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turnupswritessometimes · 7 months ago

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What are your top 5 fav books (fiction) ever? Why love them?

Oooh this is an incredibly hard question and I'm probably going to make sound a bit pretentious about my choices, lmao

In no particular order (because that's too much pressure!)

1.) War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells

I actually remember my dad putting of Jeff Wayne's musical version of War of the Worlds during long car rides - I used to fall asleep to the sounds of an alien invasion!

And it's probably that version that I do truly love, however huge chunks of the narration are lifted straight from the book, so it counts.

It's just them seeing the cannons and the artilleryman saying "bows and arrows against the lightning." It's that fear that no matter how advanced, how prepared, there's just no defence against the Martian invaders. It's the hopeless panic during the exodus from London; that whole scene is so evocative. It's the image of the Martian Tripod above Big Ben that gives me Chills every time. It's the Thunderchild sinking and "taking humanity's last hope of survival. The earth belonged to the Martians." It's the Red Weed and the religious desperation of the preacher; the deluded daydreams of the artilleryman. It's the reporter feeling so, SO alone that he decides to run at the Martians to try and end his life.

(It's the eerie silence, the lack of the Martian's cry, the birds.)

It's the ending scene with his wife in the garden.

It's just all so very human at its core. It's so very Edwardian and timeless.

(I also love The Time Machine)

2. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

It's the opening line. It's that the ending line IS the opening line. The loop of that day and the inevitability of what follows.

It's Ponyboy trusting everything he knows so blindly at the beginning of the novel, and being so desperate to be part of his older brother's world. It's the inevitable, brutal coming of age.

It's a love story. But it's not. But it is. (And so many kinds of love!) Ponyboy loves Johnny. He loves Cherry. He loves Dally. He loves his brothers.

It's a little time capsule into the street culture of the 1960s and its beautiful and heartbreaking.

(I also loved Tex, too!)

3.) The Railway Children by E. Nesbit

Similar to War of the Worlds, I think it's more that I have a personal connection with the story, as opposed to loving the book. The November before last, I played Peter in a local theatre production of The Railway Children, and it was an absolute joy. I adored getting to be an Edwardian boy for two and a half hours every night (even a cast member forgot I wasn't actually born male lmao), and the three children got so close that it does feel as though I have two sisters now lmao (And we still meet up regularly!)

It's the simplicity, I think. It's the three children finding themselves in the countryside and how very relatable what they do still is. Right down to the dialogue - I adore: "It's like we're sitting in a besieged castle, with arrows raining down on the battlements!"/"It's more like a great garden squirt."/"YOU'RE a great garden squirt." They talk and act like siblings and it's a joy.

It's the children against the backdrop of their arrested father and the horrors of the outside world that Schepanksy brings.

But I'm mostly very attached to Peter now. He's in an intriguing position of being The Boy and The Man of the House, and yet he's not the eldest, and I think that's very confusing for him. Of course, I'm projecting a little, but I think that's the core of why I'm so attached to the story - it really does capture the time and place so truly.

(Steam trains are also genuinely very exciting! If you ever get the chance to see one in action - you definitely should!)

(The Five Children and It series, though racially insensitive at times, is also very good. And I loved Jerry in the Enchanted Castle.)

4.) My Sister Jodie by Jacqueline Wilson

Decidedly less pretentious, lol

I've read Jacqueline Wilson all through my childhood - even when I was definitely too young for some of them! My Sister Jodie, though, is the one I constantly come back to.

Jodie and Pearl get the chance to go to a boarding school because their parents work there. The boarding school is victorian, with a tower and everything. Most of the book is about the summer them and the few boarders staying the holidays - because even though Pearl thrives in the new environment, Jodie does not.

Honestly, the description of the school and the grounds and the badgers all feels like a daydream. Wilson is kind of like Nesbit in that way; she really captures what it feels like to be a child. It's simple and to be honest, until the end, not a lot really HAPPENS, but it's still enchanting.

It was the first book where I was incredibly angry at the ending because - that's not how books end! (No spoilers though!) And yet, everytime I re-read it now, I see how well foreshadowed it is.

It's really Jacqueline Wilson at her best.

5.) The Magician's Guild by Trudi Canavan

Lord Dannyl has lived rent-free in my mind for over a decade. I find it very funny that the character I grew most attached to was the closeted gay one. (And I didn't even pick up on the subtext when I first read it at 11. It's actually a big plot line - Dannyl's suppression of his sexuality is very powerful.) I adore my little researcher wizard - I adore his librarian boyfriend. (There needs to be more Tayend/Dannyl fics on Ao3! We need to revive this ship!)

He's actually not the main character - the main character is Sonea, and even though she's not a noble, she has magic. The trilogy focuses very much on classism, and the question of what is 'good magic' and what is 'bad magic.' The magic system itself is very thought through and well done - magicians can do some cool things without being world breaking. The three different schools of magic are a fun idea. Akkarin is a really great, complex character.

I also love that we get a thieves plotline! They're all very fun and the city of Kyralia feels tangible through them.

Overall, it's a fantasy trilogy that really stuck with me and shaped a lot of my ideas going forward. (I essentially borrowed Dannyl and Tayend in the novel I wrote for my dissertation!)

I tried to stick to books that I've loved, or feel significant, but I've also recently really enjoyed:

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue trilogy, The Last Binding Trilogy, Laura Sebastian's books, I love Christina Henry's retellings, I really loved We Have Always Lived in the Castle, and Stephen King's The Talisman.

#i have pictures of me as peter and pictures of me with a martian tripod #do you want to see #tell me you want to see them #books #turnupstalks #thanks for the ask btw #i'm working my way through the others

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ladyhindsight · 1 year ago

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I dont remember if you've talked about this yet, but what are your thoughts on the whole family tree debacle after CHoT came out? It's obvious that CC wasn't originally planning on writing TLH when she made that family tree because it makes no sense now.

I’ve talked about the family tree a couple of times on the blog but never really went into it in detail, because once it became a point of discussion (after I made a comment about it as to Alastair and Thomas’ relationship working out) it was already known to have been an “inaccurate” one at that point. I was told that, essentially, the fake family tree included “fake marriages, secret adoption, people being secretly dead, people being secretly other people, faked deaths, or people marked dead when they became Downworlders/mundanes. Clare said that the Carstairs records were destroyed on purpose & Silent Bros make the family trees. It seems the implication is the family tree is inaccurate b/c Jem is covering stuff up. He has motivation to do this for the Carstairs & Herondales, if not the Lightwoods.” (Most likely refers to this answer given by Clare.)

Then we got The Last Hours (that was over 10 years in the making) and Chain of Thorns that barely made the family tree make any more sense than it did before. It resolved something, at least revealed the inaccuracies of the found one, but also added more to the pile of bullshit that was the whole mess with it.

When complaining about discussing Chain of Thorns, I wrote that Esme Hardcastle “was shoved in there in order to explain the “found family tree”, which at some point, I have no doubt, was how things were supposed to be, until Clare had more ideas for the Edwardian kids. No other characters in whole of TSC have gone through so many changes as these characters have. And as such, to keep the predictability at minimum—which isn’t a lot—the old family tree is made up by Esme, so Clare can spin this tale why it wasn’t accurate. Grace didn’t marry Christopher, Alastair didn’t have children (probably?). Then Clare had all these surprise babies coming because the way she chose to end the story for the Edwardian kids would mean no Emma, no Clary as we know them. So new Carstairs baby, new Fairchild twins.”’

And then she messed up the Lightwoods also. Clare’s insistency on everything including Herondales, Carstairs, Failchilds, Lightwoods, and Blackthorns has always been and always will be the core reason why everything goes to shit. Clare rides on the wings of nostalgia and familiarity with these names every series she writes and is incapable of letting them go and writing a trilogy about some other families. So, some points I’d like to bring up as to this (wholly based on my feelings and observations and are in no way factual but anyway):

THE FAIRCHILD TWINS. Originally (referring to the found family tree that had no reason to go under any change until Clare decided to write The Last Hours) Jocelyn and Clary were either Matthew’s or Charles’ descendants, I don’t remember which one was the assumed ancestor. In Clockwork Princess, the epilogue tells us that when Will was on his deathbed, ��Charlotte, white-haired and upright, and the Fairchild sons and daughters with their curling red hair like Henry’s had once been” were present. Which, if Clare would cling to any consistency, would mean the twins should be girls.

Are these daughters ones that existed before or after Clare came up with Matthew’s mistake regarding Charlotte (Before Matthew was said to have golden hair because the epilogue states all of the Fairchild kids have red hair like Henry’s)? Right now it seems that there’s no definite answer which one of the Fairchild children are Jocelyn’s (and thus Clary’s) ancestor. Could be anyone but probably not Charles. Either way it all feels insufficient, because Clare was never interested in the Fairchilds beyond Clary, Jocelyn, Charlotte and now later Matthew. There were no other Fairchilds ever even mentioned, no other Fairchild line that existed beyond Jocelyn’s, no cousins or aunts or uncles or distant relatives. And now that it is ending with Clary eventually becoming Herondale, I feel like Clare is trying to backtrack and keep Charlotte and Henry’s line of Fairchild in existence some way or the other.

(Also already in 2015 Clare teased the connection between Jocelyn’s mother Adele Nightshade and Anselm Nightshade so I guess there is an avenue for that, but nothing to do with the Fairchilds.)

CHRISTOPHER LIGHTWOOD. Clare said on her blog that she knew from the very beginning Kit was going to die, but in Clockwork Princess, the epilogue, reads that “Cecy’s blue-eyed boys, tall and handsome” were present on Will’s deathbed. Mind you, the epilogue is Tessa's counting of events and nothing to do with some shitty family tree that isn't even accurate.

BARBARA LIGHTWOOD. Referring to the same epilogue in Clockwork Princess: “Gideon and Sophie’s two girls” were present on Will’s deathbed, meaning originally Barbara didn't die either. Unless Sophie will also have a surprise baby like Sona and Charlotte.

ALEXANDER LIGHTWOOD (the first one). Recently I noticed that changing Alec and Isabelle’s ancestor from Kit to Alex created a pretty huge problem. Having Alex continue the family line makes absolutely no goddamn sense because he was born 1900 and the next known descendant Isidore that is Isabelle and Alec’s great grandfather was born 1908. (Also are surprised that I mostly listed Lightwoods here, as if they were the least thought about...)

I get that Clare said like 10 years ago (at earliest, when TID finished, I had to go check when this thing actually originated because I honestly didn't know before this) that the family tree is a “found object” and not reliable. But what she wrote previous to this whole things doesn’t align with her earlier plans either and only creates a confusing narrative.

#Christopher Lightwood #Barbara Lightwood #Alexander Lightwood #Reply #The Infernal Devices #The Last Hours

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helltechnicality · 6 months ago

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" it is less modesty and more factual. i am not...one to truly dwell on my desires. edwardian boys were not taught such things. " and hell did not bother to teach him either. he has repressed much through his afterlife and only now has something so core to his being finally been let out to breathe. the love he feels for his best friend something so concrete, so infinite that it gives him hope even if she were to call death right now to send him to hell. charles would come for him. he always does. this is a challenge he can overcome. it does not require brawn. does not request of him a fight or a spell. merely a meeting of minds. conversation edwin is always a sure bet.

the power is clearly with one of the two in the room. in the endless who has the ability to decide his future. edwin knows when he is outmatched. has learned when is best to retreat and when to advance. had he been alive during the war he's sure his intelligence would have made him a fine command lead barring any immediate deaths from being shot in the trenches or diseases like trenchfoot leading him astray from life.

so the cat king had informed people of him. it is a mixed feeling of smugness that he has left an impression but also fear. esther finding out about hell is how he ended up tortured after all. how niko...had left them. he'd have to make sure the cat knew not to keep talking of edwin to those with extreme powers. " it was for a case. had the cat spoken willingly i would not have resorted to a binding spell to get the answers i sought. it was to save a young girl from being eaten by a snake. the time sensitive nature of the case meant i was not able to build a repertoire with the feline. if i had not acted the young girl would have died and the witch...would have been able to continue her cycle of using young children for beauty. "

he claims he won't be interesting enough to entertain, & slow smile grows on the endless' lips. ❝ so modest, ❞ they remark, tone with an edge of sarcasm, playful nature on full display. it's a way to keep the upper hand & intimidate; though they wish him no harm, it is respectful to keep a healthy awareness of an endless' powers. however reticent he is to continue, he consents to the conversation, & desire takes this as an opportunity to continue their line of questioning. they're equally as intrigued with him as their son seems to be, for precisely that reason; they're trying to ascertain what exactly the cat king sees in edwin. there's something charming about his stuffy stubbornness, a quality that desire is sure gets him into many perilous situations.

it's the kind of quality that desire, in earlier days, might have mocked. but as it stands they maintain respectful distance & simply observe as he settles beside them. they look up at him, golden eyes glittering as they take him in. he might get the distinct feeling of being measured up, as a predator might measure its prey. ❝ our son told us that you caught his attention when you used a binding spell on one of his cats. is that true ? ❞ they tilt their head, looking vaguely disapproving, brows slightly furrowed. ❝ for what purpose were you using such a spell, hmm ? not exactly a ghost's purview. ❞

#peacereflected #？ ⇆ ( i'm the brains | threads. | )

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naomisallyclarke · 3 years ago

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Reflective review from research:

So far for my FMP, I have researched my chosen theme (cottage core) into a range of different art contexts from artworks, film, fashion to graphic communication. Doing this stage has assisted me with large amounts of influence for my brand and has taught me a lot.

Firstly, I wanted to know more about cottage core; where it originated from, what it involves and the lifestyle behind it. I did this by using primary and secondary research including blogs and YouTube videos. Knowing this gave me a better vision to go forward and create a more successful branding project if I was more familiar with the project. I have learnt that elements of my theme can be found in numerous art forms, even if not intended - not just from paintings but prints and fashionable items. Artworks which have inspired me so far include Claude Monet’s Japanese Garden Bridge to companies such as the national gallery printing famous artworks onto tote bags for the public to enjoy. This has opened my eyes when creating my fashion collection for my brand and how I can incorporate my artworks into prints. Moving onto film + cinema, I found several which have taken elements of cottage core from scenery to styling. Many movies I have selected have a historical costume aesthetic either involving an era from Georgian, regency, Victorian and Edwardian - mainly focusing on Jane Austen and Thomas Hardy. Here I looked at how producers capture the atmosphere of cottage core. I found lighting and colour palettes to be a major benefactor in cinematography which I would like to involve in my photography. Photography is a huge step I would like to push further as I believe my last two projects didn’t express my creativity enough. From looking at the films, I have a better understanding of settings, lighting, costumes, makeup and angles around my chosen theme.

Moving forward onto fashion, photography and promotion: I found numerous cottage core designers including the interior designer Luke Edward Hall, Rachel Cunningham, Batsheva Hay, the brock collection and historical influences such as Marie Antoinette with her iconic fake peasant village on the grounds of Versailles. I was mostly taken with the brock collection which involves timeless, romantic baroque inspired design from milkmaid dresses to antique florals which fits very well with the cottage core aesthetic. This is where I will take their influence into my styling for my brand using similar patterns, textures and prints. I loved how they added a modern twist to such a timeless concept e.g. adding denim jeans with corsets, bringing it up to date. Reflecting from my previous projects, styling is an area is would like to pursue further. Moving onto graphic communications, I found many examples, mainly based through illustration such as through children’s books such as the tales of Beatrix Potter. My analysis from this was that the illustrations had large amounts of nostalgia and connection rural aesthetics of cottage core and even myself, reminding me of childhood in the countryside. I have decided to try and add illustration within my brand due to the classical atmosphere they reveal; this could be through packaging or with my prints onto tote bags. With Advertising, I found companies such as Marc Jacobs daisy advert and Ralph Lauren spring 2012 home front cover which take elements of the theme from nature to styling. Colour palettes were a major influence here with soft, pastel shades as well as compositions, use of typography and photography.

Following on, I now have a better understanding of the direction my brand is going in but I still intend for my project to take the same course before I started the research - a cottage core inspired brand with its own fashion collection. Research has helped me via inspiration, whether that's by someone else's interpretation of cottage core. Moving on from research, next I plan on creating the front face of the brand e.g. logos, typography, development, colour palettes etc.

#final major project #fmp #review

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brianmarvin · 4 years ago

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Funny Minions Memes

I have been composing family pictures, such as Minions and The Secret Life of Pets, for more than a decade today, which is probably more than half of my core audience was residing. But when I came up with the thought of Toy Academy, I thought writing this narrative for a book rather seemed like a much better match. We might understand why Grumbolt, that made, mismatched doll, wished to be a toy. Why he desired a child to call his very own. What his insecurities and fears were. Thus, even though I had more experience watching films, I took the plunge and composed Grumbolt's narrative for a publication. Fortunately for me really could use a good deal of what I'd heard writing screenplays and use it into writing. I am pleased to discuss some of those writing lessons I heard as a screenwriter, and the way they helped me write my own novels for children. I learned fairly early on you have to remember your viewers. In household pictures, that usually means writing for each member of their household. Children, adults, teens, hopefully, everybody's gonna realize your film and you do not want anyone to be bored. That is not to mention every joke must be loved by each era, but there ought to be something in every scene for everybody to enjoy funny minions memes. When we saw evaluation screenings of Minions (in which you recruit an outstanding audience to sit down and see a rough cut of the picture ), we made sure we had been becoming continuous responses from everyone in the crowd. Adults adored the span comedy (it happened from the'60s) and also the subversive humor. Teens loved the activity, violence, and certain, flatulence. When composing Toy Academy, it was constantly in the back of my mind that a parent may be studying the novel with their child. I needed to make certain there would be something for children and parents in each chapter. Therefore, as well as the comedy and experience for children, you may observe the more grownup puns and allusions from the chapter names. Or the toys Grumbolt matches at Toy Academy are predicated on toy lines out of each production. Composing movies has also instructed me to series rather than inform. Yes, you might have a character say they are mad, but it is so considerably more enjoyable and intriguing to SHOW them being angry. Locating a fresh, stimulating, visual approach to communicate it. I'd write whole paragraphs concerning the way Grumbolt was feeling, then realize one well-written sentence, 1 line of dialog, 1 mention of a facial expression, would communicate that much better, and keep things going. I also immediately realized that the gorgeous examples from Edwardian Taylor can do lots of heavy lifting. Why explain how cool that the giant castle playset is if Edwardian could only DRAW something which the reader could behold. Why discuss the sprawling metroplex called Toy World, when we might have a two-page map SHOWING that the unbelievable city the toys known as home?

#Funny Minions Memes

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darkacademicx · 5 years ago

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A List of Show Recs, While You’re Stuck at Home

This is a huge and continuously updating list. The first 2 categories are ‘definitely DA’ and ‘Probably DA’, but beyond that all of the shows are sorted by category. Enjoy!

Definitely DA:

The Living and the Dead - The plot revolves around Nathan Appleby and his wife, Charlotte Appleby whose farm is believed to be at the centre of numerous supernatural occurrences. Set in Victorian times and has ghosts and an excellent aesthetic. Available on Amazon Prime. 5/5

A Series of Unfortunate Events - This series follows the tragic tale of three orphans -- Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire -- who are investigating their parents' mysterious death. The siblings are saddled with an evil guardian named Count Olaf , who will do whatever it takes to get his hands on the Baudelaires' inheritance. Violet, Klaus, and Sunny must outsmart Olaf at every turn, foiling devious plans and disguises. The series is based on the series of books by Lemony Snicket. Available on Netflix.

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina - A dark coming-of-age story that traffics in horror and the occult. In the reimagined origin story, Sabrina Spellman wrestles to reconcile her dual nature -- half-witch, half-mortal -- while standing against the evil forces that threaten her, her family -- including aunts Hilda and Zelda -- and the daylight world humans inhabit. Available on Netflix. 5/5

Downton Abbey - This historical drama follows the lives of the Crawley family and their servants in the family's Edwardian country house. The programme begins with the 1912 sinking of the Titanic, which leaves Downton Abbey's future in jeopardy, as Lord Grantham's presumptive heir -- his cousin James -- and his son, Patrick, die aboard the ship, leaving him without a male offspring to take over the throne upon his death. As a result, Lord Grantham must search for a new heir. As the programme progresses through the decade, other historical events happen leading up to Lord Grantham declaring in 1914 that Britain is at war with Germany, marking the beginning of World War I, which becomes a major plot on the programme. Available on Amazon Prime.

Gran Hotel - Set in Spain in the early 20th century, Julio arrives at a luxury hotel to meet his sister, head chambermaid Cristina only to discover she has disappeared. Julio makes it his mission to find her and infiltrates the hotel under the guise of a footman. This show is in Spanish but available with English Subtitles. 5/5

Penny Dreadful - An exploration of the origin stories of classical literature characters in this psychological thriller that takes place in the dark corners of Victorian London. Sir Malcolm is an explorer who has lost his daughter to the city's creatures, and he will do whatever is needed to get her back and to right past wrongs. His accomplice, seductive clairvoyant Vanessa Ives, recruits charming American Ethan Chandler to help locate Sir Malcolm's daughter and slay some monsters. Available on Netflix and Hulu.

The Umbrella Academy - On one day in 1989, 43 infants are inexplicably born to random, unconnected women who showed no signs of pregnancy the day before. Seven are adopted by billionaire industrialist Sir Reginald Hargreeves, who creates the Umbrella Academy and prepares his "children" to save the world. In their teenage years, though, the family fractures and the team disbands. Fast forward to the present time, when the six surviving members of the clan reunite upon the news of Hargreeves' passing. They work together to solve a mystery surrounding their father's death, but divergent personalities and abilities again pull the estranged family apart, and a global apocalypse is another imminent threat.

Sherlock - Dr. John Watson is a war vet just home from Afghanistan. He meets the brilliant but eccentric Holmes when the latter, who serves as a consultant to Scotland Yard, advertises for a flatmate. Almost as soon as Watson moves into the Baker Street flat, they are embroiled in mysteries, and Sherlock's nemesis, Moriarty, appears to have a hand in the crimes. Available on Netflix. 5/5

Stranger Things - In 1980s Indiana, a group of young friends witness supernatural forces and secret government exploits. As they search for answers, the children unravel a series of extraordinary mysteries. Available on Netflix. 5/5

Twilight Zone - It's a strange mix of horror, science-fiction, drama, comedy and superstition. Serling introduced each episode, and many of the black and white episodes concluded with a surprise ending. Available on Netflix and Hulu. 5/5.

Outlander - After serving as a British Army nurse in World War II, Claire Randall is enjoying a second honeymoon in Scotland with husband Frank, an MI6 officer looking forward to a new career as an Oxford historian. Suddenly, Claire is transported to 1743 and into a mysterious world where her freedom and life are threatened. To survive, she marries Jamie Fraser, a strapping Scots warrior with a complicated past and a disarming sense of humour. A passionate relationship ensues, and Claire is caught between two vastly different men in two inharmonious lives. Available on Netflix and Hulu.

Probably DA:

The Magicians - Quentin Coldwater, a grad student at Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy, has been fascinated by the magical fantasy world since he was young. But as he has gotten older, Quentin and his 20-something friends have discovered that the magical world they read about as children is not only real, but it poses dangers to humanity. While studying at the secret upstate New York school, the friends struggle to cope with the aftermath of a catastrophe that befalls the institution. Available on Netflix, Hulu, and the Syfy website. 5/5

Merlin - This action-packed fantasy-drama revisits the saga of King Arthur and his wizard, Merlin, by focusing on the two characters when they were ambitious young men struggling to understand their destinies. In this telling, Prince Arthur is known to be the heir to the throne (no sword from the stone here). And he is acquainted with all those who will one day form the legend of Camelot, including Lancelot, Guinevere, and Morgana. Merlin is also forced to deal with King Uther's Great Purge, which bans all use of magic. Available on Netflix. 5/5

The Order - When Belgrave University student Jack Morton joins a fabled secret society, the Hermetic Order of the Blue Rose, he is thrust into a world of magic, monsters and intrigue. Out to avenge his mother's death, he uncovers dark family secrets and lands in an underground battle being waged between werewolves and practitioners of dark magic. Assisting Jack in the fight is Alyssa, a tour guide at Belgrave and fellow member of the Order, which is led by Jack's estranged father. Available on Netflix. 4/5.

Legion - David Haller is a troubled young man who was diagnosed with schizophrenia as a child. Shuffled from one psychiatric institution to the next, in his early 30s, David met and fell in love with a beautiful and troubled fellow patient named Syd. After a startling encounter with her, he was forced to confront the shocking possibility that the voices he hears and the visions he sees may actually be real. Syd led David to Melanie Bird, a demanding but nurturing therapist who heads a team of specialists -- Ptonomy, Kerry, and Cary -- each of whom possesses a unique and extraordinary gift. Together, they helped David to recognize and harness his hidden abilities and unlock a deeply suppressed truth -- he had been haunted his entire life by a malicious parasite of unimaginable power. Available on Hulu. 4/5.

Comedy:

Derry Girls - Following Erin and her friends as they grow up in a world of armed police in armoured Land Rovers and British Army check points in 1990s Northern Ireland and attempt to navigate the highs and lows of being teenagers. Available on Netflix. 5/5

Detective/military:

Broadchurch - When the corpse of an 11-year-old British boy, Danny Latimer, is found bloodied and dirty on an idyllic beach, a small Dorset community becomes the focus of a police investigation and media madness. Out-of-town Detective Inspector Alec Hardy gets the point position over Detective Sgt. Ellie Miller -- who feels the job should have been hers. Slowly, more members of the community of Broadchurch are drawn into the investigation. While dealing with so much unwelcome attention, Danny's family tries to cope with its grief. When a suspect is named and charged, the ensuing trial sees the defendant promising to expose more of the townspeople's secrets. Available on Netflix. 5/5.

Haven - FBI Agent Audrey Parker arrives in Haven, Maine, on what she believes is a routine assignment. But the longer she stays, the more curious she becomes -- about the townspeople, who seem to be beset by a range of supernatural afflictions; about the town itself, which contains many secrets; and about her own surprising connection to this strange place. Available on Netflix and Tubi. 4/5.

A Very Secret Service - At the height of the Cold War in 1960, André Merlaux joins the French Secret Service and contends with enemies both foreign and bureaucratic. In French with English Subtitles. Available on Netflix. 5/5.

Criminal Minds - An elite squad of FBI profilers analyzes the country's most-twisted criminal minds, anticipating the perpetrators' next moves before they can strike again. Each member of the "mind hunter" team brings his or her expertise to pinpoint predators' motivations and identify emotional triggers to stop them. The core group includes an official profiler who is highly skilled at getting into the minds of criminals, a quirky genius, the former media liaison who manages to adeptly balance family life and the job, and a computer wizard. Available on Netflix and CBS. 5/5

Eureka - In the years since World War II, the U.S. government has been relocating the world's geniuses (and their families) to the Pacific Northwest town of Eureka. Daily life there shifts between amazing innovation and total chaos. U.S. Marshal Jack Carter learns this first-hand when his car breaks down in Eureka, stranding him among the town's eccentric citizens. When they unleash a scientific creation still unknown to the outside world, it's up to Carter to restore order. Subsequently, he's let in on one of America's best-kept secrets. Available on Amazon Prime. 5/5.

Our Girl - Taking destiny into their own hands, British Army female medics of 2 Sections are dispatched on different missions, where they encounter the heartbreak and realities of life on the battlefield. 5/5.

Political:

The Crown - This lavish, Netflix-original drama chronicles the life of Queen Elizabeth II from the 1940s to modern times. The series begins with an inside look at the early reign of the queen, who ascended the throne at age 25 after the death of her father, King George VI. As the decades pass, personal intrigues, romances, and political rivalries are revealed that played a big role in events that shaped the later years of the 20th century. Available on Netflix. 4/5.

Victoria - The monarch's life is chronicled as the story begins with the death of King William IV in 1837, her accession to the throne at the tender age of 18 and her relationships with the influential forces around her. With the advice of the prime minister Lord Melbourne and the support of her husband Prince Albert the young queen flourishes and establishes herself in her newfound role. Available on Amazon Prime. 4/5.

#recs #tv show #tv recommendations #tv reccommendation #covid2019 #covid19 #coronavirus

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mrdarcysdadbod · 5 months ago

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Your last point about Black characters inevitably serving the protagonist's emotional needs - exactly, that's precisely the problem with trying to impose all these other narratives onto a story that very much already has a narrative, is that because this is Anne's story and the show remains, in some way, conscious of her primacy within the narrative, both the plot with Bash and the residential school plot end up needing to center the white protagonists in one way or another. Ka'kwet, in spite of being one of the most vibrant characters in the show, exists to teach Anne a lesson about her community's racism and then to suffer. That doesn't feel like it's doing justice to First Nations stories, especially because Anne just... Moves on. It puts the viewer in the uncomfortable position of having to accept that the protagonist is someone who can shrug off her friend's ongoing abuse because she has to go take her college entrance exams, which is, I would argue, not the Anne we know, and which brings me to another point about disjointed stakes.

One of the things I deeply enjoyed about Anne the character and Anne the book series is that they both understand the hugeness of small struggles to a child - the books, in my opinion, are great at engaging with the way that a child's life is full of grand dramas and insurmountable struggles that, to an adult, are petty annoyances or everyday problems; part of the reason this is so achievable is because the actual setting of the books is limited to the world of a small farm and a small town. The overwrought misery of a child's first fight with their friend has the space to breathe in a narrative that is centered on that child and limited to the world of that child. It's much harder to find Anne's childhood problems worthy of narrative space when they're competing with things like anti-Black racism and cultural genocide and the oppression of entire communities. And in that way the various plot elements overshadow each other rather than working together towards a cohesive story - I don't know about anyone else, but I remember from the second I sniffed that they were doing residential schools, that was all I could think about and I spent the whole time tensed for it to get awful, and then once it was happening I couldn't care about anything else. And we're supposed to just switch gears to finding a group of white children's Edwardian SATs something that deserves narrative space and my attention more than the fact that Ka'kwet and dozens of other Native kids are, you know, going through the thing that still currently today has mass graves being discovered about it? Jeez the more I chew on this plot the more aghast I am about it.

I know I'm not the person to have a take on what is and isn't needed from stories about First Nations history, but I do think your point about the Christian element of the catharsis is really hitting the nail on the head too. I keep circling back to this question of, like, who is it for? Native audiences don't need a moral lesson about their own traumatic history. Sure, maybe the intent was for white audiences to sit with the discomfort of that plot going unresolved and Ka'kwet unrescued, but it kind of undercuts that to have the very next episode, the finale, re-center the white protagonists and their extraordinarily mundane problems. Very "well, this terrible thing is happening to kidnapped First Nations children, and there's not a happy ending or any resolution, really, but don't worry, dear viewer, the academic futures of white children are still the most important thing here." Anne's position at the core of the story, rather than being one of the story's strengths, becomes the mode by which it does disservice to its minority characters.

Anyway, to pull from your tags:

I do remember there being a side thing in an episode or two about Jerry's family being poor, but it didn't really discuss their being Quebecois as a state of marginalization beyond the implied hypocrisy of Diana knowing (European) French as a mark of prestige vs their speaking (Quebecois) French as a marker of inferiority, because, jeez, even the marginalization of Jerry's family is actually about Diana's character growth and wrestling with the challenges of being raised to snobbery (which, where the hell did that come from anyway?) There was also the fact that Jerry was illiterate, but I don't remember whether that was attributed to his Frenchness or just treated as a consequence of his family's being poor for no particular reason.

And you're right, is the thing! Much of what the show had to say about the insularity of Avonlea with the Huck Finn Blythe plot could easily have been said with Jerry and his family instead. It's just that that would've necessitated engaging with a prejudice that isn't much acknowledged outside French Canada as ever having really existed, the idea of white-vs-white ethnocultural tensions is a touch thorny for the general audience, and it's so much easier to just plop an Americanized segregation era racism plot in there when, like. Again, I'm not going to pretend anti-Black racism didn't or doesn't exist in Canada. But my impression from cursory research is that the experience of Black Canadians was not equivalent to their American counterparts, not least because Black Canadians had a robust fifty additional years of freedom under their belt, and didn't face the same kind of de jure segregation. If anyone who knows more than me about the history of Black communities in Atlantic Canada reads this, please correct any misconceptions I have, I'd love to get a better informed take on how historically accurate the whole situation with the Charlottetown slum was or wasn't.

Anyway. I just think it's funny to read about the show getting praise for engaging with historical prejudice when it, uh. Actively avoids doing that in ways that aren't immediately legible to the least informed of modern audiences. I mean, some of my favorite LMM jokes are about the squabbles between functionally identical but viciously opposed denominational churches, and yet. Not a peep!

Still mulling over Anne with an E and I think I need to watch another adaptation or two of AOGG bc I want to criticize the... Misappropriation of narrative space, I suppose, but I suspect that's also just a side effect of the medium, you know? Because what I mean by this is that Anne of Green Gables as a book is very, very narrow in its scope, as it is purely and solely about Anne and, especially early on, she doesn't give other people's stories or perspectives much space in her narrative, and is somewhat ruthlessly self-interested at times in a way that actively constrains the scope of the narrative. To me that's an interesting and delightful aspect of the book as a childhood/coming of age novel, because especially at an age like nine or ten, children really are focused on their own internal world primarily and are still in the earlier-to-middling stages of being more conscious of those around them and their lives and perspectives. A side effect of this is that, for example, we have no clue what's going on with Gilbert other than a few comments from secondary characters and some of Anne's own accidental, quickly interrupted mentions. I find this deeply charming, especially the way that it hints at Anne having editorial sway over the narrative, because she clearly thinks about him far more than he comes up in the text, and I think it could be adapted in a cute and inventive way to the screen, but that's neither here nor there.

The way this relates to Anne With an E is that I think AWaE got too ambitious in widening the scope of the narrative. I'm not even necessarily against the idea of, say, exploring Anne's history and behavior with a modern understanding of trauma rather than an Edwardian children's novel that absolutely wasn't interested in or intending to tackle the emotional realities of traumatized children. And that's a place where it shined (the scene of her cheerfully telling her classmates about "the mouse in a man's pants" to their growing horror was painfully accurate to the experience of not understanding that your funny story is actually deeply worrying), even if it got awkward at times (unfortunately the Anne actress did not carry off the flashbacks well and they were just kind of corny). Unfortunately I do think that there's, I suppose, a maximum amount of gritty reimagining that any narrative can reasonably bear, and I think AWaE way overdid it.

(putting this under a cut bc it got long and wandered away from the point)

I think there's space in that narrative to explore something like, pick two: residential schools or early 20th century modes of queerness or some B plot about con-men that came out of nowhere and mainly served to undermine the notion of Green Gables and Avonlea as a fundamentally safe place - frankly I'm not even against the idea of undermining that notion, in a "challenging the narratives of settler-colonial pastoralism" way, but I think that the residential school plot should've been the thing to do that, as a way of emphasizing that the idyllic safety of Avonlea came not as a result of hardy white Protestant goodness but very much at the expense of displaced and oppressed First Nations people, but I think the way they chose to do the conman B plot was actually counterintuitive to that end, because it positioned the outsiders as the ones seeking to extract profit at the expense of the good hardworking white Protestants of Avonlea, who then became the victims of a thieving invader, when, like. Colonialism, y'know? I digress.

Returning to my original point about the scope and space of the narrative, I may have the most issue with Gilbert's entire plotline. On the most basic level, it requires a significant reframing and rewriting of his and Anne's relationship at this point in their story, which I just... disagree with. I think it's a misstep to try and reimagine a deliberate erasure of him from the narrative via Anne's (somewhat petty) refusal to include him, even though he's very much present and the reader is regularly reminded of his presence in her life outside the text, as an opportunity to actually remove him from Avonlea and do some weird shit with him. Gilbert Blythe doesn't really need to go on a personal journey justifying his passion for medicine and wrestling with the realities and impacts of the Atlantic slave trade. (If I read that sentence after reading the book but before watching this show, I would find it completely bewildering.) It's not even that I don't think "Canada, as an English/French colonial project, has always benefited from and enabled the violence of slavery even if actual chattel slavery wasn't present there in nearly the same amount as it was in other parts of the empire" isn't worth exploring as an element of the showmakers' clear desire to interrogate and challenge AOGG as, unavoidably, a work of colonial fiction. I just don't think putting Gilbert on a boat achieves that. I'm not sure exactly how I'd achieve it - frankly I'm not well-versed enough in Canadian Black history to have a take - but, to me, deciding to literally import a character to make the point about Canada needing to wrestle with anti-Black racism as much as anyone is, like... I mean it's kind of decentering Black Canadians, isn't it? And the whole thing puts Gilbert in this really weird position of clumsily lampshading the white savior in relation to Bash, but also kind of a white savior by proxy in terms of Bash's relationship to the Black community in Charlottetown. I don't know, I'm not qualified to have much of a take on this, it was just all so bizarre and unnecessary to me.

Returning again to my original point, I ultimately just think that, while the text of AoGG leaves a lot unsaid and implied about what's going on with other characters in the novel, there's only so far you can stretch that and still be telling the same story, you know? And while the core of the book is Anne exploring her place in the world, and that can be expanded to include more serious questions about things like childhood trauma and various societal bigotries, I still don't quite know how I feel about the necessity of committing to, essentially, a change in genre for the sake of tackling some of these issues, because at the end of the day, for all it doesn't shy away from things like Ruby's or Matthew's deaths and the attending grief, AoGG is a children's book, and those challenging episodes still come with a resolution and catharsis, and that's... not really something you can achieve, if you're going to include residential schools as a B plot. Like, for a show set in 1890 or whatever, there's absolutely no way to have any sort of resolution or catharsis about a residential school without egregiously whitewashing the reality, especially in, what, 2019 this was airing? After several years of mass graves getting uncovered? I don't know, I think they were just too ambitious. It's not that the legacies of slavery and ongoing Native genocide don't deserve to be explored, but I'm not sure that an adaptation of a book that is firmly rooted in an idealized image of a rural Canadian childhood is the place for it. It's kind of weird to have the horrific violence of the residential schools sharing space with Anne putting liniment instead of vanilla in the cake, you know?

#anne of green gables #anne with an e #anne with an e critical #mr darcys charming long letters #sorry if this is rambling or unclear i wrote most of it at 2-3am

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jtownraindancer · 5 years ago

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Sam Winchester x Reader: Books

Every town had some little quirk that made it stand out.

There was the small town in Idaho with the Farmer's Market that still had the best blueberries he had ever tasted, the one place in Georgia that looked like it fell from the pages of a storybook, that place in Arizona with the best running paths he had yet to explore.

This town was similar to so many others- small police force, volunteer fire departments, one newspaper covering hundreds of miles, and the nearest city an hour's drive away.

But the one thing he could say for this town was that it had, undoubtedly, the most beautiful library he had ever seen.

The plaque gave a brief history of the place, originally a mansion belonging to one of the town's founders, later donated as a community centre, until finally it was revamped to its current purpose.

It had been ages since his passing interest in architecture, but he also knew well enough that this would have been a marvel back in her heyday. Even now, against a backdrop of grey and khaki buildings with their vibrant splashes of colour, the bright purple uniformity of the exterior, the marble steps, and the stained glass windows were breathtaking.

The inside was just as extravagant, most of the original woodworking and some of the original decor still proudly displayed. The small elevator still boasted hints of its Edwardian predecessor, and the stained glass inlay of the former ballroom ceiling provided plenty of natural light, nixing the necessity of the crystal chandelier.

Every room seemed to be overflowing with warmth and light and knowledge, an entire floor of the building dedicated to fiction, another to children's literature, yet another two to nonfiction.

In comparison to some of the libraries he had seen, it was still fairly small, with some rooms dedicated to meetings and studying, others to magazines, newspapers, and media, various oak tables set up between shelves, a play area, and at least ten different computers.

But for a town this small, he was still pleasantly surprised by just how much it had to offer.

He took a few moments to wander, simply enjoying his surroundings- the detailing in the plastered ceilings, the stuffed peacock, the ancient astrologically thematic grandfather clock- before making his way to the local history section.

The ghosts they were chasing down were proving to be far more a pain than either he or Dean could have anticipated, and they were both getting mildly irate about it.

He wanted to go home for a few days and crash. But they had to finish this case first.

"'It's just a quick salt-and-burn, Sammy,' he says. 'We'll be done before you know it,' he says." Sam scowled at an empty bookcase, with only a nearby portrait serving witness to his annoyance. "Dammit, Dean."

Much to his continuing dismay, most of the books he was looking for were not on their shelves, despite still being checked in on the database.

With an annoyed sigh, he made his way back downstairs, approaching Circulation as politely as possible, and learning quickly that the books were most likely being hoarded at one of the many tables upstairs. Fortunately, the librarian's assistant decided to guide him herself, chit-chatting the whole way about who he was, his favourite author, what brought him to town, and any other detail she was able to tug out of his fake identity.

The hoarder was soon located, at least one dozen history texts scattered in front of you, each opened to different pages, your fingers typing quickly on their laptop, one index lifting temporarily before you finished your sentence.

Your tired eyes met his over the laptop lid, a warm smile soon following as your attention shifted to his guide. "'Sup, Anne?"

Introductions were soon made, his situation explained, and you freed up the remaining chair, gesturing at the pile of literature as Anna returned to her post. "Have at 'em. But you lose any of my bookmarks, and you're dead."

He fought a smirk, only to force it away at the completely sober expression on formerly jovial lips.

"I'm not joking. I've spent too many hours trying to get this damn chapter written, and so-help-me-God, you ruin my flow, Pretty Boy-" You followed your proclamation with a slow trace of your fingers across your neck, steady and certain.

He offered mock surrender, trying and failing to hide his smile when you beamed at him.

"Cool, cool, cool. Cookie?"

In a surreal way, it almost reminded him of his college days, as many decades ago as they were for him. Finals Week often had him camping out in the library, sharing snacks and a study room with other students as they all frantically tried to finish essays and memorize hundreds of pages of text they had understood the week before.

Every once in a while, during a small lull in your writing and another dead-end in his research, the pair of you would take a short break, exchanging small talk, gradually shifting into more personal details.

He found it easy to be honest with you, to the extent he was able, anyway. It helped that you had some core common interests, bonding through book references and your combined fascination with serial killers.

At one point, when he had been suspicious about how on-target your one guess was in regards to "the chip on his shoulder," he had slipped in a "Christo," earning nothing but a vaguely concerned, slightly amused "Gesundheit," in response.

He was quick to turn back to his work, blaming the changing light and the late hour and internalizing his panic at how much he had already confided in you.

Too much more, and he'd surely be putting a target on your back.

With any luck, he'd find the gravesite before sunset, and they could wrap the case up tonight, head out tomorrow, and he'd never have to worry about coming back to this town again.

You turned back to your own work, and quite some time passed before he started to grow aware of how little writing or reading you were doing, and how much staring you had taken up instead.

Your gaze was heavy on him, and soon enough it was the only thing he could think about.

"Can I help you," he finally snapped, turning his focus over to his fellow patron, who had blatantly given up on work for the night, laptop put away and bag resting on the table.

You seemed surprised to see him addressing you, eyebrows shooting up and lips parting slightly. But then a soft smile was fast replacing the shock.

"Not really. Just-" Your head turned slightly, reminding him of Cas. "I guess I'm just trying to figure you out."

The lighthearted reply had all of his frustration drifting away, a small scoff riding the wave. "Good luck."

Something in your expression shifted, something he couldn't quite read. "Is that an invitation?"

He was about to reply, ready to offer a denial, but-

Sam took a moment to trace over your slightly mussed hair, the tired, playful eyes, the pencil behind your ear, the soft glow of the lamp framing your entire face in gentle light.

You were peaceful company with a warm heart, good humour, and a quick mind.

Fuck it.

Maybe it was time to try again.

"Not really, but um-" He frowned, feigned fatigue. "I could go for a coffee. You?"

Your smile did more to brighten the dim room than any megawatt bulb could have ever hoped to dream.

"I know just the place."

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lolitain · 6 years ago

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Lolita Clothing, A Collection of Cute, Elegant, Cool and Handsome

Lolita is a subculture which originates from Japan. The fashion is highly influenced by Victorian and Edwardian children's clothing and styles of the Rococo period. Lolita is distinctively cute, and its fans love it because of that. The style over the years has evolved to different sub-styles which share the same distinct aesthetic and cuteness just like original Lolita design. The fashion became popular in the 1990s as a radical form of street style. The Lolita clothing subculture is categorized into three sub-styles namely Gothic, classic and sweet Lolita.

The fashion in the 1970s wasn't popular, only a few Japanese fashion houses embraced it. The situation changed in the 1990s because more fashion houses began to merge it with urban street fashion thus making sexier, beautiful and cute. The fashion hit the streets of Shibuya, Tokyo fashion districts and since then Lolita went viral. Music bands like Princess and visual key helped to popularize the brand within and outside Japan. In some districts, the Lolita is nicknamed "Loli".

Classic Lolita

This is the original and purest version of Lolita fashion. Classic Lolita has few decorations compared to sweet Lolita, Gothic or Punk sub fashions. The print on the dresses is simple and has few adornments. Fashion enthusiasts consider classic Lolita as a more mature style. The reason why they consider it mature is that the design is historically inspired compared to other Lolita styles. The style designers focus more elegance rather than cuteness. Authentic Classic Lolita is made from fabric with muted colors like dusty pastel and jewel tones. Also, the floral prints or solid colors are often embedded on typical Classic Lolita thus making more fancier regarding prints.

Gothic Lolita

Gothic Lolita original fashion is heavily influenced and popularized by the Visual band. The Gothic Lolita frock is made of black but not all of them. At times the brand is called Elegant Gothic Lolita and Elegant Gothic Aristocrat. The names were coined by Mana and Japanese Visual band Malice Mizer respectively. The fashion is also called Bittersweet Lolita. The design is popular with Harajuku teens, and the clothes are influenced by the fantasy world feel. Gothic Lolita cosplay wearers wear heavy knee length socks and boots, bonnets and sometimes parasol which are influenced by modeled by Rococo period fashion common features. The heavy styles influence comes from the Eastern and Victorian Goth style. Most of its brands are characterized by dark colors, crosses, bats and spiders. Also, other Gothic icons and designs are seen on the dress prints. The skirts have petticoat beneath and are normally worn at knee length. The blouses or shirts worn together with skirts are usually lace-trimmed or ruffled in Victoria style.

Sweet Lolita

Sweet Lolita has more frills and lace compared to typical Classic Lolita. The brand is different from typical Classic Lolita regarding aesthetics. The fashion uses a lot of pink, parasol and other decorations to represent an authentic baby doll look. The fashion is a hybrid of both Classic and Gothic Lolita. The style originally was inspired by Victorian children clothing and Alice in Wonderland. Sweet Lolita is characterized by pop cultures like Hello Kitty, Rilakkuma and other popular cute culture. Pastel colors together with other mute colors paint the fashion. Individuals wearing Sweet Lolita should wear huge Head bows, cute purses, and elegant parasols. Generally, fashion is worn by individuals to look cute and beautiful.

Punk Lolita

Punk Lolita is an experimental style which blends Gothic Lolita with rock style attributes. The fashion is popular with both gothic and rock lovers. The style has been accepted all over the world due to its uniqueness, craziness, and cuteness. The style was inspired by Vivienne Westwood and influenced by British punk style. The style consist of frilly Skirts paired with cut sews and at times it can be worn with a more delicate blouse with a tighter skirt or pant. The outfit is characterized by feminine accessories to lighten the look. Lolita silhouette look dictates that the wearer must have a bell-shaped skirt which falls down about the knees but be shorter if the wearer wants it that way.

Even though Lolita has term has a sexual connotation in the Western world, the Japanese use the name to refer to cuteness, elegance, and modesty. The fashion at first was associated with Japanese schoolgirls, but currently, the fashion trend is being rocked across the world. Before the fashion was associated with Nabokov with tempting school girl but today the fashion it’s about cuteness and beauty. s

The core feature of Lolita fashion is the frilly skirt which is often created with petticoat or crinoline. The skirt can either have cloak-shaped or A-shaped design components. The skirt or dress can be worn with either long or short sleeved blouse. Women wearing Lolita frequently wear fashion wig accompanied by beautiful headgears such as hair bows or bonnet. Lolita street fashion is normally gothic cosplay style and is popularized by visual key Japanese popular music.

Lolita designer brands are darling of many due to their authenticity and cuteness. The Lolita designers make elaborate clothes which go out stock within a short period.

Conclusion

Lolita fashion is a unique style characterized by cuteness, and over the years the love for style has grown over the years across the world. This shows the importance of designers picking up classic and traditional/ ancient fashion trends and blends them with urban fashion styles. By doing this, they will promote essence appreciating our fashions, and many will buy and wear the brands. Lolita frocks have brought girlish stylish in our streets.

#lolitadress #lolitafashion #sweetlolita #gothiclolita #classiclolita #dresslololita #lolitakawaii

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douchebagbrainwaves · 4 years ago

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HOW TO YAHOO

Work and life just get mixed together. They happen rarely till industrial times there were just speech, writing, and printing, but when they do, they do badly. 16804294 what 0. The intervening years have created a situation that is, as far as I know, without precedent: Apple is popular at the low end and the high end, but not powerful.1 And when the Mac appeared, it was like coming home. I felt like an immigrant from Eastern Europe arriving in America in 1900. And the days when VCs could wash angels out of the cap table are long gone.2 What you really want is to increase volume. Some are fit only for entry level jobs, but others are ready to rule the world if they can make money. Why should we care especially about civil liberties?3

Google has over 82 million unique users a month and annual revenues of about three billion dollars. The Achilles heel of successful companies is their inability to cannibalize themselves. I think one of the biggest startups almost didn't happen that there must be a valid one. This little thought experiment suggests a few of the disadvantages of insider projects: the selection of the wrong kind of people, I like to work with other good programmers. I sat down and calculated what I thought the price should be. What makes a good startup founder so dangerous is his willingness to endure infinite schleps. A position on the corporate ladder had a value analogous to the goodwill that is a very real element in the valuation of companies. Hard as this was to believe in the mid 20th century is not because they love finance but because they want to work on something interesting with people I like. I order something from an online store, and they know how much jobs suck. Microsoft, or even Google. And the first planes, and the handful of people who wish they'd gotten a regular job, and a startup that succeeds, it's going to consume at least three or four years. So one widely used trick, especially among illustrators, is to intentionally make a painting or drawing look like it had syntax.

Startups succeed by creating wealth. So all other things being equal, a painting with faces in it will interest people more than one without. It's the same with work. All three vertices now seem pretty dated. Any given person is dumber as a member of an audience is to give them what they need.4 If you start the kind of programmers companies should want to hire. But there is a deeper reason that hackers are alarmed by measures like copyrights and patents. There are two senses of the word troll.

You can see how great a hold taste is subjective and wanted to kill it once and for all.5 Why do great ideas come from the margin is simply that there's so much of a problem with options, it's that they reward slightly the wrong thing. As everyone knows, America plus tragedy equals the Civil War was about slavery; people would be confused otherwise; plus you can show a lot of bandwidth.6 Sure, you'll probably end up working at Microsoft, or even Google.7 Before Durer tried making engravings, no one took them very seriously. This was my reason for not starting a startup and you fall asleep in the middle of the range.8 And when you do, that core will be big, because it will be accepted even if its spam probability is above the threshold. But all art has to work on anything, and that's actually very valuable information.9 That was all it took to make the headers look innocent, but my guess is that it would be: just try hacking something together. Everyone was so cheerful and healthy and rich. It's harder to escape the influence of your own circumstances, but you can at least approach that by getting rid of the sources of error in your own life, and those that you decide, from afar, are going to want computers in their houses? Outsiders are not merely free but compelled to make things, like programmers and writers.10

That's what a lot of people who aren't.11 I'm told there are people getting rich by tricking consumers or lobbying the government for anti-competitive regulations or tax loopholes, then let's stop them.12 Hacking something together means deciding what to study in college. If startups become a cheap commodity, more people will be doing with computers in ten years, I think the cost of failure to increase the number of things you can just hack together keeps increasing. I'm surprised people still worry about this.13 Maybe this would have been better off; not only wouldn't these guys have broken anything, they'd have made less. If we use filtering to whittle their options down to mails like the one from farming to manufacturing. And it does seem to influence people when they can see their reputation in the eyes of their peers drain away after making an asshole remark. That phrase draws in most threads I've mentioned here.14 Within the US, without an undergraduate degree—but tests like this will matter less and less. I was in college the rule seemed to be synonymous with quiet, so I didn't do it. When Mark spoke at a YC dinner this winter he said he wasn't trying to start a startup.15

So a language that makes source code ugly is maddening to an exacting programmer, as clay full of lumps would be to try it. One of the most egregious spam indicators. Over time the two inevitably meet, but not ready yet for real work.16 So was the Apple I and Apple II in his apartment or his cube at HP. Fortunately, if startups get cheap to start, this conflict goes away, because founders can start them younger, when it's rational to take more risk, and can start more startups total in their careers. But as long as you made a graph of GNP per capita vs.17 There are two bad smelling words, color spammers love colored fonts and California which occurs in testimonials and also in menus in forms, but they weren't going to die if they didn't get their money.

He was a precise sort of guy, so he'd measured their productivity before and after. That phrase draws in most threads I've mentioned here. I used to be an obelisk will become a pyramid. 01 describe 0. First Round Capital found that among its portfolio companies, do startups with female founders outperformed those without by 63%. And lately hackers have sensed a change in the last ten years the Internet has the most effect.18 So about half the founders from that first summer, less than two years ago, are now rich, at least in your lifetime. But I don't know anything about business to start a startup is a lot of data about how they work. In a zero-sum, there are no external checks at all. Often users have second thoughts and delete such comments. Now, thanks to the Internet, SMTP email, HTTP the web, Google at year 1 is the limit of what they'd have produced.19 So if you're an outsider you should actively seek out contrarian projects.

Startups are perforce small, because they only get paid if they build the winner. But that's ok, because the Internet dissolves the two cornerstones of broadcast media: synchronicity and locality.20 For a while it annoyed me to hear myself described as some kind of answer.21 Boy was he good. But this is so important to hackers, they're especially sensitive to it. It was a place people went in search of something new. When a new medium arises that's powerful enough to win, and the first thing they learn is that the Internet is the primary medium. Some decided only hours before the deadline. In fact, it wasn't initially a startup idea.22 Eleven people manage to work together as if they were a rooted in your town and/or b so successful that VCs would fund them even if they had to move back to Canada and live in their parents' basements. You're not all playing a zero-sum game. I think he really wishes he'd listened.

Notes

Users may love you but these supposedly local seed firms. I call it ambient thought.

The ordering system was small. They also generally say they prefer great markets to great people.

The biggest exits are the numbers like the United States, have been lured into this sort of love is as blind as the investment community will tend to be on demand, and this was the least correlation between the Daddy Model that it would take up, but not in 1950 something one could reasonably be with children, we're probably fooling ourselves. Most people should not always tell this to users, however, is caring what random people thought of them, but its inspiration; the creation of wealth, not the sense that if they could then tell themselves that they violate current startup fashions. You're not one of the next three years, it will seem like I overstated the case, companies' market caps do eventually become a manager.

Some find they have to be on fewer boards at once is to the average Edwardian might well guess wrong.

And of course, but this advantage isn't as obvious because it looks great when a wolf appears, is this someone you want to measure that turns out to coincide with mathematicians' judgements. We think of ourselves as investors, even if the fix is at fault, since 95% of the magazine they'd accepted it for had disappeared.

Even college textbooks is unpleasant work, but different cultures react differently when things are from an interview, I'd appreciate hearing from you. Now we don't want to sell, or an electric power grid than without, real estate development, you now get to go deeper into the shape that matters here but the idea.

I have a competent startup lawyer handle the deal. Html.

Some of the things Julian gave us. Because the title associate has gotten a bad idea has been rewritten to suit present fashions, I'm guessing the next investor. The key to wasting time is distraction.

It is a qualitative difference in investors' attitudes.

But it could change what you're working on such an idea where there is some weakness in your classes as a high school football game that will sign up quickest and those are the only cause of poverty. He was off by only about 2%. Com.

I would be worth trying to meet people; I was there when it was worth about 30 billion. Of the remaining outcomes don't have enough equity left to motivate people by saying Real artists ship. 01. Beware too of the world, and the editor written in C and C, the most powerful men in Congress, Sam Altman wrote: My feeling with the same town, unless it was the fall of 2008 but no more unlikely than it was overvalued till you run through all the difference between us and the exercise of stock the VCs want it to be a startup in a in the field.

A preliminary result, comparisons of programming languages either take the hit.

In the beginning. It was revoltingly familiar to slip back into it. From?

Don't be fooled by the government to take math classes intended for math majors. No, but I think that's because delicious/popular. I remember about the right direction to be careful about security.

I don't think these are the only result is higher prices. But should you even be symbiotic, because you spent all your time working on is a fine sentence, though it's at least what they too were feeling in 1914 on the East Coast. If Xerox had used what they said.

That's one of the river among the largest of their name, but viewed from the late 1970s the movie Dawn of the corpora. Starting a company they'd pay a lot like intellectual bullshit. Josh Wilson came in to pick your brains.

001 negative effect on returns, like angel investors in startups. One year at Startup School David Heinemeier Hansson encouraged programmers who wanted to make Europe more entrepreneurial and more pervasive though.

The trustafarians' ancestors didn't get rich by buying their own itinerary through no-shop clause. I would take their customers.

If a company with benevolent aims is currently undervalued, because unions will exert political pressure to protect their hosts. Proceedings of AAAI-98 Workshop on Learning for Text Categorization. Because it was the reason it used a recent Business Week, 31 Jan 2005. It wouldn't cut their overall returns tenfold, because sometimes artists unconsciously use tricks by imitating art that would have.

The attitude of the things you're taught.

But it could change what you're doing.

Proceedings of AAAI-98 Workshop on Learning for Text Categorization. Structurally the idea upon have different needs from the DMV. I said that a shift in power to founders would actually increase the spammers' cost to reach a given audience by a central authority according to certain somewhat depressing rules many of which you ultimately need if you threatened a company with benevolent aims is currently undervalued, because any VC would think twice before crossing him. A few VCs have an edge over Silicon Valley.

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timeclonemike · 7 years ago

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Some Solarpunk Stuff.

Okay, I’ve been thinking about this for a while, so I’m going to toss it out on the internet to see what anyone else thinks about it.

I tend to follow some Solarpunk stuff, and sometimes I see people talking about the aesthetic. While I’m not in any position to criticize another person’s artistic vision, skill, or preferences, I do think that the issue of aesthetic is slightly beside the point. While it can provide a visual theme to tie together artistic works in the genre, it cannot on its own define that genre. (Please note that I am using the term Aesthetic in the sense of artistic trends and conventions for visual and sometimes auditory representation, as opposed to the conventions of the stories that tie together the genre, which I prefer to think of as Themes.)

If you look at Solarpunk’s ancestor, Cyberpunk, you will run across a spectrum that runs from shiny chrome to dirty industrial to 1980′s TRON lines and a bunch of other stuff. But you can also find shiny chrome in Raygun Gothic “Atompunk” works and dirty industrial in Deiselpunk, and in some settings like Fallout’s post nuclear wasteland you can find both. Likewise, Victorian and Edwardian architecture and fashion can fit into Steampunk, but it could also be a part of a Historical Fiction piece where no anachronistic technology, science, or engineering fits.

This also ties into a discussion I’ve seen a few times about “appropriation” where the cultural origins of a specific type of fashion or architecture are brought up. Solarpunk borrows a fair bit from Art Nouveau, as well as African and Asian elements that are “exotic” from a Euro-centric / Western-centric perspective, and a few things I’ve seen raise the issue of whether those elements should be incorporated or not, and if so how. Here’s the question that bothers me, though; can you create a negative, dystopian setting using those artistic elements?

As a writer, my answer is “Of course you can.” You can make a dystopian story with any artistic representation. Shiny chrome and buffed plastic? Emphasize the clinical feel of the world, with no “human touch” that many people want and need. Dirty industry is even easier, show dirt and oil and choking smog, the dehumanizing nature of factory work. A bright, sunny, Art Nouveau community? Go for the classic “Respectable Veneer” approach.

By the same token, though, the core Themes of Solarpunk can be used alongside Aesthetics from other genres. These Themes have been explained in great detail here:

https://solarpunk-aesthetic.tumblr.com/post/166295059920/a-solarpunk-statement

There’s nothing stopping a story using those principles from taking place in a dirty industrial setting, or at least starting out that way. It can also make sense for a community rebuilding after an apocalyptic event; a surprising about of apocalyptic fiction and games is based on the message of “We’ll do better next time” even if the lawlessness of the wastes and the violent savagery of the inhabitants is what shows up in all the promotional media.

There are some arguments in favor of Aesthetic, especially the idea that they make work easily recognizable and can express a concept very quickly; a picture being worth a thousand words and all that. I won’t argue that point, I certainly don’t disagree with it. What I am saying is that Aesthetic is not as important as the core message and, in a pinch, you can ditch Aesthetic or change it up to capture people’s attention - or if necessary, subvert their expectations and bypass their personal prejudices.

On the other hand, one thing I would like to see more of a focus on in Solarpunk is the actual Technology used. The concept of tapping into a functionally unlimited power source (the sun) to supply the energy needs of a society’s industrial, commercial, scientific and even social activity (in the form of communication or transportation) is the defining element of the genre; the word Solar is in the freaking name. Solar power technology in all its iterations are just the tip of the iceberg. How would a focus on solar power change the chemical industry? The textile industry? Medical care and the production of medication? Personal vehicles, industrial vehicles, possibly military craft, how would they be altered in function and form? Homes optimized for passive solar heating and cooling follow different rules from houses that are presently the economic mainstay (to the extent that the economy is supporting the creation of new homes, that is) so how would the different parameters change for the construction industry? One thing that’s always taken for granted is a shift away from capitalism, or at the very least the nastiest parts of the employee exploitation cycle. What system or systems grows to fill the void?

(That last one veers into the sociological aspects more than the technological ones, but the technologies available to a society will influence it’s economy, so that’s why I included it.)

The reason I bring all of this up is that I think that Solarpunk is not only a good writing a genre with a lot of potential for great stories and characters, but the worlds that it describe are both plausible and desirable for us to work on building today so that we can live in them tomorrow, and our children the day after tomorrow. (Or at least your children. I don’t have any and I don’t want any.) And from where I stand the easiest way to do that is to build the tools that such a future would incorporate, and transition over to those tools so we can stop relying on the existing infrastructure. I’ve always thought of technology as a force multiplier, and history has supported that assessment; advanced weapons multiply the destructive power of an army, mass production multiplies the economic output of a nation, advanced medicine extends the lifespan of people, and of course ownership of the assembly lines, the factories, the chemical labs, and the munitions plants have increased the wealth of the owners. Putting simple, functional, cost-effective technology in the hands of individuals will allow those individuals to influence their environment to a much greater extent, and realistic stories about such events happening can do as much to inspire hope as any narrative about heroes coming together to defeat evil or overthrow tyranny.

And as long as it works, it doesn’t necessarily matter what it looks like.

#Solarpunk #Aesthetic #Technology

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myupostsheadcanons · 7 years ago

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Myu Reads

I am making a list of books/series that I read and enjoyed over the past few years, especially since I began listening to audio books regularly. I am making this list not in order of favorite to least but In The Order of Fluff to Grimdark.

The Wind in the Willows.

Charming characters, each with unique personalities, a classic, well-written series of short stories that has lessons for all ages to learn.

The Wizard of Oz.

Experience the magic of Oz. Much of which was removed in the classic movie adaptation. It wasn’t a dream after all.

Anne of Green Gables.

The tale of a spunky orphan girl being taken in by an middle-aged brother and sister duo.

A family dynamic that is not seen in modern westernized settings any longer.

Slice of Life. Light reading. The first book is the best book.

Howl’s Moving Castle.

Howl is a roguish wizard out to have fun and games manipulating the world around him. Sophie just wants to make hats and live a simple life, but is forced by a curse into adventure and into the path of Howl.

The movie and book are only alike on the surface. There is more charm in the books and Howl actually has a backstory.

Mrs. Frisby and the rats of NIMH

A tale of a mom wanting to save her children, told on top of the story of humanity corrupting nature and abusing animals.

A true “strong female protag” without the need of the female being either cruel, cold, or emotionally distant.

A Wizard of Earthsea

The movie Tales from Earthsea used the character’s names only and lifted elements from all the books rather than just adapting the first one.

Honestly I remember more from the sequel books more than I do the first one.

The Chronicles of Prydan (The Book of Three, The Black Cauldron)

A hero’s tale of a simple boy, an assistant pig keeper, wanting to become something greater and finding out that being a hero it isn’t all glory and fame.

Characters and Lands based off of old Welsh mythologies, the same ones that also inspired the Welsh folk heroes that later became King Arthur’s Court.

The Once and Future King

The Sword in the Stone half of the book would have made it closer to the top of the list. But the second half involved some rather graphic deaths and fights (a gory depiction of killing a unicorn among them).

Edgar Rice Burroughs John Carter of Mars (Barsoom) and Tarzan

Both characters helped define what would later become the modern super hero genera.

John Carter was a direct inspiration to Super Man and the Tharks popularized the idea of little “green men” of Mars. (The entire population of Barsoom are very color-coordinated, tbh. Green, Red, Black, White, Yellow). Many ideas created in this series are prolific in Science Fiction of today.

Tarzan of the Apes can be read by itself, no need to get into the later books. The original character is so popular that any attempt to stray too far from the core characterization leads into disaster. The movie “Greystoke” is perhaps still the best adaptation of the character to screen, and it was a deconstruction of the character.

Redwall

It is easy to get away with whole-sale death when it is done with animals, however many of the animals act human-like and that needs to be taken in consideration

Baby’s first “Dark Fantasy”. Dialog is written plainly for younger audiences, but subject matter is straight out of adult fantasy (mass murder, kidnapping, slavery, war of attrition).

Harry Potter

If you just watched the movies you are missing out on a lot of the descriptions and world-building in the books, especially in the second half of the series: Goblet of Fire, Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince, and Deathly Hollows.

The second half is when the series went from older-child reading to young adult as the characters went from child to teenagers in the books themselves.

Ready Player One, Armada

An easy introduction to retro 80′s and 90′s pop culture, old computer games, and science fiction dystopia.

If you are a layman, a young adult, or didn’t pay attention to most of the media during that era the books do gloss over and explain most of the references made.... sometimes too often.

Armada is not as well seeped in pop culture as RPO, but it is a much more streamlined story and you can get a clearer judge on the author’s actual writing capabilities without the kick-back of nostalgia.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

There are just somethings that can’t translate well from text to screen.

One of those series that is best when read in High school or if you are a fan of British Humor.

The Scarlet Pimpernel

A masked hero come to save French Aristocrats and Nobility from the guillotine of the Revolutionist Government. Among one of the first novels to set down the common tropes for heroes with secret identities to come.

History and backstory might be a bit too heavy for younger audiences to understand.

The Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection

There are two great audio book versions of this: one by Simon Vance, the other by Stephen Fry. Vance is a long time audio book professional and also narrated the Dune books and in general just having him read the book is a good indicator that it would be done well. Fry is a famous comedian and colorful character actor and was in the recent Holmes movies as Mycroft Holmes.

Barns n Noble has a beautiful leather-bound hardback edition of the Complete Collection as well for $25, if you are the type of person that reads the book and listens to the audio at the same time. The book will look nice on your shelf afterwards.

Victorian/Edwardian Horror-Romance: Frankenstein, Dracula, Phantom of the Opera

Classic stories, adapted and retold many times, it is always nice to get a perspective on the original works if you are only familiar with their newer incarnations.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

Darker than the movie.

A reminder that all N*zis are bad.

Children characters get killed just as often as adult characters

Deals heavily with mental issues and adults/authority figures gaslighting children.

Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Stardust

A couple “lighter” examples of Gaiman’s work.

Stardust is classic fantasy with a bittersweet ending.

Ocean is told mostly through the POV of an adult remembering his “magical” neighbors as a kid and his traumatic experiences with his parents and babysitter.

The Lost Fleet Series

What the modern space battle genera should be.

The battles are in real-time, using real physics. It may take hours or even days to find out if that heavy ballistics missile is going to hit its target or if the target moved out the way.

The characters are typical for the genera, but are still engaging. Though the love-triangle rears its ugly head.

NPC’s (Spells, Swords, and Stealth Series)

A new game is hitting select markets. One that has consequences not only for the characters in the game, but the players. NPCs inside the game find themselves thrust into the role of adventurers when a PC party drops dead in their small town.

Classic “role reversal” or unconventional class/char combos (Gnome Paladin? Half-Orc Wizard? Noble Lady Barbarian? City Guard Rogue?) It’s kind of the norm now days after the whole “Drizz’t the Ranger Dark Elf” became so popular in the 90′s.

Star Wars: Heir to the Empire (Trilogy)

The first official trilogy of the Star Wars Expanded Universe, now known as the Legacy series.

It is always interesting to read through some of the EU to see what the Cinematic Universe is “borrowing” from.

Grand Admiral Thawn was such a popular character that he survived being rebooted.

2001: A Space Odyssey

If you have no idea what was going on in the movie. The book will help.

H. P. Lovecraft’s Collection of Horror

There are lots of copy cats, but only one original H. P. Lovecraft.

Mild in terms of today’s standards, but still thought provoking.

Good you are still wanting something creepy/spooky with out it being full of gore, swearing, or other ‘adult’ content, or looking for nothing exceedingly long

A “next step up” after reading Dracula, Frankenstein, and other fiction of that era (penny dreadful, or horror romances).

Heinlein’s Lazarus Long Universe (basically, most of his books)

It is decent until the last 5 books when things really get duct-taped together, then you’ll want to pull your hair out

Time Enough For Love, Number of the Beast, Cat that Walks through Walls, and To Set Sail Beyond the Sunset are some of the worst offenders.

An Incest warning is needed.

The ideas of these stories are timeless, the writing not so much. Characters are antiquated and firmly in the “men’s club” of old-school science fiction. (Even the “strong female protag” in some of the stories still find time to be a wife and mother above all else. Many of the relationships are “open relationships,” so frequent wife/girlfriend swapping)

Starship Troopers

If you ignore the rest of Heinlein’s work, make an exception to at least read this one

Warns of the dangers of being in a global totalitarian society.

POC main character. Juan “Johnny” Rico. Something that was unheard of at the time of publishing.

The Silo Series (Wool/Rust)

Post-Apocalypse science fiction.

Not as dark as say something like bleak The Road or the bloody Red Rising, a PG-13 book.

Set firmly in the middle-ground of fiction despite the setting, the characters aren’t one-note, a solid little series of books and short stories

With some editing it could have been an other dystopia YA series.

The Great Book of Amber (The Amber and Chaos Chronicles)

High fantasy written with a modern voice. A Shakespeare and Arthurian setting. Avalon, Oberon, The “fairy realm,” Civil War. Court intrigue, back stabbing, fratricide. Unicorns.

Written in the 70′s and 80′s. Likely inspiration for other series like ASOIAF, Dresden, and The Witcher. Suggest reading this one before either of them.

The two main POV characters are enjoyable with a snarky sense of humor. The side characters have personality as well.

Multi-dimensional universe, one of the better ones.

Has a Table Top Game.

Welcome to Nigh Vale: A Novel.

Quarkie, Mysterious, and odd.

Heavily inspired by H. P. Lovecraft, X-files, and other conspiracy theory genera, but treated in a mundane manner which makes it unnerving in itself.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (AKA: Blade Runner)

The book that inspired Blade Runner. To the point that many further publications of the book often call itself Blade Runner instead of its actual name (including the audio version).

The book and moves are only alike in theme, and some plot points

The book is bleaker, more Fallout than Ghost In the Shell.

Dune, Dune Messiah, Children of Dune, God Emperor of Dune

The “Lord of the Rings” of Science Fiction.

What started out as a “deconstruction” of campy science fiction like John Carter and Flash Gorden, and a “take that” to Issac Asimov and Heinlein’s style of writing shaped all science fiction written afterwards.

GRRM (A Song of Ice and Fire) is often compared to Herbert... for good and bad reasons.

Neuromancer.

The book that brought us the first REAL Cyberpunk in the 80′s.

It is interesting to see the ways they thought computers would be part of 21st century society back in the Cold War Era.

Mort(e)

Animals take over the world killing most of mankind along with it.

A mysterious “virus” sweeps through the animal population, and the Ants in charge began culling the animals to remove it.

The Hunger Games Trilogy.

There is a lot less HAM in the books than in the movies.

Upper Young Adult. Class Warfare. Post Apocalyptic Dystopia. Children killing children.

You can get into Katness’s head a lot easier, understand her reasons for being emotionally distant with people.

Jurassic Park, The Lost World

Dinosaurs and Assholes. Perfect Michael Crichton books.

The second one should be read just for the fact that the movie is nothing like it. The first movie had a passable resemblance, with some character tweaks... the second movie barely resembles the book at all.

The second attempt of Crichton writing a series about “high-tech theme parks gone wrong” (the first being Westworld)

Android’s Dream (John Scalzi)

When you find out why the book is called “Android’s Dream”... feel free to be grossed out.

Let’s just say the book isn’t about androids...

The Illuminatus Trilogy

Written in the 70′s. Plenty of Sex, Drugs, and Rock-and-Roll.

Some of the conspiracy theories will throw you for a loop, then suddenly you’ll remember that this is a comedy/parody book and gods are real.

fnord.

Cryptonomicon

A long fictional account about the invention of computers. Told against the backdrop of WWII and the Early 2000′s internet boon.

I feel this one is on par with the Illumanatus Trilogy when it comes to tone and feel, but with no magic-chaos-cults involved.

Parodies of Historical figures, large a corporation with their fingers in many-o-pot, main characters that would be considered counter-cultured for their time period finding themselves in over-the-top situations.

Neil Gaiman’s American Gods

Personally I found the book to be slow and meandering, but interesting as a whole.

Basically defines what people think Gaiman’s style is. Dark imagery, weird shit happening, and lots of contemplating your navel.

The Comoran Strike Detective Novels.

What J. K. Rowling is doing whenever she isn’t milking the corpse of Harry Potter.

Would be a better series in general without the fake love triangle...

The Godfather

The movie is better than the book, but then the movie is like in the top-5 best movies of ALL TIME.

The movie does follow the book for the most part, with some variation for time and content.

The Guns of August (Non-Fiction, WWI novel)

Accounts what caused WWI and the events of the first two months of the war.

It doesn’t demonize the Germans, Russians, or any of the sides in particular. It explains quite clearly as to what all their motivations were getting into this war and how the war ended up becoming a complete slog.

Realm of The Elderlings Series (Robin Hobb)

If you ever want to experience “the feelz” in book form.

The relationship between FitzChivalry and the Fool is one of the most anguished you’ll ever read about.

There is a lot of ship baiting however, as the Fool is genderfluid and Fitz refuses to believe their relationship is anything other than close-brotherly love...

About 60% of the entire series is seen through FitzChivalry “head as thick as a brick” Farseer ‘s POV, be prepared for lots of PTSD.

The Mists of Avalon

The classic tale of King Arthur imagined and told through the eyes of the women of the court.

There are no real villains in the series, even the most morally dark among them have justifiable reasons for what they are doing. Unlike something like Once and Future King. Mordred, Morgause and Morgan are not evil stereotypes, they have human real-world reasons for what they do.

The Red Rising Trilogy

The Adult Fiction version of The Hunger Games.... In SPACE.

Color-coded for your convenience.

All the surrounding characters are more interesting than the main character.

Your favorite character is likely going to die.

Darrow always reminding you about his fridged wife... even after he finds a replacement goldfish.

The Cycle of Arawn, The Cycle of Galand

In a world of black magic and white magic, it isn’t always clear on which side is good or evil.

Plot holes you can drive a truck through, or at least hope will get resolved/remembered in later installments.

Most of the charm of this series is the relationship between Dante and Blaze. The way they both converse with each other and the people around them is very reminiscent of Buffy Speak.

The Dresden Files (Harry Dresden... Wizard)

Dresden has a great mix of humor and cynicism.

Plenty of action, not entirely predictable in plot, and a heaping helping of stopping the forces of evil from destroying all existence.

A modern-era fantasy with plenty of demons, fairies, vampires, and ghost. Never loses the feel that it is set in the modern times.

Stephen King’s Horror-Fiction (The Stand, Under The Dome, IT, The Shining/Doctor Sleep)

The human condition at its worse told in speculative horror fiction.

The Forgotten Warrior Series (Son of the Black Sword)

Future Earth, brought back to an age of magic (or science-like magic) when demons fell from the sky and ravaged the planet. An entire race, the last survivors of the people that turned away the demons and drove them to the sea, are forced to live as slaves, vagabonds, and in perpetual poverty.

The Witcher Novels

Books are published OUT OF ORDER in America. Please read The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny short-story collections before the Saga books.

CDPR Games are a Fan-created sequel to the books, so the games spoil the books (especially the third game).

Netflix is making a (new*) show adaption of the novels with the author’s approval and getting advice from the game makers as well.

*we don’t talk about the old show.....

The First Law Trilogy

It will get worse. When ever you think things can’t get any worse. It always does. And you watch the characters struggle all the way through it and everybody around them dying along the way.

Don’t get too attached to anybody without a POV.

A Song Of Ice and Fire

The modern “Gold Standard” for Dark Fantasy when Game of Thrones brought it to the mainstream.

Just about everything black and grim can, has, and will happen.

Nothing is glorified, everything is awful. When something problematic to our modern society happens within the narrative, it is often treated with the weight that these issues are a problem and part of their corrupt society (things like incest, child murder, rape, abuse....)

Hannibal Lector Series (Red Dragon, Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal)

humanizes the most horrible of mankind.

if you had at least watched any of the movies and/or the show, read the books as well.

Dogsland Trilogy (J. M. McDermott)

Nothing good will come out of this. There is no hope for any of the characters. It starts out black and will end just as black. It is like a slice of life for the dirt poor and shunned. Forever on the run from hunters and discriminated against just because of being born. It ends where it began.

The Road

A story about a father and son at the end of humanity. There is nothing that can be done, a harsh struggle to delay the inevitable death of man kind.

#book recommendations #book rec #myu reads

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lexacourtney · 5 years ago

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Title: Chain of Gold (The Last Hours #1)

Author: Cassandra Clare

Pub. Date: March 3, 2020

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Welcome to Edwardian London, a time of electric lights and long shadows, the celebration of artistic beauty and the wild pursuit of pleasure, with demons waiting in the dark. For years there has been peace in the Shadowhunter world. James and Lucie Herondale, children of the famous Will and Tessa, have grown up in an idyll with their loving friends and family, listening to stories of good defeating evil and love conquering all. But everything changes when the Blackthorn and Carstairs families come to London…andso does a remorseless and inescapable plague.

James Herondale longs for a great love, and thinks he has found it in the beautiful, mysterious Grace Blackthorn. Cordelia Carstairs is desperate to become a hero, save her family from ruin, and keep her secret love for James hidden. When disaster strikes the Shadowhunters, James, Cordelia and their friends are plunged into a wild adventure which will reveal dark and incredible powers, and the true cruel price of being a hero…and falling in love.

This will be a spoiler free review!

I’m going to start with, I can’t believe that I got to read this book early. I don’t know how I won a giveaway for this book, but I did.

It’s been a hot minute since I last read a Shadowhunter book, or anything set in this expansive world. I mean, it’s been since Lady Midnight…yeah, I haven’t finished that trilogy yet. It’s been even longer since The Infernal Devices (my favorite books in the whole Shadowhunter series) …since Will and Tessa.

I keep meaning/wanting to re-read them, but it still feels like it’s too soon. It’s only been like 7 years…but I start thinking about that scene at the end where Tessa rolls over in bed to tell Will something and he’s not there.

And, now I’m crying.

See, I’m not over it.

Will I ever be over it?

I don’t know.

It’s why I haven’t gone back and re-read that trilogy, even though I really should and really want to.

But Chain of Gold is fun because I get more Will and Tessa…married Will and Tessa and their children + friends! It’s like the best of both worlds! I get to visit some old friends, make new ones, without the sad ending. If you’re a fan of The Infernal Devices – like if they’re your favorite books in this world, then you’re going to love this book. Same feeling, same characters and the stakes are higher than ever. I really enjoyed this book and its characters. Matthew Fairchild might just be my favorite character. Though, with that being said, I really loved the whole band of Merry Thieves – Thomas, James, Christopher and Matthew. Thinking about it, they kind of gave me Marauder vibes, and honestly, I’m here for it. But before I jump into the characters, let me talk a bit about the book.

I was excited to go into Chain of Gold, but for the first quarter of the book or so, I was a bit unsure and a bit confused. Maybe it was because I’d been gone from this world for so long, or maybe it was just the massive info dumping and time jumping, but I found myself procrastinating when it came to picking up the book. Once I managed to start reading again, I was nearly instantly hooked and hated to put the book down for anything, but then I’d put the book down and the cycle would start all over again. It wasn’t until about the 50% mark that I became really invested and therefore really annoyed that I had to stop reading to do things like make dinner and eat dinner.

I blew through the second half of the book and I kind of regret doing that because now I’m stuck waiting for book 2 – Chain of Iron – and this one isn’t even properly out yet.

I guess I forgot how lengthy Shadowhunter book tend to be – even thought I look at the like 10 feet of shelf space they take up on a daily basis, but this book was long. A lot gets repeated in this book and I don’t quite get why. I understand that all of these various Shadowhunter series are meant to stand alone, but also build upon each other, but don’t require you to have read the previous series, but I don’t need to be told over and over and over and over by every other character the same sort of information. I lost count of how many times I was told about the Silent Brother’s and Iron Sisters and what they did. I don’t know how many times I was told about the stele’s and seraph blades.

I get that some of this is to inform new readers who might not have any of this background knowledge from multiple past series, but it still doesn’t explain why every other character explains it in their own way.

I’m just saying that it was repetitive and had me groaning with annoyance.

But honestly, I think that’s probably my biggest complaint – the length and repetitiveness. And due to its length, I do think that the second half of the book is strong and more interesting. Major things were starting to happen, and it wasn’t just a bunch of info dumping and setting up the world. Overall, like I said, I really enjoyed this book and found it to be a pretty good read. I definitely think that I’m more of a Victorian/Edwardian Shadowhunter world over the more modern/current day one. I always thought that the Infernal Devices were the better books, so it stands that I’d choose this new trilogy over the other books.

Granted, I haven’t actually finished The Dark Artifices yet, so maybe I should do that before I make any claims.

But let’s move onto the characters, because there are so many to get through.

Like, so many.

Maybe almost too many.

Between familiar faces, to new characters, it’s a full cast.

And apart from the main core set, it was hard to keep track of everyone, and who they were related to, and how they were related, and finally, who was dating/liked who. I needed a freaking map to just keep everyone straight.

Since there were so many characters, we’re just going to focus on the main ones – Will, Tessa, James, Lucie, Matthew, Christopher, Thomas, Cordelia, Alistair, Jesse, Grace, Anna and Charles – otherwise I’ll be here all night…hell, I might be here all night with just the core group.

Okay, let’s keep this brief.

Will and Tessa

It was so fun being back with Will and Tessa and seeing them older, as parents. I don’t remember everything about them from The Infernal Devices, but I do remember absolutely loving them. I loved how in love with each other they still were, and how they made Lucie and James uncomfortable, in only the way parents can. I just loved being back in this world with them.

*Art by Cassandra Jean

James and Lucie

Ugh, I loved them, but I wish there had been more one on one time between the two of them. I just wish there had been more about their sibling bond, thought I suppose there are two more books to get that from. James is fiercely loyal, and Lucie is a dreamer and wants to experience the world. For being Will and Tessa’s kids, that seems to fit pretty damn well. They’re also fiercely protective of each other and I love them. I also love how Lucie is writing a book and everyone she knows in real life is in it in some capacity.

*Art by Charlie Bowater

Matthew, Christopher and Thomas

The other three who make up the Merry Thieves. Like I said before, very Marauder-esque. Matthew is probably my favorite of the four boys, he’s suffering, and I think, in need of a hug. Christopher is brainy and likes to tinker around with things, to mash mundane science with angelic tools. Thomas is like the gentle giant, loyal to his friends without fail, but also open to seeing other sides of things. Together they all complement each other very well, and I just want all of them to be happy.

*Art by Charlie Bowater and Cassandra Jean

Cordelia and Alistair

Cordelia is a bad ass, and Alistair needs a hug as well. I really like the two of them, I liked Cordelia from the beginning, whereas Alistair took a long time to feel for. They’re both dealing with so much, individually, personally and as a family. I really liked their bond though, even when it seemed utterly stretched taught at times. You could tell that Cordelia loves her brother, despite his faults. I didn’t actually anticipate feeling anything for Alistair, but by the end of the book he was one of my favorite characters. We all make mistakes, and I think he’s one who will actually grow into a better person because of them.

*Art by Charlie Bowater

Jesse and Grace

I love Jesse, not a fan of Grace. Like, I could do without Grace to be honest. I know we can’t just get rid of her because plot things, but I can wish. When I figured out what she was doing, when that little plot thing clicked…Ooo, let me tell you, I got so mad. Then at the end of the book…I groaned and raged, because what happened was what I didn’t want to happen. Jesse seems so soft and sweet, while his sister is like the opposite. So, I’m hoping we get more of both of them, because I’m pretty sure they’re a pair, and I can’t pick and choose.

*Art by Charlie Bowater

Anna and Charles

Loved Anna, she’s awesome. I loved how observant she is, and how knowing. It’s like she knows what you want before you do, and that comes with a cocky knowing arrogance that I love in characters. Oh, Charles. I’m still kind of on the fence about him. Like I don’t know whether to write him off or wait to see. He’s made some mistakes, he’s a bit power hungry, but I think his heart is in kind of the right place. I don’t think he’s a bad guy, he just does things for the wrong reasons, or in a wrong way.

*Art by Charlie Bowater

It’ll be interesting to see where all these characters end up in the next two books. I’m really hoping that Alistair gets a few friends, that Matthew stops being so sad and drunk all the time, that Lucie gets the experiences she craves, that Cordelia’s heart doesn’t break, that James can come to terms with his ancestry, that Thomas and Christopher continue to tinker, fight and be there, that Jesse gets the ending he deserves as does Grace, and that Anna gets to have her heart’s desire, and that maybe Charles learns that power isn’t everything. I also hope that we don’t have to live through a certain character death again, at the end of this series. You hear me Will Herondale, I can only live though it once!

Also, if you haven’t seen, Charlie Bowater did character art for most of the characters I’ve mentioned, and as always, they’re gorgeous. I actually saved them all down to my phone, so as I was reading, I could go look at them, and remind myself of what the characters look like. With a huge cast of characters and so much happening in this book, the portraits of the characters she did, were so useful.

Seriously, so much happens in this book, and while the plot was full of so many scenes, my favorite parts were the character relationships. The bonds they share and form and all the interactions. Ugh, I want to say more, but I also do not want to spoil this book for anyone. So, if you want to talk about this book – whether you’ve read it early, or after its release, feel free to DM me over on Twitter and I’ll be more than happy to talk. As it stands, I have no one to talk to and there’s this certain scene I want to talk about, and I can’t.

It’s torture.

I’m so excited for Chain of Iron and this wait is going to suck.

So much.

I have no idea what to expect, or how this trilogy is going to turn out, but I have a feeling it’s not going to disappoint. I have my predictions, my hopes for who is going to be endgame, but really, I have no idea what could happen plot wise. I know the books are going to be chocked full of action moments, sweet moments, gushy moments and probably heart breaking moments, but everything else, I have no idea, and I’m ready and quite terrified to find out. I love these characters now, and don’t want any more harm to come to them.

I’m excited and you should be too!

Chain of Gold is out March 3, 2020 and

“The entire first print run in the US and UK will be a special first edition. It will contain a beautiful portrait of the main characters by Cassandra Jean, and will also include the long-awaited short story Fairy Tale of London, about Will and Tessa’s wedding! Preorder your copy from any of the links below to make sure you get the special first edition.”

Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Indiebound / Books A Million / Simon & Schuster

So make sure you order your copy soon!

Book Review: Chain of Gold (The Last Hours #1) by #Cassandra Clare I love these characters so much. #newpost #blogpost #bookpost #bookblog #books #blog #blogger #bloggerswanted #bloggerstribe #bloggingcommunity #bookish Title: Chain of Gold (The Last Hours #1) Author: Cassandra Clare Pub. Date: March 3, 2020…

#Book Blog #book review #book reviews #Bookish #books #New Post #Reading #TBR

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floorinsite · 7 years ago

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Collaborative approach transforms patient experience at Salisbury breast unit - Altro Floor and Wall Products

The new dedicated Breast Unit at Salisbury District Hospital has patient experience at its very core.

A truly collaborative approach saw designers, staff and suppliers work with patients and their loved ones to map every step of a process that is one of the most difficult anyone can face.

The unit combines the latest ideas in biophilic design for wellbeing with the smartest products and solutions, delivered with impeccable attention to detail.

It captures the needs of all stakeholders and delivers without losing clinical quality.

The interiors were designed by ArtCare, the arts in health service for Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust, working collaboratively with staff and patients, and using floor and wall products from Altro.

ArtCare’s Penny Calvert explains: “Décor can’t do anything about disease, but it can absolutely be used to make the best of the worst moment you are having – reducing anxiety has a huge impact on wellbeing. The designs are the culmination of more than a year’s worth of creative thinking and workshops with patients and staff, giving them the freedom to imagine how space could be different.”

Key to the new £1million unit is the practice of same-day diagnosis – patients attending for tests to see if they have breast cancer receive a diagnosis that day, avoiding anxious waits for results.

The unit is equipped with dedicated diagnostic equipment, treatment and counselling rooms enabling quicker care and treatment.

Diagnosis and follow up are delivered in one place with less need for patients to visit other departments in the hospital.

And clinics are run jointly with oncologists and plastic reconstructive surgeons, meaning patients no longer need to visit the hospital as frequently.

Drawing from the natural world

Biophilic design – the strategy of implementing nature into the environment – comes to life within the Breast Unit at Salisbury, as nature provides the inspiration for themed rooms: coast, river, forest, field, garden, park.

Altro Whiterock Digiclad was the ideal medium for this, as it is created by reproducing a photographic image or vector art onto Altro Whiterock wall sheet, with consistent, photographic quality, and hard-coat technology for surface protection.

“We looked at the patient experience, the patient journey, and consulted extensively to map out the whole process practically, but also emotionally,” explains Penny. “We used online scrapbooks as a tool to get people thinking – how do you feel, what makes you relaxed. And from this came the ‘world outside’ theme – the feeling of breathing in fresh air, stepping out of the situation. And also a real sense that nature gets on whatever happens: seasons change, tides ebb and flow.”

The waiting area creates a sense of calm: Altro Wood flooring, with clusters of sofas and armchairs echoing the colours of the floor to ceiling printed Altro Whiterock Digiclad panels – natural light floods in to help create the feel of bluebell woods. The focus was to create a space that barely feels clinical at all – furniture layout is reminiscent of a hotel or spa lounge, providing privacy in a relaxed way.

Freedom to imagine

Photography is used throughout the unit, with floor to ceiling images on Altro Whiterock Digiclad used to transform spaces.

These are not stock photography shots – they were commissioned as part of the project and show local woodland, rivers or countryside, real and local to those using the spaces.

And their impact is powerful, as Penny explains. “The Tomography room was previously a windowless space, with only enough space for a chair alongside the equipment. The process performed can take some time and is generally unpleasant or uncomfortable. In the new unit, that space is transformed – your vision now filled with the scene of a local river flowing through a park with ducks and other wildlife, a focal point helping transport the mind beyond the confines of the room.”

Penny and her team are advocates of the Altro Whiterock Digiclad system, having installed it in many areas of Salisbury District Hospital over a number of years.

“It allows us to use superb images at high quality and gives so many design possibilities. We’ve used the system in cancer wards, children’s units, outpatients’ areas, side rooms and reception areas. It gives us freedom with our designs, allows us to create a unique identity, and has very practical applications such as wayfinding. It’s clinically safe, can’t be picked off the wall and we know from experience it will still look spectacular five years from now.”

Design for wellbeing

It is clear that patient experience and wellbeing have been the driving force of design at Salisbury’s new Breast Unit.

By process of collaboration and consultation, the design team have gained insight and empathy which is translated into design elements throughout the building.

This is evident in the small touches that might not otherwise have come to light – the use of humour for example.

“Each themed room has a door sign that incorporates a bird of that area,” says Penny. “Those include blue tits, and boobies – our research showed that humour is not inappropriate; in fact, it helps people get through.

These touches help give people permission to find the humour in otherwise tense times.”

The unit’s Rose Room, used for prosthesis fittings, draws its name and design inspiration from Edwardian lingerie pioneer Lady Duff Gordon, whose uber-feminine collections were displayed in luxury, boutique style.

“This space is so important,” says Penny. “It doesn’t look or feel clinical. It’s a feminine space, only for women. People coming here may be feeling battered or bruised, their body shape changed. This space needs to feel safe and relaxed, somewhere they can feel comfortable again, not shy, and begin to feel at ease with post-surgery garments like swimwear.”

This non-clinical feel is evident throughout the unit.

Designed around the patient journey and the process of same-day diagnosis, waiting areas feel non-clinical.

There are spaces you can be comfortable sitting in a dressing gown, with quiet areas, dignified, soothing and calm.

Co-design at its best

Much of the success of the design comes from the collaborative approach between designers, staff, suppliers and patients. “For me, the most exciting and memorable part of the project happens through co-designing, by having the opportunity to give patients and staff a meaningful and real role in designing spaces,” says Penny.

All ArtCare’s healthcare environment projects incorporate co-design.

ArtCare receives an annual donation from the hospital’s charity, The Stars Appeal, to carry out its core work, with additional funds raised for specific projects.

Jo Bott is a patient rep with the Stars Appeal. “At the age of 26, I heard the words ‘unfortunately it’s cancer’. I walked through a packed waiting room, into the corridor and tried to find my way to radiology. I had no choice but to cry in the waiting room. This dedicated new unit has changed all that. It provides a more comfortable and private space. It negates the need to move from department to department, continually explaining who you are and why you are there.”

Staff also feel their input has made a difference, as Sonnya Dabill explains. “I felt at ease to express my thoughts during the design team meetings. The new unit will be a place to breathe when patients feel anxious. For staff, it will be a light, airy environment to work in with fewer interruptions, unlike our old rooms that were at the centre of a busy corridor.”

For more information please visit: www.altro.co.uk

#Altro Whiterock Digiclad #Altro Wood flooring

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