Library Haul 10/27/2015

Stitch1 Comment

Library haul 10-27.jpg

This time, my library haul is kind of focused on one thing: research!

I’m looking at Gothic Romance/Horror and trying to put my own spin on it. The story I’m working on is focused on a young biracial woman (daughter to a West Indian mother and a white American lawyer who doesn’t acknowledge her paternity) whose new husband isn’t anything like she expects.

I wanted to look at subverting genre tropes and adding some much-needed diversity to the genre and I felt like setting the story in New Orleans in that narrow period where “marriage across the color lines” was legal before 1900 would be a great idea. (I also wanted to write about vampires but I’m not sure I’m doing that in the first place because I just remembered that werewolves are my secret loves.)

But I know nothing about New Orleans so it was time for RESEARCH!Read More »

Comic Review – Clean Room #1

Stitch1 Comment
Clean Room 1 - Cover by Jenny Frison
Clean Room 1 – Cover by Jenny Frison
  • Writer: Gail Simone
  • Art: Jon Davis-Hunt
  • Letters: Todd Klein
  • Publisher: Vertigo Comics
  • Release Date: October 21, 2015

Is there anything that Gail Simone touches that doesn’t turn to gold?

Simone is heading up the massively awesome Swords of Sorrow crossover event at Dynamite Entertainment, writing Secret Six again, and now, she’s at DC Comics’ Vertigo imprint with her first series for them and it is good.

Clean Room #1 is a story of psychological terror that revolves around Chloe Pierce’s attempts to find out the truth about the charismatic Astrid Mueller, the woman whose new church and self-help books are directly responsible for the death of Chloe’s lover.

This is a great book and a wonderful start to this series done by Simone and Jon Davis-Hunt. Check out my review and then check out the book (or do it the other way around if you don’t like your comics spoiled!). And above all, enjoy!

For the rest of my review, head on over to Word of the Nerd!

Comic Review – Clean Room #1

The end of BIRTHMONTH is nigh

Stitch1 Comment
Birthday duck Delilah with the copy of Saladin Ahmed's "Throne of the Crescent Moon" that Vonn got ne
Birthday duck Delilah with the copy of Saladin Ahmed’s “Throne of the Crescent Moon” that Vonn got me

I’m twenty-five.

That’s amazing. Scary, but amazing.

I love birthdays but there’s something special about this one. It’s weird because essentially, I’m kind of stuck in life. I don’t have a job and I’m worried that my grad school goals are unobtainable. I’m not in the best place (or even the place that I wanted to be in) and I have every right to be upset about that.

But I woke up yesterday morning and I was happy. I’m talking ridiculously and obnoxiously happy. Even more-so than I usually am about birthdays. There’s something about turning twenty-five that makes me want to cling to hope and happiness. I’m trying to tell myself that I’m going to do my best with the next twelve months and make something of myself – or at least learn to drive because this is ridiculous.

And a part of that comes from the people around me. This birthday, I was reminded that I am loved. Not just because several of my friends bought me gifts or because my former coworkers took me out to lunch, but because so many people popped by my inbox with birthday wishes or left me comments telling me that they cared. It always sounds a bit overdramatic when I say that I don’t know where I’d be without my friends, but that doesn’t make it any less true.

So thank you friends on the internet and otherwise for making this birthday an extra special one. If you commented, messaged/tweeted me, or just looked at my screen name and went “Oh hey, I hope this nub’s having a good birthday”, thank you. You’re awesome!

Now – On to some specific thanks under the cut because some people really kind of knocked my socks off with how amazing they were and I need to share that.
Read More »

[Book Review] Envy of Angels: A Sin Du Jour Affair

Stitch1 Comment

Rating: So Freaking Highly RecommendedEnvy of Angels

I am 100% writing this short non-spoilery review while tipsy.

So it’s super honest.

So very honest.

I stress-bought Matt Wallace’s Envy of Angels last night while looking at career sites. It’s like, the thing to do you know? Buy stuff as you wail about not being able to buy stuff. And in this case, it was so breaking worth it.

Matt Wallace is amazing. We became tweeps yesterday (hella!!) and I am excited to see what else he writes. Why? Because Envy of Angels hit all of my buttons. It had amazing characters (Lena is bae and Darren’s not far off), religion but not like religion, and FOOD!Read More »

Comic Review – Gotham Academy #11

Stitch
  • Gotham Academy 11 - CoverWriters: Becky Cloonan & Brenden Fletcher
  • Art: Karl Kerschl with MSASSYK and Mingjue Helen Chen
  • Colors: Serge LaPointe & MSASSYK
  • Letters: Marilyn Patrizio
  • Publisher: DC Comics
  • Release Date: October 21, 2015

Last month, Gotham Academy #10 got downright Shakespearean when the search for the mysterious Calamity saw Olive Silverlock, Maps Mizoguchi, and the rest of the Gotham Academy gang of intrepid teen detectives placed right in the middle of Macbeth and Clayface’s vendetta against the school’s drama teacher Simon Trent.

This month in Gotham Academy #11, the gang heads off campus to Gotham City proper in search for the truth about Olive’s mother and the connection with the costumed villain Calamity. Oh yeah, and there’s a guest appearance by Red Robin (Tim Drake) because cameos by the Batfamily are always welcome!

For the rest of this review (and my first with Word of the Nerd!!), head on over to the site to check it out!

Comic Review – Gotham Academy #11 @ Word of the Nerd

My Ultimate Nerd Secret

Stitch1 Comment

When the bestie (Bianca) and I saw Crimson Peak on Saturday night, most of the trailers were kind of well… blah. Except of course for the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer that was packaged with the movie. (The one embedded above!)

That wasn’t blah at all.

I teared up so hard at that trailer that Bianca totally could have used best friend privileges to mock me. It was that intense and embarrassing.
Read More »

[Movie Review] Crimson Peak

Stitch3 Comments

This rambling review contains minor to major spoilers for the film as well as some mentions of incest, ableism, abusive relationships, and violent women. And of course paraphrasing. Lots of paraphrasing.

crimson peak poster Crimson Peak is a beautiful movie about extremely messed up people.

I loved the movie for the way that it definitely shone as an example of the Gothic Romance genre (while subverting several of its tropes!), for feisty heroine Edith Cushing, and the tensely spiraling relationship between her and the Sharpe siblings.

All that love aside though, it’s one of those movies where I can’t help but nitpick at it because while it was a gloriously eye-catching movie with unbelievable scenery and a messed up plot, it had issues on top of the good stuff.

The film managed to both exceed and kind of reaffirm my expectations for the film.Read More »

Library Haul 10/13/2015

Image Stitch1 Comment

Today I went to the library to return some stuff and wound up getting some more books because I am weak. Here’s the haul (with handy Amazon links for easy reference): Pearl Pink v1 by Meca Tanaka Mars: Horse With No Name by Fuyumi Soryo Forever Evil: Blight with writing by J. M. DeMattis and […]

When the reaction to calling out racism is… More racism?

Stitch1 Comment

It’s been two months and I still get the best reactions to my post “Dear Comic Fans: We Get it. You’re racist and racebending scares you.” And by best, I mean that I get some of the most condescending and willfully ignorant responses out there.

Way to prove my point, fellow comic fans. How weird is it that the majority of the people that have sent me nasty tweets or left rude comments on my blog (the majority of which have probably been eaten by my spam filter because it’s super strict) are people who have gotten so angry about racebending and my calling out racism, that they need to react angrily to them?

It’s like they read my post, didn’t register anything, and decided to behave in such a way that validated my comments on fandom’s racist reactions to people wanting or working on more diversity in comic canon or superhero media.

Wild, right?Read More »

Robins: Individual Characters, Not Bruce Clones

Stitch

robin characterization post 2We’ve all seen that one Shortpacked comic where Bruce is taking inventory of the Robins and he’s pleased with the ones that look like him and lowkey annoyed with Stephanie, the lone Robin that doesn’t. She’s the only individual among the Robins and the whole point is that Bruce prefers his tiny clones over her.

It’s hilarious, but at the same time, it’s just a joke. It’s funny because like four out of five “main” Robins have black hair and blue eyes and yeah, they kind of look like Bruce, but they’re so not like him.

The reality is that if you know anything about the Robins, you’ll know that they have very different personalities and varied characterizations. They’re written as their own people and sure, their Mission lines up with Bruce’s and they share many of his ideals, but good Robin characterization hinges on them being separate from Bruce. If you’re reading a book with more than one Robin and you can’t tell Jason from Dick in either looks or temperament, you’re not reading a very good comic.

The Robins are Batman’s partners, not clones.

Not aspects of his psyche.Read More »

[Flash Fiction] Cigarette Break

Stitch1 Comment

Content warning for suicidal ideation/thoughts, depiction of depression

cigarette

For the third time in a week and a half I consider jumping.

To everyone I work with, it’s just a cigarette break.

I look busy but uninterested in my own mortality while the smoke keeps everyone that’d consider questioning me staying too far away to get involved.

I don’t even like smoking. Not really. At this point, I do it because it creates distance and that’s the one thing I need when I want to stand on the roof and stare at the city out in front of me and the ground that’s so far away.Read More »

Frozen in Fear of Failure

Stitch1 Comment

I haven’t managed to submit another story since I sent in “The Accidental Spider-Queen” to Fireside Fiction back in April.

At first, it was because I hadn’t been writing. My former day-job (the part time one I quit in a fit of pique after rightfully feeling unappreciated) drained me to the point where all I’d do was come home, crawl into bed, and go do sleep. But I haven’t been working for almost two weeks.

So why haven’t I been submitting things?Read More »

[Book Review] Sing Down The Stars (The Celestine Series Book 1) by L.J. Hatton

Stitch1 Comment

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review with opinions that are entirely my own. Mild spoilers for the book will follow.

Sing Down The Stars CoverTitle: Sing Down The Stars
Author:  L. J. Hatton
Rating: Highly Recommended
Genre/Category: Dystopian, Young Adult, Science-Fiction
Publisher: Skyscape
Release Date: October 6, 2015
Purchase Link: AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE

Blurb:

When they arrived, they spread across the sky like a sea of jellyfish—silent, unknown, alien. When they left, a year later, it seemed as if nothing had changed. But soon, certain girls were born with peculiar abilities—inhuman abilities. An international commission was formed to investigate…and fear began to spread. Families were swept from their homes and, one by one, any girl that was different disappeared.

Penn Roma’s four sisters were born with these dreaded powers: they control the elements of fire, water, earth, and wind.

Penn is the unimaginable fifth child, one with the power to call down the stars.

Her father has hidden his daughters’ powers for sixteen years. Then, one explosive night, Penn loses everything: her sisters are taken, her family destroyed. Now, Penn must do the unthinkable and use the power she’s spent a lifetime suppressing. To save her family and herself, she must travel to the very heart of her world’s darkness and discover the truth about her terrifying gift.

Read More »

A Thousand Masks (Harvey Dent/Bruce Wayne – DC Comics)

Stitch1 Comment

Title: A thousand masks
Fandom: Batman (Comics)
Pairing/Characters: Harvey Dent/Bruce Wayne, Gilda Chen, Silver St. Cloud
Rating: Mature/Low R
Length: 7600 words
Summary:
After eight years abroad, Bruce Wayne comes back into Gotham just in time to celebrate the new year.

Apparently, being Gotham City’s hard-partying prodigal son is hard work, and Bruce seems to have no time for a lowly ADA. Even if said ADA is probably the only real friend that Bruce even has left in this godforsaken city.

Four weeks to the day after his arrival back in Gotham, Bruce waltzes into Harvey’s office on the third floor of the District Attorney’s office as though it hasn’t been a month of Harvey playing phone tag and dealing out assorted excuses.
Contains: Unhealthy relationship, mild sexual content, angst

Beta Credit:  My friends Meeya and Fleet who are amazing, patient, and insightful beta readers. Without them, I couldn’t have gotten this story to its full potential.

Notes: Originally written and posted for Birthmonth 2014, this is probably the one piece of fiction that I’m eternally proud of and super pissed over how fandom never quite registered my talents or the ship’s strength. Since it’s Birthmonth 2015 now, I decided to put it up here on my blog so that other people could read it because I think it’s just fabulous!

This story draws a bit heavily from Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One  and is technically canon compliant. It also makes subtle nods to numerous parts of canon aside from B:YO including a few bits I got from the Batman Files.

There’s also a bit of lowkey racebending going on. As always, my Harvey Dent is biracial and in this incarnation, is played by a young Mark Taylor. On top of that, I decided to play a bit with my Gilda headcanons since she’s so underused by canon and slipped some of that into the story as well. In my head, she’s played by Guo Xue Fu (thanks in part to a recent marathon session of one of her dramas).

Read More »

October is BIRTHMONTH

Stitch1 Comment
image
Birthmonth 2014

I’m always incredibly obnoxious when it comes to my birthday.

I’m the baby of the family and my parents’ only child in their marriage (they had other children and other marriages) so I was pretty spoiled as a kid. To be fair, I’m still pretty spoiled when it comes to birthdays.

In my adulthood, I’ve done more and more to celebrate, stretching it out until I went from celebrating my birthday to my birthweek to a whole birthmonth thing where I’m even more inwardly focused than usual. I think it started with the week of my 21st birthday when I still lived on campus and I spent over a week thoroughly taking advantage of what being 21 in the US means. I thought that since it was my birthday, that I shouldn’t have to be constrained to only celebrating a day or a week.

No.

If I’m going to celebrate anything, let it be for the whole month.
Read More »