#or nonfiction/heavily political stuff

[girlscience]

me for the past several years: I think something is wrong with me, I just don't like books the way I used to. I have maybe finished 3 books in 4 years and the last one I finished took me making an intentional effort to do nothing but read it one day to finish it :/

this book,

bursting into my life: NO IT IS THE BOOKS WHO ARE WRONG

[mejomonster]

Okay so I've been reading Red White and Royal Blue the novel and I'm thrilled to report it IS a different experience.

I saw the movie first? Phenomenal. On its own merit, as it's own experience, hands down best movie I saw this year. And definitely one of my fave romances I've seen (along with But I'm a Cheerleader).

This book? I can see already the impression that the movie simplified, softened, and changed some things in some areas. I think the movie, based on the 100 pages I've read so far of the book, changed enough that the movie does read as different characters In The Spirit and Themes of the book. Movie Alex is like book Alex, but almost another universe of him (like Guardian Zhao Yunlan in chinese drama versus book). Henry so far reads as similar in novel to movie, but movie did not have the time to do his traits with as much nuance. Which like. I think many movie differences were made for making a concise movie length story, a slightly more on the nose story to make the main points hit audiences strong enough to get understood clearly, and to of course emphasize more of the points the movie script aimed to emphasize and focus on in that limited time.

I'm reading the book now. And delighted to say Alex's family is handled with much more nuance. Also the book is fascinating in my experience as the first fictional novel I've ever read with so much clear real life applicable casual political references. I've seen biographies and nonfiction books do this on occasion, but it's fascinating seeing a fiction novel do it. I think it's a brave and higher risk writing choice as it's both individual to author and even more so using the political as a reflection of characters, drawing concrete lines by which to judge them in the sort of terrifying "this stuff effects people's lives" way real public figures get judged. Fitting in seeing Alex and June as Public figures, but also risking as a writer your characters No Longer conforming to the "everyday man" character everyone can project onto. Bella in Twilight has a lot of Mormon related cultural experiences bleeding into how she's written, but the author didn't make her overly Mormon with a church she belonged to and overt commentary on that religious view of the world in relation to say Vampires and marriage and sex. (There are books that do tho, I've read realistic fiction like The Poisonwood Bible about missionaries which very much heavily directly discussed real religions and those beliefs effecting people's personalities and actions in the story). It's interesting to see a Romance novel go for the specific at the risk of making those characters less easy to "project" onto. I prefer this choice, the same way Fingersmith by Sarah Waters is one of my favorite romances and those two fucked up women sure aren't "everyday" average joes you can project onto. This writing choice makes the points made in Red White and Royal Blue a lot more pointed qnd with a lot more to back them up. It's interesting seeing. The movie definitely toned down things in this regard (while still including more overt politics than I've seen in many romances except say But I'm a Cheerleader with its brazen condemnation of conversion camps). I can see how the movie flattened Ellen to make her a more likable less flawed person, because it's easier to sell a loving mom President in a movie under limited time to give her no Significant Flaws. But the book has time to hammer her stubbornness has destroyed personal things, at times clashes strongly with her son who turned out so much like her (and is partly why June does not click with mom the way Alex does), how moms choices and personality were not necessarily good for June and Alex at times, how Alex clearly learned to be a workaholic qnd avoid his personal pain by being stubborn like his mom. She's someone he admires, and someone he emulates both good and bad, and someone he's infuriated that has those stubborn workaholic realistic traits he's copied. But a movie doesn't have time for the good and the bad, the realism of the damage all parents in some ways cause even if unintentional, the realism of what going through divorce means for each partner and their kids. The movie doesn't divorce them, because it's easier to sell a married mom as a positive (like the book lol comments on). I get it.

Anyway more on Alex's family. I deeply appreciate they're flawed and realistic in the book. In the movie, in its own interesting way I found it interesting to watch Alex (raised primarily with secure attachments and open loving secure support from both parents Together) with Henry who did NOT have the same emotional relationships foundation from family (only his Sister being a Safe Enough relationship to trust to emotionally rely on). Versus now the book, seeing they actually both can bond over these imperfect situations of their families. Which in its way, is realistic to many people who've found love. It gives them more to see understanding with each other in. And in Alex's case in the book in particular, his background details give us more about who he is qnd what drives him. The movie had to simplify those elements of him qnd Harry outside romance in order to tell a timely romance story. The book has more space for those individual character stories of trauma and pain and growth and connection.

[rollercoasterwords]

okay this is about the book ask but i wanna be different.

are there any books that have inspired your works? if so which parts? (like character, message, ideology, small details)

this is such a fun question!! set it aside 4 later then almost forgot 2 answer but now...here i am xx

i have definitely been very inspired by various books, sometimes in v direct ways (like...2 of my fics are literally me rewriting a story from another character's perspective, so obviously inspired lol) and sometimes in less direct ways!

i reread 'the last unicorn' while i was writing the hand that feeds + thinking about the ending, and i was definitely inspired by some of the themes from that book to the point that i included a quote from it in the notes. the animorphs series has also like. heavily inspired my writing generally when it comes to the war aspect of any of my marauders fics. those books just do such an excellent job of illustrating the utter devastation of war + like....the way that there are no Good Guys and even "winning" is not gonna feel like winning.

the politics in my writing has also definitely been inspired by like. the nonfiction i've read. like when i wrote abt sirius going to prison, my take on that whole situation was v much influenced by my own personal beliefs re: prison abolition. and everything i write is influenced be lee edelman's theory abt reproductive futurity--this is especially the case with like. the ending of thtf. my jegulus cowboy fic was influenced by the time i spent studying the usamerican west in the late 19th century....stuff like that.

anyway i am sure there are many other books that have like. inspired my writing in terms of me absorbing things i like from writing style, remembering a trope or character archetype i love + wanna try writing, etc etc. i definitely feel like reading is a huge inspiration for my writing, whether it's direct or indirect, and for me personally i also feel like reading a lot + reading a variety of books w different subject matter + writing styles + narrative structures etc etc makes me a better writer!

[wintergrew]

you are an absolute God at worldbuilding. Share us your tips !! <3

Omg I definitely don't know about that, but thank you so much for the compliment 😭

I presume you are referring to my SoT stuff, in which case.....

To start, I based it heavily off of the European Middle Ages. With HUGE liberties because it's still a fantasy world, but I am a history nerd and my background is political science, so I was really interested in grounding it in that, culturally and politically. The Thief and Mage are very political because... I'm very political

Before I started writing (though largely out of pure interest), I watched countless hours of YouTube documentaries I could find, watched more informational videos on things like historical fashion (which i already did, but specific that era), read A Brief History of Life in the Middle Ages by Martyn Whittock, and listened to three The Great Courses lectures on The Early/High/Late Middle Ages by Philip Daileader.

A lot of it was for fun because I'm a nerd, but I picked and chose what I wanted for my version of Zaron. Keep the concept of serfdom in farming, the village and city structures, and random daily life things. Take inspiration but change things like the way feudalist structures and manors work. Cut Christianity (or blatant equivalent like in Dragon Age) and therefore a lot of the church and religious orders that were a huge, huge aspect of the era.

Research also had me stumble upon the year 536. That alone greatly shaped the landscape and setting of The Mage.

Kupa is mostly inspired by Great Britain. However places like Neunbruck are aesthetically me stealing from the Bavarian/Swiss Alps aesthetic (and not necessarily middle ages) while the Southern Kingdom is basically Malta because...I think both of them are really pretty. Aesthetically, the Dark Kingdom takes from Romania and Iceland. It's more aesthetic than me doing deep research though. Like, literally just "damn this small island county is gorgeous, I need it for my story" and working around that. I also did some (but admittedly far less) research into Celts (especially the Picts) and Germanic Tribes of Antiquity for Barbarians.

The game KOTOR was a big inspiration, and by extension as is all of Star Wars. I looked up how to write magic systems and saw a lot of advice on avoiding "soft" magic systems...but did a soft magic system anyway. Admittedly, I should have had stricter rules and guidelines on how magic can be used and it probably is one of the weaker/inconsistent aspects where I was basically was just "it's like the Force". Recent chapters hopefully show why I went that vague route but....Either way, I wish I did make myself a formal guide to magic at the start, so maybe don't be like me and please do that.

I realize now after writing this I've mostly talked on and on about myself and this might not be helpful at all. But i guess a takeaway is:

Do research! You don't have to use everything, but it can really be huge inspiration. If you're writing space scifi, watch space documentaries. If you're writing about the 19th century, look up various fiction and nonfiction about the era. Research the history of and consume media about vampires/werewolves/whatever you're focusing on. You don't have to be as insane as me, though.

Other unrelated media also helps. Songs/Playlists, franchises, art, stories you like. Read and consume as much as you can and absorb what you like.

A lot of it is subconscious daydreaming to me. So listening to stuff in the background I'm kinda just "oh wouldn't it be cool if xx?" instead of sitting down and intentionally mapping things out before i have an idea. Story bibles and outlines help after to organize my thoughts, but I don't force myself to stick to them 100%. I had the central story and plot points to The Assassin long before I had the whole second act of The Mage figured out.

Not sure if this is helpful and it might actually showcase how messy my worldbuilding truly is fhghhh but thanks again

[4thmagicwielder]

I'm sure it's not THAT much of a problem and that the visibility of it is just inflated by the few people having an issue with it being the ones that are more vocal about it, but just because western academia in general is heavily skewed towards "old white men" and has long resulted in people outside that demographic being unheard does not mean that the "old white men" should be thrown out and ignored.

It's been a decades long and ongoing admirable effort to find previously unheard voices in various subjects and project them for modern audiences to hear their perspectives. This much is true, and the effort and work put into it is valuable.

What some people conclude however is the blatantly anti-intellectual and stupid notion that they just shouldn't bother with anything from the arbitrary graphic of "old dead white dudes" that they didn't like reading in high school except now they're deadass grownass adults. Like, with marxism for instance, yes there are plenty of historical and living marxists that should be heard and analyzed for what they did, said, and applied, and many of those people, most of them actually, were not white. However, it is not an excuse or at least a blatantly ridiculous one to throw out some of the literal founders of marxism just because they are (or at least perceived nowadays as) white. Some people genuinely try to throw out marxism entirely because a white man came up with it. You ought to throw out your damn computer and the internet too while you're at it at that point.

How the hell is one to read literally any western philosophy if one decides to cross their arms and go "nuh uh, old white guys wrote that stuff" as if that's a good reason to ignore philosophy that has literally shaped modern society not just in europe but across the globe due to colonialism and imperialism to this day? You're basically admitting ignorance, stupidity, and intellectual defeat at that point.

And I know damn well these type of people with english as their first language aren't reading chinese philosophy outside of some Sun Tzu quotes they read online so clearly that's not the main issue here. It seems like most of these people don't want to read period and are just finding an excuse. I can only imagine anyone treating other subjects like the sciences this way. Also something worthy of note is that there's various european subjects, mostly in this context eastern europeans who have historically been treated as white or not-white based on historical perception and political convienence. Hell, even today russians in the media are being treated as less white due entirely to political reasons, so this "I don't wanna read anything from white people" shit doesn't even hold up historically cause these same russians were definitely NOT being seen as white or at least the same white as europe to the west of them.

Ignoring any knowledge due to race, age, gender or whatever is incredibly stupid and should have been something y'all grew out of by the time y'all started stepping into college but nonetheless. All knowledge regardless of the person's social or political identity should be critically analyzed and scrutinized for its contents. People do read the works and analyze the speeches of nazis in order to understand the subject and combat it so that it doesn't arise again. I genuinely can't imagine how any intelligent person can just straight up ignore works both nonfictional and fictional because of a person's identity instead of go out of their way to critically analyze it for all of its givings and misgivings.

[mod2amaryllis]

I'm sure you've received this question a hundred times but do you have some tips for training a deaf puppy? Thank you and sorry to bother you

OK YEAH SO definitely don’t consider training to be an area of expertise but Goose turned out decent so here are some things:

first thing: make sure you’re prioritizing just like, approaching it as A Puppy, and puppies are hard as a baseline. find a class to join for basics if your dog does well in a class setting (my area had a free puppy class option that worked great for Goose, look into it, but I DO think this is something worth spending money on if you have to). then my most recommended puppy literature is: Social, Civil, and Savvy: Training & Socializing Puppies to Become the Best Possible Dogs. it’s almost impossible for me to pay attention to nonfiction books and a lot of dog training books are really crunchy technical, but this book is super short, lots of pictures, big text, straightforward. I had an easy time absorbing it and the stuff works. awesome awesome training guide. also a good podcast is Drinking From the Toilet, which has had specific puppy and deaf training eps

AND BLANKET STATEMENT: socializing is just in general the most important thing for a puppy. like exposing them to new things. expose them to all types of people, all types of animals, all types of situations, all types of floors rooms buildings grass discomforts yadda yadda yadda this is JUST as important for a deaf puppy. blanket ass statement.

NOW FOR SOME DEAF DOG SPECIFIC STUFF

general stuff before I share personal observations: resources I turned to the most were probably Deaf Dogs Rock (awesome equipment recs, so many anecdotes from owners w/ specific advice) and Keller’s Cause (neat little training videos)

ok now personal experience

in the context of training it was helpful for me to think of deafness more as just another attribute as opposed to a disability. like how being a mini aussie makes her creepy-smart, being deaf makes her: not hear (obviously), highly observant, potentially more confident in situations that might intimidate hearing dogs, easily startled, dependent on passive training as opposed to command training. basically it’s not a hurdle. it forces you to be creative and work within her attributes. just like with literally any other dog.

obviously you will use signing. I don’t use ASL, I come up with whatever is intuitive for Goose and me. early training feels like you need 3 hands cuz you’re giving treats, you’re signaling “good job,” you’re signing commands, you’re maybe holding a leash, it’s a lot. so my signs had to be with 1 hand, they had to be intuitive, they had to be distinct from one another to avoid confusion. a few examples: SIT is a closed fist (I feel like most people already do this with their dogs); TOUCH is two fingers offered; LAY DOWN is those two fingers being lowered to the floor; SPEAK is a hand being opened rapidly. I have more but you get the picture. I actually have a notebook where I’d doodle commands as I went cuz I was literally just flying by the seat of my pants lmao

passive training has been clutch. this is kennel training, car training, leash training, basically establishing her life routine (idk if it’s actually called passive training??? i’m sure it all falls under “”””socializing”””” but that’s such a huge umbrella). these areas can be difficult to settle into but they really are essential. I don’t have car advice cuz my dogs drive w/ me to work every day and are fine so IDK WHOOPS but:

leash training: with goose being deaf it was weird because the trainer I worked with was heavily reliant on voice commands. so I put a LOT of time into the loose-leash game, which is walking on a leash in the house, and every few steps, you give the dog a treat AT YOUR SIDE. like hold your hand right by your leg. basically the idea is to teach your dog it’s cool and fun to stay by your side and check in with you every now and then. Goose still pulls on her leash but in a manageable way, and she knows to check back with me. also definitely rec a halter. this one’s my favorite.

kennel/sleep training (gonna spend a lot of time on this one cuz it was/is the worst thing about Goose): listen. this one will be hard. this one’s gonna suck. you will be SO tempted to just let them in your bed but you really, REALLY should not. letting them in the bed can foster separation anxiety especially with a deaf dog who’s probably gonna become your shadow. kennels instill confidence by giving a dog their own space, and if ever there’s an emergency when they need to go in the kennel, it’ll help them feel safe. like there’s so many reasons to kennel train. you gotta do it.

so...as a baby, Goose like almost killed me with sleep deprivation. we initially didn’t think we’d keep her (haha hubris) so she slept out of the bedroom. And Screamed. the ultimate solution was bringing her kennel in the bedroom next to Joanie’s kennel, and we’re pretty sure the reason that solved it is because she could wake up and SEE that there was another dog there. now she loves her kennel. shoots in there every night demanding her pb kong. BUT YEAH LISTEN if you DON’T HAVE some comforting visual/kinetic reassurance there, this could be a problem for a deaf puppy. AND. AND. the problem hasn’t gone away completely. Goose wakes us up at 5:30 am every single morning and probably will for the rest of her life because THAT is her routine and she is immune to our angry tired yelling. the simple act of us going to her kennel reinforces the behavior. we’re not jerks about it cuz we love her and understand how dog brains work. This Could Happen To You. Heads Up.

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS: big sister dog like Joanie, worked for us; a floor fan creating vibrations, seemed to help her as a very young kiddo; being at least IN VIEW of you sleeping, like having the kennel riiiiight next to the bed, even within arm’s reach so you can reassure the puppy you’re still there. just...both in personal experience and in my research, I saw it a lot that sleeping is a big issue. cuz they can’t hear you, it’s dark, they don’t know if you’re still there, and committing to STILL attempting kennel training is the harder thing to do, but I really, really encourage you to try.

WOW. ok. fuck off I typed way more than I meant to. wanna hear some funny stuff?

Goose follows us around everywhere. she simply must know what’s goin on. we have beds stationed at every visual corner of the house, like sentry posts, so whatever room we’re in there’s a comfy place for her to sit where she can see us and she takes advantage of it. like she could be sleeping in one room and I’ll get up to brush my teeth, suddenly look down and she’s just teleported already asleep in the nearest bed to me.

sometimes Goose knocks on the door to come inside, and I’ll go to the door to let her in, and at literally the nanosecond before I open the door she dog-shrugs and turns and trots away and there’s nothing I can do. can’t call out to her. I’m bamboozled.

she is so fucking loud. I remember when she was a baby and my sis in law was like “wow so I bet she’s quieter than normal dogs huh” and I laughed like no actually she sounds like a rubber chicken going for that 4 chair turn on the voice, at ALL times.

sometimes I’ll do the speak command and she’ll do this huge windup, like big breath, eyes wide, and then release what is essentially a very little hiccup. but i still have to give her the treat. she doesn’t know the difference, not really.

always delighted to be woken up by you, wiggles her feet and starts licking her lips and looking up at you like “!!!! hello!!! omg!!! wow!!! a delight!!!”

doesn’t know the cats don’t like her. will trot up to Frisk and give what is in her mind a very polite little kiss on her nose before trotting away, oblivious to the offended growl she’s just elicited.

MUST BE PET. HOW ELSE WILL SHE KNOW SHE IS LOVED. MUST BE PET AT ALL TIMES NOW EVERYWHERE PLEASE.

...

realizing i could write a book about how much i love this deaf fucker

[sian22redux]

Writers M-Thing

I was tagged by the wonderful @dawnfelagund  thank you! ^_^

Name:  Given: Sian, Diminutive: Sally  (its a welsh thing) Nickname: Mustang..for Mustang Sally because our survival suits in the field are made by Mustang  (thanks 1993 field crew--you all know who you are!) Age: 53 Pronouns: she/her Height: 5'9" Nationality: Canadian Birthday: 13 May 1965 Aesthetic: A good friend who had to choose my character double at a party picked Katherine Hepburn.  I admit it fits: my personal style tends toward the tailored but independent, happy to take risks and able to be feisty in a man’s world, but romantic at heart.  I am a geologist-- and nature, it’s beauty and majesty, figures fairly heavily in my work.   I adore graphic and landscape art, and spiritual representations of nature.  I adore flowers, I always keep some by my bedside, and the secateurs hang by the backdoor.  My home is from 1920s, it has an Art Deco feel but livened with colour--blue, ochre, red--Inuit Art from places where I’ve worked.  The movers complained we had too many books. Our current major decorating debate is whether my dh’s mid-life-crisis-canoe should hang in our livingroom.  (No....)

Last Song You Listened To: Seasons of Love from Rent

Favorite Characters You’ve Written (in no particular order):

Faramir, Captain of Gondor (Lotr)

Steve, Brock, Bucky and Clint (Marvel)

T’gellan (Dragonriders of Pern)

 Geithin (Pride)

Of my original characters, I have such fun with Amerith, Duchess of Lossarnach,  I am super fond of my little pack of Ithilien Rangers; especially Renil, their field medic; Madril-Faramir’s world-weary SoC, and scouts Torgil and Malec.  And in the in progress fantasy--Melandre, my beleagured, hanging-on-by-her-fingertips ruler, navigating a literal and political firestorm.  

What Inspired You to Write:

I am not really sure.  Boredom?  I began writing in the back of Grade 6 English class, doing fanfic before the genre had really been invented but then put it down again while I pursued my academic career for 25 years.  The need to write came back again a few years ago--this time motivated by what PJ did to one of my favourite characters--so in that sense spite!!  ^_^

Favorite Aspects of Your Current Writing:

I write imagery and landscape and atmosphere well. I try hard to characterize realistically in terms of psychological motivation, conflict, influence. My natural style is fairly poetic and heavy with allusion but I can drop out and into modern grit when needed and almost need it as a relief valve from the former.

Favorite Types of Stories:

I love character-driven stories, particularly with deeply layered backstories, of whatever genre.  I adore fantasy, and classic SF, and historical dramas, and modern thrillers, and..and..  . I love words, the sound of them, their flow and link, and one of my favourite comments ever was from a reader who said it was as if the characters I wrote were dancing across the page.  I love myth and fable that intersect with the natural world, that speak to our essential origins on the land.  I love angst and am always a sucker for hurt/comfort in a story--it’s like catnip. 

Biggest Struggle in Regards to Your Current Writing:

a--time and b--plotting.  I have a wonderfully rewarding but intense science career: I am part of a group working on global geodynamics for the UN, it alone could take up every spare moment that isn’t given to family.  It is always a push-pull.  In terms of plotting I think the modern whirl--demands of family, raising a teen, work, friends etc etc hampers being able to concentrate properly for good plotting.  I can’t do it in piecemeal snippets and need a quiet uninterrupted chunk of time--hence it takes me a long time to produce stuff.   I do remember commissioning a vid 18 mo ago for a fic that hasn’t dropped yet!  And I want to do more nonfiction..but...C’est la vie.

If you want to play, repost and answer the questions. I’ll tag @weirdlet, @mostlyhydratrash, @winters-beauty , @theycallmebecca, @mycapt-ohcapt, @mythlorn,  @vanimore, @edoraslass,  @levade, @keiliss..  But also, anyone who wants to consider yourself tagged.

[onepunchman]

Currently Soliciting Book Recommendations

Finally got around to setting up some of those library apps on my phone and I’m looking for stuff to read (or listen to, really), both fiction and nonfiction

I was originally going to have a detailed list of preferences but it’s been a long time since I was a really voracious reader and my tastes have probably changed enough that I don’t want to preemptively rule out too many things. (corollary to this is that I’m really likely to just drop things on petty grounds if I’m not enjoying myself)

very generally though for fiction I lean toward fantasy, including “sci-fi” that effectively reads like fantasy (as opposed to heavily premise-driven “hard” sci-fi)

for nonfiction I’m most interested in history/economics/politics

High preference will be given to books available through NYPL as audiobooks, followed by free ebooks. if I have to pay for it or go digging for it, it’s unlikely I’ll get around to it any time soon.

[brigdh]

Weekly Reading

Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie. The third and final book in the Imperial Radch trilogy. The plot remains on Athoek Station, a relative backwater that now sees itself caught in the midst of a civil war. The inhabitants choose sides, jockey for position, but mostly just try to live their normal lives. The politics of control, of political representation, and of protesting are central to the book, including one heart-stopping moment that calls back to the spoilery heart of Ancillary Justice, replayed now with citizens of the empire instead of half-conquered colonials. I was reminded of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, but unfortunately human history is such that there are plenty of other massacres Leckie might have been referencing. Or perhaps she had no specific incident at all in mind; the rules of colonialism and imperialism mean there are only so many ways disagreement can play out. There is a continued focus on the question of identity and what makes a person a person. Several characters are introduced or receive bigger roles who question the boundaries of personhood: AIs like Breq once was but who want to claim citizenship while still existing as ships; an AI that runs a station and is struggling against her overly controlling programming; an AI from a different culture; a human raised by aliens who has extremely different worldviews, concepts of selfhood, and even bodily functions; a human whose mind was temporarily reprogrammed and is struggling to make a coherent personality out of two entirely different sets of memories. All of them, in one way or another, build relationships, make choices, and eventually claim their rights. Ancillary Mercy finds a balance between the two previous books. Whereas Ancillary Justice was a grand, galaxy-spanning novel and Ancillary Sword told a small, personal story, this one is in the middle: Breq wins an important battle and changes the lives of those around her, but it is (for now, at least) a very local development, influencing relatively few people. Which is not to say this book is all serious analysis of colonialism, because there is some extremely delicious tropey goodness here: a character thinks she's been left behind in the midst of battle and has resigned herself to death when her friends arrive at the last minute to rescue her because OF COURSE they would never abandon her! Platonic bedsharing and cuddling! A character who's convinced she's unloveable has multiple others forcibly telling her 'no, you dummy, we love you SO MUCH'! It's excellent stuff, y'all. I've loved this trilogy so much. It's thoughtful and thrilling and sad and uplifting and full of engaging characters and repressed emotions and complex worldbuilding. My only complaint is that Ann Leckie hasn't already written a hundred more books for me to dive into immediately. Queer City: Gay London from the Romans to the Present Day by Peter Ackroyd. A nonfiction book on, well, you've got it right there in the subtitle. Though despite its claim, the major focus is the 1600s to late 1900s, which: fair enough. There's many fewer available records before that, and Ackroyd probably assumed most people are already familiar with the history of the 20th and 21st centuries. Since I tend to find recent history boring (I AM SO TIRED OF HOLLYWOOD'S MULTITUDE OF WWII MOVIES) I was personally more than all right with this decision. It's a short book to cover two thousand years, or even only four hundred. Which unfortunately results in Queer City reading like a trivia book, a long list of short paragraphs about "here's a king who was rumored to have sex with men; here's two women who were buried together; here's an AMAB person who was arrested for wearing dresses", with little analysis or narrative threads connecting one incident to another. Ackroyd also relies heavily on judicial records, which again: fair enough. I'm not sure there's a better way to access the history of the lower classes, particularly if you want the sort of information that will give you exact street addresses to map onto modern London. But it does mean that this history comes off like a endless recitation of rape, pediophilia, and prostitution. The fact that this seems to provide supporting evidence for the worst sort of homophobia isn't really Ackroyd's fault, but it is depressing. I would have liked more focus on how queerness was conceived of by the people of the various time periods, though I realize that's probably the hardest thing to get at in all of history. Particularly in the records of a trial, you're just not going to get someone asking the accused, 'please explain your philosophy of gender in clear terms'. Alas. I'll have to keep searching for the possibly-impossibly book that does delve into that mystery. Overall it's not a bad book, but it could have been so much better. I read this as an ARC via NetGalley.

(This is actually from last week, but I just realized I forgot to crosspost it! Also: DW link for easier commenting)

[sp4c3-0ddity]

rueitae replied to your post

“Lance is the only Paladin i cannot imagine sitting down to read a book...”

Well now I’d like to know which genre you think each paladin prefers. (For science of course). Challenge now accepted to think of what might get lance to read something other than comic books.

@rueitae yes i’m glad you asked!!

Disclaimer:  these are headcanons (so feel free to add to/contradict something)

Pidge is the prototypical fantasy and science fiction geek that loves stuff on an epic scale even if it requires some investment, though she’ll give a hard pass to anything that has any kind of scientific inaccuracy - speculative or not - in it (even if the inaccuracy crops up halfway through the book). She likes worldbuilding...and also has a fondness for comic books and video game novelizations. And it wouldn’t be Pidge if she didn’t also like reading nonfiction, particularly about technology and the history of technology

Keith’s taste overlaps with Pidge’s, but he doesn’t have the energy/time to invest in sweeping epic series so prefers stand-alone novels. He likes the sword-fighting heroes and heavily relates to the abandoned orphans rampant in fantasy, and he loves the adventure in speculative fiction (fantasy/sci fi alike). He also likes true crime stories and any alien/extraterrestrial conspiracies not cryptid. Naturally he hasn’t read anything ‘popular’, and Pidge and Hunk (and even Lance) are horrified when they find out he hasn’t read Harry Potter (which ends up being the first series on the Paladin Reading List)

Hunk will read just about anything that catches his interest within the first ten or so pages, but even if it doesn’t he’ll give it a chance. (Once begun, he has to finish the book even if it kills him.) He has a preference for dystopian fiction (*cough* like the Balmera *cough*), and has an eye for character inconsistencies in particular. He prefers character-driven to plot-driven stuff. He likes stories with a romantic subplot too, so long as it’s not the main focus. Also, he reads cook books for fun and for planning, because it wouldn’t be Hunk if he didn’t. He’s also That One Guy that will read the instruction manual before he starts using a new appliance, but even he thinks that’s less fun

Shiro likes historical things, from historical fiction to biographies. He likes adventure-y things just fine, and prefers science fiction (because space travel) over fantasy. He at least tries to take an interest in what everyone else is reading, even if he doesn’t personally like it. Will buy any books on astronomy he can get his hands on...though he has to hide them before Pidge can find and steal them

Allura actually likes political thrillers, provided there’s a side of action/adventure and even romance. She likes laughing (and groaning) at the characters’ mistakes, and she feels very strongly - whether positively or negatively - about the Heroes and the Villains. She sees stories as a form of escapism and feels guilty about that so doesn’t indulge in reading as much as she’d like. She’ll also read fantasy or science fiction that one of the others recommends, and like Keith she gets Very Angry, Very Fast when something unjust happens to her favorite character

Coran likes to relax with some feel-good ‘contemporary’ literature, with some everyday life drama. He’d rather not read about awful things (like war) because he lives it, but he’s more than happy with a good quality murder mystery. A lot of the astronomy books that Shiro takes are his (he does get them back provided Pidge doesn’t also catch a peek), and he reads wildly outdated ethnographies to prepare for diplomatic missions (Allura pretends to listen to him because she’s aware that most of the information he’s giving her is now useless). And heist/conspiracy novels?? his Favorites

Lance, of course, prefers comic books, but he has read Harry Potter and a few other popular children’s series (thanks to encouragement from his family). Some of the others try to get him to read more - Keith, fully aware of his effect on Lance, even challenges him to see who can finish the same book faster. But when most of their methods failed, Pidge finally discovered that the way to get him interested is to read to him...and the way to convince him to read for himself is to stop in the middle of an action-heavy bit so he just Has to Know what happens next

[praximeter]

I personally love fake history style fics and the level of detail you use in night war (along with amazing well thought out description of Bucky's inner monologue) really pulls me in and enhances the raw feelings Bucky has. I really want to get across that I love your style of writing as it gives a better understanding of all the stakes at play in buckys situation from major incidents to little asides about social expectations etc. 1/2

So what I’m trying to get at is that I admire the amount of research you do for this series and was wondering if you had any favourite resources (documentaries, books, forums, sites) or anecdotes about ww2 era that you found useful/ interesting or enjoyed most? Any recommendations at all to check out for this era/subject thankyou. 2/2

Hey anon! Thanks for writing in, and thanks for your kind comments! 💕 I’m so happy you’re enjoying the story. 

Let me apologize in advance for the absurd and hilarious length of this answer. I’ve been meaning to do a “research, sources, and methods” post for a while for meta reasons, and, well, here it is.

My primary source of research material is definitely books, but there are a lot of amazing resources online including material published by the U.S. Government (reports, publications, etc.) that helps me be as accurate as possible when it comes to troop movements, etc. There are about a thousand documentaries out there about the war, but you can’t go wrong with Ken Burns’ The War or World War II in Color. 

My favorite single-volume history of WWII is probably Inferno: The World at War, 1939-1945 by Max Hastings. It covers all theaters and it draws very heavily on primary source material–journals and messages and even letters taken from the bodies of soldiers. Its focus is on the human experience of the war rather than on a detailed military history (X brigade of Y Corps marched Z kilometers to fight a pitched battle…etc.). One of my favorite bits from that book (of which some parts made it into The Night War) is this:

“The ground for fifty yards outside is MUD—six inches deep, glistening, sticky, holding pools of water,” gunner office John Guest wrote home. “Great excavations in the mud, leaving miniature alps of mud, show where other tents have been pitched in the mud, and moved on account of the mud to other places in the mud. The cumulative psychological experience of mud… cannot be described.” [p.447]

As much as I wanted to just plagiarize this entire letter, I tried to evoke the horrible exhaustion of the mud in a few places in The Night War, such as:

I want is quiet, just some quiet and rest and to be warm with no fucking rain and no mud and no mortars but most of all I want this to be over. [September 27, 1943)

Freak accident with mortar tube in Harry’s squad and we have two dead because of I think a malfunction with mud or something I don’t know. [October 11, 1943]

Short on rations as it has been impossible conditions—this fucking mud—and we did not get resupplied before this assault so me, Glenn and Castellano have been going to each foxhole to take stock of what we have and split the difference as needed. Which means my own foxhole is a mud pit, these little shits better be grateful. [October 13, 1943]

Another great resource for writing about Bucky’s Sicily/Italy campaign was The Liberator: One World War II Soldier’s 500-Day Odyssey from the Beaches of Sicily to the Gates of Dachau by Alex Kershaw, who is really more of a pop historian than an academic like Hastings. Nonetheless, he writes on a lot of different WWII-era subjects that are all focused on individual stories, and his works are great gateway books into more rigorous nonfiction about the war. 

I’m including below a list that is not comprehensive but rather represents some of the works I’ve either found most helpful in writing The Night War or I just plain enjoyed. I’m so sorry anon, this is not what you were probably looking for!

[holy hell is there a lot under this cut]

Military History

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer

A definitive history by a guy who was the CBS reporter stationed in Berlin in the late 30s.

Inferno: The World At War, 1939-1945 by Max Hastings

My personal favorite single-volume history, and one that inspired a number of the Commandos’ experiences, such as their encounter with the Czechoslovakian family (Jan and Alžběta) near Kozmice (Operation Umbrella). The focus on Alžběta’s fear for her daughters and the risk of violence she perceived to them came directly from some of the stores in Inferno about Italian civilians who were brutalized and raped by “liberators.”

The Memoirs of Field-Marshal Kesselring by Albert Kesselring

Interesting to read the German perspective, though I admit I mostly skimmed this. Kesselring is one of those guys who got bizarrely recast as a “Good German” after the war, like Rommel, but he committed war crimes in Italy. And he was a Nazi, so.

The Few: The American “Knights of the Air” Who Risked Everything to Fight in the Battle of Britain by Alex Kershaw

Again, more pop history, but there was some good stuff in this one about the day-to-day experiences of RAF pilots, though almost none of that made it into The Night War.

With Wings Like Eagles: A History of the Battle of Britain by Michael Korda

A pretty good, quick primer on the Battle of Britain. Some details from this book made it into The Night War but only in terms of things that Bucky observes (like signs being missing at railway stations).

Overlord: D-Day and the Battle for Normandy by Max Hastings

Hastings is a really superb writer. I didn’t read this cover to cover but I did take some inspiration from it for the Commandos’ Normandy campaign (June 1944 to July 1944).

The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan

Another classic about D-Day.

The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945 by Rick Atkinson

Another great history - this is the third in his three-volume history of the war.

Soldiers’ Experiences

Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest by Stephen A. Ambrose

A classic for a reason. This is the basis for the wonderful HBO series Band of Brothers, which is highly recommended and probably kickstarted my love of the era way back when I saw it at 11 years old.

Citizen Soldiers: the U.S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Surrender of Germany by Stephen A. Ambrose

Another classic. A great look at the individual experiences of the actual men who fought the war. 

Forgotten: The Untold Story of D-Day’s Black Heroes, At Home and at War by Linda Hervieux

This is a primer on the institutionalized racism of the segregated U.S. armed forces and the experiences of black soldiers, though it is by no means comprehensive as it focuses on a single unit. Still, I took some inspiration from this book about what Gabe may have witnessed or experienced himself during his training.

The Liberator: One World War II Soldier’s 500-Day Odyssey from the Beaches of Sicily to the Gates of Dachau by Alex Kershaw

Focuses on a specific commander in the 45th Infantry Division (The “Thunderbirds”) who had a remarkable journey through the war that in some ways mirrored Bucky’s. Kershaw writes pop history but there were some amazing details in this book I used to help flesh out the campaigns in Sicily and Italy especially.

The Road to Victory: The Untold Story of Race and World war II’s Red Ball Express by David P. Colley

Understanding the convoy system was helpful for logistical reasons but also, it gave some flavor to Gabe’s experiences as well. There is one mention of the Red Ball Express in The Night War, after Bucky is injured during Operation Goodwood and is back in England (July 29, 1944):

Thank god for the best friend anybody ever had. Steve busted me out of the clink (this makes the second time)—the sappy bastard tried to carry me like I was his fainting dame. I said no dice pal and hopped along as best I could until we made it outside and there was Gabe with a truck waiting like he was my own personal red ball express.

Politics

Never Surrender: Winston Churchill and Britain’s Decision to Fight Nazi Germany in the Fateful Summer of 1940 by John Kelly

Honestly, had nothing to do with The Night War but I read it because Summer 1940 is one of my favorite stretches of the war and this was a really interesting way to imagine the “what if?” had Britain not held fast against the Nazis.

Citizens of London: The Americans Who Stood with Britain in Its Darkest, Finest Hour by Lynne Olson

One of my favorite WWII historical books ever. It does a stunning job at “setting the stage” of London during the early days of the war.

Resistance Efforts

A Train in Winter: An Extraordinary Story of Women, Friendship, and Resistance in Occupied France by Caroline Moorehead

Probably my favorite book written on the French resistance, full stop. The character of Geneviève Marcel was strongly inspired from some of the incredible women featured in this book.

Village of Secrets: Defying the Nazis in Vichy France by Caroline Moorehead

Did not like this as much as Moorehead’s other work, but it did inspire a really fun Commandos mission that never made it to the final story - basically, the Commandos found themselves in a remote French village in the fall of 1944 and had to organize an ad hoc defense of the village along with several French maquis, who were mostly just boys aged 15-20. Naturally, the Commandos kicked ass and there were some great scenes with Bucky teaching the boys to box and to shoot a rifle. Sadly, it had to get cut for logistics reasons.

Avenue of Spies: A True Story of Terror, Espionage, and One American Family’s Heroic Resistance in Nazi-Occupied France by Alex Kershaw

This book was a little weak on its sources (in my opinion) but it did a good job of evoking what it was like to live and operate in Occupied Paris, which obviously became important in March 1944 for the Commandos.

Sabotage, Espionage, Code-Breaking, & Special Operations

The Women Who Lived for Danger: The Women Agents of SOE in The Second World War by Marcus Binney

This book isn’t that well-written, but it gave me some great ideas for Howling Commandos missions. Sadly, several of those ideas – sabotaging a submarine, for example – never made the final cut. I read this book because I was fleshing out my headcanon for Peggy, whom I imagined to have been part of the SOE prior to joining the SSR. In my headcanon, she’s the one who extracted Dr. Erskine from the Continent, and she got a lot of her training from the various SOE training stations.

Church of Spies: The Pope’s Secret War Against Hitler by Mark Riebling

Honestly, this book was just fun. I liked the little window into German operations and resistance efforts and it also gave me some great insight into the backstabbing, lack of trust, and unhealthy rivalries inside the Reich, which I used in determining how the Hydra organization might function had it been real.

Rogue Heroes: The History of the SAS, Britain’s Secret Special Forces Unit That Sabotaged the Nazis and Changed the Nature of War by Ben McIntyre 

Some good stuff on how small special operations units actually operated during the war.

The Secret Lives of Codebreakers: the Men and Women Who Cracked the Enigma Code at Bletchley Park by Sinclair McKay

The inspiration for Peggy’s sister Gwendolyn came from this book. Plus, it’s a very easy, readable primer on codebreaking and Bletchley Park as compared to some of the other tomes that are out there.

Between Silk and Cyanide: A Codemaker’s War, 1941-1945 by Leo Marks 

The Cost of Courage by Charles Kaiser

This was the inspiration for Geneviève Marcel’s family’s story.

The Holocaust

So, I studied the Holocaust a little in college and so I don’t have a list of all my sources for it (though the Holocaust doesn’t really play a role in The Night War until February 1945), but here are a few good ones:

Art from the Ashes, edited by Lawrence L. Langer

An amazing collection of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry written about the Holocaust and by Holocaust survivors.

Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi

One of the best memoirs on the subject.

The Night Trilogy by Elie Wiesel

This had an enormous impact on my understanding of survivor’s guilt and the exploration of one’s psyche following traumatic experiences.

War and Genocide: A Concise History of the Holocaust by Doris L. Bergen

Kapò, an Italian film about a young Jewish woman in a concentration camp.

Conspiracy, a film about the Wannsee conference.

Miscellaneous

When Books Went to War: The Stories that Helped Win World War II by Molly Guptill Manning

Learned from this book that the single most-read book by American GIs was A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, which, fittingly, I had Bucky read in September ‘43 and send a letter to his mother asking her to buy it for Curly for her birthday. 

The Arsenal of Democracy: FDR, Detroit, and an Epic Quest to Arm an America At War by A.J. Baime

There’s a pithy saying about the war that goes like this: “The war was won because of Russian blood, British Intelligence, and American Industry.” Something like 40% of all American industrial output went to arming the other Allies. It’s CRAZY. And the story of how that industry ramped up from 1940 through the end of the war is really interesting, and this one in particular I really enjoyed. Anyway, the only thing from this book that really ended up in The Night War was this:

I remember Castellano in my face yelling “whatever fucking happened to a goddamn bomber an hour?”  right after another stuka strafed us not even twenty yards away and Harry yelling “bombers are expensive Frank, you aren’t!” 

Fiction

Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky

Amazing contemporaneous fiction written about the French experience in the early years of the war and occupation. The author was a Russian Jew immigrant and was ultimately deported and killed in Auschwitz. Her daughter discovered this unfinished manuscript and published it in the early 2000s.

Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fallada

A fictional account of a German married couple plotting and executing their own small resistance. 

Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko

One of my favorite books of all time, and one that does an incredible job at imagining the effect of warfare on the human psyche.

Redeployment by Phil Klay

Short stories set in the modern OIF/OEF era.

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

One of the most important books ever written about war (WWI).

The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien

Another of the most important books ever written about war (Vietnam).

[queerpunkqueerdesign]

Queer Punk in America

By Brycen Beam /// Queer Designs for Living in My America 2017

Queer punk is a vein of Punk music that separated itself to focus on confronting the violence and prejudice against LGBTQ, racialized, and otherwise deviant communities and individuals. Developed in the mid-1980s, what has grown to be known as Queercore brought gay musicians and audience members into their own niche genre, where lyrics and front-members speak to topics of gender identity and sexuality. Their experiences had an outlet with a receiving end. Frustration with not being heard as different individuals was a growing issue within the punk community. The creation of the sub-genre Queer Punk, still based in the morale of punk but with a wider queer lens, allowed space for, as Visual Vitriol quotes,“freaks” to come together via zines, writing, and music. HOMOCORE is a prime example of what writing and collectivity gave Queer Punks of late 1980s and early 1990s.

To be specific about what the term “queer” means in Queer Punk, it means the stereotyped aggression of punk, sometimes about gender and sexuality, but it also means unfolding the intersections of gender, race, sexuality, class and what it looks like to bring these unspoken aspects of the world (socially, within and outside the punk scene). So queerness looks a lot like sexuality and gender, but it speaks to those (like Poly Styrene, for example) who yelled about things swept under the rug in common places.

The terms “gay” and “lesbian” were used heavily in discussing queer 80s punk, unlike today where “queer” has been reclaimed throughout LGBTQ communities. Keep in mind that Queer Punk, as spoken by the punks who lived this era via interviews and alternative dialogues, is a term used to describe the pre-1980s punk generation; the term “queer” was not widely used then as it is today, but is often used as a retrospective descriptor of those times. The dynamic of punk post-1981 shifted into a new generation, where punk politics were complicated by old generation and new generation crossing paths.  

Dave Dictor of Millions of Dead Cops (MDC) explains the separation of 1970s and 1980s punk generations. MDC was closer to the 1970s punk rock "freak revolution" than what started coming out in the early 1980s, like Minor Threat and SSDecontrol. "A lot of those people didn't have the spirit of '81... They didn't have the empathy or connection to the stuff that was pre-1980, which was definitely a lot more open-minded about sexuality than what came out of '82-'84. The hardcore scene was rather homophobic," Dictor explains (Ensminger 159).

Queer Punk, or Queercore, can take form in multiple mediums, from writing music, to curating zines, to nonfictional reporting, to activist spaces (like Queer Nation that birthed the LGBTQ+ center in NYC in the early 1990s). But here, the most infamously known part of Queer Punk are the outcasts of the outcasts, the victims of a sexist, racists, homophobic, transphobic punk scene of the 1980s. The Queer Punk era excluded only those who excluded them. It was not limited to strictly gays, but served as a platform for revolt against oppression, much like the earliest days of punk across the U.K. and eventually America.

An excerpt from the first page of the first edition of Homocore, edited by Tom Jennings and Deke Motif Nihilson, speaks to the notion of inclusivity and accessibility of the (then developing) Queer Punk scene of the late 1980s.

“You don’t have to be a homo to read or have stuff published in Homocore. One thing everyone in here have in common is that we’re all social mutants; we’ve outgrown or never were a part of any of the ‘socially acceptable’ categories. You don’t have to be gay; being different at all, like straight guys who aren’t macho shitheads, women who don’t want to be a punk rock fashion accessory, or any other personal decision that makes you an outcast is enough. Sexuality is an important part of it, but only part” (Tom Jennings, editor of Homocore)

A lot of which speaks to queerness or deviancy in society is highlighted in zines of the 1980s through the days of today. Works from multitudes of identities and individuals is displayed in Homocore, and queer zines to follow, took hold until about the late 1990s, when Queer Punk began to fade into a genre of hardcore that took on more liberal "face value" ethics on queerness (David Ensminger, Visual Vitriol pp165). Those who submit to these zines also stand against the hatred and fear spewed by bigots, homophobes, racists, etc. outside of the punk community, but also within the community.

It’s important to note that the punks who say homophobic things and racist things are punks who say they are politically aware and supposedly “cool” -- reflecting the ego of 1980s punk rockers. Acts of bigotry were addressed in this active separation and expression of otherness. These collective zines and queer musicians are actively speaking against the anger and fear spewed by “traditional” punks. Queer Punk is the umbrella under which safety took hold, away from the complications of a new generational punk.

It is hard to point to a single year and say “this is when Queer Punk began” -- it happened over intervals of time, slowly realizing itself through the exposure of anti-gay tendencies of punk. But to place it in a ballpark time-frame, mid-late 1980s through the mid 1990s were when these conversations of queerness were taking place. The term “queer” was not very popular in describing homosexuality/trans identities, or even queer people as we know them today, until the late 1980s when queer activists and scholars began to reclaim the word from its original slur. Punks did not refer to the genre Queer Punk as a homosexual movement against normalcy, but rather a collective of “freaks” who moved from a scene they felt disconnected from. Their version of “queer” meant freakish and social mutation, according to David Ensminger’s chapter six of Visual Vitriol.

Expressed in Ensminger's text is a higher sense of self that was developed through punk and hardcore. There was a load of inspiration taken away from the older generation of punk to the new generation to explore pockets of life beyond music. This inspiration was posed through political lyrics and ideologies expressed within the community, similar to Aaron Effort's perspective on coming out within the punk rock community. Effort was the guitarist of Go! -- he states "being openly gay in punk rock made him a 'stronger person because in regular life you're not forced to stand up for any morals. You're not forced to think ideologically or to use your mind' (Evac et al. 1990)" (Ensminger 159).

[gigglesndimples]

Book Review: The Hunt for Timothy Leary

Ever see one of those action-adventure flicks where the writers try to stuff everything in, including the kitchen sink? You know, the big-budget buddy movie with exotic locales, international intrigue, improbable exploits, white-knuckle action sequences, witty dialogue, rapid-fire editing and lots of celebrity cameos? And then they blow your mind by insisting it’s based on a true story?

Authors Steven L. Davis and Bill Minutaglio

Bill Minutaglio and Steven L. Davis’ The Most Dangerous Man in America: Timothy Leary, Richard Nixon and the Hunt for the Fugitive King of LSD (their previous book, Dallas 1963, received a PEN Center literary award for research nonfiction in 2014) doesn’t read like a nonfiction book as much as it feels like watching the film version of a book. It’s set in the circa-1970 era of antiwar protests, riots and terrorist attacks.

American society was fracturing as the unpopular war in Vietnam fueled dissent. The Weather Underground, the Black Panther Party and other revolutionary groups viewed violence as “by any means necessary.” In the middle of this commotion was a mild-mannered former Harvard professor turned psychedelic evangelist, Dr. Timothy Leary.

A consummate showman, Leary spent years promoting the use of psychedelics, in particular LSD, and free love to the outrage of establishment America. First at an estate in Millbrook in upstate New York, then in Laguna Beach, Calif., he offered a psychedelic-driven message with catchphrases like “turn on, tune in, drop out” and “question authority.” To hippies, he was a sybarite philosopher king, a celebrity messiah of all things groovy. To President Richard Nixon and his supposed “Silent Majority,” Leary symbolized all they couldn’t stand in the cultural and political upheavals of the time.

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Nixon hated hippies and the drugs they used. “We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities,” his counsel John Ehrlichman acknowledged in 1994. Law enforcement savaged antiestablishment groups and activists with harassment and bogus prosecutions, including FBI director J. Edgar Hoover’s secret COINTELPRO program of infiltration and provocation.

EXCERPT: “Catching his breath, bracing for shouts and barks and bullets, Tim skitters in circles in the dark until he finally spots his glasses near the fence. Jamming them on, he crouches and begins running serpentine style until he suddenly caroms down a rocky hill.”

Though the book’s title and Leary’s reputation hang on LSD, its plot and most of its pages are driven by weed. After his appeal of a pot bust for two roaches in 1968 got the federal Marihuana Tax Act ruled unconstitutional—it was replaced by the Controlled Substances Act of 1970—Leary was sentenced to 10 years in California prisons. The outrage of the punishment inflamed Leary’s followers, and the Weather Underground helped him escape from a minimum-security prison in 1970.

Leary eluded capture for 28 months while traveling to three continents. The backbone of the book is the high-stakes cat-and-mouse game between him and the mercurial former Black Panther leader Eldridge Cleaver, who harbored him in Algeria. Eventually, authorities seized Leary in Switzerland in 1972.

Like any crowd-pleasing stoner blockbuster, the jokes, the joints, the celebrities and insights keep coming. This thrill-ride of a book not only satisfyingly chugs across the finish line at breakneck speed, it crystalizes both the establishment and the antiestablishment moods of the era—which have similarities with today’s. Even those who lived through the ’60s and ’70s will be amazed at how dangerous America actually was back then, and how the true story of Leary’s exploits was even wilder than any Hollywood fiction writer could have ever imagined.

Related Articles

From Yippie to Yuppie: ’60s Activist Jerry Rubin

The Moody Blues’ “Legend of a Mind (Timothy Leary’s Dead)”

Movie Review: “Dying to Know: Ram Dass and Timothy Leary”

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[wildcherrypepsihero]

1-100 please! And have a good day! :)

Holy CRAP! THANK YOU! Seriously, you can PM me your url if you want some asks sent your way! You’re too kind :)

1. Is a kiss considered cheating? Yeah, I think so. I’m pretty much uncomfortable with hand-holding or long hugs/cuddly with anyone but my SO. I’ve tolerated it before for friends who are going through stuff, but I really enjoy personal space. I would be pretty uncomfortable if Marty did anything cuddly with someone else, too. Kissing is pretty over-the-line for me.

2. Have you ever faked an orgasm? Hasn’t everyone? Yes, I have.

3. If you could have one superpower, what would it be? Deafness at will?Like the ability to create total silence. I get overwhelmed pretty easily, and I hate a lot of noises, so it’d be nice to shut it out sometimes!

4. Do you think you are going to be rich in 7-8-9 years? Absolutely not!

5. Tell us some funny drunk story. I don’t drink, sorry!

6. Why are you no longer together with your ex? He was a douche and was only interested in me for sex. Which was super gross because he was a lot older than me.

7. If you had to choose one way to die, what would it be? Old age. Painless.

8. What are your current goals? I have a ton of goals right now!!! I want to get a cartilage piercing, I want to lose weight, I want to get straight A’s, I want to get a tattoo I want to make new friends, I want to become more involved with my religion, I want to save up for my gap year between undergrad and grad school, and I want to make the most of my time between now and when I graduate!

9. Do you like someone? Been dating the love of my life for almost three years!

10. Who was the last person to disappoint you? I’m trying not to hold grudges about it. It’s already in the past!

11. Do you like your body? Sometimes! I’m a lot less mean to myself than I used to be.

12. Can you keep a diet? I’ve never dieted! I’m good at eating well, though!

13. If the whole world listened to you right now, what would you say? I’d agonize over it for a long time, but I’d draft a speech on how important knowledge is and try to talk about acceptance and stuff. The political scene is rough right now.

14. Do you work? Yep! I’m a paid intern at school for English, and I’m a carpenter over the summers!

15. If you could choose only one food to eat to the rest of your life, what would it be? Does the entire genre of “vegetables” count? If I had to pick one... Maybe broccoli? I really like tomatoes, too.

16. Would you get a tattoo? Yep! I want to get an Italian worker bee on my left wrist.

17. Something you don’t mind spending all your money on? My education!

18. Can you drive? No. My anxiety is pretty easy to hide, but it’s been pretty crippling, too. I wish I could do normal things.

19. When was the last time someone told you that you were beautiful? Today! I was really self-conscious at the beach, but my boyfriend was lovely and texted me encouragement!

20. What was the last thing you cried for? My grandfather who passed away a few years ago.

21. Do you keep a journal? Sort of! I don’t have time to journal or to even write stories on their own, but my planner acts as my journal. It’s one of the most treasured things I own.

22. Is life fun? Absolutely!

23. Is farting in front of people irrelevant? I think farting in public is gross and disrespectful, but in private with people you know is totally fine.

24. What’s your dream car? Convertible VW bug!

25. Are grades in school important? No, as long as you’re learning! In my experience, though, when I’m learning, my grades are good. When I’m not learning, they’re not. But that isn’t the case with everyone!

26. Describe your crush. Dorky, cute, kind. My best friend.

27. What was the last book/movie that really impressed you? A Book of Bees by Sue Hubbell and Hidden Figures!

28. What was your last lie? “No worries!”

29. Dumbest lie you ever told? Any time I told some wildly untrue story in my youth to seem interesting.

30. Is crying in front of people embarrassing? YES.

31. Something you did and you are proud of? I’ve had straight A’s two semesters in a row, I’m publishing multiple articles in TWO journals with my school, and I’m in the Honors program at my university!

32. What’s your favorite cocktail? I don’t drink!

33. Something you are good at? Critical analysis of language!

34. Do you like small kids? Well enough!

35. How are you feeling right now? I’m really tired.

36. What would you name your daughter/son? Noelle/Phillip. Both named after family members.

37. What do you need to be happy? Marty, a good book, a comfy bed, and a job at a university!

38. Is there some you want to punch in the face right now? At any given moment, I’m ready to punch two specific people in the face.

39. What was the last gift you received? My dad got me a bunch of patches for my bag!

40. What was the last gift you gave? I can’t even remember. It was probably for Marty.

41. What was the last concert you went to? Probably Sara Bareilles!

42. Favourite place to shop at? I like stores like Target! I also like Francesca’s.

43. Who inspires you? My mom and my first professor.

44. How old were you when you first got drunk? N/A

45. How old were you when you first got high? N/A

46. How old were you when you first had sex? 19

47. When was your first kiss? My senior year of high school

48. Something you want to do until the end of this year? I have a workout, meal, and overall points plan!

49. Is there something in the past you wish you hadn’t done? I wish I’d taken my English classes more seriously in high school.

50. Post a selfie. I’m horrible at taking pictures. I’m pretty much exactly like this emoji: (ง°ل͜°)ง

51. Who are you most comfortable around? Marty!

52. Name one thing that terrifies you. UNCERTAINTY.

53. What kind of books do you read? Realistic fiction and creative nonfiction. I don’t have a lot of tolerance for ridiculously fictitious stories anymore.

54. What would you tell your 12-year-old self? Life is going to get hard. Learn how to cope with it sooner. Ask your mom for a fucking therapist.

55. What is your favorite flower? Purple coneflowers have had my heart for years, but a lot of bee-friendly flowers have been growing on me.

56. Any bad habits you have? Maybe it’s not a habit more than it is a symptom, but I scratch at my ears until they bleed and clean them until the protective layer of wax is gone and they get infected. Not fun :(

57. What kind of people are you attracted to? Low-maintenance, low-drama dorks.

58. What was the last thing you cried for? I didn’t even notice this was on here twice when I reblogged it.

59. Is there something you don’t eat? Some food that truly disgusts you? I really hate hot fruit and mushy hot vegetables.

60. Are you in love? Yes!

61. Something you find romantic? Laughing together! And cuddling :)

62. How long was your longest relationship? My current one! Almost three years!

63. What are 3 things that irritate you about the same sex? These seem pretty heavily based on stereotypes. Three things that irritate me about PEOPLE are 1. over-dramatic, 2. little to no forethought about most things, 3. UNWILLING TO SOLVE THEIR OWN PROBLEMS THROUGH SIMPLE COMMUNICATION.

64. What are 3 things that irritate you about the opposite sex? See above.

65. What are you saving money for? New apartment things! Cork board, rice steamer, etc.

66. How would you describe your bad side? Stubborn, holds grudges, easily irritated.

67. Are you actually a good person? Why? I think I’m trying really hard to be a good person. I still have a lot of really selfish habits and mindsets, but (weirdly enough) my experiences with religion have helped me change them.

68. What are you living for? My lovely SO and my passion for English and higher education!

69. Have you ever done anything illegal? Nope!

70. Do you like your body? See above? I guess?

71. Have you ever made someone feel bad about themselves intentionally? No, I don’t think so.

72. Ever sent nudes? Nah. The NSA doesn’t need to see anything but my fully-clothed body.

73. Have you ever cheated on someone? ABSOLUTELY NOT.

74. Favourite candy? I really like Butterfingers! And Hostess mini powdered donuts, if those count as candy.

75. Is there a blog you visit every day, or almost every day? Tag it! @barry-bluejeans - I love all that sweet taz content. There are some other taz blogs, too, but I really love this one.

76. Do you play any computer games? What is your favorite game? Starbound, right now! I also adore Stardew Valley.

77. Favorite TV series? I love Brooklyn 99 and Parks and Rec.

78. Are you religious? Does God exist? Uh, yeah! I think I am? I recently got introduced to a really open branch of religion and I’ve been learning a lot. I don’t think there’s a man in the sky who knows everything. I think God is a limited entity that exists in the interactions between people? Like... I don’t know. God is the forgiveness between two people for the initial awkwardness of conversation. God is the need for letting grudges go quickly out of personal growth, not out of charity for the other person. God is the overwhelming sense of calmness we get when we’re out in the quiet of nature. God is the ever-expanding universe getting to know itself, if that makes sense? I dunno. I’m still a little embarrassed about religion, but I really like to explore it in writing lmao.

79. What was the last book you read? Did it impress you and why? A Book of Bees! YES! It was so poetic and peaceful! My copy even had grammatical errors and typos, but I still thoroughly enjoyed the book!!!

80. What do you think about vegetarianism/veganism? Extremely admirable, especially when it’s in protest of the current meat industry.

81. How long have you been on Tumblr? Since my sophomore year of high school, though I’ve deleted a few times to start over.

82. Do you like Chinese food? YES!

83. McDonalds or Subway? Subway, I guess? These are both kind of bad options.

84. Vodka or whiskey? I don’t drink...

85. Alcohol or drugs? Neither... Although I would choose pretty much anything over drugs.

86. Ever been out of your province/state/country? Been out of state, but not out of country (YET!)

87. Meaning behind your blog name? It started out as a vent blog. I deal with a lot of things through humor, so a lot of my reactions to sad relatable posts would be to laugh and then cringe.

89. What are you scared of? Still uncertainty! Also not a big fan of heights.

90. Last time you were insulted? This idiot from school said that I was a bad friend, that my best friend was in love with me, and that my boyfriend was probably cheating on me.

91. Most traumatic experience? It happened a long time ago, I’d rather not answer.

92. Perfect date idea? Cuddling at home! Or going to a museum!

93. Favorite app on your phone? My smartpen’s app! Or garage band!

94. What color are the walls in your room? Green!

95. Do you watch YouTube? Who is your favorite YouTuber? I watch some youtube. I like Animal Wonders Montana and Dollightful!

96. Share your favorite quote. As a word person, I have a lot of favorite quotes, but right now it is the following: “Some beekeepers recommend continuous feeding of all hives in the springtime, arguing that a steady supply of sugar syrup tricks the colony into believing there is nectar flow in progress, which stimulates the queen to lay a greater number of eggs than she normally would. I have tried it but find it unsatisfactory, and have concluded that it is impossible to trick bees. They know their world better than I do.” -Sue Hubbell. There are so many from this book that I adore but this one is one of my favorites.

97. What is the meaning of life? A good book on a beach with the one you love.

98. Do you like horror movies? Yeah, I guess! In small doses.

99. Have you ever made your mum cry? What happened? Probably loads of times in high school. She was terrified that I was never going to get my act together.

100. Do you feel lucky or special in a way? I’m very lucky to have wonderful parents, a perfect monogamous boyfriend, and a passion that I’m good at!

101. Can you keep a secret? I feel like I misnumbered these somehow. Also, some of these are repeats, so fuck it. I’m doing 101. Yes, I can keep a secret, but not from Marty. Thankfully, Marty can also keep a secret.