#for all you non-americans the Great American Folk Heroes are

[awritersbro]

im sure there’ve been other posts about it but it’s interesting that one of the Great American Folk Heroes literally worked himself to death.

like obviously there’s a lot more context to it narratively racially and historically, but John Henry did literally work himself to death to save the jobs of his coworkers and that aspect of the story is interesting.

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

I generally don’t like to add on to these pile on articles about a particular situation. But damn that article about keeping Harry’s appearances to a minimum or rather very tightly controlled is uh wild. I always say there are 4 types of “leaks”. 1. The out of no where leak (unexpected) 2. The planted leak about info they want out 3. The rebuttals leak. And lastly: 4. The reality leak. Now Meghan always plays in the second and third category. It’s been her MO for years now, Harry on the other hand often times really only plays in the third category. He very clearly wants to be perceived in a very certain way by a specific set of people. Now on occasion we’ve seen number 1 happen but it was disguised or viewed as 2 or 3 depending on who you ask (megxit//oprah//lawsuits for Harry). Even rarer are leaks that fall into category 4. The dress was the first big one, then it was the frogmore neighbor paper thing and then it stopped for a little bit while they moved to the states, and then came Spotify and now, this. And I guess I’m just struck at the accuracy and devastation that these particular leaks caused. They became points of fixation for both Harry and Meghan and your blog has done a great job at tracking their individual reactions to them. The common denominator between all of them is the third party in which they came from, a non family member who was either directly or very closely associated with the core situation. These armor piercing stories seem to be, in hindsight, axis tilting turning points where huge decisions are made. (‘leaving the royal family or launching the ARO brand). Which to me begs the question, what is the irrational decision Harry will make next? Because the reality behind closed doors for Harry is likely much darker than he lets on. The article was certainly a category 4 disguised as a category 3 to respond to speculation relating to his invictius games status.

All in all, I suspect that ARO was very hastily launch, which is why there’s been no follow up or plan. The shows likely tick a box for Netflix to pay the final installment owned, while Harry and Meghan are trying to quell speculation that the relationship with the streaming giant has soured. But most importantly I really think that people aren’t picking up the phone for him any longer and the military has likely been more vocal behind closed doors, which puts him in a very very big bind. Which is only going to be further enlarged, because ex military men don’t play polo. It is a notorious rich persons sport, something that fits very well into the ARO brand Meghan is aiming for, but falls very short of the person Harry views himself as (‘hero Harry). Harry has lost the ability for them to peacefully co exist. His behavior over the last 4 years, and their mutual statements together have forced him to choose one. So now rehabbing one image will always mean the eroding of the other. I still think he wants to do both but I think after the Netflix series fails, we’ll see him drop polo all together and try and go all in on IG again, but unfortunately by that time IG will have moved on out of necessity.

Polo is a rich person's sport but polo also isn't a thing here in the US. Unless you live in the tony old-school old-money enclaves where people are playing polo (Santa Barbara, Charleston, the Hamptons, and Miami, for example), polo just isn't on your radar here in the US like it may be in the UK.

If Harry and Meghan really wanted to get in with the rich American folks - like the billionaires, the Hollywood A-List, the politicians, the industry titans - the golf course is where they need to be.

But he's not interested in that. Harry's not interested in anything American except using our first amendment to control what people say about him. He's the worst kind of immigrant.

[alexa-santi-author]

This? This right here? Is the first BookBub deal I’ve been a part of since I started publishing in 2021. 🥹

There’s also something I want to say about my story in this anthology that’s specific for Tumblr. I took a big swing, because I’m a middle-aged white woman who wrote a Regency romance with a Black heroine who grew up enslaved before she escaped to England with her family.

I’m going to pause here so folks who aren’t interested in hearing the details can scroll on by.

Like I said, I knew it was going to be a big swing because I am (a) white and (b) middle-aged, and those are two factors that rightfully strike fear into the hearts of a lot of non-white people when women like me say we’re going to write about Black characters, including in a historical or fantasy setting.

But here’s what I did:

- I did a lot of seminars and webinars and classes in how not to fuck up when you’re writing characters of another identity. Two of the best ones: I was lucky enough to take an online class called Critical Lens with best-selling and award-winning Black romance author LaQuette, and that was hugely helpful for getting myself into the right mindset. I also took an intensive class from Writing the Other, who I also strongly recommend. They have great classes on a huge variety of topics. I did all of this several years before I wrote this story.

- I asked as many non-white people as I could about the story concept and got a consensus that it was not automatically offensive to have a heroine with that background as long as I watched my ass with the potentially offensive elements. She is never shown in America, only when she is in England, where her family has become comfortably middle class. The hero first met her when she and her family (parents and sister) successfully escaped to a British warship in the Chesapeake Bay during the War of 1812 and were transported back to England, as were hundreds of other refugees escaping slavery during that war.

- It’s based in real history. In both the American Revolution and the War of 1812, enslaved people who were able to get to the British side and claim asylum were transported back to England as free people. In the negotiations to settle both wars, the Americans tried to demand the return of their “property” and were firmly shut down by the British. A reference to not just single individuals, but families, successfully escaping this way during the War of 1812 in the British naval dispatches is what sparked this idea.

- I hired a Black editor (Renita Lofton McKinney at ABookADay.biz) to do the developmental edit and make sure I didn’t screw anything up before it was finalized. Where most people mess up is they wait until the beta reader stage to get sensitivity notes, and that’s when it’s hardest to make changes. Get your sensitivity editor involved as early as possible so you don’t go down the wrong path.

- Hopefully this doesn’t make the story sound like a slog. I promise it’s light and fun even with the premise.

- Could I still have fucked this up and written something offensive even though I did my best not to? Yes, of course. It’s also an interracial romance, which some people will hate, so that’s another point where I could get myself in trouble. But I did put in a good faith effort of money and time to not fuck it up.

And if you’re still interested in the story after reading my whole Ted Talk, here’s a link.

https://books2read.com/abdu

[sickenedfanfics]

Sanguine Symphony

Title: Sanguine Symphony

Chapters:

“Note to Readers”

“Fully Qualified”

“Vampire Overview”

“Human Overview”

“Sanguine Symphony (A Tears of Pearls Parody)”

“Chapter One”

Note:

Please note: The mention of Aboriginal vampire hunters using boomerangs to impale vampires is a reference taken from the show, Firebite, which is an Australian/American joint production.

Type: Alternate Universe, Real Person Fanfiction, Band Fic

Rating: Explicit

Warning:

Rape/Non-Con, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Profanity, Gore

Category: M/M

Fandom: Savage Garden

Relationships: Darren Hayes/Daniel Jones

Characters: Darren Hayes, Daniel Jones, You, Reader, Original Characters

Story Tags:

I miss the 90s, Bring Back 90s Music, Yup I'm Old As Fuck, POV Darren Hayes, Good Writing, Well-Written, Original Universe, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe – Dark, Slice of Life, Dark, Minor Original Character(s), Guitars, Keyboard, Piano, Music, Musicians, Musical Instruments, vocalist, 90's Music, music group, Band, Band Fic, Alternate Universe – Vampire, Vampires, Abuse, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Verbal Abuse, Alcohol, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Blood, Blood Drinking, LGBTQ Themes, LGBTQ Character, Bisexuality, Gay, Gay Male Character, Homosexuality, Shipping, Established Relationship, Dysfunctional Relationships, Abusive Relationships, Unhealthy Relationships, Domestic, Drama, Past Violence, Past Domestic Violence, Bottom Darren Hayes, Top Daniel Jones (Savage Garden), Reader-Insert, Mild Reader-Insert, Reader-Insert Parts, RPF, Real people, POV Second Person, POV Third Person, POV Multiple, POV Alternating, Bisexual Daniel Jones (Savage Garden), Domestic Disputes, Erotica, Homoeroticism, Gay Sex, Explicit Sexual Content, Heterosexual Sex, Killing, Murder, Romance, Mention of Child Abuse, LGBTQ, Gay Romance, Gay Male Lead Character, Gay Male Relationship, Relationships, Real Person Slash, Real Person Fiction, Based on Real People, Homoerotic Themes, Homoerotic Scenes, Homo, Gay Sex, Explicit Language, Heterosexual, Supernatural, Psychological, Anti-Hero Lead, Magic, Male Lead, Non-Human Lead, Villainous Lead, Adultery, Affair, Cheating, Cross-Dressing, Cruel Characters, Famous Protagonist, Modern Times, Nudity, Singer, Succubus, Suicides

Chapter Tags:

no smut, no sex

Story Summary:

Play me a symphony painted with sanguine kisses.

Darren Hayes and Daniel Jones dropped off the radar twenty-two years ago. Have you ever wondered what happened to that cool-ass group? How can they just disappear without a trace? The answer to that is not one that humans can imagine. The pop duo has been dragged into the underworld of the undead. They've survived this long but their relationship is hanging by the bare threads. Depression, rage, fury, and pain all thrive in this tale of blood, strife, and pain.

Chapter Summary:

Users of the hit vampire social media site, VamVu, get a surprise when a live video featuring Darren Hayes, frontman of Savage Garden, is hosted. They're stunned and outdone, but they get great news.

Intro:

You sit at or hold your Wi-Fi-enabled device (laptop, tablet, computer, phone, whatever) with a glass of junior blood wine at hand. It’s the cheap shit because everybody knows you were piss poor broke before you were embraced, so why would undead life be any different? You sign into your VamVu (yeah, a play on vamp/vampire view) account located on the dark web. You catch up with some of your friends, thumb down a video by sociopolitical leftist pussified vampires which promoted allowing weres, shapeshifters, zombies, demons, and Magic Folk on the site, and thumb up one commenter’s chant of “keep VamVu bloodstained red.”

“Note to Readers”:

AO3 Quotev Royal Road Scribble Hub Squidge World

“Fully Qualified”:

AO3 Quotev Royal Road Scribble Hub Squidge World

“Vampire Overview”:

AO3 Quotev Royal Road Scribble Hub Squidge World

“Human Overview”:

AO3 Quotev Royal Road Scribble Hub Squidge World

“Sanguine Symphony (A Tears of Pearls Parody)”:

AO3 Inkitt Quotev Royal Road Scribble Hub Squidge World

“Chapter One”:

AO3 Inkitt Quotev Royal Road Scribble Hub Squidge World

----

Other Sites: Fanfiction Original Writing

[didierleclair]

The God of the stadium and the paper tiger

What do you think when someone says: Lebron James? You have the image of a basketball athlete, the stature of a hero, a great star of the NBA league and you are right.

This athlete is decorated with 4 championship titles. He has countless awards, including Best Player in the League, not to mention all the honors given to a world-renowned star. The man will be 40 at the end of the year. He has renewed his contract with the Los Angeles Lakers. All this is well deserved.

He is also a businessman who has invested in many areas, including major European football clubs such as Liverpool and Milan. Additionally, Lebron James has shares in baseball and hockey teams.

The wealthy athlete does not forget his modest origins as an only child raised by a single mother in Akron, Ohio. Indeed, he donated $42 million to the University of Akron. This donation made it possible to offer a 4-year scholarship to more than a thousand students from low-income families. The man is a billionaire and a great philanthropist.

Furthermore, he ventures into political commentary. The adored athlete is a fervent critic of Donald Trump. He once called him a “bum” on national TV.

Lebron James will play during the next basketball regular season with his son.

This is the news that has been making headlines in recent days. Bronny James,  19 years old, was drafted as the 55th player by the Los Angeles Lakers. Reporters jumped on the news to point out that this will be the first time in NBA history that a father will play with his son on the same team.

All NBA commentators agree that Bronny did not arrive at the club where his father plays by accident. They recognize that there was a major motivator, his father. The latter had to renew his contract. To ensure they kept him, Lakers officials offered his son a contract worth nearly $8 million for 4 years. The minimum salary for a beginner in the NBA is one million per year. A beginner who has never proven himself would have had 4 million. Bronny gets double before starting his career. Remember that he was selected in the 55th place out of 58 candidates for the NBA this year.

NBA specialists point out that this nepotism is normal. The entire league is filled with people who favor their family members or close friends.

A USA Today article is titled: “Yes, Bronny James is benefiting from nepotism. So what? »  The author argues that other national leagues are full of bosses who hire their children as players or coaches, that the movie industry (Hollywood) is buckling under the weight of favoritism and cronyism.

A well-known reporter in the sports world, the African-American Stephen A. Smith goes further. He says : "We live in a country where nepotism has taken place with white folks religiously forever. We've said little to nothing about it." 

For him, the fact that it is a black family that indulges in favoritism is the reason why people are complaining. For this journalist, we should not criticize James' family. On the contrary, we should congratulate Lebron who succeeds in doing what he wants thanks to his social success. The black tycoon can impose himself and no one can stop him. His wishes are our command. Let's applaud.

Lebron James is put on a pedestal. He is on the Mount Rushmore of basketball, along with Michael Jordan and a few other sacred figures. He is adored and celebrated. The devotion of reporters like Stephen A. Smith and his fans borders on fanaticism.

However, this sacredness should come with an ability to avoid favoritism. At least Lebron should have maintained a non-partisan appearance in this family matter. His millions of fans look up to him. However, in promoting rookie Bronny James, it's impossible to keep up appearances. Lebron James made sure to promote his son. " So what? » its defenders tell us.

In 1963, Malcolm X said about superstars venturing out of their field “ Show me in a White community where a comedian is a White leader, show me a White community where a singer is a White leader, or a dancer, or a trumpet player. These aren’t leaders, these are puppets and clowns that have been set up by the White community (…) and usually say exactly what (…) the White community wants to hear.”

This quote seems very appropriate to me in the case that concerns us in 2024.

 Lebron James is the man who insults Donald Trump as a tramp and at the same time allows his son Bronny to pass in front of fifty young recruits. It was he who expressed his anger and wore a t-shirt saying “I can't breathe” to denounce police violence against George Floyd, the 46-year-old African-American who died under the knee of a police officer in 2020. However, it is also his son who gets double the salary, without having touched a ball in the NBA.

In American society, there is a mix among black people leadership. This is done intentionally to fill the void that true leaders have left after their assassination. I think of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. The media replaced them on the microphone with black athletes, singers and comedians. They are harmless. These artists are invited to play activists and protesters, but only until the general indignation subsides. I wonder what happened to that “I can’t breathe” t-shirt that Lebron wore four years ago? Does he know it himself? I doubt it.

The question of Lebron James' nepotism is dismissed, neglected because of the aura he enjoys in the world of basketball and beyond. He is a God of sport, a complete God. Who can criticize a God? Talking about his pettiness in the matter of hiring his son is blasphemous. How dare we criticize him when he gives millions of dollars in university scholarships and denounces police brutality? Reporters turn into security guards ready to label any criticism of God James as ingratitude and a crime against a sovereign power.

His defenders bring up the absurd argument of the “right of nepotism” since the others do it. But Malcolm X never hired his family to hold the microphone for him. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated while advocating racial equality and equal opportunity. A true leader must be of unfailing integrity to advance society. Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, Cornel West, Angela Davis, WEB Du Bois and many other great leaders of the black community have never been accused of nepotism. They are neither puppets nor clowns. They were all persecuted or imprisoned for their ideas. Not Lebron James because he is an entertainer first and foremost.

Lebron James is 2 meters 06 (6 feet 8) tall but he has gotten shorter since his nepotism. He has lost his aura, his panache. We saw the other side of the coin that we weren't supposed to see. He’s a paper tiger. A stunning kite in the wind. If he finds his t-shirt “I can’t breathe”, remember his nepotism.

Didier Leclair, writer

[fahrni]

Saturday Morning Coffee

Good morning coffee lovers! Hope you’re ready for some randomness because you’re gonna get some. Cheers! ☕️

Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Thousands of frustrated Texans shivered in homes without power for a second day Thursday, most of them around booming Austin, and fading hopes of a quick fix stirred grim memories of a deadly 2021 blackout after an icy winter storm across the southern U.S.

Poor Texans are, once again, struggling through big cold snap. It’s not surprising though, the GOP run state doesn’t care about people, only profits.

I read something yesterday that rings true: How can you tell when you’re going to have six more weeks of winter? Ted Cruz goes to Mexico.

Folks, stop voting for Republicans. They don’t care about you one little bit.

Ars Technica

HBO’s The Last of Us tries a little tenderness in a surprising episode 3

This was a fantastic episode! We got to see a couple live their best lives under terrible circumstances. I didn’t play the game so I didn’t know Bill was gay but he was already an interesting character up to that point. A prepper with the talent of a gourmet chef and a musician. Being gay was just the cherry on top and his commitment to his partner was heart warming. This episode was a quiet reprieve to what I’d imagine will be non-stop violence to the bitter end.

ESPN

Tom Brady says he is retiring “for good” from football, ending a storied 23-year NFL career during which the star quarterback won seven Super Bowls and set numerous records.

Tom, Tom, Tom. I have a horrible feeling Mr. Brady returned to football because his wife broke the news to him that she wanted a divorce not long after he retired. Football was the distraction he needed to get through it. Now the divorce is final, he’s suffered that initial pain, and it’s time to move on.

I’m so sorry you had to go through that Tom. Divorce is nothing but pain for all involved. I hope you have a beautiful life. You are football’s GOAT.

NetNewsWire

Because of Twitter’s announcement that free access to the Twitter API will end February 9, we will be removing Twitter integration from NetNewsWire in the next release (6.1.1) for Mac and iOS.

Space Karen strikes again! This time he’s hitting anyone whow uses the Twitter API. He’s tightening up while over on Mastodon things remain completely open for business! Following folks on Mastodon from your favorite feed read is so easy you don’t need a special plug-in to do it! It supports RSS right out of the box. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

Also, who wants this domain? It would be great for a Space Karen watch site, like Twitter is going great.

Jeffrey Zeldman

Before the present owner, I was a Twitter Blue customer, because I always pay for software—to support its creators and help prevent it from disappearing, as so many great websites and platforms have done over the years.

Jeffrey Zeldman is an American treasure and web hero. I’ve enjoyed reading him for years and years now. This time Jeffrey shares his adventure of trying to give Twitter money. Their payment system failed. Doesn’t surprise me.

America, America

The authoritarian strongman types want us to believe in their power. They may even want us to think that their power is divinely influenced, a sign that they’re not like the rest of us, but better. Look no further than the surreal video released just weeks before the Florida gubernatorial election, complete with Voice of God-style narration and mad text about how Ron DeSantis is the fulfillment of God’s plan for a protector and a fighter.

I’m sure Florida has it’s share of wonderful people but why would you choose to live there? DeSantis is a true authoritarian scared of America’s future without bullies like him. Future America will happen. You may slow it down but it will happen. I hope to one day have a liberal society built on love and compassions for our fellow man, not some nasty place full of scared, old, white men grasping for every little bit of power they can. It’ll happen. May just be after I’m going. Here’s hoping it happens before then.

eFinancialCareers

The real problem is that C++ is neither easy nor loved. Rust got an 87% approval rate in the “most loved” category of the Stack Overflow Survey. However, only 9.3% of respondents used Rust at all and only 8.8% did so professionally. C++, meanwhile, languished at 48%.

Look, I don’t want to work on some web3 thing either. Why would I use my talents as a C++ developer to work on a thing I don’t care for? Sure, you could offer me tons of cash and it would be tempting but ultimately I’d be bored to death.

I’ve worked on award winning Windows Applications and highly performant video encoding and decoding systems. I can’t see working on trading systems. Nope, nope, nope.

NBC News

The U.S. military has been monitoring a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that has been hovering over the northern U.S. for the past few days, and military and defense leaders have discussed shooting it out of the sky, according to two U.S. officials and a senior defense official.

This is really strange to me. We should bring it down, but in a controlled way if at all possible. It would be fascinating to examine what the onboard package contains.

Who knows, maybe it’s full of radioactive material in hopes we will shoot it down. That would be our luck. 😂

Yahoo!

WESTLAKE, Ohio, January 30, 2023–(BUSINESS WIRE)–TravelCenters of America Inc. (Nasdaq: TA), the nation’s largest publicly-traded full-service travel center network, announced today an agreement with Electrify America to offer electric vehicle charging at select TA/Petro locations with the first stations planned to be deployed in 2023. Electrify America is the largest open direct current fast-charging network in the U.S.

This is excellent! There are so many nice electric vehicles on the market today so setting up a massive charging network makes sense.

The old time car companies have caught up to Space Karen’s car company and in many ways surpassed it. Good. We need the competition.

[rosaaeles]

i've seen a few people discussing how katniss should be drawn/not drawn and i wanted to add my two cents to the situation. 

let’s start with my initial thoughts on drawing katniss as Native American:

i think it’s great for artists to draw katniss as a poc and as native (esp seen as many readers perceive her as native-coded!) and i truly love seeing art where she is depicted as a woman of colour  - it feels true to my perception of her and the perception i know a lot of other non-white (and white!) readers had whilst reading the books! 

however, i also think that an effort should be made to portray her heritage accurately and respectfully if depicting her as native american is an aim the artist has. 

that is to say, by not hypersexualising her/her clothes, not reducing her clothing to a stereotype

it reminds me of an instagram post i saw a while ago by @soia-jpg​ regarding piper mclean (a Cherokee character from the Heroes Of Olympus series). in the second slide of the post it reads “there are more ways to portray a native character without using their heritage as a prop, or using it wrong and in an irrespecutful way”

this is true for piper, and I think it should be true for katniss too if the intention of an artist drawing her is to depict her as native american. 

okay, now lets move onto my thoughts regarding katniss being drawn as pocahontas;

whilst i do not think the artist who drew her as pocahontas had any harmful intentions, i do think that the piece was harmful/perpetuated a harmful idea. 

pocahontas is a movie which many people enjoy and love because of its nice animation and catchy songs and environmentalist message (I get it, it was one of my favourite movies too when i was younger!) but it is also a movie which romanticises the violent history of genocide and colonisation in North America and that isn’t something that can or should just be forgotten for the sake of how pretty it is visually. frankly, drawing any character as pocahontas - the main character from a disney movie which is largely deemed to be disrespectful and problematic due to the way it represents indigenous cultures and colonisation -  is harmful and ignores the damage that pocahontas as a movie did to how the history of colonisation in America is perceived, and the way it whitewashed the true story of Matoaka. 

like,, disney chose to make a movie vaguely based on the life of a Native American girl who actually existed, but didn’t have had any intention of making a historically accurate story when they could have. if Matoaka’s story was considered too gruesome, they could have chosen to retell a tale from Native American folk lore/mythology. rather than, you know, basing a movie off the life of someone who existed and underwent enormous pain but deciding to ignore that completely and change the narrative. 

basically, i think that it’s important to remember that the disney movie pocahontas does a great disservice to history and is harmful in its depiction of Native American societies and colonisation - largely whitewashing and romanticising history and the life of a young Native American girl who’s life was anything but the fairytale it is shown to be in the movie. pushing the entirely fabricated romantic relationship of pocahontas and john smith (who were in reality 10 and 27 years old when they first met) onto two characters is tone deaf and is unfortunately something ive seen it done time and time over, not only with everlark but also with zutara (zuko and katara from A;TLA).

here are some links to places where people have discussed why pocahontas as a piece of media is problematic;

poverty, alcoholism and suicide - but at least the natives can paint with all the colours of the wind

Disney’s Racist History of Native American Caricatures

Inside The True Story Of Pocahontas That Disney Didn’t Tell

Pocahontas: Separating Fact From Fiction About the Native American

[the-fae-folk]

What is a Fairy?

I suppose they probably need some explanation, especially nowadays. Fairies (Faeries, Fay, Fey, Fae, or even Fair Folk) could be considered a type of mythical being. Some have described them as spirits, others as ghosts of the deceased, some deified ancestors, prehistoric precursors to humans, personifications of nature, pagan deities, or even angels and demons in the way of Christian traditions. Often they encompass a metaphysical aspect, being depicted as spirits or beings who transcend the physical universe and world that we know. Or given features of the Supernatural, such as magic or extrasensory perception, which allow them to violate or go beyond the laws of nature. Even sometimes Preternatural, which something abnormal or strange and explainable but still within the boundaries of the natural laws of the universe (for example I could say someone is a preternaturally good cellist, and mean that they are impossibly good beyond expectations or even belief, but I’m not saying that they are actually magical...just that their apparent abilities and how they gained them are unknown and very strange to me.) But what is a fairy? Well you already know what some of them look like. Many people might immediately picture Tinkerbell from the animated Disney feature film, or even from the original Peter Pan novel by J. M. Barrie. And they would be correct, in part. Tinkerbell is a depiction of a Pixie, a specific type of fairy. But there are lots of fairy types, I don’t actually think there’s a complete list. (I should probably try to make one at some point, but no promises.) During some points in history the label of fairy was used to mean magical beings who had a mostly human shape. Gnomes, leprechauns, goblins, pixies, dwarfs, elfs, etc etc etc. And at other points it also included non humanoid magical creatures such as Unicorns, Dragons, Kelpie, Basilisk, and more (Sometimes these were referred to as Fairy Creatures). So where did they come from? Well the funny thing is that Fairies don’t actually come from only one area or set of myths. They are a strange combination of the folklore from all over Europe (and possibly beyond) and include ideas and stories from Celtic, Scandinavian, Nordic, Germanic, French, and English Folklore and Mythology. As these stories were passed around and intermingled and changed they brought about the collective creatures we know today as the Fae or Fairies. The Renaissance, Romantic Era, Victorian Era, Edwardian Era, and even the Celtic Revival Movement of the 19th and 20th centuries all had their influences on the stories and ideas connected with the Fairy folk, some significantly less helpful than others. Even the Fantasy Literature Genre, with Tolkien at its forefront, has added and changed much about people’s view on these creatures. So lets talk about some basic things you’ll want to know when dealing with Fairies. The first thing you might want to remember is that many people view the Tuatha Dé Danann (Supernatural gods, goddesses, heroes, and kings of Irish Mythology) as being the source for Faeries, or at least one of the strongest influences. Celtic Folklore and culture is easily one of the most visible bits of Faerie lore that you can find these days, but there’s a lot more that starts showing up when you begin to dig. Another thing to note is that the Renaissance, Romantic Era, Victorian Era, Edwardian Era, and the Celtic Revival Movement had a massive influence on how people saw fairies. They would mix folklore from different areas of Europe, attempted to prove the existence of fairies through scientific means, created artistic depictions of fairies, and much more. Often they sanitized and shrunk the fairies until they were mostly harmless or relegated to the outskirts of human life as a curiosity. Which brings me to the next point. In a lot of older folklore, from all over Europe, fairy beings are often depicted as being incredibly dangerous. Kidnapping humans or human babies, causing crops to wither, water to dry up, food to rot. They could lure people in with magic into a fairy ring of mushrooms and make them dance forever or make them forget their life. Sometimes they even played with time itself. A person could dance with the fairies only to find that they’ve been gone a hundred years when they try to go home. And many beliefs have depictions of some kind of Otherworld, a world apart from our own, or layered over it like an extra dimension we are unable to perceive or directly interact with. Sometimes its a land of the dead or a hidden underground kingdom, other times is a strange and fantastical country with its own laws and ways of doing things. As these stories meshed together we got what is known as Fairyland. The land which the fairies dwell in. Though some believe they simply live on Earth, hidden in the wild, or among us. Some reoccurring ideas are often connected with fairies, though not all have stayed the same as the original lore they were born from. The idea that Faeries, for whatever reason, are unable to or will not lie. This is a very important idea because the Folk are also simultaneously depicted as deceptive. Like particularly vicious lawyers they will play with words, never quite lying, but purposefully leading you astray or tricking you into a bad deal. They will often obey an oath, promise, or deal exactly to the letter, but ignore the intent behind it in order to twist it to their own benefit or amusement. Whether or not fairies are immortal depends entirely on where you draw your folklore from. Sometimes they are immortal; deathless, not mortal. Unable to die in spite of starvation, terrible wounds, age, or anything else. They are bound to life for all time. But some stories depict the stranger Fae Folk as being Eternal. Beyond time, always having existed and always existing, sometimes cycling, sometimes directionless and boundless and everything. Some tough concepts to get your head around, but nobody really agrees which one fairies are. In some folklore they’re even depicted as mortal, same as you and I, but a lot longer lived and harder to kill. A reoccurring motif in older Folklore is the need of humans to try and ward off fairies with charms and totems. When they were not depicted as outright malicious and dangerous, sometimes being thought to cause illness and death or bring about disastrous misfortune or steal a person’s name and voice, fairies were still mischievous and valiantly unhelpful. So people had all kinds of lucky charms to protect from them: like four leaf clovers, various plants, or actions like wearing your clothes inside out to confuse them. Iron is said in many beliefs to burn them, and certain herbs they view as sacred and will refrain from touching the bearer. A few more things. Christianity plays an important part in this discussion, though many people don’t like that. In many places myths and legends were wiped out by Christianity, either intentionally or simply by the very fact that it was trying to convert people in Europe and old pagan beliefs were seen as nonsensical. But still stories persisted despite this. Many old Myths and Folkloric beliefs were recorded for posterity by Christians, and some stories were altered and we are unable to see exactly how much (Beowulf). A lot of fairy stories remained too, only Christianity painted them as fallen angels or even demons of a kind, who could be kept away from Holy Ground, or were forced to kidnap humans to pay a tithe to Hell (or be taken themselves if they couldn’t pay). So folk beliefs, though generally discouraged by the church as superstition, remained quite strong all over Europe for a very long time. The last three things you need to know. One, there are many people who still believe in Fairies, though their beliefs often vary, sometimes wildly. Witches who claim to work with them. People who believe in them through their religions (usually pagans and other non christian groups). People who claim to have encountered or been abducted by them. And many others. While I personally do not believe in Fairies (though I like to keep an open mind, just in case), I do believe that the beliefs, cultures, and and rights of these people ought to be respected. Which leads me to other mythical beings that are similar to Fairies but hail from cultures and peoples outside of Europe. It might be tempting to label some of the spirits from various Native North American Tribes or from Chinese Folklore (or many others) as fairies. Don’t do that. If Fairies are real, you have to consider that there might be other mythical beings who fall under different categories and groups. And even if they are not real, it is extremely disrespectful to the people of those cultures to take their stories, myths, beliefs, and folklore and try to mesh it in with European Folklore. (this is exactly what the Victorian and Edwardian Era were guilty of.) And finally... Some people might tell you that they know everything there is to know about Fairies. Don’t believe them. Even I, who have spent years and years studying European Faerie Folklore, find new things about them every day. I have sources I’ve found and haven’t yet had the time to look into, areas of study I’ve had to neglect. There is so much about Fairies to explore that it’s quite literally impossible for any one person to know all of it. Personally I’m doubtful that a single person can even know an eighth of it all, you can hardly imagine how much there is. And while there is a great deal of it buried on the internet, there is even more offline. Books which are out of print or have never had their contents uploaded, cultural stories passed down in various European groups which are saved from oblivion only by the oratory tradition, and the remains of all kinds of long dead or vastly changed civilizations who believed in the Fairies and tried to work with or avoid or appease them. All the misinformation and personal gnoses out there also make it a lot harder to find accurate information about traditional folklore. And that’s not even counting the multitude of inventions and ideas spawned by fictional literature surrounding fairies. There is simply too much. But of course... Since when has something being impossible ever stopped a human from trying anyway? If you’re still interested, then who am I to discourage you? Go, jump right in. There’s so much to learn about the Faerie Folk.

[awinger24]

Looney Tunes Home Video Thoughts #7 - Golden Jubilee 24 Karat Collection: The Tribute Cassettes (1985)

October 1985 - Warner Bros. Cartoons Golden Jubilee 24 Karat Collection.

Format: VHS/Betamax

Price: $19.98

Special Thanks to Greg Method for this information:

The year was 1985, there were no compilation films being produced. And it just happened to be 50th birthday of Porky Pig (even the 50th anniversary of Tex Avery joining Termite Terrace). Warner Bros. and Warner Home Video decided to make it a celebration of the free-willing/anarchic spirit that made these shorts famous and beloved.

Introducing the "Warner Bros. Cartoons Golden Jubilee 24 Karat Collection"

This VHS/Betamax series priced at $19.98, a low retail price, consists of nine hour long videocassettes each containing eight uncut cartoons from the post-1948 WB library (three in this collection are in black and white). Warner decided to pick the best of the best.

With liner notes provided by film historian, Leonard Maltin (critic of Entertainment Tonight and the author of "Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons), these videos include 4 of Warner’s 5 Oscar winning cartoons, classic fan favorites, and even some rare oddities.

Released on October 7, 1985, it made up a total of 72 cartoons. And it sold well.

"The videos were released ideally with the intent of consumers buying them to take home and share with their families, but they would nevertheless also become popular rental staples for the next two decades. To fulfill retailer pre-orders, Warner Home Video shipped 200,000 units from across the series (almost unheard of for what was considered a "non-theatrical" release), and by mid-October sales climbed to 250,000 copies. To help promote the series and anniversary celebration, Trix cereal had a mail-in offer for a specially packaged version of The Looney Tunes Video Show #1, a film and art exhibition opened at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, a brand new one-hour television special was produced for NBC featuring a slew of celebrities, Warner Bros. arranged to have Bugs awarded with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and--tying it all back to the home video industry--Bugs became the spokesrabbit for Sony's new SuperBeta player." - Greg Method, The Bugs Bunny Video Guide

Also, the Museum of Modern Art in New York put together an exhibit called "That's Not All Folks!": Warner Bros. Cartoons Golden Jubilee" from Sep 13, 1985 to Jan 21, 1986. Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng, and Mel Blanc attended a black tie gala to kick off the event. The exhibit even included weekly screenings of cartoon favorites from 35mm prints. And Six Flags parks throughout America are now welcoming the Looney Tunes as walk-around characters as after the chain acquired Marriott's Great America theme park. They have been a theme park tradition ever since.

Along with a newly animated title sequence by Nancy Beiman, the cartoons featured received brand new 35mm prints straight from the original camera negatives. They were transferred onto 1 inch videotapes. The opening title cards included colored borders in order to fully see the credits. This would eventually be part of Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network’s packages of Looney Tunes shorts.

This video series is popular among Looney Tunes video collectors.

For this post, we will be looking at the "Salute To" cassettes. And the first is "A Salute to Mel Blanc". The eight cartoons on this video features some of Mel Blanc's greatest vocal performances. Here are Leonard's liner notes.

"The greatest star of Warner Bros. cartoons was never seen on camera. Talk about unsung heroes: Mel Blanc’s voice has brought life to Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Pepe Le Pew, Yosemite Sam, Tweety and Sylvester, and countless others for nearly half a century.

It’s all the more remarkable when you realize that the dialogue for these cartoons is recorded before the animators go to work...which means that Blanc must imagine the action from a series of sketches and create his comic performances on the spot. What imagination and what energy go into such a feat!

Mel has met every challenge hurled into his path by writers and directors—and he never seems to run out of voices. (In fact, Daffy Duck and Sylvester were the same voice at one time but Daffy Duck’s was played back faster in the recording process.) Two highlights in this program are the uncontrollable laughter of Porky Pig in Robin Hood Daffy and the unforgettable aria sung by Bugs Bunny in The Rabbit of Seville.

Many performers are labeled “unique” in show business but Blanc truly fits the bill: he’s one-of-a-kind and cartoon fans everywhere salute him." - Leonard Maltin

"A Salute to Mel Blanc" kicks off with "Robin Hood Daffy", a classic carton where Daffy Duck steps into the shoes of Errol Flynn's Robin Hood but Friar Porky doesn't believe him. Notable examples include Daffy's opening song and Porky Pig's uncontrollable laughter which then Daffy starts laughing along too.

Next is "Bedevilled Rabbit" where he highlight Mel's performance of the Tasmanian Devil, and Bugs Bunny serving Taz a wild turkey surprise.

In, "Bad Ol' Putty Tat" features the earliest Tweety short that WB owned at the time. It highlights Mel's talents voicing Tweety, plus the badminton scene and Sylvester disguises his finger as a female bird are highlights.

Next is "Ballot Box Bunny" where it highlights the back and forth between Mel voicing Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam.

Then we got "Past Perfumance" where it highlights calming and suave chops from Mel voicing Pepé Le Pew. And Pepé doing Romeo and Juliet, and Tarzan are memorable spots.

Next is "Little Boy Boo" highlighting Mel's Southern draw voicing Foghorn Leghorn.

Then in "Who's Kitten Who", we highlight Sylvester and Sylvester Jr. Mel voicing Sylvester is just excellent in this one as he gets pummeled by a baby kangaroo who he mistakes as a giant mouse.

Finally, "Rabbit of Seville" closes the video and it does so very well. Here, we have Mel as Bugs singing an aria with Arthur Q. Bryan set to Rossini's Barber of Seville. And the musical and comedic timing from Chuck Jones and his animators make this a fun one to watch.

Final Summary: "A Salute to Mel Blanc" successfully highlights Mel's wide range of vocal and comedic powerhouse talent with nearly every major Looney Tunes character. The selection of shorts were well balanced. And it shows that Mel is a great singer. He can sing a aria with Arthur Q. Bryan.

Next is "A Salute to Friz Freleng". Featured here are some of Friz Freleng's best works with some underrated classics included. This includes 3 of the 5 Academy Awards that Termite Terrace has won. Here are Leonard's liner notes.

Not many people can claim an active role in animation over seven decades, but Friz Freleng can. He learned his craft working for Walt Disney in the 1920s, then worked on the very first Warner Bros. cartoon in 1930—and supervised some of the latest animation to come from the studio in the 1980s!

If you’ve ever enjoyed the escapades of Tweety and Sylvester, the fast-paced Speedy Gonzales cartoons, or the running battle between Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam, then you’ve been entertained by the masterful Freleng. Though he’s worked with all the Looney Tunes stars, his longest association was with the aforementioned characters—and they helped him win four Academy Awards. (Three Oscar winners are here: Birds Anonymous, a delightful twist on the Tweety and Sylvester formula; Speedy Gonzales, in which the fastest mouse in all of Mexico comes into his own; and Knighty Knight Bugs, with Yosemite Sam donning armor and shield to become the Black Knight.)

Freleng’s specialty was the musical cartoon (see Show Biz Bugs), but no matter what the subject, he always seemed to hit the right note. Though his given name is Isadore and his screen billing was usually I. Freleng, he’s always been known as Friz—and you can often find products advertising something called “Friz” in the background of his cartoons! Whatever this mystery product might be, it’s certainly been the right ingredient for great cartoon entertainment throughout the history of Warner Bros. - Leonard Maltin.

First is the Oscar-winning "Birds Anonymous" starring Sylvester and Tweety, and they do something different formula but its a clever reference to substance abuse as Sylvester tries to not get in the habit of eating a bird.

"High Diving Hare" is definitely a fun one as Yosemite Sam forces Bugs Bunny to jump off a dive but the opposite happens with great examples of pacing and musical timing.

Next is the Oscar-winning "Speedy Gonzales" as Sylvester is paired up with a redesigned and finished version of the fastest mouse of Mexico. We start with the premise of how Speedy comes to the rescue for a group of mice. The gags build up to a loud conclusion.

Then, in "A Mouse Divided", we see a rare solo outing with Sylvester as he is surprised with a baby mouse at his doorstep thanks to a drunken stork. He has a change of heart leading to a hilarious mishap.

In "Bunker Hill Bunny", Bugs and Yosemite Sam face off during the Revolutionary War.

Then, in the classic "Show Biz Bugs", Freleng puts his own spin on the Bugs and Daffy rivalry as it is focused on building up the gags as well as musical timing.

"Greedy for Tweety" is another fun Tweety and Sylvester short, but the comedic timing and pacing is definitely on Sylvester and Hector the Bulldog. The usual chase starts at the very beginning until they wind up at the hospital providing some very funny gags.

Then closing the tape is the Oscar-winning "Knighty Knight Bugs", Bugs as a court jester races against Black Knight sam to obtain the singing sword. Freleng's comedy excels when Sam is paired up with a sneezing dragon and explosions.

Final Summary: "A Salute to Friz Freleng" highlights how he takes his characters and formulas and put them in different scenarios all while still making them funny. Plus, you can see his knack for musical timing in shorts like "Show Biz Bugs". A mix of classics+favorites make this a great tape.

The last of the "tribute" cassettes is "A Salute to Chuck Jones". This is the finest collection of Chuck Jones' best works. One of them won an Academy Award. One is part of the "hunting trilogy" and two are inducted into the National Film Registry. Here are Leonard's liner notes.

Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, the Road Runner, and Wile E. Coyote owe a debt of thanks to Charles M. Jones—better known as Chuck. He was one of the unsung heroes who brought these characters to life—and put his special stamp on each cartoon. (Bugs Bunny may have been the same basic character in every short—but only Jones could get a laugh just by having him wriggle his eyebrow!)

Here are eight animated gems, wonderful entertainment from a master of the cartoon medium. Jones and his ace writer Michael Maltese put such old favorites as Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck into ingenious new settings—from the outer space of Duck Dodgers to the operatic world of What’s Opera, Doc? He also created such cartoon stars as Pepe Le Pew, the Road Runner, and Wile E. Coyote. You’ll see Pepe Le Pew’s (and Chuck’s) Academy Award-winning For Scent-imental Reasons and a prime example of the Road Runner series, in which Jones explored endless variations on a single—hilarious—theme...with a little help from the Acme Company.

Jones’s cartoons are not only funny; they’re clever. These are not just “kiddie entertainment”; they’re films everyone can enjoy. Watch the byplay between Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny in Rabbit Seasoning or the inspired lunacy of that fanciful fable One Froggy Evening and you’ll see why Chuck Jones has earned the accolades of critics, colleagues, and millions of fans around the world. - Leonard Maltin.

Starting off the take is a cartoon that spun off into its only TV series many years later, that is "Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2th Century". One of the Daffy and Porky genre parodies takes them on an outer space adventure. Daffy encounters Marvin the Martian and its a battle of wits between the two.

Next is the Oscar-winning "For Scent-imental Reasons" as this cartoon establishes the entire Pepé Le Pew formula. From its French/European setting, to the setup of a black female cat getting a white stripe on her back (either by accident, against her will, or on purpose). If one watches this cartoon, you can see that Le Cat doesn't want to be close to Pepé simply because he stinks. But she does love him back when he doesn't smell after getting dunked in a can of paint, and in this case, Le Cat couldn't smell.

Next is the classic "One Froggy Evening", where a man finds a singing frog that can only perform for him. Hilarity ensues as this man goes through all this trouble to get this frog sing in public. Also a great cautionary tale of greed. Lots of great animation and timing.

Next is the 2nd of Chuck Jones' hunting trilogy, "Rabbit Seasoning". The back and forth between Bugs and Daffy is just amazing. Bugs dressing in drag to fool Elmer. Plus, pronouns are quite valuable to get off of a situation like being hunted.

"High Note", without any dialogue, the comedy is definitely through the animation of these musical notes. A rare and underrated classic.

"Feed the Kitty" is indeed a fan favorite. With barely any dialogue, Marc Anthony trying the hide that adorable kitten he befriended and took home with him. Stuff happens when his owner decides to make cookies just for the heck of it.

"Zoom and Bored" is one of Chuck's best Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote cartoons. Each gag in this one goes to show how the Coyote just fails. Including the 1st gag with Wile E. in a cloud of dust and not realizing he is about to fall. Building a catapult and setting up a harpoon all end in comical pay-offs.

Interested that Chuck Jones' unit doctored their time cards saying they were working on this one but in reality, they were working on what is considered to be one of the greatest cartoons ever made.

Closing the tape is indeed a true Chuck Jones classic, "What's Opera, Doc?" starring Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd. 100+ camera shots, brilliant art direction, perfect performance by Mel Blanc and Arthur Q. Bryan, and Milt Franklyn's Wagner arrangements are spot on. A great closer. Balancing highbrow culture with low brow cartoon comedy works here. Plus, Bugs dressing in drag including the song and dance sequence is a highlight. One has to witness this short as this was the first animated short to be inducted into the National Film Registry and was declared #1 in the 50 Greatest Cartoons by Jerry Beck in 1994.

"A Salute to Chuck Jones" is a terrific look at the works of one of the best/influential animators in addition to Clampett, Avery, Freleng, and McKimson. The cartoons highlight how he and his unit crafted on character, satire, and comedic timing of gags. Definitely a must have!

Conclusion

Overall, the "tribute" tapes in the Golden Jubilee videos are amazing. Showcasing the works of three exceptional man that make the Warner Bros. Cartoons famous and beloved the audiences around the world. Perfect for animation collectors. The Chuck Jones and Mel Blanc tapes are definitely my favorites, the same goes for the Friz Freleng tape if you like to see some underrated favorites. Strongly recommended for Looney Tunes fans.

PREVIOUS: Looney Tunes Home Video Thoughts #6 - The Looney Tunes Video Show No. 14-19

NEXT: Looney Tunes Home Video Thoughts #8 - Golden Jubilee 24 Karat Collection: The Character Cassettes - Bugs, Daffy, Sylvester & Tweety (1985)

[popwasabi]

“Who are you?” The scene that defines Chadwick Boseman’s legacy

Yesterday, the world lost a bright and promising, burgeoning talent in Chadwick Boseman.

I had wondered privately for a while if something was wrong with him, as others had as well online, as he appeared increasingly sicker with each interview he gave over the last two years. I thought maybe I had been looking too much into it, not wanting to jump to conclusions about who he was but now gravely we all know why.

The much too young star of films such as “42,” “Marshall,” and of course, “Black Panther” had been fighting a largely private battle with colon cancer for four years.

It was devastating hearing this news yesterday, the man who undeniably left behind a legacy of playing prominent black heroes, both historical and fictional, passed away just as he was starting to truly hit it big. When you begin to realize the man was dealing with cancer as he performed physically demanding roles in the MCU you begin to see the character and determination of a man unwilling to quit in the face of true adversity.

But he clearly wasn’t just doing it for himself when he continued making and promoting NINE more movies despite his diagnosis, afterall no one would’ve blamed the guy for taking it easy these past four years. He’s had many scenes that define his legacy over his all too short career but I feel it can really be summed up in one particular moment from by far his most famous film; “Black Panther.”

Those who know me or have read my work know that I have a fairly cynical relationship with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While I would not say most of them are “bad” per se, I would say a ton of them are largely interchangeable action comedies with pretty straightforward messages about good vs evil for general audiences. They are largely popcorn escapism and though there is nothing technically wrong with that, I was starved for an MCU film that was sincere about its story finally and had something real to say.

Enter “Black Panther” in early 2018.

“Black Panther” was everything I had long been waiting for in the MCU; a film with a real sense of vision and theme, a killer soundtrack, great supporting characters, a complicated and nuanced villain, and a story that didn’t feel the need to add a joke after every single scene like more typical MCU movies. The tip of that spear of course was Chadwick, who had already proved to be a great Black Panther in one of the few other sincere Marvel flicks “Civil War.” His natural charisma, physicality, and dramatic presence in this role made him a huge standout in frankly the best ensemble cast of any superhero movie ever.

The scene that truly sums up not just the mark “Black Panther” left on Hollywood but Chadwick’s own legacy comes at the very end though (the first of three, of course. It’s an MCU movie, afterall).

T’Challa has defeated his usurper cousin Erik Killmonger, his rule restored in Wakanda but clearly a changed man from the story’s beginning as he reckons with the complicated legacy of his father. He travels to Oakland, the birthplace of Killmonger, with his sister Shuri who he explains the crime committed by their father in this place and how it set off the events of the story. He turns to Shuri, tells her that he has decided to help this afflicted community by creating a Wakandan outreach center for the youth to give them a new hope in life. As he says this he decloaks their ship nearby, surprising the youth already in the area who are immediately in awe of it. One of the kids turns to T’Challa, smiling, a sense of inspiration and intrigue brewing inside, and asks “Who are you?” to which the young King simply smiles, then the credits roll.

It’s a simple scene but it truly speaks to the impact left behind by Chadwick and the importance of representation. 

“Black Panther” is hardly the first starring vehicle for a black man, it’s not even the first black super hero movie but what it made it different is it was the first blockbuster to truly lean unapologetically into its African identity to focus on the inspiration of a story centered around that culture. It showed Hollywood that an action blockbuster not just centered on a black star but centered on African culture had vast widespread appeal.

White kids will never have a shortage of white superheroes to grow up with on the big screen; a diverse palette of Supermans, Spider-mans, Captain Americas, and shit we’re even getting our sixth new Batman actor since 1989 soon. But Chadwick gave black kids their first real Superman of their own. 

In the years since this came out, I have seen the influence, at times, firsthand among the youth. I work part-time as a kids martial arts instructor and each Halloween party we’ve held I’ve seen a few more T’Challas among the costumes represented. When I ask kids, black, white, or Asian, what their favorite superhero is, it always warms my heart to see a kid light up when they say “BLACK PANTHER!”

(Seriously, cute AF)

This goes beyond just my anecdotal observations of course; the film grossed a billion dollars, and there are countless videos online of kids yelling “Wakanda forever!” at the top of their lungs while rocking a Black Panther suit or reciting one of the movie’s memorable lines. It’s beautiful because it speaks to that last scene’s key message; inspiration.

Growing up myself, as a half Asian American, there weren’t a ton of role models who looked like me to take inspiration from. I didn’t really understand how much this could affect me until I finally did start seeing people like myself occupy positions of influence. I didn’t start caring for baseball until I saw a slugger named Hideki Matsui smash a couple dingers in a Yankees’ uniform in the early 2000s. I didn’t care much for martial arts, outside my very early youth, until I witnessed a half Japanese Brazilian named Lyoto Machida KO Thiago Silva at UFC 94 in 2009. I didn’t care much for soccer until a striker named Keisuke Honda played out of his mind in the early rounds of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Sometimes you gotta see something happen in order to believe and be inspired by it and it’s easier to visualize it when you see someone who looks like you do it. That’s what representation means and why it’s important.

It’s easy for white America to dismiss the need for representation in media when theirs is so saturated in the culture everyday. Cries of “wHaT aBoUt wHiTe HiStORy mOnTH?!” delivered unironically while their history is proudly given front seat consideration in all forms of media, film, and influence every day. This is why it drives me so crazy when a white person tells me “representation isn’t important” because apparently, they “don’t need it.”

Well motherfucker, of course you don’t need it. You fucking got yours already!

(What every non-white person wants to say when confronted with this tired, out of touch argument...)

“Black Panther” delivered a superhero that not only black children could be proud of and love but someone they could draw inspiration from. Kids are going to want to become film directors cause of this movie, actors, stuntmen, martial artists, scientists, engineers, and so many other different things that the world of Wakanda proudly showcases and it’s all thanks to Chadwick’s leading man performance that made it possible.

Some jokes I’ve heard frequently on the internet is that Chadwick was on somewhat of a quest to play every major black role in story-telling history, what with performances as Jackie Robinson, Thurgood Marshall, James Brown, and of course Black Panther. But I think his 2018 speech at his Alma Mater of Howard really explains why he kept looking to play these major positive black roles.

(I encourage you to listen to the whole thing but the part that’s important here begins at 21:55)

Hollywood likes to pigeon hole certain demographics of people (aka non-white) to play stereotypical roles forever until they are proven to be lucrative in different ways (Qualified Immunity of film-making if you will…). Black people largely could mostly play thugs and drug dealers, Latinx can only be gang bosses and poor servants and gardeners, Asians are either kung fu masters or some other offensive perpetual foreigner. And in worst cases no role at all, instead whitewashed for general audiences (aka white folk). 

Chadwick took a stand that the color of his skin did not define who Hollywood narrowly believed he could perform as and set out to play characters and people who could inspire a new generation of African Americans and show the rest of the country that they were more than a stereotype.

When that young kid in that final scene asks, “Who are you?” and T’Challa smiles its because he knows he’s already changing hearts and minds for the future, just as Chadwick did playing this truly inspirational role.

“Black Panther” is not a perfect movie. I could discuss the ways it could’ve been better and even, less problematic in parts on a different day, but the legacy it leaves behind is one that’s undeniably positive and Chadwick was able to make that a reality. Perhaps he understood that if the world knew his diagnosis it would blunt the impact of “Black Panther’s” release, that if little kids and African Americans alike knew their superhero was already dying it would mar the film’s positivity and influence. I can’t speak for the dead obviously, and in no way am I saying one should just push through a cancer diagnosis and keep it secret, but I can see Chadwick understanding what it would mean for the audience if they just believed for as long as possible that they would have their king of Wakanda forever.

As Robert Downey Jr. said on social media last night “He leveled the playing field while fighting for his life.”

Though I will never know him personally, by most measures Chadwick seemed to be exactly the kind of hero he showed up to be on the big screen and his legacy will ultimately be that of one who looked to inspire others, particularly the next generation until his final breath. If that doesn’t make him a hero, I don’t know what does.

Rest in power, King. Wakanda Forever…

(Via BossLogic)

[passionate-reply]

Stan Ridgway is best remembered as the guy from Wall of Voodoo, and Wall of Voodoo are best remembered as the guys from “Mexican Radio.” But there’s a whole lot more to Ridgway’s solo career, which began with 1986′s The Big Heat--Americana, epic narratives, and a whole lot of digital synth. (Transcript below the break!)

Welcome to Passionate Reply, and welcome to Great Albums! Today, we’ll be looking at an often overlooked solo debut: Stan Ridgway’s The Big Heat, first released in 1986.

Stan Ridgway is best remembered as the original frontman of Wall of Voodoo, and Wall of Voodoo, in turn, are best remembered for the single “Mexican Radio,” a landmark bit of New Wave eclecticism that became an unlikely hit thanks in large part to heavy rotation on MTV. That said, like a lot of ostensible “one-hit wonders,” the span of Ridgway’s artistic career is quite a bit more varied and more interesting than this solitary recording might suggest. While I don’t believe that “Mexican Radio” is simply a novelty song that can easily be dismissed, I will set it aside for the time being, because any attempt to cover the rest of Stan Ridgway’s work is probably better off without worrying about it. Instead, let’s take a look at his first bona fide solo release: the 1983 single, “Don’t Box Me In.”

Music: “Don’t Box Me In”

“Don’t Box Me In” was a collaboration between Ridgway and percussionist Stewart Copeland, then known chiefly for his work with the group The Police. While Copeland is now fairly well known for his work composing scores for cinema and video games, this was one of his first forays into that field: the soundtrack to Francis Ford Coppola’s film adaptation of Rumble Fish. Based on a novel by S. E. Hinton, most famous for The Outsiders, Rumble Fish was actually a tremendous flop for Coppola, perceived to be a bit too avant-garde for its own good, and Copeland’s percussion-led score for the film, experimental in its own right, certainly didn’t help that perception. Despite all of this, “Don’t Box Me In” managed to do fairly well for itself as a single, achieving substantial alternative radio play purely on its own merits. And merits it has, weaving together the experience of a fish trapped in a tiny bowl with a more universalized sense of human ennui, being overlooked and underestimated by everyone around you. Not to be underestimated himself, Ridgway has not only written these evocative lyrics, but delivers them in a manner that shows a complexity beyond his semi-affected Western twang, conveying fragility and uncertainty alongside indignation and determinedness. This is also the version of Stan Ridgway whom we meet when we listen to The Big Heat.

Music: “Camouflage”

Despite being the very last single released from The Big Heat, the eerie war yarn “Camouflage” would go on to be the most successful track from the album, and Ridgway’s best-known hit as a solo artist. Perhaps surprisingly, the single was largely snubbed in the charts of Ridgway’s native USA, becoming a much bigger hit throughout Europe. While playing the harmonica and sporting a bolo tie, Ridgway seems to almost play the character of the quintessential American, and perhaps it’s that quality that’s caused this apparent rift. Is it necessary to analyze his art through the lens of exoticism in order to find it appealing?

It’s a hard question for me to answer, personally--I might be from the US myself, but at the same time, the vast majority of the music I listen to is European, as a natural consequence of being chiefly a devotee of electronic music. There is still a sort of novelty factor I find in Ridgway’s work. I remain in awe of the fact that a musical genius exists who uses a hard R, and says “huh?” instead of “pardon me?” But, of course, I am amazed by this moreso because it makes me feel “represented,” for once, in a musical tradition which is important to me. If people from Britain’s crumbling industrial centers like Sheffield and Manchester have made great electronic music, then surely synthesisers can also tell the stories of the American Rust Belt, where I come from? For that, we’ll have to step away from the sort of typified narrative of “Camouflage,” and take a listen to the album’s title track.

Music: “The Big Heat”

“Camouflage” told us a tale as old as time, in which a benevolent ghost offers one last act of aid to a vulnerable human being. The album’s title track, on the other hand, alludes to a particularly 20th Century form of storytelling: the detective drama and film noir, as hinted at by its allusion to the classic Fritz Lang film of the same title. Ridgway assumes the perspective of the hardboiled detective, hot on the trail of some mysterious quarry, and it is the innocent passers-by he seeks information from who respond with the song’s banal refrain: “Everybody wants another piece of pie today.” For as much as people have mocked Ridgway’s singing style over the years, you’ve got to appreciate his lilting delivery of this line here in the first verse, where it comes from the mouth of a female character.

It’s easy, of course, to see such apparent non sequitur lyrics in Ridgway’s oeuvre as merely ridiculous, as many quickly do with the likes of “Mexican Radio,” but the more you listen to him, the more his style begins to make sense. The instinct to find humour in things is deeply connected to the feeling of being surprised, and encountering the unexpected. Ridgway happens to be all about delivering the unexpected, and it’s precisely the surface-level absurdities and surprises his lyricism offers that make us think more deeply about the stories he tells. The title track of The Big Heat isn’t about pie, but rather the fact that everybody its characters encounter appears to be grasping for more out of life, and hungry for something else. It’s what drives criminals to transgress against the law, and it’s also, perhaps, what drives the detective to devote himself to the pursuit of the abstract principle of “justice.” To both the villain and the hero of this story, the civilians they brush past are little more than means to an end, despite their display of greater wisdom and insight into these issues than anyone else. Ridgway excels at conveying this sort of saintly everymannishness, and does so with similar gusto on the track “Pick It Up (And Put It In Your Pocket)”.

Music: “Pick It Up (And Put It In Your Pocket)”

“Pick It Up (And Put It In Your Pocket)” was actually not released as a single, which is perhaps surprising given its hooky quality and sprightly synth backdrop. While “Camouflage” is assembled chiefly from traditional instruments, with only a subtle intrusion of Yamaha DX-7 to remind you that it came out in 1986, many of the other tracks, like this one and the title track, are willing to double down on electronic influences, and ride the wave of “peak synth-pop” that was easily cresting by the mid-1980s. That aside, the central theme of “Pick It Up (And Put It In Your Pocket)” is the quotidian avariciousness one encounters among ordinary folk, and the psychological effects of living in a “mean world.” While the text mostly revolves around the idea of living in fear, and the paranoia of knowing that “everything changes hands when it hits the ground,” it reaches a climax by showing us an actual situation where this occurs: the pathetic figure of a filthy old man who finds a small bill in the road, and, in a fit of folk superstitiousness, is said to “thank the street.” The song’s tension lives between the bustle of the jealous ones, and the reality of life for those desperate enough to pick up money from the street. Like many of Ridgway’s greatest works, this track simultaneously portrays the mentality of the common man in a direct and serious manner, but also opens up room for it to be criticized. This everyman bystander persona is assumed more directly in the track “Drive, She Said.”

Music: “Drive, She Said”

While the album’s more electronic elements are its main draw, in my eyes, there are still a number of tracks that remain dominated by traditional instruments, “Drive, She Said” being a prime example of them. While narratives are always at the center of Ridgway’s work, “Drive, She Said” moves us away from omniscient narration like that of “Pick It Up (And Put It In Your Pocket)” and back into the mind of a specific and individualized narrator--in this case, a cab driver who somewhat reluctantly transports a bank robber, with whom he might also be falling in love. While it doesn’t have the supernatural implications of “Camouflage,” the two stories do seem to have much in common: an ordinary person meets someone who quickly reveals their extraordinary nature, and despite the brevity of their encounter, the protagonist is deeply affected, and perhaps changed, by the events. Much as “Pick It Up (And Put It In Your Pocket)” sees fit to shatter its apparent main premise, with an interlude that shifts the tempo of the music as well as introduces the contrasting figure of the old beggar, “Drive, She Said” introduces an interlude of its own: the driver’s reverie, in which he runs away with his enigmatic passenger. As in many of Ridgway’s tales, we must consider both the beauty of a wonderful dream, and its sheer impossibility.

On the cover of The Big Heat, we see a portrait of Stan Ridgway looking glum, which is not itself terribly unusual for an album cover, though the fact that he’s behind a metal fence certainly is. The main focus of the image seems to be Ridgway’s environment, a bleak industrial setting full of towering machinery, and no other traces of human beings. The absence of other figures in this scene draws attention to the scale of the machines, as well as the fact that in many parts of the US, including my own, it’s very common to see equipment like this that’s fallen into disuse and disrepair. Much as ruined aqueducts and palaces mark the places in Europe where the Roman Empire had once held fast, these sorts of derelict manufacturing facilities are a common sight in America, and serve as reminders of the squandered “American Century.” While many album covers have shown me places I like to imagine myself visiting, I don’t have to imagine what being here might be like, having grown up in a place whose pride left soon after the steel industry did. It strikes me as exactly the kind of setting that Ridgway’s narratives ought to take place in: dirty, simple, well-intentioned, doomed, and all-American.

Ridgway’s follow-up to The Big Heat would be 1989’s *Mosquitos,* an album that largely abandons the many synthesiser-driven compositions found in his earlier work. It’s hard to fault him for this decision, given how much the mainstream appeared to be souring on synth-pop and electronic rock by the end of the decade, but it does mean that this album offers little I’d want to listen to recreationally. That is, with the exception of its third and final single, “Goin’ Southbound,” a practically epic drama of small-town drug smugglers trying to survive, and one that fires on all cylinders when it comes to fiddles dueling with digital synths. This track feels like it would fit right in on The Big Heat, so if you’ve enjoyed this album, don’t miss it.

Music: “Goin’ Southbound”

My favourite track on The Big Heat is “Salesman,” which, to my surprise, received a small advance promo release without ever becoming a true single. The titular character, an unctuous but insecure traveling salesman, is as rich a narrating persona as any of the many in Ridgway’s catalogue, and I love the way the refrain just feels like a song you might make up while idly doing something else, silly and yet primal at the same time. It captures the feeling of living “on the edge of the ball,” enjoying the freedom of spontaneity, but also, perhaps, suffering for its enforced sloppiness. That’s everything for today, thanks for listening!

Music: “Salesman”

[davidmann95]

Superman’s 10 Best of the ‘10s

Good Miracle Monday, folks! The first third Monday of May of a new decade for that matter, and while that means that today in the DC Universe Superman just revealed his secret identity to the world on the latest anniversary of that time he defeated the devil, in ours it puts a capstone on a solid 10 years of his adventures now in the rear view mirror, ripe for reevaluation. And given there’s a nice solid ‘10′ right there I’ll go ahead with the obvious and list my own top ten for Superman comics of the past decade, with links in the titles to those I’ve spoken on in depth before - maybe you’ll find something you overlooked, or at least be reminded of good times.

A plethora of honorable mentions: I’m disqualifying team-ups or analogue character stories, but no list of the great Superman material of the last decade would be complete without bringing up Cave Carson Has A Cybernetic Eye #7, Avengers 34.1, Irredeemable, Sideways Annual #1, Supreme: Blue Rose, Justice League: Sixth Dimension, usage of him in Wonder Twins, (somewhat in spite of itself) Superior, from all I’ve heard New Super-Man, DCeased #5, and Batman: Super Friends. And while they couldn’t quite squeeze in, all due praise to the largely entertaining Superman: Unchained, the decades’ great Luthor epic in Superman: The Black Ring, a brilliant accompaniment to Scott Snyder’s work with Lex in Lex Luthor: Year of the Villain, the bonkers joy of the Superman/Luthor feature in Walmart’s Crisis On Infinite Earths tie-in comics, Geoff Johns and John Romita’s last-minute win in their Superman run with their final story 24 Hours, Tom Taylor’s quiet criticism of the very premise he was working with on Injustice and bitter reflection on the changing tides for the character in The Man of Yesterday, the decades’ most consistent Superman ongoing in Bryan Miller and company’s Smallville Season 11, and Superman: American Alien, which probably would have made the top ten but has been dropped like a hot potato by one and all for Reasons. In addition are several stories from Adventures of Superman, a book with enough winners to merit a class of its own: Rob Williams and Chris Weston’s thoughtful Savior, Kyle Killen and Pia Guerra’s haunting The Way These Things Begin, Marc Guggenheim and Joe Bennett’s heart-wrenching Tears For Krypton, Christos Gage and Eduardo Francisco’s melancholy Flowers For Bizarro, Josh Elder and Victor Ibanez’s deeply sappy but deeply effective Dear Superman, Ron Marz and Doc Shaner’s crowdpleasing Only Child, and Kelly Sue DeConnick and Valentine DeLandro’s super-sweet Mystery Box.

10. Greg Pak/Aaron Kuder’s Action Comics

Oh, what might’ve been. In spite of an all-timer creative team I can’t justify listing this run any higher given how profoundly and comprehensively compromised it is, from the status quo it was working with to the litany of ill-conceived crossovers to regular filler artists to its ignominious non-ending. But with the most visceral, dynamic, and truly humane take on Clark Kent perhaps of all time that still lives up to all Superman entails, and an indisputably iconic instant-classic moment to its name, I can’t justify excluding it either.

9. Action Comics #1000

Arguably the climax to the decade for the character as his original title became the first superhero comic to reach a 1000th issue. While any anthology of this sort is a crapshoot by nature, everyone involved here seemed to understand the enormity of the occasion and stepped up as best they could; while the lack of a Lois Lane story is indefensible, some are inevitably bland, and one or two are more than a bit bizarre, by and large this was a thoroughly charming tribute to the character and his history with a handful of legitimate all-timer short stories.

8. Faster Than A Bullet

Much as Adventures of Superman was rightfully considered an oasis amidst the New 52′s worst excesses post-Morrison and in part pre-Pak, few stories from it seem well-remembered now, and even at the time this third issue inexplicably seemed to draw little attention. Regardless, Matt Kindt and Stephen Segovia’s depiction of an hour in the life of Superman as he saves four planets first thing in the morning without anyone noticing - while clumsy in its efforts at paralleling the main events with a literal subplot of a conversation between Lois and Lex - is one of the best takes I can recall on the scope on which he operates, and ultimately the purpose of Clark Kent.

7. Man and Superman

Seemingly geared on every front against me, built as it was on several ideas of how to handle Superman’s origin I legitimately hate, and by a writer whose work over the years has rarely been to my liking, Marv Wolfman and Claudio Castellini’s Man and Superman somehow came out of nowhere to be one of my favorite takes on Clark Kent’s early days. With a Metropolis and characters within it that feel not only alive but lived-in, it’s shocking that a story written and drawn over ten years before it was actually published prefigured so many future approaches to its subject, and felt so of-the-moment in its depiction of a 20-something scrambling to figure out how to squeeze into his niche in the world when it actually reached stores.

6. Brian Bendis’s run

Controversial in the extreme, and indeed heir to several of Brian Bendis’s longstanding weaknesses as a writer, his work on The Man of Steel, Superman, and Action Comics has nevertheless been defined at least as much by its ambition and intuitive grasp of its lead, as well as fistfuls of some of the best artistic accompaniment in the industry. At turns bombastic space action, disaster flick, spy-fi, oddball crime serial, and family drama, its assorted diversions and legitimate attempts at shaking up the formula - or driving it into new territory altogether, as in the latest, apparently more longterm-minded unmasking of Clark Kent in Truth - have remained anchored and made palatable by an understanding of Superman’s voice, insecurities, and convictions that go virtually unmatched.

5. Strange Visitor

The boldest, most out-of-left-field Superman comic of the past 10 years, Joe Keatinge took the logline of Adventures of Superman to do whatever creators wanted with the character and, rather than getting back to a classic take absent from the mainline titles at the time as most others did, used the opportunity for a wildly expansive exploration of the hero from his second year in action to his far-distant final adventure. Alongside a murderer’s row of artists, Keatinge pulled off one of the few comics purely about how great Superman is that rather than falling prey to hollow self-indulgence actually managed to capture the wonder of its subject.

4. Superman: Up In The Sky

And here’s the other big “Superman’s just the best” comic the decade had to offer that actually pulled it off. Sadly if reasonably best-known for its one true misfire of a chapter, with the increasing antipathy towards Tom King among fans in general likely not helping, what ended up overlooked is that this is a stone-cold classic on moment of arrival. Andy Kubert turns in work that stands alongside the best of his career, Tom King’s style is honed to its cleanest edge by the 12-pager format and subject matter, and the quest they set their lead out on ends up a perfect vehicle to explore Superman’s drive to save others from a multitude of angles. I don’t know what its reputation will end up being in the long-term - I was struck how prosaic and subdued the back cover description was when I got this in hardcover, without any of the fanfare or critic quotes you’d expect from the writer of Mister Miracle and Vision tackling Superman - but while its one big problem prevents me from ranking it higher, this is going to remain an all-timer for me.

3. Jeff Loveness’s stories Help and Glasses

Cheating shamelessly here, but Jeff Loveness’s Help with David Williams and Glasses with Tom Grummett are absolutely two halves of the same coin, a pair of theses on Superman’s enduring relevance as a figure of hope and the core of Lois and Clark’s relationship that end up covering both sides of Superman the icon and Superman the guy. While basically illustrated essays, any sense of detached lecturing is utterly forbidden by the raw emotion on display here that instantly made them some of the most acclaimed Superman stories of the last several years; they’re basically guaranteed to remain in ‘best-of’ collections from now until the end of time.

2. Superman Smashes The Klan

A bitter race for the top spot, but #2 is no shame here; while not quite my favorite Superman story of the past ten years, it’s probably the most perfectly executed. While I don’t think anyone could have quite expected just *how* relevant this would be at the top of the decade, Gene Yang and Gurihiru put together an adventure in the best tradition of the Fleischer shorts and the occasional bystander-centered episodes of Batman: The Animated Series to explore racism’s both overt and subtle infections of society’s norms and institutions, the immigrant experience, and both of its leads’ senses of alienation and justice. Exciting, stirring, and insightful, it’s debuted to largely universal acknowledgement as being the best Superman story in years, and hopefully it’ll be continued to be marketed as such long-term.

1. Grant Morrison’s Action Comics

When it came time to make the hard choice, it came in no small part down to that I don’t think we would have ever seen a major Golden Age Superman revival project like Smashes The Klan in the first place if not for this. Even hampering by that godawful Jim Lee armor, inconsistent (if still generally very good) art, and a fandom that largely misunderstood it on arrival can’t detract from that this is Grant Morrison’s run on a Superman ongoing, a journey through Superman’s development as a character reframed as a coherent arc that takes him from Metropolis’s most beaten-down neighborhoods to the edge of the fifth dimension and the monstrous outermost limits of ‘Superman’ as a concept. It launched discussions of Superman as a corporate icon and his place relative to authority structures that have never entirely vanished, introduced multiple all-time great new villains, and made ‘t-shirt Superman’ a distinct era and mode of operation for the character that I’m skeptical will ever entirely go away. No other work on the character this decade had the bombast, scope, complexity, or ambition of this run, with few able to match its charm or heart. And once again, it was, cannot stress this enough, Grant Morrison on an ongoing Superman book.

[keplercryptids]

nonfiction LGBTQ+ books i read this year

i read a lot this year, and a good chunk of it was LGBTQ+ nonfiction. so i thought it might be nice to list what i read. as a note, many of these books deal with LGBTQ history in the United States. too often, mainstream US-centric LGBTQ texts focus on white middle-class cisgender folks, though I’ve done my best to balance that as much as possible with other perspectives. (that being said, if you got ‘em, i would LOVE book recommendations that tackle worldwide/non-white LGBTQ issues!)

Accessibility notes: Given the nature of the genre, there’s a lot of intense discussion re: homophobia and transphobia. Basically every book listed covers those things to some extent, and I’ve specified where there’s additional potentially triggering content. (If you have specific questions about triggers, please let me know!) also, some of these books are on the academic side. I’ve done my best to note when a book was very academic or when I found it to be more readable. (full disclosure on that note: I’m a college grad and voracious reader without any reading-specific learning disabilities, so my opinion may be different than yours!) as a final note, I was able to access most of these as e-books/audiobooks through my local library. I live in a major metropolitan area, if that gives you any idea of how easy it’ll be for you to find these books. I’ve noted when a book was more difficult to get my hands on.

History

Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World 1890-1940 by George Chauncey. As the title suggests, this book focuses on gay male communities in NYC pre-World War 2. Even with that limited scope, this is an important read to better understand gay male history in the early 20th century. Gay communities thrived in the early 1900s and this snapshot of that is really wonderful. This is definitely more of an academic read, but I highly recommend it. while it definitely focuses on white middle-class gay men, there was more discussion of poor and/or gay men of color than i had actually expected, so that’s nice. (CW for rape and sexual assault, homophobic violence and medicalization of homosexuality.)

Queering the Color Line: Race and the Invention of Homosexuality in American Culture by Siobhan B. Somerville. Finally, a book about queer history that actually talks about black people! I was expecting more of a history book, whereas this was more of a critique of specific novels, plays and movies of the early 1900s and was way more focused than i was expecting. don’t get me wrong, I majored in English lit so i’m super into that kind of analysis as well, it just wasn’t as far-reaching as I would have liked. Also, it’s very academic. (Only the print version was available at my library.) (CW for racism, mentions of slavery.)

Transgender History by Susan Striker. This book describes itself as an “approachable introductory text” to transgender history in the US, which I agree with. It’s a pretty short read given the enormity of the topic, so it doesn’t go into much detail about specific groups or events, but imo it’s a good introduction. Especially interesting to me was the information about where and when TERF ideology began. Academic but on the easier-to-read side. (CW for transphobia, gross TERF rhetoric, brief mentions of the AIDS crisis, police violence.)

Gay Revolution by Lillian Faderman. okay so, I gave this 1 star. it’s probably a good book if you know absolutely nothing about US LGBTQ history and want an intro, but a review on goodreads said that it should be called Gay Assimilation instead and i completely agree. Faderman focuses on white middle-to-upper class gay and lesbian assimilationists, often at the expense of radical queer and trans people of color. The latter is hardly mentioned at all, which is ridiculous given trans folks’ contributions to the LGBTQ movement. When radical people ARE mentioned, it’s often in a disparaging way, or in a way that positions the radicals as too extreme. Faderman constantly repeats the refrain that the fight for LGBT rights was “just like what black people did for their rights” without any addendum about why that is...not a good take. There’s no meaningful discussion of race, class or intersectionality. She lauds Obama as a hero for the gays and there’s a ton (I mean a TON) of content about how military acceptance + gay marriage = we won, or whatever. anyway, i wasn’t a fan, although many of the events and organizations discussed in this book are important to know just from a factual basis. (CW for all the stuff I mentioned, plus police violence, medicalization of homosexuality. it’s also fucking LONG so i recommend the audiobook, lol.)

Queer (In)Justice: The Criminalization of LGBT People in the United States by Joey L. Mogul,  Andrea J. Ritchie, and Kay Whitlock. This is “a searing examination of queer experiences--as ‘suspects,’ defendants, prisoners, and survivors of crime.” A frequently upsetting but super important read about how LGBTQ identities have been policed in the past, and currently are policed today. i wish there was more focus on trans folks, but other than that it’s a solid read. (CW for all the things you’d expect a book about policing and imprisoning LGBTQ folks to include: police and institutionalized violence, sexual assault, transphobia, homophobia.)

Stonewall by Martin Duberman. This book follows the lives and activism of six LGBTQ folks before, during and after the Stonewall riots. Note: Stonewall itself is only discussed in one chapter about 2/3 of the way through, the rest of the book dedicated to the six individuals’ lives and activism up to and after that point. It’s a history book with a strong narrative focus that I found to be a fairly accessible read. (CW for minors engaging in sex work and sexual predation by adults, sexual and domestic violence, police violence, drug and alcohol abuse, mentions of suicide.)

And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic by Randy Shilts. This is a HEAVY but really important read about the AIDS epidemic in the US, tracking the disease and the political/cultural response from about 1980-1985. It’s journalistic nonfiction, so although it’s a very long book I found it easier to read than more academic-y books. the only thing i really disliked was how the book demonized “Patient Zero” in quite unfair ways, but it was originally published in ‘87 so that explains part of it. I want to stress again that it’s heavy, as you’d expect a book about thousands of deaths to be. (CW: oh boy where to start. Graphic descriptions of disease/death, graphic descriptions of sex, medical neglect, republican nonsense.)

Memoirs, essays, etc

Persistence: All Ways Butch and Femme edited by Ivan E. Coyote. i felt mixed about this one! i appreciated the different perspectives regarding gender and desire, especially since this anthology contains a lot of essays by people who came of age in the 60s-80s (so there’s a historical bent too). but some of the essays feel dated, at best, and offensive at worst. there was more than one instance of TERF-y ideology thrown in. probably 1/4 of the essays were really really great, and i’d still recommend reading it in order to form your own opinions--also, imo it’s useful to see where TERF ideology comes from. this book was harder to find, and i had to order a print version through interlibrary loan. (CW for a few TERFy essays. i read this earlier in the year so it’s possible i’m forgetting some other triggers, sorry!)

Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation by (editors) Kate Bornstein and S. Bear Bergman. Serving as a follow-up of sorts to Bornstein’s Gender Outlaw, this is a collection of narratives by transgender and gender-nonconforming folks. While not “history” in a technical sense, many of the writers are 30+ and give a wide array of LGBTQ+ experiences, past and present, that are important. I didn’t agree with every single viewpoint, of course, duh! But some of the essays were really powerful and overall it’s a good read. (CW for one essay about eating disorders, some outdated language/reclaimed slurs as to be expected--language is one of the main themes of the collection actually so the “outdatedness” is important.)

S/He by Minnie Bruce Pratt. A memoir published in 1995, focusing on Minnie’s life, marriage, gender identity, eventual coming out and relationship with Leslie Feinberg. i really enjoyed this one. it was beautifully written. there are many erotic elements to this memoir so keep that in mind. also was a little harder to get, and i had to order a print version via interlibrary loan. (i read this awhile ago and can’t remember specific triggers, sorry! if anyone knows of some, please let me know.)

I’m Afraid of Men by Vivek Shraya. A memoir by a trans woman ruminating on masculinity. it’s beautiful and very short (truly more of a longform essay), so it’s a good one if you don’t have the attention span/time for longer books. (CW for sexism, harassment, transphobia.)

Zami: A New Spelling of My Name by Audre Lorde. god, this memoir is gorgeous and is one of my favorite books of the year. it chronicles Audre’s childhood in Harlem and her coming-of-age in the 1950s as a lesbian. ultimately, this is a book about love and that resonates throughout every page. idk can you tell i loved this book so much??? (CW for child abuse, sexual assault, a friend’s suicide, racism.)

We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir by Samra Habib. suuuuch a good book! Samra writes about her life as she and her family arrive in Canada as refugees from Pakistan in her early childhood, onto her life today as a queer Muslim woman of color, photographer and activist. beautifully written and just such an important perspective. Only the print version was available at my library. (CW for child sexual assault, a suicide attempt and suicidal ideation, non-graphic mentions of domestic violence, racism and sexism.)

Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kababe. this is a beautifully illustrated graphic novel memoir about the author’s journey of discovering eir identity as queer. i related to a lot of it, which was great on a personal level, but i also think it could be a great educational tool for those wanting to know more about gender queerness (especially for those who prefer graphic novels!) (CW for gender dysphoria, descriptions of gynecological exams, imagery of blood and a couple pages depicting being impaled, some nudity, vomit.)

[starkcregan]

 alright um 

some initial thoughts 

overall, i thought this movie was super thematically thin (even for an mcu movie). given how long we’ve waited for this film (10 years), i think the final result highlights that this movie came too late -- and it is even more unfortunate that natasha is dead (at the moment) so it didn’t feel like it added much. tbh i’m more disappointed by the film itself than its depiction of russian characters, which is something i’m surprised about actually LMAO

it was entertaining, and Natasha is an absolute G for breaking her nose like that, damn. what a woman i love her. and i liked the relationship between natasha and yelena :’‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘

baby natasha wins for best spoken russian (but that’s milla jovovich’s daughter...i know she speaks in russian to her children so....of course); though short, her performance was great

how do you cast olga kurylenko and have her speak no russian lmao я не понимаю 

ot fagbenle was so underused in this movie my goodness, he better return to the mcu because that was huge disappointment - he deserved better

the accents in this movie were not the best, but most certainly not as bad as i’ve heard in other movies. something i noticed is that the accents were not too over-exaggerated (which is common in american cinema when non-russian speakers play russians) 

one thing i did notice is that often the ending of words didn’t carry the russian accent, idk how to put it and at times it was inconsistent (which to be fair, i won’t harp on given the context that Yelena grew up speaking english for a bit--like an american. accents in life are not always consistent.) i’d have to watch the movie again to really listen to the nuances of the accents 

but overall not too grating

OH SOMETHING I DID REALLY LIKE: in that flashback of younger natasha (de-aged scarjo), i liked that you could hear her original accent, because accents can change over time too

the spoken russian ... ye

personally, instead of “извини меня моя маленькая сестра ” (or whatever she says), they should have used a diminutive. something didn’t sound right to me. idk if it sounded clunky because that piece of dialogue was clunky or because of how scarjo said it, but honestly i feel it’s both, and now that i think of it maybe прости меня would have been better since she’s asking for forgiveness. 

the spoken russian wasn’t the worst i’ve ever heard, some of it was decent,  but again there were times i was like 👂🏼??? 

thankful that the written russian was at the very least actual russian instead of just a random scrambling of cyrillic letters (NOTHING WILL EVER BEAT THIS GEM)

though it’s possible i missed something, but for the most part the written russian was passable

the opening title sequence was so sad, and i’m glad they were unflinching about the red room being human trafficking

i really liked the russian characters more than i thought i would but one thing i will say:

when hollywood needs russian or eastern european heroes, they’ll hire white americans or british folks who know NOTHING about our cultures

and when they need an antagonist they’ll cast someone whose an adjacent ethnicity -- in this case olga kurylenko (but she turns out to be ok in the end, so not too bad)

and it’s gotten to the point where marvel was ok with whitewashing the maximoffs, unambiguously romani-jewish characters because in the eyes of hollywood all eastern europeans and eurasians are exactly the same. (white and russian-coded)

i believe yelena is supposed to be ukrainian as she was born in kyiv ukraine. they completely erased that part of her story sigh -- i guess all eastern europeans are russians ! /s 

the point i’m making is that hollywood has a narrow view of eastern europe/eurasia and the mcu perpetuates it

growing up ukrainian+russian-guatemalan american, i had to watch both sides of my identity get skewered by american cinema in the name of american propaganda. (And then see how americans internalize those ideologies as children) other than pavel chekhov, i have yet to see an eastern european character that i can actually view as an eastern european (or as in my case, a russian+ukrainian), and who is given a positive characterization, and is played by someone with the correct, or at least adjacent ethnicity. 

as a film though, black widow made me sad knowing we won’t get more of natasha :’’(

though this stream of consciousness was mostly critique, i did enjoy watching it, and by no means did i dislike this film, and i’m not hating on it.  

david harbour was sublime as alexei, :’) 

[an-american-whovian]

- An American Whovian Reviews: 'Revolution of the Daleks' by Chris Shitnall.

• The Story Thus Far.

When we last left the Doctor she was partaking in one of the WORST Doctor Who episodes of all time. Turns out she's had, like, a billion regenerations -- and started off as a cute lil' black girl who got experimented on by some crazy TimeLord lady. Makes about as much sense as an asshole on my elbow.

I digress, after that whole REVEAL -- the Doctor is arrested by everyone's favorite space rhinos and sent to space jail much like Rick Sanchez at the end of 'Rick & Morty' season 2.

(Just not as good.)

• Recap.

The story starts off with a reminder of an even shittier story 'Resolution' in which the Doctor and "Fam'" defeat a Dalek with spare parts from a microwave. (Fuck you, Chibnall.)

Anyways, back to now: some people have the leftovers of that one Dalek in some facility. This one dude is tasked with transporting it and stops fer a hot cup of coffee -- which he chugs. (That's a thing.) Shortly thereafter, turns out he got drugged by the barista and she's, like, "Bitch, this is my truck now."

• I Loved that Show.

Curtis from 'Misfits' and Mr. Big from 'Sex & the City' meet up with some lady in which he hired some folks to "roleplay" as rioters. (I can't make this up.) He's, like, "Check this out -- I made these robots that can subdue rioters." (Where was he during the attack on the Capitol!?) Actually, Curtis from 'Misfits' supposedly made them from scratch.

Somewhere Davros is rolling in his chair.

• Political Disintrigue.

Mr. Big and the lady are in cahoots. I don't care.

• Elsewhere.

The Doctor is in jail serving her sentence and eating space brownies. She's got a Weeping Angel, Sycorax, Ood l and the Pting as neighbors. (Everyone loves call backs.) Laying on her cot she does her best quirky Matt Smith impersonation when she here's a-knocking.

WHO COULD IT BE!?

• Elsewhere, again.

We cut to the Fam' back on Earth. Yaz is living in a house that's a TARDIS in disguise; whilst Graham and Ryan could care less about what happened to the Doctor. They're, like, "Yaz, you gotta move on. However, someone leaked that footage of the roleplaying rioters versus a Dalek on DailyMotion -- so we should do something about that."

The lady and Mr. Big meet up, again, this time in some forest -- fer more expository conversation. I still can't be bothered.

Later, the Fam' just tracks down Mr. Big, like, it's nothing. Fortunately fer him, he has has guards -- and they shoo off the Fam'.

Ugh.

• Slammer Buddies.

The Doctor sees a Silence and then, say wha'!? Captain Jack is there to break he Doctor out with some doohickey he snuck up his ass. Turns out it's a giant hamster bubble that let's them break out of a MAXIMUM SECURITY SPACE JAIL! I hate this shit . . .

It's great to see Captain Jack, again, but this isn't worth it.

Only 18 minutes has passed. Fuck me.

• Exposition Earl.

Curtis from 'Misfits' is talking to Mr. Big and he's, like, "Dude, did you know there's, like, DNA samples inside that old casing you gave me!? Well, I took the time to clone it! I call it Squiggly."

Curtis from 'Misfits' cloned a Dalek. Fuuuuuuck.

Mr. Big is, like, "Yo, get that abomination out of my face and burn it!" -- which Curtis from 'Misfits' hesitantly obliges. Psyche! Squiggly takes mind control over Curtis from 'Misfits'. Who didn't see that coming!?

• Elsewhere: Part 3.

The Doctor and Captain Jack SOMEHOW just get back to the TARDIS like it's nothing. Fer some reason the Doctor is a bit of a jerk to Jack eventhough he just got her ungrateful ass out of Space Prison.

She's, like, "I gotta find my REAL friends." and meets back up with the Fam'. Yaz gets wet and Jack flirts with Graham. Turns out the Doctor has been gone fer a little less than a year. Cool. They get straight to the point and are, like, "Daleks are back. You know, the same aliens that tried to conquer Earth in series 2 and 4. Oh, no one remembers that?"

Fuck you, Chibnall.

• Hilarity ensues.

Squiggly somehow has a giant facility with other Dalek clones in Japan. Where the fuck did they come from!? Who knows -- and who cares.

The Doctor confronts Mr. Big and he's, like, "I'm 3D printing Dalek casings. It's cool, tho'. There's nothing inside of them. It's not, like, there's a facility in Osaka, Japan with a bunch of Dalek clones waiting to fill these up.

Speaking of which, Yaz and Jack are in Japan and they have a cringey convo about life with the Doctor. Rose and Sarah Jane's talk in 'School Reunion' this is not.

There's still 40 minutes to go.

After their heart to heart -- Yaz still has the audacity to insult Jack. She's fierce!

Anyways, guess what they find!? GUESS WHAT THEY FUCKING FIND!? The Dalek clone farm. Like, we weren't already shown this before. They even do a "Dun-Dun-Dun!" reveal fer this shit.

FUCK YOU, CHIBNALL.

• Facepalm.

Fer reasons unbeknownst to me the Doctor takes Mr. Big along to Japan -- you know, fer reasons. All the while, we cut to scenes of that one lady introducing Daleks to the public. No one still remembers series 2 and 4 -- or any other time Daleks have been on Earth.

At the same time, Jack and Yaz get attacked by a bunch of other Squigglies and I'm getting mad hentai vibes.

The Doctor, still back on the TARDIS, has a half hearted conversation with Ryan and tells hims it's, "Four minutes to Osaka" -- eventhough there's 50+ years of the TARDIS landing places INSTANTENOUSLY!

FUCK.

YOU.

CHIBNALL.

Ryan is, like, "Yea, I kinda prefer being back home than traveling in the TARDIS and seeing all of time and space. By the way, how'd 'The Timeless Children' go fer you?"

The Doctor is basically, like, "The less said about that -- the better." I tend to fucking agree.

Four minutes are up and Jack has and orgasm when he sees the TARDIS materialize eventhough he was just on it not too long ago.

• Git 'er Done.

Everyone's reunited along with Mr. Big as they confront mind controlled Curtis from 'Misfits'. We get more exposition as to how these Squigglies were cloned and what they eat. The big revelation is that they eat humans -- and I still can't be bothered to care.

Somehow the cloned Squigglies can teleport to those empty Dalek casings and proceed to wreck havoc to the masses. I will NEVER grow tired of Daleks massacaring people. "EXTERMINATE!"

(I finally have a non ironic smile on my face.)

Squiggly kills Curtis from 'Misfits' and the only one to give a shit is Mr. Big. The Doctor tries her best at a, "I am the Doctor and I save people!" speech which falls flat. She's got a plan, tho'!

She beeps up real Daleks -- and she's, like, "These REAL Daleks are gonna kill those fake Daleks! It's okay if they come -- fer REASONS they wont kill any humans. Just these fake Daleks. The story demands it."

• Invasion of the Dalek Snatchers.

We finally get the revolution in "Revolution of the Daleks". The real Daleks are, like, "Y'all, mother fuckers, are impure!" All the while, Mr. Big is, like, "I like these real Daleks. I wanna be friends with them -- you know, 'cause I'm a bad guy. Take me to yer leader." (That last bit was a direct quote.)

The boys leave the girls behind to go destroy the Dalek ship. We get some more poorly written dialogue.

Mr. Big tells the real Daleks about the Doctor -- which they should've been already privy to. Luckily, Jack informs the Doctor about Mr. big's treacherous ways and she's got another trick up her sleeve! All the while, Jack and the boys blow up the Dalek ship and the Doctor reveals her ruse. She sucked the Daleks into the spare TARDIS that Yaz was living in and has it collapse on itself.

Aren't TARDIS kind of, like, living creatures? They've been known to have a consciousness. Whatever.

• The Home Stretch.

Fer REASONS Mr. Big is considered a hero. Captain Jack is, like, "I'm out and I'm gonna go find my Torchwood friends. Fuck you guys."

Ryan is, like, "Yea, no more trips fer me either. I wanna stay home and play football with me mates and eat fish and chips." Graham agrees, too. So it's just Yaz and the Doctor now. I'm excited fer that potential porn parody.

Then we get a call back to 'The Girl Who Fell to Earth' and Ryan trying to ride a bike. I forgot that was a thing. They babble about facing off alien threats on Earth and fer other REASONS Grace shows up a, like, a fucking Jedi Force Ghost. 😂😭🤤

• The Good, the Bad and the Fugly.

The best I can say about this story is that Doctor Who, aesthetically, has never looked better. The Daleks inside and out were REALLY well done; and I fucking love the look of the TARDIS traveling through the time vortex. Unfortunately, that's it about it.

This was god awful. Maybe in time I can rewatch this in a it's so bad it's good capacity; but I won't be doing that any time soon. Chibnall has lost his goddamn mind.

Why is everyone so mean to Captain Jack!? I don't fucking get it. Graham and Ryan wanting to leave the TARDIS just 'cause they're, like, "Meh. It's been done.? Why is Mr. Big in this, at all!? Also, somebody fire that composer! I'm tired of his ambient noises.

Seriously, this was bad.

Zero stars.

[jeanjauthor]

The following quote is from the FAQ page for She Dwarf, a webcomic by Kyle Latino.

Is She Dwarf a bad person? That’s up to you to decide for yourself. Keep in mind, just because She Dwarf is the main character, doesn’t mean that you or I are suppose to agree with her all the time. It only means we are supposed to root for her on her quest and personal growth.

I wanted to talk about this particular, rather perfect, answer in terms of which kinds of main protagonists we can get away with as writers...and which ones we should never touch.

Or rather, which kinds we should never promote.

Let’s strip this down into its two most important pieces, and we’ll remove names & genders so we can insert whatever details we may want for our own main characters:

“Just because _____ is the main character doesn’t mean you and I are supposed to agree with [them] all the time.”

This is an excellent thing, because it exposes the reader to new viewpoints new perspectives, new ideas.  Not necessarily good ideas, but it banishes some rather unwanted & unwelcome naïvety from our readers.  Being naïve means that, once you get outside your circle of loved ones who have reasons to shelter and protect you, then you become vulnerable to those who would take advantage of you, try to trick you, treat you as the gullible unworldly inexperienced person you are.

On top of that, it helps to teach us that people make questionable calls when it comes to certain decisions, especially snap decisions made with incomplete information.  Let’s be honest: if you caught a stranger inside your house late at night toward the end of December, you’d be more inclined to call the police about a burglary or home invasion than you’d be inclined to believe in Santa Claus.

And if you were in a NON-Western/American-influenced culture...would you even recognize the red suit with the white trim, the black boots, the pointy hat and the big white beard? (Contrary to popular belief, American culture isn’t the end-all and be-all of existence, folks!)

So that’s the first half of the important bits.  Here’s the second half.

“It only means we are supposed to root for [them] on [their] quest and personal growth.“

THIS part is vital.  We DO have a moral obligation for this one.  If we’re going to write a character we want our readers to sympathize with, they have to have redeemable qualities.

It takes a LOT of skill to turn a monster into someone redeemable.  In the book Silence of the Lambs (and in the movie), Hannibal Lecter was not redeemable in any way, save for one:  He spared Clarice’s life.  BUT...that was not enough to make us sympathize with him, and not enough to make most of us root for him.  He was truly a horrible person. (Brilliantly acted, too.)

Then again...Hannibal Lecter was also not the main character.  Now, I haven’t read the book Hannibal, nor watched the movie (horror really isn’t my thing), but I have read over the synopsis...and again, Hannibal Lecter is not the main character.

We never root for him.  We never wait for any signs of personal growth.  We never cheer him on as he attempts to complete his quests.  Yes, he has one redeemable quality, blah blah blah...but he’s never the one we’re rooting for.

This is important, because there are some people who are trying to turn monsters into heroic role models.  There are numerous examples of monsters whose actions were whitewashed.  “Columbus, the great discoverer & explorer of the Americas” was actually a goddamn monster who assaulted & murdered hundreds, trafficked in slavery and child prostitution, and worse.  American History books propagandized his accomplishments and buried as many of his atrocities as they could, in the name of promoting colonization & white supremacy as “Good Things™.”

They weren’t, they aren’t, and they never will be genuinely good things.

White supremacists in the American South constantly tout the disasters & discriminations of the Confederacy as if it was something emulation-worthy.  It was literally about owning slaves, of being able to beat to death a privately imprisoned human being, and not be called a murderer.

There are so many truly monstrous people out there that should never be cheered on or rooted for.

Why is this bad?

Because the more that people lionize & idolize those kinds of people, the more they think it’s appropriate to do, and the more they, too, will try to do those things themselves.

We have an absolute moral obligation as writers never to make that kind of person the main character, the “heroic protagonist” in any way that is unchallenged, unexposed, unmocked, and un-truth’d.

We literally cannot surive in a world populated with wanna-be versions of Columbus, Lecter, Hitler, and the like.

When you’re writing your main characters, it’s okay to have them do awful things occasoinally.  But there should be reasons for it, and those reasons can be blatantly stated or subtly implied...and there should definitely be Consequences for Bad Decisions.  If someone dies or is injured, the main character should grow enough to realize their mistake, to feel bad, to eventually want to make amends...yes, even if they cannot.

Xena of Xena: Warrior Princess...was not a nice character when she first starred on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.  But eventually she has an epiphany, she changes her mind, tries to change her ways...and as she gets and goes through her own series of stories, we find out just how awful she was in the past, over and over, and how hard it is not only for her to make amends, not only to be accepted as a better person now by the people she once harmed...but to accept her own horrific past and the things she could never possibly make amends for.

It’s a great story with a problematic lead character who was very much a villain, is now trying to be a hero, and doesn’t always completely succeed...but she still makes us root for her every time she tries, and cheer every time she manages some more personal growth.

You can definitely write problematic characters...but there has to be growth & learning, & becoming a better person.  Don’t try to write main characters who do horrible things and constantly try justifying it because of their horrible beliefs & horrible propaganda assertions, who never take personal responsibility.

You’ll have a very teeny tiny audience of admirers who will try to emulate the many bad things your main character gets away with.

Is that really the kind of world you want to live in?

It’s not the one I want to live in.