Wednesday, January 14, 2015

The Timeline Of The Murdoch Vs. Rowling And Ansari Twitter Fight

Rupert Murdoch tweeted some strong opinions about Muslims, but J.K. Rowling and Aziz Ansari had some equally strong reactions.



Will Varner / BuzzFeed


If "Hunger Games" Characters Had Tinder Profiles

More like The Thirsty Games.



Lionsgate / Colin Heasley for BuzzFeed



Lionsgate / Colin Heasley for BuzzFeed



Lionsgate / Colin Heasley for BuzzFeed



Lionsgate / Colin Heasley for BuzzFeed




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33 Harry Potter Tattoos That Are Portkeys To Your Childhood

“It’s real for us.”





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This Is What Happens When You Reply To Tinder Guys With Ayn Rand Quotes

Atlas Swiped.



Atlas Shrugged


Plume



The Fountainhead


Signet




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Here Are Images From The First Fully Illustrated Edition Of "Harry Potter"

Four beautiful illustrations of Ron, Hermione, Hagrid, and Malfoy from an upcoming full-color edition of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, due out in October 2015.


Scholastic and Bloomsbury, the publishing houses that put out the Harry Potter books in the United States and the United Kingdom, today released the first four images from the first fully illustrated version of the Harry Potter books.


Scholastic and Bloomsbury, the publishing houses that put out the Harry Potter books in the United States and the United Kingdom, today released the first four images from the first fully illustrated version of the Harry Potter books.


Jim Kay, an award-winning British artist, is set to do the artwork for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's — erm, Philosopher's — Stone, which is due out in the U.S. and the U.K. on Oct. 6, 2015.


“To be given the opportunity to design the characters, the clothing, the architecture and landscapes to possibly the most expansive fantasy world in children's literature, well let’s just say I'm extremely excited about it,” Kay said in a release from Scholastic.


This new deluxe hardcover edition will feature 110 full-color illustrations, as well as separate cover images done by Kay for the American and British editions. A representative for Scholastic told BuzzFeed there is no release date for the cover images yet.


Kay will also do the art for the fully illustrated editions of the other six Harry Potter books, which Scholastic plans to release once a year for the next six years, with the release of an illustrated Book 7, Deathly Hallows, in 2021.


Jim Kay / Bloomsbury Publishing / Via mediaroom.scholastic.com


There's a sketch of a freckly young Ron, who looks like he might have a bit of an itch on his nose.


There's a sketch of a freckly young Ron, who looks like he might have a bit of an itch on his nose.


Jim Kay / Bloomsbury Publishing / Via mediaroom.scholastic.com


And there's Kay's interpretation of Draco Malfoy, who's looking eerie while getting magically measured for his Hogwarts robes in Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, where he and Harry meet during Harry's first trip to Diagon Alley.


And there's Kay's interpretation of Draco Malfoy, who's looking eerie while getting magically measured for his Hogwarts robes in Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, where he and Harry meet during Harry's first trip to Diagon Alley.


Jim Kay / Bloomsbury Publishing / Via mediaroom.scholastic.com


There's also an illustration of Hermione, who appears to be conjuring Bluebell Flames, which she used to set fire to Snape's robes during a Quidditch match, and also to save Harry and Ron from the Devil's Snare at the end of Sorcerer's Stone.


There's also an illustration of Hermione, who appears to be conjuring Bluebell Flames, which she used to set fire to Snape's robes during a Quidditch match, and also to save Harry and Ron from the Devil's Snare at the end of Sorcerer's Stone.


Jim Kay / Bloomsbury Publishing / Via mediaroom.scholastic.com




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Tuesday, January 13, 2015

It’s not TV, it’s Baby-Sitters Club. Via break.com.


On Hannah's STD drama:


On Hannah's STD drama:


Art by Todd Spence.


break.com


On how "oh so hip" Brooklyn is:


On how "oh so hip" Brooklyn is:


Art by Todd Spence.


break.com


On Lena Dunham's body positivity:


On Lena Dunham's body positivity:


Art by Todd Spence.


break.com




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This Woman Wrote A Book With Almost No Male Characters And Women Love It

With Women, Chloe Caldwell proves great literature doesn’t require the voices of men.



Hobart Books



You might think a small-press autobiographical novella called Women that features one transgender man and texts with one cisgender man would find its way into the hands of only so many people. In the case of Chloe Caldwell's book, this has not been true. Perhaps because the story interacts with the reader, with The Narrator exposing her own fears, obsessions, and insecurities as we follow along. She tells us what she's afraid we won't understand, then exposes herself anyway with lines like, "I don't know if I will be able to get you to see her the way I saw her. I worry that if I cannot make you fall in love with her inexplicably, inexorably, and immediately, the way that I did, then you will not be experiencing this book in the way I hope you will."


Women has been publicly praised by writer Cheryl Strayed, Lena Dunham, and fashion model Elle Macpherson. Despite Caldwell's long-standing mentoring relationship with Strayed, she had no connection to the other two women until after her book was published. She chalks up the sudden interest in her work to women wanting to help other women: "It's so crazy to me when people say women are so hard to make friends with. I'm like, What? It's happened for me so many times. It's always been other women writers in my corner. I trust women and I value their opinions," Caldwell says. As is the case in Strayed's stunningly successful (and moving) memoir Wild, The Narrator has trouble relaying her intense level of grief to the people in her life. When someone mentions Finn's name, she cries, leaves, goes to another bar, and drinks whiskey until she needs to call a cab to get home. When told she's too hard, that she needs to be softer, she admits, "I don't know what to grieve."


When asked why the protagonist of her new novel, Women, has no name, Caldwell responds, "I wanted space for people to make themselves the narrator, and project themselves into the book. Especially anyone who was grieving really hard about losing someone else." With The Narrator, Caldwell wanted to create a character who was raw in the post-breakup recovery process. "I wanted the narrator to be someone who was looking into the sun, and not shying away. This person was openly saying how am I going to grieve and self-destruct today."


For Caldwell, who spoke with BuzzFeed over the phone, the best thing about the character is The Narrator's willingness to accept her part in her own pain. "With heartbreak, at the end of the day, if you're honest with yourself you know that it takes two people to break a heart. You need to understand that to grow." After a huge fight via email, The Narrator's ex-girlfriend, Finn, points to her for "throwing tantrums" and what she calls "manic behavior" as a cause for their dissolution. After reading this, The Narrator comes to the conclusion that, "It's me that I hate. I know it's me that has chosen this."


This idea of learning compassion through owning your pain is a central theme in Women. Caldwell says, "I think sometimes we have to suffer and be our shittiest, neediest, ugliest selves and come out on the other side. I think that's how we gain compassion for others when they're suffering." Unfortunately, a wealth of compassion — or maybe a delusion of empathy — backfires on the protagonist. Despite dealing with infidelity and possessiveness from her love interest, Finn, The Narrator continues to believe she won't or can't be hurt by her Finn. "She thinks because Finn is a woman she can trust her with her heart and soul, but she is still wronged by a woman. That's something I wanted to get through — that women don't and can't date other women because women are safer to date in general. Finn hurt her too. Just like a man could."


The brevity of Women allows for deep introspection, but forces The Narrator to act, move, and show the reader the urgency of her pain. The story follows her through her first intimate relationship with an older woman, subsequent heartbreak, and the inevitable deconstruction and reassembling of one's life in the wake of devastating emotions. For The Narrator, this means finding her way back home emotionally, and geographically.


Caldwell admits she's "uncomfortable" writing fiction. She considers nonfiction familiar if not slightly harrowing. "It's a curse when you feel comfortable writing about yourself. A lot of people aren't. Sometimes I wish I were good at something else, or I wish it wasn't my thing, but it is my thing. I'm mostly happy about that, but it's challenging." To be fair, she calls her novel "mostly autobiographical."


Even though she's experienced her own romantic relationships with women, not unlike The Narrator's relationship with Finn, Caldwell is still reluctant to identify her sexuality. "I still don't know how to label myself and I'm still really confused about it. I feel embarrassed saying that. Part of me wants to have a label so bad because I'm actually also confused without them, but I'm still terrified by them." After a beat she says, "I'm OK with bisexual."




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33 Of The Creepiest Lines In Literature

“Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven” - John Milton, Paradise Lost



Dan Meth / Via BuzzFeed


1. "Even the dead tell stories."

—Marcus Sedgwick, Revolver

Suggested by Tallulahmac


2. "Of all of them there at the bar that night, the bartender was the one who survived the longest. He died three weeks later on the road out of the city."

—Emily St. John Mandel, Station Eleven

Suggested by caitlinm18


3. "The man screamed and clawed frantically, like a drowning swimmer. The screaming filled the universe."

—Ray Bradbury, Kaleidoscope

Suggested by Jonny Lim


4. "With a mocking smile, he placed one hand upon my shoulder and, holding me tight, bared my throat with the other, saying as he did so: "First, a little refreshment to reward my exertions."

—Bram Stoker, Dracula

Suggested by Amy Wildman on Facebook


5. "True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country."

—Kurt Vonnegut

Suggested by kellym4af8fad7c



Dan Meth / Via BuzzFeed




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18 Times J.K. Rowling Was The Undisputed Queen Of Twitter

And of our hearts.


When she taught us an important lesson about social media.


When she taught us an important lesson about social media.


Getty / Ben A. Pruchnie




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The Hardest Game Of "Would You Rather" For Harry Potter Fans

You can’t apparate your way out of this one. Spoilers ahead!



Kirsten King / BuzzFeed




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