Tag Archives: io9

Weekend Reading List: Potter porn and #GamerGate

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Weekend Reading List: Intergalactic love and open letters

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Top image by Tu-Anh Nguyen

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Weekend Reading List: Code crackers and crustacean cretins

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  • Do you like Janelle Monáe, David Bowie, and superheroes? Stupid question, I know, but go watch this video. It’s part of a Pepsi ad campaign, so if I’m sharing it anyway, you know it’s got to be good.
  • If you care about such things, you’re probably aware that Deadpool has been confirmed as queer by the Marvel bigwigs. He’s a fan favourite, so it’s encouraging news, and here’s a Tumblr that takes a pretty in-depth look at the character’s pansexual history, despite some unfortunate typos. [Fuck Yes Deadpool]
  • I’ve been getting back into Futurama in a big way (I blame Burlesgeek, their May the 4th event was MCed by a pitch-perfect Zap Brannigan) and The Toast provides a hard pill to swallow: That we are all, despite our best efforts (and Leela aspirations), a Zoidberg deep inside.
  • Also from the Toast, a beautiful personal narrative that deals with growing up at the intersection of race and sexuality. It wouldn’t normally fall under the purview of this blog, necessarily, but it features Scott Bakula’s Quantum Leap character as “the catalyst for my earliest sexual feelings,” so close enough!
  • Rejoice! Game of Thrones is casting Sand Snakes! (And the Waif!) [io9]
  • A little while ago I mentioned a study that looked at male WoW players who used female avatars, and Slate has what appears to be a followup and explanation for why it happens. Their conclusion? It’s all about the butts.
  • There’s something about the women WWII Colossus computer operators of Bletchley Park that I find endlessly fascinating (for reals, you should all be watching The Bletchley Circle), so I love that the remaining code breakers reunited and took a picture. [The Guardian]
  • I’ve mentioned the “Not All Men” meme before, but in case you’re still wondering what this hip new phrase all the kids are saying is really about, here’s a primer. [Vox]
  • Nintendo released its life simulation game, Tomodachi Life, without any same-gender romance options, and Polygon, among others, was not happy about it.
  • Now I really want to grab a pint with Wonder Woman and talk about how unfair it is that she hasn’t gotten a movie yet. [Dorkly]

Top image is a panel from Ismael Canales‘s Cindi Mayweather fan art comic book.

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Weekend Reading List: Mini Superheroes and Alaskan Mythology

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  • Want some racebent Disney princesses? Well here you go. [Let There Be Doodles]
  • I’m clearly not done talking about the Star Wars expanded universe (RIP), and io9 rounds up the ten best and twelve worst stories from the sprawling world.
  • io9 also spells out, in no uncertain terms, why we care so much about what women superheroes are wearing.
  • Speaking of women superheroes, the BetterSupes Tumblr illustrates little girls’ superhero costumes, and the results are infinitely more creative than what big cartoon/comic book creators come up with.
  • Becky Chambers combines a game review (Child of Light, specifically) with a letter to her younger self, and the result is truly touching. [The Mary Sue]
  • Over at Quirk Books I wrote about science fiction poetry. Because that is just how I roll.
  • The Mary Sue has a two part piece on the queer history of comics, and it’s worth a look.
  • Hey remember Equinox, the first Cree DC Comics superhero? Here’s an interview with creator Jeff Lemire. [Maisonneuve]
  • I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a huge sucker for trailers. I’m embarrassingly easy to manipulate when it comes to these bite-sized sneak peeks, but even so, Kisima Inñitchuña (Never Alone) stands apart. The beautifully-illustrated puzzle adventure game shares Iñupiat stories and, no joke, I started tearing up. I’m that excited to play this folklore-inspired game. (Especially since you get an arctic fox as a sidekick. I love sidekicks.)
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Weekend Reading List: Spiderman, Star Wars, and Simone de Beauvoir

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  • Ever wondered about the science behind Animorphs? The Toast has got you covered.
  • In fact there’s a lot of good stuff from the Toast, including an investigation into the moral alignment of Jeeves and Wooster characters (obviously Jeeves is lawful good), and a piece that outlines exactly how Belle, with a little more strategy and fewer morals, could have made the ending of Beauty and the Beast much more profitable for herself.
  • We’ve been getting a lot of casting information about the new Disney Star Wars movie, and so far it looks like only one of the lead actors (aside from Carrie Fisher) will be a woman. io9 is, quite rightly, asking where all the women be at?
  • Seriously, though, there could be so many amazing lady Jedis and Siths, just look at all these suggestions. [Pajiba]
  • Since this is clearly a problem affecting more than just the Star Wars movie, SharcTank lists the five dumbest arguments against gender diversity.
  • As a palate cleanser, here are Disney character-inspired cocktails. [Cocktails by Cody]
  • When misandry lurks in the shadows, only one man can protect us: the defender of the defended, the voice of the voiceful, Not-All-Man! [Medium]
  • From May 1-3, people have been using #WeNeedDiverseBook in order to promote a greater diversity in children’s and YA literature. The Facebook page has additional information, and the Tumblr and Twitter feed are worth checking out too.
  • Vulture has a great interview with Brian Michael Bendis (who has spent the last decade and a half writing the Ultimate Spider-Man comics). He discusses Miles Morales, the ability for Spider-Man to represent a wide variety of people, and the lack of representation most comics fans have to deal with: “Sure, there are people who look like Captain America who read comics, but there are very few people in the world who look like Captain America.” True words. 
  • What happens when famous philosophers try to play Dungeons & Dragons? Spoiler: Immanuel Kant ends up really, really frustrated. [Existential Comics]

Top image by Craig Drake

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Weekend Reading List: Summer camp comics and Chicks in Science

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  • On her blog, s. e. smith discusses how writing, aghast, about the existence of internet misogyny doesn’t go far enough.
  • Much is written about convention harassment, but we don’t talk nearly enough about the ableism often present at these events. “My cane is not a costume” is a great place to start. [Speculating Canada]
  • A Microsoft employee was caught taking upskirt photos of women around the company’s campus, and has since been charged with voyeurism. [Ars Technica]
  • A guest post over on the Border House explores the toxic environment women have to deal with in EVE Online.
  • Also from the Border House: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and a strange, fantasy-destroying case of slut-shaming that seems like a real missed opportunity for the game.
  • Comic Book Resources tears into the cover of the new Teen Titans #1, teaching us all a lesson in art and anatomy.
  • BOOM! Studios has just recently released the first issue of Lumberjanes! It sounds amazing (Buffy meets Gravity Falls!), is written by Noelle Stevenson (whom I love), and Autostraddle has a great interview with co-creators Grace Ellis and Shannon Watters! There’s also preview art!
  • Some idiot asked about “chicks in science” at a Center for Inquiry panel discussion, and Neil deGrasse Tyson used it as a jumping off point to talk about his experiences with racism, both as a child wanting to grow up to be a scientist, and in the scientific community itself. It is a mic drop if ever I heard one.
  • Genderswapped Disney characters seem to be A Thing nowadays, but these paintings by Sakimichan are really something else. [Moviepilot]
  • Earlier today, the internet blew up with the news that researchers had found a species of insect that had a supposed “female penis.” It pretty quickly became apparent that the female organ—the gynosome—was nothing like a penis (it is, in fact, a bit like the sea horse’s ovipositor, and I am shocked that not everyone knows as much about sea horse reproduction as I do). Anyway, io9’s Annalee Newitz has a great piece about how this sort of sensationalist journalism is not only misleading, it’s bad for science.

Top image: Lumberjanes #1 cover.

 

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Weekend Reading List: Doctors’ Doctors and zombie-slaying squads

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Top image by Koroa

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Weekend Reading List: Baby bears and sailor senshis

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Weekend Reading List: Fan Fiction and Fridging Rue

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Image from bluemonkeywriting.tumblr.com

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Weekend Reading List: Harassment and Hot Elf Action!

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Image from Ginger Haze’s The Broship of the Ring series.

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