#she would have been so proud to see leia represented at such an important event

[haenels]

Not sure if you saw but Mark Hamill tweeted pictures from women marches earlier of Leia-related signs :)

i did! it totally made me tear up ♥ but then again everything today has. it’s been so beautiful, such a beautiful day compared to the tragedy that was yesterday

[justalittlelitnerd]

You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson

Five weeks to take myself from “Liz Lighty: Unapologetic Wallflower” to “Liz Lighty: Slightly More Apologetic Prom Queen Contender.

This is a book I dreamed about reading as a teenager, but it’s no less enjoyable or important now reading it in my twenties. 

Disclaimer: I am a complete sucker when it comes to books set in Indiana. It’s where I was raised and it will always be home no matter how far away I move. That being said, growing up here wasn’t always easy and it’s authors like John Green and Jennifer Niven who aren’t afraid to explore that complexity even as they write a love letter to the midwest that produce works I can innately relate to. Leah Johnson with You Should See Me in a Crown is no exception. 

Leah Johnson so beautifully captures what it’s like to grow up in small town Indiana from how Indiana rich is a different kind of rich and the sunsets that nobody believes are worth the hype until they see it for themselves to the fact that there’s nothing to do but drive and dream about getting out. Prom in my town might not have been as big of an event as Campbell County but it was still a focal point of the school year. 

Liz Lighty is everything I could ever ask for in a heroine, she’s flawed and insecure but strong where it counts and watching her flourish in ways she didn’t expect and seeing her truly accept herself even in the face of people not accepting her was just what I needed. 

If you’re looking for some wholesome midwestern Black Girl Joy in your next read look no further than You Sould See Me in a Crown because Leah Johnson is one to watch and I can’t wait to see what she does next.

Keep reading for just a few of my favorite quotes!  

Spring in Indiana is an unpredictable thing. You’re just as likely to get caught in an aggressive snowstorm as you are to need to strip down to a tank top and booty shorts because it’s too hot to wear anything else. And then sometimes, on days like today, you’ll start the day with a cloudless sky, and by the time you hop off your bike outside your part-time job, you’re drenched to the bone from a surprise thunderstorm.

High school friend groups are something like an ensemble in that way. My friends are certified oddballs, the inkblots on an otherwise pure white page, and it’s why we work together so well. Because as long as they’re my people, as long as they’re the ones on my left and my right, sometimes I can forget that I don’t fit in anywhere else in this town.

I don’t believe in fairy tales and love at first sight and all that, but for just a second, I think this girl and those eyes and the way her freckles dot the entire expanse of her face are cute enough to make a believer out of me.

For her, there is always a way if her will is formidable enough. Though she be little, she is fierce. Or whatever it is they say about short girls with big personalities.

I already know what it would be like for me to be out and proud in a place like Campbell County, Indiana. Silence and shame aren’t the same thing—not by a longshot. But sometimes silence is simpler. 

If there’s one thing I understand, it’s feeling stifled by the place we live and the people who live here. But I also understand the other part, the part of Campbell that is charming and beautiful, though I feel it less often.

“And if Princess Leia were a black girl from central Indiana with amazing taste in music and even better taste in shoes, I have to say, I think the franchise might actually then be worth all the sequels and prequels and reboots.”

She is smiling this heart-stopping smile, and I’m convinced that this is how I die. Kissing Amanda McCarthy on a sidewalk in front of a pizza place. I nod anyway, because honestly, if I’m gonna die, I want to die having said yes to her as many times as I can. 

“Whatever you do, don’t let this place take it away from you. Campbell ruins good people.”

For all his posturing and prom kingliness, Jordan is still so much like that kid I used to know. He’s still soft in all the places that this school, this town has tried to make rough.

I look out at the way the sun is disappearing behind the farthest edge of the field and practically setting the whole thing fire, and I am reminded that there are some things in this town that will never cease to take my breath away.

Standing outside Jordan’s house reminds me that Indiana rich is a different kind of rich. It’s not like New York wealth with fancy penthouses on Park Avenue, or LA rich with garages full of luxury SUVs and sprawling ranch houses in Hollywood Hills. Indiana rich is a little quieter but no less impressive to me.

My face isn’t pressed to the glass, wondering what’s going on inside with all my classmates. I’m right here, right in the center of it all. I’m not just The Black Girl or The Girl with the Dead Mother or The Poor Girl. I’m Liz Lighty, and I’m all of that, but suddenly, that doesn’t seem like such a bad thing.

It’s not my fault no one thought to make a rule about profanity. For people so serious about a tradition, they sure don’t look too closely at their own fine print.

“Did you know you have the chance to be the first black queen in Campbell history?” I swallow. I did know that. Of course I know that. But I don’t like it being held against me. I don’t like the implication in her tone. You could make history if you just follow our rules. You could be a real credit to your people if you just straighten up and fly right. You could actually be worth something if you would shut up and take what we give you. And I know then what I’ve always known: Campbell is never going to make a space for me to fit. I’m going to have to demand it.

Loyalty between lifelong friends is complicated and runs deep. More deeply, even, than I think you realize, until just how different you and your friends have become is practically unavoidable.

This whole race is set up to mimic some twisted fairy tale. The queen is supposed to be the best among us: the smartest, the most beautiful, the worthiest. But the people who win are rarely the people who deserve it. Like with any monarchy, they’re just the closest to the top. You don’t earn queen; you inherit it.”

It’s the weight, the impact, of being different in a town that hasn’t learned how to hold us close and refuses to treat every part of us with as much care as we deserve.

It’s why I loved him so much all those years ago, because he’s sometimes vulnerable and always honest, and the warmth I feel for him in this moment is proof of every good thought I’ve ever had about him. Flaws and fears and mistakes all, he is every bit the friend I need him to be right now.

We’re clinging to each other like lifelines, because in so many ways, we are. And we always have been. We’re going to make mistakes. But we’re also going to find our way back to each other.

It isn’t often people get the things they deserve, but Jordan deserves this. If king and queen are really what Madame Simoné says—that they represent the best of what Campbell has to offer—then this was always his to win. He’s the best Campbell has to offer.

[weirdconnections]

On Finn, Poe and Rey(lo) - TROS aftermath

I’m writing this post because I’m a Reylo shipper and I’m tired of receiving hate from the Stormpilot/Finnrey shippers who say Reylos don’t care about Poe and Finn.

I’m gonna be 100% honest and tell you that I didn’t even ship reylo until after TLJ. My first ship for this new trilogy was Stormpilot and I was completely sold on it from The Force Awakens. And I also believed prior to watching TFA that Finn would be the new generation Jedi of this trilogy and the protagonist of this story.

I was not disappointed to learn that Rey was the new Jedi because I loved the idea of finally exploring a female Jedi, but I was kinda disappointed to learn that Finn had no apparent connections to the force.

This being said, the one thing I love about TROS is that they made Finn force sensitive canon, which is something TFA clearly set up and in The Last Jedi we didn’t get a chance to explore it much.

With that in mind, TLJ surprised me a lot, and even though Reylo was the surprise I loved the most, I hated how they made Rose Finn’s love interest as a way o putting Stormpilot on a grave once and for all. In spite of this, TLJ helped establish some great character arcs for Finn and Poe which defined their objectives and goals for the next movie.

Going into TROS I was totally sold on Reylo but I was still longing for Stormpilot. Even though I knew that Disney would not make it canon or even hint at a romantic relationship between the two,  I still had hopes that this would be a satisfying movie in terms of exploring the trio’s relationship, and that it would be interesting to see their dynamic now that Finn had a concrete purpose on the narrative which diverged totally from what we thought he had before. He was no longer in the game to either help Poe or Rey, he was in it for himself and he truly believed the rebellion’s cause.

I was excited to see the trio’s relationship grow and to see how profound their bond was now that over a year had passed after the events of TLJ. This was something that disappointed me a lot in TROS.  The first scene between the three of them is very good example on how this movie failed completely at making us invested in their friendship. Rey cannot stand Poe’s imperative and impulsive decisions and Finn is simply stuck in the middle because he had nowhere else to be.

Finn doesn’t have any agency in this movie, his sole purpose is to go along with everything Poe and Rey say. The scene where Poe makes him general is great but also makes me angry that Finn is only promoted when Poe has no one else to turn to. And here’s where I think JJ failed the most with these characters:

The Last Jedi established that Poe could be a great leader If he only put his mind into strategy instead of impulsiveness and if he allowed others to share their ideas for a better solution instead of following his own gut and blowing stuff up just because.

Finn on the other hand learned that war is a double edged sword and you can’t fight something without the purpose of saving what you love because then you are not better than the bad guys and you are simply participating in a system designed to exploit and inflict suffering on others, justified by whatever side you’re on.

Both of these characters had massive potential in becoming great heroes, alongside Rey, who finally becomes a powerful Jedi and who is now ready to fight for the Resistance. Finn should have been Poe’s voice of reason, advising him on battles and thinking of ways to enlist rebel Stormtroopers such as him to improve the Resistance’s numbers in the process. 

Honestly, I loved Jannah but I felt that she should have appeared much earlier in the story and that Finn should have been the one to introduce her and the other Stormtrooper defectors. A whole year passed and what had Finn been up to? Oh yeah, he was stuck in the middle of Poe and Rey’s childish spats.

As for Poe I believe this character was simply badly written and he could have filled the same purpose on TROS without treating Rey like rebellious child who wants to play with magic instead of picking up a gun. Not to mention and they could have had a great friendship, since Poe was basically Leia’s second in command and I do not believe for a second she wouldn’t have explained to him how important was Rey’s training and how they could have strategized the Resistance moves way better with that in mind.

The scene where Rey tells them she knows how to find Exegol could have been 10x better if Poe had given us an indication of having had previous conversations with Rey about the Jedi and how they always helped in saving the f*cking Galaxy from evil. So he would throw in a “May the force be with us” line and you would know that these characters not only grew closer during the year that passed but that they also understand and respect each other. And the scene where Poe wants to leave Rey behind would not have existed at all because both Poe and Finn would have been shouting her name, worried for their friend’s safety going up against Kylo Ren, and the only reason he’d wanna leave would be because Finn (as the voice of reason) would have told him reluctantly that they had no other choice but to trust she would be able to handle herself, so they could go back to base. It would have given the scene a lot more emotional weight. And it would have prevented Finn from seeming like a lost puppy by shouting Rey’s name whenever he had the chance to. 

So yeah I ship both Reylo and Stormpilot. I respect Finnrey. 

I think TROS was very dissatisfying in terms of how they handled Finn and Poe’s characters. 

Finn deserved so much better as a character that was set up to be one of the main protagonists. He simply was not written this way at all. It feels like they simply didn’t care enough to give him a relevant plot within the movie which is infuriating because it would have been goddamn easy to link him with Jannah. And if they were going to rub in our faces that Stormpilot could never ever happen might as well have given him a love subplot with her, and I would have been fine with it because at least it would have given his character more depth. Not to mention the great stormtrooper desertor’s cause that he could have been the leader of.

As for Poe, I would have loved to see him care more about Rey and to have more understanding of how the Jedi always influenced the previous and current wars. Leia was sister to Luke Skywalker, the myth, the legend. You cannot tell me Poe would not have been interested in knowing more about the force with blatant evidence to confirm that the Dark Side always represented the oppressive regime the Resistance/Light Side fought against.   It would have been great to see this as a part of their strategy not only because Rey was the one with the secret Jedi texts that led them to Exegol but because he also had faith in the force and learned to trust in it and much as in his X-wing canons. This would have made Leia so proud because it was exactly was she was trying to teach him in the previous movie.

That’s my take on the trio and TROS, guys.

 Let me know your own thoughts!

[serendipitousrambles]

Comic Con

Married Mileven going to comic con

Thank you Nicole (@proud-princess-el-wheeler aka @puzzlingsnark ) for this prompt

I. 1986

“Come on, Mike!”

Hand in hand, Mike and El ran through the crowd at the mall - well, more like El dragging Mike by his hand. Every so often she glanced back at him to check he was still there, and he reassured her with a smile.

For the first time ever in Starcourt mall's brief but very interesting history (a certain mishap last summer resulting in major repair operations that the party have absolutely nothing to do with at all), there was going to be a comic convention that people started shortening to “Comic con”.

Mike had heard of one in San Diego but never dreamed the small town of Hawkins would ever have one. The mall had been closed especially for the event, and it was all the party could talk about for months.

They had originally planned on going as Star Wars characters but Dustin insisted on being Ferris Bueller after the movie came out. Lucas and (after much persuasion) Max changed their minds also after a trip to the movies and went as characters from the movie Aliens with Max in a badly made alien costume and Lucas “borrowing” equipment in the basement from Vietnam.

Will wanted to represent DnD and went as “Will the Wise” thanks to Joyce's incredible sewing skills.

That left just Mike and El. She was desperate to be Princess Leia after watching the movies and couldn't think of anything better to do with her new longer hair than massive buns on the side of her head. Mike was hesitant at first to be Han Solo because he didn't think he was “cool” enough to be Han. But to El he was the cooler than Han, so why shouldn't he be Han Solo?

So after one too many photos by Mrs Wheeler, they ended up outside the mall. Immediately the party splitted up, Max and Lucas hitting up the video game section, Will and Dustin heading over to the comics and graphic novels, leaving Mike and El to wander around together. El didn't know what to see, and she ran between stalls making sure she saw everything.

Mike gladly followed in tow, just happy to be wherever El was. But after a while he noticed her step had lost a little spring.

“El, are you ok?” He stopped her in front of a stall selling weird bobbleheads.

She looked around and sighed. “I guess I'm a little... disappointed.”

“Why?”

“I thought we'd get to meet real stars. Like the people on TV and in the movies.”

Mike nodded, the line up wasn't exactly amazing. There were seriously people like 3rd stormtrooper or from some obscure 1960s show that no one knew. He was a little disappointed as well.

“I mean...this is only Hawkins. All the movie stars are in California.”

“Nothing ever happens here…” El sighed, before sharing a knowing look with Mike.

“Nothing at all…”

It was then that Mike made a promise to himself. He was going to take El to the real Comic Con. He didn't know when or how, but one day...one day.

II. 1996

“This isn't real. This can't be real!” El shrieked, grabbing Mike by the neck and pulling him down to her.

“I did good?” He asked, looking at her beaming face.

“You did the best!” she finally let go and instead reached for his hand. She felt the new matching ring on his finger, the most recent and important promise they'd made to each other.

He'd surprised her with a trip to San Diego for their honeymoon. Since the age of about 15, he knew he was going to marry El, and he knew she'd need the best honeymoon he could think of. It'd been years in the making but finally he decided on San Diego, remembering the promise he'd made himself all those years ago.

“I thought we could have a do over of our first comic con.” He smiled, showing her the Han and Leia costumes he'd packed. Just like the first time.

This time, the crowds were larger, the stalls were bigger. But what El was most excited about was the idea of meeting celebrities.

There were a few actors from the Star Trek TV show (Mike wasn't as excited as El...he still preferred Star Wars), there were some comic book creators like Stan Lee (Dustin would be so jealous when he saw their autographed edition of Spiderman), and even some actors from that soap opera El watches while Mike falls asleep on the couch still holding her tightly.

It was one of the best weekends of El's life, but what made it special was having Mike there to share it with.

III. 2006

“Hurry up dad!”

Mike was pulled through the crowd by his 9 year old daughter, her little hand gripping his tightly. His other hand was trying to support his 7 year old son who was clinging on to his back, almost choking him with a death grip around his neck. El followed behind, making sure they didn't get lost in the crowd.

Once again comic con had rolled into town, and he'd promised he'd take Sarah and James one day.

He knew this year had to be the year, as the kids from that movie... what was it? The one with the Wizards that Sarah and James were obsessed with? Those kids were supposed to be there.

A flight to San Diego from Indianapolis with a 9 and 7 year old wasn't the best idea Mike had ever had but somehow they'd managed.

“Come on we can't miss it!” Sarah Wheeler tugged on her dad's arm, desperate to find the line to meet the actors.

She had dressed up specially, her naturally curly hair perfect for her favourite character Hermione. Likewise, James had inherited his father's black messy hair, resulting in the perfect mop for Harry Potter - his hero.

Their grandma Joyce had made them wizard robes just like the ones in the movies.

Mike and El however dressed like characters from Lord of the Rings. (El was hoping to meet Orlando Bloom - much to Mike's excitement…)

It had been 20 years since their first experience with comic con, but Mike made sure every time was better than the last.

[cambridgewritersworkshop]

  https://twitter.com/carriganak/status/873986775768866816

I recently moved to the D.C. area for a new job, and one of the things I was most excited about with the area was the opportunity to see and do new things in a large city. Living in this area, I’d be able to see concerts, films, shows of all kinds, and the sort of social activism that I normally wouldn’t see in towns I lived in before. It wasn’t that I lived in places without these events and attitudes, but they weren’t to the scale that excited me.

I wasn’t able to go to the Women’s March back in January. I was in the midst of a move, and driving up to the area was a bad idea. I had to make due with looking at photos on Facebook of people I knew who were able to go, including members of my family. The only other social event I went to was the Climate Change March, but I ended up there accidentally and felt somewhat detached.

When I heard there was a march for LGBT+ rights, I knew I had to go. I knew that no matter what, I had to go. Last year, I started openly identifying as an LGBT man, and that openness made me want to start getting involved. I began watching more queer media, I started to go to LGBT+ events, and I wanted to start expressing myself in ways that allowed me to explore different facets of myself, both heterosexual and homosexual.

Thus, I prepared for the Equality March on June 11, 2017. First was assembling my marching look. I knew there would be people in much crazier outfits that I couldn’t seek to compete with, so I settled for a shirt I got from Charlottesville Pride 2016. I had some beads I got from the Pride Parade the day before (and from other Pride/LGBT+ events in the last year or so), and I had some buttons I got from the Cambridge Writers’ Workshop’s Writers in Resistance reading at AWP 2017. I also had some nail polish for my fingers, mostly cause I like how my nails look painted, and I did eye black with some red lipstick I had, paying slight homage to Shoshanna from Inglourious Basterds.

The most important part of it all (aside from sunscreen, sunglasses, and water) was the sign. I knew I wanted a sign to carry. Signs stood out, signs get photographed in crowd shots, and they’re also just really fun to make. I wanted to make one that referenced queer media, mostly cause I’m a total nerd, but also because I knew these were the people who would understand whatever I put on there. I had spent months going back and forth on what to do. I had considered Venus Extravaganza’s famous line “You’re just an overgrown orangutan” from the film Paris is Burning, as well as Trinity Taylor’s “I call ‘Shade!'” line from season 9 of RuPaul’s Drag Race. I knew pieces like these would be popular and seen throughout the march, but I mostly changed my mind because of my extremely limited artistic abilities. Plus, I saw someone else do the Trinity Taylor one, and they had a much better looking sign.

https://twitter.com/RuPaulsDragRace/status/873959964410167298

I finally settled on a line that wouldn’t raise any concern from the elderly, conservative neighbors in the new apartment I just moved into: “Not today, Satan!” The line was uttered by drag queen Bianca Del Rio in season 6 of RuPaul’s Drag Race. For those who don’t know, Bianca is a drag insult comic who has described herself as “Don Rickles, but in a dress, and prettier and not as old.” After winning season 6, she became one of the more known subversive comics in LGBT+ media. No one is safe at a Bianca Del Rio show. Everyone will probably be offended by a few jokes, but find themselves laughing at them anyways. Bianca Del Rio is the kind of person I admire because of her ability to say whatever she wants, make it funny, and show enough intelligence, wit, class, and soul that she ascends most insecurities and can float through the most ugly of situations with her head on right and zero fucks to give.

So naturally, she was the perfect person to emulate for this march. Also, because fire is way easier to draw than a human being.

Getting to the march, I was worried about the responses I’d get on the bus or the subway. Fortunately, everone on the bus didn’t care, and when I got to the subway, I saw more people heading to the march, so I was in good company. I even got to chat with a nice girl named Miriam on the way there. I wish I didn’t lose her upon arriving, because she was a very smart and kind person who would have been a good friend to make at the event. And after all, I had just moved to the area, so I am up for making new connections.

Once I joined the line and we started to march, that’s when the rush came in. I got a taste of it in the Climate Change March, but I really felt it here. I walked with all kinds of queer individuals from all over the country. I saw people from Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, and even from outside the country. I saw people who were calling out members of the Trump administration, such as Jeff Sessions, Betsy DeVos, and Jared Kushner.

And like me, I saw a lot of people taking various figures as icons for the march. Not only did I see other RuPaul’s Drag Race queens represented via signs, I saw signs using images of figures like Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia, The Babadook, and more. Even the sign I chose resonated with a lot of people. Not only did people ask me to let them take my picture (which allowed me to show off my Bianca Del Rio bitchface), but I also had people look at me and cheer “Not today, Satan!” to which I shouted back “Not today!”

What I also found interesting was the chosen route and how it related to the march. Along the way, we walked past the White House. I could see figures on the roof, no doubt wanting to see if anyone would go too far with the march. People would stop on the march, look out the White House, and chant things like “Shame! Shame! Shame!” The whole way, I could also see notable Washington D.C. monuments like the Washington Memorial, and the Capitol Building, which is where the march ended.

https://twitter.com/carriganak/status/873986709733724161

What I took away from this event (aside from a bit of sunburn) was a perfect blend of social activism, popular culture, meme theory, and historical relevance. I saw men, women, and children from all over the nation marching together for the sake of equality and to fight against a system that would try to install a travel ban and would pull out of the Paris agreement. I saw the use of images used in creative ways and to play with the idea of icons.

But what I mostly felt was proud. I felt like every person I saw with a stitch of rainbow on them was a friend. I felt so comfortable and joyous surrounded by all kinds of people who were so comfortable expressing themselves and using that expression to call for change. I saw gay couples holding hands, I say gay couples walking with their children, I saw people of various races and creeds coming together to make a stand. And through all of that, I felt so much bigger than I am, and it made me want to continue to be a part of this community. It made me want to pay attention to these matters, and it made me want to be willing to get out of my home and do something about these issues.

I really hope to do more with the D.C. gay community in the future, even if it’s just going to a drag show in the city. At the very least, I hope something like this happens again next year, because I would love more time to prepare something fun and exciting for the march.

And if anyone tries to stop me, I’ll just say “Not today, Satan! Not today.”

— Alexander Carrigan, CWW Manager

  Pride Month: CWW Manager Alex Carrigan on Washington D.C.’s Equality March I recently moved to the D.C. area for a new job, and one of the things I was most excited about with the area was the opportunity to see and do new things in a large city.