Masha's Roulette #15: Favorite fannish meta-essay-things
Welcome to the 15th issue of my weekly random grab-bag of recommendations newsletter, where I will show you some things to read and some things to listen to, and my solemn promise that at least one item in here will be new and interesting to you. The theme this week is meta essays because I had to link a bunch of them today and I still have the tabs open and also believe they are interesting. If you've been friends with me for long enough and in a certain context none of these may be new to you on account of I pulled most of these out of one specific group chat I'm in but if you aren't! Here you go!
First, Some Things to Listen To
I watched the first 2 episodes of the new Gundam show and was surprised to learn Yoasobi did the opening for it! Less surprised that I didn't like it very much, Ayase tends to be hit-or-miss for me (I love Kaibutsu and Cinema, can't stand Yoru ni Kakeru and don't much love this opening song.) It sounds like Kaibutsu but happier in a way that does not work for me at all.
But as far as songs I listened to today that I really do like, I failed to full combo cutlery in Project Sekai today. This did not make me love it less. I also really like Uki3's cover of Rain and Petra by Balloon.
Now, Some Things To Read
The Place where Revolutionary Girl Utena was Born
This article was published in Musashino University's scholarly publication, this one titled "Actual Sexuality," published January 15th, 2000 as issue 115. It was found on a lark browsing through Yahoo! Auctions Japan, and curiosity killed me and led me to bringing it state-side. Realizing what it was, I put a call out to translators who might be interested in reading it, given that this appeared to be a discussion of the history and culture surrounding Revolutionary Girl Utena, specifically in regards to sexuality.
It's a hosted interview between Kunihiko Ikuhara and Mari Kotani, a science fiction critic and translator.
I still haven't watched Utena but since the new Gundam was described to me as "Utena if Utena was cringefail" I am considering it.
Interview between Iori Miyazawa and Hayakawa Books editor Rikimaru Mizoguchi about Yuri. Has a part 2 linked in the endnotes.
Why isn't slash yaoi and why is yaoi slash? by Maygra de Rhema
Essay from June 2000 about "her fascination with things Eastern and domestic."
The role of doujinshi in comic fanzine discourse by Kathryn Hemann
In December 2021, a conversation concerning the definition of the term “zine” unfolded on Twitter. This conversation arose from anxieties surrounding the rise of professionally printed and highly selective fanzines.
Four Tiny Essays on SF-F by Elizabeth Sandifer
"I’ve had a couple of old Twitter threads get a lot of renewed attention on the back of some debates about current trends in SF/F literature. A couple of these are things I reworked into what I called “tiny essays” for Patreon a while back, and if my views are going to get cited and thrown around I may as well put them up in a durable and lightly edited form. So here’s four tiny essays on recent aesthetic trends mostly around SF/F, to publicly stake out some positions."
The Fandom Ghost by many tumblr users
Fandom Ghost: Created Out Of Wholecloth By Fanon (originally untitled) is a tumblr post originally written by wildehack, and expanded upon by subsequent commenters. It discusses the phenomenon where a specific character archetype is applied to (almost always) a white male side character, ostensibly for the purpose of shipping him with a more-developed-by-canon "messy" white male character. There is some debate with regards to whether the phenomenon solely applies to minimally-characterized side characters (also known as blank slates), or whether it also applies to main characters whose canon traits are replaced. The archetype may be related to the "blue oni", "frigid romcom heroine", and/or "Byronic hero" archetypes.
Please send in recommendations using this lovely form I created (using the Rec Center's form as a model). Am taking recs for fics, articles, interesting long blog posts, anything you think would appeal to other readers of Masha's Roulette. I need more recommendations! I did not get many of them! Also, share with your friends!
I'll be back next week with more things to listen to and read!