metanews | 15 April 2015-21 April 2015 (Reply)

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General Fandom
Me and Science Fiction: What Are We, Chopped Liver?: Eleanor Arnason (blog) - "The English paper The Guardian has a columnist who covers science fiction and fantasy. It’s good, I guess, to get that kind of attention from a major newspaper. But the columnist, Damien Walter, has a limited knowledge of the field. Recently, he did a column with a headline that said, "2014: The Year that Science Fiction Woke Up to Diversity." The column goes on to argue that last year was when SF finally discovered women and people of color (PoC) and produced books about gender issues."

topic:sciencefiction, topic:diversity

Episode 34: Swan or Sydney Opera House?: The Three Patch Podcast (podcast) - "In this episode, we celebrate the world of fanworks beyond the traditional fic and art. Join us for discussions of beta reading and fandom statistics, interviews with Sodelightfully and Ariane Devere, recs, news, and more."

topic:fanworks, topic:betareading

Episode 35: The Bitter Brother: The Three Patch Podcast (podcast) - "In this episode, we start by tackling the topics of drugs in BBC’s Sherlock, then lighten things up with discussions of crossovers, expansion pack fanworks, some "investigative" journalism, and a very special Sorting."

topic:crossovers, topic:drugs, fandom:bbcsherlock

Why Is TV’s ‘90s Reboot Boom Ignoring All the Great Black Comedies of That Era?: Dee Lockett (blog) - "The programs confirmed to come back — or close to getting a remake, as is the case with Fuller House — are visibly vanilla in both casting and style."

topic:television, topic:race

Untitled: Diane Duane (Tumblr) - "Since you mentioned having to keep on top of illegal-upload sites, I was wondering how one does it? I mean, I tried googling my pseudonym, but ebook-tree didn't come up at all, and they'd snarfled nine of my stories"

topic:copyright

Are Things Changing for Portrayals of Gay Characters in Korean Dramas?: Raizel (blog) - "Are things changing for portrayals of gay characters in Korean dramas? Possibly — at least according to several recent instances of positive and well-rounded portrayals of non-heterosexual (or perceived to be by others) characters."

topic:lgbt, topic:television, topic:k-drama

Can a Genre Be Racist?: Nate Atkinson (blog) - "Conceived in an era of scientific racism and honed through nationalist propaganda, the superhero genre seems to contain a worldview that pulls creators toward narratives that are, if not exactly white supremacist, unable to comment thoughtfully on issues that concern African Americans."

topic:racism, topic:superheroes

Netflix Announces Audio Description for the Blind Starting with Daredevil TODAY: Dan Van Winkle (blog) - "Yesterday, we wrote about how Marvel’s Daredevil was an uncomfortably ironic display of Netflix’s lack of accessibility for the blind, and like one of life’s little gifts, today we get to happily report that they’re rolling out an audio description option—starting with Daredevil!"

topic:disability

Empowering Versus Objectification: How Power Matters: Janelle Asselin (blog) - " There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to what makes something empowering rather than objectifying, because there’s an eternally shifting dynamic in each situation: who has the power."

topic:objectification

Outrage and Complacency: Frank Cho’s Spider-Gwen Cover: Janelle Asselin (blog) - "You may have missed it, but last week Frank Cho posted an image he’d drawn on a sketch cover of Spider-Gwen in a pose reminiscent of the Milo Manara Spider-Woman cover that drew a lot of negative attention."

fandom:comics, topic:art, topic:objectification

The Best AUs are Pacific Rim AUs: Emily Asher-Perrin (blog) - "You can see why Pacific Rim is one of the best universes to dump your favorite characters into; it allows your favorite heroes to still kick some collective butt (in GIANT MECHA SUITS) with the added benefit of drift compatibility."

topic:fanworks, topic:au

Popular Qidian authors see entire novels deleted by due to Chinese censors: Patrick Howell O’Neill (blog) - "Creeping self-censorship of Chinese websites, particularly popular Internet fiction websites, has meant that some of the country's most widely-read writers have seen their works deleted after, in some cases, years of labor."

topic:censorship, topic:fiction

In Brightest Day: Batman, Winnie the Pooh, OCD, and a Lack of Representation: MadameAce (blog) - "I’ve wanted to write a post about how OCD is portrayed in pop culture for quite some time now—but to be honest, there really aren’t that many obsessive-compulsive characters out there."

topic:disability, topic:mentalhealth, topic:representation

The "Lovable Asshole" Trope and Sexism: Lady Geek Girl (blog) - "I tend to fall in love most with a certain type of character, and those characters are usually assholes. Oh yes, sometimes there are exceptions like Scott McCall in Teen Wolf, who is practically a literal Disney prince, but most of the time I love the asshole characters. Usually this is because I find them hilarious and I love that they don’t seem to give a fuck about what anyone thinks of them."

topic:tropes

Why Is It So Hard To Talk About Fanfiction?: Undie Girl (blog) - "There has been yet another disastrous attempt to capitalize on fanfiction’s increasing visibility because apparently it’s hilarious to make fun of someone’s hobby."

topic:fanfic

NC-17 Podfic Advice: many different people (Google doc) - Compilation of advice from many different people about how to podfic explicit sex scenes. It’s not clear when the document was started, but it’s still being updated.

topic:podfic, topic:sex

A MFU pondering: spikesgirl58 (LJ) - "What's the craziest thing you've done in the name of MFU? What about another fandom?"

topic:fandom

7 Worst Things That Can Happen When Reading Fanfiction: Uve (blog) - "However, as good as it is, not everything is perfect in the journey of reading fanfic. There are many things that can go wrong."

topic:fanfic

The TV shows that lived on after their finales: Juliette Harrisson (blog) - "Here, we celebrate five episodes that would have been excellent series finales, but for the minor point that they aren’t, in fact, the series finale."

topic:television

The Light Bulb: Now This Is A Story: The Light Bulb (podcast) - "This week on the show, we talk about title sequences: how they work, when they stand on their own, and why we usually skip them.
Discussed: Buffy, Angel, Gilmore Girls, Game Of Thrones, Outlander, Northern Exposure, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Fringe, The X-Files, Doctor Who."

topic:television

Her Kind: ladybusiness (DW) - "Bad women disobey. This is the crux, the core truth, of our historically gendered ideas about villainy"

topic:villains, topic:femalecharacter

Writing Meta:beccaelizabeth (DW) - "Do you ever read a story and just feel like the whole thing would work better if the writer had realised their point of view character wasn't the protagonist? Like, there clearly is a story happening, but it isn't happening to them, or indeed where we can see it?"

topic:writing

Guest Post Roundup: Jim C. Hines (blog) - Collection of links to guest posts on Hines’ blog about representation in fantasy and SF. Also links to essay on the subject posted elsewhere.

topic:diversity, topic:representation

an ongoing journey: hesychasm (DW) - "But mostly I want to talk about how we talk to each other."

topic:socialjustice, topic:race

Specific Fandom

The 100
The 100 meta: marina (DW) - "The topic of the post is: why was Clarke's forgiveness of Bellamy enough to get to come back to camp and rejoin his people, while Bellamy's forgiveness of Clarke's choice to kill everyone at Mount Weather doesn't do the same for Clarke?"

fandom:the100

TV Diversity, Part 1: Suzette Chan (blog) - "The 100 doesn't just pass the Bechdel Test, it does so several times an episode because half the major characters are women, including the protagonist."

topic:diversity, topic:television, fandom:the100

Agents of SHIELD
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Recap: I Wanna Hold Your Hand: Scott Meslow (blog) - "Long after laying the skeleton of May's dark past, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. finally gives us the whole story in this week's "Melinda.""

fandom:agentsofshield

The Americans
A Long-Anticipated Revelation Reinvigorates ‘The Americans’: Spencer Kornhaber (journal) - "The sharing of a family secret has given the FX show a host of new ways for its characters to interact."

fandom:theamericans

Martha Is the Embodiment of Everything We Dread on The Americans: Margaret Lyons (blog) - "In season three, though, the show has become richer and more affecting because now the driving force isn't deceit: The overwhelming sensation of The Americans is dread. And Martha is at the center of that dread."

fandom:theamericans

Angel
Untitled: apprenticebard (Tumblr) - "Yeah, I really think that the vast majority of Angel’s problems come from his problems relating to and respecting other people, and he often reacts to that part of himself in the worst possible way."

fandom:angel

Arrow
NOC Recaps Arrow: Pulling Out The Arsenal: Connie (blog) - "I am glad to be proven both right and wrong: I knew he was leaving the show, but I really thought he would die."

fandom:arrow

Avengers: Age of Ultron
The Screencrush "Avengers: Age of Ultron" Review: Joss Whedon Assembles an Inspiring Blockbuster: Matt Singer (blog) - "There’s a lot to like about Avengers: Age of Ultron, but the coolest thing about it is the way it reclaims the comic book part of the phrase "comic-book movie.""

fandom:mcu, warning:spoilers

Barakamon
Barakamon: A Slice of Japanese Island Life: Amanda Vail (blog) - "Take one hotshot young calligrapher from Tokyo and put him in a fishing village with a bunch of quirky locals and what do you get? It’s called Barakamon, and it’s great."

fandom:manga

Buffy
Untitled: muchbuffy (Tumblr) - "The Buffybot made it’s first appearance in the episode Intervention as Spike’s sexbot. But ended up representing something more important, and playing a larger part than anticipated."

fandom:btvs

Dawn and the Paradox of Reality: theseniorpartners (Tumblr) - "What’s even more incredible than the monks’ rewriting of reality is the characters’ acceptance of it. Aside from Buffy’s initial anger before she learns Dawn is innocent, the characters never once object to the fact that their entire reality is fabricated."

fandom:btvs

Labor of Love: perpetual (LJ) - "Throughout the past three seasons of the comics, there's been criticism that it reads like fanfiction."

fandom:btvs, topic:comics

’Buffy’ nostalgia recap: The dawn of Spuffy: Kayleigh Roberts (blog) - "Second, and perhaps more importantly, "Out of My Mind" marks the official beginning of Spuffy."

fandom:btvs

Untitled: demandingbillydolls (Tumblr) - "Just some more thoughts on Spuffy and Bangel and fan/media perceptions of them."

fandom:btvs

Dusted 27: Consequences: Dusted (podcast) - "This week, we look back on the first two seasons, compile our list of the essential episodes, and answer a flurry of listener questions!"

fandom:btvs

Whedonverse Podcast Episode 13 - What’s My Line?: Whedonverse Podcast (podcast) - "Join Mr. Universe and The Clairvoyant as they power through episodes 9 and 10 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer's second season, with special guest host Meg Griffin from Mindian's Minute and Outlandish Conversations!"

fandom:btvs

Buffy Season 10: buffythecomicslayer (Tumblr) - "I really don’t know how I feel about Buffy season 10 so far. Like I enjoy certain parts of it, but I feel like there is so much potential they’re not using. Also it absolutely sucks how little screentime Willow has gotten this season."

fandom:btvs

Anya and the robots: muchbuffy (Tumblr) - "But something that I think the show might have done unintentionally is create them as a mirror for Anya as well."

fandom:btvs

Why did the Potentials want to be lead by Faith?: areanna123 (Tumblr) - "I was thinking about season seven again, and something that I was wondering about, is why were the Potentials so onboard with Faith being the leader? Sure, she was nice to them, and she hits hard, but they didn’t even blink when Buffy was talking about the fact that well, Faith is a murderer. She never denies that, we all saw it, and the Potentials are aware, but unfazed. I love Faith, but with her history, I would be a bit hesitant to hand over all the power to her. Why weren’t they?"

fandom:btvs

Hers is the Glory: ladybusiness (DW) - "Glory, the antagonist of Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s stellar fifth season, is the exception. She is an unequivocal villain, and I love her to death."

fandom:btvs

Chronicles of Narnia
But Soft, a Padding Wooly Tread: Ana Mardoll (blog) - Deconstruction of chapter 11 of The Silver Chair. Contains discussion of sexism, racism, religion and other topics. Not necessarily recommended for those who love the book.

fandom:chroniclesofnarnia, topic:deconstruction

Daredevil
How Daredevil Became Marvel’s Biggest Triumph Yet: Joanna Robinson (journal) - "But, after watching the 13 episodes that debuted over the weekend, it’s genuinely impressive how well they committed to that promise, and genuinely exciting how that "something different" might herald a whole new era of comic-book appreciation."

fandom:daredevil

Giving the Devil His Do-Rag: Why Netflix’s ‘Daredevil’ Is the Least Marvel-y Marvel Property Yet: Alex Pappademas (blog) - "The first season of Daredevil went up on Netflix this past Friday, just after midnight, which is also the time of day when 80 percent of the first season of Daredevil appears to have been filmed."

fandom:daredevil

Should You Be Watching Marvel’s Daredevil?: Emily Asher-Perrin (blog) - "Should you watch Daredevil? You likely will (our already have) if you’re a Marvel Cinematic Universe completist, or you have a love for the character. But if you’re unsure, here are some thoughts on the first three episodes to help you make up your mind."

fandom:daredevil

Daredevil and the Real City in the Marvel Cinematic Universe: veejane (DW) - "So the first question that occurred to me, watching Daredevil, was "What is the real city of this show?""

fandom:daredevil, topic:setting

A Fridge Grows In Hell’s Kitchen: On Daredevil’s Major Misstep: Arturo (blog) - "But, like a hurdler tripping and landing chin-first near the finish line, Daredevil’s 12th episode closes on a note that is less "shocking" than it is disappointing. And par for the course with the comics industry in all the wrong ways."

fandom:daredevil

But everyone knows sorrow is incurable: musesfool (DW) - "I don't really have anything deep to say, so this is just me rambling about what I liked/didn't like."

fandom:daredevil

NOC Recaps Daredevil: I’m Bleeding, Save Me Rosario!: Eric S.B. (blog) - "Okay, I think we can break it down into three acts: Matt and Claire, Battlin’ Jack, and the beat down at the end. I guess there’s also the Karen and Foggy bender that’s cute and light. Enough on that? Okay, good. Ding, ding, there’s the bell. Let’s get in to episode two of Daredevil, "Cut Man.""

fandom:daredevil

After Daredevil, I Will Never Watch Arrow Again: Jordan M. Calhoun (blog) - "Daredevil is — and I don’t say this lightly — the best superhero show ever made."

fandom:daredevil

Daredevil: Putting the Hell Back in Hell’s Kitchen: aelarsen (blog) - "So I watched the first season of Netflix’ new Daredevil, and there was something history-related that I kept thinking about as the season went on."

fandom:daredevil, fandom:marvelcomics, topic:history

Daredevil’s Corridor Fight: A Breakdown of the Smackdown: Alex Spencer (blog) - "And so, at the end of the second episode of Netflix’s Daredevil show, the scene is set for the most memorable action set piece in the entire series — and arguably one of the best in TV history. Thousands of words have been spilled over this fight scene online already. Let’s apply our heightened senses to work out why, and whether the show lifted any tricks from its paper-and-ink brethren."

fandom:daredevil

Doctor Who
Why Doctor Who Can Go Way Beyond 5 More Years On TV: Todd Black (blog) - "Doctor Who is a show that embraces change, regardless of how fans will react to it. Every major change affects the show, from its stories, to the interactions with characters, all of it. And it is because of these changes and more that I truly believe Doctor Who can last for a very long time."

fandom:doctorwho

Who’s He Podcast #201 Dig that heavy metal underneath your hood: Who’s He Podcast (podcast) - "After what seems like years, Phil and Paul return to their series 2 retrospective with a look at Rise Of The Cybermen."

fandom:doctorwho

Episode #263: The 20mb Podcast (podcast) - "Adam, Debbie, Mary, Andy and Kirby continue 'The Journey' with a review of The Romans."

fandom:doctorwho

Know Your Cybermen No.5: GerryD (blog) - Description of the Cybermen from 1968’s The Invasion, including details about the production and speculation about canonical details.

fandom:doctorwho

Earth Station Who Episode 98 - The Daemons: Earth Station Who (podcast) - "As the end of April approaches, ESW celebrates Beltane by visiting Devil’s End with the Third Doctor. Mike, Mike, and Mary Ogle are joined by Louis Robinson who assisted with editing The Daemons and insists that no actual dark spirits were harmed during the making of this serial."

fandom:doctorwho

Episode 49: The Space Pirates: Wanderers in the 4th Dimension (podcast) - "This week we cover the story #49, "The Space Pirates", in which the TARDIS crew get tangled up with deep space argonite pirates!"

fandom:doctorwho

Doctor Who: is it time for a new companion in the TARDIS?: Mark Harrison (blog) - "Is there an itch to bring a third member into the current TARDIS team and either way, is it about time that they did?"

fandom:doctorwho

Elementary
Elementary "A Stitch in Time" Review (Season 3 Episode 20): (blog) - "On the latest episode of "Elementary," the show took aim at a host of targets, including a Scientology-like religious cult, a paranormal debunker, a "Wolf of Wall Street" type and a "Homeland"-esque terrorist scenario, to varying effects in "A Stitch in Time.""

fandom:elementary

Is ‘Elementary’s’ Reichenbach Coming in Season 3: Brittany Lovely (blog) - "We feel confident enough to say that Elementary‘s Reichenbach already happened. In fact it was the fall that served as the catalyst for Elementary‘s beginning. However, while nods to Reichenbach exist already in the show’s narrative, an explicit reference to the Reichenbach is still available for the taking."

fandom:elementary, topic:adaptations

Ex Machina
6 questions ‘Ex Machina’ doesn’t answer about artificial intelligence: Cece Lederer (blog) - "What these and films like these fail to do is analyze how artificial intelligence would differ from biological. The assumption is that when code achieves consciousness it achieves human consciousness, a notion that is demolished in Danny Boyle and Alex Garland’s Ex Machina, which opened last week."

fandom:exmachina

Fauda
Fauda (1x01-1x09): marina (DW) - "So, Fauda is a recent Israeli TV show."

fandom:fauda

The Flash
NOC Recaps The Flash: Bee-ing Truthful or Why Lies Sting: Christelle G. (blog) - "Are we sure that bees are the only bug problem? Surely, there have gotta be spiders, too, because everyone is tangled in a GOTDAMB WEB OF LIES."

fandom:theflash

Game of Thrones
Game of Thrones Season 5, Episode 1 "The Wars to Come": Theresa Delucci (blog) - "All in all, tonight was more of an epilogue to last season than coming out of the gate in a new direction."

fandom:gameofthrones

Political Analysis of HBO Game of Thrones, Season 5, Episode 1: Steven Attewell (blog) - "The first episode of any season of Game of Thrones can be a difficult endeavor, with so much to set out so that the audience understands where everyone is, what they’re up to, and what issues they’ll be dealing with this season."

fandom:gameofthrones

"Game of Thrones" politics: Is a fair and just ruler possible for Westeros?: Steven Attewell (blog) - "If the overriding theme of the premiere of Season 5 was regime change, and how different polities handle a sudden transformation of the power structure, the overarching theme of last night’s episode was the question of a just ruler: what does one look like? How do they handle questions of war and peace, justice and punishment? How would they handle the crisis of the day?"

fandom:gameofthrones

"Video" Podcast of HBO’s Game of Thrones, Season 5 Episode 2, "The House of Black and White": Steven Attewell (podcast) - What the title says.

fandom:gameofthrones

Tailgate, Black and White: Johnny (blog) - Large collection of links to articles about Game of Thrones, mostly focused on season 5 episode 1.

fandom:gameofthrones

The House of Black and White Open Thread: Johnny (blog) - "As we've done in previous seasons, Tower of the Hand offers two discussion threads per episode as soon as the episode begins."

fandom:gameofthrones

Deconstructed: The House of Black and White: Stefan (blog) - "Did anyone else have the feeling during this episode that they accidentally hit the "forward" button on their remote? Boy, the plot moved along fast."

fandom:gameofthrones

Game of Thrones Chat S5E1: The Sun Sets in the Westeros: Cheryl (blog) - Discussion of the first episode of season 5 of Game of Thrones.

fandom:gameofthrones

Review: The House of Black and White: ghostlovesinger (blog) - "The cinematography may have breathtaking and the acting formidable, but in the absence of story structure, proper pacing and an adherence to internal logic, we were left, in the end, with merely a collection of fine scenes, ultimately engendering little in this reviewer but apathy."

fandom:gameofthrones

Game of Thrones, Season 5, Episode 2: The House of Black and White: Sparky (blog) - "Game of Thrones can occasionally bring some interesting insight on the way the unequal society affects people"

fandom:gameofthrones

Return to Westeros: "The House of Black and White" Review: Tsunderin (blog) - "Unlike the other two reviewers this season, I haven’t actually read the books. As such, if events are diverging from Martin’s novels, I wouldn’t be able to point them out. While losing the ability to compare and contrast is somewhat aggravating, being able to experience everything for the first time offers an interesting perspective."

fandom:gameofthrones, warning:spoilers

The Wars to Come: Philip Sandifer (blog) - "There is a tendency, with prestige cable television, towards a sort of ostentatious decompression of the first episode of a season, as if writers are compelled to demonstrate just how free they are to write For Their Art instead of for mass audience appeal by crafting opening acts as alienating as possible."

fandom:gameofthrones

The House of Black and White: Philip Sandifer (blog) - ""The House of Black and White" is an episode of setup, and being the second of these in a row, is by its nature slightly more frustrating."

fandom:gameofthrones, warning:spoilers

A Brief Treatise on the Rules of Thrones 1.10: Fire and Blood: Philip Sandifer (blog) - "Perhaps the most striking thing about "Fire and Blood" is the strangely relaxed tone it takes throughout."

fandom:gameofthrones

Green Lantern
Why Warner Bros Should Make John Stewart The Next Green Lantern: Kate Tanski (blog) - "I’m not generally the type of person to get riled up about casting rumors, but the buzz dropped on Friday’s Popcorn Talk that Warner Bros is currently casting for John Stewart as Green Lantern and not Hal Jordan gets me going in all the good ways. Let me tell you why."

fandom:dccu

Grimm
Grimm, Season Four Episode Seventeen: Hibernaculum: Renee (blog) - "Okay, this was essentially a Wesen of the week episode. Grimm has been doing that a lot, throwing in bits of Meta as sort of a side diversion."

fandom:grimm

Grimm Season Four, Episode Eighteen: Mishipeshu: Renee (blog) - "Grimm has nasty habit of raiding cultures of colour for woo woo."

fandom:grimm, warning:spoilers

Harry Potter
I finally understand Dumbledore. Well! That took me ages!: drinkingcocoa (LJ) - "I finally understood what the heck Dumbledore was thinking to abandon Harry to his abusive relatives at the age of one."

fandom:harrypotter

After all this time? Another meaning of "Look...at...me"!: drinkingcocoa (LJ) - "I've long thought of the HP series as really the Severus Snape series -- you know, Severus Snape and the Goblet of Fire, Severus Snape and the Order of the Phoenix and so on. But I hadn't thought of it before as the Tom Riddle/Lord Voldemort series until today. Hmm. What was he going through during each volume?"

fandom:harrypotter

Untitled: gyzym (Tumblr) - "HAVING SAID THAT, let us discuss Albus Dumbledore, Professional Puppetmaster."

fandom:harrypotter

Home
Home is Nothing to Write Home About: porluciernagas (blog) - "As an adaptation, Home fails on almost every conceivable level."

fandom:home, topic:adaptations

Hugo Awards
Black Gate Withdraws from Hugo Consideration: John ONeill (blog) - "Since the nomination for Black Gate was for the entire site, which produces over 120 articles per month by a team of over 40 volunteers, I did not decline the nomination, although personally I shared many of the Matthew’s concerns. However, over the last two weeks I’ve had the opportunity to hear from many of our bloggers, and by and large they share many of those concerns as well."

topic:hugoawards

Hugo Story Withdrawn: Annie Bellet (blog) - "I have withdrawn my story "Goodnight Stars" from consideration in this year’s Hugo Awards."

topic:hugoawards

a statement on my hugo nomination: Marko Kloos (blog) - "I have officially withdrawn my acceptance of the Best Novel nomination for "Lines of Departure" at this year’s Hugo Awards."

topic:hugoawards

The Latest Hugo Conspiracy Nonsense Involving Me: John Scalzi (blog) - "In the wake of one of John C. Wright’s Hugo-nominated stories being disqualified for the ballot because it was previously published on his Web site, howls of bitter indignancy have arisen from the Puppy quarters, on the basis that Old Man’s War, a book I serialized here on Whatever in 2002, qualified for the Hugo ballot in 2006 (it did not win)."

topic:hugoawards

More on the Sad Puppies Hugo Nominations: Deidre Saoirse Moen (blog) - "This is a multi-purpose post about the Sad Puppies (et al) Hugo Nominations and award slates"

topic:hugoawards

WHY I WON’T BE A PRESENTER AT THE HUGO AWARDS THIS YEAR: Connie Willis (blog) - "But then Vox Day and his followers made it impossible for me to remain silent , keep calm, and carry on. Not content with just using dirty tricks to get on the ballot, they’re now demanding they win, too, or they’ll destroy the Hugos altogether."

topic:hugoawards

Freeping the Hugo Awards: Susan Grigsby (blog) - "Grab your popcorn and meet me below the fold for the sad and rabid story of the puppies."

topic:hugoawards

Untitled: David Gerrold (Facebook) - "But here's the real question -- and although I doubt I'm going to get an honest answer here, I'm going to ask it anyway -- in the long lead-up to all of this, did anybody in the group think about methodology?"

topic:hugoawards

Vox Day’s involvement in the Sad Puppies slate: Naomi Kritzer (blog) - "Quite a bit of the coverage has conflated the "Sad Puppy" slate (put up by SF author Brad Torgersen) with the "Rabid Puppy" slate (put up by honest-to-God neo-fascist Theodore Beale, who writes as Vox Day)."

topic:hugoawards

Right-Wind Trolls Hijack SciFi Oscars: Arthur Chu (blog) - "How did a guy who once said men want to beat "fags" with tire irons nab six prestigious nominations? It’s ugly in the SciFi fiction world."

topic:hugoawards

On Laura Mixon-Gould’s Hugo Nomination for Best Fanwriter: RCRuiz (blog) - "I’m saying this not because she’s the only non-SP on the list, but because she put herself at risk when she didn’t need to."

topic:hugoawards

Som e comments on the Hugos and other SF awards: Eric Flint (blog) - "It’s also been brought to my attention that Breitbart’s very well-trafficked web site—never famous for the accuracy of its so-called "reporting"—has me listed as one of the supposedly downtrodden conservative and/or libertarian authors oppressed by the SF establishment."

topic:hugoawards

Guided by the Beauty of Their Weapons: An Analysis of Theodore Beale and his Supporters: Philip Sandifer (blog) - "One note that is probably worth making before we begin - I am writing this with the assumption of a basically sympathetic audience who have heard bits of the disturbing story, but who aren’t clear on the whole picture. It’s meant to be persuasive to people who are, broadly speaking, left-leaning (or at least not far-right) fans of intelligent and literary science fiction, and who are not generally of the opinion that there was ever anything badly wrong with the Hugo Awards."

topic:hugoawards

Why I Am Voting No Award In The Best Fan Writer Category:Abigail Nussbaum (blog) - "It's been six days since this year's Hugo nominations were announced, and in fandom time that feels like an eternity."

topic:hugoawards

Inside Amy Schumer
Season 3 of ‘Inside Amy Schumer’ claws the eyes out of the male gaze: Audra Schroeder (blog) - "The sketch is so funny, you almost forget Schumer’s critiquing a very real, persistent issue. This is the magic of Inside Amy Schumer."

fandom:insideamyschumer

iZombie
NOC Recaps iZombie: What About the Zombies of Color?: Connie (blog) - "Then we’ll get into the question of the week: Why don’t Zombies of Color have obvious zombie markers like the Caucasian characters do?"

fandom:izombie, topic:race

Can You Spare a Brain? iZombie From Panel to Screen: Christa Seeley (blog) - "Angel and Christa decided to undergo a little experiment when the CW premiered iZombie a few weeks ago. Christa had already read the majority of the comic series by Chris Roberson and Michael Allred before watching the show. Angel on the other hand watched the first two episodes of the show first and then read the first Volume of the comic. Let’s see how that affected their consumption of both versions."

fandom:izombie, fandom:comics, topic:adaptations

iZombie, Season 1, Episode 5: Flight From the Living Dead: Sparky (blog) - "So that was Izombie’s first attempt at LGBT inclusion"

fandom:izombie, warning:spoilers

James Bond
Bond Girl: Re-Watching and Re-Evaluating Goldfinger: Zina Hutton (blog) - "With the James Bond film franchise passing its fiftieth anniversary, there’s no doubt that the franchise has its fair share of iconic moments, images, lines and characters – and none are more so than those from Goldfinger."

fandom:jamesbond

The World Is Not Enough: The Transgressive Villainesses Of James Bond: ladybusiness (DW) - "The irony of being a queer intersectional feminist who is also a massive James Bond fan who will be seeing Spectre in IMAX on opening weekend is not lost on me"

fandom:jamesbond

Joss Whedon
We Don’t Need the Shadow Men: Joss Whedon’s Dishwater Feminism Can Sit Down Now: Megan Purdy (blog) - "Even Joss Whedon, nice guy that he is, gets criticized by feminists. This is why: "It never occurred to me that championing equality for women was going to be controversial." Naive or disingenuous? You can decide that for yourself. But Whedon’s brand of polite, liberal feminism is a problem."

topic:feminism, fandom:josswhedon

Jupiter Ascending
"Okay we have to have a talk…": aiffe (blog) - "Lana Wachowski, co-writer and co-director of Jupiter Ascending, does indeed bring the female gaze, but she is not 13. She is 49."

fandom:jupiterascending

Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter
Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter: starlady (DW) - "The movie is based on the urban legend surrounding the suicide of Konishi Takako in Minnesota in 2001."

fandom:kumikothetreasurehunter

Labyrinth
Movies that Shaped Me: Labyrinth: Lela Gwenn (blog) - "On June 27th, 1986, I had been seven years old for exactly nine days when my parents took me to see Labyrinth in the theater."

fandom:labyrinth

LadyStar
How to Fight Like a Girl, Part 3: LadyStar and Fighting for Love: Theodore Jefferson (blog) - "It is far too easy for authors and readers alike to describe a teenage girl with a boyfriend or even a candidate for a boyfriend as "boy crazy." The equivalent concept of "girl crazy" for boy characters is rare to the point of absurdity."

fandom:ladystar

Last Man on Earth
The Last Man on Earth, Season One, Episode Eleven: Moved to Tampa: Renee (blog) - "Well, considering that this started off as a dystopian with one man, the characters are adding up fast."

fandom:lastmanonearth, warning:spoilers

Legend of Zelda
Gossip Stone: Does the Ocarina’s Power Rival the Triforce?: Andrew Kiser (blog) - "Link’s arsenal is made up of many powerful items that he uses throughout his quests, however, one item in particular holds a magical power that goes far beyond the abilities of just causing damage or solving puzzles."

fandom:legendofzelda

Gossip Stone: What Real-Life Cultural Settings Could Be Emulated in a Future Zelda Game?: John Lett (blog) - "Should Zelda should take bigger influence from the rest of the world and different ages, like it has in quite small sections of the existing games?"

fandom:legendofzelda

Leverage
Untitled: gyzym (Tumblr) - "one of my favorite things to think about in terms of the future of the leverage ot3 is how they deal with the inevitable copycats that must crop up"

fandom:leverage

Untitled: gyzym (Tumblr) - "Do you have a headcanon for when Parker and Hardison manage to fully seduce Eliot into the OT3? Like what finally makes him take the leap to being in a romantic relationship with them?"

fandom:leverage, topic:relationships

Life Is Strange
Anyone else could have saved her: Life is Strange gave my personal tragedy a score: Laura Dale (blog) - "I think that video game creators need to treat difficult subject material with a greater degree of responsibility that creators in any other medium."

fandom:gaming, warning:suicide

Man From Uncle
The Round Table - Who Will Bridge The Gap?: glennagir (LJ) - "I don't know if I have a question, but I'm interested in what other people think about this. Will it change the fandom to have writers coming in who see the 60's from their perspective? How will we fare, the older, original fans?"

fandom:manfromuncle, topic:fandom

Marvel Cinematic Universe
How strong is Loki in the MCU?:beccaelizabeth (DW) - "I’m just wondering because at that strength it seems like if he so much as slaps a human they’re going to get very very very dead. Like, one punch, no waiting, pulp."

fandom:mcu

Avengers and Physics: beccaelizabeth (DW) - "The shot to take out the helicarrier engine wasn't aimed straight into the whizzy rotors, it curved way the hell around and had to account for air currents, and then hit where the debris could do the damage and stop the thing. Hell of a lot of understanding of weak spots, to get that right. "

fandom:mcu

The epic inefficiency of secret police:beccaelizabeth (DW) - "Because there’s a whole big difference between an interaction where you start with a problem, take it to the police, and end with less problem, and one where you start with no problem, the police roll up, and your day is messed up."

fandom:mcu

Untitled: beccaelizabeth (DW) - "I like the lines around Phil’s eyes, and I like how Clint has an expression with his whole face cause it’s interesting shapes now."

fandom:mcu

The utter inefficiency of secrecy:beccaelizabeth (DW) - "Most of all, there’s no feedback possible. Dude at the top says an order, everyone else either jumps or doesn’t jump. "

fandom:mcu

You're going to break me but you do it with style: sperrywink (DW) - "I am still consumed by trying to tease out his characterization and relationship with Steve."

fandom:mcu

MCU Loki Discussion Part One: fail_fandomanon (DW) - "It was tacky. It was unnecessary to compare Loki to Hitler to get across that he was a Bad Guy (and really, it felt like it was minimizing Hitler's atrocities). It was a pretty America rah rah moment. It was cheesy as fuck. It was emotionally exploitative. "

fandom:mcu

MCU Loki Discussion Part Two: fail_fandomanon (DW) - "You're basing your interpretation of a character based on the writing in Movie X. Based on this, you interpret Character Y to be Z.
However, some parts of Movie X's writing you find to be so dumb and cliche it can't possibly have been the genuine opinions of Character Y."

fandom:mcu

The Messengers
The Messengers, Season One, Episode One: Awakening: Renee (blog) - "The pilot had a myriad of characters and locations, making it sometimes hard to follow"

fandom:themessengers, warning:spoilers

Monty Python
"Normal is a Social Construct (and hella lame) - Michel Foucault and the Quest for the Holy Grail": schadenfeudessa (blog) - "But does this cult classic also teach us about the power of discourse and the rules that control that power?"

fandom:montypython

Mulan
Live-Action Mulan Sparks Whitewashing Concerns: Sam Maggs (blog) - "Hollywood doesn’t exactly have the best track record when it comes to casting actors of color for characters of color; though you’d think the days of "Italians playing Native Americans" had been left in the past, all you have to do is look at any anime adaptation, including the tragic Avatar: The Last Airbender, to see the problems we’re still having with diverse casting."

fandom:disney, topic:whitewashing, topic:race

Olympus
Olympus, Season 1, Episode 3: Ring of the Magi: Sparky (blog) - "This show does not intrigue me much. The acting is generally terrible, the CGI and settings so cheap that it beggars belief and the plot line is less than fascinating."

fandom:olympus, warning:spoilers

Once Upon a Time
Once Upon a Time, Season 4, Episode 18: Heart of Gold: Sparky (blog) - "Gold’s evil heart attack is not something I’m running with – link disease and disability to morality only ever leads to unpleasant places."

fandom:onceuponatime

Once Upon a Time, Season 4, Episode 19: Sympathy for the De Ville: Sparky (blog) - "Can I say again that I totally agree with Emma’s horror at the atrocious and appalling act her parents committed – especially since they’re STILL JUSTIFYING IT – but I still can’t agree with the focus of her anger – constantly going on about how her parents lied."

fandom:onceuponatime, warning:spoilers

The Originals
The Originals, Season Two, Episode Seventeen: Exquisite Corpse: Renee (blog) - "Even for The Originals that was a whole lot of angst. It was so bad that at times it felt like I was watching a teenage soap opera."

fandom:theoriginals

The Originals, Season Two, Episode Eighteen: Night Has a Thousand Eyes: Renee (blog) - "It seems that The Originals made a whiny liar out of me this episode."

fandom:theoriginals, warning:spoilers

Orphan Black
Ravings of an Orphan Black Fan: Carrie S. (blog) - "Orphan Black is the kind of show that makes me want to go door-to-door preaching the Gospel of Tatiana Maslany. It makes me feel frantic with anxiety, gleeful, weepy, excited, and triumphant. It makes me laugh so hard I fall off the couch and it makes my heart grow three sizes."

fandom:orphanblack

The Robots of Orphan Black: Noah Berlatsky (journal) - "Throughout pop-culture history, clones and robots have served similar purposes, exploring anxieties about class and labor."

fandom:orphanblack

What ‘Orphan Black’ Says About Women (Good Things - It Says Good Things): Noah Berlatsky (journal) - "Canadian sci-fi television show Orphan Black picks up where Joanna Russ left off, and it runs with the same feminist multiplicity."

fandom:orphanblack

Orphan Black Puts the Greater Good Above Its Clones: "The Weight of This Combination": Natalie Zutter (blog) - "But now, with the start of Orphan Black season 3, the Clone Club must work with Dyad to protect Project Leda from those who would wipe it out completely."

fandom:orphanblack, warning:spoilers

Orphan Black: "The Weight of This Combination" Review: stinekey (blog) - "If the episode titles are any indication, this year we’re going to spend a lot of time playing with themes of war and military."

fandom:orphanblack, warning:spoilers

Orphan Black Season Three, Episode One: The Weight of This Combination: Renee (blog) - "Once again, I have to say a hail to Tatiana Maslany."

fandom:orphanblack, warning:spoilers

Orphan Black: Philip Sandifer (blog) - "It’s better binged than serialized, I suspect. Certainly I found my desire to watch another episode to be quite intense following the cliffhanger, and relatively middling twenty-four hours later."

fandom:orphanblack

Outlander
Outlander Episode 10: By The Pricking Of My Thumbs: Redheadedgirl (blog) - Summary of the episode followed by discussion of it

fandom:outlander, warning:spoilers

Pacific Rim
Pacific Rim and Lessons in Positive Masculinity: Dr. Nerdlove (blog) - "After last week’s discussion about reclaiming what it means to be a man from the restrictions of toxic masculinity, it’s time to look at a movie that gives not just one but multiple examples of how to be a better man. And that movie is Pacific Rim."

fandom:pacificrim

The Returned
The Returned, Season 2, Episode 6: Lucy: Sparky (blog) - "As the show deviates from the French original I’m getting much more intrigued to see where they’re going – because we have a lot of new directions here."

fandom:thereturned, warning:spoilers

Romeo and Juliet
Alike in Dignity: Feuding Houses in Romeo and Juliet: Jo Walton (blog) - "People always talk about Romeo and Juliet as if it’s a romance, as if it’s a great passionate play, the greatest love story of all time. Seen that way, I’ve always found it a little disappointing."

fandom:shakespeare

Salem
Salem: One Thing the Show Gets Right: aelarsen (blog) - "The Salem Witch Trials are one of the great historical puzzles. What led a group of mostly teenaged girls to accuse their neighbors of having bewitched them? The problem is a remarkably complex one, and one worth looking at."

fandom:salem, topic:history

Salem, Season 2, Episode 2: Blood Kiss: Sparky (blog) - "Tituba and Mary are still awful together – I actually think Mary trying to pretend that she and her "dark sister" have had similar experiences and face similar oppression is far worse than when they snarl at each other."

fandom:salem, warning:spoilers

Sherlock - 221B Con and fallout
Sherlock 221b Con Wank: anonymous (fail_fandom anon wiki entry) - This is a summary of sorts of the situation and participants. It’s definitely biased, but it’s the easiest place to get a general idea of what’s going on without wading in too deep.