Leigh Bardugo's Blog, page 574
March 11, 2014
dankrokos:
sourwolf-loki-destiel-221b:
the-fandoms-are-cool:
I...
IF ANYONE EVER TELLS YOU THAT SUCKER PUNCH IS AIMLESS ALMOST-PORN FOR NERD BOYS YOU PUNCH THEM RIGHT IN THE THROAT BECAUSE THAT IS THE FURTHEST FROM THE TRUTH. SIT YOUR ASS DOWN BECAUSE I’M ABOUT TO TELL YOU ABOUT THIS GODDAMN MOVIE.
THIS MOVIE IS SO FUCKING SELF-EMPOWERING, SO MIND-TWISTING WITH LAYERS AND LAYERS OF SETTING UNTIL YOU’RE LOST TO WHAT’S REAL AND WHAT’S FAKE. THESE GIRLS WHO ARE BEING PROSTITUTED AGAINST THEIR WILL FIGHT TO TAKE BACK THEIR BODIES THE ONLY WAY THEY CAN AND THEY WILL NOT STOP UNTIL THEY’RE FREE.
THE MUSIC IN THIS MOVIE MAKES YOU WANT TO SLAY A PLANET OF ZOMBIES AND KICK-ASS BOOTS AND SEQUINED SKIRTS BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT IT’S ABOUT. THESE GIRLS FUCKING DESTROY EVERYTHING IN THEIR PATHS IN MINI-SKIRTS THAT THEY KNOW THEY LOOK MORE BADASS THAN DEAN WINCHESTER IN AND THEY USE IT TO THEIR FUCKING ADVANTAGE AND IF YOU DON’T THINK THAT’S THE COOLEST SHIT I HOPE YOU HAVE TO RUN ACROSS A FIELD OF LEGOS AND PICK OUT EVERY SINGLE WHITE TWO-PIECE YOU LITTLE SHIT
I was gonna reblog it anyway because of the gif set but then I read the post and broke my hand over the reblog button.
While most of the above may be true, Sucker Punch is still mind-bendingly awful.
I cannot begin to tell you how much I disagree. I posted about Sucker Punch when it came out, so I’m reposting here:
After the scathing reviews, I’d planned on skipping Sucker Punch, but Alyssa Rosenberg’s defense renewed my interest. Rosenberg contends that, flawed though Sucker Punch may be, Zach Snyder has at least put five brawling female leads squarely at the center of his narrative. She makes a good point and, for all its whacky muddle, I wish Sucker Punch well. But my chief problem with Snyder’s girl gang is that while he has created five female leads, he hasn’t created a single hero. To understand that, you just have to look at the baby dragon. (Spoilers ahead.)
To free herself from a mental institution, Babydoll must battle through a sepia-toned fantasy world to obtain a series of objects. In the second fantasy sequence, her grizzled mentor/coach/commanding officer tells her that she’ll have to enter a castle, kill a baby dragon and obtain a couple of magical crystals from its guts. Babydoll and her cohorts don’t question these orders or even blink a heavily-lashed eye. They battle their way into the castle and Babydoll proceeds to climb on top of a drowsy, docile little baby dragon, lift up its head and slit its throat. When the mama dragon discovers her DEAD CHILD, she becomes understandably enraged and goes after the murderers that have invaded her home. One of said minxy murderers then shoots at her from a plane shouting, “Die you ugly, mother f***r!” These are our heroes?
Heroes don’t kill babies. They don’t sneak up on helpless creatures and murder them in their beds. They question instructions like “Shoot the villagers” or “Kneecap the unicorn.” That’s what makes them heroes instead of just good little soldiers. They find a better way.
OR let’s say there is no better way. Let’s say the hero is faced with a hard choice and must do something cruel or brutal. Then she makes that choice with full knowledge of its implications and she suffers the consequences of that decision.
OR let’s say that our hero is a true antihero, someone for whom killing has become rote, who just does what she has to do to survive. Then we need to see that she’s chosen to reject her humanity, that she knows what she is, and– if it’s that kind of story, a hero’s story– then we have to see her struggle for redemption. None of these things happens in Sucker Punch.
If one of the themes of Sucker Punch is powerlessness then what does it say about a girl who murders a helpless creature without EVER stopping to question the choice? How exactly is Babydoll any different from the thugs who tie her down or put a spike through her head just because someone handed them the right paperwork? In the end, this is why Sucker Punch is so deeply unsatisfying. I’m glad to see female leads. I’m glad to see them doing something other than trying to get married or go to prom or find the perfect baby daddy. But we don’t just need female leads, we need female heroes.
I’ve whined plenty about the new Wonder Woman costume but, in the end, it doesn’t matter if a character is dressed in armor or a sexy schoolgirl uniform. What matters is that the character is fully formed and that she makes conscious choices. She doesn’t just stumble around doing what she’s told.
Rosenberg makes much of the fact that four of the lead characters of Sucker Punch sacrifice themselves for the chance to get just one of their number to freedom. But, with one exception, none of these characters dies fighting. In fact, Babydoll quite literally lies down and takes it. AND in the final scene of the film, the sole survivor doesn’t save herself. Instead, clad in a pretty white dress and docile demeanor, she tremblingly awaits capture and then (whew) accepts rescue from the aforementioned grizzled mentor. She is no less helpless in the world or better equipped to deal with its predators than she was at the beginning of the film.
Since Winterspell is available for pre-order I was wondering--is it better for the author if fans pre-order a book, or buy it the first week it comes out? Really looking forward to the new book!
Hello, and thanks so much for asking this great question!
I’m going to take a moment here to answer your question and also provide some insight on the publishing process that I hope will be helpful to any readers out there.
If you’re excited about a book, the best thing you can do to ensure the book’s success—and support the book’s author—is pre-order the book.
Pre-orders are like the ~*unicorns*~ of the book ordering world. They are sparkly, they have fantastic hair, and they hold untold amounts of power.
Man, look how majestic that pre-order is.^
In all seriousness, when a book receives a lot of pre-orders, the publisher will notice. They’ll see those pre-orders rolling in and take that as a sign that people are TOTALLY PSYCHED for this book, and that the book might just be a goshdarned success.
Pre-orders help determine a book’s print run—that is, the number of books the publisher prints.
Pre-orders help build hype, which gets ERRYONE EXCITED, including the publisher, and helps the publisher promote the book that much more effectively.
If the book is the first in a series, pre-orders make it that much more likely that the series will continue.
Pre-orders help ensure that the book gets to the shelves in your local bookstore—and stays there.
BUT WAIT.
What if you can’t afford to pre-order the book right now? Or what if you want to purchase the book from your local independent bookstore, and they don’t offer a pre-order option?
NEVER FEAR. There are other things you can do to support the book/author:
You can march your cute little tushie to your local bookstore the day the book releases, and buy it then. If your bookstore doesn’t have it, you can request that they order it for you. The more people request a book, the likelier it is the bookstore will stock it!
You can strut your hot self to your local public library—you can even do this as soon as today!—and request they order the book. Librarians are good people, and are always eager to discover new books!
Once you’ve read the book, you can leave a review of the book on Goodreads and, MOST IMPORTANTLY, major book retailer sites. Reviews help readers discover books. The more reviews a book has, the more quickly and easily it will find an audience. Simple as that.
If you are lucky enough to obtain an early review copy of the book, you can immediately start talking up the book and how much you love it and how it gives you ALL THE FEELS—but it’s better to officially review the book (on your blog, on Goodreads, etc.) closer to the release date, rather than months and months in advance.
You can talk about and recommend the book to your friends and family members, your co-workers, your teachers, your neighbors, your postal worker, your Zumba teacher, your favorite barista, etc.
You can also, of course, do all of the above! (For example, I would not shut up about Kristin Cashore’s books at the library where I used to work, not until I had converted the entire adult services department to rabid Kristin Cashore fans-for-life, just like me.)
Basically, the more copies are sold early on in a book’s life, the better.
If you want to support your favorite book/author, the most helpful thing you can do is buy the book as early as possible—whether that’s a pre-order (remember, they are unicorns!) or a release day buy (which, if we continue the metaphor, are really really really majestic horses—like Black Stallion caliber).
These early sales are the most important sales. They ensure the book’s future.
You—the readers—are the most essential factor in determining a book’s success. Not the publisher. Not the author. YOU.
And that’s one of the reasons why we authors are so grateful for our readers. (There is, of course, also the fact that you love books as much as we do and the matter of your abovementioned cute little tushies.)
We love your emails, your reviews, your tweets, your blog posts. We love seeing your excitement, and knowing that someone out there gets it—gets us, gets our work, gets our characters—and is enthusiastic and vocal enough to help support us.
So, no matter what you can do—whether that’s a pre-order, or a purchase request at your local library, or a kind email letting us know you enjoyed our work—know that we appreciate you. We are lucky to have you in our lives. And we cherish every ounce of your support.
tempeh-princess:
afternoonsnoozebutton:
Have you heard of Ban...
Have you heard of Ban Bossy? It’s the new initiative from Lean In and the Girl Scouts that’s trying to ban “bossy” and similar words that are used to bring down girls that are ambitious, take risks, and speak up. By changing the way we treat girls who lead, hopefully our generation will someday see more women in leadership roles.
You can watch the 1:00 video with Beyonce, Jane Lynch, Condeleeza Rice, and Jennifer Garner here, or visit the Ban Bossy website.
don’t read the youtube comments on this.
No, read the comments. See just what frightened people sound like when their power is challenged in the mildest way.
Not only are they incapable of hearing a pretty basic and non-confrontational message (using particular words to describe little girls inhibits the likelihood that they will pursue leadership, so let’s try not to do that), they instantly attack in the most vitriolic ways.
It’s a lovely video, and B at the end!! “I’m not bossy. I’m the boss.” This.
I kind of wish the wall said “Helter Skelter.”
I kind of wish the wall said “Helter Skelter.”
March 10, 2014
Polish cover of Siege and Storm!!! Sooooooo gorgeous. And...
Polish cover of Siege and Storm!!! Sooooooo gorgeous. And there’s a sea whip hiding there!
unknowneditors:
Egor Shapovalov was born in 1988 in Taganrog,...
Egor Shapovalov was born in 1988 in Taganrog, Russia. He is a talented photographer and his artworks are really impressive with an unusual atmosphere in each shot. Egor now lives and studies in Rostov-on-Don.
Watch some of his art and also visit his deviantART
