Scribble #128

Beggars can't be choosers.

Bigots can choose. Not to be bigots, that is. The marginalised people they are prejudiced against, are unreasonably, persistently, stubbornly hostile towards, have no choice.

No one's identity - no one's humanity - is a political agenda. No one's existence is up for debate.

Fascists have a choice. They can choose not to hate. They can choose to think before they speak. They can also choose to get help for their serious issues, their closemindedness and self-hatred. They can choose to educate themselves. Better themselves. For everyone's sake. (How any kind of fascism, any kind of bigotry, is still acceptable nowadays, it is baffling. It is to do with fear; fearmongering and hateful propaganda, I am sure, as it always has been. History keeps repeating itself. Society keeps cannibalising itself, wallowing in its violence, its toxicity, over and over again. It is frustrating and exhausting. Will we ever learn? Will we ever get better?)

I think we could all potentially be much happier - much calmer, more collected, more contented, and much healthier in mind and heart - if we read books. More books. (By which I mean books not written by politicians, or radio personalities, or privileged, entitled, out-of-touch white male TV personalities over fifty.)

Sympathy, empathy, kindness, caring, sharing, and love - and ending capitalism - are key to saving humanity.

Doesn't anybody read anymore?

Always expand your horizons. Listen to people who are different from you. Differences should be embraced. All are equal. Life should not be made up of predators and prey; of "superiors" and "inferiors". There are always new things to learn. New things to discover. There are no limitations to the human experience. To human life. Isn't that wonderful and amazing?

Scribble #127

No one deserves to die for being who they are.

No one is ever truly alone. No one can ever be alone.

Diversity in humans is a wonderful thing to be embraced and accepted.

Don't hate. Listen.

Remember love. And children.

Narcissism and megalomania are self-loathing, not self-love. Narcissists' rage and destruction affect and erode both outwardly and inwardly.

Scribble #126

Choose love and kindness, always.

Wildlife Park

Somewhere I went with my family today, with some things to see. We all need a day out to see animals once in a while.

Here is merely a sample of the photos I took 😄😊

🐖🐷🐈🐢🦅🦙🐁🦎🦜🦌🐅🐀🐎🫏🦆

Graphic Novel Review - 'Cursed Princess Club Volume One' by LambCat

Well, my quest to consume all female-led media, particularly in the fantasy genre, was bound to lead me to a manga-inspired webtoon comic called 'Cursed Princess Club', now published in paperback, in volumes. Thankfully, it turns out to be much more substantial, nuanced, multilayered, multiflavoured, heartwarming, loving, and funny than I had anticipated. Indeed, there are some genuinely clever, hilarious moments - character moments - in this sweet, colourful, princess-y tome. It's like if anime took Disney hostage to produce a lovely satire, and 'She-Ra and the Princesses of Power' helped a bit.

Basically, the plot is: Once upon a time, in the Pastel Kingdom, there are three teenage princesses - Maria the blonde, green-eyed one, Lorena the purple-haired, blue-eyed one, and Gwendolyn the, um, unconventional one - plus a pink-haired, highly effeminate, literally shining prince, Jamie, and their loving but overprotective father, King Jack, who wants what is best for his daughters. Despite never having let them out of the palace, or date anyone, he has arranged for them to meet and hopefully marry three princes from the Plaid Kingdom, to unify the kingdoms and strengthen bonds. The princes, Blaine, Lance, and Frederick, are hot, so the girls are into the plans for arranged marriages.

But of course things do not turn out so well, at least for Gwendolyn.

The confident Gwen, who has lived her whole life, in a sheltered upbringing, being compared only favourably to her sisters, and has a family who adores her and never comments on her appearance - to everyone at the palace, she truthfully is just as beautiful as her sisters, and anyway, all princesses are beautiful by nature, right?... she hears herself being called ugly, for the first time, by one of the princes, her would-be fiancé Frederick.

The shock sends her running into the haunted forest behind the palace, where she encounters the Cursed Princess Club. The club is for princesses who have had curses put on them which have not been successfully lifted, or they are just not conventionally attractive, not conventionally young and pretty. It's so diverse that it even includes a cursed prince (it's not stated if he's trans, and all indications point to "this is not the case", though it would have made his inclusion even better). Eventually, Gwen becomes a member of this secret ragtag, fun-loving club, full of weirdos sticking together.

Appearance wise, Princess Gwendolyn may fit more into the traditional witch mould, or even a goblin, than the princess archetype. She has green skin, green limp, thinning hair, pointy teeth, pointy ears, sunken eyes, is thin and sickly-looking, and critters like rats and possums get stuck in her hair, often making nests. But she is a princess, and her family, and the club members, don't treat her any differently for her "discrepancies". And she is not cursed.

Or is she?

She is loved, regardless.

It becomes clear that Gwen is the protagonist of 'Cursed Princess Club' the further the reader reads. Her sisters Maria and Lorena don't have much to offer in personality, other than they are pretty, silly, shallow, boy-crazy teenage princesses, played for parody, and they are not really distinguishable. Except Lorena is a little more assertive, prideful, and aggressive, even militant, and can kick butt when she needs to. (Noteworthy point: Why are Maria's attracting animal friends to her, and Lorena's growing flowers around her wherever she sleeps, not brought up again after their introductions?) I'm sure there'll be extra, bounteous moments of them subverting expectations and surprising the reader in future instalments, but for now, the princess that is focused on most potently when delving into 'Cursed Princess Club''s themes and messages is Gwen.

She is undeniable proof that looks are not everything; she is kind, caring and sensitive, and is an amazing chef. It's kind of scary how much I relate to her, or how my shy and insecure teenage self with a still-limited-and-naïve understanding of the world would relate to her.

Gwen is the best princess. She is confident in her abilities, especially in her cooking. She definitely becomes more nervous and insecure once she realises she is "ugly" and different to the rest of her pretty, literally picture-perfect family (Frederick mistook her for an evil haunting spirit when he first saw her in her family portrait, and thought that Jamie was the princess for him!). Damn the patriarchy! Hopefully, with the help of the Cursed Princess Club, who are all about supporting each other and being yourself, and with the reminder that her family loves her for who she is, Gwen will grow and develop out of her funk and anxieties.

Be the wonderful person you always were, Gwendolyn!

There are oh so many other details to mention in 'Cursed Princess Club'. Clever, humorous, and plain old--no, plaid old, and pastel-fuelled, colourful and sweet and cute details. Such as:

Prince Jamie is the world's greatest and most intuitive food critic, and at one point he eats a poisoned apple from a random witch, and must be revived at a "wake", meaning a ceremony where people have to line up to kiss him awake - his one true love, a chocolate-strawberry swirl waffle, does the trick (BTW, his fave food is called a "Magical Friendship Volcano Surprise", the sweetest waffle stack in existence), and he has the potential to be paired with Prince Frederick; the founder of the Cursed Princess Club, Princess Calpernia of the Polygon Kingdom, aka Prez, has a mysterious past, linked to her mysterious, not-yet established curse; Princess Jolie of the Lace Kingdom is cursed to have gaping dark holes where her eyes should be, and things get stuck in them; fifteen-year-old Princess Abbi of the Neon Kingdom is cursed to look like an old lady; Saffron of the Foliage Kingdom is the only prince we see in the club, and his curse is he has an evil green hand; Princess Syrah of the Metallic Kingdom has a Pinocchio curse, and she is awesome and loose and promiscuous; Princess Thermidora is a lobster princess who is cursed to look like a human, in a twisted take on 'The Little Mermaid' (she even likes to sing 'Under the Sea', much to the confusion of the other princesses), only her lobster claws remain (and she looks and acts like Princess Scorpia from 'She-Ra and the Princesses of Power'); a Princess P.A.N.D.A. mascot and keychain; two bickering palace guards who are dressed like nightshift delivery men, one of whom is secretly in love with one of the Pastel princesses; Laverne the prettified Plaid Kingdom llama (effing comedy genius, that!); the Plaid Kingdom's King Leland, who is an abusive father, in contrast to King Jack, yet the two are really close buddies; a 'Thirsty Thirsty Princess' board game; slumber parties; trips to an amusement park, with a haunted house, with vampire clowns; pies; waffles; cookies; wine; soup etc...

And perhaps most surprising, there is an ending chapter all about Frederick's life. It does a magnificent job explaining why he is the way he is, and making me actually like him. Far from being a shallow prick, he's in fact a sensitive soul, who loves books, and has insecurities and issues that stem from being compared to his "manly", princely older brothers. He is verbally and physically abused by his toxic masc simp of a father.

He and Gwen might have a shot after all, if only he can let go of his prior conceptions and assumptions of beauty, and his idea of needing to be saved by a "beautiful, angelic" woman who'll lift him up and show him compassion. He needs to understand that Gwen is not scary, but shy like he is.

But personally, I'm rooting for Frederick to get together with Jamie instead. I totally ship them. Angel cake shipping! (My moniker for them, and it might make sense to those who have read the full volume).

Wait, who is Princess Nell of the Striped Kingdom, the loner Cursed Princess Club member with the red eyes who appears twice? What is her story and curse? TBE (to be explained) in future chapters/volumes, no doubt.

So much fun to be had with 'Cursed Princess Club'. So much to be invested in.

So much to love and adore. It's a joy. A tasty, sparkly cake of a comic.

You bet I recommend it!

Sisterhood! Female friendships! Fathers and daughters! (No mothers, though, as the sisters' mother is dead - typical - before the events of the story.) Different girls and different boys! Hurrah!

Quotes:



GWEN: Maria! Lorena! Wait!! [...] I appreciate all the effort you guys are spending to make sure the princes like us, but... I think we're fine as we are, without any special tactics or... butt architecture...

LORENA: Hmmm, I suppose we do each have our own natural charms... [...] Maria's the graceful one. I'm the strong one. Gwen's the crafty one. And Jamie's the pretty one.



KING LELAND: I may be forcing my children to marry for political alliances... [...] but I wouldn't have my eldest son courting a sixteen-year-old. I'm not a monster.



Final Score: 4/5

Graphic Novel Review - 'Nothing Special, Vol. 1: Through the Elder Woods' by Katie Cook

Spoilers ahead.

Content warning: mentions of sexual harassment and assault. This review, as well as this comic, is not for children to read.

So let me get this straight:

The story ends with the "heroine", Callie, murdering her mother, whom she (and the reader) literally just met, and is literally the only other female character in the entire book, and this is witnessed and encouraged by four "good" male characters, three of which want to have sex with Callie (yes I'm counting the talking radish ghost in this, as he is extremely possessive, clingy, and acts as a knight to her, arising jealousy in the main male love interest, I-can't-believe-my-biggest-competition-is-a-dead-vegetable-actual-quote Declan), and the fourth is her overprotective father. The mother, who is a tree (yes just go with it), is apparently the main villain all along, even though her introduction comes way too late into the story, and she is barely foreshadowed at all, and she wants to kill everyone and everything to absorb and possess their spirits, or something, and for funzies. Not only does Callie feel no remorse whatsoever upon brutally murdering her mother - stabbing her in the chest, where there is blood, despite her, you know, being a tree, albeit a fantastical one - her mother, whom, reminder, the girl had no idea even existed about five minutes ago, but it is played for laughs. The whole climax of the story is played for laughs. The reader can't take anything seriously, and it is underwhelming, barely a payoff. No emotions, except tee-hee, murder!, and the conclusion to the love story between Callie and Declan, while the other three male characters, including two who have been obnoxiously vying for Callie's affections throughout the book (because she's a "muse", a super special magical snowflake (quite literally as she has white hair), and a device for others to use despite her supposedly being the main character in both this story and in her own right, but this turns out to be not that important), make stupid and annoying comments on the side.

Callie may not belong to her "crazy", murderous, monstrous tree mother, but she surely belongs to her smart, secretive, "kindly" human father, and her persistent, clingy dude love interests!

The volume teases a sequel (yeah, sorry, but I don't care about any of these annoying, self-absorbed pests). It ends on a cliffhanger, with Declan and Lasser, who is a chauvinistic demon prince who inexplicably becomes friends with Callie and Declan despite sexually harassing Callie at every turn and to whom the word boundaries is set a universe away from his dictionary, rushing to save Callie from the advances of one of Lasser's eighty six brothers, as it is a foregone conclusion that he would also want to sexually harass and even assault her because she's a super special "muse".

Wow. I did not expect anything published in 2024 to be so blatantly antifeminist.

And it was created by a woman, and a mother!

'Nothing Special' may try to pretend that Callie is a hero and her own person, not letting anyone control her, dictate her life, or tell her what to do and influence her, but I've read the comic, and I can tell you that none of these informed attributes are true. She is reactionary, is pushed and pulled by the weak, limp, insubstantial plot, and she constantly needs help from the males in her life and on her quest. The only agency and drive she shows is when she sets out to find her missing father, but that's all the reader gets in making them care about her.

I want the Callie from the very beginning of the comic, when she's a little girl and running around all excited and playful and curious and funny and creative, before her overprotective and secretive father puts a stop to all that. Likely unintentional on the comic's part, he is the one who crushes Callie's spirit and sense of adventure, up to her late teens, before he disappears and sets the quest in motion. His highly questionable parenting is also treated lightly and played for laughs, for very little he appears.

Callie's fellow supernatural friend in high school (in apparently our own normie world, containing modern pop culture... the book doesn't worldbuild well or explain how different realms work at all) and love interest, Declan, who is keeping secrets from her as well, is kind of sweet, in a typical nerdy fashion, and is certainly the best option for Callie in the stupid love quadrangle. But that's not saying much, as he is a Nice GuyTM, obsessed with Callie physically (and has been for over ten years) and wanting her as his prize, as more than friendship. This is at its most clear when Lasser complains to him that Callie kept asking to be taken back to him when Lasser kidnapped her (yes, this happens, complete with a forced bridal gown, and still they become companions), like, why? when "wimpy" Nice GuyTM Declan is no one special, not like the demon prince with a vast inferiority complex and insecurities. Declan smiles at this. She chose him over her kidnapper, so obviously she must feel the same way towards him as he does her. This must make her his prize. Priorities! While this is happening, while the two boys are talking about her, Callie is sleeping right in front of them. Nothing creepy there! Nothing reminding me of 'Twilight' about that!

I can't stress enough how creepy and invasive Lasser is towards Callie. Among the things I already mentioned about him - that he's her stalker, kidnapper, and sexual harasser - he constantly refers to her parents as his future in-laws, despite being told repeatedly not to. He is obsessed with her. He treats her like an object; to him, she is not a person with her own wants, thoughts and feelings. He consistently, persistently ignores her rejections to his advances, her protests and spurnings. He never accepts no as an answer. At one point he affirms they sleep together to "conserve body heat", before he is slapped away by Declan, the jealous Nice GuyTM, not her.

This isn't funny. It's sick. I feel sick just typing it out. None of this should be treated as comedic relief. In something made in the early 2020s.

To the bitter end Lasser insists that Callie is his and his alone; his muse and future bride, his inspiration, his woman-behind-every-great-man (another actual quote from the comic) in his own "heroic story". Callie is far too lenient and tolerant to him, and I have no effing clue why. Eff off, Lasser. The MeToo movement would like to have a word with you.

Callie is seventeen-years-old, too, and while the comic gives no info on how old Lasser is supposed to be, the fact that he is a supernatural, 100% nonhuman creature, a demon or something similar, means he could be any age, including over hundreds of years old, or a thousand. Even if he is considered to be young, a "boy", in his species' years, how old he is in comparison to human years needs to be addressed. Either way, and even disregarding this problem in the myriad sea of problematic crap that is Lasser's treatment of Callie, he seriously could not be any more of a creep.

Another thing I don't like about 'Nothing Special' is the use of mild-to-moderate swear words throughout, and the F-word is almost said a few times towards the end. It's not funny or clever, not in the slightest. This is marketed as a children's/middle grade comic, at least by Goodreads. It is not for young children, stop it.

'Nothing Special' isn't nearly as funny as it clearly thinks it is, either. The humour is as obnoxious as most of the "characters".

AND WTF: Apparently a fight with a unicorn happened on Callie and Declan's quest (I refuse to acknowledge Lasser), and it's off-page! All the reader is given is the aftermath and the characters talking about it, no transitions indicated. Well, screw you too, comic. I mean, is this supposed to be funny? Show me the unicorn! Show me the unicorn fight! What is this?! I thought this is an epic fantasy story - why all the shortcuts and low effort put in! Show me something more than tiny vegetable spirits, sexual assaulter demons, and genocidal, sociopathic tree mums! The blink-and-you-miss-it montage containing one-panel spirit bucks and chimeras hardly count.

Oh, and how did Callie's dad go missing in the first place? Who took him? Was he taken, as is implied when Callie first discovers him missing from their home? But then the tree mum (whose name is Lyla, but whatever, literally who cares), upon finally showing up near the end, says he was in her territory, so she took him in and absorbed him into her mossy roots (why she didn't just kill him right away when that was her plan all along, I don't know). How did the tree mum get a hold of him? Wait, what was he doing around her territory to begin with? He had stayed well away from her for years to protect Callie, so... what? How did the human and the tree meet and become close enough to produce a child? And without the mum killing the extremely-poor-judge-of-character dad, as she's wont to do? I don't understand. Character motivation, consistent character motivations, reasons to care about character motivations - I need these in my stories! Everything is so contrived, and messy and poorly planned out.

There's overexplaining things in fantasy stories, and then there's not really explaining anything when it is needed in fantasy stories, and 'Nothing Special' does the latter in spades.

So, there you go: my middling, random, confused review of the middling, random, confused 'Nothing Special'. It is unfortunately my 'The Last Witch: Fear & Fire' of 2024, in that I don't get how an "all-ages" (justification needed) epic fantasy comic this muddled and carelessly thought-out could be so well received and well liked. And it, along with 'Hooky', is another published epic fantasy webtoon comic that I hate and everybody else seems to like.

The few positives I can give 'Nothing Special' are the swift, clean, polished cartoony artwork (though I don't get why everyone looks like they are always blushing), and the relationship between Callie and Declan, which is nice and sweet sometimes, if you can overlook the Nice GuyTM-ness dynamic of it. I long for a guy to call me "enthralling" someday...

Regardless, I can't condone heteronormative, rape culture-fuelled, antifeminist works of fiction like this in 2024. We've done better by now; for, like, over ten years.

No doubt the author worked very hard on creating 'Nothing Special'. Sadly, despite it being a fantasy with a female lead, it is definitely not for me.

Final Score: 2/5

EDIT: A couple more criticisms: At the beginning of the story, when Declan explains to Callie that his grandmother took him to see a therapist when he started seeing vegetable ghosts, the word therapist is emphasised, in bold text. Why? Again this is a 2024 publication, there should absolutely be no shock, stigma and shame in seeking help for mental and emotional health problems. It's thrown in there, and oh what a surprise it's never mentioned again. And in another explanation that Declan gives Callie much later on, about his mysterious fairy wings, he says he must have gotten them from his mother's side of the family. There is no reason given whatsoever why he assumes it's his mother and not his father (or both) that he got his supernatural traits from; both his parents died before he could remember them. It's beyond vague and lazy. It's not good writing, is what I'm saying.

Graphic Novel Review - 'The Happy Shop' by Brittany Long Olsen

'The Happy Shop' is a deceptively simple children's comic, in look, premise, and characterisation.

When I heard it being compared to 'Inside Out', my all-time favourite film, I knew I had to check it out. And indeed, after reading, I can see the why behind the analogy, for 'The Happy Shop' also explores the intricacies of human emotions, and the life experiences connected to those emotions, and why happiness is not the only necessary and important emotion to have. Not all the time, anyway, for no emotion lasts forever. That's not realistic and healthy. Through honest communication and understanding, all feelings and experiences can ultimately lead to happiness and relief. Catharsis is key. Adapting to change, and appreciating what you have, are other messages that 'The Happy Shop' and 'Inside Out' expound.

They're also both about eleven-year-old girls.

Darcy and her mum have just moved from America to England (it's never explicitly stated where they are and where they originally came from, but from the setting's aesthetic, the buildings, the road signs, the mention of fog, the constant rain, the school uniform, and that the currency is pounds (£), it is fairly obvious that fish-out-of-water Darcy is in a quaint English town). She is miserable and feels like she will never fit in. Until, when out for a walk and an errand, she is drawn towards The Happy Shop, owned by the elderly sisters Flora and Frida, where they sell literal jars of happiness. That is, magic jars that capture a person's happy feeling the moment they experience it, in the form of a little glowing orb. Every happy feeling is different, of a different category and description, and The Happy Shop sells each of them to anyone who wants to feel them, whenever they visit the shop. Darcy accidently breaks a jar when she first enters the shop, and is given a job there as a cleaner to pay off what she owes.

It seems she came into The Happy Shop just in time, for business has been slower than ever before in all its generations of being open, and the young girl may inadvertently provide the answer, the progress, the change, needed for Flora and Frida to keep their shop. Maybe people need more than happy feelings?

What unexpected solutions. What unexpected turnabouts. And what an unexpected joy 'The Happy Shop' turned out to be!

So simple is this 140-page comic - it is mostly focused on Darcy, her mum, Flora, Frida, and The Happy Shop; we hardly even see Darcy at school, nor any other kids her age - and yet it isn't. I dare you not to find it heartwarming and satisfying by the end of it. I really like that the lovely, motherly Flora and the grumpy, cranky Frida are both spinster sisters, and absolutely nothing is made of it. (No doubt Darcy will one day inherit the shop). As well as exploring and understanding emotions, 'The Happy Shop' also deals with the issue of homelessness. It is a compassionate, careful and caring book.

Reading this understated amethyst jewel really feels like coming home. To me, it also feels like walking around home, on a quiet spring day, and going into any old little shop. Or in the new witchy/Wiccan shop that opened in a small alley and corner in my hometown.

Such love, and surprises to be found in every corner in 'The Happy Shop'.

And like 'Inside Out', it needs no real antagonist. It is just fine as it is, in analysing its themes of human nature, and emotional development and maturity (though it does contain less conflict and stakes than in 'Inside Out').

A beautiful, illuminating, quiet, cosy, comforting, touching thing. I think this quote from Breena Bard when reviewing it says it best:


'Abounding with empathy and kindness, Olsen's magical tale will warm readers' hearts and expand their understanding of happiness.'


Final Score: 4/5