Θεία Εὐρυφάεσσα

Happy Pride!

If you want to learn more about Shakespeare’s queerness I recommend Straight Acting: The Hidden Queer Lives of William Shakespeare, by Will Tosh. I’ve just started it but so far it’s doing a great job examining what queerness looked like in Shakespeare’s time.

Ann Arbor Comic Arts Festival

I will be at the Ann Arbor Comic Arts Festival this weekend, June 13-14, at the Downtown Ann Arbor District Library. I will also be running a “how to draw stick-figures” workshop on Saturday, June 13 at 11:30am. I realize that (a) this is very late notice, and (b) most of you aren’t in the Ann Arbor area, but if you are… stop by and say hello! I will have printed mini-comic versions of the above comic available!

Shakespeare Anyone? Podcast

No one listens to Hero, BUT Benedick takes Beatrice’s word. Yes, there’s a moment when he’s like “you don’t mean actually KILL Claudio, amirite ha ha ha?”

But when he realizes she is in earnest HER TESTIMONY IS ENOUGH.

“Enough. I am engaged.”

It is one of the only times we see a woman’s word taken at face value and action taken on her part.

I think what’s delicious about Ilya is his self worth related to these concepts. He thinks he’s lazy, messy, undisciplined. You listen, you don’t soeak. Yes. You need a haircut. Yes, Father. The problem is leadership. Yes, nod, yes. But repeatedly we are shown that Ilya is good. He’s an attentive lover, he’s a good friend. He tries to be a good son to a hard man. He gives his brother whatever he asks for. He inspires his teammates. He worries that Ryan Price’s book will fall on the floor and oh fuck Price is going to lose his place, I will help, oh fuck, I failed.

But his family tells him he’s no good, so it must be true. They have been the loudest voices in his life and that’s literally become his inner monologue. But then here comes Shane “I don’t know that side of you at all” Hollander and soon enough Ilya is monologuing into the phone on the street outside of his father’s funeral about how actually no. He’s given everything to his family. He makes everything perfect. And he couldn’t physically be there for his father all the time but he paid for it all. And yet they despise him. He knows why, or says he does. But I don’t think does, I think in that moment the seed is planted that Ilya is lovable. And he doesn’t have to be perfect, he doesn’t have to drain himself dry. The person who loves him is trying to fill his cup from thousands of miles away.

This one is more of a "light" theme, in the spirit of our literal ray of sunshine Alina Starkov! Impressionist paintings (especially Edgar Degas' Dancer paintings) and backstage life were huge inspirations for this board. I tried to emphasize more of the happier aspects of the fic, like the joy she gets from dancing, warm summer days, her found family, and her budding relationship with Aleksander, but still some shadows linger...

This is the "dark" theme: cool, austere, and brimming with unspeakable tension. It’s the smoky and shadowy nights that the darkling calls his own. And yet, there are moments of love and excitement. I was super inspired by the (relatively new) introduction of photography in the era as well as the darker side of life in the 19th century.

So if you like a slowburn romance with themes of duality, passion, and self-discovery with lots of dancing and carriages and repressed feelings, get your tickets for Pas de Deux!

Pairing: The Darkling | Aleksander Morozova x Alina Starkov

Rating: M (mostly for thematic elements)

Wordcount: ~28.5k words (and counting)

Additional Tags and Warnings: Period Typical Attitudes, Sexism, Some Racial Microaggressions, Discussion of Sexual Harassment and Exploitation, Gritty Things Related to the Ballet World, Power Imbalance, 19th Century Sugar Dating, Depictions of Social Anxiety, Hurt/Comfort, Soft!The Darkling | Aleksander Morozova, Angst, Fluff, Kissing, Gift Giving, Dancing, Cuddling & Snuggling, Pining, Happy Ending, Falling In Love, Romance. (Also Warning that I am terrible at updating)

push in your chairs when you get up from tables.

when people don't push in their chairs, people with bulky aids like wheelchairs and rollators can't get through. also a lot of people who use canes have wider gaits than able bodied people, and having a chair in the middle of their walking path is a real obstruction. while some of us are able to push chairs out of our way, a lot of us are not, and wind up boxed in/out because somebody didn't push in their chair.

dr. ryland grace + crying

PROJECT HAIL MARY (2026) dir. by Christopher Miller & Phil Lord

+ bonus happy tears