I’m A Connoisseur Of Roads. I’ve Been Tasting Roads My Whole Life. This Road Will Never End. It Probably

One third of GoFundMe campaigns are for necessary medical expenses. People are “donating” their vacation days so that a new mom can stay home with her baby. A college-educated homeless man stood on the street handing out resumes in desperation, begging for a job, any job. Multiple posts about parents buying teachers necessities like a car and school supplies went viral.

Twitter and the media highlight these stories as heartwarming examples of “sacrifice” and people “pulling themselves up by their bootstraps.”

I call bullshit. Only in a dystopian society would we feel anything other than horrified at the thought of people crowdfunding their most basic needs.

Many of the political attacks on trans people—whether it is a mandate that bathroom use be determined by birth sex, a blanket ban on medical interventions for trans kids or the suggestion that trans men are simply wayward women beguiled by male privilege—carry the same subtext: that trans people are mistaken about who they are. “We know who we are,” Page says. “People cling to these firm ideas [about gender] because it makes people feel safe. But if we could just celebrate all the wonderful complexities of people, the world would be such a better place.”

Page was attracted to the role of Vanya in The Umbrella Academy because—in the first season, released in 2019—Vanya is crushed by self-loathing, believing herself to be the only ordinary sibling in an extraordinary family. The character can barely summon the courage to move through the world. “I related to how much Vanya was closed off,” Page says. Now on set filming the third season, co-workers have seen a change in the actor. “It seems like there’s a tremendous weight off his shoulders, a feeling of comfort,” says showrunner Steve Blackman. “There’s a lightness, a lot more smiling.” For Page, returning to set has been validating, if awkward at times. Yes, people accidentally use the wrong pronouns—“It’s going to be an adjustment,” Page says—but co-workers also see and acknowledge him.

Whatever challenges might lie ahead, Page seems exuberant about playing a new spectrum of roles. “I’m really excited to act, now that I’m fully who I am, in this body,” Page says. “No matter the challenges and difficult moments of this, nothing amounts to getting to feel how I feel now.” This includes having short hair again. During the interview, Page keeps rearranging strands on his forehead. It took a long time for him to return to the barber’s chair and ask to cut it short, but he got there. And how did that haircut feel?

Page tears up again, then smiles. “I just could not have enjoyed it more,” he says.

ELLIOT PAGE for TIME Magazine › 2021 interview by Katy Steinmetz, photography by Wynne Neilly

a very important matter what was the first song in 2022 you listened to

Pauline’s book recs : a MASTERPOST

Shit, it’s 2020 and I’ve updated this Behemoth again. There’s both old and new in here. If you’re having problems with links overlapping, it is most likely the app/dashboard glitching—try the permalink version, and everything should work out, even on mobile. And of course, HAVE FUN.

Ressources : where to find books online?

CLASSICAL LITERATURE (ANTIQUITY) Where should I start? The fundamental works Where should I start? The mythology-oriented works Where should I start? Mythology, but make it non-greek Where should I start? The translation edition A very touristic overview of Ancient Greek literature Different texts for Antigone Different texts for Elektra  Different texts and translations for The Odyssey

CLASSIC [? who cares] BOOKS (ALL ERAS) First things first : a few favourites And works in translation : a few more favourites Where should I start? My first classics A very touristic overview of literature reading Modern classics Reading women : a few favourites ; wait, much more Reading men : a few favourites Children literature : a few favourites ; more Experimental literature Where should I start? English and US literature  Where should I start? Modern Italian literature Where should I start? German and Austrian literature Where should I start? Russian literature Where should I start? Irish literature I’m terribly unknowledgeable about? Japanese literature Where should I start? Renaissance literature Where should I start? French literature for intermediate level Where should I start? French Medieval literature Where should I start? Victorian literature Where should I start? Contemporary literature Reading classics to children Children literature for adults (?) A bit of myth, a bit of fairy tale Short-length classics ; more here Short stories One last thing: books I don’t want to check out

POETRY First things first : a few favourites Second things second : a bunch of recs Where should I start? Poetry Learning French? Easy French poetry Lesbian French poetry Russian poetry : a few favourites Narrative poems ; much more Mystic poems Poems about separation Poems about love Poems about happiness Poems about exile Poems about poetry

DRAMA First things first : a few favourites

NON-FICTION First things first : a few favourites ; more recent On translation ; on poetry and music translation On literary analysis and adaptation  On first-level literary analysis and French movements On biographies and diaries ; more here ; and more? On writing theory and another one On art history On reader-response theory On feminism (it’s old) Very lacking, but on female history On witches On Sufism Literary interviews Essays

YEARLY SUMMARY Best of 2018 : Prose Summary of 2018 Best of 2017 : Fiction Best of 2017 : Poetry Best of 2016 : Fiction Best of 2016 : Poetry 2016 Summer reading list 2015 - 2016 awaited releases Best of 2015 : Fiction Best of 2015 : Poetry

THEMATIC LISTS By character Works featuring Persephone Works featuring Kassandra Works featuring male protagonists written by women Works featuring the House as a character Works featuring mermaids Works featuring musicians Works featuring the femme fatale archetype Works featuring female villains Works with Nature as a character Works with supernatural entities as a human double Works with introspective characters Works with narcissistic characters Romances featuring softer male protagonists Trope : Star-crossed lovers Trope : Friends to lovers Trope : Villainous love Trope : Toxic mother figure Trope : adaptating Beauty and the Beast Trope : adaptating Bluebeard By theme LGBTQ+ (a terribly old and lacking list) Books taking place in a single building Books taking place in one House Books taking place in a high school Books about seeing into the Future Books by the sea (and the few pirates) Books set in Paris Books about girlhood Books about introspection and self-discovery Books about melancholy and sadness Books about happiness and hope Books with symbolism and atmosphere Books about moral corruption and spiritual decadence Books about sex politics and philosophy Books about the female rage Books about or taking place during World War I Books featuring suicides Poems for mothers Poems about poetry Great love stories Unusual love stories Idealised, bittersweet love ; more By genres Rewriting Greek and Roman myths Rewriting Fairy Tales ; and again Writing and rewriting Arthuriana Favourites free-to-play text-based games Gothic and neo-gothic Southern Gothic Magical realism Dystopias Young Adult Horror novels (but check the gothic instead) Crime novels Medieval historical fiction Just, like, sappy stuff

By context Beach reading Travel reading Halloween reading (spooky!) Winter reading Summer reading ; another Lockdown reading (you can still ask!) By book Books similar to The Secret History Books similar to Wuthering Heights ; again Books similar to A Grief Observed Books similar to The Brothers Karamazov Books similar to On Being Ill Books similar to Eros the Bittersweet Books similar to Dracula Excerpts similar to Dido and Aeneas parting in the Aeneid Recommended editions of Romeo and Juliet Recommended editions of Shakespeare’s Sonnets Recommended editions of Wuthering Heights Recommended translations of Tristan and Yseult Lit criticism on Dorian Gray Lit criticism on Sonnets to Orpheus Books adapted to the screen (1) Books adapted to the screen (2) By author Favourite French writers Favourite Contemporary writers What to read? By Women French writers What to read? By Anne Carson (And some prep reading for Anne Carson) What to read? By Richard Siken What to read? By Roland Barthes What to read? By Agatha Christie What to read? By E. A. Poe What to read? By Daphné du Maurier What to read? By Sylvia Plath What to read? By Priya Sarukkai Chabria What to read? By Hélène Cixous What to read? On and by Branwell Brontë If you love Anne Carson If you love Angela Carter  If you love Louise Glück  If you love Virginia Woolf  If you love Sylvia Plath  If you love Marguerite Duras If you love Emile Zola If you love Colette

I didn’t have it in myself to go with grace.

Loving Vincent (2017) Directed by Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman

look i love all the hargreeves siblings equally but, respectfully, this is a luther hargreeves hate blog xoxo

the song of achilles / madeline miller

I really want to boost this indie game called Venba that is currently in development at Visai Games.

It’s a narrative game about cooking, where you play as an Indian mom who has moved to Canada in the 1980s. Your recipe book is damaged, so you’ll have to restore those lost recipes, while also having branching conversations with your family, and of course, cooking Indian food.

There’s a Steam page for the game up here, and here’s the developers’ Twitter.

This is the sort of game that can easily fly under the radar, so please help boost an original game with a unique premise!

Conjunction: Jupiter and Saturn

Credit: Vladimir Mach