Rangers as Risk Managers: Redefining Conservation Finance

Unlocking Nature-Positive Economies through Innovative Insurance and Finance

The Invisible Guardians of Nature

In the global conversation on building nature-positive economies, we often hear about carbon credits, biodiversity offsets, and innovative insurance mechanisms for ecosystems. But amid this financial and ecological ingenuity, one group remains largely invisible – the park rangers. They are the frontline defenders of our planet, patrolling forests, wetlands, and coastlines, fighting poaching, managing wildfires, and responding to floods. They are the first responders to environmental crises and the last line of defence for endangered species. Yet, despite their indispensable role, the world’s rangers are among the least protected professionals on Earth.

A recent global study conducted with WWF paints a sobering picture of ranger welfare and protection. Across continents, many rangers lack even the most basic necessities: adequate shelter, uniforms, boots, safe drinking water, and mosquito nets. These are not luxuries but essentials for survival. The results are tragic but unsurprising. Nearly one in three rangers reported contracting malaria in the past year, while many others have faced injury, exhaustion, and isolation. They endure physical and emotional hardships with minimal safety nets or systemic support.

When it comes to financial security, the situation worsens. Few rangers have access to health, life, or disability insurance. Even where schemes exist, benefits are often minimal, and premiums are unaffordable. Their modest incomes make them acutely vulnerable to shocks – a painful irony, given that they dedicate their lives to protecting the planet from much larger ones. This reality exposes a paradox at the heart of global sustainability: while we pour millions into insuring coral reefs, mangroves, and carbon assets, we fail to insure the very people who protect these systems. If we are serious about resilience, we must begin by safeguarding those who safeguard nature. Protecting rangers is not charity; it is a strategic imperative. No economy can call itself “nature-positive” while its guardians remain underpaid, uninsured, and overexposed to risk. Resilience begins with people, and rangers are the keystone of ecological stability.

Reimagining Rangers: From Guardians to Risk Managers

To unlock the full potential of nature-positive economies, we must reimagine rangers not as passive recipients of aid but as active partners in managing environmental risk. Rangers possess unparalleled ecological knowledge, intimate understanding of local ecosystems, and trusted relationships with communities. These qualities position them perfectly to play a critical role in climate-resilient finance and insurance systems.

Every day, rangers manage environmental, climate, and social risks – from preventing forest fires and monitoring water levels to deterring illegal logging and poaching. In essence, they already function as risk managers. What they lack is formal recognition and integration into the architecture of financial resilience. Imagine a future where rangers are certified as risk professionals, trained in data collection, ecosystem valuation, and parametric insurance verification. They could become the trusted intermediaries who connect field-level environmental data with insurance platforms, ensuring transparency, accuracy, and credibility. By empowering rangers to operate at this intersection of conservation and finance, we create a living interface between ecological stewardship and economic stability.

Lessons from the Fields: Learning from Agronomists and Veterinarians

The evolution of agricultural insurance offers valuable lessons for how rangers can become integral to nature-based finance. In the early years of crop and livestock insurance, insurers struggled with one fundamental challenge a lack of reliable field data. Premiums were high, payouts were disputed, and trust was low. The turning point came when agronomists and veterinarians stepped beyond their traditional roles to bridge science, finance, and local practice. 

Agronomists working within national agricultural extension systems began systematically collecting and standardizing data on rainfall, crop yields, and soil health. This information became the foundation for modern parametric insurance models, allowing insurers to price risk accurately and farmers to trust the system. Similarly, veterinarians became critical players in livestock insurance by certifying causes of death, verifying claims, and implementing disease management measures that reduced losses. These professionals built the credibility and trust that made agricultural insurance viable. They transformed a once fragmented system into a functioning risk market.

The parallels with rangers are striking. Like agronomists and veterinarians, rangers operate in data-scarce environments and possess deep field expertise. With proper training, they could collect environmental data, verify insurance triggers, and maintain the natural assets that underpin insurance value – from forest cover and soil moisture to coral reef health and mangrove density. In doing so, they would not only enhance ecosystem resilience but also create new value streams within the financial ecosystem. By professionalizing rangers as risk managers, we can bring the same credibility, data integrity, and trust that agronomists brought to agriculture. The result? A more resilient and transparent financial ecosystem capable of supporting both people and nature.

Making It Work: Building a Ranger-Enabled Insurance Ecosystem

Turning the vision of rangers as risk managers into reality requires deliberate, coordinated action across sectors. Governments, insurers, development banks, and conservation organizations all have a role to play in designing a ranger-enabled insurance ecosystem.

  1. Policy Recognition: Formalising Rangers’ Role

The first step is to recognize rangers as essential actors in environmental risk governance. National disaster risk reduction strategies, climate adaptation plans, and insurance frameworks should explicitly define rangers’ roles as certified risk monitors and verifiers. Just as veterinarians are embedded within animal health systems, rangers should be embedded within ecosystem risk systems. Legal and policy recognition ensures that their contributions are institutionalized, not incidental. By embedding rangers within resilience planning, we transform them from temporary workers into permanent pillars of climate security.

2. Training and Certification: Professionalizing Ranger Capacity

A global or regional “Rangers as Risk Managers” certification could standardize training and professional development. Courses could cover topics such as parametric insurance design, data verification, remote sensing, digital reporting, and ecosystem valuation. These skills would enable rangers to collect high-quality data and interact effectively with insurers, investors, and policymakers. Such a certification system could be modeled on existing ranger academies or integrated into conservation training institutions, much like how agronomists were trained within agricultural universities and extension systems. Over time, this would create a cadre of highly skilled professionals capable of translating field realities into insurable indicators.

3. Insurance for Rangers: Protecting the Protectors

Before rangers can manage environmental risks, they must be protected against personal ones. A Global Ranger Insurance Fund, financed through mechanisms such as conservation trust funds, nature-based bonds, or small levies on ecosystem insurance products could provide universal coverage for life, health, and accident risks. Such a pooled approach would ensure sustainable protection for rangers globally. Importantly, insurance for rangers should not be limited to life or accident benefits. Innovative parametric insurance products can be designed to trigger payouts during periods of extreme risk exposure – such as floods, wildfires, or cyclones – when rangers are called upon to protect both communities and wildlife under dangerous conditions. These payouts could serve as incentive-based rewards or hazard compensation, recognizing the extraordinary risks rangers take during natural disasters. Instead of viewing insurance solely as compensation for loss, it can become a mechanism for resilience, motivation, and recognition. By securing rangers’ welfare, we send a powerful message: resilience starts with human dignity. A ranger who is protected is a ranger who can protect.

4. Digital Integration: Leveraging Technology for Transparency

Data is the lifeblood of insurance. Equipping rangers with digital tools – from GPS trackers and smartphones to drones and hydrological sensors – would enable real-time data collection and reporting. This information could feed into cloud-based insurance systems, improving accuracy, reducing verification costs, and enhancing transparency. Imagine a ranger in Kenya transmitting daily water-level readings that automatically update a parametric flood insurance index, triggering payouts for affected communities – and for the rangers themselves, who face direct risk in the field. Or a ranger in Indonesia uploading satellite imagery that verifies coral reef damage after a storm, activating rapid restoration funding. Technology, when combined with human intelligence, creates an ecosystem of trust and accountability.

5. Public – Private Partnerships: Co-Designing Innovative Products

Innovation thrives through collaboration. Insurers, reinsurers, conservation NGOs, and ranger associations should co-design pilot products that demonstrate how ranger expertise can add value. Examples could include:

  • Parametric flood insurance for wetlands, where ranger-monitored water levels trigger payouts.
  • Drought insurance for savannas, verified through ranger-collected vegetation indices.
  • Coral reef insurance where payouts are triggered by ranger-verified post-storm assessments.
  • Ranger hazard coverage, which provides incentive payouts to rangers who face exceptional risk during natural calamities.

Such pilots would not only de-risk investments in natural capital but also prove that human expertise and technology can work together to enhance both ecological and economic resilience.

The Economic Case: Investing in Nature’s Human Infrastructure

Economies rely on infrastructure – roads, power grids, and data networks. But equally important is the human infrastructure that sustains natural systems. Rangers are that human infrastructure for nature. By investing in them, we create multiplier effects across conservation, climate resilience, and sustainable finance.

A ranger-enabled insurance ecosystem can:

  • Reduce verification costs for insurers through real-time, trusted data collection.
  • Improve climate risk modeling by integrating on-the-ground intelligence.
  • Enhance investor confidence in nature-based assets through transparent monitoring.
  • Strengthen community resilience by linking local livelihoods with global finance.
  • Motivate and protect rangers through hazard-linked incentive payouts that recognize bravery and field commitment.

Moreover, professionalizing rangers generates employment, fosters gender inclusivity, and builds local capacity. It transforms conservation from a cost centre into a value-generating sector that supports both environmental and financial stability.

A Call to Action: From Protection to Partnership

As we enter an era where nature – based solutions dominate global sustainability agendas, the need to align ecological and financial resilience has never been greater. But true alignment requires human inclusion. We cannot build resilient economies on fragile livelihoods. Rangers have long been the unsung heroes of conservation. It is time to bring them to the center of the resilience economy. By empowering them as risk managers, we bridge the gap between nature and finance, between local action and global systems. We create an economy that values not just the forests and reefs but also the people who protect them. 

This transformation requires vision and collaboration from governments that legislate, insurers that innovate, conservationists that advocate, and investors that believe in long-term value. Together, we can build an ecosystem where rangers are not the invisible guardians of nature but the recognized architects of our shared resilience. Because protecting rangers is more than an act of gratitude. It is an investment in the planet’s future. They are not just the custodians of biodiversity – they are the risk managers of our collective tomorrow.

HTB (Helen “Troy” Bolton), or High School Lesbian Musical

the world needs to see this omg

Hannah's avatarThe Niche

THE FULL SCREENPLAY

About two hours into a very long car ride to see Tegan and Sara in Portland, Maine, and one hour into the High School Musical 3 soundtrack, I turn to my friend Sam and say, “You know, when you think about it, Troy’s struggle in the first movie is really emblematic of  what I feel like a lot of lesbians go through, like that thing, what’s it called-”

“The thing where Troy’s good at everything the way type A lesbians are when their parents pay a lot of attention to them and they want to distract from their sexualities. I read the article about that. It’s current. It’s potent.”

“And like,” I say, having vivid flashbacks to being nine and seeing a three-quarters profile of Zac Efron in the white jersey and thinking he was an attractive short-haired woman and feeling Weird about it, “and like. How…

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Book Recs: LGBT Graphic Novels (II)

readsrainbow's avatarReads Rainbow

I’ve made a rec list for LGBT graphic novels before (funnily enough, it was on Christmas Eve two years ago) and you can check it out here. But the truth is, you can never have too many of those in your life! Which is why I decided that part two of that particular rec list is long overdue.

So here we are! Ten more LGBT graphic novels, across a bunch of genres and for various target audiences. Hope you will find a new favourite here.


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Book Recs: Gender in SFF

<3

readsrainbow's avatarReads Rainbow

A while back, Anna asked for rec list suggestions and one of the ones that came up was nonbinary SFF. Now, she passed that onto me, since that’s not really her ballpark, and I sort of changed the rules ever so slightly. Instead of solely nonbinary rep (although most of the books here are still that), I’ve just gone for SFF that actually considers gender in its worldbuilding.

It’s a smaller category than you might think, sadly. But because it’s Christmas (or another winter holiday of your choice), I’ve lengthened this post from the usual 10 books to include a couple more.

So, enjoy!


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Sorting The Brooklyn Nine-Nine Characters Into Hogwarts Houses

Now, before we get started, I would like to remind y’all the determining qualities of each house since there are so many misconceptions about them all over the internet. (Hufflepuffs aren’t sore losers and Slytherins aren’t evil, y’all) So here goes.

  1. Gryffindor – Every Voldy, Umbridge and Harry (Tom, Dick and Harry, geddit?) knows the qualities of this house I’m sure. But let’s revise anyway. Gryffindor house values courage, bravery, nerve, and chivalry. Not loyalty, that’s a common misconception. That’s Hufflepuff.
  2. Ravenclaw – Ravenclaw values  intelligence, learning, creativity, wisdom and wit. There’s nothing to really explain here so let’s move on.

3. Hufflepuff – Hufflepuff values hard work, acceptance, patience, justice, and loyalty. They aren’t just dumb losers who accept everyone. I mean, they do accept everyone who wants in but they do have their traits too. Anyway, nothing more to say here either so let’s move on to the most infamous house which has been trashed on by lots of people including JKR herself.

4. Slytherin – This is where most people overlook the house traits and just think it’s all purebloods and dark wizards. Let’s clear that up. Slytherin values ambition, cunning, leadership, and resourcefulness. Basically, all of Percy Weasley and Hermione’s traits. Now, I see how the dark wizard prejudice came up. Ambition is a Slytherin quality and ambitious people generally do almost everything in their power to achieve their goals. Now, people like Voldemort and his Death Eaters were very ambitious and wanted to take over the world and shit. Because of this, they gave the entire house a bad rep. Also, side note, I highly doubt people like Draco Malfoy and others of rich decent would be happy living in that sorry excuse of a common room. Like, come on! The Gryffindor common room is all comfy and nice but the Slytherins have to live in cold, creepy dungeons with ominous green lighting instead of proper lights and comfortable living space? This was the description on Wikipedia, based on what JKR said and wrote – “The common room is a dungeon-like room with greenish lamps and chairs. This dungeon extends partway under the lake, giving the light in the room a green tinge. The common room has lots of low backed black and dark green button-tufted, leather sofas; skulls; and dark wood cupboards.” The Slytherins are ambitious and determined, not freaking emo kids or punk rocks! I refuse to believe that people like Draco Malfoy, who were raised in lavish mansions with lots of pampering would be able to tolerate such living conditions! Anyway, back to the original post.

1. Jake Peralta – Gryffindor

Jake Peralta GIFs | Tenor

Now, I hardly need to explain this, but I will. Some would argue that he’s a Hufflepuff but his Gryffindor qualities outweigh all others. We’re talking about the guy who punched his childhood hero because he insulted his boss/father figure. Not to mention, the guy was doing an article on him for the paper and Jake ruined his public reputation and his hero’s thoughts of him because of one homophobic slur. That takes quite a lot of bravery if you ask me. Again, he arrested the commissioner’s son even though his career was being threatened, just because it was right. Again, bravery. Now, he does have a lot of Hufflepuff qualities too like the fact that he always wants to do what’s right even if it will cost him. Like the time he handled a city wide emergency and responded to every single call for help even though his wife was giving birth right then. Or how he is nothing without his friends. I can’t count the number of times he tried his best to make his friends happy or the times he was just all and all Hufflepuff. Okay, now I’m confused. Is he really a Hufflepuff? Nah, his bravery outweighs anything else. Before I change my mind again, let’s move on to the next character.

2. Amy Santiago – Slytherin

Now, this one is very controversial. Most argue that Amy is a Ravenclaw but I beg to differ. Amy is nothing if not ambitious. Yes, she is smart and a super nerd but her main goal is her parents’ approval and becoming successful. The above GIF says it all. She dreams of herself in the captain’s shoes or higher. In one episode, Jake even says she has a life calendar that hangs above her bed on which she’s plotted a map for what she’s going to do each year to achieve her goals and become commissioner. If that is not ambition, I don’t know what is. Next up. our favourite robot, Captain Holt!

3. Captain Raymond Holt – Ravenclaw

Captain Holt Raymond Holt GIF - CaptainHolt RaymondHolt AndreBraugher - Discover & Share GIFs

This guy oozes wisdom. There is probably no other house he could be sorted in. He basically serves as a father figure for the entire squad, giving them advice, covering up their mistakes and of course, leading them on the path to success. The dude has two binders full of advice for just Amy for god’s sake! He also uses his experience to create a better future for the detectives of the NYPD. One of my favourite lines from Holt is when he’s talking about the organisation he started for LGBTQ+ police officers – “They never actually said no, So I just went ahead and did it.” Throughout the show, we see the extensive knowledge of Raymond Holt and how he is always there for the squad with random information that can help. Anyway, this guy is obviously a Ravenclaw so let’s move on to – Charles Boyle!

4. Charles Boyle – Hufflepuff

Brooklyn Nine-Nine | Brooklyn nine nine funny, Brooklyn nine nine, Charles boyle

Again, this is so freaking obvious, no one would dare say otherwise. Charles is a textbook Hufflepuff and a “people pleaser”. He would willingly give away everything he owns and more to help out a friend. Charles has always been hugely appreciative of Jake as a friend and is constantly making efforts to make Jake feel loved. In fact, he values Jake so much, the concept of being replaced as best friend instantly hurts him. He does everything in his ability to make everyone around him happy and can be a little over-enthusiastic at times, which causes his coworkers to find him slightly annoying. Charles is probably the best friend anyone could wish for and a true Hufflepuff. Next up, Terry Jeffords, the family man!

5. Terry Jeffords – Hufflepuff

The Brooklyn Nine-Nine Report | idobi Network

I just realised, this show has such clear cut characters! It is so easy to sort most of them! So, Terry. This guy is literally known as the family man. He wants to be liked by everybody and wants to be everyone’s friend. He generally stays out of the drama and supports his squad to the best of his ability. The guy loves his family and does everything to make them proud. He also regards the squad as his own family and looks out for them all the time. If he’s not Hufflepuff, I don’t know who is! Anyway, next up, Rosa Diaz, the badass.

6. Rosa Diaz – Gryffindor

Brooklyn Nine-Nine Star Stephanie Beatriz Really Wants to Play She-Hulk - LADbible

Now, I’ve seen a lot of people sort Rosa into Slytherin which makes zero sense. Rosa is definitely a Gryffindor. Here’s why. She’s probably the bravest character in the squad. She’s willing to do everything she can to make sure the right thing happens. Like when she went in to help out victims in an attack without worrying about her life in the episode “Show Me Going”. Or when she shut down the foot massage place she loved so much because they were laundering money. Or when she had every opportunity to run away when she got accused of a crime she didn’t commit but she stayed and did 6 months of jail. I know, she wanted to run away originally and Holt persuaded her to stay but what matters is what she ultimately chose. Not to mention the time she couldn’t use both her hands because of some injury she’d sustained (I don’t remember what exactly) and she still refused help and did everything herself. Anyway, Rosa is definitely a Gryffindor. Let’s move on to the most controversial character on the show (everyone knows she’s a Slytherin, that’s not a controversy; It’s just that lots of people don’t like her) Gina Linetti!

7. Gina Linetti – Slytherin

Gina Linetti GIFs | Tenor

So Gina’s obviously a Slytherin. Her ambition is basically to be worshiped by all and ya know, be like, a famous influencer or whatever. She ultimately leaves the Nine-Nine to achieve whatever she’s been dreaming of and achieves it too! She might not be the nicest person but you have to admit, she has all the Slytherin qualities: Determination, cunning, leadership, and resourcefulness. There’s actually an episode where she takes a personality test which gives her the type which is well suited to leadership positions. You can even see it throughout the show. She’s the only one that can get Adrian Pimento to listen to her and she commands every room she’s in. Anyway, she’s a Slytherin so let’s move on to the studs of the 99, Hitchcock and Scully!!

8. Norm Scully – Gryffindor/ Hufflepuff

Nbc Hug GIF by Brooklyn Nine-Nine - Find & Share on GIPHY

So this one was waay too hard to choose. Now, if we’re talking Scully when he was in his prime, he was definitely a Gryffindor. He was brave and stuff and he was probably the best detective in the Nine-Nine then. But the Scully we see now, not that much. This Scully cares most about his best friends and happiness and food and you get it. His main defining trait is his friendship with Hitchcock. So yeah, he was a Gryffindor but now, he’s a Hufflepuff. Let’s move on to his best bud, Hitchcock.

9. Michael Hitchcock – Gryffindor

So now you may be wondering why I didn’t sort this guy into Hufflepuff too because he’s characteristically almost same as Scully. Well, Hitchcock isn’t the same really. Scully is way more laid back and chill but Hitchcock more reckless and just more of a Gryffindor. Some times, he can even be a little too recklessly brave. Yes, he doesn’t move and loves food but when it comes to his interests, he’ll do whatever it takes. Not to mention, he was definitely a Gryffindor in the 80’s when he was still a good cop and in his prime. Someone stole his pie? You better watch out cause you don’t know the lengths he’ll go to to get it back or for revenge. Anyway, as I said, Gryffindor.

Okay, now that we’re done with the main squad, let’s do three bonus ones because, why not?

10. Kevin Cozner – Ravenclaw

holt-cozner - b99 + the husbands Tumblr Blog | Tumgir

So, Kevin. He is a 100% Ravenclaw. He is basically the perfect person for Captain Holt. He matches his intelligence, his weird sense of humour and just, his over-all personality. I hardly need to elaborate on why he’s a Ravenclaw so I’ll leave it at that.

11. Adrian Pimento – Gryffindor

Jason Mantzoukas Adrian Pimento GIF - JasonMantzoukas AdrianPimento B99 - Discover & Share GIFs

So, again, Adrian is obviously a Gryffindor. He is very brave and charges headfirst into situations (maybe even a little recklessly) and is willing to put himself in danger just to feel alive (also to help, but mostly to feel alive or whatever). His main story is how he’s been undercover at a mob or whatever and he’ been through a lot there so he’s become pretty paranoid but also really brave. So he’s a Gryffindor. Next up, everybody’s favourite criminal, Doug Judy, The Pontiac Bandit.

12. Doug Judy – Slytherin

Brooklyn Nine-Nine | Brooklyn nine nine, Brooklyn, Best tv shows

Some would argue he’s a Hufflepuff because of his friendship with Jake and stuff but no, he’s obviously a Slytherin. Every single episode he’s in, he ends up tricking Jake and getting away. If that’s not cunning, I don’t know what is. He’s also really resourceful, another Slytherin quality. Each time, he finds a different way to escape and never gets caught. When he does get caught, he manages to wriggle his way out of that too. So he’s definitely a Slytherin.

So that concludes our list! Let me know in the comments if you disagree on any of these and let me know why! Anyway, I know the writing was a little bland but I’m not that great of a writer anyway.

The One and Only Ivan; Voice of Animals

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress is judged by the way its Animals are treated“

-Mahatma Gandhi

Just because us humans consider ourselves to be civilised due to your brains (even though I lack some) and advancement in the process of evolution, no one gives us the rights to rule mercilessly over our lower group of organisms. But maybe we do grant ourselves those exclusive rights in today’s times.

Animal Captivity; one of the biggest agendas in the world. Well, I have no power to judge it as good or bad but well it’s honestly both. Centres like good zoos serve as blessings for Animal captivity where animals can live safely without the fears of poaching, hunting, abusement and many more. The problem arises when it comes to platforms like circuses. As research suggests the wild animals commonly abused in circuses are extremely stressed in circus conditions. The loud music, dizzying lights and harsh ill-treatment by owners all disorientate and cause immense strain to the poor fellows. Over prolonged periods this can result in abnormal behaviour and health problems related to anxiety. But yeah, there are always exceptions.

Okay, enough of stupid introductions. Let’s just dive into the main story.

Written by Katherine Appelgate, The One and Only Ivan; A story of courage, friendship and an unlikely animal hero.

The story is placed at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall by the Video Arcade. Ivan, the gorilla has lived in captivity at the Big Mall for 9,855 days by his own tally. He lives in his domain and is generally content with his life. He lives in his domain, eats bananas and makes artwork that is sold by the owner, Mack. Along with Ivan, Stella, an elephant, and Bob, a stray dog, live at the mall. Stella is an older elephant who has a chronic injury in one leg and yet performs in the daily shows. Unlike Ivan, Stella has a long memory and can remember living in other places, like a circus where she was taught many of her tricks. However, Stella would like to live in a zoo, because they have much wider spaces for their domains and of course they are treated as themselves, not as playthings and slaves…

When Ruby, a baby elephant, is brought to the Big Mall to live with Stella and learns new tricks, things begin to take a different turn. Stella’s old injury causes her to get sick. Just before Stella succumbs to her illness and passes away, she asks Ivan to take care of Ruby and find her a better place. Ivan wholeheartedly promises he will take care of Ruby, even though he has does not know how he will manage to do it.

After Stella’s death, Ivan begins to remember his life before the Big Top Mall and what it is like to experience freedom if only to have stories to tell to Ruby. He remembered how merrily he played with his sister in the forests and also got the shattering memory of his sister got murdered by a couple of hunters. At this time and maybe for the first time he feels anger; rage. Among this one day Mack, the owner of the Big Top Mall tries to train Ruby to do tricks. Ivan witnesses first-hand abuse to which Ruby is subjected and starts to decide how to keep his promise to Stella.

When Julia, the custodian’s daughter, gives Ivan some fingerprints, he begins to get an idea of how to help Ruby. He also changes his opinion of the Big Top Mall. He no longer thinks of his area as his domain but as a CAGE.

Ivan uses his art skills to make a large picture of a zoo where on top he writes the word “HOME”. George, the custodian with his animal-loving daughter Julia help him by putting it on the billboard outside of the Big Top Mall. When the public sees this, they begin to protest against the ill-treatment animals have to suffer. Investigators are sent to the Big Top Mall and eventually, it is closed down. Ivan, Ruby and the other animals are taken away to a good zoo. Ivan and Ruby are both adopted to the same zoo, where they begin adapting to their new habits and the animals they now live with it. They finally get a place if not the forest which they get to call “HOME”…

Well, that was all about this fantastic book. Believe me, I got tears in my eyes on reading some parts of it. You’ll never get the emotion of this book by just reading my stupid review…XD. This story just does give us the common knowledge that any other book would give ( like vocabulary and blah- blah) but also helps us develop affectionate and tender feelings towards animals…

-Neha, a fangirl of Harry Potter, One Direction and Taylor Swift and an animal lover…

P.S- This is the very first blog I’m writing…So this might be a pure rubble of trash. But don’t mind, I’ll give my best next time. Till then…..see ya!

RecLists + My Watchlist: Sapphic Movies #1!

FYI, we’ll be moving on to TV shows, web comics, web-series’, short films and maybe even music next (we’ll also inevitably get to books in good time, don’t worry! there’s a lot of choice material there), so do stay tuned! I will also probably be doing a part two and three for this post if all goes well:)

Dear fellow sapphics.

I want you to remember. I want you to think back to that awkward time period none of us like revisiting too much.

And I want you to be grateful.

We were all baby gays once upon a time. (That is, those of us who currently aren’t, anyway.)

(I’m not sure if my status as a baby sapphic still holds, TBH. I did try to Hermione my way out of it, so at least I’m not starved for recs anymore…I guess?)

From first-hand experience, I can affirm that questioning your sexuality while knowing a grand total of zero experienced Dumbledorian queer people you are close to is not fun. Hunting for representation is an extensive and draining process that can eventually become all-absorbing and downright painful.

Opening countless incognito windows to scour the dark net for that one TV show with the obscure high-femme-lesbian and lowkey-butch-bisexual couple that do not become canon right up till midway through the second or third season is, simply put, a pain in the ass. (This goes out to you, Santana and Brittany, Casey and Izzie. My baby gay self may or may not owe her entire existence to you.)

Begging for recommendations on vaguely gay communities on the internet out of sheer desperation is definitely not fun.

Pirating shows off of shady sites to avoid bringing them up around anyone you may happen to know – and then lying about watching them almost exclusively for the plot (ha!) when you’re inevitably caught is an undeniable part of life we’ll have to grudgingly accept at some point in time.

Sticking through 5+ seasons of a kids’ show – or an entire damn series to get to the vaguely queer spin-off, perhaps – to finally get to the sweet bliss of sapphic release that is that one proclamation of love and hasty peck at the very end of the very last episode is just queer culture. (She-Ra says hi! Not that it wasn’t totally and completely worth it in all it’s gorgeous entirety. Go stream, people. A nod to the Legend of Korra as well.)

…but I digress.

This is for you, baby gays:)

(I suppose a huge part of it is also me attempting to get my watch-list in order, but whatever. It’s not exclusively that.)

So…disclaimer: I haven’t…exactly…watched all of these? I have, however, done my homework (and yes, I very much am that nerd who spends 1.5 hours looking up ratings and reviews to decide on whether or not to watch a 2 hour movie) on the ones I haven’t, so I can give you a fairly decent, well-researched summary of what people seem to think. The good, the bad, the dirty. I’m also hoping we have something here for everyone. At least I get to avoid spoilers this way, right?

And hey, maybe we can all watch them together over the course of the next year:)

So there are a LOT of these and it was most definitely not easy to compile the choice few I’ve handpicked into three separate lists. I’ve attempted to sort them such that each list gets its fair share of happy AND…let’s just say slightly grittier movies (ugh) and a diversity of genres. I’m not known for my stellar decision-making skillz, though, so…let’s just get to it, huh?

(There’s no point in ranking them as a comprehensive list for obvious reasons, and it weighs against my heart to say this – but these will indeed be listed at random. I know. I’m a disgrace.)

Rafiki (2018)

Couldn’t be more hyped for this one!

This is the sort of movie that transforms lives.

It’s a movie that celebrates black queer love and joy, and damn it if it doesn’t execute it with near–perfect brilliance (this is going by the majority of user and critic reviews I found on IMDb and other personal and reputed sites; I haven’t actually found a way to watch it yet. Easily the movie I’m most excited for at the moment, though, I’ll definitely get around to it by the end of this week! Believe me, the fact that I still somehow haven’t haunts me every day:/)

A little backstory: this was probably the first or one of the first Kenyan queer movies in history.

It was sued for its unabashed queerness in court…and it won.

This movie was simply revolutionary. It could’ve chosen to depict the countless hate-crimes and misconduct queer people tend to experience in real life the way a lot of other firsts on this and the upcoming lists chose to – and I’m not saying it didn’t do those topics full justice.

The point is…it was made as a tribute to queer people and queer love.

A little solace for queer people who have nothing else to go by on: two hours of pure, unadulterated happiness to make a bad day a little better, something to remember and smile at when you’re going through a rough patch. It was written and played out for the people it was actually trying to represent, instead of attempting to pander to the unsympathetic general public with poor, half-assed representation and an unoriginal story.

I can’t speak for how accurate the representation is or even how well the movie was played out because a) I’m Indian and b) I’m only going by a couple of scenes from the movie and dozens of reviews from other sites at the moment, but it received an overwhelmingly positive response from that slim fragment of the queer community that did watch it.

It’s an authentic celebration of friendship, love, hope, joy and everything wonderful in Kenya and the world that also happens to be gay. What’s not to like?

Oh, and it also has 18 nominations and 16 wins to its name.

Current Status/Rating: To stream this weekend asdfghjkliefgogefztn!!!
Verdict: Hopefully the new sapphic film of my dreams.

Which brings us to another little “first” that I still wouldn’t not recommend but wasn’t personally as fulfilled by…

(If you’re wondering why I’m including it in the first place, it’s because it was supposed to be my movie. A movie that actually represented people like us and was – yes, finally – A BOLLYWOOD MOVIE ABOUT LESBIANS. Which was all I – and I’m guessing a lot of you guys – ever wanted, honestly. And yes, it also did kind of, sort of, make history…)

And I still want you guys to watch it. It isn’t revolutionary, and I haven’t watched the whole thing. It’d decent. The songs are good. It has it’s moments. Wouldn’t say it’s a god tier movie, but it’s…fine.

Ek Ladki Ko Dekha To Aisa Laga (2019)

If you’re wondering, yes, I believe that reference was 100% intentional. And also an extremely cool twist on the original (very heterosexual) classic. Probably the best aspect of the entire film, actually.

So…let’s kick off with the pros!

– It’s a Bollywood movie about lesbians!
– It was the first Bollywood move about lesbians.
– A huge part of the movie was devoted to how “everyone handled it”, but there were no major traumas or anything.
– A lot of the focus is also on cool stuff like platonic friendships and family, which is…practically perfect in every way, actually! More lesbian stories that are about more than just the romance, please!
– It features a main character who is *drumroll* a script writer who makes terrible plays and then starts a great project to promote the performing arts in rural areas! (I think.)
– Funny side characters.
– Music. Gay + Music + DESI = a simple match made in heaven as far as my desperate sapphic soul is concerned. WE NEED MORE DESI GAYS on the big screen. Period.
– Thespians and theatre stuff
– There was some brilliant cinematography and a lot of these characters had an absolutely gorgeous sense of style (aka the costumes were amazing) (see above)
– It portrays different queer experiences from the ones we’ve grown to associate queer individuals with here.
– Sonam Kapoor.

The cons (this had all the potential smh):

– The actual lesbian couple didn’t get too much screen time.
– A lot of it focused on…a guy. Bleh.
This was marketed to us as a sapphic movie; we didn’t come here only for half the thing to spotlight another tired old straight guy (I think, he might actually be gay. Most probably not bi/pan/anything other than gay/straight. Doesn’t seem likely, though).
– The story is honestly not all that fresh. It’s the same old “coming to terms with your sexuality and coming out to your parents” schtick…with a desi twist. The most original aspect of the plot was the guy’s writing projects.
– I don’t think there were any sapphic team members involved in the entire project.
– The music was decent, but not phenomenal.

…I’ll let you be the judge. I do recommend you watch it, personally – just not necessarily for exclusive enjoyment. This was…an important movie? And it was fairly enjoyable and definitely had its moments (you’re pretty likely to enjoy it if you haven’t watched too many queer films prior to this). Also, promoting it would mean more, better gay movies for everyone. It’s practically a win-win.

That said, this is probably the least remarkable film on this list and the only one that’s up here solely for the sake of the representation.

…but you can’t really blame me. It did pave the way for all the LGBTQIAP+ classics that’ll (hopefully) be flooding theatres across the country in a couple years. And I love it for trying.

Current Status/Rating: I am exactly halfway through. I don’t know when I’ll be able to continue on with it, but it’s currently leaning toward a strong 6/10 for me (that’d average around a 7 by most standards, I’m just a judgemental and unnecessarily critical reviewer. Or it might just be my generally unpleasant and freakishly perfectionist personality. I’m really not sure.)

Booksmart (2019)

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

This…this freaking movie, y’all!

Booksmart is fresh, original and unique. It’s also hilarious and nerdy and fun and I’ve never seen a “last-week-of-graduation” movie quite like it (and yes, that stands as entire genre of film all on it’s own).

Booksmart contradicts the infamous stereotype of popular kids who don’t nerd out in high school peaking in the tenth grade and going on to be failures in life. And it does it through an adorably stubborn and nerdy duo that share what’s possibly the cutest friendship I’ve ever witnessed in the history of cinema.

You can get straight As by day and rock out as the ultimate party girl by night. You can be nerdy (and sport vintage skirts and pantsuits as casuals) and still be absurdly cool and hilarious without having to change any of that about yourself. There is literally no one stopping you from doing both or even all of the above, and that is the basic premise of the movie. (It carries all this through satirically, so no, it isn’t preachy at all.)

The movie kicks off with Molly (the straight one) realizing that the all the kids she labelled as “slutty slackers” to feel better about her non-existent social life were getting into Ivy League colleges with a portfolio full of experiences where she (and her best friend Amy, who’s the lesbian we’re all here for) had none.

Thus ensues a chaotic night of…okay, I hate to be that person, but you’ll have to watch to find out. That’s the whole movie. You also have a beautifully developed cast of characters, all of whom I absolutely adored, and Amy’s friendship with Molly remains at the heart of it all.

So. Much. Character development.

You ALSO get this gorgeously scripted scene wherein Molly and Amy address the loops in their dynamic, fight, mess up, have a couple of profound epiphanies and resolve it in the healthiest way possible. No unnecessary miscommunication plot lines here, folks!

Honestly, the queer rep here was simply stellar. We follow a couple of Amy’s romantic mishaps, are forced to endure an hour of her channeling the painfully accurate useless lesbian in us all until – before you know it – you realize you’ve watched a character grow into a confident, badass icon right before your eyes over the span of 1.5 hours. It’s unreal.

It also normalizes lesbianism and captures the dynamic of platonic queer ‘ships PERFECTLY. Honestly. This movie has it all.

It also stars badass nerds (an archetype the universe is practically starved for in terms of entertainment) who aren’t defined by being nerds and who are actually – and this is a YA movie with teenaged leads – cool (!!!)? And it deals with feminism, female sexuality, and making and shaping experiences while taking control of your own lives SO WELL.

Also, side-note, Molly’s an utter and absolute badass and we need more arcs like hers on the big screen. That’s all.

Oh, and Taylor Swift also happens to love this movie.

T’sall.

Current Status/Rating: Between 7 and 8/10. Conservatively. (The highest I will ever rate a movie is 9, FYI, and that was ONE TIME.)

The Miseducation of Cameron Post (2018)

I’m…honestly not sure why I have this on my list, but I will say that I’ve received approximately 13826402347 recommendations for it over the course of the past couple months alone.

I haven’t watched it myself, and I’m not sure when I intend to.

I will say that is based off of a critically acclaimed book of the same title and has a crap ton of positive reviews. It also stars Chloe Grace Moretz.

It’s set in 1993, and it one of the…grittier films on this list.

This film draws out the story of a queer girl who has to encounter the horrors of conversion therapy and the curse that was being born queer in certain sections of society and in the general past. I’m obviously in no place to spoil anyone, but I will say that this is not a fun or highly entertaining movie. It is, however, extremely important and realistic and does full justice to the story it’s trying to tell.

Watch this when you’re in the mood for a good cry, or to remind yourself of just how lucky you are – or exactly how much worse it could’ve been. This is a film that makes you bawl and possibly want to punch something – or someone – in anger, but it is also a documentation of how far we’ve come since the era it was set in. The world we live in is nowhere near perfect, but it’s beautiful nonetheless. And it’s important to remember the billions of people who fought and sacrificed everything to help us get here today, simply because they could’ve never even fathomed the life we have the privilege of leading. And it’s all because of them.

(None of this is my opinion, by the way. I’m basically just summarizing what I’ve read across different sources, I’ll write reviews for all of these once I actually get around to watching them:/)

Current Status/Rating: To watch…sometime (?)

Mosquita y Mari (2012)

An unassuming indie film that accurately portrays adolescent life as a queer girl. Its initial reception was overwhelmingly positive as it received raving reviews from several big journalist platforms, and from what I’ve heard, it seems to subvert a lot of the tired cliches that surround female friendships (and relationships in general). Centring on two Chicana high schoolers and their growingly…complicated relationship (if you know what I mean), the female-centric relationships at the heart of this film are healthy and exactly what a lot of us need more of on the big screen. A unique movie with gorgeous plotting and characters and the healthy sapphic representation we’re all so terribly starved for.

(It also pulls a sapphic twist on the notorious protagonists-bond-after-being-assigned-to-work-on-a-school-project-together-until-romance-ensues trope. Do with that information what you will.)

Current Status/Rating: I’ll probably watch it sometime this month.

Yes or No (Original Title: Yaak Rak Gaw Rak Loey)(2010 – 2015)

Okay, I’m pretty sure this movie is something of a Thai lesbian classic.

It’s literally the only sapphic movie I can think of (off the back of my head) that did well enough to warrant an entire damn franchise.

I’m serious. It got not just one but two sequels.

This was back in 2010.

Yeah, I couldn’t believe it either.

Anyway. I can’t speak for the sequels, but the first movie is basically the sapphic rom-com of your dreams. All your favourite tropes blended together with just the right consistency and a dash of sapphic originality to top it all off. I’m not going to say the plot was revolutionary, but that’s more because it falls somewhere on the fluffier end of the spectrum than anything. It’s pure, concentrated joy and adorableness and it doesn’t pretend to be anything else.

It’s not short on cute, heartwarming, fluffy, romantic, or downright hilarious scenes at all. And it’s one of the best-constructed examples of the college-roommates-who-loathe-each-other-to-friends-to-lovers trope I’ve ever encountered! If that isn’t good enough of a premise for you, I’m pretty sure your standards are higher than Urie’s high notes.

The cinematography is also simply GORGEOUS. It unfolds over a wide range of breath-taking sets, and my desktop wallpaper would be a collage of every single crystal-clear still from the movie if I was the sort of person who had that kind of energy.

(Unfortunately, I’m probably the polar opposite of that kind of person, but I’ll let y’all have this anyway because every human being deserves something perfect in their lives and this is the practical definition of perfection.)

Also, Kim plays guitar! And is a fantastic cook! And there are coffee-shop scenes! And garden scenes! And walking home in the rain scenes! And a crap lot of roommate banter! AND SO MUCH FLUFF AHH ❤️

(Some of the English subtitles on this one were a little…dubious, though. It kept referring to Kim as a “tomboy” when I’m pretty sure it meant to say “lesbian”? I couldn’t gauge whether she was sapphic or dysphoric or both for a while, but I probably just missed something. The rest of it was pretty well-translated.)

It’s also on a lot of popular streaming sites, so…

Anything But Ordinary GIF | Gfycat

(Yeah, let’s just pretend that never happened, okay? Excuse me. Putting a gay spin on overwhelmingly hetero pop culture phenomena is just something of a guilty pleasure of mine. I can fully grasp the redundancy of that GIF, thank you.)

Current Status/Rating: I’ve watched the first movie, and I’d rate that around 7/10. I have no idea when I’ll be streaming the other two.

Spider Lillies (2007)

Spider Lillies basically has the cutest premise ever…

…tattoo shop lesbians.

I mean, if that doesn’t do it for you, I’m honestly not sure what will.

So Jade, a web-cam girl (that’s basically the 2007 equivalent of a YouTuber), decides to get a tattoo and winds up in a local shop where she’s promptly entranced by all the unique and breathtaking patterns…and the tattoo artist herself. She then asks Takeko (the artist) to tattoo a particularly mesmerizing design of spider lilies onto her arm.

…which just so happens to be the exact same design sported by Takeko herself.

I know. Smooth.

Anyway, turns out that Takeko’s existence is actually pretty monastic and unremarkable and the tattoo (at least according to her) carries a generational curse. However, she ultimately ends up conceding because she is also the definition of a useless lesbian.

And then…flashbacks, drama and chaos ensue.

Fun, right?

The icing on the cake? It also has a really cool soundtrack!

Current Status/Rating: I’ll be watching this as soon as I’m done with Rafiki. And the last 30 minutes of Hamilton.

So…that’s it for this list! I’m planning on diversifying the upcoming lists a little more in terms of genre, so it won’t be all fluffy rom-coms or dark contemporaries next time around. In retrospect, I probably should’ve thought that through before carrying out the distribution, but…it is what it is, I suppose.

I’m hoping to publish them weekly, but…we’ll see how that goes.

Let me know if you’ve watched any of these or intend to in the comments below! I honestly love talking to you guys, especially if you have some form of constructive criticism for me (seriously, do not hold back;)). You’re all amazing ❤️

That’s all for now, I guess. Have a great week, y’all:)

xx

Berry

Stereotypes and Misconceptions: Hate Mail for Buzzfeed (jk)

After Rowling invented the Harry Potter franchise, numerous fans became curious to know what Hogwarts house they belong to. The Internet came to the “rescue” with a bunch of Quizzes to judge what house you belong to.

For those of you reading my blog and have not read Harry Potter, go and read the books – NOW! For those of you who have read the books, I’ll do my best to try and make you understand my anguish.

Let’s recapitulate the different qualities of the four houses before we get right into it.

  • Gryffindors values courage, bravery, nerve, and chivalry.
  • Hufflepuffs values hard work, patience, justice, and loyalty.
  • Ravenclaws values intelligence, learning, wisdom and creativity.
  • Slytherins values ambition, cunning, leadership, and resourcefulness. They can do anything to get what they want.  

Pretty simple right? Note that no house seems to depend on what wand core you own.

Discover your Hogwarts house on Pottermore | Wizarding World
Image Source: Google

I recently took the Buzzfeed Sorting quiz (https://www.buzzfeed.com/eleanorbate/accurate-af-sorting-quiz) out of curiosity to see what it’s like. I have taken several of the Internet’s Sorting quiz and have almost always been sorted into Gryffindor which gave me the stinking suspicion that the owners of several websites and YouTube channels appear to feel that Gryffindor is the coolest house, simply because the protagonists are in it, and to make quiz-takers happy, they solve a majority into Gryffindor. I didn’t find accurate because not only am I not the bravest out of every Tom, Dick and Harry (pun intended) but also because a majority of close friends agree with me on the fact that I’m no Gryffindor. Everyone relies on the Pottermore Sorting Quiz the most, and that “everyone” includes me. I’ve been sorted into Slytherin by Pottermore (pretty darn accurate) and Pottermore has gotten a lot of my friends’ houses (based on characteristics) correctly.

Buzzfeed sorted me in Ravenclaw.

WHAAAT???!!

I mean, let’s face it folks, if I’m considered wise then the world is doomed.

My main issue however, is the questions and not the accuracy.

They first hit you up with a:

Like I said, your wand core has nothing to do with your personality traits, and therefore, does not determine your house. Seeing the “Dragon Heartstring” option makes me feel personally attacked because I have a strong feeling that this is being associated with Slytherin. The fact that there are many other wand cores in the franchise is direct proof that this is question straight up makes no sense.

Alright, next question.

What???? Where is “None of the above”? I personally would’ve done none of the above! I wouldn’t not say nothing just because I’m not top of the class! I can’t quite tell what option symbolizes what house so I guess that’s a good thing? But I wouldn’t done an of the above, so where do I fit in, eh?

Question 3 ya’ll, we don’t have all day.

Good question. Finally! No probs on this one!

This next question is very interesting.

I’m pretty sure, the authors of the questions had “assigned” each house a spell. Here’s why I think so:

a) Protego – I’m pretty sure that this is for Hufflepuffs. Hufflepuffs are kind-hearted and loyal. They come across as peaceful people who like going for the defensive during duels. I’m pretty sure a Hufflepuff’s first spell would be a defensive one like this particular Shield Charm. If you went with your gut without analysing the question and happened to pick Protego, then it’s safe to call you a Hufflepuff. The thing is, what if you clicked on it knowing it would land you in Hufflepuff because you just wanted to be in that house? That defeats the purpose, right? But I’ll still give it to you, this is an ingenious question.

b) Stupefy – This option leads to Ravenclaw. Both in the books and movies Stupefy is described as a useful charm used frequently. It’s described to “end duels quickly without causing any long lasting damage” that is, assuming too many aren’t used at once. Harry describes it to be “a wizard’s bread and butter.” I’d say that a Ravenclaw – wise, quick-thinking and collected would go for this spell for a quick get-away in a duel. This doesn’t mean other houses don’t use it. It simply means that it’s what comes quickly to a Ravenclaw. Like I said, it’s an ingenious question. You aren’t supposed to pause and analyse when answering this question. The duel’s happening right now and you have to go with your gut.

c) Expelliarmus: This is what a Gryffindor would use. Now before you attack me with the “you’re just saying that because Harry uses it” lemme explain. Gryffindor are people who go with their guts a lot. There’s also the factor that Gryffindor’s can be egoistic and definitely have a strong sense of pride. They also like to get the upper hand in things – which is basically what Expelliarmus is all about. It’s about disarming your opponent, that is, 1 Upping them if you will.

d) Crucio: This is  the option that messes the entire question up, because which house does this spell signify? The only house we have left is Slytherin which must mean that Crucio signifies Slytherin. Crucio is of the big bad unforgivables, a symbol of cruelty. And let’s face it, only the most cruel (and power-hungry and stupid) people go for an unforgivable instinctively in a duel. Slytherins are cunning and smart. Being cruel is a person to person thing, not a characteristic thing of the house. Proof? Regulus Black. It’s just a common misconception that Slytherins are evil. The way I see it? The most successful villains are the ones with Slytherin characteristics. That’s a little like “most villains are Slytherins but most Slytherins aren’t villains.”  Boom.

Besides, using Crucio in a duel when an unknown spell is fired at you is just plain stupid. Protego makes sense, you need to defend yourself. Stupefy can end the whole duel quickly if it works out. Expelliarmus doesn’t seem suitable given the situation but it seems believable that someone might think of it under fire but Crucio for the given situation is just plain stupid. And if it isn’t clear by now, Slytherins are decisive and calculated people – not the wise and creative Ravenclaw kind but still definitely smart. So what’s that option about?

Question 5!

This is simple to decode. The Forbidden Forest option is for Gryffindors. Never backing down from a dare and all. The library option has to Ravenclaw to prove the person as an intellectual and all. Cheating is plain stereotypical towards Slytherins. Besides, they’re acting like the other houses don’t cheat. Heck, even Ron used a self-correcting quill at one time.

Now we come to Hufflepuffs. I mean, you really expect Hufflepuffs to never cross the lines or break rules? That’s another misconception that’s quite popular, that Hufflepuffs are all saints that see-no-evil, hear-no-evil and do-no-evil. That’s just not true.

Besides, what’s the point of this question? It’s just plain obvious which option represents each house! It’s not even subtly hidden like that in the Spell Question – that is – Question 4. You can just go for the option that represents the house you want to be in.

Question 6:

I didn’t quite get the significance of the question, so I can’t comment on it. Also, it felt random and unnecessary. We’ll pass on this one.

Question 7:

Again, it’s obvious which option leads to what house. The “very few close friends” is the Hufflepuff option because it’s about trusting people with your life. Ravenclaws being intelligent are going to be stereotyped as the nerds who supposedly don’t make friends which means the “wary around new people” option is for Ravenclaw. Gryffindors are stereotyped as the only cool and popular kids in school meaning they get the “more friends, the better” option. And then ambitious Slytherins do everything for success and pick friends to help them succeed. Which means, the quiz makers are under the delusion that every Slytherin is Voldemort. Pfft.

The thing is, friendship isn’t exactly supposed to follow a rulebook that states what kinds of people you become friends with. You don’t make your friend circle with a purpose or your personality in mind. This question is therefore, absolutely pointless. Plus, it stereotypes the bad stuff about each house apart from Gryffindor. Apparently that’s the only cool house because the Golden Trio was in it.

Question 8:

Question 9:

You know what, I really enjoyed this question. In Quidditch you’d be given a position in the team based on your abilities and not what you simply want to be. But we’re not actually forming a Quidditch team, we’re looking into the mind of the person. This time, what they want actually does matter. Your position in the team doesn’t determine what house you are in but what you want to be does give an insight into your personality and therefore your house. I’d say Beaters are Slytherins because their ambition contributes to hunger for power. Seekers would probably be in Gryffindor because they’re all about glory and chivalry. I can’t figure which is which between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff but am pretty sure being in the crowd is a reference to Hufflepuffs because they’re considered to be lame and that’s just stupid.

Question 10:

Again, what exactly was the point of this question? One’s spirit animal or their patronus can hint on their personality but their freaking pet can’t! This question makes you think that only one particular house owns all the owls, another houses the cats and others have toads! Sorry Buzzfeed, this question is absolutely ridiculous.

Question 11:

Ravenclaws go to the library. Gryffindors do the Forest. Hufflepuffs probably visit the kitchens because they’re…. uh… nearby? That narrows it down to Slytherins in the Room of Requirement. Only Merlin knows why. I clearly don’t.

Question 12:

Another interesting question.

Gryffindors are the adventure folks so they get that option. Ravenclaws desire knowledge, you guys know what it is, “wit beyond measure, man’s greatest treasure.” Eh well. I associate the friends and family one with Hufflepuff. But c’mon, just because they’re loyal and just and hardworking, that doesn’t mean they’re the only house who love friends and family. Friends and family is universal. No house owns it.

And that leaves Slytherins with the riches.

Why? Why must you go on portraying Slytherins as evil boneheads who run after jewels? Ambition doesn’t automatically coincide with a desire and greed for wealth. I have issues with this question.

Number 12:

I didn’t get the point of this question. Fill me in the comment section if you understood its significance.

Question 13:

This question is a pretty good one although people would have a lot more options in mind.

And best for the last:

I’m actually really happy that this was included as an option. This by far is the best question and brings forward a wave of nostalgia for the theme was such an integral part of the series.

“It’s our choices that define us far better than our abilities.”

What you take away from here:

  • The Sorting System itself is a little vintage in my opinion. You can’t box people into categories. A person can be brave and ambitious. A person be hardworking and reckless.
  • There are several misconceptions around the houses. Slytherins aren’t necessarily evil and Hufflepuffs aren’t lame and brainless.
  •  A lot of stuff that are in no way related to your personality have found their way into this quiz.
  • Oh, and did I mention that the Sorting depends on your personality?

And now to conclude, Buzzfeed always ends their videos articles and quizzes on a positive note – so here I am, following the suit! This particular Buzzfeed quiz sucks but you all should really check out all their other quizzes! I particularly enjoyed the a quiz on Goblet of Fire, so go and look that up.

Thanks for reading! I hope I could add on to a bit of your Harry Potter trivia and hopefully succeeded in lowering your boredom levels of quarantine! If you’re still bored, check out our other stuff on our website. ;)

Oh and thanks for excusing my sorry excuse for humor.

 – epanije

Anger. (The #QueerIndianTeenVisibilityProject)

my particular brand of expression generally involves a very liberal usage of words, commas, ellipses, parentheses, and…more words. succinct is almost never how I tend to work.

short & sweet just isn’t my style.

I’ve rambled on for paragraphs over the most pointless of posts on this blog before.

this post is going to be different.

this post is about anger.

indignation.

rage.

and I’m sick of it.

I don’t want to explain and if there’s a shred of decency left in this world I’m hoping I won’t need to.

the fact of the matter is I have everything I could ask for and I’ve grown up very privileged. this is not a shred of what billions of other people here in India  – let alone the world – have to go through every day. and I acknowledge that. it’s not my place to talk about my problems, and I never intended on it.

I’m lucky.

I’m also queer.

and I’d never have written this post if I hadn’t realized that girls (people, actually) like me don’t get the opportunity to express their voices too often. I’m lucky that I, personally, am in a position to say whatever the hell I want to without having to second-guess myself or be ostracized for expressing my voice. and that is why I’ve decided that I will.

this by no means is as grave as a hundred other issues defiling our planet, and a part of me feels guilty for it.

but this isn’t about me.

this is serious.

there is a grand total of ZERO – nil, nada, ZILCH – written documentation of any kind of adolescent sapphic experience of any single individual living in India intended for a modern audience that is not erotica or ancient.

(by which I mean books. good ol’ normal sapphic books.)

trans/non-binary representation is also practically non-existent – almost worse, because they don’t even have the little terrible rep we get. when they are cast in some sort of role, it’s usually as beggars or sex workers.

leaving the abysmal number of sapphic/any kind of queer movies aside (most of which are frankly mediocre at best and you can count on ONE hand), there is nothing – no kind of representation or comfort, no proof that we aren’t alone in this. 

most of us don’t have voices.

honestly, I’m not sure why I’m as surprised as I am. being queer in India was legalized two years ago (technically, being queer wasn’t illegal, per se, but you all know what I mean). there honestly wasn’t room for queer teenagers to voice themselves.

but do you guys realize what this means? it means it’s up to us. young queer desi writers. at this point, we’re basically obligated to buck the hell up and write that story we want so badly. screw writer’s block or whatever rut you may be in, screw heteronormativity, screw whatever it is holding you back. we’re at the point where if we want to see it, we’ll have to wind up doing it ourselves.
we need to support each other.

calling all queer Indians who feel underrepresented (sapphic or otherwise): my proposition is a year-long prompt challenge where all of us work on our WIPs together. short stories, collections, poems, novels-in-progress, whatever it is you’re comfortable with. whatever narrative fits your story, whatever you relate to (or don’t. you could write a queer epic fantasy and make a hundred lives). whether you think others will be able to or not. write what you want to see, and we’ll (by which I mean other queer adolescents or even adults who may be interested) be there to read it. always. we need each other.
spread the word and do let us know about whatever platform, however obscure, you use to write. I currently know about Wattpad, Fictionpress, tumblr, Reddit, Sweek, SwoonReads, Blogger and WordPress, but we can try to start an official database organized by genre and platform to offer queer readers and writers across the country a choice. tag your stories and ongoing works (it doesn’t need to be stellar, we’re also here to support each other with constructive criticism and improve – and honestly, half of us will be in exclusively on the premise of it being queer xD) with #QueerIndianTeenVisibilityProject (or #QITVP), and spread the word. 

we can also expand to movies, short films and other forms of expression as we grow. 

(you also don’t need to be regular. heck, you can just read.)

I will also be dedicating my posts on this blog to queer and specifically sapphic visibility for the rest of the year (I sort of already do, but you get what I mean). it’s not like I’m at a loss for material. none of us are or will be – for years to come.

I’m sick of this, and I love y’all. this can be our little community, and you’re all welcome here. time to upend our tiny little universe, folks <3

oh, and by the way? your voices matter.

(okay that was wayyy more productive than my initial short-sighted plan of slamming random inanimate objects around the room and screaming “f#@& thisss!” at the top of my lungs. I just hope you guys are in.)

xx

(I’m sorry my blogging format was a little different for this post. it just…felt right to me.)

Voldemort – He Who Has Not Been Seen

Let’s talk about the Dark Lord himself. Let’s talk about Voldemort.

So, I’m not going to talk about common stuff like how dumb he was to not use a pebble as a horcrux or how he didn’t just throw Harry out of a window when he was a baby, that stuff is far too common. Nu – huh. Let’s talk about outward appearances.

Hold up – don’t leave! This is important! I know it sounds lame though. Let me show you where I’m getting at.

The thing about books in comparison to movies is that you have to form a picture of the character you read about in your head. Sometimes you get that picturing right, sometimes you don’t. In movies you don’t have to do anything of the sort. You just look at the screen and know what the character looks like.

In the Harry Potter films, they did a reasonably good job at picking actors who looked like their character counterparts. You can’t go and make them exactly the same because the way the actors act is more important than what they look like. Who cares if Daniel Radcliff doesn’t have green eyes? He bears a strong resemblance to Harry’s physical appearance and can act well. That’s good enough.

Moving on to Voldemort.

We all know his description from Chamber of Secrets. Handsome dude with pale skin, dark hair, the whole package. As he gets steadily more evil and continues to split his soul, his appearance is affected really bad to the point where his appearance alone is described as horrifying. Lord Voldemort is supposed to radiate fear. His name, appearance and deeds are all supposed to inflict fear. But the way he was shown in the movie was – quite frankly – lame. The makeup artists just eliminated the nose, made the face white and the head bald. And because this is from the movie, people picture Voldemort as just that. I mean sure, I’d be creeped out if I saw him at night but his book description is much scarier than that.

Lord Voldemort by Kazer-Renato on DeviantArt

I came across this image on the internet which is from deviantart by Kazer Renato. And it’s so…. Dank. This version of Voldemort is the stuff of nightmares. It also fits the physical description of being a terrible face which was chalk white with glaring red snake-like eyes and slits for nostrils. The face has been described to root one to their spot and terrorize them.

Did you know Ralph Fiennes almost rejected Lord Voldemort role ...

Go on, take you pick, is the fanart scarier or do you vote for movie Voldy Moldy.

The reason why I’m talking about this is because Voldemort is under-rated as an antagonist. Everyone talks about Bellatrix Lestrange, Umbridge, Gellert Grindelwald and Delphi Diggory for crying put loud. But this fanart reminded me how horrible Voldemort was. Why people refused to address him by his name. How he murdered to 21 year olds who had not only their whole lives ahead of them but also had a baby. How he murdered a 17 year old Cedric Diggory for absolutly no good reason. How he orphaned so many children. How he did everything just because he feared death. The image is reminder of how horrible Voldemort was. It’s shows he’s no “wizard Hitler” but was a ruthless monster witha terrible obsession for immortality and power.

– @epanije

Find the fanart on: https://www.deviantart.com/kazer-renato/art/Lord-Voldemort-535325236

Voldemort from the movie Image Credit: Google

Accursed : What went wrong In Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

J.K. Rowling didn’t just write a book when she penned down Harry Potter, she invented an entire fictional (yep, you gotta admit it’s fictional) universe. Those seven books made even the dullest of dreary days magical.

But after about twenty years a script in the name Cursed Child came out in the guise of an eighth Harry Potter book. And boy, did it contradict the original seven? Yep, it did. Cursed Child was too drastic a change for many fans to consider it cannon anymore. In this blog I’m going to be pointing out several of those things that went wrong. There will be spoilers (duh.)

WRITING STYLE:

The writing style of a book shouldn’t define whether the book is a good one or not; the only snag is that Cursed Child in fact is not a book but is a script to the play that was released. This is not the main issue though. The play was most probably a very well executed one which is evident in its massive commercial success. However, Potterheads are spread all over the world. Obviously only a very small minority was able to see the play as a result of this which is why the script was published in the first place.

However, readers who read the script being used to reading novels with high emotional content found that the script failed to convey the same sort of emotion. People probably wouldn’t even find this bothersome in the first place had they not read the original books. The books being – well books – raised our expectations to the extent where we began to expected the script to convey the same kind of content. People enjoyed the emotional content because it created a connect with the characters.

Another factor is the fact that JKR didn’t even write the book herself. People sometimes forget that the script was penned by John Tiffany and Jack Thorne in the first place. This makes many fans  feel that – as my friend phrases it – Cursed Child is like a poorly written fanfiction sponsored by Rowling.

Buy Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Parts One and Two: The ...

LITTLE TO NO CHARECTER DEVELOPEMENT:

As we delve deeper into the story set a nineteen years after the original books we obviously find ourselves getting nostalgic for the characters that we’ve known about for a long time and have grown to love. But as we keep turning the pages we figure that we don’t really know what’s up with our old favourites. Not much has been written to show how the older generation has grown and matured over the course of a nineteen years. I mean, let’s take a look at an example to find out how important that is.

Ron is a character introduced to us as a flawed but friendly kid with a low self-esteem owing to the fact that he has several older brothers who have fabulous reputations. There isn’t too much depth in his character right from the beginning. As the series progresses, his flaws are highlighted – apart from his low self-esteem, Ron, as it turns out can be an immature prat who behaves awfully with his friends in his worst moments. We also witness his character growth. His loyalty and morals never waver. He knows how and when to redeem himself and knows how to apologize.

In Cursed Child we witness no such character development in any of the old characters. If a character like Ron changes so much over the course over six years (from the ages 11 – 17) he obviously must have matured a lot over the course of nineteen years. We see nothing of the sort.

And then there’s the new characters. We get to know a bare minimum about the new lead protagonists – that is, Albus and Scorpius – and little to nothing about the other new generation characters like James Sirius, Lily Luna, Rose, Hugo, Teddy etc. All focus is on Al and Scor (which is frankly just plain annoying because readers want to know about the kids of their other favourites too) and that too we don’t see much about the characteristics of either character but just their role in the plot. Like, c’mon Mr. Tiffany and Mr. Thorne, how d’you expect us to get to love any of these new characters if we don’t even know them!

SEVERE CHARACTER CHANGES FOR THE GOLDEN TRIO:

Let’s start with Ron.

Ron just becomes painfully stupid in Cursed Child. Let’s face it – a cheesy, comic relief purposed, stupid Ron existed only in the movies. Ron from the books was a complex many layered character who was very key to the entire plot. He was a street smart guy with a strong presence of mind who always stood up for his two best friends. Cursed Child‘s version of Ron is just copy-pasted off the movies. Right from the “you’re getting old” scene to the ‘marriage renewal’ scene, all of the new Ron’s lines just make me cringe. This is coming from someone who’s favourite character from the original books is Ron. He has no action scenes or good lines as opposed to the books. His character had me wondering whether either Jack Thorne or John Tiffany had bothered to read the books or whether they just winged it after watching the movies. Lemme include his lines from the text where he joins Draco Malfoy, Harry, Hermione and Ginny.

RON: (joins them on stage) Just to say – I didn’t know about much of it so can’t take the responsibility – and I’m sure my kids had nothing to do with it – but if this lot are standing up here then so am I.

Excuse me? You guys include him on the podium without a good reason as if you feel pity towards him? He has no good reason to be up there! If you can’t fit in an action scene for Ron (which is sacrilegious itself in the first place) don’t give him a scene at all. Don’t just have him stand there and say that awful line and make him look like a dumb idiot. Just don’t. Don’t do this to my favourite character.

Hermione in Cursed Child surprised me.

Hermione is significantly dumber. Like, what the heck happened to Hermione! You’d have expected her to be campaigning for elfish rights and welfare and also working on stuff like social status’ of the wizarding world as Minister of Magic instead of eating toffee and meeting goblins.

But that’s beside the point.

Hermione makes several mistakes that are not at all Hermione-ish mistakes. We know very well that Hermione is a tactical person who uses her book smartness to get past all sorts of problems that several fully grown wizards had trouble with. Then why would she of all people make the stupid mistake of hiding a freaking time turner in a bookcase! A bookcase that unlocks when someone answers a riddle. What happened to good old passwords? Not to mention the fact that this riddle is so simple that fourteen year olds can crack – one of the two being Albus Severus who has already been described to be almost incompetent as a wizard. Hermione solving riddles at school is different because she’s described to be highly competent; she’s the brightest witch of her age – remember? Plus, the Hermione we know now should be even brighter than the Hermione that we used to know. She has experience as a war hero and is Minister for god’s sake! I came across the suggestion from a fan saying that she could have hidden the time turner in the Department of Mysteries because she’s Minister. She’d know to guard it better though, considering she broke into it as a fifteen year old.

Don’t even get me started on Harry.

Can we talk about how Harry has been turn into a absolute wart of a father? The way he behaves with Albus does not make sense. I mean, sure, because of his upbringing, Harry wasn’t the most emotional person possible. He was angsty, surly and snappy from his fifth to seventh year and all. You seem to forget however, that he is beyond all of that. He was snappy for a reason in his school years. The wizard Hitler was after his blood. He nearly died a million times. A freaking prophecy was written about him! Besides teenagers can often be angsty like he was. The Harry we know has grown and matured. He’s older and Voldemort is dead. This doesn’t mean that his worries are over, Head of Magical Law Enforcement and all, but it’s safe to say that his worries have got to be lesser. Harry had an awful childhood, magical or not; knowing how selfless Harry is in dire situations and how he “acts hero” I’m pretty sure that he would protect his children from a dangerous and abusive childhood at all costs. He would do his best to make sure that his children would be able to feel loved in a way he never was in his childhood. He was locked into a freaking cupboard under the stairs for heaven’s sake. He might get mad, but he of all people would never give Albus a “I wish you weren’t my son”. Convince me otherwise.

Ironically enough, my impression of this version of Harry is exactly what Amos Diggory describes it to be:

“Meet the once great Harry Potter, now stone-cold Ministry man”…  ooh, ouch.

Harry was also quite a sleuth in his school days, or at least acted as one. The entire trio were always the curious kind who meddled in stuff that wasn’t any of their business. They were always doing dangerous stuff to try and figure things out, but in Cursed Child, literally all three of them sit back and enjoy till they hear about what goes wrong, which too is delivered to them through owls and dreams instead of them suspecting stuff and then going to search for dangers.

Having said all that, I feel compelled to acknowledge how much I appreciate the fact that some other major, older generation characters didn’t undergo such drastic characteristic changes. Ginny is almost just as badass, sassy and witty as she was originally written and she’s still just as vibrant and fiery. Oh boy, I loved this fiery exchange:

DRACO: (roars) “My son is missing!”

GINNY: (an equal roar) “So is mine!”  

Professor McGonagall is also the witch I remember her to be, strict and smart, but always knows what’s best. I’ll never forgive how Harry threatened her with his power and stated that she wouldn’t understand his situation because had no children. Like, kiddo, she’s teaching your son, she taught you and she taught your dad. Freaking James Potter. A marauder. But then again, the real Harry would never do that. Not because he particularly respected his teachers in that way but because he genuinely liked McGonagall as a teacher and admired her. He wanted to run straight for her in Order of the Phoenix when he though Sirius was going to die and described her to be ‘solid and dependable’. Also, he used the freaking Cruciatus Curse on Amycus Carrow when he disrespected McGonagall!

Draco Malfoy’s character didn’t change much. He remained snooty and arrogant but appears to have matured as a person in a very realistic way and by a very realistic amount. This has been done pretty subtly such that the character isn’t romanticized which I really appreciate. We see him in a slightly different light but not in the Tom Felton way, so he’s still a little bit of a jerk but isn’t – well. You get my drift.  

PLOT HOLE #1: ALBUS SEVERUS IS A SLYTHERIN:

I’m sorry, this just doesn’t make sense. I get that it’s a necessary detail for the plot to proceed; it’s actually a great move on the part of the play writers. It’s something none of us are expecting, which means it makes the audience sit up and take note. A Potter and Weasley kid is supposed to be a Gryffindor, which he’s not, he’s Slytherin.

But the mistake made when writing was that the authors didn’t write him as a Slytherin. We firstly don’t get the best description or character development, but as the story proceeds, we do paint a picture of Albus in our minds’ eye and we don’t see him as a Slytherin. Let’s revise the description of a Slytherin – ambitious, cunning, has great determination and a thirst to prove themselves. Albus is none of that. We form the impression that he’s brave, reckless and has a strong sense of chivalry and pride. These are all Gryffindor characteristics! In fact, I don’t see any Slytherin characteristics in Scorpius either.

Besides, I find it funny that Albus doesn’t make it into Quidditch teams. I’m not saying that he’d have had to inherit Ginny or Harry’s Quidditch abilities pr anything like that, but you’d think that Harry and Ginny would train all their kids from a very young age or at least have them to play for fun being Quidditch players and fanatics themselves. Albus is portrayed as incompetent at flying. I think he’d at least know the basics even if he weren’t a good player anyway.

PLOT HOLE #2 DELPHI’S EXISTANCE:

This was one of the biggest wth? moments of Cursed Child. When I first got introduced to her character as Amos Diggory’s niece I just felt that her character was an unnecessary addition to the story. Later, her existence is explained with an even more stupid explanation as Voldemort’s daughter. Let’s set this one thing straight, Voldy wanted one thing, that is, to live forever. He had no plans of any sort of having some sort of a backup heir. He planned on complete conquering of death. Voldemort is the kind of character who would not do anything that’s not worth his time or effort, he’d only bank on things worth his time. Secondly, Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange together… okay stop. That’s too much to digest. It’s against either of their characters and life goals. Voldemort’s life goal id conquering death while Bellatrix’s is serving Voldemort and earning his respect. She didn’t have the time or will to have a freaking baby of all things. If she wanted to be a momma why on earth would she chose to have a kid with the freaking Dark Lord instead of her husband Rodolphus?  No wonder the fans don’t consider this cannon.

Besides, banking on the original villain after his defeat by making the new villain worthy of being just another of his minions is stupid. It doesn’t make the new villain compelling enough. It makes it too easy for the protagonist side to defeat the new villain all over again because they’ve already supposedly defeated a villain twice as compelling as her. Delphi’s evil goals become reincarnating Voldemort and the world of terror that he rules. What for? To achieve the approval of a father who she has never met? Her motives are shallow and unintimidating in comparison of Voldemort or even Bellatrix for the matter. This makes her seem much less threatening in comparison.  We don’t even know her motives to do the bad stuff.

On the other hand, both Voldemort and Bellatrix were slain in the Battle of Hogwarts. When and how was Delphi born? If she didn’t go to Hogwarts, who trained her to perform magic, because her magical abilities surpass Harry’s as seen in the battle scene during the time travel of 1981.

PLOT HOLE #3 TIME TURNERS WORK DIFFERENT:

The whole time travel plot of Cursed Child is more than messed up. Writing about Time Travel is messy and the original series doesn’t use much of it. Time turners are used only in Prisoner of Azkaban but doesn’t hold the most significant part of the plot and most importantly follows several rules and laws which includes Professor Croaker’s Law on time travel. Topics and themes like ghosts, time travel, aliens etc are used in several different franchises but each franchise introduces different approaches to these topics and each franchise introduces separate and introduces different rules. Parallel universes and existences paired with fate altering time travel does not fit into the rulebook of time travel in the Harry Potter franchise. These rules are also clearly established in Prisoner of Azkaban before Rowling deals with the messy plot schemes effectively by destroying all time turners in Order of the Phoenix. JKR mentioned in Prisoner of Azkaban  time travels in a closed book in the Harry Potter franchise, that is, you cannot change what has already happens. You just witness timelines unfold as they already are. There’s a common misconception that I happened to be confused about too, a while back, that Buckbeak’s life was saved by Hermione and Harry using the Time Turner. But there’s actually no such timeline where Buckbeak is killed. He lived in both timelines. This rule is completely disregarded in Cursed Child. Not only do timelines completely change with Albus and Scorpius use the time turners, they also invent parallel universes which is not a possible thing in the Harry Potter franchise. In order to filter out this mistake – well, you just can’t do it because removing that is reducing the plot to Albus having daddy-issues.  

What's going on with time travel in 'Harry Potter and the Cursed ...

PLOT HOLE #4 THE IRRELEVANCE OF THE EPILOGUE:

The epilogue of Deathly Hallows is exactly where Cursed Child picks off. However, they don’t get a lot of the dialogues the same as the original text which something that we see again in the Time Travel scenes back to the Triwizard Tournament. I the original dialogues from older scenes should stay the way they are because they’re purpose is to revoke a sense of nostalgia. But if the dialogues change the whole purpose is ruined.

A very important exchange between Harry and Albus is left out. In the scene of the epilogue when Albus asks Harry about what would happened if he were to be sorted into Slytherin, Harry says a very important line, “then Slytherin would have gained an excellent student.” This is a very important line because it shows how much Harry has matured from when he was 11 to 37. He is no longer the little kid who grips his stool thinking “not Slytherin, not Slytherin.” He knows that being Slytherin doesn’t automatically make you bad.

sorting hat | Tumblr

PLOT HOLE #4 AMOS DIGGORY WANTS HARRY TO USE THE TIME TURNER TO GET CEDRIC BACK 22 YEARS AFTER SUPOSSEDLY MOVING ON FROM HIS DEATH:

Amos Diggory was this old Grinch who was nearly always too proud his son. He literally is seen gushing and doting over Cedric every time we see him. After Cedric dies and Harry meets Amos and his wife, he is noticeably broken and deflated. The thing is, time-turners were around for an entire year after Cedric death. Why didn’t Amos demand his son be brought back using a time-turner within that year? Also, why did he wait for them to be first destroyed in Harry’s fifth year and then be rediscovered a good 10 years later? Also, he was also a competent wizard who probably knew about the time turner law, that travelling in time can’t change events but considering that the very rule doesn’t even apply in Cursed Child like it does in Prisoner of Azkaban, so, yeah.

PLOT HOLE #6 LAST BUT NOT LEAST, HARRY IS AN AWFUL DAD TO ALBUS – AND ONLY ALBUS.

Harry as a dad has fights with only Albus. He claims to be a bad father in the last scene of the play also saying that he’s trying to learn because he never had a father. Well and good. But then you have to show at least a few arguments with James and Lily, Albus’ siblings! Also, why aren’t Lily and James mentioned more than just them being sorted into Gryffindor?

And that’s it! If you made it this far, you honestly deserve a medal because this was looong. Well, I won’t bother you with a fancy, more wordy outro. Hope you enjoyed and if you were planning on reading the play, go ahead. It has its flaws. Just forget what’s cannon while you’re at it. Besides, the original series had a billion plot holes too but we still love it.

But that’s a discussion for a next blog.

–@epanije

Roll Credits:

To start off thanks to all fellow Quorans Yoni Freidman, Sanchari Sengupta, Ishu Shankar, Irina Mathur whose answers regarding Cursed Child helped me confirm theories I’d forgotten. Thanks you guys!

I also took a lot of reference from these videos which yous should check out:

• https://youtu.be/fhyeXaQaWT8
• https://youtu.be/_E1m-RMAzSw
• https://youtu.be/rq-9BnHPjsY
• https://io9.gizmodo.com/the-9-most-wtf-moments-in-harry-potter-and-the-cursed-17846
• https://screenrant.com/harry-potter-cursed-child-bigget-plot-holes-no-sense/

Thanks! :D

Edit: Another Plot Hole – Cedric Diggory becomes a Death Eater because he was humiliated. I can’t believe I didn’t include this before. It’s ridiculous. Everyone loved Cedric. He was the ideal role model for literally everyone. He was everything from loyal, fair, to hardworking. He of all Hufflepuffs would not become a Death Eater just because he was humiliated. Heck, I’m more likely to do that! Cedric wasn’t hot-headed or hasty. He’s more likely to accept defeat with grace. Thanks Grass Berry for pointing that out!

#Sapphicathon: TBR, Forums and Stuff

So…hi, people!

I’m choosing to spare you from a classic (aka rambly and embarrassingly long) intro with this post because while I most definitely hate cutting to the chase, it’s sort of proving to be a necessity right now because a) it’s 11 pm here at the moment and I have a crap ton of tests to prep for over the next week (as soon as I graduate and/or come of age I’m filing a litigation suit against physics for the extended mental and emotional abuse of students on a global scale. Be sure to sign the petition, y’all) and b) I want to put this out as early as I can so that I can (in my little way) help spread the word and give everyone who hasn’t already heard of it time to sign up for…*drumroll*…THE ANNUAL 2020 SAPPHICATHON!!!

(Well, you technically don’t have to “sign up” for it and if you’re reading this you’ve probably heard of it already but whatever. You get my drift.)

Rules And Stuff

So. Here’s the deal. My fellow bloggers, Elise (@thebookishactress), Jami (@jamishelves) and Tash (I…really don’t know what her blog’s called, if it exists – I’m sorry, Tash! Feel free to link it to me if you get this ping-back and I’ll definitely check it out – we stan any/all sapphic blogs in this house) have apparently been hosting this event every year since 2K18? At any rate, we only started up this blog and got into the whole blogging community around the end of last year, so this is the first time I’m hearing about this. And it’s all I’ll be gushing about for the entirety of the next week. Heads-up.

Jami’s announcement post touching on all the rules and shite: https://jamishelves.wordpress.com/2020/05/10/sapphicathon-announcement-tbr/

Elise’s video ALSO touching on all the rules and shite: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8QwMRC0nNs

Tash’s Twitter ALSO…uh, I think you get it by now: https://twitter.com/immortalbanner

Right! I’m lazy and don’t feel like going over the rules and shite all over again, so…just do yourself a favour and check one of their posts out. I will, however, say this: please give this a shot. Seriously. Even if read-a-thons aren’t your thing (I’m generally not a huge fan either, tbh) it’ll be SO. MUCH. FUN. I promise! And the best part? You don’t have to complete all the challenges! The main goal’s to have fun and indulge your inner sapphic soul (just spend a week giving sapphic lit the attention it deserves) and doing it together. I’d love to hear what everyone’s planning on doing for the thing!

Resources and Recommendations

If you need resources/recs, you could either scroll through other posts under this tag (#sapphicathon) or check the Queer Books For Teens site out (http://queerbooksforteens.com/) which lists a comprehensive database of literally EVERY queer work published between 2000 and 2017 sorted by genre, author, representation, country…

Rainbow Reads (https://readsrainbow.wordpress.com/) is another beautiful blog dedicated to bringing LGBTQIAP+ books to the light and they just made a post on sapphic contemporaries! So, yeah, go and check them out as well. There are a hundred others I could list right now but I don’t want this post to end up longer than it is already. I’ll leave you guys to it.

Goodreads groups/book clubs for whoever’s interested: The Sapphic Squad by 2/3 people hosting this read-a-thon! It hasn’t been too active over the past, erm, two years, however… https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/532033-the-sapphic-squad

Girls Love Girls and Books: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/513430-girls-love-girls-and-books

Rebel Women Lit: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1070993-rebel-women-lit

There are a ton of others out there as well, but quite a few of them take a couple days to approve new members. Usually never more than 2-3 days, though, so surf away!

And once again…please join, everyone! It’d mean so much to me. The more the merrier, right?

(Plus Elise, Jami and Tash have all listed resources on their pages, so…yeah! Check those out as well:))

So, without further ado…here are my picks for the challenge!

My TBR

(And yes I know the editing on the collage is terrible; this is my first time making one of these! And there were a lot of nature and party stickers available, so I may have gone a little overboard)

Full Disclaimer: I’m a chronically slow reader and often take weeks over books (AND am currently in a reading slump because…tests). I also have this masochistic habit of reading approximately 3 zillion books at once – and never actually, y’know, finishing any of them? I hate endings. Also, since acquiring books isn’t too…plausible or convenient at this particular point in time, I’ll be picking a lot of books I’ve already made substantial progress on for this read-a-thon (in most cases this means I’m between 10-20% into the book, but there are a couple of exceptions). I don’t care if it’s lowkey cheating, I’m doing this for fun and it’ll also help me make progress on my forever growing TBR! I’m just looking forward to a week of sapphic spotlight!

FYI, the read-a-thon takes place between 18th and 25 th May (coming Monday and next Sunday).

Here’s what I’m /hoping/ to accomplish reading (lofty goals, I know):

Prompt # 1: Re-read a Book: I used to be big into re-reading for years together, but it just…stresses me out now. Probably because it makes me nostalgic (which I hate because that makes me feel lonely and bitter) or maybe ’cause it makes me want to drop whatever I’m re-reading and pick another book in the series up instead? To get to a certain part? My re-reading style’s more snippets scattered through the book than anything else, but for the sake of nothing…ugh I don’t know. Too many options.

Right now I’ve narrowed it down to It’s Not Like It’s a Secret by Misa Suguira, which is probably one of my favourite (sapphic or otherwise) contemporaries of all time? (There’s Radio Silence by Alice Oseman, but I literally finished bingeing that and basically everything Oseman’s ever written just two weeks back. I practically flew through them, and once again, I AM NOT A SPEED READER. Yes, I managed two-and-a-half  books in three days. Me. That’s just how good she is.)

I’m also considering Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli, because I kinda started re-reading that a few days ago (and duly put it aside for something else, naturally – WHY AM I LIKE THIS?!)…because of the whole Love, Creekwood announcement. (Which I’m not going to start talking about because I will never shut up and I can essentially bid any hope of a semi-good night’s sleep adieu if I do. So.) Huh. Maybe. I don’t know. This is why I empathize with Chidi Anagonye, everyone! Decisions? Not my thing. At all.

Prompt #2: Read a Graphic Novel: Hmm…hmm. Um. Ahem.

I…I don’t…I don’t own graphic novels. And my Kindle isn’t very…uh…supportive…

Graphic novels cost an arm and a leg, okay?

Plus I generally avoid them for this precise reason: most graphic novels available in bookstores are not…very…ugh I can’t do this. I know it’s blasphemy.

So. I’m hoping against hope that webtoons count for this prompt, because I’m kind of a lowkey webcomic/-toon addict (that’s something I don’t tell people as a rule, purely because it never comes up. But…yeah, that’s a thing about me, I guess!). They’re helpful when my brain can’t process proper words (usually after a three-hour long cramming session) or I just need something with quick chapters and pretty art to de-stress or go to sleep at night. (Usually backfires because they’re addictive as heck.) Anywayyy…I highly recommend Webtoon! It’s practically perfect in every way.

So assuming webtoons count, I’ll be reading Bi-Assed by…uh, The Purple Alien for this prompt, my back-up being The Zodiac, by Hebi_23 (it’s the internet, okay? I know this isn’t helping my case). Right. Movin’ on!

Bi-Assed – SMASH PAGES

(Hey, I just realized…this would be the perfect time to get into manga! I may do that for the prompt as well…assuming I get time to look for recs online. I am swamped right now.)

Prompt #3: Read a Book with a Trope You Love: I’m considering between the following for this prompt:

~  Nothing Happened by Molly Horton Booth (summer camp! Sisters! Friendship!)

~ The Summer of Jordi Perez by Amy Spalding (colleagues-to-lovers! Fashion things – I legitimately own five outfits but I’m obsessed with reading about fashionistas for whatever reason? Anyway…plus-sized fashion! Food-related plot lines! Internships! )

~ The Last 8, by Laura Pohl (my #1 trope of all time…dozens of random strangers from around the world stranded in some weird sci-fi/fantasy set-up and forced to bond)

~ This Is What It Feels Like, by Rebecca Barrow (band shenanigans)

~ The Resolutions, by Mia Garcia (BFFs carry out cheesy traditions to celebrate senior year, flirting with customers at protagonist’s family restaurant + not tropes but adorable friendships, multiple POVs, and focussed on staying true to your (in this case, Latinx) roots! Aka my favourite themes ever!)

Prompt #4: Read a Book by an Author of Colour: So…this is actually at least 14/16 of the books  on my list, so I’m hoping it’s okay for me to recycle prompts on this one? At any rate, I’ll add more books just so I get at least some of these done:

~ Not Your Sidekick by C.B. Lee (probably the only fantasy book on this list xD)

~ I know this is wishful thinking but I’m going to go ahead and add The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar, aka probably the book I’ve been the most hyped for since Infinity Son and ‘til Becky Albertalli announced Love, Creekwood this year even though the odds of me getting my hands on it before September are tragically low. By the way…IT RELEASES TODAY. What the actual hell.

~ Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera

Prompt #5: Read a Book You Got for Free: I…don’t know? That’s a lot of choices. I guess I’ll go with Tell Me How You Really Feel by Aminah Mae Safi, which I’m already kinda halfway through. I’m also halfway through The Resolutions. And if you’re wondering why so many of these books fit so many of these categories (almost every one of them fits prompt #6) that was 100% intentional. I don’t trust myself enough to be able to read much at any given point in time (I’m flaky and unpredictable!) so I’m hoping I can double or even triple a lot of these up if it comes down to that.

Prompt #6: Read a Book That’s Been on Your TBR for a Long Time: *le sigh*

I’m just going to go with anything/everything (I like to have options, okay?) by Nina LaCour for this one, particularly We Are Okay. I know she’s like, the quintessential sapphic YA author and I’ve been meaning to read something by her for years now – I just have never really gotten ‘round to it. We Are Okay, You Know Me Well, Everything Leads to You, maybe even Hold Still…whatever. If I’m hoping to accomplish one goal by the end of all this, it’d be finishing up one book by her once and for all. I have a feeling about her, okay? She might just turn out to be my next favourite author!

I’m skipping prompt #7, which is “free choice”, for obvious reasons. I’ll pick something up if I feel like it.

So…again, good luck with the read-a-thon to whoever’s doing it! And everyone, please at least consider it. It’ll be fun.

(Again, I didn’t edit or even read through this once before posting it so…ahem…I’ll leave now. It’s 2 am and I may or may not have a test tomorrow.)

Cbc Okay See You GIF by Kim's Convenience - Find & Share on GIPHY

(Yeah…my latest obsession. Kim’s Convenience. Go stream, everyone. It’ll be worth it. And do join the sapphicathon!)

xx

Berry

(WHY CAN’T I WRITE A SEMI-COHERENT POST BELOW 2,000 WORDS I – )

One Planet “ONE Government” Can Be the Solution to Climate Crisis

Photo by Markus Spiske on Pexels.com

A report published in January this year by NOAA (National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration) and NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) confirmed that 2010 to 2019 was the hottest decade since modern record keeping began in 1880. The past five years have been the warmest of the last 140 years. These warming trends are resulting in frequent, intense and persistent period of hot temperatures in summer and generally higher temperatures in winter. The polar ice caps are melting six times faster than in the 1990s. Without rapid cuts to carbon emissions the recent analysis by Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) indicates there could be a rise in sea levels that would leave 400 million people exposed to coastal flooding each year by the end of the century.   

Climate Change is the most defining issue of our times and right now we are at this defining moment. The world’s biggest environmental problem needs to be confronted and addressed on an urgent basis, if the world is to remain a supportive habitat for humans and other species.

The other biggest challenge facing the world today is global food security: by 2050, the world must feed 9 billion people. The demand for food will be up by 60% than it is today. At current rates, by 2050 the amount of food we are growing today will feed only half of the population. The complexity of delivering sufficient food and the overall food systems are influx owing to demand side drivers and trends in food supply which are more related and dependent to climate change. Climate change is very likely to affect food security at the global, regional and local level. Climate change can disrupt food availability, reduce access to food and affect food quality. 

Approximately 3.4 billion people or 45% of the world’s population live in rural areas and roughly 2 billion people, i.e. 26.7% of the world population derive their livelihoods from agriculture. The vast majority of the world’s farms are small or very small. Worldwide, farms of less than 1 hectare account for 72% of all farms. These small scale farmers are amongst the poorest and most marginalised and they are spread across countries across continents. They are disconnected from resources, markets, extension services and social protection systems, making them even more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. The implications of climate change on small-scale farmers reaches deep into the very socio-economic fabric of the region and thereby the entire planet. 

While big climate summits, conferences, reports and protests (the most prevalent in recent times) are constant reminders of the climate change and its related crisis, but so far none of these have helped to make the all-important breakthrough. In other words, the global community is failing to solve the climate crisis. 

The IPCC was established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and was later endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly. The intergovernmental body was supposed to provide the world with objective, scientific information relevant to understanding the scientific basis of the risk of human-induced climate change and economic impacts and risks and guide the world with possible response options. However, the question remains whether 197 countries with the assistance from IPCC can agree on any meaningful climate action when it involves so much money and power. 

The climate system has no borders; carbon dioxide released in one part of the world influences every other part of the world sooner or later. So, no country can stay isolated when it comes to the climate crisis; action of one impacts the others hence the responsibility lies with each one of the countries.

Photo by Markus Spiske on Pexels.com

This induces me to think of a system of “one planet ONE government”. An idea for an institution that is built on mutual trust and respect and importantly, whose authority extends across the entirety of this planet.

Before I explain the rationale of having “ONE government” concept, let me draw some inspiration from Garry Davis, a former Broadway actor and World War II bomber pilot who officially gave up his US citizenship in 1948 to live as a “citizen of the world” by World Service Authority (WSA). WSA was set up to be the administrative agency of the “World Government of World Citizens” which was declared on 4th September 1953. The first office was opened in New York City in 1954. It is a non-profit organization that claims to educate about and promote “world citizenship”, “world law” and “world Government”. According to the WSA’s archives, as of 2010, 180 countries stamped the World Passport or issued a visa on it at least once. 

My other inspiration is Mr. P.R. Sarkar, the founder of Renaissance Universal. In his paper titled “Thoughts on World Government” he advised a step-by-step formation of a world government authority, largely based on a transformation of the UN and a strengthening of regional organizations. There have been several papers on how UN should evolve into a world government with two houses: one nation-based the other population-based (instead of a general assembly and Security Council) or some other governance structure that takes into account the range of identities that exists today. Specific suggestions include that the UN should have three houses: one based on nations, the second on social movements and the third a house of the people.

Over the last few years, calls to address climate change have become a powerful new social movement that needs immediate attention. A genuine social movement is a transformative force capable of remaking social and political relations. This makes me believe in the idea of  “ONE government”; it could be an institution managing the world (global) governance on issues of ecology, development, human rights and other similar issues that transcends boundaries of a country and no one nation-state can individually tackle. 

Here are some of the reasons for my belief for having a “ONE government” that may help handle the climate crisis:   

  • Climate change knows no borders and cooperation on a global scale is now imminent: Droughts, heat-waves, cyclones, rising sea levels, heavy rainfall, landslides and floods often strike more than one country in the region and their effects are expected to become more severe according to various reports. As of 2020, there is no functioning global international military, executive, legislature, judiciary or constitution with jurisdiction over the entire planet. Hence, the “ONE Government” must be a collective voice to minimize individual contributions to greenhouse gases and the impacts of climate change. 
  • Lack of trust between government and political establishment; lack of trust between countries and lack of trust in relation to governance in global multilateral institutions is a longstanding issue. Improving governance, relations and confidence between Governments across countries is essential. One of the key responsibilities of the “ONE government” is to rebuild trust between nations and instil confidence in the multilateral process. The actions should be entailed in trustworthy conduct and being part of an integrated forum such as “ONE government” may help address the issue.    
  • The global and long-term nature of climate change conflicts with the self-interest and short-term priorities of decision-makers. Each country has their own people’s interests at heart. This conflict has been and remains the main obstacle to effective global cooperation and mitigation of climate threats. The “ONE government” can create a framework that offers short-term, results-based payments to individual governments to promote mitigation action; this could lead to much more effective global mitigation and international cooperation.
  • The degree of change required to address the climate problem and the interconnected environmental problems of global economic sustainability is massive. “ONE government” will help fund the basic and applied research activities that can generate breakthrough innovations that will help every country in short or long run; hence, focussing on finding solutions will become priority instead of where to focus upon. No country can solve the problem in isolation. To support countries to implement international environmental treaties related to climate change, “ONE government” could build capacity and facilitate technology transfer.    
  • Multinational corporations (MNCs) typically have operations and supply chains in many parts of the world. The way they respond to climate change, therefore, can either destroy the planet or replenish it. In one of the recent SustainAbility Survey, 86% of over 600 expert stakeholders representing business, governments, NGOs and academia felt that the private sector will play a ‘very important’ role in advancing climate change solutions. But we don’t have time to wait for individual companies to go on their own sustainability journeys. There is a need for government-plus strategy to support and incentivise private sector adaptation and partnerships between MNCs and governments that can enhance the capacity of companies to adapt.  “ONE government” can promote and implement this as a part of its government policies.  
  • Climate change will bring further difficulties to millions of people for whom achieving food security is already problematic; this is perhaps humanity’s most pressing challenge. The challenge posed by climate change to agriculture and food security requires a holistic and strategic approach to linking knowledge with action. “ONE government” can initiate new policy dialogue between decision-makers and researchers in all sectors, greater collaboration among climate, agriculture and food security communities and consideration of interdependencies across whole food systems and regions. 

While above are some plausible reasons in believing in the idea of “ONE Government” the real challenge lies in making it a reality while wading away the fear of local leaders of losing their leadership. With the establishment of a “ONE government” the powerful influences which they today enjoy in different countries, societies and in national life, will no longer exist. Different national interests and popular scepticism may hinder the formation of a single world government. Hence, it can be done in step wise manner; starting with the most pressing challenge of these times and addressing it, i.e. climate change. The institution needs to be formed primarily now for resolving the Climate crisis and then has to be strengthened gradually over time. In the initial phase the “ONE government” may act only as a law framing body on issues related to climate changes. It will be vested with framing the rights of implementation or non – implementation of any particular law related to climate change. On climate change related issues the countries will have only administrative power and won’t have powers to enact laws arbitrarily.    

While this is just an idea and I have my conviction that if ever enacted upon it will lead to a unified world, where each problem will be tackled beyond the consideration of boundaries of a single country. 

50 years prior to its actual legalisation, vast majority of people across the world were opposed to homosexuality; similarly, right now many may not believe in “ONE  government” concept to be a realistic or serious idea that could happen in the coming decades. However, compared to the international situation in the past, the world in the 21st century is more culturally, economically and politically unified than ever and becoming increasingly so. While conceptually in today’s time “ONE government” seems quite relevant and plausible, but the feasibility of the same is still a question mark; but the climate crisis for sure requires a global vision, with a concrete strategy on achieving the targets. Climate change represents humanity’s first planet wide experiment; hence unified radical interventions are need of the hour.   

The Trenches Beyond Kleve

We set off in the silence of the early morning, once again. The day was sunny and warm but the clouds gave cover at times. After crawling through the no man’s land, stepping and tripping on bodies, we reached the German trenches and found them to be abandoned and burnt. They were void of enemies but not of traps. I almost got myself killed by a fuse and a mine placed near the entrance to the soldier’s dugouts. Running out of the trenches through another exit we tumbled down a hillside into the marshes.

The year was 1917, the war was on in full swing. I was following my friend Edward Blake. Edward was a fine man of 23, physically strong. He had a steady hand great for shooting. I was just 20. We had orders from the Colonel to stop the Devils from charging on the Germans on the front line.

The marshes were broken only by little hills. We stumbled through, rucksacks dangling against our backs and rifles in hand. They were primed, for we did not trust our lonely surrounding to be void of Germans. We trudged on, guns pointed towards the hills dotted with trees whose shifting shadows deceived us into thinking they were German soldiers.

“Maybe the Colonel was right,” I said, “maybe the Germans have left.”

“It is always better to be heedful with such matters,” said Edward.

We scaled our way up a small hill. Upon reaching the summit the town of Kleve came into sight below us. We started to descend very slowly hiding behind bushes. After a while, we came across void green fields. We headed east. The sun was overhead. Our path ahead was obstructed by one of the branches of the Rhine running through Kleve, a town in north-western Germany. A half-sunken bridge lay in front of us and beyond that lay Kleve in ruins.

“The Devils must have done a fine job, driving the Germans out,” I said, once safely into Kleve on the other side of the bridge. “It will be a walk in the park from here on.”

“Run,” Edward barked suddenly, as the first bullet whizzed past my ear.

I saw the flash to our right and we veered our way into the nearest battered building. More bullets pelted on us as we ran through the rubble of the houses. We slinked behind a wall and took cover. Behind us, we heard the footsteps of soldiers. Edward glanced at me and gave me a quick nod. And I nodded back. There were three of them. One was in lead. As soon as they went ahead of us, we took a follower each and knifed them silently, wrapping a palm across their mouths. Hearing their muffled cries, the man in lead turned around only to be shot dead by Edward. We waited for their comrades to arrive. But no one turned up. We decided to wait till nightfall. The attack was scheduled to be executed at seven next morning. If we left an hour before sunrise we could still make it in time. We took turns to keep watch and rest. I took the first watch which lasted till late afternoon and then Edward took over till nightfall.

When it was three in the morning, we left the building and navigated our way through the ruins in darkness. Twice we came across drunken German soldiers or sleeping ones but we managed to make our way to the end of the city which merged into the woods. We walked through the woods following the beaten paths with a dim lantern. When we came to the edge of the woods it was quarter to seven. The British trenches could be seen in the distance. As we approached  them, the deep, penetrating call of the Major was heard.

“Ten to Seven.”

“He must have made a mistake,” said Edward, “There are still fifteen minutes to go. We need to run.” We were still about two hundred yards away. We broke into a quick jog.

“Five to Seven.” called the Major.

We dashed for it. We were twenty yards away when the Germans launched their shells and the fields ahead of the trenches erupted spitting dirt. About two yards away, a severe explosion to our left, made me fall on Edward and we both tumbled into the trenches.The soldiers and the Major were startled by the new arrivals.
“Major,” I shouted staggering up. “This assault is not to be execu…” 
The major turned red with anger. “Who do you think you are!” he screamed.
“Sergeant Edward Blake, Sir. Orders form the Colonel Sir.” said a panting Edward as he handed him the envelope.

The Major tore open the envelope with a puzzled expression as the sounds of explosions deafened us.

Timelines: An Alternate Future if we go on like this

It’s a hundred and ten short years later when our story begins.
A hundred and ten years from today and a mere ten years after the Third World War.

Ten years is a long time. A new born reaches middle school. A decade gets over. Certain animals live their entire lifespans. It’s a reasonably long time.
But apparently not long enough.
Certainly not long enough for almost an entire planet to recover from nuclear warfare. The war killed billions. The condition of the air we breathe was so terrible that asthma leads all diseases. It doesn’t help that the number of trees still on the surface of the Earth has been reduced by two thirds of what it once used to be.
And that can’t be undone.
The soil degraded to the extent where plants don’t survive almost all the time.
Plants have always made fifty percent of the oxygen living things need. Oceans make the rest.

But the Oceans choke with plastics.
Fifty percent of all marine life is dead because of the plastics that float in the Oceans. Rising sea levels have not helped.

With the rise in global temperatures because of Carbon dioxide Arctic Ice crashed into the seas leading to the rise in global sea levels. With rise in global sea levels the islands and coastlines of the world sank into the seas.
And ten years ago the Third World War broke out because what land remained after the coastlines dissappeared clearly wasn’t enough to support the ever-growing human population.
No History Textbook from the past could explain to those who survived why the so called intelligent-species destroyed their own planet. Why they ensured that the land couldn’t be farmed or why the water couldn’t be drunk.

No intelligent-species ever does that.
They called it climate change. And people didn’t even believe them. They labelled animals “endangered” without realising that they themselves fell in that list.

And a hundred years before that, now, the process has started. The sixth mass extinction is here.
But this is not the end.
“We humans are the problem, but we’re also the solution”, so said Chester Bennington; it’s true. We can backtrack what has gone wrong, but that has to start now.
Climate change is a worldwide catastrophe.
Wake up.
It’s a hundred and ten years before catastrophe peaks.
And that story starts today.

A House Without Mirrors by Mårten Sandén – An Insight

Imagination. The small fragment (or part) of our mind which runs wild. The canvas inside our mind which makes us believe we can be anything and everything. When I was a bit younger, I used to believe I was going to be a rich and famous king and have a massively adventurous life! I would go on a tour around the world. I would help the poor and needy and every person in the world would know me! You get what I mean, right? My imagination ran a lot wilder than I could comprehend! But this book, it actually deals with the exact opposite.

This story is about a young girl named Thomasine who has spent months living in her great-great-aunt’s dusty, dark house with her father, and her aunt, uncle and cousins. While her father’s siblings bicker about how much the house must be worth, her distant, elderly aunt is upstairs, dying, and her father has disappeared inside himself, still mourning the death of Thomasine’s little brother.

But one day, her youngest cousin makes a discovery: a wardrobe, filled with all the mirrors missing from the big house. And through the mirrors, a different world – one in which you can find not what you most wish for, but perhaps what you most need…

Yes, I know what most of you are thinking but you see,this is not a book about fantasy and fiction but about reality which has been spiced, seasoned and flavoured with fiction in such a way that it will make you reflect a lot into your own life and think a lot about the story. There are certain phrases or rather, places in this book from which, if you read between the lines you shall see much more than a simple story. This book changed the way I pictured and saw my life. In other words, it gave me an “insight”! It made me realise that, adventures don’t really have to have princesses and knights and kings and queens. They could just be about being born, living and dying…

I would sincerely ask you to read this book. You don’t have to believe me. Just buy or download it from somewhere and read it. When your done with it, tell me your thoughts about it.

Yours truly,

Blackbird

Far From The Tree by Robin Benway: A Spoiler-Free Review

Okay. Ignore the title of this post because here’s a spoiler for you: you will fall in love.

Ahem. I need to calm down.

My personal life’s going fine – pretty great lately, actually. The news hasn’t sprung any crazy surprises on us all week – a new record, probably. The Earth definitely hasn’t stopped revolving around the Sun.

Except.

I may or may not have finished reading what’s probably going to end up being my favourite book of 2020. In the middle of the third freaking week of the whole year!

I mean, I could remain optimistic, I guess. Right now, though…I can’t see how much better it could possibly get. I have read better books, definitely. 2019 was a great contemporary year for me, and I discovered two of my favourite books of all time last year (History Is All You Left Me by Adam Silver and Seven Ways We Lie by Riley Redgate. Not to mention the emotional rollercoaster that was the month of December alone. I’ll probably be making a blog post about some of those books at some point, too. Don’t count on it, though;))

But this book is genuinely so…wholesome. Heartwarming. Perfect.

Let’s just get to it, shall we?

Synopsis And Central Themes

Where does one begin.

This book, above all, is a brilliantly woven story of family. And friendship.

It centres around three siblings: Joaquin, Grace and, Maya. They don’t know they’re related. But when Grace has a baby she ends up having to give up for adoption because of her age, financial problems, and a whole bunch of other issues, she realizes how hard losing a kid is.

So, she decides to go searching for her biological mother.

After a very confusing (for her, not the reader – it’s brilliantly executed) turn of events, her parents drop a bomb on her: she has two biological siblings she’s never met before. Maya, a feisty, sarcastic, hot-tempered girl who’s dealing with a whole bunch of problems with her (very dysfunctional) adopted family while navigating her first real relationship with her girlfriend, Claire. Maya also struggles with never feeling in place with her family, being the only brunette in a family of redheads.

And Joaquin, a quiet, understandably insecure kid who’s been shuttled across dozens of foster homes and families since childhood and has just about lost all faith in himself and everyone around him.

This book deals with a lot of issues. Adolescent pregnancy, feelings of neglect as a character’s parents go through a divorce, slut-shaming, alcoholism, subtle but very damaging racism…the list goes on. And all of it is executed brilliantly (I’m sorry, did I mention that already?), without being too overwhelming and remaining surprisingly PG while still packing an emotional punch. I’m serious. This is probably the first time I’ve ever cried because of a book (yes, you’re free to kill me for the blasphemy). And my favourite author is Adam Silvera.

Well…I’m exaggerating a little (obviously). My eyes may have gotten a little misty, but that’s all. Pfft. I’m tough, you guys!

Just kidding. I’m a total crybaby.

Anyway. Moving on.

This book is also really diverse. And none of it feels forced.

It’s just…beautiful.

The Writing

The writing style for this book is just…breathtaking.

I’m actually not exaggerating here. Yes, I know that’s a first.

It’s beautiful and flowery while still remaining elegant and fairly easy to read. And I have a pretty high bar for writing.

And never – NOT ONCE – does it transcend into purple prose.

I mean, there is still ONE instance of the dreaded ‘he let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding’ or some variation somewhere in the middle, but it was pretty easy to brush past.

I usually can’t stand the abundant use of metaphors in novels or just prose in general, but it worked amazingly well here. The author uses a whole lot of them in every chapter, and they only enhance her writing and make the characters’ emotions stronger and more vivid. I’m a pretty slow reader when it comes to books where the writing style is overly flowery or poetic, but not this time. Believe me, if I’m scaring you with my descriptions…her writing isn’t hard to read. At all. You’ll fly through this one…the characters, plot AND writing are all engaging. Benway’s writing style is a rare combination of simple and elegant.

Yes, I’m aware I sound like one of those annoying salespeople. Advertising gel pens or scooters or whatever with a cheesy commercial involving unimaginably, unrealistically beautiful people and corny tag lines. Which…technically, I sort of am. This book does involve unimaginably beautiful characters and…well…not corny, but definitely quotable writing. Again, if you haven’t already…YOU HAVE TO PICK THIS BOOK UP.

The Characters

Ahhhhhhhhhhh.

My favourite, for some inexplicable reason, was Grace. And I say inexplicable because I loved all of these characters and wouldn’t have been able to pick a favourite under normal circumstances. I’m actually not sure why I empathized with Grace the most. I definitely related to Maya more and thought Joaquin’s character was the most layered and developed overall (not that the other two weren’t; Joaquin just had the most heartbreaking arc and the way his emotional trauma chiselled him into a paranoid, insecure person was just…suffice to say nearly every single one of Joaquin’s chapters had me on the verge of tears).

Grace. Maybe the reason I couldn’t wait to get to her chapters, the reason why I was always rooting for her character, was just how much I admired her. Grace is one of those rare YA protagonists who’s just genuinely…nice. Not that she didn’t have her dramatic moments and never flared up – she did, a lot, and she totally had the right to. I can’t describe how angry I felt on her behalf throughout this book. The thing is…I love your morally grey characters as much as the next person. I do like angsty characters, like Maya, as well. Lately, though, I’ve just been drawn to characters like Grace a lot more. Characters who are optimistic and love people, despite the odds. People who choose to care. About themselves and about everyone around them, even when they don’t have to. Grace gets pregnant, and her ex-boyfriend just pretends the whole thing never happened. His parents pin the whole thing on Grace (and they obviously break up), his friends put her through a hell lot of slut-shaming and he does virtually nothing to step up and defend her, and he actually gets crowned homecoming king on the night she’s delivering her baby. Any teenager who’s had to go through that much would be at least a little bitter, and in addition to this, Grace has to keep second-guessing her decision-that-wasn’t-much-of-a-decision to give up her baby. She actually punches a dude in the face in the middle of a school day at one point.

Out of our three protagonists, it’s always Grace who’s pushing to unite the three of them, to find their biological parents, to get to know each other, to bond, to forgive. I think Grace is the kind of person all of us should ideally aspire to be. It’s her decision to find her birth mom when she has to give up her baby that sets off the chain of events that is this book. Throughout the novel, she struggles with hiding her history from her siblings because she’s afraid of them being unsupportive. Her arc is real, beautiful, and heart-wrenching. And as a character, she was definitely the most instrumental to the plot.

Next! Maya. Maya was…real. I found her to be the most relatable protagonist of the three (but then again, that was for very personal reasons). Maya was often pretty hard to like or even empathize with. She’s angsty, hot-tempered, way too sarcastic and sharp-tongued for her own good, and super edgy (but for understandable reasons). She has pretty strong principles when it comes to other people, but her own life is a mess. And she’s insecure about practically everything: her identity, her family, her relationship with her girlfriend, her siblings, her mom’s alcoholism.

Reading Maya’s chapters felt like reading an old diary of mine; it took close to every ounce of self-control in me to restrain myself from screaming into the book and shaking it until I could get through to her. I adored how accurate and in-depth her representation as a young queer girl went (I know experiences vary, but this was just so well done). I loved how her character progressed and developed over the course of the book. In short…Maya may have been my least favourite of the three protagonists, but I would still protect her with my life. I have no complaints regarding how her character was handled.

Joaquin! Joaquin was. Um. I don’t know how to do this.

I loved Joaquin, okay?

In many ways, Joaquin reminded me of Grace. In many ways, Joaquin reminded me of Maya. But, despite all that, he was still very much a beautifully layered, well-developed character of his own. The estranged sibling, the oldest baby no one was willing to adopt. The biracial kid with darker skin tones who was shuffled between foster homes and families that obviously had no idea how to handle him throughout his childhood. And I loved the treatment of subtle racism in this book. The racism Joaquin had to endure wasn’t very direct or obvious, but deeply impacted him – for the rest of his life! – nevertheless. It wasn’t glaringly indiscreet but still managed to scar his personality and outline the pattern the rest of his life would follow for him. It made him extremely self-aware, overly paranoid and/or cynical and painfully insecure all at once.

The book explores the consequences of a bigoted society and white privilege by drawing a contrast between the lives of Grace, Maya and Joaquin. Beyond the difference in their skin tones, Joaquin is essentially the same as his two siblings as a baby. But while Grace and Maya are accepted into loving and caring families at birth, Joaquin is shunned and shunted between foster homes, taught by each individual experience to feel like he’s different for something he cannot help. The scars of the emotional trauma of his childhood clearly manifest themselves into his adolescence as he’s never able to feel like he’s enough for any relationship – be it familial, platonic, romantic or otherwise. He shuts people out, engages in self-sabotaging behaviour and only attends therapy because he feels emotionally guilted into doing so by his latest set of foster parents. And he’s moulded by society to feel like his needs are always secondary. At the beginning of the book, Joaquin is defined by his race, whether he knows it or not (the text doesn’t make it obvious, but it is evident after finishing the book. No, this book does not make “everything about race”). His life would have looked dramatically different had he been or even looked whiter. By the end, however, his character’s gone through a drastic series of changes and developed wonderfully. In fact, I loved his character progression the most. And he gets a happy ending! That made me want to cry more than everything else in this emotional rollercoaster of a book put together.

The Plot

The plot is obviously very character-driven and focusses on the beautiful and blossoming relationships between our protagonists. It’s everything.

Conclusion

I loved this book to death. I wanted to make a separate section for all the beautiful relationships it portrayed, but my review ended up wayyy too long. Suffice to say…Joaquin’s relationship with his parents was golden (totally worth reading the book for alone), Maya’s with her biological sister was just heartwarming, and even the romances were pretty well-done (I actually kinda liked them both! They weren’t revolutionary, but that’s pretty revolutionary for me). I also loved how perfectly it captured the alienation Grace felt from her friends after her pregnancy – it was obvious they were well-intentioned, but they started to get really awkward around her and didn’t know how to help. Ugh. This was just beautiful. Highly recommend.

Final Rating: One of the easiest 5/5s I’ve ever given out and wholly deserving of all the praise and awards that’ve been heaped on it over the past two years.

XOXO,

Berry

<3

P.S – I wrote this blog post all the way back in January, and…I ended up reading a book I loved even more in the same month! (The Exact Opposite of Okay by Laura Steven – it may actually be my favourite book of all time at the moment.) The world works in weird ways. Oh, and I’m sorry for posting this so late. I…er, forgot.

Why Appropriation is Generally Positive, Its Misinterpretation by the Media and the Actual Significance of the Bindi: Should Everyone Be Allowed to Represent Everyone?


This is my first significantly controversial post on this blog! A lot of you are bound to disagree with me on some of these points, but let’s all try to keep it civil. I’ll try not to rant, I promise. And I do understand the other points of view on this issue. I’m just not sure I agree with them.

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So…here’s the thing. We’ve all heard the word “appropriation” flung around the net like nobody’s business. Generally clueless and mal-informed as many of us may be (I’m definitely a part of this sub-set of the population – I’m working on it!), it’s kinda hard to miss the almost fortnightly heated controversies and feuds that never seem to stop popping up. And a lot of these people have the right to be offended by an imperfect depiction of their racial or ethnic culture – who wouldn’t be? – but I just don’t think that’s the case very often. It isn’t the concerned minority group that tends to flare up at these issues, it’s people who don’t know anything – at least first-hand – about the issue. In a sense, acting like you have the monopoly on what counts as an appropriation on a topic…when you aren’t affected by the issue…is also kind of the same thing, isn’t it?

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To be clear, that isn’t the point of this article. I don’t think standing up for a group you aren’t a part of is “problematic”. I actually think that point of view may be sort of problematic (more on that later). I just…think these people should maybe observe how members of the affected group are reacting to the issue before voicing their concerns? Consult someone who knows more about the issue before shooting their mouths off and calling everyone involved in the project racist or bigoted, even when they may actually know more about the issue?

An example of this would be the issues surrounding Avril Lavigne’s Hello Kitty video a few years ago. Now, I have no authority on this matter because I am not Japanese, but before I delve into the matter, I have to take a second to confirm that I think that song is as ridiculous and stupidly vapid as most of the general population seemed to think it to be. And I actually like Avril Lavigne.

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I also don’t want to bring a conflict that everyone forgot about seven years ago back up again, but it’s just such a classic example. I won’t take too long on this, I promise. But, anyway…its Japanese audience seemed to have no problem with it, apart from how silly the whole thing was (then again, that was intentional and could apply to n number of Avril Lavigne songs). It involved dozens of Japanese choreographers, directors and co-writers (remind me why a song this brainless required six co-writers, again?) and Lavigne wrote it purely as a tribute to her Japanese fans. Because, y’know, she spent “half her time in Japan”. This did not stop a large part of her American fanbase from flaring up and crying racist. And maybe it was! I don’t know. But…that isn’t the point.

It’s that it was well-intentioned. A mark of respect. The reason I usually hate the ideas behind “anti-appropriation” movements is that…they don’t make sense. What, exactly, is your issue? I don’t think anyone who watched the Hello Kitty video took it as a serious representation of Japanese culture. It was as silly and light-hearted and mindless as the rest of Avril Lavigne’s discography (okay…that came out wrong. As half of her discography). Most of these movements – started by completely uninvolved people, may I add – seem to hate the very idea of appropriation because they’re clearly tragically confused as to what it actually is. Let’s take a second to skim the Wiki definition of the word, shall we?

Appropriation isn’t inherently bad. It’s the rebranded modern definition of the word that can often be problematic, but it still doesn’t have to be. I do, however, understand why it could be considered problematic in the following situations:

  • When it’s grossly stereotypical and/or misinformed
  • When it deliberately perpetuates popular misconceptions about a minority group
  • When it doesn’t target the community it’s appropriating and instead exploits them as a group by stealing their right to express their culture by crediting someone else for it.
  • When the person appropriating a group is hypocritical in that they aren’t sensitive to all the issues said group needs to face daily/ doesn’t wholly support them beyond a superficial, usually aesthetic level
  • When it isn’t well-researched/fact-checked for sensitivity.

I’ll be tackling each of these individually in this post, but let’s start with what I don’t think is problematic: copying something that’s particular to a certain culture out of respect. I found this very angry and entitled post about some celebrity “sporting a bindi” to some event and how that counted as “appropriation” – which yes, it clearly does, but the article clearly seemed to think this was a bad thing – in my feed a while ago (which…Google, please improve your recommendations) and was curious as to why they seemed to think it was problematic. And, um, as a proud Indian, can I just say: no.

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This article was not written by a desi person and I’ve come across many like it in the past. I honestly don’t know any Indian people (basically everyone I know) who were even remotely bothered by this. If you’re Indian and are bothered by it, that’s fine. This is just my opinion. But…okay. Sure, the person probably wasn’t aware of the “historical significance of the bindi to Indian culture”, but what the writer of this article probably didn’t know is that most Indians below 30 today don’t. I learned about it thanks to my older dance teacher, and the whole story is actually pretty interesting. But that’s not why most of us who do wear bindis. The personal reasons may vary, but most of us do either because it’s a habit cultivated in us by our parents (who, in turn, were taught to do the same by theirs), or because it feels like a unifying bond for Indians across the country.

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It feels like we’re honouring our culture, even if most of us aren’t sure as to why. And for most of these non-Indian celebrities, it’s basically the same thing. They don’t like being restricted by their ethnicity or religion and want to honour people of other cultures in simple ways (like by inculcating their habits into their everyday fashion or art style). I don’t get how that’s problematic. It’s well-intentioned and not harmful to us in any way (sure, it was negative cultural appropriation when the British colonialists did the same thing in the 1800s, but that’s a different story). I don’t think anyone who follows these practices is an extreme nationalist or supremacist or even disrespects the culture they’re appropriating in any way. For heaven’s sake, gossip tabloids. Do your research yourselves.

Also, thousands of Pakistani, Nepali, Bangladeshi, Bhutani and Sri Lankan people wear the bindi every day. It’s as part of their culture as it is ours today. Its cultural significance has shifted over time. Hindu, Jain and Buddhist babies were initially adorned with a  bindi for reasons associated with an “ajna chakra”, but I challenge you to ask a hundred Hindus about it today and I’m sure less than three of them will know anything about the ritual. (FYI, the bindi’s supposed to represent the all-knowing third eye, or the universe in broader terms, in many Hindu circles, but again, close to nobody knows that.) Today, it represents something different entirely. A lot of us view it as a cosmetic mark to enhance beauty. No, seriously, Google it. My mom, when asked, claims it’s a pressure point. Also cool. Most of us actually wear stick-on bindis most of the time. In different colours. And patterns.

More than anything, it is a symbol of diversity and inclusivity (seriously, it has over ten different names in different languages; I grew up calling it pottu and kungumam because I’m multilingual) and you guys are totally killing that. HOW IS THIS PROBLEMATIC APPROPRIATION JUST CONDUCT A SIMPLE TEN SECOND GOOGLE SEARCH OR MAYBE ASK SOMEONE-

 And what married Hindu women on their heads – more like their hairline, honestly (again, not all Indian women, just women in some parts of the country – again, my mom never did) is not a bindi (kids can wear bindis, for hell’s sake). It’s usually called sindhur. I could find a hundred stereotypical or ignorant examples in most of these tabloids, and I can’t even excuse them on the “they’re just trying to learn” front, which actually applies to most of these celebs (not that most of them did anything wrong, although Selena Gomez’s “tribal glam” comment from a few years ago was crossing the line. Honestly. We’re not all tribals. And yes, I may or may not have actually done some “research” on the history of these tabloids – I just wanted to make a more accurate post, don’t judge me!). This is not problematic in the least.

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Appropriation can also be healthy in many scenarios, promoting inclusivity and bonds between different cultural groups when done right. To summarise, doing something, even a tad misguidedly, out of respect or a desire to project inclusivity – if you actually understand the concerned group and empathize with everything they go through – is A-Okay, at least the way I see it. Although…some research definitely would be appreciated.

Appropriation, basically, is good (at least, accor – actually, I think you all get it by now. This is all a personal opinion, take it with a grain o’ salt). Mostly. Especially when it’s done on equal terms and promotes cultural exchange. Now, moving on to actually problematic appropriation:

  1. When It’s Grossly Stereotypical And/Or Misinformed: This is basically when the concerned work does not present a very accurate depiction of a certain culture when that culture is a huge part of said work. When a little research or a sensitivity-check would’ve spared them and the audience a hell lot of pain. This is very common in books/movies/TV shows with token characters, or a “best friend” who belongs to a minority group. The BFF falls into a very common stereotype (e.g. gay male BFF? Flamboyant! “Asian” BFF? Either super academically oriented or super rebellious, and so on). Or when you try to “represent” a culture by highlighting negative stereotypes of it.

2. When It Deliberately Perpetuates Popular Misconceptions About A Minority Group: Okay, this one is self-explanatory. When you’re appropriating someone, do it right. Do some research. Do not build your whole act on a stereotype.

3. When It Doesn’t Target the Group It’s Appropriating And Instead Exploits Them As a Group: Look. When you’re appropriating a culture, it’s either for them or for you. You’re NOT doing it for anyone else. Like when you take something that traditionally belongs to another culture and pass it off as your own. This is something that they, as an ethnic or cultural group, have developed as a part off their identity over the course of history. It means something to them. Taking credit for that…not cool.

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Around the mid-2010s, when there was a prominent rise in male gay lit written by straight cis female authors, there was also an uproar along with it. A lot of this was erotica, a lot of it was obviously meant to target a straight audience and heterosexualize queer relationships. A lot of it was overtly sexual and felt like these authors were playing out their fetishes. Also…there was close to no sapphic lit to accompany it, but that’s a different story. I made a whole post about it.

Around this time, there were close to no #OwnVoices books representing the same (books by those authors, i.e. gay male authors) and only the ones written by straight females shot to popularity, many of them also getting movie deals and heaps of awards. This dangerously bordered on negative appropriation for obvious reasons. First of all, it subtly ignored the existence of the other members of the LGBTQ+ community, as I outlined in the post I’ve linked up above. Secondly, it made gay relationships an exclusively straight female thing, stealing the voices of the affected bracket of the population away. Thirdly, it felt hurtful to members of this community because of its gross misinterpretation, lack of research and fetishizing of them.

This phenomenon, however, is not inherently negative. Just check out Becky Albertalli’s Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda. Or any of her books, for that matter. First off, Becky’s books are all extremely diverse in almost every respect. On the subject of sexual diversity alone, her five books have featured protagonists across the sexual spectrum: gay boys, straight girls, bisexual girls and straight boys. (She also co-authored a book about two gay guys with gay author Adam Silvera – who, by the way, is AMAZING. He was my favourite for nearly a year.) Secondly, they aren’t brimming with erotic sex scenes obviously written for the purpose of titillation (this makes me want to vomit. I liked Red, White And Royal Blue, but there was wayyy too much smut in there for me – which none of the GR reviews mentioned). And as a clinical psychologist who interacts with teens every day, she wrote all her books with the sole purpose of giving all teenagers a voice. She wrote her books for them, with their consent, after asking them about their experiences and probably asking a gay sensitivity reader to proofread it for her. Everyone should, ideally, be allowed to represent everyone – as long as they at least attempt to do it right. These writers did, after all, help break down the barriers for actual gay authors to express themselves – they just should have ideally let them do it first. These weren’t their stories to tell back then, and they should’ve at least helped promote other gay authors. Which, needless to say, most of them didn’t. Again…SMH.

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4. When the person appropriating a group is hypocritical in that they aren’t sensitive to all the issues said group needs to face daily/ doesn’t wholly support them. This is one of the most serious and common offences committed in the name of appropriation and the example I’ll be using for this is actually kinda relevant to the last point. It’s…the gross appropriation of black culture in the US. Bear in mind that I’ve never experienced this first-hand and this is solely based on research and accounts from people who have. American actress Amandla Stenberg (who, by the way, is one of my favourite actresses of all time (because she’s acted in a hell lot of book adaptations! Which I watch almost exclusively when it comes to movies!) – you may know her as Starr from The Hate U Give – the film – or even Rue from the Hunger Games from all those years ago) made a very informative video (that went viral) on the significance of cornrows to black culture. And how they originated from the genetic texture and growth patterns of black hair and ended up being appropriated by the white majority for the simple purpose of fashion. That in itself isn’t wrong – despite the immense significance they hold, cornrows are basically a way to wear your hair and copying the style doesn’t make you automatically racist – but the way it was done was very problematic.

Between hip-hop, cornrows and everything else, white celebrities began to inculcate features of black culture into their own lifestyles – and took all the credit for coming up with them. Going as far as stealing something traditional to the black community and passing it off as their own to seem “cool” or “edgy”. Black celebs who sported similar ‘dos to other events were criticized for their “lack of originality”. White pop-stars experimenting with rap began to take over the music charts, beating black hip-hop artists – again, not automatically a bad thing, but this was accompanied by a higher level of police shootings of innocent blacks and racism than ever seen before. It was starting to become increasingly difficult to live as a black in the States, and most of the white celebrities appropriating black culture simply didn’t seem to care.  There was little to no political activism by these people against any of this and they didn’t seem to be promoting other black artists or honouring the black community in any other way. To semi-quote Stenberg because I don’t remember the exact quote at the moment: “If only we all loved black lives as much as we do black culture.”

(Also FYI I’m not American and I love the USA as much as any other country and I’m just quoting someone who’s been through this first-hand here. Take my opinion, I repeat, with a grain of salt.)

The cornrows themselves were fine, it was the way people who donned them treated the black community that was problematic. So, if you’re appropriating a culture, basically:

  • Give credit where it is due.
  • Promote the culture and engage with its members on a deeper level. Like, if you’re going to adopt elements of their style into your own, at least pretend to give a sh*t about them in the real world, especially when they’re less privileged than you and have to deal with a lot of crap almost every day.
  • At least try to do some research. It’ll help. (Ahem…Coldplay’s Hymn for the Weekend video. Very well-intentioned – they’re always trying to portray diverse cultures, people and concepts in their videos and this was obviously a tribute to India; check out the comment section of the video if you have any doubt of that – and at least somewhat accurate, but could’ve been so much better with a little more research.)
  • Do not, for example, dress up as a person of another race for Halloween. (Dear White People dedicated an entire episode to this.) Which, believe it or not, actually happens. And do not perpetuate stereotypes of a cultural group.

Angie Thomas’ best-selling The Hate U Give went into a lot of these in detail. How, for example, the black community reclaimed the N-word as something they were proud of and now think of it as liberating – but still feel uncomfortable when white people toss it around casually. (Especially when they’re uninvolved in the #BlackVoicesMatter movement. Or don’t seem to give a crap about black lives in general.) It’s always best to check with an affected person before you go around appropriating them or their group – for example, I’m A-Okay with being called “queer” or a “bitch” in the modern sense (both those words have been reclaimed by the LGBTQIAP+ community as well as women to mean something positive where they initially were used as derogatory insults) but a lot of others are very sensitive to the history of these words and their usage today, especially by people not belonging to their community or group.

Overall…appropriation paves the way for cultural exchange and helps humanity grow and develop. When done right. It also occasionally helps revive dying cultures on a global scale. “Appropriation” is how we’ve gotten as far as we’ve come today: the entire world learned from the French and Russian Revolutions and their respective political models. We have mathematics thanks to an array of different cultures today. And don’t even get me started on everything we owe the ancient Greeks.

So…apart from a handful of posts I found while scouring the web, most of the Internet still seems to be under the illusion that appropriation is all bad. And…maybe they all have points. Maybe I’m wrong. But…well…I have to disagree. I’m sorry. We can only move forward as a race (the human race, obviously. I don’t…I’m not a supremacist, for heaven’s sake) when we accept that what we’re doing may not be perfect but we still give it a shot because we want to learn. We want to encourage diversity. We want to grow.

And…that’s it! As usual, this was initially supposed to be a post about something else altogether, but, well, I ended up getting distracted while researching for that post and ended up ranting about this instead. That one’s on the way. Along with the sequel to the post I wrote on the Raven Cycle.

God, I need to chill.

But, yes, I promise they’ll be here soon. By next week, most probably.

Anyway. See y’all.

~Berry

The Raven Cycle: An Aglionby Analysis/ Mega-Discussion Post (and/or Semi-Review, Part I)


PROCEED WITH CAUTION: THIS POST WAS INITIALLY SO LONG I HAD TO SPLIT IT UP INTO TWO NEAT LITTLE POSTS. SO. BEWARE.


(So…this is my third post this week! A new high for me. I sincerely hope I can keep it up, because I’m practically forcing myself to write this because it’s a Friday (sort of. I still love writing, and keeping a blog is just a fancy excuse to spend an hour rambling about crap no one really cares about. Which…um, I’ve repeatedly been told is a capital P-Problem multiple times IRL. Well, not really, but even I can take a hint). I mean, I lost precious sleep to finish drafting the last two with school the next day, so I should be exploiting a free Friday afternoon to get a head-start on my goal, right? I’ll probably have fallen behind by the end of the month, anyway. Don’t count on regularity from me. Quality > quantity and all.)


Anyway. This post is about…*drumroll*…the Raven Cycle, by Maggie Stiefvater! It’s a very popular YA urban-fantasy/paranormal series that’s been around since around…2012? So, to cut to the chase, I’m definitely not very early to the party, but I have to say it’s still going strong. I mean sure, they’ve served the drinks and dinner and  exchanged all the niceties, but it’s an Aglionby party, after all. You honestly didn’t have expected it to be tame, did you?

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(This picture is from @paperfury’s blog. I’m a huge e-book fan, i just wanted a pretty picture to go with this post.)


I have pretty mixed feelings about almost every instalment in this series. To begin with, I dragged myself through the first two books purely because my friend had been hyping it up for – I kid you not – close to a year. And she’s almost as fickle with her obsessions as I am (which is saying something). Naturally, I had to start it a few minutes – er, months, it’s hard to tell the difference – after she was over her Pynch phase, but she was still kind enough to tolerate my steering every conversation we had for close to a month over to an Adam Parrish fangirlin’ session. Or a Ronan Lynch rant one, I’m always game for both.

It’s hard to form a concrete opinion on this series because it’s just so…all over the place. I adore some aspects of it. The writing’s absolutely gorgeous, but I have to practically skim some sections. And then…there’s the plot. The freakin’ plot. God. (Yes, I’ve left the best part for later.)

Okay, I have no idea how to go about this post, because there’s just so much to talk about for each book individually. But then again, I read the first one all the way back in June of last year, started The Dream Thieves around…August? October? (It’s all a little fuzzy. Like essentially everything else about this series.) Anyway, most of that book was an epic snooze-fest, so I put it aside until last month. And then I binge-read Blue Lily, Lily Blue over two days. I still haven’t gotten ‘round to finishing The Raven King.

I guess I’m just going to divide this post into sections and split each section into three sub-sections (one for each book). And then just go with the flow, I guess. Because I don’t think I remember enough to do an individual section for each book, but HOT DAMN DO I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS. (Did I just quote Brooklyn Nine-Nine? I just quoted Brooklyn Nine-Nine! I don’t watch Brooklyn Nine-Nine!)

So…yeah. I think I’m going to alternate between the pros and cons of this pseudo-ancient pop-culture powerhouse, to give you a general idea of what I liked and didn’t like about it! Since I have an equal number of both, I’m starting with a con so we can finish up strong on a pro. Let’s go!


CON THE FIRST: THE PACING – OVERALL SCORE: 2/5? 2.5/5? I don’t know!


These books are very slow-paced. It’s obvious the author likes to take her time with her stories, but she doesn’t seem to be too great at figuring out which aspects of her work she needs to devote the most time and effort to. Sometimes, the slow pacing works because you get to spend more page time with the amazing squad. But mostly, she spends SO long on such useless scenes and details that she ends up heavily compromising on the clarity of her (very complicated) plot. More on that later.


However, one thing I loved about the pacing was how much time she spent on seemingly pointless banter between her characters and fun, cozy squad scenes. I lived for those.

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(Courtesy to Gabby Navarro for those. They’re gorgeous, so I had to include them somehow! Check her out here: pinterest.com/gabynavarro5496/)


– The Raven Boys: I could actually sort of understand the plot here, but I couldn’t help feeling like it was wayyy too long. And slow. A hundred pages could easily have been cut from this. Then again…it was way better than the next one.

Final Score: 3/5? 3.5/5? I’m not sure. (FYI, this is purely for this category.)


– The Dream Thieves: I have 100 problems with this book and at least 50% of them involve the pacing. This was so…boring. It focussed on Ronan and Kavinsky, for starters, two of the most annoyingly angsty “bad boy” characters in the history of YA lit. Barring their interactions, it would’ve still been halfway decent (there wasn’t much of a point to them other than to further Ronan’s character arc, which was pretty poorly handled and kinda sucked anyway), and they make up approximately 75% of the book. The other characters barely had any role to play in this instalment and I lost track of the plot around halfway through because of the pathetic pacing. There weren’t any of Maggie’s trademark adorable squad scenes because the squad was split up for most of the book. And too much time was wasted on boring angsty Ronan descriptions and the ultimately pointless and hastily resolved argument between Adam and Gansey. In short…ughhhhh.

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Final Score: 1/5 – harsh, I know. I’m sorry.


– Blue Lily, Lily Blue: The first half of this book very casually ignored the existence of the plot for the most part. It was mostly just tons of cuteness and adorable squad-bonding (which, obviously, wasn’t an issue for me at all). I gave up on the plot halfway through TDT, but I was gradually able to process a little more of it through the course of this book. The last fourth felt a little off in terms of pacing, but…eh. Who cares. I read this in less than two days, and I’m a pretty slow reader.

Final Score: 3.5/5 or 4/5, IDK!


And I know I have no right to comment on Maggie Stiefvater’s pacing when my blog posts are too long to stand on their own. I apologize.
Which brings us to…


PRO THE FIRST: THE WRITING – OVERALL SCORE: 4.5/5


Maggie Stiefvater’s writing is poetic and lyrical and so damn gorgeous that her descriptions often left me breathless. And it accomplishes all of this without transcending into the realm of purple prose. It’s pretty simple and easy to read and her somewhat dry, literal sense of humour presents itself throughout the series.


– The Raven Boys: I read this pretty long ago, so I don’t remember much about it. However, it do recall feeling captivated by the writing and physically unable to put the book down. I read close to three-fourths of the book on a very long road trip and couldn’t help smirking at a lot of the descriptions. It feels kinda juvenile at some points here, but for the most part, despite dragging on for a little too long, her writing practically draws you in. The dialogue is spot-on, too.


Final Score: 4.8/5


– The Dream Thieves: My personal least favourite for a multitude of reasons, the writing here wasn’t particularly spectacular or unique. I remember flying through the first half, but the second half seemed to drag on forever. Lots of profanity and very angsty chapters, with character descriptions and angst taking up pages on end. Otherwise, the writing here didn’t particularly stand out to me.


Final Score: A tentative 3/5.


– Blue Lily, Lily Blue: My personal favourite! The prose for the first half of the book was pretty engaging and often downright hilarious. The author’s best so far, IMO. My only complaint is the occasionally cringe-y dialogue or throwaway line. But…even that felt “so bad it’s good”, if you know what I mean.


Final Score: 4/5 stars.


Yes, I’m perfectly aware the math doesn’t add up, thank you. That’s because the overall isn’t an average of the ratings for each book. I sincerely enjoy Maggie’s prose and she’s one of the best writers I’ve encountered. I like to pretend TDT never happened.


(SEMI-) CON THE SECOND: THE PLOT – OVERALL SCORE: 2/5


So…this series is notorious for its intricate, complex (often overly complex) plot. And I can appreciate that from an objective standpoint, sort of. But…it didn’t work for me and I’m not sure why. Maybe it was ’cause the pacing was so off? Or that it felt choppy and info-dumpy a lot of the time? Or maybe, just maybe, it was the fact that I HAD NO FREAKING CLUE WHAT WAS GOING ON APPROXIMATELY 98% OF THE TIME?! And I do not appreciate being made to feel stupid. I am a Queen, for heaven’s sake. Maybe the plot of this series was objectively creative and downright brilliant, but as someone who didn’t get most of it, I am not going to heap praise on it. This is my review, after all.

  • The Raven Boys: I was a little confused, but the plot did feel fresh and unique and still worked pretty well. Then again…I didn’t keep reading for the plot, and by the end of the book, I felt pretty indifferent to it.

Final Score: 2.5-3/5

  • The Dream Thieves: Nope. I don’t wanna talk about it. Maybe it’s my fault for semi-skimming (which for this series basically means reading every line only once for an easily distracted person like me) most of the second half, but I couldn’t help the fact that it was so boring. There was absolutely nothing about the plot to keep me even mildly invested, and I only pushed through it to get to Blue Lily, Lily Blue, which I’d heard was brilliant and downright unputdownable and as close to perfection as this series is ever going to get, besides also being mercifully free of any of Ronan Lynch’s chapters. And I also wanted to scream into a pillow every time Kavinsky made an appearance.

Oh, and I totally lost track of where the plot was going mid-way through this book. By the end, I didn’t have a semblance of an idea of what was going on.

Final Score: 1/5

  • Blue Lily, Lily Blue: This one wasn’t too plot-driven, but I still loved it! Considering I was indifferent towards the plot of this for most of the book, I’m giving it a light rating of 2 – 2.5/5.

Final Score: 2.5/5

PRO THE SECOND: THE ADORABLE FRIENDSHIPS AND SQUAD-DYNAMIC

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NOT my artwork. Ahem. It was credited as “anonymous”.

I personally loved how character-driven this whole series was, especially for a semi-fantasy. My favourite platonic friendships from this series were definitely GanseyxRonan and NoahxBlue, but the whole family dynamic between Blue’s all-femme family of psychics deserves a shoutout as well. There were only hints at it so far, but I’m also totally down for the AdamxRonan relationship. I love their interactions, be it platonic (as in, everything until around half of BLLB) or semi-flirtatious (like that one grocery shopping scene from BLLB).

Here’s the thing: I’m including AdamxRonan here because I love their friendship as much as their romance and I don’t want to make a separate section for the romantic relationships here. (GanseyxBlue made me want to choke.) And honestly, there’s a very fine line between most of the platonic friendships and romances in these books – the truest, most reliable indicator of beautiful friendships. Maybe it’s because of how adorable the friendships are, or how both the main romances here were friends-to-lovers relationships. Whatever, it rocked.

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Problems I Have With Sapphic TV and Literature: An Analysis on the Tropes, the Trends and the Intolerable

GENERAL DISCLAIMER: THIS IS NOT A POST I’M MAKING TO CRAP ON SAPPHIC LIT. SAPPHIC LIT IS AMAZING, AND THERE ARE TONS OF BEAUTIFUL SAPPHIC BOOKS OUT THERE – BUT MORE ON THAT LATER. A LOT MORE ON THAT LATER, SINCE APPROXIMATELY 85% OF MY READING IS SAPPHIC. IT IS…(MOSTLY) ABOUT SAPPHIC REP IN MAINSTREAM MEDIA. AND MAINSTREAM, WHITE, SAPPHIC RELEASES. MOSTLY. YEAH.

Okay, so this post is going to be…a bit of a rant (are you honestly surprised?).

It isn’t a secret that sapphic literature (aka queer female-spec literature) is woefully underrated. Even leaving the objectively unbelievable level of gross heteronormativity of the world we live in aside, books about girls who love girls or queer girls in any context don’t get a sliver of the attention books about gay men do in the publishing world. As a teenaged queer female myself, even I felt inexplicably obligated to begin my journey into the colourful, rainbow-y universe of queer literature by reading about…wait for it…gay men. I can’t completely blame myself for my stupid decisions back then, though, for a host of reasons:

  • We live in a world where every story has to be first told through a masculine – okay, wrong word, male –  lens before we girls get a chance to voice our opinions. In the words of a queen, “a woman can only overreact”. (Sorry, I just had to do that;))
Image result for taylor swift if i was a man id be the man gif
Image result for taylor swift if i was a man id be the man gif

So, when twelve-year-old me randomly woke up one morning with the realization that everything on my reading lists was so very annoyingly, unsubtly heterosexual and decided to check out a bunch of queer novels to dilute the mix (yes, the epiphany was really that random! I wasn’t even going through a gay crisis or anything at the time), most of the recs the internet flung at me were gay coming out stories. Which…wasn’t really a problem at first, because those stories are also very important. But unless you make the conscious effort to look for sapphic stories or generally read a lot of them, it is very unlikely that they’ll fly under your radar. I did get the occasional overdramatized story about a lesbian side character who’s entire personality and character arc was about being lesbian, but…eh. (Although I did stumble upon a lot of queer books that weren’t about gay men. I did get to read books about lesbian, non-binary, trans, pan, fluid and ace people, but you have to understand they didn’t make up the majority of what I read.)

  • So, I think a little part of me always knew I was queer. I always thought it was normal, until I was told it wasn’t. I’m not sure I can explain it, exactly, but that doesn’t mean I was always comfortable with it. There was a really long period where I went out of my way to avoid sapphic books because they made me uncomfortable. I felt paranoid about putting myself into the character’s shoes and…I don’t even really know. It was stupid and I’d been brainwashed by all the stereotypical portrayals of lesbians I’d read about (clearly, I had never even heard of bisexuality/pansexuality or fluidity at the time SMH) and for some reason, I felt like that…couldn’t be me? I don’t want to discount the experiences of other people who are going through the same thing because coming to terms with your sexuality can be hard, especially when you’re so used to people treating it as a tabooed subject and some kind of abnormality, but for me, it was a pretty clear-cut case of internalized homophobia. “I support gay rights! Everyone should be allowed to like everyone else! Being gay is normal! Lesbian stereotypes are annoying! But…hey, I can’t be lesbian…right?” And now…yeah, I’ve discovered that’s pretty normal. Reading MLM books helped me grow comfortable with being queer. It was only after that that I could transition to reading sapphic books.

It was only recently that I started to consume media with trans characters, which is even more obscure, FYI. But it’s been pretty helpful. Here’s the thing about diversity in media and the campaign for #WeNeedDiverseBooks – it isn’t a random project started by a bunch of SJW losers who don’t have a life. One of the biggest reasons I love reading so much is that it helped me understand stuff about myself and the world I wouldn’t have been able to process for a very long time otherwise. As a teenager in 2020, getting to know about other cultures is damn near impossible without books and the internet, for example. Understanding and learning to look at things from different perspectives and beginning to notice how your background can heavily influence that also helped me grow more sensitive to other points of view and more comfortable with myself. No matter how unique every individual is, there’s always this primal, human part of each of us that feels so much more comfortable when we realize other people think the same way we do. And then you begin to question stuff – as in, “If there are so many people who think the way I do…why does no one talk about it? Why are people like us used as token background characters, plot devices, or, worse still, conveniently ignored by most entertainment? If there are so many different perspectives out there, why do the stories we’re fed always focus on the same ones? And…why have I learnt to accept and even grow comfortable with that?”

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I see how people who think diversity is unimportant in favour of a “better story” and a cash-grab could have a point, but I don’t think diversity is inherently something positive. It’s the lack of diversity that’s appalling, and the normalizing of that is what has made diversity so revolutionary in so many eyes. Diversity is a necessity.

But…I digress.

When I first started reading books/ consuming media in general about girl-loving girls, I couldn’t help but notice the long list of problematic themes flooding so many of them. Maybe they aren’t all that “problematic” to everyone, per se, because, once again, perspectives vary. And I really don’t want to shit on sapphic literature when there’s so much worse out there. But a lot of these, especially when they began to transcend into trope-territory, made me feel really uncomfortable. That problem has, naturally, faded away over time as sapphic lit got more progressive and I learnt to pick up better books, but I still thought I’d address a bunch of them here. Overall, most of these books are still not inherently bad, because any representation was positive rep around the time they came out and they did a pretty decent job with the rep overall. But…anyway.

  • Let’s start with abusive heterosexual relationships and rape used as a plot device in sapphic romances. So…these stories usually start with an adorable friendship between two girls who’ve been BFFs since way before they even knew the “true meaning of friendship”, quote-unquote. One of them (let’s call her A) is involved in a very toxic relationship with a guy. The other (B) has a huge crush on her best friend. B is super concerned about her friend, but A decides to pull a Regina George on B and pass her concern off as, well…
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So, anyway, the following series of events take place – A goes,

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B proceeds to deny it, and A dashes her hopes by confirming she is very straight, leaving B *heartbroken*, A’s abusive relationship crosses a line and B “saves her from herself”, and A comes crying back to be, proceeding to make a dramatic proclamation that she’s in love with her and they get together to start a relationship that feels a lot like a rebound. Or…rape is used as a plot device, and B helps A “recover” from the trauma of ever consider the possibility of being straight. Because, as a comment on one of these short films so helpfully pointed out:

*le sigh*

Yeah…that’s not a thing. (Although joking about it is fine, under ideal circumstances. these were just…less than.)

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So…here’s the thing. I hope my issue with these kinds of stories is self-explanatory, but sometimes, I can’t bring myself to hate them. Just yesterday, I watched three short films succumbing to these tropes – one was American, one was Bengali and the third was Filipino, so they werwe quite literally from everywhere. (Obviously with subs. I am not a Terriswoman.) The dialogue felt choppy in the last two, mostly because translations can never do full justice to the original (I could actually tell because I have a pretty limited understanding of Bengali, and the little dialogue I could understand felt natural and well-delivered. The subtitles, however…ahem, pure cringe). Here’s the thing – I had mixed feelings for all of them, despite the odds. The first one had a beautiful and healthy friendship that I couldn’t help rooting for, despite the clichéd outcome.

I actually loved the second one, which was haunting and beautiful and made my heart break (although it didn’t include a trigger warning for rape. I wouldn’t have watched it otherwise. It was really disturbing, but I can acknowledge the objective beauty of the film). It was about a freshly divorced bisexual woman with a kid, Moumita, who still has to deal with her abusive husband who she hasn’t officially separated with yet. She has a pretty healthy family and amazing friends, who’re all very supportive of her sexuality. The actress pulled the role of brilliantly, by the way. And then you have…okay, I don’t remember the second girl’s name, but she hails from a homophobic family with an uncle who sexually abused her as a kid. A lot. I kinda wish I hadn’t watched it, to be honest, but I can’t deny that it was superbly done.

The third one had great actors and featured a beautiful friendship and healthy, supportive relationships, so I can’t say I disliked it, either. Plus I haven’t seen too many Filipino films, and despite the semi-problematic message it was sending across, it was done pretty well.

But.

Individually, I liked all these movies (well, sort of). Taken together, though…despite their subversion of the aforementioned trope, it kinda felt exhausting. Like the BFF was a rebound. Like one abusive relationship was not only used as a plot device but somehow also seemed to be sending across the message that it “de-straightened” the protagonist. Just…imagine how problematic that would be if this were a story about straight BFFs, one of whom was in an abusive queer relationship.

(Also…maybe this is personal, but I’m not crazy after the “best-friends-to-lovers” trope. It kinda demeans how amazing and unique BFF-ship is, like it’s just a stepping stone for something “better”. Being best friends with someone isn’t a lamer alternative to dating them. Platonic and romantic bonds are in no way related, and one isn’t better than the other. I suppose this trope could be pulled off, especially if it’s more “friends-to-lovers” than “BFFs-to-lovers”, but most of these just…ugh. As someone who loves her BFFs in a very platonic way – more than I can imagine loving anyone else – I hate the term “just friends”. There’s nothing “just” about it. Friendship can be beautiful and magical and all-encompassing. There is absolutely nothing that makes a love interest superior to a really good friend. More often than not, a character’s relationship with their BFF is way healthier and more fun to watch/read about that their often clichéd, trope-y romantic life – Radio Silence by Alice Oseman aka my favourite author is a great friendship-centered story, for example! (Which I will shamelessly rave about till the day I die.) With mostly QPOC characters! It’s everything – do check it out IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY, y’all. But…again, I digress.)

Image result for santana lopez brittany pierce pinkie finger linking gif glee season 1

(Okay, I know I’ve already exceeded my Santana Lopez GIF limit for one post. I just…I just finished watching season three of Glee and I adore Santana and Brittany and Brittana, as best friends and as girlfriends and as wives and as everything, despite the occassional problematic plot line, okay?)

I’d like to recommend this video for more on the subject (it’s an analysis on how F.R.I.E.N.D.S. subverted the trope and it’s amazing, even though Friends is frankly kinda overrated – although pretty feel-good and progressive for it’s time! – and very heterosexual in itself):

  • Abusive/ toxic relationships. WHY DO SO MANY QUEER FEMALE CHARACTERS HAVE TO BE INVOLVED IN A TOXIC RELATIONSHIP OR DIE OR JUST NEVER GET A HAPPY ENDING IN GENERAL?! An example: The Truth About Keeping Secrets by Savannah Brown.
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This book wasn’t terrible – it was actually pretty great in terms of how it handled grief and homophobia and friendship – but the romance was. The character literally says something along the lines of (please do not take this as an exact quote because I’m too lazy to reach for the book from across the room and also this is a very exaggerated account of the line): “Every time I began to think of my dad or my homophobic ex-friend or the copy of Healing Homosexuality some douche sent me for Christmas or just how crappy my life was in general, and I trained my brain to deflect to June. I was aware I was forming toxic links in my head but it helped and I felt so much better for it.” Or something. The romance in this book was so freakin’ toxic, and it was never resolved. Also, the book heavily relied on the “abusive-boyfriend-prompts-Mary-Sue-to-fall-back-on-random-girl-as-a-rebound” trope discussed above. I still liked the book, though!

But, anyway…it isn’t just this. Even books or TV that have brilliant, layered depictions of queer female characters looove giving them tragic endings (thankfully we’re mostly over this at this point). It’s fine with one book or two or three, but after a point…yeah. Example: Tegan Price from How to Get Away with Murder, aka the coolest show on the planet (yeah I know this is a discussion post, but I’ll never stop promoting and/or rambling about my obsessions for anything, sorry not sorry – oh, and she gets divorced, by the way). Or the main character, the one and only Queen Annalise herself. Don’t get me wrong, I loved how her internalized homophobia and struggle with her sexuality was depicted on the show. One of the best and most realistic depictions of that I’ve ever seen, by the way.

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But she has to deal with so damn much. She leaves Eve ‘cause she was “afraid to be gay”, struggles with her bi/pansexuality as a black woman and recovering alcoholic and basically ends up feeling like she “doesn’t have the luxury to be anything but straight” in the world she lives in, and has to deal with her depression, her class action suit, the K5, and everything else.

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She’s a great, layered character who hates herself and everyone around her but is still such a badass. And she never gets the happy ending she deserves. Also, I miss Eve.

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(I sure do wish you did for a just little longer though, Eve.)

I get the world sucks for LGBTQ+ people, but I just wish we had more stories of positive sapphic relationships and less “my family hates me ‘cause I’m gay” and “coming out made all my friends hate me” and “I’m literally just in a relationship with this chick because I’m out of options, even though she treats me like a pile of crap.” These are equally important, of course, but sometimes…it’s all just too much, y’know? I’m not saying those don’t exist as well – they do. I’m just sick of them being as niche as they are.

  • One-dimensional relationships in contrast to the heterosexual ones in the story. An example of this would be Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde, which I actually loved otherwise. You get a beautiful, layered heterosexual relationship (which I couldn’t help rooting for despite it falling into the “BFFs-to-lovers” trope), and then you have…Charlie and Alyssa. Blegh. They had zero chemistry and their dialogue felt so…well, considering how most of it was behind the scenes of YouTube videos (they’re YouTubers, by the way), scripted. And it was so insta-love-y. AAAAAAAAARGH.
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  • One-dimensional queer characters! I’m looking at you, Emily Fields. In her defence, these books (the Pretty Little Liars series) were written all the way back in 2006 and were pretty progressive for then. But…still. This is a character who’s practically defined by her sexuality and has literally no plot lines not involving anything else for the first few books in the series. Compare her to any of the other main characters. They’re all well-developed, well-written, and have really well-executed character arcs. And then you have bland, boring, blah Emily.
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The show was admittedly a lot better at handling Emily’s characterization, making her feel like a strong, relatable, layered queer role model. With actual character and plot lines that (surprise!) didn’t involve her sexuality. Although…once again, she has a habit of diving into toxic relationships, from Paige (who tried to drown her), Tabitha, and, worst of all: Alison. Who taunted her for being lesbian because of her internalized homophobia, basically treated her just a tad bit more humanely than she would a bag of crap, emotionally abused her, played with her feelings, continuously jeered at her other potential love interests expecting Emily to always crawl back to her, and then, finally…marrying her? (We get it, Ali was always a bit of a …um, but she crossed so many lines with Emily!) But then, of course, they get divorced because God forbid any kind of romance between two girls ever last.

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  • Tokenism. If you’re going to write queer characters just to sprinkle in some crap about ‘diversity’ in the blurb of the book, just…don’t. Probably somewhat the same as the last point, but give your queer characters some…character. Some depth.
  • Bisexual/pansexual/queer-erasure and characters who “police” each other’s sexuality. I think this one’s pretty self-explanatory. It’s pretty common in all sorts of books but especially prevalent in sapphic books from a few years ago. You have one character A who’s perfectly comfortable with her sexuality and another character B who’s just coming to terms with it. A claims B’s label isn’t “real”, or B is scared of coming out to her friends so she treats A like sh*t in front of them. And they still get together. Or they get together simply by virtue of both of them being queer. I really loved Leah on the Offbeat, by Becky Albertalli, but I get why a lot of people hated it for the whole issue wherein Leah denies Abby’s label and it isn’t properly resolved.
Image result for leah on the offbeat

The author was definitely well-intentioned writing this, it just…missed the mark. She needed to spend more page time on the said issue. I do understand Leah’s point of view despite being “not-wholly-pan”/fluid myself (I feel like I lean towards girls?), though, so I’m still not sure how I feel about this one…

Okay, so…I know this post may have come off as really angry. And I know that a lot of these points have been talked about a lot already. Some of the others, though…I’ve never actually seen them addressed and they make me SO. MAD.

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(Um, yeah. I’m sorry.)

That said, there is a lot of amazing sapphic lit out there. My next post is going to be a recommendations list, actually (hopefully). And most of these…they were written by authors with good intentions back when this was all new. A lot of them are also totally subjective. See you…sometime!

Hugs,

Berry <3

P. S – What d’you all think about ‘Love Victor’? I can’t believe I’m saying this because I love Becky Albertalli (I’m still desperate to get my hands on a copy of Yes No Maybe So) but the whole thing feels so…lame. It isn’t related to the Simon-verse in any way, they could have made A LEAH SEQUEL based off the book, or just any sequel or spin-off series starring the Creekwood gang, and we get…this. Becky Albertalli doesn’t even have anything to do with it! And it was about to be a *gag* Disney+ show. Not that I have anything against Disney+. I actually thought HSMTMTS was pretty great. But…it has this tendency to filter and water down everything into a cliché. Also, it literally has nothing to do with Love, Simon, except for the fact that it features a gay teen and is set in Creekwood? Which is so lame on so many levels, because a) there are millions and millions of queer people on the planet and…um…yeah, the protagonist being gay doesn’t make it relevant to Love, Simon in any way (I’m actually tired of coming out stories at the moment) and b) it feels like such a cash-grab. It seems like the writers didn’t have confidence in the project and therefore loosely tied it to a hit movie which was based on a bestselling book to garner some kind of an audience. Even so, I’m going to remain cautiously optimistic because I’m trash for anything even remotely Creekwood-related and SIMON AND CO. MAY HAVE A CAMEO and queer TV is still kind of on the sidelines of the television industry and I’ll watch anything if it’s sufficiently…well…gay. Sorry not sorry.

Have a great rest of your day, y’all!

<3

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