My powers were straightforward and almost intoxicating. I could transform into an owl or in turn a hybrid owl woman. The transformation was beautiful that first time though the novelty has somewhat lessened since.  It was all I could do those first few nights to not stay out all night flying across the city but I knew I needed rest. Flying was all I ever wanted it to be. Insulated by the walls of an airplane flying as a human is nothing like the same thing. Also, I was noticing things I never had before.  I felt the need to hunt and claim other forms. Rat was my first additional form and as an owl it was fairly easy to gain. About 4 nights after I first turned I became obsessed with watching this singular rat I saw scampering down an alley in Chinatown. It was as if my owl totem wished me to take another form so I followed it until I was able to swoop upon it and rip it apart.  Eating it was more than pleasure. It was like a prayer for the uninitiated and in that prayer I became the rat. In human form I also noticed that my eyes had mutated. They were no longer the brilliant blue of the standard WASP but instead were golden and giant as a Barn Owl. Though no one seemed to notice, during the day I began to wear round sunglasses just in case someone should freak out.  After the attack at the museum I had a hard time returning to my work. The authorities chalked it up to an escaped tiger or some shit thanks to my new friends. Oh, I didn’t mention those friends? Well that’s when things become a bit complicated. You see, I’m not the only one with powers…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Helena's eyes adjusted to the muted lighting in the large briefing room.  It had been a few months since her 'exaltation' had changed her life and she was still getting used to the idea that she was some sort of chosen of the gods but that's what this council organization was telling her.  She adjusted her shades up her nose and surveyed the group around her. There were a few scientists, several soldiers dressed in fatigues bearing markedly not US patches on their uniforms, a singular young asian man who seemed to have stepped right out from an old kung-fu movie full white robe and everything, and sitting up in the front row was a man that looked remarkably like the movie star Donovan Hawke.  Shaking her head at the idea that Donovan Hawk, star of films such as Knife Gentleman and other action films, might be here she checked her phone. Sighing in frustration there was no signal in the ominously secret underground base but the phone did seem to indicate that whoever had called this meeting was already seven minutes late and that would just not do. Clearing her throat she looked to the woman on her left who appeared to be a relatively attractive scientist pouring over her notes.

    "Hello, I’m Helena Pierce, you wouldn't happen to know when the briefing should start do you?”

    Looking up from her notes the woman seemed to jump a bit then, “Oh, um… It can’t be long now.”

    And right on cue a large muscular man in fatigues entered followed by another female scientist and several other soldiers filled in the room.  The briefing was just that, brief. It was simple, the team was to be deployed to a point several hundred miles south of Denver where a portion of the city had been displaced in order  to minimize civilian casualties from an apparent outbreak of ‘aberrations’. No, hold on. They moved the rest of the city. Apparently that was easier? There was a tower with some sort of device used to disrupt this sort of activity but it had been attacked.  Their mission was to capture the tower and put down any aberrations that appeared until the disrupter could be put back in place.  Just as the meeting wrapped everyone began going out the door to the right so Helena stood up to follow.

    “Hey, where are you going?” the woman at her elbow asked.

    “I was just going to follow.  I mean we’re supposed to right?”

    She laughed behind her hand, “I mean you could if you don’t want any armor or weapons.  Come on”. Gathering up her clipboard and several files she also looked over at the Donovan Hawke impersonator and the kung-fu extra.  “You two too, you’ve got to suit up.”

    True to her word the woman led them in the opposite direction of where the soldiers were going and into a small room filled with yet more scientists all carrying clipboards.  On the tables and racks around the room were various weapons both modern and ancient in design with different properties. Helena found herself drawn to the rack of spears. During her weeks of training before calling her into action she found that the exalted soul she now shared with generations of other chosen of Luna favored polearms, spears and javelins to be exact.  One particular moonsilver spear a head taller than her own six foot two frame caught her eye and she did a few small moves with it to adjust the balance to her liking. The moonsilver in her hands adjusted its heft to her will as she knew it would and she smiled to herself. Across the room she saw the muscular man put on a heavy golden metal breastplate. Looking at his face she was almost sure it must be Donovan Hawk but.. no it couldn’t be.  Her own breastplate was easily strapped onto her petite chest and because of the fluid nature of moonsilver it fit like a glove despite her willowy build. To her pleasure the metal even formed a decorative pattern of wings and filigree. She waved off the matching pauldrons when they were offered to her. She needed to be extremely fluid in her movements and though the moonsilver would give to her will she felt it would be too much. Now ready, she found that the others had started out and down the hall.  Jogging to catch up Helena found that the hallway opened up to a large airplane hanger. Catching up to the group Helena climbed into the vaguely stealth fighter shaped transport sure to duck her head and will her spear to be a little shorter in the small space. She took a seat across from the other two who seemed to be looking for a place to strap in.

    “Well, Hello there, I’m Donovan Hawke,” The larger man said extending his hand across the aircraft.  “You might have heard of me. I’m kind of a celebrity”. On his hands were heavy metal gauntlets that when paired with his freshly pressed khakis, dress shirt, and breast plate seemed a bit heavily armored and out of place.

    She took his hand “Well, that answers most of my questions.  I’m Helena Pierce.”

    “You must be a lunar.  I’ve heard a bit about you guys.”

    “Yeah, well I guess that makes you a solar then.”

    “Yep!” He proclaimed smiling ear to ear.

    Quietly the other man piped up, “I’m Mr. Agi, and I’m a little different from you.  It’s complicated. I’d tell you but you probably won’t remember anyway.”

    Both Helena and Donovan made puzzled looks at this comment but any questions they had were cut off when their pilot walked through them.

    “Hey, we’re getting on the road, people, look alive.  I’m your captain and I’m hoping to get us there in one piece.  Buckle up,” he said tucking a wash of blond hair into his helmet.  With that the back of the plane closed up and the engine roar was audibly in the way of any conversation.

    An hour later and much more bored than she should have been flying Helena got up to look out the window to see a storm front seemingly approaching their trajectory.

    “Uh.. Mr. Captain man, I... do you….?” She shouted above the now almost static engine sounds.

    “I see it.  That’s gotta be part of the aberration.”

    Behind her Donovan asked, “How many of us are there?  Do you know?”

    “Just a few of you glow sticks and some soldiers.  I don’t know much more.”

    “Glow sticks?” Helena asked almost knowing what his answer was.

    “Yeah, you guys.  You glow when you’re fighting.  That’s not for me though I just do the flying, speaking of which we’re getting close.  You might want to get ready. It looks like the action is starting away from the main site.”

    “Ah, well I’ve used one of these before,” Donovan said pulling off one of the parachutes from the wall.

    The back was opening and by now they were in the storm cloud.  It was dark but Helena knew how far up they were. She had plenty of flight clearance.  “Well, I don’t know how to use one of those but I think I’m good.” Her transformation was smooth as she blasted out the doors.  She didn’t wait to hear comments on her warform. She knew what they saw. Her body was covered in light brown feathers and large wings had sprouted from her back.  Her face had flattened somewhat and softer lighter colored feathers framed her gigantic golden eyes, plumage she imagined as her hair had flared out and was helping to insulate her hearing from the high wind at her altitude.  Her hands were somewhat clawed as were her feet and she seemed taller and more robust than before. She was a monster but combined with her armour and spear she was fearsome. Righting herself looking to the west, she caught the wind and made her way in the direction of the city.  Breaking through the clouds, static tickled her feathers and she looked up to see a gigantic dragon sheathed in lighting flanked by what appeared to be mythical thunderbirds.

    “Well, fuck.”

[cynicaldesire]

I know nobody really cares, but I wanna say: I’m not in the Fighting Game Community, FGC, but my boyfriend is. So we end up keeping up with FGC news-worthy events, end up watching tournaments. Evo is the biggest one every year and it happened this last weekend.

And there was some drama.

Now, I’ve always known the community to be pretty open and accepting. One of the best players was a person? going through transition named Ricky Ortiz. They couldn’t ever compete as a girl because there were rules in Japan about it, which kept out a female player named ChocoBlanka. So it makes sense, used his birth gender to game the system so he could still compete even though he was a woman.

There’s loads of all kinds that play, like 99% dudes because of the Japanese(?) rule. So I’ve seen Hispanics, Europeans, Blacks, Whites, Asians from Japan and Korea and everywhere really. Fat people, thin people, trans people. It never really occurred to me there might be gay people until I saw a guy get smooched by his boyfriend before a match this last weekend in pools.

Never really occurred to me that when a Furry showed up it would be much different.

But for some reason, being a Black, Gay Furry is the worst?

There’s a player named SonicFox who is a black, gay furry that got a lot of backlash for winning the DragonBall FighterZ tournament for invoking a completely legitimate rule about switching sides between matches.

And when I tried to find evidence of him being an absolute scumbag, I couldn’t... find it? I mean, I don’t watch his streams, and he may be victim to the whole “My fetish/sexuality/race is my personality” thing, but I don’t know enough about him. And while his twitter likes have seriously NSFW gay furry porn, he seems like a nice dude.

So... I dunno, dude is a beast that was able to win like 3 of the tournaments this year, and maybe he’s a showboating gloryhog, but he’s also like 22 and sometimes you’re just a douche at that age. He might mellow with age, his reflexes and instincts slower. He’ll fade just like anybody else.

But hating on him because he’s a black, gay furry seems dumb and shitty.

[parmesangirl]

on the new Iron Fist series

So after binge watching a ton of Marvel’s new Iron Fist series, I went onto tumblr, wondering what the fandom was up to now, what with all these new gifs and stuff to make. ‘Maybe I would find some fan art or something’ I thought innocently to myself,

BUT BOY WAS I WRONG

instead, I was greeted with SO MUCH DISCOURSE on how Iron Fist ‘needs a chinese-american actor’ or ‘has terrible dialogue and is slow’.

the best part is when I found out that some of y’all are trying to get this show boycotted like ‘????’

Now as a Chinese-speaking Asian female, living in Asia, with an Asian background and a good know-how of Chinese history, as well as a decent knowledge of comic books, (although I confess I got into the animated series first) I’m here to end the discussion before y’all get your full rage on and start fighting fans of the show like it’s Lord of the Flies up in here

So keep reading if you want to be educated or if you just want to fight me before you know what you’re even talking about

“THE SHOW INSULTS CHINESE CULTURE”

Uhhhh…no? I’ve seen a few episodes and I mean so far there isn’t really anything that screams ‘insult’ or even offensive in the slightest. Besides maybe the fact that they take the beliefs and twist them a little bit but honestly even that ain’t that bad as to what I’ve seen elsewhere.

I’ve read the boycott post and let me say that yea, they dressed him with an eye for Asian elements, but maybe that’s because it’s supposed to be resembling Asian clothing? I mean how is that offensive? Is it the part that it looks Asian? Or that you simply feel that white people that direct these shows should not be using Asian stuff for entertainment? Because I hate to break it to you but it’s still not offensive. Even the dragon tattoo is totally fine because it’s supposed to resemble Asian elements yea but also have y’all read the comics? Because he punched through a dragon and basically took it’s heart. So I mean a dragon tattoo kinda matches the theme.

I mean in the first episode they speak almost flawless Chinese for Pete’s sake! Hell, I was surprised that they even had it in them to have a non-Google translated line. Sure the accent was a little overdoing it cuz not even I have that thick a Chinese accent but I’ll excuse it since he was apparently learning and speaking 15 years. (I speak it maybe a few times a day for like the last 14 years or so only)

So no, the show doesn’t really insult Chinese culture, sure they might be ignorant, but you must understand that after generations of stereotypes and misconceptions that that can’t just go away with one show

“Danny Rand should be played by an Asian guy/be a Chinese-American”

I can’t even begin to tell you my frustration about this.

Y’all do know this show is based on the comics right?

You know, the one with the white guy.

I know Marvel is infamous for not including enough representation in their shows but seriously? This is like the Harry Potter thing all over again with Hermione being black, it’s not that we don’t want representation or anything, but it’s the fact that this hero that us comic fans have come to already love has been replaced. Or at least it feels like it. Like when a movie is made from a book and people go crazy because character XYZ suddenly has different traits or isn’t quite what was described as compared to the book.

Frankly, it sucks.

So even though yes, Marvel should have more Asians in their shows, don’t expect them to completely give the main character a makeover, even if the makeover was supposed to provide representation. And honestly? I don’t want them to change him because I really freaking love Iron Fist, just as he is.

“This show just villainizes Asians”

So you tell me that my race is being made villains because Marvel decided that most of their Asians on their shows are evil ninjas (aka the Hand) and at most there are like 3 sorta good Asians. Oh and I’m sorry, you want more Asian men that are good guys? You want a balance of Asian heroes?

Well I guess that would be kind of hard to fit into the story since, oh, I don’t know, everything happens in the USA?

If you want more Asian characters well then look no further because you do have them. Daisy Johnson from Agents of Shield? What about her extremely brave mom? Or maybe Colleen in Iron Fist? Everyone seems to be blatantly ignoring her badassery and only seeing the part where she’s a sorta love interest.

Facts are, there are Asian characters, you’re really just looking hard enough. I agree wholeheartedly when you say that more Asian men need to be in the Marvel universe that aren’t part of the bad guy team but you gotta say that they are still awesome.

Does anyone even remember the Japanese ninja yakuza guy from Daredevil? Dude got set on fire and STILL came back to kick ass. That’s a plus in my book because even though he’s considered bad, he’s been proven to be cunning, smart, and overall awesome.

“The show has terrible stunts/acting/dialogue/fight scenes”

From here on out it’s mostly just me trying to explain why the directors and writers of the show made decisions in the show to make it what it is, so let’s dive right into it.

STUNTS

Actually the stunts weren’t half-bad. If you’ve seen other shows or movies that are heavily reliant on stunts and action, and compare it to this show, they really aren’t that much different. Sure it might seem a little unbelievable sometimes like they’re breaking physics or something, but he already has a glowing fist. I think we’ve crossed the line of believable long ago.

ACTING

I have nothing to say about this except that go and take some acting or drama classes before coming and criticizing these awesome men and women who did indeed try their best

DIALOGUE

Now I get the dialogue might be a little weird at times and what not, but you must understand that this show was partially written with the Defenders series in mind. So almost everything that was said in the show is meant to lead to something more. Thus, you must take it as a bigger picture. Sorta like how everyone said that Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them wasn’t as good as they thought it would be, that movie was also meant to lead on to a bigger story so you might want to excuse the weird speech and cryptic lines at times.

FIGHT SCENES & ACTION

Okay seriously people, please read the comics. Danny Rand is supposed to be an accidental hero, one that doesn’t want to fight unless he really has zero choice in the matter. So yea, the fight scenes won’t be that interesting, but only because the character in question is more interested in ending the fight than anything.

~

So there you have it, my whole slightly angry info-dump on Iron Fist and Marvel’s representation problem in general. If you want to correct me or scold me even then by all means message me or shoot me an ask. But just keep in mind that Marvel can’t make all your problems go away in one show, and please for the love of all that is good read the comics before coming to rant okay?

[daniellethamasa]

Hey all, Dani here.

Welcome to the first Calendar Girls post of 2019. What exactly is Calendar Girls? Well, I’m glad you asked. Let’s talk about all those details before I start talking about this month’s theme and all the possible book options.

Calendar Girls is a monthly blog event that was started by Flavia and Melanie, but is now being hosted by Katie and Adrienne. They are all wonderful ladies, and you should check out their lovely blogs. Oh, and if you go to either Katie or Adrienne‘s Calendar Girls post each month, they will have links to all the other wonderful book bloggers participating in this event.

First, more about the Calendar Girls. It is designed to ignite bookish discussions among readers, and was inspired by the 1961 Neil Sedaka song, Calendar Girl.

Just like the song, each month has a different theme. Each blogger picks their favorite book from the theme, and on the first Monday of the month reveals their pick in a Calendar Girls post. Make sure to post back to the hostess’s post, and both Katie and Adrienne will make a master list for the month. The master lists allow everyone to see the other Calendar Girls’ picks and to pop on over to their blogs. Thus, we all get to chat about books and even make some new friends!

Oh, and you don’t have to identify as female to join the Calendar Girls. We welcome readers of all types. So if this sounds like fun for you, join us in all of the fun bookish conversations. All right, let’s go ahead and get to talking about the January theme, and then the runners up and the winner. Forewarning, this is a pretty long post and I talk about quite a few books. Sorry, not sorry. I love books.

The theme for January is…

Happy New Year

2019 Release You’re Most Looking Forward To

Oh man, there are so many 2019 releases that I’m looking forward to…and I know I’m probably missing some great ones too. So, I really look forward to reading all the other posts for this month, just in case there are books that I really should have on my release calendar.

But, for the purposes of selecting a pick for this month, I managed to narrow my options down to 12 books. So I’m going to start with talking about my contenders, and then I’ll have to choose my winner from all of them.

Obviously, most of what I’m excited for is fantasy releases. What can I say? They’re my favorite.

First up is the newest release from Brigid Kemmerer, A Curse So Dark and Lonely, which is coming out January 29th. This is apparently an adaptation of Beauty and the Beast, so I’m definitely excited about it.

Then there is Imprison the Sky by A.C. Gaughen, expected January 22nd. The first book, Reign the Earth, was outstanding, and I’m really curious to see what will happen next, because the magic and the politics were very intriguing.

Obviously, King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo has to make this list. This first installment of a Nikolai centered duology will be released January 29th as well, and I’m hoping for wonderful and diverse characters, plenty of drama and complications, and a romance I can root for.

Next, I have to mention Bloodwitch by Susan Dennard, which will be released on February 12th. Now I just talked about this book a little bit a couple days ago, so I don’t want to say too much this time, but I love all the different witcheries in this series, and I’m happy that this book will have a focus on Aeduan, because he is a fascinating character.

Crown of Feathers by Nicki Pau Preto is a relatively new add to my release calendar, but we’ve been getting a lot more Asian inspired fantasy books these past couple years, and I have been super pleased with pretty much every one I’ve read, so I can’t wait to see what other wondrous reads we get. This book will also be released on February 12th.

Rin Chupeco’s conclusion to The Bone Witch trilogy–The Shadow Glass–is definitely one of my highest anticipated books. I was lucky enough to be granted an e-galley of the first book and an ARC of the second book, but no such luck with this one, so I have been waiting for what feels like forever. I can’t wait to pick this one up March 1st.

I won’t spend much time at all talking about Emily A Duncan’s April 2nd release, Wicked Saints. If you want to know all my gushy feels, go check out my early review for it. But this is a book that makes my D&D cleric loving heart so dang happy. This is definitely a contender for one of my favorite books right now.

When I read Ashley Poston’s Geekerella, I loved all the fandom and charm. So to find that it is getting a sequel/companion just made me super happy. I’m ready to go to another fandom and have more cute geeky interactions. I wish I didn’t have to wait until April 2nd to get my hands on The Princess and the Fangirl.

Kingsbane by Claire Legrand obviously has to make this list, considering how much I loved reading Furyborn last year. I want to know more about these women, this world, and the magic and politics going on. This book will be released May 21st.

I love some good epic fantasy, and I was expecting quite a bit when I read Kill the Queen by Jennifer Estep last year. It didn’t disappoint, but I’m still hoping for more with the sequel, Protect the Prince, expected May 15th. I want more badass gladiator women, and obviously more tantalizing descriptions of food.

Give me more fun and tricks, plus more action, drama and romance, with Soul of the Sword by Julie Kagawa, to be released June 25th. I absolutely adored Shadow of the Fox when I devoured it last year, and I need more of this fantasy adventure with Asian mythology and folklore influences. So good.

Finally, I have The Rise of Kyoshi by F.C. Yee, set to be released on July 16th. This is a book set in the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender, and follows a previous Avatar, namely Earthbender Kyoshi. My fiance introduced me to both Avatar and Korra since we started dating, and I have watched both shows, as well as reading all of the comics. I am so ready to see what we’ll learn with this book series.

Okay, so there are a lot of fantastic options here. And I’ve already realized that I’ve missed a few books. More than a few if I’m being completely honest, but I read a lot of books, so my release calendar is pretty full already. But the more I look at all of these, the more I’m thinking that my choice actually isn’t any of the ones I’ve mentioned already. If this had been the theme a couple months ago, my answer would have been Wicked Saints, but I feel bad picking that now because I already have read it and I know that I absolutely love it. So I can’t really call it an anticipated book any more; all I’m anticipating is having a final edition in my hands.

So I’m going to pick another book, and that’s great. I love getting to talk about even more books than I originally planned. All right, so here is my final choice for this month’s Calendar Girls theme.

I think I need to re-read the first book before I write up the review for it, but the Tales of Pell series is utterly hilarious. It is filled with so many classic fantasy tropes that get turned on their heads, as well as pun after glorious pun. This isn’t a dark or serious fantasy, like some we’ve come to expect, but it is still entirely worth a read.

Based on the summary, I’m thinking No Country for Old Gnomes will be just as entertaining.

Go big or go gnome. The New York Times bestselling authors of Kill the Farm Boy return to the world of Pell, the irreverent fantasy universe that recalls Monty Python and Terry Pratchett.

War is coming, and it’s gonna be Pell.

On one side stand the gnomes: smol, cheerful, possessing tidy cardigans and no taste for cruelty.

On the other side sit the halflings, proudly astride their war alpacas, carrying bags of grenades and hungry for a fight. And pretty much anything else.

It takes only one halfling bomb and Offi Numminen’s world is turned upside down—or downside up, really, since he lives in a hole in the ground. His goth cardigans and aggressive melancholy set him apart from the other gnomes, as does his decision to fight back against their halfling oppressors. Suddenly Offi is the leader of a band of lovable misfits and outcasts—from a gryphon who would literally kill for omelets to a young dwarf herbalist who is better with bees than with his cudgel to an assertive and cheerful teen witch with a beard as long as her book of curses—all on a journey to the Toot Towers to confront the dastardly villain intent on tearing Pell asunder. These adventurers never fit in anywhere else, but as they become friends, fight mermaids, and get really angry at this one raccoon, they learn that there’s nothing more heroic than being yourself.

In No Country for Old Gnomes, Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne lovingly tweak the tropes of fantasy and fairy tales. Here you’ll find goofy jokes and whimsical puns, but you’ll also find a diverse, feminist, and lighthearted approach to fantasy that will bring a smile to your face and many fine cheeses to your plate.

Come on. Does that not sound like an absolutely hilarious and awesome book? I’m thinking I may actually try to pick this series up in audiobook. I have the hardcover of the first book, but I think this might be a good series to listen to.

I laughed so much while reading Kill the Farm Boy. I’ve read quite a bit of Kevin Hearne, but not much Delilah S Dawson, which is going to change sometime soon-ish. But they have co-authored an amazing series, set in an awesomely put together world, with a random and hilarious cast of characters.

Wow…this post went so much longer than I expected it to. Oh well, there were lots of great books to talk about. That’s all from me today, but I’ll be back soon with more bookish content.

Calendar Girls: January 2019 Hey all, Dani here. Welcome to the first Calendar Girls post of 2019. What exactly is Calendar Girls?

[dachi-chan25]

June Reading Wrap Up.

This is the frist time I do this but I intend to keep up with it every month so let's see.

# of books I read in the month: 14

Tempest and Slaughter by Tamora Pierce

Raiting: 🌟🌟🌟

Review: I really liked the narrative style and the world building, as well as the magic system and politics but it has no plot, I was waiting for some sort of conflict to arise (there was a lot of set up for it but nope,) so even if I was invested with the characters and the world they lived in nothing much happened so that is why I couldn't give it 5 stars. Also this is part of a series, but I don't think I am intrested in reading the rest if there are more books without plot in it.

A Hundred Thousand Worlds by Bob Proehl

Raiting: 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

Review: I really liked it a lot, a very good read for people that love and have experienced the fandom world, especially artists/writers/cosplayers on a comic-on. The characters were pretty good, and the familiar drama was very intresting to read about. There are very little aspects I didn't like overall it was a very enjoyable read and I totally recommend it.

Apollo is Mine by Mila Young

Raiting: 🌟

Review: I do read erotica/smutty books, and I do enjoy them from time to time (like I don't read them to analyze them or anything) but oh boy. So what drew me in to buy it was that it was a Harem and I love Reverse Harem, but I have come to realize that western authors do RH very differently than asian authors and I don't like it. I had no more expectatives from this book than a fun smutty book, but nope it was so boring for me and the sex scenes were pretty bland so I didn't like it.

A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACoTaR #1) by Sara J Maas

Raiting: 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

Review: At last!! I am so behind when it comes to YA literature cuz I was a pretentious ass when I was in middle/high school so I didn't read any that came out then, and now I am catching up. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought, like I was thinking it was gonna be all rapey (I heard it was very abusive and all that jazz but it wasn't? ?) but nope, like it had some stuff but the guy wasn't the romantic interest and it was somewhat justified. The characters were ok (I like them but I don't love them) but gosh the villian was ridiculous, the curse was so damn specific tho like Feyre was the only one who could have possibly break it and it was kinda silly. Still I liked it and I will definitely continue with the series.

Dread Nation by Justina Irland

Raiting: 🌟 🌟 🌟

Review: I was so excited to get to this one and I am so mad that I didn't like it. I mean there was nothing wrong with it, I liked the characters for the most part and some of it I found intresting but as a whole I just didn't enjoy it.

17 Mujeres Premios Nobel de la Ciencia - Helene Merle Beral

Raiting: 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

Review: It was very intresting, I didn't even know half of this women which is a shame because all of them were amazing scentists who fought so hard to have their work recognized and I always love to read their stories.

The River Between by Ngugi wa Thiong'o

Raiting: 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

Review: I really love African literature, their authors have such a powerful style, and of course I really loved this book. The need to unify the tribe not by attacking the white colonizers but educating themselves and forming a political front while still upholding their traditions was amazing to read and I definitely recommend this.

Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge by Lisa Jensen

Raiting: 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

Review: It was so good and so very original!!! I'm not gonna spoil anything but the twist in the end changes the way you view the frist part of the book (I mean there is a scene of rape and it's totally fine if you don't wanna read it but most people that have rated this book low hasn't read the whole thing and can't understand the whole point). My fav Beauty and the Beast retelling so far.

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzie Lee

Raiting:🌟🌟🌟

Review: I was hoping to like it more from what I had heard in the book community everywhere, it was okay I did enjoy it but I don't love it as much as I wish I did. I wanted to shake Monty for being such an asshole like 3/4 of the book but I did like Felicity and Percy a lot. The plot was intresting, I mean very tropey but in a good way.

A Blade so Black by L.L McKinney

Raiting: 🌟 🌟 🌟

Review: The cover of this book is completely beautiful, but I did not like the Nightmares and all the plot. The characters were funny (again very cliché, so much that I felt I was reading a fanfic of Alice in Wonderland which I mean maybe it is what the autor was going for and that's ok) and the Buffy references always made me smile, but I will not continue the series cuz I was not invested in the plot or world building at all.

The Book of Hidden Things by Francesco Dimitri

Raiting: 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

Review: Magical realism is always my jam, and this book was so very intresting. I loved the friendship of the guys and their opinions and memories on Art, god finding out what really was going on was pretty terrifying. I definitely recommend this book.

Malinche by Laura Esquivel

Raiting: 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

Review: Laura Esquivel's prose is beautiful, every sentence she constructs is beautiful. And it was such a refreshing humanizing empathetic portrayal of a historical figure that is so unfairly hated and viewed as a traitor in the mexican culture. I absolutely adored it.

The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi

Raiting: 🌟 🌟

Reviews: Not the book for me. I loved the diversity of the main cast and the fact that Roshani Chokshi portrayed "La Belle Époque" As something that was beautiful only for colonizers and rich people. But I was really bored through it all and I just couldn't connect or invest myself with the characters so yeah. (I am still so bitter that I didn't liked this, maybe I will re-read it to give it another chance)

[newyorktheater]

Lady Gaga, Madonna, Kesha, U2 and Panic! At the Disco were among the answers to the question: What recording artist or band would you most like to see providing the score for a musical on Broadway? The question was asked in a contest to win tickets to Head Over Heels, a musical that uses the music of The Go-Go’s. The winner of the tickets, David Ashtiani, happened to pick Lady Gaga: “Her music is fun, relatable, and easy to get into the “beat”. Lady Gaga’s music is so flexible and can be adapted into many different, fun scenes throughout an original script.” (David won not because of her choice, but because his order in answering was selected at a drawing on Random.org.) Scroll to the bottom for more selections.

There was an alternative question: What work of literature would you like to see turned into a musical?

The answers to this question were more varied and sometimes obscure. Below are a selection of responses to the literature question, organized alphabetically by title, with links to the recommended books to learn more about them. Producers, are you listening?

Christodora: A Novel “I would love to see the book Christodora by Tim Murphy turned into a musical! It’s a story about the AIDS epidemic and its aftermath, stretching across multiple generations/time periods, and could make a great piece since it’s very stylized in its narrative.” – Kerry Breen

Crazy Rich Asians (Crazy Rich Asians Trilogy) “I want to see “Crazy Rich Asians” by Kevin Kwan turned into a musical because it has an appealing story with drama, humor, emotion, and interesting colorful characters. And it’s about time Asians get real representation on Broadway” – Monica C.

Fingersmith “I think Fingersmith by Sarah Waters would be a fascinating musical – to see the characters sing about all these twists and turns would be amazing.” – Erinn Conlon

The Glass Castle: A Memoir “I would love to see “The Glass Castle” by Jeanette Walls turned into a musical. Though the memoir is heavy and heartbreaking, I think if it were to be done correctly – in the same vein as Come From Away, the musical could/would be absolutely brilliant. I also think that this story is harrowing enough to touch the audience, but not to a point where the audience would feel miserable while watching it play out.” – Drew B.

Great Expectations “…it has romance, suspense, depth of character, etc…” – Beth Senturia

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy “I think it has a unique brand of comedy that would (if done right) adapt well to the stage. And I also believe Panic at the Disco should do the score.”-Veronica P.

Jane Eyre

I would love to see Charlotte Brönte’s “Jane Eyre” be transformed into a Broadway musical. I think that Jane’s journey throughout the novel is rather captivating, inspiring, and beautiful. Inasmuch, it is similar to Beauty and the Beast in that some of the major themes include “love defies all boundaries” and “love is blind.” – John Alexander

Love in the Time of Cholera (Oprah’s Book Club) It would so interesting to see the intersection of the many characters and timelines as a musical, and you could do some very interesting things with set/lighting, in terms of the different times. – Erin

The Mysterious Benedict Society Complete Paperback Collection “It’s such an original and interesting story. The cast of characters would be really interesting to watch — and all of the schemes and whatnot.” – Bailey Garcia

Paradise Lost

“I think Paradise Lost would be a lovely musical. It’s famous, but people think it’s stodgy. I think it is actually very nuanced and surprisingly modern . It would be tough to pull off but worth it!” – Michael Gillen

Zenobia “I believe Zenobia by Morten Durr should become a musical. Zenobia was an Egyptian warrior/Queen who took no orders from anyone, she was her own boss. She went through so many things and overcame so many challenges with strategy and pride. The story is about a Syrian girl named Amina who is caught up in a war that reaches her village, when she escapes, she becomes overwhelmed, but she remembers her Mother telling her to think of the warrior Zenobia. I believe with the right representation this would be a great musical, even if you just did it on Zenobias life, it’s so fascinating and empowering to women all across the world. The representation is crucial, we need more Middle Eastern representation” – Sophia

A Selection of Recording Artists

I would most like to see Ariana Grande provide the score for a musical on Broadway. Her theatre background + her new sound on her most recent album Sweetener would be perfect for a fun new musical on Broadway, and it would really get the kids out and make them want to see theatre. – Emily Antonowicz

I think Kesha could write a really amazing pop score. Ultimately she has some of the most influential hits of the late 2000’s, and she completely reshaped the pop scene. She created a place where female pop stars could be a bit messier and sing about men the way men sing about women. Her last album Rainbow is an amazing journey about survival and overcoming one’s demons. With the current climate I think she could write a really wonderful score that would resonate with people with similar experiences to hers, but also with a broader spectrum of people. – Patrick Howard

I think U2 could maybe actually make a good musical, whether original or previous songs; I’m one of the few people who liked Bono & the Edge’s score for ‘Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark’, hehe, and find their music very theatrical! – Sarah Packard

I think Panic! At the Disco could provide a really interesting score for a musical. Their songs and performance style are already super theatrical and Brendan Urie has already starred in Kinky Boots, so maybe he can star as well! – Aaron Deitsch

Lady Gaga Should Write A Broadway Musical; Crazy Rich Asians Should Be One. Lady Gaga, Madonna, Kesha, U2 and Panic! At the Disco were among the answers to the question: …