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lastsonlost · 8 years ago

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Wonder Woman is a feminist. She’s certainly been considered an icon of feminism at different times throughout her 76-year career. In the early ’40s, when she first debuted in All-American Comics, she freed herself from chains, a symbol used by the suffragists to represent patriarchy. When Ms. launched in 1972, Wonder Woman graced its cover, solidifying her place as a feminist figure.

Now that the female superhero has finally made it to the big screen, critics and audiences are asking whether Wonder Woman is a feminist film. But the question itself is problematic. For one, it makes “feminist” a subjective adjective. Also, it suggests there’s a monolithic Feminism, when really feminist movement encompasses innumerous feminisms in motion. The more inciting questions are: How does this film represent Wonder Woman? What’s missing from this representation? And, what does it say about this particular moment in time?

There’s no doubt that the film has already broken records. In its first week, it surpassed its $149 million budget by bringing in over $200 million globally. It had the biggest opening weekend ever for a female director (Patty Jenkins) and is the highest-grossing comic book superhero movie with a female lead. Gal Gadot, who plays Wonder Woman, will likely arrive in the prestigious list of female leads in a top-100 domestic grossing film.

These statistics, however, are more about the poor state of affairs for women in the industry than the film itself. For example, this is only the third time that a woman has ever directed a comic book movie, and the only time they’ve had a budget over $30M. We could count on a hand or two the number of famous female comic book superheroes, let alone the blockbusters made about them. Since 1996, four out of the top 10 highest-grossing films with female leads were cartoons. Hollywood is still in the dark ages when it comes to gender equality. This movie and its record numbers may help change that.

In a nutshell, the movie starts with Diana’s early life, before she is Wonder Woman, on the island of Themyscira, where only female warriors live. By the time her love interest Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) arrives, Diana is a young woman ready for battle. Trevor is from the U.S. but works for the British as a spy in World War I and must get back to London to save the day. Wonder Woman goes with him and the story unfolds.

Although it doesn’t go far enough, the film tries some things around race and representation, as seen in Steve’s motley crew of sidekicks. A Native American sidekick called Chief (Eugene Brave Rock) tells Diana, “The last war took everything from my people.” When she asks who took everything, he responds, “His people,” pointing to Steve. Later, Chief ends up communicating via smoke signals, which seems a bit trite, but having a Native American in Europe in the early 1900’s doesn’t just happen: it was a conscious decision by the filmmakers. Samir (Said Taghmaoui), an Arab character who wears a fez, tells Diana about his lost dreams: “I wanted to be an actor, but I was the wrong color.” This seems out of place and more about the filmmakers calling out Hollywood than about character development.

Wonder Woman no longer fights on behalf of U.S. imperialism, which is a big shift from the early comics and a welcome change, even if it’s likely more about wanting to capture global audiences than politics. In December, the UN voted Wonder Woman an honorary ambassador, but members protested and she was subsequently dropped. They felt that a white woman in a bustier was not a good role model for girls around the globe.

Indeed, there are many ways this film does not challenge the status quo. Without the first 15 minutes on the island, it wouldn’t pass the Bechdel Test. And it does nothing to challenge modern-day racist beauty standards.

Why couldn’t Wonder Woman be a woman of color? When it was announced that Gadot would play Wonder Woman, audiences went wild body shaming her for not having large enough breasts. One can only imagine the white supremacy that would have emerged had the announcement said instead that she would be played by a Black woman. On Paradise Island, there are Black warriors in addition to white ones, which is a good start, but other women of color are missing. Also, while the female warriors are strong and ass-kicking, they all have tall, thin body types and they all could be models on a runway. In fact, in a pivotal battle scene, Wonder Woman struts across the battlefield as if on a catwalk. As a result, their physical strength plays second fiddle to their beauty, upholding the notion that in order to access power women must be beautiful in a traditional way.

Especially with the body positivity movement gaining steam, the film could have spotlighted female warriors with fat, thick and short body types. While people have said that warriors can’t be fat, some of our best paid male athletes are, particularly linebackers on the football field, and no one doubts their physical strength.

Another problem is that the story’s overt queerness gets sublimated by heteronormativity. Diana comes from a separatist commune of women who have intentionally chosen to live without men. In one of the first scenes between Diana and Steve, she explains that she read 12 volumes of a series on sex that concluded that while men are required for reproduction, when it comes to female pleasure, they’re unnecessary. While a love story develops between them, a requirement in superhero stories, Diana thankfully doesn’t compromise her integrity for him.

In the end, Wonder Woman concludes that “only love can save the world.” While this may be true, I’ve never heard any other superhero say so. Why couldn’t Wonder Woman fight for justice and eliminate bad guys without having to in the end make it about love? Perhaps a more interesting question is: Why don’t male superheroes do the same?

While people argue that women are “feminine” and naturally more inclined to love, this thinking quickly slides into dangerous assumptions like women are more cut out for caring for children and processing feelings. This gender essentialism not only keeps women in the home, it undercuts men’s emotional and creative capabilities. It also reflects the current double standard that women can have it all, but in order to do so we have to work harder than everyone else and carry it all on our shoulders.

Like Wonder Woman, we have to lead on the battlefield and be the ones responsible for the emotional well-being of the family, community and world.

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phynxrizng · 8 years ago

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BELTANE HISTORY

Humanities › Religion & Spirituality

Beltane History - Celebrating May Day

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Beltane is a great way to celebrate the fertility of spring.

SOURCE, THOUGHT CO .COM

by Patti Wigington

Updated March 31, 2016

THE FIRES OF TARA

Beltane kicks off the merry month of May, and has a long history. This fire festival is celebrated on May 1 with bonfires, Maypoles, dancing, and lots of good old fashioned sexual energy. The Celts honored the fertility of the gods with gifts and offerings, sometimes including animal or human sacrifice. Cattle were driven through the smoke of the balefires, and blessed with health and fertility for the coming year.

In Ireland, the fires of Tara were the first ones lit every year at Beltane, and all other fires were lit with a flame from Tara.

ROMAN INFLUENCES The Romans, always known for celebrating holidays in a big way, spent the first day of May paying tribute to their Lares, the gods of their household. They also celebrated the Floralia, or festival of flowers, which consisted of three days of unbridled sexual activity. Participants wore flowers in their hair (much like May Day celebrants later on), and there were plays, songs, and dances. At the end of the festivities, animals were set loose inside the Circus Maximus, and beans were scattered around to ensure fertility. The fire festival of Bona Dea was also celebrated on May 2nd.

A PAGAN MARTYR

May 6 is the day of Eyvind Kelda, or Eyvind Kelve, in Norse celebrations. Eyvind Kelda was a Norwegian martyr who was tortured and drowned on the orders of King Olaf Tryggvason for refusing to give up his Pagan beliefs. A week later, Norwegians celebrate the Festival of the Midnight Sun, which pays tribute to the Norse sun goddess. This festival marks the beginning of ten straight weeks without darkness.

THE GREEKS AND PLYNTERIA

Also in May, the Greeks celebrated the Plynteria in honor of Athena, the goddess of wisdom and battle, and the patroness of the city of Athens (which was named after her). The Plynteria includes the ritual cleansing of Athena’s statue, along with feasting and prayers in the Parthenon. On the 24th, homage is paid to the Greek moon-goddess Artemis (goddess of the hunt and of wild animals). Artemis is a lunar goddess, equivalent to the Roman moon-goddess Diana – she is also identified with Luna, and Hecate.

THE GREEN MAN EMERGES

A number of pre-Christian figures are associated with the month of May, and subsequently Beltane. The entity known as the Green Man, strongly related to Cernunnos, is often found in the legends and lore of the British Isles, and is a masculine face covered in leaves and shrubbery. In some parts of England, a Green Man is carried through town in a wicker cage as the townsfolk welcome the beginning of summer. Impressions of the Green Man’s face can be found in the ornamentation of many of Europe’s older cathedrals, despite edicts from local bishops forbidding stonemasons from including such pagan imagery.

JACK-IN-THE-GREEN

A related character is Jack-in-the-Green, a spirit of the greenwood. References to Jack appear in British literature back as far as the late sixteenth century. Sir James Frazer associates the figure with mummers and the celebration of the life force of trees.

Jack-in-the-Green was seen even in the Victorian era, when he was associated with soot-faced chimney sweeps. At this time, Jack was framed in a structure of wicker and covered with leaves, and surrounded by Morris dancers. Some scholars suggest that Jack may have been a ancestor to the legend of Robin Hood.

ANCIENT SYMBOLS, MODERN RITES

Today's Pagans celebrate Beltane much like their ancestors did. A Beltane ritual usually involves lots of fertility symbols, including the obviously-phallic Maypole dance. The Maypole is a tall pole decorated with flowers and hanging ribbons, which are woven into intricate pattern by a group of dancers. Weaving in and out, the ribbons are eventually knotted together by the time the dancers reach the end.

In some Wiccan traditions, Beltane is a day in which the May Queen and the Queen of Winter battle one another for supremacy.

In this rite, borrowed from practices on the Isle of Man, each queen has a band of supporters. On the morning of May 1, the two companies battle it out, ultimately trying to win victory for their queen. If the May Queen is captured by her enemies, she must be ransomed before her followers can get her back.

There are some who believe Beltane is a time for the faeries -- the appearance of flowers around this time of year heralds the beginning of summer and shows us that the fae are hard at work. In early folklore, to enter the realm of faeries is a dangerous step -- and yet the more helpful deeds of the fae should always be acknowledged and appreciated. If you believe in faeries, Beltane is a good time to leave out food and other treats for them in your garden or yard.

For many contemporary Pagans, Beltane is a time for planting and sowing of seeds -- again, the fertility theme appears. The buds and flowers of early May bring to mind the endless cycle of birth, growth, death and rebirth that we see in the earth. Certain trees are associated with May Day, such as the Ash, Oak and Hawthorn. In Norse legend, the god Odin hung from an Ash tree for nine days, and it later became known as the World Tree, Yggdrasil.

If you've been wanting to bring abundance and fertility of any sort into your life -- whether you're looking to conceive a child, enjoy fruitfulness in your career or creative endeavors, or just see your garden bloom -- Beltane is the perfect time for magical workings related to any type of prosperity.

Humanities › Religion & Spirituality All About Beltane

Celebrating the Fertility of Spring

by Patti Wigington

Updated April 04, 2017

April's showers have given way to rich and fertile earth, and as the land greens, there are few celebrations as representative of fertility as Beltane. Observed on May 1st (or October 31 - November 1 for our Southern Hemisphere readers), festivities typically begin the evening before, on the last night of April. It's a time to welcome the abundance of the fertile earth, and a day that has a long (and sometimes scandalous) history.

Depending on your tradition, there are a number of ways you can celebrate this Sabbat.

RITUALS AND CEREMONIES

There are many different ways you can celebrate Beltane, but the focus is nearly always on fertility. It's the time when the earth mother opens up to the fertility god, and their union brings about healthy livestock, strong crops, and new life all around.

Here are a few rituals you may want to think about trying—and remember, any of them can be adapted for either a solitary practitioner or a small group, with just a little planning ahead.

Setting Up Your Beltane Altar:

Here's how to get started decorating your altar for the Beltane sabbat. Celebrate Beltane with a Maypole Dance: The Maypole dance is a time-honored tradition. Here's how to host your own! Beltane Bonfire Ritual - a group ceremony Hold a Family Abundance Rite for Beltane: Celebrate the abundance of the land with your family.

Honor the Sacred Feminine with a Goddess Ritual. Beltane Planting Ritual for Solitaries: If you're practicing solo, this simple planting ritual will get you into the spirit of the season. Handfastings and Weddings: Plenty of people are tying the knot during the Beltane season - be sure to read up on all the things you need to know!

BELTANE CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS

Interested in learning about some of the traditions behind the celebrations of May Day? Learn why the Romans had a big party, and who the popular fertility gods are.

Beltane History: Beltane has been observed for a long time - let's look at some of the history behind the tradition. Deities of Beltane: There are gods and goddesses from all over the world that are associated with the Beltane sabbat and the greening of the earth.

Maypole History:

Maypoles are for more than just a dance - they have a long and colorful history. Who Were the Mother Goddesses?

Who Is the Green Man?

The Green Man archetype is a well known one - but who is he, and why is he important? Cernunnos, the Wild God of the Forests: In Celtic legend, Cernunnos is the horned god of the forests, and is associated with the fertility of Beltane.

The Greek God, Pan

Morris Dances and Mummer's Plays: The British custom of Morris dancing and mummer plays is tied to the Beltane season.

Legends and Lore of Beltane

Legends of the Bees: Did you know bees are a popular topic of folklore and mythology? Let's look at some of the legends surrounding bees.

May 6: Honoring Eyvind Kelda

Floralia: The Roman May Day Celebration:

The Romans honored the goddess Flora during this time of year.

Walpurgisnacht

The May Queen vs. the Queen of Winter Faerie Lore Welcome Faeries to Your Garden

The Secret Language of Flowers:

In Victorian times, people sent each other secret messages using flowers to tell their story.

BELTANE MAGIC Beltane is a season of fertility and fire, and we often find this reflected in the magic of the season. Let's look at some of that spring magic, from ritual sex to fertility magic, along with the magic found in gardens and nature.

Ritual Sex and the Great Rite: Beltane is a time of passion and fertility, so for many people, it's a time for ritual sex. Here's what you need to know.

Fertility Magic and Customs:

There's a lot of folklore surrounding fertility. Let's look at some beliefs from around the world.

Chocolate and Sex:

Chocolate as an aphrodisiac? You bet! In fact, it's scientifically proven.

Make Magic in Your Garden

Sacred Plants of the Beltane Season: Let's look at some of the plants that are considered sacred to the Beltane season. Plant a Magical Moon Garden: If you're a night owl, consider planting a moon garden, full of fragrant plants that open and bloom at night.

The Magic of Dandelions:

Dandelions are everywhere in the spring, so let's look at some of the magic and folklore behind them

Reposted by, PHYNXRIZNG

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swissmissficrecs · 8 years ago

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50 Best Fics of 2016

2016 may go down as a terrible year by many counts, but in terms of fics it was terrific. It was seriously hard to narrow it down but I've compiled my 50 favorites that completed posting in 2016. (Previous years' lists are here: 2013 / 2014 / 2015) AUs tend to dominate this year's picks, but there's a strong secondary showing of post-series 3 fics. Overall, lots of angst and cases, historical fiction, science fiction and magic, a bit of humor, a smattering of fluff, and even a couple of genfics this time round, but by and large it's Johnlock front and center. With what has become my standard disclaimer: There are plenty of other fics that I loved, and even more that I simply didn't get around to reading (yet), so it's not a judgment if your favorite (or one you wrote) isn't on here. Think of this as a sampling rather than a definitive list. I hope this will help you to re-acquaint yourself with fics you loved, give a chance to others you may have skipped the first time round, and possibly discover something entirely new and astonishing.

And now, in descending order of length: Watson's Folly (299313 words) by dkwilliams, Diana Williams Rating: Mature Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Mycroft Holmes/Greg Lestrade, Sebastian Moran/James Moriarty Summary: John Watson, the new Earl of Saughton, is madly in love with the beautiful Mary Morstan. But he has returned from the Peninsular War to find his family on the brink of ruin and his ancestral home mortgaged to the hilt. He has little choice when he is introduced to Mycroft Holmes, a civil servant of apparently unlimited wealth and no social ambitions for himself - but with his eyes firmly fixed on a suitable match for his only brother, the unorthodox and irascible Omega Sherlock Holmes. Can John forget the woman he loved and find happiness with a man so very different from his lost love? The Omega Sutra (275366 words) by Ghislainem70 Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Mycroft Holmes/Greg Lestrade, Sherlock Holmes/Original Male Character Summary: In an Omegaverse/Angels & Demons AU, Sherlock Holmes has a secret life. John Watson shouldn't want to be part of it. But they'll go through heaven and hell to keep each other. Johnlock and Mystrade caught up in the eternal battle of angels and demons for supremacy. The Case of the Green Gown (209247 words) by splix Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Mary Morstan/John Watson Summary: ...Watson had at that time deserted me for a wife, the only selfish action which I can recall in our association. I was alone. ---Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier At Night In The Floating World (207101 words) by PoppyAlexander Rating: Mature Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Sherlock Holmes/Jim Moriarty, Molly Hooper/Greg Lestrade Summary: "Xie [...] had invented an entire pleasure-industry by combining superior visual aesthetics with impeccable personal attention. Drasha salons were by that time a feature of any even half-decent house of repose in every pleasure district in the British Isles, but once upon a time, when Xie debuted, there had been only one, and Xie had named it: the Icehouse." * Deep-cover Unity operative, the Face, finds himself drawn into the orbit of the otherworldly Xie, a world-famous "drasha" (drag+geisha) artist in a London house of repose. As a resistance plot unfolds, the secrets each of them keeps will draw them together even as they threaten to drive them apart. Modern-day dystopian/one-world government/espionage/geisha!lock AU All the Best and Brightest Creatures (188426 words) by wordstrings Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: Sherlock sent Jim Moriarty to prison for killing Carl Powers at age ten. This is the story of the consequences. Emperor Tales of the Frozen South (153593 words) by cwb Rating: Mature Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: At the bottom of the world, two intrepid explorers make their way in the harshest of environments. An important journey must be taken, and prophecies fulfilled, but not before family meddling, political interference, and self-doubt threaten to alter the future of an entire species. If you know me at all, you know that this had to be done. A Fold in the Universe (152811 words) by darkest_bird Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Greg Lestrade/Molly Hooper, Mycroft Holmes/Anthea Summary: Alpha Sherlock and Omega John are in a relationship. Prime Sherlock and Prime John are not. So what happens when a freak fold in the universe switches one John for the other? The Horse and his Doctor (128999 words) by khorazir Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: Invalided after a run in with a poacher in Siberia, veterinary surgeon John Watson finds it difficult to acclimatise to the mundanity of London life. Things change when a friend invites him along to a local animal shelter and he meets their latest acquisition, a trouble-making Frisian with the strangest eyes and even stranger quirks John has ever encountered in a horse. October to Hogmanay (127318 words) by snorklepie Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Mycroft Holmes/Original Character Summary: “What are we, now?” John mused aloud, once they were in a cab heading back to Baker street. It was a cool, damp afternoon and Sherlock was studying the passers-by with detached interest. He glanced over at John with a raised eyebrow, his fingers idly worrying at one of the buttons on his coat. “Nothing seems quite right. What would you call me, if somebody asked?” John waved a hand vaguely at the space between them. “What do we call… this?” Sherlock stared at him for quite a while, his brow furrowed. John began to feel a little self conscious. The taxi lurched as they turned a sharp corner, and he flung out his arm to steady himself. Sherlock caught his wrist, and held tight. “Everything.” Sherlock said quietly, and after a moment he let go and resumed his study of the streets outside. John barely even heard the words, he said them so softly. “Everything. That’s what you are.” John stared at Sherlock’s profile against the cab window and exhaled slowly. After a long moment, he reached out and touched Sherlock’s long fingers where they were fiddling with the button on his coat. The tall man didn’t look around again, but his fingers slowly unfurled before curling deliberately around John’s hand. Against All Odds (125971 words) by ravenscar Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: When a Crusader crosses paths with an enigmatic young Briton in the Holy Land, their lives are changed forever. A Further Sea (125518 words) by i_ship_an_armada, ShinySherlock Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Molly Hooper/Janine Summary: Here be a tale of adventure for both body and soul, but beware if ye be not of stout heart, for this be piratelock, ya savvy? Luckless ship's surgeon John Watson takes a chance, and finds himself eye to eye with The Ghost, the scourge of the seven seas and a definite thorn in the side of the blaggard, James Moriarty. But when John finds there's more to this most cunning pirate than be meetin' the eye, he has to choose--is it a pirate's life for him? Two Halves Make the Whole (117450 words) by alexxphoenix42 Rating: Mature Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Sherlock Holmes/OC, John Watson/OC, Mycroft Holmes/Greg Lestrade Summary: Only a few months after John and Sherlock became a "we," there's Sherlock's graduation, a short summer together, then a whole year apart with John still at Hogwarts. Why is life so damn unfair? The Beginning of Knowledge (106422 words) by ancientreader Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, minor Bill Murray/John Watson, past Sherlock Holmes/Jim Moriarty Summary: Jim's lessons are hard to unlearn. A Ritual to Read to Each Other (101463 words) by weeesi Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Mary Morstan/John Watson Summary: After Mycroft terminated his exile but before Sherlock could escape from the infuriating plane, John and Mary were whisked away by car to an unknown location. Sherlock hasn't seen them for an entire year. He doesn't know when he'll see John again -- until one day, he does. But, of course, nothing is simple. The Breaking Wheel (93259 words) by J_Baillier Rating: Mature Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: His immune system is decimating his nervous system - a civil war raging inside of him. Is there a reaction he's supposed to be having to this news, now? Something normal: cry, scream, pound the wall? Shake his fist at the uncaring universe? John can't stop this. An uncomfortable bed at some hospital ward isn't going to stop this. They keep telling him that this will most likely pass, but no one is answering the most important question: how will he be able to endure the uncertainty and the long wait? The Desire and Pursuit of the Whole (90997 words) by Holly Sykes Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: Britain, 1925. Sherlock Holmes – young detective, violin player and virtual misanthrope – has been hired by a mysterious and immensely wealthy man to find the missing manuscript of a contentious novel. John Watson - doctor, ex soldier and widower - is older and disillusioned. They meet on a rainy night in Sussex and from then on both their lives are changed forever. As their tentative friendship turns into a more intense relationship, Sherlock and John’s big adventure sees them end up in Venice, where the mystery is finally solved. Not Broken, Just Bent (87585 words) by Schmiezi Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Mary Morstan/John Watson Summary: "For a second, I allow myself to remember teaching John how to waltz. There is a special room in my mind palace for it. A big one, with a proper parquet dance floor. For a second, I go there. I remember holding him, closer than the World Dance Council asks for, excusing it with the fact that we are training for a wedding, not for a competition. For a second, I feel his hand on mine again, smell his sweat, hear the song we used. For a second, I allow myself to love him deeply. For a second, only a second, that love reflects on my face." Fix-it for S3, starting at the end of TSoT. Written from Sherlock's POV. If you like to see Mary as one of the good guys, you might want to stop reading right here. Sherlock, P.I. (83235 words) by Callie4180 Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Mary Morstan/John Watson Summary: For the Fall TV Sherlock fusion project. Sherlock, P.I. is an American television show that follows the exciting adventures of genius private investigator Sherlock Homes and his friends as they live their lives on the beautiful island of Oahu in Hawaii. Sherlock is a British expatriate, US citizen, and former agent for the US Naval Investigative Agency. His friends include Greg Lestrade, an ex-Navy Investigator and helicopter pilot; Molly Hooper, a former Navy Medical Examiner turned private beach club manager; and Sherlock's brother Mycroft Holmes, majordomo of the Masters Estate and well connected political and social figure. Sherlock solves crimes as he wrestles with the ghosts and demons of his past. The Song Nobody Knows (78669 words) by Laur Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Irene Adler/Harry Watson Summary: If Sherlock could take John Watson back to his cave, he would keep him alive as long as possible. He would collect rain water and sea weed and fish to feed him, and he would keep him warm with his soft feathers. In return John Watson would answer all of Sherlock’s questions. Yes, Sherlock would keep him, his own little mystery to unravel. Eventually, though, the human would die, as they always did, and Sherlock would have to eat him, like he always did. This was much more interesting. Underneath The Veil (73469 words) by Holly Sykes Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, John Watson/OMC (past) Summary: Lord Sherlock Holmes is a wealthy aristocrat who lives almost like a hermit and indulges in opium-eating and sporadic crime solving. One evening, in the throes of a drug-caused hallucination, he stumbles upon Doctor John Watson. It’s love at first sight for the still-virgin Sherlock, but he’s convinced the other man could never feel the same. When a renowned painter is killed, Sherlock convinces John to help him with the investigation and their friendship takes an unexpected turn. The Ground Beneath Your Feet (68803 words) by Chryse Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: Think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure. Another Country (67415 words) by Chryse Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: "In your case, solitary confinement is locking you up with your worst enemy." One month and three days, and what came after. The Doubtful Comforts of Human Love (61500 words) by PoppyAlexander Rating: Mature Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: or, The Adventure of the Red Shoes. UK Ballet principal dancer Sherlock Holmes and assistant rugby coach John Watson met and fell in love as ambitious, optimistic teenagers. Twenty years on, they are entering midlife, facing the break-down of their bodies and the ending of their careers, and contemplating what the future holds for two middle-aged men forced to start over. With a frightening crisis unfolding at the Ballet, Sherlock must balance the demands of his career, his friendships, and his marriage with his own struggle against bitterness and discontent, while John takes a long-overdue glance from the outside, in, and stutter-steps toward making a kind of peace. AU - ballet!lock/rugby!john A Very Long Acquaintance (60313 words) by Kate_Lear Rating: Mature Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: The story of a meeting, a separation, and a reunion. A Study in Spherification (58569 words) by mistyzeo Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: John Watson has been out of work for eighteen months after his last restaurant, Fifth Northumberland, burned to the ground in a kitchen accident. He's more than ready for a new project, but who wants to open a restaurant with a washed up celebrity chef who can't even hold a knife anymore? Lunar Landscapes (57045 words) by J_Baillier Rating: Mature Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Mary Morstan/John Watson Summary: An accident forces John to face the fact that Sherlock's downward spiral had started long before his flight to exile even left the tarmac. Wars We Fought, Things We're Not (55064 words) by blueink3 Rating: Mature Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: “Oh come, John. Could be fun,” Mycroft taunts, accompanied by an eyebrow arch he’s gotten far too good at. “Besides, it’s not as if it’s your first time pretending to be a couple.” Five months after John's world has fallen apart, Mycroft sends the consulting detective and his doctor on a case that neither is prepared for. Tarmac (54858 words) by whatdoyoumeanionlygetoneotp Rating: Mature Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, John Watson/Mary Morstan Summary: That's the thing about secrets, they tend to weigh an awful lot. Little secrets and little lies are nothing we can't carry, a few extra quid in your pocket. But big secrets, real secrets, the things that prey on you – those turn you into Atlas. He feels those three little words like bile at the back of his throat, corrosive. He doesn't say them. A fix-it starting from the end of hlv and ending up with a johnlock/parentlock situation. A whole lot of angst and pining in between. First-order Idiots (54565 words) by weweretold Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Molly Hooper/Greg Lestrade, James Sholto/John Watson Summary: At a conference, Sherlock Holmes, researcher in deductive reasoning at St. Bartholomew College of Engineering, meets John Watson, military robotics researcher at Polytechnical University of Kabul. "We’ve only just met and we’re going to work on a research grant proposal together?” “Problem?” Anchor Point (49841 words) by trickybonmot Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: The world tunes in nightly for Sherlock, the ultimate in reality TV: Sherlock Holmes, a real person with a legendary name, unknowingly lives out his life in a staged setting contrived by his brother. Things get complicated when a retired army doctor joins the show to play the part of Sherlock's closest friend. This fic borrows its concept from the 1998 film, the Truman Show. However, you don't need to have any knowledge of the movie to enjoy this story. Inscrutable to the Last (48843 words) by DiscordantWords Rating: Mature Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Mary Morstan/John Watson Summary: He wasn't Sherlock, he couldn't work miracles. All he'd ever been able to do was write about them. Giving All (46410 words) by BakerTumblings Rating: Mature Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: Not that long ago, Sherlock had said, "Mary and John: whatever it takes, whatever happens, from now on I swear I will always be there, always, for all three of you." He is keeping his vow. Following a catastrophic auto accident, John has been holding vigil at the hospital, where Mary is comatose in the ICU, and his premature daughter lies in the NICU. Sherlock is a constant presence at his side as John navigates a difficult situation and finds support in their friendship in solid, dependable ways. Out of great difficulties can bloom tiny wildflowers of hope. The hard situations in life can show the true strength of a person, and of a friendship. Sometimes, great loss is necessary before true love can emerge to be fully appreciated. Your Perfect Offering (44551 words) by CaitlinFairchild Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: “Sherlock,” John continues, careful and quiet. “I’ve seen your back. I know you were hurt. I don’t want to pry, I don’t want to cause you discomfort but...I’m starting to think something else happened there. In Serbia.” Sherlock rolls away and sits up on the edge of the bed, his back to John. “A great many things happened in Serbia,” he says, flat and remote. “None of them were pleasant.” The Seafarer; or, A Question of Time (40573 words) by DoubleNegative Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: “Put two ships in the open sea, without wind or tide, and, at last, they will come together. Throw two planets into space, and they will fall one on the other. Place two enemies in the midst of a crowd, and they will inevitably meet; it is a fatality, a question of time, that is all.” - Jules Verne The Indian Ocean, 1880: John H. Watson, MD, meets Sherlock Holmes and is deduced. Smile Like A Paper Cut (37708 words) by J_Baillier Rating: Mature Relationships: Sherlock Holmes & John Watson Summary: Many serial killers are capable of leading outwardly normal lives, hiding in plain sight as husbands, wives, scout leaders, doctors, policemen, soldiers and employers. What if Sherlock is one of them? And what if John discovers his secret? Captains of Industry (37135 words) by 221b_hound Rating: Mature Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Mycroft Holmes/Greg Lestrade, Sally Donovan/Molly Hooper Summary: Captains of Industry is the most hipster of Melbourne hipster cafes. It's bespoke suits, artisan shoes, sculpted facial hair and the most exquisite food and coffee all the way. Sherlock Holmes, Digital Security Consultant, has become a regular patron. And one day, perhaps one day soon, he will work out how to successfully flirt with the hot barista, John Watson. Leveling Up (36961 words) by philalethia Rating: Mature Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: John plays video games, Sherlock writes a guide on GameFAQs, and they get on quite well together... eventually. Told entirely through emails, text messages, and voice chats. The Boy Who Drank Stars (36191 words) by kinklock Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: “I’m looking for a castle,” John informed the scarecrow. “A moving one.” Except that, as it turned out, it was not a moving one at all The Missing Piece (35769 words) by suitesamba Rating: Mature Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, John Watson/Mary Morstan Summary: After Sherlock’s suicide, John struggles to understand exactly what Sherlock was to him, and why he is mourning so deeply and wholly. He accepts help from an unwanted source, and in time is able to reconcile his feelings and move on to love again - just in time for Sherlock to reappear, awakening in John all the old feelings, but this time, the missing piece of the puzzle as well, the one he’d been unconsciously suppressing before the fall. To complicate matters, he’s got a relationship that’s actually working, a wedding to plan, a bright future ahead of him rather like the one he dreamed of before Afghanistan. Before Sherlock. John has learned a lot about love in the years Sherlock’s been gone. The question is - how much has Sherlock learned? The Blue Light (31381 words) by Lorelei_Lee Rating: Mature Relationships: Sherlock Holmes & John Watson, Sherlock Holmes & Jim Moriarty, Sebastian Moran & Jim Moriarty Summary: Moriarty abducts Sherlock several times in a row, bringing him to a secret location where his victim is at his mercy. Thanks to a special drug cocktail, Sherlock has no memory of the abductions. But he begins acting strangely back home. So strangely that John finally notices... Heartaches By The Number - Compilation (30651 words) by iriswallpaper Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Mary Morstan/John Watson Summary: The London Sherlock returns to after his ‘resurrection’ is vastly different than what he’d expected. But he isn’t going to let that stop him from pursuing his old life, including John Watson. John’s engaged to a lovely nurse and has everything he thought he ever wanted. Then why can’t he stay out of his best friend’s bed? Mountebank (26514 words) by Odamaki Rating: Mature Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: “I am calm,” John snaps, leaning on the door to glare out at the dark streets around them. Sherlock’s not said where they’re going; all he knows is they came off the ring road to the west of London and have vanished somewhere into the depths of Berkshire. All he knows is that he’s been trussed up in a suit that wasn’t hired from anywhere and if brought new would edge up into the triple figure margins. “Be calmer,” Sherlock advises, with a trace of irony. “We’re going to a party.” Building Jerusalem (26426 words) by ampersand_ch Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: John finds out that Sherlock has more secrets from him than he ever imagined. The discovery threatens to destroy their relationship. the napoleon (24859 words) by darcylindbergh Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: Halloween, 1989: John and Sherlock both have big plans for the night, but some serial killers have the worst possible timing. Prince with a Thousand Enemies (21088 words) by DiscordantWords Rating: Mature Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Mary Morstan/John Watson Summary: There's a rabbit in the nursery. John isn't getting any texts. The Holiday (18962 words) by Scriblit Rating: Mature Characters: Sherlock Holmes, John Watson, Mycroft Holmes, Mrs. Hudson, Greg Lestrade, Molly Hooper, Mary Morstan, ACD Canon Characters Summary: A month following an horrific, sadistic attack during a case, Sherlock is still physically incapacitated and emotionally damaged. A holiday is suggested, but even stuck out in the middle of nowhere, he and John happen upon a case that could make Sherlock begin to feel like his old self again - or could kill him. BBC Sherlock Reworking of ACD's Devil's Foot, with Illustrious Client in flashbacks. Scenes of violence and implied "off screen" sexual violence/sexual assault. In Need of Quiet Affection and Gentle Words (16972 words) by kinklock Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: After John's girlfriend (of sorts) sends him an online sex guide, John finds himself more intrigued by the guide's author than anything his girlfriend might have had in mind. The Last Case of Dr. John Watson (14468 words) by Susan Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: If he really had less than twenty-four hours to live, was it too much to ask that it be sunny? Being poisoned and soaked to the skin on the same day seemed to John a bit of cosmic overkill. Sherlock's only hope of saving John is finding the antidote before it's too late. But where does he start? Coming of Age (13313 words) by 221b_careful_what_you_wish_for Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: It’s not easy growing up when your father is best friends with Sherlock Holmes. It’s even harder when you stumble across their secret. Oh, What a Night (Comic) by penumbra Rating: Mature Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: John and Sherlock go on a date. Hilarity, kissing, and egregious amounts of fluff ensue.

#best #rec list

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njawaidofficial · 8 years ago

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'Game of Thrones': Looking Ahead at Season 7's Royal Rumble

http://styleveryday.com/2017/07/03/game-of-thrones-looking-ahead-at-season-7s-royal-rumble/

'Game of Thrones': Looking Ahead at Season 7's Royal Rumble

Ever since the very beginning of Game of Thrones, the members of House Stark repeatedly issued an appropriately stark warning: “Winter is coming.” Those words no longer apply. Winter is here — and so is war.

The Emmy-winning fantasy epic returns this month for its seventh season, featuring a shortened order of seven episodes, as opposed to the traditional ten. What the latest round of Thrones lacks in episode number, it’s set to compensate with heated battle — literally heated, too, given the arrival of dragons in Westeros, and assuming a certain queen still has her hands on caches of wildfire.

While Thrones built its reputation on unpredictability, even the earliest days of the series offered a hint of what was eventually coming down the pike: tensions between Houses Stark, Lannister and Targaryen fully boiling over, with an inhuman threat pressing ever nearer all the while. As of the season six finale, we now know the main players in that impending conflict. Without further ado:

1. The Mad Queen

Like her father Tywin (Charles Dance) before her, Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) now stands tall in the Red Keep, poised to unleash her cruel tactics on anyone bold enough to challenge House Lannister. Unlike Tywin, Cersei actually sits upon the Iron Throne, the de facto Queen of Westeros following the suicide of her youngest son Tommen (Dean-Charles Chapman). Indeed, with all three of her children now dead, Cersei is completely free of her emotional anchor and moral center, such as those things ever existed.

Even before Tommen’s death, Cersei showed just how far she was willing to push it in the name of self-preservation, incinerating the entire Sept of Baelor and the thousands of people in the immediate vicinity just to kill a few enemies. Mission accomplished, but at what cost? The invoice will surely be paid in season seven, as Cersei enters the coming war with a crown on her head and wildfire in her arsenal, but lacking in numbers and trusted allies, certainly compared to her new adversaries. Even her lover and brother Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) can’t quite look her in the eye anymore. If any of the main warring parties stands a chance to fall before the end of season seven, Cersei is number one on the board.

Learn more about the Lannisters:

2. The Mother of Dragons

If you’re currently in King’s Landing, look east toward the Narrow Sea. There, you’ll see her: Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, Mother of Dragons, Breaker of Chains, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, etcetera etcetera, finally at Westeros’ doorstep and ready to take the Iron Throne back in her family’s honor.

It’s hard to root against Dany (Emilia Clarke), given everything we’ve watched the young warrior endure over the course of six seasons of Thrones. It’s wise to root for her, too, given all the assets she possesses, not the least of which is her impressive array of alliances with Lady Olenna (Diana Rigg) of Highgarden, Ellaria Sand (Indira Varma) of Dorne, and Yara Greyjoy (Gemma Whelan) of the Iron Islands. Her board of advisors is as reliable as it gets, too, including spy master Varys (Conleth Hill) and Hand of the Queen Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage), who possesses some unique insights into Daenerys’ most immediate foe.

Oh, and there are dragons. Heard about those? Sure you have. And that’s not even mentioning the Unsullied, Dothraki and Second Son soldiers who have signed on for Daenerys’ cause over the course of the series. Winning the Iron Throne won’t be as easy as it looks on paper, or else there wouldn’t need to be even thirteen more episodes of Game of Thrones. With that said, to borrow a phrase from another popular fantasy epic, the odds are ever in Dany’s favor.

Learn more about the Khaleesi:

3. The King in the North

The last time someone ran around Westeros under the title “King in the North,” it did not end so well. With that said, the new man in charge has already died once before. How much worse can it get?

Potentially, a lot worse: Jon Snow (Kit Harington), recently freed from his Night’s Watch obligations due to his aforementioned temporary death, now presides over Winterfell and the other houses of the North. His decisive victory over Ramsay Bolton (Iwan Rheon) during the Battle of the Bastards solidified Jon’s place as the rightful ruler of the Seven Kingdoms’ frostiest region, though some folks may disagree — folks like Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen) and perhaps even Sansa (Sophie Turner), both of whom looked less than thrilled with Jon’s appointment at the end of season six.

But Jon has a lot more on his plate than worrying about yet another insurrection. Really, he has an entirely new side of his family to start considering: House Targaryen, and not just in the form of Daenerys. In the season six finale, Bran (Isaac Hempstead Wright) discovered a secret that readers of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novels had suspected for a long time: Jon is secretly the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen, which means the brooding hero has both ice and fire coursing through his veins. Should make things interesting when Jon meets Aunt Dany and her dragons…

Learn more about Jon Snow:

4. The King in the North of the North

“If we don’t put aside our enmities and bound together, we will die, and then it won’t matter whose skeleton sits on the Iron Throne.”

Leave it to Davos Seaworth (Liam Cunningham) to once again be the voice of reason in the midst of chaotic times. His warning is beyond valid, as he and his fellow allies in the North already know all too well that the Night King and his army of White Walkers are steadily approaching Westeros. If Cersei, Daenerys and Jon are too focused fighting each other for supremacy over the Seven Kingdoms, they may as well be knocking down the Wall and letting the undead army into Westeros themselves.

Will the Night King’s army make landfall in Westeros before the end of season seven? Frankly, it feels more like final season business, but it’s not off the table. First, expect the Mad Queen, the Mother of Dragons and the King in the North to hash out their respective conflicts before the final great war begins.

Learn more about the White Walkers and their place in Westeros:

Follow THR’s Game of Thrones coverage all season long for news, interviews, analysis and more. Season seven premieres July 16.

Game of Thrones

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#7S #Ahead #Game #Royal #Rumble #Season #Thrones

#7s #Ahead #Game #Royal #Rumble #Season #Thrones

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browsersbooks · 8 years ago

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(via What’s Happening in America? Susan Sontag Sought to Find Out in 1966)

As we confront the inauguration of a bawdy President, indecorous, undignified and illiberal, many among us—American liberals in particular—have been tempted to ask: “What’s happening in America?” Susan Sontag, whose political prescience has been duly noted, asked and answered this same question 50 years ago. And her answers, laden with the intellectual acuity of all her work, offer some insight into our own sour present.

“What’s Happening in America?” began as a questionnaire distributed, per the editorial custom of the Partisan Review, among a number of the notable intellectuals of the time. These included many men and, other than Sontag, a single woman: Diana Trilling. “There is a good deal of anxiety about American life. In fact there is reason to fear that America may be entering moral and political crisis,” wrote the editors at the top of the document. The questions posed included, among others, “Does it matter who is in the White House?” and “Is white America committed to granting equality to the American Negro?” Responses were then published in the Partisan Review’s Winter 1967 issue. Sontag’s take begins with a repetition of the editors dire characterization of the present, presenting readers today a precedent for the apocalyptic flavor of our political moment. If the conscience of the nation seems moribund to our 2017 sensibilities, “What’s Happening in America?” reveals it to have been flailing for at least five decades. When Sontag submitted her response, the United States was in the midst of the Vietnam War; prettily titled operations with names like “Cedar Falls” were dropping bombs and killing thousands. Lyndon Johnson was President and Ronald Reagan Governor of California. The country was riven; the chasm between intellectuals and voters, liberals and conservatives, seemed then, like now, wider than ever.

Sontag’s characterization of 1966—she wrote the essay many months before it was published—is important for another reason, as calls for resistance to the new administration proliferate. She was adept, as revealed in her early opposition to the Vietnam War (and her bold trip to Hanoi even as it was underway), at carving out a position of dissent and non-complicity against even the most intractable milieu. It is that signature Sontag skill in which many of us need instruction today, and one which she supplies in the essay, underscoring at the outset that “everything one feels about this country is, or ought to be, conditioned by the awareness of American power, of America as the arch-imperium of the planet, holding man’s biological as well as historical future in its King Kong paws.”

This is an important exhortation, one whose application to the recent past and the recently arrived present would reveal that the imperium has persisted, differing in flavor but not ultimately in form. The outgoing Obama Administration, lauded now in part for its contrast against the garish and gaudy replacement, was sly in its use of America’s “King Kong paws,” raids and bombings and secret wars all an acknowledged part of its arsenal. Under Trump, King Kong promises to be ever more wild and unfettered, building walls, crushing and trampling with relish; in Sontag’s words “naked violence breaking through, throwing everything into question.”

If Sontag were alive, she may have noted that neither presidential candidate truly considered the nature of American power in the 2016 election. A less hawkish America was not a feature of Hillary Clinton’s political vision. This is a thorny fact to resurrect now, posited against the horror of a Trump presidency, but it remains a crucial one. In “The Third World of Women,” published in the Partisan Review six years after “What’s Happening in America?,” Sontag isolates as one of the failures of the women’s movement its inability to argue for a change in the nature of power itself. This would require not simply the transfer of a power subsistent on the structures of patriarchy to a female leader, but rather a complete dismantling of that system, so that its very character was changed. It is perhaps just this inability to re-conceptualize power itself that bears some relationship to the almost-but-never-quite nature of American women’s quest to get into the White House.

Today, President Elect Trump will be sworn in as the President of the United States and his cabinet, made up of the whitest and richest of America, will begin to run the country. And yet, tomorrow, thousands of women will march and protest in Washington D.C. to express their opposition to his flamboyant misogyny, his xenophobia, and his ascendance to the country’s leadership. Sontag famously said in an interview to the Paris Review that “feminist” was “one of the few labels [she was] content with.” She went on to ask, “Is it a noun? I doubt it.” These women marching on Washington inauguration weekend are doing feminism, insisting on it as a verb and not a noun—not dormant, nor a tame description to affix to this or that. Their commitment to its active meaning is likely to be tested in the days to come as the promises of Trump’s cohort of cronies seek to abridge reproductive choice, marriage equality, to cut funding for programs that have provided assistance to domestic violence shelters, women’s health initiatives, and many others. Each of these fights, and others not yet enumerated, will require continuing energy, continuing vigilance, continuing insistence on feminism as a verb.

In “What’s Happening in America?” Sontag also notes three historical facts that required confrontation before any analytical grasp of the “moral and political crisis” of 1966 was possible: that America was founded on genocide and on the “unquestioned right of white Europeans to exterminate” the indigenous population, that it had the most brutal system of slavery that did not “in a single respect recognize slaves as persons,” and, finally, that it was essentially peopled by a European underclass who were not, in their native Europe, cultural producers. As a result, she argues, after America was “won,” it was “filled up with new generations of the poor and built up according to the tawdry fantasy of the good life that culturally deprived, uprooted people might have at the beginning of the industrial era. And the country looks it.”

Condescending as it may be, Sontag’s assertion continues to resonate. Even before Trump was elected, comedian John Mulaney, appearing on the Seth Myers Show, joked that “Donald Trump is not a rich man, Donald Trump is like what a hobo imagines a rich man to be,” complete with “fine golden hair,” “tall buildings with [his] name on it” and a “TV show where [he fires] Gene Simmons with [his] children.” Mulaney was riffing, but in the months since others have picked up the track, pointing to the garish nature of Trump’s gold-laden rooms and conspicuous consumption as the core of his appeal to those who have little or nothing. Viewed in light of Sontag’s observations about the constitutive realities of America, Trump’s ascendance looks less like an aberration. It is instead the expected trajectory of a historical reality wherein Sontag’s three unacknowledged facts continue to determine the national mythos. Paths, after all, cannot be changed without a reckoning.

It is unsurprising that the tumult of the present, our collective chagrin at what is to come, has provoked a turning back—a re-reading of those who have come before, catalyzed by the belief that this perusal of intellectual history, of catastrophe’s endured, can provide some faint blueprint for the formulation of an ethical and active dissent. Sontag was searching too in “What is Happening in America?” considering one and then another avenue for hope. But hope was for her in 1966, as it is for us in 2017, elusive. Sontag located it in the young people of her time, whom she believed “understand that the whole structure of modern American man needs re-hauling” and that if “America is the culmination of white Western civilization” then “there must be something terribly wrong with white Western civilization.”

In this last prognostication, seeking hope in a burgeoning, youth-led re-thinking of America among the generation “not drawn to the stale truths of their elders,” Sontag may have been wrong. The young of 1966 are the old and older of now, but their vision—that brave re-configuration promised by the sexual revolution and by a turn to eastern mysticism and non-western forms of knowledge—never came to fruition. They may have, in the heady moments of youth, rejected the “stale truths of their elders,” but ultimately the same stale truths have been resurrected again: a disregard for racial equality, an insidious belief in the supremacy of whiteness, a disdain for foreign others, and a persistent faith in violence loom over many American baby boomers.

In the same Art of Ficiton interview in which she accepted the “feminist” label, Sontag also confessed that she sometimes began essays with the first lines, but others with the last. In “What’s Happening in America?” it is the next to last line that rings out most clearly, suggesting that it was perhaps Sontag’s first, generative thought. “This is a doomed country, it seems to me,” she writes. “I only pray that when America founders it doesn’t drag the rest of the planet down too.” Many Americans will be murmuring a similar prayer today.

Were she alive, January 16, 2017 would have been Sontag’s 84th birthday, but in its proximity to political catastrophe, it would not likely have been a very happy one.

#action #activism #feminism #imperialism #susansontag #trump #politics #america #2017 #notmypresident

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