reflectedeve: Pearl from Steven Universe, in a tux and top hat (Default)
Whee, fanart. This prompting thing is really working for me! I'm having a lot of fun playing with requests and drawing in new fandoms, and I have a lot of new energy to throw into my larger obligations. Here are the two pieces I finished this week; thanks for helping me out, guys.

For [personal profile] rhivolution, as requested: a Pond visits the Loch: )

For [personal profile] jjtaylor, who asked for "Kate Beckett anything:" sadly, nobody is wearing an apron. )

That proper spring weather I was hoping for has materialized! It's pretty glorious--bright and clear and a little cool--and all it took was a day of massive thunderstorms and tornadoes across the state. What.

So I've signed up to post a few DC comics recs per week over at [community profile] fanart_recs this month; I think I'll collect the links here when I've finished. (I'll be doing Avatar: The Last Airbender in July, as well.) This was apparently apt timing on my part, because the comics blogosphere has completely lost its head over DC's latest plans to reboot EVERYTHING ... well, most of it (and they're being vague about specifics) ... this fall. There's precious little confirmed information just yet (creative teams from a handful of the 50+ new/relaunched titles) and a whole lot of rumors flying around; the rumors sound almost uniformly terrible, but it's anyone's guess at this point. I just want my Batwoman, dammit. (Actually, that's a lie--when did I get so overinvested in a large chunk of the DCU?--but it's sort of my bottom line.)

Also, seriously, why do they keep letting Jim Lee design costumes? I mean, I understand that a lot of people apparently like him as an artist (I am not one of those people), but ... ack.

A couple of rather more pleasant topical links, if only to cheer myself up:

-DC superheroines as Joan Jett & The Runaways, by Cliff Chiang

-A blogger convinces me that Steve Trevor really is a pretty great love interest for Wonder Woman. I really enjoyed that article. (Also, it lead [livejournal.com profile] sweetvalleyslut to make John/Aeryn comparisons, which was interesting.)

In other general news, I'm most of the way through the first season of Fringe, and it's getting pretty fascinating! I am thinking of picking up Parks and Recreation as well. And this week I acquired more information on my grad school loan (please let the forms be on time too), a prospective roommate for the fall, and the congratulations of several (mildly dubious) ivy league scientists on my indie comics program.

How are you, bbs? Happy Friday!
reflectedeve: Pearl from Steven Universe, in a tux and top hat (gimme fire - don't be stingy)
Hey there! I'm still pretty snowed under - missed my deadline, naturally, but the anthology editors say they'll continue accepting submissions for a few more days. Will definitely be done tonight. /o\

Following up on my previous post, however, here's a quick roundup of Avatar/The Last Airbender-related links.

-Racebending.com has a (neutral) rundown of The Last Airbender Film: Changes from the Cartoon Series, for the curious.

-Preliminary Thoughts on Race and Gender in The Last Airbender over at the [livejournal.com profile] racebending comm. The racefail sounds about as awful as expected, but I still managed to be surprised by the genderfail, a little. :/ Ugh. The strong female characters were a large part of what initially drew me to A:TLA - so disheartening.

-[personal profile] bossymarmalade posted a powerful example of why the hell stuff like this matters: but we must always be polite about it.

-A:TLA's own Dante Basco (who voiced Zuko - you may also know him from films like Hook or But I'm A Cheerleader! ♥) discussed the boycott in his blog: See, if you can get some Asian actors in the machine of Hollywood and they exist as a viable commodity, it can spark more projects that can support the voice and face of the Asian community and level the playing ground a little. But when we can’t even land roles that were so clearly created as Asian roles, its a bit disheartening.

-The film is generally getting truly abysmal reviews, which is some comfort, although as [personal profile] cereta points out, far too many of them are dismissing the race controversy as unimportant. io9 has a brilliantly over-the-top snarkfest review that you may find cathartic: M. Night Shyamalan Finally Made A Comedy.

I have very mixed feelings related to the orgy of disapproval that seems to be raining down onto the film. On the one hand, I want it to do very poorly, so I won't lie - I'm thrilled that the reviews are terrible, and I hope that carries over to the box office. On the other hand, it's depressing that the race issue probably won't be credited for its failure (if it does fail). Also, I was watching a handful of A:TLA episodes during my inking marathon last night, and it hit me (again) how amazing a movie adaptation could have been. The cartoon doesn't need to be adapted, mind; it's awesome all by itself. (I do get a little tired of film being held up as the be-all and end-all of storytelling mediums, but that's a grumble for another day, if ever.) But still. What a waste.

One other thing that's had my dander up over the last few days: Wonder Woman's "new direction." There's been a lot of coverage of this that I definitely haven't had time to read, but I have a feeling I'm going to spend a fair chunk of my weekend on it. /o\ I'm ... really upset about the whole thing, which kind of took me by surprise. I can't get into it now, obviously, so here, check out this nifty alternative redesign by [livejournal.com profile] _ming: Diana of Themyscira.

I really have to get the hell off the internet, but before I go, here's something AWESOME. Back in the immediate aftermath of the SPN racefail with the J2-in-Haiti fic, [personal profile] glockgal posted this amazing fancomic with Desi versions of Sam and Dean, which you may have seen. I loved it, and I love this new follow-up even more. (Guest-starring Durga! And wait until you see Castiel's new earthly incarnation!) I've never watched an entire episode of Supernatural, but I would watch the hell out of that show. ♥
reflectedeve: Pearl from Steven Universe, in a tux and top hat (frog in my throat - for your own good)
So tomorrow, The Last Airbender opens in theaters across the United States and Canada. As I mentioned previously, I will be boycotting it.

Please, do not give this movie your money. The Last Airbender is an egregious example of institutional racism in action. That's really the important part, but just in case you've missed all the discussion and activism that's gone on since the casting was first announced, I'll try and provide a little background. This is not as thorough as I would have liked to be, but I'll also provide links to some fantastic resources and articles that are well-worth checking out.

Believe me, this is in brief. )

When I've talked to people about The Last Airbender in person, I've been met with a fair amount of complacent shrugging - a whole lot of "what do I care? what does this have to do with me?" That's privilege talking. I understand that we all have to pick our battles; that this one movie may not be something you can focus all your energy or outrage on. But surely, you can care enough not to pay for one movie ticket. It's hardly a lot to ask.

As I noted above, there's an enormous amount of material out there on the topic; your best source of information would be the Racebending website, which is overflowing with information and resources. They have a primer on the whitewashing of The Last Airbender here, and most of my own thoughts on the topic have been informed by discussion and links posted at [livejournal.com profile] racebending. Most of the articles I've linked come from them.

Here are a few more links I'd recommend:

These Are My Colors, by [livejournal.com profile] ssj10.

a few (a lot of) words on racism and paramount and the last airbender, by [livejournal.com profile] starweather (also contains a lot of great links)

The Last Airbender Movie, by Gene Luen Yang (amazing creator of American Born Chinese, co-creator of The Eternal Smile, and more).

New day in politics, same old racist world on the silver screen, by Derek Kirk Kim (another fantastic cartoonist). (An older post, made back when the casting was first announced, but I think it's an extremely important read - even with all the image links broken.)

And, here's a quick list of the specific articles I linked within my post, for convenience:
-Paramount Pictures – Diversity in the 21st Century? (Racebending.com)
-Yellowface: A Story In Pictures (Racebending.com)
-FacePainting (Floating World on tumblr)
-Caucasian or Any Other Ethnicity (Racebending.com)
-The Problem With Colorblindness (Faith Bell, guest contributor at Racebending.com)

Not that this is an excuse, but I'm pretty tired and overwhelmed with comic work right now, and I feel like I've completely run out of steam at this point - so I'm about to hit post. If you find anything problematic, and you have the energy/inclination I'd really appreciate it if you'd let me know.

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reflectedeve: Pearl from Steven Universe, in a tux and top hat (Default)
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