22 July 2015-28 July 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
Manga to Movies: Why Eastern Comic Film Adaptations Thrive and Western Don't: Lindsey David (blog) - "Where a select few are chosen for shows in the West, manga is adapted to live-action left, right, and centre. It's actually harder to think of a mildly-popular manga that hasn't been adapted to live-action."
topic:adaptations, fandom:manga
Dissecting the Asian Drama: Societal Reflections in Gender Perception and Performance (Part 2): Angel Cruz (blog) - "All of the boys in You're Beautiful and Hana Kimi instinctively recognize that pursuing someone of the same gender could destroy them socially. It's never stated outright, but both dramas play up the shame several of these male characters feel once they realize they've begun to feel something for the female character masquerading as a boy, driving the point further into the viewer's subconscious. Homosexuality is almost always used for laughs, never as a real possibility for its characters, and certainly never as part of the happy ending."
topic:gender, topic:lgbt, fandom:kdrama, fandom:jdrama, topic:boyslove
Surface Tensions: Character vs. Creator Diversity: Kat Overland (blog) - "Marvel's newest book announcements (pre-SDCC) illuminates the disconnect between the excitement for "increased diversity" for characters and the reality of what that means for creators who might be themselves diverse."
fandom:comics, topic:comics, topic:diversity
What it feels like for a (fan)girl: Keidra (blog) - "The push-and-pull between fans and owners was at its most intense before the rise of social media fan communities, and hoo-boy, have things changed now."
topic:fandom, topic:tptb
Shifts and living history: Comics212 (blog) - "One of the things that I mentioned on the Inkstuds podcast with David, Brandon, and Robin, is an idea that's been rattling around in my head for a long while now, and that's the concept of the comics industry (and occasionally the medium) going out of its way to 'other' the success of books that they don't like, or don't want to be representative of 'their' industry."
fandom:comics, fandom:manga, topic:publishing
TCAF 2015 - Gengoroh Tagame Talks Gay Manga, "Bara," BL and Scanlation: Gengoroh Tagame, Graham Kolbeins, Anne Ishii, and Leyla Aker (transcript of panel discussion) - "What resulted was a lively talk about the differences, and the sometimes problematic relationship between gay manga and boys love manga, how both genres are perceived in Japan and abroad, the impact of online piracy/scanlation on gay manga creators, and much more."
fandom:manga, topic:lgbt, topic:piracy, topic:boyslove
"What Zombies Can Teach Law Students: Popular Text Inclusion in Law and Literature": Thomas E. Simmons (scholarly paper) - "Drawing on popular works such as The Walking Dead and World War Z, Simmons shows how many legal issues can be illustrated and explained in the classroom using examples that are more interesting than the abstract "A sues B" type and more engaging than examples from more "serious" literature."
topic:law, topic:teaching
Note: This is a download only article, PDF, and 53 pages long. I did check, and it does not require payment.
Failed Revolutions in Imaginary Cities: Olga Tchepikova (blog) - "How do you solve a problem like dystopian science fiction? It's been around for about as long as the film industry and yet, politics and society still won't stop producing warning signs for the decay of humanity, providing directors, writers, and "artists" with almost inexhaustible opportunities for critiquing the current state of the world community, or showing what the present state of things might turn into if not handled consciously and carefully."
topic:dystopia
Real Women As Main Characters: Jane Lindskold (blog) - "What bothers me is the underlying implication that the way to right this implied misbalance is as easy as swapping pronouns and a few descriptive elements, that female characters and male characters can and should be interchangeable."
topic:femalecharacter, topic:writing
Should White Authors Write about Race?: Noah Berlatsky (blog) - "You could see that as a tribute to the goodness of at least some white people-a sign that white folks reject American apartheid. But you could also see it as part of that American apartheid itself."
topic:race, topic:racism, topic:writing
Chosen Ones, Specialness and the Narrative of the One: aliettedb (LJ) - "The main thing I take issue to is the narrative of specialness. It's the myth that you have to be special to matter, or else be doomed to be an unimportant sidekick."
topic:tropes
Uploading and Streaming Podfic: Part 1, Hosting Sites: xdiorix (DW) - "First of all, there are a plethora of hosting websites where you can upload your podfics, but there are definitely some that are better than others. Many of these websites even allow you to listen to or preview the audio file first before you download, though this typically means clicking through to an external website and player."
topic:podfic
Uploading and Streaming Podfic: Part 2, Coding for Embedded Audio Players: sdiorix (DW) - "So now you have your hosting site! Here's how to make it work with the embedded audio players on AO3 for streaming!"
topic:podfic, topic:ao3
Killjoys/Millennial Fandom: rivkat (DW) - Book review of Louisa Ellen Stein's Millennial Fandom: Television Audiences in the Transmedia Age including some analysis of the topic.
topic:fandom
gonna teach 'em what they don't know how: musesfool (DW) - "I do think having a show drop all at once makes it harder to grow and sustain a fandom, since unlike something that airs week to week, with hiatuses for people to catch up, everybody's at a different point in viewing so having conversations becomes difficult, especially when it comes to avoiding spoilers, and that has a negative impact on attempts to build community."
topic:fandom, topic:television
Meta Monday: Just in time to talk about DEAD PEOPLE: dhampyresa (DW) - "So I'm going to talk about something slightly different. I'm going to talk about how shipping dudes two thousand years dead helped me feel like I was finally doing fandom right."
topic:shipping, topic:fandom
Fannish Questions Meme #4: Marathon Viewing: serrico (DW) - ""How do you feel about marathoning vs. weekly watching? How does the Netflix model of releasing a whole series at once change fannish conversation, if at all?""
topic:television, topic:fandom
Disability In Fiction beccaelizabeth: (DW) - "Like, if a fic has a big reunion but a huge communication fail to deal with, and if a fic has one character having gone deaf since last time they met and another having lost one hand, why does it not connect these dots? Sign language with one hand can be tricky. The job took away their ability to communicate both metaphorically and literally. Working through the literal would demonstrate a commitment to working through the issues."
topic:disability
Specific Fandom
Advantageous
'Advantageous': Feminist Science Fiction at Its Best: Holly Derr (blog) - "With Advantageous, a film written by Jacqueline Kim and Jennifer Phang, directed by Phang and starring Kim, the feminism is entirely purposeful."
fandom:advantageous, warning:spoilers
Ant-Man
Podcast 369: Ant Man, starring Paul Rudd: Overthinking It (podcast) - "Pete Fenzel and Matt Wrather join in one of their epic, storied two-handers to overthink Marvel's Ant Man, starring Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas."
fandom:mcu, warning:spoilers
Movie Review: Ant-Man: Smart Bitches, Trashy Books (blog) - "Ant-Man's biggest problem isn't that it's bad; it's that the other Marvel movies are so damn good that it's a little tepid by comparison."
fandom:mcu, warning:spoilers
Review: After A Rocky Start, 'Ant-Man' Becomes Just What The MCU Needs: Rebecca Pahle (blog) - Review and analysis of the movie.
fandom:mcu, warning:spoilers
Why Ant-Man Should Have Been Black: Noah Berlatsky (blog) - "Ant-Man isn't that well-known, after all-and the Scott Lang, ex-con version of the character (created by David Micheline and John Byrne in 1979) is even less well-known than that. In short, Ant-Man is not an icon. Surely it shouldn't be too hard to change a character that few people know about?"
fandom:mcu, topic:racebending, warning:spoilers
Surprise (Not Really)! Marvel's Ant-Man Is Sexist: Noah Berlatsky (blog) - "Ant-Man is supposed to be a light-hearted tale of redemption . . . But really ,it's a story about how everybody has to fit a gendered script."
fandom:mcu, warning:spoilers, topic:sexism
Physics Says Tiny Ant-Man Should Be Running Weirder: Rhett Allain (blog) - "In this clip from Ant-Man, we get to see Ant-Man in action. But do tiny humans run the same as normal humans? Not really."
fandom:mcu, warning:spoilers, topic:science
Archie Comics
#TeamVeronica: Why Veronica is Better than Betty: Ginnis Tonik (blog) - "Growing up as a kid who was accused of having too much attitude and told to smile, these badass bitches were a cathartic escape for my feminist angst."
fandom:archiecomics
Babylon 5
B5rewatch: The Parliament of Dreams: jedi_of_urth (LJ) - "This is an episode that my viewing of is quite influenced by the fact that I saw it backwards. I'd read City of Sorrows before I ever saw this episode, I might have even seen parts of season 5 before I saw this."
fandom:babylon5
B5rewatch: Mind War: jedi_of_urth (LJ) - "I think I always knew season 1 was shot out or order (at least by the time I saw s1), including that this episode was filmed later than shown; so for going on two decades now I've always had in the back of my head to wonder if this is really it's proper place."
fandom:babylon5
B5rewatch: The War Prayer: jedi_of_urth (LJ) - "The problem is that it treats one of the central conflicts of the entire series as if it's a plot that can be resolved in an episode; so it should be good because it's relating to those big themes, but it doesn't work because it treats the issue as if it's only an issue of the week."
fandom:babylon5
B5rewatch: And the Sky Full of Stars: jedi_of_urth (LJ) - "Diving right in, I feel like I should say that the Knight waiting in the docking bay is being too obvious, but this was the early/mid 90s and we used to be able to just go hang out at the airports, and that has definitely seemed to case on B5 already and will continue to, so I don't think it seemed quite so weird in that context."
fandom:babylon5
B5rewatch: Deathwalker: jedi_of_urth (LJ) - "So that's an incredibly spoilery promo, I think it had just about every major plot twist in it, including the ending. Sure, some of the context is missing, but I think they just compressed the episode to a thirty second synopsis."
fandom:babylon5
B5rewatch: Believers: jedi_of_urth (LJ) - "I actually don't exactly hate it as much as I did as a teenager, I can see more of what it's trying to be and find a few more reasons to be forgiving in places, but I still think it's pretty bad; if it's not the worst episode of the series, it's pretty damned close."
fandom:babylon5
Batman
Misinformation About Batman: Chris Sims (blog) - "As a Batmanologist, what misinformation about Batman do you wish you could set everyone straight on?"
fandom:dccomics
Buffy
Pretty Good Eatings and Buffy: beccaelizabeth (DW) - "I like how Willow's magic misuse is treated this season. Applying the word magic addiction to it was a misstep in later seasons, but she definitely turns to magic to make herself feel better and avoid having to deal with actual reality"
fandom:btvs
Buffy: A New Man: beccaelizabeth (DW) - "I'm lacking big thinking about Buffy of late. There seems to be a bunch about masculinity and violence, direct parallels between Spike and Riley, and Riley and Adam of course, plus some stuff about how useless Giles and Xander feel now they're not defined by their jobs."
fandom:btvs
Cosmere
Words of Radiance Reread: Chapter 47: Alice Arneson (blog) - Summary, discussion and analysis of the chapter in question.
fandom:cosmere
Dawn of the Dead
Killing Time: The Luxury of Denial in 'Dawn of the Dead': Jennifer Krukowski (blog) - "Where Dawn of the Dead stands apart from the rest is its exploration of the childlike bliss of denial in a time of crisis."
fandom:dawnofthedead
Doctor Who
Time Can Be Rewritten: Night of the Doctor: Philip Sandifer (blog) - "Just about the only thing it isn't, really, is a satisfying ending to the Eighth Doctor Era."
fandom:doctorwho
7th Doctor Sylvester McCoy Doesn't Want a Female Doctor for Doctor Who: Here's Why He's Wrong: Jessica Lachenal (blog) - "Put simply, he said, "I'm sorry, but no - Doctor Who is a male character, just like James Bond. If they changed it to be politically correct then it would ruin the dynamics between the doctor and the assistant, which is a popular part of the show.""
fandom:doctorwho
NuWho Rewatch: The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang: louisedennis (LJ) Discussion of the episodes in question.
fandom:doctorwho
NuWho Rewatch: The Impossible Astronaut/The Day of the Moon: louisedennis (LJ) - Discussion of the episodes in question.
fandom:doctorwho
NuWho Rewatch: A Christmas Carol: louisedennis (LJ) - Discussion of the episode in question.
fandom:doctorwho
NuWho Rewatch: The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People: purplecat (DW) - "Discussion of the episode in question"
fandom:doctorwho
NuWhoRewatch: the Doctor's Wife: purplecat (DW) - "Discussion of the episode in question"
fandom:doctorwho
Dragonlance
The Dragonlance Chronicles Reread: Guest Highlord Damien Walter on Raistlin: Damien Walter (blog) - "Raistlin is the wizard all the geek boys want to be, but being a power hungry a*hole leads nowhere good."
fandom:dragonlance
Empire Trilogy
Rereading the Empire Trilogy: Mistress of the Empire, Part 20: Tansy Rayner Roberts (blog) - Summary, discussion and analysis of the section in question.
fandom:empiretrilogy
Game of Thrones
A Brief Treatise on the Rules of Thrones 2.10: Valar Morghulis: Philip Sandifer (blog) - "Play opened with a political world that magic was scraping at the edges of; it closes with a political world subsumed by magic."
fandom:gameofthrones
Season 5: The Princess in the Tower: Stefan (blog) - Discussion and analysis of Sansa's season 5 story arc.
fandom:gameofthrones, warning:rape
Go Set a Watchman
Who Watches the Watchman?: Raizel (blog) - "This is far from the first story re-telling that readers or viewers have deemed to be somehow "wrong", writing over their own version of events."
fandom:gosetawatchman, topic:fanon, topic:canon, fandom:dragonball
H.P. Lovecraft
The Lovecraft Reread: It Was Seeing That Made Them Scream: "From Beyond": Ruthanna Emrys and Anne M. Pillsworth (blog) - Summary, discussion and analysis of the story.
fandom:lovecraft
Harry Potter
The Harry Potter Reread: The Order of the Phoenix, Chapters 27 and 28: Emily Asher-Perrin (blog) - Summary, analysis and discussion of the chapters in question.
fandom:harrypotter
Hogwarts: The Castle: wellingtongoose (LJ) - "Hogwarts castle was not built by the founders, nor was it originally built to house a school. Castle building technology did not arrive in Britain until after the Norman Conquest in 1066. The founders most likely set up their "school" in a large town called Hogwarts, which had already existed in one form or another for millennia."
fandom:harrypotter
Hogwarts: an Evolution: wellingtongoose (LJ) - "Hogwarts did not appear fully form out of the founders' shared vision; it evolved slowly over the centuries to the recognisable school in the Harry Potter books."
fandom:harrypotter
James Bond
Bond Girl: Re-Watching and Re-Evaluating The Living Daylights: Zina Hutton (blog) - "I know that I'm usually only vaguely interested in the actual plot of these films. I watch them for the ladies and the gadgets and I'm fine with that."
fandom:jamesbond
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Janathan Strange & Mr. Norrell Episode 7: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell: Philip Sandifer (blog) - Discussion and analysis of the episode.
fandom:jonathanstrangeandmrnorrell, warning:spoilers
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell Reread: The BBC Adaptation: Kate Nepveu (blog) - Analysis of the adaptation with particular reference to how it does and doesn't differ from the books.
fandom:jonathanstrangeandmrnorrell, warning:spoilers, topic:adaptations
Justice League 3001
How To Fix Justice League 3001's Ongoing Transphobia: Marcy Cook (blog) - "After the trouble that issue one romped into (more of that in a second) issue two has just come out. Is it any better? No, it's not."
fandom:dccomics, topic:queer, warning:transphobia
Labyrinth
We Love Villains: The Strange Appeal of Jareth From Labyrinth: Smart Bitches, Trashy Book (blog) - "For those of us who were around the same age as Sarah (she's fifteen) when the movie came out, this sparked lively discussion - should Sarah have rescued Toby or should she have stayed with Jareth and ruled over the Goblin City with him?"
fandom:labyrinth, topic:villains
Legal Drug
CLAMP's Legal Drug & Homophobia in Boy's Love: Amanda Vail (blog) - "Legal Drug should be addictive. Lovely art, good storytelling, intriguing characters. Plus, it's an honest-to-goodness boy's love title from CLAMP. Recipe for success, right? There's just one small detail that tastes awful to me, though: Kazahaya's homophobic reactions."
fandom:clamp, fandom:manga, topic:lgbt, topic:boyslove
Legend of Zelda
Theory: Downfall Timeline: VortexxyGaming (video) - "Some of the facts and theories stand out, like the fact that the River Zoras appear primarily in the Downfall Timeline, and the descending connections between different games' sages."
fandom:legendofzelda
Zelda Theory: Cuccos are Immortal: Dr. Willy (video) - "Although there are some technical exceptions that rule out the idea of the Cucco's immorality, Cuccos have by far the most astounding potential of any Hylian or creature in the series."
fandom:legendofzelda
Marvel Comics
Soon As I Said It, Seems I Got Sweated: Leonard Pierce (blog) - "Where it all goes wrong is in how, like the well-meaning couple that just wants to translate their friends' largesse into an attempt to keep a homeless person warm, Marvel can't help but inserting themselves into the picture and turning what could have otherwise been a harmless exercise in mash-up culture into a gross display of self-adulation. Like so many corporate executives who can't manage to do a bit of good without turning it into something bad, Marvel executives just couldn't shut up."
fandom:marvelcomics, topic:racism, topic:comics, topic:art
Monk
Mr. Monk and the Toxic Masculinity: Jimmy Johnson (blog) - "Adrian Monk could represent a potential alternative masculinity. His clumsy, fumbling, mumbling, constantly terrified competence as police detective stands in stark contrast to the chest-puffing, misogynist, homophobic normative masculinity that pervades popular culture. Instead of embracing his competence though Monk is constantly aspiring towards normative masculinity. A telling episode is 2006's "Mr. Monk and the Astronaut"."
fandom:monk
Mr. Holmes
Review: Mr. Holmes Triangulates the Mysterious End of Sherlock Holmes: Lesley Coffin (blog) - "It's almost amazing to think that it took McKellen this long to play the great detective Sherlock Holmes, but the wait has been well worth it. He nails a re-interpretation of the character, without throwing away the "classic" elements."
fandom:mrholmes
Movie Review: Mr. Holmes: Smart Bitches, Trashy Books (blog) - Discussion and analysis of the film with reference to other Holmes canons.
fandom:mrholmes
Oi! Ryoma
Interesting Scene in Oi! Ryoma: Anime Nation (blog) - "Historically "Kiri-sute gomen" was not performed very frequently, but it's a concept seen equally rarely in anime, and practically never in association with heroic characters."
fandom:oiryoma, fandom:anime, topic:history
Orphan Black
The Science of Orphan Black: Fanciful, Fearsome, Educational: Maria Ramos (blog) - "Creators Graeme Manson and John Fawcett have made a conscious and successful attempt to retain scientific realism in the show by working with science consultant, Cosima Herter, who also inspired the clone sharing her name."
fandom:orphanblack, topic:science
What Orphan Black Can Teach Us About Family and Community (Part 2): Alenka Figa (blog) - "Perhaps more than any other, season three is about family and community."
fandom:orphanblack
Gracie and reproductive autonomy: lizzieraindrops and theloupgaroux (Tumblr) - "Gracie's body, as you mention, has always been a battleground. Now that the "prized" aspect of her territory has been destroyed, the troops are retreating, and she's breathing a sigh of relief about it. The war for her body is over, but that's because there's nothing to fight over anymore. She's naturally conflicted."
fandom:orphanblack
Peaky Blinders
Polly Gray: The Matriarch of 'Peaky Blinders': Jackson Adler (blog) - "Polly is female character who is complex and multi-faceted in ways that are still extremely rare but much needed in our culture; however, her story is often undermined by those whose responsibility it is to help tell it, especially with regard to her being Romanichal."
fandom:peakyblinders, topic:femalecharacter, warning:rape
Pixels
Spoiler Alert: Pixels Is TERRIBLE: Lesley Coffin (blog) - "Just to save everyone time, let's get this out of the way right away: Pixels is one of the worst movies of the year. It is unpleasant, unfunny, slow, and sometimes doesn't even look that good (maybe a "retro" movie shouldn't be in 3D)."
fandom:pixels, warning:spoilers
Saga
Book Club: Saga, Week 4: Overthinking It (podcast) - "We are Overthinking the comic book series "Saga," and this is Week 4, covering Chapters 10-12 of the series. Join Ben, Richard, Ryan, Jordan, and Matt as we discuss narrative structure, how you never go full allegory, and how the author might not be dead, but has been shot in the knee."
fandom:saga
Sense8
The Sense8 Pilot: "Limbic Resonance" WTF?: Jennifer Crusie (blog) - "TL,DR: I saw a TV pilot that made me crazy so I watched it twice more to see how I'd fix it. I still don't know, but I wrote three thousand words about why I couldn't figure it out."
fandom:sense8, warning:spoilers
The kick-ass women of 'Sense8' make it best new show on TV: Reel Girl (blog) - "But what I love most about the show is watching the women in action."
fandom:sense8, warning:spoilers
Sherlock Holmes
Canon Discussion: The Hound of the Baskervilles, Chaps. 1-7: sherlock60 (LJ) - Commentary (mostly in the comments) on this section of the book.
fandom:acdsherlock
Canon Discussion: The Final Problem: sherlock60 (LJ) - Discussion (mostly in the comments) of the story.
fandom:acdsherlock
Canon Discussion: The Naval Treaty: sherlock60 (LJ) - Discussion (mostly in the comments) of the story.
fandom:acdsherlock
A Song of Ice and Fire
Top Characters Meera and Jojen Reed: ghostlovesinger (blog) - "Before we reveal the top two characters, let's take a moment to recognize some of the characters who barely missed making the Top 50. Coming in at #53 and #59 are Meera and Jojen Reed (previous rankings: unranked)."
fandom:asoiaf
Top Characters Jeor Mormont, Greatjon Umber: Johnny (blog) - "Before we reveal the top two characters, let's take a moment to recognize some of the characters who barely missed making the Top 50. Coming in at #57 and #60 respectively are Jeor Mormont and Greatjon Umber (previous rankings: #37, unranked)."
fandom:asoiaf
A Read of Ice and Fire: A Dance With Dragons, Part 30: Leigh Butler (blog) - Summary, discussion and analysis of the section in question.
fandom:asoiaf
Star Trek
The birds and the bees are not Vulcans, Captain: beatrice_otter (DW) - "So, I have a question about Vulcan biology.
I have long been puzzled by the inherent illogic of a heat that can kill you. Heats are supposed to grow the species, not reduce it."
fandom:startrek, topic:biology
Star Wars
Slave Leia Sells? Amy Schumer, Boy Toys, and the Star Wars Fandom Double Standard: Tricia Barr (blog) - "The week-long kerfuffle brought together a myriad of fandom reactions that highlight the pervasive and persistent double standard in regards to women and their sexuality. Those outraged about the toy aren't necessarily bothered by the GQ pictures, or vice versa, but quite a bit of intersectionality exists in those expressions of displeasure. Not only that, much of the outrage seemingly stems from incomplete understandings of the numerous factors at play, ranging from the hyper-gendering of toys to the legalities of transformative use of intellectual property."
fandom:starwars, topic:femalecharacter
Untitled: multiple posters (Tumblr) - "The assertion that Obi-Wan's fighting style (and by extension, Soresu) is primarily defensive has never made sense to me because it's so counter to both his actual fighting style and his personality."
fandom:starwars
Terminator
'Terminator Genisys': Not My Sarah Connor: Liz LaBrocca (blog) - "In particular, Sarah Connor, damsel in distress turned warrior, has been reduced to a quippy, bland plot device instead of the powerful ready-made warrior she could have been."
fandom:terminator, topic:femalecharacter
Warhammer
Warhammer's race and gender problem: James Graham (blog) - "But at the same time, the sad fact is that Warhammer has never not been problematic in terms of its presentation of disability, race and gender. And in many ways, it appears to have gone backwards since the 80s."
fandom:gaming, topic:racism, topic:sexism, topic:ablism
Warm Bodies
Death and Dating: Love, Hope, and Millenials (sic) in 'Warm Bodies': Emily Katseanes (blog) - "And that's what makes Warm Bodies such an interesting dystopian flick: The film deftly defies expectations by presenting a world gone to hell that's still full of humanity and, dare I say it, romance."
fandom:warmbodies
Wheel of Time
The Wheel of Time Reread Redux: The Great Hunt, Part 10: Leigh Butler (blog) - Summary, discussion and analysis of the section in question.
fandom:wheeloftime
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
Manga to Movies: Why Eastern Comic Film Adaptations Thrive and Western Don't: Lindsey David (blog) - "Where a select few are chosen for shows in the West, manga is adapted to live-action left, right, and centre. It's actually harder to think of a mildly-popular manga that hasn't been adapted to live-action."
topic:adaptations, fandom:manga
Dissecting the Asian Drama: Societal Reflections in Gender Perception and Performance (Part 2): Angel Cruz (blog) - "All of the boys in You're Beautiful and Hana Kimi instinctively recognize that pursuing someone of the same gender could destroy them socially. It's never stated outright, but both dramas play up the shame several of these male characters feel once they realize they've begun to feel something for the female character masquerading as a boy, driving the point further into the viewer's subconscious. Homosexuality is almost always used for laughs, never as a real possibility for its characters, and certainly never as part of the happy ending."
topic:gender, topic:lgbt, fandom:kdrama, fandom:jdrama, topic:boyslove
Surface Tensions: Character vs. Creator Diversity: Kat Overland (blog) - "Marvel's newest book announcements (pre-SDCC) illuminates the disconnect between the excitement for "increased diversity" for characters and the reality of what that means for creators who might be themselves diverse."
fandom:comics, topic:comics, topic:diversity
What it feels like for a (fan)girl: Keidra (blog) - "The push-and-pull between fans and owners was at its most intense before the rise of social media fan communities, and hoo-boy, have things changed now."
topic:fandom, topic:tptb
Shifts and living history: Comics212 (blog) - "One of the things that I mentioned on the Inkstuds podcast with David, Brandon, and Robin, is an idea that's been rattling around in my head for a long while now, and that's the concept of the comics industry (and occasionally the medium) going out of its way to 'other' the success of books that they don't like, or don't want to be representative of 'their' industry."
fandom:comics, fandom:manga, topic:publishing
TCAF 2015 - Gengoroh Tagame Talks Gay Manga, "Bara," BL and Scanlation: Gengoroh Tagame, Graham Kolbeins, Anne Ishii, and Leyla Aker (transcript of panel discussion) - "What resulted was a lively talk about the differences, and the sometimes problematic relationship between gay manga and boys love manga, how both genres are perceived in Japan and abroad, the impact of online piracy/scanlation on gay manga creators, and much more."
fandom:manga, topic:lgbt, topic:piracy, topic:boyslove
"What Zombies Can Teach Law Students: Popular Text Inclusion in Law and Literature": Thomas E. Simmons (scholarly paper) - "Drawing on popular works such as The Walking Dead and World War Z, Simmons shows how many legal issues can be illustrated and explained in the classroom using examples that are more interesting than the abstract "A sues B" type and more engaging than examples from more "serious" literature."
topic:law, topic:teaching
Note: This is a download only article, PDF, and 53 pages long. I did check, and it does not require payment.
Failed Revolutions in Imaginary Cities: Olga Tchepikova (blog) - "How do you solve a problem like dystopian science fiction? It's been around for about as long as the film industry and yet, politics and society still won't stop producing warning signs for the decay of humanity, providing directors, writers, and "artists" with almost inexhaustible opportunities for critiquing the current state of the world community, or showing what the present state of things might turn into if not handled consciously and carefully."
topic:dystopia
Real Women As Main Characters: Jane Lindskold (blog) - "What bothers me is the underlying implication that the way to right this implied misbalance is as easy as swapping pronouns and a few descriptive elements, that female characters and male characters can and should be interchangeable."
topic:femalecharacter, topic:writing
Should White Authors Write about Race?: Noah Berlatsky (blog) - "You could see that as a tribute to the goodness of at least some white people-a sign that white folks reject American apartheid. But you could also see it as part of that American apartheid itself."
topic:race, topic:racism, topic:writing
Chosen Ones, Specialness and the Narrative of the One: aliettedb (LJ) - "The main thing I take issue to is the narrative of specialness. It's the myth that you have to be special to matter, or else be doomed to be an unimportant sidekick."
topic:tropes
Uploading and Streaming Podfic: Part 1, Hosting Sites: xdiorix (DW) - "First of all, there are a plethora of hosting websites where you can upload your podfics, but there are definitely some that are better than others. Many of these websites even allow you to listen to or preview the audio file first before you download, though this typically means clicking through to an external website and player."
topic:podfic
Uploading and Streaming Podfic: Part 2, Coding for Embedded Audio Players: sdiorix (DW) - "So now you have your hosting site! Here's how to make it work with the embedded audio players on AO3 for streaming!"
topic:podfic, topic:ao3
Killjoys/Millennial Fandom: rivkat (DW) - Book review of Louisa Ellen Stein's Millennial Fandom: Television Audiences in the Transmedia Age including some analysis of the topic.
topic:fandom
gonna teach 'em what they don't know how: musesfool (DW) - "I do think having a show drop all at once makes it harder to grow and sustain a fandom, since unlike something that airs week to week, with hiatuses for people to catch up, everybody's at a different point in viewing so having conversations becomes difficult, especially when it comes to avoiding spoilers, and that has a negative impact on attempts to build community."
topic:fandom, topic:television
Meta Monday: Just in time to talk about DEAD PEOPLE: dhampyresa (DW) - "So I'm going to talk about something slightly different. I'm going to talk about how shipping dudes two thousand years dead helped me feel like I was finally doing fandom right."
topic:shipping, topic:fandom
Fannish Questions Meme #4: Marathon Viewing: serrico (DW) - ""How do you feel about marathoning vs. weekly watching? How does the Netflix model of releasing a whole series at once change fannish conversation, if at all?""
topic:television, topic:fandom
Disability In Fiction beccaelizabeth: (DW) - "Like, if a fic has a big reunion but a huge communication fail to deal with, and if a fic has one character having gone deaf since last time they met and another having lost one hand, why does it not connect these dots? Sign language with one hand can be tricky. The job took away their ability to communicate both metaphorically and literally. Working through the literal would demonstrate a commitment to working through the issues."
topic:disability
Specific Fandom
Advantageous
'Advantageous': Feminist Science Fiction at Its Best: Holly Derr (blog) - "With Advantageous, a film written by Jacqueline Kim and Jennifer Phang, directed by Phang and starring Kim, the feminism is entirely purposeful."
fandom:advantageous, warning:spoilers
Ant-Man
Podcast 369: Ant Man, starring Paul Rudd: Overthinking It (podcast) - "Pete Fenzel and Matt Wrather join in one of their epic, storied two-handers to overthink Marvel's Ant Man, starring Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas."
fandom:mcu, warning:spoilers
Movie Review: Ant-Man: Smart Bitches, Trashy Books (blog) - "Ant-Man's biggest problem isn't that it's bad; it's that the other Marvel movies are so damn good that it's a little tepid by comparison."
fandom:mcu, warning:spoilers
Review: After A Rocky Start, 'Ant-Man' Becomes Just What The MCU Needs: Rebecca Pahle (blog) - Review and analysis of the movie.
fandom:mcu, warning:spoilers
Why Ant-Man Should Have Been Black: Noah Berlatsky (blog) - "Ant-Man isn't that well-known, after all-and the Scott Lang, ex-con version of the character (created by David Micheline and John Byrne in 1979) is even less well-known than that. In short, Ant-Man is not an icon. Surely it shouldn't be too hard to change a character that few people know about?"
fandom:mcu, topic:racebending, warning:spoilers
Surprise (Not Really)! Marvel's Ant-Man Is Sexist: Noah Berlatsky (blog) - "Ant-Man is supposed to be a light-hearted tale of redemption . . . But really ,it's a story about how everybody has to fit a gendered script."
fandom:mcu, warning:spoilers, topic:sexism
Physics Says Tiny Ant-Man Should Be Running Weirder: Rhett Allain (blog) - "In this clip from Ant-Man, we get to see Ant-Man in action. But do tiny humans run the same as normal humans? Not really."
fandom:mcu, warning:spoilers, topic:science
Archie Comics
#TeamVeronica: Why Veronica is Better than Betty: Ginnis Tonik (blog) - "Growing up as a kid who was accused of having too much attitude and told to smile, these badass bitches were a cathartic escape for my feminist angst."
fandom:archiecomics
Babylon 5
B5rewatch: The Parliament of Dreams: jedi_of_urth (LJ) - "This is an episode that my viewing of is quite influenced by the fact that I saw it backwards. I'd read City of Sorrows before I ever saw this episode, I might have even seen parts of season 5 before I saw this."
fandom:babylon5
B5rewatch: Mind War: jedi_of_urth (LJ) - "I think I always knew season 1 was shot out or order (at least by the time I saw s1), including that this episode was filmed later than shown; so for going on two decades now I've always had in the back of my head to wonder if this is really it's proper place."
fandom:babylon5
B5rewatch: The War Prayer: jedi_of_urth (LJ) - "The problem is that it treats one of the central conflicts of the entire series as if it's a plot that can be resolved in an episode; so it should be good because it's relating to those big themes, but it doesn't work because it treats the issue as if it's only an issue of the week."
fandom:babylon5
B5rewatch: And the Sky Full of Stars: jedi_of_urth (LJ) - "Diving right in, I feel like I should say that the Knight waiting in the docking bay is being too obvious, but this was the early/mid 90s and we used to be able to just go hang out at the airports, and that has definitely seemed to case on B5 already and will continue to, so I don't think it seemed quite so weird in that context."
fandom:babylon5
B5rewatch: Deathwalker: jedi_of_urth (LJ) - "So that's an incredibly spoilery promo, I think it had just about every major plot twist in it, including the ending. Sure, some of the context is missing, but I think they just compressed the episode to a thirty second synopsis."
fandom:babylon5
B5rewatch: Believers: jedi_of_urth (LJ) - "I actually don't exactly hate it as much as I did as a teenager, I can see more of what it's trying to be and find a few more reasons to be forgiving in places, but I still think it's pretty bad; if it's not the worst episode of the series, it's pretty damned close."
fandom:babylon5
Batman
Misinformation About Batman: Chris Sims (blog) - "As a Batmanologist, what misinformation about Batman do you wish you could set everyone straight on?"
fandom:dccomics
Buffy
Pretty Good Eatings and Buffy: beccaelizabeth (DW) - "I like how Willow's magic misuse is treated this season. Applying the word magic addiction to it was a misstep in later seasons, but she definitely turns to magic to make herself feel better and avoid having to deal with actual reality"
fandom:btvs
Buffy: A New Man: beccaelizabeth (DW) - "I'm lacking big thinking about Buffy of late. There seems to be a bunch about masculinity and violence, direct parallels between Spike and Riley, and Riley and Adam of course, plus some stuff about how useless Giles and Xander feel now they're not defined by their jobs."
fandom:btvs
Cosmere
Words of Radiance Reread: Chapter 47: Alice Arneson (blog) - Summary, discussion and analysis of the chapter in question.
fandom:cosmere
Dawn of the Dead
Killing Time: The Luxury of Denial in 'Dawn of the Dead': Jennifer Krukowski (blog) - "Where Dawn of the Dead stands apart from the rest is its exploration of the childlike bliss of denial in a time of crisis."
fandom:dawnofthedead
Doctor Who
Time Can Be Rewritten: Night of the Doctor: Philip Sandifer (blog) - "Just about the only thing it isn't, really, is a satisfying ending to the Eighth Doctor Era."
fandom:doctorwho
7th Doctor Sylvester McCoy Doesn't Want a Female Doctor for Doctor Who: Here's Why He's Wrong: Jessica Lachenal (blog) - "Put simply, he said, "I'm sorry, but no - Doctor Who is a male character, just like James Bond. If they changed it to be politically correct then it would ruin the dynamics between the doctor and the assistant, which is a popular part of the show.""
fandom:doctorwho
NuWho Rewatch: The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang: louisedennis (LJ) Discussion of the episodes in question.
fandom:doctorwho
NuWho Rewatch: The Impossible Astronaut/The Day of the Moon: louisedennis (LJ) - Discussion of the episodes in question.
fandom:doctorwho
NuWho Rewatch: A Christmas Carol: louisedennis (LJ) - Discussion of the episode in question.
fandom:doctorwho
NuWho Rewatch: The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People: purplecat (DW) - "Discussion of the episode in question"
fandom:doctorwho
NuWhoRewatch: the Doctor's Wife: purplecat (DW) - "Discussion of the episode in question"
fandom:doctorwho
Dragonlance
The Dragonlance Chronicles Reread: Guest Highlord Damien Walter on Raistlin: Damien Walter (blog) - "Raistlin is the wizard all the geek boys want to be, but being a power hungry a*hole leads nowhere good."
fandom:dragonlance
Empire Trilogy
Rereading the Empire Trilogy: Mistress of the Empire, Part 20: Tansy Rayner Roberts (blog) - Summary, discussion and analysis of the section in question.
fandom:empiretrilogy
Game of Thrones
A Brief Treatise on the Rules of Thrones 2.10: Valar Morghulis: Philip Sandifer (blog) - "Play opened with a political world that magic was scraping at the edges of; it closes with a political world subsumed by magic."
fandom:gameofthrones
Season 5: The Princess in the Tower: Stefan (blog) - Discussion and analysis of Sansa's season 5 story arc.
fandom:gameofthrones, warning:rape
Go Set a Watchman
Who Watches the Watchman?: Raizel (blog) - "This is far from the first story re-telling that readers or viewers have deemed to be somehow "wrong", writing over their own version of events."
fandom:gosetawatchman, topic:fanon, topic:canon, fandom:dragonball
H.P. Lovecraft
The Lovecraft Reread: It Was Seeing That Made Them Scream: "From Beyond": Ruthanna Emrys and Anne M. Pillsworth (blog) - Summary, discussion and analysis of the story.
fandom:lovecraft
Harry Potter
The Harry Potter Reread: The Order of the Phoenix, Chapters 27 and 28: Emily Asher-Perrin (blog) - Summary, analysis and discussion of the chapters in question.
fandom:harrypotter
Hogwarts: The Castle: wellingtongoose (LJ) - "Hogwarts castle was not built by the founders, nor was it originally built to house a school. Castle building technology did not arrive in Britain until after the Norman Conquest in 1066. The founders most likely set up their "school" in a large town called Hogwarts, which had already existed in one form or another for millennia."
fandom:harrypotter
Hogwarts: an Evolution: wellingtongoose (LJ) - "Hogwarts did not appear fully form out of the founders' shared vision; it evolved slowly over the centuries to the recognisable school in the Harry Potter books."
fandom:harrypotter
James Bond
Bond Girl: Re-Watching and Re-Evaluating The Living Daylights: Zina Hutton (blog) - "I know that I'm usually only vaguely interested in the actual plot of these films. I watch them for the ladies and the gadgets and I'm fine with that."
fandom:jamesbond
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Janathan Strange & Mr. Norrell Episode 7: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell: Philip Sandifer (blog) - Discussion and analysis of the episode.
fandom:jonathanstrangeandmrnorrell, warning:spoilers
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell Reread: The BBC Adaptation: Kate Nepveu (blog) - Analysis of the adaptation with particular reference to how it does and doesn't differ from the books.
fandom:jonathanstrangeandmrnorrell, warning:spoilers, topic:adaptations
Justice League 3001
How To Fix Justice League 3001's Ongoing Transphobia: Marcy Cook (blog) - "After the trouble that issue one romped into (more of that in a second) issue two has just come out. Is it any better? No, it's not."
fandom:dccomics, topic:queer, warning:transphobia
Labyrinth
We Love Villains: The Strange Appeal of Jareth From Labyrinth: Smart Bitches, Trashy Book (blog) - "For those of us who were around the same age as Sarah (she's fifteen) when the movie came out, this sparked lively discussion - should Sarah have rescued Toby or should she have stayed with Jareth and ruled over the Goblin City with him?"
fandom:labyrinth, topic:villains
Legal Drug
CLAMP's Legal Drug & Homophobia in Boy's Love: Amanda Vail (blog) - "Legal Drug should be addictive. Lovely art, good storytelling, intriguing characters. Plus, it's an honest-to-goodness boy's love title from CLAMP. Recipe for success, right? There's just one small detail that tastes awful to me, though: Kazahaya's homophobic reactions."
fandom:clamp, fandom:manga, topic:lgbt, topic:boyslove
Legend of Zelda
Theory: Downfall Timeline: VortexxyGaming (video) - "Some of the facts and theories stand out, like the fact that the River Zoras appear primarily in the Downfall Timeline, and the descending connections between different games' sages."
fandom:legendofzelda
Zelda Theory: Cuccos are Immortal: Dr. Willy (video) - "Although there are some technical exceptions that rule out the idea of the Cucco's immorality, Cuccos have by far the most astounding potential of any Hylian or creature in the series."
fandom:legendofzelda
Marvel Comics
Soon As I Said It, Seems I Got Sweated: Leonard Pierce (blog) - "Where it all goes wrong is in how, like the well-meaning couple that just wants to translate their friends' largesse into an attempt to keep a homeless person warm, Marvel can't help but inserting themselves into the picture and turning what could have otherwise been a harmless exercise in mash-up culture into a gross display of self-adulation. Like so many corporate executives who can't manage to do a bit of good without turning it into something bad, Marvel executives just couldn't shut up."
fandom:marvelcomics, topic:racism, topic:comics, topic:art
Monk
Mr. Monk and the Toxic Masculinity: Jimmy Johnson (blog) - "Adrian Monk could represent a potential alternative masculinity. His clumsy, fumbling, mumbling, constantly terrified competence as police detective stands in stark contrast to the chest-puffing, misogynist, homophobic normative masculinity that pervades popular culture. Instead of embracing his competence though Monk is constantly aspiring towards normative masculinity. A telling episode is 2006's "Mr. Monk and the Astronaut"."
fandom:monk
Mr. Holmes
Review: Mr. Holmes Triangulates the Mysterious End of Sherlock Holmes: Lesley Coffin (blog) - "It's almost amazing to think that it took McKellen this long to play the great detective Sherlock Holmes, but the wait has been well worth it. He nails a re-interpretation of the character, without throwing away the "classic" elements."
fandom:mrholmes
Movie Review: Mr. Holmes: Smart Bitches, Trashy Books (blog) - Discussion and analysis of the film with reference to other Holmes canons.
fandom:mrholmes
Oi! Ryoma
Interesting Scene in Oi! Ryoma: Anime Nation (blog) - "Historically "Kiri-sute gomen" was not performed very frequently, but it's a concept seen equally rarely in anime, and practically never in association with heroic characters."
fandom:oiryoma, fandom:anime, topic:history
Orphan Black
The Science of Orphan Black: Fanciful, Fearsome, Educational: Maria Ramos (blog) - "Creators Graeme Manson and John Fawcett have made a conscious and successful attempt to retain scientific realism in the show by working with science consultant, Cosima Herter, who also inspired the clone sharing her name."
fandom:orphanblack, topic:science
What Orphan Black Can Teach Us About Family and Community (Part 2): Alenka Figa (blog) - "Perhaps more than any other, season three is about family and community."
fandom:orphanblack
Gracie and reproductive autonomy: lizzieraindrops and theloupgaroux (Tumblr) - "Gracie's body, as you mention, has always been a battleground. Now that the "prized" aspect of her territory has been destroyed, the troops are retreating, and she's breathing a sigh of relief about it. The war for her body is over, but that's because there's nothing to fight over anymore. She's naturally conflicted."
fandom:orphanblack
Peaky Blinders
Polly Gray: The Matriarch of 'Peaky Blinders': Jackson Adler (blog) - "Polly is female character who is complex and multi-faceted in ways that are still extremely rare but much needed in our culture; however, her story is often undermined by those whose responsibility it is to help tell it, especially with regard to her being Romanichal."
fandom:peakyblinders, topic:femalecharacter, warning:rape
Pixels
Spoiler Alert: Pixels Is TERRIBLE: Lesley Coffin (blog) - "Just to save everyone time, let's get this out of the way right away: Pixels is one of the worst movies of the year. It is unpleasant, unfunny, slow, and sometimes doesn't even look that good (maybe a "retro" movie shouldn't be in 3D)."
fandom:pixels, warning:spoilers
Saga
Book Club: Saga, Week 4: Overthinking It (podcast) - "We are Overthinking the comic book series "Saga," and this is Week 4, covering Chapters 10-12 of the series. Join Ben, Richard, Ryan, Jordan, and Matt as we discuss narrative structure, how you never go full allegory, and how the author might not be dead, but has been shot in the knee."
fandom:saga
Sense8
The Sense8 Pilot: "Limbic Resonance" WTF?: Jennifer Crusie (blog) - "TL,DR: I saw a TV pilot that made me crazy so I watched it twice more to see how I'd fix it. I still don't know, but I wrote three thousand words about why I couldn't figure it out."
fandom:sense8, warning:spoilers
The kick-ass women of 'Sense8' make it best new show on TV: Reel Girl (blog) - "But what I love most about the show is watching the women in action."
fandom:sense8, warning:spoilers
Sherlock Holmes
Canon Discussion: The Hound of the Baskervilles, Chaps. 1-7: sherlock60 (LJ) - Commentary (mostly in the comments) on this section of the book.
fandom:acdsherlock
Canon Discussion: The Final Problem: sherlock60 (LJ) - Discussion (mostly in the comments) of the story.
fandom:acdsherlock
Canon Discussion: The Naval Treaty: sherlock60 (LJ) - Discussion (mostly in the comments) of the story.
fandom:acdsherlock
A Song of Ice and Fire
Top Characters Meera and Jojen Reed: ghostlovesinger (blog) - "Before we reveal the top two characters, let's take a moment to recognize some of the characters who barely missed making the Top 50. Coming in at #53 and #59 are Meera and Jojen Reed (previous rankings: unranked)."
fandom:asoiaf
Top Characters Jeor Mormont, Greatjon Umber: Johnny (blog) - "Before we reveal the top two characters, let's take a moment to recognize some of the characters who barely missed making the Top 50. Coming in at #57 and #60 respectively are Jeor Mormont and Greatjon Umber (previous rankings: #37, unranked)."
fandom:asoiaf
A Read of Ice and Fire: A Dance With Dragons, Part 30: Leigh Butler (blog) - Summary, discussion and analysis of the section in question.
fandom:asoiaf
Star Trek
The birds and the bees are not Vulcans, Captain: beatrice_otter (DW) - "So, I have a question about Vulcan biology.
I have long been puzzled by the inherent illogic of a heat that can kill you. Heats are supposed to grow the species, not reduce it."
fandom:startrek, topic:biology
Star Wars
Slave Leia Sells? Amy Schumer, Boy Toys, and the Star Wars Fandom Double Standard: Tricia Barr (blog) - "The week-long kerfuffle brought together a myriad of fandom reactions that highlight the pervasive and persistent double standard in regards to women and their sexuality. Those outraged about the toy aren't necessarily bothered by the GQ pictures, or vice versa, but quite a bit of intersectionality exists in those expressions of displeasure. Not only that, much of the outrage seemingly stems from incomplete understandings of the numerous factors at play, ranging from the hyper-gendering of toys to the legalities of transformative use of intellectual property."
fandom:starwars, topic:femalecharacter
Untitled: multiple posters (Tumblr) - "The assertion that Obi-Wan's fighting style (and by extension, Soresu) is primarily defensive has never made sense to me because it's so counter to both his actual fighting style and his personality."
fandom:starwars
Terminator
'Terminator Genisys': Not My Sarah Connor: Liz LaBrocca (blog) - "In particular, Sarah Connor, damsel in distress turned warrior, has been reduced to a quippy, bland plot device instead of the powerful ready-made warrior she could have been."
fandom:terminator, topic:femalecharacter
Warhammer
Warhammer's race and gender problem: James Graham (blog) - "But at the same time, the sad fact is that Warhammer has never not been problematic in terms of its presentation of disability, race and gender. And in many ways, it appears to have gone backwards since the 80s."
fandom:gaming, topic:racism, topic:sexism, topic:ablism
Warm Bodies
Death and Dating: Love, Hope, and Millenials (sic) in 'Warm Bodies': Emily Katseanes (blog) - "And that's what makes Warm Bodies such an interesting dystopian flick: The film deftly defies expectations by presenting a world gone to hell that's still full of humanity and, dare I say it, romance."
fandom:warmbodies
Wheel of Time
The Wheel of Time Reread Redux: The Great Hunt, Part 10: Leigh Butler (blog) - Summary, discussion and analysis of the section in question.
fandom:wheeloftime