#but also??? Interesting how no one talks about the culture teenage girls are thrust into

[demetriandelibinaryboyfriends]

Sometimes I think about how Yasmine and Moon's EDs were played entirely as a joke in S1, and I just. Am not a fan at all

ppl rly hate girls with eating disorders tbh. did anyone else notice this

[writerthreads]

The Top 10 YA Tropes/Clichés & How to Avoid Them

by So You Want to Write, formatted by Writerthreads

1. THE PROTAGONIST IS AN OUTSIDER

“I’m not like the other girls”

The world just doesn’t, like, get her. Maybe she’s awkward, weird, or super-smart. She reads Proust and only eats dry toast. She’s definitely not a cheerleader and has maybe one close friend (who’s also not cool).

How to avoid it:

Don’t be afraid to write a protagonist who’s popular, who moves between social circles, or who is perfectly average (except for, you know, being thrust into this fantastic adventure.)

(If you want to know more about why you should avoid this trope, read my essay on this in one of our earlier posts.)

2. THE PARENTS ARE DEAD

“They died in a horrible golfing accident…”

Or, dad skipped town, and mom works late at 3 jobs, 7 nights a week. Your main character’s an orphan? Never heard that one before. Do your characters come home after a 2-week odyssey without a, “Where the hell were you, the police have been looking for you!?” That’s weird.

How to avoid it:

It’s not impossible to imagine a wild, supernatural, dangerous and epic adventure in which the protagonist has regular parents. Heck – maybe they even aid the good guys in some way? Or maybe they’re just comic relief.

3. ALL ADULTS ARE USELESS

“Did your mom pass out drunk on the couch again tonight?”

Sure, some young readers are angst-y tweens who get their kicks from reading about parents getting their comeuppance, but we’d wager that most of the ones who are reading have a fairly decent rapport with ole’ mom and dad.

How to avoid it:

Let’s see some adult characters with agency for a change. It’s possible to build a world where the teenage protagonist is a formidable force and who also plays well with adults.

4. TOKEN DIVERSITY

“Hi, I’m Cheng, and I’m really good at math.”

Daily, YA readers come into contact with friends who have a different skin colour, culture, disability, family arrangement, and sexual orientation from them. They are surely capable of relating to a story involving non-white/handsome/fit characters. Publishers are clamouring for this kind of diversity, but don’t be the cautionary tale that writes in a token character for the sake of it!

How to avoid it:

Write diverse characters, but make them believable. Do you research: talk to someone of that lived experience. Your characters should talk, act, and even think the way that someone who is X would. Don’t force it.

5. YE OLDE DYSTOPIAN WORLD

“Hey do you mind just leading this insurgency for a quick sec?”

War. Really Bad War. Everything’s different now, bad different. This government sucks bad, gotta start a rebellion. Nope, it can’t be done peacefully – gotta be overthrown. Sure, this was an interesting premise in The Hunger Games, but nobody wants to read 50 books with that same basic plot.

How to avoid it:

Ask yourself – what is the story that only you can tell? Start with the problem or challenge your protagonist is facing, and then write out 25 ideas for the basic structure of your world (Hint: it doesn’t have to be all bleak and broken.)

6. PROTAGONIST CAN’T SEE HER BEAUTY

“I’m just an ordinary Hollywood girl making $20 mil a picture”

She’s the family favourite and has a line up of guys at her locker. She volunteers at the orphanage and is at the top of her class. But she’s modest. “Oh, who, little old me? I’m nothing special.” She goes through the book seeing herself as a wilting wallflower despite her incredible feats ��� until some guy shows her how special he is by falling for her. Please – spare us the 20th-century prince charming thing.

How to avoid it:

Show us a girl (or guy) that doesn’t need rescuing. Write a character who is actually quite comfortable in her own skin, thank you very much. She can still fall in love, but she doesn’t need

7. HEY, MY PARENTS ARE OUT OF TOWN. HOUSE PARTY!

“Whoa, you have a hot tub, dude?”

I did actually throw a party EVERY time my mom left town. But the house never got trashed and nobody ever got pregnant. That scene where everyone’s arriving at the upper-middle-class mansion, the protagonist not sure if he’s going to go in, and some kind of conflict ensues, has been done. While we’re at it, nobody wants to read about prom again.

How to avoid it:

Put your characters in one of the billion other settings that a teenager might find himself in: stuck at a little brother’s birthday party? Being the elderly neighbour’s dance partner for $5 an hour? Identifying bodies at the morgue? Get the story out of the parents’ liquor cabinet.

8. FORCED ROMANCE

“There’s something about the way your abs are glistening that makes me want to have your babies”

Have you read a story where a character serves absolutely no purpose except to look pretty and be some kind of one-dimensional love interest for the main character? That’s the calling card of a lazy author.

How to avoid it:

By all means – write romance into your character’s life, but his beau doesn’t need to be a walking mannequin. Think about how this other person can drive the plot, or aid the protagonist. You can steer right around the “love at first sight” angle. While we’re at it, let’s drop the “best friend turned lover” trope.

9. I AM THE CHOSEN ONE!

“Flunked algebra, but I’m going to defeat the greatest evil the world has ever known”

Main character is just a REGULAR GUY™ but finds out TERRIBLE SECRET™ revealed by FATALISTIC PROPHECY™. Protagonist may or may not have SPECIAL POWERS™ that must be used to SAVE THE WORLD™. Oh, and he finds out in the last chapter he’s of royal blood. Your readers are already considering suicide by paper cuts.

How to avoid it:

If you really need to use this trope (since it works so well) don’t just write another Harry Potter; come up with an interesting variation on the theme. Maybe your protagonist’s uniqueness is ordained not by fate, but because he trained his whole life in a special skill?

And the Top YA Trope Award goes to…

10. THE LOVE TRIANGLE

“Betty or Veronica?”

Your main character needs to find the Trident of Poseidon to complete the 12 Tasks of the Merovingians, aligning the Stargates and thwarting the Arachnid invasion. Also: hormones. Should she go for the guy with the 6-pack or 8-pack? The popular blond athlete, or the brooding brunette anarchist?

How to avoid it:

Love triangles are the most overused YA plot device by an order of magnitude. Unless this unholy trinity is integral to your plot (and why would you do that to your book?), don’t force it into your story. Your story might not even need any romantic sub-plot, but if you choose to include one, it need not be this dusty has-been. Get creative.

[pass-the-bechdel]

Buffy S2E10 ‘What’s My Line Pt 2′

Does it pass the Bechdel Test?  

Yes, 6 times and with more than two female characters at once. 

How many female characters (with names and lines) are there?          

6 (40%)

How many male characters (with names and lines) are there?

9

Positive Content Rating:

Three.

General Episode Quality:

A rollercoaster

MORE INFO (and potential spoilers) UNDER THE CUT:

Passing the Bechdel:

Kendra and Buffy pass trying to decide who the best Slayer is. Buffy, Kendra, and Willow pass in a group in the library. Buffy and Kendra pass again. Then Buffy passes with Willow. Kendra and Buffy pass again. And again at the end. 

Female Characters:

Buffy Summers

Cordelia

Willow

Drusilla

Kendra

Patrice

Male Characters:

Xander

Spike

Giles

Angel

Snyder

‘Norman Pfister’

Oz

Willy

Jonathon

Other Notes:

I know I said it in the previous episode but... Kendra’s accent. Oh boy. 

The idea that there’s a Slayer who’s driven purely by her sense of duty isn’t one I hate, but to make it so that Kendra doesn’t even know what a friend is or barely knows how to have a conversation takes it to a laughable extreme. Unless she was raised in isolation purely to be a Slayer and not allowed any contact with society or pop culture it doesn’t make any sense. And if she was then it would have made a lot more sense for her to be the Slayer from the get. Editor’s Note: Kendra later talks about how she was raised into Slayerdom from an early age (which is weird and inconsistent because if they can predict who will become a Slayer years in advance of it happening, there’s no excuse for Buffy being thrust into the middle of things as an unprepared teenager, but anyway), and the idea that being prepared for Slayerdom since childhood means she literally doesn’t know what friends are is really stupid. Also, child abuse. I feel like they were way too busy running with the basic idea of being ‘raised in the life’, they didn’t bother to think about what that would actually look like in an even vaguely realistic fashion, so instead we get this weird pared down version of what could have been a really interesting idea and point of comparison with Buffy’s life/outlook.

No need for Willy to make a gross pass at Kendra and Buffy. Like, literally none. Hated that. 

So... yeah. That kiss happened. And then was over. Like I’m so confused I can’t even be mad. 

‘Was that a demonstration’ I know this is an American high school, so shootings aren’t unusual but Jesus Christ at least let out school for the rest of the day. 

Great, bringing up the rapey praying mantis teacher. 

Cool, sexualizing torture and making a dick measuring contest between Spike and Angel, like Drusilla is a possession. Gross. 

Trapping the bugs in glue is... smart

Yeah, don’t understand the Cordelia/Xander thing

So Kendra only had one set of clothes but has all that jewelry? It’s like they’re not sure if they want her to be utilitarian or ‘exotic’ 

Why did no one go back and make sure that Drusilla and Spike were dead?

The main thing to talk about here is Kendra. The idea of two Slayers is actually a pretty cool one- a way to juxtapose Buffy with someone else of equal abilities and responsibilities. The problem is that there’s assumption that they then have to be presented as binary opposites to each other. Buffy is caring, intuitive, and human. Kendra is calculating, cold, awkward and almost animilistic. Not only is this boring story telling, it’s racist as hell. When the white, western girl is your hero and your brown, foreign girl (it’s not even clear where exactly she’s from, we’re just supposed to assume it’s ‘other’ and leave it at that) is the example of what she shouldn’t be, it’s really really gross. Editor’s Note: also, that Buffy is allowed to be a complicated person with a nuanced personality, but Kendra is simplistic and one-note. Hella racist, guys.

Other than that, I did like Drusilla in her first episode, but the more I’m exposed to her the more she kind of just bores me. She’s ‘crazy’, great. I’ve seen a hundred iterations of female characters like that. Make her more interesting, guys. Not sure what to make of Cordelia and Xander and if their budding romance is supposed to make things more interesting or if it’s supposed to be comic relief, but right now it’s just kind of there. Either way, for a two parter, I didn’t particularly hate these last two episodes, but they definitely weren’t great either. 

[rcsonant-blog]

                                    perhaps we are always hurtling our bodies toward                                       the thing that will obliterate us, begging for love                                                  from the speeding passage of time

perhaps you could say that jihun’s life was never meant to be easy, but he never looked at it that way. you might as well have plastered accident on his forehead the second he came out of the womb because that was exactly what he was. with his mother and father the bright ages of 16, he was certainly not meant to be there, but he was, and that didn’t exactly go over well.

both sides of the family were furious, blinded by rage and practically spitting fire. jihun’s mother was kicked out from her home, left to go to the streets, but his father surprisingly followed. since his parents wouldn’t allow her into their home either, he joined her and they started a terrifying journey together, one that required them to grow up much faster than they were ever prepared for.

with the help of a teacher at their high school, they were able to get situated at some point, his father working a tireless job that barely made the cuts of what they needed. the beginning of his childhood was spent in poverty, but was lavished in love. love made up for what money couldn’t. his parents were tired, but they were happy, and nothing could change that ... well, besides another child.

barely standing on their feet, his parents had somehow made the same mistake they had made when they were 16, but the only difference was now they were 19. they hardly had enough money to stand on their own two feet with one child, but adding another to the mix was like setting their world on fire. it would only complicate things further, and the issues would run much deeper than just money.

when his younger sister came into the mix, they were only thrust further into poverty and the blanket of love became much thinner, hardly able to keep both him and his sister warm. all the issues sent his parents spiraling, and sooner rather than later, their relationship began to crumble. it chipped away slowly, and instead of a quick split, jihun was forced to listen to his parents bickering for years as he grew up.

the arguments would fluctuate depending on how much money they currently had, on and off for years. it wasn’t until jihun was entering his teenage years that the two of them opted to finally split. it wasn’t a messy split, however, the children bouncing back and forth from home to home biweekly. aside from a bruised family, the only other thing affected was their financial situation, a temporary deeper divot in their savings that put a bump in the road.

it took a few years before things finally started getting better, a much needed move into a more stable home that his father took the jump into, a move to a different school for both him and his sister. it was around that time that jihun was truly able to shine. he never considered himself from a broken home, and to be frank, his childhood never fazed him much. it just made him appreciate the things he had more, and it made him appreciate the time that he had with his parents individually. he grew to realize that he much rather preferred their company after their split rather than forcing themselves to stay together.

at a new school, he made friends rather quickly, and unknowingly began his journey to self discovery. he learned more about his interests, and more about himself as a person, especially upon entering high school. ( good to note for clarification: his move was at the end of middle school, so he only had a few months transferred into this new school before being thrust into another one, with more kids from different school that he didn’t know ). this was a good thing though, because with him being the “new” kid, handsome, and adorned with a sense of humor, everyone wanted to be his friend.

he quickly shot up in popularity, though he wasn’t the best academically. it was also around that time that jihun began to accept his sexuality, especially after he tried dating a close girl friend. of course, it was something he’d always noticed, but he never addressed.

they’d been together for a few months, but skinship was always rather uncomfortable and forced for the both of them, and kissing never felt quite right. it wasn’t there for either of them, and instead, she was the biggest aid in him accepting who he was, realizing that it wasn’t a lack of feelings but a lack of attraction. with that, she quickly became his best friend, the petite girl by the name of minseo still by his side till this day.

from that point on, jihun was one of the only known out gay men at school. of course, not everyone knew it, but it wasn’t something he denied once he was comfortable enough to admit it. life continued on as normal, and not much else happened actively in his love life until he met suhan.

flash forward, for good measure before finishing the bio ( since tbh everything after that point was ,, standard. he literally just went to college and started his life ) i want to include how jihun met hanbin.

i think it’s something as cheesy and as simple as them meeting in a coffee shop that jihun worked in trying to make ends meet. back when he was still working there, hanbin was a regular, and i feel like jihun would totally play with hanbin by writing little jokes or purposefully messing up/misspelling his name on the cup until one thing led to another and hanbin finally asked jihun out on a date.

i feel like in terms of jihun and how he visualizes his employment future he’s just kind of ,, rolling with the punches. even in high school, where he struggled academically due to the lack of effort he put in, he’s never really had the “oh yes this is my dream” mindset. he could remain an athletic trainer, or he could decide a year from now he wants to pursue something else . he’s what the kids call a #wild card

⸻ THE BASICS

name: tak jihun

age: 24

birthday: march 29, 1994

race: korean

gender: cismale

sexuality: homosexual

relationship status: taken

⸻ PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

hair: brown

eyes: brown

height: 5′9

build: fit

distinguishing marks: eyebrows, duh!

common accessories: none

⸻ PERSONAL  

profession: athletic trainer

languages: korean

residence: daegu, south korea

birthplace: busan, south korea

religion: christian

fears: not being enough, being left behind, never finding his purpose

disabilities: none

good traits: bright, dependable, confident, friendly, humorous, opinionated, persistent, dreamy, popular, easygoing

bad traits: doubtful, fearful, hot-tempered, jealous, lonely, naive, reckless, clumsy, deceptive, argumentative

⸻ TRAITS

extroverted / introverted / in between.

disorganized / organized / in between.

close minded / open-minded / in between.

calm / anxious / in between.

disagreeable / agreeable / in between.

cautious / reckless / in between.

patient / impatient / in between.

outspoken / reserved / in between.

leader / follower / in between.

empathetic / unemphatic / in between.

optimistic / pessimistic / in between.

traditional / modern / in between.

hard-working / lazy / in between.

cultured / un-cultured / in between.

loyal / disloyal / unknown / in between.

faithful / unfaithful / unknown / in between.

⸻ PLACE IN SOCIETY

financial: wealthy / moderate / poor / in poverty

class or caste: upper / middle / working / unsure

education: high school / college / dropped out

criminal record: yes, for major crimes / yes, for minor crimes / no

⸻ BELIEFS

monotheist / polytheist / atheist  / agnostic

belief in ghosts or spirits: yes / no / don’t know / don’t care

belief in an afterlife:  yes / no / don’t know / don’t care

belief in reincarnation:  yes / no / don’t know / don’t care

belief in aliens: yes / no / don’t know / don’t care

philosophical: yes / no

⸻ CAPABILITIES

combat skills: excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

literacy skills: excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

artistic skills: excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

technical skills: excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

social skills: excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

⸻ HABITS

drinking alcohol: never / sometimes / frequently / to excess

smoking: never / sometimes / frequently / to excess

other narcotics: never / sometimes / frequently / to excess

medicinal drugs: never / sometimes / frequently / to excess

indulgent foods: never / sometimes / frequently / to excess

splurge spending: never / sometimes / frequently / to excess

gambling: never / sometimes / frequently / to excess

⸻ HABITS

nail biting / throat clearing / lying / interrupting / chewing the ends of pens / smoking / swearing / knuckle cracking / thumb sucking / muttering under their breath / talking to themselves / nose picking / binge drinking / oversleeping / snacking between meals / skipping meals / picking at skin / impulse buying / talking with their mouth full / humming or singing to themselves / chewing gum / leg jiggling / foot tapping / sighing / hair twirling / whistling / eye rolling / licking lips / sniffing / squinting / rubbing hands together / jaw clenching / gesturing while talking / putting feet up on tables / tucking hair behind ears / chewing lips / crossing arms over chest / putting hands on hips / rubbing the back or their neck / being late / procrastinating / doodling / shredding paper / peeling off bottle labels / forgetfulness / running hands through hair / overreacting / teeth grinding / nostril flaring / slouching / pacing / drumming fingers / fist clenching / pinching bridge of nose / rubbing temples / rolling shoulders

[thewritinglist]

Albums of the “Year”

It’s very limiting to list my favourite albums released in the last twelve months, because years are an arbitrary concept, invented by humanity, and I also struggle to get away from my comfort zone of a few bands I’ve obsessively listened to and mentally catalogued. So, here is my top ten albums of 2018. They’re not necessarily from 2018, but they defined my year.

10. After Laughter by Paramore

For a long while, Paramore existed in my cultural awareness as one song, and a post on this very site about how Hayley Williams once caused a tour to be cancelled by getting her teenage self grounded.

That’s an unfair assessment.

The one song was Still Into You, passed on as part of a mixtape made by a dear friend to celebrate my first anniversary with my girlfriend. But after hearing Fake Happy on the radio at my former place of work (I didn’t love The Co-Op, but I have to hand it to their DJs and their fine taste), I had to google some lyrics to find it. The twelve songs tell an often deceptively sad story underneath the jangling guitars and synths that throw you and Paramore back together to the eighties. I listen to the music for the lyrics, and Williams really excels in adding sadness in the tone and not as something yelled. 

Best song - Hard Times.

2017 - Fuelled by Ramen - Pop rock

9. Silver Dollar Moment by The Orielles

I discovered the next two bands by a moment of delightful chance, when indie band Little Comets opened their twitter account to female fans on International Women’s Day, and one recommended these two.

Opening track Mango really nicely sets the scene for forty-five minutes of dreamily delivered indie rock, especially in Esmé Dee Hand-Halford’s vocals and bass. It’s the sort of music that makes me want to close my eyes and gently drift my head from side to side, which is why I have a soft rule to listen to it mostly in the comfort of a closed bedroom. Labelling anything indie gives an impression of competent but basic guitar/bass/drums, but The Orielles do much more than that, there’s an injection of funk and weirdness that occasionally brings to mind Talking Heads, if you played them at half speed, and replaced Byrne’s sudden manic energy with languid relaxation.

Best song: Mango

2018 - Heavenly Records - Indie rock

8. Love in the 4th Dimension by The Big Moon

The second chance discovery, The Big Moon are definitely more conventionally indie than their precedents in this list, but I like the simplicity of not adding too much to a song. This album blasts, first track Sucker building quickly and simply to a massive chorus, which is easy to imagine reverberating around Rescue Rooms or Rock City to a highly appreciative crowd. 

But it slows, too. Formidable’s verses have a solemn quality, with imagery of a capsizing boat and vague references to “did she make you swallow all your pride?” changing the atmosphere to something more confrontational, before the chorus rugby tackles the subject, with still soft vocals.

Best song: Silent Movie Susie

2017 - Columbia & Fiction Records - Indie rock

7. Harry Styles by Harry Styles

“Have you listened to Harry Styles’ album?”

The same friend that brought me the Paramore song asked me this on a Texas road trip with my girlfriend, having grown understandably tired of my musical choices. I said no, with an implication of “of course not”, because he was a he One Direction guy, and I hated them and all they stood for.

That is a poor assessment of Harry Styles’ abilities as a songwriter and musician. His self-titled debut, such a classic going solo move, is a mature change-up from the former One Direction star. An aeon away from upbeat teen-pop, now Styles is singing maturely and softly about sex, not explicitly but provocatively in Carolina. The use of “Good Girl, she makes me feel so good” is not at all subtle, and the album often feels like these are ideas and feelings that Styles wanted to get off his chest. These are not One Direction songs, and much as the Harry Potter series mature as the books passed and readers aged, Harry Styles feels like an album aimed at One Direction fans who are growing less interested in the innocent, good boy image they’d cultivated.

The music is clean and engaging, but more complex than those previous recordings. In all, the album manages something tough: It reveals a former teen star’s true maturity without the need to scream it explicitly. It feels confident in its identity, which is an achievement in itself.

Best song: Two Ghosts

2017 - Columbia - Indie pop/soft rock

6. Mean Girls - Original Cast Recording

Mean Girls, the film, holds up. Comedy, as I’ve learned just across my time at university, is the first genre to age badly. Punchlines need a target, and our understanding and acceptance of who and what is allowed as a target is ever shifting. So for Tina Fey to ingeniously target not the cattiness of teenage girls, which is a cheap stereotype that the mainstream media still loves to find and blow up (see: the majority of Taylor Swift coverage), but rather the expectation that they’ll do that, and the mentalities of teenager in general, savvily keeps it fresh.

Mean Girls, the musical, opened in 2017 and moved to Broadway in 2018. Music is written by Jeff Richmond, Fey’s husband and collaborator on both the seminal 30 Rock and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Nell Benajmin provided lyrics whilst Fey wrote the book, and together they brilliantly recreated the quotable magic of the original. Fey’s credit is limited to the book but at times her voice is loud and clear in the lyrics. The dumbest plastic, Karen Smith, sings an ode to Halloween, which begins with her muddling over putting it before world peace as a priority, and builds to her love of costumes: “I’m sexy Eleanor Roosevelt or sexy Rosa Parks” is such a Fey joke, fitting of the film. It’s also delightful to hear some extra input on protagonist Cady’s initial best friend Janis (Barrett Wilbert Weed, the best performance), a wonderful character who has the backstory most ripe for exploration in any future works.

Hey, I managed not to say fetch. 

Wait.

Damn.

Best song: World Burn

2018 - Atlantic - Broadway

5. Be More Chill - Original Cast Recording

Be More Chill is an honest story of teenagers and mental health. Adapted mostly faithfully from a 2004 novel by young adult author Ned Vizzini, the story is of Jeremy Heere, a high school loser whose initial goal is charmingly low-key. He just wants to be a bit less awkward and able to survive high school, but quickly decides to sign up for a school production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, following in the steps of his crush Christine Canigula, a theatre lover with, in her words, “A touch of ADD”.

It’s this detail that sets the musical’s story apart from the book. Mental health is a subtextual theme of the book, but Christine and her love of performing as someone else and occasional scatterbrain, makes it explicit. The main thrust comes when a jock named Rich offers Jeremy a Squip, AKA a supercomputer, taken as a pill, that invades your brain and tells you how to act and speak. It helps Jeremy enter the cool kids’ circle, but at the expense of his friendship with the proudly dorky Michael, who is delighted that humanity has stopped evolving because, in his words, “there’s never been a better time in history to be a looooooooooooooooser!”

In the final song, Voices in My Head, Christine and Jeremy finally bond properly over the voices they’ve both heard, and it completes a surprisingly moving story of mental health in a musical that is often bombastically big and ridiculous - the Squip is supposed to have Keanu Reeves’ voice. Joe Iconis’ music and lyrics are witty and engaging, perfectly fitting the clever and original novel, and the sadly departed Vizzini.

Best song: Michael in the Bathroom (George Salazar)

2015 - Ghostlight Records - Broadway

4. Worhead by Little Comets

Little Comets are the most exciting band in current music.

This is a bold claim, but I like to be bold. Little Comets, who hail from Jarrow in Tyne and Wear, write the most incredibly moving, lyrically dense and thoughtful songs you can find today. Every song on Worhead is affecting.

If you listen to their first album, In Search of Elusive Little Comets, the musical and lyrical progression in six years is astounding. The fun early indie rock has complicated and deepened, like a lake dug out from beneath its surface. By 2017, lead singer and writer Rob Coles’ grasp on lyrics had become masterful, and he uses images to  generate feeling so well. The title and opening tack immediately point to a specific image: “Standing in a field of grass, looking for a blade of grass”. Coles is upfront about his political beliefs - a 2014 song titled “The Blur, the Line and the Thickest of Onions” explicitly denies and attacks the language of Blurred Lines, and their music is often loudly feminist. Worhead asks us “My sweetheart, can we lean more, to the left side, to the left side of everything”. À Bientôt angrily speaks to anti-migrant rhetoric from their perspective, even including the temporary sympathy caused by the image of the dead boy washed up on the beach, whilst Hunting is written from the smug, entitled view of Tory ministers, cutting, unafraid of retribution, safe from the consequences.

Density of ideas is a Little Comets staple, and the unapologetic thickness of the accents often need a trip to their website or Genius for understanding, but Coles also writes poetically when he pares his words down for romance. “Common Things” describes globetrotting, but in the context of not wanting it, because of the joys of being home, only needing an atlas under the mattress. Elegant domesticity is the only kind of love song that continually appeals to me. They are a continually astounding and unique band.

Best song: 

2017 - The Smallest Label - Indie rock

3. Illinois by Sufjan Stevens

I hardly ever enjoy music purely for the feeling that the music imparts on me. Before I was listening to music critically, I saw an episode of Charlie Brooker’s excellent series Screenwipe, which discussed and took the piss out of all elements of television. In an advertising special, he mentioned that advertisers love music as it bypasses the logical part of your mind and is processed emotionally. There’s something romantic about that, but at the same time sometimes I wonder if that subconsciously put up mental guards, and I have to understand lyrics to understand the emotions.

Illinois is a rare exception.

Sufjan Stevens relased Illinois in 2005 and it serves as a sort of concept album about the American state. It covers points from its history: “Come on! Feel the Illinoise!” covers the historic World’s Columbian Exposition, and “John Wayne Gacy Jr.” is about the infamous serial killer and affords him almost shocking levels of empathy. Stevens later said that we’re all capable of what Gacy did, which is debatable.

But we’re all capable of the grief woven into Caismir Pulaski Day, which tragically tells the story of losing someone who died on the state holiday celebrating their Polish revolutionary war hero.

An independent singer songwriter with track titles as terribly long as “The Black Hawk War, or, How to Demolish an Entire Civilization and Still Feel Good About Yourself in the Morning, or, We Apologize for the Inconvenience but You're Going to Have to Leave Now, or, 'I Have Fought the Big Knives and Will Continue to Fight Them Until They Are Off Our Lands!'” seems like someone addicted to acoustic guitar, but Stevens utilises piano, strings and horns, especially effective in the aforementioned ‘Come on’. The album is vivid and alive, and is really a practical tie for second.

2005 - Asthmatic Kitty/Secretly Canadian and Rough Trade - Indie rock/folk

2. Masseduction by St. Vincent

This year, I made a real effort, admittedly only in September, to get into new music. Reading an interview with David Byrne, I was intrigued by his mention of St. Vincent, aka Annie Clark. Anyone who can engage David Byrne is worthy of attention.

Inside the striking image and colouring of the artwork, Masseduction was first introduced to me in the opening scene of Bojack Horseman’s fifth season, replacing the standard use of Back in the 90′s by Grouplove with Los Ageless. The song, Clark’s depiction of Los Angeles, feels bleak and distant, the electronic music giving an disconnected vibe. It’s her relationship to the city, and the album as a whole is a series of looks at relationships. Pills is about a relationship with drugs, the title track and Savior are about sex. Happy Birthday Johnny, both slower and acoustic, feel related, as though they’re both about the same person, Clark coming to terms with the sadness of that loss.

Masseduction is endlessly listenable. It spans various pop genres, with enough variety to reward many listens and picking on many of its songs to focus on individually. Pills really does feel like withdrawal, with pumped up verses, an almost manic chorus, and a suddenly balladish final section, where the tone becomes surprisingly sombre. It works, powerfully so.

Best song: Pills

2017 - Loma Vista Recordings - Electropop/Glam Rock

1. The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society (50th Anniversary Edition)

The Kinks released Village Green Preservation Society on the 22nd of November, 1968, which sounds fine until you learn that The Beatles released The White Album on the same day, spelling inevitable and crushing doom, and the permanent departure of founding bassist Pete Quaife from the band. Quaife, who had grown tired of the industry and the Davies’ brothers warring ways, scrawled ‘daze’ on a tape recording of Days. But he left on perhaps the band’s highest note. 

I don’t know what else can be said about this album. Even if every song isn’t a standalone masterpiece, with the strange fairy tale of Phenomenal Cat and the childlike Mr. Songbird only working in context of stories of the past, but they form a collective that is masterful in painting a rich story. It has the delicacy of a great painting, something that former art student Ray Davies must appreciate. And it is so distinctly Ray Davies in its voice, something only he alone could have written. It was their first album after a still somewhat mysterious five year ban from American touring, then the only real form of promotion, but it dismisses the cultural shift towards psychedelia with an almost passive-aggressive tone. 

The weighty re-release is fitted out with sixty tracks, but they’re largely alternative versions of songs from the original album and the recording sessions, many unreleased, including the finished Time Song, and a lovely demo of Days, that proves that Davies was always a better writer than singer, bless him. Harmonies with his brother Dave always lifted the words, but they stand alone, as short stories, brilliantly formed.

VGPS contributes to their stereotypical image of proud Britishness, but there’s a look to the future and underlying sadness that add depth to the album. The original final track’s closing lyirc?

Don’t show me no more, please.

1968/2018 - Pye Records - Folk Rock

[ciathyzareposts]

PTFC Challenge #3 – Red Nails

Posted by Rampant Coyote on August 30, 2018

For the final entry in the Continuing the Pre-Tolkien Fantasy Challenge, I wanted to finish with one of my favorite pre-Tolkien fantasy stories… one that I haven’t read in years. I re-read it for this challenge, and while my take on it was different from my teenaged memories, I found I was no less delighted by it. The novella is one of the quintessential Conan stories by Robert E. Howard, Red Nails. It was also, sadly, the last complete Conan story written by Howard, published posthumously after his death.

But man, what a story.

This story as much about Valeria of the Red Brotherhood as it is about Conan. The story uses the third-person omniscient view which is out-of-fashion these days, freely moving into the heads of the two main characters. At least Howard does it well. I’m going to assume you already know who Conan is, but if you haven’t read at least a couple of original Conan stories, rather than his popular modern representation, than I’d argue you really don’t know who Conan is. This novella would be a great start! Howard himself called it, “the grimmest, bloodiest, and most merciless story of the series so far,” and “the bloodiest and most sexy weird story I ever wrote.”

In this story, Conan meets up with the pirate Valeria of the Red Brotherhood as they fled pursuit. Well, she was fleeing pursuit, he killed the man who was pursuing her. They meet up on this tall bluff in the jungle, Conan explains what a great service he’s rendered for her by killing her pursuer, and is sort of expecting her to fall into his arms in gratitude. Valeria is having none of this, and draws her sword to drive the … ahem… point home. Conan recognizes her skill and backs off, but still proceeds with the trash talk, which she returns.

He stepped toward her, and she sprang back, whipping out her sword.

“Keep back, you barbarian dog! I’ll spit you like a roast pig!”

He halted, reluctantly, and demanded: “Do you want me to take that toy away from you and spank you with it?”

“Words! Nothing but words!” she mocked, lights like the gleam of the sun on blue water dancing in her reckless eyes.

He knew it was the truth. No living man could disarm Valeria of the Brotherhood with his bare hands. He scowled, his sensations a tangle of conflicting emotions. He was angry, yet he was amused and filled with admiration for her spirit. He burned with eagerness to seize that splendid figure and crush it in his iron arms, yet he greatly desired not to hurt the girl. He was torn between a desire to shake her soundly, and a desire to caress her. He knew if he came any nearer her sword would be sheathed in his heart. He had seen Valeria kill too many men in border forays and tavern brawls to have any illusions about her. He knew she was as quick and ferocious as a tigress.

Their little argument is interrupted by the appearance of a monstrous creature described as a dragon. It’s that, or some kind of oversized dinosaur. They immediately forget their differences and band together in mutual defense. Their fight & flight take them to the gates of an ancient, city-sized fortress. The few inhabitants are survivors of a long-running, bitter feud between two tribes, bent on nothing more than the annihilation of each other. The tribe that enlists the aid of Conan and Valeria intend to pit their superior skill at swords against the other tribes’ reliance upon dark sorcery unearthed from the catacombs of the city. For every enemy slain, they drive a red, copper nail into an ebony column to mark their victory.

Naturally, when two decadent, dying races are steeped in such hatred and focused on nothing but destruction, there’s not going to be much of a happy ending no matter which side the mercenary pair might team up with. The story is full of interesting characters, but the backdrop of two dying cultures in the halls of a fortress built by an even longer-dead race is compelling. It drips with detail, but never too much.

Valeria isn’t quite the super-powered creature that Conan is, nor can she match Olmec, prince of the Tecuhltli tribe, for brute force. She is described as being stronger than the average man, and in skill and speed there are few men alive who could equal her, let alone beat her. She and Conan fight side-by-side, and have to rescue each other in nearly equal measure, so it’s clear that this adventure requires both of them. She is reckless, but she isn’t quite the hyperactive psychopath that Bêlit is Shemite was. Valeria is a pirate and mercenary, aggressive without being foolhardy.

One major battle scene pits Conan, Valeria, and men and women of both tribes  in a single, bloody conflict:

These crashed into the fray with the devastating effect of a hurricane plowing through a grove of saplings. In sheer strength no three Tlazitlans were a match for Conan, and in spite of his weight he was quicker on his feet than any of them. He moved through the whirling, eddying mass with the surety and destructiveness of a gray wolf amidst a pack of alley curs, and he strode over a wake of crumpled figures.

Valeria fought beside him, her lips smiling and her eyes blazing. She was stronger than the average man, and far quicker and more ferocious. Her sword was like a living thing in her hand. Where Conan beat down opposition by the sheer weight and power of his blows, breaking spears, splitting skulls and cleaving bosoms to the breast-bone, Valeria brought into action a finesse of sword-play that dazzled and bewildered her antagonists before it slew them. Again and again a warrior, heaving high his heavy blade, found her point in his jugular before he could strike. Conan, towering above the field, strode through the welter smiting right and left, but Valeria moved like an illusive phantom, constantly shifting, and thrusting and slashing as she shifted. Swords missed her again and again as the wielders flailed the empty air and died with her point in their hearts or throats, and her mocking laughter in their ears.

Neither sex nor condition was considered by the maddened combatants. The five women of the Xotalancas were down with their throats cut before Conan and Valeria entered the fray, and when a man or woman went down under the stamping feet, there was always a knife ready for the helpless throat, or a sandaled foot eager to crush the prostrate skull.

Brutal. Dark. Awesome.

And so NOT TOLKIEN.

Red Nails has some of the flashiest sorcery in the Conan stories. You’ve got a frickin’ lightning-wand and a glowing skull that renders victims helpless, and pipes that induce madness. You have giant snakes summoned from the depths, and ancient dragons resurrected through dark magic. You have witches that can compel with a gaze. And you have lots of swords. Yeah, this story is quintessential Sword & Sorcery, not just Conan. Tolkien’s wizards are slow-burning forces of nature with subtle magic. The sorcerers and witches of Conan’s world run hot and crazy.

If you are a Dungeons & Dragons player, the fortress city of Xuchotil is as archetypal dungeon as the Mines of Moria. With three tiers and towers above ground and who knows how many dank and dark levels in the crypts below, it is full of hidden passages, ancient torture chambers, lost magical items, monsters, and SCADS of treasure–to the point where the jewels and precious metals are esteemed valueless by the current inhabitants. Green fire-stones and the occasional indestructible skylight provide light through some of the chambers, but not all. There sounds like there is a lot more to the city than can be described in this story, but rather left to the imagination of the reader. Or an imaginative Dungeon Master.

And yeah, of the three stories I read for this challenge, this is my favorite, and remains one of my favorite Conan stories. Maybe it will become one of yours, too. You can find it online at Project Gutenberg, or over at Wikisource (complete with the July 1936 Margaret Brundage Weird Tales cover that is totally inappropriate by today’s standards…)

Anyway, I hope you’ve enjoyed this series. There was plenty of excellent fantasy out there before Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series hit the bookshelves, and while I still love LotR, I would love to see more of the preceding works get remembered. There’s plenty to enjoy.

Filed Under: Pulp, Short Fiction – Comments:

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source http://reposts.ciathyza.com/ptfc-challenge-3-red-nails/

[bestmovies0]

‘Hunger Games’ gave today’s teens the best blueprint for defeating the NRA

Peeta and Katniss: Playing the media game in’ Hunger Game: Catching Fire ‘ figcaption>

Image: lionsgate

Inside the Capitol, the political elite have become immune to the regular destroys splashed across their screens. They’ve rationalized it as the price they have to pay for their way of life. But a handful of teenage survivors of the massacre are starting to speak out, use their status as heroes to start questioning the whole system on live TV.

The teens are enunciate, telegenic, highly media savvy, and highly dangerous to the president’s party. They’re the best chance for profound political change that anyone has seen in years, and they end up provoking revolution.

SEE ALSO: The standout instants that built CNN’s gun control town hall feel like a game-changer

That, of course, is the basic plot of Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy, in which the eponymous plays pit teen “tributes” against one another in murderous trials by combat. It’s likewise a pretty good description of what happened this week in American politics as the teen-led #NeverAgain movement continues growing into the most powerful army for change since #MeToo.

For days we’ve been amazed as the survivors of the Parkland massacre have repeatedly spoken truth to power — specifically, the moneyed power of the National Rifle Association and its bought-and-paid-for politicians. But should we be so surprised? This is exactly the response we should expect from a generation brought up on dystopian YA novels in which downtrodden teens rise up.

They wear their nerves on their sleeves, and we cannot assistance but love them for it.

Not that Emma Gonzalez and her countrymen are immediately inspired by Hunger Games protagonist Katniss Everdeen. But there are distinct parallels. Like Katniss, these teens have just the right combination of righteous fury and unbelievable calm under pressure. They are strong enough to be visibly vulnerable. They wear their hearts on their sleeves, and we cannot aid but love them for it.

Thrust into situations not of their choosing, their authenticity stands out in a ocean of political artifice. When their friends die in a preventable misfortune, they call BS. And they have the cunning to know how to stretch out their moment into a movement, planning national marchings and strikes that ensure we’ll be talking about this at least two months from now.

As author Patrick Tomlinson noted on Twitter, it really shouldn’t astonish us if teens are following the YA dystopia playbook. Especially not given the lane the generation in power has played the responsibilities of the the bad guys.

Really? You followed the damned script to a T. You pumped up millions of kids, for two decades, to believe they and their friends could make a difference. Then you thrust them all into a dystopian nightmare of violence and persecution.

And NOW you’re shocked they’re all Katniss?

— Patrick S. Tomlinson (@ stealthygeek) February 21, 2018

The Lesson of the Mockingjay

Suzanne Collins was initially inspired to write Hunger Games in 2003 by an unsettling juxtaposition on her Tv. She was channel-surfing, flipping between a reality display and the U.S. invasion of Iraq. It wasn’t too much of a stretching to imagine a future society that ritualized war, turning the killing of adolescents( who are, after all, the majority of members of combatants in most modern conflicts) into must-see TV.

That setup soon became a cliche, the premise that launched hundreds of thousands of post-apocalyptic dystopias. But appear more closely at the original, because what really interested Collins was combat by media: how the teenage participants in the ritual oversee become all that Tv attention to their advantage.

Re-reading the book trilogy today — as opposed to rewatching the movie quadrilogy, which focused a little much on the action and bloodshed — “thats what” comes across. Katniss and her fellow tributes are hyper-aware at all days of the cameras, of the viewing public, of the scale of the game and the specific characteristics of the audience.

They’re in the fight of “peoples lives”. They’d better damn well be trained and ready.

The tributes adapt to the reality of reality TV culture. They both strive and receive media coaching from any person who is cares to advise them. And here is the perfect rejoinder to any conspiracy theorists who think they have a “gotcha” in the idea that the Parkland survivors were coached for their TV interviews: Why shouldn’t they be? They’re in the fight of their lives. They’d better damn well be trained and ready.

Katniss and the ever-scheming President Snow.

Image: lionsgate

The battle for the future of Panem is a game of chess in which everyone is treating Katniss as a pawn — including, crucially, Katniss herself. When both the president and the cynical leaders of the resistance treat her as a strategic media asset to be either built up or torn down, why wouldn’t she take command of the narrative herself?

The lesson of the Mockingjay is this: if you’re going to be the story anyway, be the tale on your own terms. Attain it count for something good.

SEE ALSO: Powerful New York Times ad calls out lawmakers funded by the NRA

The Parkland teens are use their instant in a way most activists is simply dream of. Less than a week into their political tenure and they’re participate in the NRA on in the spotlight of the Tv arena, and actually constructing it appear weak by comparison.

They’re strolling right up to Marco Rubio, who has taken the most NRA dollars of any senator, and asking politely that he stop — to a standing ovation. Live on CNN Wednesday night, like a poor parody of Hunger Games Tv host Caesar Flickerman, Rubio could have been focus on his own media power: “People buy into my agenda! “

In American politics, this is how you win: via memorable sight in which you look like the strong, savvy, and reasonable one.

The NRA actually is weaker than most people belief. Many gun owneds already know it’s a shell of its former ego, a front for producers that sends out membership cards to anyone it can get in its database whether they wanted to join or not, artificially inflating its numbers to 5 million.

But that fact alone doesn’t effect any change. What you need is someone with a measure of impunity to step forward and say loudly what needs to be said: The emperor wears no clothes. The courtiers all knew it, but it took small children to say it. And for the first time in a decade of legislative success, the NRA abruptly appears to be on the back foot.

NRA chief Wayne LaPierre is now incoherently calling about socialism. This is a new level of insanity for the NRA.

And you know what’s inducing it? They’re intimidated. Because they know the kids at Stoneman Douglas are more powerful than their money.

— Caroline O. (@ RVAwonk) February 22, 2018

Snow and Trump, separated at birth ? strong>

Meanwhile, the person who is fills the Oval Office is trying to have it both ways — but largely attaining everything there is about him. This week ascertained Trump mouthing vague support for a minor piece of gun regulation, likewise making outrageous remarks about arming teachers and then, in another desperate bid for a news cycle, claiming he was misunderstand. Somehow, again, the president’s deflections helped him muddle through; the person who is took $30 million from the NRA has not receives an one-tenth of the ire that was directed at Rubio.

Our non-fictional chairperson doesn’t have one iota of Hunger Games President Snow’s cunning. Snow was supremely silver-tongued and faked empathy well, whereas Trump has to be coached to say things like “I hear you.” But they have at least this in common: they know it’s good optics to be seen on Tv talking to the teens, whether in a White House “listening” event or a Panem-wide victory tour.

One sign of the present strength of the #NeverAgain teens: They haven’t yet been the targets of Trump tweets. He’s made a half-hearted stab at suggesting the CNN event was rigged because one teen who drew out of the event claims he was fed a question( which CNN denies ), but “hes having” bided away from assaulting the children themselves.

This was more surprising than you might gues. The man with the world’s worst impulse control, who has ranted at Gold Star households and judges, who casually fired his FBI chief, insulted America’s allies and retweeted abominable lie-filled racist videos, still won’t dare touch these kids directly.

“What is to prevent, say, an uprising? ”

Possibly because, when it comes to controlling the media narration, game recognizes game. More likely, he only doesn’t know how far this thing could go, or whether he and his NRA buddies could have a youth revolution on his hands.

“If a girl from District 12 of all places can elude the Capitol and walk away unharmed, what is to stop them from doing the same? ” President Snow asks in Catching Fire . em> “What is to prevent, say, an uprising? ”

An excellent question, Mr. President. To which we might add: if a bunch of children from Parkland, Florida can defy the organization that basically bought the U.S. Capitol, and walk away with sky-high permission ratings, what is to prevent an uprising of teens from all across the U.S. from doing the same?

Read more: https :// mashable.com/ 2018/02/ 23/ parkland-hunger-games-dystopia /~ ATAGEND

from https://bestmovies.fun/2018/02/25/hunger-games-gave-todays-teens-the-best-blueprint-for-defeating-the-nra/

[news-mashable-yahoopartner-blog]

Teens on fire: Of course the 'Hunger Games' generation knows how to fight the NRA

Inside the Capitol, the political elite have become immune to the regular killings splashed across their screens. They've rationalized it as the price they have to pay for their way of life. But a handful of teenage survivors of the slaughter are starting to speak out, using their status as heroes to start questioning the whole system on live TV. 

The teens are articulate, telegenic, extremely media savvy, and highly dangerous to the president's party.  They're the best chance for profound political change that anyone has seen in years, and they end up fomenting revolution. 

SEE ALSO: The standout moments that made CNN's gun control town hall feel like a game-changer

That, of course, is the basic plot of Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy, in which the eponymous games pit teen "tributes" against each other in murderous trials by combat. It's also a pretty good description of what happened this week in American politics as the teen-led #NeverAgain movement continues growing into the most powerful force for change since #MeToo. 

For days we've been amazed as the survivors of the Parkland massacre have repeatedly spoken truth to power — specifically, the moneyed power of the National Rifle Association and its bought-and-paid-for politicians. But should we be so surprised? This is exactly the response we should expect from a generation brought up on dystopian YA novels in which downtrodden teens rise up. 

Not that Emma Gonzalez and her compatriots are directly inspired by Hunger Games protagonist Katniss Everdeen. But there are distinct parallels. Like Katniss, these teens have just the right blend of righteous fury and incredible calm under pressure. They are strong enough to be visibly vulnerable. They wear their hearts on their sleeves, and we cannot help but love them for it. 

Thrust into situations not of their choosing, their authenticity stands out in a sea of political artifice. When their friends die in a preventable tragedy, they call BS. And they have the cunning to know how to stretch out their moment into a movement, planning national marches and walkouts that ensure we'll be talking about this at least two months from now.

As author Patrick Tomlinson noted on Twitter, it really shouldn't surprise us if teens are following the YA dystopia playbook. Especially not given the way the generation in power has played the role of the bad guys. 

Really? You followed the damned script to a T. You pumped up millions of kids, for two decades, to believe they and their friends could make a difference. Then you thrust them all into a dystopian nightmare of violence and persecution. And NOW you're shocked they're all Katniss?

— Patrick S. Tomlinson (@stealthygeek) February 21, 2018

The Lesson of the Mockingjay

Suzanne Collins was initially inspired to write Hunger Games in 2003 by an unsettling juxtaposition on her TV. She was channel-surfing, flipping between a reality show and the U.S. invasion of Iraq. It wasn't too much of a stretch to imagine a future society that ritualized warfare, turning the killing of teenagers (who are, after all, the majority of combatants in most modern wars) into must-see TV.

That setup soon became a cliché, the premise that launched a thousand post-apocalyptic dystopias. But look more closely at the original, because what really interested Collins was combat by media: how the teenage participants in the ritual manage turn all that TV attention to their advantage. 

Re-reading the book trilogy today — as opposed to rewatching the movie quadrilogy, which focused a little too much on the action and bloodshed — this is what comes across. Katniss and her fellow tributes are hyper-aware at all times of the cameras, of the viewing public, of the scale of the game and the nature of the audience. 

The tributes adapt to the reality of reality TV culture. They both seek and receive media coaching from anyone who cares to advise them. And here is the perfect rejoinder to any conspiracy theorists who think they have a "gotcha" in the notion that the Parkland survivors were coached for their TV interviews: Why shouldn't they be? They're in the fight of their lives. They'd better damn well be trained and ready.  

Katniss and the ever-scheming President Snow.

Image: lionsgate

The battle for the future of Panem is a game of chess in which everyone is treating Katniss as a pawn — including, crucially, Katniss herself. When both the president and the cynical leaders of the resistance treat her as a strategic media asset to be either built up or torn down, why wouldn't she take command of the narrative herself? 

The lesson of the Mockingjay is this: if you're going to be the story anyway, be the story on your own terms. Make it count for something good. 

SEE ALSO: Powerful New York Times ad calls out lawmakers funded by the NRA

The Parkland teens are using their moment in a way most activists can only dream of. Less than a week into their political tenure and they're taking the NRA on in the spotlight of the TV arena, and actually making it look weak by comparison. 

They're walking right up to Marco Rubio, who has taken the most NRA dollars of any senator, and asking politely that he stop — to a standing ovation. Live on CNN Wednesday night, like a poor parody of Hunger Games TV host Caesar Flickerman, Rubio could only focus on his own media power: "People buy into my agenda!"

In American politics, this is how you win: via memorable spectacle in which you look like the strong, savvy, and reasonable one. 

The NRA actually is weaker than most people think. Many gun owners already know it's a shell of its former self, a front for manufacturers that sends out membership cards to anyone it can get in its database whether they wanted to join or not, artificially inflating its numbers to 5 million. 

But that fact alone doesn't effect any change. What you need is someone with a measure of impunity to step forward and say loudly what needs to be said: The emperor wears no clothes. The courtiers all knew it, but it took a child to say it. And for the first time in a decade of legislative victories, the NRA suddenly appears to be on the back foot. 

NRA chief Wayne LaPierre is now incoherently screaming about socialism. This is a new level of insanity for the NRA. And you know what's causing it? They're scared. Because they know the kids at Stoneman Douglas are more powerful than their money.

— Caroline O. (@RVAwonk) February 22, 2018

Snow and Trump, separated at birth?

Meanwhile, the man who occupies the Oval Office is trying to have it both ways — but mostly making it all about him. This week saw Trump mouthing vague support for a minor piece of gun regulation, also making outrageous comments about arming teachers and then, in another desperate bid for a news cycle, claiming he was misunderstood. Somehow, again, the president's deflections helped him muddle through; the man who took $30 million from the NRA has not received a tenth of the ire that was directed at Rubio. 

Our non-fictional president doesn't have one iota of Hunger Games President Snow's cunning. Snow was supremely silver-tongued and faked empathy well, whereas Trump has to be coached to say things like "I hear you." But they have at least this in common: they know it's good optics to be seen on TV talking to the teens, whether in a White House "listening" event or a Panem-wide victory tour. 

One sign of the current strength of the #NeverAgain teens: They haven't yet been the targets of Trump tweets. He's made a half-hearted stab at suggesting the CNN event was rigged because one teen who pulled out of the event claims he was fed a question (which CNN denies), but he has stayed away from attacking the kids themselves. 

This was more surprising than you might think. The man with the world's worst impulse control, who has ranted at Gold Star families and judges, who casually fired his FBI chief, insulted America's allies and retweeted abominable lie-filled racist videos, still won't dare touch these kids directly. 

Possibly because, when it comes to controlling the media narrative, game recognizes game. More likely, he just doesn't know how far this thing could go, or whether he and his NRA buddies could have a youth revolution on his hands.

"If a girl from District 12 of all places can defy the Capitol and walk away unharmed, what is to stop them from doing the same?” President Snow asks in Catching Fire. “What is to prevent, say, an uprising?”

An excellent question, Mr. President. To which we might add: if a bunch of kids from Parkland, Florida can defy the organization that basically bought the U.S. Capitol, and walk away with sky-high approval ratings, what is to prevent an uprising of teens from all across the U.S. from doing the same? 

[bforbookslut]

Princesses, Castles, Evil Villains Oh My! in Undercover Princess by Connie Glynn - ARC Review

I have given Undercover Princess by Connie Glynn a ☆☆ rating. It is Book 1 of The Rosewood Chronicles. It is Young Adult Fantasy. Penguin publishes it. It was released November 2, 2017.

The blurb reads:

When fairy tale obsessed Lottie Pumpkin starts at the infamous Rosewood Hall, she is not expecting to share a room with the Crown Princess of Maradova, Ellie Wolf. Due to a series of lies and coincidences, 14-year-old Lottie finds herself pretending to be the princess so that Ellie can live a more normal teenage life.

Lottie is thrust into the real world of royalty - a world filled with secrets, intrigue and betrayal. She must do everything she can to help Ellie keep her secret, but with school, the looming Maradovian ball and the mysterious new boy Jamie, she'll soon discover that reality doesn't always have the happily ever after you'd expect...

A thrilling world of parties, politics and bad ass princesses, this is the first book in the brand new series THE ROSEWOOD CHRONICLES.

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Months ago, I requested an e-galley from Netgalley for Undercover Princess and was a little upset that I didn’t get a copy. So, when I got a chance to review an ARC through the Kuala Lumpur Book Appreciation Club (KLBAC) on Facebook, I jumped immediately (it’s always a race to get YA arcs cause everyone wants them). And I feel really bad that I have to rate this so low. But, my reasons are below. As always, my reviews may contain spoilers. I say may because what’s a spoiler to you may not be a spoiler for me.

Take Barbie movies, throw in some Naughtiest Girl in School, a little bit of Gossip Girl, some Harry Potter, a sprinkle of Disney’s Descendants, some good old-fashioned Disney princesses and that’s what you get with Undercover Princess. Now, here’s what you’re thinking. But Avery, the title literally says princess and look at that synopsis, how could you have been fooled? Well, folks, I was. You can always write a princess story but still be smart, unique and to use the most clichéd word on earth, interesting.

Undercover Princess was entertaining, don’t get me wrong. It really felt like I was watching Barbie Princess Charm School, but without the magic. But, like these cartoons aimed at a younger demographic, Undercover Princess was rife with clichés, hanging plots, poor world-building, uninspired villains, lazy writing and absolute cringe.

The one that thing Undercover Princess really had going for itself: the general, overarching plot. It honestly wasn’t that bad and had tons of potential to be built into something that’s really cool. It isn’t the most original plot (it reads like Monte Carlo, the Selena Gomez-starring Disney movie but with villains) but there are only so many ways you can spin a tale (pun intended, y’know cause fairytale and all). Yet, it was bogged down with clichés. Two girls who are complete polar opposites end up being roommates and one of them is the princess? #scandalous But, as it goes on, it really morphs and it takes an unexpected turn, one that I did not see coming.

Continuing on my semi-rant, Lottie is Charlotte Pumpkin, and obsessed with princesses and fairytales. She is absolutely infuriating in her naivety and innocence that she reads almost like one of the caricatures of the Japanese lolita culture. Seriously, that’s how I picture her with all pink and curls and baby doll dresses. Cringe-y. And I get that she’s 14 but come on girl, you can’t be that sensitive and crying almost all the time. But, bear with me, Lottie does go on a bit of character arc and actually becomes kinda kickass, not badass, but she does toughen up and that was nice to read.

Ellie, on the other hand, is your typical “rebel girl”. Black hair, black clothes, short cropped hair, loves angry music and dark films. Like, can you get any more stereotyped? It’s so hard to read past all these cringe. She is also good at breaking and entering (seriously, as a princess, wtf?) and gives off a strong Avril Lavigne circa Girlfriend vibe. Like, trying really hard to be badass and punk rock. But I liked her. She had spirit and she had an independence and fire that Lottie lacked.

There are a slew of other side characters that make their appearance in Undercover Princess from Ellie’s bodyguard (they’re called Partizans), Jamie who sort of has a romantic connection with Lottie, to Lottie’s best friend, Ollie and of course, the villains whom I shall not name as well as the friends that Lottie makes. But they’re all cookie cutter characters, cut from a press out book of “high school stereotypes and friends”. Absolutely bland with no defining characteristics of their own.

And, if you’re wondering about Rosewood Hall where everything takes place, wonder again. Because the worldbuilding is poor. The entire time, I kept thinking that it’s set in England (impossible cause Lottie travels and she’s from Cornwall) but apparently, it’s not. Also, where is Maradova? Is it like Genovia? The latter had a lot more worldbuilding, tbh. Rosewood Hall has a lot of descriptions but half the time, it comes across as Hogwarts crossed with Beauty and the Beast castle and it’s too magical to be real (probably what the author intended) with conveniently placed two way mirrors for eavesdropping and ooh, tunnels and secret passageways! Also, no one gets punished in this school. WHAT ARE THE POINT OF HEAD OF HOUSES AND PREFECTS???? Everyone is also exceedingly and unnaturally polite.

Finally, if you’re familiar with my reviews, I like to round everything off by talking about the writing style. And it’s comically childish in Undercover Princess, signalling to me that it’s definitely for and aimed towards a younger audience. Both Lottie and Ellie have only one defining feature. Lottie is constantly blushing. Like all the fucking time. The internet is filled with ways to write embarrassment other than “turning pink in the cheek”. In fact, my Pinterest feed shows me the same thing with every refresh. But no, all Lottie does is blush to the point I think she must have a stomach condition that affects her cheeks so. And don’t get me started on Ellie cause all that defines her cockiness is a side smile. Like, side smiling all the time like is there something wrong with the muscles in your face? You have to get it checked out, girl.

Finally, I’d like to point out that Ellie and Lottie’s friendship reads as more than friends to me. Like, I’m super close with my girlfriends but the lesbian-esque feels between them is so strong I wanted this book to be LGBT  but no, they’re strictly….dickly.

As we draw to a conclusion, Undercover Princess is definitely not the book for you if you’re into more mature YA, and not even the sexy kind of mature. It is more aimed towards younger readers looking for an upgrade to the usual 12-14 year old stuff. It’s got a strong plot base that I think could really be moulded into something suitable for older readers. But it’s just loaded with clichés and underdeveloped plots, poor world building and a lazy writing style. Two stars for effort and plot.

Thank you to Times Read for providing me with an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review. This review edition may differ from the finished copy.

[gregellner]

Cover by Christian DiBari.

Been away a while, but here’s a new review. This one’s for the first four issues of the 2017 version of Top Cow Productions’ “Magdalena,” published by Image Comics. This series is written by Tini Howard and Ryan Cady, drawn by Christian DiBari, colored by Mike Spicer, and lettered by Troy Peteri. The issues are out individually, but are set to come together as a collected volume called “Magdalena: Reformation” (a name I wish I could have come up with myself) on August 30.

I did a review of the first issue for Multiversity Comics, which can be found here.

Before I get into the story itself, I’d like to talk about the relevant concepts: the Thirteen Artifacts, most importantly the Spear of Destiny and its wielders the Magdalena bloodline, and also bring up a bit about another semi-related one, the Rapture.

The Thirteen Artifacts are thirteen items that, together, can save or destroy the world. While the most famous of these for Top Cow are the trinity of the Darkness, the Angelus, and their balance of the Witchblade, the one in primary focus for this series is the Spear of Destiny, the famous weapon known from Christianity for piercing the side of Jesus during his crucifixion, and thus being stained with his blood.

This blood, and the overall holy bloodline that comes with it, is important in the mythology of the series. The female descendants of Jesus through Mary Magdalene work for the Catholic Church through the Vatican as their holy agent, the Magdalena, armed with the Spear, which reacts to their lineage. They tend to have a wide variety of skills that help with purging evil, especially that of demons. The most recent incarnation of the Magdalena, Patience, broke away from the Vatican for her own reasons, and the events of the series see her finding a new protégé in the bloodline, the teenaged, relatively non-religious Maya Dos Santos of Anaheim, California.

There is a brief mention of the Rapture, another of the Artifacts that has the power to free souls from Hell by giving them hope. The item does into make an appearance, but fallen priest Tom Judge, the most famous wielder, is still mentioned nonetheless, showing he still has some place in the Artifacts’ world.

Characterizations of the main figures in this volume are a definite highlight. In order to best show how well Tini Howard and Ryan Cady develop the primary characters, it seems best to speak of each of them in turn.

Patience fits well into the role of the stoic mentor, being capable in combat despite her early injury. Her lessons to her successor help to tell some things about how the Magdalena’s powers work for a new audience as much as for Maya herself. One of the most humorous parts of her role in the story is the way in which she interacts with popular culture, especially a running gag in her miscommunication with the teenaged girls in Anaheim when comparing the diabolic sorcerer Weyer Blackwood to the relatively recent, contentious Star Wars villain Kylo Ren. She shows what it is like to have all of the skills of a Magdalena, even without much in the way of the power. An interesting side note is a reference to the Knight of Malta (perhaps even a remnant of the preceding Knights Hospitalier), named Sir Duncan Burke, who was meant to be her companion and a tie to eras lost. Perhaps he will show up in later issues, if this series is to continue?

Maya Dos Santos, the most recently awakened Magdalena, is an interesting figure. In fact, the creative team behind the series likens her to Jesus himself, as someone born into a relatively mundane life and has the life of the holy thrust upon them, rather than having known of it all from an early age. Her naiveté in the ways of the Magdalena serve to illustrate some of the failings of an untrained holy warrior without showing her to be an utter failure in any way. Her mistakes tend to be ones of impulsiveness, ones that even the readers would likely have made in her situation. Although she is not a religious person by nature, she still comes into the role of the Magdalena rather well, and even her turn to religion seems to be rather understandable. Instead of turning to faith due to a desire for good, she seems to do so in order to combat the evil she has seen. Her faith is therefore proactive, rather than reactive or forced upon her, and seems to be a practical decision rather than one made purely on emotional terms.

Maya’s non-supernatural best friend, Shilpa Prasad, provides a humorous counterpart to Maya herself. As an atheist, she gives a look into the faithless world of the early 21st century, and seems to only believe that which she sees. Far from simply being a voice of “no” over the overtly religious mission of the Magdalena, she tags along, even doing her best to help out with the more mundane aspects of demonic exorcism like dealing with the police. Though the first issue makes her appear to fit into the stereotypical “all religion is inherently bad” type of atheist that is prominent in some fiction, as shown by her jokingly talking about her “atheist soapboxes,” she seems to be more of a voice of reason in a crazy world and a tie to the mundane, rather than an ever-present naysayer.

Weyer Blackwood initially seems to be a rather one-note evil sorcerer with a focus (though perhaps not a specialty) in demon summoning, but eventually turns out to be not unlike Maya herself. Most of his development comes in the third, and especially the fourth issue, but nonetheless the moments he is presented are very telling of the kind of person he could turn into, given the right (or wrong) influences. In short, he seems to be a bizarre amalgamation between Alistair Crowley, as described by the comic itself, and Harry Potter’s Draco Malfoy, which is not described overtly. His noble background and standoffish nature, combined with his lack of pop culture knowledge (such as accidentally quoting Darth Vader from a scene in Star Wars: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back) and desire to be strong, but accidentally turning to evil on occasion, make him into an interesting and surprisingly tragic figure of whom I hope to see more.

The creative team for “Magdalena” makes interesting choices regarding which demons are to be the most prominent in their story. Named antagonists range from the infamous Beelzebub and Abaddon to the less well-known Marchosias. Interestingly, the choice of prominence in the story seems to lean upon the latter, given his more personal role in Patience’s condition. Still, the majority of his role is well hidden in such a way that it is not known in full until the climax of this arc.

A major influence that keeps the story from becoming too dark or foreboding is the use of humor. Pop culture references such as the Star Wars ones above help to lighten the mood of even the darkest scenes, as well as add color to the main cast of characters. Humor is so essential to the comic that it is the comedy, not just the tragedy, which allows Weyer Blackwood to become an interesting character in his own right, rather than a general starter antagonist.

The overall conflict of the story is relatively simple, but it rounds out to a fun experience and an interesting origin story for Maya Dos Santos. She’s a good student in the ways of holy warfare, but also relatable for a modern audience in ways that Patience could more easily fail. Her supporting cast is fun and helps to add to the story, rather than drag it down. The most interesting part of the tale seems to be an element of its conclusion: in essence, the tale seems to be going down a similar path as the post-television comics for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and there does not seem to be anything wrong with that type of development whatsoever.

Aside from the storyline itself, the artwork is top notch. Christian DiBari’s pencils work very well with Mike Spicer’s colors, developing a wide variety of tones. From the holy light or cleansing fires of the Magdalena to the disgusting imagery of Beelzebub to the far darker and more foreboding work surrounding Marchosias, the art runs a gauntlet back and forth across readers’ emotions, making even the relative peace of scenes like a diner or training in private seems striking in how different they remain from the more dangerous works.

Even Troy Peteri is given a lot to work with for his lettering, from the italicized thoughts of Patience to word bubbles for most humans to a demonic, difficult-to-read text style for the more powerful demons.

In all, this story is very interesting, and is definitely going places. Hopefully it will continue in the coming months!