Read and Rated: March 2016

Terror Tuesday..errr....Weird Wednesday?

"Sometimes the best illumination comes out of the dark." - C.E. Robertson

Art by Nathan Chesshir

Sci-Fi Saturday

"We have found a strange footprint on the shores of the unknown."- Arthur Eddington

The only thing I can find out about the artist of this piece is that part of his or her name is Kirby. But the work appeared as the cover of Upside Down by Ron Goulart.

Who do you love? A question of fun.

I stumbled on an old blog post of mine yesterday about all the fictional men that I have fallen in love with and reading it, it seems my tastes have changed a bit in the past couple of years. So for fun. I'm doing it again. Updated and more accurately. And with less than ten men on the list.

5. Finnick Odair (Catching Fire, Mokingjay)-  Clever. Resourceful. He can dance. Dangerous. Charming. Loyal. Able to make snap decisions. Observant. Completely damaged. Able to keep a secret. Knows when to stop keeping those secrets. Strategist.

4. LeStat de Lioncourt (The Vampire Chronicles)- Impetuous. Proud. Curious. Adverturous. Fearless. He can dance. Musician. Well-traveled. Dangerous. Loyal. Seductive. The ultimate bad boy.

3. Set/Seth ( Egyptian Mythology)- Fierce. Powerful. A leader. Schemer. Confident (probably narcissistic). Dangerous. Willing to go for what he wants/deserves and consequences be damned. Silver-Tongued. Lord of the Desert.

2. Howard Roark (The Fountainhead): He knows who he is. Uncompromising in his beliefs. Walks his own path. Intelligent. Driven. Unafraid of the world at large. Unafraid of failure. Able to see to the heart of things. Hard-working. Loyal. Dangerous. Astute.  Thinker. Artist.

1. James Fraiser (Outlander series):  Quite possibly the perfect man. Strong. Well-spoken. Smart. Brave. Loyal. Sexual. Commanding. Knows the value of and when to apologize. Honest. He can dance. Dangerous. Well-traveled. Multi-lingual. Has excellent timing. Protective without being overly possessive. Survivor. Always learning. A reader. Thinker. Family man. Wild. Observant. Alert. Trustworthy. Not afraid to fight. Stubborn to a fault. Inventive. Flexible. Endearing. Passionate.


So, now that you know mine. Who do you love?

Terror Tuesday

“What are you?" I rasped.

It smiled. "Whatever scares you.” 

― Kim Harrison, Dead Witch Walking

Art by Stephen Gammell

SciFi Saturday

"Knowledge of what is does not open the door directly to what should be."- Albert Einstein 



Art by David A. Hardy

Fanfic....Here we go....

I am a member of many, many fandoms. I have my own perfect romances and ideas on what would be awesome if things happened in a world, or even in between worlds. So, I get it. I do. Fanfic is a great way to express those thoughts. But, I have to say, I am not a fan of fanfic as it seems to currently exist.

Here's Why: 99% of the fanfic I see is incredibly disrespectful to the original work.

Yep. Now, hear me out.

Most fanfic is about a romance that isn't a part of the original canon. I have no issue with this, I'll be the first to tell you that I wanted Neville and Luna to get together in the world of HP. Didn't happen. I would have loved Dean and Charlie to get together in Supernatural. Didn't happen. And this couple brings me to my point. Charlie is gay. Her character is not into men. It's one of the things that is super cool about her, she just openly loves other women. And she makes no bones about it and neither does the show.  I love Charlie. She is easily one of my top five favorite characters in the Supernatural verse. But, as much as I love the idea of Charlie and Dean together, I will never write that story. I will never put it into the world,  because it is disrespectful of Charlie.

Writing Charlie in a straight relationship with Dean would be the same as forcing my lesbian friend to date my straight guy friend just because I thought they would be good together. Can you even imagine the backlash that kind of stubborn, rudeness would have?  So, why is it any different with fictional characters? If we love them as they are written, then we are accepting them as they are. When you take an authors character and rewrite something so integral to their makeup, like their sexuality, personal preferences in love, ect. Then you are saying that you don't love the character as they are. You are imposing your own ideas on someone else's work.  And that is so disrespectful, to the original author and to the character.

So, does all of this mean that I don't think fanfic should be written? Not at all. I love that fanfic happens. That people are so inspired by something that they in turn write something or draw something creative and beautiful. But, I do think that if you are going to write fanfic, you should be respectful of the character who you are writing about.

Terror Tuesday

"Your future depends on your dreams. So go to sleep." - Mesut Barazany








Art by Natalia

Sci-Fi Saturday

"This most excellent canopy, the air, look you, this brave o—erhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted with golden fire."- Hamlet, Shakespeare (Hamlet)

Art by Matthew

Terror Tuesday

"I'll drain him dry as hay. Sleep shall neither night nor day. Hang upon his penthouse lid. He shall live a man forbid. Weary sev'nnights, nine times nine,shall he dwindle, peak, and pine.Though his bark cannot be lost, yet it shall be tempest-tossed."- The Witch, Shakespeare (Macbeth)


Art by Adam Rex for MTG card "Terror"

Sci-Fi Saturday

Continuing with the Egypt theme: Concept art of Ancient Aliens building the pyraminds.

"If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn't turn out well for the Native Americans." - Stephen Hawking




Artist for this piece is unknown, but if you know who it is please let me know so I can provide a credit. Thanks!

Tell Your Story

This past week has been just full of movie talk. Mostly in regards to sexuality in movies. From the rumors of  "Stormpilot" in the Star Wars franchise to the rampant sexual desires of Deadpool, it's been a rather informative, and disturbing set of conversations. So I'm going to take a minute to tell you my thoughts on the subject of diverse sexuality.

You ready for it?

Here it is: YAY!

That's it. I think diverse sexuality is great. It exists and should be explored in movies and literature in the same way that any other trait of the human race should be explored.  But here is where things got disturbing.

When discussing the possibilities of Finn and Poe Dameron romance in the new Star Wars movies, the compelling argument was simply: I want it. and that's not good enough. A character should only be exploring the sexual desires that the character wants to. Not the reader, or the fanfic writer. Characters shouldn't be gay just because there haven't been enough gay characters in the past. So to you: writer's looking at all that fanfic and all those blog posts and rights activists and people shouting at you to do something the way they think it should be done. Don't listen. Write your characters. Tell your story. As it is.

If your character is submissive women of Asian descent who likes Hello Kitty, has small feet and wears Lolita dresses. Awesome.

If your character is a gay black man with rainbow hair that rides a motorcycle and loves football. Awesome.

If your character is racist woman with saggy boobs, that wears socks with her flip flops, smokes Virginia slims and has a penchant for killing children. Awesome. (for the character, not a life choice. Don't be this person in real life.)

This world is full of different people, with different believes and desires and they all deserve organic, true to form, real representation. Don't insult people by writing a PC character just because: DIVERSITY.  That is just as bad as ignoring a characters true nature because it's not one you like.

So tell your story. As it is. With your characters. As they are. And don't worry about what anyone else says about it.

Gods of Egypt.

I saw Gods of Egypt over the weekend. I am fairly knowledgeable about Egypt Mythology and I went with a friend of mine, Michalea Moore (read her review here), who is a HUGE Egypt buff. We were prepared as we sat with our popcorn and cookie dough bites to rip this movie apart, but what happened was we came out laughing.

I thoroughly enjoyed Gods of Egypt. It laughs at itself, it visually pleasing and has the best "last line" I've ever heard. From the shining forms of the battling gods to the skeptic quipping of the human hero, this movie has me smiling the whole way through. It has some brief, touching moments, and like all good movies eludes to deeper themes. But what really made it great was the levity. The grandiose vision of the film translated into every single aspect, the sweeping wide shots, the CGI creatures, the snarkiness of the dialogue and the bathykolpian woman. This a movie you go see to have a great time, and have a lot of laughs. Even if the soundtrack is from the wrong area of the world.

9/10 for a raucous good time.

Terror Tuesday

" It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both." - Niccolo Machiavelli




Art by Alexandria Lomuntad