#The Thing Around Your Neck

[have-you-read-this-short-fiction]

[alandofmyth]

Black History Month book recommendations:

1) Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson

- going viral for good reason, this is a beautiful examination of what it means to fall in love as a Black man in London. Written in the second person with a unique, lyrical style, this often sad and raw story explores the themes of masculinity, race, love and loss. This is as much about the protagonist struggling to find his own self and place in the world as it is about falling in love with someone else. Deeply touching and original.

cw: racism, police violence, existential themes

2) The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

- a collection of twelve short stories that tie together the corruption, poverty and violence of small towns in Nigeria with it's colour, community and joys, and the cruelty and ignorance of the west with moments of hope and relative freedom. The first story, 'Cell One', is a moving account of a brother wrongly jailed in Nigeria, his family's fear for him, and the way he is changed by his time, for better and worse. The eponymous 'The Thing Around Your Neck' explores what it means to be a Black woman who moves to America and the difficulties and nuances of a relationship with a White man who often feels worlds away.

cw: racism, colourism, police violence, corruption, sexual assault, violence/gang violence

3) Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo

- another of the more well known pieces of fiction by a Black female author. This novel weaves together the lives of twelve different women, giving a voice to Black women in Britain who are often overlooked in literature. Their stories explore themes of identity, race, feminism, class and sexuality. Despite everything that ties the characters together, they still often exclude and 'other' themselves and eachother based on everything from different social standings to skin colour to sexuality. Written in a beautiful mixture of poetry and prose.

cw: sexual violence, racism, misogyny, abuse, deadnaming, misgendering, drugs

4) The Colour Purple by Alice Walker

- A love story between two Black women in spite of the violence that surrounds them. At times it is dark and upsetting, this novel speaks of things that still happen around the world today that too many of us in privileged positions are ignorant of. The story is set pre second world war, but the women's rights issues, misogyny and racism within these pages are still prevalent in our society today. Told through an engaging, epistolary style with very vivid characters, both loveable and cruel. There is so much growth in this book and you can see it in each character. Nobody ends up the same as how they began. As bleak as the story starts, it ends vivid and full of life and hope.

cw: sexual violence, abuse, misogyny, racism, colourism, sickness/death

5) Sister, Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde

- finishing off with a partially non-fiction recommendation. This is a collection of essays, memoirs and poems by Audre Lorde, a Black woman, lesbian, mother and feminist. Many of these essays are now cited as pivotal works in contemporary feminist theory. With excerpts from all over the world, this collection examines oppression, misogyny, war, homophobia, but also equality and self-love.

cw: police brutality, war, misogyny, homophobia, racism, violence, ageism

Notable mentions for books I haven't read but that have been recommended to me so I thought were worth sharing:

6) Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

7) On The Other Side of Freedom by DeRay McKesson

8) Shallow Waters by Anita Kopacz

9) State of Emergency by Tamika D Mallory

If you would like me to find out more about content/trigger warnings for the above please let me know and I will do my best.

Reminder to continue to engage with Black creatives and amplify Black voices all year round, I'm sharing these now but it's more than a month.

[kepage3]

TBR 10 Yr - 10. The Thing Around Your Neck - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Genre: Short Stories, African literature Narrative style: Varies Published: 2008 Rating 4/5 Format: Hardback Synopsis: Adichie tells the stories of Nigerians, in Africa and the USA. They are tales of sorrow and longing, about the clash of cultures and the struggle to reconcile them. Time on Shelf: I inherited this from my husband’s aunt in 2014 so a long time. I’m not a huge fan of short…

[oikqwas]

it’s that time of the year i try to read all the books on my tbr at the same time

[kilterstreet]

If he thought I was too happy about something that did not have to do with him, he always found a way to put it down. How can you love somebody and yet want to manage the amount of happiness that person is allowed?

from “The Shivering” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (a story in her short fiction collection, The Thing Around Your Neck)

[dragoncoitus]

You knew by people's reactions that you two were abnormal -- the way the nasty ones were too nasty and the nice ones were too nice. The old white men and women who muttered and glared at him, the black men who shook their heads at you, the black women whose pitying eyes bemoaned your lack of self-esteem, your self-loathing. Or the black women who smiled swift solidarity smiles; the black men who tried too hard to forgive you, saying a too-obvious hi to him; the white men and women who said "What a good looking pair" too brightly, too loudly, as though to prove their own open-mindedness to themselves.

[little-pondhead]

The Curse Of Hope

_

Danny is in another universe. He had a reason, but he doesn’t remember anymore. He can only stare, horrified and disgusted, at the sickest city spirit he’s ever seen. Shivering and swaying with every step, core exposed, and ectoplasm leaking from wounds that are decades old. A ratty blanket was thrown over their shoulders, barely hiding the spirit’s pale grey skin and protruding black bones.

The spirit didn’t even sense him until he reached out to touch its wispy shoulders. The spirit flinched, clutching at the dozens of trinkets hanging from their neck and tucking in on themselves like they were expecting a blow.

“Oh, shit,” He swore, floating back a few feet, hands in the air, to show he meant no harm. “I’m sorry. I promise, I’m not here to steal from you.” The spirit shivered again and rolled a pearl necklace in between their fingers. A nervous habit. “Uh, I like that pocket watch? It’s very nice.”

That got their attention. They peeked at Danny, and he saw that more tattered cloth was covering their eyes, blending in with the stringy hair that reached the ground. Their blanket fluttered weakly, revealing hundreds of thousands of tiny marks etched into their skin. Scars, really. Scars that wrote out curse after curse onto the spirit’s very being. They burned with evil intent, and even reached inside the spirit’s body and wrapped around their core.

Occasionally, blinding specks of color raced across their body, temporarily erasing the writing, but it always returned quickly. He watched, a little detached, as one particular line rewrote itself across their rough forearm, drawing fresh ectoplasm like someone was writing it with a thin knife.

“Are you…alright?” Danny stuttered. A stupid question.

The spirit cocked its head. He couldn’t see their eyes, but he felt their burning gaze as they pondered the question.

“The pain of others becomes mine own.” They rasped. “The lights of the city dim as rotten wealth clogs mine veins. Magicks long forgotten have eaten mine skins, pulled mine cloak, and darkened mine skies. Helios has refused to grace mine doorstep, and the seasons of the Earth have revoked their kindness.”

Danny held his breath. It felt like he was the one with the exposed core, not the spirit.

The spirit shivered once more. “Tell mine soul, little lamb. How could this Forsaken City know peace, when it was long since ripped from mine hands?”

Shit, he needed Frostbite. And maybe Clockwork. Now.

-Or-

Danny meets the spirit of Gotham City. The villains and rogues that have plagued the city for decades are literal curses that are taking quite the toll on Gotham, and honestly, Danny isn’t sure how much longer they can hold out. The heroes seem to be doing some help, and are probably the reason Gotham made it this far, but the poor city needs help from the Realms if they want to get better.

Luckily, Danny can provide that help.

But only if he could get Gotham to leave their city behind. Because recovery is going to take a very long time.

[brother-emperors]

CAESAR AUGUSTUS AND MARCUS LICINIUS CRASSUS

this is about the spolia opima that crassus was robbed of lmao. like, yeah okay octavian could've asked him not to claim it, but nevertheless. a kind of theft happened there.

Fact and Fiction: Crassus, Augustus, and the Spolia Opima, Catherine McPherson

[afterthelambs]

"I crumble completely when you cry, it seems like once again you've had to greet me with goodbye" guys thats so shuake. thats so shuake third semester thats them its shuake

[twixfamily]

i completely understand being relieved that the bus hijacking arc is over, but i disagree with a few posts i’ve seen calling it unnecessarily long. for manga readers it dragged on due to how spread out the time before each chapter was (trust me, i was ready for some change too) but i think that reading it back in one go is far more impactful and cohesive.

in a series called spy x family you expect and emphasis on the FAMILY aspect, so it’s strange to see them not interacting for months on end while the manga updates. however, in keeping with the SPY portion the readers need to be both reminded and informed of the political landscape they’re dealing with.

yuri’s plot seemed a little inconsequential, but it’s supposed to show you that the sss is operating behind the scenes where you might not expect AND that some of its agents disregard their orders to carry out their own version of justice. twilight removing his disguise at the end seems lame when he doesn’t have an emotional reunion with anya, but again we’re seeing that even the readers were unaware of the presence of wise agents AND that sometimes they don’t actually accomplish their intended mission. yor arrived later than the other parents to give anya a moment alone with damian AND to show that she’s strong and fast and dedicated but can’t possibly be there to save anya every time she needs it. billy squire exemplifies the evil that war can push people to AND his genuine desire for a fairer world for the non-wealthy. it’s all about revealing the fight for power that has steadily grown to be more convoluted than westalis vs. ostania.

to focus solely on the family relationships and relegate the political atmosphere to the background does a disservice to the series and to endo’s intended message. yes, family makes unrest and war easier to endure. had twilight’s parents survived he likely would’ve had an easier time emotionally and been less likely to engage in such heightened violence (the same could be said for yor). but that doesn’t eliminate danger, ESPECIALLY the danger that is often hidden from the public eye.

you’re supposed to feel exhausted reading this arc, you’re supposed to want it to be over, you’re supposed to long for an emotionally satisfying ending and feel somewhat let down at the lack of a grand reunion. but that’s their reality. they long for the same thing that you do. they can’t have it. so you have to wait and want and hope for a happy ending to the story right alongside the characters.

[briarrolfe]

The problem with drawing a graphic novel is that. there is always more graphic novel to draw… follow me for more #deepthoughts

[musubiki]

recently thinking about the concept of a new npc/semi-cryptid healer character: a little (REALLY little) old lady who rides around on a giant animal (boar or something) whose....family(??) has a long history of healing talents through accupuncture, herbal remedies, pressure points, chiropractic things, etc.

the family line/line of practice has a history of very long life BECAUSE of the healing practices, so this little old lady is maybe...150? 170? years old??? shed be the healer the guild goes to, since her remedies are BETTER than mochis magic AND limes tech junk, she can help any one of them without problem

but the odd thing about her is that shes NOT a witch, weirdly. her healing is 100% natural, which means it works on those with high magic res, since it has nothing to do with magic.

i also think the family history would have this weird relationship with witches, where theyre willing to heal them (for a price of course), but they absolutely REFUSE to give their secrets to any witch. "You'll just make it better and put us out of a job." they always say, so even mochi doesnt know what the hell is in that soup shes eating, all she knows is that its capable of instantly restoring 90% of her magic (5 day cooldown before she can drink it again though, lest she die)

[jamiethebeeart]

[corfisers]

can't write trans yashiro meta without writing down the bisexuality meta first, can't write the bisexuality meta without bringing up transgender reading. oh the misery

[detective-ws]

hey @talkingteardrop i drew your fursona in a kinda smiling friends inspired way :)

drawn from memory so it might not be very accurate sorry 😅