who am i to blow against the wind

comicsalliance: Someone was a bit upset with Chris’ review of...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:11:23 -0400

Someone was a bit upset with Chris’ review of Man of Steel.

thelibrarina: londonphile: First look: Benedict Cumberbatch in...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 21:40:54 -0400

londonphile:

First look: Benedict Cumberbatch in ‘12 Years a Slave’

Yeah, first look at Benedict Cumberbatch! Because Chiwetel Ejiofor isn’t standing right there. And isn’t playing the title role, or anything.

anothermatterentirely: AHHH HUFFINGTON POST IS DOING A SIX ARTICLE SERIES ON ASEXUALITY AND...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:53:18 -0400

anothermatterentirely:

AHHH HUFFINGTON POST IS DOING A SIX ARTICLE SERIES ON ASEXUALITY

AND INCLUDING STUFF LIKE SCIENCE, MISCONCEPTIONS, ROMANTIC ORIENTATION, RAPE CULTURE, AND THE QUEER DEBATE AAHHHHHH

"If we can’t write diversity into sci-fi, then what’s the point? You don’t create new worlds to give..."

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:35:10 -0400

““If we can’t write diversity into sci-fi, then what’s the point? You don’t create new worlds to give them all the same limits of the old ones.””

- Jane Espenson (from interview with Advocate.com)\

I dunno how many which ways this needs to be said

(via alienswithankhs)

starllex: this is my favorite post of all time

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:34:55 -0400

starllex:

this is my favorite post of all time

penandpage: do-you-have-a-flag: knusprig-titten-hitler: One...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:31:59 -0400

penandpage:

do-you-have-a-flag:

knusprig-titten-hitler:

One of these things is not like the other.

#will graham’s house

#team free will

Photo

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:29:55 -0400

newtypezaku: Today on Miroku Summarizes the Plot.

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 09:01:40 -0400

newtypezaku:

Today on Miroku Summarizes the Plot.

rhamphotheca: The full-grown bumble-bee bat (Craseonycteris...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 00:50:28 -0400

rhamphotheca:

The full-grown bumble-bee bat (Craseonycteris thonglongyai), at about the size of a bumble bee,is considered one of the smallest mammals on the planet. But its comparatively wide wingspan enables the animal to hover and cover long distances, which it navigates, like other bats, with echolocation. The bumble-bee bat inhabits only a certain area of Thailand and Myanmar and is listed as “vulnerable” on the IUCN Red List, because the population of less than 10,000 has been disturbed by human activity in the limestone caves and bamboo deforests where they reside.

Source: University of Michigan and IUCN Red List

(via: TakePart.org)

kawaiigollum: beneddicked: #the smile says it all i’m crying...

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 22:55:34 -0400

kawaiigollum:

beneddicked:

#the smile says it all

i’m crying this is beautiful

iandsharman: iandsharman: Oh my god, Jim… Yeah…it’s late…I...

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 22:29:50 -0400

iandsharman:

iandsharman:

Oh my god, Jim…

Yeah…it’s late…I spelled Khan’s name wrong. I’m amazed nobody’s pointed that out yet. Still, it’s fixed now!

Photo

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 22:08:46 -0400

serenity-moon: Tuxedo Mask’s Speech Failures

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:36:23 -0400

serenity-moon:

Tuxedo Mask’s Speech Failures

fuckyeahblackwidow: fuckyeahblackwidow: Since there’s been a...

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:33:17 -0400

Amazing Adventures 1, Buscema

Amazing Adventures 4, Heck

Amazing Adventures 1, Buscema

Daredevil & BW 95, Colan

Amazing Adventures 4, Colan

Amazing Adventures 2, Buscema

fuckyeahblackwidow:

fuckyeahblackwidow:

Since there’s been a lot of talk lately about how women are drawn in superhero comics, anatomy, costume design, and the ongoing case of the disappearing spines, I thought I’d show you how Natasha used to be drawn, in panels dated 1970-73.

Note with wonder and amazement the fully functional all-the-way-up-thank-you zipper, the lack of gratuitous, lovingly detailed asscrack, and the sheer possibility of this anatomy. These panels aren’t perfect, or free from exaggeration or awkwardness (what illustrated story of adult human beings dressed in really tight pyjamas and swinging from rooftops is?) but they are typical.

One of the most bizzarre claims I hear about superhero comics is that objectification is an inherent part of the genre, like powers or capes or everyone in Gotham being too stupid to figure out that Bruce Wayne is Batman. While sexism has always been a part of the superhero stuff, it’s hardly been a constant. The Liefeldian nipple-guard aesthetic couldn’t have survived under the strictest days of the Comics Code, when Marvel editorial had Jim Steranko actually erase the cleavage lines from his pencils. I’m not dreaming of a return to a rigid house style, or a return to Bronze Age dialogue, but man, I’d love it if artists today all suddenly, collectively realized that the zipper on Natasha’s costume goes up all the way.

There’s nothing about the way she’s “always” been drawn that says that they couldn’t.

Panels by John Buscema, Don Heck, and Gene Colan.

I’m bringing this back.

likeafieldmouse: Candida Hofer - Libraries (published 2005)

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:31:35 -0400

likeafieldmouse:

Candida Hofer - Libraries (published 2005)

bookmania: from To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:21:22 -0400

bookmania:

from To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

thighhighs: Let’s talk about the scope of Sailor Moon. Let’s...

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:20:35 -0400

thighhighs:

Let’s talk about the scope of Sailor Moon. Let’s talk about how, by the end of the final arc, it has universe-sized implications. We learn that every planet with intelligent life has its own guardian senshi—which, given the preponderance of intelligent life in this series, implies the existence of thousands, if not millions of pretty soldiers. We learn that Usagi is one of many, many princesses with their own sworn sisters and legendary romances. We learn that every villain up to this point was just another facet of Chaos, the final villain—the only one that ever mattered. We watch Usagi battle Galaxia, she who has conquered a thousand planets, on the lip of the Galaxy Cauldron. We watch Usagi defeat the primal, cosmic force of chaos itself by destroying the origin point of all existence.

This is a story of sweeping mythology and galaxy-shaping forces and that in and of itself is fantastic. But the thing that sets it apart, and the thing, I suspect, that has held our fascination so fiercely is that it is utterly female-centric.

Think about it. There are lots of amazing, star-spanning stories out there, and tons of mahou shoujo tales as well. I’m a fan of a whole lot of work in both categories. But can you think of another story that combines the two so wholeheartedly? One that spans thousands of planets and thousands of years? One in which the principal players, from the foot soldiers to the goddesses to the ancestors are nearly all female? We laud Sailor Moon for its diverse portrayal of femininity, for its treatment of sexuality and for its subversion of gender norms. And that’s great. But how often do we sit down and talk about how goddamn epic it is? This is a universe, you guys. This is huge and rich and complicated and unlike stories in a similar vein, it doesn’t just have one or two token girls—it is dominated by women.

We have our huge, primeval forces: Life, love, death, chaos, and creation. We have characters who act as channels for these forces (and achieve nigh-goddesshood): Usagi, for example, as the font of creation, love and life, Hotaru as the grim reaper, the “Messiah of Silence.” As I described in this piece, we have the establishment of death as a necessary presence, as a comrade-in-arms in her own right. We have soldiers who wield the elements of nature as weapons in a war against nothingness and disorder. We have a story of lost splendor, of the death of a holy kingdom thousands of years before, of a princess who impaled herself on her lover’s sword rather than live without him in the midst of a planetary war. We have bonds of duty and honor that tie a few chosen women to their princess until death. We have a system that spans a million galaxies, a system organized by mysterious cosmic forces wherein an intergalactic sisterhood battles a thousand iterations of Chaos, the eternal enemy. And even after Sailor Moon defeats that cosmic foe, she is informed that he will be reborn—there must always be chaos. There must always be balance. There must always be senshi.

And upon setting up these laws, Sailor Moon complicates them and deconstructs them and takes them to their logical ends. We watch Haruka and Michiru seek the murder of a fellow soldier because they misunderstand her power over death. In small, emotional glimpses, we learn of the loneliness of a senshi like Pluto, with her solitary power—an important one for sure but one that strips her of her sisters. In Nehelenia, we meet a neglected minority of the Silver Millenium, a people denied its glory a thousand years prior. In the StarS arc, we not only learn that there are senshi far beyond the Solar System with their own strange powers and clothing—we learn that some don’t want to be senshi. Galaxia was so taken aback by her duty towards a “hellish” planet that she became a ruthless despot allied with the force she was sworn to fight. Through the animamates, we experience the yearning of all those unchosen girls who long to be senshi too, who give up their lives to a tyrant in the hope of one day being so anointed. In Sailor Cosmos, we meet a Sailor Moon who failed, one who, in her indecision, plunged the world into misery and has returned to set things right. Through the asteroid senshi, we peer into the future of this universe and comprehend the eternity of these soldiers, their permanence and power.

And it’s all women. Jesus Christ, you guys, no wonder we still love it. No wonder there’s a manga, an anime, a series of musicals, a live-action series and a reboot coming on the way. No wonder I stepped into the Anime Boston Sailor Moon panel two weeks ago and found it packed, even half an hour early. This story deserves a goddamn Silmarillion. We could (and will!) spend years discussing the implications of this story, the things it hints at but isn’t able to explore. It’s huge. It’s rich. It’s complex. And it’s defined by women. The weapons are encrusted with rhinestones, the antagonists are wicked queens with sleek gowns and ombre hair. The pillars of this story are legendary female warriors who protect all sentient life against darkness. Some of these women are shy, some are bold, some love other women. Some of them rebel against their fate, some of them—it must be repeated—sacrifice themselves to destroy the force of chaos itself. This is awesome in both the classic and modern sense of the word. It’s epic. And it stands alone, even today. That makes me a little sad, to be honest, but ultimately I just sit here in wonder. This is a saga.

anekie: givemeajobplease: This was a man, dressed as a plant,...

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:08:49 -0400

anekie:

givemeajobplease:

This was a man, dressed as a plant, making pigeon noises at people walking by. I said hello, asked if it was okay to take his picture, and then asked why he was dressed as a plant. He said, “I’m just working through some stuff. Thank you for asking. No ones asked yet.”

I’ve been dealing with stuff the wrong way.

galaxystew: rurone: raptorific: timecannotberewritten: raptor...

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:07:01 -0400

galaxystew:

rurone:

raptorific:

timecannotberewritten:

raptorific:

Donald Glover on the suggestion that he play Spider-Man

Doctor Who fans should probably be prepared for this, because this goes down every time a new Doctor is going to be cast and a black actor is suggested

The real concern over this was that he’d be playing Peter Parker. I would love to see Donald Glover as Miles Morales, but it’s the same as having other ethnicities portray characters that have already been set as something else. (A lot of people got mad at STID because of this). A character is a character, and while those with the license can take some liberties with the character they create, saying “it’s in another universe” doesn’t quite stand up under scrutiny. That being said, the Doctor will be the Doctor, whatever race he (or she) will be.

Miles Morales didn’t exist at the time of this controversy. Miles Morales was inspired in part by the incredibly racist backlash against a black actor playing Peter Parker. The thing Donald’s talking about in these screencaps is the reason why Miles Morales exists.

The fact is, there is no reason Peter Parker has to be white. His race is completely irrelevant to his character, so there’s no reason why a black actor can’t play him.

Now, for characters of color, there is a reason why they have to be played by actors of color: White actors are overrepresented and actors of color are woefully underrepresented. There are already disproportionately too many white actors in the media.

So, because racial representation in the media is so imbalanced:

Every role for a white character that is given to an actor of color is a correction of that imbalance, and a step towards more equal representation

Every role for a character of color that is given to a white actor adds to that imbalance, and is a step away from equal representation.

And that’s the issue. With Star Trek Into Darkness, people were upset because it was whitewashed. It added to a racist equality in a way that Star Trek in particular vehemently preached against.

However, casting Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury was a good thing because people of color are underrepresented in the media, especially in comics and science fiction. Casting him as a character whose race was incidental to their character rather than being their defining feature was a progressive step, while whitewashing a character of color like they did in “Star Trek Into Darkness” is a regressive step.

It’s only when there’s equal representation that you can make the argument that actors of color can’t be cast as traditionally white characters because they’ve always been white.

This is the clearest explanation for this that I’ve come across and I really like it.

Seriously, white people: Don’t we have enough characters that look like us already? Or are we worried that we won’t be able to identify with one that doesn’t? Maybe we just don’t feel like we should have to put forth the effort it takes to see ourselves when we look at someone else.

For shame.

This is the kind of explanation I always wish I could come up with in real life arguments, instead of having my mind go blank. I should start printing these out when I find them and carrying them around.

carrkicksdoor: rosieramblings: lolamysteriouso: I really hope...

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 09:52:43 -0400

carrkicksdoor:

rosieramblings:

lolamysteriouso:

I really hope Ms. Hudson’s role gets expanded next season. I was glad that they brought Alfredo back more, too.

I NEED TO WATCH THIS SHOW,

If this is not on Hulu/Netflix already, it needs to be.