Sunday 21 June 2020

Nerd Church - A Short Ramble on Father's Day



Happy Father's Day!

This post is gonna be short and ramble-y because I have a migraine and it sucks. 

I'll be fine in a day or two, but I need to write this post now, when I feel like I've been hit by a shovel, which is great timing. 😅

And sorry if this post looks a little strange - migraines affect your vision with obstructions (like blindspots/sunspots,) light sensitivity, and colour differences, so if things look a little odd, then it's because I physically can't see the post or graphics in the way I normally would.




'A Short Ramble on Father's Day' against a wooden floor background, complete with mucky boot prints




I love my dad.

I know that, sadly, a lot of people have less-than-ideal relationships with their dad. A lot of people have no relationship with their dad. And a lot of people understandably don't want a relationship with their dad.

A lot of dads, likewise, may have mixed feelings about their relationships with their kids.

A lot of people have also lost their fathers, or their children, and that hurts.

So hugs all round, dearest nerdlets, hugs all round!

Friday 19 June 2020

Friday Fics Fix - Pride Fics Fest: Fics With Trans+ Characters



It's another Friday in June my dearest nerdlets, which means that it's another instalment in my Pride Fics Fest - and this time we're gonna look at fics with Trans+ main characters.




'Fics Fix!' with purple background and white lightning bolt shape




Fanfiction is here to support our Trans and Non-Binary siblings!

Fanfiction can be a place where Trans+/NB+ people can find the kind of representation that is largely not present in mainstream media.

Thursday 18 June 2020

Comics Wrap-Up - Slowly Words Break Through, Walls Break Down

 ***All Amazon.com links in this post are commission links. This means I earn commission from purchases made in the US*** 

Please do not use my links to make UK purchases.




'Comics Wrap-Up' with lined-notebbok-style background and heart shapes in speech bubbles


It's Thursday. Somehow it's still 2020. Let's get some comics-y goodness!

Once again this week is only the 'Other Stuff' category - for which, as is traditional, we will blame Loki.

Sunday 14 June 2020

Nerd Church - Supporting Black People, Trans People, and Black Trans People



(Warning: this post discusses racism, Transphobia, and racist, Transphobic, and Transmysogynoiristic murder.)



Brief note before I start: 

Please, please, please remember that we are still in the middle of a global pandemic with Covid 19/Coronavirus - a pandemic that disproportionately takes the lives of People of Colour/BAME people.

Stay safe. 
KEEP SOCIAL DISTANCING - 2m/6ft apart if possible. 
Stay home when you can. 
Wash your hands A LOT. 
Wear a face mask if/when appropriate.






Supporting Black People, Trans People, and Black Trans People




 
Once again, the rights and lives of Black people, Trans people, and Black Trans people, are under threat.

I'm privileged in that I'm a White Cis woman. 

And after all the media attention has died down, I will still be a White Cis woman, and Black people will still be Black, and Trans+ people will still be Trans+.

Friday 12 June 2020

Friday Fics Fix - Pride Fics Fest: Queer Canon!


Welcome back to Pride Fics Fest dearest nerdlets!


This week we're gonna look at those oh-so-amazing canonically Queer characters and relationships, and fanfiction that celebrates that.

For those who don't know, canon is the official stuff that's actually in the book or TV series or film or whatever, explicitly...

...as opposed to stuff where you have to scramble around in the sub-text, or stuff which fandom picks up and Queers all on its lonesome ;)



'Fics Fix!' with purple background and white lightning bolt shape




Let's start with the horror masterpiece I will never shut up about: 2009's unapologetically Queer Megan Fox film, Jennifer's Body.

In 2009, there was a girl named Jennifer Check, and in 2019 I rec'd Big Red by spheeris1 - a fic that is essentially a love letter to this under-appreciated film.

(Seriously, I'm never gonna shut up about this film! I love it so much!)

Thursday 11 June 2020

Comics Wrap-Up - Tell the Neighbours I'm Not Sorry If I'm Breaking Walls Down

 ***All Amazon.com links in this post are commission links. This means I earn commission from purchases made in the US*** 

Please do not use my links to make UK purchases.




'Comics Wrap-Up' with lined-notebook-style background and speech bubbles containing heart symbols


It's Thursday. I think we could all still do with some heroes. Let's get that comics-y goodness!

And once again this week, everything is in the 'Other Stuff' category, for which we will blame Loki - as is traditional here on Dora Reads ;)

Sunday 7 June 2020

Nerd Church - Paul Robeson and His Beloved Wales



1920s London. An unlikely meeting that would forge an unbreakable bond.

I figured, given the ongoing racial injustices and prejudice against Black people, that now was a good time to talk about and highlight a Black hero of the (mainly White) Welsh miners: Paul Robeson.

Some of the details are a little disputed - it's become its own mythology over the years - but I've tried to go with the consensus, and there're resources at the end of the post if you're interested to learn more!

(And yes, she's talking about Wales again!)



'Paul Robeson and His Beloved Wales' next to a photo of Paul Robeson onstage at the National Eisteddfod in 1958

Image of Paul Robeson: Geoff Charles (1909-2002)/Wikimedia Commons




Paul Robeson was a Black American actor, singer, athlete, and political activist - including Civil Rights and Socialist activism. 

He is also a national hero here in Wales, especially among the older generations.