I always thought it would be easier to learn another language if I could read the internet in it. Assuming I had someone around to help answer my 'What is that word again?' questions.

And now I find out it just might happen. LooGla looks fascinating! They've entered in a funding contest in Nevada:



If they don't win here, I really hope they do a Kickstarter -- this is a project I'd be interested in funding.

This entry was originally posted at http://teaotter.dreamwidth.org/52606.html. Feel free to comment here or there.

http://catandgirl.com/?p=4219

My brain has been out of town without me for the last few days. So:

I have 94 works archived at AO3. Pick a number from 1 (the most recent) to 94 (the first thing I posted there), and I'll tell you three things I currently like about it.

This entry was originally posted at http://teaotter.dreamwidth.org/52189.html. Feel free to comment here or there.

http://catandgirl.com/?p=4199

This chart was reprinted in here and I have a copy. So let’s give it away!

This is a three cassette reissue of the first three Kill Rock Stars comps and it even comes with a little walkman in case for some reason you don’t own a cassette player.

To enter: Leave a comment on this post and include your email address (it won’t be published). I’ll close comments and pick someone at random Monday May 27. Also: have a mailing address in the USA.

OK. Who wants cassettes?

Or, y'know, not. *g* But I've been thinking about putting up a fan-writer's resource post on fraud/embezzlement detection, and I was wondering if there's any interest out there?

I mean, I understand that most of y'all aren't interested in the nitty gritty of the thing, and that's fine. But fan writers occasionally like to sprinkle plot-like references into their stories -- a few lines of dialogue showing how Character A is smart enough to catch that little detail, or how Sherlock knows that your secretary is embezzling from you, or whatever -- and that's where I can help.

But I don't want to try to write it up if I'm just going to bore you.

[This post brought to you by an otherwise quite good fanfic that had a character spotting that "they're embezzling from the R&D Department" by looking at a sales contract. Which has so many things wrong with it that I literally could not read the rest of the page without facepalming first. It would be dead simple to make that exchange plausible! Argh! But I'm probably the only person who cares!]

This entry was originally posted at http://teaotter.dreamwidth.org/51919.html. Feel free to comment here or there.

This month's challenge at inspired20in20 is Genre. They asked us to "examine what aspects of its genre your claim follows, which it subverts, and which it ignores." I'm... not at all sure I succeeded at this one. But that's what challenges are for, right?

These are all from the new Beauty and the Beast. Have I mentioned how much I love this show? Strong female characters, tons of characters of color, and really interesting character dynamics. It took me a few episodes to warm to it, but I'm thrilled that it's getting a second season. And more chances for me to make icons for it!

Spoiler level: Mild. There's at least one casting spoiler for someone who joins the cast after episode 10, and a couple of images taken sufficiently out of context (and with small enough figures) that I don't think you could know when they were coming before they did. But I can't exactly say there's no opportunity for spoilers at all...

Teasers:

Originally published at Dylan Meconis. You can comment here or there.

It’s been a very busy couple of weeks for me! Here are some headlines:

1) I’m the new writer at PvP!

Earlier this year I enjoyed an unexpected three-week run as guest artist/writer on Scott Kurtz’s beloved landmark webcomic, PvP. I’ve been a fan of the strip for ages, and I had a total blast. Fast forward a few months to PvP’s fifteenth birthday, and Scott asked if I’d be interested in coming on as a regular writing contributor. So, starting with the most recent storyline, we’ve been working together to write and plan the strip and take it in some very exciting new directions. (And, luckily for me, Scott will still be drawing everything!)

This is really a fun development for all involved, and I’m having disgusting amounts of fun. You can look forward to hearing lots more about my adventures in strip co-authoring. And if you’ve never read PvP before, this is a great time to start!

2) TCAF adventures

I’m just back from Toronto for my second-ever trip to TCAF. A huge thanks to everybody who found me! The festival pulls in some of the most enthusiastic and cheerful attendees in the known universe, and incredible creators and good friends grouped in almost overwhelming numbers. Cheers to Chris Butcher and all his fellow organizers and volunteers for all their hard work.

I had an especially great time finally meeting longtime favorite folks like Bill Amend, Alex Woolfson, and Katie Shanahan, and tabling next to the impressive talents of Kenan Rubinstein, Nina Matsumoto, and Nicole Chartrand. I also enjoyed a day staring at dinosaur bits at the Royal Ontario Museum with Lucy Bellwood and Boulet (on the last leg of his exhaustive North American tour). Lodging and sharing several blissful meals with my traditional TCAF teammates Lucy Knisley and Erika Moen kept me from running myself too ragged.

Thank you, Toronto!

3) It’s spring in Portland!

http://catandgirl.com/?p=4204

Originally published at hereville.com. Please leave any comments there.

To celebrate Merida of the Pixar film Brave “officially” joining the Disney Princess line, Disney released some new illustrations of her. In the new illustrations, Merida is even thinner than her already-thin movie version (as Alyssa put it, “what appears to be rib-removal surgery”); her dress has been redesigned into an off-the-shoulder number; she has much thicker eyelashes (and in general, her face seems much more stereotypically feminine); her hair has been changed from out-of-control curls to waves; and her attitude is much, well, flirtier.

I’m not sure that Disney’s Merida makeover represents a conscious strategy on their part. At the, er, official coronation ceremony at Disneyworld, Merida’s appearance seemed modeled on the movie version, not on the new illustrations. (See this photo, for instance – note the covered shoulders, and curly wig.) Nor did Disney seem to shy away from Merida’s tomboy aspects – she made her entrance on horseback, and finished the ceremony by posing with her bow and arrow.

But because it (probably) wasn’t conscious doesn’t mean that it’s not bad. It suggests that Disney subconsciously and reflexively turns their female characters into the same dull and predictable flirty, glittery pin-ups without any thought even being required. (Ever notice how impossible it is to find any Mulan merchandise showing her dressed up for war?)

Put another way, for the folks in Disney marketing, the path of least resistance appears to be a very sexist path.

Except that this time, they’ve encountered a lot of resistance. A petition started by girl-power website A Mighty Girl has gathered 130,000 signers (and counting). The petition says:

The redesign of Merida in advance of her official induction to the Disney Princess collection does a tremendous disservice to the millions of children for whom Merida is an empowering role model who speaks to girls’ capacity to be change agents in the world rather than just trophies to be admired. Moreover, by making her skinnier, sexier and more mature in appearance, you are sending a message to girls that the original, realistic, teenage-appearing version of Merida is inferior; that for girls and women to have value — to be recognized as true princesses — they must conform to a narrow definition of beauty.

Disney seems to be taking note: As InsideTheMagic notes, the new Merida design has disappeared from the Disney Princess website, replaced by images of Merida as she appeared in the movie.

One really unusual thing about this is that Merida’s creator, “Brave” writer and co-director Brenda Chapman has gone public with her unhappiness about the makeover, calling it “a blatantly sexist marketing move based on money.”

I think it’s atrocious what they have done to Merida. When little girls say they like it because it’s more sparkly, that’s all fine and good but, subconsciously, they are soaking in the sexy ‘come hither’ look and the skinny aspect of the new version. It’s horrible! Merida was created to break that mold — to give young girls a better, stronger role model, a more attainable role model, something of substance, not just a pretty face that waits around for romance.

They have been handed an opportunity on a silver platter to give their consumers something of more substance and quality — THAT WILL STILL SELL — and they have a total disregard for it in the name of their narrow minded view of what will make money. I forget that Disney’s goal is to make money without concern for integrity. Silly me.

* * *

Alyssa writes:

To a certain extent, Disney’s attempts to democratize what it means to be a princess are admirable. You don’t actually have to be born into a royal title, or obtain one by marriage. [...] You don’t have to be white, or European, or in the case of Ariel, the star of The Little Mermaid, necessarily based on land.

But two restrictions remain. You have to be young. You have to have a very particular body type and long, perfect hair. The edits to Merida reflect those priorities.[...]

If it’s important that girls of color and girls of different economic classes be able to recognize themselves and find aspirational stories in the Disney Princess line, why shouldn’t it also matter that girls with wild hair and variable body types see themselves there too?

Although I agree with Alyssa, it’s important to note that Merida’s body type, as seen in the movie, represents only the smallest of small departures from the Disney standard. Don’t get me wrong – I love the movie Brave, and I love the work Pixar did to present Merida as someone who delights in the things her body can do, rather than the way she looks.

But the range between Merida’s body and face type, and that of the typical Disney princess, is pretty darn small. The top of my wish list for Disney princesses – even higher than my wish for a Jewish princess, already! – is that Disney, or Pixar, add a fat character to the princess line.

More reading:

Seriously, Disney, I’m Trying to Take a Little Break Here– MUST YOU? Peggy Orenstein points out that Merida’s makeover is actually part of what seems to be an ongoing project to make all the Disney princess characters more vapid than their movie versions.

Disney’s makeover of its Brave princess is cowardly | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett | Comment is free

The Problem with Merida’s Princess Makeover