This is a perfect time to read the brilliant and unforgettable graphic novel(s) Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, about growing up in Iran during and after the Iranian Revolution, and the rise of the oppressive theocracy that persists to this day.
Both graphic novels are available free online (Persepolis vol. 1, Persepolis vol. 2)
It also was adapted to a wonderful film (co-directed and co-written by the author) which is available to watch for free on Sundance Now (sign up for the free trial)
OK so I know 3am on a Friday night is probably a terrible time to post this and I know I'm usually significantly less pushy than this but please, for all that is good and glorious, READ THIS BOOK
Milk Blood Heat is a short story collection by Dantiel W. Moniz at it is *hands down* the best book I've read this year. (Of which I've read 140+ for context)
It contains 11 stories, 9 of them told from female perspectives, and all but one of them centred around a variety of pivotal moments in the lives of complex black women and when I tell you the writing is *phenomenal* I promise you can take my word for it!
I went into this book blind and it was a goddamn joy to read from beginning to end, the amount of depth the author is capable of creating in these women in such a small number of pages is genuinely breathtaking, but if you need a little more reason to read this absolute masterpiece then I've added a small outline of each of the stories underneath the cut and some quotes (damn you 10 image limit) because I really really want everyone to read this lol.
1 - Milk Blood Heat
A story about the intensity of friendship between two 13 year old girls and how dark things can get in a world of only two... and I mean just read how this book starts
2 - Feast
A desperately sad story about a severely depressed woman mourning the loss of an early stage pregnancy, and the hallucinations she's haunted by that she believes is her daughter reaching out to her from death.
3- Tongues
Follows a teenage girl dealing with a crisis of faith and the slow realisation that she wants and deserves something more than what her strict religious surroundings offer her, and the confronting of all she'll lose if she holds onto her newfound sense of self.
4 - The Loss of Heaven
Tells the story of a man and his behaviour while mourning his wife's choices in the face of her cancer diagnosis, and how his pride keeps getting in his own way while he tries to cope.
5- The Hearts of Our Enemies
After a brush with infidelity and the subsequent separation from her husband, a mother trying to mend her relationship with their 18 year old daughter stumbles onto a secret that spurs her into taking protective action whether her daughter will thank her for it or not.
6- Outside the Raft
A young girl and her favourite cousin go on a day trip to the beach with family and a dangerous incident changes her perspective on life, herself, and her cousin forever.
7- Snow
Follows a woman working in a bar, young and newly married, and suffering with post-honeymooon cold feet about the realities of married life, goes to work and meets an enigmatic stranger who shakes things up for her.
8- Necessary Bodies
A married woman in her twenties ruminates on life while planning her mother's 50th birthday party and deciding what to do about an unexpected pregnancy.
9- Thicker Than Water
A woman is coerced by her mother into going on a road trip to spread her abusive fathers ashes with her brother, who she hasn't spoken to at all in the year following the man's death.
10- Exotics
A very short story told from the perspective of a nameless faceless server at a high society type gathering that gets progressively more sinister.
11- An Almanac of Bones
A young girl being raised by her grandmother dealing with feelings of otherness and abandonment tied to her world-wandering mothers absence, and trying to navigate their relationship on the rare occasions that she does appear in her life.
something i don’t see said/acknowledged on here enough is that you are literally never under an obligation to answer an ask. i think esp the comparatively smaller/newer/younger users on here who don’t get utterly flooded w asks feel that they’re required to answer every ask they get. and you’re just not.
i don’t mean this just about explicit anon hate (which obviously you’re not obligated to answer), but other things too. someone trying to drag you into a hot mess of discourse? you can delete it. someone asking invasive questions about your mental health or something? you can delete it. someone being creepy/weird? you can delete it. someone trying to talk to you about anything you just don’t feel like talking about for whatever reason? you can delete it.
frankly, i’d venture to say that in most cases, you should delete it. unless answering that ask will make you feel genuinely happy & fulfilled, just delete & be done w it. (and not just for the obvious reason that you shouldn’t involve yourself w negativity for your own sake, but also bc of how much you’ll be driving this person crazy as they repeatedly refresh your blog to see if you’re engaging w their b.s. & you never do)
as someone who has been online in some capacity for twelve years, this is my professional advice. you are never obligated to answer an ask. not even to say “i don’t want to talk about this.” you just don’t have to engage period. delete, delete, delete.
I was thinking of writing a story about loss and grief yesterday before I went to sleep and modeling the cafe at the heart of it over Anthony's Cafe on the Waterfront.
It was my favorite place in Boston. It has the best egg sandwich I ever had. When I lived in the north end I'd walk there in the morning sometimes before work, get food and eat it at a quiet strip of the waterfront, staring out into the gray harbor. I went there (I loved it) so much that the owner knew me my name and my order by heart.
And yet when I thought of it last night, just the physical space of it, I could not remember what material the floor was made of, nor what the chairs looked like. I recalled its warmth perfectly against the frigid winter outside its windows, the shiny metallic counter, the slightly faded, framed picture on the wall of Andrew Ference posing with the Cup and the owner in the cafe.
But when I looked down in the memory I could not see whether the floor was tile or linoleum or something else entirely. And the chairs I sat on so often were now blank. I knew they were chairs and they were not high end but I had no clue as to their design or build.
