Fanfiction Fridays: This summer vacation story is better than yours.

So I’m a pretty big fan of Welcome To Night Vale just in general. It’s pretty great. And one of the things I love about it is that, even though it’s already more diverse than most media, it isn’t afraid to continue adding in more intersectional diversity. I guess they figure haters gonna hate.

And Night Vale fanfiction is no stranger to this philosophy—the fanfic I’ve found has suggested such additions to canon as Carlos being trans*, Cecil being nonbinary, and the faceless woman who lives in your house being Old Woman Josie’s girlfriend from high school.

How I Survived My Summer Vacation, by Tamika Flynn, Age 12 3/4 is a gem among stories of this sort, and besides being intersectionally awesome, has got superb writing to boot.

fanart for this story by cactuartamer on tumblr

Green-Skinned Characters Do Not Count as Characters of Color

When the first Star Trek reboot film came out, I remember hearing a lot of Star Trek fans complaining about the lack of diversity in it. Not necessarily in the main cast—that can boast being at least a little racially diverse—but about the side characters. I remember watching the movie, looking at the cadets and numerous Starfleet officers, and thinking, “That’s a lot of white people”. Especially for a society that has supposedly achieved peace and equality. That’s what I was thinking, and that’s what I thought my fellow Trekkies were saying. However, eventually I discovered when they were saying racial diversity, they meant alien races. “Why are there so many humans and so few aliens in Starfleet,” seemed to be the question on everyone’s mind.

While for a Star Trek movie that may be a valid question, I was a little shocked that anyone would equate that with racial diversity in a movie. Sadly, however, that wouldn’t be the last I would hear of people of color being placed in the same category as fictional races.

Teen Wolf Season 3A: This Might Hurt.

[Warning for Spoilers]

Lady Saika: Well, Lady Geek Girl has dragged me into this fandom as well, and I have to say: the season three tagline was a bit of an understatement. “Might” hurt? My ass.

But now we’re on hiatus (does the Teen Wolf fandom have a silly word for hiatuses like Supernatural‘s ‘hellatus’ and Hannibal‘s ‘he-ate-us’? Howlatus?) until January, and we can sit back, lick our wounds, and collect our thoughts about the first twelve episodes of season three.

Lady Geek Girl: Now, Madame Ace and I have delved into Teen Wolf before. We discussed both seasons one and two, as well as feminism in Teen Wolf and race issues in Teen Wolf. I have praised Teen Wolf before, because, while not perfect, it is a very feminist show. This season I had high hopes for the show to continue with its usual feminist themes. And while we still have many strong female characters and feminist themes, the ladies certainly took a hit this season.

So You Want to Read Comic Books 2.0: The Movement

The fourth issue of Gail Simone’s wildly popular new comic The Movement hit stores last week, and I figured it was well past time we gave it a shoutout here. The Movement is one of the best comics I’ve picked up since I started my American comics journey about a year ago, and furthermore, it’s one of the most impressively diverse. 

The Movement is set in the DC Universe in Coral City, a city rife with crime and corruption. Fed up with the problems that extend even into the police force, a group of young people who have all been, in some way, abandoned by society band together to take justice into their own hands. Using part hacking, part strategy, and part brute force, they begin to take a stand against the moral and social rot that pervades the city.

Welcome to Welcome to Night Vale

“If you love someone, set them free. Set them free now. This is the police. We have you surrounded.”

—Welcome to Night Vale Episode 22, “The Whispering Forest”

Most of my new fandoms these days come from word of mouth, care of my Tumblr dash. Welcome to Night Vale is no exception. If you’ve heard of it, you probably know that WTNV is a free podcast series created by Commonplace Books, presented in the style of a community talk radio show. The twist, as there has to be one, is that Night Vale is no ordinary community. Far from it. Night Vale is a desert town rife with strange phenomena, from the strange lights in the sky above the Arby’s to the dog park where no people or dogs are allowed, and which the Sheriff’s Secret Police would prefer you don’t really think about, at all, like, ever.

DC’s Essential Graphic Novels Essentially Screws Over Women

(picture via dcwomenkickingass)

DC Comics recently stated that they will be releasing a free essentials guide to their graphic novels. This guide will be sent to fans, comic shops, and libraries. It is also notably lacking in women.

Certain characters have received multi-page spreads in this book. Most of these characters are the ones that you’d expect, such as Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, The Flash, and, weirdly, Green Arrow. Perhaps Green Arrow was given his very own spread because he is currently a popular character due to the TV show Arrow, but Green Arrow has never been a part of the main lineup of DC superheroes.

You know who is, though? Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman, who is an Amazon, member of the Trinity, and one of the main leaders of the Justice League, does not get her own multi-page spread with her fellow superheroes. Neither do any other female superheroes—not even Batwoman, who is one of DC’s top selling female-led comics along with Batgirl and Wonder Woman (source).

So where are the women in this “essential” guide? In a two-page spread called “Women of DC”. The only women featured in this section are Wonder Woman, Batgirl, Batwoman, Catwoman, and Huntress. Yes, the ladies have been screwed over.

(picture via dcwomenkickingass)

Furthermore, no women or men of color are being featured. There’s no sign of Cyborg, Cassandra Cain, Mister Terrific, Static Shock, Katana, or Vixen.

This book says a lot about who DC Comics are trying to promote and sell to. Remember, this guide is going to be used not just by fans but by comic shop owners and libraries to determine what graphic novels they should order. It has often been said by creators and companies alike that ‘for some reason’ the comics which don’t feature white heterosexual male characters don’t do as well. Well, maybe that has less to do with what DC’s readers want and more to do with how they promote their characters. Just a thought, DC.

Five Reasons Why Elementary is the Greatest

I’ve talked about Elementary a few times before this, and if you read those two posts you know that I was slow to appreciate the show at first. So what made me go from lukewarm to squealing fangirl over the course of less than a season?

The Road So Far: “Taxi Driver” Review

WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK, IDJIT!

So this is the last episode we’re going to get before Supernatural goes on hiatus for a few more weeks. Was it any good? Hit the jump to find out.

Is Supernatural: Racist?

It’s time, SPN fans, to discuss whether or not Supernatural is racist. Last time we discussed the accusations that SPN was sexist, and while I had some pretty harsh criticisms of the show’s treatment of female characters, I think I was pretty easy on the show. That’s not going to be the case so much this time around.

There are very few characters of color of note in Supernatural. When I say of note I mean either named recurring characters or characters that have become a fan favorite, despite the fact that they were in one episode and then disappeared.

Here are Supernatural‘s Characters of Color: Missouri Moseley, Tamara and Isaac, Cassie, Rufus Turner, Uriel, Raphael, Gordon, Jake Talley, Victor Henricksen, Kevin Tran and Mrs. Tran.

That’s it. That’s pretty much all the characters of color on the show. So let’s talk about these characters.