Comics Wrap-Up - A Fortune For Your Disaster

 

It's Thursday, I'm tired, let's get some superhero-y comics-y goodness!

Nerd Church - War Is Failure

 

(Warning: this post discusses war, violence, and the Holocaust)

Since it's Remembrance Sunday here in the UK, I think it's time we all admitted something: war is failure.

Yes, even the conflicts we 'win.'

Yes, even the conflicts that people had to get involved in.

Yes, even World War 2.

Friday Fics Fix - Any Port (Cabin) In A Storm

'“So let me see if I’ve got this straight. You think a witch has lured us here to her cabin so she can fatten us up with fast food, then kill us and eat us for Sunday brunch?”

Sam blinks. “Yes?”'

Not entirely sure what I just read...

But then, reading the author's note... they're not entirely sure what they just wrote either - so at least we're all on the same page!

This is a The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (TFATWS) SamBucky fic. Because this is my blog, and I choose the fics. 😎😅

(Fandom notes: SamBucky is the name of a sexual and/or romantic relationship between Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes from the MCU (Marvel movies etc.))

Comics Wrap-Up - I Forget All About The Storm Outside

 

It's Thursday, it's still 2021, let's get some comics-y superhero-y goodness!

Nerd Church - No Time For A COP Out, There Is No Planet B

 

By now, you've probably heard of COP 26 - the global climate summit taking place in Glasgow.

(And if you haven't, it might be a good idea to ask yourself why your usual news source hasn't told you about it.)

COP26 started on 31st October, and will end on 12th November.

The general vibes (and I may be wrong about this, so please bare that in mind,) are that most of the headline agreements happened in the 1st week, with the world leaders present, with the details and logistics being hashed out by the civil servants, etc., in the 2nd.

Friday Fics Fix - Frosted Fears

 

'The flicker catches, spreads, a surge of certainty that this, all of this, is wrong, that there’s something missing, as though he’s been looking at everything through a blur, like the heat-haze above an open fire, ever shifting and obscuring the truth.

Tony grabs Loki by the collar, shoves him, not nearly as hard as he’s capable of, but hard enough.'

It's been a surprisingly long time since I rec'd FrostIron.

It's time to rectify that 😉

(Fandom notes: FrostIron is a sexual and/or romantic relationship between Tony Stark and Loki from the Marvel movies. After the initial 'WTF?' you will realise that it actually makes a lot of sense.)

Comics Wrap-Up - Taking A Ride To My Old Haunts

 

It's Thursday, it's November, let's get some comics-y superhero-y goodness, right here on Dora Reads!

Month in Review(s) - October 2021

(Warning: this post discusses grief, bereavement, Covid 19, mental health, and general existential crises.)

October was not the easiest month I've ever had - but then, it was far from the hardest, so that's a plus point.

We've been dealing with some of the last admin of my nan's estate, and every time I feel like I've come to terms with her being gone, it's like another gut-punch.

Because I hadn't seen her in-person for so long due to Covid, sometimes it kind of still feels like I'm just waiting for the pandemic to be over, to be able to visit her.

Accepting that I'll never be able to hug her again, after waiting over a year to be able to do so is... difficult.

Seven Years of Blogging! (aka My Blog Anniversary Post)

(Warning: this post references: the affects of Depression, grief and bereavement, 2020 in general, Nazis and internet trolls)

Seven years ago, in a decision I can’t remember making, using reasoning I don’t remember at all, I started this book blog.

(Yes, this is technically a book blog! I’m just very good at stirring the bookish content into the non-bookish content. 

Like sneaking veggies into your food or something... I don't know where that analogy is going, tbh 😅)

I named it Diary of a Reading Addict. I don’t remember why.

Later, I changed it to Dora Reads – which I felt was better for a bunch of reasons. (I never have just one reason for anything!)

Friday Fics Fix - Just Can't Lose Him

 

'The first time Michael saw him after it happened was on the boardwalk. Three months, two days.'

This is the last Fics Fix of October, and Halloween is just a few days away, so it seems like the perfect time for some Queer vampires!

So this week we're talking one of my faves - the film The Lost Boys. (Which, yes, is Queer af - deny it all you want, you can't change the truth.)

Comics Wrap-Up - I Burned All The Place Down 'Cause I'm Too F**king Hot

 

It's Thursday, we're still standing, and this is Dora Reads - so let's get some superhero-y, comics-y goodness!

Nerd Church - Embracing the Minimum And Learning To NOT Go The Extra Mile

I don’t half-a** things.

It’s not in my make-up. When I do something – work, writing, whatever – I put my everything into everything.

And that’s good. I like to think it shows in what I do.

But as part of my on-going attempts to learn that over-working is an unhealthy coping mechanism...

...and that I need to, y’know, not work myself to exhaustion, I’ve been trying to figure out what it means to put my all into things without all the negatives.

And I’ve realised something – I can do the minimum (or, at least, not the maximum,) without half-a**ing it.

Friday Fics Fix - What If Zemo Was In the Zombie Apocalypse (With Bucky)?

 

'...he smiled, apparently amused. “The apocalypse seems to make for strange bedfellows. A Sokovian Baron and a Winter Soldier walk into a bar.”'

Due to the current vastness of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU - the Marvel movies) sometimes it can be difficult to explain where, within the sprawling fandom and its sub-fandoms, fan-created content fits in.

This week's fic is mostly based on the Marvel's What If..? zombies episode, but also reaches into the main continuity, and hoiks out Zemo, dropping him into the zombie-ness so that he can play too.

While Zemo was present in Captain America: Civil War, he really came into his own in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (TFATWS.) Civil War has happened in this universe (or at least, the fic author presumes,) but TFATWS hasn't.

Comics Wrap-Up - They Treat Me Like If I Did Something Criminal

 

It's Thursday, this is still Dora Reads, let's get some comics-y, superhero-y goodness!

* = commission link

Nerd Church - There's So Much Noise

The world is full of noise, right now.

We manage to make a lot of noise which is only partly literally audible.

But the world is full of noise, all the same.

I guess it always was.

It's just that we gave each other (metaphorical) megaphones and made it a shouting contest.

And then we beamed those megaphones into your homes, your businesses, the palms of your hands, 24 hours a day.

Friday Fics Fix - Loving Losers

 

'..."Uh, yup." Richie shrugged. "Just all reconnected this weekend for some good old fashioned sewer clown fighting and murder."'

I love the IT movies.

- That's the modern, 2010s, IT parts 1 & 2. 

(Technically the films are IT, and IT: Chapter 2, but you all know what I mean, so expect me just to call them parts 1 & 2 throughout this post.)

I haven't seen the Tim Curry adaptation - though I might get around to it one of these days, purely because Tim Curry. 

I also haven't actually read the Stephen King novel because it's one of those 1000+ page behemoths that you have to kind of psych yourself up to tackle, and I'm yet to summon the sufficient energy and desire to do so.

Again, I might get around to it at some point, since I'm a general Stephen King fan.

Comics Wrap-Up - Risk Something, Take Back What's Yours

 

It's Thursday, this is Dora Reads, let's get some superhero-y, comics-y goodness!

Nerd Church - Why Doesn't the Brahms Doll In 'The Boy' (2016) Freak Me Out?!

(Warning: this post references domestic violence, and discusses elements of horror movies)

* = commission link

The Boy (2016)* is a horror film -

not to be confused with any other films called ‘The Boy’ or ‘Boy’, including, because the world is like this sometimes, The Boy (2015)

- about Greta (played by Lauren Cohan)  – an American chick who escapes her abusive ex by literally fleeing the continent, and taking a job as a nanny in the UK.




Only, when she’s introduced to Brahms, her charge while Mr and Mrs Heelshire -

(that name screams ‘I don’t know what to name these characters, call them something posh,’ doesn’t it?)

- head off on holidays, she’s more than a little weirded-out.




Because the kid she’s supposed to take of? The Boy, Brahms? – Is a porcelain doll.

Cue odd goings on, all alone with Brahms in a secluded mansion, with no mobile phone service and no Internet.

Friday Fics Fix - A Queer Horror Fanfic Rec List

 

Since it's October, and therefore a time for all things spooky and gothic (woohoo!) I thought I'd give you all a little taste of some horror fics.

Some of these are horror in that the specific piece of fanfiction is horror-based, and some of them are actually based on horror media/fandoms. OK? OK.

Oh, and they're all Queer af.

As I’ve mentioned before, Queer people love horror.

(Not all of us, obviously, that would be a sweeping generalisation, and everyone’s different, but a lot of Queer people do love horror. And I mean LOVE it.)

So, horror's Queer, fanfiction's Queer, let's pull some monsters outta the closet! 😉😎😅

Comics Wrap-Up - What You Build, You Lay To Waste

 

It's Thursday, it's October, this is Dora Reads, let's get some superhero-y comics-y goodness!

Month in Review(s) - September 2021

 

September was... like a see-saw.

...And yes, I partly mean that it had ups-and-downs.

Nerd Church - The Writer Diaries: No, I Don't Have A Writing Routine

 

There's a lot of writing advice out there. Like, a lot.

So much so in certain online spaces that sometimes you wonder if anyone's not writing about writing.

But then, I'm writing a blogpost for a sub-series called 'The Writer Diaries' so I'm clearly standing in a glass house and holding a rock, about to lob it over my head. 😅

A lot of the writing advice I've seen around on the *waves hands* general interwebs lately has been about writing routines.

Which wouldn't be a problem - writing routines help a lot of people. 

Except more than a few of them have given me the general impression of 'OMG if you don't have a writing routine then you're writer-ing wrong!'

And? Honestly? F**k that.

So weird.

Friday Fics Fix - Trope Stew With SamBucky (You Know You Love It!)

 

'Bucky’s knife skills are like a well-choreographed dance, smooth and dangerous and beautiful. He moves like water, the knife a true extension of his arm, and it’s all Sam can do not to let his mouth drop open like a goddamn cartoon character.'

 

To the surprise of probably no-one by this point, I'm here to rec you some more The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (TFATWS) - specifically, more SamBucky.

(Look, the inside of my head is essentially a big ball of tangled spaghetti, the confusion of which is relieved by the presence of various fictional characters, who have taken their spots rent-free, and who fight each other for dominance. 

Right now, Sam and Bucky are winning. 😅)

(Fandom Notes: 

SamBucky is a romantic and/or sexual relationship between Sam and Bucky. Hence the name, lol.)

Comics Wrap-Up - Woke Up Today, In A Van

 

It's Thursday, the UK has entered the 'fuel shortage' stage of whatever apocalyptic media it is that we're currently inhabiting, let's get some superhero-y comics-y goodness!

Nerd Church - Of Tigers And Men: 'A Killing In Tiger Bay' and The Cardiff Five

Warning: this post discusses a murder case, and related themes such as blood and violence. 

It also discusses racism, institutional racism, miscarriages of justice, wrongful conviction, borderline torture, and police corruption. 

There are brief references to sex work and drugs.






The name Lynette White is one that’s known all over Wales.

Because of what happened to her, and what happened to five innocent men after her death.

Sadly her life is often brushed over, eclipsed by the crimes of the police officers who were supposed to investigate her murder – police officers who couldn’t even manage to spell ‘Lynette’ correctly when they told the press her name.

Lynette White, a 20 year old White woman who had been working as a sex worker in the docklands area of Cardiff, was found dead on 14th February 1988.

She had been brutally and viciously murdered.

An eye-witness had seen a White man, covered in blood, leaving the flat where Lynette’s body was found on the night she was killed.

She thought he was injured, so had asked if he was alright or if he needed help. He told her he was fine, had just hurt his hand, and said someone was coming to pick him up, so she left it there.

After Lynette was found, the eye-witness told the police what she’d seen, and described the man.




This was almost certainly Jeffrey Gafoor – Lynette’s murderer.

Modern DNA evidence proves that his blood was present at the murder scene, it was through a partial match on the DNA database that police eventually tracked him down.

Jeffrey Gafoor plead guilty to the murder of Lynette White in 2003.




...But the police arrested five men for the murder of Lynette White in November 1988, with the trial starting in 1989.

The Cardiff Five were put on trial for the murder of Lynette White, and the Cardiff Three were wrongfully convicted of her murder.

It was one of the biggest miscarriages of justice the UK has ever seen.

Friday Fics Fix - Umbrellas In A Burning Building

 

'"What’s the plan?" Diego asked. 

Five rolled his eyes. "Stay out of my way."'

Last week I brought you a The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (TFATWS) mission fic, this week it's the turn of The Umbrella Academy (TUA).

Even though we barely see any actual missions in the TUA series, because the Academy is more-or-less defunct by the time we properly pick up the story, mission fics are still a fave of this fandom.

Comics Wrap-Up - Too Good To Be True, What Chance Did You Stand?

 

It's Thursday, this is Dora Reads, so let's get some comics-y, superhero-y goodness!

Nerd Church - Climbing A Mountain To My Grandparents' Grave

 

(Warning: this post deals with themes of death, grief, and graveyards)

I climb a mountain to my grandparents' grave.

We park the car down the street, and walk past rows of houses to the cemetery.

We enter through a gate and a set of stone steps made over a hundred years ago for people with feet as small as mine.

Friday Fics Fix - Sh** Goes Down At The Mall

 

'...he’s able to slink into a shadowed Pottery Barn. He makes it past the faint light cast from the skylights in the atrium, then the pain crashes over him.'

I love a good mission fic.

Especially when it's a The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (TFATWS) mission fic.

Especially when it's a TFATWS mission fic with much Bucky whump and lots of hurt/comfort.

And it was my birthday on Wednesday, so I get exactly what I want 😜😘

Comics Wrap-Up - Bucky's the Man, Look At How Perfect He Lands

 

It's Thursday, this is Dora Reads, let's get some comics-y superhero-y goodness!

Nerd Church - Bad Luck vs Catastrophizing

Warning: this post discusses: Anxiety, intrusive thoughts, cognitive distortions, catastrophizing, knives, spiders, video game deaths, and brief references to mouse killing and car crashes


Disclaimer time: I am not any type of mental health, psychological, scientific, or medical professional. 

I am someone with a blog and personal experience of mental health problems.

Friday Fics Fix - Not That Strange

 

'The great fairy incident of 1822 was depicted in many paintings, the most famous of them being The Seelie Siege of London by an unknown painter with a penchant for alliteration.'

 

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke is a behemoth of a book.

It's over 1000 pages of alternate history, set in a world where the titular characters are bringing magic back to England, against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars.

Comics Wrap-Up - Another Head Aches, Another Heart Breaks

 

It's Thursday, it's September somehow, let's get some comics-y superhero-y goodness!

Month in Review(s) - August 2021

 

August was a month where I had multiple migraines, so that sucks.

But it also was NOT meltingly hot (unlike the first days of September...) so I'll take that! 😅

I know some people were complaining that the skies were dull and not as sunshiney as August normally is, but honestly, if the temperature stays down then I don't care!

(Me + Heat = Angry Bear! Lol.)

Nerd Church - The Long Reach of History, 20 Years After 9/11

Warning: this post contains discussions of terrorism, war, murder, and related themes.

Note:

I have done my best with this post to be respectful to all lives lost and affected. Please do the same in any replies/comments you may leave, either here or on social media.

I've also spoken about historical events and truths that we in the West would rather not hear about - but it's important that we do. History does not stop being true simply because we refuse to look at it.

(Related Post: Nerd Church - I Watched Jojo Rabbit: Part 2, Facing History)

I've tried not to speak out of turn, and instead have stuck to the information I feel I have correctly understood. 

Much of these events are points of historical debate, and these are my interpretations based on the evidence available to me at time of writing.

If any information is incorrect, I welcome corrections from unbiased sources.

Next Saturday is September the 11th, 2021.

20 years ago, on September the 11th, 2001, two planes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York. Another crashed into the Pentagon. A fourth plane came down in a field in Pennsylvania.

I was a kid, and I watched the pictures coming from the US on TV - both understanding and not understanding what I was watching.

Friday Fics Fix - Definitely A Thing

'“...That’s why, if I wanna make sure someone knows who I mean when I’m talking about Bucky, I just say: my brother-in-law.”

Sam heaves an exasperated sigh and puts his head in his hands.'

This is The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (TFATWS) - and I know I have no excuses for how often I read TFATWS fics, but neither do I need any 😉😅

Fangirls are gonna fangirl dearest nerdlets, and I am most definitely a fangirl.

Comics Wrap-Up - A Little Bit of Everything, All of the Time

 

It's Thursday, Comics Wrap-Up is back, this is Dora Reads, let's get an absolutely huge helping of comics-y superhero-y goodness!

Nerd Church - Reasons I Didn't Review Your Book

 

Yes, I'm a book blogger. Yes, I write reviews.

And yes, somehow I lucked out and reviews are some of my highest-traffic content, despite the fact that I write way fewer of them than I intend to.

But I don't review everything I read. Far from it.

There are people who do that - and that's amazing, I admire you so much.

But I can't.

I just can't.

I don't have the energy or the time. And I'm trying not to do the work-myself-into-an-early-grave thing. With varied results.

And whether or not I'll be reviewing your book (metaphorical author who may or may not exist,) will be based on a bunch of factors - because you know that I don't have just one reason for absolutely anything.

(Warning: this post references the affects of Depression/Anxiety)

Friday Fics Fix - An Umbrella Novella

 

'Klaus claps his hands together. “Yay, sibling bonding time!”

Diego levels a stare at the medium. “We’re hunting a serial killer.”'

We return to The Umbrella Academy (TUA) dearest nerdlets!

It turns out that there's a tiny corner of my brain which isn't entirely absorbed by Marvel superheroes, and the Hargreeves siblings from Netflix's adaptation of TUA have reclaimed their residence.

(As they should.)

Nerd Church - Battling My Puritanical Work Ethic (and Society, I Guess)

 

(Warning: this post discusses chronic illness and ableism, as well as negative stereotyping. It also references grief, mental health problems, and Coronavirus/Covid 19)

Friday Fics Fix - Road Trip With Steve Rogers

 

'Bucky's voice in the back of his head told him they both knew that really Steve wasn't going to just leave a kid in a gas station parking lot in the middle of nowhere. Who was the Bucky voice to tell him that? He was right, but still.'

Honestly - and you know I'm always honest with you dearest nerdlets - I don't know what exactly it is that I read, with this fic.

I don't know what exactly to make of... *waves hands to encompass entirety* the whole thing.

Nerd Church - The World Is On Fire

 

So - the world is on fire.

Like, literally.

The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, released this week, is bleak.

The outlook on climate change is bad. Humans are the cause.

We may already be too late to fix some of the affects, we're running out of time to stop others.

We need governments and industry to make massive changes. Fast.

Friday Fics Fix - A SamBucky Rec List

 

I wrote a Sam and/or Bucky rec list a little while back, but I've rec'd a few The Falcon And The Winter Soldier (TFATWS) fics since then - so I figured it's time for a mini-list highlighting some specifically SamBucky fics!

Because in this house, Bucky Barnes is Queer af, OK? OK.

SamBucky, sometimes known as WinterFalcon (though SamBucky is generally preferred - at time of writing anyway - by most fan-creators,) is the name of the ship between, well, Sam and Bucky - which is kind of self-explanatory, really.

Micropoetry - April + July 2021

 ...because I wrote one piece in April, and then there was a big gap 'til the next one in July *shrugs*

Apparently I was having a Shakespearean references moment in April. 

And was feeling things about Wales and our place in the world - and within (or maybe not) the United Kingdom - in July.

Y Ddraig means The Dragon in Welsh. You can check out a pronunciation here if that's something you're interested in.

So - this is what came out of all that! Enjoy!

As always, the poetry is in the alt-text for those who use screenreaders, with / marks showing line breaks

Nerd Church - The Writer Diaries: Musings On Medium (and Blogging in General)

 

In March I started – tentatively – sticking some of my blog archive onto Medium.

Medium is kind of a weird-a** combo of blogging, freelance journalism, and social networking. And it pays.

Don’t ask me the ins-and-outs of how it pays – it uses some form of occult ceremony to distribute the tithes paid by the ardent congregation (only they call it Medium membership, but meh.)

But anywho, it pays.

And since I lost my Amazon UK Associateship (which is a long story which you can read on Dora Reads here, or on Medium here,) I need to work on other modes of monetisation.

Because one of these days I would like to hit an income bracket above ‘Starving Artist™’ – but that’s enough about that.

Friday Fics Fix - Loki, Gender, and The TVA (Fandom Is Here For It)

 

‘But as the days wore on in the TVA, blending together as they did, Loki realized that what they missed was magic.

And the freedom that came with it’

 

I mean… it’s probably no surprise that I’ve been absorbing large amounts of Loki fanfiction as if I can somehow merge them with my DNA.

(Which… I feel like there’s probs a fic out there somewhere that’s based on just that scenario, but I’m too scared to look. Because I’ll find it. 😅)

But if you’re new around here: I’m Marvel trash, btw.

And of the many specific types of Marvel trash that I am – being part of Loki’s Army is right up there.

Month in Review(s) - July 2021

(Warning: this post briefly discusses Coronavirus/Covid 19, and vaccinations/needles)

July was way too fricking hot.

Like, climate change is real - summers were never like this when I was a kid. And while I'm the wrong side of 25, under 30. So some time in the last 10-20 years, things altered majorly with our weather.

It's not normal. It's not pleasant. It's gotta be some sort of punishment from the world for our collective environmental sins.

Nerd Church - Witch-Hunts and Fear: The Emotional Maturity of ParaNorman

 * = commission link

I love the movie ParaNorman*. It’s hugely underappreciated.

This beautiful, weird, stop-motion mash-up of classic horror and kids’ adventure tale is surprisingly emotionally mature.

It explores the way that fear creates hatred, which in turn creates fear and hatred. And that adults can sometimes act out when they’re scared, in ways that can hurt the people – the children – around them.

Warning: this post contains SPOILERS for the film ParaNorman, and discusses: persecution (including religious-based persecution,) Ableism, Transphobia, Homophobia, horror elements, executions, death

I’ve seen ParaNorman quite a few times now – it always strikes me like it’s the first time I’ve seen it.

I think I forget, in between watches, just how good this film is.

First-off, of course, I appreciate anything made with stop-motion animation – stop-motion uses puppets or models, which are imaged, frame-by-frame, as they are moved incrementally by hand.

When the still images are put together (at a rate of around 24 frames per second,) it generates the illusion of movement.

In order to create smooth-looking movement, the positioning of the models from one frame to the next has to be both minute and precise.

Comics Wrap-Up - I Said That Lie Already

 

It's July, it's Thursday, let's find us some comics-y, superhero-y goodness!