Recommends: Muppet Dystopia

In case you missed it (or aren't on Twitter), I wrote a Muppet Dystopia movie because I'm sad of the Muppets being misused and mishandled into a bunch of out-of-character abusive MRA fever dreams. (Tell us how you really feel, Ana!)

All thanks to Jack for Storifying for me.  <3

Open Thread: Bird and Reflection


I've mentioned before that I find reflections very interesting and often take pictures of them.  The same is true of birds.

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Saturday 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, 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!

Narnia: Cruel and Ancient People

[Narnia Content Note: Racism, Violence]

Narnia Recap: It's time for a new adventure!

The Horse and His Boy, Chapter 1: How Shasta Set Out On His Travels

We went through this in the last post, but I want to hang a couple disclaimers over the blog for this book:

1. This book is racist.

2. Most books are racist.

3. That this book is racist is not an attack that needs arguing against or defending.

4. Whether the racism in this book was entered deliberately (Lewis choosing to be racist), or secondhand (Lewis mimicking someone else's racist style), or accidentally (Lewis just happened to whoops insert racism that he didn't mean to insert but alas here it's there now) is largely irrelevant to the deconstruction of this book. Comments along these lines are not welcome in this space--feel free to post on your own blog and link people over.

5. Whether the racism in this book was specifically directed against Muslim people or Persian people or Babylonian people is largely irrelevant to the deconstruction of this book. Comments along these lines are not welcome in this space--feel free to post on your own blog and link people over.

Okay. Let's get into Chapter 1. *rolls up sleeves*

Recommends: Beyond Shame

I'm trying to get a Narnia post up today, but in the meantime may I recommend a free erotica/romance novel co-written by a friend of mine? Beyond Shame is consent-friendly and smoking hot and also Bree is the sweetest lady you ever met. (Be warned that this is a full length book, with a dystopia world-building that hooked me and kept me up all night reading under the covers.)

Open Thread: Red and White


Um ... I actually have nothing to say.  It's an open thread, it has a picture.

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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, 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!

Metapost: Still Here!

I'm still here. I meant to get a Narnia out today, but I'm not sure that's going to happen and I'm sorry. We've been tweaking my medication at the doctor and it's altering my moods like whoa and making it very difficult to concentrate on things the way I'd like.

In, uh, slightly cheerier news, I wrote another book. So that's going to be a thing. It gets sent off to the editor today and I'm excited/terrified/fluttery about that. Let's all share a fleeting mental image of a squealing dolphin. That's me. The dolphin is me.

Open Thread: Glittering Frost


Sorry this is late; I can't find my camera.  So... remember winter?  It was this thing a while back when it wasn't so damned hot.

This is a picture of a frosty window illuminated by light shining through some trees.  The frost, and the low light conditions, make it so you can't make out any of the detail in the background, but each of those blips of color in the foreground is a spot where the frost is glittering in the light.

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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, 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!

Narnia: Welcome to Calormen

[Narnia Content Note: Racism, Violence]

Narnia Recap: It's time for a new adventure!

The Horse and His Boy, Chapter 1: How Shasta Set Out On His Travels

I have been approaching The Horse and His Boy with some trepidation. On the one hand, I will freely confess that this is the Narnia novel that finally broke through to me in my childhood and made me think "wait, what??" so we have that to look forward to. On the other hand, this book is astoundingly racist.

We've talked a little bit about this before on the blog. I'm concerned about going through this as a white author with a predominantly white readership. So let's get some things out in the open first: This is a racist book. That's not a rare or unusual thing. A lot of books by white authors have elements of racism in them. Probably even most books by white authors. We live in a racist society where racism is normalized and acceptable and expected.

Open Thread: Spread Your Wings


Normally animals (and things, for that matter) don't cooperate with my attempts to photograph them, but, while the one in the center broke pose occasionally, it always returned to a nice wings out display.  Don't know if it was drying or sunning or what, but it made it easy to get the picture I wanted.

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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, 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!