#madeline partner

[judgingbooksbycovers]

The Story of Jane: The Legendary Underground Feminist Abortion Service

By Laura Kaplan.

Design by Madeline Partner.

[wahlpaper]

Sizzle Reel Review

Sizzle Reel by Carlyn Greenwald

CW: Drinking, Heavy Drinking, Swearing, Described Sexual Content, Forced Closet-ing, Forced Outing, Toxic Work Environment, Queerphobia, Anxiety, Described Panic Attack, Money Problems, Unemployment and Firing, Queerphobic Microaggressions, Ethnic Microaggressions, Vomit, Dubious Consent, Dysfunctional Family Dynamics, Antisemitism, Deadnaming, Gaslighting

4.5/5

I'd like to start off this review by talking about the cover on Carlyn Greenwald's Sizzle Reel. It's the reason I decided to read it. I knew it was queer and potentially forgot that it was Jewish, but that cover was in my mind for months as I waited for the audiobook on Libby. Created by Madeline Partner and Maria Nguyen, the cover features a gorgeous red-head standing in the front with two attractive love interests off to the side. One love interest is giving off Kristen Stewart vibes. It's all bathed in pastel pink and orange, adding the beauty of a sunset to it. The typography is having a little bit of fun without taking away from the rest of the cover. It's a queer paradise and I'd love to see more covers like this.

Here's a blurb about Sizzle Reel, assuming that you need more than a cover to judge a book. For two years, Luna Roth has been suffering through an abusive Hollywood job that isn't even in her field of cinematography. When she meets Valeria, rising star and potential member of the queer community, everything starts to change. Luna has only just come out as bi at 24 and feels she needs to "catch up" on experiences. Her friends work to hook them up, whether it is professionally or intimately. While Luna is facing her job changes, newly-public identity, anxiety, and family problems, her best friend Romy has been acting strange. Will Luna be able to keep her life from falling apart while everything around her changes?

One thing that stood out to me in Sizzle Reel was how the choice of first person POV affected the tone of the book. Although Luna never directly says she has an audience, she knows how to interact with one. She's quite expressive and is honest enough with us that we can see past what she's hiding from herself. Most of the time with first person, that character either breaks the fourth wall or is only going along with I/me pronouns because the author made them do it. Luna being between these options makes for a great narrative and is absolutely in character. She's a cinematographer who's written by a member of the film industry. Essentially, this book has a complete aesthetic you're likely to get hooked on. Greenwald originally wrote Sizzle Reel to be a script, and while it was translated to a novel beautifully, that intention still shows.

Sizzle Reel is about things not being what we expect them to be. This goes for both the audience and the characters. I technically guessed the ending, but I kept changing my mind about it. I worried for nothing that things would pan out unrealistically or that I'd hate the outcome. Luna is trying to figure how to live in the queer community now that she's out. She's only getting advice from one biased queer person and it isn't helping her anxiety. She's receiving a lot of overwhelming input about what she should be doing. This goes beyond just being about her bisexuality. I have a feeling Greenwald was writing to an audience that already knows what anxiety is like. I could relate to Luna's thoughts without them needing to be explained to me. She just wanted to do the right or perfect things, hopefully the easy things. It all made her more confused, doing things the harder way, and unable to easily explain herself to others. My empathy for Luna made some parts of the book hard to get through, but witnessing how everything comes together made it worth it.

I mentioned earlier that I potentially forgot this was a piece of Jewish literature. I don't remember how I discovered this book, if I knew it was Jewish at the time I decided to eventually read it. Either way, it came as a pleasant surprise for me when I began reading. Luna and her best friend, Wyatt, are both Jewish. Luna and I both focus more on the cultural aspects of being Jewish, but she still had a different perspective than I've had. I love reading a variety of Jewish literature because it lets me see my community from different eyes. If you're looking for a Jewish queer 20-something as a main character, definitely try out Sizzle Reel.

This story touches on several timely queer topics and misses out on one I wish it would have addressed. Luna's arc is mostly about the queer panic I've mentioned previously, figuring out how to engage in the community and learning to prioritize herself. Valeria's arc is about being forced back into the closet by Hollywood, a place that the average right-winger assumes is leftist. Luna faces some of this toxicity herself. Romy's arc is about being out to her extended family as non-binary when she's still figuring out her relationship with gender. Unfortunately, despite Luna being extremely demi-coded (likely unconsciously), the asexual spectrum isn't directly brought up in Sizzle Reel. I believe if someone had suggested demisexuality to Luna, she would have had some of her anxieties lifted. Overall, I loved the amount of queer rep and topics Greenwald covered. It was all appropriately wrapped up with the last words in the book, "queer bliss".

Carlyn Greenwald's Sizzle Reel is a great book to read if you're looking for a slightly unpredictable Jewish queer romcom that uses Hollywood/Pasadena/LA as its background. Considering that's too niche to be likely, hopefully I've painted a tempting picture of the novel for you. Love triangles, urban exploration, and info dumps about the film industry await you. So, ready, set, action!

[zvmz]

Why did EAH characters get arrested?

[kodasea]

AMA FILES #1 (2021)

[foolsabode]

You ever think about old classic cartoon show that everyone remembers Skunk Fu? Yeah me neither

[campgender]

from Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold (1994) by Madeline D. Davis & Elizabeth Lapovsky Kennedy

excerpt 1:

All narrators, butch and fem alike, remember and talk about the violence in relationships of the tough crowd in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It was a public part of community life. This does not mean that all butches of this crowd and period hit their fems. In fact, we know some who did not. But the possibility of using violence was integrated into the culture.

Butches not only talk about others’ violence, but openly acknowledge their own, although they have neither the words nor the stomach to discuss it fully. “And there was also violence. There was a lot of violence… What will I talk about? Do you want to sit around and talk about, you know, the girl that you punched in the face because she did something wrong, you don’t want to say all that. But it was very violent” (Vic).

Violence in relationships is not only taken for granted as part of the fabric of late-1950s social life, but also is dramatically marked in people’s memories. Little Gerry, hearing a draft of our work, urges us not to cover up the violence, and immediately shares a vivid and unpleasant memory of “a butch taking her fem by the hair and bashing her head down on the bar. It was not nice.”

excerpt 2:

Vic remembers learning to hit her fem as part of the cultural package of becoming butch, like how to dress.

“When you ask that question, where do you think that people, like myself, that came out in the ’50s, where do you think I learned how to act and how to deal in the bar?… From the butches that were around from the ’40s and early ’50s, that’s where I learned. I seen them. They were gods to me. And I seen how they treated their people and I did the same thing that they did. They were the ones that would, you know, ‘Fems, don’t let her do that, you tell her to sit down, and that’s it. …’ Well how would I know, I was just coming out, how would I know that? Hit my girlfriend, I would never hit her. She might leave me and she’s the only one in the world. But then they taught me, you wear your hair short and you dress like this and your woman does this and that. They’re the ones that showed me how to—what I should be like, to be right up there with them.”

[solacedeer]

@floydsteeth thank you c: Also i should prob tag @mllorei and @m-mmiy since they asked and i didn’t answer question so heres some general Info about the fun stuff___

- Born in Rhodolite, closer to the southeast, In a town almost entirely made up of farmers

- Circumstances lead to her just leaving home super young, hitching a ride with some vintners who’d only been passing though town and were headed to a farmers market.

- Ended up staying with said vintners, they put her to work tho.

- When they had to go she wanted to stay in the capital because there weren’t any big libraries a walking distance from where they were going. Found out she did NOT like being alone.

- ‘hitchhiked’ away. Ended up on a random boat. Was really bad with harpoons. Can’t swim. Still can’t.

- when she asked them to teach her to swim they said ‘No. Just don’t fall in’ so she didn’t fall in.

- Ended up migrated to Tanzanite by her late teens early twenties. Since she is extremely receptive to any and all attention praise community she naturally gravitated toward the people who dedicated their time to follow Azel around. He likes that she can strip fruit really fast.

(small note; - She does genuinely believe in Azel though, she can’t think of a reason believe a god wouldn’t want to be incarnated.)

-

— ☆

I described her as like a dog or a parrot as opposed to being cool because she isn’t cool.

I’ve drawn her on my blog in the past but she’s always with Keith so she’s always got a stupid silly blank blissed out blank happy face so random info__

- For routes i always have a first Phase where her names Dimitri and then she gets called Demelza be because I’ve done that since forever, Demelzas her real name though.

- I consider her to be an Egotist, not at the expense of anybody and in such a small scale that its probably not all that different in practice then Altruism. But its still there. Because my oc’s need to suffer under the weight of their minds a little

- She fidgets with her gloves, Pinches the skin underneath, Pulls them up against her wrists, Rolls her fingers into the fabric of them.

- Extremely sentimental, still hums Oh my Darlin’ Clementine like the Ladies would while they were working whenever she’s focused. Still likes to watch people cook. Still a little comforted by the sound of crickets from a distance. Very regimental

- Good with first aid. Knows which plants are antibacterial/anti inflammatory + works as a great bandage. Had to adapt to different materials in Tanzanite.

- Good at Playing things off, her caretakers never knew much about her because she’s good at avoiding the truth. As for lying shes got too many tells.

- Overall more of a River then a Lake. Faster moving, ebbs and flows. Extremely aware of the emotions she’s having.

-

- Demelza (last name was Aster but im considering changing it just because that goes WAY back to when I was using her as a MYSTIC MESSENGER oc so)

also heres a better edit of her face. I’d changed some parts because it made sense geometrically but did it make sense within my heart 🤔 ? no- it did not.

[sphnyspinspin]

Priscilla Bishop Pynch…

Has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?

@geluatekurama @luciolefire @asmoteeth @novafire-is-thinking

[gctawaygirl]

closed starter : for @sevcnminutcs (any muse) muse : madeline mccoy (25, she/her, pansexual, content creator) plot : based on a meme i found in your wanted plots ( ❛ I hope I didn’t wake you. ❜). your muse and madeline are at the beginning of a relationship and she truly cares about them but she still has commitment issues and hasn't been able to give up her partying ways just yet.

maddie was not supposed to stay out this late. she had promised the other that she would come home after the main part of the event a few hours agao but she had been convinced into an after party. the event was to launch a product she had helped create so it wasn't too difficult to do so. now, with her buzzed and blurry thoughts, she started feeling guilty entering her apartment and finding her newfound partner asleep. she pulled off her heels, tip-toeing through the living room to the kitchen for some water, hoping not to wake them. unfortunately, she forgot about her own creaky floorboards and heard them stir, "hey..." she said with a forced smile that definitely showed her unease, "i hope i didn't wake you."

[fierykitten2]

Sometime two years ago (I specifically remember it was so early on in the SV hype cycle we didn’t know Paldea’s name yet. So basically anytime in the first two thirds) I made a post where I assigned starters to the trio I refer to as “the Afterthoughts” (Falcon, Samus and Fox. I call them that because Nintendo doesn’t seem to like their sci-fi series much. Metroid’s an exception now but it’s had some problems with it in the past too). Now, I want to assign starters to the characters I ship them with the most - Robert, Madeline and Falco for the sake of this post I’m gonna pretend I prefer SamusxMadeline to FalconxSamus. There are some patterns again I’ve unintentionally fallen into - Falco almost always has the same starter as Falcon even in regions without a birb start, Madeline frequently has the same starter as Samus and Robert… well I guess he tends to default to Fox’s starter but I’m not really noticing when that happens as much as I am with the other two (I am slowly noticing every time I fall into that trap). Also I could have waited an extra few months so that I could make sure to assign them starters in a way so that they each get a Z-A starter like how I’m doing for both trios with the Hisui starter trio but I came up with the idea today so I’m doing it today

Kanto:

Robert gets Bulbasaur

Madeline gets Squirtle

Falco is left with Charmander

Johto:

For some reason I’m really tempted to give Robert Cyndaquil (this has nothing to do with their eyes I just think until it evolves Cyndaquil gives off some kind of Fennekin vibes and there’s no way I’m missing the opportunity to pair the guy who owns the Golden Fox with a starter that reminds me of Fennekin)

Madeline gets Chikorita

Falco is left with Totodile (I swear I’m not always saving him til last)

Hoenn:

Falco has to have Torchic

The other two are hard to pair up but I think Madeline only just works better with Mudkip than any of the other three possible pairs

Robert ends up with Treecko. This annoys me because this is who I paired Falcon up with (for reference he does end up with Blaziken it’s just I decided there would be a whole trade thing going on in Hoenn after they’ve all had the chance to fully-evolve their starters). The strange thing is, this is the only pair in Hoenn that annoys me for that reason despite all of them having the same starter as their partners pre-trade (Samus starts with Mudkip and ends up with Sceptile while Madeline gets Mudkip, Fox starts with Torchic and ends up with Swampert while Falco gets Torchic, Falcon starts with Treecko and ends up with Blaziken while Robert gets Treecko)

Sinnoh:

Falco gets Piplup

I just think Robert makes most sense with Turtwig out of all the Sinnoh starters (even Piplup)

Madeline is left with Chimchar. I hate it too but someone has to have that ugly monkey

Unova:

Robert and Snivy

This is mainly because I worked out the other two Hisui starters first but Madeline gets Oshawott

Falco is left with Tepig. I don’t understand this pairing either

Kalos:

Robert has Fennekin. There is no way he doesn’t get Fennekin

I guess Madeline and Chespin makes sense. Why not

Falco is once again left with the starter I paired up with Falcon - Froakie

Alola:

Falco and Rowlet (this one was obvious bc birb but can I please pair him up with a starter that I haven’t paired Falcon with)

Somehow I just think Madeline most makes sense with Primarina so she gets Popplio. She’s either nicknaming it Melissa or Samus even though it’s most likely male

This leaves Robert with Litten. Given out of the three of them he matches Incineroar’s build most… idk what to say about that I just wanted to point that out

Galar:

I’ll be honest this one was the hardest to pair up. Robert and Madeline both seem like they’d be sympathetic enough to choose Sobble but in the end I decided to pair Robert with Sobble

Madeline gets Grookey

Falco finally doesn’t share a starter with Falcon as he gets Scorbunny instead (genuinely this is the only region he doesn’t share with Falcon. No one shares with their partner in this region bc they all get the starter weak to their partner’s choice. Also somehow I forgot that my ships and who seems to align most starter-wise is not the same for the blue birbs and gold foxes so I accidentally ignored how both Robert and Fox have ended up with Sobble)

Paldea:

Falco once again shares a starter with Falcon - Quaxly (good choice though. Not that I ever give them a bad choice the two worst starters belong to Samus/Madeline although I don’t like Totodile that much)

Robert and Sprigatito. It makes slightly less sense but I actually prefer pairing him up with Spriggie than I do pairing him up with Fennekin (few reasons: a) I prefer the Sprigatito line, b) it matches my insistence on Falcon having a Quaxly/Quaquaval, c) I tend to ignore Skeledirge’s existence while thinking about Meowscarada and Quaquaval and this just gives me an excuse to do that)

Madeline is left with Fuecoco. Once again, I hate that I have to do this but someone has to end up with the ugly croc

And then Hisui is Robert with Cyndaquil, Madeline with Oshawott and Falco with Rowlet

Yeah sure I can count up just how many times Robert shares with Fox, Madeline shares with Samus and Falco shares with Falcon:

Robert shares five six out of eleven (I’m gonna count Hisui separately and I’m counting Hoenn twice) with Fox - Bulbasaur, Turtwig, Fennekin, Litten, Sobble and Sprigatito

Madeline shares six out of eleven with Samus - Squirtle, Mudkip (pre-trade), Chimchar, Chespin, Popplio and Fuecoco

Falco shares nine out of eleven with Falcon - Charmander, Totodile, Blaziken (post-trade), Piplup, Tepig, Froakie, Rowlet, Rowlet again and Quaxly

[sunskate]

will be interesting to watch these teams grow and to see what benefits they get from being affiliated with IAM in coaching, in guidance, and how many graduate to the main school eventually

so it turns out that at Championnats, all 16 senior teams and 7 of 9 junior teams ever entered in the competition were IAM teams 😅

[kodasea]

Closed Cases #1 (2020)

(Special mention that the blue haired child is @novakyuu 's character!)

[foolsabode]

@effkaytales is just the absolute best

[campgender]

Why would the violence and the solidarity that was central to the lesbian confrontation with the straight world be turned inward toward fems? This aggressive and confrontational culture placed the butch in the vulnerable and stressful position of defender of the community and promoted the fem as the highly desired, but unreliable, refuge or source of security.

As the decade progressed, the butches’ full-time masculine persona isolated them completely from society, to the point where many could not hold down jobs. Their confrontational approach to straight society gave rise to a consistent challenge and danger from straight men. And, of course, the increased time in bars promoted greater alcohol consumption. Such a situation promoted self-hatred and insecurity.

Sandy identifies the reasons for violence in relationships as the guilt complex she and her friends had about living off their fems. “A lot of times you get to feel like, when a girl was working—you get like a guilt complex. Like, ‘Why can’t I make the money?’ So you even would start a fight.” Vic attributes the violence to tremendous insecurity.

“Most relationships were very violent at that time. And I think that’s what happened to most people. I don’t think it was money or jobs or society or anything else, it was just a very insecure time that you were going through. When you loved somebody you owned them, it was an ownership. This is my woman… She knew that. When a woman got in a relationship with a butch she knew she belonged to them. And that’s how it was.”

In this situation, fems were the only source of beauty and joy in butches’ lives. But in this culture, which was expanding its boundaries, fems, by definition, were unstable “possessions,” who had to be watched carefully and defended rigorously, lest they be lost. Their sexuality was in question in basic ways due to their heterosexual pasts and also to the association of many with prostitution, not to mention their active sexual lives in the lesbian community. Butches, many of whom had little of material value, including good jobs, warily protected all that they saw of import in their lives—their fems and their relationships.

from Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold (1994) by Madeline D. Davis & Elizabeth Lapovsky Kennedy

[gh-0-stcup]

I think it was done to show Madeline has an indifference, selfishness, and lack of moral fortitude that makes her compatible with the lifestyle of a vampire. She's detatched from life, from the people around her. She doesn't care about the politics of the war or the suffering the Nazis are causing, she just cares about what makes her feel good.

Neither Claudia nor Louis care about the Nazis aside from how inconvenient the war makes their traveling. None of these characters are emotionally invested in the political situation of the time, so it doesn't get addressed in conversations between them.

God. I think having watched S2 of IWTV, I did love it but I just have one big caveat? Which is Madeleine?

To be clear, I did love Madeleine! Fucking heartbreaking how she and Claudia went! I love a tragedy, but god if I hadn't been happy if they'd somehow made it. I think she's an interesting study of a post-liberation french person jaded by war.

But that's also the issue?

I don't think she deserved the fate collaborators (as in those who had a gainful relationship with Nazis and Petains lot during ww2) got, and I'm sure a lot of collaborators who were just trying to survive (as in people who let Nazis stay in their home or exchanged small personal favours for food and supplies they might need to survive) didn't deserve the way the mobs treated them after liberation, but she was still someone who invited a nazi officer into her house, not because she was truly and unfortunately in love or because she needed to survive, but because, in her own words, she felt lonely.

She was with a nazi officer because she was... Lonely. And they don't even explore it! They don't delve into it! Like it was used as a plot hook to give Claudia a reason to save her without actually looking at the ramifications that shed been with a man who mightve shot (or at least tried to shoot) Claudia! You can't just... Skip over the fact that someone was a collaborator when looking at post-liberation France. That war ruined and tore apart families just like the US Civil War did as some were fine with or even directly supported the Nazis and the Vichy government and others fought and died trying to expel them from french soil.

Anyway. I just. Idk. They glossed over something with huge social and cultural weight in that setting and it's just bad taste in my mouth, I suppose. The way the show portrayed the retributions also just garners sympathy for people who sometimes sold out their own family members to the Nazis, and the only anti nazi representation are three enragé who break into a house to try and rape a woman.

Ah well! Good TV show. Just didn't love that facet of it.

[mmelolabelle]

The gentle, encouraging nod Claudia gives Madeline when Santiago offers her the chance to renounce Claudia and join the coven just breaks me – not just because Claudia’s used to not being someone’s first choice and expects Madeline to take the offer, but because she loves Madeline and wants her to save herself. Claudia is a little older than Madeline, and has much, much more experience of horror and violence, and better understanding of what is about to happen to them. She gives her lover permission abandon her and save herself and smiles when she does it. When it comes down to it, nothing to be done and no way out, Claudia is willing to let the person she loves, the one person that’s hers, go and leave her.

Which makes her a stronger person and much better partner than Lestat, Louis, or Armand. For what it was worth (nothing and everything) in that moment, right and the end, she broke the cycle. Claudia loves better and truer than any of them — and I hope it fucking haunts all three of them forever.