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longinglook · 5 years ago

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I may or may not have spent my entire Sunday binge watching all of I told sunset about you and Gaya sa pelikula and now I have so many thoughts and feelings that I need to write about them so here we go! Under a read more (if tumblr allows me to) because it’s 2k words hehe

First of all, I knew next to nothing about both shows before starting them. I had seen a couple of gifs here and there, but really had no idea what I was in for.

I started with I told sunset about you, which has 3 episodes out of 5 out. All I knew is that it was going to be beautiful and possibly sad, and it was. Everything about this show is so high quality, from the audio to the dialogue to the locations to the acting, just wow. The production is better than a lot of movies I’ve seen, and every technical aspect is perfect. I am really loving the plot so far as well, I find the childhood friendship to stubborn rivalry to grown up friendship again very relatable. I think it’s a very common experience for a lot of non straight folks to develop an extremely close bond with a same sex friend when you’re too young to realize what you’re actually feeling for them until you’re a lot older and suddely the jealousy and possessivenes all make sense.

I love the recurring themes sprinkled throughout the episodes, starting from the chinese vocabulary that expresses the core thoughts of the two main characters: rival, intimacy, secret, male protagonist, as promised. They could easily be the episode titles, or the names of imaginary sections the show could be divided into. It’s a great way to integrate metaphors and deeper meaning into the plot.

That’s how most of the communication goes in this show, deep emotions are never conveyed through words because words are scary and loud and they can’t be taken back once they’re out there. The plot advances though stares and gestures and touch and gorgeous shots of the landscape. The pace is slow with hour-long episodes that could each be a movie of their own. This worried me a bit before starting, and I have to admit that at times I struggled to stay focused, especially during scenes that set the mood but don’t do much plot-wise. This is just a personal preference, though, and in no way I see it as a flaw.

The dancing around each other the main characters do, sometimes literal, is frustrating but it determines an emotional build up that’s just starting to reach its peak. This is one of those shows that has me screaming if only they talked to each other, but the silences and unspoken words are so well directed and acted that it works. I struggle a lot with keeping in mind that they’re still in high school, they’re very young and I can’t expect them to act rationally just yet.

I was really worried about Teh possibly going the insufferable Theory-of-love-khai way, and I am still not 100% sold on him. When he started helping Oh-aew again it felt like he was just doing it to make himself feel better about the whole thing. It was frustrating to see him so possessive and jealous while also so deeply in denial about his own feelings, to the point where he had me rooting for Bas instead. He was getting better, but then he fled at the end of episode 3 and now I have no clue what’s going to happen next. About this, I really have no idea if they’re going for a happy ending or a sad one. I’m really hoping it will be good, because so far there has been barely any emotional payoff for all the repressed longing and misunderstanding the show has put us through.

I do like their dynamic a lot though, I have a weak spot for childhood friends reconnecting and an ever weaker spot for informal mentor/mentee relationships. Oh-aew asking Teh to tutor him until he passes the admission exam was an almost exact mirror of Yuri on ice Yuri begging Victor to be his coach until he retires and I loved that a lot.

Now on to the one issue I have with this show: it feels too much like an art film. It reminds me of Moonlight and Call me by your name, in the way that I wasn’t able to connect with those movies because they are too perfect. They are so beautiful and carefully crafted that I can’t fully immerse myself in them. There’s a filter that stops me from relating to the characters and constantly reminds me that this is not reality. It’s pretty, it’s extremely well done, but it feels like art. It has some quirks, some scenes that feel too artificial. One scene in particular, the one where Teh buries his head in the paper Oh-aew wrote with his coconut scented pen to sniff it, which is a direct parallel to Call me by your name, bothered me in particular. Just as it felt over-the-top and purposefully weird in the movie, so it feels in the show. It’s a way of showcasing how a confused teen deals with attraction he barely understands, it’s raw and animalistic in a way, but it’s so quirky that all it accomplishes is to remind me that I’m watching an lgbt show. It makes me wonder if a scene like this would make sense in a straight relationship because here it seems to highlight how different and primal his attraction is. If I had to pinpoint it, I’d say that I have a problem with media showcasing queerness though peculiar, purposefully awkward scenes like these instead of normal kissing and cuddling.

Overall, I can’t wait to see how this show ends and I still think it’s one of the best bls to air in 2020, if not ever. It’s refreshing to see something with a big budget used well! So far my rating is 8/10, which I know is a lot lower than what everyone else seems to think but it’s still very much subject to change! Just hoping they won’t pull a Make our days count, but I doubt they’ll go there.

And now Gaya sa pelikula. Wow. Again, I knew next to nothing about this show before watching, and I was coming from a 3 hour I told sunset about you binge watch, so the bar was pretty high.

And boy, did this show deliver. I was blown away by the depth and the humor of it. It feels like the writers had fun taking all sorts of common tropes and stereotypes just to show everyone how well they can be evolved and made complex. Two strangers who somehow find themselves sharing an apartment sounds like the start of so many fanfictions out there, but it’s so well executed and interesting that you don’t even stop to think about how weak the premises for their meeting are. It doesn’t matter and it’s not even that far-fetched, either. The sister and the neighbor are also two characters that start off as extra stereotyped, but in just a few scenes they unveil an incredible depth and backstory. It blew me away.

Each character is so realistic. Everything they do and say makes sense, they all have their reasons and their past and they react accordingly, it’s so coherent. It’s impressive how everything takes place inside the house and you barely realize it because things happen and the plot moves anyways, and the way information about external events and people is conveyed is so seamless that you don’t even notice it. In only 7 episodes (so far) they have managed to give everyone a complex background and personality through the use of objects and small details and wow don’t get me started on the music.

The soundtrack is SO GOOD. I never really pay attention to music in shows but it plays a very important role here in my opinion and, well, it’s exactly the kind of music I like listening to and ahhh I just spent 4 hours playing the first kiss song on loop so I might be biased. Right from the start in episode 1, when Karl gives in to Vlad’s music and starts dancing to it, it’s established that it’s an important element to the mood of each scene. I love how the dancing I talked about for I told sunset about you comes back here, but while I saw it as a hesitant dancing around each other there, here it’s the opposite, it’s freeing and it’s about accepting yourself. And the end of episode 6 highlights this, with the beautiful quote “You are entitled to a love that lets you dance without fear and shame.” It made me cry a looooot.

I think the development of their relationship is masterfully done. It doesn’t happen too quickly nor too slowly. Karl goes through some needed shocks that act as his wake up call. When I’m watching bl shows I care the most about them feeling real and relatable. I don’t want to feel like they were written by a straight person trying to guess what it’s like to be gay. Now I didn’t look anything up about the Gaya sa pelikula writers, but I’d be very surprised if they were straight. I can relate to both Karl and Vlad for different aspects of their stories and their worries and thoughts. There was one part in particular that hit so close that I had to take a few breaks because it hurt too much. I am a lesbian, I’ve had relationship with a girl that lasted over a year, I am out to some friends but not all. I never came out to my parents, who are both very open minded and friends with a lot of gay people and would love me just as much if I told them, and yet I can’t. It’s not just that, I am terrified by the idea of them already knowing or being able to guess. When Karl freaked out over his uncle guessing, it hit me so hard because I’ve felt the same way so many times.

Episode 7 was amazing. I hate badly written drama the most, and 99% of shows can’t come up with any good reason for drama but they have to put it in there anyways and it sucks. This was the complete opposite, I adored it and I say this as a lover of fluff. It feels right, I think it’s an issue that would come up between two people like them. They are both right and the only thing that could happen there is what actually went down. I definitely think things will be fixed by the end and I am looking forward to it, but I am very glad this issue was included because it’s so important and so true to many lgbt people’s lives.

Another aspect I absolutely adored are the multiple references to lgbt theory and language, and Vlad has some of the best lines I’ve ever heard coming from a bl. When he tells Karl not to be afraid of the word, when he explains that “you don’t look gay” isn’t a compliment, when he scolds his sister for not acknowledging the things she used to say to him by covering them up with her ally act, those are all such important and educative moments that I hope everyone listens to. I love that Vlad is not correcting some ignorant bad guy, but it’s his accepting and loving friends and family that make the mistakes, because sometimes being supportive your own way isn’t enough if you’re not actively learning from the ones you want to support.

This is a 10/10 for me right now. I can’t find anything I don’t like about it. It never feels boring, it never feels overdone, it never feels cheap or unoriginal. It went straight to the top of my favorite bls.

And now I can’t help but compare the two a bit, because yes they are two different shows but right now the relationships they portray have reached the same point: there has been a climax and now the one who is more confused about his sexuality is panicking and taking a step back. It’s a coincidence that I watched both shows on the same day when their last aired episodes end in such a similar way, but it really leads me to compare the two. I don’t want to put them one against each other or say which one did it better because that’s not the point of this, they are both two amazing and important shows who are excelling in what they’re doing.

Gaya sa pelikula is down to earth, it’s explicit and it’s straight to the point in explaining what’s going on inside each character’s head. It feels like watching real people deal with real struggles. I told sunset about you is a lot more subtle and quiet, and since we don’t really have a clear insight in the characters’ heads sometimes it’s hard to completely understand what’s going on with them. It’s a completely different way of narrating, and while Gaya sa pelikula makes me feel like I’m a part of the events, I told sunset about you feels like I’m just spectating from an outside perspective. They are different choices, but one of them ends up feeling a lot more emotional to me than the other.

To wrap it up, I highly recommend both shows and I can’t wait to see how they’ll end! They are both among the best shows of the year, both free of all those annoyingly stereotyped characters and plot points that most bls tend to overuse.

#meta #gaya sa pelikula #like in the movies #i told sunset about you #text

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dent-de-leon · 6 years ago

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So is promare actually gay or since those characters are painfully tropy and maybe said one line to each other, fans start pairing them? Sorry for bad English.

Hi! I can understand why people are always nervous as to whether or not something is actually queer, baity, or just has a popular ship, etc. So I’ll try to be as transparent about this as I can.

A number of romantic narrative tropes are used to establish their relationship—and that relationship is absolutely the focal point the entire show hinges on. Without giving anything away, all I can really say is that there is also one Particular moment that you really can’t interpret as anything but gay, and it’s outright and in your face as opposed to just queer coding. Spoilers under the cut:

Again, big spoilers here, but—the fire magic users in promare are known as Burnish, and their fire is so integrally apart of them that at this point, it’s what keeps them alive. If another Burnish is dying, you can save them by transferring some of your own fire to them—which you do through a kiss. Galo sees Lio attempt this to try and save a Burnish girl early on in the movie, but he’s too late, and she doesn’t make it.

And…I’m sure you can see where this is going, right? Towards the end of the movie, when Lio is badly injured, dying, Galo completely breaks down. He begs Lio to stay with him, to not disappear. And then, in the most tenderly animated scene, he gently gives Lio this beautiful kiss that sparks his fire again. It’s not quick or rushed either, it’s like, this nice long sustained thing where they’re both just there in the moment, and the soundtrack goes quiet, and it’s very intimate and played completely seriously. It’s lovely.

I’ve seen people try to “argue” that “magic cpr” doesn’t make you gay or whatever lmao, but the whole Kiss of Life thing is a common narrative archetype reserved pretty much exclusively for romantic partners. And ones who are really in love at that. People in my theatre went DEAD SILENT went that shit happened and I was over there on cloud nine digging into my popcorn,, truly an amazing night

Just to really emphasis here–since it’s what you’d expect in a show like this–the fact that they’re both guys is never the thing that’s played for laughs. Instead, after the kiss, Galo has this brief comedic panic about how Lio made him “light a fire” and as a firefighter he’s like insulted by that, lmao

This moment also hits the audience especially hard, because it comes on the heels of a red herring. Sometime before this, the movie’s female lead, Aina (who I also adore!! She’s very fun and sweet ;;) had expressed explicit romantic interest in Galo. She even went so far as to lean in and TRY for a kiss, but in the moment Galo sees Lio in the distance and drops her on the spot to go chase after him lmao,, they literally straight baited with the “expected” (read: straight) couple for an action adventure movie like this. And at the same time, used an “almost kiss” between the two characters to foreshadow an actual one between Galo and Lio later on.

So yeah, you can judge for yourself how you feel about them. I’ve heard some people say it’s not quite the same as a “real kiss,” or that the show isn’t as explicit about it or whatever. But for me, the queer context in the film was pretty clear, and I was personally rather happy with it. I also think the kiss was actually super bold of trigger and an absolute power move lmao, i love it

#promare spoilers #promare

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setabane · 4 years ago

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The Beauty of Queer Intimacy and Love: The Dynamics of Femme Women loving Women (WLW) Relationships

This captivating series maneuvers around the beauty of everyday queer life and the documentation of queer love (platonic, romantic and of-self). A dialogue that contains a cinematography-focused visual aesthetic on tender and gentle moments with main inspirations from Clifford Prince King, Ryan McGinley and Ryan Pfluger.

Words: Cassim Cassim

There is a heavy stigmatism behind the word femme in its essence, especially when you coalesce and meld it with being queer. There is a shift in conflict whenever you are a queer femme identifying person, a shift that diverts hate and prejudice from the cis hetero community to the queer community. In the gay community, there is creation of internalized homophobia, which is known as femphobia, femme presenting queer men have been historically ostracized and ridiculed for presenting too girly or too feminine. Whereas in the lesbian community, there is an ambiguous reaction and opinion towards femme presenting queer women. There is a heavy dig into the existence of queer women, especially queer femme women who love other women.

Queer femme women must face a challenge amongst the heterosexual agenda and feeding into an idea that they must feed themselves into compulsory and performative ‘bisexuality’ all to praise the needs of men. Usually, women who are in femme relationships fall prey to this cage of men belittling their relationships by sexualizing them and praising their union because it is “sexy”, but God forbid a relationship between a butch queer woman and a femme queer woman, sensuality between them becomes “sick” and “cruel”. It widens the range of behavior considered acceptable from men in heterosexual intercourse, behavior which reiteratively strips women of their autonomy, dignity, and sexual potential, including the potential of loving and being loved by women in mutuality and integrity.

Femme to femme relationships in women are part of the forefront yet have never been seen as a redefinition of a generational idea of what queer love looks like. Without denigrating the idea that a wlw queer relationship is between butch and femme, it assumably feeds into the base idea that it belongs into a system of gender, the man and the woman, the provider and the receiver, simply because both expressions are dichotomic. It is rather cathartic knowing that now we don’t have a prominent base idea of what a queer relationship looks like or should look like, and that’s what makes queer relationships unique and splendiferous. This last article in the last series is to highlight the beauty of queer relationships, in all forms, and the subversion of the patriarchy by painting a soft and delegate form of femininity and queer intimacy between 2 femme women. SETABANE had an interview with 2 queer femme presenting woman discussing their idea of intimacy between women and their experiences with love and intimacy.

1. What is your definition of intimacy?

(J) My definition of intimacy is where me and my partner are together and we’re both tapping into each other’s emotional and mental inclination/state. It could be through just a casual conversation maybe about how your day really was or a deep conversation about the things you want for yourself or for the both of us. Allowing your partner to get in touch with your emotional being is the most intimate you can ever be with him/her (in my opinion). With physical intimacy, it’s more to do with being so comfortable with each other’s presence, their touch, having a good time and not involving sex. The latter on the other hand isn’t my way of showing intimacy.

(C) Intimacy to me is defined as the complete acceptance of oneself and of other people. It’s being comfortable in my body and my spirit to share a bond with most importantly myself and then another person.

2. What is your idea of romanticism?

(J) It’s definitely doing something, could be small or big, for my partner and not expecting anything in return, just making my partner feel so special. I could be doing whatever it is I’m doing out of love or admiration or for the fun of it. It also keeps the relationship alive, just little surprises here and there. Affirming your partner all the time counts too, as well as giving them your time, doing things out of the ordinary, basically being spontaneous.

(C) Being aware of my own wants and needs and/or as well as my partners. Words or actions based off this form the base of the romantic aspect in any relationship.

3. What’s one thing you love about being queer?

(J) I’d like to think it’s how I learn something all the time about being queer and the queer community. There’s so much to being queer that it just blows my mind sometimes. Anything thing is the support that comes from the queer community. It’s so overwhelming in a good way. It’s just incredible to see it and feel it.

(C) The ability to be my most authentic self. The community as well. There is an abundance of love and generosity. We all share a commonality yet embrace individualism to the fullest.

4. Is queer expression important to you?

(J) For me, I really do not think too much about how I express myself physically that is. I absolutely adore when queer people express themselves wholeheartedly that’s for sure, but for me, it never really wasn’t that important.

(C) Queer expression is vital. Without it, embracing one's true self cannot happen. Being queer takes up a portion of who the person is, if it cannot be tapped into and explored by physical means, it is left untouched and dormant.

5. Do you feel prejudice/discrimination as a queer woman in Botswana?

(J) I personally haven’t really experienced/received that kind of energy from people, so I don’t think so. But for my fellow queer people, I’d like to think some have, especially trans, gay and bisexual men. They have it the hardest and it’s hard to witness that.

6. Do you believe in queer platonic love?

(J) Yeah, absolutely.

(C) Absolutely. Again, it’s the community. Friends come to be from sharing experiences and opinions, while accepting each other regardless of any differences. I don’t see why that cannot be for queer friendships. It can be one of the greatest friendships to ever have as a queer person.

7. What’s one advice you’d give to someone reading this?

(J) Don’t live up to people’s expectations of you. Live up to your expectations of you. Don’t be concerned about what other people think of you. Don’t focus on trying to prove to people your validation. And be kind, always. We live in such a cruel world and you can make it better by just being kind to the people around you.

(C) Study yourself. Expand your mind. Have some substance. We live in a world where distractions occupy our lives. But we weren’t put on this planet to become machines. Don’t lose your humanity, it’s the most beautiful thing you own. CREDITS:

PHOTOGRAPHY : @wenz_hd

EDITOR: @cxsside

MODELS: @jdee_ridge and @clarisapriyanka

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recentanimenews · 5 years ago

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Sympathy for the Devilman: The Legacy of Go Nagai's Magnum Opus

I've always had a thing for villains. Unlike my brothers, as a kid I'd always choose the "bad guy" action figures. If they went for the ninja turtle Leonardo, then I'd go for the uber-buff Super Shredder. I personally identified with villainy because of how it connected to the idea of "evil." I personally see evil as a generalized concept that expresses antagonism toward violent and dominant societal structures. Due to a coercive religious upbringing, I now see how my younger self unconsciously found ideologically-oppositional comfort in "evil" art. This eventually led me to one of my most cherished pieces of fiction: Devilman.

Devilman has left an indelible mark on manga and anime creators over the last few decades, inspiring major industry heavyweights such as Hideaki Anno, Kentaro Miura, and Kazuki Nakashima. The series was created by Go Nagai, a manga auteur also responsible for Mazinger Z, Cutie Honey, and Violence Jack (which is a Devilman sequel). Although Devilman retains much of the explicitness native to Go Nagai's usual fare, it uses these graphic elements uniquely to deliver a haunting, unforgettable, and compassionate message.

Let's explore the surprisingly relevant political and social significance of Devilman, along with a few of its animated offshoots. Read on but be forewarned, this article contains major spoilers!

Devilman (original manga, 1972)

via Seven Seas Entertainment

The Devilman manga is a dark antiwar narrative in deep contrast to the standard monster-of-the-day, "evil fights evil" set-up of the anime (which ran at the same time as the manga). Ryo Asuka — who turns out to be Satan, the leader of all demons — helps convince the world that anyone dissatisfied with the status quo could turn into a demon and needs to be killed. Every nation starts a war with each other, and Japan creates the "Demon Busters" to murder anyone suspected of being a demon. This plot twist is the most explicitly political angle in Devilman��and a clear critique against the genocide of marginalized peoples. One page features a taste of the global hate brewing around the world: a collective white desire to murder Black communities, the renewal of German anti-Semitism, and hatred for any protestor. There are also many moments that display the horrors of historical genocide when Akira and Ryo travel through time.

Devilman builds additional nuance around this theme with Ryo's character. In the manga's final scene, Ryo describes how demons were once oppressed by God, and that they in turn preyed upon humans in the same way that God preyed upon demons. Ryo recognizes that he continued the same cycle of genocidal hate and marginalization he once suffered. This is a striking moment that functions as a cautionary warning against abusing imbalanced power dynamics, and how even once marginalized groups are still capable of enacting horrors against those with less power.

via Seven Seas Entertainment

Ryo's character also made a groundbreaking stride in the representation of marginalized gender and sexual identities. His true form as Satan is easy to interpret as trans, possessing emotional, mental, and physical traits that defy the standard gender binary. The manga also makes it clear that Ryo considers Akira more than a friend, and is actually in love with him. Amazingly, Go Nagai does not use Ryo's trans-coded self or his queer love for Akira as fodder for insulting or disrespectful commentary from other characters. Ryo's gender-variant form is certainly mentioned, but it's never negatively framed or conflated with his murderous attitude toward humanity. Additionally, the manga never suggests Ryo is evil because of his romantic feelings for Akira (a simple, yet important distinction). It feels all the more impressive when you remember that this was made in 1972. Devilman's subversive portrayal of non-normative gender and sexual identity could still be considered groundbreaking even by today's standards.

Devilman OVAs

The first OVA, The Birth, covers Ryo and Akira's discovery of demon existence, with a very brutal early sequence that shows the bloody survival-of-the-fittest origins of life on Earth (which beautifully expands upon and mirrors the same sequence from the manga). It concludes with a gore-soaked finale where we see Akira's fateful transformation into Devilman. The sequence is filled with face stabs, top-notch body horror, and decapitations galore as Devilman rips apart demon after demon in a nightclub setting.

The second OVA, The Demon Bird, had the same crew that worked on the first OVA and contains a very similar feel. This OVA is more action-oriented than the first since it doesn't spend time on the build-up and exposition leading to Devilman's initial appearance. The animation and art design is probably even better than the first episode, which is most notable during the fight with Sirene. On a side note, the Manga Entertainment dubs for these first two OVAs are absolutely essential if you're seeking a fun evening with fellow anime nerds with a decent sense of humor. Their typically sleazy dubs — where Manga Entertainment excessively hyped up the seedier, more "adult" side of anime in order to market their products as wildly different from cartoons for kids — contain an assortment of unnecessary profanity and generally crude dialogue compared to the Japanese source material, to great comedic effect.

The third OVA, Amon: The Apocalypse of Devilman, is based on Amon: The Darkside of Devilman manga, an alternate-universe offshoot by Yu Kinutani. This OVA contains a reworked version of the end of Devilman and has a much darker edge compared to the first two OVAs. This entry in the series has an ugly, grim quality to it – such as the horrific depiction of Miki and her brother getting slaughtered by an angry mob — that initially felt off-putting to me. I started to enjoy it more on subsequent viewings however, when I remembered that, well, the entire Devilman mythos is pretty damned bleak in general. I think the desolate mood would have been more bearable had Akira felt like the compassionate, tragic hero of the manga.

Actually, overall I'd say that Akira's portrayal is one of my biggest complaints about these OVAs. He displays a cold lack of care for human life — like in the Demon Bird when he unconcernedly tears through an airplane while fighting Sirene and allows its passengers to presumably plummet to their deaths — that for me, offsets one of the biggest strengths of Devilman's core: that although Akira has the body of a demon, he never loses the tender heart of a human. With that in mind, let's explore Devilman Crybaby.

Devilman Crybaby

Devilman Crybaby is my favorite animated incarnation of Devilman, period. I might be in the minority with that opinion, but I think there's a lot to love. Masaaki Yuasa is already one of my favorite recent anime directors — Kaiba, Mind Game, and Lu Over the Wall are highlights — so it's no surprise I'd be head over heels for his take on a classic Go Nagai story.

Yuasa impressively shifts the '70s setting of the original into modern-day Japan: The group of surly highschoolers from the manga are replaced with rappers and smartphones are everywhere. In the hands of a lesser writer, a modern setting would be no more than a cosmetic, surface-level change of scenery to an already-written narrative. In contrast, Yuasa avoids this trap by using the modern setting to make incisive social commentary relevant to our times: social media is the means for both horrendous and beautiful moments in the show. It leads to Miki's murder when she posts on Instagram to defend Akira, but also serves as the online catalyst that unites Devilmen across the globe (in contrast to the original manga, where a set of demon-possessed psychic monks unite the Devilmen). Yuasa explained this in a 2018 Japan Times article:

"Today's situation is a lot closer to 'Devilman' than it was when Nagai wrote it in the '70s," he says. "The popularity of social media means people are a lot more connected, for good and bad – like someone getting shot over a video game. We learn about unarmed black people being killed by police, people being tortured and the rise of nationalism in politics. In Japan, too, where a lot of problems are openly blamed on foreigners.

"But it can also help spread good that we wouldn't otherwise know about. We see people coming out as gay or trans on social media, and there's a greater opening up and acceptance of different opinions and lifestyles."

Another beautiful aspect of the show is how Yuasa amplifies the queer elements present in the manga. Ryo and Akira's relationship feels even more loaded with romantic undertones, and Yuasa also introduces two queer characters unseen in the original manga. One of the characters is named Miki Kuroda, initially portrayed as a jealous antagonistic foil to the Miki we all know and love. Miki Kuroda changes as the episodes progress and she becomes a Devilman, and we eventually see her sacrifice herself in an attempt to save Miki Makimura, who she confesses her love to before dying. It's refreshing to see a queer woman represented in a story that previously had none, and incorporated in a way that feels organic and thoughtfully integrated within the larger narrative.

In contrast to the Akira of the OVAs, I absolutely adore this incarnation. Yuasa did a stellar job showing not only Akira's horny goth-jock side but also his compassionate traits. As the name implies, there's a lot of crying in Devilman Crybaby, and Akira is responsible for at least half the tears throughout the brief 10-episode series. Akira evokes such intense compassion and cares for people around him, which is a noticeable deviation from his cold demeanor in the OVAs. The human heart at the core of Devilman is on full display here, taking the emotional elements from the original and turning the volume up to 11. Though the art style and setting might be drastically different from what you'd typically expect of a Devilman remake, Yuasa did a masterful job honoring the source material while injecting it with fresh life and even fresher modern resonance.

What other aspects of Devilman — or its many incarnations — did you find important or interesting? Let me know in the comments below!

Do you love anime? Do you love writing? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: [email protected]

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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uglyducklingpresse · 6 years ago

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“WE ARE ALL SOMEWHAT COLONIZED IN OUR EXISTENCE”: JAMIE CHIANG IN CONVERSATION WITH ZAHRA PATTERSON

UDP apprentice Jamie Chiang interviewed writer and educator Zahra Patterson in February 2019 after the release of her UDP title Chronology, recent winner of the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Memoir/Biography. They discussed Zahra's journaling in Cape Town; her friendship with Liepollo Ranekoa, who passed away in 2012; the impact of language choice in postcolonial literature; tattoos; and more.

Taking as its starting point an ultimately failed attempt to translate a Sesotho short story into English, Chronology explores the spaces language occupies in relationships, colonial history, and the postcolonial present. It is a collage of images and documents, folding on words-that-follow-no-chronology, unveiling layers of meaning of queering love, friendship, death, and power.

Can you talk about the background of your decision to go to Cape Town to find who you are or the meaning of life? Did you find it? (In Chronology, Zahra refers to her journey to Cape Town as a search for herself.)

Yeah, I mean sometimes I get a little dramatic perhaps when I'm writing in my journal.

How old were you? How many years ago was that?

It was the end of 2009 into 2010, so I would have been in my late twenties. I feel a journal is a place to express one's ideas, but it's also a creative space. I wouldn't take myself totally seriously in everything that comes out in a journal. I think there's definitely some self-awareness of one's own—my self importance, but also the quest to find oneself is not just to be made fun of. I think it's an important concept.

How long did you stay in Cape Town?

I was there for around five weeks. As far as the decision to go, it was more spur of the moment. I was in South Africa for a wedding. My cousin got married and instead of going off traveling that far for a week, I thought I would just spend a couple of months if I had to go to that part of the world; there's no point in going for a week, so I was going to stay. I hadn't actually decided where I was going after the wedding until I got there, and Cape Town seemed to make the most sense to me.

It perhaps felt the least imperialistic to go and spend time in such a cosmopolitan, international city as opposed to going somewhere more remote. You're either a tourist or a local, whereas Cape Town is an easy city to integrate into.

I see. On page 33, you mention that you have a tattoo, and in the caption there is this word ke nonyana. What does ke nonyana mean?

It means I'm a bird.

That's the first word you spoke in Sesotho?

Yes. I found the words in Liepollo’s English-Sesotho dictionary one day, and when she came home I spoke them. It meant a lot to her that I’d engaged with her language.

If you don’t mind, could you elaborate the story behind Liepollo’s colleague’s Facebook profile picture. What happened?

It was the day she died, and his Facebook profile changed to her picture. It was an image of her. That was jarring because why somebody would put an image of a friend up, and there are very few circumstances that someone would do something like that and usually it's because they're dead. So when I saw that his Facebook picture changed to her face, it occurred to me that something terrible had happened. And I was at work at the time, so it was just very disorienting.

Sorry to hear that. Did you get your tattoo because of this?

Yeah, so I didn't have anybody to mourn with because I had met Liepollo in Cape Town and we didn't have friends in common. Actually, we had a friend in common—an American who interned at Chimurenga while I was staying with Liepollo who I met once at the house in Observatory and once for coffee in Brooklyn—but she had moved to D.C. by that time, so I didn't reach out to her. It was a very isolated mourning experience. That's kind of why I got the tattoo, just to have her with me and to have that symbol and to think of her every day. Because when you have a long distance friendship, you're not going to think of the person every day. We were in touch every few months. I don’t want to forget her due to not having a lot of people to remember who she was with, so I needed to make her memory permanent on me. I think everybody thinks about getting tattoos in this day and age. My rule for tattoos is if I want it for a full year, then I'll get it, and I've never wanted anything for a year. So it’s my only tattoo.

And ke nonyana sounds beautiful.

Thank you. I think it's beautiful also.

And on page 37 and 38, there’s an interesting conversation you had with a Muslim guy named Saed. I found some of his talk kind of sexist. What was your reaction when you were talking to him? It sounds like he's almost preaching to you, trying to change your idea about what a woman's purpose is in this world.

Exactly! But he also wasn't that; he was as if playing the role that he thought he was supposed to play and open to other ways of thinking. We're socialized beings, all of us. He wasn't terribly dogmatic. I don't think he'd been challenged too much in his way of thinking, but at the same time maybe he had because he was open to being challenged. So yeah, it was very interesting.

On page 47 to 48, you write about the panel What is the value of age and wisdom? at the Bronx Museum of Art. The five panelists are: Vinie Burrows, Boubacar Boris Diop, Yusef Komunyakaa, Achille Mbembe and Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o. There’s a quotation from Mbembe: “If the language we use is in itself a prison...We have to put a bomb under the language. Explode language!” Could you tell us more about the context?

Achille Mbembe is a leading postcolonial theorist. I think his words are also quite poetic, so he's speaking metaphorically. The context of that part of the conversation is imperialism and language. That intellectuals from formerly colonized nations use the colonial language to express decolonial ideas is problematic, but it's still very accepted. And even these intellectuals who are on the panel, they write in English and they write in French, but they also find it problematic that they do that; however, it's also part of their survival. Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o wrote Decolonizing The Mind in the early eighties, where he swore off ever writing in English again, but then he is put into prison and he's exiled, so he can't actually exist in his mother tongue and his mother land; the government there has ostracized him because he speaks out against what they're doing to the people. Therefore, he has to make his life in English in America, he teaches in California.

Circumstances don't necessarily allow a person to decolonize their lives because in order to survive in this society, we are all somewhat colonized in our existence. I think that saying to put a bomb under language is saying that we need to just get our ideas out there. There’s also the visual aspect of it, I see words and letters, like, splattered. Like fucking. . .we need to fuck with language; we need to push the boundaries of language.

As Diop said “Teaching Wolof enhances self-esteem.” Does Wolof have a writing system?

I’m not positive about the history of Wolof’s writing system but I know some, especially in more northern Sub-African countries had created writing systems using Arabic script and maybe some of them now use the Latin alphabet, so I would have to look that up for Wolof specifically.

You use your mother tongue to express yourself because ideas in a specific language can't be translated. When you lose the language, you lose the culture and the history of people. Also if you're writing in any of the indigenous languages to Africa, you're not writing for the colonizer; you're writing for the people who speak that language, which is also important.

A lot of this theory, especially academic theory that is taught in universities, is very limited in its reach. I think even though these are serious intellectuals who write academic works for academia, they're aware and they're problematizing the limits of writing scholarly work for institutions that isn't necessarily reaching the people.

What other languages do you speak?

I speak French. I lived in France for awhile. I would say I used to be bilingual; I'm kind of monolingual at this point in my life.

What about in Sesotho?

I was working on the project (an attempt to translate Lits'oanelo Yvonne Nei's short story “Bophelo bo naka li maripa” from Sesotho to English) originally, but the access to the language was limited. I wasn't able to access decent grammar books, I wasn't able to access the orthography that I wanted to access so I gave up pretty quickly...but it wasn't as simple as giving up. I stepped back because I didn't really feel it was totally appropriate for me to do what I was doing. I think that’s a hugely important part of my text, the part where I put myself into conversation with Spivak and she tells me, via an essay she wrote about translation, that what I’m doing is wrong. I want to learn a language in which I'm going to be able to speak to people. I’m still not totally sure if I should have published what was supposed to be such a personal exercise, so that section with Spivak is essential to me.

On page 72, you wrote Liepollo an email about a friend who taught you how to say Your sister is a whore in Tagalog?

A friend of mine, her first love was Filipina so she knew how to insult people in Tagalog. When she said it, it sounded Spanish to me so I was wondering if that kind of insult comes with colonialism...also a misogynistic perspective can come. Not to say that misogyny doesn't exist in all cultures, although I think there are probably some cultures where it doesn't exist. Just problematizing the way language can infiltrate into a culture and then become part of the existing language but isn't part of that cultural history—the etymology isn’t actually Filipino; the etymology is Spanish.

Are there any books and authors that inspire you a lot?

For this work, Dictee by Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, that was a huge inspiration. Mouth: Eats Color by Sawako Nakayasu in terms of thinking about different ways, different things that can be done with form and then different things that can be done with translation. It was very liberating to read those two authors. I don't identify as a translator nor as a poet, so most of the things I've read are novels. My background is primarily in postmodern and postcolonial pieces of literature. I also thought about the nature of collage while I was working on Chronology. I looked at Wangechi Mutu’s work specifically for inspiration, but I’ve loved Romare Bearden’s work for years.

Thanks for sharing. The last question, what are you working on now?

I've started writing and hopefully I'm able to continue it. It's a piece that will potentially be called Policy. I'm an educator and I'm pretty passionate about how distorted and messed up the reality of public school systems is in this country. Although one could say I've been researching since I've been an adult, I started specific research for Policy last summer and I didn't start writing it until a couple of weeks ago. It's experimental in form. I'd say it's fiction meets theory, whereas Chronology is memoir meets theory. I'm not sure exactly where it's going but I'm thinking critically about charter schools and desegregation efforts in New York City and also the history of that. So going back to Brown versus the Board of Ed. . .I'll probably address school shootings, the school-to-prison pipeline, school lunches, teachers’ strikes; it’s about as intersectional an issue as there is—how we educate ourselves as a nation, and on the stolen land of our nation.

I think right now, especially with the current administration, though public schools have been in danger for a very long time, our current secretary of education is a billionaire who wants to privatize education, so her agenda is to destroy our public school infrastructure. It's worrisome. Processing this information in a way makes me very angry because it's systemic. It's how you keep people oppressed. If you don't give people access to education, you're not giving them access to themselves. Never mind the tools they need to achieve and succeed in a capitalist society.

I don't feel the United States has a liberatory agenda for education and I want to explore that a little bit in the history of curriculums and pedagogy because there have been, at the turn of the century, there were some really interesting education theorists like John Dewey and Ella Flagg Young, and their ideas for public education were very progressive, such as student driven classrooms, and not having really punitive systems. You find that education in private schools but rarely in public schools, so why are we not educating our youth in ways that let them think critically about the world that they're living in? Educating children to just follow rules and memorize doesn't work for most children. How many do you know in public schools who are excited to go to school every day? I think humans naturally are curious and want to learn and know things. So why is education taking that away from children?

I don't know exactly how the project is going to manifest. It will be weird.

Zahra Patterson’s first book, Chronology (Ugly Duckling Presse 2018), won the 2019 Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Memoir/Biography and received a Face Out Fellowship from CLMP. Her short works have appeared in Kalyani Magazine The Felt, and unbag (forthcoming). A reading of her play, Sappho's Last Supper, was staged at WOW Café Theatre. She is the creator of Raw Fiction and currently teaches high school English at a Quaker boarding school. Her writing has been supported by Mount Tremper Arts and Wendy’s Subway, and her community work has been supported by Brooklyn Arts Council, The Pratt Center, and many individuals. She holds an MFA in Writing from Pratt Institute.

#author interviews #read #zahra patterson #chronology

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vivace-joyous · 6 years ago

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The Umbrella Academy 1x01-03

okay, so I have been watching this new show cause y’all know I love me some group based narratives. And the premise feels very fun with lots of ways they can play around with it. It’s like Sense8 if Sense8 focused more on worldbuilding and constructing an overarching narrative to connect all the characters too. However, I find these two shows to be inverses of each other even though their premises are similar thematically. UA and S8 (how I will abbreviate them) seem to excel and stumble in a complementary fashion. Before I get too deep in what I mean, I should talk more about just the UA itself and my general impressions over the first 3 episodes.

OVERALL, it’s enjoyable. I feel like the world building and the over arching plot are the two main elements propelling me through the series. Which like... GOOD! That’s what is supposed to happen when watching a show. If you don’t like the story, watching the show feels like a task. But I am genuinely intrigued by the mystery of the show and what will happen next. Five: “The world will end in 8 days.” Vanya “I’ll put some coffee on then.” Solid way to end a pilot and leave me wanting more. Not just for the next episode, but that is a great way to kick off the first season. BOOM! The Hargreaves have to band together and stop the world end of the world. I just appreciate this because it gives a solid foundation for all other storylines to center around. It is something your brain can stay conscious of throughout each episode and I feel that is such a strong element and important element for a tv show to posses to be good.

Continuing with the writing, I think so far the pace is decent and the writing is competent from episode to episode. The less important, character-driven storylines are given weight but never take too much focus from the main plot. The dialogue is passable. It doesn’t have a very distinct personality to itself though. If the character is not eccentric themselves, then they probably won’t ever say anything interesting. Which ugh ehh. I just wish the dialogue called more intention to itself because that way the writers could infuse more character moments in fun little quibs. However, it does its job so I can’t complain.

But I will complain about the use of flashback in the show. The flashbacks feel more used to quickly establish something that is happening in the present day storyline than really be anything more than that. Which is.. like technically okay and the POINT of a flashback. But it is so cliche and I believe there are other, more unique ways to deliver information than just cutting to a flashback. Granted, I do love seeing then team as young teens fighting crime. That’s super cool and I wish the show showed more of that. Cause MY GOD does this show need some more ACTION scenes in it.

I feel like my biggest problem in the first 3 episodes is that the action feels second to the drama and that totally needs to be reversed. I’m so sorry, but outside of whatever Five is doing, all the other individual character storylines are so fucking boring. I don’t care what any of them do when it doesn’t relate to the main plot. I think that’s why I like Diego’s character cause his whole thing is ABOUT the main plot. I mean, I feel like the show will deliver in terms of action. It’s clear that more insane elements will get thrown in and the filmmakers do like the demonstrate the special powers in fun ways. So I am excited to see what action scenes will come up. I just think overall the show needs more cause the melodrama kinda sorta makes the episodes drag. Like, why is Diego constantly in his fight clothes but he has only been in 2 fight scenes? And Five has like what 3 or 4 in just the first 3 episodes?

And MY GOD DO I HATE HOW THIS SHOW IS SHOT!!!!!!!!!!!! UGH the cinematography is fucking crap. I hate how it is lit. I hate how the director decided to compose the shots. I hate how there appears to be this like.... haze fliter???? on everything??? Like every scene looks cloudy. It’s like supersaturated. I don’t like it cause 1) I feel it does not help the tone of the show. I feel like we shouldn’t take everything so seriously and have more fun with the premise. But this smoky haze filter makes everything more somber and I think it bumps with most of what actually happens on the show. And 2) it genuinely makes it harder to make out expressions in the actor’s faces. Ugh fire the DP. They are doing a terrible job.

Let’s talk about the individual characters:

1) Luther. Hate him. Boring white man. Why is he “the leader of the family” after the dad has passed? Like he has not a single interesting aspect about himself. I am honestly so bored every time he talks. And it doesn’t help with the fact that the actor’s head is way too small for the illusion they are trying to create for the character. It’s like “Yeah, let’s put a stale ass, tiny ass white man head on this GIANT 7 foot muscle clad body. He just looks bizarre cause his face says “5′11″ and toned” but his body is that of a bodybuilder. I just wish they found an actor who is just massive like that already for the show. The ridiculous costume they have him in honestly takes me out of it for a bit. And it doesn’t help that they actor isn’t really trying to do anything with the character. Luther says lines. Luther is strong. That’s about it. I will say that despite him being “Number 1″ and “the leader of the family” the show hasn’t given him that much screen time and we still don’t know much about him at all. Which I really appreciate cause it is giving a lot of other (more interesting) characters necessary focus and thus makes getting through Luther scenes that much easier. I don’t know need to learn more about it. Just have him be strong in a corner.

2) Diego. MY FUTURE HUSBAND!!!!!! HE IS SO BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!! I WILL SUCK THE SOUL OUT OF HIS DICK AND ASS HE IS SO FINE OMG yeah badass martial artist who throws knives and has a bit of an anger management problem. I am SMITTEN! I mean eww why the fuck does he have to be straight and keep hitting on that one detective. Honestly, ugh I hate that he is straight. It’s boring and unoriginal. It would have been neat for him to be asexual. He is good looking so people assume that he would be a lady killer. But he is WAY too obsessed with fighitng crime that he literally doesn’t pay attention to his own sexuality. But WAHTEVER! The queer character has to be the eccentric one with the drug problem alkfhadlskfadslkfbdskh ANYWAYS I like hos Diego adds a healthy amount of doubt amongst the group. In terms of constructing group dynamics, he is a lancer AKA the one always playing devil’s advocate. I think he adds a valuable perspective to the team and it will be interesting to see how the family will solve problems with integration of Diego’s help. I don’t like how the show handle showing the relationship between Diego and Mom/ Grace. But I will dive more into that when I talk about the flashbacks.

3) Allison. My god is she boring. But like, in the perspective in how she is an actress, yet doesn’t act like an actress. I mean, yes some actors can act like “normal people” but like... most actors don’t. I say this as someone who lives in LA and knows actors. They have BIG PERSONALITIES. They like to be KNOWN! However, Allison just feels way too subdued and “normal”. Like, okay she must have pursued an acting career of her own violation. So she must be a person who loves attention and strives for their chance to be in the spotlight. Everything needs to revolve around them. But that’s not Allison. She isn’t really anything. She is concerned about her daughter... if feel like that’s the only real thing we have learned about her so far. I wish her narrative had an angle about her being attention seeking. During the scene when all the siblings were reading Vanya’s autobigraphy, the voiceover cut to Allison when the VO mentioned attention seeking. Which, if that is an aspect of Allison’s character, then SHOW it to us. Have her do SOMETHING besides give creepy incest bedroom eyes to Luther.

4) Klaus. Finally, an interesting character! His powers are unique yet have a direct influence on how his personality is shaped. His is a drug addict because dead people are constantly trying to talk to him. Kinda sorta metaphor for the mentally unwell and how they abuse drugs because “It makes the voices go away”. They just have a lot of things they can do with him and the writers know this. They obviously have some extra fun when writing him. I just wish the other characters were a lot more sympathetic towards him. Like.... maybe try and talk to him about his drug problem? Rather than patronize it literally every single time you talk to him. SERIOUSLY every single scene Klaus is in with one of his siblings, they always HAVE to mention his drug problem AND THEN scold him for it. Like............ that’s not very constructive? Like at all! But I guess that’s just how some families are to one another. Also, it is very interesting to see how they are handling Robert Sheehan’s performance in UA compared to Misfits. In Misfits, he has a tendency to devour each scene he was in, to the point where he felt like the central character of that show. But Nathan was such a great character, that often times you didn’t mind how he would steamroll over others because it was done in such an entertaining way. But in the UA, the director’s have chosen to use Robert Sheehan’s signature eccentric style to flavour the scenes, rather than change the tone of the scene altogether (unlike how they used Nathan in Misfits). Anyways, I am most intrigued to see what they will do with his character.

5) Five. I don’t have too much to say about him because I feel like there is a lot more to be discovered about this character. Overall, I like the concept around the character and tbh he gets some of the best scenes in the first 3 episodes. I am truly impressed with the actor portraying this character. I think he is doing quite a great job in giving us the nuances of the character. A 58-year-old trapped in the body of a 13-year-old. Like, I get that. I see that. It works and I am here for it.

6) Ben. WOW so the one Asian one is dead and barely gets any lines. Ugh okay. Really REALLY want to learn more about him. Really intrigued with how he died to begin with. Hopefully the show shares this story element in an interesting way that connects to the main plot in a way other than just thematically.

7) Vanya. I.... I wanna hold my tongue about her. Cause she is obviously the audience perspective character for this world. So there isn’t much to say about her besides her being a tool to help the audience get integrated into the show’s world. I just... I gotta wait cause I feel like they are going to do something cool with her character and I don’t wanna make any.... undeserved assumptions. I just want more from her which like... I guess is a good thing?

#the umbrella academy #Imma try and do reviews for this show #but it probably won't be episode by episode like I did with Sense8 #netflix #review #tv show

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lady-adventuress · 7 years ago

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Books I Read in 2017

Alphabetical list here, reviews under the cut in chronological order:

Almond, David: A Song for Ella Gray

Bardugo, Leigh: The Grisha Trilogy, Six of Crows, Crooked Kingdom

Cline, Ernest: Ready Player One

Cloonan, Becky, Brendan Fletcher, and Karl Kerschl: Gotham Academy Vol. 1-2

Cluess, Jessica: A Shadow Bright and Burning

Coulthurt, Audrey: Of Fire and Stars

del Duca, Leila and Kit Seaton: Afar

Dragoon, Leigh and Jessie Sheron: Ever After High: Class of Classics

Flores, Chynna Clugston, et al.: Lumberjanes/Gotham Academy

Gaiman, Neil: American Gods

Gaiman, Neil and Chris Riddell: The Sleeper and the Spindle

George, Madeleine: The Difference Between You and Me

Gilmour, H.B. and Randi Reisfeld: T*Witches #1-10

Hale, Shannon: Princess Academy: The Forgotten Sisters, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World

Hicks, Faith Erin: The Nameless City, The Stone Heart

Jensen, Michael and David Powers King: Woven

LaCour, Nina: We Are Okay

Larson, Hope: Chiggers, Mercury

Lubar, David: Sophomores and Other Oxymorons

Riordan, Rick: The Trials of Apollo #1-2, Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard #2-3

Shea, Lisa: Ever After High: Once Upon a Twist: Cerise and the Beast

Stewart, Cameron, Brendan Fletcher, and Babs Tarr: Batgirl Vol. 1

Stoker, Bram: Dracula

Sugiura, Misa: It’s Not Like It’s a Secret

Turtschaninoff, Maria: Maresi

Weir, Andy: The Martian

West, Hannah: Kingdom of Ash and Briars

I also listened to a lot of audiobooks as I was working this year, but since I have terrible audio comprehension, I stuck to books I’ve already read and know I like:

From Tamora Pierce, Alanna: The First Adventure and the Trickster series, read by Trini Alvarado. The Protector of the Small series, read by Bernadette Dunne. The Immortals Quartet, Sandry’s Book, and The Will of the Empress, Full Cast Audio narrated by Tamora Pierce. All of them were good, but I especially loved hearing the Trickster series and all of the Full Cast books. I absolutely recommend them. Immortals was my favorite.

From Eoin Colfer, the Artemis Fowl series, read by Nathaniel Parker. I liked it a lot. It’s nice being able to hear the accents and remember that Artemis is actually Irish.

T*Witches #1-10, by H.B. Gilmour and Randi Reisfeld. Twin witches who were separated at birth meet at age fourteen and must learn magic to protect themselves from their evil uncle. This is a series from my childhood that still holds up in a cheesy nostalgic way. I always found the attempt at teen slang baffling, but at its core the story is still about family and girls supporting each other and trying to do the right thing. Excellent and complicated relationships between both biological and adopted families, excellent and complicated supporting characters.

Dracula, by Bram Stoker. An ancient vampire brings death and evil to England while a group of mostly-bumbling protagonists try to stop him. It’s hard to read a book like this without being influenced by the cultural interpretation, but one thing that really threw me off is the importance of characters that seem to get really downplayed in adaptations. I wouldn’t say I enjoyed the book, but I did enjoy how ridiculous parts of it was.

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World, by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale. A fourteen-year-old girl tries to make new friends while keeping her squirrel tail and superpowers a secret. I love Shannon Hale’s children’s books. Squirrel Girl had the charm of her Ever After High work, surprisingly without being as over-the-top. Doreen isn’t the type of protagonist I tend to relate to and I always get a little weirded out with anthropomorphized animals, but the book was fun and funny with distinct voices and an appropriate amount of camp. Also, footnotes.

The Difference Between You and Me, by Madeleine George. The closeted popular girl and school outcast are on opposite sides of school politics, which causes problems in their secret relationship. I feel like there are tons of fanfictions like this, so I was glad when this book didn’t run into the overused tropes. Unfortunately, it didn’t really have much in the way of conflict at all, which was surprising when it seemed like every single character’s opinions were meant to be deliberately polarizing. I thought that situations and characters were set up really well, but none of it really came together in a satisfying way.

Chiggers, by Hope Larson. Graphic novel. A girl navigates summer camp drama and befriends the girl no one else likes. I’ve heard a lot of good things about Hope Larson, but I couldn’t like this book even though I was trying to. It felt like nothing was happening for most of the story, and I’m not sure what was accomplished in telling it. The elements of magical realism were interesting, but it wasn’t enough to carry the story, and neither was the mundane drama. There wasn’t enough time to invest in the characters.

Mercury, by Hope Larson. Graphic novel. A girl’s experience with a mysterious gold prospector affects the life of her modern-day descendant. The story was thought-provoking, even if it took me a while to get into it, and the magical realism was well-integrated. I don’t love Larson’s cartooning style, but I thought it was much more readable than Chiggers without sacrificing its uniqueness.

The Nameless City, by Faith Erin Hicks. Graphic novel. A boy befriends a native girl in the city his people conquered. Hicks’ visual storytelling skills are excellent, and I love how her characters and expression can be both subtle and cartoony. The story was thoughtful and deals with political realities in a way that doesn’t demonize or alienate anyone. Jordie Bellaire’s color palettes are beautiful.

Unfortunately, the sequel The Stone Heart doesn’t quite live up to the first book. The art is still excellent, but the pacing and plot seemed less well-planned, especially since the story now seems to be heading in a more predictable direction. There’s a third book forthcoming, so maybe that opinion will change.

Batgirl Vol. 1: Batgirl of Burnside, by Cameron Stewart, Brendan Fletcher, and Babs Tarr. Trade paperback. A college student tries to reinvent her vigilante identity while dealing with being the personal target of a mysterious villain. This was definitely not a bad book, but it also didn’t feel like a Barbara Gordon book. If you’re writing for characters with decades of history, that legacy deserves to be respected, and I’m not sure Stewart and Fletcher accomplished that in the writing. Separate from preconceptions, the plot was solidly set up with good dialogue and distinct characterization, although I thought Barbara’s arc had a weak resolution. Tarr’s art is great, though, and I can definitely see why this series is so popular.

Gotham Academy Vol. 1-2, by Becky Cloonan, Brendan Fletcher, and Karl Kerschl. Trade paperbacks. A girl investigates a haunting at her school, which is connected to a mysterious summer experience she can’t remember. Kerschl’s character acting is excellent, and the relationship between the protagonist Olive and her ex-boyfriend’s sister Maps is immediately compelling. The cast is well-rounded and interesting, and I enjoyed reading a comic set in a superhero world without being a superhero book. Plot elements are set up from the first issue, and the story is a lot of fun overall.

A Song for Ella Grey, by David Almond. A modern version of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth is told from the perspective of Eurydice’s best friend. Almond is an excellent writer, but I felt like this was a story that didn’t need to be retold, especially with his addition of a tragic unrequited queer romance. The protagonist doesn’t have any agency within the storyline so it felt like a series of events happening in sequence rather than a narrative. I did think the formatting shift at the turning point was interesting, but the myth dragged unnecessarily in order to fill the length of the novel.

The Trials of Apollo #1: The Hidden Oracle, by Rick Riordan. The Greek god Apollo is sent to earth as a teenager as punishment for his arrogance and is bound to the service of a young girl. It’s hard to enter into the Trials of Apollo series without prior knowledge of Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Heroes of Olympus, and even as a fan of the other books in the universe, I had a hard time engaging with Apollo as a protagonist. The narration fit the character well, though, and Riordan deals with serious subjects without resolving anything prematurely. I liked that each chapter was introduced with a haiku rather than a title.

The second book in the series, The Dark Prophecy, is similar in tone to the first. I would say the biggest change is the addition of Leo and Calypso from the prequel series to finish off the classic trio of heroes. That dynamic was interesting, and I also really enjoyed the appearance of my favorite Percy Jackson character.

We Are Okay, by Nina LaCour. A girl deals with grief over her grandfather’s death and reconnects with her best friend during winter break of her first year of college. It was a slow start and I had some trouble keeping up with shifts in the narration, but I ended up liking this book a lot. The writing is atmospheric and captures the protagonist’s thoughts well. The setup for the mystery is subtle and doesn’t take focus from the characters.

American Gods, by Neil Gaiman. After three years in jail and his wife’s death, a man takes a job that involves him in a war between old and new gods. I really like Gaiman’s writing, and Shadow is a protagonist that is engaging despite his relative passiveness. Even so, I wouldn’t say this was a book I actually enjoyed all that much, and plot twists were well-developed to the point that they weren’t particularly surprising or satisfying. I’ve seen a lot of stories modernize gods, so Gaiman’s treatment didn’t seem as unique as I’d been led to believe. That being said, maybe I would have enjoyed this more if I’d read it earlier.

Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Hammer of Thor, by Rick Riordan. A teenager resurrected as a Viking warrior goes on a quest to retrieve Thor’s hammer. This series in particular seems to depend on pop culture references, so while I liked the writing, I wonder if it will stay as relevant as Riordan’s other books. I did really enjoy the cast and the expansion of their backstories, and this book sets up what seems to be more of a crossover with the Percy Jackson series.

Book three, The Ship of the Dead, was also really fun. The closing of The Hammer of Thor was a little misleading in that the crossover elements were limited to the beginning and end of the story as usual, but by this time the characters are more than capable of standing on their own. It seems like this book is the last of the series, and it managed to close out the plot pretty well.

Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom, by Leigh Bardugo. Six teenagers are hired to break a political prisoner out of a foreign country. Not only is this an excellent heist story with a really detailed plot, but each of the characters are fully developed and they all have their own arcs throughout the books. Bardugo’s cast is inclusive and intersectional without feeling like she’s checking off a list and the writing is witty with clear voices. Both the characters and plot drive the story. I can’t say enough good things about this duology.

The Grisha Trilogy, by Leigh Bardugo. A teenage soldier discovers an elemental power and becomes part of a plan to overthrow a corrupt monarchy. This trilogy takes place before Bardugo’s Six of Crows books, but it was disappointing in comparison. I really disliked the protagonist, and there was a lot of focus on a frustrating romance, to the point that it overshadows the interesting worldbuilding. The plot dragged in places, despite being too thin to fill three books. Even so, there are a few really great supporting characters that almost made it worth it.

Sophomores and Other Oxymorons, by David Lubar. After a successful freshman year, a teenager’s overconfidence causes problems at his high school. This is the belated sequel to Sleeping Freshman Never Lie, which is one of my favorite books. Sophomores seems more self-referential and has a subplot that doesn’t seem to fit the tone as well, but for the most part it had the same witty charm that I loved about the first book. Of course, the best part of the series is still Lee, the female lead.

Maresi, by Maria Turtschaninoff. An abbey novice discovers her calling when a new girl with a troubled past arrives. This book was originally published in Finnish, I believe, but I think it must have lost something in the translation. The narration is distant, and even though parts of the world are described, it was hard to picture any of the setting. Overall it didn’t really hold my interest.

Kingdom of Ash and Briars, by Hannah West. After gaining magic powers and immortality, a girl becomes responsible for ensuring peace throughout three kingdoms. I really didn’t like this book. It treats the female characters poorly, especially the antagonist, and although the plot is ostensibly about duty, it’s heavy-handed, relies too much on tropes, and is really obviously motivated by romance. A lot of this can be overlooked if it’s ironic or just done well, but it never came together and ended up being very frustrating.

Of Fire and Stars, by Audrey Coulthurst. As she enters an arranged marriage, a princess has to hide her magic and her attraction to the prince’s sister. Even though the two protagonists are supposed to have equal weight, I ended up almost actively disliking one of them. The plot isn’t terribly engaging, but because I couldn’t get behind one of the characters, the romance couldn’t carry the novel for me. It wasn’t bad, but I wish it was better.

Princess Academy: The Forgotten Sisters, by Shannon Hale. A commoner-turned-princess takes an unattractive job to teach court manners to three royal sisters. This book is the third in Hale’s Princess Academy series and it is just as excellent as the first two. The plot is set up well across multiple books, and Miri is an excellent and flawed protagonist who is capable without overshadowing the other characters. The romantic plots don’t feel forced and the narration accomplishes a lot of interesting worldbuilding. Another book with girls supporting one another despite not necessarily understanding each other.

The Martian, by Andy Weir. An astronaut is stranded on Mars after an early mission evacuation and must survive until he can be rescued. I was skeptical about the premise, but everything is well thought out and clearly explained, without sacrificing either reader engagement or scientific accuracy. The protagonist has a great voice, but as soon as the perspective shifts away from his first-person mission logs, it’s easy to tell that Weir isn’t a very experienced writer, since the other characters and third-person narration are not nearly as well-defined. Overall, though, it was still a good book.

Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline. A high-schooler who is desperate to escape a dystopian future dedicates his life to solving a virtual reality puzzle and becoming the heir to a video game empire. There were two things that I really disliked about this book, the first being the protagonist, who seemed like a terrible person for most of the book. The second is that, despite being ostensibly a celebration of pop culture (and especially 80s pop culture), the overall viewpoint seemed really rigid and judgemental. The writing was fine, and there were some really interesting puzzles, but in the end I felt like it was male nerd entitlement in novel form.

Ever After High: Once Upon a Twist: Cerise and the Beast, by Lisa Shea. The daughter of Red Riding Hood and the son of King Charming are forced into the roles of Beauty and the Beast in order to escape their midterm exam. Cerise and Dexter seem like an odd pair, which sometimes works in the Ever After High universe, but didn’t really here. Part of this I think is because this book is written for an even younger audience than the original so the characters lost a lot of their nuance. The only part of the story that surprised me was almost immediately negated by a soap opera-worthy plot device to prevent the status quo from changing.

Afar, by Leila del Duca and Kit Seaton. Graphic novel. A girl tries to fix problems caused by her newfound ability to project herself into different worlds, while keeping her younger brother out of trouble. There is a lot of visual worldbuilding here, which I thought was very well done. Plot wise, it felt like the protagonist’s arc was maybe just the first act of a much longer book, but the characters were solid all around.

Lumberjanes/Gotham Academy, by Chynna Clugston Flores, Rosemary Velero-O’Connell, Kelly Matthews, and Nichole Matthews. Graphic novel. The ensemble casts of Lumberjanes and Gotham Academy work together to free their teachers from a girl’s attempt to relive a disastrous birthday. I think this book is set up more for fans of both series, and since I’ve only read a little of Lumberjanes, I felt like I was playing catch-up for some parts. I did really like the parts that showcased the Gotham Academy characters, though. I felt like the art was missing the lushness and texture of what I remember of the regular series, which was disappointing.

Ever After High: The Class of Classics, by Leigh Dragoon and Jessi Sheron. Graphic novel. The children of popular fairy tales learn more about their parents by using magic to relive parts of their high school experience. This book was very disappointing compared to other parts of the franchise. The art is minimal and flat compared to the webseries, and all but one of the anthology-esque stories felt like retreading old ground. I also really disliked the narrative hoops the audience was expected to jump through just to keep anything significant from changing.

It’s Not Like It’s a Secret, by Misa Sugiura. After moving from Wisconsin to California, a Japanese-American girl struggles to build a life she is happy with while keeping secrets that could ruin her family. This book was a bit surreal to read because specific parts of it were identical to my high school experience, while other parts were completely foreign. Still, the writing is solid and thought-provoking, and I liked that there is no easy answer to the protagonist’s problems.

A Shadow Bright and Burning, by Jessica Cluess. A newly-discovered sorceress takes on the role of a prophecized savior in a fight against enormous apocalyptic monsters. I found it a little difficult to get into the characters, especially since there is only one girl in a large group of boys and the gender difference is a large part of their interactions. I disliked the romantic subplots, which seemed to take over the narrative, even though the worldbuilding and political aspects of the plot were really interesting.

The Sleeper and the Spindle, by Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell. A queen postpones her wedding to deal with the sleeping curse that threatens to spread from the kingdom next door. The story begins as a mix of archetypes from Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, but Gaiman’s atmospheric writing elevate it even before the surprising finale. Riddell’s illustrations and other visual choices for the physical book are beautiful and tell the story meaningfully. Highly recommended.

Woven, by Michael Jensen and David Powers King. After his murder, an aspiring knight goes on a quest with a spoiled princess to stop the universe from unraveling. This book had an interesting premise, but its execution filled me with rage. Although it pretends to have dual protagonists, the princess is treated horribly by the narration without any kind of self-awareness. She is given a thin veneer of fighting ability but no agency in the story and is constantly being rescued without payoff. The writing and pacing also seemed flat. Overall extremely frustrating, especially because of the hints of interest.

#literature #book review #tamora pierce #immortals quartet #artemis fowl #grisha trilogy #six of crows #gotham academy #ever after high #percy jackson #magnus chase #twitches #dracula #neil gaiman #the sleeper and the spindle

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equalityforher · 8 years ago

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Artist Spotlight: Palesa Kgasane

Growing up, Palesa Kgasane saw the potential of an audience. With unapologetic confidence, she would entertain her family and friends as an outlet of expressing herself. Now a rising star in the buzzing South African creative fashion world, she is rewriting the history of women of color by documenting the many faces and facets that they behold on her notable platform, Mzansi Moodboard. Inspired by her matriarchy and indelible African icons such as Miriam Makeba and Brenda Fassie, Palesa employs the flawless fashion sense of her elders to her creative direction and matchless fashion finesse. Unimpressed by labels and pop-boxes, Palesa is breaking the mould by leveraging her creative eye and expressing a hard-to-hear but necessary truth and visibility of creative WoC.

When did you realize that you were interested in fashion styling? What inspired your choice of film and photography to document your art?

I think I knew from a young age that I loved fashion, largely attributed to my mother’s great sense of style and all the glamorous women I would see when we watched TV. They seemed so confident. I think that’s what I liked about clothes, how they make people feel. Expressing myself was sort of second nature. When I was younger I just wanted to entertain, whether it was singing or writing, I always ended up taking part in things that involved entertaining people. Picking up a camera for the first time and documenting myself and my friends back in high school was something I did for fun. I remember how I insisted that we always take pictures. I edited them and put them on Facebook. That was the thing then. And now, I do it as a means of sharing my narrative with people and that of other black womyn.

What were the images of women of color that you saw growing up in South Africa? Did that observation inspire your art today?

I never saw enough images of women of colour. That was why I had to start creating them, for myself. I realised that history was not very accommodating of brown girls who aren’t thin and outspoken and who don’t fit in. Therefore, creating and writing was always an outlet for me. Solitude inspired me. That and strong womyn who also stuck it to the man; Brenda Fassie, Miriam Makeba and Lebo Mathosa.

The visual representation of queer and nonbinary femmes of color seems integral to your art. What motivates your choice of your subject matter? Why do you think it is important to create this content at this time?

The honest answer is that there isn’t enough out there. I don’t create having those labels in mind, I am not a fan of labels and boxes. I do what I do from a place of truth, I try to. But I used to try to hide who I am for a very long time, as a queer femme womyn. It has been really difficult coming to grips with my own truths, but I am grateful to have been able to be in spaces where I could come into my own. Creating is a means of surviving. It is important for me to be and exist beyond the impositions the world puts on me; whether it be as a black womyn, a queer womyn, or a ‘plus-size’ person. My subject matter is always going to be what is closest to home, intentional and also sometimes not. I’m always going to be black first and a womyn too, those are things that give me a certain primacy in the world. I hope to make something positive out of these realities.

In your direction, what are the key ingredients needed for a killer, relevant production?

Patience. I’m basically a one womyn show and the pressure to constantly be creating is overwhelming. Be patient with yourself and the people around you. Not everyone will get it but you just need to trust your gut. Be truthful and authentic. That goes with not doing things for the sake of doing them but knowing what you hope to achieve at the end of the day. For people to feel a sense of black joy and pride after engaging with my work is important for me. Nothing exists in isolation. And lastly, genuine love for what you do. That can be really difficult when you are a solo ranger like me but loving what you do is so important.

At the foundation of it all, artists create what they know; what does your art says about Palesa the person? How has your family upbringing, and your localization, influenced your views on the representation of WoC in the media?

I grew up in a small town. Home is where I return but leaving home was also the only way I was able to find myself after high-school. I went through a lot, both good and bad, which brought me to the person I am today. I owe a lot to my supportive mother, who never gave up on me and would fund every dream I had- whether it was going to record a demo for radio or taking a course guitar lessons or doing extra-curricular art classes, studying journalism – she believed in me refining my skills. And so I did. Being a South African womyn is beautiful and challenging. That story alone is one of survival, being a creative black womyn is filled with paradoxes and I’m learning to be patient with the process of coming into my own. I’m grateful for my upbringing, for being a moTswana girl, for the gift of writing, which to this day, appeases me.

Which are some of the fashion stables whose work you like? Who would you love to work with?

Locally, I love where African fashion is at right now. I have worked with some local desigenrs Imveli Designs and Merwe Mode. I would really love to do something with Anisa Mpungwa, ALC, Matte Nolim, Jenevieve Lyons and Oxosi. I also really love Imprint, Maxhosa and Droomer. Maybe they’ll read this and call me up ☺ .

How would you describe your personal style?

Comfortable, retro, easy.

How has being a native South African and being immersed in its rich and eclectic culture affected your styling direction?

I like to embrace being South African as much as I can, whether it’s wearing bangles or a head-wrap or a pair of earrings from a local designer. It’s been challenging sometimes wanting to buy local but not having enough of it around or it being unaffordable. My country is so beautiful and culturally rich and inspiring, I really want to work with more local designers. I really think they need more platforms and shows and stores. I am really proud of my Tswana, Sotho and Zulu heritage.

In Mzansi Moodboard, Taking it Black is a special space featuring iconic African forerunners. Who are your style icons?

My mom, obviously. Brenda Fassie and the womyn of the late 80s. I love the style back then and my family(mom, aunts and older cousins) have given me some amazing articles of clothing from back then that I wear now. I love Solange, and her style us an eclectic mix of Diana Ross meets Queen Patra. I think a lot of the black womyn that I grew up looking up to and listening to were inherently stylish; Letta Mbulu, Yvonne Chakachaka and Janet Jackson.

You’re well known for utilizing social media to document your process. How has social media been useful? Do you think it affects how people perceive your work?

Social media is a great tool if used properly. I sometimes overshare-in my personal capacity and that has been something I am learning to balance. Although a lot of the work that creatives do is very personal, letting emotions govern the things you put on social media can be really detrimental. This is also hard because you want to be truthful. With Mzansi Moodboard, I always think of what inspires me and what I would want to see from a platform like that. Although I really believe in harnessing the power of social media, it can also be laborious and the things we see can be redundant. However, there is also so much you can do; conversations to be part of, stories to share, voices to hear. Images are powerful, so can words and social media makes it that much easier to share with thousands of people. There’s a lot of negativity in the world, I want to be part of the happiness, the good stuff.

Going on to your seventh issue, what should we look forward to from Mzansi Moodboard?

Envelope breaking, non-binary content that is beautiful, powerful and truthful.

You describe yourself as a Creative Visual Expressionist. What fuels your creative intentions?

Being black. Learning to love my blackness, my queerness, my otherness. Womyn. Re-writing history. Visibility. Representation. Truth. Love. Beauty of the unknown, of the strange and unapologetic black girl magic.

What do you believe is the role of the modern day Black artist?

To tell your story, to share your thoughts, even when your voice trembles, even if people say it isn’t pleasant or pretty or wanted or comfortable hear. It is your duty to do everything you possibly can to live in your truth. And I would like to believe that after that you will by default inspire those who come after you.

#Artist Spotlight #South Africa #Creative #Fashion #Palesa Kgasane

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bellabooks · 8 years ago

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“The Bold Type” is boldly refreshing

‘I appreciate you,’ budding journalist Jane Sloan (played by delightfully doe-eyed Katie Stevens) tells her best friend as she drops her underwear, preparing to have said friend retrieve a stuck yoni egg from her vagina after a failed attempt to achieve her first ever orgasm. I knew that Freeform was becoming more daring with its programming, and needed something big to replace the seven year hype of Pretty Little Liars, but I definitely didn’t expect to see this on their new summer show The Bold Type. The show, based on the life of Joanna Coles, the editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan Magazine, follows the lives of three charming twenty-somethings as they try and make it at Scarlet Magazine, where they all started out together as assistants four years previously. The show originally caught my attention when the casting announcement included Katie Stevens and Aisha Dee of Faking It (RIP, so much wasted potential) and Chasing Life respectively. I figured it could be fun and the dropping of everyone’s favourite f-bomb in the trailer when Dee’s character explicitly refers to Scarlet as a feminist magazine left me feeling hopeful. And oh boy, did the two hour premiere exceed my expectations. The chemistry between Jane, Kat (Dee) and Sutton (Meghann Fahy) is delightful to watch, and they all play off of one another wonderfully when delivering the surprisingly smart comedy weaved into the show’s writing. I had feared that ‘feminist’ would be used as a buzzword and then promptly forgotten about, but much of the premiere’s first hour is devoted to emphasising Scarlet’s position as a feminist beauty publication, and how those two things aren’t mutually exclusive. Their sex pieces focus on women’s relationship with porn or, as seen in the second hour, women’s reluctance to express dissatisfaction with their partners. This element of journalistic integrity is reminiscent of recent goings-on with the likes of Teen Vogue, a publication that has recently put more work into championing minority voices and discussing the previously undiscussed. In the opening hour, we see Kat, the magazine’s social media director, try and convince Muslim photographer and activist Adena (Nikohl Boosheri) to reconsider letting Scarlet cover her upcoming series after having pulled out over feeling that the magazine wasn’t the right publication for her work. Kat opens Adena’s eyes up to the feminist nature of Scarlet, and Adena, in turn, opens Kat up to feelings that are a little new to her. You know, gay type feelings. The main conflicts of the premiere’s second hour emerge in a scene with the three girls chatting in a closet in a way that suggests they’ve done this a thousand times before. Sutton is going to be interviewed by the man she’s been sleeping with for a job she’s not sure she wants, (I care about this plot just as much as I care about every other show where one of the leads is sleeping with an older, uncharismatic white guy – which is to say, not at all) and Kat had a sex dream about Adena. Sutton says, ‘wow, we’re gonna have to unpack this,’ in the same excited way we’ve seen the girls talk about countless other issues in their lives in the fifty minutes or so we have known them, before being interrupted by Jane confessing she’s never had an orgasm. The lack of climaxing in Jane’s life is seen by the trio as a bigger shock than Kat’s feelings towards Adena, which is really great in a lot of ways, and the show commits to exploring different aspects of female sexuality within the lives of their three leads. Kat spends the rest of the episode trying to figure out if she likes Adena or if she likes Adena. She totally gets the ‘girl thing,’ she says, but could never get passed the whole being up close and personal with another person’s vagina, so surely she’s straight: ‘I’m hetero. Totally hetero. I’m hetero, right?’ She basically sent her a nude with a heart emoji covering her boobs, but she’s straight, right? She’s not particularly convincing however, as the second she spots Adena at her exhibition, her eyes turn into giant hearts and you can all but hear the string quartet playing in her head. ‘Gay. Straight. I don’t know. I don’t think it matters,’ she tells Jane when she asks why she’s spent the night avoiding Adena. What would be wonderful would be if Kat comes to a point in her story in which the writers start using the word ‘bisexual.’ Dee’s previous show Chasing Life (also of Freeform) was one of the few shows that had their queer lead character, Brenna, repeatedly label herself as bisexual, particularly when others tried to slap ‘straight’ or ‘gay’ on her instead. At this point in the show, however, this lack of labelling reflects Kat having no idea what’s going on other than some very obvious feelings for Adena. When Kat decides to put all feelings of nervousness aside and just go for it, only to see Adena receiving a well-timed kiss from her supposed girlfriend, Jane and Sutton’s previous refreshing nonchalance turns to comfort and concern. ‘You’re not an idiot,’ Sutton assures her. ‘You’re the bravest person I know.’ And there’s something so lovely about this whole mini-journey Kat’s been through in this episode. The idea of being attracted to someone of the same-sex isn’t a big deal to any of the girls. Coming to terms with maybe, actually, being queer, seems a little heavier for Kat, but even then she seems to have few reservations when it comes to determining what this really means. But when she ends the episode a bit heartbroken, her friends acknowledge that her decision to put herself out there – to act, rather than repress – was really brave. The Bold Type seems to be getting the balance between millennial acceptance of, and engagement with, queerness, and the realities of each queer individual’s journey of self-discovery just right. The secrecy and shame that tends to shroud coming-out journeys on television is completely absent here. The process is still significant, but it is something that Kat is curious about, rather than fearful. There’s something a little Broad City to it at times. A little bit Ugly Betty. A bit Sex and the City. It has me laughing out loud in way that is usually only achieved by sitcoms. It is dripping with female friendships, feminism, sex-positivity and a unique depiction of queerness that is truly refreshing to watch unfold. All this being said, it’s still a Freeform show. The characters still walk down hallways in slow motion while ‘inspirational’ pop music plays overhead, and any scene of them waking up in the morning looking flawless makes you want to punch yourself in the face just a little bit. Whilst a nice change from women being pitted against one another, Scarlet’s editor-in-chief, Jacqueline (Melora Hardin) is, at times, just a little too nice and attentive for someone who has an entire magazine to run, and the mentor-student relationship between herself and Jane seems slightly unearned to a viewer who is just coming into this world. But it’s a level of cheesiness and cliché that is absolutely worth embracing, because when it comes down to it, it’s just so damn nice to watch women succeed. There’s a lot of dark TV airing at the moment, and The Bold Type is a fun, genuine show that cuts right through that. This show is doing so many great things in its first two episodes alone, but Kat and Adena’s connection is by far one of the most engaging. They push one another and support one another. They’re both teasing and political and they both care. There’s a standout scene where Kat asks Adena why she chooses to wear her hijab, and it hits you just how incredible it is that this show is pushing an interracial relationship between two women of colour as its current main romantic relationship. I’m tentatively invested, as we’ve all been burned by shows’ queer potentials too many times before, but there’s something about The Bold Type that has me willing to trust it. Plus, I’m way too charmed by Aisha Dee and her beyond excellent comedic timing to stop anytime soon. So I’m just going to hope for the best, and enjoy this little slice of joyful television once a week. Feel free to join me. Rachel Innes is a recent UEA literature graduate and aspiring writer. On a mission to ‘queer up’ the media, she is also devoted to hunting down the world’s very best espresso martini and she won’t rest until she finds it. http://dlvr.it/PVL4bm

#Television #Aisha Dee #Katie Stevens

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mizufae · 8 years ago

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@brinnanza here is a list of CR shows that I think you might enjoy, as listed when I scroll by it on their shows by popularity page:

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood - I suspect you’ve already seen this, or maybe the previous non-brotherhood anime. IMO it is a large improvement on the first anime although not by as much as some people say, though the finale is a thousand times better and much more integrated into the show as a whole, and there is so much less filler thank goodness. Anyway it has a lot of blood and violence and death and existential scary shit so YMMV but if you are up to that you will likely enjoy.

Fairy Tail - look it’s a hugely long running ridiculous shonen show with entire episodes where people just power up BUT it has a huge cast of colorful characters with some good humor and some interesting fantasy concepts and if you are looking for some Background Anime then by gum you’ve got it. Also has talking, flying cats and dragons who are also your mom

Log Horizon - an actually good show that investigates the question “what if real people got sucked into a MMORPG and had to live actual lives there” and there’s some good stuff about personhood and self determination and some really geeky stuff and also friendship!!!!

Toriko - an even more inexplicable shonen show all about bizarre food and hunting for rare ingredients in insane fantasy lands and the freaky society that has developed around this strange priority system. It is like, if you took that phase when kids draw impossible made up animals and plants and animated it and wrote a whole world around them taking them very very seriously, plus a large dash of EXTREME FRIENDSHIP between the very muscly blue haired protagonist and his best friend the teeny tiny skinny chef and their adventures, all while getting reeeeeaaaaaaaaallllllyyyyyyyyy high

Cowboy Bebop - I’m gonna assume you’ve watched bebop, if not, what’s the matter with you go do that

Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash - super solid high fantasy show with great character writing, sadly too short, based on a series of light novels so maybe there will be more

Uta no Prince Sama - I LOVE THIS STUPID SHOW ABOUT A GIRL WHO GOES TO MUSIC SCHOOL AND CAN GET IT WITH ANY OF A WHOLE CAST OF BEAUTIFUL BOYS WHO ARE IN AN IDOL GROUP FIGHT ME

Sound! Euphonium - Band Camp The Anime but more extra than that, delightful girls being awesome and playing large brass instruments

Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun - wonderfully funny show about an obviously autistic manga-ka and the girl who is into him and the dorks he bases his characters on and it’s just so funny and defies summaries and is one of those rare instances of humor that is entirely good hearted

Gurren Lagann - there was a whole year where i was OBSESSED with this sketchy giant robot show

Digimon Adventure - do you want to cry about your late 90s childhood? Well do I have the throwback for you

SKET Dance - if iCarly were an anime. no but srsly it is a cute comedy show about teens who have to do a club activity so they make a club whose purpose is “to hang out and help other clubs with their issues” which leads to Shenanigans. Large cast of cute characters and silliness but also genuine Feels about growing up and friendship and stuff.

Cardcaptor Sakura - if you havent watched CCS then what are you doing even talking to me

Tegami Bachi Letter Bee - a weird little show with some very interesting concepts about love and metaphors and stuff, also monster girls who are actual girls and a disabled character who refuses to be woobified

Bodacious Space Pirates - this is a show for queer girls, don’t let the title fool you. it is hella funny and also strange and the space pirates are indeed pretty bodacious

Symphogear - badass magical girl show about fighting monsters with the power of POUNDING BEATS AND PURE POP SOUNDS, also some v. v. compelling baby gay girls being like I LOVE YOU no I LOVE YOU and also like wonky world building secret not so secret organization stuff and it’s all neon bright and girlfriends, idk, i love symphogear and feel it is highly underappreciated

Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet - Gorgeous giant robot show about what happens if you took transcendental humanism and fucking ran with it and also mixed with waterworld only good and also AI vs AI and also a show where everyone doesnt conveniently just speak japanese and it’s pretty great! and also there’s a moral about treating disabled people like people and also some great female characters with power. CAVEAT there is some really shitty stuff about trans people but it’s only a couple minutes in the whole show and I TRIED to get the translator to mitigate it in english but if anything it’s worse than the original ugh ugh ugh. But seriously other than that it’s a really good show :/

RIN-NE - an adorable show about dead people, but don’t worry it’s so cute you wont even notice! But seriously it is charming and beautiful in a cartoonish way and the characters are so funny and it has some stuff about crappy parents being crappy and also love and friendship and ghosts who do funny stuff and demons who are sooooo extra and it’s just great fun, why didnt this show get more traction, what is wrong with everyone

Silver Spoon - An anime about learning about farming! It’s great, no, seriously, it’s SO GREAT

Time of Eve - DO YOU WANT TO CRY ABOUT ROBOTS? CRYING ABOUT ROBOTS ALREADY AND NEED TO BE HEALED? WATCH TIME OF EVE. NO, SERIOUSLY, DO IT. Time of Eve should be considered one of the finest pieces of contemporary science fiction out there today and i dont understand how or why everyone isn’t talking about it and including it in college courses and shit. it’s so good, like solidly fantastically good, and the creator of it is such a huge nerd, wow, it really shows it’s SO GOOD.

Kids on the Slope - a beautiful period piece about jazz and Japan as a nation recovering from war and it’s incredible, Required Viewing imo

Library War - when this show came out it was a bizarre concept: what if librarians had to become soldiers to defend knowledge? like with guns and stuff? NOWADAYS it’s almost too scary and on-point. Fuck fuck fuck. Anyway it’s good though, I should rewatch it. Y’know, like how everyone is reading 1984 these days.

Galaxy Express 999 - Do you like trains? Do you like space? Do you like trains in space?? No but seriously Galaxy Express 999 is in my top ten favorite shows of all time. Not favorite animes. Favorite shows. It’s got EVERYTHING I love all in one thing and every episode is different and beautiful and it’s just... siiiigh. Retro classic, if you watch it you will see examples of so many things that became tropes because of it. And the leading lady is one of the best characters ever. God, I love Galaxy Express 999

Rose of Versailles - A classic shoujo show about a girl who was raised as a boy. It’s just... pearls and flowers and French “history” and fashion and dueling and y’alllllll classic gay girl stuff

OKAY THAT’S ALL I GOT FOR CRUNCHYROLL i have Mixed Feelings about Funi so idk if i am up to doing a rundown of their offerings even though they host a lot of good shows because, well. Reasons I can’t and won’t get into that also cause me to have anxiety flashbacks SO you know how it is. But like, yeah. Some Shows For You To Enjoy

#mizu the weeb

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owentalk · 6 years ago

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It’s June here in New York and for me that means one thing: Pride Month! I went into the bank and was delighted to find rainbow lollipops and pens. I went to Target and bought a tank top for the summer emblazoned with all the colors of Roy G. Biv. I finally saw Hamilton on Broadway and I came home with the Stonewall 50th Anniversary Pride program to hang on my wall. All of this is very fun and festive, but it’s more than just an excuse to throw rainbows on everything. Pride month is a unique opportunity for queer people to feel the way everyone else feels all year.

This is only my second pride in New York. Before moving here, I had only ever been on the outside looking in. Pride in my hometown meant more of a personal celebration. Watching YouTube videos of parades happening somewhere else in the world and wondering what it would be like to be a part of that. No one put up flags or sold cheesy merch. There just wasn’t a market for it. If you were already a gay organization you observed pride, but otherwise, it just slipped by like every other month.

But when I came to New York I experienced pride as a community event. A capitalistic opportunity. A political battlefield. A massive party, and a sober memorial. All the life and breath and humanity that I had never seen expressed in the center of society before. It is hard to put into words how different it is to be queer during pride month in New York as opposed to any other month anywhere else.

Pride month is a unique

opportunity for queer people

to feel the way

everyone else feels all year.

Queer people are used to living in the margins. We get crap for being loud and flamboyant, but we have to be loud to be heard. There is no space made for us so we make one by being the funniest, flashiest or angriest person in the room. All day every day is an endless barrage of straight stories and images that subtly remind you that you are different. Advertisements with straight couples. Movies about straight people falling in love with other straight people. Clothing shops with gender specific everything. Bathrooms with requirements so specific you need a physical just to be allowed in. The message to queer people in America has become:

“You are tolerated as long as we don’t have to do anything for you.”

Don’t get me wrong, this is historically a pretty great message. Previous slogans have included:

“Get away from my children!”

“Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”

and

“Burn the Witch!”

So we are definitely doing better. But many queer people are tired of being a niche interest group. There are so many of us and our stories are great, our voices thoughtful and our bodies beautiful. We want to be seen.

Queer people are tired of being a

niche interest group.

Everywhere I look in New York in June I see queer people. The straight people are still there, and they should be, most of them are lovely people. But the queer people are there too. Coming out of their cracks and shadows. Ultimately, the parties and the rainbow face-paint are great, but what really makes pride important is the way it puts queer people in the center of the cultural attention.

The other day I was walking to work, feeling caught up in my own troubles and I saw a massive rainbow flag hanging outside a Marriot Hotel. It doesn’t matter why they put it up; if it was just a business decision or if they meant for people like me to see it. It stopped me in my tracks. The city was saying:

“You are not just tolerated, you are wanted.”

Someday queer culture will be more fully integrated into mainstream America. I see it beginning to happen in pockets. Conversations are happening, lines are blurring. But queer people still feel isolated in the greater community. And that is why joyously observing pride month as a whole society is so valuable.

In the book of humanity,

queer people are

a prominent character,

not a footnote.

Happy Pride!

The Center of Attention It's June here in New York and for me that means one thing: Pride Month! I went into the bank and was delighted to find rainbow lollipops and pens.

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michaelhoganus · 7 years ago

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Vegan Baby Clothes: Etsy Helped Me Find “Me” Again

Starting ItsyPunx, my radical vegan baby clothes shop on Etsy, gave me a creative outlet that connected my past as a badass vegan feminist with my new reality of motherhood.

The beginning was hard. No, hard doesn’t begin to cover it. For me, having a brand new baby meant post-partum anxiety and depression, mixed in with nursing/crying by the light of Netflix, and desperately wishing I could finally capture a smiling photo in the midst of my newborn trying out facial expressions, so I had something to keep me going.

During these endless nights, I found comfort online, reading about other parents’ struggles. Somehow, just knowing you’re not the only one who doesn’t shower anymore, who has spit-up (or worse) on your shirt and just watched yet another sunrise, is helpful. I found myself connecting with other parents in an intense way.

BUT, I was not ready to accept that my new reality meant a whole new me, meant a death of my former self.

It started with this huge pile of white and pastel yellow onesies. We didn’t learn the sex of our baby before she was born; our generous friends and family responded by inundating us with white and yellow onesies. Maybe those are your favorite colors, but the first thing my husband and I did was dye them all various shades of gray, which matched our sweet baby’s gray eyes. And then, I thought, how cool would it be to make a studvest for a baby?

She was 4 months old when I got some vegan patches and some studs, and I made my first baby punk jacket. A few months later, she wore it to her first show, Caspar Babypants, where I held her and danced in Caspar’s “balloon moshpit.”

Every day and every night, when I felt stuck nursing, I would grab a needle and embroidery floss and make her baby clothes awesome. “Ninja–witch” was the term my husband made up for the hand-dyed grey aesthetic, though soon I was finding fun, colorful, stripey baby clothes at thrift shops and upcycling them as well.

My baby grew out of her clothes, as babies do, and I realized I’d accumulated quite a collection. I thought maybe other parents would be just as stoked to dress their kids in unique, vegan baby clothes, so I started an Etsy shop. I wrote to some of my favorite patch-makers on Etsy, sent them pictures of my baby wearing their feminist, queer, environmental and vegan patches, and asked if they were all right with me selling my upcycled vegan baby clothes on Etsy. Everyone said yes (and “awwwww!!!”)

I named my shop ItsyPunx: Itsy like Etsy (and like my little baby, “Itsy Bitsy Tzivia Fritzi”); Punx like, hey, remember I used to be a badass, activist, vegan punk rocker before all this post-partum depression snuck in?

It wasn’t just the shop or the sewing that did it (I was also connecting with friends and going to therapy), but I found myself feeling better, being a better mom, friend, and partner, now that I had a creative outlet. I saw the irony that this creative outlet was still baby-centric, but that’s what was so awesome about it: ItsyPunx was a bridge between my creative DIY past and my new persona as a full-time mama. It helped me figure out that I didn’t need to throw away anything about who I used to be, about what I already loved about myself, but I did need to integrate my past with my new life. My Etsy shop also became one of the many random gigs I do in order to afford to be a mostly stay-at-home parent during these precious early years.

Because I do hand-stitching on each item and they’re all one-of-a-kind, there’s really no way for ItsyPunx to get huge. So each sale is exciting, and I love seeing where my clothes are going! Quite a few parents have sent me photos of their babies in my clothes. I think about how most of those families are going through the same huge adjustment, holding on to who they are and what’s important to them, in the midst of such an epic life change.

One of my favorite customers was a mom waiting to adopt a baby. She bought a few items before the adoption was even for-sure. When everything was finalized, she let me know and came back for more. My own mothering emotions were still so intense (will they ever not be?) and I was so, so happy for her. I threw in an “Adopt and Rescue” onesie with her order, and felt this rare at-peace feeling, like all of us vegan parents, were truly connected in the struggle, in a beautiful way.

It’s been a couple years now, and there are way more vegan baby clothes on Etsy! This, combined with the rise of Raise Vegan, tells me the movement is strong, tells me I am not alone, tells me we can stay true to our values, even as parenthood comes along and rocks our world.

Don’t forget to subscribe to Raise Vegan magazine to read more of Darcy’s work.

Darcy Reeder’s been a journalist, a vegan pastry chef, owned a vegan pizzeria, and now she plays with kids all day (as a mama and a Kaleidoscope Play & Learn facilitator). See more at her blog Vegans in Love, her etsy shop ItsyPunx, and on Instagram @darcyreeder.

The post Vegan Baby Clothes: Etsy Helped Me Find “Me” Again appeared first on Raise Vegan.

source https://raisevegan.com/vegan-baby-clothes-etsy-helped-me-find-me-again/ source https://raiseveganus.blogspot.com/2018/08/vegan-baby-clothes-etsy-helped-me-find.html

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swipestream · 7 years ago

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Gnome Stew Notables – Alex Roberts

Welcome to the second installment of our Gnome Spotlight: Notables series. The notables series is a look at game developers in the gaming industry doing good work. The series will focus on female game creators and game creators of color primarily, and each entry will be a short bio and interview. We’ve currently got a group of authors and guest authors interviewing game creators and hope to bring you many more entries in the series as it continues on. If you’ve got a suggestion for someone we should be doing a notables article on, or want to do an interview with someone send us a note at [email protected]. – Head Gnome John

Meet Alex

Alex

Alex Roberts is a writer, designer, journalist, and roleplayer of boundless enthusiasm. She wants roleplaying to be a site of interior exploration, transformation, and healing. When not hosting her acclaimed interview show

Talking With Alex

1) Tell us a little bit about yourself and your work.

Big question! All right, here’s my deal. I’m bright and enthusiastic, and I have a podcast called Backstory where I interview fascinating folks in roleplaying. It’s thoughtful and gentle and even people who don’t like podcasts like it. I write fun stuff for other people’s games, like Sig, Dialect, Threadbare, and Misspent Youth: Sell Out With Me. I do production support and project management and marketing stuff for game publishers; right now with Bully Pulpit Games. And, of course, I make my own dang games! My first was HUGPUNX LIVE, for Pelgrane’s #Feminism supplement. I’m semi-secretly working on a little card-based thing right now. And of course there’s Star Crossed, the two-player RPG of forbidden love, which will be on Kickstarter April 10th – May 10th! That game has been in progress for years and I am losing my mind over how great it’s going to be.

You’ve probably heard me on podcasts or at cons talking about two player games, or romance and sexuality in game design. These are some of my favourite topics!

Backstory Podcast

2) What project are you most proud of?

It’s hard to pick just one! I do feel a certain special love for my first RPG writing credit, in Sig: the City Between. I had no idea what I was doing; Crystalia just kind of emerged from me. Sig is planar fantasy, and I was moved to write about a beautiful, perfect world of vibrations and lights in glorious pastels. Beings grow in caves and emerge fully formed, and where things are easily broken and impossible to repair. Without my intention, it came to represent this overwhelming fear of making mistakes, of imperfections, of asking for help or accepting nurturing. I still get into that headspace sometimes but I’m at least better at recognizing it, since writing it out as something external to me. I’ll think to myself: whoops, I’m in Crystalia again. Better turn around.

3) What themes do you like to emphasize in your game work?

Queerness, obviously, but also the excruciating joy of being alive.

4) What mechanics do you like best in games?

I like when a game system perfectly matches the real, felt, lived experience of something in the world. Sometimes a game mechanic makes apparent something you only sensed before, but couldn’t express. You point to it and go, “yes! That’s how it is!” Not an external realism, but an internal resonance.

5) How would you describe your game design style?

Intuitive. I am making games to feel my way through what the heck is going on. With me, with the world. Star Crossed is not just about Attraction and Relationships, it’s me making meaning of my experiences of attraction and relationships, and trying to make them into a system that I can comprehend (if not master.) Even “comprehend” is a bit too intellectual, actually. Maybe a word like “integrate” is a bit closer. Really, by making a game I’m going, okay, this is how attraction works, it’s sorta like this, a thing I can see the whole of, and live with. Star Crossed is my little diorama of attraction, with moving parts.

6) How does gender/queerness fit into your games?

I like when my work is very obviously feminine even though I find femininity hard to define. I guess, again, I must prefer to make stuff to understand rather than express. More likely I’m doing both. If pressed I would say that all my games, even when I was working digitally, put harmony, creativity, and grace at the forefront. And of course my games are going to be queer because that’s where I’m coming from. I could never make a game where relationships have a pre-determined path forward which is generally agreed upon by not only the people in it but also their broader community and culture. I’ll keep letting you get into messy, baffling, ecstatically exciting but fraught relationships instead.

7) How do you make sexy games fun?

Star Crossed

Sex is already absolutely ludicrous. And I think sex is one of most adults’ few opportunities to be playful. So, let’s just acknowledge that and make a game where you can tell ridiculous, sexy stories. It’s so much easier than people seem to think. I get the fear around making anything about sex (even in this answer I’m resisting the urge to say something like “Star Crossed doesn’t just tell sexy stories!” which is true but irrelevant) because we’re taught that whole area of life is inherently dangerous. Reflecting the reality of sexuality – that it is honestly just the most ridiculous and interesting thing – is better than trying to deliberately frame it any particular way.

8) How did you get into games?

Like everyone else, I played all the time as a kid. I was just lucky enough to keep doing it. After absorbing the cultural concept of “Dungeons and Dragons” I ran what were essentially ongoing fantasy storytelling sessions, with no rules except total DM fiat, in various treehouses and backyards and slumber parties, until I was a teen and I made friends with some boys who had the actual books and knew the actual rules. It took me a couple of years of trying to get into that to get bored and decide I didn’t like RPGs after all! Then I met a friend who showed me The Burning Wheel. And then organized a game of Fiasco. And then gave me his copy of Kagematsu and asked me to GM it. The rest is history. Thanks, Patrick!

9) What one thing would you change in gaming?

I would like to have a sophisticated culture of critique. “There’s no wrong way to have fun!” is an attempt at kindness, of course. I get that it’s a fallback to avoid a recurring set of self-fuelling arguments. Unfortunately, there are lots of ways to have fun that hurt other people. I’ve seen play used to bully, and game systems that reinforce and re-create much broader systems of harm. Being able to precisely and compassionately critique different games might help us build more fun, innovative, groundbreaking work while also helping us avoid some of those problems.

10) What are you working on now?

I have a little game about a queen’s retinue that I’m specifically cultivating for first-time roleplayers, and it turns out long-time roleplayers have been enjoying it too. It’s been fun so far! It’s been a lifeline of creativity while pushing Star Crossed past the finish line. Those are two different kinds of satisfying that fuel each other.

Thanks for joining us for this entry in the notables series. You can find more in the series here: and please feel free to drop us any suggestions for people we should interview at [email protected].

Gnome Stew Notables – Alex Roberts published first on https://medium.com/@ReloadedPCGames

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