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I originally thought I could call this "Bright Sky" but that didn't feel right when most of the sky isn't bright. It's not really about the sun per se, though, since the whole thing is that the light of the sun is diffused over a large area instead of being in a sun-shaped spot. Thus "Brightness Behind Clouds".
In a bit of a twist, I didn't actually forget to post an open thread last week. It's just that until I actually get them going regularly again, everyone's used to only being used to using the once a month newsletters as open threads, and I'm kind of playing by ear whether a new open thread is called for. Last week, with a then-empty open thread as the most recent post, one really wasn't.
The plan was to post this week's open thread on Friday, though, so . . . yeah.
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Friday Recommendations! What have you been reading/writing/listening to/playing/watching lately? Shamelessly self-promote or boost the signal on something you think we should know about - the weekend’s
ahead of us here, so almost over, but you can still give us something new to explore!
And,
like on all threads: please remember to use the "post new comment" feature rather than the "reply" feature, even when directly replying to someone else!
Shut Up!
Post hidden under the cut due to graphic depiction of police violence and childhood sexual assault. Please mind the trigger warnings.
Shut Up!
Post hidden under the cut due to graphic depiction of self-harm and childhood sexual assault. Please mind the trigger warnings.
Shut Up!
QUEER REPRESENTATION (PART 2)
Post hidden under the cut due to graphic depiction of self-harm. Please mind the trigger warnings.
Shut Up!
QUEER REPRESENTATION (PART 1)
Dedicated fans will find ways to handwave the implications of the premise: the demons are acting in bad faith, or they are alien and do not understand what is evil and what is not, or it was all a dream. With that in mind, what about the other queer representation in this book? After all, Sandra promised that "trans people totally exist and matter in this book", that "there's an important genderqueer character", and that the book is "against gender binaries".
Shut Up!
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FIRST IMPRESSIONS
As a writer, I care a lot about writing technique and about how a novel is shaped over the course of drafts, edits, sensitivity readings, and final edits until at last the book is finished. Sometimes it is possible to imagine where edits have occurred: scenes that feel added or embroidered after the fact, characters that feel more or less fleshed out than others, details that don't quite mesh with the rest of the overall world-building.
As such, I have a theory which may or may not be correct: This book began as the story of a white woman (Jane) and her Black lesbian lover (Evangelyne), and whether or not Jane would chose Evangelyne over the man she married, with a gender rapture as the backdrop for this drama. Racially-diverse but not narrative-critical supporting POV characters were added in a second pass and fade out of the novel at about the halfway mark. Their actions have no effect on the narrative and only Jane's choice matters in the end.
Finally: mentions of trans, nonbinary, and intersex people seem to have been hastily shoved into the final draft. Sandra claims to have had a trans sensitivity reader and I believe her; my guess is that the reader knew they couldn't fix the foundational issues so instead suggested the addition of a few scenes they hoped would lessen the overall problem. I respect the effort they went to, but the eventual additions could be removed with a few swift edits and would change nothing. They're a band-aid where surgery was needed.
Enough about my theories; let's get to facts.
Shut Up!
INTRODUCTION
An upcoming book, The Men by Sandra Newman*, was announced on Twitter in March 2022. The book was characterized as what I have sometimes called a "Gender Plague" or "Gender Rapture" and which TV Tropes calls "Gendercide". [*Note: Sandra has stated in the wake of her announcement that she is gender nonbinary, but nonbinary people can use any pronouns we want and do not default immediately to they/them, contrary to popular belief! Since I cannot find anywhere where she has provided pronouns other than she/her, I will be using she/her to refer to Sandra throughout this deconstruction until she indicates otherwise.]
Sandra stated in her announcement tweet that "Everyone with a Y chromosome suddenly, mysteriously disappears. In the months that follow, the world gets better: safer, kinder, more egalitarian. But the book is about women who can't let go of the men they've lost, and devote their lives to getting them back."
Shut Up!
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Baahubali 2: The Conclusion
It's time for Baahubali Part 2! Which we may not finish tonight because it's 167 minutes long! Note that these are on Netflix right now! You can watch them too! If you have US Netflix! Once again we get a really cool explanation of how no animals were hurt in the filming of this and the following animals are CGI. The opening credits are beautiful and show stylized stills of major moments in the first movie. I love this style and it's a great way to call back to the important moments we need to know about.
We're back in the flashback: Shiva's Father was declared king by his foster mother and the kingdom was happy and at peace. The Queen Mother is performing a festival ritual that involves walking barefoot to a temple with burning coals on her head. Trouble arises in the form of a rampaging bull elephant, but the Queen Mother and King Baahubali solve the situation with badass cleverness and respect. The people are impressed, and the elephant gets a nice saffron bath before a statue of Ganesha.
The relationship between King Baahubali and his adoptive Queen Mother is so precious to me. He loves her so much and respects her above everything else. It's just so wholesome and healthy and I love them. It's sad that the Villain is going to fuck all this up.
Shut Up!
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Baahubali: The Beginning
I've really been wanting to get into some of the Indian Bollywood movies on Netflix because some of them look amazing, so today I want to try watching Baahubali: The Beginning. I'm white and I don't know anything about the epic this is based on, just so I'm clear! The movie opens with a nice disclaimer that no animals were harmed in the shooting of this film and that the ones you see being harmed are completely computer-generated. I like that. I wish more films did that at the beginning, not just at the end.
We open with a woman carrying a baby past a waterfall. She has an arrow in her back, so she's not doing too well. She walks backwards in her own footsteps at the river-- ah! Two soldiers are tracking her. OH MY GOD, she stabbed Soldier #1 with the arrow from her back, grabbed his sword as he dropped it, and stabbed Soldier #2, all without jostling the baby. Dibs on her as my new mom. All babies should be so lucky.
She tries to cross the river, but it's not going well. She calls on Shiva to save the baby boy--he's destined for a throne and some kind of unclear revenge narrative--at the expense of her own life. The water rises over her head and she dies but still holds the baby aloft over the water. A wandering group of people notice the baby being held above the water. A man swims out to get the baby; the woman points at the waterfall and floats away, deceased. Baby is handed over to a pretty woman.
The people are confused by the discovery of a cave they didn't know about. One suggests that maybe the dead woman wanted the baby taken into the cave and up to the waterfall. New Mom tells them that is a very foolish idea and that the baby needs warms and milks. "This is my baby now. I have no children, but this one given to me by the River Goddess. If anyone of you object, I'll trample upon your necks." I LOVE HER? 2 out of 2 women so far are badass amazing.
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Kissmate Vespertilio here! I'm filling in for the newsletter this month because Ana has been confined to bed with back pain for most of the month so far and he was distressed at not putting out a newsletter for you all. ♥
February has come and gone with March stumbling in behind it earlier than we expected. For Ana and I, we've both been through some serious bad days concerning our pains and disabilities, but we soldier onward with the knowledge we have each other. We thank everyone who has sent us well-wishes and filled the tip jar. Words of love and small acts of kindness give us so much joy and helps us get through those lowest of low points. Thank you all!
For those checked out of Twitter (don't blame you at all), newest-member-of-the-family stray-cat Cheddar has been feeling feisty lately, but overall is doing well in his new home! He has a habit of caterwauling at all times, but I've noticed he especially chirps up when Ana is reading aloud. Not sure what to make of it, but maybe we can decipher some patterns of behavior out of this and figure out this strange, adorable, squishy-faced hellion a little quicker. He did spend a few hours under the bed the other day, which is unusual but welcome. Small steps!!
The rest of the cats are adjusting as needed. Cherry has gotten some leadership power to her head and is now walking around more with eyes open and on alert to every detail that might have changed. Not sure if it's because she knows puree chicken now exists, or if she's Not Happy about Cheddar being her new little brother. Coconut still tolerates everyone at a distance. Chip chills with Cheddar at night for duets and night-time strolls. Cookie paces the house constantly, but that might mean nothing since that's her normal pattern. Crispin is... well, still Crispin. He loves to run up and say hi when we're trying to coax Cheddar into the carrier. He's also been darting into the garage lately, so we're working on a solution to slow him down from that because his standard move once in the garage is to try to wriggle up into the car engine from below. We do not know why.
For my personal news, I've been attending college and am doing rather well (insert Bruno's Knock On Wood tune). My first semester was busier than expected, but the hard work paid off with solid A grades across the board! This second semester is more credits, but so far is still manageable. Getting all A grades, studying hard, and doing extra credit when I can! Oh, also staying super safe out there too. I only have to physically attend maybe 2-3 classes, and I always mask with legit N-95 masks. So far, so good!
Current events are, too put very lightly, a real downer. To just brush on one: Abbott is a bad governor, and a horrible person, but the Republicans can't wait to put someone MORE Republican in his place. And I'm like, what? No? Can trans kids and supportive parents of trans kids get a fucking break and just live their lives without pushy-ass legislative officials breathing down their personal files? Look, I know this is preaching to the choir, but holy fUCK can't I go one year of my life without wondering why we have so many patriotic songs and lessons about how "this land is my land, this land is your land" but no one means not one fucking word of it? Just. Fuck. Off. Let me have my "pursuit of happiness" already.
Anyway, on a much, MUCH brighter note: March is the month of Spring Break, so looking forward to that little week off! Woo-Hoo! At least for me. The work of a writer like Ana doesn't have breaks like that, does it? It's usually Blocks or Hiatus. Oh well. Maybe I'll help xer out with something for you guys, hmm? We'll talk about it.
Until then, you peeps stay safe and live your best! Peace!
Ana Addendum (Anaddendum?)
You all helped in making Cinder the Fireplace Boy have an amazing release month, thank you! I have contracted with a Black and Disabled narrator whom I love and I cannot wait for you all to hear his work very soon. I think you will love him as much as I do. I promise there will be posts this month and I'm sorry that things have been a slow start because of my back acting up; it doesn't normally confine me to bed for weeks at a time like this.
Usual Links
My Patreon: Here.
@KissmateKittens: Here.
My Ramblings Deconstructions: Here.
My YouTube Let's Plays: Here.
My Favorite Tumblr Funnies: Here.
Shut Up!
