January 24, 2020
The trope of the Strong Black Woman in fiction is based on an equally harmful stereotype, in which Black women are expected to perform a role that negates their own emotions, needs (both physical and psychological), in the service of caring for others. Similar to the Magical Negro, the Strong Black Woman protects her family and community, and even saves…
January 11, 2020
Hey, hey, hey! I’ve returned from my trip to Korea to visit family, and I have to give many kudos to Shara for taking the reins on my editing duties and all the Weekly Roundups while I was out. Thanks for your awesome work! And now I get to state my disbelief that we’ve made it to 2020, the decade…
January 9, 2020
This month, I decided to have a look at His Dark Materials, which is currently on HBO. It is an eight-episode series based on Philip Pullman’s book series of the same name. Dafne Keen plays Lyra Belacqua, our main character. As a note, though I’d heard of the book series (and adored the name), I’ve never read any of the…
December 23, 2019
They might not be raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, but that doesn’t mean that we love them any less. Welcome back to My Favorite Things, the weekly column where we grab someone in speculative circles to gab about the greatest in geek. This week, we sit down with Shara White, founder and editor-in-chic of Speculative Chic! What does…
October 18, 2019
Welcome to Day 18 of The Kasturi/Files at Speculative Chic, where Gemma Files and Sandra Kasturi discuss things filmish, things bookish, and things cocktailish. Today we look at Jim Jarmusch’s elegant little vampire comedy-drama, Only Lovers Left Alive (2013), starring Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston as extremely long-term significant others, and Mia Wasikowska as a kind of bratty younger sister.…
September 25, 2019
One of the most common questions authors face is a deceptively difficult one to answer: “Where do you get your ideas?” Yet, the answers to that common question can be almost as interesting as the resulting story. Welcome to You’re My Inspiration, a new column dedicated to discovering what inspires a particular author and their work. Whether it be a…
August 21, 2019
Back in June, I wrote a post discussing the fantasy adaptations currently making their way to the small screen. Long story short: Most of the books being adapted are the ones you’d expect — LOTR, Chronicles of Narnia, Wheel of Time, The Kingkiller Chronicles, etc. Classics? Sure. Predictable AF? Absolutely! The good news is that the networks are being much…
June 22, 2019
Hello, denizens of geek! How are things in your corner of the world? In a previous roundup I rambled about the rainy season in Japan, and since posting, a strange phenomenon has taken place in my area: almost no rain. As much as I dislike the rainy season, this isn’t a good thing. I live in the Kikuchi Valley region of…
April 14, 2019
Hello, Game of Thrones fans! Tonight, Sunday April 14th at 9:00 pm on HBO, marks the moment so many of us have been waiting for: the premiere of the final, six-episode season. What kind of answers are in store for us? Will we be happy with the ending? Who lives? Who dies? What theories are left to confirm or deny?…
June 4, 2018
They might not be raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, but that doesn’t mean that we love them any less. Welcome back to My Favorite Things, the weekly column where we grab someone in speculative circles to gab about the greatest in geek. This week, we sit down with Jason Jack Miller, who is the author of Murder Ballads and…