At Least Born Again Holds To The Metric That If I’m Having A Bad Day, Matt Murdock Is Having A Worse

No thanks.

in light of Trump's inauguration speech declaring multiple national emergencies that require him to take god-knows-what executive actions immediately, I'd like to remember this chapter of "On Tyranny" by Timothy Snyder:

There's a difference between "this novella needed to be novel length for the story to feel complete" and "I enjoyed this novella so much that I wish it was novel length" and people confuse those often.

I feel like especially nowadays this painting I made is relevant.

The most unrealistic part of this show is the idea that Fisk could declare his mayoral candidacy while Karen Page was in the city and she wouldn’t immediately hunt him for sport

I keep digging myself down deeper...

THE WARNING SIGNS CAN FEEL LIKE THEY'RE BUTTERFLIES

Graveyard (2019) - Halsey

alaska's favorite pop girl music videos [ 4 / ? ]

Has your name every appeared in the credits of a book, or is it likely to in the near future? Then you should join AUTHORS AGAINST BOOK BANS! Transcript below the cut. A version of this zine formatted for print is available to download on my patreon.

Do you make books? Yes? I want YOU to join Authors Against Book Bans! By Maia Kobabe

WHAT IS AABB? 

A coalition of writers, illustrators, editors & other book creators, standing united against the unconstitutional movement to limit the freedom to read. We support the availability of diverse voices in our libraries, in our schools, & in our culture. We pledge to band together against the oppression of literature, to speak when our voices are silenced, to go where our bodies are needed, & to fight to ensure this freedom.

Our concern is not only for the books, but for the children, families, educators, librarians, & communities who suffer when the freedom to read is challenged and taken away.

WHAT CAN AABB OFFER YOU? 

- Regional groups working on legislation to protect authors & the freedom to read state-by-state

- Online trainings on digital security, public speaking, & how to counter book challenges in your community

-Affinity groups for BIPOC authors, queer authors, authors with disabilities, indie, nonfiction, romance writers & more

-Support if your book is challenged!

-A very active discord community

Author: What if my book hasn’t been challenged? 

Maia: JOIN!

Author: Ok, but what if I’m really busy and can’t do much organizing right now? 

Maia: JOIN ANYWAY! 

Even if all you do is sign up, your membership will help lend weight to the letters AABB sends to publishers & legislators. As of January 2025, AABB has 3500+ members. Check out the recent open letter to publishers on AABB’s socials & feel free to share it with your contacts. 

An Open Letter to Our Publishers- instagram.com/p/DCzYmKcR8uq

Maia: I’ve been facing intense challenges to my book since 2021. Knowing that I am not alone in the fight against censorship is what keeps my spirits up! 

Watching the folks in AABB share information, co-write legislation, show up to library & school board meetings, & speak up to publishers about the need to protect diverse books & minority authors has been amazing! 

This is a weird & scary time to be an author, but you are not alone! Join thousands of us fighting for the freedom to read, the freedom to write, the freedom to teach, the freedom to learn, & the freedom to share our stories!

Authors Against Book Bans -

Authors Against Book Bans

Our Mission Statement We are Authors Against Book Bans. We, a coalition of writers, illustrators, anthology editors and contributors, and ot

AABB on instagram / AABB on bluesky

gonna have to make this egg bagel fr

obsessed with this letterboxd review of mary beard’s caligula documentary

Blood and Honey 2 review

**No Spoilers**

I watched Blood and Honey 2 on opening night and I was surprised. The first movie was mediocre and my hopes for the sequel were in the gutter. It seems director Rhys Frake-Waterfield worked out some kinks from the first movie. Maybe constructive criticism did its job here and Frake-Waterfield listened to the reviews of the first film. 

The first Blood and Honey film put spectacle over storytelling. The production team expected the sensationalism of the concept to carry it through and they were mistaken. Reviewing the first film in any serious capacity would be a mistake, as it’s clear they weren’t trying to make a serious film. They took the sequel more seriously, which opened the door for guys like me to tear into it. For people like me who have seen a lot of slasher flicks, Blood and Honey was nothing to write home about. During my viewing of the first film, I had to fight to stay awake. 

The sequel changed some details from the first film. For starters, this film includes characters such as Owl and Tigger, who weren’t in the public domain when the first movie was in production. I was pissed Tigger wasn’t in the first film. Tigger is the Batman to Pooh’s Superman and if anyone can tell you with a straight face they prefer Pooh to Tigger they are not to be trusted. Another change I enjoyed was the redesign of Pooh and Piglet. I understand the original design was about taking the original character of Pooh and making him scary, but you can’t tell me that Pooh is supposed to be a bear-human hybrid and then show me a man with yellow leathery skin. In this film, they updated Pooh to look more animalistic, giving him hints of fur and razor-sharp teeth. 

They also changed the leading man, recasting Christopher Robin’s character with producer Scott Chambers. The acting in this film is pretty standard. The strongest link in the crew was Tallulah Evans who had good charisma as her character Lexy. Except Lexy, the supporting roles were not greatly noticeable and they didn’t take up a lot of runtime. 

The special effects were a step up, as well. In the first film, the crummy effects made the gore look a lot less like blood and guts and more like some cheap props you could buy at a discount store. I'm surprised that Pooh didn't appear after the credits and thank PartyCity for sponsoring the movie. In the sequel, the props looked very professional. The gore looked real enough to make your stomach turn but not so real you can’t enjoy snacking during the movie. 

Character-wise, I was invested in Christopher’s story. I was rooting for him right from the beginning. This film opens with everyone in his small town believing he’s a brutal killer and that leaves him on a quest to deal with his trauma and confront his monsters (both real and figurative). I liked the supporting characters. It was very endearing to see how much Lexy and Bunny (Thea Evans) cared about Christopher and believed in him when a lot of people didn’t. 

While I was invested in Christopher’s journey, the first three-quarters of the movie dragged a bit. Christopher is on a quest for answers, so naturally, a lot of the film is him trying to get to those answers any way he can. But this is still a slasher film! During this “investigative” period, they throw in a few kills to keep us invested, but Christopher and Pooh don’t even confront each other until the final quarter of the film. 

Speaking of the kills, they were very brutal. Bear traps, exploding campers, flaming chainsaws, what fun! A lot of people may think, ‘A flaming chainsaw? That isn’t realistic!’ All I have to say is, dude, if you’re worried about how a flaming chainsaw isn’t realistic then maybe a movie about animal-human hybrids isn’t for you. 

The score was fine, but there were times when the music was a little out of place. It was disorienting to be watching a sad or frightening scene and hear music that sounded hopeful. The narrator also took the piss out of the movie. It was so jarring to watch a serious and intense scene and then to jump to narration like someone is reading a bedtime story to us. 

About that plot twist… Words cannot describe how out of left field it was. I’m glad they explained where the creatures came from, but… yikes. It was entertaining, but a bit convoluted. Also, why did Pooh have to be that character the whole time? That just complicates Christopher and Pooh’s relationship in a way it didn’t need to be complicated. They already had a troubled past together, so why make it more tragic for no reason? 

Then there was the rave scene. I almost cheered when Tigger came onto the scene. I love Tigger! Whether he’s bouncing around in a colorful cartoon or murdering people with his claws and calling his victims fluorescent bitches, Tigger is the OG of the Hundred Acre Wood. And it was so fun to see Pooh batter people around while trap music played. It reminded me of that party bus scene from Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022). I also loved how Pooh and the others kept Tigger in a cage because they knew how fucking crazy he was. 

Was it a good movie? Uh, sure? It wasn’t the best slasher I’ve ever seen but watching it wasn’t a complete waste of time. I would wait until this one hits streaming services before you go watch it. A part of me feels stupid for spending money to watch such a mediocre movie when I could have just waited for it to come to Peacock. That being said, I’m genuinely excited to see what else the Twitsted Childhood Universe has to offer. 

I believe Frake-Waterfield is self-aware about how stupid these movies are. But they’re fun to watch and I bet they’re pretty fun to make. There are worse moves to watch this weekend.

Final score = 62.5%

Rick Stepp (calebstepp23@gmail.com)