8 April 2015-14 April 2015 Part 2
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.
The Incredible Hulk
Mega Marvel Rewatch: The Incredible Hulk: owlmoose (DW) - "My impression remains that, although the film is officially part of MCU canon, it stands a bit apart from the rest."
fandom:mcu
Iron Man
Mega Marvel Rewatch: Iron Man: owlmoose (DW) - "So, Iron Man! Where it all started. It's easy to forget, so many years and films later, that without the commercial and critical success of this movie, we wouldn't even have a Marvel Cinematic Universe."
fandom:mcu
Mega Marvel Rewatche: Iron Man 2: owlmoose (DW) - "One of my main issues with this film has always been its overabundance of plot."
fandom:mcu
iZombie
IZombie, Season 1, Episode 4: Liv and Let Liv: Sparky (blog) - "In past episodes this show has been surprisingly subtle and willing to comment when it came to gender and race and this whole thing felt… jarring, so much so I do actually wonder if it was a poorly executed attempt at commentary rather than just a terrible attempt at humour."
fandom:izombie, warning:spoilers
James Bond
Bond Girl: Re-Watching and Re-Evaluating From Russia With Love: Zina Hutton (blog) - "I'm going to be honest: From Russia With Love alternately bored and annoyed me. The high points of the film were the political parts and the fight scenes, but there was so much more that I either felt uncomfortable with or that straight up made me angry."
fandom:jamesbond
Jane Austen/Georgette Heyer
Hapax and Heyer, Austen and Irony, or, What I should have said: Sherwood Smith (blog) - "In the last year or so, I've been asked by people both in person at con panels and at my Jane Austen book club discussion group, as well as on line, what I see as the difference between Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer."
fandom:literature
Labyrinth/Legend
Magical Mondays: Legend, Labyrinth, and the Fae: Tsunderin (blog) - "Yet here we are again, and I find myself with the time to discuss Legend's atrocious portrayal of the fae in comparison to Labyrinth's-the latter of which seems to keep closer to the actual lore surrounding the fae instead of discounting it entirely."
fandom:labyrinth, fandom:legend, topic:myth
LadyStar
How To Fight Like A Girl: Why LadyStar Has The Greatest Fighting Team of Teenage Girls Ever Assembled: Theodore Jefferson (blog) - "W. Scott's challenge was to create a world where a sixteen year-old girl could face hand-to-hand combat and convince readers she had an authentic chance to win."
fandom:ladystar
How To Fight Like A Girl, Part 2: LadyStar, Teamwork, and Empowering Female Characters: Theodore Jefferson (blog) - "In my scholarship of these stories and their characters, I postulate that were it not for the cultural events of the late 1990s, the advent of heroic girls in the 21st century would have been either subdued or absent altogether."
fandom:ladystar
Last Man on Earth
Last Man On Earth, Season One, Episode Eight: The Do-Over: Renee (blog) - "We are now on episode nine and it has become evident that probably even before the virus wiped everyone out, Phil was a horrible human being."
fandom:lastmanonearth, warning:spoilers
Last Man On Earth Season One, Episode Nine: Pranks for Nothing: Renee (blog) - "Okay, this was supposed to be Phil's growth episode."
fandom:lastmanonearth, warning:spoilers
Legend of Zelda
Piece of Heart: Flights of Fancy: Alexis Anderson (blog) - "This chapter could be wholly devoted to Skyward Sword since the name itself implies a departure from land, but instead we'll examine literal, figurative, and ironic instances of flight that occur throughout the Zelda series."
fandom:legendofzelda
Gossip Stone: What would a more "mature" Zelda game be like?: Thomas Jacobs (blog) - "There exists a group of fans who call for more games like that, taking the series to explore darker and more "mature" themes. But what are these themes and how should the series look at them?"
fandom:legendofzelda
Leverage
Untitled: gyzym (Tumblr) - "what is or your favorite thing about the leverage ot3? also, do u have a favorite ot3 moment(s)???"
fandom:leverage
Lost River
Review: Ryan Gosling's Anti-Misogyny Directorial Debut Lost River Deserves A Look: Lesley Coffin (blog) - "Because this movie does have an audience out there - it's an "adult fairy tale," set in the modern era with all the sexuality and violence of the pre-Disney variety."
fandom:lostriver
Mad Men
Work Won't Save You: The New Season of 'Mad Men' Changes Everything: Judy Berman (blog) - "These metaphors aren't shocking, or even necessarily new; what's surprising is that they say more about Don's relationship to work than his relationships with his wives, girlfriends, and one-night stands."
fandom:madmen
Marvel Cinematic Universe
MCU speculation invited: princessofgeeks (DW) - "Today I've been reading speculation about what will be going on in Avengers: Age of Ultron and in Captain America 3: Civil War."
fandom:mcu, warning:spoilers
Invisible Women: Why Marvel's Gamora & Black Widow Were Missing From Merchandise, And What We Can Do About It: Annie N. Mouse (blog) - "Disney does not care about Marvel's female market, which makes us virtually invisible."
fandom:mcu, topic:merchandise
How 'Captain America 3' got turned on its head: Gavia Baker-Whitelaw (blog) - "Behind the scenes, it's a fascinating example of how the creative process for this kind of franchise really works."
fandom:mcu
Marvel Comics
From Kitty to Kamala: The Heroes Who Made Ms. Marvel: Steve Morris (blog) - "What's fascinating about the character, though, is how clearly she's embedded into the tradition of superhero comics, and how you can draw a direct line from her back through Marvel's history, to some of the company's most popular female superheroes. Kamala broke through at just the right moment in time, in just the right way, for the readership to embrace her, but she owes a debt to several characters that came before her."
fandom:marvelcomics, topic:femalecharacter
Female Heroes Lead Marvel BOGO Titles On Comixology: Janelle Asselin (blog) - "In March, ComiXology had a buy one, get one free sale on Marvel titles, where you could literally buy any of the Marvel issues in their store. This morning they announced that, during that sale, seven out of the top ten comics sold were books with female heroes."
fandom:marvelcomics
Mulan
Fans are worried that Disney will whitewash 'Mulan': Aja Romano (blog) - "Since the announcement last month that Disney is making a live-action adaptation of its animated film Mulan, fans of the story have been keen to make sure the title character retains her heritage."
fandom:disney, topic:whitewashing, topic:race
Olympus
Olympus, Season 1, Episode 2: Daedelus: Sparky (blog) - "For all the things this show does well, its violence feels real (well, except the bizarre rope tricks)."
fandom:olympus, warning:spoilers
One Direction
Untitled: justawordshaker (Tumblr) - "dude, now i definitely need to hear your thoughts on louis being quiet at bootcamp"
fandom:onedirection
One Piece
Arlong Park Arc: Part VIII: we_are (DW) - "As we conclude the Arlong Park Arc, we explore Arlong's complicated Nami feels, see Luffy having just about enough of this bullshit, save the day, have a party and set sail to a new adventure!"
fandom:onepiece
The Loguetown Adventure: Part I: we_are (DW) - "In this Adventure we look at how the Straw Hats are starting to bond and play, we look at the power of nerdry, the ripples that have begun to travel through the world, but mostly? Marines. Marine ideology. Marine practicality and examine Tashigi and Smoker."
fandom:onepiece
One Piece and Its Dead Mother Cemetary: Vernieda Vergara (blog) - "The dead mother isn't a new trope nor is it unique to manga. From Lily Potter to Kya from Avatar: The Last Airbender, dead mothers populate the angsty backstory of many protagonists embarking on their hero's journey. We can find dead mothers everywhere in fictional narratives. What sets One Piece apart is the number of dead mothers."
fandom:onepiece
Outlander
The "Feminism" of Outlander: Sparky (blog) - "Like other speculative fiction conversions of material from books to television, such as The Walking Deadand Game of Thrones, Outlander has ignited large swathes of conversation, particularly in concern to its feminist credentials."
fandom:outlander
Outlander Episode 9: The Reckoning: Redheadedgirl (blog) - "I said back in the fall that I was really looking forward to the discussion the beating would generate, and I still stand by that."
fandom:outlander, warning:spoilers
Pillars of Eternity
Game Talk: Pillars of Eternity: Lynn E. O'Connacht (blog) - "Let's start with the inevitable: This is a spiritual successor to the Baldur's Gate games, created at least partially by the same team. Yet this is not Baldur's Gate."
fandom:gaming, warning:spoilers
The Returned
The Returned, season 1, Episode 5: Tony & Adam: Sparky (blog) - "We're getting much more deviation from the French version this episode, especially with Victor's storyline moving so much faster."
fandom:thereturned, warning:spoilers
Revolutionary Girl Utena/Kill La Kill
Revolutionary Girl Showdown: Utena vs. Kill La Kill: Jo Fu (blog) - "I'm not going to smugly point out similarities between Revolutionary Girl Utena and Kill La Kill. Instead, I'm going to smugly assert, right out the gate, that they're the same show. Both shows portray the same exaggerated coming-of-age story of a woman fighting against the established infrastructure of her society. The question is this: how has the revolutionary girl narrative changed over time? And why?"
fandom:anime, topic:femalecharacter, warning:rape
Salem
Salem, Season 2, Episode 1: Cry Havoc: Sparky (blog) - "Last season I made the point that all the witches of Salem had been abused or mistreated or were otherwise powerless - so I do quite like Mary's line "we're all angry at someone" because they all are."
fandom:salem, warning;spoilers
Sherlock
"The Work vs The Game: Perceptions of Labor and Leisure in Sherlock": notagarroter (blog) - "I've been puzzling lately over the mixed messages in Sherlock with regards to work and play. Why is it that sometimes Sherlock refers to his detecting and deductions as "the work" and other times it's described as a game?"
fandom:bbcsherlock
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes and Politics: Alistair Duncan (blog) - "Given that, here in the UK, we've now entered the General Election season, is it perhaps time to wonder what Sherlock Holmes's political affiliation would have been?"
fandom:acdsherlock
The Snow Queen
Femslash Friday: Gerda/The Robber Girl: Love and Knives Under the Northern Lights: Victoria Don (blog) - "Allow me to bring your attention to his work "The Snow Queen: A Tale in Seven Stories" - or, as I like to think of it, "A Tale in Six Stories and One Massive, Dripping Slice of Unintentional and Delightful Lesbian Subtext So Blatant that it is Honestly Barely Even Subtext.""
fandom:fairytales, topic:femslash
A Song of Ice and Fire
Top Characters #19 Tywin Lannister: Johnny (blog) - "No one would deny that Tywin Lannister did many evil things in his life for which he will be long remembered. Historians, on the other hand, may have to dig really deep to unearth any good."
fandom:asoiaf
Chapter-by-Chapter Analysis: Sansa III, ACOK: Steven Attewell (blog) - "If in the past I have alluded to Sansa's plotline in ACOK of abuse and survival, here is where that theme really forces itself to the forefront."
fandom:asoiaf, warning:abuse
Top Characters #18 Theon Greyjoy: Daeron Martell (blog) - "In a series that focuses so much of its thematic content on the idea of personal identity, no character encapsulates this notion of belonging more cruelly or heartbreakingly than Theon Greyjoy."
fandom:asoiaf
Star Trek
Untitled: David Gerrold (blog) - "William Lehman has written a screed about how he who controls the mythology of a nation controls the identity of the nation. I'll agree with that original assertion. But then he uses that as a springboard for a somewhat ill-considered extrapolation that people afflicted with fuzzy-wuzzy thinking have spoiled his precious nuts-and-bolts science fiction."
fandom:startrek, topic:science, topic:socialjustice, topic:culture
Star Wars
William Shakespeare's The Phantom Menace as Reviewed by Kay: Kay (blog) - "Before I even started reading this latest edition, I felt like the novelty of crossing the two streams had finally worn off. But by the time I was twenty pages into the book, I found myself giddy all over again at recognizing references to some of my favorite Shakespeare plays and lines."
fandom:starwars, fandom:literature
The Radicalization of Jar Jar Binks: K.M. MCFARLAND (blog) - "So when it came time for Ian Doescher, author of William Shakespeare's Star Wars and its corresponding sequels The Empire Striketh Back and The Jedi Doth Return, to tackle the prequel trilogy in Shakespearean verse, there was a Gungan-sized stumbling block."
fandom:starwars, fandom:literature
Untitled: deadcatwithaflamethrower (Tumblr) - "I've seen a couple of posts around about Obi Wan possibly being 20 years old in the Phantom menace instead of per Disney canon's age of 25 and I was wondering if you knew more about this info and its source?"
fandom:starwars
Untitled: anghraine (Tumblr) - "Essentially benevolent people/organizations sow the seeds of their destruction or corruption (different things, thank you Obi-Wan) by allowing themselves to become complicit in wrongdoing."
fandom:starwars
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Untitled: norcumi (Tumblr) - "You said you could name TCW eps with Rex/Obi-Wan stuff? I'd love a list to go watch. I usually read Obi as (aro)/ace, but Rex/Obi is growing on me, and I'd like to see where you're coming from (NGL, I focused more on the relationships involving Anakin when I watched the series)."
fandom:starwars
Star Wars Rebels
Hyperspace Theories Episode Eight: Star Wars Rebels: Hyperspace Theories (podcast) - "We consider the entire first season of Rebels to evaluate the choices made by the storytellers in building the small slice of the galaxy where the series begins its tale."
fandom:starwars
Steven Universe
Sexualized Saturday: Steven Universe and Soft Masculinity: brothadom (blog) - "But, I think masculinity can, and should, manifest in other ways: emotional strength, love, and bravery. These attributes could be considered "soft masculinity" as a counter to more aggressive, "hard masculinity"."
fandom:stevenuniverse
Supernatural
Supernatural, Season 10, Episode 17: Inside Man: Sparky (blog) - "He's an atheist who believes in the proven supernatural (he is, after all, a mind reader) that doesn't deny the existence of angels - or of powerful beings that call themselves angels. This actually applies, to some degree, to the show as well - after all, we know angels are the agents of god because… they say they are."
fandom:supernatural, warning:spoilers
Supernatural - love is all you need LOL: cupidsbower (Tumblr) - "What a good episode. The plot has thickened so much it's practically custard, and there are romance tropes all over the place."
fandom:supernatural
Identity Crisis 101 by Rowena: memberoftheangelgarrison (Tumblr) - "During the last episode I realised yet another topic I didn't recover until just now, the significance of roles. Now, some of you may say 'yeah yeah, but dude, that's nothing new' but let me tell you; there's a huge difference between the roles you put yourself into, the roles you get forced into, and who you truly are."
fandom:supernatural
Thor
Victor/VicThoria: Feminism, Personhood & Hammering Out the Trouble with Thor: Nyala Ali (blog) - "The fundamental problem with the current run of Thor is that it doesn't seem to be very invested in Thor herself."
fandom:marvelcomics
Tolkien
Talks on Tolkien: Dawn Walls-Thumma on transformative works: Dawn Walls-Thumma (video) - "In her presentation, Dawn talks about the rise of Tolkien fandom and the development of different fan communities with the advent of Internet fandom."
fandom:jrrtolkien, topic:fandom
Thoughts on Gandalf: determanfidd (tumblr) - "I admire him in some ways. I love his love of Hobbits. I love that he makes fireworks for children, and smokes pipeweed in wizardly ways."
fandom:jrrtolkien
Exceptional mothers of Middle Earth: askmiddleearth (tumblr) - "It's true that there is an above-average trend of maternal abandonment in Tolkien's stories (you can read more about that here), and aside from those cases there are plenty of mothers who, through no fault of their own, did not live to see their children grow up. And there are plenty of mothers whose relationships with their children are simply never described. But there are also, dear Anon, several excellent maternal role models in Middle Earth. Just a few of my favorites"
fandom:jrrtolkien, topic:femalecharacter
Maedhros and Maglor the saving angels of the Earandilion?: starvaultoftheheavens (tumblr) - "The idea in this fandom that Maedhros and Maglor were gracious little angels for "rescuing" Elrond and Elros makes me so furious"
fandom:jrrtolkien
Twin Peaks
The Twin Peaks Log: S.2 E.7: Romona Williams (blog) - "Welcome to our biweekly roundtable of Twin Peaks where we are working our way through every. Single. Episode."
fandom:twinpeaks
Vorkosigan
I Was Right (Ask Me How): dsudis (tumblr) - "Because it turns out I was right about basically all of the tinhat inferences I was drawing, and as we all know nothing is more fun than being right in public."
fandom:vorkosigansaga, warning:spoilers
The Walking Dead
Love Story of the Zombie Apocalypse: Real-Life Horroe in Walking Dead: Shannon Gibney (blog) - "Yes, folks, there is a thing more dangerous than a feral, brain-munching horde of zombies: A straight white man who swears that he will do everything in his power to save and protect you and your children."
fandom:thewalkingdead, topic:race, topic:psychology
Where The Boys Are (1960)
Re-View: Spring Break Begins With Where The Boys Are (1960): Lesley Coffin (blog) - "Where the Boys Are is a classic, lush MGM movie from Producer Joe Pasternak (a fascinating Hollywood figure), but it's also a sex comedy about college co-eds heading to Fort Lauderdale for spring break, focusing on the sexual concerns and drives of women."
fandom:wheretheboysare
The Wind Rises
The Wind Rises… and falls: foxinthestars (DW) - "Somehow I was braced for The Wind Rises to be worse than it was, and I will say it was interesting, but I won't say it was great."
fandom:thewindrises
Wrestling
multiple people (Tumblr) - "The "Fake Relationship" trope is real life in professional wrestling, actually. Wrestling has a long tradition of "kayfabe," which basically means "pretending that this is an actual sport and not an exceptionally fighty soap opera.""
fandom:wrestling, topic:tropes
X-Men/Marvel Cinematic Universe
Oh, My Pop Culture Judaism: Jewish Erasure & Discrimination in the X-Men & Marvel Movie Adaptations: Lady Geek Girl (blog) - "And sadly we can see this attitude reflected in our own geek culture. Today I am going to specifically talk about the anti-Semitism in the X-Men/Marvel Movie Universe."
fandom:x-men, fandom:mcu, topic:racism
Yurikuma Arashi
A Bearhug To The Heart I Didn't Expect: A Yurikuma Arashi Review: MarchHareMoe (blog) - "Yurikuma Arashi shows how queer relationships can be complex and difficult, and touches on different forms of love, even familial."
fandom:anime, topic:lgbt, topic:animaltransformation
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.
The Incredible Hulk
Mega Marvel Rewatch: The Incredible Hulk: owlmoose (DW) - "My impression remains that, although the film is officially part of MCU canon, it stands a bit apart from the rest."
fandom:mcu
Iron Man
Mega Marvel Rewatch: Iron Man: owlmoose (DW) - "So, Iron Man! Where it all started. It's easy to forget, so many years and films later, that without the commercial and critical success of this movie, we wouldn't even have a Marvel Cinematic Universe."
fandom:mcu
Mega Marvel Rewatche: Iron Man 2: owlmoose (DW) - "One of my main issues with this film has always been its overabundance of plot."
fandom:mcu
iZombie
IZombie, Season 1, Episode 4: Liv and Let Liv: Sparky (blog) - "In past episodes this show has been surprisingly subtle and willing to comment when it came to gender and race and this whole thing felt… jarring, so much so I do actually wonder if it was a poorly executed attempt at commentary rather than just a terrible attempt at humour."
fandom:izombie, warning:spoilers
James Bond
Bond Girl: Re-Watching and Re-Evaluating From Russia With Love: Zina Hutton (blog) - "I'm going to be honest: From Russia With Love alternately bored and annoyed me. The high points of the film were the political parts and the fight scenes, but there was so much more that I either felt uncomfortable with or that straight up made me angry."
fandom:jamesbond
Jane Austen/Georgette Heyer
Hapax and Heyer, Austen and Irony, or, What I should have said: Sherwood Smith (blog) - "In the last year or so, I've been asked by people both in person at con panels and at my Jane Austen book club discussion group, as well as on line, what I see as the difference between Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer."
fandom:literature
Labyrinth/Legend
Magical Mondays: Legend, Labyrinth, and the Fae: Tsunderin (blog) - "Yet here we are again, and I find myself with the time to discuss Legend's atrocious portrayal of the fae in comparison to Labyrinth's-the latter of which seems to keep closer to the actual lore surrounding the fae instead of discounting it entirely."
fandom:labyrinth, fandom:legend, topic:myth
LadyStar
How To Fight Like A Girl: Why LadyStar Has The Greatest Fighting Team of Teenage Girls Ever Assembled: Theodore Jefferson (blog) - "W. Scott's challenge was to create a world where a sixteen year-old girl could face hand-to-hand combat and convince readers she had an authentic chance to win."
fandom:ladystar
How To Fight Like A Girl, Part 2: LadyStar, Teamwork, and Empowering Female Characters: Theodore Jefferson (blog) - "In my scholarship of these stories and their characters, I postulate that were it not for the cultural events of the late 1990s, the advent of heroic girls in the 21st century would have been either subdued or absent altogether."
fandom:ladystar
Last Man on Earth
Last Man On Earth, Season One, Episode Eight: The Do-Over: Renee (blog) - "We are now on episode nine and it has become evident that probably even before the virus wiped everyone out, Phil was a horrible human being."
fandom:lastmanonearth, warning:spoilers
Last Man On Earth Season One, Episode Nine: Pranks for Nothing: Renee (blog) - "Okay, this was supposed to be Phil's growth episode."
fandom:lastmanonearth, warning:spoilers
Legend of Zelda
Piece of Heart: Flights of Fancy: Alexis Anderson (blog) - "This chapter could be wholly devoted to Skyward Sword since the name itself implies a departure from land, but instead we'll examine literal, figurative, and ironic instances of flight that occur throughout the Zelda series."
fandom:legendofzelda
Gossip Stone: What would a more "mature" Zelda game be like?: Thomas Jacobs (blog) - "There exists a group of fans who call for more games like that, taking the series to explore darker and more "mature" themes. But what are these themes and how should the series look at them?"
fandom:legendofzelda
Leverage
Untitled: gyzym (Tumblr) - "what is or your favorite thing about the leverage ot3? also, do u have a favorite ot3 moment(s)???"
fandom:leverage
Lost River
Review: Ryan Gosling's Anti-Misogyny Directorial Debut Lost River Deserves A Look: Lesley Coffin (blog) - "Because this movie does have an audience out there - it's an "adult fairy tale," set in the modern era with all the sexuality and violence of the pre-Disney variety."
fandom:lostriver
Mad Men
Work Won't Save You: The New Season of 'Mad Men' Changes Everything: Judy Berman (blog) - "These metaphors aren't shocking, or even necessarily new; what's surprising is that they say more about Don's relationship to work than his relationships with his wives, girlfriends, and one-night stands."
fandom:madmen
Marvel Cinematic Universe
MCU speculation invited: princessofgeeks (DW) - "Today I've been reading speculation about what will be going on in Avengers: Age of Ultron and in Captain America 3: Civil War."
fandom:mcu, warning:spoilers
Invisible Women: Why Marvel's Gamora & Black Widow Were Missing From Merchandise, And What We Can Do About It: Annie N. Mouse (blog) - "Disney does not care about Marvel's female market, which makes us virtually invisible."
fandom:mcu, topic:merchandise
How 'Captain America 3' got turned on its head: Gavia Baker-Whitelaw (blog) - "Behind the scenes, it's a fascinating example of how the creative process for this kind of franchise really works."
fandom:mcu
Marvel Comics
From Kitty to Kamala: The Heroes Who Made Ms. Marvel: Steve Morris (blog) - "What's fascinating about the character, though, is how clearly she's embedded into the tradition of superhero comics, and how you can draw a direct line from her back through Marvel's history, to some of the company's most popular female superheroes. Kamala broke through at just the right moment in time, in just the right way, for the readership to embrace her, but she owes a debt to several characters that came before her."
fandom:marvelcomics, topic:femalecharacter
Female Heroes Lead Marvel BOGO Titles On Comixology: Janelle Asselin (blog) - "In March, ComiXology had a buy one, get one free sale on Marvel titles, where you could literally buy any of the Marvel issues in their store. This morning they announced that, during that sale, seven out of the top ten comics sold were books with female heroes."
fandom:marvelcomics
Mulan
Fans are worried that Disney will whitewash 'Mulan': Aja Romano (blog) - "Since the announcement last month that Disney is making a live-action adaptation of its animated film Mulan, fans of the story have been keen to make sure the title character retains her heritage."
fandom:disney, topic:whitewashing, topic:race
Olympus
Olympus, Season 1, Episode 2: Daedelus: Sparky (blog) - "For all the things this show does well, its violence feels real (well, except the bizarre rope tricks)."
fandom:olympus, warning:spoilers
One Direction
Untitled: justawordshaker (Tumblr) - "dude, now i definitely need to hear your thoughts on louis being quiet at bootcamp"
fandom:onedirection
One Piece
Arlong Park Arc: Part VIII: we_are (DW) - "As we conclude the Arlong Park Arc, we explore Arlong's complicated Nami feels, see Luffy having just about enough of this bullshit, save the day, have a party and set sail to a new adventure!"
fandom:onepiece
The Loguetown Adventure: Part I: we_are (DW) - "In this Adventure we look at how the Straw Hats are starting to bond and play, we look at the power of nerdry, the ripples that have begun to travel through the world, but mostly? Marines. Marine ideology. Marine practicality and examine Tashigi and Smoker."
fandom:onepiece
One Piece and Its Dead Mother Cemetary: Vernieda Vergara (blog) - "The dead mother isn't a new trope nor is it unique to manga. From Lily Potter to Kya from Avatar: The Last Airbender, dead mothers populate the angsty backstory of many protagonists embarking on their hero's journey. We can find dead mothers everywhere in fictional narratives. What sets One Piece apart is the number of dead mothers."
fandom:onepiece
Outlander
The "Feminism" of Outlander: Sparky (blog) - "Like other speculative fiction conversions of material from books to television, such as The Walking Deadand Game of Thrones, Outlander has ignited large swathes of conversation, particularly in concern to its feminist credentials."
fandom:outlander
Outlander Episode 9: The Reckoning: Redheadedgirl (blog) - "I said back in the fall that I was really looking forward to the discussion the beating would generate, and I still stand by that."
fandom:outlander, warning:spoilers
Pillars of Eternity
Game Talk: Pillars of Eternity: Lynn E. O'Connacht (blog) - "Let's start with the inevitable: This is a spiritual successor to the Baldur's Gate games, created at least partially by the same team. Yet this is not Baldur's Gate."
fandom:gaming, warning:spoilers
The Returned
The Returned, season 1, Episode 5: Tony & Adam: Sparky (blog) - "We're getting much more deviation from the French version this episode, especially with Victor's storyline moving so much faster."
fandom:thereturned, warning:spoilers
Revolutionary Girl Utena/Kill La Kill
Revolutionary Girl Showdown: Utena vs. Kill La Kill: Jo Fu (blog) - "I'm not going to smugly point out similarities between Revolutionary Girl Utena and Kill La Kill. Instead, I'm going to smugly assert, right out the gate, that they're the same show. Both shows portray the same exaggerated coming-of-age story of a woman fighting against the established infrastructure of her society. The question is this: how has the revolutionary girl narrative changed over time? And why?"
fandom:anime, topic:femalecharacter, warning:rape
Salem
Salem, Season 2, Episode 1: Cry Havoc: Sparky (blog) - "Last season I made the point that all the witches of Salem had been abused or mistreated or were otherwise powerless - so I do quite like Mary's line "we're all angry at someone" because they all are."
fandom:salem, warning;spoilers
Sherlock
"The Work vs The Game: Perceptions of Labor and Leisure in Sherlock": notagarroter (blog) - "I've been puzzling lately over the mixed messages in Sherlock with regards to work and play. Why is it that sometimes Sherlock refers to his detecting and deductions as "the work" and other times it's described as a game?"
fandom:bbcsherlock
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes and Politics: Alistair Duncan (blog) - "Given that, here in the UK, we've now entered the General Election season, is it perhaps time to wonder what Sherlock Holmes's political affiliation would have been?"
fandom:acdsherlock
The Snow Queen
Femslash Friday: Gerda/The Robber Girl: Love and Knives Under the Northern Lights: Victoria Don (blog) - "Allow me to bring your attention to his work "The Snow Queen: A Tale in Seven Stories" - or, as I like to think of it, "A Tale in Six Stories and One Massive, Dripping Slice of Unintentional and Delightful Lesbian Subtext So Blatant that it is Honestly Barely Even Subtext.""
fandom:fairytales, topic:femslash
A Song of Ice and Fire
Top Characters #19 Tywin Lannister: Johnny (blog) - "No one would deny that Tywin Lannister did many evil things in his life for which he will be long remembered. Historians, on the other hand, may have to dig really deep to unearth any good."
fandom:asoiaf
Chapter-by-Chapter Analysis: Sansa III, ACOK: Steven Attewell (blog) - "If in the past I have alluded to Sansa's plotline in ACOK of abuse and survival, here is where that theme really forces itself to the forefront."
fandom:asoiaf, warning:abuse
Top Characters #18 Theon Greyjoy: Daeron Martell (blog) - "In a series that focuses so much of its thematic content on the idea of personal identity, no character encapsulates this notion of belonging more cruelly or heartbreakingly than Theon Greyjoy."
fandom:asoiaf
Star Trek
Untitled: David Gerrold (blog) - "William Lehman has written a screed about how he who controls the mythology of a nation controls the identity of the nation. I'll agree with that original assertion. But then he uses that as a springboard for a somewhat ill-considered extrapolation that people afflicted with fuzzy-wuzzy thinking have spoiled his precious nuts-and-bolts science fiction."
fandom:startrek, topic:science, topic:socialjustice, topic:culture
Star Wars
William Shakespeare's The Phantom Menace as Reviewed by Kay: Kay (blog) - "Before I even started reading this latest edition, I felt like the novelty of crossing the two streams had finally worn off. But by the time I was twenty pages into the book, I found myself giddy all over again at recognizing references to some of my favorite Shakespeare plays and lines."
fandom:starwars, fandom:literature
The Radicalization of Jar Jar Binks: K.M. MCFARLAND (blog) - "So when it came time for Ian Doescher, author of William Shakespeare's Star Wars and its corresponding sequels The Empire Striketh Back and The Jedi Doth Return, to tackle the prequel trilogy in Shakespearean verse, there was a Gungan-sized stumbling block."
fandom:starwars, fandom:literature
Untitled: deadcatwithaflamethrower (Tumblr) - "I've seen a couple of posts around about Obi Wan possibly being 20 years old in the Phantom menace instead of per Disney canon's age of 25 and I was wondering if you knew more about this info and its source?"
fandom:starwars
Untitled: anghraine (Tumblr) - "Essentially benevolent people/organizations sow the seeds of their destruction or corruption (different things, thank you Obi-Wan) by allowing themselves to become complicit in wrongdoing."
fandom:starwars
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Untitled: norcumi (Tumblr) - "You said you could name TCW eps with Rex/Obi-Wan stuff? I'd love a list to go watch. I usually read Obi as (aro)/ace, but Rex/Obi is growing on me, and I'd like to see where you're coming from (NGL, I focused more on the relationships involving Anakin when I watched the series)."
fandom:starwars
Star Wars Rebels
Hyperspace Theories Episode Eight: Star Wars Rebels: Hyperspace Theories (podcast) - "We consider the entire first season of Rebels to evaluate the choices made by the storytellers in building the small slice of the galaxy where the series begins its tale."
fandom:starwars
Steven Universe
Sexualized Saturday: Steven Universe and Soft Masculinity: brothadom (blog) - "But, I think masculinity can, and should, manifest in other ways: emotional strength, love, and bravery. These attributes could be considered "soft masculinity" as a counter to more aggressive, "hard masculinity"."
fandom:stevenuniverse
Supernatural
Supernatural, Season 10, Episode 17: Inside Man: Sparky (blog) - "He's an atheist who believes in the proven supernatural (he is, after all, a mind reader) that doesn't deny the existence of angels - or of powerful beings that call themselves angels. This actually applies, to some degree, to the show as well - after all, we know angels are the agents of god because… they say they are."
fandom:supernatural, warning:spoilers
Supernatural - love is all you need LOL: cupidsbower (Tumblr) - "What a good episode. The plot has thickened so much it's practically custard, and there are romance tropes all over the place."
fandom:supernatural
Identity Crisis 101 by Rowena: memberoftheangelgarrison (Tumblr) - "During the last episode I realised yet another topic I didn't recover until just now, the significance of roles. Now, some of you may say 'yeah yeah, but dude, that's nothing new' but let me tell you; there's a huge difference between the roles you put yourself into, the roles you get forced into, and who you truly are."
fandom:supernatural
Thor
Victor/VicThoria: Feminism, Personhood & Hammering Out the Trouble with Thor: Nyala Ali (blog) - "The fundamental problem with the current run of Thor is that it doesn't seem to be very invested in Thor herself."
fandom:marvelcomics
Tolkien
Talks on Tolkien: Dawn Walls-Thumma on transformative works: Dawn Walls-Thumma (video) - "In her presentation, Dawn talks about the rise of Tolkien fandom and the development of different fan communities with the advent of Internet fandom."
fandom:jrrtolkien, topic:fandom
Thoughts on Gandalf: determanfidd (tumblr) - "I admire him in some ways. I love his love of Hobbits. I love that he makes fireworks for children, and smokes pipeweed in wizardly ways."
fandom:jrrtolkien
Exceptional mothers of Middle Earth: askmiddleearth (tumblr) - "It's true that there is an above-average trend of maternal abandonment in Tolkien's stories (you can read more about that here), and aside from those cases there are plenty of mothers who, through no fault of their own, did not live to see their children grow up. And there are plenty of mothers whose relationships with their children are simply never described. But there are also, dear Anon, several excellent maternal role models in Middle Earth. Just a few of my favorites"
fandom:jrrtolkien, topic:femalecharacter
Maedhros and Maglor the saving angels of the Earandilion?: starvaultoftheheavens (tumblr) - "The idea in this fandom that Maedhros and Maglor were gracious little angels for "rescuing" Elrond and Elros makes me so furious"
fandom:jrrtolkien
Twin Peaks
The Twin Peaks Log: S.2 E.7: Romona Williams (blog) - "Welcome to our biweekly roundtable of Twin Peaks where we are working our way through every. Single. Episode."
fandom:twinpeaks
Vorkosigan
I Was Right (Ask Me How): dsudis (tumblr) - "Because it turns out I was right about basically all of the tinhat inferences I was drawing, and as we all know nothing is more fun than being right in public."
fandom:vorkosigansaga, warning:spoilers
The Walking Dead
Love Story of the Zombie Apocalypse: Real-Life Horroe in Walking Dead: Shannon Gibney (blog) - "Yes, folks, there is a thing more dangerous than a feral, brain-munching horde of zombies: A straight white man who swears that he will do everything in his power to save and protect you and your children."
fandom:thewalkingdead, topic:race, topic:psychology
Where The Boys Are (1960)
Re-View: Spring Break Begins With Where The Boys Are (1960): Lesley Coffin (blog) - "Where the Boys Are is a classic, lush MGM movie from Producer Joe Pasternak (a fascinating Hollywood figure), but it's also a sex comedy about college co-eds heading to Fort Lauderdale for spring break, focusing on the sexual concerns and drives of women."
fandom:wheretheboysare
The Wind Rises
The Wind Rises… and falls: foxinthestars (DW) - "Somehow I was braced for The Wind Rises to be worse than it was, and I will say it was interesting, but I won't say it was great."
fandom:thewindrises
Wrestling
multiple people (Tumblr) - "The "Fake Relationship" trope is real life in professional wrestling, actually. Wrestling has a long tradition of "kayfabe," which basically means "pretending that this is an actual sport and not an exceptionally fighty soap opera.""
fandom:wrestling, topic:tropes
X-Men/Marvel Cinematic Universe
Oh, My Pop Culture Judaism: Jewish Erasure & Discrimination in the X-Men & Marvel Movie Adaptations: Lady Geek Girl (blog) - "And sadly we can see this attitude reflected in our own geek culture. Today I am going to specifically talk about the anti-Semitism in the X-Men/Marvel Movie Universe."
fandom:x-men, fandom:mcu, topic:racism
Yurikuma Arashi
A Bearhug To The Heart I Didn't Expect: A Yurikuma Arashi Review: MarchHareMoe (blog) - "Yurikuma Arashi shows how queer relationships can be complex and difficult, and touches on different forms of love, even familial."
fandom:anime, topic:lgbt, topic:animaltransformation