Fanfiction has a historical relationship to erotica and porn Slash: the subset of fanfiction that now encompasses all sorts of queer relationships that originally denoted a sexual relationship between Kirk and Spock through punctuation (K/S) as opposed to other punctuation markers which denoted friendship or non-sexual relationships (K+S). But contemporary mainstream media, thanks to stories like 50 Shades…
Commercialised Suffering Is Easy: Lemaitre’s Irene
Irène is crass, coarse, and shallow. Pierre Lemaitre’s novel is like the work of Jo Nesbø, in this way. Preoccupied with torture and awfulness, reluctant to engage with humanity or emotion beyond the ways that happiness can be revoked or twisted; used to make a person miserable; and underbaked as progressing narratives, these author, in…
Representation & Desire: A Plus Sized Male Model
Plus-sized female models are making inroads in mainstream fashion, and while this representation isn’t without its problems, it is telling that the question of plus-sized male models has only recently entered the conversation with the signing of Zach Miko as Target’s first ever plus-size male model.
Incredible Indie Tuesday: Exciting News from Image Expo!
Last Wednesday in Seattle, Image Comics held the 6th Image Expo, an all-day event for creators to meet with press, retailers and fans. But it’s not your typical convention: there are no vendors and panels focus primarily on discussing upcoming releases with writers, artists and other team members. The convention began with publisher Eric Stephenson’s inspiring…