#and Nimona just happy to see 2 other shapeshifter things

[n1ghtpers0n15]

Watched Nimona recently, couldn’t help but think about how Khaos and Order would interact with her if they met her

I can just see the 2 of them loving that kid to absolute pieces. Khaos would probably try to teach Nimona how to make body horror and show em what else she can turn into, while Order happily watches them play and goof around while also making sure the 2 don’t “accidentally” cause mass destruction :}

[powerfulblob]

Nimona Trans Happy dances !!

aaaaaah so excited about this

BREAKING NEWS

ND Stevenson just posted this on his Substack : I’m putting it here so there’s an image-described version of it somewhere on the web.

[NOTE: ALL ART BELONGS TO ND STEVENSON, @gingerhaze! I’M JUST REPOSTING HERE SO I CAN INCLUDE AN IMAGE DESCRIPTION]

[ID: Text in dark red handwriting that reads “I’ve been getting to talk about Nimona a lot lately! Which is great because it’s one of my favorite things to talk about!” All text in the comic will be in the same dark red handwriting. end image description]

[ID:

Part 1: Text reads “Nimona is a webcomic-turned-graphic-novel I made ten years ago.” An arrow connects the text and points to a cartoon of ND Stevenson: He holds a picture of a shark with arms, legs, and boobs running to the left. He has short red hair, wears a striped shirt, jean shorts, striped pants, and boots. He wears an earring in his right ear: The other ear is hidden because of the angle. Small lines float from his head in a circular pattern.

Part 2: Text reads “there’s a shark with boobs in it and they gave me a medal for it.” An arrow connects the text and points to a cartoon of Nate: This time, he wears a suit, and wears a medal. He wears an earring in his left ear: The other ear is hidden because of the angle. Small lines float from his head in a circular pattern.

Part 3: Text reads “it’s about to be an animated movie” 

Part 4: Text reads “the movie is really good” 

Part 5: Text reads “most of you are probably aware of all this but idk I don’t know your life.” Below is a cartoon of Nate in a T-shirt: He has an ear piercing and a slight stubble.

end image description]

[Image description:

Text reads “anyway there’s one question I‘ve been getting a lot:” 

Below, ND Stevenson has a conversation with an unseen person.

Unseen Person: So... The main character is a shapeshifter. Unseen Person: Is this a metaphor for transness? ND Stevenson: haha, looking back that seems obvious! but at the time I had no idea! ND shrugs, smiling slightly. He wears a sweater.

end image description]

[ID: Text reads “and so”  “caught up in the glow of hype and nostalgia” Below the text, Nate goes onto a computer propped on a stack of books. He smiles, and a few lines float off his head.

He says “hey!” “let’s head back to Tumblr and see what I was posting about Nimona back in the day!” 

Below that, there is a cartoon of a search bar, cursor, a few lines, and sound effects that read “tik tik tik.” The URL reads “gingerhaze.tumblr.com.” 

end image description]

[ID: A screenshot of a post on Nate’s Tumblr. It is an illustration of Nimona and Ballister. Ballister has grey armour, iron prosthetic hand, black hair and a mustache and beard, as well as a red cape. Nimona has several piercings, a chainmail top, dark grey dress, and short red hair with an undercut. The two seem to be in thought, with Ballsiter frowning, hands on hips, while Nimona puts a finger to chin, as if in thought. The author’s text reads “I just kind of really like drawing both of these dudes.” The tag reads “Nimona” in all caps. It was posted 11 years ago.

end image description]

[ID: Screenshot of a post on Nate’s tumblr. A user caled fylum-gordata replied to the photo, saying “Nimona’s a dude. MIND BLOWN.” 

Nate replied with: “Haha, "dudes" = "people in general" in my vocabulary. Nimona's a girl, but she can certainly be whatever gender and sex she wants, depending on her mood. Since she's a shapeshifter and all. Y'know.” The post is tagged with “Nimona” and was also posted 11 years ago.

End image description]

[ID:

Part 1: A cartoon of Nate’s face. It has a blank expression with his mouth closed but stretched out. Part 2: Nate says “oh” “buddy”

end image description]

[ID:

Illusration. Nimona, with a grin, says “I’m your new SIDEKICK” while Ballister, with a blank but angry expression, says “No.” 

Nimona, this time has more developed muscles, the same costume, arm and leg hair, a beard, and chest hair text underneath reads “I had so much fun drawing Beefy Dude Nimona on today’s page that I started wondering what it would be like if she’d been a beefy dude from the start.

The post is tagged Nimona. End image description]

[ID: A cartoon of Nate. He seems a bit angry or frustrated, almost, and says “BUDDY” presumably for not seeing this in hindsight earlier.  

end image description]

[ID:

A user called strix-alba asked “Hi! I have a Nimona question. When she’s being a beefy dude, for example, or something without a clear gender, does she switch pronouns? Does she generally stick with female ones? Or does Nimona not really care because she’s a shapeshifter and there are waaaaay too many other things to focus on?” 

Nate replied: “She’s been an octopus, a cat, and a giant flaming monster. I don’t really think it mkaes a whole lot of difference to her what the sex of whatever body she’s in at the moment is. All her bodies are different sizes and have different parts. She adapts to each one to use it in the best possible way, but it doesn’t change HER. I can’t say for certain if she’s ALWAYS identified as female, but during the timeframe of the comic she does.” 

The post is tagged with “Nimona” and was posted 8 years ago.

end image description]

[ID: A cartoon of Nate looking shocked, eyes wide, mouth open, saying “BUD” with the U and the D getting bigger and bolder.

end image description.]

[byebyelemonpie]

byebyelemonpie's july 2023 recommendations

My july top 5 movies:

Nimona (2023, dir: Troy Quane, Nick Bruno) [First time watch] Nimona is a shapeshifter who wants to be an evil sidekick. This premise is already brilliant, but this movie adds to it a lot of love, acceptance and so many feelings that made me cry a lot, and it suddenly became one of my favourite movies of the year. Add to this wonderful animation and really funny sequences: genuinely a perfect movie. -

Rye Lane (2023, dir: Raine Allen-Miller) [First time watch] This was cute and fun! A very nice indie British romcom that is mostly set over the course of one day. Almost like Before Sunrise, but with more messy situations and, maybe, lies? -

Fire Island (2022, dir: Andrew Ahn) [First time watch] Five guys spend a week at a gay retreat on an island: will they find love? I still cannot get over how this movie is a queer version of Pride and Prejudice. I loved how clever it was at translating the story in a more modern (and more gay?) setting and I loved how well the characters were developed. -

Barbie (2023, dir: Greta Gerwig) [First time watch] My goodness, this was just a fun movie! The photography and direction were perfect in composing this story about the dolls most people grew up with. It was fun and lighthearted (the songs sung by the Kens were hilarious), but it was also a thoughtful piece of media talking about feminism and inequality, and the fact that not everybody knows what their place in the world is, but just being there is (K)enough. Just lovely. -

Another Cinderella Story (2008, dir: Damon Santostefano) [Rewatch after twelve years] This was a blast from the past! Sometimes I still hum to myself Tell Me Something I Don't Know, but rewatching the movie it came from was an experience. Recently I had also rewatched the Hilary Duff Cinderella Story, but I found the Selena Gomez one a bit more fun: maybe the dances and the songs made it feel less long? I'm not sure.

Favourite series in july:

Good Omens - season 2 (UK/USA, 2023) [First time watch] Aziraphale and Crowley need to take care of an Archangel with amnesia, make two women fall in love, and reminisce of their history together while not talking about any of that at all. Binge-watching this show is always tragic, because sure! I want to see my favourite supernatural entities do things and interact and fall for each other a little, but once I arrive at the last episode wide-eyed and speechless (actually in my notebook I wrote "Shaking Crying Screaming", but who's counting), what am I supposed to do to wait for the fated conclusion except re-re-re-re-rewatch the whole thing again? -

Little Women (South Korea, 2022) [First time watch] This is the story of three sisters who are poor and try to live in a rich world. What could happen if they found each other involved with rich people and join a long string of suicides, murders, money laundering, and political scandals? The three will have to investigate in the name of justice and to protect their family from the privilege and power that people who are richer than them have. It was very hard to watch the first episodes of this series: they were so heavy that I couldn't get through more than one of them without a headache, so watching this whole thing took me months, but I was fond of the characters and the cinematography being stunning were great incentive not to drop the series at all. -

3 Will Be Free (Thailand, 2019) [First time watch] Three people find themselves inside a mob family affair and they try to escape, while getting to know and growing fond of each other. I loved the characters!! The three main character were very easy to like, from an audience perspective, but I found myself rooting for Mae most of all: she was the best character of the show, in my opinion. -

Abbott Elementary - season 2 (USA, 2022/23) [First time watch] As usual, this sitcom brings me laughter and happiness, and makes me think fondly of my time as a kindergarten teacher (which ended last May). The situations these characters find themselves in as usual are blown out of proportion and their response to them is always hilarious, but the fact that they could happen is very realistic and fighting for the right to a free education for all is very important. I hope that after the Writers and Actors' Strike this show will continue, because it is lovely, and one of the few US sitcoms from recent years that I enjoyed watching.

[byebyelemonpie's 2023 recs]

[morrigan-sims]

Criminally Underrated Books (aka, books that are Actually Good)

After ranting about BookTok for longer than I should have, I thought I’d share some recommedations of books I never/rarely see talked about that are Actually Good. The list is going to go under the cut in case I want to add to it, and also beacuse it’s long as fuck.  I suck at summaries, so you might have to look up a summary yourself.  My “summaries” are mostly me rambling about why I like it, ajsdkajs. EDIT: this is going to be mostly sci-fi/fantasy or maybe speculative fiction, and also YA-heavy, since that’s what I read a lot of.  (moving more away from the YA now, but still sci-fi/fantasy obssessed.)

1. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel This one got some traction after being made into a miniseries on HBO (which I have NOT seen, for the record), but I still have never heard anyone talk about it.  It’s a beautiful book, and feels like a work of art.  The writing is beautiful, the characters are painfully human, and the whole book is a beautiful essay on / loveletter to humanity.  Yeah, sometimes we suck, but sometimes we make beautiful things, and most importantly, SURVIVAL IS INSUFFICIENT. (P.S.: Can people stop thinking that that quote is from Station Eleven?  It’s not.  It’s from Star Trek.  It says it in the book, that it was chosen as their motto but they didn’t make it up.) (P.P.S.: The “no more” chapter is the best thing ever, and I love it.) Trigger Warnings: death, disease (world-ending plague, remember?), violence, wepaons, cult-y shit.

2. The House In The Cerulean Sea + Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune THITCS is gorgeous, and adorable, and just a beautiful comfort book.  It’s cute, happy, gay, no teenage drama, just some middle-aged gay guys falling in love, with a healthy dose of Found Family and Fuck Beaurocracy thrown in for good measure.  (also, magical realism) TW: uhh, idk off the top of my head. UTWD is the only book that has ever made me cry, because of a goddamn ghost dog.  It’s cute, and funny, and sad, and it’s about death.  And I love it.  And again, more middle-aged gays and magical realism.  Also, the majority of the main cast are POC. TW: death (obviously) (but in a postive way??), animal death, suicide mentions, brief mentions of homophobia.

3. Nimona by Noelle Stevenson Adorable graphic novel about found family, good and evil not being what you thought, and shapeshifting.  Also, dragons. (kind of) TW: violence (nothing graphic, but it does have visuals)

4. Villains series by V.E. Schwab Since BookTok won’t shut up about Addie LaRue, I thought I’d shine some light on Ms. Schwab’s better books.  An amazing take on superheroes (and villains) and how no one is totally one or the other.  Also, I’ve never seen someone put as much thought not only how heroes get their powers, but also why they get what power.  It’s amazing worldbuilding, and I love it. Also, Found Family, morally grey characters, and some badass showdowns. TW: death (So. Much. Death.), violence, blood, weapons, animal death, cursing, abuse (mostly book 2), and Religious Stuff (christianity, not in a good way).

5. The Illuminae Files by Jay Kristoff and Aimee Kofman Sci-fi adventure with very high stakes, a lot of plot twists (but not too many), and a lovable cast of characters.  Low-key some found family.  But the best part of this story is the way it’s told.  The entire story is told via documents.  Trancripts of audio recordings, chat logs, etc.  There is no “normal” prose in these books, and it works out brilliantly.  Fast reads even though the page count is high. TW: death, violence, gore (mostly book 2), war, weapons.

6. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein Gorgeous, showstopping, spectacular, brilliant.  I’ve read it 5 times.  Deals with a female spy and her friend a female pilot during WWII.  I know, I know, another WWII book.  But this one is different!!  As I said, I’ve read it 5 times.  Should probably have made me cry, but didn’t.  Also, Rose Under Fire and Black Dove, White Raven by the same author are wonderful as well. TW: War, torture mentions, weapons, violence, injury.

7. On The Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis A gorgeous book about the end of the world and leaving things behind.  A host of POC and disabled characters, and the main character is autistic and Black.  (the author is also autistic + POC, so dw.)  It’s gorgeous, and I love it, and I’ve read it 3 times now.  There is a scene that almost made me cry (again, has to do with animals), but I love it, and I relate very strongly to Denise, the main character.   TW: injury, end-of-the-world stuff, animal death, death mention, ableism.

[entamewitchlulu]

so i did a reading challenge this year and i wanna talk about what i read

transcription under the cut

i did Popsugar 2019 and wanna talk about what i read:  Book Reccs and Anti-Reccs 

1.) Becoming a Movie in 2019: Umbrella Academy (vol 1) by Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba

4/5. A fascinating take on superpowers, dysfunctional families, and the apocalypse. Can get pretty gory, confusing here and there and you have to pay close attention to panels for lore, but overall an entertaining romp.

2.) Makes you Feel Nostalgic: Circles in the Stream by Rachel Roberts

4/5. Middle grade novel about the magic of music, belief, and of course, friendship. Definitely written for kids, and has some unfortunately clumsy Native rep, but overall an absolute joy to dive into once again.

3.) Written by a Musician: Umbrella Academy (vol 2) by Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba

4/5. Ramps up the confusion to ridiculous degrees with some absolutely bonkers, unexplained arcs, but still fun to watch this dysfunctional family do its dysfunctional thing.

4.) You Think Should be Turned into a movie: All That Glitters by Rachel Roberts

4/5. Continuation of Circles in the Stream, but with more unicorns, more rainbows, and more fae, which makes it automatically even better than the first.

5.) With At Least 1 Mil. Ratings on Goodreads: 1984 by George Orwell   

1/5. I understand why it's important and all but wasn't prepared for some of the more graphic scenes and the overall hopelessness of the message.  Would not recommend or read again.

6.) W/ a Plant in the title or cover: The secret of Dreadwillow carse by Brian farrey

5/5. A fantasy world where everyone is always happy, save for one girl and the princess, who set out to solve the mystery of their kingdom. Poignant and great for kids and adults.

7.) Reread of a favorite: Cry of the Wolf by Rachel Roberts

4/5. Yet another installment in the Avalon: Web of Magic series, which clearly I am obsessed with.  Please just read them.

8.) About a Hobby: Welcome to the Writer's Life by Paulette Perhach

5/5. A welcome kick in the pants, chock full of great advice told without condescension, and full of hope and inspiration for writers both new and old.

9.) Meant to read in 2018: The Poet x by Elizabeth Acevedo  

4/5. Absolutely beautiful coming of age novel told in verse.  Do yourself a favor and listen to the audiobook version.

10.) w/ "pop," "sugar," or "challenge" in the title: Black Sugar by Miguel Bonnefoy

2/5. I think maybe I just don't understand this genre.  Or maybe the translation was weird. I was confused.  

11.) w/ An Item of Clothing or Accessory on the cover: Our dreams at Dusk by Yuhki Kamatani

4/5. It had a lot more slurs/homophobia than I was prepared for, but otherwise is a very touching, relatable collection of queer characters living in a heteronormative world.

12.) Inspired by Mythology or Folklore: Ravenous by MarcyKate Connolly

3/5. A girl goes on an impossible quest to save her brother from a child-eating witch. Really wanted to like it more because I loved the first one, Monstrous, but it dragged a little.

13.) Published Posthumously: The Islands of Chaldea by Diana Wynne Jones

3/5. I adore Diana Wynne Jones, but this one was missing some of the magic of her other books. Not sure if it was because it had to be finished by someone else, or if I just grew out of her stories.

14.) Set in Space: Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

4/5. Powerfully written story of a girl straddling tradition and innovation, who wields power through mathematical magic, surviving on a spaceship alone with a dangerous alien occupation after everyone else has been killed.

15.) By 2 Female Authors: Burn for Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian

2/5. Ostensibly a story about a revenge pact in a small island town, but leaves far too many dangling threads to attempt alluring you to the sequel.

16.) W/ A Title containing "salty," "bitter," "Sweet," or "Spicy": The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith  

3/5. It's okay but I literally just never know what anyone means at any time. Are they being reticent on purpose or do i just not understand communication

17.) Set in scandinavia: Vinland Saga by Makoto Yukimura

2/5. Technically and historically accurate and well made, but the story itself is not my cup of tea.  Very gory.

18.) Takes Place in a Single Day: Long WAy Down by Jason Reynolds

4/5. A boy goes to avenge his murdered brother, but ghostly passengers join him on the elevator ride down. Stunning and powerful character-driven analysis.

19.) Debut Novel: Nimona by Noelle Stevenson

4/5. Charming and then surprisingly heart-breaking comic about Nimona, a shapeshifter who wants to become a villain's minion. Really love the villain/hero dynamic going on in the background, along with the dysfunctional found family.

20.) Published in 2019: The Book of Pride by Mason Funk  

4/5. A collection of interviews with the movers, shakers, and pioneers of the queer and LGBTQ+ community.  An absolutely essential work for community members and allies alike.

21.) Featuring an extinct/imaginary creature: Phoebe and her Unicorn by Dana Simpson

4/5. Incredibly charming, Calvin and Hobbes-esque collection of comics featuring the adventures of Phoebe and her unicorn best friend.

22.) Recced by a celebrity you admire: The Emerald Circus by Jane Yolen

2/5. Recced by my fave author Brandon Sanderson. An unfortunately disappointing anthology proving that any story can be made uninteresting by telling the wrong section of it.

23.) With "Love" in the Title: Book Love by Debbie Tung

4/5. One of those relatable webcomics, only this one I felt super hard almost the entire time.  Books are awesome and libraries rule.

24.) Featuring an amateur detective: Nancy Drew: Palace of Wisdom by Kelly Thompson

4/5. REALLY love this modern take on Nancy Drew, coming back home to her roots to solve a brand new mystery. Diverse cast and lovely artwork, though definitely more adult.

25.) About a family: Amulet by Kabu Kibuishi

4/5. Excellent, top tier graphic novel about a sister and brother who have to go rescue their mother with a mysterious magic stone. LOVE that the mom gets to be involved in the adventure for once.

26.) by an author from asia, Africa, or s. America: Girls' Last tour by Tsukumizu

4/5. Somehow both light-hearted and melancholy. Two girls travel about an empty, post-apocalyptic world, and muse about life and their next meal.

27.) w/ a Zodiac or astrology term in title: Drawing down the moon by margot adler

3/5. A good starting place for anyone interested in the Neo Pagan movement, but didn't really give me what I was personally looking for.

28.) you see someone reading in a tv show or movie: The Promised NEverland by Kaiu Shirai

4/5. I don't watch TV or movies where people read books so i think reading an adaptation of a TV series after watching the series counts. Anyway it was good but beware racist caricatures

29.) A retelling of a classic: Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy by Rey Terciero

5/5. We can stop the Little Women reboots and retellings now, this is the only one we need. In fact, we can toss out the original too, this is the only one necessary.

30.) w/ a question in the title: So I'm a spider, so what? by Asahiro Kakashi

4/5. Cute art despite the subject matter, and a surprisingly enthralling take on the isekai genre. Love the doubling down on the video game skills.

31.) Set in a college or university campus: Moonstruck (vol 2) by Grace Ellis

2/5. An incredibly cute, beautiful, and fascinating world of modern magic and creatures, but unfortunately falls apart at the plot and pacing.

32.) About someone with a superpower: Moonstruck (vol 1) by Grace Ellis

4/5. Though nearly as messy plot-wise as its sequel, the first volume is overwhelmingly charming in a way that overpowers the more confusing plot elements.

33.) told from multiple povs: The Long way to a Small, Angry Planet by becky Chambers

4/5. Told almost in a serial format, like watching a miniseries, a group of found-family spaceship crew members make the long journey to their biggest job ever.

34.) Includes a wedding: We Set the dark on fire by Tehlor kay mejia

4/5. Timely and poignant, a girl tumbles into both love and resistance after becoming one of two wives to one of the most powerful men in the country.

35.) by an author w/ alliterative name: The only harmless great Thing by brooke bolander

3/5. Much deeper than I can currently comprehend.  Beautifully written, but difficult to parse.

36.) A ghost story: Her body and other parties by Carmen Maria Machado

4/5.  It counts because one of the stories in it has ghosts. A sometimes difficult collection of surrealist, feminist, queer short stories.

37.) W/ a 2 word title: Good omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

4/5. Charming, touching, and comical, probably the best take on the apocalypse to date. Also excellent ruminations on religion and purpose.

38.) based on a true story: The faithful Spy by John Hendrix

4/5. Brilliantly crafted graphic biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and his assistance in fighting back against Nazi Germany.

39.) Revolving around a puzzle or game: the Crossover by Kwame alexander

4/5. The verse didn't always hit right with me, but the story is a sweet, melancholy one about family, loss, and moving on.

40.) previous popsugar prompt (animal in title): The last unicorn by peter s. Beagle

5/5. Absolutely one of my all-time favorite books, it manages to perfectly combine anachronism and comedy with lyricism, melancholy, and ethereal beauty.

41.) Cli-fi: Tokyo Mew Mew by Mia ikumi and Reiko Yoshida

4/5. Shut up it counts

42.) Choose-your-own-adventure: My Lady's choosing by Kitty curran

3/5. Cute in concept, a bit underwhelming in execution. Honestly, just play an otome.

43.) "Own Voices": Home by Nnedi Okorafor

3/5. The storytelling style was definitely not my style; while the first book was slow, too, it felt more purposeful. I found my attention wandering during this installment.

44.) During the season it's set in: Pumpkinheads by rainbow rowell

3/5. Cute art, but precious little substance.  The concept simply wasn't for me in the first place.

45.) LITRPG: My next life as a villainess: All routes lead to doom! by Hidaka nami

5/5. An absolute insta-fave! Charming art, endearing characters, an incredible premise, and so much sweet wholesome fluff it'll give you cavities.

46.) No chapters: The field guide to dumb birds of north america by matt kracht

3/5. It started out super strong, but the joke started to wear thin at a little past the halfway point.

47.) 2 books with the same title: Unfollow by Megan Phelps-Roger

4/5. A brave and enduring personal story of growing up in and eventually leaving the Westboro Baptist Church. Really called to me to act with grace and kindness even more in the future.

48.) 2 books with the same title: unfollow by rob williams and michael dowling

1/5. How many times do you think we can make Battle Royale again before someone notices

49.) That has inspired a common phrase or idiom: THe Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

4/5. Definitely good and deserves it's praise as something that pretty much revolutionized and created an entire demographic of literature.

50.) Set in an abbey, cloister, Monastery, convent, or vicarage: Murder at the vicarage by agatha christie

3/5. I just cannot. physically keep up with all of these characters or find the energy to read between the lines.

ok that's all i got, what did y'all read and like this year?  (oh god it’s gonna be 2020)