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Two Essays on The Count of Monte Cristo

I love The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. I have read the unabridged version more than once, and my most recent reread was in 2023. At that time, I wrote a couple of brief essays which I posted on Tumblr, one of which was about a canonically queer character and the other discussed a character who is often left out of the various adaptations. I present for you these essays with expansion and alteration, because I keep returning to them as pieces of writing and because I don't want them to be limited to those original posts. I'd like to thank longtime Patron Case Aiken, who receives a monthly shoutout, as well as new patrons DivineJasper and Sasha Khan. (Quotes are from Robin Buss’ English translation of Alexandre Dumas’ work.) Link to Audio Version. ----- Canonical Queerness in The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas You’d need to change surprisingly little of The Count of Monte Cristo to confirm Eugénie Danglars as a trans man (or a masc-leaning nonbinary person...

Animorphs Book 15: The Escape by K. A. Applegate

The Escape is a pool of grief, rage, and helplessness. It's about interrupted grief when loss changes from completely gone back to just out of reach. Discussing humor as a shield and coping mechanism, it describes its role and acknowledges its limits.

Marco is a jokester and a goof when viewed by his fellow Animorphs, but whenever its his turn to narrate his inner monologue is a lot darker than his exterior would project. He's kind of a foil for Rachel, who is outwardly tough but also deeply insecure. To be clear, Marco is also insecure, but he hides it by joking about it and deflecting deep thought away from it. The books engage with this dynamic in a way that feel real.

A boy (Marco) turns into a hammerhead shark

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