#read harder

[jadenvargen]

free online james baldwin stories, essays, videos, and other resources

**edit

James baldwin online archive with his articles and photo archives.

---NOVELS---

Giovanni's room"When David meets the sensual Giovanni in a bohemian bar, he is swept into a passionate love affair. But his girlfriend's return to Paris destroys everything. Unable to admit to the truth, David pretends the liaison never happened - while Giovanni's life descends into tragedy. This book introduces love's fascinating possibilities and extremities."

Go Tell It On The Mountain"(...)Baldwin's first major work, a semi-autobiographical novel that has established itself as an American classic. With lyrical precision, psychological directness, resonating symbolic power, and a rage that is at once unrelenting and compassionate, Baldwin chronicles a fourteen-year-old boy's discovery of the terms of his identity as the stepson of the minister of a storefront Pentecostal church in Harlem one Saturday in March of 1935. Baldwin's rendering of his protagonist's spiritual, sexual, and moral struggle of self-invention opened new possibilities in the American language and in the way Americans understand themselves."

+bonus: film adaptation on youtube. (if you’re a giancarlo esposito fan, you’ll be delighted to see him in an early preacher role)

Another Country and Going to Meet the Man Another country: "James Baldwin's masterly story of desire, hatred and violence opens with the unforgettable character of Rufus Scott, a scavenging Harlem jazz musician adrift in New York. Self-destructive, bad and brilliant, he draws us into a Bohemian underworld pulsing with heat, music and sex, where desperate and dangerous characters betray, love and test each other to the limit." Going to meet the Man: " collection of eight short stories by American writer James Baldwin. The book, dedicated "for Beauford Delaney", covers many topics related to anti-Black racism in American society, as well as African-American–Jewish relations, childhood, the creative process, criminal justice, drug addiction, family relationships, jazz, lynching, sexuality, and white supremacy."

Just Above My Head"Here, in a monumental saga of love and rage, Baldwin goes back to Harlem, to the church of his groundbreaking novel Go Tell It on the Mountain, to the homosexual passion of Giovanni's Room, and to the political fire that enflames his nonfiction work. Here, too, the story of gospel singer Arthur Hall and his family becomes both a journey into another country of the soul and senses--and a living contemporary history of black struggle in this land."

If Beale Street Could Talk"Told through the eyes of Tish, a nineteen-year-old girl, in love with Fonny, a young sculptor who is the father of her child, Baldwin's story mixes the sweet and the sad. Tish and Fonny have pledged to get married, but Fonny is falsely accused of a terrible crime and imprisoned. Their families set out to clear his name, and as they face an uncertain future, the young lovers experience a kaleidoscope of emotions-affection, despair, and hope. In a love story that evokes the blues, where passion and sadness are inevitably intertwined, Baldwin has created two characters so alive and profoundly realized that they are unforgettably ingrained in the American psyche."

also has a film adaptation by moonlight's barry jenkins

Tell Me How Long the Train's been gone At the height of his theatrical career, the actor Leo Proudhammer is nearly felled by a heart attack. As he hovers between life and death, Baldwin shows the choices that have made him enviably famous and terrifyingly vulnerable. For between Leo's childhood on the streets of Harlem and his arrival into the intoxicating world of the theater lies a wilderness of desire and loss, shame and rage. An adored older brother vanishes into prison. There are love affairs with a white woman and a younger black man, each of whom will make irresistible claims on Leo's loyalty. 

---ESSAYS---

Baldwin essay collection. Including most famously: notes of a native son, nobody knows my name, the fire next time, no name in the street, the devil finds work- baldwin on film

--DOCUMENTARIES--

Take this hammer, a tour of san Francisco.

Meeting the man

--DEBATES:--

Debate with Malcolm x, 1963 ( on integration, the nation of islam, and other topics. )

Debate with William Buckley, 1965. ( historic debate in america. )

Heavily moderated debate with Malcolm x, Charles Eric Lincoln, and Samuel Schyle 1961. (Primarily Malcolm X's debate on behalf of the nation of islam, with Baldwin giving occassional inputs.)

----

apart from themes obvious in the book's descriptions, a general heads up for themes of incest and sexual assault throughout his works.

[ehliena]

Gotta appreciate that the writers gave Cass this.

She's usually the least likely to have lines or speak which shows how terrible this was for her.

[i-like-forcefem]

I love the idea of calling new girlies “wet” instead of having precum so much

Who cares that you haven’t had bottom surgery yet??? You’re a girl who made a mess in her panties because she’s so so horny, and what do you call that?

That’s right a wet girl!!!

[valtsv]

grabbing myself by the scruff of the neck and forcing myself to at least skim read a longform post or piece of text that i just scrolled past despite thinking it sounded interesting because it's "too long" i will NOT contribute to my own attention deficiency and limit my general knowledge and critical thinking skills by needing information spoonfed to me in bitesize pieces to be able to digest it i will NOT

[new-revenant]

Twenty something year old Danny becomes a preschool teacher to a class of young meta and liminal kids, he helps to keep the kids calm when they discover their abilities and is genuinely one of the better teachers at the school. He's also a part time member of the Justice League. He's in the middle of a meeting when he gets a call from a freaked out substitute teacher saying one of the kids is stuck halfway through the wall and doesn't know what to do. Danny excuses himself and explains that one of his kids is having a small problem and he'll be right back and then leaves not realizing the chaos he left behind in his wake as the Justice League believe that Phantom has multiple kids and is a single father

I love teacher!Danny AUs, they are always so wacky and fun. And this seems so sweet! I love misunderstanding plots where the misunderstanding is something super simple. And plots where characters think someone is talking about their children children, when they’re actually talking about their students or something. Basically I love this prompt <3

So the JL know Danny is Phantom and stuff, probably are also away that’s he’s a ghost. Danny says that one of his kids is stuck in a wall at school and the substitute teacher is freaking out, so he’s gotta go real quick. Once he leaves one of the members(I’m thinking Flash because…I like him)is like, “Soo…wanna bet on how many kids he has? I’m guessing three-no-four.” The meeting quickly devolves into this conversation, until Batman or someone else steers it back.

After the meeting, rumors spread through the JL about Danny’s kids, and many bets are made. It takes them a while for everyone to figure out that Danny is just a teacher and not a father. Some figure it out faster than others though, but they think it would be funnier if they go along with the father Danny idea. Batman definitely knows what’s going on, he should know what Danny’s job is at the very least. He does consider the fact that maybe he might be a father, but that thought is short lived.

[kidokear]

Perceptor has two (2) modes when it come to Brainstorm. XD

I've been craving Simpatico lately, and I needed a break from a full illustration. ^-^

[arcanegifs]

ARCANE LEAGUE OF LEGENDS: Season 1 ↳ Vi + Looking at 🧁

[melonisopod]

Lifetime Stew is so much darker in hindsight.

Sinclair and Don Quixote both get it, and it’s specifically *Lust*, not *Gluttony*, despite being food-themed. (Although Gluttony in Limbus terms is basically Greed, and Lust very broadly refers to “desire” for things that aren’t material).

So, Lifetime Stew is based on the fable of Stone Soup, wherein a man managed to feed his whole village by bringing each together with a different ingredient, to make a soup that would last forever. He just kept telling each person in the town square, “All it needs is one more ingredient,” and everyone just kept adding to it. Is the gist of it.

Sinclair and Don have voice lines that more or less imply the same thing - the Abnormality (Basilisoup) just wants everyone to try its delicious soup! Cute, silly concept, right?

So what do Sinclair and Don Quixote have in common?

(SPOILERS beyond this point! You’ve been warned)

In Canto 3, Sinclair recalls that once his mother, father, and sister all received full-body prosthetics, they no longer had a need to eat. The table was set and food was placed only for him. It’s one of the things he found so especially heartbreaking, that he was the only one left in his family who could still eat food. It’s such a core memory that it’s plastered on the window-wall of his cell for his base E.G.O., four roboticized humans sitting at the table, with no food present.

He desperately misses getting to share meals with his family.

And in La ManchaLand, the Bloodfiends have been starved of blood for the past 200 years, barely sustaining themselves on hemobars that don’t satisfy them. They can *live* without subsisting on human blood, but they’re utterly miserable doing so. The only one of the First Kindred’s clan who escaped such a fate was of course, Sancho, though she’d long forgotten she is a Bloodfiend, Faust says she still craves blood. She’d been in effect, the only Bloodfiend allowed to sate her cravings, while the rest of her kin starved. Being the only Bloodfiend able to escape their fate was so traumatic for Sancho that she wanted to forget everything about herself.

In other words, Basilisoup/Lifetime Stew is about “the joy of sharing a meal with family,” something both Sinclair and Don Quixote desperately wish for.

KIM JIHOON WHEN I FUCKING GET YOU

[sandeewithtwoe]

Headcanon that nobody can understand what Fatal is saying because of his stuttering and glitched text

Core Frisk belongs to DokuDoki

Fatal and Patch belong to Xedramon

Transcript:

Core: … And that’s basically what the Omega Timeline is! Any question?

Core: Yes, Geno?

Fatal: (jumbled text) Yes uh I understand killing is forbidden but

Fatal: (jumbled text) copies of codes technically not alive, so not killing, right? Can I still do it?

Core: …

Core: I’m not going to lie, Geno. I literally have no idea what you just said

[faintingviolet]

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry (CBR15 #6)

I’m nearly a decade late to The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin. It has been on my to read list since 2016 and got pushed to the top tier of the pile last year for the Read Harder challenge (as it does take place in a big way in a bookstore). Then I never got to it but seeing that there was a movie adaptation out I decided to get my proverbial act together and dig into the…

[canisalbus]

I tried to draw sheep Machete and goat Vasco (but I am not good at drawing goats, at all)

.

[incredubious]

another ole collection of one piece doodles...enjoy

[larcenywrites]

[hypogryffin]

white chocolate

bonus:

image id under cut!;

[Image ID:

A digitally drawn comic of characters from the game Persona 4.

Image 1:

Yu Narukami on a couch, leaning towards a bowl on the table in front of him as he asks, "Oh, are there any pieces of white chocolate left? They're my favourite." Next to him, Rise Kujikawa has a hand on her chin as she looks at the bowl as well, though she says, "Mm... Looks like no..."

In the next panel, Chie, drinking from a can of soda, says, "The white chocolate? Didn't Hanamura take the last one just a second ago?"

Image 2:

The first panel shows Yosuke holding a wrapper as he pops something into his mouth, looking over. In the second, he lowers his hand and says, with his mouth still full of chocolate, "Oh, shit. Sorry, Partner."

Narukami waves him away quickly, saying, "No no no, it's not a big deal, don't worry. I mean, I don't mind!"

Yosuke mournfully says, "Well, but they're your favourite... Here."

Narukami insists, "Really don't worry about it-- wait what do you mean, 'here'."

Image 3:

Yosuke leans over the back of the couch, cupping Narukami's face in his hand as he kisses him to give him the chocolate in his mouth. To the left and right of Narukami, Yukiko and Rise are both taken aback, mouths wide open as they blush heavily.

Yosuke pulls back, putting a hand to his mouth as he licks his lips, saying in a somewhat teasing tone, "There you go, Partner. Like Satonaka said, it's the last one, so savour it, okay?"

A reverse shot shows the room completely flabbergasted: Narukami, Rise, Yukiko, and Naoto all are beet-red, staring at Yosuke in shock as he idly says, "Is it just me, or has that dumb bear been gone for way too long now? I'm gonna go check on him, he better not have broken anything," completely casual as if nothing had happened.

Image 4:

The bonus drawing shows Yosuke collapsed against the door of the room he just left, with a small note pointing to him that reads, "His knees gave out as soon as his brain caught up". He has his head in his hands, but is still visibly bright red, and screams at himself in his own head, "WHY THE FUCK DID I DO THAT."

In the same drawing, Kuma is shown to have been down the hall, confused as he calls out, "Yosuke? What's wrong?"

End ID.]

[uncanny-tranny]

One thing I have seen - even from other trans people! - is this specific implication that while it's inevitable that trans men pass, but trans women are essentially doomed if they want to pass.

I could talk for days about the intricacies of passing for trans people in general. I could talk for hours about why some trans people want to pass, and that it shouldn't be forced. I could talk about the intricacies for trans men and others when it comes to passing because the dynamics don't play out the way it does for cis men a lot of times. But what gets me is the idea that trans women could never pass, that those who do are essentially anomalies is... nasty. It's got nasty implications, and it's feels even nastier when trans people do it.

Trans women, trans men, trans people of all types shouldn't be required, pressured, or forced to pass. That is true. But to say that passing is nigh impossible for an entire subsect of trans people will never not read as evil.

[amimiru]

✨sylvanian dantoru✨