Maud (she/her)

it goes against so much of what i stand for to share "palestinians are humans, they have hobbies, they have pets, they laugh and cry" kind of posts because i've spent so much of my life and career completely rejecting the notion that we should humanize ourselves, that we should ever be defensive, that we should entertain this racism at all

but it breaks my heart when i have to share them from people in gaza, who are using their five minutes of internet connection, their 25% of battery charge collected from a macguyvered car battery, emotionally exhausted, thirsty and hungry, sleeping in schools that have turned into refugee shelters and still making the time to say "please, i am human too, i am still alive, please fight for me" in english to appeal to the only people who have the power to help

i shared a tweet from a jjk artist in gaza i follow about a bts photocard being found in the middle of the rubble. even the love of anime and kpop and sports is no longer just a hobby, but an appeal to humanity. what was once a source of joy is now proof of life.

the worst part is that you won't find this content in arabic. palestinians don't post like this in arabic. but when they translate themselves, they recognize that they must humanize themselves first. it's an unspoken understanding of dehumanization, one that has dictated a whole region's understanding of the value of human life. in arabic they speak with dignity, with anger, with sorrow. in english, they appeal for their existence.

i share these posts not just because we have to reach everyone we can, because im being asked to and i will not refuse. but i also share them because they're evidence of how deep the racism has run. at what dehumanization leads to. of war crime after war crime. this too i will not forget.

Why are people surprised a timeless cinematic masterpice is still talked about in 2024? Just because the movie is from 1973, doesn't mean it's cultural impact is no longer relevant or that it doesn't deserve any form of recognition

Goncharov is the greatest mafia movie made and should be recognized as such.

one of my fav bits of canon dialogue from book 1

Talking in a group chat with some fellow author friends earlier, and the subject of our book reviews came up. As in, "What's the favorite thing anyone's ever said about your book?" type thing.

I had to pause and think about it because people have said a lot of nice things about my work. That it's the queer goth love child of Jane Austen meets Terry Pratchett, for one. That Nathan's disability arc meant the world to them. That Vlad's blatant neurodivergence made them feel seen. That Ursula's profound loneliness made them feel less alone.

But the one thing I see time and time again that makes me smile is the word "comfort." So that's the one I went with. That people find my work comfortable.

So you can imagine my surprise when someone chimed in going, "Noo, don't say that! Your work is so good!"

I won't lie, it took me a solid ten to twenty seconds to realize that she thought someone describing my work as being "comfortable" was an insult and not one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me.

And maybe I'm just several types of mentally ill, chronically ill, and too beaten down by the world, but I do not understand what is wrong with comfort. Comfort, for me, is a physically unobtainable goal. You might as well rank it up there with getting transported into another world and becoming Queen of the Fae. For me, reading comfortable narratives where people get taken care of with compassion and love is a fantasy.

And, like, just objectively speaking, something being comfortable doesn't mean it's not good.

It doesn't mean it's not thought provoking. It doesn't mean conflict-free or lacking moral dilemmas. It means people feel safe reading it, knowing those things will be resolved.

I'm not trying to keep my readers on edge with anxiety, always wondering where the next plot twist will come in. That's not my style of writing. It's not my goal. It's fine if it's yours, but like... Comfort is not an insult, and it makes me a little sad to think some people think it is.

theyre shit talking the other band

Six of Crows: A Comic Adaptation

Part 1, Chapter 2: Inej

Original Novel by Leigh Bardugo

Adaptation by Claire Scott

Get your digital copy here!

The digital release includes updated pages, bonus artwork, and an extra comic that will be exclusive to the pdf at the time of release. The download is completely free, but tips are very much appreciated. If you enjoy the comic, please share it with friends!

Why is the Merlin account so active all of a sudden

I understand that right after finishing iwwv one might be distraught but to laugh again you only need to do one thing, really. And that's imagining Meredith's face when she comes back and she finds out Oliver's left her a note that i'm sure goes more or less like "Gotta go got message through Shakespeare James maybe alive sorry bye"

it's interesting to me how even if it's James who "attempts to kill" Richard (and I use quotation marks because I don't think he did it as a conscious thing), he is not the one who let him die. Everyone else stays at the beach or in the dock not moving and even holding James down as he tries to get to the water and save him.

Why? Because of his hero's archetype? Because he must save everyone as his role dictates? Why would he (of all people) want to save Richard when he is the reason of everything?

And why would the rest stay there, unmoving and almost too rational in that situation, as Richard clearly extends his hand towards them like Pericles begging the fishermen to save him, except this time, none of them answer?

Richard was the villain. He was horrible and there's no discourse or reason to actually say he deserved to be forgiven for his actions. But is that easily to actually condemn a person's life? Just because if the role they've played on yours?

Is it the hero's destiny to become a villain, just like James gets to be Macbeth and Edmund? is that what happens when the curtains falls and the hero has their hands stained in blood and the guilt is growing inside their chest?

Maybe Alexander was right and Richard was not a sparrow, but neither of them were the roles they were selected to play at the beginning either.

i'm kind of amazed by oliver's slow realisation of his feelings for james. i don't know, it was just so good to see the queer realisation(tm) without sexual desire playing into it? like it goes from "he's my bestest friend, i admire him so much" to "i feel kinda possessive of him, weird. well, anyway" to "why am i jealous??" to "you can't really describe the kinds of feelings i have for him" and finally "yes, i am in love with him"

and i also really like that he is still in love with meredith! and that his realisation that he loves james doesn't make him spiral into "what is my sexuality???" because it goes beyond gender! i don' know, more queer representation for "love is weird, humans are weird, just feel your feelings"

My entire taste in media is "gay people commit murder and are mentally unwell" and i think thats beautiful

— M.L. Rio, If We Were Villains

just a reminder that because you write, you are a writer, no matter what you write, or how much you write, or the supposed quality of your writing.