25 February 2015- 3 March 2015
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
Why There Is No Such Thing As "Just a Movie": aelarsen (blog) - "Periodically, people disagree with my analyses of various films and respond that "it's just a movie.""
topic:fandom
Representation in Media: Why It Matters: Fangirl (blog) - "The topic of representation is appearing everywhere this past month, between the lack of diversity in the Oscar nominees to the toys on shelves, from the identity of the upcoming Spider-Man to the portrayal of women in videogames and in the pages of books and comics."
topic:diversity
Magical Mondays: Tanuki 101: Tsunderin (blog) - "Ever since Saika's post on fairies, I've been thinking about one of my most favorite mythological creatures: the tanuki."
topic:magic
Oh, My Pop Culture Religion: Zeus, Hera, Male Power Fantasies, & Female Demonization: Lady Geek Girl (blog) - "My biggest issues are with how our pop culture portrays Zeus and Hera. While the other gods may also occasionally be portrayed poorly, I feel like the portrayal of these two ends up being the most problematic."
topic:myth, topic:misogyny
Sexualized Saturdays: The Importance of LGBTQ+ Heroes: cloudnoodle (blog) - "Representation matters, and everyone wants to be a hero. Unfortunately, what we LGBTQ+ folks get more often are queer villains, queer-coded villains, or anti-heroes. At least, they're the most famous ones: pretty much every Disney villain ever, Loki, Constantine."
topic:representation, topic:queer
Specific Fandoms
The 100
The 100, Warlords, and the CW's First Bisexual Lead: MadameAce (blog) - "For anyone who doesn't watch The 100, the CW made great strides toward representation when it revealed that its leading character is bisexual."
fandom:the100, topic:lgbt
Untitled: youreallysoldit (tumblr) - "Anonymous asked: what do you mean about people saying clarke only cares about bellamy as a tool for mt weather??"
fandom:the100
Batman
Batman Never Goes Bad: Noah Berlatsky (blog) - "Various people had informed me that the Batmobile drove off a cliff in the third season of the Adam West TV series."
fandom:dccu
The Arkham Sessions, Ep. 51: "Off Balance": Andrea (blog) - "On this episode of The Arkham Sessions, we discuss the impact of interpersonal betrayal, especially when it comes to someone with Batman's history with romantic partners."
fandom:dccu
Catwoman
Catwoman #39: "Better Than He Does Himself": Genevieve Valentine (blog) - "Or: the one in which Selina Kyle confirms a rumor."
fandom:dccomics, topic:lgbt
Comics
A Boy Named Sue: Father-Son Relationships in the Comics of Jason Aaron: John Parker (blog) - "You don't have to look too hard to see the prevalence of difficult father-son relationships in the work of Jason Aaron."
fandom:comics
Community
Inside 'Community's Meta Knockout of a Bottle Episode: Daniel Kurland - "Dan Harmon's seemingly immortal sitcom, Community, is without a doubt the most meta comedy on television (and now the internet)."
fandom:community
DC Comics
What is 'Hypertime'?: Chris Sims (blog) - " Oh man, Hypertime. That is something that I have not thought about in a while, although I suspect that with Multiversity going on and Convergence about to hit in a few months, it's something that's going to be getting a little more attention than it has in the past fifteen years or so."
fandom:dccomics
Harry Potter
Perceptions of Poverty in Geek Culture: A Weasley Case Study: stinekey (blog) - "Pop culture has a weird relationship with poverty. You'd think that geek culture would be pretty good at portraying poverty; we're seeing more and more strides towards inclusivity and greater representation of all people from all backgrounds. Yet socio-economic issues are heavily charged with politics, and our political beliefs shape the way we perceive reality."
fandom:harrypotter, topic:economics
House of Cards
The complicated sexual politics of Netflix's 'House of Cards': S.E. Smith (blog) - "House of Cards is a story of a ruthless quest for power and control. But it's also a story about sexuality-in fact, the two things often seem to go hand-in-hand on the award-winning Netflix series."
fandom:houseofcards
Jupiter Ascending
toilets and space princesses: heyheyrenay (tumblr) - "I never thought I'd be arguing about toilets in the context of a space opera adventure story in 2015. AND YET."
fandom:jupiterascending
Jupiter/Seraphi: I Hate My Life: fuckyeahjupiterascending (tumblr) - "While the most meaningful and resonant moment in Jupiter Ascending is probably Jupiter standing over a ruined Balem and snarling "I'm not your damn mother", the film deliberately teases common threads between Seraphi and Jupiter; these suggest that Jupiter is more than a straightforward genetic duplicate of her predecessor."
fandom:jupiterascending
Jupiter Ascending: Balem's Voice: ikolson (tumblr) - "For all that we make fun of Eddie Redmayne's scenery chewing and acting choices regarding Balem Abrasax, the movie may actually address why Balem only whispers/shouts his way through conversations."
fandom:jupiterascending
Gender Identity in Jupiter Ascending: dancingloki (tumblr) - "Pretty much my first and strongest reaction to almost every fictional world I see is to ask the same question: Where do trans people, like me, fit into this world?"
fandom:jupiterascending
Marvel Comics
Natasha The Black Widow: FYBW (tumblr) - "I've read some critiques about the current Black Widow run as being too much "manpain"- and I don't think they're wholly unjustified."
fandom:marvelcomics
MCU
Marvel Cinematic Universe Timeline: swanpride (AO3) - "The attempt to put the events in the MCU in a coherent timeline, with extensive notes concerning conflicting dates."
fandom:mcu
'I called in some favors from Kiev,' or Arnim Zola and the origins of the MCU Winter Soldier: Aegir (AO3) - "An essay considering what happened to Bucky Barnes after he fell from the train, how Arnim Zola might have got his hands on Sergeant Barnes again, and why the Winter Soldier's file comes from Kiev and not Moscow."
fandom:mcu
Well it bothers the hell out of me! I saved that jerk's life!: dirty_diana (DW) - "I will start with my complaints and then my compliments, and then ramble on about superhero tropes. I guess my negatives are largely related to the issues of continuity?"
fandom:mcu
Agent Carter Meta and Squee sholio: (DW) - "I feel like I, me, my demographic is the target audience of this -- and I don't mean just "women generally" but "women like me"; "
fandom:mcu
Steve Rogers, Depression and Suicidal Tendencies: invisiblespork (tumblr) - "The Winter Soldier has given Steve no reason to think he'll live through this."
fandom:mcu
Parks and Recreation
'Parks and Recreation' Sets Off Into The Future: Linda Holmes (blog) - "After seven seasons, NBC's gently acerbic, lovingly rendered Parks and Recreation ended its run Tuesday night with an extension of the final season's voyage to 2017."
fandom:parksandrecreation
How Parks and Recreation found all-time greatness in simple goodness: Alan Sepinwall (blog) - "Leslie began the series a powerless civil servant who was an object of derision and/or pity. She ends it (the series finale airs tomorrow night at 10 on NBC) an influential federal official who counts Madeleine Albright as a confidante and scares the bejeezus out of John McCain, and as a wife and mom with a small army of adoring friends."
fandom:parksandrecreation
Pumpkin Online
Pumpkin Online: The MMO that the World Needs: Brielle Pritchard (blog) - "As someone who has dealt with her fair share of MMORPGs and games with player created avatars, I've noticed a huge lack of real representation in the choices of avatars."
fandom:gaming, topic:race, topic:disability
Radical Face
The Family Tree - Disambiguation: Ridiculosity (AO3) - "So, I decided to try and trace the Northcotes family to the best of my abilities, and piece their story together. Most of it is conjecture, but whatever is solidly known I have sourced."
fandom:music
A Song of Ice and Fire
Top Characters #30 Brynden Tully: hatbar (blog) - "Brynden Tully is someone who you would definitely want on your side if you were picking from the noble houses of Westeros."
fandom:asoiaf
Top Characters #29 Wyman Manderly: ghostlovesinger (blog) - "Wyman Manderly's presence on this list is one of the more interesting after-effects of A Dance with Dragons."
fandom:asoiaf
A Bard in Westeros: Shakespearean Influences: Chris Kesner (blog) - "Next to The Bible and the epic works of Homer, literary critics generally argue that the works of William Shakespeare rank highest atop a list of most influential Western literature."
fandom:asoiaf
The Blacks and Reds Part II: StevenAttewell (blog) - "In Part II: The First Rebellion and the Reign of King Daemon I, Steve examines the course of the First Rebellion, his theory about the military strategy behind the battles, and how much we can learn from a single coin."
fandom:asoiaf
CHAPTER-BY-CHAPTER ANALYSIS: BRAN IV, ACOK: racefortheironthrone (blog) - "It's somewhat fitting that Bran's mystical plot comes to the fore just as the political side of things is starting to go to hell,"
fandom:asoiaf
Top Characters #28 Melisandre: Lady Rhaneae (blog) - "Repulsive yet enchanting, Melisandre is a character we love to hate."
fandom:asoiaf
Star Trek
Augments and Human Rights: Cerridwen (AO3) - "A short meta inspired by the age old debate of Nature versus Nurture in regards to the augments and a look at internationally recognised human and civil rights that are involved with them."
fandom:startrek
Star Wars
Untitled: morgynleri (tumblr) - "Anakin, why are you such a disaster?"
fandom:starwars
Superman
Clark Kent: Superman's Humble Hero: Asher Johnson, M.A. (blog) - "Ever since I was a child, I was strangely attracted to the way the good guys thought."
fandom:dccomics, fandom:dccu
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
Why There Is No Such Thing As "Just a Movie": aelarsen (blog) - "Periodically, people disagree with my analyses of various films and respond that "it's just a movie.""
topic:fandom
Representation in Media: Why It Matters: Fangirl (blog) - "The topic of representation is appearing everywhere this past month, between the lack of diversity in the Oscar nominees to the toys on shelves, from the identity of the upcoming Spider-Man to the portrayal of women in videogames and in the pages of books and comics."
topic:diversity
Magical Mondays: Tanuki 101: Tsunderin (blog) - "Ever since Saika's post on fairies, I've been thinking about one of my most favorite mythological creatures: the tanuki."
topic:magic
Oh, My Pop Culture Religion: Zeus, Hera, Male Power Fantasies, & Female Demonization: Lady Geek Girl (blog) - "My biggest issues are with how our pop culture portrays Zeus and Hera. While the other gods may also occasionally be portrayed poorly, I feel like the portrayal of these two ends up being the most problematic."
topic:myth, topic:misogyny
Sexualized Saturdays: The Importance of LGBTQ+ Heroes: cloudnoodle (blog) - "Representation matters, and everyone wants to be a hero. Unfortunately, what we LGBTQ+ folks get more often are queer villains, queer-coded villains, or anti-heroes. At least, they're the most famous ones: pretty much every Disney villain ever, Loki, Constantine."
topic:representation, topic:queer
Specific Fandoms
The 100
The 100, Warlords, and the CW's First Bisexual Lead: MadameAce (blog) - "For anyone who doesn't watch The 100, the CW made great strides toward representation when it revealed that its leading character is bisexual."
fandom:the100, topic:lgbt
Untitled: youreallysoldit (tumblr) - "Anonymous asked: what do you mean about people saying clarke only cares about bellamy as a tool for mt weather??"
fandom:the100
Batman
Batman Never Goes Bad: Noah Berlatsky (blog) - "Various people had informed me that the Batmobile drove off a cliff in the third season of the Adam West TV series."
fandom:dccu
The Arkham Sessions, Ep. 51: "Off Balance": Andrea (blog) - "On this episode of The Arkham Sessions, we discuss the impact of interpersonal betrayal, especially when it comes to someone with Batman's history with romantic partners."
fandom:dccu
Catwoman
Catwoman #39: "Better Than He Does Himself": Genevieve Valentine (blog) - "Or: the one in which Selina Kyle confirms a rumor."
fandom:dccomics, topic:lgbt
Comics
A Boy Named Sue: Father-Son Relationships in the Comics of Jason Aaron: John Parker (blog) - "You don't have to look too hard to see the prevalence of difficult father-son relationships in the work of Jason Aaron."
fandom:comics
Community
Inside 'Community's Meta Knockout of a Bottle Episode: Daniel Kurland - "Dan Harmon's seemingly immortal sitcom, Community, is without a doubt the most meta comedy on television (and now the internet)."
fandom:community
DC Comics
What is 'Hypertime'?: Chris Sims (blog) - " Oh man, Hypertime. That is something that I have not thought about in a while, although I suspect that with Multiversity going on and Convergence about to hit in a few months, it's something that's going to be getting a little more attention than it has in the past fifteen years or so."
fandom:dccomics
Harry Potter
Perceptions of Poverty in Geek Culture: A Weasley Case Study: stinekey (blog) - "Pop culture has a weird relationship with poverty. You'd think that geek culture would be pretty good at portraying poverty; we're seeing more and more strides towards inclusivity and greater representation of all people from all backgrounds. Yet socio-economic issues are heavily charged with politics, and our political beliefs shape the way we perceive reality."
fandom:harrypotter, topic:economics
House of Cards
The complicated sexual politics of Netflix's 'House of Cards': S.E. Smith (blog) - "House of Cards is a story of a ruthless quest for power and control. But it's also a story about sexuality-in fact, the two things often seem to go hand-in-hand on the award-winning Netflix series."
fandom:houseofcards
Jupiter Ascending
toilets and space princesses: heyheyrenay (tumblr) - "I never thought I'd be arguing about toilets in the context of a space opera adventure story in 2015. AND YET."
fandom:jupiterascending
Jupiter/Seraphi: I Hate My Life: fuckyeahjupiterascending (tumblr) - "While the most meaningful and resonant moment in Jupiter Ascending is probably Jupiter standing over a ruined Balem and snarling "I'm not your damn mother", the film deliberately teases common threads between Seraphi and Jupiter; these suggest that Jupiter is more than a straightforward genetic duplicate of her predecessor."
fandom:jupiterascending
Jupiter Ascending: Balem's Voice: ikolson (tumblr) - "For all that we make fun of Eddie Redmayne's scenery chewing and acting choices regarding Balem Abrasax, the movie may actually address why Balem only whispers/shouts his way through conversations."
fandom:jupiterascending
Gender Identity in Jupiter Ascending: dancingloki (tumblr) - "Pretty much my first and strongest reaction to almost every fictional world I see is to ask the same question: Where do trans people, like me, fit into this world?"
fandom:jupiterascending
Marvel Comics
Natasha The Black Widow: FYBW (tumblr) - "I've read some critiques about the current Black Widow run as being too much "manpain"- and I don't think they're wholly unjustified."
fandom:marvelcomics
MCU
Marvel Cinematic Universe Timeline: swanpride (AO3) - "The attempt to put the events in the MCU in a coherent timeline, with extensive notes concerning conflicting dates."
fandom:mcu
'I called in some favors from Kiev,' or Arnim Zola and the origins of the MCU Winter Soldier: Aegir (AO3) - "An essay considering what happened to Bucky Barnes after he fell from the train, how Arnim Zola might have got his hands on Sergeant Barnes again, and why the Winter Soldier's file comes from Kiev and not Moscow."
fandom:mcu
Well it bothers the hell out of me! I saved that jerk's life!: dirty_diana (DW) - "I will start with my complaints and then my compliments, and then ramble on about superhero tropes. I guess my negatives are largely related to the issues of continuity?"
fandom:mcu
Agent Carter Meta and Squee sholio: (DW) - "I feel like I, me, my demographic is the target audience of this -- and I don't mean just "women generally" but "women like me"; "
fandom:mcu
Steve Rogers, Depression and Suicidal Tendencies: invisiblespork (tumblr) - "The Winter Soldier has given Steve no reason to think he'll live through this."
fandom:mcu
Parks and Recreation
'Parks and Recreation' Sets Off Into The Future: Linda Holmes (blog) - "After seven seasons, NBC's gently acerbic, lovingly rendered Parks and Recreation ended its run Tuesday night with an extension of the final season's voyage to 2017."
fandom:parksandrecreation
How Parks and Recreation found all-time greatness in simple goodness: Alan Sepinwall (blog) - "Leslie began the series a powerless civil servant who was an object of derision and/or pity. She ends it (the series finale airs tomorrow night at 10 on NBC) an influential federal official who counts Madeleine Albright as a confidante and scares the bejeezus out of John McCain, and as a wife and mom with a small army of adoring friends."
fandom:parksandrecreation
Pumpkin Online
Pumpkin Online: The MMO that the World Needs: Brielle Pritchard (blog) - "As someone who has dealt with her fair share of MMORPGs and games with player created avatars, I've noticed a huge lack of real representation in the choices of avatars."
fandom:gaming, topic:race, topic:disability
Radical Face
The Family Tree - Disambiguation: Ridiculosity (AO3) - "So, I decided to try and trace the Northcotes family to the best of my abilities, and piece their story together. Most of it is conjecture, but whatever is solidly known I have sourced."
fandom:music
A Song of Ice and Fire
Top Characters #30 Brynden Tully: hatbar (blog) - "Brynden Tully is someone who you would definitely want on your side if you were picking from the noble houses of Westeros."
fandom:asoiaf
Top Characters #29 Wyman Manderly: ghostlovesinger (blog) - "Wyman Manderly's presence on this list is one of the more interesting after-effects of A Dance with Dragons."
fandom:asoiaf
A Bard in Westeros: Shakespearean Influences: Chris Kesner (blog) - "Next to The Bible and the epic works of Homer, literary critics generally argue that the works of William Shakespeare rank highest atop a list of most influential Western literature."
fandom:asoiaf
The Blacks and Reds Part II: StevenAttewell (blog) - "In Part II: The First Rebellion and the Reign of King Daemon I, Steve examines the course of the First Rebellion, his theory about the military strategy behind the battles, and how much we can learn from a single coin."
fandom:asoiaf
CHAPTER-BY-CHAPTER ANALYSIS: BRAN IV, ACOK: racefortheironthrone (blog) - "It's somewhat fitting that Bran's mystical plot comes to the fore just as the political side of things is starting to go to hell,"
fandom:asoiaf
Top Characters #28 Melisandre: Lady Rhaneae (blog) - "Repulsive yet enchanting, Melisandre is a character we love to hate."
fandom:asoiaf
Star Trek
Augments and Human Rights: Cerridwen (AO3) - "A short meta inspired by the age old debate of Nature versus Nurture in regards to the augments and a look at internationally recognised human and civil rights that are involved with them."
fandom:startrek
Star Wars
Untitled: morgynleri (tumblr) - "Anakin, why are you such a disaster?"
fandom:starwars
Superman
Clark Kent: Superman's Humble Hero: Asher Johnson, M.A. (blog) - "Ever since I was a child, I was strangely attracted to the way the good guys thought."
fandom:dccomics, fandom:dccu