TOKYO GHOUL
(Drama)

In this world, human-like creatures called ghouls feed off of human flesh. Ken Kaneki had the misfortune of being attacked and in the process was turned into a half-ghoul. Now to survive he must reside amongst the ghouls and learn to live like one.

BLACK BUTLER
(Drama)

Set in Victorian-era England, murderers like Jack the Ripper roam the streets. The Queen can only rely on one person, Ciel Phantomhive, to do the country’s dirty work and keep England safe. Ciel having made a pact with a demon, now his butler, has a supernatural advantage. Together they work day and night to maintain the safety and dignity of the country.

SOUL EATER
(Comedy)

Death Weapon Meister Academy, run by the Grim Reaper, trains teens to become weapon meisters and weapons. Student meister, Maka Albarn, and her weapon, Soul, go on adventures protecting the world from evil humans, demons, and witches. Maka often fights alongside allies such as Professor Franken Stein, Death the Kid, a magic cat that throws pumpkin bombs, a zombie teacher, and more.

CASTLEVANIA
(Drama)

Dracula takes revenge on the town responsible for burning his wife at the stake, sending legions of demons to slaughter them. However, standing in his way is Trevor Belmont, demon hunter, whose family vowed to protect humanity from Dracula.

BLOOD LAD
(Comedy)

Staz is an otaku vampire who is infatuated by humans and human things despite having never met a human. One day he encounters a human girl, Fuyumi Yanagi, who accidentally travels to the Demon World through a portal. Unfortunately, she’s devoured moments after Staz meets her and is turned into a ghost. Now Staz must go on a quest to find a way to bring her back to life.

DEATH PARADE
(Drama)

In this world, when people die they are sent to bars run by bartenders who decide their fate through common bar games with a supernatural twist. People quickly learn the true hearts of their friends and companions once they have to compete with one another to determine who goes to Heaven and who goes to Hell.

SHIKI
(Drama)

The quaint lifestyle of a small village is disrupted when new mysterious neighbors move into a nearby mansion. Suddenly the town is plagued by a number of perplexing deaths which cause resembles acute cases of amnesia; the peoples’ bodies having been drained of nearly all its blood. As Doctor Toshio Ozaki investigates the odd deaths he comes to the conclusion that it may be the work of “shiki”, vampire-like creatures.

LITTLE WITCH ACADEMIA
(Comedy)

Atsuko Kagari enrolls into Luna Nova Magical Academy to become a witch like her idol, Shiny Chariot. Unfortunately, without having a magical background school is harder for her than it is for the other girls. That is until she stumbles upon, Shiny Arc, a magical tool once owned by Chariot.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

DY is an aspiring filmmaker and writer; she loves all genres but is increasingly becoming interested in writing fantasy and sci-fi. She’s also a martial arts practitioner; not a black belt yet, but getting there. When she’s not fighting, she’s spending all of her time watching anime and movies, and reading comic books. Follow her on twitter @dyprinzess.

I am speaking on behalf of myself and my views do not necessarily reflect those of anyone else.

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Within the past few years, “introversion” is one of the most popular words to grace the internet. To some, it’s a fad, but to others, it’s our lifestyle. So much so, the thought of talking to someone for hours, seconds or even minutes about coffee, Kim Kardashian or recent brands is uninspiring. Let’s talk about Kepler 186f, better yet, TRAPPIST-1 solar system. Let’s dive deeper and explore our subconscious mind to learn about what makes it so majestic. Let’s take a look at the extrovert-introvert.

Some days I want to talk while other days, I’d rather not be bothered, as my mind has already traveled around the galaxy and back. But once I’m back on earth, my introversion becomes questioned. Many people assume there is a look or style to introversion when in all actuality, we just lose energy by being around people for a long time. Before congregating with fellow earthlings, I need a forewarning because I need to recharge by only being consumed with my thoughts for the moment, a good book or movie. Sometimes I like to go for long walks with my dog as well.

Introversion is notably unique, especially being a woman of color whose an INFJ. Women of color are believed to be extroverted, the life of the party or always on the go. However, being the rarest personality type, which makes up 1% of our population, I consider myself a rare breed among rarer breeds. INFJs (Introversion, Intuition, Feeling, Judging) are one of Myers-Briggs 16 personality types, which was created by a prominent psychiatrist, Carl Jung. I like to believe he used my brain to define INFJs because I see myself in each aspect of his research.

As an INFJ, I’m sometimes mistaken for an extrovert because I have an outgoing personality, especially around people that I’m alike. Due to my excessive enthusiasm and love for fighting a cause, my eagerness has labeled me an “extroverted introvert,” until I’m invited for tea on the weekend and I somehow fall ill *cough – cough* in order to recharge my batteries.

Since decoding these 4 exquisite letters, INFJ, I’ve been on an everlasting spaceship capturing amazing images from my telescope. I continue to celebrate myself. I’m okay with random burst of laughter, discussing ruby programming or people watching to create characters of how I see the world. Introversion is not something that needs to be fixed, but a personality profile that creates coders, authors, artist, gamers and most of all, a rare personality which keeps the world rotating.

The post The Extroverted-Introvert Explained appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.

For many Brown girls who grew up in religious homes, faith and tradition ruled the day, sex education was a distant cousin you weren’t allowed to visit, and abstinence was the only relative you knew. Twenty years ago, the character that embodied this most was Lane Kim of Gilmore Girls. Growing up in a repressive religious household, despite her rebellious nature, any time she expressed sexual desire, Lane was punished by the narrative. However, more and more, mainstream TV shows have found the healthy marriage of sexuality, maturity, and its relationship with race and religious tradition. 

Several Netflix shows have started to bring this intertwining or intersection to the forefront. Teenage Bounty Hunters show two Bible-toting teenage girls who are trained to hunt down criminals but are very, very into boys. The common denominator is that they are white and privileged and allowed to explore their sexuality. Shows like Never Have I Ever portray the dichotomy of how sex and religion play an integral part in teen girls of color’s maturation and wholeness. 

In Never Have I Ever, faith is not just important, but her faith is what the lead character believes will bring her the “boy of her dreams.” In a sense, Devi, a first-generation Asian Indian American teenager, believes Krishna is invested in her sex life. For so many Brown girls, this is a huge concept. The idea that the deity you pray to could be invested or even the bringer and creator of sexual pleasure is often the opposite of what we see in religious Black and Brown family structures portrayed on TV. 

In one scene, Devi is praying to Krishna and asking to be popular and have a great body and a boyfriend. For many, this is the first time in a coming of age story where the lead character is not only Brown but openly talked to a deity about sex and identity. Devi’s faith is strong yet she is still very unapologetically looking for her first sexual experience. Devi isn’t looking for love; she wants to lose her virginity and isn’t ashamed about it. 

In contrast to Never Have I Ever, the show Warrior Nun features Ava, a white-passing young adult living in Spain, also coming into her own. Ava stumbles upon love while working for a covenant army. Both Devi and Ava, after experiencing a major trauma, want to explore their desire for love. Unlike Devi, Ava doesn’t have a relationship with her god beyond animosity and trauma. She is not interested in praying and doesn’t actually believe despite being given literal biblical powers, and yet she must navigate her sexuality in the repressive world of the church.

Prior to working for this heavenly army, Ava was an orphaned paraplegic teenager revived from death after a halo is placed within her body for safekeeping. The halo restores her ability to walk, but it also gives her the sight to see demons. What’s relatable about Ava is almost immediately after being brought back to life, her first goal is to experience all of life at once. In contrast to the Catholic church she now works for, Ava wants to experience all of life’s vices at once her first day with angelic warrior powers — drugs, drinking, and sex. 

Although tethered to her duty and the church, one of Ava’s strongest feelings after becoming the “Warrior Nun” and getting powers is having the desire to kiss, make love, and be loved. Despite hostility and reprimanding from the other nuns to return to the church and discontinue the sowing of her holy oats, Ava carries on with a proud resistance to have her needs met. Here we see her as a “warrior” for God while fighting to escape with a boy to another country.

However, unlike Devi, Ava is able to push back against the church because of her perceived whiteness. This is clear especially in the context of her show where Ava can be wild while still brought into the fold of the church, while Sister Mary, a Black queer nun who was in love with the previous halo bearer, is shunned by her fellow nuns. Sister Mary undergoes a battle of wills between being chaste and her liberal ideals, while Ava feels entitled to act and behave as she pleases — recklessly wielding her power. 

There is a certain privilege that comes with how white and white-passing families and religious structures engage/interact with sexuality on TV. There is a particular openness and acceptance that are unrealistic. Open discussion on sex, at least across the African diaspora, is treated with a certain level of taboo. Even asking your parents or other elders about sexual desire is perceived as disrespectful and off-limits. 

What’s interesting about Puleng and Fikile in Blood and Water is that everything they do around sex and desire is cloaked in bold yet purposeful secrecy. For example, seventeen-year-old Fikile is having an affair with her swim coach. Meanwhile, Puleng wants to be with a boy who was previously entangled with Fikile. Going beyond desire, Puleng’s family were victimized by child trafficking, which further heightens the feelings of shame within the narrative. The theme of secrecy and restriction permeates Blood and Water.

In comparison, Sex Education stars a group of teens who are sexually repressed and confused. They look to the son of a sex therapist to answer their burning questions. The lead character’s mother, like so many white teen boy stories about sex, fosters a sense of openness and trust between parental figures and conversation of sex and desire. In Never Have I Ever, Devi is not allowed to date nor will her mother engage in conversations of boys and continues to keep her sheltered. For Ava, it’s the church that strives to keep her under their thumb and trapped. The common denominator in these stories is resistance when exploration is controlled. The zealous nuns are determined to bring Ava back to the church, against her will, and remind her of the obligation and mission to dispel dark forces.

Otis, of Sex Education, is a white teen boy whose’s only social responsibility is to his peers. Otis’s privilege and parental advantages afford him the opportunity to have open dialogues about sex with his mother, and he in turn passes that knowledge to his friends. It must be noticed, however, that Eric, his Black gay best friend, much like Sister Mary, is not allowed to experience desire without social, spiritual, and familial consequences. Much like  Devi, Puleng, Lane, and other characters of color, he must fight against the repression that has been instilled since birth. 

All in all, we see more fertile ground being laid for white characters, where sex and desire are allowed to be explored and developed. Religion usually creates an inhospitable environment to sexual exploration and liberation for teenagers and by extension adults. It enforces heterosexist rules about how people should experience desire. What all of these shows have in common is that sex is forced within a certain level of secrecy. Secrecy fosters an environment of shame around desire that is maintained within the community. 

Each person’s journey through their sexuality and faith is deeply personal, but socially we must begin to imagine what sexual liberation looks like beside (and beyond) faith. While white teens have begun to experience this imagining already on screen, Black and Brown teens have not. TV is not the end-all, be-all of the cultural imagination, but it can be a map for how to reimagine the future. 

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OK, grown-woman confession: I woke up one morning thinking about the wild similarities between Buffy Summers (yes, the Vampire Slayer) and Olivia Pope from Scandal.

As someone who fangirled hard for Joss Whedon’s epic Chosen One and proudly lived through my full Scandal-holic era, I couldn’t help but notice the parallels between these two powerhouse characters. Sure, Buffy and Olivia exist in completely different universes — one slays vampires, the other slays political scandals — but the vibes are closer than you might think.

At their core, Buffy Summers and Olivia Pope are cut from the same cloth: fierce, flawed, and fiercely independent women who save people for a living. They carry massive responsibility on their shoulders, yet struggle with the human costs of that responsibility. Buffy battles monsters — literal monsters — but also wrestles with personal loss, teenage heartbreak, and moral dilemmas. Olivia battles political corruption, scandals, and betrayal, while wrestling with her own complicated moral compass. Both are heroes who save the world and sometimes lose themselves in the process.

They also share a certain vulnerability beneath the surface. Buffy may wield a stake like a pro, but she cries, she doubts, she longs for a “normal” life. Olivia may walk into every crisis with confidence, but she’s haunted by past choices and the weight of others’ expectations. These layers of complexity make them relatable and human, even when they’re saving the day in ways most of us can only dream of.

And let’s talk about the squad dynamic. Buffy has the Scooby Gang; Olivia has her Gladiators. Both women rely on trusted allies who push them, support them, and occasionally call them out when they’re being…well…Buffy or Olivia. These ensembles underscore one of the biggest truths about leadership: even superheroes need a team.

Finally, both Buffy and Olivia leave us with a sense of empowerment. They are unapologetic, unapologetically ambitious, and unapologetically themselves. They break rules, make tough choices, and—despite their flaws—stand as symbols of strength and resilience for anyone watching.

So yes, Buffy Summers and Olivia Pope live in different worlds, but their stories are more intertwined than a fangirl’s heart can ignore. Fierce, flawed, independent, and endlessly captivating—these women remind us why we stan strong female heroes, no matter the universe they inhabit.

Buffy had no other choice but to be fierce and independent because as “the Chosen One”, she was responsible for saving everybody all of the time (even when there were two slayers). The Slayer was the decision maker, the chief ass-kicker, and the world-saver; but she was not invincible. Buffy had her share of insecurities and vulnerabilities (and deaths). And like most superheroes, she was imperfect and made mistakes. These things made her human and a character we (still) love.

Olivia Pope is also a fierce and independent woman. She’s a business owner, a handler of difficult problems, a fixer who saves people from crises, and she runs presidential campaigns. However, like Buffy, Olivia is not infallible and has made mistakes. The Head Gladiator in Charge (HGIC), Olivia regularly uses questionable and illegal tactics in her quests to slay political dragons. Olivia Pope is a boss with super bad-ass credentials, but she still fantasizes about living a “normal life”, despite demonstrating, more than once, that she is ill-equipped to identify, let alone handle, “normal”. Her faults make us root for her, even when we want to shake some sense into her.

Buffy and Olivia Pope Have: Daddy Issues

Buffy had an absentee father who wasn’t around when she needed him. EVER. He showed up once or twice, but he was an absentee dad for 99.8% of the seven seasons we spent with the Slayer.

Olivia’s dad shipped her off to boarding school after he lied and told her that her mother had died in a plane crash. Daddy Pope also hid that he was the head of a powerful secret spy agency and locked her mother away for 22 years. If these lies were not cause enough for decades of therapy, #PapaPope has also used men under his control to infiltrate his daughter’s life (and bed) as a means to keep tabs on her. Olivia’s dad also killed the President’s son, her Gladiator Harrison, and has repeatedly tried to kill Jake. While Rowan is enjoyable for the audience, Oliva may have been a better off if he had remained an absentee father.

Buffy and Olivia Both Have: A Supportive Group of Friends/Sidekicks

Buffy had her core group of friends (a.k.a. the Scoobies), who helped her stop several world-ending events and apocalyptic plans. Willow, Xander and Giles were the Slayer’s inner circle and their respective romantic partners usually became affiliate members of the Slayer’s squad. However, when one of said relationships ended, affiliates were dismissed and rarely ever seen again for more than one episode.

Olivia has her Gladiators; a loyal band of misfits who are bound together by their devotion to her. Though the gang was split up at the beginning of season 4 with Harrison dead, Abby working in the White House, Huck working in retail, and Liv standing in the sun with Jake, they eventually found their way back to one another. The newbie Marcus is still wet behind the ears, but he’s learning. Stephen from Season 1 even showed up for ol’ time’s sake to save Olivia after she was auctioned off on the deep internet (courtesy of her married boyfriend’s wife’s boyfriend). Once a Gladiator, always a Gladiator.

They should have T-shirts printed.

Buffy and Olivia Both Have: Kick-Ass Red-Haired BFF’s Who Turned Frenemy At Least Once

Buffy’s red-haired BFF, Willow was a loyal friend to the bitter end. When they were in high school, Willow used her computer savvy skills to aid Buffy’s heroics. She then turned to magic in college when she developed her other-worldly powers and blossomed into a witch. Unfortunately, after the death of her beloved Tara, Willow went full-on bad-bitch-witch and almost killed everybody, including Buffy. After a stint in witch-rehab, Willow returned to Sunnydale and resumed her role as head-sidekick.

Olivia’s red-head BFF Abby is also fiercely loyal…most of the time. Abby’s BFF card was confiscated after she blamed Olivia for Harrison’s death, but if we put aside the creepy single-white-female-ish-ness of Abby taking a job with Olivia’s ex at Liv’s former place of employment, we can forgive Red for being in her feelings for a few minutes. Abby eventually redeemed herself and reclaimed her BFF card when she called Stephen to rescue Liv from being trafficked. Though Abby turned on Liv once again by double-crossing the HGIC in an attempt to save Fitz from his Veep’s treachery, Red learned the hard way that she’s not ‘bout that life, and can never “out Pope” Olivia Pope.

Buffy and Olivia Have: Loved an Older “Soul Mate” With Whom She Could Not Stand In the Sun

Buffy had Angel, a vampire 200 plus years her senior who literally could not stand in the sun without forfeiting his immortality club membership. Angel’s sunlight issue, however, was just 1 of their 99 problems. Angel was not just a vampire; he was a cursed vampire who had a soul and was forbidden from having one moment of true happiness. This became monstrously problematic when Angel and Buffy hit the sheets that one time because his happy ending cost him his soul and unleashed his sadistic alter-ego, “Angelus.” In addition to trying to kill the Slayer and her friends, Angelus had apocalyptic ambitions that almost ended the world. Fortunately, Buffy shut all of that down by sending him to Hell moments after Angel’s soul was restored. After returning from Casa de la Lucifer and helping Buffy and the Scoobies slay mayor crazy-pants during (“Graduation”), Angel chucked up the deuces to Buffy, Sunnydale, and their love story (a.k.a. left for his own spinoff).

Olivia Pope had (has) President Fitzgerald Thomas Grant, an older man with whom she could not be seen standing in the sun (prior to season 5) by anyone (other than his Secret Service detail, secretary, Chief of Staff, and wife) because he was married. Then came season 5 and Olivia and Fitz finally got to be together. Scandal, however, exists in Shondaland, where happiness is as elusive as the fux Shonda Rhimes gives about viewers’ tears and opinions, so while Olitz eventually had their opportunity to stand in the sun, that natural light illuminated the dark crevices where all of their resentment, secrets and incompatible traits were hiding and scorched the hell out of their relationship. As a result, the couple imploded in one of the most brilliantly acted and spectacularly written scenes in the history of television. #ItsCalledTalent

Buffy and Olivia Have: A Military Man Involved in an Off-the-Books Government Black Ops Division Who Was in Love with Her, but She Just Wasn’t That Into Him Until it was Too Late

Buffy had Riley Finn; hot, mid-western-corn-fed Riley Finn who was part of “The Initiative”: a secret military division that wanted to harness the powers of Sunnydale’s supernatural beings and use them as government weapons. To the shock of no one, that mission was an epic fail. A disenchanted Riley stayed in Sunnydale even though he knew that Buffy did not love him (“The Replacement”), but his willingness to abandon his military career for a life as a certified Scoobie-affiliate was not enough to make Buffy commit, so he left. When he came back married with a scar on his pretty face, we were done with him. #ByeRiley

Olivia Pope has Jake Ballard; beautiful, full-lipped green-eyed Jake Ballard who was part of B613, a powerful secret government organization that was dismantled pretty easily by OPA. After being ordered by Fitz to watch Olivia and ordered by her father (head of B613), to come between Olivia and the President, Jake fell in love with her. Despite Olivia’s imprudent love for Fitz, Jake hung tough in the friend zone and after Olitz imploded, Olake resumed their booty-calls. After Rowan forced Jake to marry a woman he didn’t love, Liv “saved” Jake from her father only to make him do exactly what Rowan wanted: be the VP on Mellie’s presidential ticket. #DaddysGirl

Buffy and Olivia Pope Have: That One Guy-Friend Who Will Call Her on Her Bullsh*t

Buffy had Xander who, on occasion, would keep it girlfriend-oh-no-you-didn’t real. He told her to pick Riley, or put him out of his misery and let him go. He also hated Angel, which was part jealousy and part brotherly love.

Olivia had Stephen in season one, who kept it 100 and told her “You can’t have him;” him, of course, being Fitz. With Stephen gone, Liv has Huck, who will tell her about herself regardless of whether or not she wants to hear it.

 Buffy and Olivia Have: A Mentor Whose Lover Was Killed By One of Their Lovers

Buffy had Rupert Giles, to whom she mostly listened. At times, Giles acted as the father Buffy should have had, and she was the daughter he never knew he wanted. Most times, however, Giles was guiding Buffy through her Slayer duties as best he could while giving her space to grow up. Giles and Buffy’s relationship survived his firing from the Watcher’s Council, a replacement Watcher, Buffy quitting the Council, Buffy dying, and a number of other bumps in the road. One of the worst tests of the Slayer/Watcher bond came when Angelus killed Giles’ Boo, Jenny. While I personally didn’t care, Giles felt some type of way, but he and Buffy navigated through that messiness and remained close.

Olivia has Cyrus Beene, who is sometimes more monster than mentor, but as he’s said, he’s her monster. Cyrus’ love for his mentee Olivia has been enough to keep him from slut shaming her (“It’s Handled”) and ordering her assassination (“No More Blood”), but not from betraying her when it suited his agenda. However, Cyrus also leans on Olivia, so no matter how much they’re at each others throats, their connection is real (“Where the Sun Don’t Shine” #BitchBaby), despite the fact that Olivia’s bad-boy-bae Jake killed Cyrus’ husband James (when he was Command).

Buffy and Olivia Pope: Had to Deal with Jealous B*tches

Buffy had Cordelia Chase; the cliché “popular” cheerleader who mean-girl’d Buffy in high school and hated that Buffy had the attention and loyalty of real friends. Though Cordelia’s life was spared on a few occasions because Buffy saved her, Cordi continued to hate. When Cordelia was dating Xander and was a Scooby-affiliate, she still refused to get on #TeamBuffy and threw shade from inside of the inner circle. Fortunately, Ms. Chase was gone after graduation. #StayMadCordi

Olivia has Mellie Grant, who rightfully hated Liv for sleeping with her husband and being the love of Fitz’s life. Mellie, however, had an endgame that involved keeping Fitz by her side, so while Olivia could look and touch, she couldn’t actually have Fitz; until Season 5. Mellie’s freedom was Liv’s burden because she had to play house with POTUS. The writers dealt with that in “Baby It’s Cold Outside”, but this is Shonda’s world, so we’ll see how it goes. With Liv now running Mellie’s presidential campaign, the two have become one of the best and healthiest relationships on the show. #TeamMelliva

 Season 5 Was a Game-Changer

The fifth seasons of Buffy and Scandal were game-changers and signaled epic shifts in the Slayer’s and Fixer’s respective fictional lives. During the fifth season of Buffy, the Slayer gained a faux-sister, and lost her mother and her “normal” boyfriend Riley. Buffy also faced one of her fiercest enemies, Glory, and had to make the ultimate sacrifice by giving up her life in order to defeat the Demi-God and save the world. The Slayer’s death left Sunnydale without a protector and left the Slayer and the show forever changed.

Olivia, still repressing her trauma and rage from being kidnapped and auctioned off like Kunta Kinte, began season 5 by getting exactly what she said she wanted: Fitz. However, when Olivia realized that the fantasy of being with Fitz was more appealing than the reality, she terminated her pregnancy and their relationship. In the second half of season 5, Olivia traded in her dingy white hat for a black ski mask and took a few pages out of Rowan’s book by killing Andrew Nichols and using Jake for her own power-grabby plans. While Olivia Pope survived season 5, the part of her who wanted to drag everyone into the light has gone missing and is feared dead.

While I’m sure there are more parallels that could be drawn between Buffy Summers and Olivia Pope, these are the things that stood out in my mind. More than anything, it was fun to escape the epic failure of 2016 by thinking about these intelligent, complicated, and layered fictional characters who are flawed, vulnerable, resilient, and strong. I am forever in awe of the brilliance of Joss Whedon and Shonda Rhimes and their creations.

The post The Parallel Lives of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Olivia Pope appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.

Otis Redding, the King of Soul, may have left this world far too soon, but his voice, his story, and his impact continue to rise like the timeless notes of “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay.” This year, Redding’s legacy is being honored in two powerful ways: a new Hollywood biopic and a permanent monument in his hometown of Macon, Georgia.

A Statue in the Heart of Macon

The Otis Redding Foundation unveiled the Otis Redding Statue in downtown Macon, relocating the life-size bronze from Gateway Park to the corner of Cotton Avenue and Cherry Street. Sculptor Bradley Cooley Jr. enhanced the statue with a new water fountain, turning it into both a landmark and a living tribute.

The placement is deeply symbolic. It now stands in front of the cultural hub the Redding family built, which includes the Zelma Redding Amphitheater, the Otis Redding Center for the Arts (ORCA), and the Otis Redding Museum. It’s also just steps away from where a Confederate statue once stood, making the Redding memorial a striking testament to progress.

Seth Clark, Mayor Pro Tempore for Macon-Bibb County, captured that sentiment saying, “The statue of Otis Redding is not simply a symbol of the Reddings’ enormous impact on Macon. It being on Cotton Avenue, mere feet from where a relocated statue of a Confederate soldier stood for almost a century is a beautiful testament to Macon’s generational progress.”

For Redding’s family, the relocation feels like homecoming. His daughter, Karla Redding-Andrews, is Vice President and Executive Director of the Otis Redding Foundation. “As lifelong residents of Macon, our family is proud to have our father’s statue relocated to Cotton Avenue, together in front of the new amphitheater named for our mother and just blocks from property our father owned in the 1960s,” Redding-Andrews shared.

Along with the statue, the Foundation continues to inspire new generations with the Otis Music Camp, an annual program that equips young artists with the tools to pursue their dreams.

Hollywood Turns the Spotlight on Otis & Zelma

Beyond Georgia, Redding’s story is also hitting the big screen. The upcoming biopic Otis & Zelma will explore his life, music, and enduring love story with wife Zelma Redding. Starring John Boyega as Otis and Danielle Deadwyler as Zelma, the film dives into the couple’s 10-year marriage. It celebrates their bond while tracing the meteoric rise of Redding’s career, cut tragically short in 1967. Directed by Channing Godfrey Peoples, Otis & Zelma isn’t just a musical biopic; it’s a portrait of devotion, resilience, and the woman who carried her husband’s legacy forward long after the music stopped.

Between the statue, the music camp, and the upcoming film, one thing is clear: Otis Redding’s voice will never fade. His family, his fans, and his hometown are keeping his legacy alive.

For more information on the Otis Redding Foundation and its programs, visit otisreddingfoundation.org and orcamacon.org

The post Otis Redding’s Legacy Lives on with New Biopic and Hometown Tribute appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.

New Game!

This is Umiko Ahagon. A support character from New Game!, which is a slice of life series. The anime’s plot revolves around programmers and game designers creating video games. Umiko is one of the lead programmers on the series, with a disciplined attitude and a strong work ethic. Personally, she’s a favorite “female” character of mine in the world of anime.

Black Lagoon

Dutch is the leader of The Black Lagoon Company.  What you’ll find in this gritty anime series is gangsters, mercenaries, the dank underworld, and basically the ugly side of life. But that’s also what makes it so meaningful, and one of the best series around.

Code Geass

Code Geass is a military series with a strong focus on strategy, tactics, violence and a compelling story. Viletta Nu plays an important role in the series, making her a memorable character. Even if Code Geass doesn’t sound like the type of show you’d watch, I’d give it a try. You might be surprised.

Canaan

The main black female character is also called Canaan. It’s an action anime similar to shows like Blood+ (which also has black characters). If you want a female lead and you’re into action series, then add this to your watch-list!

Bleach

Bleach isn’t an anime that discriminates when it comes to a wide range of character types. Above is Yoruichi, a memorable character who plays a crucial role. But there are other Black characters who appear in the beginning of Bleach or down the line. If you want a good mix of action, fantasy, and genders, Bleach is the anime to get into. It’s about 370+ episodes long!

Sword Art Online

Sword Art Online is such a massive series, that it’s impossible to NOT know about it as an anime fan. In this survival-based gaming/fantasy series, Andrew Gilbert is a supporting character. In the game. He runs his own shop as a merchant, which plays a crucial role in the main character’s survival. And in real life, he also runs a shop along with his wife. SAO will naturally interest any nerd/gamer and is worth watching (or at least trying out).

Soul Eater

Soul Eater’s is a fantasy series with a unique take on animation, action, and story. From memory, there are at least 2 black characters in Soul Eater, one of which is named Kilik Rung. For a taste of action, fantasy and supernatural elements, go with this. There’s a little comedy as well to top it off.

Honorable Mentions:

• Asterisk War.
• Attack on Titan.
• Afro Samurai.

What anime show do you love with Black characters? Leave your answers in the comments.

Written by Theo Ellis, founder of Anime Motivation. An online retailer of anime merchandise and figurines, based in the UK. I’ve been a huge fan of anime for over 15+ years, with my first show being Dragon Ball Z. I’m also a fan of video games like Halo and all types of music. Twitter @theojellis

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Jim is a lowly employee at a bank. He is sent down to the vault to complete a task where the door suddenly closes on him. When he finally emerges from the vault, everyone in the bank and everyone in the street is dead. He will only find another person who is alive: a rich white heiress named Julia. But Jim is a Black man.

DuBois was a sociologist and civil rights activist. The Comet, one of his few fiction works, was originally published in a collection of essays and poems. As such, it is obviously a work of fiction that claims its metaphorical nature within an ensemble that aims to educate about racial discrimination in America. More than that, it can be read as a parable with a plague of biblical proportion, the comet, and an Adam and Eve in a New York full of corpses. The short story is full of symbolism, which has been extensively studied in many interesting academic studies.

Obviously, the racial discrimination is at the heart of the short story. The divide between Jim and Julia is not only a racial one but also one of class, inherent to the racial dynamics of the 1920’s.

The dynamics in the short story are extremely interesting and expose the hypocrisy at the heart of them: think you’re the only two survivors in the world and suddenly realize your common humanity! But, like an elastic band, discrimination always comes back to slap your fingers.

The ending adds both a bitter and a sweet note–bitter in how the elastic comes back and sweet because, despite it all, there is some consolation.

The Comet is a very early sci-fi novel and the science in it isn’t exactly (to put it mildly) accurate. But it’s more of a pretext for a rational explanation to the situation rather than “and then everybody just died”. By being a scientific explanation, it also adds a touch of futurism, something that came from the stars. There are no ancient powers, no mysticism, no magic. Instead, there are banks, cars, and a comet. DuBois aimed to write a story fully in the modern era and to place Black people in it. In this, he truly is one of the founders of Afrofuturism.

To the modern reader, The Comet may lack some character development. But the writing is often brilliant, particularly when Jim roams the streets of New York in search of another survivor.

It’s a short story that will, of course, be of interest to anyone interested in the classics and in the history of sci-fi. And, obviously, it will be of interest to anyone interested in how racial issues are discussed within sci-fi and fantasy stories.

But beyond that, The Comet, a story which is now 98 years old, remains an incredibly modern and engaging short story that I recommend to everyone.

W.E.B. DuBois, “The Comet”, Darkwater, 1920. Reprinted in Dark Matter: The Anthology of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Speculative Fiction by Black Writers, edited by Sheree Thomas and Martin Simmons (2000).

C. has been reading science-fiction and fantasy for about 30 years and tries to have a life in between books, though it’s often less interesting than fictional worlds. You can find more science-fiction and fantasy books reviews by C. on http://www.themiddleshelf.org or on Twitter: @themiddleshelf1

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Cookbooks of favorite TV shows are all the rage these days. Fans of Outlander have Outlander Kitchen. Fans of Game of Thrones have A Feast of Ice and Fire. I myself am the proud owner of True Blood: Eats, Drinks, and Bites from Bon Temps. Now, all the fannibals and foodies out there can enjoy the same thing for Hannibal, thanks to the show’s incredibly talented food stylist, Janice Poon.

Admittedly, I’ve only seen a few episodes of the show and never got an opportunity to enjoy it like other people, but I will say that one of my first impressions of the show when I first watched it was how beautiful the food looked. Food apparently played a significant role in the show — considering the protagonist is a sophisticated gastronome — so it makes perfect sense that there would be a cookbook to accompany the series.

Feeding Hannibal: A Connoisseur’s Cookbook is complete with appetizers, meats, fish, soups, salads, side dishes, desserts, and drinks, but the best parts of the cookbook, in my opinion, are the “How to Hannibalize Your Table” section, which gives tips and ideas for garnishing your table and designing your food, the beautiful pictures from the set, and the small anecdotes about the show. Sample dishes include:

• Paella on the Rocks
• Freddie’s Ginger Carrot-Top Slaw
• Seared Foie Gras with Sage Plum Berry Sauce
• Ravenstag Stew
• Reba’s Cherry Berry Pie

You don’t have to be a fan of the show to enjoy this cookbook, though it certainly helps if you are! Anyone who enjoys art, design, and food (especially all of that wrapped into one) will get a kick out of trying these dishes.

Don’t worry; there are no human parts required, but there are several recipes that call for the use of animal blood. It’s true that animal blood has been used since early history to thicken sauces, and many French and Southeast Asian dishes today incorporate that process. However, if that’s not your cup of tea, then don’t worry. There aren’t that many recipes in the book that call for it. You’re also going to need to carve out some time to make most of these dishes. There are no simple 30-minute meals unless you’re making drinks or one of the breakfast recipes, so it’s great to use if you’re throwing a dinner party and want to impress your guests.

Janice Poon served as a food stylist for American Gods.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Feeding Hannibal: A Connoisseur’s Cookbook can be purchased here.

Kyndal is a free spirit who finds it very hard to describe herself. Tea Snob. Daydreamer. History, Fantasy, & Book Blerd. Cursed with Wanderlust. Jams to show tunes. Obsessed with Hamilton (the musical). Always on the advent of her next adventure. 

Twitter: @ladykyndal 

IG: @ladykyndal

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Since the original Voltron first roared onto screens in the 1980s, and later in Voltron: Legendary Defender (2016–2018), Princess Allura has been at the heart of the galaxy-spanning saga. Far from a passive figure waiting in a castle, Allura’s character evolution reflects the franchise’s growth, especially in portraying leadership, courage, and agency. Whether guiding the pilots, commanding the Voltron lions, or facing the tyranny of Zarkon, Allura embodies more than her royal title suggests.

Growing up, my understanding of racial representation in fiction wasn’t particularly great. During the long and lonely days of my childhood summers, I frequently fell in love with stories of fantasy and science fiction. I was thrilled at the accomplishments of underdog main characters and their tight-knit circle of friends. I longed for bizarre lands that were potentially hidden on the other side of my bedroom wall. Like many kids, I honestly believed magic was delicately woven into the world around us, waiting to explode and add just a bit of epic wonder to the mundanity of everyday life. Along the way, as I read and wrote and hoped to somehow capture this wonder in my own life, I quietly just accepted the fact that I didn’t exist in these worlds.

Legendary Defender transforms Allura into a true paladin of Voltron. She pilots the blue lion and, at times, serves as the Black paladin alongside Shiro in the Black Lion. Her hands-on involvement in missions, wielding her signature sword, and mastering her bayard showcase her as a warrior and leader. Even significant time away from the pilots does not diminish her influence; Allura’s guidance, often informed by paladin’s handbooks and the ancient guidebook of the Voltron lions, shapes the team’s strategy against the Galra Empire.

Lacking representation is a typical growing pain for Black girl nerds. By now, I’m familiar with the myriad of justifications for this issue, like “artistic license” and “historical accuracy,” and I know these comments really mask the systemic racism and lack of imagination that plague mainstream media. But all the knowledge in the world can never quite soothe that visceral punch to the gut when a beautifully realized story once again fails in the meaningful representation of diverse characters.

So, I was a little cautious when I first heard about Voltron: Legendary Defender last summer. It was a Netflix adaptation of a beloved 1980s cartoon I had never heard of, but it ticked all my favorite fiction tropes from the trailer alone: a ragtag bunch of young adults fighting an intergalactic empire? Giant robot cats that somehow form into a giant robot man? Cool uniforms and color-coordinated codenames like the “blue paladin” and the “red paladin”? Listen, I’m easy: I was falling in love again.

The creators of Legendary Defender invested considerable thought into Allura’s character designs, reflecting her growth from passive princess to active paladin. Her outfits, movements, and weaponry symbolize her evolution: from stasis-bound royalty to decisive, capable leader wielding both sword and authority. This visual storytelling complements her narrative arc, which also incorporates elements like the Deca-Phoebes trials and exploration of the Voltron lions’ unique capabilities.

I could also tell from the trailer that there was an impressive amount of diversity to look forward to. At least four of the five main characters are men of color, and two have skin tones darker than the others. The severe lack of women aside, I was excited about the possibility of this show.

Princess Allura represents the modern animated heroine: brave, smart, and essential to the fight against intergalactic tyranny. Whether leading missions in the Black Lion as Black paladin, guiding the new paladins, or studying her team’s guidebook to unlock hidden potentials, she exemplifies leadership under pressure. Her story underscores that even a princess in a castle — or a castle of lions — can wield immense power, responsibility, and influence across significant time and space.

So color me shocked when another character was introduced. In a giant space castle in a distant galaxy, the future defenders of the universe met Princess Allura for the first time.

Legendary Defender reimagined Allura with a darker skin tone, reflecting a deliberate change by the creators to modernize her representation. Now an active participant, she pilots the blue lion, wields a sword and bayard, and serves as a strategic guide to the paladins, including Pidge, Hunk, Lance, and Shiro. Her knowledge of quintessence, the mysterious energy that powers the Voltron lions, allows her to bridge the gap between science, combat, and leadership. She is no longer simply a princess waiting in a castle, she is a paladin in her own right, capable of protecting her people and planet while leading the team through the galaxy’s darkest rifts.

As I was soon to discover, the Allura in Netflix’s adaptation is something of an anomaly. For longtime fans, the first radical departure from the show’s previously established mythos is pretty obvious.

Allura was always a blond, white character prior to 2016, but she has now been reintroduced as a dark-skinned and arguably Black woman. I say arguably because the Netflix adaptation has made Allura part of a distinctly alien species. While she has always been part of the galactic species known as the Alteans, in 1984 this species still looked human and their otherness was presented to the audience as heavy accents and strange social customs. Coupled with these cultural characteristics are now large elfish ears and colorful facial markings, as well as a natural hair and eye color scheme that mark her as an exotic entity compared to the humans on the show.

Of course, her depiction isn’t as far out as, say, your typical Mass Effect species. However, it is common for media to feature black-coded alien characters and claim brownie points for representation, which cannot be completely given as she is technically not a human character. This is not to negate the fictional possibility of Black aliens, but to reflect on the substance of this depiction. As black-coded aliens are often stripped of any signifying cultural traits of Blackness which Black fans are familiar and identify with, this depiction can be considered a superficial form of representation.

It also leaves an unfortunate loophole for people who vehemently deny that a character could be Black based on their physical appearance because they are supposed to be an alien. Garnet from Steven Universe is a good example of this: despite the large afro, the dark skin, the Nicki Minaj hips, and being voiced by British Afro-Caribbean song goddess Estelle, some fans believe that thinking about Garnet as a black woman is inaccurate. She could never be Black, they say with some disgust; she is a space rock, and her identity isn’t based on arbitrary human concepts. Space rocks don’t have races, even if they have afros.

But if we claim Allura as a Black character despite her alien identity (and we will damn it), then the radical nature of her reinvention extends farther than the confines of the show’s reality.

To this day, it is still unusual to see a Black princess in pop culture. I personally can count the very few that exist on one hand, and each recollection is marred by the memory of their mishandling by the shows and movies in which they reside. Nevertheless, to have a Black woman be a princess is to allow her a certain prestige, protection, and femininity inherent to the royal title that is never associated with Black women, especially when they have dark skin.

Princesses are admired for their beauty and softness, which makes them both coveted subjects of romantic desire and sacred objects who must be shielded from external threats to their virtue. Conversely, Black women in media and real life are rarely seen as deserving of this special treatment. The soft, hyperfeminine image of a “princess” clashes with the racist denial of Black women’s unique forms of womanhood — an issue which has existed since chattel slavery. Black women are further not seen as princesses because they apparently cannot be loved and admired unconditionally. At most, they are objects of fetishistic sexual desire, and they are assumed to lack virtue and goodness due to misogynoir. As a result, Black female characters must be pillars of perfection for some fans to maybe consider liking them. Besides, society at large utterly fails to protect real life Black girls and women, so the fact that fictional Black women also unnecessarily suffer is disappointing but overall not surprising.

A Black Allura subverts this line of thinking, and the narrative positively supports this change. Allura is the most feminine character on the show, and she is not punished for her cute moments of gossip or her love of shiny jewelry. She is usually loved by other characters as soon as they meet her, and they are frequently taken aback by her beauty, poise, and compassion. Furthermore, while this compassion can border on a destructive selflessness – which I will explain in a moment – Allura never crumbles within the show without another character sweeping her into their arms to take care of her.

Yet Netflix’s adaptation of Voltron does not fall into the trap of making its Black female character infallibly perfect. Instead, Allura can be immature and impatient, so narrowly focused on her own emotions that she often cannot objectively consider other people’s opinions. She can also be needlessly tough and reckless as a leader, and she has risked the lives of herself and the Voltron paladins at least once per season to achieve her goals. In fact, her brutal leadership and uncompromising nature are serious points of contention between her and most of the paladins throughout the show. In the first season alone, two members of the team almost quit because of her behavior.

But the narrative provides viewers an understandable explanation for Allura’s less-than-savory actions. In this adaptation, Allura is one of the last remaining survivors of an intergalactic genocide. She watched as her planet and its Altean people were destroyed by the Galra Empire, and she was powerless to help as her father cryogenically froze her for 10,000 years to save her from the attack. By the time the paladins found Allura in the Castle of Lions in the original Voltron, her planet was still intact, and while her people were enslaved by the Galra they were very much alive and willing to fight their oppressors. Meanwhile, in 2016, Altea is gone, the paladins find the Castle of Lions hidden on a neighboring planet to protect it from the Galra, and when Allura is unfrozen she is still mentally arrested by rage and anguish over the loss of her people and her family.

Allura’s character arc throughout Voltron thus far has been about her trauma. The narrative does not shy away from these emotions, but instead comprehensively explores them without punishing her for them. She is hard on the paladins because she is afraid for the future of the universe if they fail to defeat the Galra, but she does not have time to deal with everyone’s doubts and her underlying sorrow as she is their leader. At most, she spends precious vulnerable moments in a virtual reality simulation where she can relive her childhood memories with a hologram of her father, but even this small gift is ripped from her. In one of the most heartbreaking moments in the entire show, Allura is forced to delete her memories – and thus her father – to save the Castle of Lions from crashing, and her devastation at this necessary decision is a palpable representation of what she has lost.

In this character arc, Allura occupies emotional narratives still uncommon for Black female characters. Rather than have her be the designated stoic leader, who can never succumb to her own issues as she plays the reliable counsel and nurturing caretaker to her team, Allura is frequently given her chance to wallow in negative emotions just like other characters on the show. Allura is shown to be vulnerable, weak and very selfish due to the extreme duress she is experiencing. And throughout it all, the narrative respects her for the multifaceted aspects of her humanity.

In the end, I’m grateful to have found a Black female character as dynamic as Princess Allura. The third season of Voltron is set to begin September 2017, and I’m on pins and needles waiting to learn more about her and discover just how far she is willing to go to achieve retribution for her people. While I wish I could have experienced her in my childhood, I’m glad she exists now for younger generations to see and learn from. She joins the ranks of other iconic princesses that I hope Black girls will aspire to be – a beautiful mosaic of their best and worst personality traits, strong when they can reasonably shoulder the responsibility, vulnerable when they desperately need to be and ultimately respected for the humanity they are brave enough to show the world.

And at least for me, there’s no longer as frantic a rush to chase after the few scant traces of representation I can find. We still need diverse media, and I will never stop advocating for that. But for now, my princess is in the Castle of Lions, and she reminds me of all the multitudes in which I can exist.

Paige Allen is a brand storyteller and content developer at a small public relations agency in Greater Boston. In her spare time, she’s an avid consumer of comic books, novels and television shows in the sci-fi and fantasy genres. Sometimes, she pretends to be a singer as well… much to her family’s dismay. Connect with her on Twitter @goodbye_duppy.

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