LDS Cosplayers and Modesty: The Constant Struggle

Hey everyone! I know, it's been a month, but believe me when I say that I've been overwhelmed with school. Between readings, assignments, presentations, and final projects, I haven't had much down time. But this post is actually related to my folklore project, so if I could get some feedback on this topic, that would be great!

Me dressed as a ninja turtle with a girl dressed as Zelda

So this post is about cosplaying and the struggle that many LDS cosplayers have with modest costuming. I'm sure most of you know about cosplaying, but to give a quick definition: cosplaying is the act of dressing up as a character from a known TV show, movie, book, video game, etc. It has a lot to do with popular geek culture. Most people cosplay at comic and anime conventions, so it happens in a specific place.

My folklore class has been focusing on how things are folkloric. Really, the basic idea of folklore is the everyday culture of people, whether it's family traditions or the weird things you and your coworkers do at the office. Folklore focuses on many different things, but I looked at two elements of folklore in cosplay: community and identity. Cosplaying creates a community because it's a type of performance where people from different locations will gather in one place to show off their creativity and love for a fandom to others. It also creates a community online. There are lots of blogs, youtube videos and posts on tips for cosplaying from buying cosplay to making certain elements of a costume. Cosplayers all band together to show their knowledge and help others create their costumes.

Serious Cartoons: The Underrated Medium

Hey everyone!

Well, I'm halfway through my final semester at BYU! I'm both excited and terrified. Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but I've been pretty swamped with school and work. This post is something I've been working on for a while and I finally got it ready!

So I was recently talking to someone about an anime show that I really liked. I mentioned that it was really violent, and that person just blankly stared at me and said, "But it's a cartoon." I've also heard the statement, "it's just a cartoon," which implies that it couldn't have any substance.

You would not believe how many times I've heard this idea and how I've tried to convince people otherwise. But a lot of people just can't get past the misconception that cartoons can't be violent or profound because, well, they're cartoons. They're supposed to be for kids, right?

Well, not as often as you think. A lot of people have difficulty taking animation and comics seriously.

The Joker from The Dark Knight Returns. Yep. Lot's of blood. 

To be fair, the idea of taking animated shows seriously probably feels like a joke to a lot of people. Cartoons are generally associated with kids, so people assume that if it's a cartoon, it's a kids' show. Even the word cartoony has become a definition for something seen as lighter and more childish.

But in reality, I've seen many animated shows with incredibly adult situations that no child would be ready for. The same goes for comics. Most people assume that comics are for kids when really the exact opposite is the case, particularly in the case of DC comics and Marvel. Sure, they have comics for kids, but their main stuff deals with a lot of adult themes. A hero is always getting beaten within an inch of his/her life and there's often a sexual theme going on as well. And there's blood. A lot of blood.

Bernard and Bianca: The Most Overlooked Power-Couple in Disney

Hey everyone!

Sorry it's been a while since my last post. School and work more or less took over my life, but I finally finished a topic I've been working on for a while.  Here we go!

I recently watched The Rescuers, mainly because I was bored and also because I do have a certain fondness for that movie. While I was watching, I noticed something I hadn't really thought about before, and that was the dynamic of Bernard and Bianca. This couple is seriously one of the greatest couples I've ever seen in the Disney franchise, and I can't believe no one else has really talked about this.

So that's what I want to talk about: why Bernard and Bianca make a fantastic couple.

Mean and Green: Why I Love the Ninja Turtles as Much as I Do

Hey, everyone!

So I've got another Ninja Turtle post for you. I know I talk about them a lot, and I'm not really sorry, ha ha. But that's what this post is about. I decided to take a look at why I love the Ninja Turtles so much. I can honestly say it's one of the few fandoms that I could consider myself to be obsessed with.

Now I have other shows and books that I love, like Doctor Who, Sherlock, Batman, and various anime shows. But I don't love them like I love the Ninja Turtles. I loved the original comics, I enjoy the 90s series, I adore the 2003 and 2012 series, and I love the movies. I look up fan art on Pinterest and Deviantart, and I've read fanfiction. I even used to play with the action figures as a kid, (well, they were my brothers' action figures, but meh). For a good portion of my life, I've been a fan of Ninja Turtles.

So here's the question: why? Why would I love a story as odd as Ninja Turtles? Why would I love something that was obviously catered to boys? Well, that's what I'm here to find out. Here's why I love the Ninja Turtles.

The Sequel Syndrome

Hey everyone!

It's been awhile, but I'm still alive. Before I start talking about my topic today, I have a couple things to say that you all should be aware of. I recently found out that someone posted links to porn websites in a comment in one of my posts. I've removed the comment, but I'd like to just warn all bloggers out there to be aware of activity on your blog. I've also changed the settings on my blog so now I can moderate all the comments that go on my blog. I suggest you should probably do the same thing so you avoid the problem I had. I don't know the commenter, and I'm not sure how she got my blog url, but I'm taking precautions to prevent it in the future. Seriously though, what is wrong with people? I'm pretty disgusted by the whole thing, ugh.

Anyway, on with the topic! This post is all about sequels. I was looking at the movies that have come out in the past ten years and I realized that a disturbing amount of them have been sequels and prequels. Most of you that know me know of my strong prejudice against sequels. I  can probably count on one hand the sequels I thought were good. So I thought I'd talk about sequels and my issue with them.

When I say sequels, I'm not talking about trilogies that were previously planned along with the first movie, such as Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and the Batman Trilogy, (though I have a few issues with that one, but we won't go there). I'm talking about sequels that weren't previously planned that come about as a result of the popularity of movies. I feel that these types of movies fall victim to what I call the Sequel Syndrome. Movies under the Sequel Syndrome tend to have the same problems which include lack of character development or even character regression, an unoriginal plot, and inferior effects and animation.

The Concept of Animated Attraction

Hey everyone!

It's been a little while, hasn't it? Sorry about that, though I would like to blame my lack of posting partially on laziness and mostly on my lousy internet connection (seriously, the internet at our apartment sucks).

Today I'm talking about the concept of attractive cartoon characters. For many of us that are avid fans of anime and cartoons, there is that phenomenon of the attractiveness of a cartoon character, or in other words, the idea of an animated character being "hot." This is an idea that can be completely foreign to most people who don't watch much anime or cartoons in general.

I think the biggest reason why people find the idea of attractive animated characters strange is the fact that the characters aren't real. What could be so attractive about someone that doesn't even exist except on a piece of paper? This is the question that I've struggled to answer as my friends sometimes wonder about me drooling over anime guys. So here are some my thoughts on the matter. Keep in mind that most of my examples will refer to male animated characters, since that's what I'm the most familiar with.

Example of stylized anime male character

The Surprising Value of Fanfiction

Source: nolannabiblog.wordpress.com

So this is something most of you probably don't know about me: in my downtime, I like to read fanfiction.

For those of you not familiar with the term, fanfiction is basically what its name describes: fiction written by fans based off of characters in a movie/book/TV show.

Now before you point fingers and laugh at me (or grab the pitchforks and torches, etc.), let me tell you something. I know that fanfiction has the stereotype of being badly written porn that fans use to fulfill their sexual fantasies with their favorite characters, and this is true for a lot, if not most fanfiction. However, not all fanfiction is bad. I've found some fantastic stories written by fans that explore different characters, or a creation of an alternate universe. There are some really good writers out there.

So here are several reasons why I like fanfiction.