Meta Links 2014/07/03 - 2014/07/09
Notices
If you have meta to submit 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
We Need Diverse Books Part 1 and Part 2: Katherine Keller (blog) - "I'd like to take on this issue from another standpoint: the problems that the current lack of diversity causes libraries when it comes to finding these books and getting them to readers, as well as problems which get introduced by the ways libraries operate."
topic:diversity
[A RANT] [OK, TWO RANTS]: sylvaine (DW) - "Thing I am sad about right now: the insularity and cliquishness of fandom. "
topic:fandom
Enough is enough: from TV’s “crime porn" to endemic violence, the assault on women has to stop: DOON MACKICHAN (blog) - "Violent images of women onscreen fuel violence against women in society. Actress Doon Mackichan explains why she now has a zero-tolerance policy on taking part in any storylines that use violence against women as entertainment."
warning:non-con, warning:abuse
In which I exposit about Chris Nolan and the theme of delirium: Multiple authors (forum) - "He makes films about delirium, which is not the same as films about the boundary between fantasy and reality, which is a much more common theme. Nolan films are about when some key part of ones identity becomes so distorted that one cannot establish a clear path for living."
fandom:christophernolan
And then Seanan talked about fanfic some more.: seanan-mcguire (LJ) - " I think fanfic is a hugely important part of the way we interact with stories as a society, and that it's really so much older than anyone wants to admit."
topic:fanfic
"why do fangirls always make them gay?": lierdumoa (tumblr) - "Imagine being in a relationship in which you are treated like an equal,"
topic:slash, topic:queer
Theatre Thursdays: These Characters Are Really Nice Guys: Lady Saika (blog) - "The friendzone and the entitlement it represents are a constant topic of discussion in the feminist community."
topic:sexism
Going Out Like a Boss: Raizel Liebler (blog) - "This American television season has had many dramas dropping major characters Games of Thrones style. But what has been really great to see is the number of shows this season that have had their major female - and frequently women of color - characters leave their shows in powerful ways."
topic:race, topic:gender
Breaking Out of the Fridge: Subverting Women’s Victimization in Pop Culture: Lady Saika (blog) - "The problem with this trope is that it reduces women from people with agency into objects that are acted upon; they go from characters who make choices to tools whose purpose is to make someone else sad or angry or motivated, and that propagates the idea that objectifying women is a legitimate storytelling technique. One interesting thing about this trope, though, is that it’s become so expected that writers have started to use it in a subversive and surprising way."
topic:feminism, topic:tropes
Mature Fantasy -oh, wait!-- no /neutral/ title found!: dialecticdreamer (DW) - "Almost across the board, “Fantasy" is either expressly written for children, or tweaked into the thinnest “science fiction" connection -Zeist, anyone?- to appeal to adults. If I want a story about talking llamas staging a revolt for better working conditions and the right to common grazing grounds, why does it /inevitably/ have to be phrased as a “Planet of the Apes" scifi ripoff?"
topic:fantasy
Belief and Disbelief in Entertainment: dialecticdreamer (DW) - " “Willing suspension of disbelief" is how most people I know phrase the idea. it means, “okay, that may not obey the laws of physics, but what the heck, it’s a cartoon." or, “who worries about how they compress interior workings beyond the point of any hope of having movable joints, they’re giant transforming ROBOTS! YAAY!"
Ultimately, suspension of disbelief is, at its root, passive. "
topic:suspendingdisbelief
Specific Fandoms
A Song of Ice and Fire
Mercy as Shae in the Bloody Hand: radiowesteros (tumblr) - "In GRRM’s latest TWoW spoiler chapter “Mercy", Arya is continuing her apprenticeship with the Faceless Men by learning the mummer’s art with Izembaro and the company of The Gate. The play currently in production is “The Bloody Hand" by Phario Forel and as the chapter unfolds we learn it is to be performed in honor of an envoy from the Seven Kingdoms."
fandom:asoiaf
Chapter-by-Chapter Analysis: ACOK, Davos I: Steven Atewell (blog) - "I’m thrilled that my chapter-by-chapter analyses has finally gotten me to Davos, my favorite character and one of the most unique point-of-view characters in the series."
fandom:asoiaf
The Hero with a Thousand Faces and One: Dragonsteel (blog) - "Thus, it is the backstory - the fantastic tales of ages that came before - which provides the greatest clues to figuring out the ending, and the backstory is loaded with historical details and mythological archetypes."
fandom:asoiaf
Captain America
Untitled: septembriseur (tumblr) - "I’m talking about the blatant and even explicit dismissal and invisibilizing of female fandom,"
fandom:marvelcomics, fandom:mcu, topic:merchandise
Chronically ill Steve Rogers: teland (tumblr) - "So many fics focus only on skinny Steve’s asthma and portray him as being as minimally disabled as possible."
fandom:mcu, topic:disability
Game of Thrones
’Game of Thrones’ has a childish approach to adult content: Gavia Baker-Whitelaw (blog) - "Intentionally or not, GoT has created an insidious kind of rape culture for its female characters to inhabit."
fandom:gameofthrones, topic:non-con, topic:sexism
Glee
Glee Meta: Why I think Finn's cause of death should have been alcohol poisoning: luvtheheaven (AO3) - "It is almost the 1-year anniversary of Cory Monteith's death, and I personally am still grieving both Cory and Finn inoverlapping yet separate and both very real ways "
fandom:glee, topic:death
Hannibal
Why does Hannibal fall for Will’s deception?: bonearenaofmyskull (tumblr) - "Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter are alike: they have similar intelligence and mental capacities, a profound understanding of what it means to be human, and an appreciation of the poetry of murder and transformation through death. "
fandom:hannibal
Harry Potter
Magical Mondays: Conception by Love Potion: Lady Saika (blog) - "Since the publication of the final Harry Potter book, J.K. Rowling has offered us many bits of trivia about the HP universe. Some of these are interesting and some are frustrating, but few are so problematic as what she shared about Voldemort’s inability to understand or feel love."
fandom:harrypotter, topic:non-con
Naruto
Oh, My Pop Culture Buddha: The Path Toward Enlightenment in Naruto, Part 2: syngraphea (blog) - "This week, I’ll discuss the deva (god), asura (demigod), and human realms, as well as wrap up with what I think this means for the series’ interpretation of release from the cycle of Samsara."
fandom:naruto, topic:religion
Neon Genesis Evangelion
The Remarkable Queerness of Shinji Ikari: Sam Keeper (blog) - "the really weird ideas that I want to talk about today are the notions that the fandom has adopted that fly in the face of just about everything the text attempts to establish thematically. "
fandom:anime
Otomen
Putting the “Meh" in Otomen: The Unbalanced Subversion of Gender Roles": Tsunderin (blog) - "When I found Otomen a couple years ago, I had to admit I was excited to see what could possibly be done with the premise of a high school boy who had stereotypically feminine interests dating a girl who had stereotypically masculine interests."
fandom:otomen, topic:gender
Penny Dreadful
Race Against Time: The Question of Race in Period Pieces: polyglotpisces (blog) - "Well, the first season of Penny Dreadful has come and gone, concluding last week, and while a great horror show, the iffy race issues from the premiere never went away."
fandom:pennydreadful, topic:race
Princess Tutu
Thinkin' about anime: birdonaleash (tumblr) - "I think one of the things I really like about Princess Tutu is that it doesn’t really have a happy ending."
fandom:princesstutu
untitled: alexanderhamiltonisthebottom (tumblr) - "It’s very interesting about what separates Princess Tutu from the usual Magical Girl genre (not to say it like an elitist way), is it’s weaponized femininity."
fandom:princesstutu
Sailor Moon
A Ridiculously Comprehensive History of Sailor Moon, Part 3: Tales from Fandom: Victoria McNally (blog) - "Today you can’t go pretty much three virtual feet on the Internet without running into something Sailor Moon related, but people didn’t just start churning out fanart and crossover cosplays overnight."
fandom:sailormoon
Sherlock
A Dynamic Equation: Sherlock’s Mathematics of Desire: mid0nz (tumblr) - "It’s no mistake that in the HLV shooting scene Sherlock retreats to his mind palace where he summons Red Beard and that Moriarty, shackled and chained in a padded hole, follows immediately."
fandom:bbcsherlock
Teen Wolf
Some ‘Teen Wolf’ conventions are banning Sterek-related materials: Aja Romano (blog) - "It seems a few Teen Wolf conventions are banning Sterek and all non-canonical (that is, not on-screen) pairings from autograph signings."
fandom:teenwolf
Welcome to Night Vale
Empathy and Megan Wallaby: Exploring One of Welcome to Night Vale’s Greatest Strengths: Katie Schenkel (blog) - "While series creators and main writers Jeffrey Cranor and Joseph Fink have built a world that draws from the weirder elements of The Twilight Zone, the sinister elements of Lovecraft, and the dark humor of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett, there are also oddly progressive aspects to the town that we don’t always get to see in the real world."
fandom:welcometonightvale, topic:disability
The Second Anniversary of Welcome to Night Vale: Introducing Angst Into ‘The Happy OTP’: rinienne (blog) - "with each passing episode, I couldn’t shake off a feeling that something was missing; that the relationship was lacking some important aspect. In time I realized that the missing element was struggle."
fandom:welcometonightvale
X-Men
Mutant & Proud: Understanding the Queerness of the X-Men: Andrew Wheeler (blog) - "In the third of three essays examining the parallels between fictional mutants and real life LGBT people, I’ll look at how the mutations themselves - and the identity struggles of many X-Men characters - served to underline the essential queerness of mutants."
fandom:x-men, topic:queer
If you have meta to submit 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
We Need Diverse Books Part 1 and Part 2: Katherine Keller (blog) - "I'd like to take on this issue from another standpoint: the problems that the current lack of diversity causes libraries when it comes to finding these books and getting them to readers, as well as problems which get introduced by the ways libraries operate."
topic:diversity
[A RANT] [OK, TWO RANTS]: sylvaine (DW) - "Thing I am sad about right now: the insularity and cliquishness of fandom. "
topic:fandom
Enough is enough: from TV’s “crime porn" to endemic violence, the assault on women has to stop: DOON MACKICHAN (blog) - "Violent images of women onscreen fuel violence against women in society. Actress Doon Mackichan explains why she now has a zero-tolerance policy on taking part in any storylines that use violence against women as entertainment."
warning:non-con, warning:abuse
In which I exposit about Chris Nolan and the theme of delirium: Multiple authors (forum) - "He makes films about delirium, which is not the same as films about the boundary between fantasy and reality, which is a much more common theme. Nolan films are about when some key part of ones identity becomes so distorted that one cannot establish a clear path for living."
fandom:christophernolan
And then Seanan talked about fanfic some more.: seanan-mcguire (LJ) - " I think fanfic is a hugely important part of the way we interact with stories as a society, and that it's really so much older than anyone wants to admit."
topic:fanfic
"why do fangirls always make them gay?": lierdumoa (tumblr) - "Imagine being in a relationship in which you are treated like an equal,"
topic:slash, topic:queer
Theatre Thursdays: These Characters Are Really Nice Guys: Lady Saika (blog) - "The friendzone and the entitlement it represents are a constant topic of discussion in the feminist community."
topic:sexism
Going Out Like a Boss: Raizel Liebler (blog) - "This American television season has had many dramas dropping major characters Games of Thrones style. But what has been really great to see is the number of shows this season that have had their major female - and frequently women of color - characters leave their shows in powerful ways."
topic:race, topic:gender
Breaking Out of the Fridge: Subverting Women’s Victimization in Pop Culture: Lady Saika (blog) - "The problem with this trope is that it reduces women from people with agency into objects that are acted upon; they go from characters who make choices to tools whose purpose is to make someone else sad or angry or motivated, and that propagates the idea that objectifying women is a legitimate storytelling technique. One interesting thing about this trope, though, is that it’s become so expected that writers have started to use it in a subversive and surprising way."
topic:feminism, topic:tropes
Mature Fantasy -oh, wait!-- no /neutral/ title found!: dialecticdreamer (DW) - "Almost across the board, “Fantasy" is either expressly written for children, or tweaked into the thinnest “science fiction" connection -Zeist, anyone?- to appeal to adults. If I want a story about talking llamas staging a revolt for better working conditions and the right to common grazing grounds, why does it /inevitably/ have to be phrased as a “Planet of the Apes" scifi ripoff?"
topic:fantasy
Belief and Disbelief in Entertainment: dialecticdreamer (DW) - " “Willing suspension of disbelief" is how most people I know phrase the idea. it means, “okay, that may not obey the laws of physics, but what the heck, it’s a cartoon." or, “who worries about how they compress interior workings beyond the point of any hope of having movable joints, they’re giant transforming ROBOTS! YAAY!"
Ultimately, suspension of disbelief is, at its root, passive. "
topic:suspendingdisbelief
Specific Fandoms
A Song of Ice and Fire
Mercy as Shae in the Bloody Hand: radiowesteros (tumblr) - "In GRRM’s latest TWoW spoiler chapter “Mercy", Arya is continuing her apprenticeship with the Faceless Men by learning the mummer’s art with Izembaro and the company of The Gate. The play currently in production is “The Bloody Hand" by Phario Forel and as the chapter unfolds we learn it is to be performed in honor of an envoy from the Seven Kingdoms."
fandom:asoiaf
Chapter-by-Chapter Analysis: ACOK, Davos I: Steven Atewell (blog) - "I’m thrilled that my chapter-by-chapter analyses has finally gotten me to Davos, my favorite character and one of the most unique point-of-view characters in the series."
fandom:asoiaf
The Hero with a Thousand Faces and One: Dragonsteel (blog) - "Thus, it is the backstory - the fantastic tales of ages that came before - which provides the greatest clues to figuring out the ending, and the backstory is loaded with historical details and mythological archetypes."
fandom:asoiaf
Captain America
Untitled: septembriseur (tumblr) - "I’m talking about the blatant and even explicit dismissal and invisibilizing of female fandom,"
fandom:marvelcomics, fandom:mcu, topic:merchandise
Chronically ill Steve Rogers: teland (tumblr) - "So many fics focus only on skinny Steve’s asthma and portray him as being as minimally disabled as possible."
fandom:mcu, topic:disability
Game of Thrones
’Game of Thrones’ has a childish approach to adult content: Gavia Baker-Whitelaw (blog) - "Intentionally or not, GoT has created an insidious kind of rape culture for its female characters to inhabit."
fandom:gameofthrones, topic:non-con, topic:sexism
Glee
Glee Meta: Why I think Finn's cause of death should have been alcohol poisoning: luvtheheaven (AO3) - "It is almost the 1-year anniversary of Cory Monteith's death, and I personally am still grieving both Cory and Finn inoverlapping yet separate and both very real ways "
fandom:glee, topic:death
Hannibal
Why does Hannibal fall for Will’s deception?: bonearenaofmyskull (tumblr) - "Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter are alike: they have similar intelligence and mental capacities, a profound understanding of what it means to be human, and an appreciation of the poetry of murder and transformation through death. "
fandom:hannibal
Harry Potter
Magical Mondays: Conception by Love Potion: Lady Saika (blog) - "Since the publication of the final Harry Potter book, J.K. Rowling has offered us many bits of trivia about the HP universe. Some of these are interesting and some are frustrating, but few are so problematic as what she shared about Voldemort’s inability to understand or feel love."
fandom:harrypotter, topic:non-con
Naruto
Oh, My Pop Culture Buddha: The Path Toward Enlightenment in Naruto, Part 2: syngraphea (blog) - "This week, I’ll discuss the deva (god), asura (demigod), and human realms, as well as wrap up with what I think this means for the series’ interpretation of release from the cycle of Samsara."
fandom:naruto, topic:religion
Neon Genesis Evangelion
The Remarkable Queerness of Shinji Ikari: Sam Keeper (blog) - "the really weird ideas that I want to talk about today are the notions that the fandom has adopted that fly in the face of just about everything the text attempts to establish thematically. "
fandom:anime
Otomen
Putting the “Meh" in Otomen: The Unbalanced Subversion of Gender Roles": Tsunderin (blog) - "When I found Otomen a couple years ago, I had to admit I was excited to see what could possibly be done with the premise of a high school boy who had stereotypically feminine interests dating a girl who had stereotypically masculine interests."
fandom:otomen, topic:gender
Penny Dreadful
Race Against Time: The Question of Race in Period Pieces: polyglotpisces (blog) - "Well, the first season of Penny Dreadful has come and gone, concluding last week, and while a great horror show, the iffy race issues from the premiere never went away."
fandom:pennydreadful, topic:race
Princess Tutu
Thinkin' about anime: birdonaleash (tumblr) - "I think one of the things I really like about Princess Tutu is that it doesn’t really have a happy ending."
fandom:princesstutu
untitled: alexanderhamiltonisthebottom (tumblr) - "It’s very interesting about what separates Princess Tutu from the usual Magical Girl genre (not to say it like an elitist way), is it’s weaponized femininity."
fandom:princesstutu
Sailor Moon
A Ridiculously Comprehensive History of Sailor Moon, Part 3: Tales from Fandom: Victoria McNally (blog) - "Today you can’t go pretty much three virtual feet on the Internet without running into something Sailor Moon related, but people didn’t just start churning out fanart and crossover cosplays overnight."
fandom:sailormoon
Sherlock
A Dynamic Equation: Sherlock’s Mathematics of Desire: mid0nz (tumblr) - "It’s no mistake that in the HLV shooting scene Sherlock retreats to his mind palace where he summons Red Beard and that Moriarty, shackled and chained in a padded hole, follows immediately."
fandom:bbcsherlock
Teen Wolf
Some ‘Teen Wolf’ conventions are banning Sterek-related materials: Aja Romano (blog) - "It seems a few Teen Wolf conventions are banning Sterek and all non-canonical (that is, not on-screen) pairings from autograph signings."
fandom:teenwolf
Welcome to Night Vale
Empathy and Megan Wallaby: Exploring One of Welcome to Night Vale’s Greatest Strengths: Katie Schenkel (blog) - "While series creators and main writers Jeffrey Cranor and Joseph Fink have built a world that draws from the weirder elements of The Twilight Zone, the sinister elements of Lovecraft, and the dark humor of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett, there are also oddly progressive aspects to the town that we don’t always get to see in the real world."
fandom:welcometonightvale, topic:disability
The Second Anniversary of Welcome to Night Vale: Introducing Angst Into ‘The Happy OTP’: rinienne (blog) - "with each passing episode, I couldn’t shake off a feeling that something was missing; that the relationship was lacking some important aspect. In time I realized that the missing element was struggle."
fandom:welcometonightvale
X-Men
Mutant & Proud: Understanding the Queerness of the X-Men: Andrew Wheeler (blog) - "In the third of three essays examining the parallels between fictional mutants and real life LGBT people, I’ll look at how the mutations themselves - and the identity struggles of many X-Men characters - served to underline the essential queerness of mutants."
fandom:x-men, topic:queer