2017

I’ve been really focused on crochet lately. Last year, I started my first afghan, and I quickly got hooked (ha ha, get it?) on crocheting afghans! I just finished my 11th afghan last week, and I’m already halfway done with my 12th. Scroll down below to get a glimpse of my most recent afghan.

After I spent over $100 on my first afghan, I realized that I would not be able to keep making them if they cost that much. So, I started looking for cheaper sources of yarn, and I was thrilled when I found bags of yarn at my local Goodwill for about $7. I was able to get enough yarn to complete an afghan for about $30, which was much more reasonable! Of course, since I like to use neon yarn in my afghans, I still end up buying a few brand new skeins once in awhile.

Over at eBay*, I have come up with 9 Ways to Save Money on Knitting and Crochet. I use several of these methods, and I look forward to trying a few more of them! (*I wrote that article as part of a paid collaboration with eBay.)

So, ready to see my most recent afghan? Check it out (you can click on the right side of the photo to scroll through my album):

And here's my 11th #epicafghan – already started on the twelfth! #crochettherapy

A post shared by Heather Mann (@dollarcraft) on May 7, 2017 at 6:42pm PDT

Writer: Mariko Tamaki / Artist: Georges Duarte / Marvel

We open with Jen Walter at a Trauma club and being as judgmental as anyone else would be in attendance of one of these. That cynical side of Jen Walters has been showing more in this iteration of her character since her injury. Tamaki makes Walters very relatable in this scenario, especially when she is questioned upon her emotions and how she is actually doing with what has happened to her. It is here we see Walters at her most everyman right before we’re taken into how she vents.

Duarte draws a very gruff She-Hulk which fits with how she can be interpreted when in her gray from. Seeing Jen stomp around in this form around this safe space she made available to herself makes it feel that she’s done this before. I’m pretty invested in this aspect of Walter’s healing. We get a guest cameo from Hellcat, the two engage in a very revealing conversation about Walters getting use to this new Hulk form.

There’s a lot more to get into this issue as the bridge into the next arc is set up through the cooking shows Walters watches to control her episodes. Tamaki is unraveling more layers of Walters in this new introspective look into how trauma effects the psyche of a Hulk.

8 talks about feelings out of 10

Reading Hulk? Find BNP’s other reviews of the series here.

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Originally published on The Future Fire

As a writer, storyteller, and a queer person of color, it goes without saying that diversity and inclusion is very important to me.

Anyone who’s known me for five seconds is aware of the fact that I’m a rabid comic book fan. It’s modern day mythology and as a writer and an artist, this medium especially appeals to me for obvious reasons. Watching beautiful muscular men is a pastime that I can live with.

Of my all-time favorite comic books, X-Men, will always hold a special place in my heart because it’s based on the Civil Rights movement. During its prime, the series consisted of a multi-ethnic cast and that diversity was also one of the key components to X-Men’s initial success. The characters came from all walks of life and that appealed to a wide demographic of fans. There was a hero and a heroine for everyone and it worked. Excellent conscious stories, compelling characters and respect of diversity is what contributed to X-Men becoming one the best-selling comics of all time. And to have Storm, a regal, beautiful, intelligent and powerful black woman lead the superhero team of a comic book company’s flagship title was progressive in itself.

Unfortunately in recent years I’ve observed massive amounts of regressing. The whitewashing in comics and other media has been well-documented. Racefail has specifically been something prominent in speculative fandom with many white fans and creators alike. I never fail to be dumbfounded to see fans creators empathize with struggles of a fictional alien race, the civil rights of vampires and mutants and in the same breath will justify why queers shouldn’t be allowed to give blood or serve openly in the military and why erasing POCs from speculative media or reducing them to token background decor is perfectly acceptable.

As I’ve said countless times, this is why the minority metaphor is not enough. Because sadly we live in a society that’s more comfortable watching blue-skinned aliens on their screens than black people or LGBTQs.

Diversity and inclusion is not about political correctness but about fixing a broken system. If we can suspend disbelief when it comes to sparkly vampires, teen wizards, and superheroes, why is having a POC or a queer protagonist as the lead such an unimaginable concept?

So how do we use SFF to connect to to real world oppression and give voices to marginalized people?

A few ideas come to mind.

Fewer Straight White Protagonists: The hero or heroine doesn’t always have to be cis, straight and white. In fact, we can stand to have FAR FEWER. POCs and queers are just as qualified to save the world. It isn’t even always necessary to tackle racism and heterosexism with these characters. Their mere existence as three-dimensional protagonists who happen to belong to a marginalized group can make a statement in itself.

Learn Your History: In regards to equal rights, what gets taught in schools and what actually happened are two completely different things. In order to understand how bigotry and institutional oppression works, one must understand the dynamics at play. Read works and accounts by marginalized people. We know our history, our culture and our struggles better than anyone. But I caution you to be prepared for some inconvenient truths. Because what gets passed as fact in mainstream society and the sobering realities of what bigotry truly is are two different things.

More Connections To Real Oppressions: One of the things that X-Men got right is that it established that Magneto was militant for mutant rights because of the scars he endured as a Holocaust survivor. Said real connections need to continue in fiction. Reginald Hudlin’s run on Marvel’s Black Panther was effective in this manner because it unapologetically explored the rampant racism that played out between the United States and the African nation of Wakanda. The Archie Comic spinoff, Kevin Keller, tackled the issue of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. In short, it can be done.

Publishers and Editors Have To Be Proactive: In an industry where marginalized voices are…well…marginal, publishers and editors have a responsibility to seek out marginalized storytellers and allow us an opportunity to tell our stories and share our experiences. Because let’s be honest here, there’s a reason why novels featuring POC protagonists continue to be whitewashed and there’s a reason why there’s a dearth of stories featuring queer characters as the primary protagonists. More than just a moral obligation, it’s simply good business. POCs and LGBTQs are overlooked and virtually untapped markets both of whom are all too eager to spend sums of disposable income supporting media that portrays us in an honest and respectful light. So don’t just do it for the right reasons, do it for the bottom line.

In addition to escapism, speculative fiction is supposed to challenge us to progress, evolve, and think forward. Thinking doesn’t get any more forward than equality for all.

If it felt like a dream come true to try your hand at Crash Bandicoot in the midst of Uncharted 4, you’re in luck: the beloved marsupial is back—and this time, he and his many foes are rendered in glorious HD. We learned at E3 today that Activision is set to release what they’ve dubbed the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy for PlayStation 4 and PS4 Pro this month. It compiles the first three games in the series: Crash Bandicoot, Cortex Strikes Back, and Warped.

Don’t worry; the learning curve of the series isn’t too steep if you’re unfamiliar with the original games. Crash Bandicoot, released way back in 1996, was a fairly basic platformer with a few fun twists along the way, like levels that saw the marsupial riding a pig or (as you may recall from A Thief’s End) running from a boulder. Cortex Strikes Back and Warped built upon that formula, with Warped going so far as to add motorcycle mechanics and underwater levels (though tragically not at the same time).

There’s not much plot in Crash’s world, but there’s no need for it—like Mario and Sonic before him, he’s just a fun character to pilot through elaborate settings on the way to the Big Bad, collecting apples (in lieu of coins or rings) along the way. Equally fun: Coco, Crash’s sister, who’s a playable but oddly silent character in both the original and remastered editions of Warped.

The Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy comes out June 30, 2017.

What was your favorite level in the original series and why was it Hog Wild? Let us know in the comments!

Image: Activision