Rosie Writes

missturdle: On the importance of Magical Girl Heroines &...

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 23:55:19 -0500

On the importance of Magical Girl Heroines & Weaponized Femininity:

Let me start by saying that officially speaking, Sailor Moon is older than I am. I started watching while living in Singapore while I was four, so I definitely came in around the end of Sailor Moon R and watched Sailor Moon S despite the fact that it was played in Japanese with Chinese subtitles. When I moved back to the States, Sailor Moon started being released and aired in sub and dub form and being young and happy to actually hear a language I understood with a show I already liked, I watched the dubs. They’re not the shining star of any animated dub, but I went back several times as I got older, and rewatched the series, in dubs, in subs, all 200 episodes. I changed my self-identified scout, I understood what got cut out of the show, what was censored, I went back and relived my crush on Tuxedo Mask again…and again. In terms of “formative media” Sailor Moon is probably near the top of the list. I still have the sticker book I had when I was 5/6 that has a page dedicated to these magical girls, and they’ve been with me a lot longer than almost anything else, including Harry Potter, Avatar: the Last Airbender, and most other narratives, superhero, fantasy, or otherwise.

When I got the chance last year, I showed one of my girl cousins (who was twelve) the first episode of Sailor Moon. She came back to me about a week or so later and was maybe thirty episodes into the series, bursting with excitement over everything and every one.

I stopped to think about how much that meant to me. Then I thought a little harder. One of my best friends gave me an opportunity to cosplay as Sailor Scouts, and I leapt at the chance. I accidentally stumbled across the newer series Puella Magi Madoka Magica, and marathoned all twelve episodes. Then I made my best friend watch it.

Why does Mahou Shoujo stick with us? The show I loved when I was six is something I love when I’m twenty, and something my cousin who is a tween also loves. For that matter, Puella Magi is, essentially, an update of the classic Magical Girl story, with some genre subversions thrown in. What makes magical girls so important?

Read More

This is an amazing perspective. I love it.

alleybat: rosiewrites replied to your post: Okay, so this is a question that I’m finding very...

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 04:57:35 -0400

alleybat:

rosiewrites replied to your post: Okay, so this is a question that I’m finding very difficult to find an answer to. And, since you are the amazingly awesome Alleybat, you should be able to give me an answer. *Is the DC reboot a failure?* Now, I’ve seen the numbers and by those, yes the reboot isn’t working the way DC hoped. But honestly, the answer I’m looking for doesn’t have ANYTHING to so with those numbers- I’m talking about the characters, the writers, and the readers. Not facts- an opinion I guess is what I should call it.

In my opinion, some of the series have been pretty good. Swamp Thing and Animal Man are good. Supergirl is okay. It has some execution issues, but it’s pretty solid and the art is good. Wonder Woman… so many mixed feelings, bad plot progression.

I dunno… for me, it’s not about the plots they have going on right now… or how good some of the books and art are…. It’s about the removal of characters who were active until the reboot… the complete disregard for the characters’ histories and what preceding authors have written. Sure, there were people that may have needed to be retconned because they were unimportant or inactive…. but a lot of the characters taken out were on active duty for years.

They make this whole deal about the New 52 being for new fans, so that they’re not intimidated by the large amount of history the characters have… but that’s what made the comics so appealing to me in the first place…. I’m reading these characters, especially the legacy characters like Dick, Tim, Wally, Donna, Cass, etc. grow up… I like watching them develop and seeing how their development over the years affects their decisions later on in life. The New 52 versions of these characters are hollowed out versions of their previous lives.

I’m legitimately afraid to finish up all the preboot comics I have, cause I know they’ll never be the same….

Oh, trust me. I know what you mean. Your complaints are completely valid and I’ve heard them before. It’s a shame that for whatever reason, beloved characters are just MISSING from the foreground and their existence is not being accounted for at all. The reboot includes those omissions, but it also includes whatever the renumbered series have to offer. It is sad that it’s become a question of how much did the New 52 cost relative to what it has given because each month looks like the costs have steepened and the returns are less.

Almost poetically, New 52 Swamp Thing and Animal Man heavily rely on their pre-reboot stories since they’re basically carrying on Alan Moore’s world building during his run on Swamp Thing. They are actually pretty much carrying on where they left off, much like I understand Green Lantern is. They haven’t actually been rebooted. What they’ve added to the cannon is actually compatible with pre-reboot cannon. In a sense, Swamp Thing and Animal Man haven’t been re-booted at all and they’re arguably the best written, best executed titles in the lot.

maxistentialist: Sometimes late at night I make free things for...

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 04:08:22 -0400

maxistentialist:

Sometimes late at night I make free things for political campaigns that they didn’t ask for.

I've been seeing way to many posts lately about which pairing for Dick is better.

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 04:02:36 -0400

acrobaticbluebird:

Wether it’s Babs, Kori, Zatanna, hell, even all the slash ships out there, can’t we all just agree that Dick is a whore and get on with our lives instead of starting ship wars? All the ladies Dick has been with all have their own thing going for them and are pretty damn awesome, so please, stop hating on characters just because they blow holes in your ships. That is all. Now move along and let Dick be a whore.

You do realize that the label of “whore” is considered to be negative label, right? (I have no idea what your background is so I have no idea whether or not you just don’t know the connotations of the word.) It’s not just a description of a sexually promiscuous person or a polyamorous person. It literally means a person who has sex with people for money. Even when not being used literally, it means that the person in question doesn’t have very little or no emotional investment in his or her sexual partners.

I’m not quite sure you’re intention is to call Dick Grayson a person who has lots of sexual partners and doesn’t care about any of them. If you’re looking for a word that describes a sexual active person who has many sexual partners without the negative connotations ”whore” and “slut” have, I can’t help you and I think it might be a lacuna, a lexical gap. Just saying.

But yeah, I totally agree that hating characters because they interfere with your ship is bad and ship wars are ridiculous.

Rachel Ordway’s awesome comic about her tempestuous...

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 02:04:34 -0400

Rachel Ordway’s awesome comic about her tempestuous relationship with cartoon network. Give it a read and share it, if you’re one of the few folks who haven’t already done so.

crackpotcomics:

At a certain point I realized that not only was Cartoon Network (its shows past and present, its ever-changing schedule, etc) the main topic of conversations I started with other human beings, but that my relationship with the station was awkwardly similar to a couple having a long drawn-out fight. And then, this comic.

I’d been wanting to do a comic colored in this sort of style for a while now, with painted backgrounds and cell-shaded (and lineart’ed) figures, to mimic the style of an old animated cartoon. It wound up being pretty tedious but I’m really happy with the results.

Photo

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 01:46:30 -0400

hisaos: cocksfruit: sapphiccharmander: what if there’s a parallel universe where fictional...

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 01:21:00 -0400

hisaos:

cocksfruit:

sapphiccharmander:

what if there’s a parallel universe where fictional characters are real and real people are fictional characters and your favorite character runs a blog and writes fanfiction about you

ohmGYGDOFAJD

My college friends and I would talk about a hypothetical audience watching our exploits like we were a tv show

We totally thought that my now fiancee and one of our friends would be shipped together because of the antaongism and their shared skinniness and tallness.

Maybe, maybe not. Black Widow from the comics doesn't know what a C64 is or what a PS3 is,etc. So she still could be as long lived as her comic counterpart.

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 01:19:00 -0400

It’s up in the air and I’m honestly okay with it either way.

The C64 joke still makes me chuckle.

youngjusticeaskgreganswers: WATCHTOWER AND HALL OF JUSTICE BACKGROUND INFO WATCHTOWER AND HALL OF...

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 01:03:06 -0400

youngjusticeaskgreganswers:

WATCHTOWER AND HALL OF JUSTICE BACKGROUND INFO

WATCHTOWER AND HALL OF JUSTICE BACKGROUND INFO

Brandon Vietti, my producing partner on Young Justice, has blogged on our versions of the Hall of Justice and the Watchtower. Check it out here:

http://www.brandonvietti.blogspot.com/

laziestmouse: acrazygirlandherobsessions: BRB DYING I...

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 00:55:15 -0400

laziestmouse:

acrazygirlandherobsessions:

BRB DYING

I don’t get it, why is the fact that Black Widow doesn’t know what a Commodore is (and frankly she wouldn’t, she’s an assassin not a gaming-history nerd) so funny?

Here let me Wikipedia some context (emphasis mine):

During the C64’s lifetime, sales totalled between 12.5 and 17 million units, making it the best-selling single personal computer model of all time.
For a substantial period of time (1983–1986), the C64 dominated the market with between 30% and 40% share and 2 million units sold per year,^[8] outselling the IBM PC compatibles, Apple Inc. computers, and Atari 8-bit family computers.

Not knowing what a Commodore 64 during the early 80s would have been like not knowing what an iPad or a Macbook in today’s world.

By not knowing what it is at all, she dates herself (and in turn the joke also possibly dates Bruce Banner), which unfortunately also establishes that she’s probably not a semi-immortal assassin who worked during the Cold War.

Cheese: etonia: discowing: I feel like I’m the only one who isn’t upset by...

Wed, 22 Aug 2012 23:16:21 -0400

Cheese: etonia: discowing: I feel like I’m the only one who isn’t upset by...:

etonia:

discowing:

I feel like I’m the only one who isn’t upset by Diana/Clark news, and I suppose that fact upsets me a little. Because those are characters I love, and I should care what happens to them, but… nope. Not anymore. I seriously have no more feels to feel. Since the…

Random Vignette of My Life of the Day

Wed, 22 Aug 2012 22:47:36 -0400

Watching my SO try to play Batman: Arkham City as Catwoman (Cat Woman? CatWoman? Catwoman.) after months of not playing it is one of the more entertaining things I’ve watched all month.

"Being fact-checked is not very fun. Good fact-checkers have a preternatural inclination toward..."

Wed, 22 Aug 2012 22:40:22 -0400

“Being fact-checked is not very fun. Good fact-checkers have a preternatural inclination toward pedantry, and sometimes will address you in a prosecutorial tone. That is their job and the adversarial tone is even more important than the actual facts they correct. In my experience, seeing your name on the cover of a magazine will take you far in the journey toward believing your own bullshit. It is human to do so, and fact-checkers serve as a valuable check to prevent writers from lapsing into the kind of arrogant laziness which breeds plagiarism and the manufacture of facts. The fact-checker (and the copy-editor too actually) is a dam against you embarrassing yourself, or worse, being so arrogant that don’t even realize you’ve embarrassed yourself. Put differently, a culture of fact-checking, of honesty, is as important as the actual fact-checking.”

- Ta-Nehisi Coates, in praise of fact checkers. (via theatlantic)

intrajanelle: intrajanelle: About the Giveaway: All books are...

Wed, 22 Aug 2012 22:38:12 -0400

intrajanelle:

intrajanelle:

About the Giveaway:

All books are used but in good condition (I take care of my books) and are looking for good homes as I still don’t have room on my bookshelves for the books I am keeping. If you win them please take care of them, read them and treat them well. I will not ask for compensation for any of the books (except for possibly shipping (see: Rules)) just that whoever wins them treats them with care.

I will pick four winners. The first will get to choose the set of his/her choice and the second will choose from what is left etc. If you are chosen last and do not like the books you have won please tell me as I’m sure I could find a winner who would be more happy to read them.

The book categories are loose, I know. I did the best I could to sort them into four categories. ;~;

Prizes:

Science Fiction (Top Left). The Lost Books #1-4 by Ted Dekker, Worldshaker by Richard Harland, The Earthsea Trilogy by Ursula K. Le Guin and Runemarks by Joanne Harris.

Romance/Fantasy (Top Right). Ghostgirl by Tonya Hurley, A Great and Terrible Beauty and Rebel Angels by Libba Bray, Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink, The Vampire Diaries (The Awakening and The Struggle) by L. J. Smith, Dust City by Robert Paul Weston, XVI by Julia Karr, Buffy the Vampire Slayer volume 1 by John Vornholt and as a bonus Evil Genius by Catherine Jinks.

Diverse Romance (Bottom Left). Old Magic by Marianne Curley, the Last Song by Nicholas Sparks, Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins, the Anti-Prom by Abby Mcdonald, the Leap by Jonathan Stroud, Forgive my Fins by Tera Lynn Childs, Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen, the Center of the Universe yep, that would be ME by Anita Liberty, the Anatomy of Wings by Karen Foxlee and as a bonus Gothic Lolita by Dakota Lane.

The Maximum Ride Set (Bottom Right). The Angel Experiment (not pictured but included), School’s Out Forever, Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports, the Final Warning, MAX, FANG and as a bonus the Dangerous Days of Daniel X all by James Patterson.

Rules:

Reblog as many times as you’d like without spamming your followers. Likes count.

You do not have to be following me to enter but every one reblog or like by one of my followers will count as five entries.

Winners must have an open ask box and be willing to provide address or I will be forced to pick a new winner.

I will ship anywhere but if the shipping price goes over $50 I will ask for compensation for shipping. Keep in mind that I live in Massachusetts before you enter.

Winner will be decided using a random number generator.

Giveaway ends August 22^nd.

Questions? Send me an ask.

GOOD LUCK!

EDIT: Keep in mind that if you delete this text you will be disqualified from the contest.

FOUR MORE HOURS! GOOD LUCK :D

laziestmouse: paintdoktahwho: featuring special guest...

Wed, 22 Aug 2012 22:34:45 -0400

laziestmouse:

paintdoktahwho:

featuring special guest appearance by bill nighy

I’m sorry that is the greatest picture of Bill Nighy I’ve ever seen

paradoxicalgoldfish: Steve Thomas

Wed, 22 Aug 2012 22:28:29 -0400

paradoxicalgoldfish:

Steve Thomas

gonzo-the-gay: here, look. a sleepy turtle. i hope you have a...

Wed, 22 Aug 2012 20:59:09 -0400

gonzo-the-gay:

here, look.
a sleepy turtle.

i hope you have a good day.

nikariot: lodeurdujour: nickturse: Some of the 648...

Wed, 22 Aug 2012 20:58:31 -0400

nikariot:

lodeurdujour:

nickturse:

Some of the 648 Journalists murdered since 1992

Beats Covered by Victims *

5% Business

29% Corruption

20% Crime

9% Culture

15% Human Rights

45% Politics

2% Sports

23% War

(* May add up to more than 100 percent because more than one category applies in some cases.)

For more, on these heroic women and men, see Committee to Protect Journalists’ website.

This is sobering, and very, very important.

5% Business.

29% Corruption.

45% Politics.

shoomlah: Finally sucked it up and submitted my entry to...

Wed, 22 Aug 2012 20:53:07 -0400

shoomlah:

Finally sucked it up and submitted my entry to Project Rooftop’s Fantastic Four redesign contest! I love superhero teams, especially ones who spend a lot of their time sciencing, so this was fun.

I decided to go with a midcentury-inspired/sci-fi look for their uniforms- not the most drastic change, of course, but I wanted something sleek that played around with the 4 iconography a bit more than usual. I Also took the bodysuit-as-wearable-computer concept a bit more literally with the optional retinal HUD, and made Ben a bit of a beefcake. Because why the hell not

peterpayne: Glad I don’t own any Crocs.

Wed, 22 Aug 2012 20:51:52 -0400

peterpayne:

Glad I don’t own any Crocs.