#writer storyteller myth maker

[thevindicativevordan]

Comics this week?

Action Comics #1057 - If this is the last arc for both the way I suspect I'm going to miss Sandoval just as much as PKJ. Like Sampere and Federeci he's an artist who could be a generational Superman creator but may be getting snatched away too soon. This issue is mainly just an interview between Clark and Norah, and in the hands of a lesser artist it would just be boring talking heads. Sandoval's portrayal of Clark using his powers to detect whether Norah is lying during the interview keeps the tension high, loved how he depicted Clark's x-ray vision and superhearing. Pretty obvious that Norah is an infiltrator sent by the Empire of Shadows (the evil Dark Multiverse Batfamily from the Batman/Superman & the Authority one shot that PKJ did). If this is the ending arc for PKJ, the Superfamily vs. the Evil Batfamily is a great idea for an ending.

Flash #1 - Good first issue, sets up an interesting Speed Force plot even though I've felt worn out on the Speed Force. Been out of the loop with Flash for a while and this did a good job of getting me up to speed (heh). Dedato art isn't a great fit with a speedster - conveying motion is something he's bad at - but it does suit the grim tone. Spurrier is a writer who loves to pack his issues with as much words as he can, which has the upside of making the issue take longer to read. Seems the comic industry is switching back to compression after two decades plus with everyone trying to ape the Bendis decompressed style. It's a welcome change because if you're going to charge me $5 an issue, it damn well better take me longer than 5 minutes to read.

Detective Comics #1074 - Probably my favorite issue of the run thus far, Nguyen is a treasure. Watters needs his own Ten-Eyed Man mini.

The Penguin #2 - The lesser King work with WW on the stands but still good!

Unstoppable Doom Patrol #6 - Burnham draws the hell out of the fight scenes and it was great to see old Morrison characters like Quiz. Kinda the perfect counter to Jane having every superpower ever just doled out to different identities.

Blade #3 - Slows down a bit but the Adana is such a cool bad guy and I'm loving the buildup to Blade's fight. Plus Blade keeps being the coolest motherfucker in the MU.

Immortal Thor #2 - Not feeling the new Loki design and Ewing is struggling with writing fight scenes as always, but man is that art gorgeous otherwise. Thought bubbles are such a perfect choice here because they are the equivalent of Shakespearean English for comics in terms of conveying "this is old school storytelling". Compliments Ewing trying to write a Thor run in the vein of the actual myths.

Avengers #5 - At this point it's a solid run, but not as great as his Strange book. Need to cut back so I'm dropping this.

Ultimate Invasion #4 - Oh boy do I have thoughts! So many I need to bullet point them!

Hickman has flipped the plot from Ultimates 2. Here the 6160 Ultimates are positioned like the 1610 Liberators in that they are going to be fighting to destroy the status quo, with Capitan America presumably leading the charge. Or maybe it will be Black Panther as the leader since he presumably will be housing the Ultimates in the one place not under the Illuminati's control: Wakanda.

Nothing gets erased via time travel which surprised me. For better or worse, this is what the new Ultimate Universe will be. No traditional take on Ultimate Fantastic Four ever since Ben, Sue, and Johnny are all dead and Reed is a good version of Doom. Reed will be on the Ultimates because Hickman can't leave his boy on the sidelines for long. Clearly Hickman will be writing Ultimates since I can't imagine anyone else wanting to write that kind of lineup with this weird a status quo. What the hell an Ultimate X-Men book is going to look like is anyone's guess.

Hickman has three big plotlines seeded here: The Illuminati carving up America and the Ultimates fighting back. The Maker, Kang, and Howard all trapped in the City which is sealed now but will open again one day. Tony Stark is "Iron Lad" which is meant to make us believe he is also Ultimate Kang, whether that's a red herring or a destiny Tony must face one day remains to be seen.

Other big plot thread is that one day the 616 Illuminati are going to make their way to 6160, likely with the help of Miles and that card Maker gave him.

No tease for Spider-Man, maybe that will come with the Ultimate Universe one shot. Either it's going to be Peter Parker because Marvel demands at least one relatively "normal" book to serve as anchor for all this weirdness, or it will be someone entirely new. Saw someone suggest Harry Osborn and fuck that actually could work! I don't think that's ever been done either. My guess is that USM will be a book about either Peter or Harry having been groomed to join the technocrats in ruling the world, but they end up rebelling against that. Most of Spidey's traditional foes are either mad scientists (Norman and Otto would easily fit into this as sub-bosses under Howard who are pissed because the Illuminati stripped them of their old privileges) or science experiments lashing out (Lizard for example).

I see what Hickman is going for here. In our world the techbros wield power equivalent to heads of state, Hickman just flat out made them the actual heads.

It's an interesting setup, but it's weird. I dunno if Marvel fans will get on board with this, it's so utterly at odds with well, everything. It's not 616, it's not the MCU, and it's not 1610. Everything here is taking full advantage of being an alternate universe, and I don't know how Marvel fans will react to that. Another problem is this Ultimate Universe already carries a lot of baggage. Don't know who the Maker is? You're going to be utterly lost with what the hell is going on. Original Ultimate Universe lasted as long as it did because it was easy to get into for newcomers and featured streamlined reimagining of the classic characters for oldheads. Hickman said his new UU would be an inversion of that and he didn't lie.

I'm concerned that approach is going to make this new Ultimate Universe short lived. Say you're one of the countless people who will presumably jump in on Hickman writing Spidey without having read all this beforehand. If Spider-Man is as changed as Iron Man or Reed are, that's going to be a turn off for people because they'll reject how different he is from what they expect.

[aiciacolophotos]

The Moons of Pluto (2021) András Cséfalvay & Lukáš Likavčan

Video 7:27 min

​​A collaborative work between visual artist András Cséfalvay and philosopher Lukáš Likavčan, The Moons of Pluto is an audiovisual commentary on the cosmological role of science. In the spirit of writer Sylvia Wynter, it recuperates the notion of the human as a storyteller and myth-maker as it surveys narratives about ancestrality and cosmic origins in the Western scientific-tradition, usually obscured by the modernist insistence on secular rationality. Elements of astronomy, physics, metaphysics and Earth-system sciences are enacted as planetological figures – the five moons of Pluto (Charon, Kerberos, Nyx, Styx, and Hydra) – whose stories weave together a web of associations that reflect on the cosmic background of the Western culture, and that of science as a discipline.

András Cséfalvay is a visual artist, digital storyteller, and mytho-poet from Bratislava, currently teaching at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava. He studied painting and mathematics and wrote a dissertation on the usefulness and reality of fiction. He delves into the relationship between culture and technology and the political and ethical aspects of listening to non-dominant voices in world interpretation. His latest works look at the relationship between astronomers and indigenous peoples in constructing the Mauna Kea telescopes, the flight of dinosaurs as a technology for survival after extinction, and the reclassification of the planet Pluto. He is a receiver of the Oskar Čepan Young Visual Artist Price, a member of The New Centre for Research and Practice, and a co-founder of the Digital Arts Platform at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava. Lukáš Likavčan is a Global Perspective on Society Postdoctoral Fellow and research affiliate at the Center for AI & Culture at NYU Shanghai. His areas of expertise cover philosophy of technology and environmental philosophy. He is the author of Introduction to Comparative Planetology (Strelka Press, 2019). Previously, Likavčan studied philosophy at Masaryk University and obtained his Ph.D. in environmental studies. He also held visiting research positions at Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University; faculty positions at Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture, and Design as well as the Center for Audiovisual Studies FAMU in Prague.

[truxblooded]

ℂ𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕚𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝔾𝕦𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 ℝ𝕦𝕝𝕖𝕤:

                         🎊🎉Welcome one and all!🎊🎉

To quote a great, but semi crazy psychopathic Clown Prince of Crime: “If you’re good at something never do it for free.” And thus I have opened commissions for the first time, ever!

Like most of you have I work a full-time job, but thanks to the shit economy and “promises” *blatant lies* not being fulfilled from the Annoying Orange in the Oval Office to help out all of us average joes just trying to make ends meet, and now the uncertainty of my job still being there after a far larger grocery chain bought out the one I work for *sobs* I am trying to earn a little more extra income by doing what I have loved to do for the last fifteen plus years of my life (I’m 32) - writing and entertaining many with my writing.

Here is where you will find all of the details for commissions! 

ᴡʜᴀᴛ ɪ ᴄᴀɴ ᴅᴏ ғᴏʀ ʏᴏᴜ:

I write the gambit of varying categories; fluff, smut, angst, action/adventure, horror, Sci-Fi, fantasy, A/B/O, etc. Although I have quite a few hard no’s.  

I will absolutely not write anything containing:

explicit drug use/abuse

domestic violence in graphic nature

child abuse

rape/non-con 

super hardcore BDSM and unsafe BDSM practices (ignoring safe words, zero aftercare)

humiliation/dégradation

overtly graphic over the top ridiculous and otherwise impossible pornography that defies the laws of physics and actual human biology

anything coming close to or resembling 50 Shades of Grey (because let’s be realistic if Christian Grey wasn’t a hot rich white dude, that would have been an entire season’s worth of Criminal Minds episodes)

scat

extreme underage (one or both participants are under the age of 16 years old)

If you are under the age of 18 years of age, please do not commission me for a fic that contains explicit sexual content. Under US law, I would be charged with providing pornographic material to a minor, which (for me) would result in prison time and filing as a sex offender. For my safety and yours, if you are under 18 years of age, please do not request smut. If you request smut and you are under the age of 18 years old but are up front about it, I will negotiate a better fic that involves fluff or angst. If you lie, however, and I find out that you are under the age of 18 and commissioned a smut fic, I will refund you the money and block you. Simple as that. Do NOT do this, kiddos, please.

Please do not put me in a position where I have to restrict my commissions or give it up all together because you can’t get over the actual FUCKING LAW when it comes to 18+ allowances. 

I will negotiate on briefly mentioning or gleaning over something if it pertains to a background bit to give explanation to the story/series/one-shot/drabble plot, but please be respectful of what I will and will not write, as I will be respectful to your commission requests in return.

I write for:

 Marvel Comics/the MCU

X-Men/Deadpool (mentioning these as for now I still don’t consider them canon to the MCU until I see them with the title card)

DC Comics/DCEU 

Batman (Nolan-verse)

Gotham

The Flash (season one and two eras)

Supernatural

Smallville

The Crow (universe mythology)

Criminal Minds

Star Wars

The Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit (book and movie verses)

the Assassin’s Creed video games (bear in mind I have only played up to Unity and am hustling to catch up to Odyssey)

the Fallout video game series (I’ve only played 3 and New Vegas)

Mass Effect video game series (excluding Andromeda)

and Riverdale (I’ve only watched season one)

You’re also more than welcome to ask about whether or not I write for something, just in case I do have some or just enough knowledge of the said show/movie/comic/book in question for me to possibly consider taking the asked commission.

ᴘʀɪᴄɪɴɢ:

Drabbles will run at $3 USD for every 500 hundred words

One-Shots will run at $5 USD per piece || 3K max word count

Series - depending on the length of the requested amount of parts, negotiations can be made - will run at $10 USD

RP Character Sheet Creation will run at $3-$5 USD depending on the amount of depth and detail you want put into the spread

I also offer my services as a beta-reader! Depending on the size of what you would like me to beta for you, or if it’s an ongoing series, we can take a seat at the negotiations table and come about to an arrangement on payment!

I Accept payments through buying me a Ko-Fi ☕ || PayPal || Venmo

If I go above word count (aka, if I write more than what you paid for), you are under no obligation to pay me for the more writing. You should not be penalized by giving me more money just because I have a shitty time keeping to word limits. If you want to pay me for the extra work, that is more than okay, but understand you are under NO obligation to do so. I will not expect it either.

ᴛɪᴘᴘɪɴɢ ɪs ɴᴏᴛ ᴀ ᴄɪᴛʏ ɪɴ ᴄʜɪɴᴀ: 

I kid! I kid! I just stupidly love that goddamn saying so much it’s not even funny... in fact it’s Dad Joke level so #sorrynotsorry. Anywho! If you like what I throw out there for free enjoyment and just good ‘ol story telling entertainment, and would like to leave me a tip, you can do so by buying me a Ko-Fi ☕

Once your transaction has gone through, contact me on either tumblr or my email: Shootingstarko86@hotmail.com - I check both frequently- and either tell me your information (what name you put on Ko-Fi, or what email will show up in my Pay-Pal and or Venmo) or send a screencap of your transaction. Once I have verified your information, we can discuss what you want for your prompt.

You will then have three ways to receive your fic once it is finished. 

I can post it here on Tumblr, tagging you in it of course. 

If you do not want to have this fic published on tumblr, let me know and I will send you a private Google Doc link so only you and those you choose to share this with can enjoy it, or I will send it to your email. 

You can also request to have it published on both, but your name not be mentioned. I will then say it is an anonymous commission and privately link you to the fic once it is posted so you have that confirmation.

You can also request to have it published on my AO3 account! Or you can also request to have all three options!

You are more than welcome to ask for an update on how the work is progressing. Please allow up to two weeks for your fic, if there is an issue I will notify you. If I need more time, again, I will notify you. I do work full time and train full time as an avid 1/2 marathon runner during the beginning of every year, so please bear with me if I notify you on the more time issue.

And that children, about does it. 

I hope and cross my fingers I crossed every possible little detail, if you have questions you are more than welcomed to message me privately or send an ask to my box, or contact me through email @ Shootingstarko86@hotmail.com 📩

TOOᗪᒪEᔕ ᗰY ᑭOOᗪᒪEᔕ!!

[nanowrimo]

How to Use Brain Science to Win NaNoWriMo?

Maayan Sulami is a Tel Aviv-based writer and podcaster, and has been actively invested in NaNoWriMo since 2016. She comes armed with insight into the inner workings of the mind and how a deeper understanding of brain mechanics can give us the tools we need to fine-tune our process and get things running smoothly.

Brain science has explained so much of our behavior patterns over the past decades, and the findings are amazing. Our mind is a complicated machine, but when you know the mechanism, you can use it for your advantage.

NaNoWriMo, being such a huge challenge, makes us rethink our work process and push our boundaries — no better time to combine brain science with writing. Here are the main challenges you might face during NaNo and how you can battle them using mind hacks.

Procrastination

Procrastination is a clash between the prefrontal cortex — the planner and rational decision maker (Basically the Friends character Monica Geller), and the limbic system that wants to feel good right here, right now (aka the instant-gratification seeker, aka the character of Rachel Green). And it’s one of the most dominant parts of the brain! That’s why it wins more often.

We procrastinate when the limbic system wins. Psychologists call this “present bias”; it means we tend to give more weight to payoffs that are closer to the present time. Which means that watching Netflix will most likely win over a writing sprint.

One way to battle this is to have small instant rewards when small tasks are done, and not wait to feel the fulfillment when you finish NaNo or even ‘til the end of the day. Have small rewards throughout the day (get a coffee, take a bath, have a snack) — that way the writing sprint has a chance to beat Netflix.

Another way to bridge Monica and Rachel is to re-create self-trust, meaning starting to close the gap between what I say I'm going to do and what I actually do. Procrastination basically means thinking A and doing B, this creates discomfort in the brain (which means discomfort in your body) and this is called cognitive dissonance. When you do what you actually say you’ll do, that also gives you instant gratification (bc there’s no more dissonance). So when battling with procrastination, try and do the smallest, easiest task on your list; that will make the limbic system happy, and will help with getting the rest of the stuff done.

The Emotional Brain

When we’re sad, anxious, or even dehydrated or sleep-deprived, the brain is lacking resources. In order to get those resources back it’ll take them from other parts — usually the Monica Geller part; the one that makes good decisions. So make sure you self-care: eat well, drink a lot of water, get enough sleep and try to relax (you can use breathing techniques to increase levels of relaxation during the day — apps that are great for that are Headspace and Oak breathing app).

Motivation

Navy Seals sing when they run (“I want to be a Navy Seal'' — google it) and this isn’t just for morale. When they sing, their brain thinks that they’re enjoying it, and it connects that happiness to running. If you help the brain connect writing with pleasure, it’ll be easier for you to actually sit down and write. Like we said, the Rachel Green part is gonna want that immediate pleasure.

A crucial principle to be aware of is that the brain doesn’t do such a great job at differentiating reality from imagination. That’s why we get scared when we watch a horror movie, even though we know there’s no actual danger, or why we salivate imagining eating something delicious (it’s also why “fake it until you make it” is a real thing). This means the brain will believe what you tell it to believe. Repetition is one of the best way to do this, so if you like mantras/affirmations, make a special one for NaNo and your writing challenge and repeat it every morning.

Writer’s Block

Creative thinking is a very mysterious process in the brain. it has nothing to do with the left or right parts of the brain; that’s just a myth. When we create, parts all over the brain are activated. But since it's a very vague concept, it’s harder to explore. However, studies show that imagination and creative thinking are linked with memory. Participants' brains were scanned while they were remembering a past experience, then imagining a possible future experience and then thinking of creative uses for an object. All three actions (remembering, imagining, creating) activated the hippocampus — the part in our brain that creates and stores memories.

They also found that after asking participants to recall a detail in a recently watched video, they were able to come up with more ideas, and the ideas were more versatile. So next time you’re stuck with a creative problem, try to imagine a past experience with as much detail as possible. This might give you a short-term creativity boost to generate more ideas.

Fun Fact About Creativity and Inspiration:

Issac Asimov wrote about 500 novels. In his biography he wrote that he chooses not to wait for inspiration, and if he struggles with a novel, he just does something else instead — writes an article, a manual, a short story, or works on a different novel. This fills him with more motivation to do things. Action begets motivation begets action, not the other way around.

One last word on change. In the past, scientists believed the brain stops changing and evolving when we’re children; now we know that we form new neurons and neuron connections all the time (neuron connection is basically how we think better and faster, how we make decisions, etc). Meaning, our brain can change for the better throughout our lives. It takes effort, but it’s the most important work we’ll do. 😊

References The Willpower Instinct — Kelly Mcgonical Core Network Contributions to Remembering the Past, Imagining the Future, and Thinking Creatively — Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience The Creative Brain — The Dana Foundation

Maayan Sulami is a writer and podcaster presently working on two debut novels; a light romcom and a dark thriller (we’ll see which one is done first). Maayan feels the balance between those two genres basically defines who she is as a person. She loves storytelling and analyzing great stories — which is the subject of her podcast — and she believes she could’ve been this generation’s Lorelai Gilmore if she were just a little taller.

You can find more of Maayan at her blog, Maayanwrites.com, or on insta @maayan_writes. You can also watch her short film on Youtube and read her short story at Sffplanet.com.

Photo by Ashley Batz on Unsplash.

[celestialmazer]

Julie Mehretu, Untitled 2, 1999. Private collection. Courtesy of White Cube. © Julie Mehretu

Julie Mehretu, Hineni (E. 3:4), 2018. Centre Pompidou, Paris, Musée national d’art moderne/Centre de création industrielle; gift of George Economou, 2019. © Julie Mehretu. Photography:Tom Powel Imaging

Julie Mehretu, Mind-Wind Field Drawings (quarantine studio, d.h.) #1, 2019-2020. Private collection, courtesy Marian Goodman Gallery New York/Paris. © Julie Mehretu. Photography courtesy Marian Goodman Gallery

Julie Mehretu, Mogamma (A Painting in Four Parts) Part 1, 2012. Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. © Julie Mehretu. Photography: White Cube, Ben Westoby

Julie Mehretu, Conjured Parts (eye), Ferguson, 2016. The Broad Art Foundation, Los Angeles. © Julie Mehretu. Photography: Cathy Carver

Julie Mehretu, Migration Direction Map (large), 1996. Private collection. © Julie Mehretu. Photography: Tom Powel Imaging

At home with artist Julie Mehretu

CAMILLE OKHIO - 25 MAR 2021

Julie Mehretu speaks with the joy and conviction of someone who has had the freedom to investigate all their interests. Curiosity has led her to the myriad topics, objects and moments that inform her work, among them cartography, archaeology, the birth of civilisation and mycology. Since the 1990s, her practice has expanded outwardly in all directions like a spider web. A lack of understanding and preconceived notions among reviewers have often led to her work being flattened – simplified so that it is easily digestible – but in reality, her work is far from a simplistic investigation of any one topic. It encompasses multitudes.

The artist’s recent paintings are mostly large scale, but her early works on paper (often created with multiple layers – one sheet of Mylar on top of another) are as small as a six-inch square. The works often comprise innumerable minuscule markings – tremendous force and knowledge communicated through delicate inkings and streaks. Their layers reveal, rather than obfuscate. And though Mehretu’s creative process springs from a desire to understand herself better, the work itself is in no way autobiographical. 

Born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on the tails of a continental rejection of colonialism, and raised there, then in Michigan, Mehretu has a flexible and full-hearted understanding of home. It is not one physical place, but many, all holding equal importance. On 25 March, Mehretu will present her first major retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art, with works spanning 1996 to 2019. The institution is an important one for Mehretu, as it played host to several pivotal shows in her youth.

Her exhibition has served as an impetus for Mehretu to look back at her already prolific career, observing and organising the thoughts, questions and answers she has put forth for over two decades. The six years it took to bring this exhibition together proved an incredibly valuable time of reflection, fatefully dovetailing with a year of quarantine. 

Wallpaper*: Where are you as we speak?

Julie Mehretu: I’m in my studio on 26th Street, right on the West Side Highway. I’ve worked here for 11 years.

W*: Are there any artists, writers or thinkers that have had a meaningful impact on you?

JM: I don’t know how to answer that because there are literally so many! It’s constantly changing. Right now, Kara Walker, David Hammons, William Pope.L, and younger artists like Jason Moran (who has made amazing work around abstraction). There are so many artists that have been informative and important to me: Frank Bowling, Jack Whitten, Caravaggio.

I also look at a lot of prehistoric work, from as far back as 60,000 years ago, as well as cave paintings from 6th century China and early prehistoric drawings in the caves of Australia. 

W*: What’s the most interesting thing you have read, watched or listened to recently?

JM: For the last few weeks I’ve been immersed in Steve McQueen films. I’ve been bingeing on lovers rock music. And a TV show that really moved me was [Michaela Cole’s] I May Destroy You. It’s difficult, but it was really well done and powerful. 

Ocean Vuong’s novel On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous is amazing. The Mushroom at the End of the World by Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing is a really incredible book too – she studies this mushroom that became a delicacy in Japan in the 7th century. It started growing in deforested areas – it’s in these places destroyed by human beings that these mushrooms survive. [I find it interesting] that this mushroom grows on the edge of precarity and destruction. Like with Black folks, there is a constant aspect of insisting on yourself and reinventing yourself in the midst of constant effort of destruction. 

W*: What was the first piece of art you remember seeing? How did you feel about it?

JM: One of the first times I remember being moved by a work of art was looking through my mother’s Rembrandt book. We brought so few things back from Ethiopia and that was one of them. [Particularly] Rembrandt’s The Sacrifice of Isaac. That story is so intense. I was so moved by the light and the skin and the way the paint made light and skin. 

W*: Do you travel? If so, what does travel afford you, and what have you missed about it during Covid-19?

JM: I travel a lot, but I haven’t travelled this year. There has been this amazing sense of suspension and a pause in that. I miss travelling, but going to look at art, watching films, reading novels and listening to music is the way I travel now. For instance, I’ve been listening to Afro-Peruvian music and now I want to go to Peru.

Before I know it we will be back in this fast-paced, zooming-around environment – there is something I want to savour by staying here, now, in this time and absorbing as much as I can.

W*: You are said to have a vast collection of objects and images. Walk me through your collection – what areas, materials, makers and things have the largest presence and why?

JM: When you enter our home there is this long hallway. Framed along the wall we have around 20 fluorescent Daniel Joseph Martinez block-printed posters he made with words – almost poems. Our kids grew up reading those. One says ‘Sometimes I can’t breathe’ and another one says ‘Don’t work’, while some are really long.

We also have a great Paul Pfeiffer photograph of one from the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse series. We have a group of Richard Tuttle etchings right over our dining table. We have an amazing David Hammons body print as well, and my kids’ work is all over the house.

W*: As the daughter of immigrants and an immigrant yourself – how do you conceptualise home and how do you create it?

JM: There were a lot of times I felt very transient – as a student and a young adult, going in and out of school and residency programmes. It always came back to music and food. There are certain flavours, foods, music, smells that you take wherever you go. Also as a mother, I’m building a home for my children. Home becomes something else because of them. They are the core of home now. 

W* How has motherhood affected your practice?

JM: I became much more productive when I had kids for several reasons – one is that I felt a lot of pressure to make [work] in the time I wasn’t with them, which of course is unsustainable. A large part of making is not making – thinking and searching. 

When I got to work I could get into it much more quickly. Kids grow and change so fast, you feel time is passing so you need to use it. I wasn’t going to stop working, that’s for sure. All women who are pushing in their lives make that choice. 

W*: What is your favourite myth and why does it hold importance for you?

JM: Right now I’m reading Greek myths to my ten-year-old. We’ve read them before, but he wanted to read them again. I still read to him at night even though he’s a voracious reader himself.

The myths I remember the most are myths I’ve come across in visual works. Titian’s Diana and Actaeon – I know that myth so well because of his painting. Bernini’s mesmerising sculpture of Apollo and Daphne I saw in Rome, where her body becomes a tree. The leaves are so delicately carved into the marble, it’s a work of incredible beauty. I’ve been considering this deconstructionist approach to mythology. Storytelling becomes this place to interrogate propositions, which is what I think mythology does.

W*: Have you experienced a flattening of your work?

JM: I’m always concerned with flattening and pigeonholing. That is something that happens to artists like us all the time. When I first was working and showing there was a bit of that happening with my work. It was put into the space of cartography or an architectural analysis of it. It was said to be autobiographical work.

The art world tries to consume. There is this desire to flatten and the desire for Black artists to be a reflection of their experience. I don’t think any artist is like that at all. In reality, none of us are flat. We all contain multitudes and are complicated – that has always been the core of the Black radical tradition.

[ginnyzero]

A Reason Why I’m Indie

Traditional publishing isn’t for everybody. And I’ve seen attitudes that if you don’t conform to word counts and genre conventions and all the rules, then you’re never going to get anywhere in publishing/as a traditionally published author. So, I guess you should suck it up and do it. Then, I’m proudly never going to get anywhere.

Before we go any further, I want to make a disclaimer. Agents do hard jobs. They became agents (most of them) because they love books and reading and want to see authors succeed. They don’t get PAID unless an author succeeds. They are as invested in an author’s book as much as the author is. Or, at least, the good ones are. (Yes, there are a few bad apples that you must be aware of.)

BUT

Agents can’t sell your book if there is no one in their contacts/on their list that will buy it for reasons.

And these reasons may not have anything to do with your writing quality, your world building, your storytelling or your creativity. These reasons have everything to do with the publishing world and the little arbitrary writing rules that they impose on well, everything. I’m squeezing my hands together so hard right now my knuckles are turning white because these rules make me angry.

It takes a lot to make me angry. I get frustrated sometimes fairly easily. But angry?

Well, bullshit makes me angry.

I have spent time going through the querying process. I have helped and watched my best friend, writing bff, collaborator and editor go through her querying process. And I have comforted and I have encouraged and I was there for her last night when she figured out that her book was being rejected not because of writing quality and or bad story or because she had unicorns.

Instead, it was being rejected because someone in the last four years decided that the themes of the types of stories she tells belong and only belong to a certain age group category younger than what she writes. And if she wants to write the type of stories she wants to write, the type of stories that she loves and she needed at the YA age level, she would have to change essentially everything about her story that she adores to get it traditionally published.

Or self-publish.

And as we know, self-publishing closes a lot of doors.

All because, she isn’t writing the “correct” theme for the “correct” age group.

And this pisses me off. (My friend is devastated because the book series she’s lovingly crafted and all her other ideas now won’t supposedly work for traditional publishing all without her knowing because someone instituted new rules. She's been in limbo for months over this.)

Because these things aren’t written down anywhere. And if they are, they’re in weird little articles that aren’t being taught in schools because probably the teachers themselves don’t know them. Or, they were things decided in the last half a decade and no one decided to you know, spread the word in such a way that authors querying would hear it.

Or maybe, just maybe, restricting themes to a genre or an age level is such extreme limiting and inappropriate bullshit it needs to be burned in a fire.

-Takes a deep breathe- See. Angry.

There are certain themes and certain plot structures/character constructions that defined or launched each genre. Romance being the most heavily structured in the traditional publishing world (and a lot of indies following the same rules/structure.)

Science Fiction (as we know it) was born out of the Cold War and the space race and the feeling of alienation and how is having world destroying weapons going to guide us as a species. It was a lot of “humans versus alien invaders” ID4 type of storytelling. Shelley’s Frankenstein started it. And there were different views of it in the beginning, Asimov delved into the perils of robotics and space flight. Herbert talked about ecological scifi. Heinlein tended to go political and then time traveling sexual hijinks. Star Trek was Horatio Hornblower IN SPACE.

Fantasy, especially high and epic fantasy, was born of the retelling of old legends, myths and religions and the triumph of the goodness of mankind in the hero's journey. Star Wars and stories like it (Andre Norton, Anne McCaffery’s Pern) merged the two into science fantasy (my favorite.) Urban fantasy became Sherlock Holmes solves/fights crime with vampires, werewolves and the rest of the fantasy kitchen sink.

Just some examples here.

Much of the science fiction I’ve seen on the shelves still follows the formulas of Asimov and Heinlein and Orson Scott Card. The lone soldier against the terrible aliens must fight to save humanity. (In some instances, these are still the top authors hogging all the shelf space, add Herbert and Bova and Brian Sanderson the successor of Robert Jordan and LE Modesitt. And…….. yeah.)

And it’s boring. It’s tiresome. It’s time for a change. Our culture is changing and the media on our shelves isn’t. Tumblr is full of posts about how Earth is Space Australia and aliens that are simultaneously fascinated and accepting of the oddities of humans because their culture isn’t like that! We adopt strange little vacuum robots as easily as we bond to small furry creatures that OMG OMG it could KILL US. (And some not so furry creatures.) We have different types of friends. We do stupid shit for the fun of it. It’s funny. It’s heartwarming. It’s different.

People don’t want angry patriarchal werewolves anymore. They want more than dwarves that just love mining and speak in bad Scottish accents. (Best one I saw was Australian accents actually.) Readers are tired of gratuitous rape. They’re tired of abusive and bad relationships being portrayed as good. Toxic masculinity is getting old as is misogyny. Princesses no longer want to be rescued by dragons, they want to be protected by dragons from being forced into marriages they don’t want. Why must readers go through a sewer when they open a book to escape?

No. Not a lot of these new ideas have conflict or plot. But that’s not really up to the idea thinkers on Tumblr, that’s up to us the writers to see what the idea makers are looking for and come up with plots to fit those settings (if we like those ideas/settings.)

I doubt you’ll find it on bookshelves.

Fantasy has fallen into the grim dark crap sack worlds looking for the next GRRM. Storytelling that hasn’t advanced past trying to emulate Tolkien. Authors that emulate Lackey and McCaffery in the style of romantic fantasy being passed over for grim dark fantasy with assassins and the hot “urban fantasy.”

And understandably, Urban Fantasy is pretty new. LKH and Jim Butcher and other writers like Kim Harrison, Seanan Mcguire and Patty Briggs have been instrumental in making urban fantasy a ‘big deal.’ And I’ve read a lot of urban fantasy and finally I had to give up. I couldn’t take it anymore. Because it was all the same thing in different trappings. And I’m down for the same thing in different trappings to an extent. I really am. I’d just hope that at some point we can have more than Urban Fantasy mysteries. But no one is selling them on traditional shelves because publishers decided that Urban Fantasy people SOLVE CRIME is what the genre is.

This kills innovation coming to publishing houses. We see it in movies as well as books, new ideas, good ideas, are being passed over for the rehash of something from 20 to 30 years ago. (Think closer to 60 for some scifi, more for fantasy.) Because publishers have "genre rules" and are risk adverse because 'what if it doesn't sell?'

There are writers out there that are willing to turn themselves into pretzels to make their story fit a certain word count, a certain genre theme or follow these arbitrary rules to “get their foot in the door” and then they are told and believe that “once they are established” they can “break/bend the rules.”

It’s a lie. It’s a tasty lie. It’s so good of a lie you want to believe it. You want to delude yourself that “if I pretend I’m a man, get my book under 80,000 words, follow the exact conventions of my genre, that one day I’ll get big enough to break all of the rules and innovate my genre.”

That’s when you’ve sold your soul to the devil. You’ve stripped yourself of all your self-respect in order to chase that dream of the “traditional publishing deal.”

Indie is pushing back at traditional in good ways and in bad ways. Traditional with either adapt or continue its pushing back and rigidly holding onto the genre structures it has to its own downfall. The readers will decide on what they want to see/read. That, as an indie author is no longer my problem and completely out of my control.

My problem remains with the fact that traditional publishing houses, and agents aren’t being open and honest about their expectations for these genres that they’re pushing onto shelves. Get together. Form a consensus. Get that information out to authors by putting it on agent websites/blogs. Don’t expect newbies to just know it.

We’ve had enough dream crushing. Being rejected is difficult enough. There are enough gates to go through and hoops to jump. Don’t make lack of information that “everybody knows” yet another one. It's about doing the right thing. Anyone can write a fiction book. Anyone. There is no degree necessary. So, do the right thing, the moral thing and be clear about expectations for what you represent and the "rules" of the genre on your website where querying authors can find it.

(There is going to be writer blaming going on here. Writers/Authors aren't at fault. They can't know this if they aren't told it. You can't just "know things" out of thin air. If there is an expectation, then state the expectation clearly and where it's easily found. As agents, as publishers, putting the information out there that will get you the material you want to read and can sell to publishing houses to make it to stores is on you, not the writer. /soapbox)

Now, if you’re a lucky sod and not like me and does write in the box and naturally writes inside the box. Then, you know what, I’m happy for you. Honestly, my life as an author would be so much easier if I could write “X the werewolf solves crime and saves the world.”

I can’t. It’s not in me.

My job as a writer is to put out the best story that I believe in as a person. A story that is true to me, my feelings, my life journey and what I want to see on shelves/would want to read. If that story has too many genres mixed up, doesn’t follow genre conventions, is too long, isn’t the right “theme” or focuses on the wrong thing for the wrong age group, then, fine, it’s probably never going to be traditionally published. I can deal with that.

I’ll self-publish. I’ll continue to self-publish. I’ll be indie despite the reputation that comes with being indie. I’ll do the work to get my books out there to the world and appreciate the few readers I have and support my indie friends even if it's just with a "you can do it. Hang in there. I'm rooting for all of you." Because, it's all I can do and can control.

I still reserve the right to be mad. Cause that's my friend.

[darkspellmaster]

Okay...Some thoughts...

This is probably one of the things that pisses me off a lot, and I consider my petpeeve, so go into this with this warning. I am not going to be nice about this. You’ve been warned. 

So I read this lovely post here about constructive criticism, and who boy...have I got some thoughts on this. 

Here’s the thing, we as viewers of any medium are constantly giving unsolicited criticism every freaking day across social media, over the phone, and in person to other people. We do so without consent of the authors, film makers, and artists, every...day. Period. So this idea that you can only give consented critques is a load because the fact is that we’re doing it every damn day on this website, without the okay of the creators of the series that we watch, play, or read. 

Look how many people put up reviews on tv shows or books, or movies  or games that they watch and play. How many of them have written to the authors or creators of these works and asked for their okay in writing a review on their work on tumblr? Authors don’t go about asking for random fans to say what they like or don’t like about their works, yet they don’t go about complaining when people posts their thoughts. Or if they do complain you get backlash as they are not being “Professional” enough. 

So what makes it okay to do it to a published author but not okay to a amateur author? The only difference is that the published author is being paid and the amateur is not, but that author spent hours, days, weeks, months and possibly years, perfecting a work that, honestly as a writer I can tell you, may not be up to their standard, but there’s a deadline there. 

Amateur writers have the luxury of not having to complete their work, of not having a set deadline. So they can go back and correct and update and do whatever they want to their work. Once a book is published, unless the author get’s to do an updated version of the book, that’s it...it’s done. So getting feedback early and by as many people as possible for writers is actually a good thing because once it’s out, it’s out. 

This is what keeps bugging me about this idea that you should just let people write whatever and not comment on the work in a critical way. The fact is, once you have placed your work in the public eye, it’s no longer just your work. Just as authors have to contend with seeing their works adapted to the screen and in some cases cause them to be wrecked, and see people daily write fanfiction to “Fix” their mistakes, so to should fanfiction writers have to come to grips with the idea that someone may not like their work and want to “Fix” it, or at least help them in correcting their mistakes in how they have presented characters. 

I keep hearing this same story of “But I have Beta readers”, great and fine, but the fact is that the Beta readers, unless they are people that are not your friends, are going to be soft on you. Yes I’m being honest here, you will be given the softer comments unless the person is being directly honest with your work. Having voices outside of your beta readers is an eye opening experience because it forces you to look at your writing from a different perspective and pushes you to make changes that you may not have seen before because, in a lot of cases with Fanfiction, the person beta reading is a friend who likes what you like and will say “But it’s good.” 

The idea that someone shouldn’t give constructive criticism over fanfiction and that because you like the story the way it is, doesn’t preclude you from facing the fact that as a story writer, especially as a lot of fanfiction authors tend to want to eventually get into the writing field, need to grow and change and face the idea of having their work being evaluated critically. 

I read, “Well unless I give you consent to be critical of my work.” Exactly what do you think you’re doing when you post that work out there? You want reviews, what do you think reviews are? Review are, as defined by the Dictionary, “ a formal assessment or examination of something with the possibility or intention of instituting change if necessary.” It’s the appraisal of the work, and, in serialized fiction, as that’s what Fanfiction is as you are publishing it chapter by chapter rather than as a complete thing, you are therefore going to be apraised by those reading it per chapter. 

What do you think happens in comics? It’s weekly and monthly and the writers get feedback from fans and the Editors based on the reaction from the readers. As a writer you are not only writing for yourself but for your fans and readers as well. You can’t just look at something and go “This is just writing for me” because the moment you share it with someone, it’s no longer just your story, it’s their story too because they react to what you write. And the idea that you need to have consent to be critical of a work that’s ever evolving...well why not bring that to the whole of entertainment. Should we be asking for TV shows for consent when we say we like or don’t like their works? Seriously this is what you’re asking for when you’re saying that you need to have consent to critique something. 

Speaking of consent...

Fanfiction itself is a special thing, given that, it’s technically writers using pre-existing work from an author and, in essence, taking a copyrighted thing and creating their own work with it, without the consent from the original author. Take Anne (Ann) Rice for instant. She doesn’t like fanfiction because to her that’s people changing her characters that she’s invested over 15 books into creating. They are her creations and by saying “Don’t criticize my fanfiction” your being kind of hypocritical if you’re in turn changing up an author’s character because you feel that they should be shown a different way. 

As writers  you need to have critiques. Saying “Well I don’t want your opinion” on something is daft honestly. Because that’s all reviews are, just an opinion that you can ignore. You don’t have to take the review, you don’t even need to turn them on if you don’t want. The thing is, all stories are going to be reviewed. You need to learn to deal with them.

The problem is that a lot of people giving notes to people are not professional editors or have never been trained in it. So they’re going to come off as mean and harsh in some cases, and this in itself is an issue. People need to learn to be less harsh on how they go about commenting, but at the same time writers need to learn to accept that there are times when their writing does suck and they need more than one or two sets of eyes upon it. 

You can write a story for fun all you want, but for readers if it’s hard to read the story, if the characters are way out of character, how are we supposed to engage with you then? How are we to, as people have said, “analyzes and talk to you about your story” if we can’t critique aspects of it that don’t sit right. 

As a writer myself and someone who has original stories that I’m working on, any comment, even the bad ones, at least give me an idea of what people are seeing when they read my work. Some are dumb like “You suck,” and “I was expecting more of X character when it said it was going to be in there.” And yeah, they stung, sure, but the thing is, it made me go “Okay so I need to include more of this because of who is reading my work and what they are expecting of me. 

You can’t live in a bubble as a writer, this is a myth that needs to be burst. Even back in the day, readers had a lot of influence on writers. Conan Doyle was originally planning on killing off Holmes but because of the backlash he got to come back. Agatha Cristie didn’t like her little Belgium Detective, but she kept writing him and even self inserted herself in there to annoy him, because fans loved him.  Authors are entertainers to their readers, they are the customers whom the storyteller is trying to entertain. If you’re going to complain about the readers thoughts then you’re better off just sharing your work among friends that you like. 

Honestly, it sounds like a lot of people would prefer it if someone went and did a fix it fic to their fanfiction over dealing with someone giving them something to consider for their next work. You know what, maybe that’s a solution. I propose that from now on, if someone doesn’t like a fanfic, since it’s not copyrighted, as it’s using already copyrighted characters, we should be allowed to fix fic your fanfics to do what we want them to do. Would that be better and easier for people to deal with? 

[therewasabrowncrow]

Here’s a caste based trope I have noticed that has become a major political point-- totally embodied in the current PM--the diaspora, in my family and network including me, uncritically--the case of the impoverished brahmin.

I am very curious to know where it started, I have seen some really incisive commentary around it by film maker Pratik Parmar (though I can’t find the link to it atm) using Satyajit Ray’s Apu and also at Roundtable. Why Apu received education that was denied to his sister--how he leveraged it to ultimately travel to the city-- why he forgo a regular blue collar job to become a budding writer. 

Despite having been a bright student all through his career, he still hasn't found a suitable job to do justice to his credentials. But he is not unhappy..On being pestered by Pulu to find a job, he says that those who have "genuine talent" need not work at the office, and then, to support his opinion, goes on to cite the instances of several European authors..

Practically every Brahmin I have known has a poor-Brahmin upbringing story, or what I also call the Sudama Paradox. The paradox is that within one generation, a meritorious way of life allows the poor Brahmin to become "middle class"... 

Pallavi Rao 

At the center of all these stories is an individual journey that is unaware of social factors that led to their economic mobility. 

I have myself been told this by baba: 

“We were not so sound

Why?

Your mother just started her profession

she has to build her career .. without having any support!

From my side or from any side 

Similar to me, also ..did you understand?

During this time like Goddess Lakshmi you came into the world..did you understand?

To get you how much we worshiped to the Gods ..only your mother knows and I know ..no one else knows..

We really worshiped to the gods

*snigger*

...

Within a span of a minute this skype conversation includes myth-making, a piece of political fact and this common brahmincal trope.

I was going to make this my masters project using one of Kabir’s songs against this narration but I wasn’t critical or curious enough at the time which led me to abandon it at animatic stage:I have romanticised this poor brahmin upbringing story myself: 

A sculpted idol stands in a temple

The mute statue cannot speak 

The priest stands and guards the door 

I ended up interpreting Foucault’s Order of Things into my final film as I was very curious about how museums came to be at that time and loved the book!

Trailer: A moth collector finds an artefact (tangible heritage) that belongs to a storyteller. Eager to collect and classify the story in the same fashion as his moths, he realises in the process that stories (intangible heritage) cannot be contained.

I also remember my student film at NID called Classroom Project (2006) in which a young boy born with wings escapes every hardship thrown at him:  

..mainly rigorous schoolwork and various confrontations:

..until he develops into an adult and realises he has outgrown his wings and cannot escape those hardships anymore--especially a dead end job, family commitments (This was also me channeling my Apu like anxieties about the industry) 

..So when his son is born he decides to chop off his wings. 

The character was loosely based on my father--who surprisingly voiced it! I always thought my mother had to work extra hard to be taken seriously despite her poor English compared to my brahmin father who was always considered a genius!

None of my parents nor majority of my educational network are working class / ”unskilled labourers” but many continuously use working class rhetoric about hard work, lack of resources when confronted about their position in society..this is also exemplified by the use of “chowkidar”, “chaiwala” by the government. It’s so cringe!!!  

This is extremely disingenuous and contributes to the myth-making. I am sure brahmins came up with it when confronted about sharing resources without acknowledging those who continue to live under inter-generational poverty and fear of social persecution. 

Edit (Mayday): This is called “Opportunity Hoarding” 

[rassilon-imprimatur]

A Rag and a Bone

As some of you saw, I found one of my “lost” Doctor Who holy grails, Daniel O’Mahony’s A Rag and a Bone! I’d been hunting high and low for this piece of fiction because the idea of O’Mahony writing a Sabbath-centric story was too good. There was literally no information whatsoever online as to what the story was actually about, but I love O’Mahony’s writing and the idea of him tackling Sabbath seemed like a match made in hell.

Finally getting a hold of this story, I must say that calling it “a Sabbath story by Daniel O’Mahony” is incredibly disingenuous, and while I dissect this story and share it all with you, I have to be completely honest and say that I have never been more confused at such a short piece of fiction in my life. Delighted, mind, but very confused. 

This story was published in 2003′s Myth Makers Essentials, the famous fanzine’s special 40th anniversary celebration. Myth Makers has been rather a white whale of mine, most long out of print issues holding onto other holy grails, most notably Parkin’s Saldaamir and The School of Doom. 

This story is more than a Sabbath tale, being a celebration of Doctor Who’s history, the history of the humans who keep Doctor Who going, as well as a celebration of the 2003 BBC prose continuity that, for all intents and purposes, was the Doctor Who at the time alongside Big Finish’s 1999-2003 years.

It’s also written by one of the closest things Doctor Who has ever had to Clive Barker, meaning that it’s a very disturbing celebration. 

O’Mahony introduces his story with a discussion of what he considers one of Doctor Who’s essential elements: 

In O’Mahony’s view of the series, Doctor Who is about humanity. Human history, ingenuity, sacrifice. Without humanity, Doctor Who is nothing. It’s a much more grounded view on the series, and while I’m not sure I quite agree with it, it makes literally every Doctor Who story O’Mahony has written make a lot more sense. 

I go into the story’s eccentricities and references (SO MANY REFERENCES GUYS, I’M SO HAPPY) under the cut. Reminder that a) O’Mahony, while a beautiful writer, is a very brutal one; his whole brand is painting objective horror and worldly ugliness in the richest, wine-like prose ever, and it’s definitely not for everyone, and b) this story, like Bidmead’s wonderful With All Awry, is far less literal than it is figurative. The continuity of the time is a factor in the story, but it’s rather useless to try and squeeze it in anywhere, that’s not it’s point. 

A Rag and a Bone is an author’s thesis on the spirit of Doctor Who, as well as a simultaneous criticism and celebration of its state in 2003, all the while managing to use Sabbath in the manner he was intended, rarely seen outside of Lawrence Miles’ writing. 

I’m not doing every passage of the thing, just the meatier ones. Enjoy and watch me stretch my English degree! 

(Note, the story starts in first-person from Fitz’s POV, shifts to weird surreal mix of Fitz and O’Mahony himself, back to Fitz, and then ends with third person omniscient.)

The story opens up simply enough (which, given what appears to be going on, it’s really funny to say “simply”): 

Already, this story seems to be following the beats of The Adventuress of Henrietta Street, the idea that in the universe without Time Lords, the universe is free game and humanity (led by Sabbath) needs to step up. But, it’s also a meta commentary. The passage is vague as to what’s really going on, but I think the war/looming disaster is something very specific, that I’ll touch on later. 

1) The date. Lmao. What could that possibly be a reference to?

2) Sabbath frequently had agents and allies throughout his novels, and one of these two, the Angel Maker, is actually from Lloyd Rose’s Camera Obscura. I don’t know if that gives an idea of the placement, or just further shows O’Mahony’s “I’m playing with current continuity” schtick. 

3) “Miss Kapoor went through the inevitable ritual struggle with her ideological opposite [...] We watched the catfight from the bar balcony - Bollywood Queen of Sin versus the [Angel Maker]...” Perhaps a smirking jab at the rules or sterotypes of storytelling? Set certain characters against the idealogical opposites. Anji often went toe-to-toe with the ideologies and beliefs of people in her novels, far more than Fitz or the Doctor did, so I think that’s what this is a nod to, wrapped in the story’s theme of ritual and symbolism and framed as “the Doctor’s female companion must face Sabbath’s female companion in a duel!!!!!!!” 

4) “... a dog-faced parahuman whose name I missed. He was the softest spoken of us all, fresh from the plane of the First Time War, resplendent in Gallifreyan scarlet.” This is Wardog (or a contemporary of Wardog), originally from Alan Moore’s DWM Black Sun Trilogy, portraying the First Time War. He had been recontexualized into Cold Fusion/The Infinity Doctors’ canon in Lance Parkin’s Executive Action, published in 2001′s Walking in Eternity, making him an (admittedly tangential) interesting cog in the EDA’s history and continuity. 

1) First time reading this passage, I couldn’t decide if this was purely Fitz or O’Mahony inserting himself into the narrative... and then I realized it’s both. There are two major critical takes on the companions, and this is the first: the role of the companions in the series is to give the audience someone to relate to and, in some cases, live vicariously through. Enjoying the adventure, experiencing the sights, etc. This section is both Fitz Kreiner and Daniel O’Mahony, trying to make sense of what’s going, while the story is already giving us the implications that, despite trying to create a narrative of the Doctor’s condition, he is actually not real. 

2) Marvel at Fitz dragging himself in every possible way. Maybe a reference to how the novels (since the VNAs) really hadn’t had any qualms with pushing the flaws and imperfections of their characters? O’Mahony in particular is a writer who would go into great detail about how flawed people were. 

3) “... Miss Kapoor - whose sins are much more scarlet than mine - wouldn’t stoop to.” I choose to believe this is a slight reference to how Anji was treating by some writers at the time. The EDA authors wither loved Anji, or hated and demonized her. I could be reaching with that one, but it doesn’t quite make much more sense otherwise. Maybe a reference to her earlier distrust and betrayals of the Doctor (such as in Mark Clapham’s Hope?)

1) This is why I think O’Mahony was attacking the negative handlings of Anji, because the description of her character in the first few sentences is so... good. Beautiful, caring. 

2) “The entropy rolling from the Deep...” I’m convinced that, in the end, the threat coming to destroy the universe, the stagnancy, the entropy, the “war,” is Doctor Who’s continued cancelation. Its the 40th anniversary, fourteen years since the show was cancelled, the series kept alive by a small and committed group of book readers and BF listeners (during BF’s early years). I’m adamant that the Wilderness Years produced some of the most creative and original Doctor Who ever, but it is very easy to see why people considered continuing the story a losing battle. More and more, the series slipped out of public consiousness and become more and more of an exclusive cult

3) The second critical take on companions in Doctor Who is a negative one (but one that needs to be said in some cases): in the end, they’re all interchangeable. None of their backstories or quirks matter in the end because they’re interchangeable stereotypes that need to stand their and ask the Doctor questions. What’s gorgeous about this sequence is how it tackles that idea in such a meta and independent way. Anji, realizing that she is, in fact, the latest face in a countless list, takes power from that. She reaches back to her predecessors and uses their abilities, their attributes, for her own agenda, all the while dressing as Anji Kapoor, praying to Ganesh as Anji Kapoor, being the unique and seperate entity that is Anji Kapoor. 

4) “Babewyns.” The Ma’lakh grotesques, the villains of The Adventuress of Henrietta Street and one of the major elements in Faction Paradox. 

This section operates on two levels, both fictionally and metafictionally. The idea that the Doctor is now a vacuum and Sabbath must either fix or flat-out replace him is the central conflict of their relationship and adversity throughout their novels. There’s also a pun on the EDAs’ “Earth arc” which was the start of the status quo that brought in Sabbath. But, you’ll notice, the “Earth arc” here is not The Burning... it’s An Unearthly Child. Sabbath’s (very morbid) take of what happened to the Doctor isn’t the plot of the EDAs, it’s the beginnings of Doctor Who. The Doctor became part of human consciousness in 1963!

So why is the Doctor now a puppet? A doll, an inhuman echo? Because the show is cancelled, and despite the series living on through, there’s this overwhelming feeling that maybe, just maybe, the final end is fast approaching. 

(Actually reading this theme in a story published two years before the show returned is rather nice, isn’t it?)

Sabbath’s take on this is, of course, negative and condescending, while Fitz focuses on the positivity of the Doctor. How he brings goodness and love into our lives, and that by “forgetting him,” (the show being cancelled) we’ve let horrible things into the world. That what Fitz is traveling with is the idea of the Doctor, the “totem” of what’s left, pushing through because Fitz/O’Mahony/the authors/the fans are still holding onto him. 

This section also shows how Sabbath really, in the end, cannot replace the Doctor. His best appearances outside Adventuress (Parkin’s Trading Futures and Rose’s Camera Obscura) stressed his limitedness, his flaws, his (debatable) inability to rise to the occasion. He talks to Fitz about power vacuums and the state of the universe, and then Fitz immediately confronts him with his antiquated 19th century beliefs and ideals. Lawrence Miles always claimed Sabbath was never meant to actually replace the Doctor, but several authors, including Lance Parkin, have since expressed that this was not common knowledge and that many authors fully believed Miles was trying to push Sabbath on them as “the new Doctor.” That’s what I think this is a response to (and mind, O’Mahony and Miles were colleagues and friends).

Here we see, we don’t need or want Sabbath. We just want our Doctor back. 

“Sometimes he believed that TV would save the world.” What a sad line, knowing the meaning of this story, huh? 

In the end of the story, Fitz and Anji rebuild their “Doctor-totem” from the junk of IM Foreman’s yard, literally using the ruins of the character’s humble 1963 beginnings to build the foundations. But remember, their Doctor is the Doctor of the novels. There’s more work to do to recreate their perception of him.

1) “Dawn Brigades of parahumans and the killer-cats of Gallifrey as they fought over the nature of the newborn universe.” Wardog’s Special Executive (representing the might and will of Rassilon) and the villains planned for the original story replaced by 1977′s The Invasion of Time (who I think here represent the Pythia), clashing during the universe’s minting (later known in Faction Paradox as the anchoring of the thread). This take on Gallifrey’s history (VNAs, EDAs, FP) is THE Gallifrey at the time of 2003. 

2) “Their tales would be told by the Needlefolk at the End of Time...” The Needle, seen in The Infinity Doctors, Unnatural History, Father Time, Miranda, and alluded to or contextual related to in Hope and The Gallifrey Chronicles. An important aspect of the lore at the time!

3) This ending is so beautiful, if sad. Here is where Fitz and Anji fully represent the Doctor Who fans and creators at the time. Using their stories, their (new) adventures to further coax their Doctor back to life. He’s built from the junk and refuse of the dead Classic series, he’s lavished with the stories and lore of the Wilderness Years. He is part of humanity, he’s in us, as long as he as friends (the fans) trying to keep him alive.  

[braidiepatiencegrad702]

Proposal Progress 2

Updated proposal:

Title: The Legend of the Winged Bear  

Topic overview: Expanding on my research from semester one, I plan to continue to develop the concept of mental health in children’s books. Rather than focusing on the topic of anxiety, my intention is to build on the research I already have, and to explore the concept of childhood resilience, which can be defined as going through the process of successfully overcoming adversity and threatening circumstances (Howard, Dryden & Johnson 1999).

By creating a compelling narrative through the format of a picture book for the ages of children aged 8+, I intend to subtly investigate this topic and take my readers on a journey with my protagonist as she faces challenging and testing situations.

A tale of resilience and hope, the initial story idea for my children’s picture book begins with the introduction of my protagonist, a large polar bear who lives in the wild north. With dreams of reaching the stars, my bear goes on a journey of transformation in search of her wings, along the way she faces disappointment, scrutiny, and eventually falls short of her dream, but through perseverance, creative problem-solving and the help of a mysterious friend, she manages to adapt to the circumstances thrown at her and overcome them.

Positioning statement: The topic of perseverance and resilience in children being communicated through the narrative medium of children’s literature interests me because of the power and impact a simple yet captivating tale can have on young readers. I want to create a unique story with handcrafted illustrations that subtly discusses this topic, inspiring children to continue to dream, hope and to retain their sense of wonder during these turbulent covid times they find themselves in.  

By investigating the psychology behind childhood resilience and exploring mythic story structure and archetypes behind successful and compelling storytelling, I hope to create a unique tale that helps to build and encourage resilience in children, giving them the hope to get back up when they have failed, and to press on in a world that is becoming increasingly overwhelming.  

Keywords:

- Perseverance   - Resilience - Hope - Children’s literature - Storytelling - Whimsical - Visual Storytelling  

Practice: Some of the steps I plan to take to enhance my topic, storytelling, and illustration style for my children's picture book would be to acquire more knowledge and research on the topic of childhood resilience from the perspective of professional psychologists, storytellers and gaining insight into how children view the world around them.

Exploring and assessing a range of visual storytelling techniques and examining how different illustrative mediums add to, or subtract from the narrative, looking into pursuing traditional styles of illustration to give the project a more handcrafted feel, such as gouache, pastel, or a mixed media approach.  

Investigating the pros and cons of having the narrative in written form and examine the impact removing the written word can have on leaving space for the reader to interpret the story for themselves, potentially opening the story up to different perspectives, allowing the viewer to make unique discoveries.  

Examining and evaluating different myth-inspired paradigms of storytelling and employ these new narrative insights into my plot and character development to bring more depth and knowledge into my storytelling process.

Methods: Locate a range of relevant resources such as books, articles, websites, and artist practices that offer different perspectives on what it means to visually communicate within the realm of children’s picture books.

Undergo a more extensive style process towards my design, testing a range of mediums to enhance my illustrative techniques and visual communication skills, and exploring the work of other artists to help develop and improve my style.

Building on my knowledge of storyboarding to improve the way I approach the layout and format of each scene, the purpose of this is to enhance my story and establish a cohesive body of work.

Developing a realistic schedule to ensure I have enough time to create meaningful illustrations and achieve greater impact in my visual communication.

Contextual Knowledge:   For this project, my research involves locating relevant articles, books, studies and practitioners regarding childhood resilience and mythic storytelling to help me better understand and communicate my topic, and to generate a picture book that connects to the audience while also telling a meaningful story relating to my subject. The result of my project would be to create a beautifully crafted children’s book that would fit within any classroom, home, or bookstore and hold up next to and stand out against what is already in the market.  

“But the best, most lasting books seem to be the ones where the picture book maker leaves a space between word and image for the imagination to roam.” (Salisbury, Hellige and Klanten, 2012, pg, 161) This quote by Salisbury from the book ‘Little Big Books’ challenges and encourages me in the way that I approach writing and illustrating, the idea of taking your audience through a journey and leaving room for them to use their imagination and to think for themselves helps to build their curiosity and gives them a reason to keep turning the pages. The concept of ‘show don’t tell’ is one I want to develop, as it allows the reader to experience the story through their senses, stirring their imagination and allowing them more critical engagement rather than telling them what to think.  

The artists and storytellers Maya Shleifer and Claire Keane are both multidisciplinary illustrators and designers who are drawn to visual storytelling through children's literature. Although they are vastly different in style and content, their practices and illustrations inspire me to approach storytelling as work of art, where each page gives you the opportunity to use colour, composition, and media in a way that connects the reader to the words and piques their imagination.  

“Characters are very important. Every publisher is looking for a new character that captures the public imagination. Uncomfortable or “difficult” topics have been addressed in picture books in many ways. In my view, the most successful ones are the ones that deal with the topic in the subtlest of ways.” (Salisbury, Hellige and Klanten, 2012, pg. 162) This statement by Martin Salisbury represents the basic thought process I have in approaching and developing content for my children’s book, exploring the topic of perseverance and hope in children's literature that leads the readers on a journey and transformation of resilience alongside the main character, but communicated in a subtle way through word and illustration.  

References:

Howard, S., Dryden, J., & Johnson, B. (1999) Childhood Resilience: Review and critique of literature, Oxford Review of Education, 25:3, 307-323, DOI: 10.1080/030549899104008

Hellige, H. (Ed.). (2012). Little big books: illustrations for children’s picture books. Gestalten.

Masten, A. S., & Motti-Stefanidi, F. (2020). Multisystem resilience for children and youth in disaster: Reflections in the context of COVID-19. Adversity and resilience science, 1(2), 95-106. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42844-020-00010-w

Radke-Yarrow, M., & Sherman, T. (1990). Hard growing: Children who survive. Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511752872.008

Vogler, C. (2007). The writer’s journey: Mythic structure for writers (3rd ed.) Michael Wiese Productions, CA.  

[sharemaniac24]

Hercules Beyond The Myth?

Stories about the gods, or semi-gods,  were weaved thousands of years ago. and continue to this day. One of the most famous, intriguing and inspiring stories was about Hercules, a man who was strong and courageous, whose deeds were so mighty, and who so strong from all the hard lessons that life passed on to him, that when he died, Hercules was brought up to Mount Olympus to live with the gods.

The question that comes to mind, as with most of these stories, was there a real Hercules, a real man behind the stories? Could he be so strong or was the imagination of the storytellers that fueled an exaggeration of his actions and strength? We will never really know.

Lets start by putting our facts straight. First of all, his name "Hercules" is incorrect; "Heracles" [Ηρακλής] is how the ancient Achaeans (citizens of Achaia) referred to him.

As  them myth goes, Hercules was the strongest of all mortals, and even stronger than many gods. He was the last mortal son of Zeus, and the only man born of a mortal woman to become a god upon his death.

Birth of a Hero? Argos and Thebes are two areas in Greece where both claimed Heracles as its birthplace. When he was born, Zeus, the King of Gods wanted to create a strong mortal who would set the example for both gods and mortals - so he decided that Alcmene, wife of Amphitryon, would do the honors and become the mother of his child. Whilst Amphitryon was away at war, Zeus took the form of Amphitryon and trick Alcmene into making love to him. When Amphitryon returned, the first thing he did was to lay with his wife. As a result, twins were born: Heracles to Zeus and Iphicles to Amphitryon.

When Hera, Zeus wife found out that her husband laid with yet another woman, she was outraged, more so as Zeus has produced yet another bastard son. She started plotting her revenge, but Hypnos took her over (she fell asleep).While she was sleeping, Hermes, the God of the Trade placed the baby on Hera’s breast. Trying to feed, Hera woke up and pushed him aside, her milk splattering across the heavens (which eventually became the Milky Way). In vengeance, Hera later on sent two snakes to the twins’ cradle. Whilst his twin brother Iphicles froze in terror, Heracles himself grabbed each snake by each hand and strangled them to death.

Early Adventures While Heracles growing up his first real test of strength was when he was asked to kill the lion of Mount Kithaeron. The lion had been ravaging the herds of Amphitryon, and Heracles had little problem killing it. He took his skin and whilst the myth says that he it was this skin that he was always portrayed, some people say that  was the Nemean lion's skin  he wore.

Whilst away from his city, war broke between Thebes and the city of Orchomenus; Heracles jumped into battle and as soon as they had he flooded Orchomenus's crops. After the victory, the king of Thebes, Creon, gave his daughter Megara as his wife.

What happened with Hera in the mean time? She became once again jealous and envy and afflicted Heracles with a madness, which caused him to attack Iolaus, his brother's son who barely escaped death. When Hera lifted the madness, he discovered he had killed all of his children and two of Iphicles - talk about greek tragedy.  With deep sorrow and horror for his actions, Heracles avoided every contact with other people and asked the king of Thespieis for redemption. An oracle advised him to service the king of Argos, Eurystheus. This became the famous Labors of Heracles.

Beyond The Myth

The myth may say a different story from what we come to realise. Clearly, as much as he had muscles, Heracles may lacking intelligence and was overwhelmed with emotions, which frequently got Heracles in trouble. From what we read, his pride was easily offended.  His appetites for food, wine, and women were as massive as his strength.

The easiest thing to do is view Heracles as a muscled mindless creature, pretty much like the some modern bodybuilders who are only focusing on building their body. And to be accurate, if someone reviews ancient Greek comedy the play writers of the time focused on that side of Heracles. Heracles was very frequently seen as a brutal and violent person who hold grudges and let them go very rarely. And why not? There is a lot to support this: his preferred weapon was a huge club; the clothes he was wearing were of a lion skin with a lion head; he was so aggressive and violent that he also wounded some of the gods; he even threatened a priestess of Apollo at Delphi when he received no reply to a question from the God. Truth is, he was a trouble maker.

As with everything, there is another side of the story. Heracles was a true friend in its pure sense. We would do anything to help a friend, and once his mind was clear of anger he was the first one to critisize himself for his actions. Truth was that, like Superman, he was too strong for anyone to apply any form of punishment. The fact that he offered himself to be purified and get rid of guilt shows  that he had, deep inside him, a sense of what was right and what was wrong. While he was self-punished, he stayed patient and resilient until the end, the fact alone was heroic on its own.

Also, he had to deal with Hera's vengeance - from sending snake to temporary getting mad, that was all Hera's fault.

Over time, the world came to realised that there was more to than just a strong man, full of anger and strong emotions. Ancient Greecs view was focused on how badly he managed despite his obvious gifts, a bed side story for kids to managed their own better than Hercules. As time passed the world began to focus purely to his virtues. Even the Romans valued him as he fit their idea of a hero. He eventually had a  cult that worshiped him as a god.

[truxblooded]

I have a passion for creating and writing:

When I go to make an original character to insert into an existing universe, whether it’s book series, comic book, tv show, or movie I don’t just random come up with a name and some half-assed character sheet. I do my research. I extensively look into the history of the said universe I’m going to be dabbling in, specifically in how I’m going to connect my character to the rest of the universe and all of its established storylines and mythologies. Especially if I want to connect my character to another in some form, I specifically go into careful scrutinizing study of the said canon established characters to see how and in what way I can weave my character’s backstory and history to that of another well known and even beloved character.

I’ll post my original character that I had created for the use of RPing in the Marvel/MCU universes in a separate post HERE as an example of just how in-depth I go into creating an original character. 

[uavaerialphotography]

Hercules Beyond The Myth?

Stories about the gods, or semi-gods,  were weaved thousands of years ago. and continue to this day. One of the most famous, intriguing and inspiring stories was about Hercules, a man who was strong and courageous, whose deeds were so mighty, and who so strong from all the hard lessons that life passed on to him, that when he died, Hercules was brought up to Mount Olympus to live with the gods.

The question that comes to mind, as with most of these stories, was there a real Hercules, a real man behind the stories? Could he be so strong or was the imagination of the storytellers that fueled an exaggeration of his actions and strength? We will never really know.

Lets start by putting our facts straight. First of all, his name "Hercules" is incorrect; "Heracles" [Ηρακλής] is how the ancient Achaeans (citizens of Achaia) referred to him.

As  them myth goes, Hercules was the strongest of all mortals, and even stronger than many gods. He was the last mortal son of Zeus, and the only man born of a mortal woman to become a god upon his death.

Birth of a Hero? Argos and Thebes are two areas in Greece where both claimed Heracles as its birthplace. When he was born, Zeus, the King of Gods wanted to create a strong mortal who would set the example for both gods and mortals - so he decided that Alcmene, wife of Amphitryon, would do the honors and become the mother of his child. Whilst Amphitryon was away at war, Zeus took the form of Amphitryon and trick Alcmene into making love to him. When Amphitryon returned, the first thing he did was to lay with his wife. As a result, twins were born: Heracles to Zeus and Iphicles to Amphitryon.

When Hera, Zeus wife found out that her husband laid with yet another woman, she was outraged, more so as Zeus has produced yet another bastard son. She started plotting her revenge, but Hypnos took her over (she fell asleep).While she was sleeping, Hermes, the God of the Trade placed the baby on Hera’s breast. Trying to feed, Hera woke up and pushed him aside, her milk splattering across the heavens (which eventually became the Milky Way). In vengeance, Hera later on sent two snakes to the twins’ cradle. Whilst his twin brother Iphicles froze in terror, Heracles himself grabbed each snake by each hand and strangled them to death.

Early Adventures While Heracles growing up his first real test of strength was when he was asked to kill the lion of Mount Kithaeron. The lion had been ravaging the herds of Amphitryon, and Heracles had little problem killing it. He took his skin and whilst the myth says that he it was this skin that he was always portrayed, some people say that  was the Nemean lion's skin  he wore.

Whilst away from his city, war broke between Thebes and the city of Orchomenus; Heracles jumped into battle and as soon as they had he flooded Orchomenus's crops. After the victory, the king of Thebes, Creon, gave his daughter Megara as his wife.

What happened with Hera in the mean time? She became once again jealous and envy and afflicted Heracles with a madness, which caused him to attack Iolaus, his brother's son who barely escaped death. When Hera lifted the madness, he discovered he had killed all of his children and two of Iphicles - talk about Greek tragedy.  With deep sorrow and horror for his actions, Heracles avoided every contact with other people and asked the king of Thespieis for redemption. An oracle advised him to service the king of Argos, Eurystheus. This became the famous Labors of Heracles.

Beyond The Myth

The myth may say a different story from what we come to realise. Clearly, as much as he had muscles, Heracles may lacking intelligence and was overwhelmed with emotions, which frequently got Heracles in trouble. From what we read, his pride was easily offended.  His appetites for food, wine, and women were as massive as his strength.

The easiest thing to do is view Heracles as a muscled mindless creature, pretty much like the some modern bodybuilders who are only focusing on building their body. And to be accurate, if someone reviews ancient greek comedy the play writers of the time focused on that side of Heracles. Heracles was very frequently seen as a brutal and violent person who hold grudges and let them go very rarely. And why not? There is a lot to support this: his preferred weapon was a huge club; the clothes he was wearing were of a lion skin with a lion head; he was so aggressive and violent that he also wounded some of the gods; he even threatened a priestess of Apollo at Delphi when he received no reply to a question from the God. Truth is, he was a trouble maker.

As with everything, there is another side of the story. Heracles was a true friend in its pure sense. We would do anything to help a friend, and once his mind was clear of anger he was the first one to critisize himself for his actions. Truth was that, like Superman, he was too strong for anyone to apply any form of punishment. The fact that he offered himself to be purified and get rid of guilt shows  that he had, deep inside him, a sense of what was right and what was wrong. While he was self-punished, he stayed patient and resilient until the end, the fact alone was heroic on its own.

Also, he had to deal with Hera's vengeance - from sending snake to temporary getting mad, that was all Hera's fault.

Over time, the world came to realised that there was more to than just a strong man, full of anger and strong emotions. Ancient Greecs view was focused on how badly he managed despite his obvious gifts, a bed side story for kids to managed their own better than Hercules. As time passed the world began to focus purely to his virtues. Even the Romans valued him as he fit their idea of a hero. He eventually had a  cult that worshiped him as a god.

[bertie-renard]

Podcast Recommendations!! (Part 2!) A while ago I made a podcast recommendation post (which you could definitely find if you search podcast recommendations on my blog) and since then, I have downloaded/listened to more podcasts (I have a problem, I know) .

Subject:Found : Stories about legend, lore, the paranormal and all things dark and mysterious. In Season 1 Jared Strong searched for a monster that has haunted him since his childhood. When Season 2 launches we will follow Janis Herring as she uncovers her own monster.

Conversations With People Who Hate Me: Conversations with People Who Hate Me takes hateful conversations online and turns them into productive conversations offline. As a writer and video maker who focuses on social justice issues, Dylan Marron receives a lot of negative messages on the internet. In this new podcast he calls some of the folks who wrote them to ask one simple question: why? What follows is a complicated and sometimes hilarious navigation of two strangers getting to know each other.

Attention HellMart Shoppers: Attention HellMart Shoppers! is a twice monthly horror/comedy audio-drama. Join the staff of HelloMart, a big box super-store built on top of the gates of hell, as they battle the forces of evil in order to bring you the best customer service minimum wage can provide.

Station to Station: Dr. Miranda Quan’s lab partner is MIA. But his notes, and a tape player that may contain his final words, have made it onto the research ship headed hundreds of miles into the North Pacific — along with a sinister secret that endangers everyone aboard.

The Deep Vault: From the creators of Archive 81 comes The Deep Vault, a serialized audio drama set in an almost-post-apocalyptic United States. The story follows a group of longtime friends as they journey from the uninhabitable surface world into a mysterious underground bunker in search of safety and shelter.

Rex Rivetter:Private eye : Rex Rivetter: Private Eye is a modern radio drama. The year is 1955. Tinsel town. The land of make-believe. It’s a time of growth in American prosperity. Especially in Los Angeles. Here, dreams are bought and sold. But there’s a seedier side to the City of Angels, the shadows where pimps and narcotics pushers live, where organized crime stands just around every corner with one hand out, and the other wrapped around a roscoe. It’s a city full of fancy dames and slick cons, where bookies know the vig, so you better, too. Some folks call it noir or pulp fiction. But for a private eye named Rex Rivetter, it’s home.

I Only Listen to the Mountain Goats: A collaboration between Night Vale Presents, the Mountain Goats, and Merge Records, I Only Listen to the Mountain Goats is a podcast about what it means to be an artist, what it means to be a fan, and what it means to be, as many people are, both at once. The show finds Joseph Fink, creator of Welcome to Night Vale and Alice Isn’t Dead, in conversation with one of his artistic heroes, John Darnielle, singer and songwriter of the Mountain Goats. Season One explores the stories behind the Mountain Goats’ album All Hail West Texas, one song at a time. In each episode, John, Joseph, and special guests discuss songwriting, storytelling, current events, and the art and artists that inspire them. Each episode will also premiere a brand new cover version of the song discussed that week, recorded just for the podcast by artists like Amanda Palmer, Andrew Bird, and Dessa.

It Makes a Sound: Deirdre Gardner finds a lost cassette tape from 1992 in the attic of a townhouse in an abandoned golf-course community and embarks on a mission to remind us all of the forgotten musical genius, Wim Faros. It Makes A Sound follows Deirdre’s nostalgic journey into Wim’s legacy: a quest to restore what is missing and to revive the sound of a generation.

Spirits: Spirits is a boozy biweekly podcast about mythology, legends and lore. Hear fresh takes on classic myths and learn new stories from around the world, served up over ice by two tipsy history geeks.

[kentonramsey]

9 Eco-Friendly Fashion Instagram Accounts To Follow Now

Our overconsumption is destroying the planet and we need to readdress our relationship with fashion. As Vivienne Westwood says: "Buy less, choose well and make it last." Yet while we're all in agreement (it's 2020 and none of you needs convincing that sustainability is good), it's fair to say that the movement has its problems. From those dismissing fast fashion without considering economic barriers to the whitewashing of fashion activism and the co-opting of the movement by fast fashion retailers, sustainability isn't black and white. In fact, thanks to greenwashing and information overload, it's getting harder and harder to understand. But fear not, eco-conscious wannabes: a slew of platforms and people are aiming to untangle all the information you need to make better choices. From the woman decolonising sustainability to the educational nonprofit that kick-started it all, via the self-confessed "recovering hypocrite", here are the Instagram accounts you should follow to make your feed more eco-friendly.

Entry Level Activist

Faith Robinson started Entry Level Activist as a personal project while hungover last New Year's Day, after musing on the fact that so many of us want to take more action but need to be better informed in order to do so. By posting explainers of key terms like 'carbon neutral', 'greenwashing' and 'compassion fatigue', Robinson proves that there's no question too basic and that knowledge is always power.

Stories Behind Things

Founded by friends Jemma Finch and Ella Grace Denton, aesthetically pleasing platform Stories Behind Things simplifies sustainability in order to excite and empower its followers. Using the art of storytelling to explain and encourage various facets of sustainability, it breaks down everything from how mindless scrolling enables our shopping habits to the high we get from a five-minute buy, with slick imagery and easy-to-understand takeaways.

Aja Barber

London-based writer, stylist and consultant Aja Barber is a must-follow to see how sustainability, ethics, racism and intersectional feminism interlink in our shopping habits. Educational and motivating while never preachy, her posts are a galvanising call to arms. Asking questions both big and small on everything from garment workers' rights to the intersection of fast fashion and class, her writing demonstrates that small steps can lead to big change.

Fashion Revolution

The OG of fashion sustainability education, nonprofit social enterprise Fashion Revolution truly changed the game when it was founded in 2013. Made up of designers, academics, policymakers, brands and makers, the platform is your go-to resource for everything from brand transparency to a healthy and fair supply chain. Championing every individual involved in making a garment, from farmer to consumer, the global movement celebrates positivity in fashion as well as holding key players to account.

Good On You

Good On You is an app founded by nonprofit organisation Ethical Consumers Australia, built on the belief that it's nigh on impossible for consumers to make good purchasing choices thanks to product overload, greenwashing and complex ethical issues. They've done the hard work for us: by aggregating information from certification schemes like Fair Trade and the Global Organic Textile Standard, plus NGO investigations and brands' own literature, labels are rated on labour, the environment and animal welfare. Eco-conscious shopping just got a hell of a lot easier.

Aditi Mayer

Sustainable fashion has its issues, from class to accessibility to whitewashing. Journalist and photographer Aditi Mayer is here to bust the myths and misconceptions around "style, sustainability and social justice". Focusing on making ethical and responsible fashion more intersectional, Mayer zones in on issues as diverse as the co-opting of the green movement by fast fashion brands and the feminist politics behind the fight for fair working conditions and wages for factory workers.

Eco-Age

Helping brands to understand how they can better incorporate eco-consciousness into their existing strategies, Eco-Age might be a sustainability and communications consultancy but it's also a great resource for the average consumer trying to improve their relationship with fashion. Profiling influential sustainability activists across the globe, encouraging a digital community with daily topic discussions and posting good fashion news each week, Eco-Age's Insta feed is "a daily resource for the active citizen".

Project Stopshop

Project Stopshop is the brainchild of Elizabeth Illing. What began as the final project for her degree in fashion promotion has grown into an Instagram account with a 21k following. "A visual exploration of fast fashion consumption," Illing uses arresting visuals to deliver messages about sustainability and our damaging shopping habits. From photoshopping labels on garments to folding fashion receipts into origami T-shirts, her account shows that sometimes imagery is the most powerful tool for getting a message across.

Venetia La Manna

Instagram fuels the idea of perfection but everyone has to start somewhere. Self-confessed "recovering hypocrite", Venetia La Manna is an essential follow for this very reason – she's transparent about her journey from uneducated consumer to climate activist. From her zero-waste wedding to sharing her favourite eco-friendly clothes detergent, vintage shops and vegan cafés, La Manna is as relatable as she is educational. With her help, taking our own steps towards sustainability is much less intimidating.

Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?

5 Activists On Positivity & Progress In Fashion

This App Is The Google Of Vintage Shopping

5 Activists On Making Your Wardrobe Sustainable

9 Eco-Friendly Fashion Instagram Accounts To Follow Now published first on https://mariakistler.tumblr.com/

[randomlicious00-blog]

5D: The future of Storytelling in Transmedia at FMX 2012

5D presents: The Future of Storytelling in Transmedia

5D presents a transmedia track that looks at the ways in which world building enables new symbiotic relationships between the writer, director, designer and the narrative environment, releasing the potential for these narratives to stimulate and develop transmedia storytelling.

Join multi-hypenate director Shekar Kapur (Elizabeth); the originator of ‘transmedia’, Professor Henry Jenkins (Convergence Culture); designer Alex McDowell (Minority Report) and moderator Inga von Staden in this important discussion of the future of storytelling.

Alex McDowell, Production Designer, 5D Institute, www.5dconference.com

Alex McDowell is one of the most innovative and influential designers working in narrative media, with the impact of his ideas extending far beyond his background in cinema. McDowell advocates an immersive design process that acknowledges the key role of world-building in visual storytelling.

Since moving to LA from London in 1986, McDowell has designed for a diversity of directors including Tim Burton, David Fincher, Terry Gilliam, Steven Spielberg and Zack Snyder. He recently completed design on In Time, directed by Andrew Niccol and was visual consultant for the Aardman/Sony animated feature Arthur Christmas. Currently, McDowell is designing Man of Steel for director Zack Snyder. With many awards for his film design, McDowell was named a Royal Designer by the UK’s Royal Society of Arts in 2006, a lifetime appointment.

McDowell currently serves on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences SciTech Council, is an adjunct professor at the USC School of Cinematic Arts and is Visiting Artist at MIT’s Media Lab, where he collaborated with composer Tod Machover on the robot opera Death and the Powers. He serves on several educational and corporate advisory boards, and works as an advisor and consultant in entertainment media. McDowell is co-founder and creative director of 5D | The Future of Immersive Design, a global series of distributed events and 5D Institute, an education space for an expanding community of thought leaders across narrative and trans-media.

Henry Jenkins, University of Southern California, https://ift.tt/VrtK84

Henry Jenkins is Provost’s Professor of Communication, Journalism, and Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California. He has written and edited more than a dozen books on media and popular culture, including Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide (2006). His other published works reflect the wide range of his research interests, touching on democracy and new media, the “wow factor” of popular culture, science-fiction fan communities, and the early history of film comedy. As one of the first media scholars to chart the changing role of the audience in an environment of increasingly pervasive digital content, Jenkins has been at the forefront of understanding the effects of participatory media on society, politics, and culture. His research gives key insights to the success of social-networking Web sites, networked computer games, online fan communities, and other advocacy organizations, as well as emerging news media outlets. Prior to joining USC, Jenkins spent nearly two decades at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as the Peter de Florez Professor in the Humanities. While there, he directed MIT’s Comparative Media Studies graduate degree program from 1999-2009, setting an innovative research agenda during a time of fundamental change in communication, journalism, and entertainment.

Today, with more than 80 full-time faculty members and 120 adjunct professors, more than 2,200 undergraduate and graduate students, and dozens of research and public interest projects and programs, including the Norman Lear Center and the Knight Digital Media Center, USC Annenberg has become a center for discussion among scholars and professionals in journalism, communication, public relations, public policy, media and education.

Shekhar Kapur, Director

Shekhar Kapur is a visionary filmmaker and storyteller who works at the intersection of art, myth and activism.

He started his film career with the Hindi film “Masoom” which went on to win 5 filmfare awards, the biggest award ceremony in India, followed by “Mr. India,” which is considered one of the most iconic films of the 80’s in Indian cinema. He then directed the critically acclaimed “Bandit Queen” which became an international success. Kapur got international recognition for directing “Elizabeth,” which was nominated for 7 Oscars and won the Oscar for best make-up.

He followed that by directing Heath Ledger in “The Four Feathers.” Kapur then executive produced “The Guru” starring Heather Graham. Kapur returned to direct Cate Blanchett in “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” in the sequel to the original Elizabeth. Golden Age was nominated for 2 Oscars including Cate Blanchett for best actress, and won the Oscar for best costume design.He directed a segment of the film “New York, I love you” made by 12 internationally acclaimed directors, which was similar in concept to the successful film “Paris, je t’aime.”

He directed a short film “Passage” set in Buenos Aires which was commissioned by Swarovski and was then invited to do an installation based on the film at Swarovski’s Kristallwelten museum in Austria.Shekhar recently produced the documentary “Bollywood: The Greatest Love Story Ever Told” that was invited to the official selection of the 2011 Cannes Film Festival and was the festival’s most successful Saturday night premiere.

Shekhar is regularly invited to speak at the World Economic Forum and is a part of the National Innovation Council for India which is part of the Advisory Council to the Prime Minister. He is currently an environmental activist with water conservation related issues. He is also on the board of the International Global Water Challenge, the world’s premier body for water related issues. Kapur is presently working on his passion project, “Paani” about the impending water wars in the world.

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5D Institute

Digital technologies are blurring the boundaries between the passive and active experience of visual art, entertainment, environmental design and the built environment. Out of these transformations emerge unique challenges and inspirations for those facing the creative process of world-building and storytelling in narrative media. 5D offers a progressive platform for discourse on the present and future of immersive design, and its impact on all aspects of the creative media space, by engaging creative collaborators working in a broad spectrum of disciplines and media. This unprecedented cultural event is curated for everyone involved in design and storytelling, and the creation of immersive environments, across all mediums. Its goal is to unite a vital community of designers and image-makers from across a broad spectrum of entertainment, built environment and media disciplines, and serve as a catalyst for innovation. Join renowned designers and thinkers for a series of inspiring, educational and career-enhancing discussions and networking, focused on the evolving nature of entertainment content creation, the challenges of world-building, and the design of experience-driven environments. FOR MORE INFORMATION CHECK US OUT ON THE WEB AT www.5dconference.com Likes: 21 Viewed:

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