How I've Changed This Year

You guys probably didn't know this (actually, my only followers are from school, so you probably did know this), but I've been writing this blog for a grade in my English class. Yeah, I know, that's so dorky and nerdy, but hey, isn't that the point of this blog? This may be my last post, depending on whether or not I get motivation to write this summer or if I somehow spontaneously get readers who would die if I never published again, but that's not gonna happen, so you're gonna have to depend on me getting motivation. Whatever.

I haven't had a prompt for any of my other posts, but for this one I'm supposed to write about how I've changed this year. At first this was pretty hard for me to figure out, and it still kind of is because I know how I’ve changed recently but I cant quite remember how much of that was actually this year. I do know, however, that this year I’ve tried to become more motivated to make myself change for the better and to help the world change for the better. This is more difficult than it sounds, since I’m smart but also incredibly lazy. I want to get things done but lots of times I simply can’t bring myself to do them. I still haven’t quite found a thing that motivates me completely, but I’m looking for something, and in the meantime I’m forcing myself to do the things I want to do. 

My teeth are straighter than at the beginning of this year! I’ve now had braces on for almost two years and I’ll hopefully be getting them off this summer. 

me with two ensemble girls from the Once tour
this is the most recent picture I could find where I showed my teeth, it was about a month ago

This is weird, but I somehow feel like I’ve become more confident in some ways and less confident in other ways. I’m better at talking to people I don’t know, I’m better at public speaking, and I can now order food on my own at a restaurant without having a panic attack (It hasn’t happened for at least 6 months now!). But I think I’m less confident in that I’m more self-conscious about the way I look and worried about what other people think of me. Last year, I was able to wear clothes that reflected my personality more, but now when I put on more bold and daring outfits that feel like me, I suddenly get scared that other people will judge me. That’s definitely something that I’m going to work on overcoming this summer. 

Something that’s been a gradual process for me over the past year and a half or so has been reclaiming my femininity and trying to stop judging other girls for what they like. I used to think it was shameful to do “feminine” things like liking makeup and taking selfies with filters and liking romance movies. I used to judge other girls for these things, and I still sometimes catch myself doing that. I also used to believe in the trope of the “fake geek girl” who pretended to like “geeky” things just so she could get boys to like her. I’ve now realized that girls can like whatever they want to like and they shouldn’t be questioned about it. 

If anyone’s out there, thank you so much for joining me on this journey. It’s been really great, and I’m still trying to better myself, but that’s what life is. Maybe I’ll talk to you soon and maybe I’ll continue this blog even after my class is over! Even if I don’t continue, and you find this page sometime in the future after I’ve been inactive for years, you’ll probably always be able to find me on my tumblr: moritz-is-bae. See ya!

My Opinion on Avengers: Age of Ultron

I'd give it a 6/10. Maaaaybe a 6.5. It wasn’t as good as I’ve been hoping for since the summer of 2012, but it was okay. Here’s why that 6.5 isn’t a 10:

Age of Ultron was written by Joss Whedon, whom I used to really like (most notably for Dr. Horrible, Firefly, and The Avengers), but I recently found out that he was being a whiny man-baby and left Marvel studios after getting bitter about pieces in the MCU that other people wrote and criticisms that people have given him (please correct me if I’m wrong; I may not know the whole story). Anyway, I’d read up a few things on Tumblr about it before I went to see it today, so I was expecting to be a little disappointed. What I wouldn’t have known if I hadn’t read anything on Tumblr was that the characters of the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are supposed to be Romani Jews but were whitewashed by Joss Whedon and written to be affiliated with HYDRA, which is a Nazi organization. Now that doesn’t make very much sense to me. Minus 2 points right there.

wanda and pietro in the comic books
image courtesy newsarama

i don't see a resemblance
image courtesy kdramastars

   

Now I watched the movie, and I was thoroughly entertained by it. There was action (of course) and some really great character development for Hawkeye. This made me really happy because I often feel like he’s an under-appreciated avenger and that he didn’t get enough screen time in the last movie. I was also really happy with the addition of Wanda, Sam, and Rhodey into the Avengers team at the end of the movie. It made me super excited for the next movie to come out. These are the components that made me give it those 6-6.5 points. 

The main thing that caused me to take away those 1.5-2 points is the way that Joss Whedon handled the characters of Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff. Steve wasn’t written very well in the first Avengers movie, so I wasn’t really surprised, but Joss Whedon’s writing really diminished since then if you’re looking at the way he wrote Nat. Neither of these characters got nearly enough screen time in AOU, and in both of the movies, it seems like Steve has only been used as joke material. Many of the jokes that he made in The Avengers were out of character, and in Age of Ultron, it seems that he was only used as the running “language!” joke throughout the film.

Natasha Romanoff is one of my favorite characters ever, and I’m really sad about how she was portrayed in this film. She didn’t have much screen time, either, and the time that she did get was either engaging in a really stupid and forced relationship between her and Bruce, or fighting in a way that was probably just there so the straight males in the audience could see how sexy her body is. The small bit of character development we did get regarding Natasha was in her backstory in the Red Room, and I guess that was pretty cool, but I feel like most of that was shown just so she could connect more with Bruce, and it still seemed pretty forced. 

Overall, I’d say that Age of Ultron was entertaining but disappointing. And frankly, I’m kind of glad that Joss Whedon left Marvel. 

So I Saw Newsies This Weekend....

And it was pretty much the best weekend of my life. Holy crap. I live near Salt Lake City, and I saw it in Dallas. Why, you may ask? Well, when Newsies first announced the tour, none of the cities that it had listed were anywhere near where I live, and I HAD to make sure that I was going to get the chance to go, right? The second phase of the tour, which it's coming to Salt Lake City on, wasn't announced until a few weeks ago, when the 2016 Broadway season was announced. Also, my step-niece (?) was at my house in January and we started talking about how much we both love Newsies, and we decided that we needed to go together. She lives in New Jersey, and it was in Dallas near her birthday, so we met in the middle to see an awesome show together.

Now that I've bored you with my ramblings, it's time to get into the meat of what went down on that trip. After going to that museum by where JFK was shot (which was pretty cool too), we headed over to the AT&T Performing Arts Center and it might have been the most beautiful theater I've ever been to, even considering the theaters I've been to on Broadway. It had like 5 floors and our seats were so close I could even see the newsies' faces.

I cannot even begin to describe the feeling in my stomach when the curtain came up and I saw Dan DeLuca and Zachary Sayle on that stage. Newsies has always had a special place in my heart because of all the symbolism of hope involved in it, and finally seeing these characters on a stage in front of me I suddenly felt like something in my world was right. It sounds totally stupid that my main source of inspiration is cheesy musicals about newsboys, but the way that the characters stand up for what they believe in and never give up makes me really hopeful that everything will always be okay (especially since Melissa Steadman Hart played a girlsie in the closing number !!! Thanks for giving me hope, Melissa).

Of course, the music was wonderful, the boys were cute, but what really amazed me was how phenomenal the dancing was. Ben Tyler Cook, who played Race, is only 16 and was, in my opinion, the best dancer up there. He’s already in the touring cast of a major musical and that totally makes me feel bad about what I’ve done so far with my life (I’m just kidding, I love you Ben Tyler Cook <3). Another great dancer was Julian DeGuzman, but that makes more sense since he’s like 25 and has a BFA in dance. 

After the show, we went to the stage door, obviously. I had to meet my baes. They all signed my playbill and I was able to get pictures with some of them: 

Josh Burrage <3

Ben Tyler Cook <33 

Jordan Samuels <3

Jeff Heimbrock <33

Vincent Crocilla (he was wearing an Adventure Time shirt !!)

DeMarius R Copes <33

Zachary Sayle <33

  

I’ve since returned from Dallas, but last night I saw Garett Hawe, who was in the original cast of Newsies, perform in a local production of The Music Man! I still don’t know what he’s doing here, but I got a picture with him, too: 

he was soooo sweet, I can't believe I had the chance to meet him!!

Over the Garden Wall: The Best Cartoon I've Ever Seen

Adventure Time and Gravity Falls follow closely behind (and no, I've never seen Steven Universe so I can't say that's my favorite). Anyway, after my friend Brynn pestered me for an entire dance class to watch it, I gave in and downloaded all the episodes of Over the Garden Wall onto my phone. I watched them all in one night. That being said, there are only 10 episodes, and each is only 10 minutes long, but it may be the best 100 minutes of animation that have ever been on television.

Over the Garden Wall was a miniseries that aired on Cartoon Network last year created by the same artists and writers as Adventure Time. It centers around a pair of brothers named Greg and Wirt who get lost in an unfamiliar forest and have to find their way back out, being challenged along the way by what the forest;s inhabitants refer to as “the beast.” Adventure Time's great, but what I love about OTGW is how much amazingness is packed into such a short time. By the time Jason Funderburker (the frog) had played the seventh note of the opening theme on that spinning piano, I knew I was going to get completely sucked into this beautiful world of "The Unknown."

image courtesy imperial general

The music in this show is just so. Freaking. Good. I didn’t know that cartoons hired amazing composers like that (The Blasting Company), but apparently OTGW could. I legit want the music to be the soundtrack for my life. I don’t even know how to describe it, but the feeling that you get when you listen to it is absolutely magical and it suits the show perfectly. Since I’m bad at explaining things, go listen to the opening theme yourself. It will not disappoint. 

OTGW gives off the same creepy/humor-y vibe and has the same amount of deeper meaning that Gravity Falls does, but in less than two hours of content. You can go back and watch it as many times as you want; you’ll always find something new that you missed the last time. It’s fast-paced, witty, and could appeal to many different groups of viewers of all ages. 

Did I mention that the art is beautiful? It’s cartoony, don’t get me wrong, but you can tell that a lot of time was put into making it meticulous. Just like the music, it matches the theme of the story and enhances the point that the writers are trying to get across. It’s very detailed and the backgrounds look like the kind of watercolor paintings that you’d find in a museum. Since there weren’t as many episodes, the artists could probably put more time into it than they usually do when working on Adventure Time. 

image courtesy adam wilcox

Since watching the show, I’ve developed an intense desire to cosplay Greg and Wirt with a friend. It’ll be easy and I’ll have plenty of opportunities. Anyway, go watch Over the Garden Wall. It’ll only take two hours, and it’ll consume your thoughts for weeks. You’re welcome. 

Jonathan Larson's "Rent" May Quite Possibly Be the Best Musical of All Time

My obsessions usually fade to casual liking within a few months, but not with Rent. I first watched the movie version over a year ago and I still listen to the soundtrack nonstop when I need to get pumped up, which is pretty much every day. "La Vie Boheme" always makes me smile, "I'll Cover You - Reprise" always makes me cry, and I don't even know what "Over the Moon" makes me feel, but I know it's a wonderful roller coaster of emotions.

Every single song in it is my favorite, except maybe "You'll See," but whatever. The music gives off a pretty '80s/'90s vibe (which makes sense since it begins December 24th, 1989) but also seems pretty Broadway at the same time. The lyrics have some real substance to them, and you'll probably notice something new every time you watch it. You'll be inspired by the story and think about the meaning for weeks after you first watch it. But the sad part is that the writer/creator, Jonathan Larson, died the day of the official opening production.

Not only are the book, music, and lyrics extremely well-written, but it also features the most diverse cast of characters that I've ever seen in any mainstream media (does Rent qualify as mainstream???). With seven main protagonists and an antagonist, they accurately represent the people under the poverty level in New York City and debunk the idea that media with a diverse cast doesn't get popular. Rent was one of the longest-running musicals on Broadway, closing under 12 years of productions. Who says diverse can't be amazing??

Roger Davis is a recovering drug addict and musician/songwriter, who can't seem to be able to write one last song. He lives with Mark Cohen, a Jewish filmmaker who wants to show the world what it's actually like to be homeless in New York. Their friend Tom Collins is a gay black man who teaches philosophy at MIT. He meets and falls in love with Angel Dumott-Schunard, a street drummer whose gender we are never told explicitly. We know that she goes by she/her pronouns, but we are left to are own interpretation of her gender. She could be a trans girl or genderfluid, but either way she's important representation for the transgender community. Angel is friends with Mimi Marquez, a lighthearted Latina stripper whom Roger tries to help get off drugs. Maureen Johnson is a bisexual activist who dumped Mark offscreen, but is now dating Joanne Jefferson. Joanne is a black lesbian lawyer who, in my opinion, doesn't get enough credit. She's soooo cute and always KILLS that first solo in "Seasons of Love." The antagonist is Benny. He used to be cool, but then he married a rich lady and now wants to evict the homeless from the area.

EVERYONE IS MY BAE!!! except benny. he sucks
image courtesy crafthubs

Four of the characters have AIDS, and the musical depicts their struggles and how they get through them. I just wish that everything was as awesome as Rent is. That would make life a whole lot better. The movie version is on Netflix and you can watch the pro-shot 2008 cast recording on YouTube. Go! Tell your friends! Make the world a better place by watching Rent!

Life Lessons from Sondheim's Into the Woods

(Major Into the Woods spoiler alert for this post.) The second time I saw the Into the Woods movie I was with my friend Courtney and we went to her house after but her sister was there. After finding out what movie we'd seen, she replied by saying to us, "Oh, that movie was so stupid. There wasn't even any morals." I am here to PROVE HER WRONG!! There are too many life lessons to count from that musical. Here are just a few:

1. Be careful what you wish for. 
This musical is so well-written and it has so much symbolism. Stephen Sondheim is absolutely brilliant for the connections he makes between multiple parts of his musicals. At the end of Act I it seems like everyone's gotten their wish and that there's gonna be a happy ending, but then everything falls to pieces. Jack's mother got the riches that she wished for from the giants, but she ended up getting killed because of the giants going after who stole from them.

2. What you wish isn't always what you want.
Cinderella realized this after going to the festival. Her wish was to dance with the prince, but all she could say afterwards was that it "made a nice change." She wasn't sure if she'd enjoyed the time being there and she ended up having a bad relationship with the prince. She wished to go to the festival, but she didn't want the outcome that came with it.

the movie adaptation had a few flaws, but I have to say it was put together very beautifully
image courtesy Music Theatre International

3. "Nice is different than good."
Here's another lesson that Cinderella had to learn from getting to know the prince. He was a "very nice prince," but he was really just one of those "nice guys" who thinks that just because he was nice to a girl she's automatically obligated to go out with him. He was sensitive, clever, well-mannered, considerate, passionate, charming, kind and handsome, but he wasn't good. The character who actually says these words is Red after the wolf eats her. He too, was nice and polite to Red, but his intentions were never good.

4. Sometimes you have to get a new perspective in order to have new experiences. 
It's only when Jack sees his world from the perspective of a giant that he realizes how wonderful it already was. After gaining a new perspective, he was "back again, only different than before." This also applies to Red, because even though the wolf wasn't trying to do any good, he showed her things, "many beautiful things, that [she] hadn't thought to explore." By leading her away from it, the wolf showed Red things that she never would have experienced if she hadn't strayed off the path.

5. Children will listen.
The witch starts out by singing, "Children should listen," then progresses to, "Children won't listen," and finally, "Children will listen." At first she wants Rapunzel to do what she wants her to, then gets frustrated because Rapunzel never does what she wants her to do, then realizes that everything she's ever said and done has stuck in Rapunzel's mind and influenced her. This teaches us that we need to be careful about what we say around little kids because they will take note of everything we do.

6. There is hardly ever a compromise for big decisions.  
During "Moments in the Woods" after the baker's wife kisses the prince, she sings, "Is it always 'or,' is it never 'and?'" She wishes she could have both a life with the prince and a life with the baker, but she can't. This applies not only to her, but also to Cinderella and Jack. Cinderella attempted to not choose whether she stays and gets captured by the prince or if she runs away again. She let the prince choose for her, and we all know how that turned out. Jack also sings that he wished he could live in between a life with the giants and a life at home. When the two worlds collided, everything was chaos and his mother got killed.

I'm sure there are many more, but that's all I can think of right now. If you think of some, feel free to discuss in the comments!

Sexism in SuperWhoLock-- Sherlock

Time for the final part of my Sexism in SuperWhoLock series!! Who else is dying for Sherlock season 4 to start filming?? I know I am, but today we're gonna take a look at the female characters in the show and how they're treated. Molly, Mrs. Hudson, Sally, and Irene are all the four main ones so far (there's also Mary, but I didn't get to talking about her because her main issue is the way the fans treat her). That's about the same amount as the male characters, but for some reason the only episode that passes the Bechdel test is A Scandal in Belgravia (at least I think), and that episode has issues of its own, but I'll get to that later. Probably because of Steven Moffat's attitude towards women.

Molly is so cute. I love her so much I can't even stand it. But she's constantly treated horribly by Sherlock and the writing in general. She is portrayed as weak just because she has feelings for Sherlock, but she continues to have a crush on him and do things for him and be submissive, even though he's pretty gross to her. Look, a harmful stereotype. A sweet, innocent, "weak" woman whose sole purpose in life is serve the man WHO IS ABUSIVE TO HER!! Sigh. The only time we were ever told of any part of her life outside of Sherlock was when she dated Jim, and we can only imagine how that went.

look at this beautiful loser <33
image courtesy Spylight

The best-treated female character on the show is probably Mrs. Hudson, but the problem with her is that her character isn't very well-developed. Yeah, we know she used to run a drug cartel with her husband and work as an exotic dancer, but her part is pretty small and most of what she does is just to enhance Sherlock's character development. The boys are pretty disrespectful of her, too, and she doesn't seem to enforce the fact that she doesn't like that. We almost got a little depth from her when she was keeping the information hidden from the guys who beat her up, but that ended up just being a scene to show that Sherlock actually can have empathy and a soft spot for a mother figure.

a small flicker of character development
image courtesy of Modify Lifestyle

Why does the entire Sherlock fanbase hate Sally Donovan? The world may never know. She honestly didn't do anything wrong, besides not liking Sherlock, which, in my opinion, is completely understandable. He's a jerk and he slut-shamed her within the first 20 minutes of the first episode. She also happens to be the only recurring character who's a person of color. Pretty much the only other one ever who wasn't written in a super racist way was Bainbridge in the Sign of Three (played by my bABY ALFIE ENOCH).

the one true queen
image courtesy Sherlock Wikia

Oh, Irene. How you fit perfectly with the male gaze. I'm sorry, but the Irene in Elementary is so much better, not to mention the fact that she's played by goddess Natalie Dormer. There are so many problems with Sherlock's rendition, the first being that she was canonically a LESBIAN until they HAD to throw in her falling in love with Sherlock, because, you know, every gay woman is just waiting for the right man to come along and straighten her out, right? Wrong. That's gross. She's also dressed in skimpy outfits the whole time probably just to appeal to the straight male viewers of the show. Thanks a lot for only thinking of your own kind, Moffat.

this is one of the few pictures I could find where she was actually wearing clothes
image courtesy KristinKoga

And that concludes the series!! I hope you enjoyed it. If you'd like me to do anything else like this, tell me in the comments and I'll get right on it. 

How to Act When You're Watching Live Theatre

I love me a good musical. But when SOMEONE in the theatre is being RUDE it ruins the ENTIRE SHOW for the audience AND the performer. So please don't be that guy. Please. No one likes that guy. Here's how to not be a public nuisance:

1) Before the Show
Arrive early, but don't act like your life depends on being the first one to your seat. The doors open at the same time for everyone, you're no more special than they are. Also, be nice to the people at the door and the people selling merchandise. All they're doing is trying to make your experience better, so show a little gratitude and thank them. If you have to climb over a few people to get to your seat, try not to cause too much of a disturbance. I know, sometimes you can't help it, but at least alert the people you're climbing over when you're coming.

2) During the Show
As soon as the lights start to go out, TURN OFF YOUR FREAKING CELL PHONE!! I would say that it would also be okay to just put it on silent, but to be honest, it really just needs to be turned off and put away where no one can see it. You can't use it during the performance, so why not just turn it off?? Speaking of that, listen to the announcers and absolutely do not use your phone, especially for flash photography. Everyone can see the little light if you're scrolling through facebook in a dark theatre, and it distracts and disorients the performers if you're taking flash pictures all through their number. Patti Lupone even stopped Gypsy just to tell a guy off after he kept taking flash pictures and making her trip. You really don't want that to happen to you. And to be honest, why would you do that anyway? You just paid a crap ton of money on seats to see a live play, and you're wasting it just to be looking at a little screen you could be looking at any other time of the day? I really don't understand.

Don't talk while the show's going on.  A little "Oh, I love this song!" to your friend is fine, but please don't be having excessive conversations with the people around you. This might be a little hard, but you really shouldn't sing along to any musical numbers, either, unless you're specifically instructed to do so. If you really can't resist, lip sync, but people came to the show to listen to the performers, not you. Your time will come.

3) After the Show
Never. EVER. EVER LEAVE DURING BOWS!! I don't care one bit if you want to get to the stagedoor or your car fast, applaud the performers and show your appreciation until the curtain goes down. Even then, be polite just like you were when walking in. Don't trample anyone, just leave with the crowd. If you're going to stagedoor, don't worry. The performers still have to gather up their stuff to leave and even if they beat you out of the theatre they'll still probably be signing autographs when you get there.

Now it's time for a little stagedoor etiquette. Always remember to treat the performers like what they are: people. Be respectful and tell them what a good job they did. It's fine to ask for an autograph and a picture, just be polite about it. They're probably very grateful that you came to see them and they'll be happy to sign your playbill.

preach, carrie

Thanks. It's important for you to have fun, but you also have to make sure you don't ruin the experiences of others. Have a nice day!!

Pointe Shoe Prep: Breaking them In

Even after your ribbons have been sewn, they're still not ready to dance in because of the stiffness of the shoe. Before you can dance comfortably in them, you need to take steps to break them in and form them to your feet.

You will need:
-Pointe shoes with the ribbons and elastics already tied on
-A sturdy door
-A hammer or a hard surface
-Scissors

1) First, you need to smash/flatten the box of the shoe. This can be done in multiple ways, but I like to use all three to get the best results. To start, place the shoes on the floor and stand with your heel on the box. Alternate between putting all of your weight on your standing foot and the heel on top of the shoe.

2) Place the box of the shoe between a sturdy door and its frame. It is very important that this is a strong door, because the shoe could potentially break the door if you push too hard. Move the door back and and forth a few times until the box is adequately flattened.

sorry for the gross lighting

3) The last step to flatten the box is to either hit it really hard with a hammer or whack it against a hard surface like a granite table. As a ballerina, I find this the perfect time to get my anger out without hurting anyone and in a way that actually benefits me.

4) Next you'll need to form your arch. Like you did with the box, place the point where the arch of your foot is (where your ribbons should be sewn) in between a sturdy door and its frame, and move the door back and forth until the arch of your shoe can be easily bent with your hands.

okay, I've already broken in and worn these, but how else
am I supposed to show you what to do?

5) Bend the arch a little bit more in the same place, but move it both ways back and forth with your hands this time. 

6) Put on and tie your shoes, making sure that the drawstrings are hanging out. Flex your toes and pull on the drawstrings until there's very little room between your feet and the sides of the shoes. Tie the drawstrings in a knot and cut them so that the tails are only about one inch and tuck them into your shoes. 

7) Here's a little extra thing you can do at home or when you're stretching during class to stretch both the arch of your foot and the arch of your shoe: get on your knees and sit on your heels. Put your hands behind you and lift up your butt and your knees so that your weight is on your hands and on the fronts of your toes. NEVER do this when you're not in pointe shoes, you could seriously injure your feet without the extra support from the box. 

hopefully you can see what I'm doing with these fabulous pants in the way

8) Keeping your shoes on, the last thing you'll need to do is walk around on as high of half-toe as possible. This might be uncomfortable at first, but keep doing it until it gets slightly more comfortable. Take off your shoes and do the same thing you did with the arch: bend the half-toe area with your hands back and forth both ways.

You can repeat these steps at any time in your pointe shoes' life if you think a certain part needs adjusting. For more information on pointe shoes, a great book with lots of information is To the Pointe. Some of the information is outdated, like the method for finding the place to tie the ribbons, but a lot of it was really helpful to me when I first started pointe. 

Comment if you'd like me to make anymore posts with pointe shoe information and tutorials!! 

Sexism In SuperWhoLock-- Doctor Who

I hate Steven Moffat. Not just because he kills all my favorite characters (although that does play a big part in it), but because he's really sexist and annoying. His male characters are interesting with complicated backstories, but his women are perfect and sometimes treated like objects. The male historical figures that he's written into the show (Winston Churchill, Vincent Van Gogh) have all been treated as interesting, complex characters with important roles in the universe. All of his female historical figures (Queen Nefertiti, Madame De Pompadour, Queen Elizabeth I. Madame de Pompadour was in the Russell T. Davies area, but the episode she was in was written by Moffat.), while awesome, have been treated as two-dimensional women acting as little more than love interests for the Doctor.

Exhibit A
Image courtesy of Screenrant

There are lots of things I enjoy about Peter Capaldi's doctor; he's different, more serious, a little bit edgy, and to-the-point. But what I really don't like about him is the way he treats Clara. He insults her appearance frequently, calling her fat in at least half of his episodes. And another thing: most of this isn't Moffat's doing, but don't you find it a little strange that time lords can change their entire appearance when they regenerate, but the Doctor has always been played by a white man? Now that the master is a woman and we've found out for sure that time lords can switch sexes, there's no excuse to not make the next regeneration of the Doctor a woman. Russell T. Davies treated his female characters a lot better than Moffat, sexualizing them less and having more developed stories for them (Agatha Christie, Queen Victoria).

There have been about three major characters who are people of color in New Who (Mickey, Martha, and Danny), and every single one of them has been black. The thing is, nobody seems to remember Mickey, everyone hates Martha for some reason, and Danny got killed off after about 5 episodes. The way the episode Turn Left treated the Asian character was pretty dang racist, and the two main black characters in the Russell T. Davies era were married off to each other (Martha and Mickey), despite having no previous connection to each other besides the Doctor.

Another thing that RTD wasn't much better than Moffat as was queer representation. He had slightly more canon characters, but they still weren't treated very well. There was that one couple of two old ladies in Gridlock, but they were only in one episode. And of course we have Capt. Jack Harkness who is a super rad character, but he fulfills that bisexual stereotype of flirting with everyone, which is harmful in that it promotes a false stereotype. The only queer representation we've gotten with Moffat is Jenny and Vastra, which is a little, um... weird. Vastra isn't human, first of all, which kind of reduces a lesbian relationship to something that isn't normal. The way it's portrayed also gives off a pretty abusive vibe. Vastra usually acts dominant over Jenny and orders her around in everyday life, and this is heteronormative because it perpetuates the idea that in a queer relationship one person has to be more "masculine," and the other must be more "feminine." Jenny always calls Vastra "ma'am" and has referred to her as her master on multiple occasions.

Despite RTD's flaws, I still like him a lot better than Moffat because I believe that he would have progressed with these issues over time, compared to Moffat laughing it off and making rude remarks and invalid excuses when someone calls him out on his crap. I just really want Doctor Who to get a new showrunner. Although I enjoy some of Moffat's writing, I think the show would really benefit from a new head honcho.

I get all of my Doctor Who statistics and stuff from Who-ology, which is a really great objective look at trivia from all 50 years of Who.

Pointe Shoe Prep: Sewing

Yeah, I know this isn't really related to what I usually post, but nerds can do ballet too, right? Anyway, I've tried lots of different methods of sewing/breaking in my pointe shoes, but this is what I've found works best for me.

Materials:

wow nice photography skills jayda

-a new pair of pointe shoes
-3/4 inch grosgain ribbon to match the color of your shoes (mine look all wrinkly because I recycled them from my last pair)
-3/4 inch pink elastic
-light pink/cream thread
-a sewing needle
-a pen
-matches or a lighter
-scissors (fabric scissors work best but I couldn't find mine so I used these scary looking ones)

What to do:
1) The purpose of your ribbons is to support your arch while you're dancing, so you want them to be sewn right where your arches are. Find this place by putting on your shoe with your ribbon underneath your foot. Pull on each ribbon until you've found the highest point of your arch.

the ribbon is at the highest point of my arch

Mark each side of the ribbons on the drawstring casing with your pen. This is where they will be sewn in later. Then mark an "R" on the bottom of your shoe if you used your right foot, and an "L" if you used your left foot.

2) Now cut your ribbons into four equal lengths if they aren't already. If you want to insert elastic into some or all of them, do that now. My ribbons have elastics pre-sewn into them; you can buy those here.

3) Fold up one of the ribbons about 3/4 of an inch twice to enclose the raw edge.

folded over twice

4) Line up the top folded edge with the bottom of the drawstring casing, the folded side facing the canvas. Starting on the inside of the shoe on one edge of the ribbon, make a whipstich around the drawstring casing.

inside view

outside view

5) Once you reach the other side of the ribbon, sew a running stitch around the rest of the edges, making sure to only go through the canvas layers and not the satin on the outside. This may take a few tries, but it looks really nice if there is no thread on the outside of the shoe.

your needle should look like this when making the stitches

Go all the way around the edge, and finish with a French knot (pull the needle under a stitch you already made and back through the loop).

this is what it should look like when you're finished

Repeat steps 3-5 on the other side of the shoe.

6) You can either sew your elastics on the outside of the shoe at the back near the seam, or on the inside of the shoe in between the side seams and the back seams. I like to put them on the back at the outside because the other place tends to give me blisters. Put on your shoe and hold one end of the elastic where you want to sew it. Stretch it across your foot and cut it at the other side.

7) To sew on the elastics, I usually just use the same whipstitch method that I use for the ribbons, but without the running stitch around the edge. This is usually strong enough for me. Again, finish with a French knot.

this is the back seam of the shoe, by the way

Repeat with the other end of the elastic.

nice

8) Now put on your shoe and tie your ribbons on the INSIDE of your ankle. Cut the loose ends so that there's about 1 1/2-2 inches of excess ribbon outside of the knot.

aren't they so pretty???

9) Take off the shoe and burn the ends of the ribbons.

Repeat steps 3-9 on the other shoe, and they're halfway ready to use! I'll be making a post on how to break them in soon. See ya later!

Sexism in SuperWhoLock-- Supernatural

Before I get into anything, I'd just like to add a disclaimer: 

I love all three of these shows. In fact, they're three of my all-time favorites. However, sometimes when I'm watching them I notice that there are lots of things about them that I don't agree with. I feel like in order to be a good fan of something you have to be able to criticize it and accept that it has flaws. 

Also, please note that this series isn't only about sexism. It's about many forms of prejudice-- I only named it "Sexism in SuperWhoLock" because that title is hella catchy.

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, it's time for the real juicy part. I'll be making three posts on this topic, one for each show. Supernatural, Doctor Who, and Sherlock are super rad shows, but none of them are very inclusive or positive when it comes to anyone who isn't an abled, cisgendered, heterosexual, white man. 

Let's start with Supernatural:
Okay. Let's be honest here. Is there really any way you can argue that this show ISN'T sexist?? I mean, one of Dean's main character traits is the fact that he objectifies women so much. There are countless female characters who have only shown up for a few seconds just to be a distraction to Dean, and most of the bigger parts women that appear in the show are just there to be another love interest for him or Sam. There are only four episodes so far this season out of thirteen (that I can think of) that have passed the Bechdel Test, there are ZERO female main characters, and only like four female recurring characters (Charlie, Jodie, and Rowena--I'm not including Hannah or Donna because I'm assuming that we probably won't be seeing any more of them). How many main characters are there? Four: Dean, Sam, Cas, and Crowley. And they're all white men. All of the women who aren't evil are stereotypical "tomboys," which is a problem because that perpetuates the idea that feminine qualities can't go with heroism. All of the more feminine characters are either love interests for the boys or villains. Does anyone remember Ellen and Jo? Because I sure do, and I miss them like heck. They were strong, female characters with big parts in the show and Jo was always calling Dean out on his sexist crap. But of course, they got killed off, and that was partly the fault of the fanbase. The majority of the fans hated Ellen and Jo, so the writers decided to make their fans happy and kill them off. Thanks a lot, guys.

jo is judging all the misogynists in the world
image courtesy of fun_like_that

Supernatural is also a major culprit of queerbaiting, usually done with Dean and Castiel. Some examples of this are Balthazar saying to Dean, "where's the angel in a trenchcoat who's in love with you?" (or something like that), Dean telling Cas how to fix his clothes for his date in that one car scene, and many more "gay jokes" that have come up. I find this disgusting, not because the writers are hinting at the characters being gay, but because they're not CANONICALLY gay or bisexual. There have been a total of eight gay characters in 209 episodes of the show, and five of them have only showed up for one. Charlie is the only one who's been in more than one, and she's totally rad, but she's kind of a lesbian stereotype and one of the only women who hasn't been a love interest for the boys ("Oh, I know! Let's make her gay so she can't fall in love with Dean!!" -Robert Singer probably). There were also the two girls in the 200th episode "Fan Fiction" (which, btw, is like my favorite episode because it passed the Bechdel test pretty well and Dean quOTED RENT), there were two girls who were said to be dating, but they weren't in it for very long. There were also those dudes in the episode "Slash Fiction" who came out as gay at the end, which was cool, but they quite obviously made Dean uncomfortable. One really good character was the gay woman in "All Hell Breaks loose-- Part 1!!" She had a developed story and a pretty big part And then there was the intern in the Ghostfacers episode, whose character was nothing but a disappointing joke ("You gotta go be gay for that poor dead intern!") and a fail at representation.

There have never been any canonically transgender or disabled characters in Supernatural. Ever. And Sam and Dean make fun of mentally disabled people all the freakin time. The extremely low number of non-white characters (who are almost all African-American besides Kevin and his mom) are almost all dead. In multiple episodes of the show, Sam and Dean kill gods and beings from other cultures, despite it being a very Christian-centric show.

I'm sure there are lots of other things that can be pointed out about this show, but that's all I'll talk about now. Just make sure that when talking about Supernatural you don't defend it mercilessly, because it, like everything else, has flaws.

I hope you all have a lovely day!! <3

Everyone Should Aspire to be Like Peggy Carter

Agent Carter is Marvel’s first female-led cinematic piece, and it certainly hasn’t disappointed so far. With at least five instances in Tuesday’s episodes that have shattered the Bechdel Test, I’m going to start expecting more from Marvel. None of their other TV/Movie productions that I remember besides Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D has passed it.

courtesy of Screenrant

Shortly after Captain America is frozen in the ice, Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) is working for Strategic Science Research (SSR) which is under the alias of a phone company. Although she is officially an agent, her all-male group of coworkers is extremely sexist to her and they harass her when she tries to defend Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper), who is wanted for treason. Later that day, Peggy gets lunch and leaves into an alleyway where she meets a man (it’s Jarvis omg) whose driver turns out to be Howard. He tells her some fun scary stuff that’s going down and the rest of the show is basically Peggy beating down the patriarchy of 1940s America while simultaneously saving the world.

One of my favorite things about this show so far is Peggy’s fighting style. While other Marvel women like Natasha Romanoff fight by punching and kicking and doing backflips, Peggy pretty much just whacks the dude with whatever she has on her until either he’s unconscious or she can pin him down. She also doesn’t do that completely overused superhero woman thing where they seduce some guy and then kill him while he’s not paying attention. Rather, she either storms in and demands stuff or just puts on a disguise to be trusted.

According to my grandma, the historical accuracy was on point. The clothing, hair, makeup, decoration styles, music, and basically everything else (I totes want Peggy’s red hat and lipstick now) were perfectly comparable to the actual post-World-War-Two era.

The plot was interesting and made you want to keep watching, and you’ll love it especially if you’re a long-time Marvel fan. I mean, Jarvis??? In the flesh??? Hanging out with Peggy Carter??? How fricking rad is that?? It also doesn’t rely too much on violence or romancey-type stuff to make it interesting; I think there’s a perfect amount of each.

Besides being about a super progressive 1940s woman, it also has more supporting disabled characters than most media you see nowadays. The only actually nice guy in Strategic Science research walks with a crutch, and another supporting character is mute. The only criticism I’ll give about this show is how overwhelmingly white the cast is. There was only one supporting person of color, and a few people of color in the background, so I hope to see more representation in future episodes.

Basically, everyone should aim to be as cool as Peggy Carter. Marvel, my standards have been raised. Don’t let me down in the future. 

10 Useful Links for a Newbie Lolita

So you’ve just discovered Japanese Lolita Fashion, and now you totes want to start wearing it, but you might be a bit confused about how exactly to go about that. Most Lolitas agree that everyone who’s first starting out should research the fashion a lot before getting into it. If you’ve gotten this far, you probably already know the basic components of a Lolita outfit, where it originated, the fact that it’s not a fetish, etc., but I’ve put together a list of links to further your knowledge beyond the basics.

courtesy of Imai Kira

Lolita Handbook

This site is pretty old and a bit outdated, but it gives very detailed explanations of all the basics of Lolita Fashion. 

Hello Lace

Hello Lace is designed especially for beginners and is very easy to navigate, but the extent of the information on this site is a bit limited.

Lolita Fashion

This is also kind of an outdated site and isn’t used very much anymore, but the guides and explanations on it are useful for beginners.  

What is Lolita? by F Yeah Lolita

F Yeah Lolita is pretty much the most popular Lolita blog ever, and the author very sweetly compiled a list of links to her posts that she thinks would be most useful to beginners. 

Lolita Tips

The girl who runs this Tumblr blog answers every single one of her questions (if they’re not in the FAQ) so if you ever have a question concerning Lolita you can go to her for it! The “Useful Links” and “Guides for Beginners” sections are really good for beginners to do some poking around in. It can also be fun to read through answers to other people’s questions. 

Lolibrary

This website is super rad because it has nearly every piece that a Lolita brand has ever released so you can look for a specific piece for details on it or just browse through for inspiration. 

Lolita Tutorials by F Yeah Lolita

Here’s another list of links by the same blog that consists various sewing/crafting tutorials for Lolita from around the internet. If you like this kind of thing then you could use this to possibly make your own unique Lolita wardrobe! 

The EGL Community

This is a ginormous English-speaking livejournal community for everyone interested in Elegant Gothic and Lolita Fashion. You can scroll through here to read posts from more experienced Lolitas or you could even ask your own question on it!

Lovely Lor

Lor is the sweetest Lolita youtuber ever with a wonderful wardrobe and she’s super nice to everyone who asks her questions and sends her mail. She also has really useful instructional videos as well as comedy, PSAs, and vlogs. Basically the whole package. 

Parfait Doll

Parfait Doll is another popular Lolita blog, but while the author of F Yeah Lolita is mainly a gothic Lolita, the author of Parfait Doll is a sweet Lolita. Along with posts about Lolita fashion, she also posts a lot on the Lolita lifestyle. 

Let me know if any links stop working!

What to Wear to a Nerd Convention

As a nerd, sooner or later you'll probably want to go to some sort of convention. That’s awesome! Conventions are a fun way to find other people who are interested in the same things as you and to learn more about those things.

Once you’ve saved up money and bought your tickets to the convention, now it’s time to decide what to wear. Depending on the specific type of nerd convention (anime, fantasy, horror, or just a general Comic-Con), you may want to match your outfit to the theme, but to be honest it doesn’t really matter. Here’s a list of ideas if you’re not quite sure:

1) Easy-But-Recognisable Cosplay

This would be any character that has some sort of signature look made up of everyday clothes. Think Rose Tyler’s union jack shirt outfit or Dean Winchester’s signature plaid shirt, cargo jacket, and samulet. This could also be a hipster, modern, etc version or a more fantasy-like character, but make sure it’s recognizable. These types of costumes take no skill and (usually) very little money to put together, so this is a good choice if the convention is soon and you’re on a budget. 

a super cute fem!dean cosplay
courtesy Cosplay Island

2) Bought Cosplay

If you have a little extra money but you’re not very crafty, it’s perfectly acceptable to buy a cosplay from a website like fanplusfriend or one of many etsy shops that sell cosplay. Just don’t go around telling people you made it!

3)  Hardcore DIY Cosplay

You’ve got a decent amount of money to spare, time before the convention, and sewing skills? Nothing’s more impressive than making a costume from scratch! Check to see if the convention you’re going to has a cosplay contest that you want to enter. You could also dream up your own character or add your own twist to your favorite one.

4)  Decked Out in Fandom Merch

I’m guessing that you already have a ton, so if you don’t feel like dressing up, kyou could always just go wearing the nerdiest nerd gear you have in your closet. If you don’t have any, buy some the first day and wear it the next!

5)  Period Clothing/Other General Costumes

If you’ve got a passion for historical clothing, steampunk, or any other cool kinds of costumes, you can buy or make your own to wear to the convention! Since this type of thing isn’t really practical for everyday wear, a convention gives you another chance besides renaissance fairs to wear those rad things you love. 

6)  Alternative Fashion

You don’t have to wear a costume to stand out a nerd convention! If you’re into lolita, gothic, punk, fairy-kei, or any other alternative fashion, put together your best over-the-top outfits to wear. This is a great time to wear these things especially if you’re not quite confident enough to wear them on an everyday basis, since there will lots of other people dressed in clothes that are different from the norm. 

You could also wear a different one of these things on each day of the convention or try to mix two of them! Of course, you don’t have to dress like this. If you’d rather wear what you wear on a normal basis, go right ahead! I just find that these are the most fun things for me, and what’s important is that you have fun at the convention :)