#anyway really good books

[oldtvandcomics]

Happy Queer Media Monday!

Today: Dread Nation series by Justina Ireland

(The two books that contain the actual Dread Nation story photographed from my Kindle)

Dread Nation is an alternate history horror series set in a world where the American Civil War has been cut short by a zombie apocalypse. Some decades later, children of color are being sent to special schools where they get some training, mostly bad than good, then sent out to the fields to fight the zombies. Two of these girls are Jane McKeene and her school rival, Katherine Deveraux. When they get unexpectedly transported to a segregated town on the Western frontier, they have only each other left to rely on.

The strength of these books is that the only fantastic element in them are the zombies. The racist atrocities committed by various white characters, as well as the system at large, can all be recognized as things that actually happened to Black people in the history of the US. 

Both main characters are disabled. Jane suffers a serious wound while fighting zombies in the second book, and Katherine has severe anxiety. They are also both queer, Jane is bisexual and Katherine is ace.

The Dread Nation book series consists out of three books: Books one and two (Dread Nation and Deathless Divide) are the actual story, while the third, Three for the Road, contains three short stories set in that world.

Queer Media Monday is an action I started to talk about some important and/or interesting parts of our queer heritage, that people, especially young people who are only just beginning to discover the wealth of stories out there, should be aware of. Please feel free to join in on the fun and make your own posts about things you personally find important!

#I know that everyone else is having Spooky Month but I swear that this wasn't because of that #it's just the books I thought about and felt like posting #I am an intellectual #I maintain that spooky time is CHRISTMAS and I will die on that hill #anyway really good books #I breathed the first one in within a day and didn't even notice until it was over #books #alternate history #horror #zombies #black representation #queer representation #disabled representation #Dread Nation #Queer Media Monday #bisexual character #asexual character

[ale-arro]

been going a little bit insane about this sentence from Ace by Angela Chen for the past week

#replace this with any other type of significant relationship too #also! this book actually rules btw i really recommend it #i didnt read it when it first cane out bc i was like. well i am already pretty familiar with asexuality and not rly interested in 101 stuff #but it turns out it doesnt feel 101-y at all its a super awesome piece of queer theory and also chen has Good opinions #and not weird watered down ones that i am sometimes wary of in aspec communities (frankly especially ace ones) #i think maybe if more people approached asexuality the way chen does (including and maybe even especially ace people) #i would be more inclined to still ID as ace #but anyways! #aro #aromantic #<- tag selections that reflect how i personally engage with this quote #also #described in alt text #also also #j tag #:/ #aro media

[egophiliac]

Hi it's just to let you know that the official romanization of Revaan's name is Raverne ! Also they have romanized Baul's name to Baur !

Twst coming back at us again with the least expected romanization! thank you everybody (oh god my inbox) (no it's great, I literally asked for this and the reactions have been INCREDIBLE, thank you all!)

I do like Raverne though, I think it's got a nice fancy sound to it! (I had kinda suspected it was going to be an R instead of an L, so the fact that it's SO close to Laverne except for that is hilarious to me personally.) and Dragoneye Duke is honestly probably the best translation for his title, I wasn't envying the localizers that one. :') Baur instead of Baul I was NOT expecting, but in retrospect I think his name's supposed to be a reference to the Bauru crocodile, so that actually makes way more sense!

someone else also said Meleanor has become Maleanor, which is the REALLY weird one to me, because I was so surprised it was written as Mel instead of Mal in the first place?! oh god no I can't decide which one I like better. 😭 (I wonder if they might change it to Mal...they have made romanization changes before) (like I remember House of Distraction being corrected to House of Destruction in Playful Land) (I did check and she's still Mel for now, but I dunno, they might Mal her up and some point and save me from having to make a decision about which one to use) (HECK I CAN'T DECIDE)

uhhhh thank you for letting me ramble about anime names, let's just say MONOGRAMMED SWEATERS FOR EVERYONE

#twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland spoilers #twisted wonderland episode 7 spoilers #twisted wonderland book 7 spoilers #twisted wonderland episode 7 part 4 spoilers #twisted wonderland book 7 part 4 spoilers #mel is so cute but mal fits with the rest of the draconias better #eng version no you were supposed to save me not make things MORE confusing #anyway raverne huh #that uh. that sure feels like it's supposed to evoke raven doesn't it. #what does it mean WHAT DOES IT MEAN #hold on i'm going to flail around embarrassingly about anime character theories now #(okay first a disclaimer: i do think we need to sit down as a fandom at some point) #(and have a discussion about exactly what is actual canon versus meta speculation versus jokes) #(because i think there has been. some confusion. over that re:crowley and raverne specifically) #(but i do feel justified in being like THEY ARE PROBABLY CONNECTED SOMEHOW RIGHT?! right now) #like i really don't think it's as simple as crowley being raverne but with memory loss or something #(and if they pull that on us i'm going to need an EXTREMELY good explanation to go with it to justify that) #they've gone out of their way several times now to make a point about them acting and sounding different and it feels very intentional to m #(and once again: i super 100% absolutely do not believe that lilia wouldn't recognize him with the top half of his face covered) #i just think the contradictions are a lot stronger than the connections right now but there ARE some connections and i'm 👀ing at them #to be fair the connections are mostly meta like crowley being diablo/raverne being evocative of raven #also the general 'raverne mysteriously disappeared and apparently had distinctive eyes' thing #versus 'crowley's past is unknown and he never shows his eyes' #(i will argue that crowley DOES seem to have some kind of canon connection to briar valley) #(since he is clearly some sort of fae and the masks are a briar valley thing) #and that is kinda it right now isn't it #okay hold on i had to delete some tags because i used too many (thanks tumblr for letting me know and not just vanishing them OH WAIT) #so tl;dr: i'm in the 'crowley is connected to raverne somehow but it's more complicated than just him being in disguise' camp personally #but that will probably change as we get more info and also don't take this as an anti-speculation thing because i love theories HOORAY

[daily-odile]

nuh uh (papertrail au)

#does anyone remember papertrail au? I do. I think about it sometimes #isat #in stars and time #isat odile #isat siffrin #papertrail au #day 106 #wugh. 4 days of no post? sorry about that yall I'm really losing it here #anyways papertrail au! good chance folks dont know about it so lemme briefly summarize here #This is originally justarandomperson (jarp's) au as linked above; but this one's definitely my personal take on it #Everything is the same but since equipment carries over loops; the states of the equipment carry over as well #Including; say; a certain researcher's notes #This is sus odile route pushed up to the max basically #and eventually siffrin would want to try to snatch the book from odile to prevent her from finding out about the loops #Confrontation! Inner party conflict!! Yippee!!! #Do they succeed? Will Odile figure it out and confront Siffrin before they do?

[leverage-ot3]

I’ve talked about this before but imagine what it’s like for someone in a country/place where eliot is Top Most Wanted and then your tech guy finds a breakout star baseball player on their visual scanner that looks EXACTLY like spencer. but…there’s no way that’s him, right???

and then the next year it happens again but this time it’s some one hit wonder country singer kenneth crane that has like 78 tween-run fangirl blogs dedicated to him. you see a grainy video of him being chased by a horde of screaming teenage girls and ??? no way Eliot Last Thing You’ll Ever See Spencer is a country singer star just. signing pictures of his face right…?

a few months later your intern shows you footage of an eliot lookalike who is in san lorenzo talking about how there is dog fighting in the presidential palace and you just. sigh. because of course. a scant few days later the political geography of the country changes drastically and damien moreau is imprisoned. …interesting

and then a year of silence goes by. he still shows up as blips on the radar but he must have a good hacker working for him because his tracks on the internet are expertly erased.

every time you ask through interagency channels some random interpol guy talks in (condescending?) riddles at you and it also somehow feels like he’s threatening you

and then your friend who recently got into foreign hockey teams sends you a dropyourgloves video of someone called jacques the bear. you immediately get a headache (and watch some more videos because even you can admit this guy is a good hockey player)

and you know he’s a Bad Guy but it’s been admittedly a bit entertaining seeing what claim to fame he will come upon next. and his most recent actions over the few years make you wonder.

a few months later your phone pings because multiple heads of state evacuated from DC. the reason? eliot spencer was in town. you hear two days later a bioterrorist was taken down by… the report was redacted. your hacker tells you spencer and two teammates were behind the successful operation. which, huh.

not even a full year later it is released that spencer is dead and… you don’t know how to feel.

#sorry this turned kinda angsty I just think eliot famousaliases spencer is a great reoccurring joke #eventually an indeterminate amount of months later you see him pop up again and you breathe #at this point all the intel you’ve gotten points that he’s actually doing something good with his life #like he’s changed. and you know he’s a bad guy but he’s doing things that nobody else is really capable of doing. making changes on large #and small scales #he will face consequences eventually you are sure. but his tracks are so well covered already and he’s so slippery so maybe. maybe you just #don’t make your agents work so hard to track him down #you get to know sterling a bit better (and maybe understand him a bit better too) #sterling invites you to an off the books lunch at this brewpub in portland when you’re in the states. the head chef looks familiar #it’s the best food you’ve ever tasted. because OF COURSE it is #at this point you’re not even angry. or resigned anymore. you’re slightly impressed #anyways that’s how sterling’s leverage club gains another member #(mcsweeten was the second member btw. if you’ve seen my other posts) #eliot spencer #eliot spencer meta #headcanons #humor #leverage #jim sterling #(mentioned) #the studio job #the blue line job #the three strikes job #ficlets #mine #a post not on my queue??? more likely than you think #I should make a tag for in universe pov posts #into the leverage verse #headcanons in the tags #the rundown job

[its-hai-time]

hello Nimona people

#I watched the movie like an hour ago and it's already wormed its' way into my brain #I read the book over a year ago and its soooo good #I think it's the one-two combo that's really getting my ass #anyways I'll be rewatching the movie once I post this #nimona #ballister blackheart #ballister boldheart #nimona fanart #Hailey's drawing again

[inkskinned]

it is all chaos and entropy. the thing is that the chaos and entropy make it beautiful and lovely.

yes, it's true that nature and the universe are uncaring and unspecific, and that is terrifying. i have lived through some of the unfairness - i got born like this, with my body caving into itself, with this ironic love of dance when i sometimes can't stand up for longer than 15 minutes. i am a poet with hands that are slowly shutting down - i can't hold a pen some days. recently i found a dead bird on our front porch. she had no visible injuries. she had just died, the way things die sometimes.

it is also true that nature and the universe are uncaring and unspecific, and that is wonderful. the sheer happenstance that makes rain turn into a rainbow. the impossible coincidence of finding your best friend. i have made so many mistakes and i have let myself down and i have harmed other people by accident. nature moves anyway. on the worst day of my life she delivers me an orange juice sunset, as if she is saying try again tomorrow.

how vast and unknowing the universe! how small we are! isn't that lovely. the universe has given us flowers and harp strings and the shape of clouds. how massive our lives are in comparison to a grasshopper. the world so bright, still undiscovered. even after 30 years of being on this earth, i learned about a new type of animal today: the dhole.

chance echoing in my life like a harmony between two people talking. do you think you and i, living in different worlds but connected through the internet - do you think we've ever seen the same butterfly? they migrate thousands of miles. it's possible, right?

how beautiful the ways we fill the vastness of space. i love that when large amounts of people are applauding in a room, they all start clapping at the same time. i love that the ocean reminds us of our mother's heartbeat. i love that out of all the colors, chlorophyll chose green. i love the coincidences. i love the places where science says i don't know, but it just happens.

"the universe doesn't care about you!" oh, i know. that's okay. i care about the universe. i will put my big stupid heart out into it and watch the universe feast on it. it is not painful. it is strange - the more love you pour into the unfeeling world, the more it feels the world loves you in return. i know it's confirmation bias. i think i'm okay if my proof of kindness is just my own body and my own spirit.

i buried the bird from our porch deep in the woods. that same day, an old friend reaches out to me and says i miss you. wherever you go, no matter how bad it gets - you try to do good.

#writeblr #warm up #i can't write rn but i have SO much words in here bc im reading the chorus of dragons books #(just started book 4) #and this woman's writing is just LIVING in my brain. let me out!!! #(i read roughly like 2-4 books a week usually bc i go on long walks with my dog but when a book is REALLY good like. it eats my life. ) #anyway ...... so like here's a story that idk i've tried to explain to other people as being wild #but maybe im the only one who thinks it is wild??? #so i play pokemon go (i just started in jan) bc i love pokemon and as i have mentioned i walk goblin for like an hour in the morning #and i don't like a lot of fitness trackers due to the fact it makes me .sad. but i also wanted the little digital rewards. enter pokemon go #anyway so they make you make friends to complete quests. so i used a reddit thread. i do not usually use reddit. i don't have an acct #i lurked. i just googled like ''pokemon go reddit '' and randomly added a bunch of numbers #i was on that page for all of 15 minutes. there are THOUSANDS of responses on that page. #here's what's wild: in that group of people. even though i am not on reddit and it was one random event once #it turns out one of those people lives in the town i live in. or at least very close. i only know this because #when we send each other gifts. it's from the same freaking area. #i can't ask them to meet up bc pokemon go doesn't have a messaging app lol but like . what are the fucking chances that #a random person posts in a random reddit thread and HAPPENS to get added by someone ELSE from their SAME TOWN #who by pure fucking CHANCE is ALSO playing pokemon go and looking for friends #i googled it there's only 42000 people in my broad region. the .......... smallness ! of the world!!!

[bruciemilf]

Somebody tell me if this is a bad take, or if my love for Bruce is causing my objective brain to glitch, but-- something about advertising Batman, a hero who's very popular for being good with children, for being NURTURING with children, a bad father kinda defeats the whole purpose of what he's supposed to represent.

Batman is a protector; He protects people the world (and especially law enforcement) does not care about. That's literally the point of him.

Something about marketing " you can be incredibly violent to people you care about! And Its fine, because you care about them even if you abuse them, and that's what matters!" towards people, but especially men and young boys, is REALLY fucked up to me.

#it's not really 'wahhh think of the children' because the media you consume isn't a vessel of your character #but. gotham war is so incredibly shallow to me for pulling the 'no no its another personality bruce would never!' like. thats worse. #you get thats worse right? #because 1) dc loves demoninsing DID for some reason but it doesn’t add any substantial weight because bruce will be associated with #the actions of his 'alter' anyway. and dc knew that. 2) if you truly cannot write an interesting comic book where bruce is not abusive #and the batkids aren't being abused. you failed. #this isn't a reprouch or an attack to people who prefer that format. but the creator isn't doing it as genuine exploration of dark tropes #if that's the case -- dont cop out with the personality thing. let him be a bad dad. but its kinda fucked how dc STILL try to paint him #as a good person while doing so. its the collen hoover effect. 'we know the guy is an abuser. thats not the problem. the problem #is that the author wants us to pretend thats a good thing.' #bruce wayne #dc comics #dc #batman #text post #dc critical

[diana-daphne]

Best book ever written, nothing will ever be funnier than this, Jane Austen I love you more than anyone else in the world <3

#Mr. knightley i love you so much #also Mr. knightley is so in love with Emma #it’s so cute #he can hardly help from smiling even when she’s making fun of him #thank goodness Mrs. Elton was there #I really can’t blame him #she’s like a combination of all my most obnoxious family members #I swear to god if she brings up that god damn barouche-landau again #and mother fucking maple grove #anyway where was i #Jane Austen literary & comedic genius everybody #i love her so muuuuuch #emma #jane austen #books

[redbean-nom]

my cody theory for tbb s3

the legendary "boba fett" is actually like twenty different clones (including the real Boba). anyone at risk of being recognized (usually officers/arcs) can go into bounty hunting as "boba fett". it soon becomes the clone equivalent of like john doe. they share a bounty guild account (bc it uses biometric id and they're close enough to register as the same person).

"boba fett" soon develops a reputation for getting missions done 1) incredibly well and 2) incredibly fast. the fast part is because there are at least eight people all doing different bounties at any given time. the well part is because "boba fett" is an informal collective of escaped clones of particular distinction in battle.

by the time the real Boba is an adult, the "boba fett" clones have built up his bounty hunter credit score so much that he can pretty much take whatever job he wants for max rates.

#star wars #tbb #the bad batch #tbb s3 #commander cody #boba fett #redbean art #predictions #why is cody a bounty hunter? well #he still hasnt gotten dechipped yet but he can choose to accept bounties that send him after important imperial targets #so this is his way of circumventing his very-deteriorated chip #bc he is still following orders from /somebody/ #and its not like the emperor ever explicitly ordered him to never take bounties on imperial admirals... #vader can tell the bobas apart #hes worked w enough clones to figure out how to differentiate them solely from force signature #(palpatine could absolutely learn to if he ever bothered. but. he doesn't) #but only the real boba works for him anyways so it doesn't really matter to him #(after all anything keeping cody from joining rebellion leadership is good in vader's books) #to be clear its not a formal group or anything. it's just twentysome escaped clones who all decided to impersonate boba

[ricky-mortis]

I drew Ted from the wonderful @nabwastaken ‘s Time Bastard Au! The original design is by the talented @midnightnautilus , and was so very fun to draw!

#it’s a very fun au #I enjoy it quite a bit #I mean it’s hard to go wrong when making hatchetfield characters superheroes #although nobody should ever give Ted super powers #my man would wreak so much havoc #he's just a silly guy tho #I loved drawing him in this costume #drawing horns is so much fun #and I got to do a little comic book type halftone moment that I don’t get to do in a lot of my drawings #I love the halftone effect so much so when I find a drawing I can use it with I get very excited #anyways yall should go check out the au #Midnightnautilus has got some awesome art for it and the concept is so very good #let’s see what’s a fun fact for this one #fun fact: the person who created the early version of the Polygraph (lie detector) test also came up with Wonder Woman! #It's really interesting especially when you remember that Wonder Woman has the lasso of truth #Ted spankoffski #hatchetfield #time bastard #time bastard au #hatchetverse #team starkid #starkid #hatchetfield au #tinky #tnoy karaxis #the guy who didnt like musicals #nightmare time #my art #others idea

[koszmarnybudyn]

You see the most autistic boy ever and the meanest girl wyd?

Have a Link and Scary drawing i couldnt finish because i didn't have enough time but i think looks cool anyway.

#dndads #dungeons and daddies #link li wilson #scary marlowe #my art #scary has the coolest outfit and then i just draw the boys in khakis #i nearly drew link in a suit but then i didnt #that is a leg brace on link because i headcanon he has some hypermobility issues or something #they are also both autistic and i headcanon link with dyslexia but that's beside the poin #anyway im on vacation its hot as balls my birthday was two days ago and i had really great chocolate cake today #and i havent slept till about 4 cause i was reading a great good omens fanfic also im reading the book probablly idk i dont usually stick #with books

[mugentakeda]

mighty dragon (and fledgling)

#rewatching atla to ease my insanity #zhao showed up and asked zuko to come to his tent for drinks #and i wanted to reach thru the screen and hit his forehead with a pan so hard his eyeballs popped out of their sockets #hes so WEIRD i wish he died more brutally sorry #i know hes going nuts in the fog dimension or whatever but he needed to be beaten with hammers #ANYWAY. im gonna keep drawing iroh until i can do it in my sleep i guess? Hes really fun to draw i have so much fun drawing him #maybe ill even draw him in a good mood someday.... someday..... #also book 1 zuko is hard asf to draw i hate the armor brah #iroh #zuko #atla #avatar the last airbender

[egophiliac]

Have you heard of the "Crowley is Malleus' dad" theory going around? Where Prince Levan (or whatever his name is) didn't actually die and just went out to get some milk and is now known as Dire Crowley, the silly man? The implications of that theory is absolutely hilarious when you think about it

hold on, we can figure this out, we just need LISTS

PROS THAT CROWLEY IS SECRETLY REVAAN/LEVAN/LAVERNE/WHATEVER:

unspecified fae of some kind, with similar coloring to Mal

the animal masks are apparently a Briar Valley thing

has some kind of big blackmailable secret that was alluded to in episode 4, and then as far as I know never brought up again

(unless this was just Azul bullshitting, which is extremely possible)

based on Diablo, which...maybe means something?

has canonically worn Dad Shorts

CONS:

(gestures to Crowley's entire personality)

NO LISTEN Revaan was the guy they sent off on diplomatic missions and to take care of delicate political situations, and...look, I love this dweeb, but would you trust Crowley to be in charge of negotiating your war treaties

despite my brain insisting on reading his name as "Raven", Revaan's title does imply that he was also a dragon (or super into longan berries, I'm not ruling that out)

currently unclear why Lilia "my closest friend Revaan...he is no longer with us...I used to make fun of him for being kind of a priss about eating jerky..." Vanrouge has somehow not noticed or said anything

Malleus' Aloof Anime ~Aristocrat~ vibe had to come from somewhere, and by all accounts it was NOT his mom's side of the family

???:

turns into a bird in the opening, I don't know if that means anything but it's kinda cool, I guess

all that aside, if Malleus and Yuu are any indication, then the Draconias have...questionable taste in their social choices. so anything is possible!

#art #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland spoilers #twisted wonderland episode 7 spoilers #twisted wonderland book 7 spoilers #disclaimer that this is half joke and half speculation so like. please take it in good spirits and don't yell at me #right now i'm leaning away from crowley being revaan because i think the evidence is currently circumstantial at best #but who knows what the future will bring! #man. whenever i consciously remember that crowley is diablo it also reminds me #that his name is supposed to be pronounced like dear and not like the word dire #which always fucks me up a little bit. this is the worst thing about him bar none. #damnit crowley #anyway every time a new part comes out i rewatch the opening just in case there turns out to be any more foreshadowing #(there never is) #(but that ONE really quick bit where you can see overblot azul means i always have to look) #which is to say i have been carefully reanalyzing all the crowley bits and i have reached the conclusion #that i still have no idea what is going on with him #he may be the world's biggest mastermind or the world's biggest idiot and these are not mutually exclusive #(this is a strictly pro-crowley post btw) #(i'm allowed to make fun of him because i love him dire-ly)

[franklyimissparis]

analysing mclennon feels like being an academic and pouring over historical texts and connecting the dots between passages because you basically are doing exactly that

#if old white guys can come up with their own beatles theories and write books and be taken seriously in an academic space… #then so should we #i trust beatles tumblr users opinions infinitely more than the opinions of 87% of music journalists out there #ppl will complain about beatles rpf fans cherry-picking evidence as if music journalists aren’t 100x worse abt doing just that #anyway i just really love mclennon lore and finding sources to support our theories #feels like putting my half-finished history degree to good (questionable) use #also enjoy that mclennon genuinely just feels very different to basically any other rpf ship #the beatles #paul mccartney #john lennon #mclennon #beatles rpf

[rachaels]

I'm rereading the Hunger Games books and I truly cannot overstate how little grittiness and bite and general depth of emotion has translated over to the movies. I know it would've been difficult to really capture how Katniss thinks and feels without the aid of her internal monologue, but the viewers lose SO much here.

in the movies, when Katniss visits District 12 after it's been reduced to ash, the only thing you realize is that it was her home and now it's gone — you don't feel the weight she feels, because none of the characters who are presumed dead by the start of the third book were ever introduced in the movies to begin with.

she walks through the remnants of the bakery where Peeta's family used to live. through the books, you know that Peeta had an abusive mother, and two brothers who were either too old to volunteer for him in the games or simply wouldn't sacrifice themselves to save him. and you know Peeta's father, who promised Katniss he would feed and care for Prim before Katniss went into the games in the event that she didn't come back, who bought game from Katniss and Gale when his wife wasn't home, who knew Katniss's mother when they were kids and dreamed of marrying her one day.

and as she walks through the ashes of their home, her internal monologue says they all died. just like that. she's numb to the emotion of Peeta having no family to come home to. she's numb to the fact that her childhood friend and the Mayor's daughter, Madge, who gave her the pin and effectively started the mockingjay symbolization, died along with her parents. and as she passes by skulls and bones, she tells them, "I killed you. and you. and you." because she blames herself for every single death in District 12.

the movies never stood a chance. they can't be meticulous enough to introduce the Mellarks, or Madge and her parents, or Bonnie and Twill — and that's just a fraction of the characters who were cut for time. they can't effectively make you feel exactly how Katniss feels. and they had to stay within the confines of a PG-13 rating. they never stood a chance and it wasn't even close.

#the hunger games #mockingjay #thg #anyways I've been REALLY enjoying reading the books for the first time in like. a decade. highly recommend they are SO good #shut up rachael