[ninalinovna]

Here’s a preview of my piece for “Bats & Birds: A Batfamily Zine”! I’m so proud to have worked alongside so many amazing artists and writers! All proceeds from the zine will go to Blood: Water (a grassroots organization working to fight HIV/AIDS and water crises in Africa). Check out @bat-famzine for more info! 💜

PRE-ORDERS ARE OPEN NOW!

batsandbirds.bigcartel.com

[taikitawaitiki]

Taika Waititi photographed for GQ 2017

[pusheen]

[thehmn]

This infamous cake has been making rounds, and it’s even funnier to Danes because the animals on top are Bamse and Kylling (Teddy and Chicken), two of the oldest and most beloved character for children in Denmark.

The show might even have been popular with people on here if it had made it outside of Denmark, because it had no fucks to give about gender and sexuality.

Bamse (Teddy) was male, Ælling (Duckling) was female and Kylling (Chicken) was genderless.

Bamse and Kylling had a pink tutu that they were forever fighting over because they both wanted to wear it, as well as pair of shorts with leopard print that was understood to be the “boy’s clothes”. They also pretended to get married several time and could never quite agree on who was the bride.

It was so normalized that most people didn’t even realize what the show was teaching them about gender until it was pointed out to them as adults.

And what’s more, it was a government funded show.

[thehmn]

The deleted scenes from Captain Marvel are giving us new insight into the Kree Empire and I’m loving how fundamentally messed up it is, to the point of the Kree themselves being victims of it.

First we got the Supreme Intelligence. Apparently it always gives the people it imitates white/grey hair and green eyes.

It’s interesting how differently it approaches Carol and Yon-Rogg.

It treats Carol like a friend and acts like a kind mentor because it knows she has always rebelled against people who tries to oppress her, while it’s incredibly abusive to Yon-Rogg

I don’t think it actually takes the form of those whom people admire the most either (though I’m sure that’s what it tells people), but rather those it can use most effectively to manipulate people with. Sure, often times that will be a respected person but if you pay attention both Carol and Yon-Rogg are uncomfortable with who they see.

By taking the form of Mar-Vell, someone Carol only sees in half forgotten dreams, it’s constantly reminding her “See how broken and confused you are. You need guidance”.

It takes the form of Yon-Rogg when talking to him, then mocks him for it “You are so full of yourself. Think you’re real important, huh?” which makes Yon-Rogg think he deserves to be humiliated and abused so he can become more humble.

I can definitely see why they left the Yon-Rogg scene out of the final film (though it’s apparently still canon). First off it’s incredibly unsettling. The SI very much acts like a mix between an abusive parent AND an abusive boyfriend. The way it touches Yon-Rogg gives off some strong sexual predator vibes that leaves you with a slimy feeling that it has used every trick in the book to humiliate him and destroy his self esteem.

And Yon-Rogg actually leans into the touch, maybe because he’s terrified and wants to please the SI, or maybe because he crave it’s acceptance and cherish every little act of kindness. Probably a mix of both.

The scene also puts his and Carol’s last encounter in a different light. Instead of it being a purely triumphant moment for Carol it makes us realize how cruel it is of her to send him back. She of course doesn’t know how the SI treats him and I have no doubt that she’d rather keep him captive somewhere else if she knew, but we’d know and it would sour the moment a bit.

Then there is of course the whole “control your emotions” thing. The SI tells Yon-Rogg that he’s too emotional and he then tells Carol the same thing. A lot of people saw it as him being sexist but it’s pretty clear that all Kree are expected to be as emotionless as possible, probably because the SI see emotions as a liability. Unfortunately they aren’t naturally less emotional. Kree are just as emotional as humans, maybe even more so.

Just look at Ronan. He starts out as an upper-class, well respected member of society who has seemingly mastered his emotions. He doesn’t let Yon-Rogg rile him up when they argue over the “phone” and he hardly even flinches when Carol destroys his ships. But it’s all facade. The people behind the movies have hinted that Ronan has a form of PTSD and that’s why he is the way he is in Guardians of The Galaxy. Kree warriors aren’t supposed to be affected by the horrors they commit, so when the war was over there was no system in place to help people like Ronan who had killed millions of people. Instead he turns to the old religion that existed before the SI where he can freely express his emotions.

Also, Yon-Rogg teaches a primary school class of some sort (the children aren’t called “students” but “recruits” which tells you everything you need to know about the Kree Empire) where he teach them to fight (they’re wearing the same style of clothes that he and Carol wore during their sparring scene) and Kree propaganda (“Skrulls are terrorists and it’s our duty to defend not just Kree but all other races who can’t fight for themselves”) and it’s implied that he and Ronan used to sit through the same classes as children. This tells us that the Kree aren’t naturally cruel. The SI has to tell them the lie that Skrulls are terrorist and speak to Kree compassion by telling them that Kree warriors have to protect others from the merciless Skrulls.

The Kree are a race of scarred and abused people who then inflict that abuse on everyone else because they think they’re doing good. It’s fantastically messed up.

[petticoatbandit-deactivated2019]

People who review Beka Cooper (or any of Tamora pierce’s books) and say they are inappropriate for teenagers make me simultaneously laugh and go “whut?”

Like, they are great books for teenagers. They talk about safe sex. Having multiple boyfriends/girlfriends/partners/sexual partners without shaming them. There are gay and Trans characters. It talks about unwanted advances. Has male characters that specifically say if the person of their flirtation is uncomfortable, then they will stop. Strong female and male characters working together. But they are not all strong in the same way. Beka is so scared of talking to people she doesn’t know, but she kicks criminal ass.

Like, these books are so great. I started reading them when I was 13. I read them once a year and pick up on things I didn’t notice before that are relevant to my life now.

They are great books for teenagers. They are great books for adults.

[silent-spy]

i dont think i would want a movie adaptation of any Tamora Pierce books, but a graphic novel adaptation would be wicked

[stressedspidergirl]

TV series?

[ofliterarynature]

i never read the last beka cooper book - what happened ???

ok so disclaimer, I’ve only read the book once, when it came out (which was like…6 or 7 years ago?), and haven’t touched the series since so my memories are a little foggy. Also, this is gonna be vaguely spoilery. 

Mostly what I associate with the experience of reading the last Beka Cooper book is coming out of it with a sense of betrayal and a feeling that the characters had gotten wildly OOC. First, one of Beka’s mentors, who are like the best of the best in the guard, turns traitor. Like, WHAT??? And second, Beka gets a brand new love interest that she’s never met before and by the end of the book I think they’re married? Which, it’s been so long that I can’t give you specifics on why that pissed me off so much, but I’m definitely still a pretty salty about it. The things that you used to love can also inspire the deepest grudges. 

SO, bringing this back to my tags on this post (which i’m assuming prompted this), I am SUPER EXTRA SALTY about how in the first book we get this kind of romantic drama between Beka and Rosto (aka a Guard and the Rogue) and how she’s attracted to him but not willing to compromise her morals, etc, and builds up to this dramatic kiss at the end…and then Rosto almost completely disappears from the series? He kind of has a background role in book 2 if I’m remembering correctly, but I was 100% expecting him to come back as a major player in book 3, and he didn’t. Like, what was the point of all the stuff in book 1 then??? Was Tammy worried about it being too similar to Alanna/George? (because I wouldn’t care, I really wouldn’t). 

I’d give the first book 5 stars, the second book maybe 3.5-4, and the third book could totally brought it back to a 5 star series for me if it’d been good, but I’d probably only give it a 2 or 3. 

[ayankintheukintheus]

Agreed! I had a group of friends in middle school and we read all of Tamora Pierce’s stuff together. We were obsessed. And so of course we’ve continued chatting about her things, through high school, college, and after. And we all agreed that the third Beka book was terrible (which is shocking, because this is coming from people who would probably read Tammy’s grocery lists and be happy about it). I came to the conclusion, and my friends agreed with me, that the main reason it was so terrible was that all of the character development happened, so to speak, off screen. Like, yeah, I was (am) really salty about Rosto basically being dropped from the plot entirely. And yeah, I too wasn’t a big fan of the idea of Beka’s mentor being a traitor. But these are things I could have gotten over, could have forgiven–but what I couldn’t forgive was Beka.

Now, it’s been a long time for me too, so I can’t give exact specifics of what about her character also didn’t feel right, but I remember reading that book and the entire thing just felt off to me. Her character was…a different character! If I recall correctly, in between book two and book three, where the audience can’t see anything at all, Beka A) gets married B) has a bad marriage (possibly a little abusive? I can’t remember) C) becomes a widow. There’s also pre-A, which would be, you know, Beka finding this dude at all and all of that. So by the time we show up on the scene (which I believe is at her husband’s funeral?), Beka has gone through so much character development and growth that, to me as a reader, she felt completely foreign. It wasn’t like going back to a beloved friend you’ve known all your life–it was like catching up with a high school friend you haven’t seen in ten years only to discover they’re an entirely different person. They might have the same face, some of the same mannerisms–but a lot of what you knew is gone. Had we seen Beka go from point A to point C, I think maybe the rest of the book could have felt authentic. But we didn’t. We start in medias res in a story we were already in the middle of. But like yeah also I’m real salty about Rosto

[onefortortall]

Beka wasn’t married, they were betrothed and the relationship was ending when he died. He thought she was too serious he thought she wasnt serious enough, and in the end him trying to show off/prove himself is what got him killed.

I would say the key to not being mad that development happens off screen is to remind yourself that these are journals, I usually picture it like we’re reading them as George given them hundreds of years after the fact, the normal day to day ones weren’t as cared for as the 3 about her big deeds, they didnt make it, these did.

[stressedspidergirl]

I think she says she stopped journaling until she got in trouble for crappy reports. So she's picking it up again here to keep her memory sharp.

I mostly just hated mastiff. I was ok w book 2. But Tunstall and Farmer made no sense to me.

[meangirlnurse]

Sarah Halimi murderer found unfit to stand trial

“If justice is perverted and murder excused due to drug addiction, this sets a precedent for every drunk driver to be similarly acquitted."

turns out you can murder Jews in France so long as you smoke a little weed first 

5/26/2019

[milfposting69]

[eggpuffs]

a cloak made from wool 蓬松柔软的羊羔毛，织一件斗篷便不怕寒冬的风雪

[fuckyeahchinesefashion]

Li Ziqi is a legend. She lives in countryside of Mianyang 绵阳, Sichuan Province.

[indigenousandangry]

it is an absolute privilege to watch these. 

[honeycranes]

I’VE BEEN OBSESSED WITH 李子柒 FOR THE PAST COUPLE MONTHS EVER SINCE MY FRIEND SHOWED ME HER VIDEOS AND I ADMIRE HER SO FUCKING MUCH

SHE’S SO INDEPENDENT AND STRONG AND HANDY AND BEAUTIFUL AND INTELLIGENT AND I FUCKING LOVE HER

But her backstory makes me love her EVEN more

李子柒 (Li Ziqi) was born in Sichuan in the countryside to a poor family. Her mom left the family when she was very young, and she was abused by her stepmom when her dad wasn’t around. After her father passed away, she ended up orphaned and living with her grandparents

She dropped out of middle school and moved to the city to look for work because her family was in such poverty. There, she worked as a waitress and a DJ for 8yr, making barely enough to get by — at one point, before she had found steady work, she was homeless and was forced to seek shelter under a bridge

Her grandfather was a professional chef, and after he passed away, she decided to try her hand at the culinary arts and to share her cooking skills on social media — she started making YouTube videos (entirely independently!!)

She initially received an incredible amount of backlash… people left hurtful comments and really just shat on her for no good reason

But she persevered and continued making videos, and now, she has 3.8 million followers (as of May 4th, 2019) and gets the bulk of her income from her YouTube channel

She isn’t completely alone in making her videos anymore (she has a cameraman and an assistant), but she still does the majority of the work — the actual cooking/farming/handiwork being filmed, arranging the scenes, and video editing

She is an absolute BADASS and carries on so many Chinese traditions that are being forgotten

Most of her videos are of her cooking, but she shows you more than just the cooking process — you see her pulling vegetables and herbs and mushrooms out of the fucking ground and slicing fruits and flowers and shit off of trees with a machete in the beginning of the video, and by the end, it’s a finished, beautiful, mouth-watering dish

She also does way more than work with food — there’s a video of her building her clay oven (which you see her cooking with in a lot of videos) from SCRATCH just with some bricks and a mud mixture she made herself

There’s also a video of her making paper from scratch and then using it for calligraphy, and LET ME TELL YOU, LI ZIQI IS AS ARTISTICALLY GIFTED AS SHE IS CULINARILY

Li Ziqi is a fucking boss and I love her and please watch her videos

[memories]

you wouldn’t download a #dean winchester.

[memories]

apparently, I joined this tumblr place at 03/22/2011 9:01:07 PM.

[memories]

I regret to inform you I’m #tamora pierce trash.

[memories]

I’m thinking about getting a hamster and naming it after #@stuftzombie. Sound off in the replies if this is a bad idea.

[memories]

If there’s one thing I learned since I signed up on 03/22/2011 9:01:07 PM, it’s that #garth nix takes up too much of my time.

[memories]

#tony stark and Other Things That Ruined My Life: An Autobiography by stressedspidergirl