#jewish girl rep so real

[chaifootsteps]

Oh my god your ask box is open.

Ummm didja see how Viv liked fanart of Vox telling Val he's beautiful after his wings get clipped?

That author who wrote that fic of Angel being told he's beautiful paralleling with the goddamn creator liking and encouraging Val content to sympathize with him....

No hate to that artist but when you're the creator you need to have more fucking responsibility. She isn't condemning Val. She's woobifying and downplaying his actions to the point where she likes her *rapist character* being sympathetic and "beautiful" but has the gall to say Angel is a "loser".

And while I'm at it, she also like a comment about "people simp for horror characters like Patrick Bateman and Leatherface--"

Shut. Up.

Shut the fuck up.

The directors and actors condemn the actions of those killers. Christian Bale said he hates Patrick Bateman and thinks there's nothing good about him. That "sigmas" are missing the point and need to get a life.

LeatherFace is mentally challenged and doesn't understand what he's doing. He's surrounded by a psychopathic family who loves him and obviously doesn't teach him right from wrong.

Scott Cawthon punishes the fuck out of William Afton. Spring-locked painfully, tormented by the souls of the kids he's killed, crushed, burned.... his own son said that he'd burn in Hell.

I could go on and on. Also Jason Voorhees kills 2 rapists. Freddy Kruegar is burned for his crimes.

These people are so fucking stupid it hurts.

Viv coddles, woobifies, sympathizes, and downplays Valentino. The abusive rapist. Compared him to a *high school girl* for fucks sakes.

What Val does to Angel is also not over the top or goofy. It's *very real*. The abuse is very realistic and isn't unbelievable.

Alastor isn't a rapist. So stop bringing that up.

You can't control what people do with your content. But you can control what you encourage and how you view serious topics.

So much for her 3 day Threads meltdown where she screamed about caring about SA victims.

She's a rape fetishist just like Raph. Why else would she keep him around? I don't care that they have these fetishes, but stop pretending it's good SA rep.

Also Mimzy is meant to be Jewish. Rosie is a blood libel. Why are Jews in Hell? Fuck off with that "chicken" bullshit.

Fucking vile, Medrano.

And to be clear, I don't care if a portion of the fandom wants to expand on Valentino with headcanons, sit on him like a baby bird, and adopt him as their silly little rabbit. That's villains and fandom, that just is what it is.

The problem is when Viv does it, when she coddles Valentino and insists everyone else do likewise or else. Viv isn't a member of the fandom, she's the creator, and one who's made it her business to shout down and belittle every single fan who's uncomfortable with Valentino. That's a different, shameful thing, and it's absolutely disgusting.

[jewishbarbies]

I think a few days ago when talking about antisemitism in media you mentioned Anne Frank and how we really shouldn’t have access to her diary and that for me thinking… we really SHOULDN’T have access to her diary.

like maybe I’m reaching, but I feel like by making her and her writing a spectacle, they stripped her of her humanity and her girlhood.

I’ve never thought too much about her, but it just hit me that Anne was literally a CHILD. A 15 year old girl. You have so many people writing think pieces about her and making her into a feminist icon, I see people on TikTok speculating on her sexuality and whether she was a lesbian or a bisexual or straight or whatever, etc and it’s like… this poor child can’t even rest in DEATH.

Like that was a young Jewish girl going through something absolutely horrific while still trying to navigate teen hood and we made that a SPECTACLE. As if she’s a zoo animal.

Like she had no idea that what she was writing in what she probably thought of as a silly little diary for her and her alone was going to be publicised and picked apart for all to see. She was just a girl. And that wasn’t our diary to read.

I’m not sure if it was me saying that, but there was a reason it was made public. her father wanted to share that firsthand account of what happened bc they were sorely needed at the time, but also to show that the jews who were murdered were human and a lot of them were children. however, i think the way discussion has evolved surrounding her and the diary has become so incredibly disrespectful and irresponsible over the years. like trying to make her a symbol of feminism or, most recently, claiming she’s a “queer icon” and “jewish rep”. she was a murdered child. no more, no less. we do need these stories but the way goyim continue to choose to handle them without any care at all is so disappointing.

somewhat recently i had a run in with some swifties who were claiming Anne Frank would’ve gone to the eras tour, and some argued that taylor swift was Anne Frank reincarnated. it’s a symptom of the fandomization of real world figures and issues. young people are not taught how to properly handle these stories and the people in them, just told the stories and sent home.

[solreads]

A World Worth Saving - Review

Title: A World Worth Saving

Author: Kyle Lukoff

Genre: Fantasy

Sub-Genres: Mythology

Audience: Middle Grade

Format: Novel

Representation: Trans Boy POV character 

Trans girl and nonbinary supporting characters

Summary: Since coming out to his parents, fourteen-year-old trans boy A Izenson’s life has grown increasingly bleak and confined as his parents force him to attend Save Our Sons and Daughters, a “support group” for victims of the “transgender craze,” cut him off from his friends, and subject him to constant misgendering and deadnaming. His holding pattern, trying to keep his head above the water until he can escape his parent’s household, finally breaks when his friend Yarrow, a fellow forced attendee of SOSAD, disappears, and A’s attempts to get answers instead reveal a world of supernatural threats.

Demons fuel the fight against trans rights to feed on the suffering it brings. All around him, A begins to see the malevolent sheydim swaying the people’s minds towards hatred. And a strange golem made of wind and trash follows him with cryptic messages about his part to play in an ancient struggle.

Thrust into the fight and forced on the run, A and Sal, a trans girl from SOSAD, must figure out how to survive, much less take on threats from both the mundane and supernatural worlds at once.

Reflections: A was such a frustrating character at times. There’s a secondary focus on intra-community issues, specifically the ways we can get caught up in our own struggles or those of our sub-groups and not be good allies to other (often more vulnerable) members of our community. The story explores this by making A increasingly self-absorbed and unempathetic towards his friend Sal in very overt ways. Obviously, it’s to serve a purpose, but, man, does it get frustrating. As an adult, I think I have more sympathy for A being a fourteen-year-old in a truly miserable, stressful situation, but also find the way his flaws are portrayed to be sort of heavy-handed. I wonder how I would have taken it when I was in the target audience, if I would have found him too irritating (and, ironically, not have had much empathy for him), or if I wouldn’t have noticed/minded the blunt approach as much.

I enjoyed how Jewish mythology was incorporated and how A’s kind-of, sort-of chosen one schtick was written.

There was plentiful discussion of different beliefs within Judaism and how they do and don’t fit with everything A is discovering. It meshed real-world beliefs with the interpretations and choices that fit the story. The golem manifests this in a fun way, starting as a very unconventional iteration of a golem and eventually coming to understand that it only latched on to that identity and might be something entirely new. It was an interesting way to address the fact that the myth did not quite fit what the author needed and it was sweet to see a couple of trans kids help an ancient, inhuman being start to realize it can define itself.

A being chosen but not The Chosen One was a good choice for his character and the book's themes led him to have some arrogance and bull-headed tendencies while at the same time feeding his insecurities and providing a way to wrap it all up nicely. He isn't special except in the ways that everyone is. He's chosen, but so were others before him and so could others replace him. It fits.

Warnings: Frequent depictions of transphobia, misgendering, deadnaming, dysphoria, intracommunity transphobia. Depictions of conversion therapy, both realistic and fantasy versions. 

Notes on Rep: MC identifies explicitly, on-page as a transgender boy. 

[rhiannons-bird]

okay so I‘M FINALLY READING SWORD CATCHER AND I HAVE THOUGHTS

I‘m only about halfway through but I need to rant

- it‘s incredible how well cassie manages to lend a unique voice to each of her characters every single time. she just doesn’t miss does she?

- lin caster is the awesomest girl. i just love her because she reminds me of other cc girls in the way that she is kind of a very typical heroine on the surface but you can actually feel her emotions and she’s very believable & flawed & human and you just can’t help rooting for her + i love her friendship with mariam

- everyone is bisexual & it’s completely normalised i love it here

- lin & conor??? apparently they are the flagship which I know because I took a peek at the tag after they had two scenes together because the ENERGY OMG

- ahh yes, conor 😌 another pretty man with issues who’s in a lot of trouble and likes to cover it up with sarcasm, pompous behaviour, fancy clothes & vanity- you just can’t help but love it

- but also he‘s the biggest prick and i want him to have some sense beat into him by everyone around him

- like he qualifies for a huge growth arc but it could also go downhill and turn into sth ugly

- anyone had a weird sense of déjà vu about him and lin after that one little excerpt about adessa and suleman? like, she’s an ashkar with probably immense magical potential let’s be real i see where this is going and he‘s a prince (future king) with marivent blood 🤔🤔🤔

- conor‘s frat boy posse make my blood boil- especially with the way they talked about antonetta in that one scene 🤢🤮

- falconet is the nicest one by far but he‘s sus as hell i know he’s up to sth 🤨 but i rly wanna like him 😭

- the ragpicker king is just a cool dude who dresses emo and has people murdered on the regular i guess i love him. he’s hot. - kaz energy but also very different at the same time. can‘t wait to see more of him. and there’s def more to him.

- also no, andreyen, i don‘t understand either what people mean about ji-an having an off putting manner i‘m pretty convinced she‘s never done anything wrong in her entire life 💗except for the murder what murder

- kel can only be described as a calmly unhinged cinnamon roll. he reminds me a little of james (especially with his „mask“) but if you orphaned him & janked up the loyalty & sluttiness by a hundred

- like fr he is so confused just running around threatening and/or kissing people wtf 😭✋🏼 he just has chemistry with everyone he interacts with lol

- kel & conor remind me of matthew & james but if there was a big power imbalance and a everything is a little more fucked up 🙃

- generally the way power & power dynamics are portrayed and handled is very interesting i like it

- antonetta has my entire heart ❤️

- I need more of her but as an individual not just through kel‘s pov, so far i’m not very big on whatever is being hinted at with her and kel

- I adore merren just like everyone else, he‘s kind of giving a weird mix of christopher/matthew/wylan and I‘m here for it. plus: autism coded character yeass

- also nice to see some jewish rep. (i did not know cassie was jewish before lol) the ashkar are really interesting (& as far as their treatment by the rest of the world goes at times infuriating😤) to read about and add a lot of depth to the world building.

- i love how we see the complexities of their culture portrayed through lin who on the one hand is deeply ingrained in it and holds/has received a lot of love & care for/from her own people while also having been wronged & ostracised by them and how both can be true simultaneously

- as someone who‘s very familiar with multiple romance languages the languages in this book are incredibly entertaining to me

- SO MANY SECRETS & political intrigue hehehe rubbing my little hands together can’t wait for all this to escalate (because it most certainly will) 😈

bottom line

I’m really glad i finally started reading this.

it took me a while to get into it & I’m still holding out on a final judgement since it seems very slow but i’m a patient reader and i appreciate a good setup.

also I want a creepy black crocodile pool in my house now.

[wadesprincessboy]

I have already asked this of my IRLs but if the internet losers could help me out as well thatd be appreciated!

Im buying an american girl doll and i need opinions on which one to buy.

Maryellen - wanted her for as long as i can remember, 1950s /pos, disability rep! (In her book she had polio as a kid and has lasting physical disability from it), ranga /pos, cheapest of all options

Kit - also wanted her for a looooong time, tomboy who definitely grows up to be a trans man, great depression era (lol), described online as "spunky", has a pretty awesome movie

Rebecca - i honestly dont love her as much as the others but my mum wants me to get her, shes jewish and a theatre kid (icon tbh)

Kaya - super unique (she has a different face mold with no "american girl doll"/showing teeth because she is inspired by a real life indigenous american tribe where showing teeth is considered offensive. She was the first agd to not have showing teeth), shes pleasant company (if you know about agd you know what this is, but in short it makes her more "vintage" and also higher quality

Nicki - the girl of the year from 2007 (my birth year)

Julie - this doll is in NZ so shipping is wayyyy cheaper than anything else, shes the hippie 70s doll, shes an auction tho so may get too pricey to buy : /

JLY/Truly Me/non character doll - generic agd with no character but super cute! Cheapish cause shes generic

sorry for the wall of text but i need advice on which to buy and i think the more info the better 🫡

The images should be in order of the list.

Pls lmk who i should buy 😭🙏

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

🦇 Cool for the Summer by Dahlia Adler Book Review 🦇

✨ The Vibes ✨ ☀️ Summer Love 💜 Bisexual (Questioning) and Aroace Rep ✡️ Jewish (Ashkenazi and Sephardi) Rep 🔎 Self-Discovery ⌛ Past/Present Timeline 🩷 Happily Ever After 💕 Love Triangle

⚠️ Trigger Warning: Brief Biphobia, Underage Alcohol Consumption, Parental Divorce

[ Find my review below. ]

❝ Just because you're telling a good story doesn't mean it's the right story. And I think it's really important to tell the right story. ❞

❓ #QOTD What was your summer anthem last year? ❓ 🦇 For three years of high school, Larissa had extreme heart-eyes for Chase Harding; the sweet, popular, football star any girl would die to date. After returning from summer break, Chase finally seems to notice her, but it's not Lara's stylish blonde bob that catches his attention: it's the newfound confidence she gained over the summer. A summer spent with an enigmatic, too-cool photographer, Jasmine, whom Lara spent all summer beside...and, on more than one occasion, kissing. The girl Lara can't stop thinking about. The first time Chase flirts with her, Jasmine walks through the doors, only to reveal they're completing their senior year together--and that she has no interest in picking up where they left off last summer. Everything about Lara's senior year appears perfect—supportive friends, the most popular boy in school at her arm...so why can't she get Jasmine and their summer together off her mind?

💜 Cool for the Summer is a light-hearted, quick summer read with definite queer Grease vibes. The story's sweet, relatable sapphic spin is bound to hook you from the get-go. Lara is a first-generation Russian Ashkenazi Jew who thought she'd spend the summer working at an indie bookstore, only to travel to the Outer Banks of North Carolina with her mother instead. While staying at her mother's boss's beach house, she bonds with seemingly stand-offish Jasmine. The two bond in little moments we see through flashbacks; snippets that demonstrate even a summer is enough to discover real, life-changing love. Larissa's character development, especially as she steps out from behind the shadows her friends have cast, is a beautiful example of how one moment can trigger metaphoric self-discovery and growth. Though her time with Larissa triggered that development, we see the continuous ripple effect it causes.

💜 Adler doesn't shy away from topics rarely explored in YA, including positivity regarding masturbation and sex. However, I do wish she'd explored some of the emotions behind those moments. Since Lara internalizes a lot of what she's thinking and feeling, there was no real discussion that would have added depth to those scenes. However, I do wish I'd had this story growing up; it possibly could have changed everything.

💜 I can't stress quite how relatable this story was for me. Everything from the three-year-long unreciprocated crush to one summer of stolen moments and unexpected feelings that ultimately led to newfound self-awareness and -discovery were all pieces of my own bisexual coming-out story. Sometimes, the ever-after we write in our heads isn't the ever-after we end up wanting; a realization Lara almost has too late.

🦇 This story was an opportunity to shatter a great number of bisexual stereotypes, especially since Lara is in a relationship when she realizes her feelings for Jasmine. There's a brief comment, made by Chase, that almost delves into and defies those stereotypes of bisexuals "not being able to choose," but Lara bites back her anger and brushes by it too quickly. While I'm beyond grateful that we're getting more bisexual and overall queer stories, I do wish we could have opened that discussion. At the very least, it should have been a conversation Lara had with herself— her constant internalizing provided the perfect opportunity for it.

🦇 Anyone who's read one of my previous reviews knows my biggest rom-com trope pet peeve is miscommunication. The entirety of this story feeds off the miscommunication between Lara and Jasmine. While that fear and confusion are real and relatable (I've lived through it myself), I do wish there was at least ONE attempt from either of them to try, long before that miscommunication escalates the conflict between them.

🦇 With how short this story is, there's definitely room to explore the emotions behind certain scenes in-depth. Again, Lara internalizes almost everything instead of using a friend as a sounding board, leaving this story with more "telling" than "showing."

💜 This quintessential summer read is ideal for lovers of YA, happily-ever-afters, and stories of self-discovery. It's also perfect for fans of Becky Albertalli and Alice Oseman. Happy reading!

[docholligay]

13. United Kingdom

This is one of my daughter’s favorites, because she’s two and also europop trash. She seems (seems) to like Israel slightly more, but she’s a toddler and can’t quite use the ranker yet. I also knew @verbforverb was going to like this the SECOND it came out.

I have mentioned that I try very very hard, and sometimes fail, at letting the personalities of the singers get to me in any measurable way, because I’m not asking someone to be likeable, I’m asking them to sing.

I ABSOLUTELY fail with Mae Muller. There are so many things I hate about this song. I hate the accent levelling* until the JARRING jump where she talks like a person in her Spice Girls Spoken word moment, I hate that the song sounds like a 3 minute commercial jingle that you can’t get out of your head (as jetty put it), I hate the lyrics, I hate it all.

But goddamnit. I LOVE Mae Muller. I HATE that I like her so much. She did a pretty terrible job in Barcelona, really, and immediately the next day put out a short of her running through the airport that said “Me fleeing Barcelona after [twitterid] said my vocals flopped last night (I’m sick!)” and I laughed and I hated that I laughed. She is funny and engaging on stage, and she is honestly like, sorry verb you’ve been replaced by a new British Jewish mess I’d like to get drunk with (Actually, come along, i think it’ll take both of us to wrangle her). She’s tacky and I KNOW she’s a sloppy drunk and I am SO MAD about how much I like her and I want her to do well. DESPITE HATING EVERYTHING ABOUT HER SONG. RAGE.

And she was fucked from the word go by TAP music, who, so there was this huge rumor that Rina Sawayama was going to be tapped to be the Eurovision rep. It was never going to happen. It was a FUCKING PIPE DREAM. Rina has actual things to do with her life (affectionate). This was rumored even to be her song, I think it JUST hit the line for being viable:

Would I have loved that? Yeah, I absolutely would have. But it was never going to happen, and of course Rina played along, and they took WAY  too long to announce Mae, and honestly...they could have just candidly said, “Okay we promise it’s not Rina, we can’t wait for you to see who we picked” ANyway Mae was IMMEDIATELY thrown into a situation where she was a disappointment, which is SO UNFAIR to an artist no matter how I feel about them.

And she’s basically just made it her business to charm the shit out of every human being who comes into contact with her. I worry about her some, in that I fucking wish she would stop trying to dance and sing. She can’t do it. She loses her breath. Like, work on your cardio, but for now, STAND STILL. I doubt she’ll flop, but she’s closing the whole show and I would hate for her to put in a disappointing result (BECAUSE SHE’S CHARMED ME) because no one is paying attention to her actual abilities. She’s also changed the Spice Girls Moment and I don’t like the revamp as much.

*Every time I say this, someone says this isn’t a real thing, and this is just what singing is like, and, no, it isn’t. I have linked people papers and articles and I’m tired of doing that for shit you can hear with your own ears. It’s a noted observable fact in music, particularly mainstream music, it’s called accent levelling, and it is true and real even if that fact annoys you because maybe you or someone you love do it subconsciously. It’s a strange midwest-atlantic American mix that’s been more and more codified since the 80s, and, I also do it and I don’t care for that either! Look no further than singers like Billy Bragg or Steve Earle or Dave Carter, or to use a better known example, Lily Allen, to see it doesn’t actually have to be that way! It’s due to a series of media based and sociocultural factors, and also pressure from mainstream record companies to ‘sound mainstream’ but it’s not just how people sing. I said I wasn’t going to link, but here’s a very straightforward article from the guy who literally wrote the Cambridge Dictionary of the English Language and also was chair of his department in Reading for ten years, also wrote a great book about English pronunciation. Link.

[mydollsaregay]

my overall thoughts on this release!

to start with - I hate that they reused names. Most kids who are currently into ag probably know nothing about isabelle and nicki of the past, but it still comes off as lazy, honestly. yes, those are popular names for Jewish girls, but there are SO MANY OTHER popular names for Jewish girls. it’s just silly. nicki 1.0 was also a part of my childhood collection, and is very dear to me, so it also makes me personally annoyed that the twin I like the best would have the same name, if I were ever to decide I wanted her in my collection lmao

second, the timing. there was simply no good reason to release these girls SO soon after claudie and kavi. i understand that ag wanted to hop on the 90s nostalgia train, but waiting even two or three more months would have felt much less like they were stealing the spotlight from the dolls of color they recently released.

on that note, I’m of two minds about the route ag is currently traveling in regards to representation. looking at just the last few character releases (Corrine, claudie, kavi, now the twins), it makes sense for the company to choose to produce some white characters, as their main demographic is still white kids and their parents, no matter our opinion as adult collectors. On top of that, I personally really love adding more Jewish representation to the historical lineup, and I’m looking forward to seeing how that part of their lives is shown in their stories.

However (and it’s a big however), if we focus in on the historical lineup alone, it feels really bad to add more white characters. Many people have expressed the criticisms of this choice more eloquently than I, but despite the inclusion of more Jewish characters being unambiguously a good thing, there are other extremely glaring gaps that need to be filled as well. however, this is a bed that AG has built for themselves over many, MANY years, and I don’t personally think it’s fair to pin all the disappointment for that on the twins, especially when they add more Jewish rep to the line. You’re right to be disappointed in ag; I am too. But I find that I’m personally more disappointed with ags choices around other recent white historical dolls than these ones, if that makes sense. but this is a tricky subject with a lot of complicated emotions involved, and there’s not one simple correct way to feel about it!

I do find the twin thing a bit silly however; “oh you didn’t want us to add a white doll to the historical line right now? That’s fine, we’re adding two!”. it’s cute that they’re twins, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t feel that they’re different enough to justify two dolls? Idk, my thoughts on it are complicated and not fully formed but like. It feels silly, when choosing between two different historical dolls, to be basically picking whether you like sporty or preppy fashion more lol.

Also, ag tried the two dolls for one time period thing with Marie-grace and Cécile, girls who actually had some really interesting contrasts in their lives worth bringing up, and that didn’t even work out for ag, profits-wise. So idk how “we wear different clothing styles and sleep on opposite sides of the same bedroom” will be different/interesting enough to give ag the profits they want ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Speaking of clothes, let’s get into the actual dolls, starting with the meet outfits/accessories. overall: I think they’re cute!

my only real nitpick with the outfits is that I’m not a fan of Isabel’s shoes. I actually think they’re really cute, but with the heels/platforms, they don’t seem right with this outfit. They make the whole outfit seem way more grown-up, which looks off to me. I think lower platforms would have kept the cute vibe but given her a less adult look, which would be a nice visual cue, as she seems to be taking a lot of her fashion cues from more adult/older teen fashion of the time, from what I can tell. As a result, she looks a little older than her age to me at first glance (more 15/16 than tween). idk if a kid in ‘99 would have worn shoes like that, as I was a toddler at the time, but I doubt it. In the early 2000s, where a lot of fashion trends still lingered, I don’t remember ever seeing another kid wear heels or platforms outside of dress-up. I could be wrong about the accuracy, but I still don’t personally like them in this context. however, that’s really just a personal taste thing. Isabel’s style isn’t to my taste in general, so it’s fine haha

I REALLY like nickis outfit, and I think the accessories add a LOT there. I love the layering - I did that a lot as a kid in the 2000s (that was certainly one of the trends that stuck around), and I love the necklaces. she also looks much cuter with the hat on in this pic than in the initial pics that released, and I think a ton of that has to do with how her hair is styled.

I think Nicki would have looked really wonderful with a meet hairstyle of braids. it would have gone with her active lifestyle and would have looked really cute with the blonde pieces free. she’s in braids on her book cover, and it’s adorable. She also has her hair braided in the product pics for her skateboarding outfit. With her hair styled instead of down she also looks way less like a full grown adult woman, which is a weird vibe she gives off to me in those initial pics.

like, those braids are so cute! I think braids were probably at one point a possibility for her meet style, but they were probably nixed due to the added cost of labor to do a hairstyle and the small pieces on the back of the wig for the part(though that is entirely speculation).

I don’t have nearly as many thoughts on Isabel’s hair. it’s cute, if basic. it makes sense for her character (from what we know so far), and it makes sense for the time (though if it was real hair, it would probably have a lot more layers, but that’s hard to make look right at doll scale).

overall, I think they’re nice dolls, with unfortunate timing. they both have some details that aren’t my favorite, but overall they’re cute. however, the promo pics that got leaked (and are currently the product photos for the dolls without accessories), are honestly terrible and manage to make both twins look their worst. unfortunately, i think AG is really struggling to make promo photos of dolls with the new eyelashes look right, even when the dolls look fine in person. I’ll make a separate post for the collection, since this is already so long!

[spottheantisemitism]

cecil i love the comics stuff on this alt !!! <3

Thanks I write what I've actually read and I only really see Jewish rep in Tv and comics, never film or books

maybe that's because my cinema is modern Western cinema and usually classical literature so I guess I don't read about the one token Jew in hell followed with us or don't follow the adventures of a young Jewish girl in the YA romance as she falls for the goy (or the goya in the Lesbian versions)*.

But I do read a lot of comics and as there were a lot of Jews writing them they did inject their lived experience here and there. You can tell Claremont actually visited Haifa or that John Byrne has actually seen a Jewish girl in real life. You can tell Alan Zelentz actually is an Orthodox Jew writing about an Ortodox Rabbi's funeral

you don't get that with the either quiet tokenism or the blatant stereotypes in the books I read (I admit maybe I read the wrong books when Shalom Aleichem and Dina Rubina are right there in my first langauge)

That said I will review the Dybbuk or maybe even the golem to change things up after the gothic horror essay

*BTW if some a novel exists I will read it and enjoy/suffer through it for a review

[wahlpaper]

The Year My Life Went Down the Toilet Review

The Year My Life Went Down the Toilet by Jake Maia Arlow

CW: Poop, Divorce, Parental Fighting, Internalized Queerphobia, Low Self Esteem, Anxiety, Medical Descriptions, Tween Angst, Mentioned Racism, Ableism

5/5

Libby (the app) recommended Jake Maia Arlow's The Year My Life Went Down the Toilet to me. This was likely because I asked my library to add Arlow's How to Excavate a Heart. This is the first book I've read by them, but I know they're going to continue to be one of my favorite authors. This book was filled with Queer, Jewish, and chronic illness representation! The story wasn't a reflection of my life or anything close, but I still found myself relating to the feelings of the characters. I'm glad Arlow wrote a character as complex as themself.

In The Year My Life Went Down the Toilet, Al is diagnosed with Crohn's Disease at age 12. She has been pooping a lot, often having to run to the bathroom in urgency. She's not feeling good, physically or about herself, but it's made worse by her mother's constant worrying and the thought that she may lose her best friend, Leo. While Leo is busy finally following his passion by joining the school musical, Al gives in to joining an IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disorder) peer support group. Things start looking up for Al, but how long can it stay like that? Will her secrets or her stool come out first?

Although the pacing in Arlow's novel was hard to follow at times, I have zero other complaints about how it was written. This book invoked an impressive balance of emotions from me. There were funny moments, relatable ones, ones that made me annoyed with Al or other characters, and ones that brought me close to tears. There were just enough characters to make Al's life feel real, but not to overwhelm the audience. I know that middle-grade novels aren't for everyone, but I love how wholesome they are. They can tackle poop, anxiety, fights among friends, divorce, and big promises broken while still being sweet and healthy. Writers for adult romances could learn something from them, especially through the middle school romance featured in The Year My Life Went Down the Toilet.

The copy I listened to of Arlow's book had an Afterwards by the author. They talked about being nervous about writing a character who is queer and Jewish and has a chronic illness that involves poop. They worried about people calling it silly or too much, which I imagine bigots would do with even just one of these. Arlow figured that if all three were true for them, they could be true for Al too. I'm so glad they did! I don't have Crohn's, but these three things are true of me. I appreciate the representation very much and can empathize with Al and her friends. The diversity representation in this book includes anxiety, non-binary, racial, and aromantic. Nothing feels shoehorned, it all matters.

Singling out the queer rep, I appreciate that almost every character is a part of the queer community. It's highly unrealistic in TV shows where there are a bunch of straight characters and one queer one. We flock together. I also appreciate that this is just a slice of Al's queer identity journey. It's not the beginning or the end. It's unlikely that we figure it all out quickly. Al knows she likes girls and gets the chance to like a specific one. She tries out a label for herself, but she doesn't sound 100% sure of it, but that doesn't get resolved. She makes a non-binary friend who uses "she/they" pronouns (pronouns beautifully woven throughout the narrative) and starts to question if maybe that would work for her. She's in the stage that older trans people might call an "egg". Someday after the story ends, she may just find herself hatched as a non-binary person.

As multiple characters are Jewish, the audience gets to experience a nice sample of different personal relationships to the religion. Al and her mother aren't very religious, but they care about their Jewish identity. Leo and his mother are more religious. His mother runs a Jewish bakery and uses a lot of Yiddish. Leo is dealing with the realities of being a biracial Jew. He doesn't look much like his mother and doesn't "look Jewish". There's also Sephardic Jewish representation, although not as heavily explored. If you're looking for Jewish joy, you'll absolutely find that in The Year My Life Went Down the Toilet.

As long as medical descriptions don't deter you completely, I definitely recommend Jake Maia Arlow's The Year My Life Went Down the Toilet. Either you can relate to the chronic illnesses of the characters or you can learn a lot about it. You'll be treated to the sweetest cast of characters along the way in addition to Jewish food ideas. If you're looking for your next bathroom read, this is the one!

[bluinary]

oh btw i came back onto desktop because

it’s happening. my writer’s powers are BACK, bitch. and that original version of Pluviophilia I’ve been batting around in my head?? Sis, I’m on chapter three already!!!

SO THE PLOT:

Sara Romano has been wading through her college days half-asleep, with this winter break by far being the most dead she’s felt yet. When she vomits on Chrysanthemum Locklear at a New Year’s party, however, her life quickly turns from lethargic to chaotic. Thrown into a new world of intrusive theatre geeks, loud music, and freedom, sheltered Sara struggles to understand who she is after a life of abuse, and how she could possibly love someone without self-destructing.

so basically: - brown girl traumatized, only gets by with her nerdy nb bestie - panic attack at a nye party. throws up on hot girl with hippie name. vomit victim to lovers speedrun. - turns out, both brown girls traumatized and also queer and maybe kinda sorta codependent.  - girl goes from depressed solitude to having a social life and a sense of self, but its an adjustment - can two bitches truly going thru it make it work between them?? is it worse to be alone or to drown together?? we will see.

So yea I really just wanted to know if it’s anything of interest. I’m actually enjoying writing it way more than Pluvio (the fanfic it’s built on) tbh, because Sara’s voice and personality are forming as I edit and add new content, and I adore her and Chrys both, and not to be gay on main but FUCK writing a wlw meet cute (or meet ugly?) is fleshing out my sapphic dreams. T_T not to mention, without the convention of pre-existing characters to stick to, I get to have a LOT more fun with dialogue and descriptions. And explore queer characters who get the culture (the culture being terrible puns, AAVE, and abstract gender jokes).

So homies, if ur interest, hit that mf LIKE BUTTON

[dancedance-resolution]

andi mack friendom, are you interested in some more thoughts about my andi mack / american girl crossover (which is actually just a thinly veiled info dump about american girl history and drama)? if so, you're in the right place!

the andi / buffy / cyrus doll set i designed would be a contemporary line.

CONTEXT (forewarning, this is basically just an ag info dump about the 2017 contemporary line) (also, tagging @kirstensleepey because i think this write up might be useful for the ag project you're working on <3):

so in 2017, american girl did a brand new thing. they released 3 dolls who were contemporary characters but not girls of the year. (prior to these dolls' release, which are called "the contemporary line" by the ag fandom, the only categories of ag dolls were historicals, girls of the year, and just like yous.)

the contemporary line was controversial for many reasons.

first, we have our main character, tenney grant. (tenney is basically taylor swift as a doll, if taylor were uncool and a r*publican lol.)

one of the reasons why tenney is so controversial is that she overshadowed the girl of the year (henceforth abbreviated as goty) 2017, gabriella mcbride.

tenney was released only one month after gabriella's release. ag's social media gave much more focus to tenney than gabriella. upon tenney's release, gabriella's store displays were downsized (which is unheard of for a goty). tenney even had a larger collection than gabriella!

why are we mad about tenney overshadowing gabriella? well, gabriella was ag's first (and as of 2021, ONLY) black goty. also, gabriella was ag's first doll to have an explicity confirmed disability - her stutter.

BRIEF INTERMESSION - SOME STATISTICS ABOUT DIVERSITY IN CHARACTER DOLLS:

only 7 out of the 22 total historical characters have been dolls of color. only 3 out of 22 historicals have been black (one of which is now retired). only 2 out of 22 have been aapi (one of these dolls, ivy, was just a best friend doll and is now retired; and the other doll, nanea, has a problematic face mold. i wrote an essay about why her facemold is problematic here!). only 1 historical doll, josefina, is hispanic, and ag has actually misspelled her name as "josephina" on their social media before.

only 1 doll EVER has been native american, kaya'aton'my, who is a historical character from 1764. (not even any of the just like you dolls have had kaya's face mold! kaya is truly the only indigenous doll!) in fact, ag has had more colonizer characters than indigenous characters. felicity and elizabeth are white character dolls from 1776, and their books fail to address the issues surrounding colonization and treatment of native americans. and kirsten is a swedeish immigrant to wisconsin in 1854. her book does acknowledge the existence of native americans, and kirsten has an indigenous friend named singing bird. (i haven't read kirsten's books and i'm not indigenous, so i can't comment on this storyline.) ag actually had a controversy about kirsten just this year - in 2021, the t-shirt design for kirsten said "settlers gonna settle", and ag actually ended up changing the design to "cabin sweet cabin" after backlash.

moving on to the girl of the year line - out of 21 goty dolls, gabriella is the ONLY black goty. only 6 out of 21 gotys have been dolls of color. there have been 2 hispanic characters (luciana, who is generally regarded as an excellent doll; and marisol, who is controversial because her book talks about how her family moved from pilsen chicago - a real area of chicago that is home to many hispanic immigrants - to a white suburb due to crime. this storyline involves racist stereotypes.) also, goty 2016 lea clark (slightly tan skin, blonde hair, light green eyes) is 1/8th brazilian, and some brazilian ag fans consider the emphasis on lea being 1/8th brazilian racial feticization. next, there have been 3 aapi gotys. one of these dolls, sonali, was one of two best friend dolls for chrissa (goty 2009) - yep, you heard that right, yet another doll of color that is a side character! sonali is the bully in chrissa's books, but she gets a redemption arc. to this day, sonali is ag's only south asian character doll. [additionally, there has been some criticism that all of the aapi gotys are mixed race - jess mcconell (goty 2006) has a japanese mother and an irish/scottish father, kanani akina (goty 2011) has a french/german mother and a japanese/hawaiian father, and sonali matthews has an indian mother and a father of unknown race/ethincity. perhaps notably, the only aapi historical doll who is not currently retired (nanea) is also mixed race (hawaiian mother and scottish father).]

as for the disability thing i mentioned - ag also has a disappointing track record regarding disability representation, lol. it was very lightly implied that mckenna (goty 2012) had a learning disability, but that was never confirmed. mckenna's tutor, who used a wheelchair, was ag's first big disability rep, but she was just a side character in mckenna's story. then, many ag fans were disappointed when mary ellen, a historical character released in 2015, was able-bodied (in canon, she had polio as a child, so it would make sense for mary ellen to be disabled and use mobility aids). finally, in 2020, goty joss gave us some disability rep - she has a hearing aid.

ag's lack of disability rep is very frustrating, especially considering that doll companies, like our generation, have made some really cool disabled dolls. and ag has been doing this ad campaign with the paralympics that feels performative to me - like, they want to seem inclusive by featuring dolls with prostetic legs, but they don't even sell dolls like that!!!

lastly, religious diversity - iirc, there are three jewish dolls (rebecca, goty 2001/2002 lindsey, and goty 2009 chrissa). the rest of the dolls are either christian or of unspecified religion. there has never been an explicitly muslim, hindu, or buddhist doll, or a doll who is a member of any religion other than judaism/christianity/unspecified. (there is some hope that we might get a muslim doll, though, since an outfit with a hijab was leaked, and ag trademarked a persian name that i can't recall off the top of the head at my moment. but take these with a grain of salt - ag trademarks a ton of stuff that they don't use, and the leak could be false or just a truly me outfit.)

END OF INTERMISSION - BACK TO THE TENNEY/GABRIELLA CONTROVERSY:

so, we get our first black goty, and she's being totally overshadowed by tenney.

here's where a conspiracy comes in:

we can track when ag trademarks their character names. goty names are usually trademarked early in the year prior to their release (by may). but gabriella mcbride wasn't trademarked until october, iirc.

and gabriella is a very underdeveloped character in comparison to most gotys. one of her main hobbies - dancing - was the same main hobby as both marisol (goty 2005) and isabelle (goty 2014). her store displays were underemphasized in comparison to tenney's, as i mentioned before. she was the first goty who didn't get a movie in six years (since kanani, goty 2011). and gabriella didn't even have a big ticket accessory item available until summer!

so, we get our first black goty, and she's underdeveloped, underemphasized, seems to have been rushed (due to her trademark date), and overshadowed by tenney just one month after her release. why is that?

well, some people think that tenney was actually supposed to be goty 2017! (i agree)

tenney was trademarked earlier, had more development, had a bigger collection, etc. we think that tenney was supposed to be goty 2017, but ag decided to do a doll of color (gabriella) at the last minute. (keep in mind the climate of 2015/2016 - ag probably wanted some clout for doing a black goty, and they also probably heard the ag fandom's demands for more dolls of color.)

so that's tenney.

next we have logan everett. logan was ag's first boy character doll. i'm glad that ag had a boy character doll, but logan kinda missed the mark for me. the main source of controversy surrounding logan is his face mold: he, a white boy, uses the kaya face mold. !! it kinda felt like a slap in the face to many indigenous ag fans - kaya is literally The Only Doll with the kaya face mold, and when we finally get another doll with her face mold, he's not even indigenous.

lastly, we have z yang my beloved <3. z yang was done dirty - she is yet another doll of color who is a mere side character, and also, she was available for only a total of 20 months before being retired!

so, that's everything i have to say about the 2017 contemporary line.

now i'm going to talk about the 2021 contemporary line :3

so, it's summer 2020. the black lives matter is becoming more mainstream. brands are now getting clout for appearing "woke."

so, admist this climate, ag is (as always) facing demands from its fandom/collectors to diversify its doll line. so they announce that they're going to be doing a new contemporary line, to be released in "the second half of 2021"!!!! and they promise that the contemporary line will have a black lead character

fast forward to modern day. thanks to ag's trademarks, we can safely assume that the new contemporary line will be called "world by us." we can safely assume that the line will have 3 characters. the 3 characters all live in washington dc and are best friends :) we can safely assume that the characters will be maritza ochoa, evette peeters, and makena williams. i talked about makena and maritza on that ask regrettable-username sent me about my andi mack/ag headcanons! personally, i'm excited for world by us, and i think it has a lot of potential!

alright sawyer, that's the end of the ag info dump fhjhdhfskf.

now for my andi mack friends:

i think the andi/buffy/cyrus line would be structured similar to world by us: andi is the main character, and buffy and cyrus are her best friend dolls :) all 3 dolls would be released at the same time. andi would have 3 books that have buffy and cyrus as side characters, and buffy and cyrus would have one book each.

the big ticket item for this collection would be andi's andi shack. i'm imagining its design sort of like kira's tent mixed with lanie's camper mixed with blaire's farm. andi the walls of andi shack would open up so that when it's fully opened, the four walls are on an even plane with the back wall and extended out like wings. you remove the roof before opening up the walls. the shack is tall enough that the doll can comfortably stand up even with the roof still attached, and wide enough that all three dolls (andi, buffy, and cyrus) can comfortably stand next to each other inside of andi shack.

andi shack would come with a ton of craft supplies inside of it. it would also come with a little flower box that has cece's african violets, like blaire's flower box. (thanks to regrettable-username for coming up with the african violets idea fdjfsj.)

alright i have to go now, so these are all my andi mack/ag thoughts for now, but i might be back later with more thoughts fhdfjs (hopefully not though, since typing this out took me over three hours [sweating emoji]).

sorry for any typos and sorry for how scatterbrained this is! also this may have some forgotten things/mildly incorrect things bc my only source is my brain (and a photo of all the dolls so i can count how many dolls for the statistics portion) and my brain is not the most reliable thing on earth lol.

[starrlikesbooks]

Check out these new books!

I’ve actually read more than half of these already thanks to a lot of bingeing this year 😅 But that means you know I mean it when I hype them!

As always, you can check under the cut for more on each

Sistersong by Lucy Holland is a retelling of a British folk ballad and stars an ancient magical Britain. Apparently this book is not just about sisterhood but also gender identity and destiny. It’s also marketed for fans of Madeline Miller so, of course, I’ve got high hopes from that alone.

House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland is a truly unsettling horror novel I’ve already had the chance to read. If you liked Wilder Girls or Sawkill Girls you’ll probably enjoy this book of sisterhood, paranormal secrets, and aggressive nature. Following 3 sisters who disappeared for days when they were childen, only to return different and with unexplainabl abilities, and the search for the oldest when she disappears yet again.

Zoe Rosenthal is Not Lawful Good by Nancy Werlin is a cute, fandom filled coming of age story. Zoe prides herself on being logical and organized- just like her boyfriend- which is why she’s so desperate to hide her silly obsession with a scifi show. I’ve already read this one, and I absolutely love the fandom friendships, the light hearted silliness of it all, and getting to see Zoe come into her own.

The Light of the Midnight Stars by Rena Rossner I’m super excited for because I loved her novel The Sisters of Winterwood. Like that one, this book is historical Jewish fantasy, and I’m certain it’s going to be just as lush and well written. Her stories feel like hearing a folk tale at the foot of a fireplace, and I think everyone needs that coziness and beauty in their life.

Kate in Waiting by Beck Albertalli was my first real experience with the author and now I think I get what everyone’s been talking about. This is a story about  friendship and independence on a backdrop of a shared crush, and as, well, silly as the summary sounds this book feels so real. The romance is also pretty cute!

Lycanthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses by Kristen O’Neal I’ve been waiting to finally come out since last year! If you like internet friendships, chronic illness rep, and werewolves, boy oh boy do I have your new favorite book right here. If lycanthropy treated as a genuine medical condition and an excellent portrayal of modern friendship isn’t enough for you, there’s also a tumblr-based discord (I kid you not) that shows up to rick roll you.

Enjoy these books- I know I did! What other books are you guys looking forward to?

[raayllum]

Tdps poc rep wasnt the BEST rep ive ever seen, i definitely noticed some flaws, but ive got to admit it was pretty nice to watch something that wasnt majority white

i think the search for “best rep” for just about anything is always gonna be futile, tbh. there will always be people left out, or minimally represented, in any work, i.e. a full black cast is amazing, but it also means that asian and hispanic and indigenous peoples are left out (presumably if no one is mixed race). but looking at things that generally handle rep well and are making real attempts / putting in some real effort is always worthwhile to me 

as i honestly can’t think of another show like tdp with

four black and asian interracial couples, two of which are also lgbtq+. it’s so refreshing to see interracial couples where neither is white for once

two of the three main leads being biracial boys who are open with their feelings and never shamed for it and also allowed to be badasses

callum being a viable love interest and also being mixed race / asian

nuanced and varied characterizations for the more minimal rep in the series (i.e. ahling and kasef, and kazi and khessa, are all very different personality wise; no one group of people is just an aggressive stereotype; all the groups are just as militaristic as each other)

callum actually going against the “gifted asian kid” stereotype

sarai and ezran (+ callum and amaya) being jewish coded - when do we ever see jewish characters of colour on screen?

harrow being a loving and very involved father to both of his sons

fan favourite characters like marcos, who has his own little arc from s1-s3, and crowmaster

consistent background diversity for that matter of like, crowd diversity, and also minor roles as well. allen and the vet from 1x07, the doctor and her assistant from 2x08. i think the only white side characters we have that the trio stumble across in their travels is villads 

most of tdp’s girls and women of colour having stories that mostly involve each other (i.e. sarai being defined by her relationship to amaya as her introduction, ellis and lujanne, amaya and janai and khessa, etc.) 

ezran always having his youth respected and protected

queen aanya being another biracial kid and kickass ruler

multiple dark skinned black men (harrow, corvus, ethari, that one councilman in s3) of various ethical and moral sides. like yeah, let characters of colour be messy and make mistakes and also be heroic and caring

and i’m really excited to see what it does next

[sololibrarian]

Ellen's about to go on a school trip to Barcelona and she has everything planned out. She and her best friend Laurel are going to have an amazing trip that's going to help bring them back together despite the distance the distance that's been growing between them. And they're going to do it while following the meticulous itinerary that Ellen has created in her dot journal. But before they even get on the plane, Ellen's plans start to fall apart. And by the end of the first day it's clear that this trip isn't going to be anything like she thought it was going to be. But by the end of their two weeks in Spain, Ellen might find that this new turn of events just might be better.

Ellen is the sweetest bean; she's an anxious autistic kid who tries to maintain control of her life through lists and schedules. Unfortunately, not everything fits in neat, easy to define lists and schedules are all too often suggestions rather than set in stone. Ellen wanted a set itinerary that she could plan ahead for. What she got was a scavenger hunt that can only be solved one clue at a time - and a team that doesn't include her best friend. Navigating this unexpected turn of events without the social help that Laurel often provides is a real challenge for Ellen, but ultimately a rewarding one. Ellen and Laurel are at the stage of their lives where their growth is diverging. They no longer have all the same interests or all the same friends. And learning to let go of those friendships can be hard, but, as Ellen finds, it can also be rewarding because it opens you up to new friends and new possibilities.

The queer rep in this book was phenomenal. There's a mix of people who are out and those who are still in the closet. At the beginning of the book, Ellen already knows that she's liked girls in the past but never boys. But throughout the book she also starts to learn about nonbinary identities. There's a new student in their class, Isa, who uses they/them and is very clear that they're not a boy or a girl. This doesn't fit with any of the lists Ellen has in her dot journal and leaves her questioning what do those categories mean and do they actually fit her after all. Her questions for Isa are sincere and thoughtful and end up revealing a lot to Ellen about her own self. Plus the discussion Ellen had with her dad about queer identity was just great.

And then there's the Jewish rep. First off just having an observant Jewish character is great. I feel like we tend to see a lot of secular Jews who get a one-off line about their Jewishness but then it's not an integral part of their character; take away the one line and nothing about their character changes. Ellen finds comfort in Judaism and in the routines and familiarity of Judaism. A recurring issue for Ellen in the book is keeping kosher while not knowing what exactly the foreign foods are, either because she doesn't know the word used to describe it or doesn't know what's in it. And I especially liked the conversation she had with her father about their different levels of observance and what a deeply personal choice that is for each of them. Just the Jewishness of the book was so delightful.

And finally, the autistic rep. I have the least familiarity with this rep, of the three I've mentioned here, but I think it was done well. As Sass points out in their note at the end of the book, Ellen is just one example of what autism looks like. She tries to maintain control through schedules and lists. She stims - usually rocking when she's upset and flapping when she's happy or excited. She can get sensory overload and needs time away to rest and recharge. She tends to take questions and statements literally and needs a little help decoding their teacher's punny t-shirts. She's just a sweet kid who approaches the world differently. I liked how open her teammates were to making her more comfortable; between accepting the headphones she wears to block out excess noise to helping explain why their teacher's shirts are dad-joke levels of funny but not really, they were very sweet and helpful.

Really, between this book and Ana on the Edge, Sass really has a chokehold on my feels. I will absolutely continue to pick up everything they put out.

[literaryinspiredwebserieslove]

LIW Recommendation: Ilium

Hi everyone!

As you may know, I've been working on creating a literary-inspired webseries based on the Iliad for about three years now, and it's finally airing on YouTube! The first three episodes are out now, and Episode 4 premiers this Friday!

Ilium is a modernized adaptation of the Iliad by @songsofantiquity airing Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays on YouTube at 5 PM Central/6 PM Eastern.

Here are some things you should know about the show:

1) The story. Ilium has transplanted the characters and story of the Iliad into spring 2021, where two friend groups spread across the country are embroiled in a year-long feud that extends beyond petty interpersonal issues into rivalries, relationship troubles, and some real lasting consequences for some of the characters.

2) The characters. Ilium's cast consists of fourteen characters played by a wide variety of actors. Watch for the modern version of Achilles, Patroclus, Agamemnon, Helen, Hector, Andromache, Cassandra, Odysseus, Diomedes, Nestor, Ajax, Paris, Sarpedon, and Aeneas.

3) The format. Ilium is told through a variety of in-universe videos, including vlogs by Odessia and Cassandra (and their guests), Zoom and FaceTime calls, and maybe the occasional Instagram live (but no spoilers!).

4) The soundtrack. Ilium has several original songs, many of them composed and performed by the actors. In the first episodes, you can hear the main theme, Cassandra's Soundscape, and Ody's Theme (which is technically a sea shanty!). Stick around for more original music including an Achilles/Patrick love theme and maybe one or two renditions of My Heart Will Go On.

5) The diversity. Out of Ilium's fourteen characters, only one is definitely cishet, and as of Episode 3, every one of the eight characters we've met is canonically LGBTQ+. Specifically, there are several lesbians, a gay man, multiple bi and pan characters (including Achilles, Helen, and Odessia), and multiple nonbinary characters (including Angela and Nestor). Additionally, only half of the cast is white, and there are several Jewish characters (and one Hellenic pagan). The queer characters are played by queer actors, and the creative team is also diverse in terms of gender, sexuality, and race. There's also neurodivergent rep! So if you want to support diverse media, this is a great show for you!

6) The similar media. Watch Ilium if you enjoyed:

Eddy Rex (modernized Greek mythology!)

Middlemarch: The Series (ensemble cast of queer characters)

Away From It All (experimental/mixed video format)

The Best Wishes (Sarah Gruber, who played Millie Wishfort, plays Anya in Ilium)

Project Green Gables (introspective, character-focused episodes)

Nothing Much To Do and Lovely Little Losers (comedy, romantic/sexual tension, and original music)

7) The content warnings. Please be aware that Ilium contains the following:

Swearing

Sex jokes and innuendos

Frequent mentions of the pandemic and quarantine

Threats of violence

Depictions of toxic romantic relationships and toxic/manipulative friendships

Mentions of medical emergencies and hospitalizations

Specific content warnings are posted in the description of every episode!

8) Some other things you'll get from Ilium, in no particular order:

Jokes about Tinder

Modern Odysseus and Diomedes as roommates

Modern Achilles and Patroclus as a canon couple

A cowboy outfit or two

A baking episode

Plenty of flannel

The phrase "girls, gays, and pagan babes"

ORBS!

Subscribe to Songs of Antiquity on YouTube for new episodes three times a week!