Meta Links: 2013/08/29 - 09/04
Notices
If you have meta to sumbit or rec, please comment to this post or to the screened Submissions Post. If you'd like to give us blanket permission to link your meta please comment to the Blanket Permissions Post. If you have feedback or questions, check out our FAQ, Contact the Mods, or PM/email. If you'd like to volunteer to link-find or mod, please comment to the Volunteers Post.
General Fandom
The Bechdel test (for bechdel tests): Ben Adams (blog) - "What I want to talk about here is what makes the Bechdel Test interesting in the first place - and why I think the “alternative” Bechdel Tests I list above are ultimately less satisfying."
topic:feminism, topic:queer
I hate strong female characters: Sophia Mcdougall(blog) - "Sherlock Holmes gets to be brilliant, solitary, abrasive, Bohemian, whimsical, brave, sad, manipulative, neurotic, vain, untidy, fastidious, artistic, courteous, rude, a polymath genius. Female characters get to be Strong."
topic: feminism
Writer’s Toolbox: Teaser Trailers As Creative Tools Fangirl: (blog) - "Trailers are meant to give you a sense of what the movie is about, and that’s how I approach my prose fiction trailers, too."
topic:writing, topic:vidding
The Science of Slash (podcast) Pru & MK - Slash Report: (blog) - "We kidnapped some (mostly) willing science nerds and dragged them down a long dark alley to talk about the scientific basis of some of our favorite slash tropes and universe building. We talk about mpreg, interspecies, parallel universes, time travel, and our favorite topic of all - knotting."
topic:slash
I ran across an interesting link today on how/whether to write about periods (as in, women having them): sholio (DW) - "One of the guy writers on the list asked the women to weigh in on how they felt about fictional depictions of menstruation. Mainly he wanted to know if female readers are thrown out of the story if it's not mentioned, and did we feel it would plausibly affect a female character's ability to ride/fight/etc to a degree that should be mentioned for realism?"
topic:writing
Tumblr. Please Explain Its Advantages to Me?: jae (DW) - "I'm not averse to trying new technologies, even up and moving if that's where the tide carries folks, but Tumblr has proven so far to be a mighty hard hill for me to climb."
topic:tumblr
The Upsides of Tumblr: schneefink (DW) - "jae asked about the advantages of Tumblr for someone who likes actual interaction and discussions. I've been thinking about this recently: I don't think that's what Tumblr is for, but it does have its upsides and reasons why I'm using it."
topic:tumblr
Fannish Shibboleths: CD Covington in Obligated to Exaggerate (blog) - "But in fandom, there are people who don't want to welcome new people in or see any changes. So they make up the “Fake geek girl” or decide that only certain methods of fannish expression are valid."
topic:fandom
Maintaining a Fandom-Life Balance: Eleanor Musgrove in Fannish Wanderers (blog) - "So, how can you maintain a balance between ‘real life’ and fandom life? Well, we’re occasionally guilty of not doing it ourselves, but we think we’ve worked out the theory
topic:fandom
Unpacking the Official Fanfiction Census: Gavia Baker-Whitelaw in dailydot (blog) - "AO3 has a good reputation for hosting high-quality writing, but it turns out that it’s not nearly as adult-rated as we thought."
topic:a03
Meta re: The Most Effective Form Of Censorship:jjlhunter (DW) - "Or in the language of the OP, “you’re thinking too much […] it’s unbecoming. It’s embarrassing. You care too much. It’s pathological.”"
topic:censorship,
The Lost Art Of The Engaging Blurb: cupidsbow (DW) - "What the hell has happened to original publishing? I know I kind of gave up on it after that time I went into one bookshop and asked for something without misogyny and they couldn't sell me anything, and then the second bookshop sold me a story about a serial killer whose victims were mommy stand-ins, and another story about a vampire who lusted after a woman despite himself. Ugh."
topic:profic, topic:feminism, topic:reading
Specific Fandoms
A Song of Ice and Fire
Quick Thoughts on Sansa Stark: antiacquiescence (tumblr) - "All Sansa Stark ever wanted was to be good, to wear beautiful dresses, and to raise her children with somebody she loved, and to wear flower crowns and well, that obviously didn’t happen."
fandom:asoiaf
Untitled: joannalannister (tumblr) - "Why, after Joffrey slashes his arm on the throne during the pardoning-the-rebels and is ushered from the room, does Tywin, acting Hand, sit on the STEPS of the Iron Throne?"
fandom:asoiaf
GROWING STRONG III: stannisisthefury(tumblr) - "For the finale of this essay series, there’s a final theory to be examined, and then the consequences of the machinations of House Tyrell."
fandom:asoiaf
Doctor Who
OH STEVEN MOFFAT NONightsky - Doctor Her: (blog) - "I think Moffat means well, and that he really does think he isn’t sexist. Unfortunately, this leads him into the classic privileged mistake: thinking that intent overrides all."
fandom:doctorwho, topic:sexism
Game of Thrones
Meta Monday: Madness: justadram (tumblr) - "Today’s topic is mental illness in Westeros and medieval Europe, known to both medievals and Westerosi as madness. "
fandom:gameofthrones, topic:mentalhealth
JRR Tolkien
Amanyar Civilization and Technology: an_animal_imagined_by_poe (tumblr) - "Outside of the hyper-analytical silm fandom, the Tolkien legendarium is synonymous with medieval stasis in fantasy."
fandom:jrrtolkien
In Defense of the King’s Men: lintamande (tumblr) - "I’d like to talk about the King’s Men."
fandom:jrrtolkien
K-Pop
Dirty Eyed Boy: Jo Kwon: Gender and Sexuality in Kpop Raizel Liebler - The Learned Fangirl: (blog) - "But would it be possible for a boy band to have an openly gay member while popular? Highly doubtful - even in the age of Glee - and jokes at the Tonys about how Broadway is “for the gays.” So how does this work in Kpop - where there are so many more groups? "
fandom:kpop, topic:gender
Luther
why Idris Elba is Batman, not Doctor Who: liviapenn (DW) - "And to me "Luther" is also a TV version of Batman-without-the-costume, except instead of working out the "realistic" Batman in the "real world" they've just taken all the nightmarish, horrific aspects of Batman, the "Gotham is built on a Hellmouth" trope, and done a story about that."
fandom:luther
The Newsroom
How I Would Rewrite That Atrocious Gun Scene in “The Newsroom” slhuang: (blog) - "Will is supposedly a red-blooded conservative.... If we saw him rant about fiscal conservatism and shrinking government alongside these things it’d make more sense, but, y’know, we haven’t."
fandom:thenewsroom, topic:politics
Sherlock
Untitled: iwillincendiotheheartoutofyou(tumblr) - "Sherlock utilises a lot of the conventions of the romance genre in such a way that subliminally encourages the audience to view the relationship between Sherlock & John in a romantic light"
fandom:bbcsherlock
Star Trek TOS
Let’s talk about the dialogue in TOS: missdeannatroi(tumblr) - "If you’ve been following my meta, you know that I consider Kirk/Spock to be a canon pairing."
fandom:startrek
Teen Wolf
Ellipses: Teen Wolf 3.12: cupidsbow (DW) - "[Ellispe] has a mathematical meaning to do with cones and planes and stuff, but the root of it means "falling short [...]. It's pithy. Poignant. Dotty. Neatly encapsulates my bafflement. It does not, however, capture the sexism, racism, or general illogic of season 3 so far, or my own mixed reactions, so I feel the need to say a few words more."
fandom:teenwolf, topic:feminism, topic:racism
Three Flavors Cornetto Trilogy
Shaun of the Fuzz’s End: The Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy and the Hero’s JourneyMark Lee - Overthinking It: (blog) - "...to me, most of the satire lies in the movies’ implicit reminders that achieving self-actualization and escaping from the mundanity of daily life is actually harder than what we see in these genre movies."
topic:protagonist, fandom:threeflavorscornetto
If you have meta to sumbit or rec, please comment to this post or to the screened Submissions Post. If you'd like to give us blanket permission to link your meta please comment to the Blanket Permissions Post. If you have feedback or questions, check out our FAQ, Contact the Mods, or PM/email. If you'd like to volunteer to link-find or mod, please comment to the Volunteers Post.
General Fandom
The Bechdel test (for bechdel tests): Ben Adams (blog) - "What I want to talk about here is what makes the Bechdel Test interesting in the first place - and why I think the “alternative” Bechdel Tests I list above are ultimately less satisfying."
topic:feminism, topic:queer
I hate strong female characters: Sophia Mcdougall(blog) - "Sherlock Holmes gets to be brilliant, solitary, abrasive, Bohemian, whimsical, brave, sad, manipulative, neurotic, vain, untidy, fastidious, artistic, courteous, rude, a polymath genius. Female characters get to be Strong."
topic: feminism
Writer’s Toolbox: Teaser Trailers As Creative Tools Fangirl: (blog) - "Trailers are meant to give you a sense of what the movie is about, and that’s how I approach my prose fiction trailers, too."
topic:writing, topic:vidding
The Science of Slash (podcast) Pru & MK - Slash Report: (blog) - "We kidnapped some (mostly) willing science nerds and dragged them down a long dark alley to talk about the scientific basis of some of our favorite slash tropes and universe building. We talk about mpreg, interspecies, parallel universes, time travel, and our favorite topic of all - knotting."
topic:slash
I ran across an interesting link today on how/whether to write about periods (as in, women having them): sholio (DW) - "One of the guy writers on the list asked the women to weigh in on how they felt about fictional depictions of menstruation. Mainly he wanted to know if female readers are thrown out of the story if it's not mentioned, and did we feel it would plausibly affect a female character's ability to ride/fight/etc to a degree that should be mentioned for realism?"
topic:writing
Tumblr. Please Explain Its Advantages to Me?: jae (DW) - "I'm not averse to trying new technologies, even up and moving if that's where the tide carries folks, but Tumblr has proven so far to be a mighty hard hill for me to climb."
topic:tumblr
The Upsides of Tumblr: schneefink (DW) - "jae asked about the advantages of Tumblr for someone who likes actual interaction and discussions. I've been thinking about this recently: I don't think that's what Tumblr is for, but it does have its upsides and reasons why I'm using it."
topic:tumblr
Fannish Shibboleths: CD Covington in Obligated to Exaggerate (blog) - "But in fandom, there are people who don't want to welcome new people in or see any changes. So they make up the “Fake geek girl” or decide that only certain methods of fannish expression are valid."
topic:fandom
Maintaining a Fandom-Life Balance: Eleanor Musgrove in Fannish Wanderers (blog) - "So, how can you maintain a balance between ‘real life’ and fandom life? Well, we’re occasionally guilty of not doing it ourselves, but we think we’ve worked out the theory
topic:fandom
Unpacking the Official Fanfiction Census: Gavia Baker-Whitelaw in dailydot (blog) - "AO3 has a good reputation for hosting high-quality writing, but it turns out that it’s not nearly as adult-rated as we thought."
topic:a03
Meta re: The Most Effective Form Of Censorship:jjlhunter (DW) - "Or in the language of the OP, “you’re thinking too much […] it’s unbecoming. It’s embarrassing. You care too much. It’s pathological.”"
topic:censorship,
The Lost Art Of The Engaging Blurb: cupidsbow (DW) - "What the hell has happened to original publishing? I know I kind of gave up on it after that time I went into one bookshop and asked for something without misogyny and they couldn't sell me anything, and then the second bookshop sold me a story about a serial killer whose victims were mommy stand-ins, and another story about a vampire who lusted after a woman despite himself. Ugh."
topic:profic, topic:feminism, topic:reading
Specific Fandoms
A Song of Ice and Fire
Quick Thoughts on Sansa Stark: antiacquiescence (tumblr) - "All Sansa Stark ever wanted was to be good, to wear beautiful dresses, and to raise her children with somebody she loved, and to wear flower crowns and well, that obviously didn’t happen."
fandom:asoiaf
Untitled: joannalannister (tumblr) - "Why, after Joffrey slashes his arm on the throne during the pardoning-the-rebels and is ushered from the room, does Tywin, acting Hand, sit on the STEPS of the Iron Throne?"
fandom:asoiaf
GROWING STRONG III: stannisisthefury(tumblr) - "For the finale of this essay series, there’s a final theory to be examined, and then the consequences of the machinations of House Tyrell."
fandom:asoiaf
Doctor Who
OH STEVEN MOFFAT NONightsky - Doctor Her: (blog) - "I think Moffat means well, and that he really does think he isn’t sexist. Unfortunately, this leads him into the classic privileged mistake: thinking that intent overrides all."
fandom:doctorwho, topic:sexism
Game of Thrones
Meta Monday: Madness: justadram (tumblr) - "Today’s topic is mental illness in Westeros and medieval Europe, known to both medievals and Westerosi as madness. "
fandom:gameofthrones, topic:mentalhealth
JRR Tolkien
Amanyar Civilization and Technology: an_animal_imagined_by_poe (tumblr) - "Outside of the hyper-analytical silm fandom, the Tolkien legendarium is synonymous with medieval stasis in fantasy."
fandom:jrrtolkien
In Defense of the King’s Men: lintamande (tumblr) - "I’d like to talk about the King’s Men."
fandom:jrrtolkien
K-Pop
Dirty Eyed Boy: Jo Kwon: Gender and Sexuality in Kpop Raizel Liebler - The Learned Fangirl: (blog) - "But would it be possible for a boy band to have an openly gay member while popular? Highly doubtful - even in the age of Glee - and jokes at the Tonys about how Broadway is “for the gays.” So how does this work in Kpop - where there are so many more groups? "
fandom:kpop, topic:gender
Luther
why Idris Elba is Batman, not Doctor Who: liviapenn (DW) - "And to me "Luther" is also a TV version of Batman-without-the-costume, except instead of working out the "realistic" Batman in the "real world" they've just taken all the nightmarish, horrific aspects of Batman, the "Gotham is built on a Hellmouth" trope, and done a story about that."
fandom:luther
The Newsroom
How I Would Rewrite That Atrocious Gun Scene in “The Newsroom” slhuang: (blog) - "Will is supposedly a red-blooded conservative.... If we saw him rant about fiscal conservatism and shrinking government alongside these things it’d make more sense, but, y’know, we haven’t."
fandom:thenewsroom, topic:politics
Sherlock
Untitled: iwillincendiotheheartoutofyou(tumblr) - "Sherlock utilises a lot of the conventions of the romance genre in such a way that subliminally encourages the audience to view the relationship between Sherlock & John in a romantic light"
fandom:bbcsherlock
Star Trek TOS
Let’s talk about the dialogue in TOS: missdeannatroi(tumblr) - "If you’ve been following my meta, you know that I consider Kirk/Spock to be a canon pairing."
fandom:startrek
Teen Wolf
Ellipses: Teen Wolf 3.12: cupidsbow (DW) - "[Ellispe] has a mathematical meaning to do with cones and planes and stuff, but the root of it means "falling short [...]. It's pithy. Poignant. Dotty. Neatly encapsulates my bafflement. It does not, however, capture the sexism, racism, or general illogic of season 3 so far, or my own mixed reactions, so I feel the need to say a few words more."
fandom:teenwolf, topic:feminism, topic:racism
Three Flavors Cornetto Trilogy
Shaun of the Fuzz’s End: The Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy and the Hero’s JourneyMark Lee - Overthinking It: (blog) - "...to me, most of the satire lies in the movies’ implicit reminders that achieving self-actualization and escaping from the mundanity of daily life is actually harder than what we see in these genre movies."
topic:protagonist, fandom:threeflavorscornetto