#sally being written the way she was in the books *served a purpose*

[terrainofheartfelt]

Okay so the thing about Sally Rooney is she is so good at third person limited unreliable narrator and sitting in the complexity of people and letting them be ambiguous and messy and imperfect and then she’ll hit you with a line of prose that butterflies you open like a shrimp

[uterialmotive-blog]

Book Review: Bookishly Ever After

TITLE: Bookishly Ever After

AUTHOR: Mia Page

SUMMARY:

Two rival bookstore owners. One chance for a happily ever after…

Bookshop owner Lexi Austen’s problems are stacking up. Her dating life is a mess and Sam Dickens – devastatingly handsome, arrogant, and fiercely competitive rival bookshop owner – is hellbent on stealing all of her customers.

Frustrated, Lexi turns to her shelves for answers. And what have the classics taught her? That when lovers start as enemies, there’s no distraction quite like love…

Lexi plots to charm Sam: she invites him to a ball (well, a party), drags him to a dance class (does it matter if it’s not a quadrille?) and swoons into his arms while taking a turn in the park (note: next time, make sure he isn’t holding a hot drink).

As their rivalry reaches scorching levels, it’s not just Lexi’s beloved bookshop at stake, but her heart too…

A charming, bookish enemies-to-lover romance, perfect for fans of Emily Henry’s Book Lovers and Sally Thorne's The Hating Game.

*REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS*

I have really gotten into books about book nerds recently - I suppose because it's easy to relate to something that appeals to me so much. I was really excited to read Bookishly Ever After as it sounded a bit like You've Got Mail and, let's be honest, who doesn't love You've Got Mail.

I struggled to get into this book for quite a while and even after Sam and Lexi began getting on, it still seemed a bit boring. I stuck with it though because, in the grand scheme of enemies to lovers, they got together quite early on. Things started getting interesting after around the 50% mark and I was glad I stayed with it until it started getting better.

This book felt very dialogue light. I was really looking forward to some hot enemy banter but there wasn't much in the way of this as a lot of the story was focused on Lexi's inner thoughts and her issues with the bookshop.

I think it's important for me to focus on my favourite part of this story - the bookshop. I cried when it seemed that there was absolutely no way out for Lexi other than to sell the bookshop and I really liked the relationships she had with her staff and with the shop itself. I felt this was so well written and it made me want to visit this fictional shop. I hate to say that this was probably the only part of the book that I loved.

On to the bad -

Sam is actually kind of a dick. So, Lexi and Sam sleep together and his response to her wanting to woo him in a "Jane Austen" way was to try and ruin her financially. He did not act like a reasonable human being and just came off as a huge bag of red flags. He then had his ex-girlfriend working at his bookshop, serving drinks, talking in "we/us" and at no point felt the need to let Lexi know that there wasn't anything going on there, until she asked him about it. There was also absolutely zero point to Amanda being introduced. It worked well enough that Sam had an ex who had really hurt him by attempting to use him for his family's money, it served no purpose her being in the story other than to create a bit more drama.

And what was the point of Erin? OK, she appeared and gave some advice when needed but to be annoyed and visibly "frustrated" with your best friend because they have completely blown off by the guy she likes on top of potentially losing a business that was left to her by her grandmother, meaning she would have to leave the country that she thought of as home, all because Erin just got engaged and wants to stay in her loved up little bubble? Absolutely not. Erin definitely came across as one of those friends who wants to know you when things are good but not when things are bad.

I feel like I need to mention again what a dick Sam is. He stole ideas that Lexi shared with him while they were (sort of) in a relationship, purposely competed against her, let her believe he was bac with his ex-girlfriend and just generally acted like an absolute douche, and then ha the fucking audacity to be upset when she said that he had to leave because of him? When he had literally run her out of business??? On purpose?????

Overall, I was not a lover of this book, although that was more due to the walking red flags that Lexi seemed to surround herself with. I would be willing to read by this author again but probably not an enemies to lovers. I am definitely of the opinion that Sam and Lexi should have remained enemies. Did I mention that Sam is a dick?

Tropes:

- Enemies to lovers

- Business rivals

- Book nerds

- Bookshop owners

- Brit in the US

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book.

[isobelleposts]

'Normal People' Book vs. Show Review

Daisy Edgar-Jones & Paul Mescal in Hulu's 'Normal People'

I feel like the book and series contrast so well with one another that I can’t really tell which I like more. Without the show, I wouldn’t have envisioned the book so well or enjoyed it with the vague descriptions and background Sally Rooney gives on the characters, and likewise, without the book, I wouldn’t have completely told what was going on in Marianne and Connell’s minds. There were several points in the book where I unveiled a thought the characters had which I wasn’t able to make out in the show. And there are also several points in the show where they portrayed more of the couple’s intimacy with one another than what was found in the book.

THE CHARACTERS

There was a sort of nostalgia in watching the show and the couple grow in and out of each other's lives that made your insides ache. Seeing the show alone, I never thought of myself to be anything like Marianne, but now reading the book and re-witnessing her whole story, I realize that if I had to choose a character to associate as being like myself, it would be Marianne Sheridan.

At times a person will make eye contact with Marianne, a bus conductor or someone looking for change, and she’ll be shocked briefly into the realization that this is in fact her life, that she is actually visible to other people.

Page 197 of 'Normal People'

Both Marianne and Connell's characters are very humane and the main attraction found between the lines of this book is the intimacy they share with one another. The way the book is written made me realize that inside, actions are not what mainly matters but the thoughts and feelings you hold for another person.

Marianne is an odd girl to most people, seen as self-absorbent for speaking her thoughts aloud. And Connell is a shy guy, liked by everyone but still struggling to not fall into the world as just another living being with no true purpose to society. Eventually, we find the two grow up and gradually accept that their lives are not meant for the world of people to enjoy, but their own, thanks to their company and support despite growing apart several times.

Episode 8 of Hulu's 'Normal People' where Connell and Marianne discuss their social differences

NORMAL LIVES

Sally Rooney allows her readers to hope for what the characters have, or see themselves through their lives and thoughts. Normal People is often referred to as a boring book where nothing exciting happens starring excruciatingly awkward characters in love, and that is true. Often, fictional books are sought to be an escape from the real world full of boring lives, but this book serves as the exact opposite. Sally Rooney’s books including ‘Conversations with Friends’ and ‘Beautiful World, Where Are You’, all represent the days we usually circle around in.

She knew that if she wanted to speak, everyone would probably turn around and listen out of sincere interest, and that made her happy too, although she has nothing at all to say.

Page 119 of 'Normal People'

The show was nothing but humane and intimate, and the book was all just the same, not any better or worse. I get people’s critique and confusion over Sally Rooney’s writing and the people that like it, and I was scared of purchasing the book, thinking it wasn’t going to live up to the beauty that Hulu’s limited adaptation was, but it gave me a sense of satisfaction reading Marianne and Connell’s thoughts. Upon writing this and noticing all the closeness of the book to my own life and personality, despite only living a quarter of the life I wish to live, it made me realize that no other title than “Normal People” would fit this heart wrenching story.

(Click HERE for Writing Commissions)

by Isobelle Cruz, 25/05/2022

[magicalgirlgrimoire]

Genesis of a Genre: Part 1

Defining the four key archetypes of Magical Girl characters found in Japanese Magical Girl media.

I feel this wouldn’t be a great body of research without outlining some kind of historical context for the media were talking about! In this mini-series of essays I’ll be going over the first part of my research, which seeks to define the key influences of the Magical Genre, including industry and production influences, and provide an outline for reoccurring archetypes and conventions found in the narratives. This focuses mainly on Japanese Media, but I might do one about the history of western Magical Girl stuff too!

I pose there are four key archetypes for the protagonist (and sometimes supporting characters) of any Magical Girl franchise: The Witch, The Princess, The Warrior and the Idol. Any given Magical Girl may be one or a combination of several; for example Usagi (Sailor Moon)  is a combination of the Warrior and Princess while Akko (Little Witch Academia) is the Witch.

Girl Witches and Growing up

Many writer have cited the Witch as the first true Magical Girl Archetype; Sally the Witch and Magical Akko-chan are often regarded as the progenitors of the Genre. Both were published in the notable shoujo magazine Ribon in the 60’s and both were adapted into anime by Toei; Ribon notably also published several of Arina Tenemura’s works, including the Magical girl series Full Moon while Toei is the studio behind Sailor Moon’s anime in the 90’s, as well as creating both the Ojamo Doremi and Pretty Cure franchises in the late 90’s and 2000’s respectively. Sally was influenced by the popular American sit-com Bewitched, but reimagined to focus on an adolescent girl-witch who must keep her identity secret. She was often alone in her quest too, perhaps with a magical pet confidant, unlike future entries where Magical Girls would be a part of a team or have complex relationships to others with powers. There were ideas of destinies or even secret royal birth-rights, but ultimately the protagonist was simply a girl, who was born with magical powers.

These early entries set off the precedent for Magical Girl as a genre being inherently linked to themes of coming of age; the magic of the young characters often being allegorical for childhood innocence and ultimately being abandoned or given up as a part of their growing up. It’s notable at this point in the genre, very few or no women worked in these spaces; both Sally and Akko are written by men. I wonder how the genre may have been different if it was not the case; could these young girls be allowed to grow up magical if a woman wrote their stories? I feel this is a reoccurring theme in so many future works, so stick a pin in that.

In the contemporary sense, while Magical Witches aren’t quite as frequent as they were in at the start of the genre, there are still several shows that carry on the tradition. Ojamo Doremi, while borrowing several features from later warrior/sentai styled shows like Sailor Moon, has the lead characters as girl witches again. Madoka, though stylistically more a Warrior styled show, also alludes to the history of magical girl as a genre with the naming of it’s initial antagonistic characters being “witches” while the leads are “puella magi” or literally maiden witches, though the way it explores these themes is a conversation for another essay. Lastly, Little Witch Academia is the most recent notable example of the pure Magical Girl Witch. The franchise is like a true homecoming for the genre; I could wax on about how it’s a culmination of everything the genre’s gone through in the last 60 years. From it’s allusions to flashy transformation sequences, to it’s shift in focus to friendships between girls, Little Witch Academia is an absolute treat; it’s main character being named Akko undoubtedly a homage to her ancestor of the same name.

Idol Aspirations

As the genre progressed, women were…allowed into the magazine offices. The genre was reinvigorated in the 70’s, and with these new author came a shift in focus. Stories began to take more elements from Shoujo staples, with more focus given to interpersonal relationships and aspirations of the characters coming into place. 

The Magical Idol singer is this weird niche specific thing that sort of came from this period of time, though I think she signifies more than  her actual appearances across the genre. Authors for the first time wanted to create stories that reflected the goals of its readers- and at the time that meant Idol culture and aspirations of being a singer or celebrity. While contemporary examples of a by-the-book idol character is a bit rare since values have changed over time, she was the first step in magical powers for Magical Girls no longer being a part of a divine destiny or something to grow out of but instead powers being the means for Girls to achieve their goals. Magical Idol singers also often incorporate the characters noticeably aging up when turning into their alter egos, serving a duel purpose of giving younger viewers a sort of aspirational character to live through while also unfortunately allowing the animators to get away with fan servicey shots of the more mature looking character. 

The originator of this subgenre would be Magical Angel Creamy Mami, though Mermaid Melody would be an immediate example I’d personally think of for the Idol type character (with a big old additon of the Princess archetype too), a better example would be the aforementioned Full Moon, in which the sickly Mitsuki transforms into a Magical Idol singer to both live her dreams as a singer and to reunite with her childhood love. I’d also argue that series the Utena and Madoka follow along with this influence; in both cases the characters agree to engage with the magic of their worlds to achieve some kind of goal or dream. Still, I feel there’s lots of potential with this kind of outlook in Magical Girl stuff..!! Perhaps in the future we’ll get more magical girls focused on their careers… 

Warrior Princesses

I feel throughout this essay, I’ve been noting how the Warrior and Princess archetype often overlap with the other genres, as well as each other. I believe this is because the ancestor of these two defined archetypes is one and the same, and also the series I believe that actually started magical girl as a genre; that being, Osamu Tezuka’s Princess Knight.

Princess Knight, and bare with me on this, is a story about a Princess born with both a “girl” and a “boy” heart. She forsakes her life as a princess to escape some cruel fate that’s in store for her, and masquerades as a prince by using her “boy” heart. While this is an extremely dated view on gender, it immediately gives us three defining features of magical girl as a genre: First, the Princess archetype, which often holds influence from european fairytales and magical destinies; Second, the Warrior Archetype, in which the lead character must don a more traditionally masculine role of protector against some evil power, and lead a double life; and lastly, the introduction of gender roles as a theme into the genre, and the role of femininity and masculinity in the identities of our characters.  

All of these tenets are then repeated in both Sailor Moon and Utena decades later, and it’s arguably these two series that carry it forward to influence future franchises. As the major examples of these archetypes are one and the same, it is difficult to parse the two apart, even though they are quite different. 

So I’ll try anyway! 

I believe the Magical Warrior is defined as a main character or team of characters who are joined by a destiny to fight against some greater evil, while the Magical Princess is defined as a character who is destined to inherit or reclaim a great power linked to a monarchical structure. Both may have themes linked to western fairytales and fantasy, though often Warrior type characters have a wider breadth of influences while Princesses remain closely linked with ideas of  fantasy and fairytale royalty.

While Magical Warrior is definitely the most prolific of the archetypes in modern times, arguably overlapping with nearly every storyline, I think Magical Princesses are fewer. For example, Tokyo Mew Mew is a clear cut Magical Warrior story; they girl’s aren’t born with powers (So not witches), they aren’t doing it for a personal goal (so not Idols) and none of them have some divine destiny (not princesses). However it’s a lot more difficult to find a pure Magical Princess story; in Mermaid Melody, but the story overlaps with both Warrior and Idol archetypes. Princess Tutu might be the best example, as it’s a story of retribution deeply linked with elements from european fantasy.  

[jebazzled]

Primary Sources: Journal Apps Done Right

Hello, gang, and welcome to another tutorial on character applications and development! Today we're going to be discussing one format sometimes used in building a freestyle application: journal applications. We'll be talking about what these primary source-focused applications are, their pitfalls, and how to make them work to your advantage.

Primary Source Applications are a structure rarely used in site-standard apps, but are relatively common in the world of freestyle applications. This structure usually takes the form of a character relaying events in a diary or journal, or sometimes in letters to another character.

The pros of this structure are the same as the pros mentioned in my tutorial about optimizing interview applications:

PRIMARY SOURCE APPS: PROS

don't need to worry so much about transitioning between scenes in a freestyle

can move through a lot of information very quickly

easy venue to showcase character voice (in theory)

The cons are largely the same as well:

PRIMARY SOURCE APPS: CONS

character voice almost never comes across as authentic, prioritizes exposition over context or authenticity

mechanisms to cover all important information can read as contrived and corny

In most situations, an app will cover a character's personal history, interpersonal relationships, and other sensitive information - things that may or may not realistically make it into a diary. Almost every journal app I've read has led with a child writing something to the tune of "Dear diary, my name is Susie. I was born on June 6, 1996 in Plainfield, Illinois, to Sally and Sam. I have three brothers..." This reads as stilted to a cringeworthy degree, both in the sheer graceless regurgitation and in the utter lack of character voice. As a side note, writing in the voice of a child is difficult, and adults often write children as either too simple or too grown-up. My best advice - barring "read a lot of fiction for 8-12 year olds to get a sense for how a child's voice is done well "- is to skip writing in a child's voice at all. 

especially on "literate/advanced" sites with a big culture around freestyle apps, it's very easy for primary source apps to come off as more beginner. (tips for overcoming this perception are later in this tutorial)

If it sounds like I don't like primary source apps - you're right! I hate them! Or more accurately - I hate them in practice. I think there is an argument for the use of primary source apps, as a stylistic choice to communicate characterization. And the truth is: I almost never see anyone put in the work to use primary source apps in that context.

WHEN TO USE A PRIMARY SOURCE APP

Primary source apps can be interesting and helpful when written for character-based reasons. If your primary reason for choosing to write an app in letters or journal entries is to be able to blow through a great deal of exposition quickly:

STOP. DO NOT PASS GO. DO NOT COLLECT $200. 

If your primary reason for choosing to write a primary source app is because it seems an easy way to unload information, your application is going to read as underwhelming and stilted at best, and at worst, cringeworthy to the point of masking all of your hard-earned writing skill.

Your application is your writing sample. Your application is one of the few data points people have on you as a writer - particularly if you are new to a site - and it is in your best interests to put your best foot forward, even if it is more work and more time-consuming, so that people will want to write with you. What's the point of getting an app up in record time if it's only going to get pended for being below the writing level of the rest of the site community, or if it's going to be largely ignored by other writers because it's not compelling prose?

I understand that folks hate writing apps and I do not care. You need to write good apps. Even if your threads are incredible, you need to be able to write solid apps.

If your only reason for choosing to write a primary source app is because it seems an easy way to unload information, you should be writing an anecdotal application. You can check out my guide to writing freestyle applications in the anecdotal style here.

An anecdotal freestyle application will almost always do a better job of illustrating your character's perspective and voice than a primary source app, because the style of writing is more similar to what you will use in threads. The exception is when a primary source app serves a specific purpose in developing the character

I'm not talking about "developing" in the sense of "relaying information, explaining backstory." I'm talking about "developing" as in: communicating something specific about this character, something fundamental and foundational, that cannot be better communicated any other way. Something that needs to be shown in practice to come through.

MAKING A PRIMARY SOURCE WORK

The best place to deploy a primary source app is in situations that depend on an unreliable narrator. A character who is manipulative, deceitful, or otherwise untrustworthy can offer a compelling use of journal entries and letters.

In the case of using primary sources to define an unreliable narrator, the purpose of the journal entries should not be to describe events for the sake of it alone, but should be to illustrate a potentially unfaithful description of those events. In this use case, entries should build a composite of our character that calls their accounting into question. Is Delilah's record of the night her boyfriend was attacked by a tiger believable, or are there gaping holes? Does she have a tell - for instance, a specific way she constructs sentences, when she is not telling the truth? Does she change details between entries, exaggerate her own importance, or otherwise lean into subjective points of view?

Unreliable narrators need not always be villainous: a high schooler filled with self-loathing might write in his journal with the voice of someone who considers themselves a hero or an underdog. Someone experiencing a crisis of faith might write devotionals that sound half-baked or otherwise weakly felt, despite their insistence otherwise. A time traveler's journal might cross its own path and predict its own future, for example, in the case of the journal of Doctor Who character River Song. A character experiencing memory loss may only be able to communicate how she sees the people around her caring for her, without being able to communicate who they are to her specifically, or being able to honestly communicate similar care for them.

To figure out what to cover in your primary sources, it might help to create two lists: a list of things you need the reader to understand about the character, and a list of things as the character understands them. These may not always come into conflict, but often will: for example, a Death Eater character should be understood by the reader to be a genocidal fascist, but the character might wholly be convinced that they stand on the right side of history, which is a perspective the reader should see coming from the character as well.

If it sounds like this use of a primary source app takes masterful plotting and is a lot of work: you're correct! The primary source app fails when used for reasons of speed or convenience. It is when it is chosen for deliberate artistic messaging that it shines.

If you've decided that a primary source app makes sense for the development of your character, the next step is navigating the writing. It is easy for journal entries to become expository, stilted, and bizarrely formal - to so plainly diverge from the character's voice despite being written in the first person that the app becomes cringeworthy and painful to read. This final section of this tutorial will cover do's and don't for writing your primary source application.

PACING

DON'T feel the need to describe the character's life from birth to present. Remember that journals are written for the writer, which means that background information is already known to the journal's in-character intended audience. Susie isn't going to write to herself to tell herself her age, address, and how her parents met.

DON'T start too young. Important events from childhood can be obliquely mentioned by a teenager or young adult as they relate to more contemporary events, which saves you from writing years of filler and from trying to write years of filler in a child's voice.

DON'T include every detail. Remember: journals are written for the writer. Every time you are about to explain something, ask yourself: did the character already know this, prior to the events of the journal entry? If the character already knew this, do I need to explain further? 

For example: instead of writing, "there is a crawlspace behind the empty china cabinet in the dining room. I read in there all afternoon and pretended it was the land from my favorite book, The Chronicles of Narnia," try: "I read in the crawlspace all afternoon and pretended I was in Narnia." The character knows where the crawlspace is and what her favorite book is.

DO foreshadow. Think of experiences in your own life that had a major impact on you, or that in retrospect began a pattern in your life. When they happened, you may not have recognized the significance, but you recognize that significance now. Lay similar groundwork for discovery in your character's journal, and allow them to slowly come to similar realizations.

VOICE

DON’T write in a child's voice unless you are already comfortable doing so. An application is where you put your best foot forward, and if you aren't yet comfortable writing in a child's voice, it is going to read painfully awkward if you do it now. If you're looking to get comfortable writing in children's voice, I recommend reading a lot of middle grade novels; otherwise, trust me when I say that 9 times out of 10 your attempt to write a kid is going to come off as weirdly Victorian.

DO consider dialogue. How does your character speak, in a thread context? How does that compare to the way their voice sounds inside their head? To the way they put together sentences and tell stories for their own consumption?

DO show a bias. The point of a journal is to honor that character's perspective- which means that their observations should be biased and subjective. If you want to highlight inconsistency or other flaws in a character's logic, the way to do this is by showing those flaws and letting the reader realize them themselves. You should always show rather than tell - but in a first person context, telling becomes particularly egregious.

DO consider audience. A journal's audience is only the character, which means the character might use shorthand or reference things for which the reader lacks context. That's fine. Consider a journal app as writing that starts in media res: in the middle of things. If the material is a letter, consider what a character is willing to tell someone else as well as how they would present that information. Do they admit to wrongdoing or try to save their own skin? Do they acknowledge multiple viewpoints or color a story in their own favor?

When done well, a primary source application can be a compelling look into a character's interior world. it takes work, deliberation, and careful plotting, but the results can be very rewarding! I hope this tutorial helps you in trying this method of application development on for size. Happy writing!

[hellzyeahwebwieldingreviews]

Untold Tales of Spider-Man 02: After the First Death… – by Tom DeFalco

A story that has me debating the nature of these stories.

A soggy Spidey swings through rainy Manhattan looking for crime shots for the Daily Bugle. He comes upon Kent and Wayne Weisinger on the roof of Stockbridge Jewelers, planning to rob it. Confident that he can end the fight anytime he wants to, Spidey stretches it out so that his automatic camera can take as many photos as possible. Kent and Wayne have a longstanding sibling rivalry marked by Kent's resentment of being the "muscle" to Wayne's "brains" along with feeling that his brother always cheats him. During the fight, Kent appears to charge at Spidey but when the web-slinger leaps out of the way, Kent doesn't stop, charging into Wayne and knocking him off the roof. Wayne falls five stories to his death and all the by-standers think Spidey did it. Guiltily, Spidey flees, forgetting about Kent altogether.

So, Kent goes to Wayne's estranged wife Jeannette to tell her the news. "Solid ice," Jeannette could care less about Wayne's death except that she's lost her meal ticket. When Kent blames the death on Spider-Man, Jeannette gets an idea on how to cash in.

In fact, Peter Parker seems to be the only one emotionally affected by Wayne's death. He has a sleepless night, trying to cope with the situation. Unguarded, he admits to J. Jonah Jameson that he has photos of the incident. His resolve to not sell the photos is beaten down by Jameson's arm-twisting and his own need for money. He sells the pictures and is then introduced to Jeannette, now the grieving widow of Wayne, who has come to JJJ for help in instituting a civil suit against Spider-Man. At school, Peter's conscience makes him counter Flash Thompson's avowal that "Spidey's no murderer" with "Maybe the wall-crawler didn't actually kill the man... but that doesn't mean he shouldn't be held accountable for what happened." Back in action, Spidey hesitates over stopping a purse-snatcher, fearful that he may cause another tragedy. Back home, Peter doesn't know what to do. He recalls that Uncle Ben's death made him swear, "that no innocent person would ever again be made to suffer because Spider-Man had failed to act. It had never occurred to him that anyone would suffer because of Spider-Man's acts." And while Wayne wasn't exactly innocent, "he had suffered because Peter had acted irresponsibly." He ends up having one of those vague discussions with Aunt May where he can't tell her any details because she doesn't know he's Spider-Man, yet she manages to hit the nail on the head, telling him in this case, "Everybody makes mistakes, Peter. You just try to learn from your failures as best you can, and you move on. You'll always get another chance to do better as long as you keep at it."

Meanwhile, Jeannette decides to kick Kent out of the deal and keep any anticipated profits for herself. So even as Spidey sucks it up and gets back into action, proving himself a hero, Kent decides he's not going to be kicked around anymore, buttonholes a TV reporter and gives an interview in which he reveals "that he deliberately pushed his elder brother off the roof of Stockbridge Jewelers because of numerous past frustrations." At Midtown High, Flash crows over Spidey's exoneration but Peter won't let the web-slinger off so easily. "A real hero would have found a way to save Wayne Weisinger" he says, "He would have acted smarter, reacted quicker, or behaved more responsibly... And that's something Spider-Man will have to live with for the rest of his life."

Because these are untold tales, prose stories and utilize the comic book continuity you can analyse them from several different angles and their worth changes depending upon those angles.

 Chiefly this boils down to whether I judge this as a story unto itself or within the context of comic book continuity as it existed back then? What about the fact that I’m here in 2020 evaluating a prose book written in 1990 that’s trying to synch up with comic book stories written in the 1960.

 It boggles the mind. All I can do is write about how I feel.

 I liked this story unto itself and within the context of this book. I think, kind of like the last story, that it doesn’t really integrate into Spider-Man’s comic book history.

 The emotional journey of Peter in this story involves learning that he needs to be careful about how he acts. In this regard it’s rather similar to his lesson from Gwen’s death, which is kind of my problem. This story’s title implies this is in fact the very first time Spider-Man has experienced death ‘on the job’ as it were.

Surely such a thing would weigh on his mind more, surely it’d crop up when he dwells on the list of people he’s seen die or feels guilty about dying. Or at least he’d be reminded of Wayne’s death when Gwen dies.

In the comics of course Wayne has never ever been mentioned. Duh, because he didn’t exist until DeFalco invented him for this story. Of course we could draw comparisons with Sally Avril, a character from AF #15 who died in the comic book version of Untold Tales but whose death went unacknowledged in stories from the 60s-90s.

I think the critical difference there is that (IIRC) Peter wasn’t particularly responsible for her death whereas in the case of Wayne, whilst he didn’t push him off the building, his arrogance really did directly contribute to his death. Plus seeing a man die in such a horrible way, especially if it is the first time he’s ever seen a dead body, would likely leave a bigger impression upon Peter than the nature of Sally’s death, although I must admit it’s been a long time since I read that issue so perhaps I am wrong.

From a continuity stand point this is the minefield you always walk, but at the same time it’d be difficult to generate drama if you didn’t step on those mines occasionally.

I feel DeFalco here wanted to tell a dramatic story that had Peter grapple with a genuinely emotional situation and also took advantage of the nature of this story as a flashback tale.

And frankly he succeeded. If you view this either out of continuity or essentially within an incredibly generalized canon of Spider-Man (i.e. Gwen Stacy died, whether Peter did or didn’t think about Wayne is ambiguous though) the story very much works. I doubt DeFalco or anyone else was honestly feeling any of these stories were going to strictly be canon anyway. However for the record this story happens at some point after ASM #9 because when we get a list of Spider-Man’s opponents they all appeared up to that issue.

 Looking at the story itself its flaws are incredibly minor.

 Some of the dialogue feels old fashioned, but I argue that is likely by design since this is set in an older time period. We go over exposition related to Peter’s origin again, which is more the editor’s fault since we got those details in the first story of the anthology. In fairness revisiting it does serve a greater purpose here because the story is directly ruminating upon the nature of responsibility. In that sense it would’ve been more logical to open the book up with this than the Ant-Man story and I see little reason as to why this couldn’t have in theory happened at an earlier point chronologically. Yeah the Ant-Man story claims Spider-Man’s a new figure on the scene but the passage of time in the first 10 issues of ASM is so vague it’s really not unbelievable that even by issue #9 Spidey might still be considered ‘new’.

 Not only does the story explore (and successfully at that) the theme of responsibility, approaching it from the opposite direction from the lesson Ben’s death imparted, but it also features the supporting cast more. Flash, Aunt May, Jameson, the Bugle and public distrust of Spider-Man are all given notable roles to play in the story, again proving that THIS should’ve opened the book.

 To go back to the theme of responsibility for a moment, perhaps the most nuanced bit of writing in the story is when Peter is on the phone to Jameson. Peter has a really great ethical dilemma. Would it be irresponsible to profit off of Wayne’s death or would it be irresponsible to not profit off of it and use the money to support his Aunt May?

 DeFalco more than any other writer GETS Spider-Man and his depiction of Peter’s internal debate, whilst short, rings utterly true. What gets me is that most of the time whenever I’ve seen this sort of thing done with Peter he’s actually made a different decision, but here DeFalco recognizes that in actuality Peter WOULD consider his responsibilities as the bread winner outweigh what boils down to him merely feeling bad about profiting off a man’s death. It’s not all that different to when he faked photos of Electro to help Aunt May. Yes it’s unethical, but there was a higher responsibility, a greater good at stake.*

 Kent and Jeanette’s subplot, whilst arguably wrapped up unsatisfactorily, does a neat job of evoking something of a daytime drama or even noir story, and in that light fits wonderfully into the brand of stories Lee and Ditko churned out way back at the start.

 In fact of the two opening stories this one more successfully captured that era and by extension the approach of the comic book version of UToSM. Whilst the Ant-Man story was fun, it was the prose equivalent of a typical MTU super hero yarn complete with dodgy pseudo science.

 This story though? Now this is a Spider-Man  story. It has a singular main character (Kent is ultimately a supporting player) and whether he’s in or out of the costume the story is driven by the emotional and human problems faced by the character, not the fantastical super human issues. In classic Spidey manner those two halves of his life bleed over into one another and lack a clear cut divide.

 Really in the Ant-Man story Peter’s personal life would’ve gone mostly unaffected whether he had gotten involved or not. It wasn’t about Peter Parker, it was about Spider-Man. This story is about both.

 Peter needs money to look after himself, his home and Aunt May. So he looks for trouble as Spider-Man and pads out a fight. That gets someone killed which haunts Peter and makes him hesitate to BE Spider-Man, even whilst he reluctantly profits off it as Peter Parker which in turn contributes to his being falsely accused as Spider-Man and kids as school hating on him because he will not defend Spider-Man from these accusations.

 Wham, Bam, DeFalco is the Man. THAT’S a fucking Spidey story right there!

 The only thing for me which really and truly did let this story down wasn’t the fault of the book, but the audio production.

 I’m hoping DeSantos was just off his game for this story, but between this and his prior efforts I think he’s achingly miscast as the narrator of this title. He worked better narrating Stan Lee and Busiek’s forwards than the actual stories. As Aunt May, Kent and Jeanette he wasn’t that bad (actually pretty good as Kent), but his Peter/Spider-Man fails. He can’t even sell the emotion of the non-dialogue bits. He’s not a bad narrator, but not right for this book.

 Over all taken strictly within comics canon there are a lot of contradictions. But taken as it’s own thing or (I suspect) within the context of this one book, this is a knock out story.

 *By the way DeFalco also seamlessly blends humour and tragedy in the scene. Peter’s internal debate and horror at the prospect of profiting off of Wayne’s death leaves him in silence which in turn is misinterpreted by Jameson causing him to raise his offer which in turn causes Peter more internal strife. Just brilliant!

[thank-you-phipps]

Review: The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

So, I’m on my third of fourth reread, and it’s held up well over time. I was in a pretty shitty mood today, so it’s had its work cut out for it, battling all my negativity, which tends to manifest in intense distrust of this sort of book. I’m thinking the cynical mood will help to balance out the blinding heart eyes and give an objective perspective. 

When I first read this book I thought I’d found the holy grail, and though there have been a few books after that that have taken the cake, I still think it’s wonderfully written and it has basically none of my usual rom-com pet-peeves, which makes it easy to like.

That being said, this book doesn’t try hard enough. I know this isn’t literature. I don’t expect to be tossed about so much as by Jane Eyre wandering the moors, putting her faith in nothing but God Himself; but the sheen has worn off rather quickly for a book that once held pride of place in my heart. I mean, Red, White, and Royal Blue is a rom-com through and through, but I can hardly read the emails for how heart-wrenching and raw they are, so it’s not the genre’s fault. 

My main problem, which wasn’t immediately clear to me after I’d read it again, is that there’s not much of a plot or any kind of conflict at all. It’s pretty up-hill the whole ride, and even though they are “mean” to each other for a lot of the book (I’d classify this enemies-to-lovers), there is no real threat of any meaningful harm being done to there relationship, however caustic it may seem on the surface. You know they’re just flirting, albeit kinda antagonistic flirting. Of course you root for them, but at some point banter isn’t enough. As I’ve said, there’s basically no plot, and though I’m a decided rom-com light-skirt, when, for all intents and purposes, the whole book is the hooey gooey precious cuddles, the soft stares, the love words, or the antagonistic sexual tension, then the quality of the romance takes a hit. From what I can tell, the “climax” was Lucy finding out that Josh and Mindy were together a long time ago, and she feels insecure. That is quickly gotten over, though, and a hot sex scene is queued up ready to go. No big deal. Well, if the author doesn’t want too much conflict stemming directly from the romantic pair themselves, fine, but they’ve got to make up for it with conflict elsewhere, or else what am I here for? You can’t keep me on the hook if you just keep feeding me sweets. Now that the novelty has worn off, I had to shoulder all the work, trying to imbue myself with some sense that there are stakes involved and some reason to get attached to the story when there wasn’t really a whole lot to keep me invested besides her feminine wiles and his cutting whit. You gotta make me suffer a bit. You can’t rely on the characters alone to carry the romance. It always helps to develop a romantic pairing when they are forced to play with the world the author has created (e.g. The Soldier’s Scoundrel, and The Lawrence Brown Affair, both by my lady love, Cat Sebastian, to whom I’ve sold my immortal soul.) and that’s what I found most lacking

This is all thrown into unflattering relief by the holy undeserved overabundance of sap. Now that I’m looking at it with more objective familiarity (not a good mindset if you’re wanting to actually enjoy a  romantic comedy) Josh’s ministrations at the end of the book especially felt over the top. Don’t get me wrong, I still go a little starry-eyed. Sally does a superb job at love talk, making it original to boot, and I was emotionally masturbating to this emotion porno of epic proportions. But if you’re going to serve me that good, you’d better make your characters suffer to balance the scale. I’m more likely to let myself enjoy that kind of over the top confessional stuff if it’s in some historical romance a la Lisa Kleypas, where I’ve already thrown out my dignity with the bathwater. But this is a real life rom-com (…oxymoron…) where the romance takes place in world whose inhabitants should be self aware enough to call bullshit. I mean, come on. There is literally a sepia-filter road trip montage scene. It’s jarring when you’re trying to enjoy something good (despite my critiques), but you’ve put it in this gaudy picture frame and you can’t help questioning it’s value. Couldn’t you have at least tried to make it seem a little more down to earth, so the negligible chance of this ever happening in the real world aren’t rubbed in my face with quite so much heartless glee? You could have made it just as poignant and also made it feel realistic. Would have pack more of a punch that way. 

Anyway, one huge point in her favor: Sally does a fine job of making Josh masculine without resorting to alpha male-ism, which I suppose many authors find difficult (Looking at you, Kleypas). Lucy is cute and actually has a personality, but it irritated my that she objectified Josh as much as she did. It’s something I noticed in 99 Percent Mine, Sally’s second book, in which the objectification of the male love interest made me feel a bit ill. It started out so promising and then the romantic pair were together for a few pages and I had to stop. I’m all for the main characters taking pleasure in each other’s bodies, but the way Lucy was practically drooling over him when it came time for that, turned me off. It sounded as though she wasn’t really paying Josh himself any attention, and there was a literal scene in which she's squeezing and weighing is muscles in her hand. Gross. I’m hyper sensitive to this particular quirk in romance, and I think Sally does a good job overall of cancelling those blips out with comments on the other end of the spectrum, but it still rankles.I will say that it’s not nearly as pronounced as in 99 Percent mine. 

I know this review is negative on the whole, but keep in mind, I’ve read this book four or five times, so it must being doing something right. It’s one of the better rom-coms by a long shot, and I’m sure I’ll read it again in another few months and eat it up shamelessly. Just didn’t have much patience today.

[loretranscripts]

Lore Episode 26: Brought Back (Transcript) - 25th January 2016

tw: racism, colonialism, live burial, slavery

Disclaimer: This transcript is entirely non-profit and fan-made. All credit for this content goes to Aaron Mahnke, creator of Lore podcast. It is by a fan, for fans, and meant to make the content of the podcast more accessible to all. Also, there may be mistakes, despite rigorous re-reading on my part. Feel free to point them out, but please be nice!

No one wants to die. If the human design was scheduled for a revision, that’s one of the features that would get an overhaul. Our mortality has been an obsession since the dawn of humanity itself – humans long for ways to avoid death, or at least make it bearable. Some cultures have practically moved heaven and earth doing so. Thousands of years ago, the Egyptians built enormous stone structures in order to house their dead and ensure them a place in the afterlife. They perfected the art of embalming so that even after death, their bodies might be ready for a new existence in a new place. Death is a reality for all of us, whether we like it or not. Young or old, rich or poor, healthy or sick, life is one long journey down a road, and we walk until its over. Some think they see the light at the end of it all while others hope for darkness, and that’s where the mystery of it all comes in: no one knows what’s on the other side. We just know that the proverbial walk ends at some point, and maybe that’s why we spend so much time guessing at it, building story and myth and belief around this thing we can’t put our finger on. What would be easier, some say, is if we just didn’t die, if we somehow went on forever. It’s impossible, but we dream of it anyway. No one returns from the grave… do they? Most sane, well-adjusted people would say no, but stories exist that say otherwise, and these stories aren’t new. They’ve been around for thousands of years and span multiple cultures, and like their subject matter these stories simply refuse to die. One reason for that, as hard as it is to believe, is because some of those stories appear to be true. Depending on where you look, and who you ask, there are whispers of those who beat the odds. Sometimes the journey doesn’t end after all. Sometimes, the dead really do walk. I’m Aaron Mahnke, and this is Lore.

The quintessential zombie movie, the one that all the commentators say was responsible for putting zombies on the map nearly 50 years ago, was George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead. The creatures that Romero brought to the big screen managed to influence generations of film makers, giving us the iconic zombie that we see today in television shows like The Walking Dead. The trouble is, Romero never used the word “zombie” to describe the creatures from his landmark film. Instead, they were “ghouls”, a creature borrowed from Arabian folklore. According to the mythology, ghouls are demons who eat the dead and, because of that, are traditionally found in graveyards. But Romero’s ghouls were not the first undead creatures to hunger for the flesh and blood of the living. Some think that honour falls to the Odyssey, the epic Greek poem written by Homer nearly 3000 years ago. In the story, there’s a scene where Odysseus needs to get some information from a long-dead prophet named Tiresias. To give the spirit strength to speak, Odysseus feeds him blood. In a lot of ways, the creatures we think of today as zombies are similar to the European tales of the revenant. They’ve gone by many names – the ancient Irish called them Neamh-Mhairbh, meaning “the undead”; in Germany they are the Wiedergänger, “the ones who walk again”; and in Nordic mythology, they’re called the draugr. The name “revenant” itself is Latin and means “the returned”. The basic idea is pretty easy to guess from that – revenants were those who were once dead, but returned to haunt and terrorize their neighbours and family. It might sound like fantasy to our modern sensibilities, but some people really did think that this could happen.

Historians in the Middle Ages wrote about revenant activity as if it were fact. One man, William of Newburgh, wrote in 1190 that, and I quote, “It would not be easy to believe that the corpses of the dead should sally from their graves, and should wander about to the terror or destruction of the living, did not frequent examples, occurring in our own times, suffice to establish this fact, to the truth of which there is abundant testimony. Were I to write down all the instances of this kind which I have ascertained to have befallen in our times, the undertaking would be beyond measure, laborious, and troublesome”. Newburgh goes on to wonder why the ancient writers never mentioned events like these, but doesn’t seem to take that as proof that revenants are pure fantasy. They mentioned all sorts of boring things, mundane and unimportant, so why not the unnatural and unusual? He was, of course, wrong – the ancient Greeks did have certain beliefs surrounding the dead and their ability to return to haunt the living, but to them it was much more complicated, and each revenant came back with its own unique purpose. You see, the Greco-Roman culture believed that there was a gap between the date of someone’s actual death and their intended date of death. Remember, this was a culture that believed in the Moirai – the Fates – who had a plan for everyone. So, for example, a farmer might be destined to die in his 80s from natural causes, but he might instead die in an accident at the market or in his field. People who died early, according to the legends, were doomed to wander the land of the living as spirits until the day of their intended death arrived. Still with me? Good. So, what the Greeks believed was that it was possible to control those wandering spirits – all you needed to do was make a curse tablet, something written on clay or tin or even parchment, and then bury it in the person’s grave. Like a key in the ignition of a car, this tablet would empower someone to control the wandering dead. Now, it might sound like the world’s creepiest Martha Stewart how-to project, but to the Greeks magic like this was a powerful part of their belief system. The dead weren’t really gone, and because of that they could serve a purpose. Unfortunately, that’s not an attitude that was unique to the Greeks, and in the right culture, at the right time, under the right pressure, that idea can be devastating.

In Haiti, the vast majority of the people there are genetically connected to West Africa to some degree, up to 95% according to some studies. It’s a remnant of a darker time, when slavery was legal, and millions of Africans were pulled from their homes and transported across the Atlantic to work the sugar plantations that filled the Spanish coffers. We tend to imagine African slaves being shipped to the new world with no possessions beside the clothing on their backs, but they came with their beliefs, with their customs and traditions, and with centuries of folklore and superstition. They might not have carried luggage filled with precious heirlooms, but they held the most important pieces of their identity in their minds and hearts. No one can take that away. There are a few ideas that need to be understood about this transplanted culture. First, they believed that the soul and the body were connected, but also that death could be a moment of separation between the two. Not always, but it could be – I’ll explain more about that in a moment. Second, they lived with a hatred and fear of slavery. Slavery, of course, took away their freedom, it took away their power. They no longer had control over their lives, their dreams, or even their own bodies. Whether they liked it or not, they were doomed to endure horribly difficult labour for the rest of their lives; only death would break the chains and set them free. Third, that freedom wasn’t guaranteed. While most Africans dreamed of returning to their homeland in the afterlife, there were some who wanted to get there quicker. Suicide was common in colonial Haiti, but it was also frowned upon. In fact, it was believed that those who ended their own life wouldn’t be taken back to Africa at all. Instead, they would be punished. The penalty, it was said, was eternal imprisonment inside their own body, without control or power over themselves. It was, in a sense, just like their own life. To the slaves of Haiti, hell was just more slavery, but a slavery that went on forever. These bodies and trapped souls had a name in their culture: the zombie. It was first recorded in 1872, when a linguistic scholar recorded a zombie as, and I quote, “a phantom or ghost, not infrequently heard in the southern states in nurseries and among the servants”. The name, it turns out, has African roots as well. In the Congo they use the word nzambi, which means the spirit of a dead person. It’s related to two other words that both mean “god” and “fetish” – fetish in the sense of manufacturing a thing, a creature that has been made. The walking dead, at least according to Haitian lore, are real.

What did these zombie look like? Well, thanks to Zora Neale Hurston, we have a first-hand account. Hurston was an African American author, known for her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, and regarded as one of the pillars of the Harlem Renaissance. And it was while researching folklore during a trip to Haiti in 1936 that she encountered one. In her book Tell my Horse, Hurston recounts what happened. “I had the rare opportunity to see and touch an authentic case”, she wrote. “I listened to the broken noises in its throat.... If I had not experienced all of this in the strong sunlight of a hospital yard, I might have come away from Haiti interested but doubtful. But I saw this case of Felicia Felix-Mentor which was vouched for by the highest authority. So I know that there are Zombies in Haiti. People have been called back from the dead. The sight was dreadful. That blank face with the dead eyes. The eyelids were white all around the eyes as if it had been burned with acid. There was nothing you could say to her or get from her except by looking at her, and the sight of this wreckage was too much to endure for long”. Wreckage. I can’t think of another word with as much beauty and horror as that, in the context. Something was happening in Haiti, and the result was wreckage, lives broken and torn apart by something – but what? The assumption might be that these people had all attempted suicide, but suicide is common in many cultures, not just in Haiti. When you dig deeper, though, it’s possible to uncover the truth, and in this case, the truth is much darker than we like to believe. Zombies, it turns out, can be created.

On the night of April 30th, 1962, a man walked into Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Haiti. He was sick and complained of body aches, a fever and, most recently, coughing fits that brought blood up from his lungs. Naturally, the medical staff were concerned, and they admitted him for tests and treatment. This man, Clairvius Narcisse, was seen by a number of medical doctors but his condition quickly deteriorated. One of his sisters, Angelina, was there at his bedside, and according to her his lips turned blue and he complained to her about a tingling sensation all over his body. But despite the hospital’s best efforts, Narcisse died the next day. Two doctors, one American and one American-trained, each confirmed his death. The man’s sister, Angelina, signed the death certificate after confirming the man’s identity. Because she couldn’t read or write, she did so by pressing her thumbprint onto the paper, and then his family began the painful process of burying their loved one and trying to move on. Death, as always, is a part of life; never a pleasant one, but a part nonetheless. Over 18 years later, in 1981, Angelina Narcisse was walking through the market in her village, something she did nearly every day. She knew the faces of each vendor, she knew the scents and the sounds that filled the space there, but when she looked down the dirt road toward the small crowd of people something frightened her, and she screamed. There, walking toward her, was her brother Clairvius. He was, of course, older now, but it was him. She would have recognised him anywhere, and when he finally approached her and named himself with a childhood nickname, any doubt she might have had melted away. What followed was a whirlwind of revelations as Clairvius told his sister what had happened to him, and it all started, he said, in the hospital room. According to him, his last moments in the bed there were dark, but fully aware. He could no longer see anyone, and he couldn’t move, but he remembered hearing the doctor pronounce him dead. He remembered the sound of his sister weeping. He even remembered the rough, cotton sheet being pulled up and over his face. But awareness continued on to his funeral, where he claimed to hear the procession. He even pointed to a scar on his face – he claimed that it was the result of one of the coffin nails cutting him. Later, the family brought in a psychiatrist, who performed a series of tests on Clairvius to see is he was a fraud, but the man passed with flying colours, answering questions that no one but Clairvius himself could have known. In an addition, over 200 friends and family members vouched for the man’s identity. This, all of them confirmed, was Clairvius Narcisse.

So, what happened to him? According to Clairvius himself, he was poisoned by his brother over a property dispute. How? He wasn’t sure, but shortly after his burial, a group of men dug up his coffin and pulled him free. That’s a thought worth locking away deep in the back of your brain, by the way: trapped inside a coffin beneath the earth, blind and paralysed, cold and scared. It’s a wonder the man didn’t go insane. The men who dug him up were led by a priest called a Bokor. The men chained Clairvius and then guided him away to a sugar plantation, where he was forced to work alongside others in a similar state of helplessness. Daily doses of a mysterious drug kept them all unable to resist or leave. According to his story, he managed to escape two years later, but fearing what his brother might do to him if he were to show up alive, he avoided returning home. It was only the news of his brother’s death many years later that coaxed him out of hiding. The story of Clairvius Narcisse has perplexed scientists and historians for decades. In the 1980s, Harvard sent an ethno-botanist named Wade Davis to investigate the mysterious drug, and the result of his trip was a book called The Serpent and the Rainbow, which would go on to be a New York Times bestseller as well as a Hollywood movie, but few agree on the conclusions. Samples of the drug that Wade collected have all been disproven, no illegal sugar plantations staffed by zombie slaves has ever been discovered, and the doctors have been accused of misreading the symptoms and prematurely declaring the man dead – there are so many doubts. To the people closest to him, though, the facts are solid. Clairvius Narcisse died, his family watched his burial in the cemetery, he was mourned and missed, and 18 years later he came back into their lives. The walking dead: medical mishap or the result of Haitian black magic? We may never know for sure.

Stories of the walking dead are everywhere these days. It’s as if we’ve traded in our obsession with extending our life and resigned to the fact that normal death, the kind where we die and stay dead, might be better. We fear death because it means the loss of control, the loss of purpose and freedom. Death, in the eyes of many people, robs us of our identity and replaces it with finality. It’s understandable, then, how slavery can be viewed through that same lens. It removes a person’s ability to make decisions for themselves – it turns them, in a sense, into nothing more than a machine for the benefit of another person. But what if there really are individuals out there, the Bokor and evil priests, who have discovered a way to manufacture their own walking dead, who have perfected the art of enslaving a man or women deeper than any slave owner might have managed before, to rob them of their very soul and bind them to an afterlife of tireless, ceaseless labour? In February of 1976, Francine Illeus was admitted to her local hospital in Haiti. She said she felt weak and light-headed. Her digestive system was failing, and her stomach ached. The doctors there treated her and then released her. Several days later, she passed away and was buried in the local graveyard. She had only been 30 years old. Three years later, Francine’s mother received a call from a friend a few miles away. She needed her to come to the local marketplace there, and said it was urgent. Francine’s mother didn’t know what the trouble was, but she made the journey as quickly as she could. Once there, she was told that a woman had been found in the market. She was emaciated, catatonic, and refused to move from where she was squatting in the corner, head down, hands laced over her face. The woman, it turned out, was Francine Illeus. Her mother brought her home and tried to help her, but Francine seemed to be gone. She was there in body, but there was very little spirit left. Subsequent doctors and psychiatrists have spent time with Francine, but with very little progress to show for it. On a whim, Francine’s mother had the coffin exhumed. She had to see for herself if this woman, little more than a walking corpse, truly was her daughter. Yes, the woman had the same scar on her forehead that her daughter had, yes, they looked alike, yes, others recognised her as Francine, but she needed to know for sure. When the men pulled the coffin out of the earth, it was heavy, too heavy, they murmured, to be empty. More doubtful by the minute, Francine’s mother asked them to open it, and when the last nail had been pulled free from the wood, the lid was lifted and cast aside. The coffin wasn’t empty after all – it was full of rocks.

[Closing statements]

[kemetic-dreams]

Top Ten Conspiracy Theories That Turned FACT in 2017

Matt Agorist, Activist Post Waking Times Media

In 2013, Professor Lance Dehaven-Smith—in a peer-reviewed book published by the University of Texas Press—showed that the term “conspiracy theory” was developed by the CIA as a means of undercutting critics of the Warren Commission’s report that President Kennedy was killed by Oswald. The use of this term was heavily promoted in the media by the CIA. And—up until recently—it has served its purpose.

Now, however, in 2017, those who were once called “conspiracy theorists” are being vindicated as they watched instance after instance get exposed all year long. To be clear, we are not talking about outlandish, unprovable, and off the wall theories that completely lack evidence. We are talking about well-researched cases that were deliberately dismissed and ridiculed by the mainstream as a means of oppressing the information and protecting the establishment.

ronically enough, 2017 is the year the conspiracy theorists were proven right as the mainstream media and government began pushing wild conspiracy theories without evidence to back them up.

To show just how vindicated the well-informed are, below is a list of the top 10 conspiracy theories that were proven as real in 2017.

1. HOLLYWOOD AND THE POLITICAL ELITE HAVE BEEN EXPOSED FOR THEIR RAMPANT AND HORRIFYING SEX ABUSE AGAINST MEN, WOMEN, AND CHILDREN ALIKE

Just last year, as good people tried to point out that although Pizzagate may not have taken place in some restaurant in DC, the idea of sex abuse among the elite was no laughing matter. However, anyone who mentioned sex abuse among the elite was scoffed at and ridiculed by those in the mainstream.

This ridicule was in spite of the fact that the former speaker of the house admitted to raping multiple little boys and was sentenced to prison last year. This ridicule was also in spite of the fact that whistleblowers have been shouting from the mountain tops about the rampant abuse—for decades—only to have their cries fall on deaf ears.

This year, however, it was different. With Harvey Weinstein as the catalyst, former victims came forward and began publicly naming their abusers and even getting the police involved. The American people also learned that their ostensible representation in D.C. was spending millions to silence the victims of their apparent uncontrollable sex abuse.

No longer will companies like Disney be able to hire convicted pedophiles as the world looks the other way—nor will sicko politicians be allowed the immunity to rape and pillage as they see fit. 2017 will be known as the year the victims fought back.

2. WEATHER MODIFICATION JUST JUMPED FROM “CHEMTRAIL” CONSPIRACY THEORY INTO MAINSTREAM REALITY, AS CONGRESS BEGAN HOLDING HEARINGS ON GEOENGINEERING

Geoengineering is finally going mainstream as the U.S. House Subcommittee on Environment and Subcommittee on Energy Hearing, in November, held the first House hearing about the science that until now has generally been considered a “conspiracy theory” and relegated to the fringes of society by the Praetorian Guard mainstream media — controlled by the ruling power-elite oligarchy.

The controversial subject of climate engineering or weather modification – which was popularized, and oversimplified with the term “chem-trails” – is stepping from the shadows and into the light of public scrutiny for the first time.

The congressional hearing, titled “Geoengineering: Innovation, Research, and Technology,” was attended by members of the House committees as well as representatives of think tanks, academics, and researcher scientists to discuss the future of geoengineering research.

The congressional hearing, titled “Geoengineering: Innovation, Research, and Technology,” was attended by members of the House committees as well as representatives of think tanks, academics, and researcher scientists to discuss the future of geoengineering research.

3. 20,000 DOCUMENTS WERE RELEASED IN AUGUST PROVING THE EPA CONSPIRED WITH CHEMICAL COMPANIES TO UNLEASH DEADLY TOXIC SUBSTANCES ON THE PUBLIC

Highly toxic chemical compounds made by Dow, Monsanto, DuPont and other companies were being developed and marketed in ever greater quantities, and federal agencies were rubber-stamping their approval based on fraudulent safety testing.

The Poison Papers reveal that, instead of acting to protect the public and reassess the chemicals, EPA held a secret meeting with chemical companies to assure them that their products would continue being sold.

The secret meeting between EPA and chemical companies is the most poignant example of a long history of collusion at the expense of human and environmental health.

4. US MEDIA GIANT SALLY QUINN ADMITTED SHE PRACTICED THE OCCULT TO MURDER PEOPLE—AND SHE WAS PRAISED FOR IT

Although her husband Ben Bradlee died in 2014—who was good friends with former President John F. Kennedy, and executive editor of the Washington Post from 1968 to 1991—Quinn has since taken the time to give insight into the glamorous life lived by the media’s royal couple. Some of the practices she describes are ones that would normally be written off as crazy conspiracy theories by outlets such as their beloved Washington Post.

However, WaPost actually praised it.

In her latest publication titled, Finding Magic: A Spiritual Memoir, Quinn reveals that she believes she has killed at least three people in her lifetime. She claims that while she did not harm anyone physically, she believes strongly in the occult, and has used hexes on people who got on her bad side.

Seriously.

5. MAINSTREAM MEDIA FINALLY ADMITTED THE UNITED STATES HAS BEEN AIDING TERRORISTS IN SYRIA

In November, the BBC released a bombshell report confirming that the US and Syrian Defense Forces knowingly aided thousands of ISIS fighters.

According to the bombshell BBC report:

The BBC has uncovered details of a secret deal that let hundreds of Islamic State fighters and their families escape from Raqqa, under the gaze of the US and British-led coalition and Kurdish-led forces who control the city. A convoy included some of IS’s most notorious members and – despite reassurances – dozens of foreign fighters. Some of those have spread out across Syria, even making it as far as Turkey.

Then in December, an investigation concluded that 97 percent of the weapons used by the Islamic State were supplied illegally by the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.

The weapons and ammunition were originally purchased by the United States and Saudi Arabia and then distributed to rebel groups. While the U.S. claimed to be fighting ISIS, the fact is that ISIS was one of the Syrian rebel groups opposing Assad, and as the report noted, nearly all of their weapons came from those purchased by the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.

6. THE FEDERAL RESERVE BANK WAS EXPOSED IN JUNE TO BE A WORKING ARM OF US INTELLIGENCE

Confidential accounts within the Federal Reserve have been used by the U.S. Treasury and other departments “several times a year to analyze the asset holdings of the central banks of Russia, China, Iraq, Turkey, Yemen, Libya and others,” according to a report from Reuters that cites more than a dozen current and former senior U.S. officials.

The U.S. central bank keeps a tight lid on information contained in these accounts. But according to the officials interviewed by Reuters, U.S. authorities regularly use a ‘need to know’ confidentiality exception in the Fed’s service contracts with foreign central banks.

7. DECLASSIFIED DOCUMENT PROVED THE CONSPIRACY THAT THE CIA PLANNED AND CARRIED OUT THE 1953 IRANIAN COUP

The newly declassified documents, titled “Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952-1954, Iran, 1951–1954,” provide a notable difference from the State Department’s 1989 version of the coup, which left out any involvement from American and British intelligence.

A memorandum from Director of Central Intelligence Allen Dulles to President Eisenhower, dated March 1, 1953, serves as a reminder that internally, “the elimination of Mossadeq by assassination or otherwise,” was used as a method in repairing ties with Iran, restoring oil negotiations, and stopping a “Communist takeover.”

8. BILLIONAIRE ELITISTS OPENLY ADMIT TO INGESTING THE BLOOD OF YOUNG CHILDREN

Once the talk of conspiracy theorists — the rich ingesting the blood of the young to foster longevity — is now a reality and an actual business in the United States. Not only is it a business but billionaires are actually admitting their interest in it.

As Vanity Fair reports, Ambrosia, which buys its blood from blood banks, now has about 100 paying customers. Some are Silicon Valley technologists—like Peter Thiel, the billionaire co-founder of PayPal and adviser to Donald Trump.

9. CIA DRUG TRAFFICKING CONSPIRACY WAS BLOWN WIDE OPEN IN AN EXPLOSIVE HISTORY CHANNEL SERIES

A&E Networks addressed the government’s role in the drug war in a four-part documentary series on the History Channel, titled, “America’s War on Drugs.”

“America’s War on Drugs” is an immersive trip through the last five decades, uncovering how the CIA, obsessed with keeping America safe in the fight against communism, allied itself with the mafia and foreign drug traffickers. In exchange for support against foreign enemies, the groups were allowed to grow their drug trade in the United States.

10. MAINSTREAM SCIENCE SHOWED VITAMIN C’S ABILITY TO FIGHT CANCER

According to researchers from the University of Iowa, ascorbate, derived from Vitamin C, was successfully observed increasing hydrogen peroxide levels in cancer cells, which in turn had a toxic result with cancer cells, killing the cancer cells in lab rats yet not damaging normal cells in the process. The researchers concluded that Vitamin C might, indeed, be lethal to some cancers.

According to the scientists, “These results indicate that an in vivo measurement of catalase activity in tumors may predict which cancers will respond to pharmacological ascorbate therapy.” Once the exact cancers are identified, which are killed by vitamin C, the researchers concluded, “this information can also be used in finding combination therapies that may increase the efficacy of treatment for those tumors with higher catalase activities.” In other words, extremely high doses of the Vitamin C derivative may potentially be added to conventional cancer therapies to help kill more cancer cells.

In 2017, the world has learned that truth is indeed stranger than fiction as the light continues to shine into the darkness. With all the proven conspiracies in 2017, we can’t help but remain optimistic for 2018 to become the year the world begins to wake up.

[sophdlpaz]

Sorta-kinda-like MMFF 2016 Movie Reviews

I know, I know I’m a tad late for this. But I’m doing it nonetheless because I was really happy with the Metro Manila Film Festival 2016 line-up. Plus, it’s National Arts Month, sooo yeah. (Lusot haha) 

Instead of featuring the usuals – an Enteng Kabisote and ______ ______ (fill in the blanks), movies casting the hottest loveteams (KathNiel, LizQuen, JaDine, AlDub, you name it), Shake, Rattle, and Roll 3497, Mano Po 34, they showcased, yup, INDIE FILMS (Well, majority of them.) *happy dance* It was only last year when the indie film lover that is me showed interest in MMFF and moved her as* to really go to the theaters and see them.

But given my busy schedule last December (huwaw), I was only able to see 3 out of the 8 full-length films. And I’ll give my best to squeeze whatever I was able to absorb from them through my pwede-na reviews. 

SAVING SALLY

Photo from Saving Sally Facebook page

I won’t give my score for this movie because uhmm, I fell asleep while seeing it. Okay, I have to explain. No, it’s not because the movie was bad. I haven’t had a decent sleep for 3-4 consecutive days prior to that night when I saw the film with my friends. Plus Cinema ‘76 has a really comfy couch (with throw pillows) and the AC was in full-blast, so yeah, you get what I mean. :P But I was still able to capture the gist, okay. (Defensive tone off)

At first I was hesitant in seeing this film because I’m not really into animation shiz. But I wanted to see the end result of the makers of this film who spent 12 years for it. YES, 12 YEARS.  Well, it was a typical story of two people who started out as friends, became strangers from each other but eventually turned into lovers.  After saving comic book artist Marty (Enzo Marcos - I used to see him in my favorite show back then, 5 and Up.) from a bully at the school they both went to, gadget inventor Sally (Rhian Ramos) would often go to Marty’s house, make him keep some of her “contrabands” (her parents are super strict), go with him in comic bookstores, eat streetfood with him, and take pictures of random sleeping people with him. Because of this fun friendship, no wonder Marty developed his feelings for Sally. He has his bedroom wall covered with his drawings of Sally (which he covers with a set of other drawings whenever she visits him). But as their relationship deepens, he also learned that Sally is physically abused by her parents. She reasons out her “secret project” as the cause so they’d both shrug off the scars and bruises she has. Marty also learned about Sally’s other secret – Nick (TJ Trinidad), her boyfriend. But instead of keeping distance from her, he helps as the “bridge” of the secret lovers. Eventually, he found out Nick’s not really taking Sally too seriously.

Marty was so eager to go to the same college and take the same course that Sally also plans to take, but Sally was put on the “waiting list” for Fine Arts. He also got a call from a comic book publisher to pitch a comic book storyline. He initially presented a story of a war between aliens and humans which was approved by the editor and which he had to do drawings for. Marty then tweaked his storyline featuring an astronomer who tries to save a girl caught by aliens, basing it on his experience with Sally, her parents, and Nick.

As I was saying, Marty learned about Nick’s infidelity and wants to take revenge for Sally but the latter tries to stop him, leading to an argument. Marty then admits his feelings for this girl but didn’t turn out to be good. They become aloof from each other, causing Marty’s depression. They come across each other again eventually in college and regain the level of relationship they once had.. or prolly a notch higher than that. *wink wink*

As mentioned, I’m not really a fan of animations but this film left me with so much awe. With this passion for this film (I mean, HELLO, 12 YEARS), along with the level of talent they deliver, I’m proud to say Filipino filmmakers can already be at par with their foreign counterparts (despite me not being sure of the animation formats they used, hehe). I’m just glad that Filipinos are already gaining reputation in filmmaking. Saving Sally is just one proof of this. Elibs ako, seryoso. KUDOS!

DIE BEAUTIFUL

Photo from Die Beautiful Facebook page

Verdict: 4 out of 5

This multi-awarded movie presents the joys and discloses the pains of being gay. Patrick (Paolo Ballesteros) experienced rejection from his father (Joel Torre) because of his gender preference. His father punishes him whenever he sees him dressing up as a beauty contestant when he was still a child. But that didn’t stop Patrick in doing what he loves. He sneaks out of their house to still join barangay gay contests, even if his sister Beth (Gladys Reyes) stops him from doing so. This led him to being disowned by his father. Patrick took advantage of this emancipation and later evolved into Trisha Echevarria.

Trisha found home in her best friend Barbs (Christian Bables) and her adopted daughter Shirley Mae (Faye Alhambra/Inah de Belen). Her new family became her source of strength when she got gang-raped, when she got his heart broken so many times, and when she lost in several beauty contests. They gave their support in her gradual transformation to becoming a woman. Her child was also never judging despite being bullied by her classmates for having a gay mother. But after achieving her ultimate goal and being crowned as Binibining Gay Pilipinas, Trisha collapsed and died.

I must admit, even though I keep an open mind about LGBT issues, I still got stunned upon seeing the rape scenes and hearing them use vulgar words. They were so raw and crisp that I think 13-year old’s wouldn’t be that ready yet  to witness these scenes, even with their parents’ company. (The movie has an R-13 rating.) Also, I’m fully aware of the purpose of having a lot of retrospective scenes (being flashed in no particular order) but I think it made some viewers quite confused. (Or maybe they were just not too keen with the details? Hahaha.)

Anywaaay, apart from the rejection, discrimination, and the beautiful transition showed in the film, I think it also emphasized how far your passion can make you work for your dreams. Trisha envisioned herself even then as a beauty queen. She hopped from one barangay to another, along with her gay aspirant-friends, with the hopes of winning the crown. She experimented on her looks, got herself some boobs and did some gimmicks (one of which didn’t go well) just to catch the attention of the judges and audience. She even tried hard to memorize the written answers by her mentor for the canned questions. (Sadly, she only got to retain one in mind.) After almost giving up her dream, she managed to still give it a try one last time wherein she luckily picked the question corresponding to the sole answer she mastered.

I also liked how the movie showed the loyalty of Barbs to her bestfriend. She was the one who brought Trisha to the hospital after learning about the rape incident. She literally fought with someone who stole Trisha’s boyfriend. Barbs also became Trisha’s make-up artist even during Trisha’s wake. She kept her promise that she’ll make Trisha appear glamorous even in her death bed, looking like Beyonce, Lady Gaga, etc on each day. Most especially, Barbs fought for her right to keep the remains of Trisha with her despite the firmness of Trisha’s father. She wanted to show everybody the beauty that transpired in Trisha until the very end as opposed to the shame that Trisha’s father is showing because of his child’s sexuality. Barbs is the ultimate bes you will seek to have.

Die Beautiful greatly deserved to be acknowledged not just because it served as an eye-opener to peoples who still don’t have the heart to accept LGBT but because it genuinely celebrated the complexities and beauty of being a gay woman. This movie is a manifestation of the LGBT’s message to the whole world that they deserve our respect ‘cause they’re humans too, just like everyone else.

SUNDAY BEAUTY QUEEN

Photo from Sunday Beauty Queen Facebook page

Verdict: 5 out of 5

This movie gives you a glimpse of the lives of Leo, Hazel, Mylyn and other Hong Kong-based Filipina domestic helpers. They serve as all-around helpers/caretakers/nannies 6 days a week, each of them has different stories to tell. They only get to socialize with their kababayans every Sunday when they usually hold beauty contests.

Photos from Sunday Beauty Queen Facebook page

As expected, this documentary delivers the stories of these Filipinas in a very direct way – showing where they live, what they usually do for their employers, what type of employers they have, what restrictions their employers impose on them, and the list goes on. Most of them are expected to stay in the houses of their employers; they’re lucky if they’re allowed to get their own place (like Leo). Some employers really appreciate the presence and the warmth that Filipina domestic helpers provide but there are just some who look down on them and don’t allow them to eat at the dining area and sleep in a decent bedroom.

It’s already hard to work in the Philippines given the traffic, the requirements, and the range of wage extended to most employees. But it’s much harder to even work in a foreign country where you’re not even familiar with the culture and the people. Furthermore, you have to endure not just the challenges of the workload but also the put-down of some employers, not to mention the loneliness that you have to go through. It’s tough to be miles apart from your family. But since they’re also your driving force why you’re there, you just keep on moving.

These women always look forward to Sunday, their usual free day, when they usually hold their beauty pageants. They really exert so much effort for this, mind you. They spend time rehearsing for their dance numbers, attending photo shoots, and choosing among which shoes and gowns to wear. It goes to show how Filipinos love pageants, in general. Hehe. It’s also cool to know that Philippine NGO’s and government-funded agencies support these kinds of events. I guess, it’s one way to say to these workers that “Hey, it’s okay. Have fun, mingle with your friends. And confidently show to everyone the beauty of Filipinas inside and out.”

Shout out to Mylyn. Girl, you really touched my heart. I know you’ve gone through a lot – from the loss of your boyfriend to the death of your beloved employer. But that didn’t stop you to keep working hard. Because you always do it with love. You, along with the other Filipina workers in HK, have my utmost respect.

[humanoid-lovers]

5.0 out of 5 stars What a great book!

4.0 out of 5 stars Readers who like their humor heavily seasoned with sarcasm will love this book Her friend, the editor Robert Gottlieb, says it well in his introduction: Nora Ephron, who died last year at age 71, was “a reporter, a profilist, a polemicist, a novelist, a screenwriter, a playwright, a memoirist, and a (wicked) blogger.” She was also a good cook, apparently, and the writer-director of some of the more charming romantic comedies of the past 20 years. The nice thing about books such as THE MOST OF NORA EPHRON, a 550-page collection of her writing, is that they serve two purposes. They’re candy for people who like the author, and they’re a good introduction for the uninitiated. Fans as well as those unfamiliar with Ephron’s work will find much to enjoy here.The book is divided into nine categories, each one devoted either to subjects Ephron wrote about or the many literary forms for which she became famous. As she tells us in “Journalism: A Love Story,” Beverly Hills native Ephron began her career in 1962 when, having just received a degree in political science from Wellesley, she got a job in Newsweek’s mailroom. She soon worked her way up (if up is the right word) to clipper, in which she “ripped up the country’s newspapers and routed the clips to the relevant departments,” and then to researcher, which she says was a fancy term for a fact-checker. She eventually went on to write for other publications, including Esquire and New York magazines and the New York Post, the last of which had offices so dirty that someone once wrote “Philthy” in the thick dust that had collected on a window.In her two decades as a journalist, Ephron perfected the hilariously caustic style that would make her famous. In “The Palm Beach Social Pictorial,” an Esquire piece from 1975, she tells us about a periodical written by and for the wealthy women of Palm Beach, Florida.Read more › Go to Amazon

5.0 out of 5 stars So many pages, so many Noras, and all of them well worth reading. Doesn't much matter which of those 557 pages fall open. Wherever you land you should find a good read. Here's a sampling: There's Nora, the thrice married New Yorker daughter of Hollywood screenwriters. Nora of 1960's Newsweek, when the only jobs open to women were in the mailroom. Nora, the New York Post journalist, novelist, filmmaker and playwright. Nora sitting around with Rob Reiner dithering with improving the script of "When Harry Met Sally." Nora settling scores with her unfaithful second husband in "Heartburn," the book that became a Meryl Streep movie. Nora as writer/director of "You've Got Mail" and "Sleepless in Seattle." Nora, the foodie, on having people to dinner and life in the land of the egg-white omelette. And the Nora who knew early on who Deep Throat was, but nobody believed her. Nora and her profiles of Helen Gurley Brown, Julie Nixon Eisenhower and other well known women. Nora on life in the Google years. Nora on the "O" word and remembering nothing. Nora's script of "Lucky Guy," her 2-act play that ran on Broadway, starring Tom Hanks, in 2013. Nora's "Story of My Life in 3,500 Words or Less" and two one-page lists of "What I Won't Miss" and "What I Will Miss." Nora Ephron died of leukemia at 71 in June, 2012. Go to Amazon

5.0 out of 5 stars Like lingering over lunch with one of my best friends Nora Ephron is funny. Because she seeks the truth, after I've stopped laughing, I find myself oddly, deeply affected and a bit teared up. She left us too soon, so I'm glad I got this great, big fat compendium of her work from the many facets of her life--newspaper and magazine journalist, epic foodie, novelist, screenwriter, playwright. Somehow her love of eating and cooking works its way into a lot of what she's written as a novelist, screenwriter, and journalist. Her confiding tone makes her feel like a girlfriend, someone I stay in touch with long after moving on from the school or job where we first met.The Most of Nora Ephron gives me the opportunity to revisit Ephron's wit and warmth again and again. Go to Amazon

3.0 out of 5 stars Glib, Light Read A perfect metaphor for this book is a comment made by a photographer who took pictures of celebrities jumping. After asking Nora Ephron to jump several times, he told her she'd never be a novelist because she only had one jump in her.I truly appreciate her openness and honesty, but she does seem to be a one trick pony. Does every women she writes about have to have a career in journalism? Do they all have to be variations of her?This book is a sampling of her novels, movies, plays, essays, columns, blogs, and diary entries. There is so much repetition that at times I was bored. Alright already, no one wants to die in an apartment and not have it be discovered for weeks when finally the smell wafts into the hallway of your apartment building. But how many times do we have to read this? By my count, you'll read it three times, which is twice too many. The same goes for most of her observations.Ephron never pretended to be an intellectual or a great writer. She's fun, charming and delightful, which she isn't being cloyingly self-effacing. Don't read this book looking for any insights. You won't find any. But you will have fun, and feel sad that she is no longer with us. Go to Amazon