Here at Flavorwire, we pride ourselves on not only writing some of the best content on the internet, but keeping an eye on all of the great writing that other folks on the ‘net are doing, too. Today, we’ve looked at a couple of interviews; one with Mother of Dragons Emilia Clarke, and another with popular porn star Soya. We’ve also collected a recount of the Pope Francis openly apologizing to the gay community as well as an op-ed piece on the politics of meet-and-greets, celebrity culture, and extreme fandom.
In Entertainment Weekly, Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke sits down with James Hibberd and spills her predictions for next season. She may not be Melisandre and may not have consulted the Lord of Light, but the actress did have some good intel on what viewers could expect to see in the (not so near) future. While we desperately (and patiently!) await the new season, we can at least start with this interview:
I mean, yeah. That’s what I’m saying. If we talk about this: basically, I’ve got ships, I’ve got manpower, I’ve got dragons that breath fire, and I apparently cannot be killed. I don’t even have an attractive man who wants to take his shirt off anywhere near me now, so there are no distractions. Though we have yet to see [Peter Dinklage] without his clothes on. The only thing missing is Jorah. He’s gotta come back. I said I can’t rule the Seven Kingdoms without him … But as with Game of Thrones, you know when your character is looking good, that’s when you know you’re not safe. Because [the writers are] all, “Oh, do you like her? We’ll kill her!”
On CNN, Delia Gallagher and Daniel Burke covered Sunday’s historic moment wherein Pope Francis explicitly acknowledged the need for the Christian community to apologize to the gay and other marginalized communities which the church has either “offended or exploited,” saying that we are all sinners and capable of sin. Amongst other topics the Pope also addressed Brexit, genocide and the presence of two popes in the Vatican.
“I believe that the church not only should apologize to the person who is gay whom it has offended,” he added, “but has to apologize to the poor, to exploited women, to children exploited for labor; it has to ask forgiveness for having blessed many weapons.”
In New York Magazine , Lizzy Goodman spoke to porn star Stoya about getting discovered, her personal and detrimental relationship with James Deen, and changing the conditions of the porn industry. Through her detailed personal account is a candid, insider portrait of the industry:
Among the most-viewed clips of Stoya is the first episode of a series called “Hysterical Literature,” in which women read from a literary work of their choosing while being stimulated with a vibrator under a table. There’s no lingerie, no story, no music, no dim lighting; there isn’t even any nudity, just a six-minute shot of Stoya’s face as she reads and, eventually, reaches orgasm. A screenshot of the look on her face as she climaxes, eyes closed, head tilted back, throat exposed, her pale hands grasping at the table, is among the most popular GIFs of her available online. More than the alt-girl with the armpit hair and the nipple piercings, this is Stoya’s brand: real pleasure.
Over at Noisey, Judnick Mayard writes an op-ed discussing the lacking discourse surrounding fandom, ground rules and gratitude for celebrities and the double-edged-sword of meet-and-greets.
So fans finesse. Ask if they can get an extra pic. Sneak in a sharpie and blindside the artist with a request when security isn’t looking. Start talking or even freestyling to the artist for ten minutes because who cares about the 175 folks in line behind them at 12:30 AM—they don’t have a hot 16. Do you remember them from Tennessee back in 1983? White kids from the suburbs casually request rappers do a prison pose or some sort of gang sign pose so the pic looks #authentic online. And if you’re an underage fan, just lie to everyone so you can take a pic with your new ass tat. It’s not gonna ruin anyone’s life or anything! The requests are endless. The money buys the fan access, but the boundaries of that access are rarely at the discretion of the artist.