Fangirls Around the Web: November 5, 2012
You may remember last year, when the fandom rallied around Katie after she was bullied at school for being a girl who liked Star Wars. I had a chance to meet Katie and her mother, Carrie Goldman, when they were guests of the first GeekGirlCon. Two days before Halloween, Carrie blogged about the amazing support the 501st Legion gave to Katie this year.
In the wake of the September cyberbullying incident, Katie decided that she wanted to be a Stormtrooper for Halloween this year. This was how she could show her solidarity with the 501st Legion. I wanted to find her a costume that was a little more authentic than what the stores were offering, and I knew who to ask. …
The 501st decided to make Katie her own set of custom Stormtrooper armor, built to the exact specifications from the original Star Wars movies in the ‘70’s. Two years ago, Katie became an unexpected symbol of geek pride and anti-bullying. Her story touched something deep in the core of the 501st – a desire to always stand up for what you believe in – and based on those strong feelings, the members of the 501st wanted to make her a Halloween costume that no other child could replicate. …
They wanted to raise the funds for the costume, and in return, they asked if we would donate the costume back to them after Katie outgrew it, so that it could be used for Make-A-Wish kids. Perfect, I thought with relief, because I had been struggling with feelings that the generosity was too much for my comfort. Knowing that the costume would be passed on to other children was the best solution.
Speaking of Star Wars, Club Jade deserves a shout-out for her comprehensive coverage of the numerous reports and rumors already circulating in the days after the big Disney and Sequel Trilogy announcements. 
Dunc has years of insight into the Star Wars community and more importantly has perspective on the madness that accompanies pre-movie speculation. Keep an eye on their Episode VII tag in the weeks and months ahead.
Actress Ming-Na, most famous for her long-running role on E.R., has been cast as Agent Melinda May in Joss Whedon’s in-development S.H.I.E.L.D. series for ABC. Exciting casting for what’s sure to be another great strong female character on television!
TheMarySue reports that Pixar has hired former Buffy writer Marti Noxon. No details yet on what film projects she’ll be working on.
Kristin McFarland generated a great online discussion in the genre fandom after her blog post Let Women Speak for Women: How John Scalzi Pissed Me Off in late October. Some reactions agreed with her sentiments; others maintained that women’s interest still (unfortunately) need all the support they can get, no matter the source. Whichever is your perspective, her post is definitely worth a read.
Scalzi, Rothfuss, and Whedon are—right now—wealthy(ish) white men writing about problems only women face. They are exhibiting the male control they castigate by fighting our fight. I’m not ungrateful, but I’m frustrated that the strongest plays in the feminist fight are coming from men… and even these men don’t seem interested in what women have to say.
They’re taking away our right to fight the good fight.
So is an older blog post by Seanan McGuire, Things I will not do to my characters. Ever., which McFarland pointed to as a good example of a woman’s voice making the same point as these prominent men but not receiving the same attention. McGuire gives a powerful explanation for why she’ll never write any of her female characters being raped.
On the humorous side of the genre, TVLine used a familiar turn of phrase in their report on tonight’s episode of ABC’s Castle, which features a murder at a Comic-Con inspired scifi convention in an episode directed by Jonathan Frakes of Star Trek: The Next Generation fame.
Frakes promises to deliver Nathan Fillion (as Rick) doing an “incredible” William Shatner impression, “much more comedy” than the Season 2 Castle he helmed and all-in-all a “wonderful forum for Beckett to reveal her fangirl side.” (Said simply: There’s photographic evidence of Kate once getting her geek on as a character from the episode’s Nebula-9 show-within-a-show – and her costume just might resurface in an extremely different context before the hour is over.)
Korra Nation posted their favorites from Legend of Korra mashup fanart. Check out this Star Wars homage. Thanks to Shinar at the Lomin Ale Cantina for pointing it out.
Tricia Barr's novel, Wynde, won the 2014 Independent Publisher Book Award Gold Medal for Best Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror Ebook. She was also part of Silence in the Library's successful all-female creator science fiction and fantasy anthology Athena's Daughters, which is available now. For excerpts and tales of her adventures in creating a fictional universe, hop over to TriciaBarr.com.
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