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cinemavariety · 4 years

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Cinema Variety’s Top 25 Favorite Films of the Decade

This past decade has been a monumental ten years for the state of cinema. To think that there were actually still video rental stores all around the country, to almost becoming nonexistent, is statement enough to show how vastly audiences have changed the way they consume media. Through much thought and careful deliberation, the following 25 films are my personal favorites of the decade and are what I think best represent all that indie, international and arthouse cinema had to offer over the past ten years. Honorable Mentions: Shame Green Room A Ghost Story The Lost City of Z Knight of Cups 20th Century Women Jackie Blade Runner 2049 The Lighthouse Ingrid Goes West A Hidden Life

#25 - Suspiria (2018) Dir. Luca Guadagnino

“It’s only hours afterward that Guadagnino’s film will cohere for you and yield its buried treasures: the bonds of secret sorority, the strength of a line of dancers moving like a single organism, the present rippling with the muscle memory of the past. It’s so good, it’s scary.”

#24 - Call Me By Your Name (2017) Dir. Luca Guadagnino

“The final beats of Guadagnino’s adaptation galvanize two hours of simmering uncertainty into a gut-wrenchingly wistful portrait of two people trying to find themselves before it’s too late.”

#23 - American Honey (2016) Dir. Andrea Arnold

“Part dreamy millennial picaresque, part distorted tapestry of Americana and part exquisitely illustrated iTunes musical, “Honey” daringly commits only to the loosest of narratives across its luxurious 162-minute running time. Yet it’s constantly, engrossingly active, spinning and sparking and exploding in cycles like a Fourth of July Catherine wheel.”

#22 - Post Tenebras Lux (2013) Dir. Carlos Reygadas

“Some metaphors score and some miss, but this is leap-of-faith cinema: the rewards entail some risks.”

#21 - The Revenant (2015) Dir. Alejandro G. Iñárritu

“Pushing both brutal realism and extravagant visual poetry to the edges of what one customarily finds in mainstream American filmmaking, director/co-writer Alejandro G. Inarritu, cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki and a vast team of visual effects wizards have created a sensationally vivid and visceral portrait of human endurance under very nearly intolerable conditions.”

#20 - Her (2013) Dir. Spike Jonze

“What begins like an arrested adolescent dream soon blossoms into Jonze’s richest and most emotionally mature work to date, burrowing deep into the give and take of relationships, the dawning of middle-aged ennui, and that eternal dilemma shared by both man and machine: the struggle to know one’s own true self.”

#19 - Annihilation (2018) Dir. Alex Garland

“A shimmering example of what Hollywood sci-fi can achieve when the aim is high, Annihilation is a gripping, mystifying adventure and proof that a transportive experience is more rewarding than a story with clean-cut resolutions.”

#18 - The Neon Demon (2016) Dir. Nicolas Winding Refn

“Spectacular, gross and delicious (so unsavory it’s almost sweet), the film is more proof of Refn’s mastery of his trash aesthetic and more fun than anything this indulgent and empty-headed has any right to be.”

#17 - Waves (2019) DIr. Trey Edward Shults

“Propelled by color, energy, electronic music and a quartet of career-making performances, here is that rare sort of cinematic achievement that innovates at every turn, while teaching audiences how to make intuitive sense of the way it pushes the medium.”

#16 - Mother! (2017) Dir. Darren Aronofsky

“Mother! is something truly magnificent, the kind of visceral trash-arthouse experience that comes along very rarely, means as much or as little as you decide it does, and spits you out into the daylight dazzled, queasy, delirious, and knock-kneed as a newborn calf.”

#15 - Melancholia (2011) Dir. Lars Von Trier

“The vision is as hateful as it is hate-filled, but the fusion of form and content is so perfect that it borders on the sublime. Melancholia is a remarkable mood piece with visuals to die for (excuse the pun), and a performance from Dunst that runs the color spectrum of emotions.”

#14 - Song to Song (2017) Dir. Terrence Malick

“Any number of sequences find feelings both externalized and hidden intermingling within the same shot, continuing in a subsequent image that carries the impression, the feeling, without replicating the exact tenor of what has just been seen. They exist simultaneously as certain backstories and what motivations they may inspire delicately unfold. Malick has found a way to translate how a familiar song has the ability to transport you back to a particular time and conjure a specific set of emotions. Whatever he’s been exploring over the past few years pays off here.”

#13 - If Beale Street Could Talk (2018) Dir. Barry Jenkins

“What Jenkins gets most right—what astonishes me the most about this film—is Baldwin’s vast affection for the broad varieties of black life. It’s one of the signature lessons of Baldwin’s work that blackness contains multitudes. In some ways Beale feels less like a movie than a well-staged, meticulously shot play; a period piece that floats beyond its specific time and place and into the realm of allegory.”

#12 - Samsara (2012) Dir. Ron Fricke

“Simply put, Samsara tells the story of our world, but onscreen, it is so much more than that. A darker and more ambitious meditation on impermanence, Samsara relies on blunt force and unforgettable imagery, overcoming the hazy logic of Fricke's editing to earn your awe.”

#11 - It’s Such a Beautiful Day (2012) Dir. Don Hertzfeldt

“A highly original and utterly enthralling film that touches on staggeringly expansive themes - more typically expected in the work of master auteur and persistent award-winner Terrence Malick, than from animations. An existential flipbook and a heartbreaking black joke: stickmen have never looked so alive.”

#10 - Upstream Color (2013) Dir. Shane Carruth

“You may not be able to figure it out, but that's part of the point of this sensually-directed, sensory-laden experiential (and experimental) piece of art that washes over you like a sonorous bath of beguiling visuals, ambient sounds and corporeal textures.”

#9 - Hereditary (2018) Dir. Ari Aster

“It’s a supremely effective gauntlet of supernatural horror that’s also, at blackened heart, a grueling domestic drama about how trauma, resentment, and guilt can seep into the roots of a family tree, rotting it from the inside out.”

#8 - Spring Breakers (2013) Dir. Harmony Korine

“Spring Breakers seems to be holding a funhouse mirror up to the face of youth-driven pop culture, leaving us uncertain whether to laugh, recoil in horror, or marvel at its strange beauty. Full credit to Korine, who sustains this act of creative vandalism right through to the finish. Spring Breakers unfolds as a fever dream of teenage kicks, a high-concept heist movie with mescal in the fuel tank.”

#7 - The Master (2012) Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson

“Two things stand out: the extraordinary command of cinematic technique, which alone is nearly enough to keep a connoisseur on the edge of his seat the entire time, and the tremendous portrayals by Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman of two entirely antithetical men. Written, directed, acted, shot, edited and scored with a bracing vibrancy that restores your faith in film as an art form, The Master is nirvana for movie lovers. Anderson mixes sounds and images into a dark, dazzling music that is all his own.”

#6 - Interstellar (2014) Dir. Christopher Nolan

“It’s a bold, beautiful cosmic adventure story with a touch of the surreal and the dreamlike, and yet it always feels grounded in its own deadly serious reality. An exhilarating slalom through the wormholes of Christopher Nolan’s vast imagination that is at once a science-geek fever dream and a formidable consideration of what makes us human.”

#5 - The Place Beyond the Pines (2013) Dir. Derek Cianfrance

“A brilliant, towering picture, The Place Beyond The Pines is a cinematic accomplishment of extraordinary grace and insight. The movie succeeds both as a high-stakes crime thriller as well as a far quieter and empathetic study of angry, solitary men proves that Cianfrance has a penchant for bold storytelling and an eye for performances to carry it through.”

#4 - Black Swan (2010) Dir. Darren Aronofsky

“A full-bore melodrama, told with passionate intensity, gloriously and darkly absurd. It centers on a performance by Natalie Portman that is nothing short of heroic. This is, no doubt about it, a tour de force, a work that fully lives up to its director's ambitions.”

#3 - Drive (2011) Dir. Nicolas Winding Refn

“From the beginning, it's clear this is not a standard-order action film. It takes its characters as seriously as its chases, shootouts, and fights. Drive dynamically merges a terrific film noir plot with a cool retro look. It's an unapologetically commercial picture that defies all the current trends in mainstream action filmmaking.”

#2 - Blue Valentine (2010) Dir. Derek Cianfrance

“Cianfrance and his actors, Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling, have not made a cold or schematic film. They aim instead for raw emotional experience, one that's full of insight into the ways a relationship can go astray, but mostly feels like a slow-motion punch to the gut.”

#1 - The Tree of Life (2011) Dir. Terrence Malick

"The Tree of Life is a film of vast ambition and deep humility, attempting no less than to encompass all of existence and view it through the prism of a few infinitesimal lives. I wrote earlier about the many ways this film evoked my own memories of such time and place. About wide lawns. About a town that somehow, in memory, is always seen with a wide-angle lens. About houses that are never locked. About mothers looking out windows to check on their children. About the summer heat and ennui of church services, and the unpredictable theater of the dinner table, and the troubling sounds of an argument between parents, half-heard through an open window.”

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journey-to-the-goddess · 4 years

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What are you top 10 must reads for understanding the divine feminine/Goddesses? Much love~

Hi there!

I love this question! And such a difficult one to answer simply because there are so many great books. I am going to answer your question in two ways: first, by providing a general reading list, and second, by providing a select reading list by goddess.

There are inevitably some setbacks to my recommendations--specifically because I have a limited background in many areas—but I intend to update this list in the future. To that point—thank you 🌺 to the person who asked me this question! You have inspired me to put together a “living” Goddess Recommended Reading list on my website. I will continue to update there in the future.

Worth mentioning: Many of the books I recommend are to some degree scholastic. But, all of which are readable and enjoyable to anyone inside or outside of academia.

Finally, right now I'm building my Journey to the Goddess YouTube channel where you can find my in-depth Interviews with scholars and artists about the Sacred Feminine. If you journey over to YouTube and enjoy what you see, please hit the “subscribe” button on my channel. Like the videos? Hit “like” as it will help my content show up for other like-minded souls.

General Goddess book recommendations:

1) “Goddess: Mysteries of the Feminine Divine” by Joseph Campbell

This book is a collection of his lectures on the Goddess. It was, essentially, my introduction into the Goddess. It is also a book that I return to from time to time for inspiration. I greatly appreciate JC’s unique way of emphasizing cross-cultural patterns and the psychological-spiritual meaning behind myths and mythic figures. Though not without a bit of controversy, JC was a brilliant comparative mythologist who truly believed that human beings could transform themselves through the wisdom of myth.

2) “The Living Goddess” by Marija Gimbutas

Marija Gimbutas was an archeo-mythologist who dared to theorize that the people of Neolithic Old Europe and Anatolia were egalitarian and worshipped a Great Goddess. This GG was likely a prototype for the later goddess figures that we know today. She had, and still has, many critics in mainstream archeology, but I find her theories fascinating, plausible, and liberating!

3) “Encyclopedia of Goddesses and Heroines” by Patricia Monaghan, PhD

Just a great all-around resource. She organizes by tradition, but you can use the index to find a goddess by attribute (i.e. sun goddess) or simply by name. I would trust any work written by her.

4) “The Creation of Patriarchy” by Gerda Lerner

This book is been monumental in creating a solid theoretical framework for the development of patriarchy in the West and how it has impacted the lives of women and the role of the Great Goddess in culture.

5, 6 , & 7)

“The Politics of Women’s Spirituality” Edited by Charlene Spretnak

“Weaving the Visions” Edited by Judith Plaskow and Carol P. Christ

“Womanspirit Rising” Edited by Carol P. Christ and Judith Plaskow

These three books feature a variety of essays, poems, and visions by the “Founding Mothers” of Goddess Spirituality. These books offer context, including an historical understanding of the Goddess; how to make meaning of the Goddess and why that is important for modern women; and most important, they present the voices and experiences of women from many different traditions—not simply those of from the Judeo-Christian world. With these books, you can learn from multiple lineages and lineage holders such as Paula Allen Gunn, Gloria Anzaldúa, and Luisah Teish.

Four books I have not yet read but have been recommended to me by grad school collogues:

8) “The Myth of the Goddess: Evolution of an Image” by Jules Cashford and Anne Baring.

9) “The Chalice and the Blade” by Raine Eisler. A classic.

10) “The Spiral Dance” by Starhawk. An ecofeminist, permaculturist and Earth-based spirituality practitioner.

11) “Dancing in the Flames” by Marion Woodman. She was a deeply treasured Jungian analyst and teacher who taught on the subject of feminine consciousness.

Goddess recommendations by tradition and goddess:

1) Mary Magdalene

Okay, it’s no secret that I am a Mary Magdalene devotee and I could recommend book after book after book. But, knowing what I know now, here are three books that I would recommend people start with:

“The Woman with the Alabaster Jar” by Margaret Starbird for a well-researched approach to Mary Magdalene as bride to Christ.

“The Meaning of Mary Magdalene” by Cynthia Bourgeault for a mystical Christian approach.

“The Gospel of Mary of Magdala” by Karen L. King for a thorough academic approach.

I have a full list of recommendations here: https://www.sheislove.com/mary-magdalene-celebration

2) Inanna & Ereshkigal

“Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth” by Diane Wolkenstein and Samuel Noah Kramer. A beautiful collaboration between folklorist and Assyriologist. Poetic, historical, and psycho-spiritual.

“Descent to the Goddess: A Way of Initiation for Women” by Sylvia Breton Perera. A feminist Jungian approach to meeting the unconscious feminine, or “underworld” goddess within. Mostly psychological, but also spiritual and historical.

“Uncursing the Dark” by Betty DeShong Meador. A reclamation of the wisdom of the goddess of death as well as the repressed aspect of women’s psyches and archetypal expressions; that which has been labeled “dangerous” by patriarchy.

3) Greek Goddesses

“The Goddess” by Christine Downing. Full disclosure, she is a professor at my graduate institution.

4) Pele

“Pele, Goddess of Hawai’i’s Volcanoes” by Herb Kawainui Kane

5) Hinduism

“Awakening Shakti” by Sally Kempton. Love this book.

“The Goddess in India” by Devdutt Pattanaik

“Hindu Goddesses” by David R. Kinsley

6) Buddhism

“Wisdom Rising” by Lama Tsultrim Allione

“Dakini’s Warm Breath” by Judith Simmer Brown

“Buddhist Goddesses of India” by Miranda Shaw

7) Black Madonnas

“Black Madonnas: Feminism, religion, and politics in Italy” by Lucia Chiavola Birnbaum

8) Yoruba Diaspora

“The Divine Horsemen: Living Gods of Haiti” by Maya Deren. A slightly dated book but very good introduction to Haitian Vodun.

9) Ecofeminism – If you want to understand the connection between the treatment of the planet and women under patriarchy. Timely in terms of understanding the psychological components behind climate change

“Gaia and God” by Rosemary Radford Ruether

“Ecofeminism” by Vandana Shiva and Maria Mies

“Reweaving the World” edited by Irene Diamond and Gloria Feman Orenstein

“Mary Magdalene” by Pieter Leerman

#divine feminine #sacred feminine #goddess spirituality #goddess #women’s liberation #women’ spiritualty #mary magdalene #mythology

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suspiriu-m · 4 years

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Examining Youth Culture

Youth Culture in television in cinema is a theme we’ve all seen before. In some way or another, we’ve all probably related or even seen ourselves in something we’ve watched. A lot of experiences we see in these coming of age style pieces most of the time have something to do with at least one of three recurring themes. Sex, drugs and alcohol. Character archetypes are also an important part of these stories too. To sum it up, we’re generally confronted with Jocks, Nerds, Goths, Popular Kids, Pot Heads etc.

A major point to take into account when looking at this type of media is the perspective the story is told from, and where it’s taking place. For example, Barry Jenkins’ 2016 film Moonlight, is completely different from 2018’s Love Simon, directed by Greg Berlanti. Moonlight tells the story of a young Black man named Chiron. Through three different time periods in his life, we see him come to terms with his identity and sexuality, all while living with his drug addicted mother in an impoverished neighborhood in Miami. Throughout the film Chiron not only faces the struggles of his sexuality within himself, but how his unaccepting peers react, his mess of a mother, and maneuvering masculinity without the guidance of his missing father. In a review written for The Guardian, Peter Bradshaw says that Moonlight

“is a film about masculinity, the wounds and crises of which are the same for all sexualities, but conditioned by the background weather of race and class” ((Bradshaw Moonlight review – a visually ravishing portrait of masculinity).

Love Simon however, is a completely different ballgame. The juxtaposition between the two films is extremely noticeable, even from just from looking at their promotional images. While Moonlight is more of a serious, realistic and emotionally charged movie, Love Simon has more of a young adult, coming of age, happily ever after tone to it. In the film, the main character has to find his way through growing up, high school, coming out to his friends and family, but most importantly figuring out how Blue is. Blue is the person that Simon has formed a connection with through emailing each other. The only problem? He has absolutely no idea who Blue even is. One of the more important aspects of this film when looking to compare it to others is the fact that the main character and most of the cast are all white. Not only that, but it takes place in a much more suburban setting compared to that of Moonlight. Simon’s relationship with his parents is very strong, his friends are all super close to him and the impression is given that they would obviously support him once he comes out. Surprise, they do.

In terms of which character I related to from the selection of films and shows assigned, I don’t really feel like I can truthfully say that I felt some sort of connection with them. Being gay myself, there wasn’t a crazy amount of representation in terms of queer youth in the films. Yes in Mean Girls you had Damian but he was kind of underutilized and exaggerated. In Euphoria you have Jules who is a trans woman but that also isn’t something that I’ve experienced and won’t pretend to. Could I relate to a few aspects of her character? Of course, i’m sure anybody can. But am I able to say I identify with her? Definitely not. That’s not a bad thing though, trans stories need to be represented in the media. More importantly they don’t always have to be represented in some tragic story or situation. Even though we’ve seen more queer representation today than ever before. We still have a long way to go. Rachel Bays wrote an article for The Advance-Titan stating

“Out of 109 major studio releases in 2017 researched by GLAAD, roughly 13% had LGBTQ characters. Of these films, about 64% featured gay men, 36% featured lesbians, 14% featured bisexuals and 0% featured trans-inclusive content”(Bays The complicated history of queer representation in film: The Advance).

It’s imperative that we see more queer representation mashed with Youth Culture in our media because not every single person experiences the same thing, especially queer kids. In terms of Kids, Saved By The Bell and Mid 90’s, I don’t specifically remember any particular moments in which I personally felt any sort of strong connection.

Now, if we’re gonna speak about common themes in a lot of these stories, then here is where I can say I definitely connected with some situations more than specific characters. Sex, drugs and alcohol are topics we see come up in a lot of coming of age or youth centered stories. In Kids, the main cast is basically parading around the city smoking, drinking and fornicating multiple times throughout the entire day. In Euphoria, one of the main characters Rue suffers from drug addiction. Kat comes to terms with her sexual awakening and a lot of her storyline is focused on her coming in touch with that side of her, whether or not it was the best way to portray it. And most of the other characters are all seen smoking, drinking out having sex at some point in the series.

Growing up, especially in our teen years, we’ve all had the opportunity to partake in at least one of those activities previously mentioned. I know for a fact that I have definitely been to parties, drank alcohol, smoked weed. I’ve encountered hookups and the whole nine yards. Something that really stood out to me in Euphoria was the episode in which Jules ends up meeting with an older man in a hotel room late at night. We shall not name the character for sake of spoilers but those of you who watched know exactly who i’m talking about. That entire scene was just gut wrenching for me to watch and I know it was for many other young queer people as well. Everything about that scene was purposefully uncomfortable to watch from the cinematography, music, acting and the location.

Speaking of music, the soundtrack to a film or TV show is super important and a lot of the time helps the creators in getting their point across. Euphoria specifically used a lot of modern music but also threw in some classics as well. The singer-songwriter Labrinth played a big role in adding music to the show’s soundtrack. He even collaborated with Zendaya in making All For Us, the show’s theme and closing track. It was premiered in the last episode of the series and incorporated into the storyline with a performance by Zendaya herself. This song specifically is so important aside from the rest of the show’s music because it aids in showing Rue’s downfall at the end of the season. She goes through so much in her recovery and relapsing and her relationship with Jules that when Jules finally decides to hop on that train and leave even though Rue tells her it’s not the best idea, it absolutely crushed her. In an interview for Rolling Stone magazine, Labrinth stated “When you look back to your teenage days... it feels semi-magical but semi-crazy and semi-psychotic. I wanted to make sure the music felt like those things”(Marks How Labrinth Created the Perfect Soundtrack for HBO's 'Euphoria').

To help convey how certain songs can help in telling a story, I created a short playlist with songs that I felt matched certain plot points in the show. Without going into too much detail in an attempt to avoid spoilers, I want to give you guys a short explanation of each song about how I feel it can fit into the show. In no exact order, the first song I chose was Regulars by Allie X. The song is about trying to fit in with society and the people around you when you feel out of place all the time. Personally, I feel like this is a good representation of Rue when she comes home from rehab and has to try and blend back into society knowing that everybody knows where she was. Halsey’s Beautiful Stranger is about meeting somebody after being hurt so many times, or just being in a bad headspace and finally feeling like this person could be the one. This is a good explanation for how Rue feels about Jules when she first meets her. She’s hesitant but slowly starts to fall in love with her before Jules starts acting out. Contaminated by Banks is a piece about loving somebody but having their history or the other person's actions make you feel not so good about the relationship you have with them. This is how Rue feels after her first little fallout with Jules. They kind of have an on and off relationship throughout the season and Rue subconsciously has doubts. Simmer by Hayley Williams is a song about suppression. Suppressing your emotions, especially the bad ones like anger, fear, sadness, rage. Nate in the series suffers with a lot of mental suppression. He suppresses his feelings about his relationship with his father, his questioning sexuality, his feelings for a specific character. Although he does lose his cool multiple times throughout the show, it’s not until the end of the season that he really bursts and lets everything out. Another song from Hayley Williams with her band Paramore called Fake Happy is also on the playlist. Fake Happy, to put it simply, is exactly what the title suggests. Pretending to be okay when you’re really not. In the show Rue relapses a few times whether that be big or small, and she has to hide it from her friends and family.

Maddy and Cassie are both the pretty popular girls of this show, leading me to choose Rina Sawayama’s XS as a representation of them. The title XS, otherwise interpreted as “excess” is literally about money, appearance and materialistic items. All of which Cassie and Maddy display throughout the show. The popular cheerleaders with the nice clothes and toned bodies, the pretty makeup and done up hair. It’s a perfect representation of their characters in my opinion. Even though they do have storylines going deeper into their minds, this is what they portray on the surface level.

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Hallucinogenics by Matt Masson is a song about going somewhere else most likely due to drugs, and feeling like a different person. Although the song is a bit lighthearted in terms of sound, I think it fits with the scene with Jules and Rue taking drugs together and tripping in her room together. Rue was wary about doing it especially after the fact that she just got clean, and she already has this war in her mind going on but she does it anyways because she likes Jules. Attack of Panic by Aly & Aj heavily focuses on anxiety, which is something Rue deals with multiple times throughout the show. Especially the episode when she’s in school and pretty much has a mental breakdown and runs to the bathroom and hides. Even though the character Kat isn’t the primary focus of the show, her storyline has a bit of line shined upon it multiple times. For her storyline i chose Doja Cat’s Cyber Sex. Kat becomes a cam girl at one point in her sexual awakening and kind of goes full throttle into it. The song talks about having sexual relations with somebody over the internet and that’s exactly what Kat does, except she sees it more as a way to make an income.

Last but not least, I of course had to choose Labrinth and Zendaya’s song made for the show All for Us. The song represents Rue’s feelings of not wanting to let her family down, knowing the struggles and pain they have gone through and not wanting to upset or disappoint them again. Everything she’s done to get clean and sober up has been because of them. She loves her family so dearly but in the end she just broke down again, all because of Jules and the mess that she got herself involved with pertaining to many of the other characters she meets throughout the show. I hope you guys enjoy the playlist and take a good listen to the lyrics and themes in each song! They might not be perfect, but to me they have a lot of commonalities with themes and specific moments and themes from the show!

https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/playlist-for-euphoria/pl.u-AGAaiylr2l

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#Youtube

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alexsfictionaddiction · 4 years

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Alex Recommends: April Books

First of all, I want to offer my apologies for this post being a couple of days later than usual. I’ve been feeling pretty down for the last few days and I’m only just starting to step into the light again. Not being able to see so many people I love is starting to take its toll on me and I can feel myself getting irritable over small things. Whenever I realise that I’m being petty or getting annoyed over silly things, it has a knock-on effect on my self-esteem which then causes me to berate myself and hate anything I try to produce. So as you can imagine, the recent past hasn’t been full of ideal conditions to write anything good, whether that be blog posts, cover letters or my own fiction. I’ll get there though, I’m sure.

If you missed them earlier on this month, I wrote two posts full of books that are highly appropriate to our current situation. One is full of the best novels that centre on pandemics and the other is full of books to lift your spirits. Check them out, if you haven’t already cause I guarantee that one of them will have exactly what you need.

I have read some other great books too and as ever, here are five that I haven’t reviewed or mentioned already this month but that you should definitely pick up. There’s a great mixture this month too, so hopefully one of these might pique your interests. Till next time, stay safe and take care! -Love, Alex x

SHOULD HAVE READ IT YEARS AGO: The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night by Jen Campbell

Jen Campbell is a very respected BookTuber and author. Hers was one of the first BookTube channels I began watching around eight years ago and I learnt so much about various mythologies and original folktales from her. I’ve had a copy of this book of her short stories for a little while and something compelled me to pick it up this month. My favourites include the title story written as a conversation between a couple as they discuss various theories on the beginning of the world; Margaret, Mary and the End of the World which details the parallels between a young pregnant Catholic girl and the immaculate conception in a very clever way and Aunt Libby’s Coffin Hotel, where those with a fear of death can experience a simulated version of it every night of their stay. Glittering with glimpses of traditional fairytales, myths and folklore, these strange, dark and whimsical stories are the perfect companion to a lonely night.

FICTION: Dominicana by Angie Cruz

On New Year’s Day 1965, 15-year-old Ana is forced to marry Juan Ruiz, a man twice her age who will take her away from her humble home in the Dominican Republic to an apartment in New York City. Her parents have assured her that it is the best thing for the family and that she will create a better life in the States which they will all eventually be able to join. But with political turmoil bubbling away in her homeland and feelings simmering for a man who isn’t her husband, Ana realises that perhaps her life won’t quite be the simple comfortable one she has been promised. Full of forbidden doomed romances, Dominicana is a beautifully written novel about a culture and time period that I’ve never read before. I learnt so much about the struggles and emotional pain that girls like Ana suffer. Forced marriages aren’t something that have been left in the 1960s, so although the book is set over 50 years ago, it actually reads as somewhat contemporary. It’s not hard to see why it was recently shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction.

MIDDLE-GRADE: TrooFriend by Kirsty Applebaum

Ivy is Sarah’s TrooFriend 560 Mark IV, a highly sophisticated android who doesn’t harm, lie, steal or envy. Advertised as the ‘Better Choice For Your Child’, the TrooFriend is flying out of the factory doors, thanks to eager parents. However, rumours that the TrooFriend 560 Mark IV can experience real human emotions and could potentially be dangerous are stirring but that’s not true of Ivy... is it? Told from Ivy’s perspective, my heart went on a crazy ride with this one! It raises questions about rapid developments in AI and the potential relevance to human rights and ethics that comes with that. It brings up the idea that the technology industry has multiple dark secrets that the average consumer has no idea about. It’s easily the most unique middle-grade book I’ve ever read and I couldn’t put it down. Perhaps the perfect (very gentle) nudge into worlds like Black Mirror for 9-12 year olds.

YA: Loveboat, Taipei by Abigail Hing Wen

Ever Wong’s strict Chinese parents try their best to nip their daughter’s dancing dream in the bud by sending her to Taiwan to study Mandarin. Highly reluctant Ever finds herself spending her summer amongst over-achieving rich kids but what her parents don’t know is that this is actually Loveboat, a study program where clubbing and romance is much higher on students’ to-do lists. Intense friendships, a love square, the fake-dating trope and drama after drama, my bleeding heart was hooked. There is a lot of adult content in this book which could potentially class it as ‘new-adult’ rather than YA and I’d definitely say that this is for readers aged 16 and over. However, it does have some of my favourite elements of YA -self-discovery and pushing through the boundaries that have been set for you. Bonus information nugget: Loveboat is actually a real study and social program for Chinese-American students!

LITERARY FICTION: My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

In 2000, when she was 15, Vanessa Wye had an intense passionate affair with her English professor, 42-year-old Jacob Strane. An affair that went on intermittently for years. In 2017, another of his students has accused Strane of sexual abuse and she wants Vanessa to tell her story and testify against a man she has been in love with since she was a teenager. There is so much explored in this breathtaking novel including trauma, obsession, consent, abuse of power but also the complexities of who truly holds the power in a relationship. I’ve never read a sexual abuse story where the lines are so blurred or a character quite as fresh and inherently believable like Vanessa. You’ll need to set some time apart to inhale this heady intense cocktail of a novel.

#book recommendations #recommended #recommendations #april #books #bookworm

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thethotwithoutfear · 5 years

Text

Haven: Chapter 3

Steve Rogers x Reader

Warnings: none

Wordcount: 3,512

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

The days went by in a flash. They’d decided to walk to and from the hardware store just a couple of block over, it was closer by way of Steve’s apartment so meeting there had been a no brainer. Going early in the morning had been ideal as well, (y/n) had been sure to be conscious and prioritize Steve’s sense of privacy. He had insisted that carrying a couple of small beams of lumber wouldn’t be a problem for him, and subjecting her to New York City traffic would be downright cruel if she’d driven them there.

Steve had also confessed that he’d wanted to walk for selfish reasons, the strolls they’d taken together were some of the most tranquil moments he’d had in years and he would like more of them if it was ok with her. The honesty of Steve’s statement had made her smile and a soft heat rush to her cheeks, she was glad he couldn’t see the bashful look on her face when they’d discussed it over the phone.

The morning of (Y/n) found herself as planned clutching on to a piece of paper with Steve’s address written on it in neat cursive letters. She’d already put it in her phone, but something about the messy but still delicate looking scrawl of his handwriting calmed her nerves. She was prone to getting lost; she glanced nervously at the address and the numbers on the building just one more time to be sure she’d gotten it right. She rang the buzzer to Steve’s apartment when she’d finally felt secure enough that she was in the right place.

Steve’s deep voice came rumbling through the intercom a few moments later to disrupt her antsy thoughts: “Hey (y/n)! Let me just grab a couple of things and I’ll be down in a few!” She gave him a simple “Alright!” in reply. Waiting on the old stairs of Steve’s brownstone, she decided to pass the time counting windows on the buildings across the street. She’d gotten to 25 when Steve finally made it outside the doors of his building.

It was obvious he was trying to not be recognized, she really didn’t blame him. Being constantly bombarded by strangers had to get a little annoying, even for someone as kind and courteous as Steve. He wore a navy Brooklyn Dodgers cap and a pair of sunglasses so dark she wondered if he could even see through them. She always found it a bit silly when people tried to go unnoticed that way, it only drew attention to be quite honest.

Her train of thought was lost when her eyes fell on the matching blue henley that clung to every rippling bulge in Steve’s massive arms and torso; the well fitted black pants which accentuated the impossible shape of his waist to broad shoulder ratio practically had her head swimming. She’d always found him handsome, it was a known fact that Steve Rogers was undeniably attractive, it was like saying the sky was blue. But the sight in front of her had stirred in much different feelings, ones she really didn’t need to be dealing with. A simmering heat crept up her body and got stuck in her throat, a sudden and startlingly dryness taking hold there. And to make matters much more embarrassing it resulted in her succumbing to a small fit of coughing when she’d tried to take in a deep breath of air to talk. Steve quirked an eyebrow in concern.

“Are you okay?” he asked, turning to face her, a worried frown appearing on his lips and an unbelievably warm hand placed on her shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah...Yeah I’m fine! I’m good! Throat was just a little...dry I guess. Let’s get moving shall we?!” she said, voice much too loud and a little too high to sound anywhere near convincingly okay. The absence of Steve’s hand as it fell from her shoulder was like temperature shock but thankfully he didn’t pry further. She cleared her throat one more time as a means to compose herself as they made their way down the street to their destination. Steve following behind in a small mist of confusion.

------

The walk was pleasant enough, the sun was casting a bright glow between the early morning clouds. It was a brightness the likes Steve was becoming used to in (y/n)’s company; it was like sunshine followed her around. He appreciated the comfortable silence that had fallen between them through the halfway point of their journey, the accompanying sound of footsteps around them creating a lulling buzz, but part of him wanted to know more. Maybe it was the growing fearlessness to connect with another person outside of “work” but Steve realized he didn’t know much about (y/n), hell, he knew far more about the genus of plants than he did her now.

So he mustered up the courage to pry just a little. “(Y/n) where’d you even learn all this stuff? There’s not very much gardening around Brooklyn, let alone the city. Did you grow up here?” he said. A small grin began to grow on her face, a memory was passing through her mind he guessed, a happy one.

“My grandmother. I grew up just outside the city, but she grew up around here. When she got married she moved out there in the suburbs of sorts, raised her kids and that’s where most of us stayed. But grandma learned to garden from her own mother, they were from a culture of agriculture I guess. She taught me everything she knew growing up, my father didn’t really care to pick up on what she’d learned, so when I was born she practically raised me out in the garden while my parents worked.” she said, a distant but soft look in her eyes.

“She taught you well if the garden is anything to go by,” he replied, giving her one of those crooked smirks that he was starting to notice made her pulse run a little faster (he could practically hear it) and he’d be sure to do it more often,“She must be proud of what you managed to build with what you learned from her too. I can only imagine watching the care you put into someone blossom like that is a great source of pride.”

“Thank you Steve, the success of the garden I owe to the community coming together to learn and grow alongside the plants and each other,” she said, bowing her head in timidity at the compliment, “but I’m sure she would have been proud. She was however, incredibly happy that I decided to move to Brooklyn after graduation. It’s a shame she never got to pay the garden a visit before…she died. But, she’s there, I’m so sure of it!”

“I'm sorry...about her passing. I didn't mean to-” Steve had begun, but was quickly cut off as (y/n) stopped in her tracks and faced him.

“It's ok Steve. You didn't know. It hurt for a while, but she gave me so much more to hold on to. The garden, it's what keeps her with me. Thinking about her is bittersweet, but I’d rather remember than ever forget her” she said. The flicker of memories was in her eyes again, a grin growing on her face only to be accompanied by watering eyes.

Steve couldn’t stop himself from reaching out to grasp her hand, squeezing it gently in comfort. He would have hugged her, held her tightly in his kindness, but even Steve knew a boundary was still in place, one he'd needed to respect. She looked up at him and sniffled, a small teary giggle springing forth as she wiped her eyes.

“This is supposed to be a fun field trip to the store! No more crying! God I'm sorry!” she laughed, letting go of his hand and giving his bicep a small punch in appreciation, it felt like hitting a concrete wall. Steve looked down at her, a slightly worried but kind frown directed at her. He lifted the sunglasses off his face, a courtesy to the words he would say next:

“(Y/n), I just want you to know that...you’ve done so much for me, more than you realize. There's no need for apology, you have a right to confide or rely on me the way I have come to with you. It wouldn't be fair to continue this...” he said, gesturing between the two of them, “...in a one sided way would it? I want us to be friends, you make me feel content in a way I've missed for a very long time. I want us to be good AND honest friends...if that's ok with you?” he said. She looked at him slightly startled, her face a mix of things Steve couldn't quite read, until a blindingly broad smile was beaming up at him.

“You're right,” she nodded, “Although I already thought we were friends Steve! But I'd love to be your friend. How could I not be friends with the nicest man on earth?!”

The two of them couldn't stop smiling at the other, it was if the world had stilled itself for just a moment. Steve had felt that only a few times in his life, the shift of a puzzle piece being set in place. The most recent had been on the day he took his first step in the garden and met her. The woman in front of him was his friend now, his actual friend who didn’t have to part of his shared world of pain and duty just to make a connection. It was a great blessing, one which Steve told himself he would not fear to sustain as selfish as it could be.

---------

They’d made it to the hardware store in no time after that. The rest of the trip there had been woven with Steve’s strolling down memory lane. He’d recounted when buildings hosted the ghosts of places he’d frequented as a child and ones where he'd gotten the shit kicked out of him to both their amusement. The bittersweet look of nostalgia flooded his face and it made (y/n)'s heart ache with both fondness and sadness for him.

Feeling out of place in a world you used to call home must have been such a daunting and lonely feeling, but she held onto hope for Steve. As much as others seemed to persist on labeling him as “ the man out of time ”, she had come to have the great privilege to appreciate that Steve Rogers was an incredible survivor. As out of place he might of seemed sometimes, Steve was also intelligent, resourceful, kind, adaptable, and empathetic enough to start to survive in his new realities.

She admired him for it; it took a lot of inner strength and courage to learn to navigate not only the changing currents he once knew how to tread, but to also learn to navigate the complete unknowns which being in his line of “work” threw at him instead. Others might've run, hid away at a change of reality such as that, but he felt a sense of duty to continue to help keep others safe. Steve Rogers was truly a man worth admiring and she wished so desperately that others could get to know the absolute gem of a human being she was getting to. She smiled to herself as they walked into the store, relishing in the privilege of being called Steve Rogers’, not Captain America’s, friend.

A boisterous accent heavy voice greeted them instantly: “(Y/N)!!! GOOD TO SEE YAH!! WHAT’LL IT- HOLY SMOKES IS THAT CAPTAIN AMERICA?!” Her eyes shot to Steve, who’s neck began to flush red, probably in slight disappointment at being recognized, sliding the sunglasses off his face in defeat; there was no use hiding now. She placed a gentle hand on Steve’s arm in assurance that he’d be ok here, the hardware small store seemed to be vacant with exception of the two of them and the owner.

“Hiya Rudy,” she replied eyes rolling with a knowing smile, “Rudy this is Steve Rogers, Steve this is Rudy Rodriguez. He’s my go to guy for all my gardening needs.” Rudy came out from behind his counter in a hurry, giant smile plastered to his face as he stretched out a wrinkled but strong hand for Steve to shake.

He was a shorter man, around what one could guess was his 70’s, clothed in the plaid flannel and carpenter’s pants one would assume a guy who runs a hardware store would wear. He had a thick stark white mustache that matched a lush head of white hair which contrasted with his beautiful dark brown skin. He also had the friendliest smiling eyes in all of Brooklyn and Steve felt calmer as he bid Rudy a hello and a hand shake.

“Wow, if I woulda known Captain America was payin’ me a visit I woulda’ cleaned up a little better today!” he chuckled, rubbing at the light stubble on his cheeks with his free hand, the other still gripping Steve’s.

“Please, call me Steve. It’s not problem, you should see me in the morning” he replied with a smile. (Y/n) noticed the mask starting to creep its way back on to Steve’s face. It wasn’t the cold professional one, no this one was more so the one he probably put on for everyday encounters. The wall in his eyes was rising a little, a guarded courteousness and accommodation beginning to take over there. But then she chuckled, Steve giving her a glance of amusement as she noticed Rudy had not yet let go of Steve’s hand, an awestruck smile on his face.

(Y/n) cleared her throat, “Uh, Rudy I need some supplies. Me and Steve here are building a raised flower bed for the garden” she said, hoping Rudy would snap out of his starstruck daze.

He finally stopped staring at Steve, dropping his hand and looking at (y/n) with an apologetic but happy smile. “Of course, of course! My apologies, it’s just not everyday you get Captain America waltzin’ to your store yah know? What’daya need, mija?” he said.

“The usual. I wanna walk around and get the smaller stuff myself, just need my standard 2x4 beams and a couple more of them custom cut for the ends, you know the drill” she said with a wink at the old man.

“You gonna need me to get one of the boys to put them in the car when I’m done cuttin’? When one of them gets here… ” replied Rudy with a grumble.

“Oh no, Steve here’s gonna haul them off himself” she said, elbowing Steve lightly in the side with an incredulously goofy look on her face. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe he could carry the lumber a couple of blocks with no effort, she just couldn’t wrap her head around the idea of it until she saw it. Rudy gave a whistle of disbelief, it got a chuckle out of her, and that charming scarlett tell of Steve’s came back.

“Best come with me son. (Y/n) knows her way round here, plus I’m gonna need you to get a couple of them down for me out in back. I usually have my boys around here to help but they’re running late as always” the old man said with a comical frown of annoyance, and a wink for Steve. He turned and scurried off leaving Steve with no choice but to follow, giving (y/n) a quick look and a shrug of acceptance. She giggled at the idea of someone probably younger than Steve referring to him as “son” and began her search for the items she needed. She hoped Rudy wouldn’t pester Steve too much about his being Captain America, she adored the old man but he could be incredibly nosey.

She was reaching for the final item on her list, a box of galvanized screws, when Steve suddenly showed up at the end of the aisle, watching as she serenely looked for the screws, never having made a single noise. She jumped when she finally turned in the aisle, becoming aware of his presence and dropping the box as she crashed face first into his more than firm chest. Luckily, Steve caught the box before they could hit the floor, screws rattling as they landed in his large palm.

She laughed in mild annoyance, “Jesus Steve! How long have you been standing there?!” He gave a deep chuckle that made her knees wobble a little.

“Just a couple of seconds! Here I thought you’d need this, yah know cause of earlier?” he said, handing her a bottle of water she hadn’t noticed him holding. She felt her face grow white hot as she looked at it before taking it from him. She could have sworn steam might seep from her ears as she dwelled on the embarrassment of the real cause of her coughing fit, but also because the absolute charm of such a sweet gesture.

“Oh god, uuuuuh thanks,” she said with a small nervous laugh, throat tightening again, “Are you and, umm, Rudy done?”

Steve smiled widely, “Yeah, he’s a character that Rudy. He was telling me about a couple of places that are still open from ‘my time’. Real nice of him actually.” There was a lightness there again, Steve probably having grown comfortable with him, it was hard not to be charmed by the stories and the stellar energy of Rudy Rodriguez. It was hard not to fall in love with Rudy's ever present smile either.

“Maybe we can check them out someday, when you’re free of course,” she said, feeling a tad shy, fingers fidgeting with the bottle cap before she took a quick sip of water. Steve’s smile grew much wider than she’d ever seen it, his eyes practically sparkling. She was absolutely dazzled.

“I’d love that,” he said, “Should we go pay for that and head back now?” Pointing at the basket of supplies looped on her arm with a nod of his head.

She shook her head in realization, had she been staring? God she’d been staring. “Yeah, yeah. We should do that” she said. She could’ve sworn she heard a low rumbling chuckle as she passed Steve on her way to the counter.

He paid for their things, he insisted on it actually, “They’re my flowers after all!” he said. Rudy called Steve a gentleman and said he’d hoped to see more of his favorite new customer around. She rolled her eyes at that, retorting with a simple “ Hey! I thought I was your favorite customer!? ”

They laughed until Steve with little to no effort lifted the tied together beams of lumber that had been leaning against the counter and rested them on his shoulder; it was scarily effortless, as if he was picking up something as light as a feather.

Rudy looked flabbergasted. Sure, Steve had helped him take down the lumber from a shelf on the wall in the backroom but seeing him lift all of them over his head had been something else. And (y/n) had gone instantly breathless, the flexing of Steve’s biceps and chest as he effortlessly lifted and curled his arm behind the planks of wood like delicate little figures was truly a sight.

Steve gave her a lopsided and devilish smirk, a simple wordless I told you so . It made

her whole body catch fire in one quick sweep. She reluctantly looked down at the floor in a sense of overwhelming bashfulness.

“ Ok so he's really that strong ”, she thought to herself. The thought of how easily he could probably pick her up crossed her mind, hands suddenly and unconsciously opening the bottle of water in her hand. She took a quick gulp. God what was her deal?

“It was a pleasure meeting you today Rudy. We should really be on our way” said Steve with a chuckle. He used his free hand to shake Rudy's again.

“Yeah, I’ll ah....I'll see you soon Rudy. I gotta put in an order of fertilizer n...next week.” she said, keeping her mind on the task at hand.

“Good! Have fun building that flower bed yah lovebirds ” he yelled, as they exited the store.

Their eyes went wide, shooting Rudy a look and gaping like fish as they waited for one or the other to say something to the contrary.

“It’s not like that Rudy!” (y/n) finally managed to shout back as the door she'd held open for Steve began to close. Rudy’s laughter and the sweet jingle of the doorbell seemed to mockingly seep their way out of the closing gap in the door, Steve’s face flushed red, a mortified look on (y/n)’s face as they turned to walk. Neither one said very much as they began walking back to the garden, the air between them a little awkward and dense with unspoken thought.

But unbeknownst to each other the feeling of a little flicker of something began to bloom the center of their chests from Rudy’s words….

#steve rogers x reader #steve rogers x you #steve rogers #captain america

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thesims4blogger · 6 years

Link

Popular website Kotaku also pointed out some cosmetic issues with some of the newest skin tones, prompting questions on the quality of content. FYI: There's a fix available for the recently released skin tones 👉http://motherofdeathclaws.t... …

Majority of the people praising this new update just want to be acknowledged by the team and sponsored one day. If this has nothing to do with you, then stay out of it. Releasing 5+ black skintones without the knowledge of undertones is ridiculous in 2018.

— DeeSims (@DeeSimsYT)

February 7, 2018

Hire a multi-cultural designer/technician, a person of color, who can enlighten, educated, and develop content that respresnts everyone. After all this is a life simulated game and I can't even create myself due to the ignorant limitations.

— DeeSims (@DeeSimsYT)

February 7, 2018

I can't hold my tongue about how I feel about this game. I have played it for over 10 years and even as a little black girl I struggle seeing me within this game. My Gma always said if you have a following, use it for the good of everyone. SO IM DOINH JUST THAT GRANDMA 🙏🏾

— DeeSims (@DeeSimsYT)

February 7, 2018

The Sims team is Tiring They give you some Ashy ass skin and feel like you should be happy, You don't even get different options though, But yet They have colors of the rainbow as skin 🤔 Something isn't right here .

— Simply Ruby (@SimplyRuby)

February 7, 2018

I have been playing this game for 14 years. I have a journal from the 5th grade where I wrote that I wanted to work for Maxis and create sims games when I grew up. This is 1000% NOT how you treat loyal consumers. @TheSims @SimGuruDrake @SimGuruRomeo @SimGuruGraham @SimGuruSteve https://t.co/foyMy0guIJ

— Christina Shine (@Miekoh_)

February 7, 2018

And that was AWESOME. But still. We get 1 or 2 random “ethnic” hairstyles and overly red and grey “dark skinned” tones. We have to do better. If cc creators have for years I don’t really see a reason why we can’t get this from the team directly.

— Christina Shine (@Miekoh_)

February 7, 2018

The facts are that the Sims 4 devs would rather troll & fail on the transparency front, & water down any decent gameplay or items that we do get. You’re a company. Expect customers to not be satisfied with your product. But as long as you’re getting my $— I will not be silenced.

— Cece (@CecePlays_)

February 7, 2018

They might be too different things but it kind of makes me think of make up shades. Everyone wants to feel represented. Its said that people have to wait for updates on something that should've been avaliable for a long time

— hunter hoe (@luxuricus)

February 7, 2018

Okay. I don't normally jump into conversations like this but we had to do a complete system overhaul for the update we did to CAS which took a lot of time. We also spent a lot of time working with GLAAD to make sure it was done in a tasteful and inclusive way.

— Drake (@SimGuruDrake)

February 7, 2018

We are big on being inclusive and trying to get content in for all members of the community to feel they can create themselves/friends/family more accurately and we constantly listen to feedback from the community. It may not be at the speed people want but we still try.

— Drake (@SimGuruDrake)

February 7, 2018

All we ask is for folks to provide us with feedback for what they want to see in the game in a constructive manner. If you have specific examples (photos, videos, etc) then even better! Being able to visually see examples of hairstyles, clothing, skin tones, etc is really helpful

— Drake (@SimGuruDrake)

February 7, 2018

Why do we have to give you photos of what people of color look like in order for us to be represented in a game? Do you not know what we look like? This makes no sense.

— Christina Shine (@Miekoh_)

February 7, 2018

Why do the black gamers have to show you pictures, videos, hairstyles, textures that represent us? It’s 2018... did white gamers have to do that too? Because they are well represented in the game

— DeeSims (@DeeSimsYT)

February 7, 2018

Furthermore, in my opinion, a true attempt at inclusivity is simply googling. There are numerous CC creators who create representative content. Even reaching out to simmers such as @Xmiramira , @XureilaYT , @ForeignSimmer1 to name a few to ask for input.

— Christina Shine (@Miekoh_)

February 7, 2018

A few things: Following size isn’t a factor when we listen to feedback. This isn’t about “reminding” us about anything. This is more of a conversation between us and all of you. It is easy to google but it’s much better to have these conversations.

— Drake (@SimGuruDrake)

February 7, 2018

Agreed. But what i'm saying is non-dark toned consumers don't have to have a conversation in order for their hair types and skin colors to be accurately represented. It's done. That's why it feels like we have to "remind" you all. Because it really does seem like we are forgotten

— Christina Shine (@Miekoh_)

February 7, 2018

2nd in this day and age I don't think the burden should be on people of color and other minority groups to pressure companies for inclusivity. You know we exist, you know we are apart of your consumer market. Why do we have to remind "you" to not forget about us.

— Christina Shine (@Miekoh_)

February 7, 2018

I’ve seen folks try to tear apart Megs when she asked what you want to see and I saw folks who said they didn’t want to talk to us at all because they didn’t want us to add in stuff to “profit” off of. Also looking at CC doesn’t give us a full picture for certain hair styles

— Drake (@SimGuruDrake)

February 7, 2018

Since we have to stay within our art style is is more helpful to have real world examples to base content off of, especially for hair textures.

— Drake (@SimGuruDrake) February 7, 2018

#news #the sims 4 #ts4 #sims 4

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aion-rsa · 3 years

Text

Game of Thrones at 10: The Series That Changed TV Forever

https://ift.tt/3dn9imD

During the Game of Thrones series finale, there’s an exchange between Jon Snow and Tyrion Lannister that is as much about the series’ legacy as it is the characters’ inner turmoil. Only a handful of scenes earlier, these same two men conspired to murder the woman they called their queen, Daenerys Targaryen. Now living with the consequences of that heavy deed—with Jon again banished to the white hell Beyond the Wall and Tyrion conscripted to a lifetime of public service—a tormented Jon asks his friend was it right what they did?

“Ask me again in 10 years,” Tyrion says tersely. After all these years, the craftiest of Lannisters finally has learned he doesn’t know what he doesn’t know—and who really knows how the decisions in the here and now will appear to posterity? It’s easy to speculate that showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss felt the same way about their controversial ending to Game of Thrones. And like Tyrion and Jon, they probably could not anticipate the entire fallout that was to come.

It’s been two years since the contentious farewell to the series that defined its pop culture decade. But define it, it did. Running from 2011 to 2019, the show’s rise and fall traces eerily close to the rhythms of its era, perhaps more so than any series ever produced. It launched as the biggest gamble in premium cable history, and it ended as the most popular televised phenomenon of the 2010s. Some have argued Game of Thrones was the last of the “watercooler shows.” Even the divisiveness of its finale was monumental, shaping the next era of TV in still unseen ways. Pop culture really does live on in the realm forged by HBO’s fire and blood.

So while it hasn’t been a full 10 years since Tyrion dodged Jon’s question, a decade has passed from the moment three riders in black emerged from an icy gate, and Game of Thrones premiered on HBO. That’s more than enough time to ask what did Game of Thrones mean to us and the television landscape it shaped?

The Coming of Winter

Television was a different universe in April 2011. Netflix was still that mail rental/streaming company which didn’t produce its own content, storytelling was full of cynicism, and cable television remained king. But within that fiefdom, HBO was facing a problem: the once undisputed ruler of premium cable drama was now seeing challengers for its throne.

“HBO was still coming out of The Sopranos, The Wire, and Deadwood,” Michael Lombardo, then-HBO programming president, told James Hibberd for Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon, an oral history on the making of the series. “We were getting questions like, ‘Why did you not get Mad Men? How come you didn’t pick up Breaking Bad?’ We had been the place for all things quality drama and were looking to regain our footing. But Game of Thrones didn’t seem to fall into our category.”

In retrospect, it obviously should have. Based on George R.R. Martin’s sprawling A Song of Ice and Fire book series, the show was pitched (somewhat inaccurately) as The Sopranos meets Lord of the Rings. Martin may have written his novels to be unfilmable, but at HBO, Benioff and Weiss would create an impressive facsimile of his Westeros on a budget.

Very much a product of its time, Game of Thrones came out at the tail-end of the “antihero” era of television, the period where HBO led the way in populating TV with flawed if not outright repugnant protagonists. A reaction to television being defined by network censorship for all the decades before the 21st century, the sliding spectrum of lapsed morality between Don Draper (Mad Men) and Tony Soprano was exhilarating in its time. But unlike all those series, Game of Thrones was offering a vast tapestry of protagonists in its ensemble, which provided an even greater range of moral complexity than most popular American shows at that time.

There were fantasy stalwart heroes like Lord Eddard Stark (Sean Bean) and his oldest sons, but also enigmas such as Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), antiheroes who were introduced as full-on villains (read: most of the Lannisters), and young heroines whose nigh transcendentalist adventures belied darker traumas, such as Arya Stark (Maisie Williams). It was both of its moment and a far cry from the cynicism of other popular shows, not to mention the popular image of fantasy, which on the small screen was closer to Xena: Warrior Princess than Lord of the Rings.

“There were a fair number of reasons not to do it,” Carolyn Strauss told Hibberd about the show’s early days at HBO. As the former HBO programming president who first greenlit the Game of Thrones pilot, and then became executive producer on the series, Strauss can recall the apprehension she felt toward the idea of making a fantasy series for adults. “There are many ways a fantasy series can go south. Any show that relies on a mythology that isn’t thought out in enormous detail can go off the rails. You’re maybe good for a season or two, and then after that you start running into brick walls.”

Yet it was Thrones’ moral complexity in such a dense, heightened world that caught Strauss off-guard. “The way [Benioff and Weiss] told the story in the meeting made it sound much more involved and character-driven than I usually feel from fantasy stories. It was not good vs. evil, but characters who had elements of both things.”

That level of nuance was shocking when Game of Thrones premiered in 2011. Nowadays the series is often reduced by TV critics as being simply the show that introduced convincing blockbuster spectacle to the small screen. But in its early seasons that really wasn’t the case. While Benioff and Weiss were quietly aware of how massive in scope Martin’s novels eventually became, they sold the series to HBO as a “chamber piece,” not a symphony. It’s about intimate family drama—at least in the first season/novel—not magic and battles.

In that first episode, there was hardly an unsullied viewer who didn’t gasp when sweet 10-year-old Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead-Wright) was pushed out a window by Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau). The thrill wasn’t seeing dragons lay waste to armies; the excitement was found in character moments or decisions with drastic repercussions on every other scene that followed. At its heart, it was a fantasy series drenched in human psychology and human history (particularly that of the English War of the Roses), and those hooks made the eventual ice and fire spectacle that much more extraordinary five years down the line.

Game of Thrones didn’t come out of the gate as a culture defining event—its series premiere netted just 2.2 million viewers, about 1.6 million less than HBO’s similarly epic and ill-fated Rome—but like the armies of one silver haired queen from the east, it’s rise seemed blessed to gradually, and unwaveringly, build until the bloody end.

A Golden Crown

The moment that personally got me wholeheartedly invested into Game of Thrones, however, wasn’t Bran’s fall from a Winterfell tower, nor was it Peter Dinklage’s Tyrion verbally humiliating his demon seed nephew. The scene where the show fully clicked was in the sixth episode, “A Golden Crown.” Up until that moment, the series was dense on world-building and lore, but the narrative was so finely tuned, and hidden in such a tightly wound coil, that it could feel impenetrable at first blush. It also seemed to be built on a certain set of fantasy archetypes, such as the noble hero Ned Stark and the old fat king, Robert (Mark Addy).

Another seeming archetype was Viserys Targaryen, a malicious blonde-haired misanthrope played so ably by Harry Lloyd that one would recoil when he was on screen. Technically, he’s a lonely exiled prince whose family lost its dynasty. But as seen through the eyes of Clarke’s put-upon and abused Daenerys, Viserys’ younger sister whom he mercilessly abused, Viserys was really just an ugly bully. The kind you might imagine Harry Potter’s Draco Malfoy growing into, except with the creepy addition of a leering, incestuous gaze. Also like Draco, I feared Dany would have to endure his pestering for the rest of the series.

Then “A Golden Crown” occurs, and Viserys is plucked from the series like leaden dead weight. Moments before his death, Viserys has realized that no matter how much he calls himself king, no one will follow him. Meanwhile Dany has won the hearts of the Dothraki, a nomadic warrior culture. She now rules as their Khaleesi (queen) alongside Khal Drogo (Jason Momoa), the husband Viserys sold her to. Viserys expected Drogo to become his mercenary, but by episode 6, that obviously is never going to happen. So his simmering resentment seemed to suggest Viserys would undermine Dany’s fledgling power and character growth at every future opportunity. But at the end of “The Golden Crown,” the self-styled king threatens Daenerys before the whole Dothraki court, and perhaps more chillingly in Dany’s eyes, threatens to cut out the baby growing inside her womb if he does not get his way.

Drogo ultimately gives Viserys what he wants: a crown. Only it’s made from the molten hot liquid gold he’s melted down to pour on the wretch’s head. Daenerys watches the gold slowly boil before the deed is done, and she sees her brother begging for his life. But the moment he raised her hand against her unborn child, the man was already dead to her. After Viserys’ head is crushed by the burning gold running through his skull, she doesn’t even blink. Rather Clarke says with maximum disaffection, “He was no dragon. Fire cannot kill a dragon.”

Tamzin Merchant Brings Back Mystery of Unaired Game of Thrones Pilot and Daenerys

By David Crow

Who are the New Characters in Game of Thrones Prequel, House of the Dragon?

By David Crow

This hard left turn in the plotting was so sudden and shocking that it signaled what the series would become: a narrative where every character’s action and decision (at least pre-season 7) had potent consequences. Narrative conventions could be cut short in an instance. In this case, it was one that left viewers thrilled, but a few episodes later the same creative instinct would shatter them when the series’ main lead, poor Ned, lost his head. Such twists led me to buy all of Martin’s books and read them within a few months.

However, there was something more unsettling about the sequence. Daenerys Targaryen, our ostensible hero in her own storyline, did not flinch or bat an eye at her brother’s demise. He was rotten to the core, but Dany was no more affected by his death than she would be at the sight of hundreds of strangers crucified along a road on her order (an event which would occur later in the series).

The ambiguity of some of these characters, including Dany who in the early seasons was initially presented as an impending threat to the Starks and Lannisters a world away in Westeros, is what gave the drama so much life. There were reasons to root for nearly every faction and reasons to have pause with each character. You knew, eventually, your favorites would be in mortal conflict. While featuring a greater array of heroes than any of the other popular cable shows of the early 2010s, Game of Thrones also wallowed in moral relativity and bleakness. In 2011, it was like a high; in 2021, that kind of televised storytelling has largely fallen out of popularity.

Thrones also had a hand in that shift.

“Tits and Dragons”

For all of Game of Thrones’ good qualities, they cannot be extracted from its sins. Ten years ago, premium cable networks indulged in heavy use of obligatory nudity (mostly of young women) to keep viewers watching. Game of Thrones didn’t invent this, but it pushed it to its limit in the early seasons, even leading to the new term of “sexposition,” which describes when a show cynically includes images of naked women, usually portrayed as prostitutes in Thrones’ case, in the background during dry exposition.

Even before Thrones ended, these elements had aged badly, and were notably toned down in the later seasons. But they still occurred, even as gags, up to and including the final year. Neil Marshall, who directed two battle episodes on the series, even recalled in 2012 a disquieting note he received from an executive on the episode “Blackwater.”

“This particular exec took me to one side and said, ‘Look, I represent the pervert side of the audience okay?’” Marshall said. “‘Everybody else is the serious drama side, [but] I represent the perv side of the audience, and I’m saying I want full frontal nudity in this scene.’”

This cavalier attitude about using (some might say exploiting) young actresses who are anxious for a job on a popular series in such a gratuitous way contributed to the creation of a new profession in Hollywood: the intimacy coordinator. The actual HBO series which finally triggered this was The Deuce, not Game of Thrones. Still, Thrones most famously contributed to that sensationalism on television. So much so one of its most lauded guest stars, Ian McShane, deadpanned the show was only about “tits and dragons.” It became the figurehead for a media culture so problematic that there needed to be a reckoning at all networks and streamers in the post-#MeToo era.

That those elements on Game of Thrones were so often used in association with rape or sexual violence has led to a long overdue reevaluation of how stories with women are told in popular media—particularly from writers’ rooms dominated by men.

In truth, Game of Thrones has a litany of fascinating and complex female characters, many of whom end up in positions of power during the final seasons despite the grueling restraints of a medieval patriarchal society. Stars like Sophie Turner, whose Sansa Stark concludes the series as Queen in the North, has argued the series is actually quite feminist in its depiction of a wide range of nuanced female leads navigating medieval misogyny. And Clarke has said the show has taught her to “embrace her feminism.”

Yet both actors’ characters were forced to endure scenes of rape and sexual assault on the series, quite graphically in Clarke’s case during the first season. Even 10 years ago, viewers were rightfully disturbed by that. Clarke’s own thoughts on the use of nudity in the first season have also evolved. These elements, which only seem more glaring to the modern eye, have inspired a shift in how all “adult” stories are told, as well as how fantasy stories and historical dramas are received by audiences increasingly critical of one-sided titillation.

Those scenes likely contributed to the fan backlash when Clarke’s Daenerys, who suffered so much early on only to remake herself as a godlike savior, was revealed to be painfully mortal… turning into the villain of her own story.

A Legacy of Conflict

Game of Thrones began as a gamble for HBO, but even in its first year the bet was paying off when the fantasy show with dragons and ice zombies was nominated for Best Drama Series at the Emmys. Dinklage would go on to win his first of four Emmys for playing Tyrion that year, and even as the show lost the top prize then, it would eventually win Best Drama Series in four subsequent years.

It’s also worth noting that Dany’s dragons were barely present in the first season. Before the 2011 finale, they were creatures of a bygone age that, we’re told repeatedly, have long gone extinct. But in the final minutes of season 1, her ancient dragon eggs hatch, and a scene of biblical import plays out when she emerges from ashes as the Mother of Dragons. With each following year, Dany’s children grew larger in size, as did the pyrotechnics they unleashed. They were not much bigger than cats when they burned down a city of slavers in season 3. By the show’s end, they were the size of 747 jets while laying waste to Lannister armies.

As the creatures grew, so did Game of Thrones’ budget and, just as importantly, its audience. No other series in the modern era grew bigger with each season, from the cradle to its grave. In an age where Netflix invented the term “binge watching,” Game of Thrones remained the rare holdout of old school appointment television, with most audiences simultaneously watching live when the episode premiered on Sunday nights. Entire cottage industries based on fan speculation were born, and reading Martin’s books like they were sacred texts with hidden meanings that only the most learned scholar could translate became a pastime.

The first season premiered with 2.2 million people watching; the final season debuted with an audience of 17.4 million viewers. The finale brought in 19.3 million viewers. By comparison, the most popular scripted drama series on network television in 2019, This is Us, was averaging around 7-8 million viewers.

Yet as its popularity grew with its dragons, so did a vocal sense of dissatisfaction. There was a confluence of factors involved, many of them having to do with showrunners Benioff and Weiss running out of Martin novels to adapt. While they had a rough outline of how the series would end, the final two seasons of Game of Thrones arguably felt at points like just that: an outline the series was hitting by bullet point in each episode, often without the intricate plotting that made the early seasons and novels so addictive.

Yet it was really only during the series’ final two episodes, as a long built-up dragon fulfilled his destiny, that the rift between audience expectation and artistic intent erupted into a social media outrage. After watching Dany’s power build and build, and spending the final seasons with her pivoting from a threat to the Starks and King’s Landing to their ally against the Army of the Dead, Dany did what the series had long been famous for: she took a hard left turn.

In the final few hours of the series, Daenerys burns down the Westerosi capital, kills tens of thousands of people, and takes the Iron Throne in fire and blood, just like her ancestors. It was not the ending audiences, including myself, wanted for Dany, and it was an ending that disappointed even Clarke. Especially Clarke.

Game of Thrones Season 8: This Was Always the Ending

By David Crow

Game of Thrones: George R. R. Martin on How Hodor’s Origin Story Was Changed for TV

By Louisa Mellor

In many ways, it is one of the most Martin-esque elements of the series’ final years. You were promised high fantasy excitement and then got the cold, harsh reality of death and suffering. The fairy tales and fables which inspired modern fantasy are often derived from uglier histories and troubling sides of human nature. This is what conquest looks like, be it by dragon or sword.

Unfortunately, the execution of the ending left something to be desired. And there are plenty of write-ups out there to unpack the problems with the final season. Nonetheless, it is fair to wonder if for the first time in the series’ whole run, the show was finally out of step with the zeitgeist, and the subversion that was celebrated a decade earlier was no longer of the moment? When the show premiered, it was a realpolitik fantasy about the corrupting influence of power and how it can be wielded. When the series ended, corrupt abusers of power were on the rise around the world. Even Martin noted it was like King Joffrey had come to the White House.

The series not only denied viewers their favorite theories for the series’ end, but also a sense of escape from a world that was feeling uncomfortably closer to Westeros than it had eight years earlier.

In its own realm though, Game of Thrones was a series that shaped the modern television landscape. Spectacle on a scale comparable to Hollywood blockbusters is now deemed as attainable by content creators with deep enough pockets. Amazon paid $1 billion for the television rights of Lord of the Rings alone. But the industry has also reacted to Thrones and the antihero era it came from with a growing sense of wariness, too.

One of Game of Thrones’ contemporaries from its heyday was The Walking Dead. As another gritty, violent, and at times nihilistic genre show that became a mainstream hit, The Walking Dead started in the same TV season as Thrones. And one of its most pivotal writers from those earlier glory days, former showrunner Glen Mazzara, recently tweeted about the change in the industry’s tenor.

“TV development today is all about optimism,” Mazzara wrote. “Buyers don’t want anything dark or bleak.” While he then went on to add that he’s nonetheless writing the “darkest [and] scariest” thing of his career, the point remains that what was once the most popular thing on television, first as austere dramas and then as gory spectacles in shows like Thrones and The Walking Dead, is out of step in a modern TV landscape that has reacted to those shows.

Ironically, genre is more popular than ever, but the moral ambiguity and relativity that attracted HBO to Benioff and Weiss’ pitch is not. Rather than antiheroes, television is increasingly dominated by good natured and heroic individuals (Marvel Studios is even making the most popular shows). Characters, meanwhile, are proactively trying to solve social problems, not reveling in how broken things are. Creative spaces are also thankfully becoming more inclusive, giving a platform to a wider range of voices, including writers’ rooms where someone might be able to say the equivalent of, “You know, maybe Sansa shouldn’t be raped by Ramsay Bolton?”

This environment is a reaction to the popularity and then backlash endured by Game of Thrones. Which means our relationship to the series is far from over, even as the show’s run becomes an increasingly distant memory.

And yet, there’s (clearly) much to be said about what Game of Thrones accomplished in its time, right down to ending the way it did. It’s hard to imagine a show becoming that popular again and existing with such artistic freedom, and for its creators to be allowed to end it where they would like. Even in the 2010s it was rare, hence The Walking Dead lumbering onto an eleventh season this fall as a pale shadow of its former self. When that series ends, it also really won’t be the end, with more spinoffs, movies, and other forms of content planned.

Under new management, HBO has signaled they’ve developed a similar temperament, even with Game of Thrones. Benioff, Weiss, and apparently Martin saw their story end exactly the way they wanted to (even if few agreed with them). But the network has announced five live-action spinoff series in various stages of development, plus an animated one on HBO Max. In the age of endless streaming content, it’s easy to imagine that every corner of Westerosi history will be explored if WarnerMedia thinks there is an appetite.

Our feelings toward the legacy of Game of Thrones have evolved over the last 10 years, and will likely continue to do so for another 10. But it was a show that hit the right beats at the right time, and changed the culture while doing so. It burned brightly and then snuffed out its candle on its own terms. You don’t have to wait a decade to appreciate how rare, and unforgettable, that really is.

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murfeelee · 7 years

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Sims Question Meme (TS3)

I saw @lyrea's questions and I’m just sitting here killing time, so....

What’s your favorite sims death? Good ole Fire, cuz it’s a classic, and it’s always hysterical watching the way sims freak out.

Big props to LGR for the Katy Perry House of Pain, lol! XD

Alpha CC or Maxis Match? Whatever looks nice. I’ve seen the good the bad and the ugly on both sides, EA and 3rd party alike.

Do you cheat when your sims gain weight? YES, it’s so annoying. That Stuffed moodlet really gets on my g-d nerves.

Do you use Moveobjects On? MOO!!!! <3

Favorite mod? NRAAS’ mods (MC and DE and Hybrid and--!), and a ton of essential mods from MTS and Naughty Sims Asylum

First expansion/game/stuff pack you got? TS1: Makin Magic, TS2: Nightlife & Apartment Life, TS3: Ambitions. The only Stuff Packs I’ve ever wasted money on are TS3′s Fast Lane and Movie Stuff Pack, both times cuz I wanted the new vehicles -- the motorcycles, specifically. (EA gave away Town Life for free.)

Do you pronounce “live mode” like aLIVE or LIVing? aLIVE

Who’s your favorite sim that you’ve made? Sakura, my avatar sim.

Have you made a simself? Yes, the day I got TS3 I sat down with my whole family and we all made each other; it was a blast.

What sim traits do you give yourself? Artistic, Bookworm, Childish, Computer Whiz, Loner

Which is your favorite EA hair color? Black, White, or Pink

Favorite EA hair? I actually hate most EA hair, tbh. It’s always the same boring styles or cuts, with little variation, even less creativity in the men’s department, and the EPs/SPs have practically zero decent representation for ethnic hair. IMO a lot of EA’s best CAS CC came from the Store, especially the cultural sets like India and Africa. and fun fanciful themes like Midnight Hollow.

For the ladies I really like these X X. (We need way more braids & dreads, EA.)

For men I like these X X. (Most of EA’s male hair is horrendous by default.)

Favorite life stage? Young Adult, of course. (I’ll always be bitter about kids and elders having such limited interactions.)

Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay? I’m a Builder. I love making lots! (Just visit my TSR or Exchange pages and it’s just...yeah. :P) Nothing is more fun to me than creating the space; taking something that’s in my head -- or even better: from my favorite shows/games.etc -- and reproducing it in The Sims. I always wanted to be an interior decorator, and my friends knew this and introduced me to The Sims 1 when it came out. I’ve been hooked ever since -- curse them.

Are you a CC creator? Yes, unfortunately. I only got into converting when I got desperate for particularly niche content (fanciful/cultural/period CC) that just wasn’t. being. made. I was sick of waiting, and sick of all the contemporary stuff. I don’t remember how I got into first learning though. It was a lot of trial and error, and my very first conversions were total garbage (some of them are still up at TSR if y'all want to point and laugh). But I just kept practicing. I’m still practicing. I wish more people would get into making TS3 CC though.

Do you have any simblr friends/a sim squad? I’m open to talking with anybody. I love chatting with simmers and leaving/getting comments and messages. I get particularly excited when I find simmers who share similar interests & fandoms we can gab away over. I’m a total fangirl.

What’s your favorite game? (1, 2, 3, or 4) The Sims 3, full stop. <3 I miss TS1 and TS2 sometimes, but then I think about CASt and Open Worlds and I get over it. XD TS2 had all the best CC & mods though (I’m still jelly). I haven’t played TS4, and as things stand I don’t think I ever will. Not one of TS4′s EPs thus far have interested me.

Do you have any sims merch? Other than the games themselves, nope. They cost enough; I’m not tryna give EA any more of my effing money if I can help it.

Do you have a YouTube for sims? Ew, no. Starting a Simblr was pushing the social media limit for me. Anything else would be too much of a hassle.

How has your “sim style” changed throughout your years of playing? My lots are more cluttered (I’m a CC addict, DON’T JUDGE ME!). With screenshots I learned more about the in-game camera (my fave mods for camera angles/zooming/fade), and EA’s invisible lights in BuyDebug. I was introduced to Topaz, which I’m still struggling with. My sims still look like pudding though.

Who’s your favorite CC creator? I have favorite sites and sets, but thinking of just one creator is impossible.

How long have you had a simblr? Since 2013

How do you edit your pictures? In Photoshop I almost always adjust the brightness & contrast by 10 - 30, depending on how crap my in-game lighting was. Then I use the default settings for Topaz (Clean & Sharpen), since I have no idea what I’m doing.

What expansion/game/stuff pack do you want next? I hope TS4 makes a fanciful EP. Preferably something with magic, medieval, or steampunk gameplay, in a brand new world we've never had before. Or Japan, I’m always cool with Asian content. ;)

What expansion/game/stuff pack is your favorite so far? TS1: Makin Magic, TS2: Nightlife, TS3: Supernatural.

As usual I tag whoever!

#simblr #questionnaire #the sims #the sims 3

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newstechreviews · 4 years

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So far, the music of 2020 has been defined by its absences. Tours have been postponed; festivals have been canceled. Many high-profile artists, including The Dixie Chicks, Sam Smith and Alanis Morissette, have scrapped their albums for the time being, leaving immense holes in the year’s release calendar.

But plenty of excellent music has been released anyway; some of it seems to address the fragile state of the world directly, while other albums act as welcome reprieves. From Fiona Apple’s return to Lil Uzi Vert’s ascendance, here are the best albums of the year up to this point.

Dua Lipa, Future Nostalgia

It’s bold for a young pop star to title her album Future Nostalgia; it suggests a claim to timelessness, the kind of music that will represent an era and bring fans rushing back to that moment in their lives whenever it plays. Lucky for Britain’s Dua Lipa, that boldness paid off on her sleek, disco-leaning sophomore project. Lipa has a knack for earworms; her breakthrough came on 2017’s inescapable “New Rules.” Future Nostalgia, on which she has songwriting contributions on every track, has several: the kiss-off anthem “Don’t Start Now,” the passionate dance track “Break My Heart,” the winking, lusty “Physical.” It takes a masterful artist to sing lyrics like “My sugar boo, I’m levitating” and sell them. But Lipa is on top of her game, flavoring her rich soprano voice with a warm sense of humor in songs that rely on juicy, sticky beats. By the end of the album, a term of endearment like “honey boo” sounds timeless, too.—Raisa Bruner

Fiona Apple, Fetch the Bolt Cutters

Fetch the Bolt Cutters is what happened when Fiona Apple, now decades into a career during which she’s been both a critical darling and subject of controversy, let go of any last shred of her need for approval. Apple recorded this album entirely in her home in Venice Beach with trusted friends and collaborators; you can hear her and her friends’ dogs barking in “Fetch the Bolt Cutters,” and the percussion is often crafted from found items around the house. But in its 13 wry, witheringly honest tracks, Apple’s newfound musical freedom has also drawn up some of her most powerful indictments of both other people and the shackles that accompany celebrity and womanhood. The album feels potent, like something Apple had to get off her chest. There’s the unmodulated yodeling at the end of “I Want You to Love Me,” the rush of “Shameika,” the comic delivery of “Ladies, ladies, ladies.” “Kick me under the table all that you want, I won’t shut up,” she intones on “Under the Table,” and it’s both both a statement of resilience and a reminder that music can offer us much more than love stories. Fetch the Bolt Cutters is about friends, acquaintances, bosses, lovers, exes, societal forces: every kind of relationship, put under Apple’s microscope and unleashed as an anthem of individuality.—Raisa Bruner

Grimes, Miss Anthropocene

The recent headlines about Grimes have covered everything but the music—her baby’s name, her Twitter feuds, the labor politics of her boyfriend Elon Musk. It’s a shame, because her latest album Miss Anthropocene rivals anything she’s released over her decade-long career. At first glance, its muddled electro-pop aesthetic and lyrics might seem to obscure Grimes’ lofty stated goal of creating a “death god” representing climate change. But each melody is an earworm, and terrifying themes gradually unfold in mantras: “Cross my heart and hope to fly”; “I wanna play a beautiful game even though we’re gonna lose”; “I hear they’re calling my name/ I’m not gonna sleep anymore.” Grimes might be a controversy magnet, but she’s also still one of the most compelling and ambitious pop artists of the ‘00s.—Andrew R. Chow

Jeremy Cunningham, The Weather Up There

The Weather Up There grapples with one of the most painful topics imaginable: the murder of a loved one. Twelve years ago, the Cincinnati jazz drummer Jeremy Cunningham’s younger brother Andrew was shot to death at home by two men who mistook him for someone else. On this album, Andrew’s death is confronted in direct ways—voice message tributes from family members and friends, spoken word poems—as well as in musical form. And while the subject matter is anguished, the album is far from a difficult listen: Cunningham recruits some of the world’s best jazz musicians—like the guitarist Ben Parker and the cellist Tomeka Reid—to create gorgeous textures and probing melodies.—Andrew R. Chow

Lil Uzi Vert, Eternal Atake

In March, while much the world’s population was cocooning in their homes, an impish 25-year-old iconoclast from Philadelphia erupted back into the cultural stratosphere riding a UFO and three alter egos. Eternal Atake, Lil Uzi Vert’s second studio album, is not just a streaming juggernaut—it racked up 400 million streams in its first week—but a classic of the streaming era, filled with incandescent melodies and an elastic sonic palette. Over 18 songs, Uzi shows off his array of approaches: he flips an overexposed Backstreet Boys song (“I Want It That Way”) into something genuinely new (“That Way”); stretches his voice to its highest and lowest registers (“You Better Move”); turns the word fragment “Balenci” into some kind of inexorable incantation (“Pop”); and proves he can rap with the best with them (on the turbo-charged “Homecoming”). A few years ago, Uzi was a distracted challenger to hip-hop’s royalty; now, he’s the center of the world, or possibly the universe.—Andrew R. Chow

Makaya McCraven, We’re New Again: A Reimagining

Since Gil Scott-Heron’s death in 2011, the poet and musician’s legacy has only grown in stature, as more and more people become aware of his impact on modern protest rhetoric and the origins of hip-hop. In February, the jazz drummer Makaya McCraven released We’re New Again: A Reimagining, which is not just a tribute to Scott-Heron but a reinvigoration. The album is the third major conceptualization of vocal fragments delivered by Heron in the years before his death: The first, Richard Russell’s I’m New Here, was sparse and industrial, while the second, Jamie xx’s We’re New Here, recast Scott-Heron as a dance-floor prophet.

This version by McCraven—one of the leaders of jazz’s new global vanguard—perhaps comes closest to Scott-Heron’s own aesthetic and avant-garde approach. McCraven brings together an all-star band to create a diasporic collage of experimental black music: J Dilla breakbeats, free jazz brambles, Afro Latin grooves, neo soul. And while Scott-Heron’s lyrics address addiction, insomnia and alienation, McCraven finds a communal warmth in them—and perhaps a blueprint to overcoming isolation and oppression.—Andrew R. Chow

The 1975, Notes on a Conditional Form

At 22 tracks, Notes on a Conditional Form can feel more like a long, meandering stroll through the eclectic mind of lead singer Matty Healy than a concentrated artistic statement. That, perhaps, is the point. What does the duet ballad “Jesus Christ 2005 God Bless America,” utterly tender and minimal, have in common with a Greta Thunberg spoken-word track on climate change, or the angsty punk rock of “People,” or the slow country swing of “Roadkill,” or the purely atmospheric glow of “Having No Head”? Just the source. The 1975 have never boxed themselves in; this mix of jazz production, experimental instrumentation and unusual song structures is par for the course over the British band’s nearly-two-decade career together. But Notes on a Conditional Form feels even more like a grab-bag of ideas than usual. They say Millennials are easily distracted, but here’s an argument in favor of being comfortable with constant tonal switching, because there’s beauty in the unexpected. It sounds like the group is trying new things in real-time, unfettered by the need to over-edit. Is it all performance, or is it authentic playfulness? Does it matter, when it sounds good?—Raisa Bruner

Perfume Genius, Set My Heart on Fire Immediately

Set My Heart on Fire Immediately starts with a ragged intake of breath. It’s a good idea to inhale along with Mike Hadreas, who performs as the alt-pop creator Perfume Genius, because the uncompromising album about to begin holds a lengthy, emotionally vibrant journey in store. Now on his fourth album, Perfume Genius proves he’s equally comfortable with off-kilter indie rock, shimmering synth-pop and any shade of genre in between. His songs work a bit like paintings, in which he transforms sweetly-textured melodies into sheets of echoing, punk-inflected sound (“Whole Life”), or spackles flecks of glitter over a grimy base (“Leave”). Or, as on “Without You,” he can make a rock tune that twinkles, full of color. Perfume Genius has regularly plumbed his experiences of identity, relationships and pain for lyrical content. Here, he’s more opaque than ever. But pay close attention, and he’s also found new points of relating. “Take this wildness away,” he pleads over the bright swing of “On the Floor.” Listeners might beg to disagree.—Raisa Bruner

Yaeji, What We Drew

Over last few years, the bilingual Korean-American artist Yaeji has been throwing low-burning dance parties across the globe, linking up with local artists to create music that transgresses genres and cultures. Her mixtape What We Drew is an extension of this expansive vision: it includes producers from London and Tokyo and rappers from Oakland and North Carolina and pulls from trap, footwork, industrial music and even ASMR. The result is a simmering 40-minute recreation of a sweaty Brooklyn warehouse dance party. Throughout the project, Yaeji’s exploration of contrasting opposites—local and global, mythical and mundane, euphoric and depressive—keeps the project fresh listen after listen.—Andrew R. Chow

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plants-rule · 5 years

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Answer:

For every 20g of beans you eat (that’s only about a tablespoon), you might live 6% longer.

That’s because beans are a healthy source of plant-based protein, loaded with heart-healthy fiber, and provide other key nutrients like iron and calcium. Beans have been around for centuries, feeding centuries of people all over the globe – from the soybeans of Japan to the chickpeas of India and the pinto beans of the American West. Nowadays, canned beans are still one of the cheapest proteins on the market (you can get cooked organic beans around $1/ pound), making healthy eating both affordable and convenient.

My second, 5-minute “Get Healthy” Simple Step: Add Some Beans

When you do your weekly grocery shopping, pick up 4 cans of beans. Could you eat these 4 cans of beans in a week? Of course you can! Toss them on salad, add them to pasta, cook them into soup, or purée into a creamy dip. Bottom line: keep it simple.

Here’s my Ultimate Chef’s guide to Beans —

How they taste, what to do with them, and why you need more

Baby Rapini

Sweet Napa cabbge

Broccoli at Austin Farmer’s Market

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The Taste:

What used to be considered strictly “poor man’s food” is now popping up in trendy restaurants as chefs and farmers discover heirloom, varieties like Anasazi, European Soldier, and Yellow Eye Stueben. While beans offer a rainbow of colors and sizes to choose from, their flavor and textures are quite consistent. A bean aficionado might be able to distinguish between pinto and black turtle, but, for most of us, beans all seem to pretty much fall into the same taste profile. However, you can play with beans in the kitchen 2 main ways:

How you cook them

How you flavor them

Chef’s Tip: You can add healthy, delicious flavor to beans by infusing the cooking liquid with ingredients like chipotle peppers, garlic, onion, and bay

How to Cook the Ultimate Beans:

From braising to stewing to roasting, there are quite a few options for cooking beans. My experience as a plant-based chef has taught me a few key lessons on basic cooking techniques for beans:

Roasting

Skill Level: Intermediate – Advanced Taste Level: Nervous Seedling

Use on: Already cooked beans. Chickpeas and edamame makes delicious bite-sized snacks after roasting with a spiced coating. If you’re ever Peru or another part of South America, try some Roasted Habas. These crunchy snacks are a regional favorite for crunchy street food snacking,

How to do it: Preheat oven to 350. Make a coating by combining 1 tbsp. chickpea flour with 3 tbsp. warm water. You can season this coating with spices like chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, or garlic powder. Drain the cooked beans and get them as dry as possible. Then, toss around in the coating. Spread the beans onto a baking sheet and roast for bout 65-70 minutes, stirring every 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let completely before storing. Just store in an open container (like a bowl), on the counter.

Chef’s Tips for Ultimate Flavor: Rather than just regular seasonings, add some interesting flavors to your coating. Use wasabi powder for some wicked heat, nutritional yeast for cheesy flavor, or toasted sesame seeds for a nutty crunch.

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Chef’s Plant-Based Tip: Chickpea Flour mixes with warm water to create a crunchy coating for roasted beans. This replaces the egg white chefs traditionally use

Crunchy Wasabi Edamame – Healthy, Plant-Based, Oil-Free, Gluten-Free, Vegan Protein, Baked Snack Recipe

Braising

Skill Level: Intermediate Taste Level: Curious Seedling – Confident Brussel Sprout

Use on: Any beans. This is the main way to cook beans from raw.

How to do it: First, you’ll want to soak the beans. To do this, simply cover the beans with a few inches of water and let sit for 6-10 hours. Then, drain and rinse off the soaking liquid. Place the soaked beans in a pot and cover with fresh water, enough to come about 2 inches over the beans. Cover the pot, bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer until the beans are tender, about 45-90 minutes, depending on the size and age of the beans.

To make the Ultimate: You can infuse the cooking liquid with all sorts of flavor. I love adding smoked chipotle peppers (instead of the traditional smoked ham) to black beans for an irresistible Black Bean Soup. Or fresh bay leaves add bright flavor to simple Shiitake Mushroom Miso Soup with Black Beans and Spinach. Braised sweet onions create a satisfying backdrop to hearty Giant Peruvian Lima Beans that even meat lovers gobble up.

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The first step of “braising” is “browning”. Sweat the onion and smoked paprika until aromatic and golden brown around the edges.

Smoky Sweet Braised Giant Lima Beans – Healthy, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free, Plant-Based, Oil-Free, Vegan Recipe

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Canned or Frozen

Skill Level: Beginner Taste Level: Curious Seedling – Confident Brussel Sprout

Use on: Any canned or frozen bean. The most commonly available in US markets are: garbanzo, black beans, red kidney, cannellini, and pinto.

How to do it: Okay, so technically you aren’t really cooking the beans, but that’s okay! For canned beans, you want to drain and rinse off the liquid from the can. This liquid isn’t appetizing and can cause gas. Frozen beans just need to be cooked 1-2 minutes, either in the microwave, boiled, or just cooked into whatever stew, soup, or warm dish you’re already making

To make the Ultimate: Add some flavor! Even if you’re just looking for a quick, satisfying snack, add some flavor with dried spices, soy sauce, or even chili sauce. Sprinkle smoked salt onto chickpeas, add a dash of chili powder to a bowl of pintos, or stir miso paste in with frozen edamame. Microwave for a minute to activate the spices, grab a spoon, and dig in.

Chef’s Tip: When using canned beans, you should always drain and rinse the beans thoroughly. The liquid in the can is not delicious and can upset your stomach

Healthy Bean Nutrition:

Heart-Healthy Fiber,

Plant-Base Protein,

Antioxidant Color,

Essential Iron and Calcium

Some truths about beans:

Fiber Truth:

Beans are loaded with fiber. You probably already know this. Did you know that just 1 cup of beans has about ½ of your daily fiber? It’s so simple. There is NO fiber in animal-based protein. No fiber in chicken breast, salmon, shrimp, eggs, grass-fed steak, or hormone-free cheese. Fiber helps keep you full without any calories. It gives you long-lasting energy and has extra heart-healthy benefits. It lowers your cholesterol, lowers blood pressure, and protects against stroke and diabetes.

Big ‘Ole Italian Salad – Healthy, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free, Oil-Free, Plant-Based, Vegan Recipe

Protein Truth:

In the plant-based food world, beans “bring it” when it comes to protein. 1 cup of black beans has about 16g of protein, over 1/3 of the daily protein goal for women. One of the most common mistakes of a someone starting a plant-based diet is to overdo it on veggies and salads, forgetting to add complex carbohydrates like beans. While there is protein in fruits and vegetables, eating your daily 1 cup of beans can help ensure that you’re getting enough protein. It can help ensure your energy level stays up and you stay satisfied.

Iron Truth:

Iron deficiency is a common concern for someone adopting a plant-based diet. However, “vegetarians do not have a higher incidence of iron deficiency than do meat eaters”. In fact, beans and Dark Greens are healthy sources of vegan iron. Plant-based iron is composed of non-heme iron, which is harder for your body to absorb than animal-based iron. Vegetarians need to be mindful, then, of getting a little extra iron in their diet – more reason to get your daily 1-cup serving of beans, and plenty of healthy, dark greens. On the flip side, Vitamin C greatly helps with iron absorption. Vitamin C is in foods like spinach, sweet potatoes, broccoli, tomatoes, and cauliflower. So, eating a big salad with a bunch of beans on top makes for a Vitamin C – Iron powerhouse combination. There isn’t any Vitamin C in that big piece of steak. Without that Vitamin C, most of that iron might not get absorbed in your body.

Heirloom Red European Soldier Beans – Healthy, Plant-Based Protein

Antioxidant Truths:

Beans are full of antioxidants. Just like with fruits and vegetables, the many colors of beans point to the many antioxidants under their skin. In fact, darker beans have been shown to have more antioxidants than their lighter counterparts. Don’t get too wrapped up in the details, though. Eat a variety of beans that fit your tastes.

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Get Your Beans Recipes:

Hungry Yet?

Here are some healthy, plant-based recipes to inspire you to Get Your Beans:

http://Get Your Beans

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References and More Reading:

Aging, Food, Culture, and Healthy (big study that found the advantages of Greek aka “Mediterranean” diet):

“A high intake and variety of plant foods (in particular vegetables, legumes and fruit); a high intake and variety of seafood and a low intake of meat emerged with statistical and biological significance… the importance of the overall traditional Greek food culture, with its emphasis on plant derived food of various kinds, as opposed to individual food categories, in protecting against premature death. “

Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health. 1997;28 Suppl 2:100-12: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9561644

Antioxidant Activity of Extracts, Condensed Tannin Fractions, and Pure Flavonoids from Phaseolus vulgaris L. Seed Coat Color Genotypes, Sugarbeet and Bean Research Unit, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Plant and Soil Science Building, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, Clifford W. Beninger * and George L. Hosfield, J. Agric. Food Chem., 2003, 51 (27), pp 7879–7883, Publication Date (Web): December 3, 2003: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf0304324?prevSearch=%5BContrib%3A%2BClifford%2BW.%2BBeninger%2C%5D&searchHistoryKey=&

World Health Organization Calcium Recommendations for Preventing Osteoporosis: http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/publications/trs916/en/gsfao_osteo.pdf

Vitamin C in Fruits and Vegetables: http://www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org/vitamin-c-in-fruits-and-vegetables

How Fiber Protects Your Heart, by John Donovan: http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/fiber-heart

Nutritional Value of Dry Beans, pdf: http://beaninstitute.com/nutritional-value-of-dry-beans/

Step Two: Add Some Beans, An Easy Change towards a Healthy, Plant-Based Life My second , 5-minute “Get Healthy” Simple Step: Add Some Beans Pop question: How many beans do you need to eat to live longer?

#advice #beans #diet #easy #fiber #how to cook #nutrition #protein #simple #weight loss

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spaceboitakesflight-blog · 7 years

Text

Imagination as Respiration, as Regiment for Pain. Imagination as Fuck it. Imagination as Fire.

Note: This article is much more helpful if you click the links. They range in types of content (articles, research, data, organizations to support) and have a lot of useful information! The majority of bold sections are lyrics from Mos Def & Talib Kweli are Black Star (1998).

I trust, I hope Philando Castile’s spirit finds rest and justice in the fires lit for him.

Police are pigs, and should be treated as such.

The state arrested 18 protesters in Minnesota after the verdict came out.

The jury was more over 50% middle aged whites.

Bill Cosby rape case ended in mistrial.\ Could be 365 days til re-trail, but they're "pushing it along"... \ And how many white rapists will they let go low-profile in the span of that time?

Charleena Lyles.

Say: Her name

How many more cops will go free after committing murder?

“Every year $9 billion dollars are wasted incarcerating people who've not been convicted of a crime, and insurance companies, who have taken over our bail system, go to the bank.”

2.3 million people incarcerated. And if you are aware of anything in this country, you already know the racial breakdown. The state will inflict fear in whatever ways it can. How physically, how psychologically difficult will they make it for any person of color to [fill in the blank].

How many immigrants detained? How many people (”terrorists”) held in Guantanamo? How many survivors of domestic violence unjustly convicted? How many queer folks, how many trans women of color locked up or killed for existing?

“Same song, just remixed, different arrangement Put you on a yacht but they won't call it a slave ship Strangeness, you don't control this, you barely hold this Screaming "brand new", when they just sanitized the old shit Suppose it's, just another clever Jedi mind trick”

Why the fuck should anyone wait for these racist patriarchal systems to magically change, when we could burn it down and start again? How much longer will white people continue to lie to themselves? How much time can be bought, to “hide like thieves in the night from life”?

This year I worked for a college access organization that serves first generation college students. After one of our weekly tutoring sessions, a visiting tutor asked “how we could have possibly ended up here”--”here” meaning, high school students not being able to pass basic math courses. I said there’s no question, the system is designed for these students to fail... In too many ways to count.

Colorism: an intentional set of lethal mindgames.

“The paradox of education is precisely this - that as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated.” -James Baldwin

Enter the need for critical consciousness.

amerikkka creates its own twisted history. Writes a false narrative of motion. Spits it down our throats with pat on the back after every swallow. amerikkka stores archives of criminal evidence in its basement. Inconvenient, for gentrification, for the colonization agenda. Perfect for a culture of gas-lighting. Where violence hides behind the innocence of an opinion.

“Because white men can’t/ police their imagination/ black men are dying.” - Claudia Rankine

Imagination is deadly. Hence the state’s thirst to monitor and control the ways we think, the concepts we imagine.

“A lot of people don't understand the true criteria of things Can't just accept the appearance, have to get the true essence”

amerikkka chooses to stay mentally and emotionally disturbed, caught in an abyss of disgusting history, frantically running through the same corporate racist cycles that are killing every good thing on this earth.

amerikka will do anything to fuck with your head. Will force you to accept shit that is slowly killing you, or quickly killing the people around you, just to make it through another day. It will do anything to brainwash, to separate you from your own body, to wrap you in isolation until the fear of explosion is so great, dying doesn’t seem like a bad option. Suicide among people of color then, is not counted as murder by the state?

Enter the truth.

“This life is temporary but the soul is eternal Separate the real from the lie, let me learn you”

Put in the work your mind deserves to undo the lies it has been soaked in.

“Yo, I'm sure that everybody out listening agree That everything you see ain't really how it be A lot of jokers out running in place, chasing the style Be a lot going on beneath the empty smile Most cats in my area be loving the hysteria Synthesized surface conceals the interior America, land of opportunity, mirages and camouflages”

I don’t think any of us will see a day of reconciliation and justice in this life. But the idea of freedom fuels revolution. “Freedom” can exist in our minds. It is the act of imagining that makes freedom more readily available in the mind than it can exist among these physical systems of oppression.

“At exactly which point do you start to realize That (life without knowledge is death in disguise?) That's why, knowledge of self is like life after death”

"I will continue to say murder because where in this planet do you tell the truth and you be honest and you still be murdered by the police of Minnesota?" Valerie Castile asked.

Every time I see an american flag, i burn it in my imagination. I kill trump in my imagination. shoot him, chop his head off. i feel nothing but satisfaction. kathy griffith did it, for fake. a photoshoot. a stunt./ they took it for real life/ no fucks about the death toll in his name/

“So much on my mind that I can't recline Blastin' holes in the night 'til she bled sunshine Breathe in, inhale vapors from bright stars that shine Breathe out, weed smoke retrace the skyline Heard the bass ride out like an ancient mating call I can't take it, y'all, I can feel the city breathing Chest heaving, against the flesh of the evening Sigh before we die like the last train leaving”

A lot of us are just trying to hold on. Not “go crazy”. Pay bills. Navigate relationships. Survive pain, hurt, trauma, loss. How can we move past survival?

“Life or death, if I'm choosing with every breath I'm enhancing”

Taking care of your mental health is important in order to use your mind to your advantage, to build structures of resilience and resistance. Understand what resources you need in order to do the work. Make steps to start the organization you have always dreamed of forming. Write your business plan. Pull the bars of music hiding beneath your chest. Write those poems simmering in your belly. Tag that building or train with your art. Be the teacher, mentor, parent you imagine yourself to be. Be the role model Philando was, and should have had more time to be.

Free yourself to take productive risks in your efforts to self-sustain.

Because for real, lets start our own healthcare networks. POC run history archives. POC art galleries. POC therapy centers. Our own economies, our own ways to exchange food and skills.

Collective revolt calls for collective imagination. No justice, no peace. Do the healing to find your peace. Allow yourself to form community, and ride for that community/chosen family “Who are knowledge, truth, and peace seekers”.

Fight for your imagination and the wonders it feeds you. Preserve your energy. Direct it in places of healing. Talk to your ancestors. Allow yourself days to feel sad and tired. Allow yourself days to feel strong and motivated. Keep trying.

They will never know where your inspiration comes from. Where your fire originates. They will not understand your ability to keep breathing. to hold the fire in your chest and not burn. to drink water then spit bombs on cop cars. to grieve so hard your body thrashes salt against the walls, then still grow so soft, so centered.

Imagine: create: like your life depends on it.

#blacklivesmatter #nojusticenopeace #blackstar #qtpoc #sayhername

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