TALAT YAQOOB is many things – feminist, hilarious, cheese aficionado. Oh, and Asian, which isn’t big deal until the media mobilises to reiterate (however well-intentioned) the apparent ‘otherness’ of the non-white population. You know, like it did yesterday.
I rarely notice that I’m Asian.
That might sound odd, but it’s true. I think it comes from the privileged position of being around certain groups of people, often those who work in equality and the third sector, like me. I don’t generally take note of my skin colour, which has been called a “caramel coating” by someone once, I assume in a loving nature… Recently, I went into a tanning salon because I needed change to park my car, and everyone stared. It took me a couple of seconds to realise why. At which I pointed at myself and said “I know, I’m just addicted to these beds, this is my third time this week” So comfortable am I with my caramel coating, that I can have a little fun with it.
But there are those occasions where I am reminded of my race and my heritage, and unfortunately, almost always these reminders are in the bleakest of circumstances. My earliest memory of this is the few times I witnessed my dad wash racist graffiti off his shop wall. “Go home”. I didn’t really understand it – this is the place where I gorged on 1p sweets while my dad worked. Trust me, I was at home. But after it was explained to me, I remember feeling shaken and speechless. In later years at school, or in the street, it still happened, especially after the horrific 9/11 attacks, but I know I have encountered it more rarely and less severely than others.
Good piece, worth reading as a counter-balance to the sensationalist take on yesterday’s events that was shared by racists and media outlets alike.
Which is to say: fuck the BNP, the EDL, Richard Dawkins and anyone else who saw this brutal murder as nothing more than a confirmation of their hateful beliefs about (and/or an opportunity to stir up violence against) Muslims at home and abroad.
sherlock-has-got-the-blue-box:
everythingthelighttoucheskingdom:
sabrina-is-at-221b-bakerstreet:
LOOK AT THIS POOR OPPRESSED WOMAN AND WHAT HER COUNTRY IS MAKING HER DO.
Even in her eyes it says “help me”.
This is why we have to stop these misogynistic societies.
I’m sorry but no. I acknowledg that this is terrible, but don’t you think we should fix our own countries mishaps before we deal in other countries affairs? We have corrupt businesses, crime, poverty, homelessness, and believe it or not starvation.
Does anyone even know the threat that walmart has to this country?!
I hope you’re being ironic ouo
everything about this is horrible tbh
Isn’t that Benedict Cumberbatch?
That’s Benedict Cumberbatch.
Guys that’s obviously Benedict Cumberbatch.
Oh my god I’ve never imagined this situation
IVE BE EN LAGUHING FOR THE PAST 500 YEARS
OMGGG YOU GUYS
#when gifs are taken out of context
Part 1 of Richard Corben’s mini-epic, Rowlf.
The story is simple enough: Princess Maryara of the Kingdom of Canisland is kidnapped by demons. The king’s wizard Sortrum, attempts to transform Maryara’s loyal dog Rowlf into a man so he can rescue her, but the spell doesn’t quite work and he winds up as a wolfman.
Interestingly enough, I recently was flipping through Starting Point: 1979 to 1996, and I found out that Hayao Miyazaki, before he took to directing, tried to get the film rights to Rowlf. Richard Corben seems like an odd choice for a Miyazaki adaptation, and he does refer to the material as being potentially “unfamiliar and grotesque to Japanese audiences,” but seemed to think it could work well, seeing it as a modern fairytale of sorts. He especially saw that it could do well with American audiences and had the potential to surpass the appeal of Ralph Bakshi’s Wizards.
Miyazaki lists the following as highlights:
1) Canisland, which resembles Medieval Europe.
2) The tanks and rayguns used by the demons.
3) Dramatic staging, including the desert (upon which Rowlf’s tanks casts long shadows), the pill-boxes and bunkers in the demon castle, etc.
4) The powerfully muscled demon leader, who fights with his bare hands and is so loathsomely evil that he seems impossible to kill.
5) Rowlf’s fabulous transformation from dog to man.
6) The heroine, Maryara. She has the appeal of a healthy young woman from the countryside.
7) Rowlf is unconditionally devoted to his mistress, Maryara, but audiences will be particularly inspired and impressed by his courage, as he becomes more self-aware, starts to learn, and eventually matures to the point where he can take on the demons.
For today’s young people—who feel over-managed, overprotected, and suffocated by society, or who find their choices increasingly limited and thus are increasingly neurotic—this story would be the ideal present.
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Brian Eno (via jessiethatcher) I could reblog/post this every day as a constant reminder. (via notational) And I’m sticking it up here for people who define the “good” in Make good art in ways that I definitely didn’t intend… (via neil-gaiman) |
whoooooa. NOT okay.
If my only contribution to a comic book was that I wrote the thing I would be beyond mortified to see something like this.
Artist’s should consider this type of thing when they are thinking about drawing someone else’s story. In today’s comic climate you’re about two years from not even having your name anywhere on the work. Why would any artist want to work with a writer in this kind of environment? What exactly are you gaining? Page rate at best—but considering no one is going to know your name—or care about your work—that’s probably not the best long term strategy, since you’re basically some nameless droog that can easily be interchanged with some other nameless droog for pennies on the dollar.
I like Avatar. But this? This is fucked up.
And don’t tell me some sob story about book design and what sells or doesn’t sell. I’ve seen dynamic comic covers that have not just the writer and artist name’s on it—but also the colorist and letterer.
Pfft. I dunno, this is exactly the kind of thing I worry about whenever one of my artist friends is working with a writer on a book.
The nine circles of hell from Dante’s Inferno recreated in Lego by Mihai Mihu
I. LIMBO: A place of monotony, here the souls are punished to wander in restless existence while they moan helplessly in echoes between the ruins of a temple.
II. LUST: Surrounded by erotic representations, those overcome by lust are forced to watch and experience disgusting things, ultimately being condemned to drown in the menstrual river.
III. GLUTTONY: The circle itself is a living abomination, a hellish digestive system revealing horrific faces with mouths ready to devour the gluttons over and over for eternity.
IV. GREED: This pompous place is reserved for the punishment of the greedy ones.
V. ANGER: In this depressing place the souls are trapped in the swamp, they can’t move and they cannot manifest their frustration which is making them even more angry.
VI. HERESY: The giant demon watches closely over his fire pit, dwarfing the damned that are dragging the new arrivals in the boiling lava. Those who committed the greatest sins against God are getting a special treatment inside the temple where they are doomed to burn for eternity in the scorching flames.
VII. VIOLENCE: A place of intense torture where the horrific screams of the damned are eternally accompanied by the hellish beats of drums.
VIII. FRAUD: In Fraud the Demons enjoy altering the shape of souls, this is how they feed.
IX. TREACHERY: Lucifer lies here chained by the Angelic Seal which keeps him captive in the frozen environment.
