Pride Post II

Hi, guys, it's Willow again. It's still Pride Month (yay); here's Pride Post the Second.

This post is really similar to my last one (LGBTQ+ characters I love). The next one's going to be characters who really should be queer, so stay tuned for that!!

Okay. Let's get started.

• Alex Fierro (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard)
• Have I ever mentioned how much I adore what Rick Riordan's doing with his books? No? Well, I adore what Rick Riordan's doing with his books. 
• Alex is trans and genderfluid. She changes pronouns several times during the novel; this isn't made into a big deal.
• She even has a conversation with Magnus about this. He asks her if using they/them pronouns wouldn't be easier. Her reply? "For who, you?" (I Love Her So Much.)
• Alex is snarky and irreverent and gives Magnus hell. He is Immediately and Extremely Smitten. (Which, just saying, means that he ain't straight. Nice.)
• Alex is an enormous step forward for queer representation in mainstream media. 
• And she's not just a side character shoved in for token diversity. She's a well-rounded, three-dimensional protagonist who's integral to the plot of the story. Four for you, Rick Riordan. You go, Rick Riordan.
• She's also (most likely) Magnus's endgame love interest. This is the first time Riordan's written a queer romance featuring main characters. Sure, there's Solangelo and Emmie/Jo, but none of them are exactly mains. Apollo/Lester's a Useless Bisexual, yeah, but he doesn't have a love interest. 
• Unsurprisingly, Alex is a fan favorite. Here's hoping we see a lot more of her in the future.   
• Lark and Rosethorn (Circle of Magic, The Circle Opens, The Circle Reforged)
• Lark and Rosethorn are Everyone's Favorite Moms, to be honest.
• Lark is sweet, maternal ace lesbian who takes one look at the Circle kids and says "yes okay these children are mine now", an ex-acrobat turned dedicate who will always take the outcasts under her wing; Rosethorn is a thorny (ha) gardener who seems prickly at first but softens for her love and her kids, who doesn't put up with condescending pricks and shuts them down superbly, a mage with immense power who's willing to die (who has died) for the right cause.
•  Rosethorn's also polyamorous, and it's never a big deal. It's just a part of her.
• Anyway. They are the Circle's moms; their little home at Discipline is a haven of warmth and domesticity. 
• To the Circle, Lark and Rosethorn are family. Home. Everything a ragtag bunch of misfits could've asked for. 
• No "Bury Your Gays"-- Rosethorn dies, but she gets over it. Y'know. As you do.
• They're actually the only long-term relationship in all of the Emelan 'verse-- Daja and Rizu don't last very long, Briar's flings are just that, Sandry's aroace, and Tris isn't interested in romance at the moment.
• Tl;dr cute interracial gay moms of the Circle; I'd die for them but they can defend themselves so I wouldn't have to; the best teachers/parents the kids could ever have asked for.
• <3
• Captain Jack Harkness (Doctor Who, Torchwood)
• How do I even begin to describe Captain Jack Harkness?
• Just kidding. I don't even like Mean Girls that much.
• Jack Harkness is... well, he's Jack Harkness.
• He'll flirt with anything that's physically able to (and old enough to, of course) flirt back. Gender? Not a problem. Species? Even less of a problem.
• Seriously.
• What does Jack's flirting sound like?
• "Hi. Captain Jack Harkness. And you are?"
• Most fall for it, actually.
• It's not even that he doesn't have standards, he just... thinks everyone's pretty.
• :)))
• I've only watched one (1) episode of Torchwood, so most of my knowledge of Jack is from his days with the Doctor.
• Jack is a conman turned reluctant hero. He's disillusioned but still tries to do good. He's a natural leader and ~very~ charming; that doesn't mean he's very good at actual friendships, though. A bit cold, Jack has some attachment/commitment issues, coming off as selfish at times. Still, Jack's a good man. He's been through a lot (so much, poor baby) and come out without losing who he is.
• Also? He's the polar opposite of the "Bury Your Gays" trope. He's physically incapable of dying. That's nice.

Happy Pride Month, you guys! <3

Willow

A Pride Post

Hey, guys, Willow here.

As you probably (hopefully) know, it is currently the month of June-- Pride Month. I've decided to make a post (more than one, probably, stay tuned) in order to honor and celebrate that.

So, without further ado: Pride Post the First!

This post is a list of some of my personal favorite LGBTQ+ characters in fiction. Unfortunately, there aren't as many queer characters in mainstream fiction as there should be (representation is important, kiddos!); making this list was way easier than it should've been. There weren't too many to pick from.

Here we go, in no particular order:

• Katsuki Yuuri (and, by extension, his trophy husband Viktor Nikiforov) (Yuri!!! on ICE)

  

  THEY DESERVE THE WORLD

• Yuri!!! on ICE is one of the purest, most adorable things I've ever seen.
• No, seriously.
• Viktor and Yuuri are in love. I think I am in love with their love.
• One of my favorite things about YOI is that it was created to be a safe space; the story takes place in a world without homophobia. 
• So here's how this works:
• Katuski Yuuri is a Japanese figure skater with anxiety, almost no self-confidence to speak of, and a massive crush on a figure skating living legend. Reeling from recent tragedy and crushing failures, he goes back to his hometown of Hasetsu, only to be surprised by...
• ...Viktor Nikiforov, aforementioned living legend, a household name and heartthrob who's lost his inspiration and can't seem to find a family.
• I'll let you find out what happens next.
• Alex Danvers (Supergirl)
• Listen. Supergirl season 2 was a hot mess. Don't even try to deny it. 

  

  They make each other so h a p p y

• There were, like, two (2) good things about it. Three if you squint.
• One of those good things? Alex and Maggie.
• Alex Danvers is a lesbian. She was not aware of this until she met Maggie Sawyer.
• Awww.
• Team Sanvers, always.
• Seriously, though. Alex's coming-out arc was the best part of the season.
• It was heartfelt. Honest. Genuine. (Unlike, hmm, let's see, the entire rest of the season. Go die, Mon-El.)
• Alex lights up whenever she sees Maggie. Maggie makes her the happiest we've ever seen her.
• Historically, Alex has a tendency to put a lot of weight on her own shoulders-- taking care of Kara, being the responsible older sister, being the loyal DEO agent.
• Maggie... Maggie is Alex letting herself be selfish. Letting herself be happy.
• And while I'm always and forever salty at the Arrowverse in general for stealing Bat-characters all the time (Maggie Sawyer? One of Batwoman's ex-girlfriends.), Maggie has made a home for herself on Supergirl.
• Unfortunately, she's not going to be a season regular next season (whyyy), but as of the season finale, she and Alex are in a committed, beautiful relationship, and [spoiler ahead] Alex proposed.
• Loki Laufeyson (Marvel)
• Look, I'm going to be completely honest. Loki is one of my favorite Marvel characters

  

  look at my son/pride is not the word I'm looking for

  ever-- the trickster with a silver tongue and not-so-good intentions? Sign me up. 
• Like. He is my garbage son and I adore him.
• Also, he's pansexual and genderfluid.
• I mean. This isn't necessarily new or unusual-- Norse mythology, anybody?
• But considering Marvel's track record with diversity (hint: ugh), Loki is... good. 
• He's not quite like the other characters on this list. He's not an innocent child who deserves the world. He's a lying trashcan who probably shouldn't be trusted.
• <3333
• Well, actually, that previous bullet point isn't quite correct. Here's a brief rundown, as best I understand it:
• There was evil-Loki. Evil-Loki died.
• Loki was reborn as a child-- pure, innocent, not a villain.
• That child? Killed and possessed by evil-Loki.
• So now Loki is... somewhere in between. He feels guilty about what he's done. But he's also a liar, a trickster, by nature and by habit. The important thing: he's trying to do good.
• I love him so much.
• Loki is flippant about his gender and sexuality. Sometimes he is Loki, and sometimes she is Lady Loki. 
• There's no internal anguish, no fear of homophobia, no self-evaluation.
• Loki just... is Loki. And I love him for it.

These are just my top 3-- I noticed the post was getting pretty long, so. Yeah.

There's definitely going to be a sequel, though, so stay tuned for Pride Post the Second (probably featuring the likes of Alex Fierro, Keladry of Mindelan, Angela and Sera, and Sara Lance).

Happy Pride, everyone!

Willow

Bonus: the Babadook

Still Star-Crossed

Hey, guys, it's Willow, for the first time in forever. Sorry about sporadic updates recently! I've been busy with, y'know, getting an education and all that good stuff. But now that school's out, it leaves me free to do as I please... within reason, of course.

So.

"Still Star-Crossed" is a (relatively new, actually) TV show on ABC. It's a post-canonical adaptation of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Which, y'know. Catnip for nerds. Well. My kind of nerd, anyway.

So I watched the first episode. Here are some of my thoughts. Spoilers ahead, obviously.

Pros:

• The cast of this show? Incredibly diverse. About half of the main cast is POC; the main character, Rosaline Capulet, is a dark-skinned, beautiful Black woman. Prince Escalus? Black. Romeo Montague? Black. Excellent. I approve.
• This is... exactly the kind of overwrought, historically inaccurate, theatrical Shakespearean drama that I will probably always fall in love with, to be honest.
• Listen, I am so glad they made Count Paris a jerk. (So far, anyway.) He was an utter creep in the original-- an adult man, repeatedly asking for the hand of a teenager? Yikes. At least Romeo was somewhere in her age range. They've aged the lovebirds up in this, of course, but it's still sketchy.
• The mob/brawl after the funeral? Good.
• Ohhh, that scene with Rosaline and Escalus in the church. The softness in his gaze, the fondness in his voice, the helplessness that they can only try to escape-- yes.
• Isabella. Just... Isabella. Dang. Give me all the cutthroat, ruthless women who will do anything and everything for their city. "Escalus, Verona is burning."
• Escalus quietly cutting out his own heart to save the city he loves and is responsible for? Absolute perfection, my friends.
• We didn't get too much of them, seeing as they're dead and all, but I actually enjoyed the Romeo/Juliet dynamic. Cute.
• Rosaline and Livia. Everything about them: Rosaline, who would do anything at all for Livia's safety and happiness, who just wants to live a life where no one tells her what to do, and Livia, who doesn't understand her sister's quiet dream, who could be happy with a husband who loved her, who wants nothing more than to marry and live out a normal life.

Cons:

• Listen. At this point, I literally could not care less about Benvolio Montague. Give me a personality, Beardy McBeardFace.
• Same thing with Ben/Rosaline. They have no chemistry (yet), no reason to like each other (yet), and just... meh. 
• I think they might've gotten Benvolio's and Mercutio's personalities switched. Ben's the steady one, the designated driver, the Mom Friend and responsible adult. Mercutio, on the other hand? He does it for the Vine, he's an actual meme, and he will Fight Anyone.
• I'm kind of uncomfortable with the fact that Rosaline and Livia (dark-skinned WOC) are the servants of the Capulets, who are (drumroll, please) white. Like, I understand it as a narrative decision-- Ben and Rosa are both looked down on, they have to obey, they want a better life, yadda yadda-- but still, it skeeves me out.
• Why couldn't this show have given me Benvolio Montague and Rosaline Capulet, heirs of their respective houses, fiercely proud and loyal and also rock-solid and trustworthy and willing to do whatever it takes to keep Verona running smoothly? Who unwillingly agree to marry and find that they have more in common than they thought? Why?
• Related: love triangles are the spawn of evil and I despise them. Grr.

Final Rating: like, 3.7 out of 5 stars. Still, I think I'll keep watching. 

And there you have it. "Still Star-Crossed", ladies and gentlemen.

Happy summer! 

Willow

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

Clay Jannon, unemployed graphic designer, wanders down a suspicious-looking street and finds the interestingly-named Mr. Penumbra’s 24-hour bookstore, where he is hired as the night clerk. Over time, he discovers the bookstore: a small and quirkily selected independent section remains up front, but beyond that lies what he calls the “Waybacklist” shelves: three stories tall, reachable only by a ladder, and known only to the database that lies on an ancient Mac at the front desk. He meets the patrons of the bookstore: the occasional person who works at the nightclub next door, elderly visitors with mysterious encrypted membership cards who borrow and return books from the Waybacklist, and one very special Googler who admires his graphic design and coding skills. Eventually, he finds himself drawn into a mystery including his employer Mr. Penumbra, Google, the Waybacklist, and the very origins of books themselves.

 This is one of my favorite books. While it takes place in San Francisco, New York, Nevada, and even the Google campus, the worldbuilding of the bookstore and Google and even Clay’s apartment is stunning. It might be literary fiction, but it evolkes all the wonder of, say, YA fantasy. It’s a quirky story in everything from the plot to the dialogue to the settings. Honestly, who wouldn't want to work at a 24-hour bookstore? A cryptic one that's one big puzzle? Who wouldn't want a cast of characters in your life that includes a quirky yarn museum curator, a animatronic-building artist, and a peculiar bookseller mentor? 

If you’re a fan of character-driven stories, however, this is not necessarily for you. Some tropes and some flat characters make unimportant appearances, and the plot is propelled less by any one character’s genius than by some seemingly out-of-the-blue eureka moments.

 The cover is cheery yellow and minimalist, and the text is whimsical—it made me want to pick the book up after it had been recommended to me. 

 5/5 stars

P.S. This book contains one of the more accurate representations of Silicon Valley in popular fiction.

Happy reading,
~Citali